Broadcaster’s death still under investigation
Stars and Stripes
European edition, Friday, October 30, 2009
NAPLES, Italy — Italian railway police still are awaiting toxicology results from an autopsy of a 20-year-old American Forces Network broadcaster found dead Oct. 20 near Aviano Air Base, Italy, an official said Thursday.
The body of Airman 1st Class Lauren Lagudi, who was stationed at Aviano, was found near the train station in Pordenone, about 10 miles from the air base.
Railway police believe Lagudi died by accident or by suicide, but they have not ruled out the remote possibility of foul play, said an Italian police official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media.
read more here
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=65744
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Military to issue report on overseas troops cut off from kids
Military to issue report on overseas troops cut off from kids
By Charlie Reed, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Saturday, October 31, 2009
The military will be required to submit a report on the number of troops who have been cut off from their children by family members overseas during the last two years, according to an amendment in the newly approved Defense Authorization Bill.
Though it stops short of requiring the Defense Department to implement new policies to assist servicemembers affected by international child abduction, the amendment is intended to spur such a move, according to sponsor Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J.
"This will be the catalyst for significant reform," Smith told Stars and Stripes on Thursday.
The report, which is due to Congress within 180 days, requires the military to document current practices to assist servicemembers entangled in overseas custody battles. Smith, however, said there appears to be no consistent policy within the DOD to address the problem.
The amendment came as good news to troops such as Navy Cmdr. Paul Toland, who has been fighting for rights to his 7-year-old daughter in Japan since she was a baby. While stationed at Yokosuka Naval Base in Japan, Toland married a Japanese woman who he claims later abducted their daughter in 2003. Toland’s ex-wife died in 2007 and his former mother-in-law refuses to allow visitation, he said.
While U.S. laws provide for custody rights for both parents after a divorce, not every country protects those rights nor provides them.
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=65743
By Charlie Reed, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Saturday, October 31, 2009
The military will be required to submit a report on the number of troops who have been cut off from their children by family members overseas during the last two years, according to an amendment in the newly approved Defense Authorization Bill.
Though it stops short of requiring the Defense Department to implement new policies to assist servicemembers affected by international child abduction, the amendment is intended to spur such a move, according to sponsor Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J.
"This will be the catalyst for significant reform," Smith told Stars and Stripes on Thursday.
The report, which is due to Congress within 180 days, requires the military to document current practices to assist servicemembers entangled in overseas custody battles. Smith, however, said there appears to be no consistent policy within the DOD to address the problem.
The amendment came as good news to troops such as Navy Cmdr. Paul Toland, who has been fighting for rights to his 7-year-old daughter in Japan since she was a baby. While stationed at Yokosuka Naval Base in Japan, Toland married a Japanese woman who he claims later abducted their daughter in 2003. Toland’s ex-wife died in 2007 and his former mother-in-law refuses to allow visitation, he said.
While U.S. laws provide for custody rights for both parents after a divorce, not every country protects those rights nor provides them.
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=65743
Two more non-combat deaths in Iraq
10/27/09 MNF: U.S. Soldier dies in non-combat related incident
A Multi-National Corps-Iraq Soldier died today of a non-combat related injury at Camp Victory. The name of the deceased is being withheld pending notification of next of kin and release by the Department of Defense.
10/29/09 MNF: U.S. Soldier dies in non-combat related incident
A Soldier who was currently assigned to the 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) died Wednesday of a non-combat related injury at Camp Adder, Iraq. The name of the deceased is being withheld pending notification of next of kin and release by the Department of Defense.
go here for links
http://www.icasualties.org/Iraq/index.aspx
A Multi-National Corps-Iraq Soldier died today of a non-combat related injury at Camp Victory. The name of the deceased is being withheld pending notification of next of kin and release by the Department of Defense.
10/29/09 MNF: U.S. Soldier dies in non-combat related incident
A Soldier who was currently assigned to the 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) died Wednesday of a non-combat related injury at Camp Adder, Iraq. The name of the deceased is being withheld pending notification of next of kin and release by the Department of Defense.
go here for links
http://www.icasualties.org/Iraq/index.aspx
Sgt. Wolf, mother of two, killed in Afghanistan while husband serving there too
Hawthorne mother of two is killed on duty in Afghanistan
October 28, 2009 11:31 am
A Hawthorne woman with two young daughters died Sunday in Afghanistan when the vehicle in which she was traveling was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade.
Army Sgt. Eduviges G. Wolf, 24, of Hawthorne, was killed in Afghanistan's Kunar province when insurgents attacked the vehicle, military officials announced Tuesday.
Wolf's husband also was serving in Afghanistan at the time of her death and was returning home to be with their daughters, ages 1 and 3, according to the Long Beach Press-Telegram.
Wolf, who enlisted in the Army in 2003, had been deployed to Afghanistan since June, according to officials at Ft. Carson, Colo., where her unit, the 704th Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, is based.
read more here
Hawthorne mother of two is killed on duty in Afghanistan
Fort Lewis MP dies in Iraq
Fort Lewis MP dies in Iraq
MATT MISTEREK; The News Tribune
A highly decorated military police officer from Fort Lewis who saw previous action in Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan died Tuesday in Iraq in what the Department of Defense is calling a noncombat incident.
Maj. David L. Audo, 35, of Saint Joseph, Ill., died in Baghdad, according to DOD and Fort Lewis news releases issued Wednesday. He was assigned in July to Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment of the 22nd Military Police Battalion at Fort Lewis, and at the time of his death was the executive officer for the battalion’s forward element in Iraq.
He married Rebecca K. Johnson in 1998, according to her Web site, and they have two children, according to The News-Gazette of Champaign, Ill.
read more here
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/northwest/story/934024.html
MATT MISTEREK; The News Tribune
A highly decorated military police officer from Fort Lewis who saw previous action in Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan died Tuesday in Iraq in what the Department of Defense is calling a noncombat incident.
Maj. David L. Audo, 35, of Saint Joseph, Ill., died in Baghdad, according to DOD and Fort Lewis news releases issued Wednesday. He was assigned in July to Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment of the 22nd Military Police Battalion at Fort Lewis, and at the time of his death was the executive officer for the battalion’s forward element in Iraq.
He married Rebecca K. Johnson in 1998, according to her Web site, and they have two children, according to The News-Gazette of Champaign, Ill.
read more here
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/northwest/story/934024.html
Glenn Close Is Removing The Shame That Shadows Mental Illness
Regular people end up making celebrities heroes because everyone needs one. In this case, I do agree. Glenn Close could very well end up being a voice for millions of people but above all for those connected to the military, either by active duty or veteran, our real heroes.
It would have been wonderful if like Bob Dole talking about erectile dysfunction, there was another famous people talking about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder so that there would be more public knowledge of what it is and what it is not. Think of the millions of men seeking help for their own problems because Bob Dole showed them it was ok to talk about it. It didn't even matter if they liked him or not, the point was, he was publicly talking about it. This is what mental illness needed all along, especially when it comes to PTSD and the military. They are the first to go to help and the last to ask for help.
It would be wonderful if they could get the generals who came out publicly about their own war demons to do a commercial and show the others there is nothing to be ashamed of but until then, until someone in a position of power speaks out publicly, this will have to at least begin the conversation. So thank you Ron Howard and Glenn Close for doing this.
It would have been wonderful if like Bob Dole talking about erectile dysfunction, there was another famous people talking about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder so that there would be more public knowledge of what it is and what it is not. Think of the millions of men seeking help for their own problems because Bob Dole showed them it was ok to talk about it. It didn't even matter if they liked him or not, the point was, he was publicly talking about it. This is what mental illness needed all along, especially when it comes to PTSD and the military. They are the first to go to help and the last to ask for help.
It would be wonderful if they could get the generals who came out publicly about their own war demons to do a commercial and show the others there is nothing to be ashamed of but until then, until someone in a position of power speaks out publicly, this will have to at least begin the conversation. So thank you Ron Howard and Glenn Close for doing this.
Glenn Close Is Removing The Shame That Shadows Mental Illness
October 29, 2009
by Elizabeth Willoughby
In an effort to bring mental illness into everyday dialogue, Glenn Close co-created the Bring Change 2 Mind campaign and, with the help of director Ron Howard, created a public service announcement pointing out how common such illnesses really are.
The first problem about awareness, even though one in six adults suffer from one form or another, is that mental illness is invisible. The other problem is the stigma attached to it.
“I think a lot of people will find that it’s kind of a relief to simply acknowledge that mental health issues are something every family deals with,” says Howard, “and yet it clearly does still remain stigmatized.”
The stigma is so powerful that it causes many sufferers of illnesses such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and post traumatic stress disorder to go undiagnosed, and therefore remain without the help that is available to them.
go here for more
Glenn Close Is Removing The Shame
8 killed in Afghanistan were from Fort Lewis
8 killed in Afghanistan were from Fort Lewis
The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Oct 29, 2009 8:00:19 EDT
FORT LEWIS, Wash. — Fort Lewis has confirmed that eight soldiers who died in Afghanistan on Tuesday were assigned to a unit from the Army base near Tacoma, Wash.
Spokesman Joseph Piek said the soldiers were part of the 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team of the 2nd Infantry Division. He says seven were killed in an explosion of an improvised explosive device, while the eighth was killed in a separate attack, again using an IED.
The names of the soldiers have not yet been released.
The Defense Department also announced that an officer assigned to a military police unit based at Fort Lewis, 35-year-old Maj. David L. Audo, of St. Joseph, Ill., died Tuesday from a noncombat-related incident in Baghdad.
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/10/ap_lewis_soldiers_killed_afghanistan_102809/
UPDATE
Army IDs 7 Ft. Lewis soldiers killed IED attack
Staff report
Posted : Thursday Oct 29, 2009 18:12:22 EDT
The Defense Department on Thursday identified the seven soldiers killed Oct. 27 in Arghandab Valley in southern Afghanistan when their vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device.
The attack on the soldiers from 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, of Fort Lewis, Wash., was one of two attacks in as many days, claiming the lives of 14 soldiers. On Oct. 26, seven soldiers were killed when their helicopter crashed in western Afghanistan.
The soldiers killed in the IED attack were:
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/10/army_IED_IDs_102909w/
The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Oct 29, 2009 8:00:19 EDT
FORT LEWIS, Wash. — Fort Lewis has confirmed that eight soldiers who died in Afghanistan on Tuesday were assigned to a unit from the Army base near Tacoma, Wash.
Spokesman Joseph Piek said the soldiers were part of the 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team of the 2nd Infantry Division. He says seven were killed in an explosion of an improvised explosive device, while the eighth was killed in a separate attack, again using an IED.
The names of the soldiers have not yet been released.
The Defense Department also announced that an officer assigned to a military police unit based at Fort Lewis, 35-year-old Maj. David L. Audo, of St. Joseph, Ill., died Tuesday from a noncombat-related incident in Baghdad.
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/10/ap_lewis_soldiers_killed_afghanistan_102809/
UPDATE
Army IDs 7 Ft. Lewis soldiers killed IED attack
Staff report
Posted : Thursday Oct 29, 2009 18:12:22 EDT
The Defense Department on Thursday identified the seven soldiers killed Oct. 27 in Arghandab Valley in southern Afghanistan when their vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device.
The attack on the soldiers from 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, of Fort Lewis, Wash., was one of two attacks in as many days, claiming the lives of 14 soldiers. On Oct. 26, seven soldiers were killed when their helicopter crashed in western Afghanistan.
The soldiers killed in the IED attack were:
Staff Sgt. Luis M. Gonzalez, 27, of South Ozone Park, N.Y.
Sgt. Fernando Delarosa, 24, of Alamo, Texas
Sgt. Dale R. Griffin, 29, of Terre Haute, Ind.
Sgt. Issac B. Jackson, 27, of Plattsburg, Mo.
Sgt. Patrick O. Williamson, 24, of Broussard, La.
Spc. Jared D. Stanker, 22, of Evergreen Park, Ill
Pfc. Christopher I. Walz, 25, of Vancouver, Wash.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/10/army_IED_IDs_102909w/
GI shot himself to avoid deployment
Police: GI shot himself to avoid deployment
The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Oct 29, 2009 13:30:02 EDT
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Police in Colorado Springs say a Fort Carson soldier set to return to Afghanistan intentionally shot himself in the shoulder to avoid deployment.
They say 26-year-old Robert Murchison and his girlfriend found a parking spot near Penrose-St. Francis main hospital on Wednesday night and then he shot himself in the car.
Murchison and 28-year-old Chasaity Peoples allegedly first told police that they had stopped to help a stranded motorist and that the driver shot him.
Sgt. Jim Meyers says officers were suspicious and continued to question them. He says Peoples finally confessed to what happened.
Murchison is expected to remain hospitalized for the next few days but is expected to recover. He and his girlfriend could be charged with false reporting.
read more here
GI shot himself to avoid deployment
The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Oct 29, 2009 13:30:02 EDT
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Police in Colorado Springs say a Fort Carson soldier set to return to Afghanistan intentionally shot himself in the shoulder to avoid deployment.
They say 26-year-old Robert Murchison and his girlfriend found a parking spot near Penrose-St. Francis main hospital on Wednesday night and then he shot himself in the car.
Murchison and 28-year-old Chasaity Peoples allegedly first told police that they had stopped to help a stranded motorist and that the driver shot him.
Sgt. Jim Meyers says officers were suspicious and continued to question them. He says Peoples finally confessed to what happened.
Murchison is expected to remain hospitalized for the next few days but is expected to recover. He and his girlfriend could be charged with false reporting.
read more here
GI shot himself to avoid deployment
Former Lejeune Marine receiving partial disability due to water contamination
Former Lejeune Marine receiving partial disability due to water contamination
October 29, 2009 1:10 AM
HOPE HODGE
A former Camp Lejeune Marine who received partial disability benefits because of exposure to contaminated water on base believes other veterans should go to their doctors to get their claims substantiated.
John Hartung of Waukesha, Wis., was awarded a 30-percent disability from the Veterans Benefits Administration last month after his doctor drafted and signed a “nexus letter” verifying his medical belief that Hartung’s ailments were more likely than not caused by exposure to toxic water.
Hartung was stationed at Lejeune for six months in 1977 and said he “got sick right away” after exposure to base water, which contained significant amounts of leaked solvents including TCE and PCE between the 1950s and the 1980s. Hartung said he developed large cysts on the back of his neck as well as chronic fatigue and was discharged from the Marine Corps in 1978 because of continuing medical problems.
read more here
http://www.jdnews.com/news/disability-69320-partial-veterans.html
October 29, 2009 1:10 AM
HOPE HODGE
A former Camp Lejeune Marine who received partial disability benefits because of exposure to contaminated water on base believes other veterans should go to their doctors to get their claims substantiated.
John Hartung of Waukesha, Wis., was awarded a 30-percent disability from the Veterans Benefits Administration last month after his doctor drafted and signed a “nexus letter” verifying his medical belief that Hartung’s ailments were more likely than not caused by exposure to toxic water.
Hartung was stationed at Lejeune for six months in 1977 and said he “got sick right away” after exposure to base water, which contained significant amounts of leaked solvents including TCE and PCE between the 1950s and the 1980s. Hartung said he developed large cysts on the back of his neck as well as chronic fatigue and was discharged from the Marine Corps in 1978 because of continuing medical problems.
read more here
http://www.jdnews.com/news/disability-69320-partial-veterans.html
President Obama kept his promise on PTSD
When President Obama was running for the office, he made a trip to the Montana National Guard to take a look at the program they came up with to address suicides. Keep in mind that while I track this all day long everyday, then Senator Obama had a lot of other things to pay attention to. I knew this was one of the best programs out there, but so did Obama. That told me something right there. The man not only cared but was paying attention. He paid attention so much that he told the brother of Chris Dana, who committed suicide, that he would make sure this program went national if he ended up elected. President Obama just kept his promise with this.
Vet counseling programs national models
The Associated Press - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Oct 29, 2009 7:41:50 EDT
CONCORD, N.H. — Two veterans counseling measures based on New Hampshire programs have been signed into law.
The suicide prevention amendment was sponsored by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen and Congressman Paul Hodes. It requires that the Department of Defense establish a program to provide National Guard members and reservists, their families, and communities with training in suicide prevention and counseling in response to suicide.
The Yellow Ribbon Plus amendment, also sponsored by Shaheen, calls on the department to identify lessons learned from programs such as one in New Hampshire that identified the need for more personalized counseling and support services for National Guard and reservists and their families.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/10/ap_veterans_counseling_102909/
Recalculating GPS
Last year I had to take a trip into Tiffin Ohio. I wear glasses to read, which is a problem when trying to drive and read directions. I cannot see distances with the glasses on so I stretched out my arm trying to read and watch the road at the same time. It was a huge problem on this trip because I ended up lost in corn fields. Miles and miles of corn fields with no one to ask for directions. I kept looking at the directions trying to figure out where I went wrong, what turn I was supposed to take and getting really anxious. I needed to be at an important meeting on time but getting there was becoming to look more and more impossible until I decided to take a road I had not been on, ending up at a small restaurant where I received the directions to get me back on the right road.
Since I travel a lot plus end up getting lost no matter where I go, my daughter gave me a GPS for Christmas last year. We played with the voices ending up picking Daniel with a British voice. Hearing his accent pronounce streets in Florida is hilarious but Daniel never allows me to become totally lost like that trip into Ohio. The GPS goes with me on planes and traveling around in Florida providing me with the confidence I need to get to where I am supposed to be.
Daniel watches over the road I'm on from a satellite, giving me instructions ahead of time, showing me every turn on the road ahead plus an arrow to tell me where they next turn will be. Whenever I mess up, Daniel tells me he is recalculating so that I get on the right road again. No matter how badly I mess up, he always gets me to where I'm going.
Our lives are much like my driving. We may know where we are supposed to end up but taking the best way there is often met with our will, ego and inability to read the signs. We get lost. When we have no clue what God's Plan is, that makes it even harder. We may have some indication of what we were intended for, but life's challenges get in the way as well. Bad advice can have us taking a totally wrong turn. The interference of others can cause detours but God somehow manages to get us back on the right road if we listen to His directions.
God's Plan Succeeds when we follow His lead but we cannot hear His voice. We forget He's watching over us much like Daniel's screen would be totally blank if I did not charge the battery. While Daniel still knows how to get me where I'm going, it does me no good if I allow the battery to die. It is the same way with God. If we allow what connects us to God, our faith, to run dry, it is as if it was not there at all. We're totally lost, alone and confused.
With some luck we may end up with directions from someone but we can never really be sure they are putting us on the right road or not. How could we be when we are no longer sure of where we are supposed to go?
When we are living out our days, we are traveling on a path that will affect our future. Each day we take what came before and we use the knowledge of successes and failures hoping we learn from both. Sometimes our past includes traumatic events and sometimes those events end up getting us on the wrong path, causing us to stop dead in our tracks or totally turning us around so that we never really get to where we are supposed to go.
Civilians will experience at least one traumatic event in their lives. The death of someone they love is always traumatic but especially traumatic when it is from an accident, fire, natural disaster or crime. Some of us will be involved with traumatic events in our own lives or we may witness them. These events leave all of us changed.
Some of us enter into law enforcement or emergency services like the fire department. They will experience more trauma than the average citizen as they fulfill their duties. They are changed with each one.
Some of us enter into the military and in times of war, the traumatic experiences occur more often than most individuals are prepared to recover from easily. When the person is a compassionate individual, those events end up cutting into them. Some end up with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, an anxiety disorder, caused by events and not by the person. PTSD can only come after trauma. The word "trauma" is Greek for "wound" leaving this a very telling term to use. It literally means "after trauma" fully explaining why people change after events out of their control.
This is where a GPS would come in very handy. There would be a calm voice while we are afraid telling us where to go for help. That the wrong choices we made in our lives were due to detours others put before us and there was a way to no longer be lost because we were being watched over. We were not traveling on this road by ourselves and had someone showing us the way.
We actually have all we need to recover but most of us have let that connection die. Everything we need to heal in within us and around us but it takes plugging into the sources and recharging the power.
We need to connect to the knowledge of what PTSD is accumulated over the last 30 years. We need to connect to the faith that we had so that we can heal the wound within our minds and reclaim our hope.
It is all there. We have a GPS showing the way to healing so that we can get back to where we are supposed to go.
What can happen when you heal is that you help others heal by watching over them and making them feel sure they are not alone.
Since I travel a lot plus end up getting lost no matter where I go, my daughter gave me a GPS for Christmas last year. We played with the voices ending up picking Daniel with a British voice. Hearing his accent pronounce streets in Florida is hilarious but Daniel never allows me to become totally lost like that trip into Ohio. The GPS goes with me on planes and traveling around in Florida providing me with the confidence I need to get to where I am supposed to be.
Daniel watches over the road I'm on from a satellite, giving me instructions ahead of time, showing me every turn on the road ahead plus an arrow to tell me where they next turn will be. Whenever I mess up, Daniel tells me he is recalculating so that I get on the right road again. No matter how badly I mess up, he always gets me to where I'm going.
Our lives are much like my driving. We may know where we are supposed to end up but taking the best way there is often met with our will, ego and inability to read the signs. We get lost. When we have no clue what God's Plan is, that makes it even harder. We may have some indication of what we were intended for, but life's challenges get in the way as well. Bad advice can have us taking a totally wrong turn. The interference of others can cause detours but God somehow manages to get us back on the right road if we listen to His directions.
God's Plan Succeeds when we follow His lead but we cannot hear His voice. We forget He's watching over us much like Daniel's screen would be totally blank if I did not charge the battery. While Daniel still knows how to get me where I'm going, it does me no good if I allow the battery to die. It is the same way with God. If we allow what connects us to God, our faith, to run dry, it is as if it was not there at all. We're totally lost, alone and confused.
With some luck we may end up with directions from someone but we can never really be sure they are putting us on the right road or not. How could we be when we are no longer sure of where we are supposed to go?
When we are living out our days, we are traveling on a path that will affect our future. Each day we take what came before and we use the knowledge of successes and failures hoping we learn from both. Sometimes our past includes traumatic events and sometimes those events end up getting us on the wrong path, causing us to stop dead in our tracks or totally turning us around so that we never really get to where we are supposed to go.
Civilians will experience at least one traumatic event in their lives. The death of someone they love is always traumatic but especially traumatic when it is from an accident, fire, natural disaster or crime. Some of us will be involved with traumatic events in our own lives or we may witness them. These events leave all of us changed.
Some of us enter into law enforcement or emergency services like the fire department. They will experience more trauma than the average citizen as they fulfill their duties. They are changed with each one.
Some of us enter into the military and in times of war, the traumatic experiences occur more often than most individuals are prepared to recover from easily. When the person is a compassionate individual, those events end up cutting into them. Some end up with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, an anxiety disorder, caused by events and not by the person. PTSD can only come after trauma. The word "trauma" is Greek for "wound" leaving this a very telling term to use. It literally means "after trauma" fully explaining why people change after events out of their control.
This is where a GPS would come in very handy. There would be a calm voice while we are afraid telling us where to go for help. That the wrong choices we made in our lives were due to detours others put before us and there was a way to no longer be lost because we were being watched over. We were not traveling on this road by ourselves and had someone showing us the way.
We actually have all we need to recover but most of us have let that connection die. Everything we need to heal in within us and around us but it takes plugging into the sources and recharging the power.
We need to connect to the knowledge of what PTSD is accumulated over the last 30 years. We need to connect to the faith that we had so that we can heal the wound within our minds and reclaim our hope.
It is all there. We have a GPS showing the way to healing so that we can get back to where we are supposed to go.
Posted to Great Americans by NamGuardianAngel on September 10, 2009
What can happen when you heal is that you help others heal by watching over them and making them feel sure they are not alone.
President Obama attends return of fallen troops from Afghanistan
As sad as it is to lose so many on one day, we must think of the families. We must also acknowledge that the men and women these service members served with will grieve as well.
It's so easy to pray for them when we send them, that God watches over them. The risk is obvious to all of us. It is easy to pray for them when they are risking their lives facing dangers all day, every day. We say a prayer of thanks when they come home. Too many of us then believe our obligation to them ends, no more need for prayers or to do anything for them. We must keep them in our hearts and our prayers even then because the need to find peace, the need to heal and to feel God's love is just as strong as the day they left. That is because no one returns from war the same way. All are touched by what they witnessed. They do their duty even with their pain and far too many need help to heal. Be ever watchful over them and remember just because they're back, that does not mean the risk to their lives is over. We lose 18 veterans a day by suicide and over 10,000 a year try to commit suicide. Families fall apart in a time when they need to support each other the most.
Never forget the sacrifice they all make for the sake of this nation they serve.
It's so easy to pray for them when we send them, that God watches over them. The risk is obvious to all of us. It is easy to pray for them when they are risking their lives facing dangers all day, every day. We say a prayer of thanks when they come home. Too many of us then believe our obligation to them ends, no more need for prayers or to do anything for them. We must keep them in our hearts and our prayers even then because the need to find peace, the need to heal and to feel God's love is just as strong as the day they left. That is because no one returns from war the same way. All are touched by what they witnessed. They do their duty even with their pain and far too many need help to heal. Be ever watchful over them and remember just because they're back, that does not mean the risk to their lives is over. We lose 18 veterans a day by suicide and over 10,000 a year try to commit suicide. Families fall apart in a time when they need to support each other the most.
Never forget the sacrifice they all make for the sake of this nation they serve.
Obama attends return of fallen troops from Afghanistan
October 29, 2009 8:46 a.m. EDT
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
President Obama was on hand as bodies of soldiers who died in Afghanistan returned home
DEA agents, U.S. troops were recently killed in helicopter crash
Eight U.S. soldiers also killed by roadside bomb in Afghanistan
(CNN) -- The flag-draped cases of 18 Americans killed in Afghanistan arrived at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware early Thursday, in a solemn event attended by President Obama.
Also in attendance for the transfer of the bodies were U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Michele Leonhart, acting DEA administrator.
The bodies were of three Drug Enforcement Administration special agents and 15 U.S. troops who died in Afghanistan this week.
The DEA agents were killed Monday as they returned from a raid on a compound believed to be harboring insurgents tied to drug trafficking. Their helicopter with seven troops aboard went down in western Afghanistan.
go here for more and for video
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/10/29/dover.bodies/index.html
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
PTSD:Your Gastrointestinal disorders could be part of PTSD
ACG: GI Disorders in Military, 9/11 Responders Studied
Active-duty military and World Trade Center responders may have higher disorder ratesPublish date: Oct 26, 2009
MONDAY, Oct. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Active-duty military personnel and World Trade Center (WTC) workers have an increased risk of gastrointestinal disorders, according to two studies presented this week at the American College of Gastroenterology Annual Scientific Meeting, held from Oct. 23 to 28 in San Diego.
In one study, Mark Riddle, M.D., of the Naval Medical Research Center in Silver Spring, Md., and colleagues analyzed data from the Defense Medical Surveillance System to identify 31,866 cases of functional gastrointestinal disorders and matched each case to four controls. They found a strong association between infectious gastroenteritis and all functional gastrointestinal disorders, observing the highest risk for functional diarrhea and irritable bowel syndrome (odds ratios, 6.28 and 3.72, respectively).
In a second study, Yvette Lam, M.D., of the Stony Brook University Medical Center in New York, and colleagues studied 697 World Trade Center responders. They found that 41 percent of subjects had gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), more than 20 percent higher than in the general population. In addition, participants with GERD had a higher prevalence of mental health disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.
read more here
GI Disorders in Military, 9/11 Responders Studied
Active-duty military and World Trade Center responders may have higher disorder ratesPublish date: Oct 26, 2009
MONDAY, Oct. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Active-duty military personnel and World Trade Center (WTC) workers have an increased risk of gastrointestinal disorders, according to two studies presented this week at the American College of Gastroenterology Annual Scientific Meeting, held from Oct. 23 to 28 in San Diego.
In one study, Mark Riddle, M.D., of the Naval Medical Research Center in Silver Spring, Md., and colleagues analyzed data from the Defense Medical Surveillance System to identify 31,866 cases of functional gastrointestinal disorders and matched each case to four controls. They found a strong association between infectious gastroenteritis and all functional gastrointestinal disorders, observing the highest risk for functional diarrhea and irritable bowel syndrome (odds ratios, 6.28 and 3.72, respectively).
In a second study, Yvette Lam, M.D., of the Stony Brook University Medical Center in New York, and colleagues studied 697 World Trade Center responders. They found that 41 percent of subjects had gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), more than 20 percent higher than in the general population. In addition, participants with GERD had a higher prevalence of mental health disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.
read more here
GI Disorders in Military, 9/11 Responders Studied
Veteran talks about stress disorder
Veteran talks about stress disorder
By Meghan Walsh, Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
“I didn’t have issues. There were just stupid people around me doing stupid things,” Eddie Black told about 50 people at Southwestern Oregon Community College on Tuesday night.
That’s how Black felt when he returned home from serving in Baghdad, Iraq, in 2005. Other soldiers from his company were getting divorced and drinking heavily. They couldn’t control their anger. But Black was “peachy keen.”
In reality, the U.S. Army Infantry and Marine Corps veteran was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Like many veterans, however, his own perceptions of mental health and cultural stigmatisms prevented him from seeking help.
“I remember thinking to myself, ‘Is this what it’s like to be pregnant and have all those horBetween 2000 and 2006, 1,066 male Oregon veterans committed suicide. That averages about 3.7 deaths a week. Yet, PTSD only recently has been brought to the forefront of society’s consciousness.
go here for more
Maybe you can see better that PTSD is not new just because it's now news.
That's the bulk of the problem here. Wishing people like me were listened to that long ago will not bring back a single life lost, a son or daughter, a mother or father. Praying people like me are finally listened to may save lives in the future but what about today?
The poison lingers for some veterans
The poison lingers for some veterans
Veterans feeling effects
AGENT ORANGE STILL A SCOURGE
By Aaron Nicodemus TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
Ask any Vietnam veteran if he was exposed to Agent Orange, and you'll likely get a shrug and a nod.
“The stuff was everywhere,” said Gary P. Swenson of Oxford, a Worcester native and U.S. Army Vietnam veteran. “They never told anyone where they were spraying, or what they were spraying.”
Vietnam veteran James C. Savage III of Worcester said of Agent Orange, “It was a pretty hard thing to figure out where it was not.”
Agent Orange, named for the orange-colored barrels it came in, was a defoliant used to burn back thick brush and jungle in Vietnam from 1961 to 1970. It contained dioxin, a chemical now classified as a carcinogen. As many as 2.6 million U.S. soldiers were exposed to the chemical, which has been linked to birth defects and cancer deaths in thousands of Vietnamese and Cambodians.
They're all still suffering health effects 40 years later.
go here for more
http://www.telegram.com/article/20091028/NEWS/910280441/1003/NEWS03
Veterans feeling effects
AGENT ORANGE STILL A SCOURGE
By Aaron Nicodemus TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
Ask any Vietnam veteran if he was exposed to Agent Orange, and you'll likely get a shrug and a nod.
“The stuff was everywhere,” said Gary P. Swenson of Oxford, a Worcester native and U.S. Army Vietnam veteran. “They never told anyone where they were spraying, or what they were spraying.”
Vietnam veteran James C. Savage III of Worcester said of Agent Orange, “It was a pretty hard thing to figure out where it was not.”
Agent Orange, named for the orange-colored barrels it came in, was a defoliant used to burn back thick brush and jungle in Vietnam from 1961 to 1970. It contained dioxin, a chemical now classified as a carcinogen. As many as 2.6 million U.S. soldiers were exposed to the chemical, which has been linked to birth defects and cancer deaths in thousands of Vietnamese and Cambodians.
They're all still suffering health effects 40 years later.
go here for more
http://www.telegram.com/article/20091028/NEWS/910280441/1003/NEWS03
Jury awards at least $750,000 to former soldier
Jury awards at least $750,000 to former soldier
The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Oct 28, 2009 9:04:35 EDT
GREENSBORO, N.C. — A former Army sergeant wounded during a military training exercise was awarded at least $750,000 in his lawsuit against the Moore County Sheriff’s Office and the former deputy who shot him.
The Fayetteville Observer reported that the federal jury in Greensboro awarded the money to former Army Sgt. Stephen Phelps, who was injured in the February 2002 shooting that killed another soldier. He had sued the sheriff’s office and former Deputy Randall Butler.
“I was happy that the truth finally came out,” Phelps said after the verdict was read Tuesday night.
The jury awarded $650,000 in compensatory damages and $100,000 or $200,000 in punitive damages Tuesday night. Phelps’ lawyer, Carlos Mahoney, had sought $1.2 million.
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/10/ap_soldier_lawsuit_102809/
The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Oct 28, 2009 9:04:35 EDT
GREENSBORO, N.C. — A former Army sergeant wounded during a military training exercise was awarded at least $750,000 in his lawsuit against the Moore County Sheriff’s Office and the former deputy who shot him.
The Fayetteville Observer reported that the federal jury in Greensboro awarded the money to former Army Sgt. Stephen Phelps, who was injured in the February 2002 shooting that killed another soldier. He had sued the sheriff’s office and former Deputy Randall Butler.
“I was happy that the truth finally came out,” Phelps said after the verdict was read Tuesday night.
The jury awarded $650,000 in compensatory damages and $100,000 or $200,000 in punitive damages Tuesday night. Phelps’ lawyer, Carlos Mahoney, had sought $1.2 million.
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/10/ap_soldier_lawsuit_102809/
Police and PTSD:There's more than one victim in Bethel fatal shooting
There's more than one victim in Bethel fatal shooting
Updated: 10/27/2009 10:38:43 PM EDT
Gary Bush has never met Michael Libertini, the Bethel police sergeant who shot and killed 56-year-old Joseph DellaVentura on Saturday, after DellaVentura allegedly pointed a gun at him.
But the bond Bush and Libertini share is unquestionable.
It's also unwanted.
Bush, a former police officer in Charleston, W.Va., knows just how Libertini feels.
On Dec. 23, 1994, at 10:41 p.m. -- exactly 25 hours and 19 minutes before Christmas, he'll tell you -- Bush shot and killed a man named Franklin Knuckles.
Bush said Knuckles was drunk that night when police entered the garage apartment where he was holed up.
In similar fashion to what Bethel police say DellaVentura did, Knuckles ignored commands to drop his weapon. Instead, Bush said, Knuckles pointed a rifle at him and Bush fired one round in response.
Just like that, two lives changed forever.
"My shooting took place in this little 10-by-6 room. It might as well have been a firefight in a walk-in closet," said the 48-year-old Bush, who now lives in Cincinnati.
"Even after all this time, I look back and ask, 'Why did this happen?' You can't explain it because it doesn't make sense," Bush reflected. "In my case, I ended up retiring a little over a year after the shooting."
Almost 15 years later, Bush still attends therapy. He still takes medication for depression. He still battles post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) and its demons, nightmares and flashbacks.
read more here
http://www.newstimes.com/ci_13655294
Updated: 10/27/2009 10:38:43 PM EDT
Gary Bush has never met Michael Libertini, the Bethel police sergeant who shot and killed 56-year-old Joseph DellaVentura on Saturday, after DellaVentura allegedly pointed a gun at him.
But the bond Bush and Libertini share is unquestionable.
It's also unwanted.
Bush, a former police officer in Charleston, W.Va., knows just how Libertini feels.
On Dec. 23, 1994, at 10:41 p.m. -- exactly 25 hours and 19 minutes before Christmas, he'll tell you -- Bush shot and killed a man named Franklin Knuckles.
Bush said Knuckles was drunk that night when police entered the garage apartment where he was holed up.
In similar fashion to what Bethel police say DellaVentura did, Knuckles ignored commands to drop his weapon. Instead, Bush said, Knuckles pointed a rifle at him and Bush fired one round in response.
Just like that, two lives changed forever.
"My shooting took place in this little 10-by-6 room. It might as well have been a firefight in a walk-in closet," said the 48-year-old Bush, who now lives in Cincinnati.
"Even after all this time, I look back and ask, 'Why did this happen?' You can't explain it because it doesn't make sense," Bush reflected. "In my case, I ended up retiring a little over a year after the shooting."
Almost 15 years later, Bush still attends therapy. He still takes medication for depression. He still battles post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) and its demons, nightmares and flashbacks.
read more here
http://www.newstimes.com/ci_13655294
Core Construction gets $6.5M VA contract in Viera Florida
Core gets $6.5M VA contract in Viera
Orlando Business Journal
Core Engineering & Construction Inc. received a $6.5 million task order to build a 30,000-square-foot addition to a Veterans Administration facility in Viera.
Winter Park-based Core, which got the contract in September, will build a single-story addition of a VA outpatient clinic onto the existing 1.2 million square-foot medical complex. adding 80 rooms to the existing 130, said Paul Goldsmith, president of Core.
Site work began earlier this month and the project is expected to be completed in December 2010.
The contract is part of a larger, $50 million prime contract Core received last year from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers mobile district. Core also is handling construction services for the renovation of a dental clinic and replacing the Orlando VA Lakemont campus, said a news release.
http://orlando.bizjournals.com/orlando/stories/2009/10/26/daily14.html
Orlando Business Journal
Core Engineering & Construction Inc. received a $6.5 million task order to build a 30,000-square-foot addition to a Veterans Administration facility in Viera.
Winter Park-based Core, which got the contract in September, will build a single-story addition of a VA outpatient clinic onto the existing 1.2 million square-foot medical complex. adding 80 rooms to the existing 130, said Paul Goldsmith, president of Core.
Site work began earlier this month and the project is expected to be completed in December 2010.
The contract is part of a larger, $50 million prime contract Core received last year from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers mobile district. Core also is handling construction services for the renovation of a dental clinic and replacing the Orlando VA Lakemont campus, said a news release.
http://orlando.bizjournals.com/orlando/stories/2009/10/26/daily14.html
VA Seeks Temporary Contractor to Help Process Education Claims
VA Seeks Temporary Contractor to Help Process Education Claims
WASHINGTON (Oct. 28, 2009) - On Oct. 21, the Department of Veterans
Affairs (VA) issued a solicitation for temporary contractor support to
assist in processing the increased volume of education claims received
since implementing the new Post-9/11 GI Bill.
"This contract will assist VA in delivering education benefits to our
Veterans as quickly as possible," said Under Secretary for Benefits
Patrick W. Dunne. "Veterans are depending on VA to provide the benefits
they earned through their service to our nation. We will do everything
in our power to minimize delays for our Veteran-students."
The Post-9/11 GI Bill, which went into effect on August 1, 2009, has
generated an unprecedented number of new applications. When combined
with the standard high volume of school enrollment claims in August and
September (normally, the busiest months for education claims), the
number of claims has exceeded anticipated levels.
The contractor will provide its own work site and personnel to perform
claims processing tasks. Contract staff will validate enrollment
information provided by schools and provide recommendations on claim
status to VA personnel, who will finalize claims decisions and generate
payments (if applicable).
All work will be reviewed and authorized by VA personnel. VA will
provide training on security and claims processing procedures. The
contract personnel will assist in handling the least complex cases,
which allows for rapid implementation of this initiative.
Information about the Post-9/11 GI Bill, as well as VA's other
educational benefit programs, is available at VA's Web site,
www.gibill.va.gov
or by calling
1-888-GIBILL-1 (or 1-888-442-4551).
WASHINGTON (Oct. 28, 2009) - On Oct. 21, the Department of Veterans
Affairs (VA) issued a solicitation for temporary contractor support to
assist in processing the increased volume of education claims received
since implementing the new Post-9/11 GI Bill.
"This contract will assist VA in delivering education benefits to our
Veterans as quickly as possible," said Under Secretary for Benefits
Patrick W. Dunne. "Veterans are depending on VA to provide the benefits
they earned through their service to our nation. We will do everything
in our power to minimize delays for our Veteran-students."
The Post-9/11 GI Bill, which went into effect on August 1, 2009, has
generated an unprecedented number of new applications. When combined
with the standard high volume of school enrollment claims in August and
September (normally, the busiest months for education claims), the
number of claims has exceeded anticipated levels.
The contractor will provide its own work site and personnel to perform
claims processing tasks. Contract staff will validate enrollment
information provided by schools and provide recommendations on claim
status to VA personnel, who will finalize claims decisions and generate
payments (if applicable).
All work will be reviewed and authorized by VA personnel. VA will
provide training on security and claims processing procedures. The
contract personnel will assist in handling the least complex cases,
which allows for rapid implementation of this initiative.
Information about the Post-9/11 GI Bill, as well as VA's other
educational benefit programs, is available at VA's Web site,
www.gibill.va.gov
or by calling
1-888-GIBILL-1 (or 1-888-442-4551).
Groundbreaking Court Decision for Vets With PTSD
A Groundbreaking Court Decision for Vets With PTSD
Wed Oct 28, 2009 9:02am
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- A groundbreaking verdict for accused
Veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) was decided in Canyon
City, Oregon on October 19 when former soldier Jesse Bratcher, on trial for
murder, was found guilty by reason of insanity. It was the first trial in the
U.S. where a Veteran's PTSD was successfully considered to mitigate the
circumstances of a crime.
Dr. William Brown and Dr. Robert Stanulis from The Bunker Project, who work on
Veteran defense cases throughout Oregon and Washington, provided research and
testimony for Bratcher's attorney who argued that his PTSD and the influence
of the Military Total Institution shaped his actions in the killing of Jose
Ceja Medina. Bratcher believed his girlfriend had been raped by the man he
shot to death. Bratcher is VA rated as 100% disabled due to PTSD he developed
while deployed in Iraq. Bratcher was a model citizen before joining the Army,
with no criminal or juvenile history.
Bratcher strictly adhered to the rules of engagement in Iraq, twice refusing
to fire on civilians. There, he witnessed the death of a friend from an IED
explosion, which commanders reported drastically changed Bratcher's mental
state.
read more here
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS147712+28-Oct-2009+PRN20091028
Fort Wainwright soldier recalls saving medic
Fort Wainwright soldier recalls saving medic from insurgent grenade
by Chris Freiberg
FAIRBANKS — Sgt. Ricardo Montoya didn’t feel anything as the grenade blew up at his feet.
It was May 18, and the 31-year-old father of six was on patrol in Mosul, Iraq, as part of his second deployment to the country.
While most of Fort Wainwright’s 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team was stationed in Iraq’s northeastern Diyala province, Montoya and the rest of Alpha Company from the 1-5 Infantry were attached to another brigade several months earlier and sent further north to Mosul.
read more here
Fort Wainwright soldier recalls saving medic
by Chris Freiberg
FAIRBANKS — Sgt. Ricardo Montoya didn’t feel anything as the grenade blew up at his feet.
It was May 18, and the 31-year-old father of six was on patrol in Mosul, Iraq, as part of his second deployment to the country.
While most of Fort Wainwright’s 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team was stationed in Iraq’s northeastern Diyala province, Montoya and the rest of Alpha Company from the 1-5 Infantry were attached to another brigade several months earlier and sent further north to Mosul.
read more here
Fort Wainwright soldier recalls saving medic
Girl gang raped at Richmond High School as 20 just watched
I wonder if they would have wanted others to help if it was happening to them?
I wonder if they would have wanted others to help if it was a sister of their's or their own girlfriend?
They were talking about it after as if they were talking about some kind of TV show while she was left alone and unconscious!
I wonder if they would have wanted others to help if it was a sister of their's or their own girlfriend?
They were talking about it after as if they were talking about some kind of TV show while she was left alone and unconscious!
The victim was found unconscious under a bench shortly before midnight Saturday, after police received a call from someone in the area who had overheard people at the assault scene "reminiscing about the incident," Richmond Police Lt. Mark Gagan said.
Police: As many as 20 present at gang rape outside school dance
October 28, 2009 9:03 a.m. EDT
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
10 people involved in assault, 10 others watched and offered no help, police say
Richmond, California, police say student was gang raped for over two hours
Former student, 19, and 15-year-old arrested
Victim, 15, remains in the hospital in stable condition
Richmond, California (CNN) -- Investigators say as many as 20 people were involved in or stood and watched the gang rape of a 15-year-old girl outside a California high school homecoming dance Saturday night.
Police posted a $20,000 reward Tuesday for anyone who comes to them with information that helps arrest and convict those involved in what authorities describe as a 2½-hour assault on the Richmond High School campus in suburban San Francisco.
Two teenage suspects have been jailed, but more arrests, as many as 20 total, are expected, according to a police detective.
read more here
As many as 20 present at gang rape outside school dance
Gunmen storm UN guest house in Kabul, 12 dead
Gunmen storm UN guest house in Kabul, 12 dead
By RAHIM FAIEZ and AMIR SHAH, AP
KABUL -Taliban militants wearing suicide vests and police uniforms stormed a guest house used by U.N. staff in the heart of the Afghan capital early Wednesday, killing 12 people — including six U.N. staff. It was the biggest in a series of attacks intended to undermine next month's presidential runoff election.
A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the early morning assaults, which also included rocket attacks at the presidential palace and the city's main luxury hotel.
The chief of the United Nations mission in Afghanistan, Kai Eide, said the attack "will not deter the U.N. from continuing all its work" in the country. One of the six U.N. dead was an American, the U.S. Embassy said.
The two-hour attack on the guest house where some 20 U.N. election workers were staying sent people running and screaming outside, with some jumping out upper-story windows to escape a fire that broke out. One American man said he held off the assailants with a Kalashnikov rifle until guests were able to escape.
read more here
Gunmen storm UN guest house in Kabul
By RAHIM FAIEZ and AMIR SHAH, AP
KABUL -Taliban militants wearing suicide vests and police uniforms stormed a guest house used by U.N. staff in the heart of the Afghan capital early Wednesday, killing 12 people — including six U.N. staff. It was the biggest in a series of attacks intended to undermine next month's presidential runoff election.
A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the early morning assaults, which also included rocket attacks at the presidential palace and the city's main luxury hotel.
The chief of the United Nations mission in Afghanistan, Kai Eide, said the attack "will not deter the U.N. from continuing all its work" in the country. One of the six U.N. dead was an American, the U.S. Embassy said.
The two-hour attack on the guest house where some 20 U.N. election workers were staying sent people running and screaming outside, with some jumping out upper-story windows to escape a fire that broke out. One American man said he held off the assailants with a Kalashnikov rifle until guests were able to escape.
read more here
Gunmen storm UN guest house in Kabul
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
8 U.S. soldiers killed in Afghanistan
8 U.S. soldiers killed in Afghanistan
October 27, 2009 4:26 p.m. EDT
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Seven soldiers killed were inside armored vehicles, military official says
October 2009 is deadliest month for U.S. troops in Afghanistan since war began
Afghan civilian working with NATO also killed in attacks
Several other U.S. service members wounded, U.S. military says
Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- The U.S. military suffered another day of heavy losses in Afghanistan on Tuesday as roadside bombs killed eight soldiers, two military officials told CNN.
An Afghan civilian working with NATO troops also was killed in the attacks in southern Afghanistan, the military said. The officials said that, according to initial reports, one blast took place just outside Kandahar and the other was in neighboring Zabul province.
Seven of the soldiers who died were traveling together in one vehicle, said Sgt. Jerome Baysmore with the International Security Assistance Force Joint Command.
read more here
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/10/27/afghan.deaths/index.html
October 27, 2009 4:26 p.m. EDT
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Seven soldiers killed were inside armored vehicles, military official says
October 2009 is deadliest month for U.S. troops in Afghanistan since war began
Afghan civilian working with NATO also killed in attacks
Several other U.S. service members wounded, U.S. military says
Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- The U.S. military suffered another day of heavy losses in Afghanistan on Tuesday as roadside bombs killed eight soldiers, two military officials told CNN.
An Afghan civilian working with NATO troops also was killed in the attacks in southern Afghanistan, the military said. The officials said that, according to initial reports, one blast took place just outside Kandahar and the other was in neighboring Zabul province.
Seven of the soldiers who died were traveling together in one vehicle, said Sgt. Jerome Baysmore with the International Security Assistance Force Joint Command.
read more here
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/10/27/afghan.deaths/index.html
Military suicides not worthy of condolences from President?
This is not about Democrat or Republican. This is about the hundreds of military suicides we've already seen along with those that will surly follow. It has been assumed that when a man or woman dies while serving the nation the very least this nation can do is deliver a letter from the President with the condolences of the nation, but that has not been happening.
This is wrong and has left hundreds of grieving families without an acknowledgment from this nation their family member's service was appreciated.
Suicide comes most of the time because the help they needed was not there for them. Most of the suicides in the military could have been prevented but even knowing that we have decided they do not deserve to have their service honored just because their lives ended by the enemy inside of them?
If you really want to get rid of the stigma of needing help here's the chance to do it. Honor all their lives by honoring all their deaths.
This is wrong and has left hundreds of grieving families without an acknowledgment from this nation their family member's service was appreciated.
Suicide comes most of the time because the help they needed was not there for them. Most of the suicides in the military could have been prevented but even knowing that we have decided they do not deserve to have their service honored just because their lives ended by the enemy inside of them?
If you really want to get rid of the stigma of needing help here's the chance to do it. Honor all their lives by honoring all their deaths.
Exclusive: Parents of Soldier Who Killed Himself in Iraq Speak Out
Gregg and Jannett Keesling are the parents of Chancellor Keesling, a US soldier who took his own life on June 19th of this year. Chancellor was on his second tour of duty in Iraq. During his first deployment, he suffered mental health issues so severe he was placed on suicide watch. After getting back to the United States, Chancellor had turned down a bonus offer to return to Iraq in the hopes he wouldn’t be redeployed. But he was called back in May. One month later, he took his own life. Since Chancellor’s death, Gregg and Jannett Keesling have yet to receive a letter of condolence from President Obama. After making inquiries, they discovered that this was not because of an oversight. Instead, it’s because of a longstanding US policy to deny presidential condolence letters to the families of soldiers who take their own lives. [includes rush transcript]
AMY GOODMAN: Since Chancellor’s death, Gregg and Jannett Keesling have yet to receive a letter of condolence from President Obama. After making inquiries, they discovered this was not because of an oversight. Instead, it’s because of a longstanding US policy to deny presidential condolence letters to the families of soldiers who have committed suicide.go here for more
http://www.democracynow.org/2009/10/27/exclusive_parents_of_soldier_who_killed
Vietnam Vet returns to Vietnam to heal
Vet will be among 20 people, including seven other veterans, who will be in the country on Veterans Day
By Paul Fattig
Mail Tribune
MEDFORD — When Michael Phillips returned from Vietnam in 1971, the Army veteran didn't exactly march back into society.
"When I got back, I didn't associate with my family, I didn't join the VFW or anything," said the Medford resident. "I came close to getting married several times but each time managed to mess it up. I partied a lot but it was very hard for me to get close to anybody.
"I thought I was invincible because I had survived the war," said the former Army specialist fourth class who drove in a combat convoy in Vietnam and into Cambodia. "But my PTSD was causing severe depression."
His diagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder, which he and counselors say led to drug abuse and homelessness over the years, also is the reason he is returning to Vietnam on Nov. 3.
"I'm not going back there with a lot of feelings of guilt or anger," he stressed. "I'm going back there to learn how to help other veterans heal, although I anticipate there will be moments when I have my issues."
Phillips will be among 20 people on the trip, including eight veterans, their spouses and several others with ties to Vietnam or the war.
The trip is the result of Phillips attending a Soldier's Heart presentation by noted psychotherapist Ed Tick in Medford in February of this year. Phillips later attended a retreat for veterans on Orca Island in Puget Sound conducted by Tick, who is known nationally for helping veterans with PTSD. He leads groups of veterans back to Vietnam each year as part of the healing process.
read more here
http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091027/NEWS/910270312
By Paul Fattig
Mail Tribune
MEDFORD — When Michael Phillips returned from Vietnam in 1971, the Army veteran didn't exactly march back into society.
"When I got back, I didn't associate with my family, I didn't join the VFW or anything," said the Medford resident. "I came close to getting married several times but each time managed to mess it up. I partied a lot but it was very hard for me to get close to anybody.
"I thought I was invincible because I had survived the war," said the former Army specialist fourth class who drove in a combat convoy in Vietnam and into Cambodia. "But my PTSD was causing severe depression."
His diagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder, which he and counselors say led to drug abuse and homelessness over the years, also is the reason he is returning to Vietnam on Nov. 3.
"I'm not going back there with a lot of feelings of guilt or anger," he stressed. "I'm going back there to learn how to help other veterans heal, although I anticipate there will be moments when I have my issues."
Phillips will be among 20 people on the trip, including eight veterans, their spouses and several others with ties to Vietnam or the war.
The trip is the result of Phillips attending a Soldier's Heart presentation by noted psychotherapist Ed Tick in Medford in February of this year. Phillips later attended a retreat for veterans on Orca Island in Puget Sound conducted by Tick, who is known nationally for helping veterans with PTSD. He leads groups of veterans back to Vietnam each year as part of the healing process.
read more here
http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091027/NEWS/910270312
Murdered Vietnam Vet finds honor too late from VA
VA Takes Back Slain Military Vet's Benefits
Families Of Vets Without Spouse, Children Can't Petition Takeback
POSTED: 3:18 pm EDT October 26, 2009
BALTIMORE -- Next month, Americans will pause to honor our nation's veterans, but the day will be tough for a Dundalk family who is mourning a slain Vietnam veteran while fighting the system that was designed to take care of him.
At 17, Daniel Hoeck needed his parent's permission to drop out of high school and fight a war in Vietnam. Two tours of duty later, he made it home safely with a Purple Heart and a deep conviction, according to his sister, Marie Davidson.
"My brother always loved his country. It didn't stop," she told 11 News I-Team reporter Deborah Weiner.
His love for country didn't stop as his body wore down from Agent Orange exposure and disease.
Daniel Hoeck was slain in his Westfield home during a burglary in February.
read more here
http://www.wbaltv.com/11investigates/21429584/detail.html
Families Of Vets Without Spouse, Children Can't Petition Takeback
POSTED: 3:18 pm EDT October 26, 2009
BALTIMORE -- Next month, Americans will pause to honor our nation's veterans, but the day will be tough for a Dundalk family who is mourning a slain Vietnam veteran while fighting the system that was designed to take care of him.
At 17, Daniel Hoeck needed his parent's permission to drop out of high school and fight a war in Vietnam. Two tours of duty later, he made it home safely with a Purple Heart and a deep conviction, according to his sister, Marie Davidson.
"My brother always loved his country. It didn't stop," she told 11 News I-Team reporter Deborah Weiner.
His love for country didn't stop as his body wore down from Agent Orange exposure and disease.
Daniel Hoeck was slain in his Westfield home during a burglary in February.
read more here
http://www.wbaltv.com/11investigates/21429584/detail.html
Before you were born He set you apart
Have you ever wondered what makes people go into the line of work they do? What makes a neurosurgeon decide they want to understand and operate of the human brain? What makes a member of the clergy decide to take care of other people? What makes a cop decide they are willing to go through what they do? The answer is, they listen to the calling of their soul.
If they hear it correctly instead of based on being pushed into it or out of their own ego, then they equipped to do whatever it was they were intended to do. Doing what they were designed for, they find their bliss. It does not mean they will have an easy time doing it because the rest of the world does not listen to their own calling, but they will find the courage, strength and ability to do it.
Jeremiah's mission was something he was well prepared for because God put it all into his soul. He was too afraid of what the world put into him to find it but God reassured him it was all there inside of him.
Each one of us are called to do something in this life. Most do what they do because they have a passion for it and they are pretty happy doing it. Some are forced into it and they are pretty miserable doing it. That is because what they are doing is not what God intended for them to do and they are missing what they need to do it with bliss.
What we all need to understand when it comes to PTSD is that what we need to heal is already inside each of us but first we need to understand what makes us all different.
When people decide to enter into the National Guards or become firefighters, usually there is great compassion within them and they want to help others in times of need. They have the courage within them to be willing to act, risking their own lives for the sake of someone else.
It is the same way when people decide to enter into the military or law enforcement. They have the same compassion and courage but they also have the additional knowledge they may have to take lives in order to save lives.
What we get wrong is when they are forced to do something they were not intended to do. This is one of the biggest reasons the National Guards are coming in with higher PTSD rates. They were sent to do something God did not intend for them to be doing. Yet even with this, there is still the ability to heal within them.
Just as with the military and law enforcement, the citizen soldiers or protector warriors, risk their lives and are often wounded emotionally by what they have to endure and they need help to heal from it. First they have to face it instead of denying it. To get them past that we need to make sure no one is still telling them or expecting them to "get over it."
We have to acknowledge what they were like most of their lives to begin to understand the changes in them are out of character, like a stranger inhabiting the body. That should be our first clue there is something much deeper than them simply changing. Look back in your history with them and know if they were compassionate and how deeply their compassion was. The deeper the ability to feel for others, the deeper PTSD will cut into them. Caring for others opens the door to feeling pain for others. The expression "it comes with the territory" applies well here.
If we understand where we all came from and what we enter into this world with, we end up doing what we were intended to do. The problem is getting from there to where we are now and then to where we need to go.
People will assume all kinds of things but among the long list is that they should have known better once they discover they got something wrong. They need to ask how they should have known better if no one ever told them. How would we understand anything about faith itself if no one ever bothered to write it down? How would we know anything about history if no one ever wrote anything? We all need to start looking at what we do know about people in general if we are every going to understand what makes some hurt more than others.
Veterans beat themselves up over suffering when they hear the truth, but no one ever told them the truth before.
Families beat themselves up over doing wrong things or making wrong judgments because they didn't know any better once they hear the truth.
We as a nation have an obligation to make sure every veteran, every police officer, every firefighter and emergency responder along with survivors, know what makes them so different they end up wounded by the events out of their control while others walk away. It begins with the level of compassion they have inside of them in the first place because they walk away with their own pain plus the pain others felt as well. It also comes from going through something abnormal they were not intended to experience and not equipped to endure. It comes from being in the wrong place too many times for the right reason. Above all, it comes from being a human just as imperfect as Jeremiah.
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart" so that you can do what you are supposed to do and when you need help, it is there inside of you and all around you.
If they hear it correctly instead of based on being pushed into it or out of their own ego, then they equipped to do whatever it was they were intended to do. Doing what they were designed for, they find their bliss. It does not mean they will have an easy time doing it because the rest of the world does not listen to their own calling, but they will find the courage, strength and ability to do it.
Jeremiah's mission was something he was well prepared for because God put it all into his soul. He was too afraid of what the world put into him to find it but God reassured him it was all there inside of him.
The Call of Jeremiah
4 The word of the LORD came to me, saying,
5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."
6 "Ah, Sovereign LORD," I said, "I do not know how to speak; I am only a child."
7 But the LORD said to me, "Do not say, 'I am only a child.' You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you.
8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you," declares the LORD.
9 Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, "Now, I have put my words in your mouth.
10 See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant." (www.biblegateway)
Each one of us are called to do something in this life. Most do what they do because they have a passion for it and they are pretty happy doing it. Some are forced into it and they are pretty miserable doing it. That is because what they are doing is not what God intended for them to do and they are missing what they need to do it with bliss.
What we all need to understand when it comes to PTSD is that what we need to heal is already inside each of us but first we need to understand what makes us all different.
When people decide to enter into the National Guards or become firefighters, usually there is great compassion within them and they want to help others in times of need. They have the courage within them to be willing to act, risking their own lives for the sake of someone else.
It is the same way when people decide to enter into the military or law enforcement. They have the same compassion and courage but they also have the additional knowledge they may have to take lives in order to save lives.
What we get wrong is when they are forced to do something they were not intended to do. This is one of the biggest reasons the National Guards are coming in with higher PTSD rates. They were sent to do something God did not intend for them to be doing. Yet even with this, there is still the ability to heal within them.
Just as with the military and law enforcement, the citizen soldiers or protector warriors, risk their lives and are often wounded emotionally by what they have to endure and they need help to heal from it. First they have to face it instead of denying it. To get them past that we need to make sure no one is still telling them or expecting them to "get over it."
We have to acknowledge what they were like most of their lives to begin to understand the changes in them are out of character, like a stranger inhabiting the body. That should be our first clue there is something much deeper than them simply changing. Look back in your history with them and know if they were compassionate and how deeply their compassion was. The deeper the ability to feel for others, the deeper PTSD will cut into them. Caring for others opens the door to feeling pain for others. The expression "it comes with the territory" applies well here.
If we understand where we all came from and what we enter into this world with, we end up doing what we were intended to do. The problem is getting from there to where we are now and then to where we need to go.
People will assume all kinds of things but among the long list is that they should have known better once they discover they got something wrong. They need to ask how they should have known better if no one ever told them. How would we understand anything about faith itself if no one ever bothered to write it down? How would we know anything about history if no one ever wrote anything? We all need to start looking at what we do know about people in general if we are every going to understand what makes some hurt more than others.
Veterans beat themselves up over suffering when they hear the truth, but no one ever told them the truth before.
Families beat themselves up over doing wrong things or making wrong judgments because they didn't know any better once they hear the truth.
We as a nation have an obligation to make sure every veteran, every police officer, every firefighter and emergency responder along with survivors, know what makes them so different they end up wounded by the events out of their control while others walk away. It begins with the level of compassion they have inside of them in the first place because they walk away with their own pain plus the pain others felt as well. It also comes from going through something abnormal they were not intended to experience and not equipped to endure. It comes from being in the wrong place too many times for the right reason. Above all, it comes from being a human just as imperfect as Jeremiah.
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart" so that you can do what you are supposed to do and when you need help, it is there inside of you and all around you.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Afghanistan helicopter collision had four Marines from Camp Pendleton
MILITARY: 4 Camp Pendleton Marines die in Afghanistan helicopter collision
Seven other Americans, three DEA agents die in separate crash
By MARK WALKER - mlwalker@nctimes.com
Posted: Monday, October 26, 2009 6:10 pm
Four Camp Pendleton Marines were killed in Afghanistan on Monday when two helicopters collided over Helmand province in southern Afghanistan, authorities said.
Seven other Americans and three members of the Drug Enforcement Agency combating that country's opium trade died in a separate crash Monday in western Afghanistan, military officials said.
The combined 14 deaths made Monday the deadliest single day for U.S. personnel in Afghanistan since 2005.
The Camp Pendleton fatalities included a pilot identified by military officials as Capt. Kyle Van De Giesen of North Attleboro, Mass.
go here for more
Camp Pendleton Marines die in Afghanistan helicopter collision
Seven other Americans, three DEA agents die in separate crash
By MARK WALKER - mlwalker@nctimes.com
Posted: Monday, October 26, 2009 6:10 pm
Four Camp Pendleton Marines were killed in Afghanistan on Monday when two helicopters collided over Helmand province in southern Afghanistan, authorities said.
Seven other Americans and three members of the Drug Enforcement Agency combating that country's opium trade died in a separate crash Monday in western Afghanistan, military officials said.
The combined 14 deaths made Monday the deadliest single day for U.S. personnel in Afghanistan since 2005.
The Camp Pendleton fatalities included a pilot identified by military officials as Capt. Kyle Van De Giesen of North Attleboro, Mass.
go here for more
Camp Pendleton Marines die in Afghanistan helicopter collision
We have devolved into a nation of remote caring instead of caring about people
Sgt. Dave Matthews of the Orlando National Guard and Warrior Support told me that he often tells people to just put down the remote control. It's frustrating when he hears people talking about watching TV shows instead of really paying attention to what is going on. He's right.
We have devolved into a nation of remote caring instead of caring about people.
It's a lot easier to kick off your shoes at the end of the day facing your own problems and pick up a remote control to take you away from reality. Feeling too old perhaps for the cartoon channel, too late in the day to watch a soap, you may turn on a show like Criminal Minds. It's fascinating to watch FBI agents go after the bad guys and you don't have to pay the price for a movie ticket to add in a bit of a horror show. Yet it's doubtful you managed to read today's paper when FBI Agents saved 52 children from child sex rings. The reason is simple. The TV show is not real and you can go to bed tonight without having to be bothered by anything you saw. It's a safe bet that you are not really bothered by too much outside of your own life. It's just too painful to know what is really going on in the world. What you don't understand is that this attitude has become our biggest problem.
Maybe you found time to turn on the news and heard about this.
But the chances are you didn't know there were DEA Agents in Afghanistan in the first place. It is also a pretty safe bet you didn't hear about this at all,,,,
You may have just thought that things were suddenly fine since that is what they told us a long time ago and then didn't feel the need to do anything. Maybe you felt there wasn't a need to support a charity out there trying to take care of the veterans that are not being taken care of? Maybe the neighbor down the street you attended a welcome home party for is not doing as well as you just assumed? Maybe, just maybe you never really got the message the TV shows you like should have gotten to sink into your mind?
See the shows are not just about shocking you or entertaining you. They show what people can do when they pay attention and care enough to do something about it. It's pretty doubtful you are not cheering the bad guys. Can you see how you can be one of the good guys by paying attention and doing something about it? These are real lives with real families and yes, they are the ones we count on everyday to be there and do what is asked of them. No one can snap their fingers and return them the same way they were when they left. You cared about them when they were away but find yourself too busy to care about them when they are back home and not as safe and sound as you would expect.
While there is an Army of volunteers out there in this nation trying to make a difference, the need has outnumbered the volunteers for far too long. We not only have the Iraq and Afghanistan veterans needing help, we have their families as well. We also have the older veterans needing help along with their families from too many years of neglect. As bad as Secretary Gates makes it sound, he's not talking about all the other veterans just as needing and deserving of help as the newer veteran are.
If the rest of us decided that we would give even one hour a month to help our veterans, we would finally live up to this:
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington
This message is at the bottom of all of my emails because it touched the bottom of my heart a very long time ago. No truer words could be spoken about us deserving them.
Take time to really care instead of viewing pain and suffering with the remote control in your hands.
Give up one TV show to read Army Times.
Give up looking up the latest celebrity gossip and go to ICasualites.org to find out what happened in Iraq and Afghanistan today.
Simple little things will go a long way besides just giving money. You could change your focus enough to actually change a life.
If you find something that upsets you, then write a letter to your congressman or make a phone call. Don't stop there. Call your family and friends and let them know.
If you get an email that is a lot of nonsense that does no one any good at all, send them a link to a story that they can actually do something about and obviously should care about.
Find a charity to support and send them a few dollars and get your friends to do the same.
Say a prayer for the families of fallen service men/women.
Do something real to make someone's life better. You may find it makes your life better as well. It's for sure you won't really gain much by watching a TV show when there is a whole real world out there needing you to pay attention and care.
We have devolved into a nation of remote caring instead of caring about people.
It's a lot easier to kick off your shoes at the end of the day facing your own problems and pick up a remote control to take you away from reality. Feeling too old perhaps for the cartoon channel, too late in the day to watch a soap, you may turn on a show like Criminal Minds. It's fascinating to watch FBI agents go after the bad guys and you don't have to pay the price for a movie ticket to add in a bit of a horror show. Yet it's doubtful you managed to read today's paper when FBI Agents saved 52 children from child sex rings. The reason is simple. The TV show is not real and you can go to bed tonight without having to be bothered by anything you saw. It's a safe bet that you are not really bothered by too much outside of your own life. It's just too painful to know what is really going on in the world. What you don't understand is that this attitude has become our biggest problem.
Maybe you found time to turn on the news and heard about this.
Obama: Americans killed in Afghan crash 'doing this nation proud'
October 26, 2009 5:50 p.m. EDT
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Helicopter crash victims "gave their lives ... to protect ours," president says
Three DEA personnel are among victims
Seven U.S. service members and three U.S. civilians killed in one crash
Four other U.S. service members killed when two copters collided Monday
But the chances are you didn't know there were DEA Agents in Afghanistan in the first place. It is also a pretty safe bet you didn't hear about this at all,,,,
Gates: Wounded troops face too much bureaucracy
By Kimberly Hefling - The Associated PressPosted :
Monday Oct 26, 2009 14:32:05 EDT
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Monday that troops injured in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan continue to face too many bureaucratic hurdles.Paperwork alone for them can be “frustrating, adversarial, and unnecessarily complex,” Gates said.
Gates spoke at a mental health summit with Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki. By appearing publicly together, they sought to reinforce their commitment to tackling veterans’ health issues and the stigma associated with seeking mental health care.
Earlier this year, they pledged with President Barack Obama to create a system that would make it easier for the Pentagon and VA to exchange information so there is less of a wait for veterans to get disability benefits.
The VA is struggling with a backlogged disability claims system with hundreds of thousands of claims that need to be processed.Among U.S. troops who have fought in the recent wars, Gates says brain injuries and mental health ailments are “widespread, entrenched and insidious.”
He noted that a RAND Corp. study last year estimated that there could be more than 600,000 service members with traumatic brain injuries or mental health issues.
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/10/ap_wounded_gates_102609/
You may have just thought that things were suddenly fine since that is what they told us a long time ago and then didn't feel the need to do anything. Maybe you felt there wasn't a need to support a charity out there trying to take care of the veterans that are not being taken care of? Maybe the neighbor down the street you attended a welcome home party for is not doing as well as you just assumed? Maybe, just maybe you never really got the message the TV shows you like should have gotten to sink into your mind?
See the shows are not just about shocking you or entertaining you. They show what people can do when they pay attention and care enough to do something about it. It's pretty doubtful you are not cheering the bad guys. Can you see how you can be one of the good guys by paying attention and doing something about it? These are real lives with real families and yes, they are the ones we count on everyday to be there and do what is asked of them. No one can snap their fingers and return them the same way they were when they left. You cared about them when they were away but find yourself too busy to care about them when they are back home and not as safe and sound as you would expect.
While there is an Army of volunteers out there in this nation trying to make a difference, the need has outnumbered the volunteers for far too long. We not only have the Iraq and Afghanistan veterans needing help, we have their families as well. We also have the older veterans needing help along with their families from too many years of neglect. As bad as Secretary Gates makes it sound, he's not talking about all the other veterans just as needing and deserving of help as the newer veteran are.
If the rest of us decided that we would give even one hour a month to help our veterans, we would finally live up to this:
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington
This message is at the bottom of all of my emails because it touched the bottom of my heart a very long time ago. No truer words could be spoken about us deserving them.
Take time to really care instead of viewing pain and suffering with the remote control in your hands.
Give up one TV show to read Army Times.
Give up looking up the latest celebrity gossip and go to ICasualites.org to find out what happened in Iraq and Afghanistan today.
Simple little things will go a long way besides just giving money. You could change your focus enough to actually change a life.
If you find something that upsets you, then write a letter to your congressman or make a phone call. Don't stop there. Call your family and friends and let them know.
If you get an email that is a lot of nonsense that does no one any good at all, send them a link to a story that they can actually do something about and obviously should care about.
Find a charity to support and send them a few dollars and get your friends to do the same.
Say a prayer for the families of fallen service men/women.
Do something real to make someone's life better. You may find it makes your life better as well. It's for sure you won't really gain much by watching a TV show when there is a whole real world out there needing you to pay attention and care.
FBI saves 52 children from sex trafficking
52 children recovered, 60 alleged child pimps arrested in crackdown
October 26, 2009 2:43 p.m. EDT
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
3-day Operation Cross Country IV conducted on federal, state, local levels
FBI says more than 690 people in all were arrested on state, local charges
"Child prostitution continues to be a significant problem in our country," FBI says
Operation is part of initiative aimed at ending domestic sex trafficking of children in U.S.
(CNN) -- Law enforcement authorities have recovered 52 children and arrested 60 pimps allegedly involved in child prostitution, the FBI announced Monday.
More than 690 people in all were arrested on state and local charges, the FBI stated.
The arrests were made over the past three days as part of a nationwide law enforcement initiative conducted on the federal, state and local levels, the bureau said.
"Child prostitution continues to be a significant problem in our country, as evidenced by the number of children rescued through the continued efforts of our crimes against children task forces," Kevin Perkins, assistant director of the FBI's Criminal Investigative Division, said in a written statement.
read more here
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/10/26/child.prostitution/index.html
October 26, 2009 2:43 p.m. EDT
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
3-day Operation Cross Country IV conducted on federal, state, local levels
FBI says more than 690 people in all were arrested on state, local charges
"Child prostitution continues to be a significant problem in our country," FBI says
Operation is part of initiative aimed at ending domestic sex trafficking of children in U.S.
(CNN) -- Law enforcement authorities have recovered 52 children and arrested 60 pimps allegedly involved in child prostitution, the FBI announced Monday.
More than 690 people in all were arrested on state and local charges, the FBI stated.
The arrests were made over the past three days as part of a nationwide law enforcement initiative conducted on the federal, state and local levels, the bureau said.
"Child prostitution continues to be a significant problem in our country, as evidenced by the number of children rescued through the continued efforts of our crimes against children task forces," Kevin Perkins, assistant director of the FBI's Criminal Investigative Division, said in a written statement.
read more here
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/10/26/child.prostitution/index.html
Soldier killed in Black Hawk crash identified
Soldier killed in Black Hawk crash identified
The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Oct 26, 2009 13:34:06 EDT
FORT BRAGG, N.C. — Military officials have identified the soldier killed when a Black Hawk helicopter crashed on a Navy ship during training off the Virginia coast.
A statement by Fort Bragg on Sunday said 29-year-old Army Staff Sgt. James R. Stright of Libby, Mont., was killed Oct. 22.
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/10/ap_army_black_hawk_crash_102509/
also
• 1 dead, 8 hurt in Black Hawk crash on ship
The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Oct 26, 2009 13:34:06 EDT
FORT BRAGG, N.C. — Military officials have identified the soldier killed when a Black Hawk helicopter crashed on a Navy ship during training off the Virginia coast.
A statement by Fort Bragg on Sunday said 29-year-old Army Staff Sgt. James R. Stright of Libby, Mont., was killed Oct. 22.
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/10/ap_army_black_hawk_crash_102509/
also
• 1 dead, 8 hurt in Black Hawk crash on ship
Eustis cop shoots man after he steals her taser and tasers her
Eustis cop shoots man after he steals her Taser
By Martin E. Comas
Sentinel Staff Writer
2:14 p.m. EDT, October 26, 2009
EUSTIS - A police officer shot and critically wounded a man outside a busy dollar store Wednesday after he grabbed the officer's Taser and fired the weapon at her, authorities said.
The man, who police had not yet identified late Monday, was reported in critical condition after undergoing surgery at Orlando Regional Medical Center, where he was airlifted. Authorities said he was shot in the chest.
Eustis police Officer Theresa Graham was taken to a Lake County hospital, where she was being treated after being tased.
read more here
Eustis cop shoots man after he steals her Taser
By Martin E. Comas
Sentinel Staff Writer
2:14 p.m. EDT, October 26, 2009
EUSTIS - A police officer shot and critically wounded a man outside a busy dollar store Wednesday after he grabbed the officer's Taser and fired the weapon at her, authorities said.
The man, who police had not yet identified late Monday, was reported in critical condition after undergoing surgery at Orlando Regional Medical Center, where he was airlifted. Authorities said he was shot in the chest.
Eustis police Officer Theresa Graham was taken to a Lake County hospital, where she was being treated after being tased.
read more here
Eustis cop shoots man after he steals her Taser
2 soldiers struck, killed by car while arguing before deployment
2 soldiers struck, killed by car while arguing
The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Oct 26, 2009 18:43:48 EDT
FORT PIERCE, Fla. — Two soldiers going to surprise their families before deployment to Iraq were killed when they got into an argument and were hit by a car.
The Florida Highway Patrol says Joshua Thomas Baker and Jonathan Wendell Peterson, both on their way home to southwest Florida, were killed on a dark road in Fort Pierce on Saturday evening.
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/10/ap_soldiers_killed_car_102609/
The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Oct 26, 2009 18:43:48 EDT
FORT PIERCE, Fla. — Two soldiers going to surprise their families before deployment to Iraq were killed when they got into an argument and were hit by a car.
The Florida Highway Patrol says Joshua Thomas Baker and Jonathan Wendell Peterson, both on their way home to southwest Florida, were killed on a dark road in Fort Pierce on Saturday evening.
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/10/ap_soldiers_killed_car_102609/
Sec. Gates:TBI and PTSD "widespread, entrenched and insidious"
Gates: Wounded troops face too much bureaucracy
By Kimberly Hefling - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Oct 26, 2009 14:32:05 EDT
Gates: Wounded troops face too much bureaucracy
By Kimberly Hefling - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Oct 26, 2009 14:32:05 EDT
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Monday that troops injured in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan continue to face too many bureaucratic hurdles.
Paperwork alone for them can be “frustrating, adversarial, and unnecessarily complex,” Gates said.
Gates spoke at a mental health summit with Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki. By appearing publicly together, they sought to reinforce their commitment to tackling veterans’ health issues and the stigma associated with seeking mental health care.
Earlier this year, they pledged with President Barack Obama to create a system that would make it easier for the Pentagon and VA to exchange information so there is less of a wait for veterans to get disability benefits. The VA is struggling with a backlogged disability claims system with hundreds of thousands of claims that need to be processed.
Among U.S. troops who have fought in the recent wars, Gates says brain injuries and mental health ailments are “widespread, entrenched and insidious.” He noted that a RAND Corp. study last year estimated that there could be more than 600,000 service members with traumatic brain injuries or mental health issues.
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/10/ap_wounded_gates_102609/
By Kimberly Hefling - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Oct 26, 2009 14:32:05 EDT
Gates: Wounded troops face too much bureaucracy
By Kimberly Hefling - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Oct 26, 2009 14:32:05 EDT
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Monday that troops injured in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan continue to face too many bureaucratic hurdles.
Paperwork alone for them can be “frustrating, adversarial, and unnecessarily complex,” Gates said.
Gates spoke at a mental health summit with Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki. By appearing publicly together, they sought to reinforce their commitment to tackling veterans’ health issues and the stigma associated with seeking mental health care.
Earlier this year, they pledged with President Barack Obama to create a system that would make it easier for the Pentagon and VA to exchange information so there is less of a wait for veterans to get disability benefits. The VA is struggling with a backlogged disability claims system with hundreds of thousands of claims that need to be processed.
Among U.S. troops who have fought in the recent wars, Gates says brain injuries and mental health ailments are “widespread, entrenched and insidious.” He noted that a RAND Corp. study last year estimated that there could be more than 600,000 service members with traumatic brain injuries or mental health issues.
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/10/ap_wounded_gates_102609/
Wounded and struggling Iraq vet may lose his wife
Her crime was not her's. Her parents brought her here illegally when she was only six. How would this be justice for this combat wounded veteran to lose his wife for something she did not do? Now consider that what she is doing for this veteran is making his life with his wounds easier should be worth at least giving her citizenship for his sake alone, then add in their two children.
Struggling Iraq vet may lose his anchor
His wife, brought here illegally at age 6, is about to be deported. 'She's my everything,' her husband says.
By Teresa Watanabe
October 26, 2009
The nightmares still plague him. The terrifying mortar attacks. The loss of an Albanian soldier and ally, mutilated by shrapnel. The Iraqi children, bloodied and battered, lined up for medical care at the U.S. base at Mosul.
Two years after returning from his service in Iraq, U.S. Army Spc. Jack Barrios, 26, is fighting sleeplessness, sudden angry outbursts, aversion to emotional intimacy and other fallout from his post-traumatic stress disorder.
But as he undergoes counseling and swallows anti-depressants, the soldier is fighting an even bigger battle: to keep his family from collapsing as his wife, an undocumented immigrant from Guatemala, faces deportation.
His wife, 23-year-old Frances, was illegally brought to the United States by her mother at age 6, learned of her status in high school and discovered just last year that removal proceedings have been started. Her possible deportation has left Barrios in panic as he contemplates life without her.
The Army reservist says his wife is the family's anchor, caring for their year-old daughter and 3-year-old son and helping him battle his post-traumatic stress.
read more here
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-immig-soldier26-2009oct26,0,144983.story
Female Warriors Engage in Combat in Iraq, Afghanistan
Female Warriors Engage in Combat in Iraq, Afghanistan
Vague Language in Policies Puts in Question Legality of Roles for Women in Combat
By MARTHA RADDATZ and ELIZABETH GORMAN
Oct. 25, 2009
The image of young women in a hot, dusty combat zone toting automatic weapons is still startling to some.
But right now there are 10,000 women serving in Iraq, more than 4,000 in Aghanistan. They have been fighting and dying next to their male comrades since the wars began.
"I can't help but think most Americans think women aren't in combat," says Specialist Ashley Pullen who was awarded a Bronze Star for valor in 2005 for her heroic action in Iraq where she served with a military police unit. "We're here and we're right up with the guys."
Technically they're restricted from certain combat roles. The Department of Defense prohibits women from serving in assignments "whose primary mission is to engage in direct combat on the ground."
Nevertheless, women serving in support positions on and off the frontlines, where war is waged on street corners and in markets, are often at equal risk. There have been 103 women who have been killed in Iraq and 15 others in Afghanistan.
read more here
Female Warriors Engage in Combat in Iraq and Afghanistan
Vague Language in Policies Puts in Question Legality of Roles for Women in Combat
By MARTHA RADDATZ and ELIZABETH GORMAN
Oct. 25, 2009
The image of young women in a hot, dusty combat zone toting automatic weapons is still startling to some.
But right now there are 10,000 women serving in Iraq, more than 4,000 in Aghanistan. They have been fighting and dying next to their male comrades since the wars began.
"I can't help but think most Americans think women aren't in combat," says Specialist Ashley Pullen who was awarded a Bronze Star for valor in 2005 for her heroic action in Iraq where she served with a military police unit. "We're here and we're right up with the guys."
Technically they're restricted from certain combat roles. The Department of Defense prohibits women from serving in assignments "whose primary mission is to engage in direct combat on the ground."
Nevertheless, women serving in support positions on and off the frontlines, where war is waged on street corners and in markets, are often at equal risk. There have been 103 women who have been killed in Iraq and 15 others in Afghanistan.
read more here
Female Warriors Engage in Combat in Iraq and Afghanistan
President Obama Addresses Troops In Florida
Obama Addresses Troops In Florida
President Will Also Visit Miami, Tampa
POSTED: 7:01 am EDT October 26, 2009
ORLANDO, Fla. -- President Barack Obama visited Florida on Monday to address members of the military in Jacksonville.
Air Force One landed in Jacksonville shortly before 3 p.m. Obama began his speech by remembering 14 Americans killed Monday in helicopter crashes in Afghanistan, saying "they gave their lives to protect ours."
Obama said the dead Americans, which included three federal drug enforcement agents, were willing to risk their lives to keep Afghanistan from again becoming a safe haven for al-Qaida and extremist allies.
go here for more and video
http://www.wesh.com/news/21424541/detail.html
President Will Also Visit Miami, Tampa
POSTED: 7:01 am EDT October 26, 2009
ORLANDO, Fla. -- President Barack Obama visited Florida on Monday to address members of the military in Jacksonville.
Air Force One landed in Jacksonville shortly before 3 p.m. Obama began his speech by remembering 14 Americans killed Monday in helicopter crashes in Afghanistan, saying "they gave their lives to protect ours."
Obama said the dead Americans, which included three federal drug enforcement agents, were willing to risk their lives to keep Afghanistan from again becoming a safe haven for al-Qaida and extremist allies.
go here for more and video
http://www.wesh.com/news/21424541/detail.html
VA, DoD Host National Mental Health Summit
VA, DoD Host National Mental Health Summit
Shinseki, Gates Address Unprecedented Forum
WASHINGTON (Oct. 26, 2009) - The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and
the Department of Defense (DoD) are hosting a first-of-its-kind national
summit to address the mental health care needs of America's military
personnel, families and Veterans, harnessing the programs, resources and
expertise of both departments to deal with the aftermath of the
battlefield.
"This is about doing what is best for those who serve this country and
using every federal, state and community asset to do it," said Secretary
Shinseki. "We're proud of the people and the organizations who have
stepped up today to make sure everyone who fought for this country gets
a fighting chance for a sound mind and an independent life."
The summit, which opened today at the Capital Hilton in Washington,
D.C., invited mental health experts from both departments, Congress, the
president's cabinet and more than 57 non-government organizations to
discuss an innovative, wide-ranging public health model for enhancing
mental health for returning service members, Veterans, and their
families.
Striking down the stigma associated with the mental health risks of
service in a combat zone is among the priorities of the joint VA-DoD
campaign on mental health for service members, Veterans and families.
Various studies show a large incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder
occurs during the lifetime of many combat Veterans.
A final report following the summit will summarize policies, programs
and practices that show promise for enhancing the well-being and care
for individual service members, Veterans, and their families. VA and
DoD view mental health in returning service members and Veterans as a
matter of public health and an opportunity to engage in a broad response
throughout America.
VA operates the largest mental health program in the nation. VA has
bolstered its mental health capacity to serve combat Veterans by adding
thousands of new professionals to its rolls in the last four years. The
department also has established a suicide prevention hotline
(1-800-273-TALK) and Web site available for online chat at
www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/Veterans
Shinseki, Gates Address Unprecedented Forum
WASHINGTON (Oct. 26, 2009) - The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and
the Department of Defense (DoD) are hosting a first-of-its-kind national
summit to address the mental health care needs of America's military
personnel, families and Veterans, harnessing the programs, resources and
expertise of both departments to deal with the aftermath of the
battlefield.
"This is about doing what is best for those who serve this country and
using every federal, state and community asset to do it," said Secretary
Shinseki. "We're proud of the people and the organizations who have
stepped up today to make sure everyone who fought for this country gets
a fighting chance for a sound mind and an independent life."
The summit, which opened today at the Capital Hilton in Washington,
D.C., invited mental health experts from both departments, Congress, the
president's cabinet and more than 57 non-government organizations to
discuss an innovative, wide-ranging public health model for enhancing
mental health for returning service members, Veterans, and their
families.
Striking down the stigma associated with the mental health risks of
service in a combat zone is among the priorities of the joint VA-DoD
campaign on mental health for service members, Veterans and families.
Various studies show a large incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder
occurs during the lifetime of many combat Veterans.
A final report following the summit will summarize policies, programs
and practices that show promise for enhancing the well-being and care
for individual service members, Veterans, and their families. VA and
DoD view mental health in returning service members and Veterans as a
matter of public health and an opportunity to engage in a broad response
throughout America.
VA operates the largest mental health program in the nation. VA has
bolstered its mental health capacity to serve combat Veterans by adding
thousands of new professionals to its rolls in the last four years. The
department also has established a suicide prevention hotline
(1-800-273-TALK) and Web site available for online chat at
www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/Veterans
Man arrested over death of soldier honoured for bravery in Iraq
From Times Online October 26, 2009
Man arrested over death of soldier honoured for bravery in Iraq
Scotland Staff
A man has been arrested in connection with the death of a soldier honoured for bravery in Iraq.
Paul McGee, 28, died at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley yesterday after an incident in Lochwinnoch, Renfrewshire. Police said that a 28-year-old man was being held in connection with his death.
Mr McGee, who served with the Scots Guards in Iraq, was awarded the Queen’s Commendation for Bravery in July last year after he reportedly risked his life trying to save Stephen Ferguson while on a tour of duty.
read more here
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/scotland/article6890824.ece
Man arrested over death of soldier honoured for bravery in Iraq
Scotland Staff
A man has been arrested in connection with the death of a soldier honoured for bravery in Iraq.
Paul McGee, 28, died at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley yesterday after an incident in Lochwinnoch, Renfrewshire. Police said that a 28-year-old man was being held in connection with his death.
Mr McGee, who served with the Scots Guards in Iraq, was awarded the Queen’s Commendation for Bravery in July last year after he reportedly risked his life trying to save Stephen Ferguson while on a tour of duty.
read more here
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/scotland/article6890824.ece
2 firefighters hurt when Kissimmee condos burn
2 firefighters hurt when Kissimmee condos burn
Third floor at Villa del Sol collapses from the flames
By Jeannette Rivera-Lyles
Sentinel Staff Writer
12:22 a.m. EDT, October 26, 2009
Two firefighters were hurt when a Kissimmee condominium building burned Sunday night, and dozens of people were left homeless as a result of the blaze.
Several units of the Kissimmee Fire Department responded around 9 p.m. to a fire at the Villa del Sol Condominiums, said Megan Shephard, a fire department spokeswoman. The blaze was in a three-story, 24-unit building at 4103 Tropical Isle Blvd.
read more here
2 firefighters hurt when Kissimmee condos burn
Third floor at Villa del Sol collapses from the flames
By Jeannette Rivera-Lyles
Sentinel Staff Writer
12:22 a.m. EDT, October 26, 2009
Two firefighters were hurt when a Kissimmee condominium building burned Sunday night, and dozens of people were left homeless as a result of the blaze.
Several units of the Kissimmee Fire Department responded around 9 p.m. to a fire at the Villa del Sol Condominiums, said Megan Shephard, a fire department spokeswoman. The blaze was in a three-story, 24-unit building at 4103 Tropical Isle Blvd.
read more here
2 firefighters hurt when Kissimmee condos burn
DEA personnel among 14 dead in Afghan copter crashes
DEA personnel among 14 dead in Afghan copter crashes
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: Three were the first DEA personnel to be killed in Afghanistan
Seven U.S. service members and three U.S. civilians were killed in one crash
Four other U.S. service members killed when two copters collided Monday
In the crashes, 28 others injured, including one U.S. civilian
October 26, 2009 12:19 p.m. EDT
Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Three Drug Enforcement Administration personnel were among 14 Americans killed when three helicopters went down in Afghanistan on Monday, a law enforcement source said.
They were the first DEA personnel to be killed in Afghanistan. NATO's International Security Assistance Force said that in all, 10 people died in one incident and four in the other.
It was the largest number of Americans killed in Afghanistan in a single day in more than four years, according to CNN records.
ISAF ruled out enemy fire in the crash that killed four Americans and said that enemy action was not thought to be the cause of the other.
A helicopter went down in the west of the country after a raid on suspected drug traffickers. Seven U.S. service members and three U.S. civilians were killed, according to an ISAF statement. Fourteen Afghan service members, 11 U.S. service members and one U.S. civilian were injured in the crash.
go here for more
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/10/26/afghanistan.chopper.crashes/index.html
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: Three were the first DEA personnel to be killed in Afghanistan
Seven U.S. service members and three U.S. civilians were killed in one crash
Four other U.S. service members killed when two copters collided Monday
In the crashes, 28 others injured, including one U.S. civilian
October 26, 2009 12:19 p.m. EDT
Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Three Drug Enforcement Administration personnel were among 14 Americans killed when three helicopters went down in Afghanistan on Monday, a law enforcement source said.
They were the first DEA personnel to be killed in Afghanistan. NATO's International Security Assistance Force said that in all, 10 people died in one incident and four in the other.
It was the largest number of Americans killed in Afghanistan in a single day in more than four years, according to CNN records.
ISAF ruled out enemy fire in the crash that killed four Americans and said that enemy action was not thought to be the cause of the other.
A helicopter went down in the west of the country after a raid on suspected drug traffickers. Seven U.S. service members and three U.S. civilians were killed, according to an ISAF statement. Fourteen Afghan service members, 11 U.S. service members and one U.S. civilian were injured in the crash.
go here for more
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/10/26/afghanistan.chopper.crashes/index.html
'Hero' Pilot Dies After Saving Passengers
'Hero' Pilot Dies After Saving Passengers
Dramatic Final Mayday Call Captures Him Saying 'So Long'
(Oct. 25) - A British pilot who apparently drowned after his plane crashed into the Caribbean Sea is being hailed a hero for saving the lives of all nine passengers aboard, British news outlets reported Sunday.
An engine failure forced Robert Mansell, 32, to ditch his plane off the Caribbean island of Bonaire last Wednesday, Sky News reported.
After he successfully landed the Britten-Norman Islander in the water, all nine passengers were able to escape the aircraft. But Mansell reportedly remained strapped in the pilot's seat as it sank into the ocean. The passengers were later picked up by a passing cargo ship.
"He's a hero," Simon Janzen, who worked with Mansell at the flight company Divi Divi Air, told the Telegraph. "All the passengers survived and he is the only one missing. If he wasn't a good pilot, he couldn't have ditched it so everyone could be saved."
read more here
Hero Pilot Dies After Saving Passengers
Dramatic Final Mayday Call Captures Him Saying 'So Long'
(Oct. 25) - A British pilot who apparently drowned after his plane crashed into the Caribbean Sea is being hailed a hero for saving the lives of all nine passengers aboard, British news outlets reported Sunday.
An engine failure forced Robert Mansell, 32, to ditch his plane off the Caribbean island of Bonaire last Wednesday, Sky News reported.
After he successfully landed the Britten-Norman Islander in the water, all nine passengers were able to escape the aircraft. But Mansell reportedly remained strapped in the pilot's seat as it sank into the ocean. The passengers were later picked up by a passing cargo ship.
"He's a hero," Simon Janzen, who worked with Mansell at the flight company Divi Divi Air, told the Telegraph. "All the passengers survived and he is the only one missing. If he wasn't a good pilot, he couldn't have ditched it so everyone could be saved."
read more here
Hero Pilot Dies After Saving Passengers
14 Die in Afghanistan Chopper Crashes
14 Die in Afghanistan Chopper Crashes
The U.S. military says 14 Americans have been killed in a series of helicopter crashes in Afghanistan. The dead in a crash in western Afghanistan include seven GIs and three U.S. civilians working for the government. Four Soldiers died in southern Afghanistan when two helicopters collided.Full Story
The U.S. military says 14 Americans have been killed in a series of helicopter crashes in Afghanistan. The dead in a crash in western Afghanistan include seven GIs and three U.S. civilians working for the government. Four Soldiers died in southern Afghanistan when two helicopters collided.Full Story
PTSD:Veterans' step wives
Step one=avoid
Avoid any acknowledgement there is something out of the ordinary you are face to face with. "What you don't know won't hurt you" becomes your attitude when you know deep inside you really should find out what is going on with someone you love.
Step two=find excuses
Military and citizen soldiers leave families with wives having to suddenly become single parents with enough to worry about. They find excuses to not even consider what your spouse is going through on a daily basis. While you face doing everything you had to do while they were home, you then have to take on what they used to do until they come back home. The burdens on your shoulders weighs you down, making you believe you have enough to worry about each day so anything else to worry about will just have to wait. You don't want to know what they can bring home with them buried inside of them. Besides all that, they never want to tell you what's going on anyway.
Step three=ignore
Ignore them being a "changed" person when they return home. Tell yourself they will "get over it" and then go back to normal. Ignore the fact they are drinking more than normal for them, smoking a lot more, sleeping a lot less, laughing less while being angry more and how they are avoiding all the people in their lives they are supposed to love.
Step four=blame
Blame them for acting the way they do. Blame yourself for the way they are treating you. Blame anything and anyone for what is happening between you and your spouse, but above all, find excuses to not look past anything really obvious. Whenever anyone uses the term PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, you tend to block your ears so that you don't hear anything you don't want to hear instead of understanding what you do not know will not only hurt you but them as well.
Step five=shame
Becoming ashamed of them because they act like they are uncaring jerks. Ashamed of them drinking too much or doing drugs. Ashamed of the financial mess you end up with as they make irrational purchasing decisions. Ashamed when they twitch and others notice it. You find excuses for why they no longer want to attend family gatherings or do anything with you or the kids. Ashamed because you believe there is no hope in saving your marriage as you think of divorce as the only option. Final step in this shame is that you believe it is your fault at the same time your ego struggles with blaming them.
Step six=hopelessness
You believe there is no reason to hope any of it will get any better.
Step seven=coming to terms
This is the final step where you come to terms with what is happening in your life as a spouse of a veteran. This is the crossroad where either you plan on ending it or plan on fighting it. Either you put yourself and your own needs first, close your eyes to the pain in their eyes or you remember what they were like before they deployed and decide to find out what you can do to help them.
No easy answers here. It depends entirely on you. Do you have the same compassion you used to have to even attempt to help them or are you so self-absorbed all you can focus on is you at this moment in your life?
Finding out what has happened inside of them is vital to healing them and your relationship. It will also determine your future.
Living with them comes down to what is in your soul and their soul. If you understand where it is all coming from, you will end up having a better life than if you simply walk away. Even if you do end up getting divorced, you can end up with peace inside of you or hatred if you never learn anything.
All of this can be avoided if you have taken the time to learn what happens to at least one of out three exposed to traumatic events, especially when they are combat veterans. The knowledge you have will end up getting them help as soon as possible because part of their issue is denial. They also avoid facing it. You need to know when they need help so that you can support them in getting it. If you know nothing, as a simple human, you will end up trying to find reasons everywhere but where it all came from, and that, that is combat itself.
A spouse will often say that they have enough to worry about when they are risking their lives. This is true however avoiding finding out what PTSD is means you are asking for trouble when they do come home. You cannot remove danger from them while they are in Iraq or Afghanistan any more than we could have removed them from danger in Kuwait, Somalia, Vietnam, Korea or any other nation during the world wars. What you can do is arm yourself to fight the enemy they end up brining home inside of them just as determined to kill them. When they come home, it's your job to defend them, fight for them and watch their backs.
When they have a nightmare, don't shake them awake or you'll end up with a bloody nose or black eye, then you may call the police because you think you've just been abused. This can be avoided if you knew that nightmare they were having took them back to dangerous times and they had no clue where they were or who you were in that moment. This is one thing you can learn among many. Knowledge can help them heal and make their lives easier or lack of it can end up harming them and you more.
It's up to you what you do. I once was a "step wife" as I learned as much as possible about what PTSD was. Then I became a veteran wife. As of last month, we've been married 25 years. We got there with love, knowledge and faith. So can you if you understand it before it's too late.
Here are three links to videos I did about them coming home. Stop avoiding being a step wife and be a veteran wife for real because no one else knows them as well as you do and they need you to pay attention.
Avoid any acknowledgement there is something out of the ordinary you are face to face with. "What you don't know won't hurt you" becomes your attitude when you know deep inside you really should find out what is going on with someone you love.
Step two=find excuses
Military and citizen soldiers leave families with wives having to suddenly become single parents with enough to worry about. They find excuses to not even consider what your spouse is going through on a daily basis. While you face doing everything you had to do while they were home, you then have to take on what they used to do until they come back home. The burdens on your shoulders weighs you down, making you believe you have enough to worry about each day so anything else to worry about will just have to wait. You don't want to know what they can bring home with them buried inside of them. Besides all that, they never want to tell you what's going on anyway.
Step three=ignore
Ignore them being a "changed" person when they return home. Tell yourself they will "get over it" and then go back to normal. Ignore the fact they are drinking more than normal for them, smoking a lot more, sleeping a lot less, laughing less while being angry more and how they are avoiding all the people in their lives they are supposed to love.
Step four=blame
Blame them for acting the way they do. Blame yourself for the way they are treating you. Blame anything and anyone for what is happening between you and your spouse, but above all, find excuses to not look past anything really obvious. Whenever anyone uses the term PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, you tend to block your ears so that you don't hear anything you don't want to hear instead of understanding what you do not know will not only hurt you but them as well.
Step five=shame
Becoming ashamed of them because they act like they are uncaring jerks. Ashamed of them drinking too much or doing drugs. Ashamed of the financial mess you end up with as they make irrational purchasing decisions. Ashamed when they twitch and others notice it. You find excuses for why they no longer want to attend family gatherings or do anything with you or the kids. Ashamed because you believe there is no hope in saving your marriage as you think of divorce as the only option. Final step in this shame is that you believe it is your fault at the same time your ego struggles with blaming them.
Step six=hopelessness
You believe there is no reason to hope any of it will get any better.
Step seven=coming to terms
This is the final step where you come to terms with what is happening in your life as a spouse of a veteran. This is the crossroad where either you plan on ending it or plan on fighting it. Either you put yourself and your own needs first, close your eyes to the pain in their eyes or you remember what they were like before they deployed and decide to find out what you can do to help them.
No easy answers here. It depends entirely on you. Do you have the same compassion you used to have to even attempt to help them or are you so self-absorbed all you can focus on is you at this moment in your life?
Finding out what has happened inside of them is vital to healing them and your relationship. It will also determine your future.
Living with them comes down to what is in your soul and their soul. If you understand where it is all coming from, you will end up having a better life than if you simply walk away. Even if you do end up getting divorced, you can end up with peace inside of you or hatred if you never learn anything.
All of this can be avoided if you have taken the time to learn what happens to at least one of out three exposed to traumatic events, especially when they are combat veterans. The knowledge you have will end up getting them help as soon as possible because part of their issue is denial. They also avoid facing it. You need to know when they need help so that you can support them in getting it. If you know nothing, as a simple human, you will end up trying to find reasons everywhere but where it all came from, and that, that is combat itself.
A spouse will often say that they have enough to worry about when they are risking their lives. This is true however avoiding finding out what PTSD is means you are asking for trouble when they do come home. You cannot remove danger from them while they are in Iraq or Afghanistan any more than we could have removed them from danger in Kuwait, Somalia, Vietnam, Korea or any other nation during the world wars. What you can do is arm yourself to fight the enemy they end up brining home inside of them just as determined to kill them. When they come home, it's your job to defend them, fight for them and watch their backs.
When they have a nightmare, don't shake them awake or you'll end up with a bloody nose or black eye, then you may call the police because you think you've just been abused. This can be avoided if you knew that nightmare they were having took them back to dangerous times and they had no clue where they were or who you were in that moment. This is one thing you can learn among many. Knowledge can help them heal and make their lives easier or lack of it can end up harming them and you more.
It's up to you what you do. I once was a "step wife" as I learned as much as possible about what PTSD was. Then I became a veteran wife. As of last month, we've been married 25 years. We got there with love, knowledge and faith. So can you if you understand it before it's too late.
Here are three links to videos I did about them coming home. Stop avoiding being a step wife and be a veteran wife for real because no one else knows them as well as you do and they need you to pay attention.
Posted to Great Americans by NamGuardianAngel on September 16, 2009
Posted to Great Americans by NamGuardianAngel on September 16, 2009
Posted to Great Americans by NamGuardianAngel on September 16, 2009
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Man survives motorcycle accident, killed after
Motorcyclist survives head-on collision but killed after another driver runs over him
A motorcyclist who had been an a wreck and was lying in a northbound lane of State Road 415 was killed when another motorist ran over him and kept driving early this morning in Volusia County, the Florida Highway Patrol reported.
The motorcyclist, Kevin Hill, 47, of Sanford, was southbound on S.R. 415 near Reed Ellis Road when he was struck head-on by a northbound vehicle that was trying to pass slower traffic, FHP Sgt. Kim Montes said.
Hill was thrown off his motorcycle, and the people in the vehicle stopped to help him. They told troopers that Hill was conscious and talking, Montes said.
Motorcyclist survives head-on collision
A motorcyclist who had been an a wreck and was lying in a northbound lane of State Road 415 was killed when another motorist ran over him and kept driving early this morning in Volusia County, the Florida Highway Patrol reported.
The motorcyclist, Kevin Hill, 47, of Sanford, was southbound on S.R. 415 near Reed Ellis Road when he was struck head-on by a northbound vehicle that was trying to pass slower traffic, FHP Sgt. Kim Montes said.
Hill was thrown off his motorcycle, and the people in the vehicle stopped to help him. They told troopers that Hill was conscious and talking, Montes said.
Motorcyclist survives head-on collision
Church janitor held in priest's death
Church janitor held in priest's death
October 24, 2009 9:04 p.m. EDT
Chatham Borough, New Jersey (CNN) -- The janitor at St. Patrick's Church has been charged with murder in the slaying of the church's pastor, the chief prosecutor said Saturday.
Jose Feliciano stabbed the Rev. Ed Hinds 32 times with a knife after the two got into an argument on Thursday, Morris County Prosecutor Robert Bianchi said. The Roman Catholic priest's body was found in the church's rectory Friday morning.
Feliciano, 64, has been employed with the church for 17 years, Bianchi said.
go here for more
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/10/24/priest.killing/index.html
October 24, 2009 9:04 p.m. EDT
Chatham Borough, New Jersey (CNN) -- The janitor at St. Patrick's Church has been charged with murder in the slaying of the church's pastor, the chief prosecutor said Saturday.
Jose Feliciano stabbed the Rev. Ed Hinds 32 times with a knife after the two got into an argument on Thursday, Morris County Prosecutor Robert Bianchi said. The Roman Catholic priest's body was found in the church's rectory Friday morning.
Feliciano, 64, has been employed with the church for 17 years, Bianchi said.
go here for more
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/10/24/priest.killing/index.html
Wounded Warrior called "cripple" wins judgment against Army
Former soldier wins $4.3m judgment from Army
The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Oct 24, 2009 15:25:33 EDT
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A former soldier who lost his right hand when a bomb that he was disarming in Iraq exploded in 2004 has won a $4.3 million judgment against the U.S. Army in a disability discrimination case.
A federal jury in Ann Arbor on Friday reached a verdict in the civil case in favor of 38-year-old James McKelvey of Macomb Township.
Lawyer Kevin Carlson told the Detroit Free Press the case proved that the Army created a hostile work environment. The lawsuit said a boss and coworker at the Army’s Warren arsenal described McKelvey as “the cripple.”
A message seeking comment was left Saturday with a federal lawyer who handled the case for the Army.
The 2004 blast also shattered his face and voice box, and severely burned and damaged his left hand.
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/10/ap_army_suit_bomb_102409/
The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Oct 24, 2009 15:25:33 EDT
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A former soldier who lost his right hand when a bomb that he was disarming in Iraq exploded in 2004 has won a $4.3 million judgment against the U.S. Army in a disability discrimination case.
A federal jury in Ann Arbor on Friday reached a verdict in the civil case in favor of 38-year-old James McKelvey of Macomb Township.
Lawyer Kevin Carlson told the Detroit Free Press the case proved that the Army created a hostile work environment. The lawsuit said a boss and coworker at the Army’s Warren arsenal described McKelvey as “the cripple.”
A message seeking comment was left Saturday with a federal lawyer who handled the case for the Army.
The 2004 blast also shattered his face and voice box, and severely burned and damaged his left hand.
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/10/ap_army_suit_bomb_102409/
Landlord remembers Lord and takes care of tenants out of work
He Works So Others Have Homes
Posted Oct 22nd 2009 5:30PM by Brett Widness
At age 54, Ed Pierce thought his income from rental properties in West Virginia and South Carolina would provide sufficient income to retire in Rock Hill, S.C., and be closer to his adult daughter.
When his tenants told him they couldn't pay their rent, he could have started the eviction process. Instead, he went back to work at a local Walgreens.
"I sat with them and prayed for better times," Peirce told a columnist for The Herald. "These are stand-up guys. Family men. Proud. They paid me before, when they were working. You don't show your faith, your Christianity, in words. You do it in deeds."
While we tend to think of landlords as disgruntled ogres who clamor outside your window for their monthly monthly check, property managers are generally very reasonable and even generous people.One of Pierce's tenants worked in construction and has a wife and two small kids. A second worked in utilities contracting and has a baby in the house. Both tenants got laid off several months ago.
read more here
He Works So Others Have Homes
Posted Oct 22nd 2009 5:30PM by Brett Widness
At age 54, Ed Pierce thought his income from rental properties in West Virginia and South Carolina would provide sufficient income to retire in Rock Hill, S.C., and be closer to his adult daughter.
When his tenants told him they couldn't pay their rent, he could have started the eviction process. Instead, he went back to work at a local Walgreens.
"I sat with them and prayed for better times," Peirce told a columnist for The Herald. "These are stand-up guys. Family men. Proud. They paid me before, when they were working. You don't show your faith, your Christianity, in words. You do it in deeds."
While we tend to think of landlords as disgruntled ogres who clamor outside your window for their monthly monthly check, property managers are generally very reasonable and even generous people.One of Pierce's tenants worked in construction and has a wife and two small kids. A second worked in utilities contracting and has a baby in the house. Both tenants got laid off several months ago.
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He Works So Others Have Homes
50 to 100 police and detectives investigating the case of murdered priest
Priest killed; Town urged to be vigilant
From Jesse Solomon
CNN
October 24, 2009 11:35 a.m. EDT
(CNN) -- Residents of the New Jersey town where a priest was found dead in the kitchen of his church's rectory Friday morning should exercise caution, Morris County Prosecutor Robert Bianchi said.
Due to the nature of the wounds, the death of the Rev. Ed Hinds, 61, of St. Patrick's Church "in all likelihood was in fact a homicide," Bianchi told reporters at a news conference Friday afternoon.
He said investigators believe Hinds was killed sometime between 11 p.m. Thursday and 8 a.m. Friday, when his death was discovered after he failed to show up for morning Mass. He was fully dressed in a black clerical robe when police arrived on the scene, Bianchi said.
Chatham Borough police were interviewing witnesses and had 50 to 100 police and detectives investigating the case, according to Bianchi. Watch police search the neighborhood
Though he urged residents to go about their daily lives, he warned they "should be extra vigilant during these next couple of days."
Parents of children at the church Friday morning were called to come pick up their kids, though they were not believed to be in any immediate danger, Bianchi said.
read more here
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/10/23/priest.killed/index.html
From Jesse Solomon
CNN
October 24, 2009 11:35 a.m. EDT
(CNN) -- Residents of the New Jersey town where a priest was found dead in the kitchen of his church's rectory Friday morning should exercise caution, Morris County Prosecutor Robert Bianchi said.
Due to the nature of the wounds, the death of the Rev. Ed Hinds, 61, of St. Patrick's Church "in all likelihood was in fact a homicide," Bianchi told reporters at a news conference Friday afternoon.
He said investigators believe Hinds was killed sometime between 11 p.m. Thursday and 8 a.m. Friday, when his death was discovered after he failed to show up for morning Mass. He was fully dressed in a black clerical robe when police arrived on the scene, Bianchi said.
Chatham Borough police were interviewing witnesses and had 50 to 100 police and detectives investigating the case, according to Bianchi. Watch police search the neighborhood
Though he urged residents to go about their daily lives, he warned they "should be extra vigilant during these next couple of days."
Parents of children at the church Friday morning were called to come pick up their kids, though they were not believed to be in any immediate danger, Bianchi said.
read more here
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/10/23/priest.killed/index.html
Ex-VFW official admits $122,000 theft
Ex-VFW official admits $122,000 theft
Updated: Saturday, 24 Oct 2009, 12:06 AM MDT
Published : Friday, 23 Oct 2009, 8:05 PM MDT
Reporter: Crystal Gutierrez
Web Producer: Bill Diven
ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - A Vietnam War veteran Friday admitted to stealing more than a $122,000 from fellow veterans and is awaiting sentencing.
In a plea deal with the state prosecutors Joe Salas, 63, pleaded guilty to 17 counts of fraud for stealing from a Veterans of Foreign Wars bank account Friday in a plea deal with.
In court Salas told District Judge Kenneth Martinez he would reimburse $17,000 of the stolen money.
Salas was the VFW state treasurer. His scheme was uncovered three years ago leaving veterans outraged
“It's disgust, it's knots in the stomach, it's bad thoughts through my head,” Fred Ortiz told KRQE News 13.
Prosecutors said Salas used the post debit card to go on a three-year spending spree. The list of items he bought included tires, gas, car washes, jewelry and plane tickets to Florida.
As the financial officer for the post Salas had a card in his name.
Suspicions arose after a check bounced. Then an internal investigation revealed the amount of missing money to be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The money Salas used came from VFW membership fees and payments from VFW posts.
read more here
Ex-VFW official admits theft
Updated: Saturday, 24 Oct 2009, 12:06 AM MDT
Published : Friday, 23 Oct 2009, 8:05 PM MDT
Reporter: Crystal Gutierrez
Web Producer: Bill Diven
ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - A Vietnam War veteran Friday admitted to stealing more than a $122,000 from fellow veterans and is awaiting sentencing.
In a plea deal with the state prosecutors Joe Salas, 63, pleaded guilty to 17 counts of fraud for stealing from a Veterans of Foreign Wars bank account Friday in a plea deal with.
In court Salas told District Judge Kenneth Martinez he would reimburse $17,000 of the stolen money.
Salas was the VFW state treasurer. His scheme was uncovered three years ago leaving veterans outraged
“It's disgust, it's knots in the stomach, it's bad thoughts through my head,” Fred Ortiz told KRQE News 13.
Prosecutors said Salas used the post debit card to go on a three-year spending spree. The list of items he bought included tires, gas, car washes, jewelry and plane tickets to Florida.
As the financial officer for the post Salas had a card in his name.
Suspicions arose after a check bounced. Then an internal investigation revealed the amount of missing money to be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The money Salas used came from VFW membership fees and payments from VFW posts.
read more here
Ex-VFW official admits theft
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