Witnesses say reservist was a hero at Hood
By Gregg Zoroya, USA Today
Posted : Wednesday Nov 25, 2009 13:18:26 EST
Three weeks after 13 people were shot and killed at Fort Hood, Texas, new details are emerging about an Army Reserve captain who died trying to fight off the gunman before police arrived.
Investigators are still sorting out the actions of Capt. John Gaffaney, 56, a psychiatric nurse. But according to varying eyewitness accounts, Gaffaney either picked up a chair and threw it at Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Hasan, the accused killer, or physically rushed him from across the room.
Army Maj. Gen. Lie-Ping Chang, commander of the reserve force to which Gaffaney belonged, said that two eyewitnesses recounted how the reservist threw a folding chair and "tried to knock (Hasan) down or knock his gun down." Chang included this account in an essay submitted to USA Today.
Army Reserve Col. Kathy Platoni, a clinical psychologist who served with Gaffaney, said she was told that he rushed Hasan to within inches before being shot several times.
Platoni said she comforted Gaffaney as he lay dying in a building nearby where soldiers brought him after he was mortally wounded, ripping off pieces of their uniform to use as pressure bandages or tourniquets to stem his massive bleeding from multiple wounds.
“I just started talking to him and holding his hand and saying, ‘John, you're going to be OK. You're going to be OK. You've just got to fight,’” Platoni recalls.
He died shortly after that, she says. "I was still yelling, 'John, don't go. John, don't go.’”
Regardless of what actions Gaffaney took, soldiers were able to escape the gunman when Gaffaney confronted him, Chang says. Gaffaney's widow, Christine, said one female soldier told her that he saved her life.
"I have no idea precisely what his actions were," says Army spokesman Jay Adams at Fort Hood. "But … I am sure there is truth in those accounts."
The initial account of Gaffaney's actions came from a USA Today interview with Chang about plans to replace 16 mental-health workers killed or wounded at Fort Hood. Investigators are still trying to determine precise details, including which police officer shot and wounded Hasan.
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/11/gns_hero_112509/
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Suspect killed by SWAT team; 4 children OK
Suspect killed by SWAT team; 4 children OK
By Bianca Prieto and Henry Pierson Curtis, Orlando Sentinel
November 25, 2009
An armed man who was fatally shot after Orlando police said he barricaded himself and four children in a downtown-area house was identified as local artist Palin Perez, 36.
Witnesses said Perez released four children from the home in the 1600 block of East Livingston, and the kids were helped out of the house by police. Afterwards, Perez came outside with a gun and was shot, Orlando police spokeswoman Barbara Jones said.
Although police identified the deceased as Palin Perez, friends said his full name was Palin Perez Jackson.
The kids are 2, 3, 8 and 9 years old, Jones said. All of the kids belonged to a woman who alerted police to the standoff about 9:30 this morning. The suspect was the father of two of the children.
"Physically, they're OK. Emotionally, I don't know," Jones said of the children. "At least they're safe now."
read more here
Suspect killed by SWAT team
By Bianca Prieto and Henry Pierson Curtis, Orlando Sentinel
November 25, 2009
An armed man who was fatally shot after Orlando police said he barricaded himself and four children in a downtown-area house was identified as local artist Palin Perez, 36.
Witnesses said Perez released four children from the home in the 1600 block of East Livingston, and the kids were helped out of the house by police. Afterwards, Perez came outside with a gun and was shot, Orlando police spokeswoman Barbara Jones said.
Although police identified the deceased as Palin Perez, friends said his full name was Palin Perez Jackson.
The kids are 2, 3, 8 and 9 years old, Jones said. All of the kids belonged to a woman who alerted police to the standoff about 9:30 this morning. The suspect was the father of two of the children.
"Physically, they're OK. Emotionally, I don't know," Jones said of the children. "At least they're safe now."
read more here
Suspect killed by SWAT team
Mom Befriends Wife of PTSD Vet Charged With Murder
Mom Befriends Wife of PTSD Vet Charged With Murder
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: November 25, 2009
HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. (AP) -- When the envelope arrived, Windy Horner was talking with her husband, Nick -- Windy on a cell phone, Nick in the Blair County jail.
Windy did not recognize the return address. She feared hate mail; her husband is charged with killing two men and robbing a sandwich shop, and she blames his actions on post-traumatic stress disorder from his service in Iraq, but others do not agree.
''Just because horner went to iraq,'' read one reader comment on a newspaper Web site, ''doesnt mean he shouldnt get what he deserves!!!!!!!''
Now, she wondered: Should she open the envelope? Go ahead, Nick said.
The note was from a complete stranger, a woman named Laurie Claar. It was written on a card decorated with a rainbow and flowers, bearing the message, ''Caring Thoughts Are With You.''
''I'm not sure what to say to you all except I understand and you all are in my prayers,'' Claar wrote. ''And I don't think bad of Nick as he needs help to deal with PTSD.''
Her words reached a young couple sorely in need of encouragement.
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: November 25, 2009
HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. (AP) -- When the envelope arrived, Windy Horner was talking with her husband, Nick -- Windy on a cell phone, Nick in the Blair County jail.
Windy did not recognize the return address. She feared hate mail; her husband is charged with killing two men and robbing a sandwich shop, and she blames his actions on post-traumatic stress disorder from his service in Iraq, but others do not agree.
''Just because horner went to iraq,'' read one reader comment on a newspaper Web site, ''doesnt mean he shouldnt get what he deserves!!!!!!!''
Now, she wondered: Should she open the envelope? Go ahead, Nick said.
The note was from a complete stranger, a woman named Laurie Claar. It was written on a card decorated with a rainbow and flowers, bearing the message, ''Caring Thoughts Are With You.''
''I'm not sure what to say to you all except I understand and you all are in my prayers,'' Claar wrote. ''And I don't think bad of Nick as he needs help to deal with PTSD.''
Her words reached a young couple sorely in need of encouragement.
On April 26, Laurie Claar sat in the darkness next to her son's grave, cradling a doll she dressed in the clothes he had worn as a newborn. She was waiting for the clock to strike 11:04 p.m.
Exactly 25 years before, Matthew Claar had been born.
''I just had to be there at that time,'' Claar said tearfully. It comforted her, she said, to remember a time when she could still protect her son.
More than seven months before his mother's vigil, fueled by guilt and PTSD, the Marine Corps veteran had pulled the trigger on the 9mm pistol in his mouth.read more here
Veterans' Chief goes from Hall of Fame to accused of hurting veterans
Arizona indicts former veteran's chiefPublished: Nov. 20, 2009 at 11:09 AM
PHOENIX, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- The former head of Arizona's Department of Veterans' Services has been indicted on felony charges of fraud, misuse of public money and conflict of interest.
The indictment of Patrick Chorpenning Sr., a disabled Vietnam veteran, comes less than three weeks after he was inducted into the state Veterans Hall of Fame, The Arizona Republic reported Friday.
Chorpenning, who led the department from 1999 to 2007, is accused of enriching his friends and family at the same time as he was cutting benefits to the veterans he was hired to serve.
read more here
Arizona indicts former veterans chief
Pastor gives helping hand to homeless veteran
WILLIAM COLGIN/SUN HERALD Vietnam veteran, Early Johnson, is no longer homeless after being given an apartment by Pastor Lee Adams who sought out Johnson after reading about his situation in a Sun Herald story on Sunday.
Pastor gives helping hand to homeless veteran
Reverend provides apartment
By MICHAEL NEWSOM - mmnewsom@sunherald.com
GULFPORT — Navy veteran Early Johnson moved into a clean, spacious apartment Thursday in a quiet neighborhood near downtown.
For many South Mississippians, that wouldn’t be very noteworthy, but until he had unpacked his precious few belongings there, Johnson was one of an estimated 131,000 U.S. veterans who are homeless on any given night, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Thanks to the generosity of the Rev. Lee Adams, pastor of Little Rock Missionary Baptist Church in Gulfport, the veteran of the Vietnam era now has a home. Adams had kept an apartment that he was letting a young couple use until they found a place to live. The couple moved out in August, and at the time, Adams felt he needed to keep the apartment, but he said he really wasn’t sure why.
Adams said it all became clear Sunday night when he read in the Sun Herald about Johnson’s life as a homeless veteran and dialysis patient, who is disabled and on waiting lists for public housing and not able to find a place of his own on the money he makes working part time at the Biloxi VA. It was Johnson’s quote that he was able to survive on the streets by putting his trust in God, whom he said took care of him, which spurred the reverend into action.
read more here
http://www.sunherald.com/278/story/1757425.html?storylink=omni_popular
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Finally justice may come:Senators seek review of military's personality-disorder discharges
One of my rants (among many)has been about this. It has broken the spirits of too many when they were kicked out instead of helped up to heal.
Senators seek review of military's personality-disorder discharges
David Goldstein, Mcclatchy Newspapers – Tue Oct 20, 5:22 pm ET
WASHINGTON -- In the Senate , Barack Obama fought for better mental-health care for troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan .
Now that he's president, some of his former colleagues want him to pick up the gauntlet once more and make sure troops are getting the benefits they deserve.
"In 2007, we were partners in the fight against the military's misuse of personality disorder discharges," four senators -- Democrat Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas and Republicans Charles Grassley of Iowa , Kit Bond of Missouri and Sam Brownback of Kansas -- wrote in a letter this week asking Obama for a report to Congress on the current use of the discharges. "Today we urge you to renew your commitment to address this critical issue facing thousands of returning service members."
Because the military views personality disorders as a pre-existing condition, many service members returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with mental health problems have been unable to receive health benefits. There have been questions, however, about how scrupulous the military has been in making sure that the personality disorder discharges were proper.
read more here
Senators seek review of military's personality-disorder discharges
'Military doesn't care about people with mental issues'
'Military doesn't care about people with mental issues'
By Nisa Islam Muhammad Staff Writer
Last updated: Nov 23, 2009
(FinalCall.com) - Vernelda Taylor-Harris is fighting mad about the tragedies at Ft. Hood, the tragedy that happened in early November with Major Nidal Hassan who is accused of killing 13 people and the tragedy with her daughter, PFC Sophia Taylor, while stationed at Ft. Hood.
“My daughter was diagnosed with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) while she was deployed in Iraq. She broke down and was medivaced to Ft. Hood for treatment. They did not treat her at all. In fact they just threw her under the bus. The military has no compassion for people with PTSD,” she told The Final Call.
read more here
http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/National_News_2/article_6586.shtml
By Nisa Islam Muhammad Staff Writer
Last updated: Nov 23, 2009
(FinalCall.com) - Vernelda Taylor-Harris is fighting mad about the tragedies at Ft. Hood, the tragedy that happened in early November with Major Nidal Hassan who is accused of killing 13 people and the tragedy with her daughter, PFC Sophia Taylor, while stationed at Ft. Hood.
“My daughter was diagnosed with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) while she was deployed in Iraq. She broke down and was medivaced to Ft. Hood for treatment. They did not treat her at all. In fact they just threw her under the bus. The military has no compassion for people with PTSD,” she told The Final Call.
read more here
http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/National_News_2/article_6586.shtml
U.S. soldiers struggle with torment of war
Have you ever gotten the idea in your head that there was help available for whatever you're facing? For our soldiers, that idea is always there but until they start to look for help, they never imagine the help they are seeking cannot be found. It happens all the time.
While we read about the military and the VA trying to play catch up to the long line of combat veterans needing help to heal, they are still trying to figure out why they need the help in the first place. A recent report came out on another study to figure this out. Amazing considering how many years of studies they have already paid for.
If they are still trying to figure it out then why have they been investing millions on "treating" what they do not understand? None of what we're seeing is new in PTSD. There are very few programs treating the whole veteran even though most research has shown treating the mind-body and soul have the best results.
They know PTSD only comes after traumatic events. The term actually means after trauma and trauma is Greek for wound. They know it strikes the part of the brain where emotions live. They know there is survival guilt so deep they are remorseful they "were chosen" and survived when someone else didn't. They know they feel like criminals when they are in positions where they have to decide to take a life or not, take it and then find out the one they killed was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. They know the pack reactions after facing extreme events can cause them to forget the body in front of them is not less than human but their minds remind them of the fact constantly.
They know medication alters the way the mind reacts but in most cases, talk therapy with the right fully PTSD educated psychologist, has the best results. Once they are able to talk about what it haunting them, it is no longer allowed to keep control. They also know that reconnecting the spiritual soul back to God, faith, forgiveness, mercy and compassion, restores hope and healing.
There is much they already know but too much they still don't understand. That's frightening. When you consider what is being done in the civilian world addressing the whole person's needs after traumatic events as crisis teams rush in. Some deliver food and water, clothing, shelter, all depending on the need. Some deliver a calming presence to listen to survivors talk and they remind them someone does care. In times when what help is available at that moment is not enough, then they are sent to the help they need. This is not done in the military. It's almost as if they forget the troops are still humans and still have the same reactions and needs as everyone else.
So they come home, after not getting what they need as soon as they need it, try to adjust to life as humans again in their own country, then they must come to terms with the need they have for help. Once this step is taken, then they have to find the help they need. Too often they are being sent to Chaplains without a clue what PTSD is. They are sent to psychologists and psychiatrists without a clue and end up being misdiagnosed leading to being treated for the wrong mental health need. This happens all the time because whatever mental illness the doctors are looking for, they will find it.
If they are looking for bipolar, they'll find it, just as they will find depression, paranoia, schizophrenia and "personality disorder" which caused the erroneous dishonorable discharges of over 22,000 soldiers. Yes, sometimes help does more harm than good.
They will not be able to stop the escalation of suicides and attempted suicides until they finally understand what makes humans human. Otherwise, claiming to be doing everything possible will only lead to more of the same mistakes and mistreatments they have been doing all along.
While we read about the military and the VA trying to play catch up to the long line of combat veterans needing help to heal, they are still trying to figure out why they need the help in the first place. A recent report came out on another study to figure this out. Amazing considering how many years of studies they have already paid for.
If they are still trying to figure it out then why have they been investing millions on "treating" what they do not understand? None of what we're seeing is new in PTSD. There are very few programs treating the whole veteran even though most research has shown treating the mind-body and soul have the best results.
They know PTSD only comes after traumatic events. The term actually means after trauma and trauma is Greek for wound. They know it strikes the part of the brain where emotions live. They know there is survival guilt so deep they are remorseful they "were chosen" and survived when someone else didn't. They know they feel like criminals when they are in positions where they have to decide to take a life or not, take it and then find out the one they killed was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. They know the pack reactions after facing extreme events can cause them to forget the body in front of them is not less than human but their minds remind them of the fact constantly.
They know medication alters the way the mind reacts but in most cases, talk therapy with the right fully PTSD educated psychologist, has the best results. Once they are able to talk about what it haunting them, it is no longer allowed to keep control. They also know that reconnecting the spiritual soul back to God, faith, forgiveness, mercy and compassion, restores hope and healing.
There is much they already know but too much they still don't understand. That's frightening. When you consider what is being done in the civilian world addressing the whole person's needs after traumatic events as crisis teams rush in. Some deliver food and water, clothing, shelter, all depending on the need. Some deliver a calming presence to listen to survivors talk and they remind them someone does care. In times when what help is available at that moment is not enough, then they are sent to the help they need. This is not done in the military. It's almost as if they forget the troops are still humans and still have the same reactions and needs as everyone else.
So they come home, after not getting what they need as soon as they need it, try to adjust to life as humans again in their own country, then they must come to terms with the need they have for help. Once this step is taken, then they have to find the help they need. Too often they are being sent to Chaplains without a clue what PTSD is. They are sent to psychologists and psychiatrists without a clue and end up being misdiagnosed leading to being treated for the wrong mental health need. This happens all the time because whatever mental illness the doctors are looking for, they will find it.
If they are looking for bipolar, they'll find it, just as they will find depression, paranoia, schizophrenia and "personality disorder" which caused the erroneous dishonorable discharges of over 22,000 soldiers. Yes, sometimes help does more harm than good.
They will not be able to stop the escalation of suicides and attempted suicides until they finally understand what makes humans human. Otherwise, claiming to be doing everything possible will only lead to more of the same mistakes and mistreatments they have been doing all along.
Military suicides increase as U.S. soldiers struggle with torment of war
By Star-Ledger Staff
November 22, 2009, 1:30PM
Reported by Tomas Dinges & Mark Mueller
Written by Mark Mueller
"His whole body just shut down," said Bean’s older brother, Nick. "He said he felt like he was being strangled by nothing."
The nightmares came back, too. And the rages, so intense they sometimes drove him to look for fights. Bean began drinking again, dulling the anxiety and the memories.
He’d seen women and children reduced to charred husks in a burning bus. He’d shot up a car as it charged a military checkpoint, finding afterward that he and his squad had killed not a suicide bomber but a child. He’d survived mortars and rocket-propelled grenades and snipers.
"The things he saw in Iraq ate at him," said his father, Greg Bean. "He was just drifting. And little by little, bits of hope dropped away."
On the morning of Sept. 6, 2008, after a late-night crash and his second arrest for driving under the influence, Army Sgt. Coleman Bean killed himself with a single shot to the head in his South River apartment. He was 25.
read more here
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/11/us_military_suicides_increase.html
Killeen police investigate Sunday murder of Ft. Hood soldier
Killeen police investigate Sunday murder of Ft. Hood soldier
By AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Monday, November 23, 2009, 04:29 PM
According to a statement by the Killeen Police Department:
Killeen Police are investigating the death of a 20 year old Fort Hood soldier that occurred on Sunday, November 22, 2009, just before 5:00am.
By AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Monday, November 23, 2009, 04:29 PM
According to a statement by the Killeen Police Department:
Killeen Police are investigating the death of a 20 year old Fort Hood soldier that occurred on Sunday, November 22, 2009, just before 5:00am.
The victim, David Lester Middlebrooks, was pronounced deceased by Justice of the Peace Garland Potvin at 6:50am; an autopsy was ordered to be performed at the Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences in Dallas.
read more here
Killeen police investigate Sunday murder of Ft. Hood soldier
Police Chase Leads Reported Iraq War Vet to Jail
Police Chase Leads Reported Iraq War Vet to Jail
Suspect facing attempted murder charges
By ASHLEY E. BROWN and JANE WATREL
Updated 9:41 PM EST, Mon, Nov 23, 2009
A man reported to be an Iraq War veteran is behind bars in Prince George's County for allegedly leading police on a high-speed pursuit on the Beltway, from Prince George's County to Baltimore.
The driving was crazy enough to prompt witnesses to make frantic calls to police Saturday morning.
"If you use the term 'aggressive driver,' this would be it at its absolute worst," said Lt. C.D. Miller of Maryland State Police.
Christopher Miller, 30, weaved between cars for about 30 miles before he slammed his car into the side of a Maryland State Police cruiser on I-495, according to authorities. That cruiser spun out of control and hit another cruiser. The wreck put two troopers and another driver in the hospital. All three were back home recovering by Monday night.
read more here
Police Chase Leads Reported Iraq War Vet to Jail
Monday, November 23, 2009
Woman awarded $3M in assault claim against KBR
Woman awarded $3M in assault claim against KBR
By JUAN A. LOZANO (AP) – 3 days ago
HOUSTON — A woman who claimed she was raped in 2005 while working in Iraq for a former Halliburton Co. subsidiary has been awarded nearly $3 million by an arbitrator to settle her case.
Tracy Barker had sued U.S. contractor KBR Inc, its former parent company Halliburton and several affiliates in May 2007, claiming she was sexually attacked by a State Department employee while working as a civilian contractor in the southern Iraqi city of Basra.
A federal judge in Houston had dismissed Barker's lawsuit in January 2008, ruling she had to abide by an employment agreement she signed that said any claims she made against the companies would have to be settled through arbitration and not the courts.
Court records filed this week show Barker was awarded a judgment of $2.93 million to settle her arbitration claim against KBR.
The Associated Press doesn't usually identify those who report they were sexually assaulted, but Barker made her identity public in her lawsuit.
go here for more
Woman awarded 3M in assault claim against KBR
By JUAN A. LOZANO (AP) – 3 days ago
HOUSTON — A woman who claimed she was raped in 2005 while working in Iraq for a former Halliburton Co. subsidiary has been awarded nearly $3 million by an arbitrator to settle her case.
Tracy Barker had sued U.S. contractor KBR Inc, its former parent company Halliburton and several affiliates in May 2007, claiming she was sexually attacked by a State Department employee while working as a civilian contractor in the southern Iraqi city of Basra.
A federal judge in Houston had dismissed Barker's lawsuit in January 2008, ruling she had to abide by an employment agreement she signed that said any claims she made against the companies would have to be settled through arbitration and not the courts.
Court records filed this week show Barker was awarded a judgment of $2.93 million to settle her arbitration claim against KBR.
The Associated Press doesn't usually identify those who report they were sexually assaulted, but Barker made her identity public in her lawsuit.
go here for more
Woman awarded 3M in assault claim against KBR
The Messenger of death only comes sometimes
Watching the trailer for The Messenger, two officers arrive to notify families their husbands and wives, their sons and daughters, will not be walking in the door. Death is the end for the Soldier, the Marine, the Sailor, the Airman. It is also the end for the life the family used to have. It's all gone with this knock at the door.
When civilians are notified by a police chaplain someone they love is not coming home, they have to get past the shock, plan a funeral, make phone calls, decide what suit or dress to use for the last image they will ever have of someone they loved. After the funeral, they go back to their homes, deal with insurance polices and social security. Take names off bank accounts, then look at the empty chair in their living room.
Aside from funeral attire for the coffin, pretty much the military families have to go through the same things except when they go home, they have to wonder where they will move to now they are no longer able to live on government property. They have to move out to make room for another soldier's family to move in.
Sound painful? It is. One of the things we never seem to think about when the families live on base or post. With the deaths at Fort Hood recently, maybe this rule will end up being a blessing because they will not have to drive past where their soldier died at the hands of one of their own.
Military messengers do not always come. They do not come when a soldier has been discharged but died as a result of service. When they take their own lives, they are not counted as a war casualty. It doesn't matter that the suicide would not have happened if they had continued to live as a civilian far removed and detached from what few will ever know. The price paid is not paid in full until they are no longer alive. They will never really be a civilian again. They become Veteran. A veteran with a story still being written that few will ever read.
We don't think of what happens to the families after the flag is folded and handed off to the family member on "behalf of a grateful nation" any more than we know what happens to the rest of them after they come home.
If you go to see The Messenger, please keep this in mind as you watch. I have not seen the movie yet so I do not know if they address the fact families have to move away from their friends when they need support from them the most, but in case it does not, we need to think of this.
Synopsis
In his most powerful performance to date, Ben Foster stars as Will Montgomery, a U.S. Army officer who has just returned home from a tour in Iraq and is assigned to the Army's Casualty Notification service. Partnered with fellow officer Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson) to bear the bad news to the loved ones of fallen soldiers, Will faces the challenge of completing his mission while seeking to find comfort and healing back on the home front. When he finds himself drawn to Olivia (Samantha Morton), to whom he has just delivered the news of her husband's death, Will's emotional detachment begins to dissolve and the film reveals itself as a surprising, humorous, moving and very human portrait of grief, friendship and survival.
Featuring tour-de-force performances from Foster, Harrelson and Morton, and a brilliant directorial debut by Moverman, 'The Messenger' brings us into the inner lives of these outwardly steely heroes to reveal their fragility with compassion and dignity.
http://www.moviefone.com/movie/the-messenger/36286/synopsis
When civilians are notified by a police chaplain someone they love is not coming home, they have to get past the shock, plan a funeral, make phone calls, decide what suit or dress to use for the last image they will ever have of someone they loved. After the funeral, they go back to their homes, deal with insurance polices and social security. Take names off bank accounts, then look at the empty chair in their living room.
Aside from funeral attire for the coffin, pretty much the military families have to go through the same things except when they go home, they have to wonder where they will move to now they are no longer able to live on government property. They have to move out to make room for another soldier's family to move in.
Sound painful? It is. One of the things we never seem to think about when the families live on base or post. With the deaths at Fort Hood recently, maybe this rule will end up being a blessing because they will not have to drive past where their soldier died at the hands of one of their own.
Military messengers do not always come. They do not come when a soldier has been discharged but died as a result of service. When they take their own lives, they are not counted as a war casualty. It doesn't matter that the suicide would not have happened if they had continued to live as a civilian far removed and detached from what few will ever know. The price paid is not paid in full until they are no longer alive. They will never really be a civilian again. They become Veteran. A veteran with a story still being written that few will ever read.
We don't think of what happens to the families after the flag is folded and handed off to the family member on "behalf of a grateful nation" any more than we know what happens to the rest of them after they come home.
If you go to see The Messenger, please keep this in mind as you watch. I have not seen the movie yet so I do not know if they address the fact families have to move away from their friends when they need support from them the most, but in case it does not, we need to think of this.
Synopsis
In his most powerful performance to date, Ben Foster stars as Will Montgomery, a U.S. Army officer who has just returned home from a tour in Iraq and is assigned to the Army's Casualty Notification service. Partnered with fellow officer Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson) to bear the bad news to the loved ones of fallen soldiers, Will faces the challenge of completing his mission while seeking to find comfort and healing back on the home front. When he finds himself drawn to Olivia (Samantha Morton), to whom he has just delivered the news of her husband's death, Will's emotional detachment begins to dissolve and the film reveals itself as a surprising, humorous, moving and very human portrait of grief, friendship and survival.
Featuring tour-de-force performances from Foster, Harrelson and Morton, and a brilliant directorial debut by Moverman, 'The Messenger' brings us into the inner lives of these outwardly steely heroes to reveal their fragility with compassion and dignity.
http://www.moviefone.com/movie/the-messenger/36286/synopsis
Sunday, November 22, 2009
2nd lt. overcomes severe combat wounds
2nd lt. overcomes severe combat wounds
By Gina Cavallaro - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Nov 22, 2009 8:54:18 EST
One of 2nd Lt. Peter Sprenger’s goals in life is to lead soldiers in the 75th Ranger Regiment. He eventually wants to command a battalion and even a brigade.
His goals are not unusual for a young officer candidate who has already led men in combat, but Sprenger, 26, was not supposed to make it this far. On Nov. 19, when he was commissioned as a second lieutenant, he beat the odds — and the naysayers.
He was blinded by a car bomb blast in Iraq on Dec. 9, 2003, after nearly nine months in country, with 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry. The attack also shattered his teeth, blew out his eardrums and peppered him with shrapnel.
The suicide driver of a car laden with explosives smashed a jagged ribbon of concertina wire around the perimeter of the soldiers’ outpost and rammed through concrete barriers before one of Sprenger’s fellow soldiers, a squad automatic weapon gunner, sprayed the driver with gunfire. But he still blew his 1,000 pounds of TNT near an open door where Sprenger was sitting on duty. As Sprenger turned to run for the radio, the blast rocked his body and knocked him down.
Dozens of others were also wounded in the attack. As he was being medically evacuated from Tal Afar in northern Iraq, Sprenger remembers thinking he didn’t want to leave because he hadn’t helped the battalion finish its mission.
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/11/army_sprenger_112209w/
By Gina Cavallaro - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Nov 22, 2009 8:54:18 EST
One of 2nd Lt. Peter Sprenger’s goals in life is to lead soldiers in the 75th Ranger Regiment. He eventually wants to command a battalion and even a brigade.
His goals are not unusual for a young officer candidate who has already led men in combat, but Sprenger, 26, was not supposed to make it this far. On Nov. 19, when he was commissioned as a second lieutenant, he beat the odds — and the naysayers.
He was blinded by a car bomb blast in Iraq on Dec. 9, 2003, after nearly nine months in country, with 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry. The attack also shattered his teeth, blew out his eardrums and peppered him with shrapnel.
The suicide driver of a car laden with explosives smashed a jagged ribbon of concertina wire around the perimeter of the soldiers’ outpost and rammed through concrete barriers before one of Sprenger’s fellow soldiers, a squad automatic weapon gunner, sprayed the driver with gunfire. But he still blew his 1,000 pounds of TNT near an open door where Sprenger was sitting on duty. As Sprenger turned to run for the radio, the blast rocked his body and knocked him down.
Dozens of others were also wounded in the attack. As he was being medically evacuated from Tal Afar in northern Iraq, Sprenger remembers thinking he didn’t want to leave because he hadn’t helped the battalion finish its mission.
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/11/army_sprenger_112209w/
DOD task force confronts suicide
DOD task force confronts suicide
By Ashley Rowland, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Tuesday, November 24, 2009
SEOUL, South Korea — They’re often young, male, in the Army, and recently had their hearts broken.
Another thing they have in common: They fit the profile of many servicemembers who kill themselves.
The military has yet to understand thoroughly why more troops are committing suicide, or whether multiple deployments contribute to them, said Maj. Gen. Philip Volpe, co-chairman of the new Defense Department suicide prevention task force conducting a study on the problem.
The 14-member task force, which includes seven civilians and seven servicemembers, began meeting about a month ago and will present its findings to the secretary of Defense next summer.
Volpe said the military tracks suicides only among current servicemembers. That means if a former servicemember with post-traumatic stress disorder or other deployment-related mental health problems commits suicide, the military doesn’t record it.
read more here
Mental health cases tax police, emergency workers
My friend Lily Casura at Healing Combat Trauma sent this.
Mental health cases tax police, emergency workers
LISA RATHKE,Associated Press Writer
BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — Police found him sitting on the floor of his old apartment near a bucket of urine, still dressed in his hospital gown.
The apartment had been condemned for the squalor — food on the floor, flies — and his smoking in bed. But the mentally ill man, just released from the hospital, had managed to get back in. For the second time in four days, he was taken by ambulance to the hospital.
Three firefighters, a battalion chief, the police chief, two police officers, a code enforcement person and a housing official responded, and finally, an ambulance crew — at a cost of thousands of dollars, Police Chief Michael Schirling said.
Police and emergency responders around the nation have long struggled to deal with people who have mental illness, and some say the situation is only getting worse. A poor economy and cuts to institutional programs threaten to overwhelm personnel trained to deal with crime and vehicle accidents, not mental crises.
"The problem seems to be accelerating in scope and severity of late," the police chief said. "More folks in need of mental health services, more significant issues occurring on the street as a result, and fewer available services for folks in acute crisis or those who are service-resistant."
On the same day they removed the mental patient from the condemned apartment, police searched the other end of Burlington for a homeless man who'd been yelling at kids in a residential neighborhood. Parents wouldn't let their children out alone. Some called 911.
The man has paranoid schizophrenia and other mental illnesses but has refused treatment, so police charged him with disorderly conduct. The chief called it a "workaround," designed to get him into the mental health system by judicial order.
"It's a perversion of the system," he said.
read more here
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091121/ap_on_re_us/us911_mental_health
Mental health cases tax police, emergency workers
LISA RATHKE,Associated Press Writer
"Because they're completely falling through the cracks," he said. "They're not cracks, they're chasms."
BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — Police found him sitting on the floor of his old apartment near a bucket of urine, still dressed in his hospital gown.
The apartment had been condemned for the squalor — food on the floor, flies — and his smoking in bed. But the mentally ill man, just released from the hospital, had managed to get back in. For the second time in four days, he was taken by ambulance to the hospital.
Three firefighters, a battalion chief, the police chief, two police officers, a code enforcement person and a housing official responded, and finally, an ambulance crew — at a cost of thousands of dollars, Police Chief Michael Schirling said.
Police and emergency responders around the nation have long struggled to deal with people who have mental illness, and some say the situation is only getting worse. A poor economy and cuts to institutional programs threaten to overwhelm personnel trained to deal with crime and vehicle accidents, not mental crises.
"The problem seems to be accelerating in scope and severity of late," the police chief said. "More folks in need of mental health services, more significant issues occurring on the street as a result, and fewer available services for folks in acute crisis or those who are service-resistant."
On the same day they removed the mental patient from the condemned apartment, police searched the other end of Burlington for a homeless man who'd been yelling at kids in a residential neighborhood. Parents wouldn't let their children out alone. Some called 911.
The man has paranoid schizophrenia and other mental illnesses but has refused treatment, so police charged him with disorderly conduct. The chief called it a "workaround," designed to get him into the mental health system by judicial order.
"It's a perversion of the system," he said.
read more here
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091121/ap_on_re_us/us911_mental_health
Saturday, November 21, 2009
We did it after WWII we can do it now
When WWII veterans returned from war in 1944, they were greeted by a nation united behind them, jobs, housing developments and they believed the nation really appreciated the fact they were willing to lay down their lives for the sake of this country.
Here is what was done when they came home.
What they also brought back with them was the hidden wounds carried deeply within them. Some tried to hide it, some hid it well, but others, well, it was just a family secret that was not to be talked about ever to anyone. Some were just too busy to even think of themselves as they tried to earn wages to support their families. It was not until they had retired they began to experience the awakening of the dark secrets they tried so hard to hide from everyone.
There wasn't the power of the Internet to connect them. Aside from hometown halls where they could connect with others, the realities they lived with were not well known.
It was the same when they came home from Korea.
One thing we don't talk about when we use the term MIA is how many from WWI, WWII and Korea were lost and not recovered as well. You can read more about this here.
Finding the Fallen
All of the veterans making it back home ended up raising the generation to come. They raised them to believe that the nation would respect their service, honor their willingness to sacrifice their lives, fully trusting should they return wounded, the nation would tend to those wounds and replace incomes they lost because of the wounds of war. Tough, proud, patriotic, and carrying a lot of pain they refused to show, they sent their sons off to Vietnam, usually cheering at the airport but cheering louder when they returned home for good.
The VA however, as well as the rest of the nation, was not so inclined to deliver on what generations before had received. They had to fight for a system not prepared for them and they fought to make sure the deep, dark secrets their fathers brought home would not be allowed to haunt them as well without proper care. Nostalgia, Soldier's Heart, Shell Shock died and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder was born. Another birth was the attitude of "get over it" and "we don't want to hear about it" after the combat was sent into our TV sets during dinner every night. Local newspapers delivered on local stories about the fallen, the wounded and the awarding of medals. Pretty much, the American people thought we knew it all.
The Wall in Washington was joined by traveling Vietnam Memorial Walls.
So they kept fighting and by the time Saddam tried to take over Kuwait, the Gulf War began and ended soon after, the American people felt really badly about how they treated the Vietnam veterans, especially when so many of them were not given a choice about any of it as the draft notices came with the unlucky number. By the Gulf War, we had learned our lesson and the Vietnam veterans began to finally break through our bad impression of them. We knew we were wrong with how they were allowed to be treated when they came home so, we, always liking a winner, plus regretting how we treated the Vietnam Vets, went a bit overboard when it came to the Gulf War veterans, but that didn't last too long.
As they came home with the same wounds other generations did, Agent Orange was just beginning to break into the news reports, the Gulf War veterans had to deal with their own illness related to combat but no one was sure of what it was, what caused it or how to treat it. Considering how long they've had to figure it out, it's really a wonder they have not been able to put their finger on it yet. What they also returned to was a whole new world to reach from the comfort of their own homes. They were connected to other veterans across the country and internationally. What was discovered in one nation was found by a veteran in Boston. What was being complained about in California was being copied and sent by email across the world in a few days.
Now with Afghanistan and Iraq, the news reports are few. With the election of 2004 and 2006 over, the debate about the necessity of Iraq, left Afghanistan forgotten about and then Iraq began to be replaced by the economy in 2008. Iraq and Afghanistan were not mentioned that much and the news reports were more focused on the problems the veterans were facing coming back than the numbers of those killed or wounded on any given day unless there was something catastrophic to report on.
Looking back at what we managed to do after WWII and after the depression, it really should be looked at knowing what we could do for our veterans even though the rest of the country was hurting. At least back then, we thought about those we asked so much of but asked so little of us to do for them. Amazing what can happen when we put our minds to it.
So we showed up at when a coffin made it's way to the cemetery, waved a flag, put hand over heart or bent our elbow for a salute. Some offer a quick prayer then get back to our own lives while some complain about traffic that's being held up by the funeral procession or thinking "Oh, well, sad he/she was so young. Feel badly for the parents, young widow and kids, but we have our own problems." If you live near a National Guard armory, an Army post or Marine Camp or Navy base, then you may even show up to welcome them home. You may write a check or send a card. You may join a group to do what you can, but sooner or later, the feeling of being connected to them fades away. Sooner or later, you forget all about what they went through. Sooner or later, that veteran you welcomed home, felt honored to have met, becomes the "crazy vet" down the street with the police showing up again. What they brought back inside of them doesn't seem to matter any more to far too many of us.
The homeless veteran you read about dying in the woods means nothing to you because you may judge how they came to be homeless. They could have come back with PTSD and a family unable or unwilling to help them. They could have come back with no family to lean on and no jobs to go to. They could have come home wounded to the point even if they had a job, they wouldn't be able to do it and they can't get their VA claim out of the pile to be approved. Then they could also be among the members of the military always knowing they only wanted to be a Marine, a Soldier, an Airman or a Sailor and the was all they knew but now because they are wounded they cannot be one anymore.
See, when we say we "support the troops" we think that's all they need and they only need it when they are deployed with the rest of the "troops" and some of us are so lazy we forgot that one soldier is not called a "troop" but a soldier and a Marine is called a Marine, that there is an air National Guard and an Army National Guard. They need us when they wake up and when they finally get to find some few hours to sleep. They need us when they are out of danger just as much as when they are facing it. They need us in the hospital and out of it. They need us in the service to us just as much as they need us after. The question is, "when will we stop wanting to stop taking care of them in return for what they did for us?" We did it after WWII, we can do it now.
Here is what was done when they came home.
(VA) The Department of Veterans Affairs was established on March 15, 1989, succeeding the Veterans Administration. It is responsible for providing federal benefits to veterans and their families. Headed by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, VA is the second-largest of the 15 Cabinet departments and operates nationwide programs for health care, financial assistance and burial benefits.
Of the 23.4 million veterans currently alive, nearly three-quarters served during a war or an official period of conflict. About a quarter of the nation's population is potentially eligible for VA benefits and services because they are veterans, family members or survivors of veterans.
The responsibility to care for veterans, spouses, survivors and dependents can last a long time. Two children of Civil War veterans still draw VA benefits. About 184 children and widows of Spanish-American War veterans still receive VA compensation or pensions.
VA's fiscal year 2009 spending is projected to be approximately $93.4 billion, including $40 billion for health care, $46.9 billion for benefits, and $230 million for the national cemetery system. This is more than a 7 percent increase from the department’s $87.6 billion budget for fiscal year 2009.
Compensation and Pension
Disability compensation is a payment to veterans who are disabled by injury or disease incurred or aggravated during active military service. Wartime veterans with low incomes who are permanently and totally disabled may be eligible for financial support through VA’s pension program.
In fiscal year 2008, VA provided $38.9 billion in disability compensation, death compensation and pension to 3.7 million people. About 3.2 million veterans received disability compensation or pension from VA. In addition, about 554,700 spouses, children and parents of deceased veterans received VA benefits. Among them are 170,144 survivors of Vietnam-era veterans and 235,000 survivors of World War II veterans.
Medical Care
Perhaps the most visible of all VA benefits and services is health care. From 54 hospitals in 1930, VA’s health care system now includes 153 medical centers, with at least one in each state, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. VA operates more than 1,400 sites of care, including 909 ambulatory care and community-based outpatient clinics, 135 nursing homes, 47 residential rehabilitation treatment programs, 232 Veterans Centers and 108 comprehensive home-care programs. VA health care facilities provide a broad spectrum of medical, surgical and rehabilitative care.
Almost 5.5 million people received care in VA health care facilities in 2008. By the end of fiscal year 2008, 78 percent of all disabled and low-income veterans had enrolled with VA for health care; 65 percent of them were treated by VA. In 2008, VA inpatient facilities treated 773,600 patients. VA’s outpatient clinics registered over 60 million visits.
VA manages the largest medical education and health professions training program in the United States. VA facilities are affiliated with 107 medical schools, 55 dental schools and more than 1,200 other schools across the country. Each year, about 90,000 health professionals are trained in VA medical centers. More than half of the physicians practicing in the United States had some of their professional education in the VA health care system.
VA’s medical system serves as a backup to the Defense Department during national emergencies and as a federal support organization during major disasters.
In 1996, VA put its health care facilities under 21 networks that provide more medical services to more veterans and family members than at any time during VA’s long history.
VA has experienced unprecedented growth in the medical system workload over the past few years. The number of patients treated increased by 29 percent from 4.2 million in 2001 to nearly 5.5 million in 2008.
To receive VA health care benefits most veterans must enroll. The VA health care system had nearly 7.9 million veterans who were enrolled as of October 2008. When they enroll, they are placed in priority groups or categories that help VA manage health care services within budgetary constraints and ensure quality care for those enrolled.
Some veterans are exempted from having to enroll. People who do not have to enroll include veterans with a service-connected disability of 50 percent or more, veterans who were discharged from the military within one year but have not yet been rated for a VA disability benefit and veterans seeking care for only a service-connected disability. Veterans with service-connected disabilities receive priority access to care for hospitalization and outpatient care. Veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) are eligible to receive enhanced health care benefits for five years following their military separation date.
Since 1979, VA’s Readjustment Counseling Service has operated Vet Centers, which provide psychological counseling for war-related trauma, community outreach, case management and referral activities, plus supportive social services to veterans and family members. There are 232 Vet Centers.
Since the first Vet Center opened, more than 2 million veterans have been helped. Every year, the Vet Centers serve more than 130,000 veterans and accommodate more than a million visits by veterans and family members.
Vet Centers are open to any veteran who served in the military in a combat theater during wartime or anywhere during a period of armed hostilities. Vet Centers also provide trauma counseling to veterans who were sexually assaulted or harassed while on active duty, and bereavement counseling to the families of service members who die on active duty.
VA provides health care and benefits to more than 100,000 homeless veterans each year. Though the proportion of veterans among the homeless is declining, VA continues to engage veterans in outreach, medical care, benefits assistance, transitional housing, and case management for veterans in permanent housing. VA has made more than 450 grants for transitional housing, service centers and vans for outreach and transportation to state and local governments, tribal governments, non-profit community and faith-based service providers.
Indispensable to providing America’s veterans with quality medical care are nearly 127,000 active volunteers in VA’s Voluntary Service who donated more than 11 million hours in 2008 to bring companionship and care to hospitalized veterans. These hours equate to 5,519 full time employee-equivalent (FTEE) positions.
Research
VA research focuses on areas of concern to veterans. VA research has earned an international reputation for excellence in areas such as aging, chronic disease, prosthetics and mental health. Studies conducted within VA help improve medical care not only for the veterans enrolled in VA's health care system, but for the nation at large. Because seven in 10 VA researchers are also clinicians, VA is uniquely positioned to translate research results into improved patient care. VA scientists and clinicians collaborate across many disciplines, resulting in a synergistic flow of inquiry, discovery and innovation between labs and clinics.
VA investigators played key roles in developing the cardiac pacemaker, the CT scan, radioimmunoassay, and improvements in artificial limbs. The first liver transplant in the world was performed by a VA surgeon-researcher. VA clinical trials established the effectiveness of new treatments for tuberculosis, schizophrenia and high blood pressure. The “Seattle Foot” developed in VA has allowed people with amputations to run and jump. VA contributions to medical knowledge have won VA scientists many awards, including the Nobel Prize and the Lasker Award.
Special VA “centers of excellence” conduct leading-edge research in areas of prime importance to veterans, such as neurotrauma, prosthetics, spinal cord injury, hearing and vision loss, alcoholism, stroke, and health care disparities. Through VA's Cooperative Studies Program, researchers conduct multicenter clinical trials to investigate the best therapy for various diseases affecting large numbers of veterans. Examples of current projects include testing whether intensive control of blood sugar can reduce cardiovascular problems for patients with type 2 diabetes; and comparing deep brain stimulation with other treatments for Parkinson's disease.
Deployment health is a major priority for VA research. In addition to studies focused on recent veterans of operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, research continues on issues of special concern to veterans of earlier conflicts, such as the Gulf War and Vietnam War.
Home Loan Assistance
From 1944, when VA began helping veterans purchase homes under the original GI Bill, through December 2007, more than 18.4 million VA home loan guaranties have been issued, with a total value of $967 billion. VA ended fiscal year 2008 with almost 2.1 million active home loans, reflecting amortized loans totaling $220.8 billion.
What they also brought back with them was the hidden wounds carried deeply within them. Some tried to hide it, some hid it well, but others, well, it was just a family secret that was not to be talked about ever to anyone. Some were just too busy to even think of themselves as they tried to earn wages to support their families. It was not until they had retired they began to experience the awakening of the dark secrets they tried so hard to hide from everyone.
There wasn't the power of the Internet to connect them. Aside from hometown halls where they could connect with others, the realities they lived with were not well known.
It was the same when they came home from Korea.
One thing we don't talk about when we use the term MIA is how many from WWI, WWII and Korea were lost and not recovered as well. You can read more about this here.
Finding the Fallen
All of the veterans making it back home ended up raising the generation to come. They raised them to believe that the nation would respect their service, honor their willingness to sacrifice their lives, fully trusting should they return wounded, the nation would tend to those wounds and replace incomes they lost because of the wounds of war. Tough, proud, patriotic, and carrying a lot of pain they refused to show, they sent their sons off to Vietnam, usually cheering at the airport but cheering louder when they returned home for good.
The VA however, as well as the rest of the nation, was not so inclined to deliver on what generations before had received. They had to fight for a system not prepared for them and they fought to make sure the deep, dark secrets their fathers brought home would not be allowed to haunt them as well without proper care. Nostalgia, Soldier's Heart, Shell Shock died and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder was born. Another birth was the attitude of "get over it" and "we don't want to hear about it" after the combat was sent into our TV sets during dinner every night. Local newspapers delivered on local stories about the fallen, the wounded and the awarding of medals. Pretty much, the American people thought we knew it all.
The Wall in Washington was joined by traveling Vietnam Memorial Walls.
So they kept fighting and by the time Saddam tried to take over Kuwait, the Gulf War began and ended soon after, the American people felt really badly about how they treated the Vietnam veterans, especially when so many of them were not given a choice about any of it as the draft notices came with the unlucky number. By the Gulf War, we had learned our lesson and the Vietnam veterans began to finally break through our bad impression of them. We knew we were wrong with how they were allowed to be treated when they came home so, we, always liking a winner, plus regretting how we treated the Vietnam Vets, went a bit overboard when it came to the Gulf War veterans, but that didn't last too long.
As they came home with the same wounds other generations did, Agent Orange was just beginning to break into the news reports, the Gulf War veterans had to deal with their own illness related to combat but no one was sure of what it was, what caused it or how to treat it. Considering how long they've had to figure it out, it's really a wonder they have not been able to put their finger on it yet. What they also returned to was a whole new world to reach from the comfort of their own homes. They were connected to other veterans across the country and internationally. What was discovered in one nation was found by a veteran in Boston. What was being complained about in California was being copied and sent by email across the world in a few days.
Now with Afghanistan and Iraq, the news reports are few. With the election of 2004 and 2006 over, the debate about the necessity of Iraq, left Afghanistan forgotten about and then Iraq began to be replaced by the economy in 2008. Iraq and Afghanistan were not mentioned that much and the news reports were more focused on the problems the veterans were facing coming back than the numbers of those killed or wounded on any given day unless there was something catastrophic to report on.
Looking back at what we managed to do after WWII and after the depression, it really should be looked at knowing what we could do for our veterans even though the rest of the country was hurting. At least back then, we thought about those we asked so much of but asked so little of us to do for them. Amazing what can happen when we put our minds to it.
So we showed up at when a coffin made it's way to the cemetery, waved a flag, put hand over heart or bent our elbow for a salute. Some offer a quick prayer then get back to our own lives while some complain about traffic that's being held up by the funeral procession or thinking "Oh, well, sad he/she was so young. Feel badly for the parents, young widow and kids, but we have our own problems." If you live near a National Guard armory, an Army post or Marine Camp or Navy base, then you may even show up to welcome them home. You may write a check or send a card. You may join a group to do what you can, but sooner or later, the feeling of being connected to them fades away. Sooner or later, you forget all about what they went through. Sooner or later, that veteran you welcomed home, felt honored to have met, becomes the "crazy vet" down the street with the police showing up again. What they brought back inside of them doesn't seem to matter any more to far too many of us.
The homeless veteran you read about dying in the woods means nothing to you because you may judge how they came to be homeless. They could have come back with PTSD and a family unable or unwilling to help them. They could have come back with no family to lean on and no jobs to go to. They could have come home wounded to the point even if they had a job, they wouldn't be able to do it and they can't get their VA claim out of the pile to be approved. Then they could also be among the members of the military always knowing they only wanted to be a Marine, a Soldier, an Airman or a Sailor and the was all they knew but now because they are wounded they cannot be one anymore.
See, when we say we "support the troops" we think that's all they need and they only need it when they are deployed with the rest of the "troops" and some of us are so lazy we forgot that one soldier is not called a "troop" but a soldier and a Marine is called a Marine, that there is an air National Guard and an Army National Guard. They need us when they wake up and when they finally get to find some few hours to sleep. They need us when they are out of danger just as much as when they are facing it. They need us in the hospital and out of it. They need us in the service to us just as much as they need us after. The question is, "when will we stop wanting to stop taking care of them in return for what they did for us?" We did it after WWII, we can do it now.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Note said Hood-style shooting could happen at Fort Benning
Note said Hood-style shooting could happen
By Gina Cavallaro - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Nov 20, 2009 18:23:44 EST
A box of hollow-point bullets and an anonymous note threatening an incident like the one at Fort Hood, Texas, were discovered Thursday at Fort Benning, Ga., sparking a criminal investigation and greater police presence, a witness told Army Times.
According to a witness at the scene, a box of 20 hollow-point shells and a handwritten note were found in the motor pool area between 1st Battalion and 2nd Battalion, 29th Infantry, under the 197th Infantry Training Brigade.
“The note said ‘tell the commanding general to call off all charges or there will be a re-enactment of Fort Hood,’ ” the witness told Army Times. He spoke on condition he wouldn’t be identified.
After the discovery, he said, military police arrived with dogs, cordoned off a 20-foot perimeter around the box and began dusting for fingerprints and questioning people.
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/11/army_benning_box_112009w/
By Gina Cavallaro - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Nov 20, 2009 18:23:44 EST
A box of hollow-point bullets and an anonymous note threatening an incident like the one at Fort Hood, Texas, were discovered Thursday at Fort Benning, Ga., sparking a criminal investigation and greater police presence, a witness told Army Times.
According to a witness at the scene, a box of 20 hollow-point shells and a handwritten note were found in the motor pool area between 1st Battalion and 2nd Battalion, 29th Infantry, under the 197th Infantry Training Brigade.
“The note said ‘tell the commanding general to call off all charges or there will be a re-enactment of Fort Hood,’ ” the witness told Army Times. He spoke on condition he wouldn’t be identified.
After the discovery, he said, military police arrived with dogs, cordoned off a 20-foot perimeter around the box and began dusting for fingerprints and questioning people.
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/11/army_benning_box_112009w/
Nam Knights suffers loss after fatal accident
There should be a correction on this. Both of them were wearing helmets.
UPDATE names released
Gennaro Dilauri, Gerry was a really special man. He had a smile that would brighten any day. He was also very caring. We will miss him for a long time until we see him again one day. I can't say much more than that right now about him other than please hold his family in your prayers.
Jack Darrell Helton is the son of Jack, a Nam Knight who passed away in August. Please hold this family in your prayers for all they are going through as they wait for Jack Darrell Helton to heal.
One dead in multiple motorcycle crash on I-75
Staff Report
Published: Friday, November 20, 2009 at 1:15 p.m.
Last Modified: Friday, November 20, 2009 at 3:16 p.m.
OCALA - A group of motorcyclists traveling together northbound on Interstate 75 Friday morning were involved in a chain reaction accident just south of mile marker 358 that claimed the life of one man.
According to Florida Highway Patrol officials, a bag fell from one of the cycles. Several of the other motorcyclists swerved to avoid hitting the bag, which caused the group to separate.
In the confusion, two people were ejected.
Officials said a 69-year-old man from Merritt Island, who was taken to Munroe Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced deceased.
The other cyclist was taken to Shands at the University of Florida Hospital in Gainesville in critical condition. The gender is not known at this time.
One member of the group, the Nam-Knights America, said they are based in Orlando and there about 25 cyclists. He said they were from the Orlando and Tampa area, met up in Wildwood this morning, and were traveling to Lake City, "just to get away."
read more here
One dead in multiple motorcycle crash on I-75
UPDATE names released
Gennaro Dilauri, Gerry was a really special man. He had a smile that would brighten any day. He was also very caring. We will miss him for a long time until we see him again one day. I can't say much more than that right now about him other than please hold his family in your prayers.
1 dead, 1 injured in motorcycle wrecks on I-75
The two motorcyclists were among about 25 who were traveling from Orlando to Lake City.
By Austin L. Miller
Staff writer
Published: Saturday, November 21, 2009 at 6:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, November 21, 2009 at 1:13 a.m.
A group of motorcyclists traveling together northbound on Interstate 75 on Friday morning were involved in a chain-reaction crash near the State Road 326 exit that claimed the life of a Merritt Island man.
According to Florida Highway Patrol officials, a bag fell from one of the motorcycles, causing several of the other motorcyclists to swerve to avoid hitting the bag, which caused the group to separate.
In the confusion, four riders were ejected off their motorcycles.
Officials said 69-year-old Gennaro Dilauri of Merritt Island was taken to Munroe Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
Another cyclist, Jack Darrell Helton, 35, of Longwood, was taken to Shands at the University of Florida in Gainesville in critical condition.
Two other cyclists suffered minor injuries.
go here for more
http://www.ocala.com/article/20091121/ARTICLES/911211009
Jack Darrell Helton is the son of Jack, a Nam Knight who passed away in August. Please hold this family in your prayers for all they are going through as they wait for Jack Darrell Helton to heal.
Jack Helton Share E-mail Visit Guest Book
HELTON, JACK, 56, of Orlando, FL passed away unexpectedly August 11, 2009. Jack will be remembered as a man of few words, who laughed often and had a heart of gold. He proudly served in the US Air Force for 13 years including a tour in Vietnam; he was the recipient of numerous awards and was medically retired in 1984. He also served 15 years at the U.S. Post Office in the University Branch, Winter Park, FL. While his greatest joy was his love for his children and grandchildren, he also had a special place in his heart for his Harley Davidson motorcycle and his brothers of the Nam Knights where he was one of the original six members who started the Orlando Chapter of the club. He is survived by his son Jack Darrell, Longwood and his daughter Joy Michelle Harris, Orlando; five grandchildren; his mother Jackie, Corbin, KY and three sisters and one brother. Funeral services will be held Friday, August 21, 2009 at 1:00 PM, at Asbury UMC, Maitland FL. In lieu of flowers the family asks that you consider a donation to: Nam Knights of America, 659 Hardwood Circle, FL 32828, Put in memo line: In Memory of Jack Helton.http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/orlandosentinel/obituary.aspx?n=jack-helton&pid=131570260
Heart sick! Please hold them all in your prayers.
One dead in multiple motorcycle crash on I-75
Staff Report
Published: Friday, November 20, 2009 at 1:15 p.m.
Last Modified: Friday, November 20, 2009 at 3:16 p.m.
OCALA - A group of motorcyclists traveling together northbound on Interstate 75 Friday morning were involved in a chain reaction accident just south of mile marker 358 that claimed the life of one man.
According to Florida Highway Patrol officials, a bag fell from one of the cycles. Several of the other motorcyclists swerved to avoid hitting the bag, which caused the group to separate.
In the confusion, two people were ejected.
Officials said a 69-year-old man from Merritt Island, who was taken to Munroe Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced deceased.
The other cyclist was taken to Shands at the University of Florida Hospital in Gainesville in critical condition. The gender is not known at this time.
One member of the group, the Nam-Knights America, said they are based in Orlando and there about 25 cyclists. He said they were from the Orlando and Tampa area, met up in Wildwood this morning, and were traveling to Lake City, "just to get away."
read more here
One dead in multiple motorcycle crash on I-75
Psychiatrist claims Marines getting shoddy care at Camp Lejeune
Do you believe him? I do. I've talked to enough Marines over the years to know they are supposed to be able to "train their brains" even more than soldiers are supposed to be able to. Having a Marine cry on my shoulder and feel it was necessary to apologize to me for doing it because as he put it, "I'm a Marine!" shows how little they have been doing to get them to understand it has nothing to do with being weak.
I also think it is horrible that this doctor is no longer there because he cared too much yet Maj. Hasan was kept on no matter how badly he did.
Fired psychiatrist says Marines suffering from stress are getting shoddy care at Camp Lejeune
KEVIN MAURER
Associated Press Writer
5:59 p.m. EST, November 20, 2009
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (AP) — Marines treated at Camp Lejeune for post-traumatic stress had to undergo therapy for months in temporary trailers where they could hear bomb blasts, machine-gun fire and war cries through the thin walls, according to servicemen and their former psychiatrist.
The eight trailers were used for nearly two years, until a permanent clinic was completed in September in another location on the base, said a Camp Lejeune medical spokesman, Navy Lt. j.g. Mark Jean-Pierre.
The noise from training exercises "shook me up real bad. I couldn't take it. I almost ran out of there a couple of times," said a Marine patient who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to talk to the media. "My mind couldn't focus on the treatment. I couldn't tell the difference between the combat zone and the non-combat zone."
The allegations became public after the dismissal of Dr. Kernan Manion, a civilian psychiatrist who says he was fired for writing memos to his military superiors complaining of shoddy care of Marines returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with PTSD, a condition that can make patients jumpy, fearful of loud noises and prone to flashbacks.
I also think it is horrible that this doctor is no longer there because he cared too much yet Maj. Hasan was kept on no matter how badly he did.
Dr. Kernan Manion poses for a photograph in his officer in Hampstead, N.C., Friday, Nov. 20, 2008. Dr. Manion a psychiatrist was fired after he complained about conditions for his patients at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C., In e-mails shown to The Associated Press, Manion had questioned why the clinic, a series of bug-infested trailers with paper-thin walls, was located near a firing range on the 240-square-mile base. (AP Photo/Jim R. Bounds) (Jim R. Bounds, AP / November 20, 2009)
Fired psychiatrist says Marines suffering from stress are getting shoddy care at Camp Lejeune
KEVIN MAURER
Associated Press Writer
5:59 p.m. EST, November 20, 2009
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (AP) — Marines treated at Camp Lejeune for post-traumatic stress had to undergo therapy for months in temporary trailers where they could hear bomb blasts, machine-gun fire and war cries through the thin walls, according to servicemen and their former psychiatrist.
The eight trailers were used for nearly two years, until a permanent clinic was completed in September in another location on the base, said a Camp Lejeune medical spokesman, Navy Lt. j.g. Mark Jean-Pierre.
The noise from training exercises "shook me up real bad. I couldn't take it. I almost ran out of there a couple of times," said a Marine patient who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to talk to the media. "My mind couldn't focus on the treatment. I couldn't tell the difference between the combat zone and the non-combat zone."
The allegations became public after the dismissal of Dr. Kernan Manion, a civilian psychiatrist who says he was fired for writing memos to his military superiors complaining of shoddy care of Marines returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with PTSD, a condition that can make patients jumpy, fearful of loud noises and prone to flashbacks.
read more here
Call to America to help our veterans
Hampton Inn Daytona Beach-Speedway
1715 West International Speedway Blvd.
Daytona Beach, Florida 32114
Sgt. Dave Matthews
Sgt. Dave Matthews a wounded veteran himself, tirelessly works to help "Brave-Aid" and its cause. We are remiss in not posting Sgt. Matthews sooner. There have been times when he has called the office to allow us to speak to homeless veterans he has just fed. Below are pictures of his latest effort to help Veterans at the Road to Recovery 10/16/09 event this past weekend. God bless you Sgt. Matthews, the world needs more people like you Sir. Just too look into the faces of our Homeless Veterans and the smile you put on their faces makes our hearts full.
There are presently over 19,000 homeless Veterans in Florida. On this night thanks to you some of those 19,000 had a good meal.
http://www.braveaid.org/
When you look into the eyes of Sgt. Matthews, you can see some pain there but above all, you can see true dedication to others. I've been with him during meetings when he has shown frustration that more people are not joining this organization even though considering the official kick off is not until tomorrow and hundreds have already joined, Sgt. Matthews is impatient to do more for the troops and our veterans. I've been with him when he was helping to feed the homeless in Orlando, again, frustrated that more is not being done. He is a member of the Florida National Guard, doing his duty this weekend and won't be able to go to the convention.
The thing most people do not understand is the members of Operation Warrior Support are not satisfied with just being frustrated. Just as Sgt. Matthews is not happy complaining and spends his days trying to make a difference, all of us with OWS are tired of complaining. Tired of seeing what is not being done and tired of seeing our veterans waiting for help.
We know what they are going through beyond waiting for their claims for benefits to be approved. We know what they go through between wound and compensation. Because too many have no income while they wait, they are falling through the cracks. Bill collectors don't want to hear the government has not paid their bill to a wounded veteran. They don't want to hear we'll pay when we get paid. They expect the debt to be paid on time without delay. It would be a wonderful time in this country if the veterans could be assured of the same consideration.
Then we have veterans coming home, like Sgt. Matthews, to a nation where the job they expected to return to is no longer there. The members of the National Guards do what they are supposed to do, deploy where they are sent for however long they are told to stay there. Do we ever think about what happens to them when they come home and have to still pay their bills? What about the debt we owe them?
The list of conditions our veterans return to is hardly coming close to being addressed. While I try to do what I can with my blog and website along with the videos, what you don't know about is the number of veterans and their families emailing me and the hours of phone calls trying to help them understand what they are not being told. What you do not see is the suffering from every state in this country and the families falling apart. We read numbers. We read some stories. Above all, we hear their voice.
Brave-Aid was established to help them. Operation Warrior Support is a member funded support for Brave-Aid. Consider organizations hiring professional fund raisers. Ever consider how much money they have to paid out of the donations you make? OWS is the fundraising arm. Please consider coming tomorrow to Daytona and get more information about this organization I am proud to be a member of.
I was not satisfied with being frustrated in 1982 when I tried to help. Not happy with being frustrated all these years since and I am certainly not happy just complaining now. It is not enough to just offer prayers and move on with your life when they cannot. It is not enough to show up when they come into the airports or try to show up when one of them is laid to rest. It is not enough to show up for Memorial Day or Veterans Day Parades. We need to be there when they need us just as they are always there when we need them.
If you cannot attend the convention, please go here and take a look at what you can do beyond being frustrated.
http://chaplainkathie.warriorsupport.us/
Patrick W. Dunne, VA Under Secretary for Benefits, to Step Down
Patrick W. Dunne, VA Under Secretary for Benefits, to Step Down
WASHINGTON (Nov. 20, 2009) - Patrick W. Dunne, the Under Secretary for
Benefits for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), today announced
his resignation for early next year. Dunne, who attained the rank of
rear admiral while in the U.S. Navy, has been with VA since 2006.
As Under Secretary for Benefits since October 2008, Admiral Dunne has
directed the administration of VA's disability compensation, pension,
education, home loan guaranty, vocational rehabilitation and employment,
and life insurance programs through a nationwide network of 57 regional
offices, other special processing centers, and Veterans Benefits
Administration headquarters.
"I've appreciated the wonderful opportunity VA has given me to serve our
nation's Veterans and their families," said Dunne. "We have an
obligation to care for our heroes and their dependents, and I will fully
support the transition of my successor to meet that moral
responsibility."
"Pat Dunne has guided the Veterans Benefits Administration through a
number of challenges during his tenure as Under Secretary. I applaud
his service and loyalty to our team and thank him for his unfailing
commitment to our nation's Veterans," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Eric K. Shinseki.
Born in Washington, D.C. and raised in Troy, N.Y., Dunne earned his
undergraduate degree in mathematics from the U.S. Naval Academy at
Annapolis and earned a master's in mathematics from the Naval
Postgraduate School and is a graduate of the Navy's nuclear power
training program.
WASHINGTON (Nov. 20, 2009) - Patrick W. Dunne, the Under Secretary for
Benefits for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), today announced
his resignation for early next year. Dunne, who attained the rank of
rear admiral while in the U.S. Navy, has been with VA since 2006.
As Under Secretary for Benefits since October 2008, Admiral Dunne has
directed the administration of VA's disability compensation, pension,
education, home loan guaranty, vocational rehabilitation and employment,
and life insurance programs through a nationwide network of 57 regional
offices, other special processing centers, and Veterans Benefits
Administration headquarters.
"I've appreciated the wonderful opportunity VA has given me to serve our
nation's Veterans and their families," said Dunne. "We have an
obligation to care for our heroes and their dependents, and I will fully
support the transition of my successor to meet that moral
responsibility."
"Pat Dunne has guided the Veterans Benefits Administration through a
number of challenges during his tenure as Under Secretary. I applaud
his service and loyalty to our team and thank him for his unfailing
commitment to our nation's Veterans," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Eric K. Shinseki.
Born in Washington, D.C. and raised in Troy, N.Y., Dunne earned his
undergraduate degree in mathematics from the U.S. Naval Academy at
Annapolis and earned a master's in mathematics from the Naval
Postgraduate School and is a graduate of the Navy's nuclear power
training program.
Secretary Shinseki Announces Study of Vietnam-Era Women Veterans
Secretary Shinseki Announces Study of Vietnam-Era Women Veterans
Comprehensive Study Will Help VA Provide High-Quality Care
WASHINGTON (Nov. 19, 2009) -Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K.
Shinseki announced the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is launching
a comprehensive study of women Veterans who served in the military
during the Vietnam War to explore the effects of their military service
upon their mental and physical health.
"One of my top priorities is to meet the needs of women Veterans," said
Secretary Shinseki. "Our Veterans have earned the very best care. VA
realizes that women Veterans require specialized programs, and this
study will help VA provide high-quality care for women Veterans of the
Vietnam era."
The study, which begins in November and lasts more than four years, will
contact approximately 10,000 women in a mailed survey, telephone
interview and a review of their medical records.
As women Vietnam Veterans approach their mid-sixties, it is important to
understand the impact of wartime deployment on health and mental
outcomes nearly 40 years later. The study will assess the prevalence of
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental and physical
health conditions for women Vietnam Veterans, and explore the
relationship between PTSD and other conditions.
VA will study women Vietnam Veterans who may have had direct exposure to
traumatic events, and for the first time, study those who served in
facilities near Vietnam. These women may have had similar, but less
direct exposures. Both women Veterans who receive their health care
from VA and those who receive health care from other providers will be
contacted to determine the prevalence of a variety of health conditions.
About 250,000 women Veterans served in the military during the Vietnam
War and about 7,000 were in or near Vietnam. Those who were in Vietnam,
those who served elsewhere in Southeast Asia and those who served in the
United States are potential study participants.
The study represents to date the most comprehensive examination of a
group of women Vietnam Veterans, and will be used to shape future
research on women Veterans in future wars. Such an understanding will
lay the groundwork for planning and providing appropriate services for
women Veterans, as well as for the aging Veteran population today.
Women Veterans are one of the fastest growing segments of the Veteran
population. There are approximately 1.8 million women Veterans among
the nation's total of 23 million living Veterans. Women comprise 7.8
percent of the total Veteran population and nearly 5.5 percent of all
Veterans who use VA health care services. VA estimates women Veterans
will constitute 10.5 percent of the Veteran population by 2020 and 9.5
percent of all VA patients.
In recent years, VA has undertaken a number of initiatives to create or
enhance services for women Veterans, including the implementation of
comprehensive primary care throughout the nation, staffing every VA
medical center with a women Veterans program manager, supporting a
multifaceted research program on women's health, improving communication
and outreach to women Veterans, and continuing the operation of
organizations like the Center for Women Veterans and the Women Veterans
Health Strategic Healthcare Group.
The study, to be managed by VA's Cooperative Studies Program, is
projected to cost $5.6 million.
Comprehensive Study Will Help VA Provide High-Quality Care
WASHINGTON (Nov. 19, 2009) -Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K.
Shinseki announced the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is launching
a comprehensive study of women Veterans who served in the military
during the Vietnam War to explore the effects of their military service
upon their mental and physical health.
"One of my top priorities is to meet the needs of women Veterans," said
Secretary Shinseki. "Our Veterans have earned the very best care. VA
realizes that women Veterans require specialized programs, and this
study will help VA provide high-quality care for women Veterans of the
Vietnam era."
The study, which begins in November and lasts more than four years, will
contact approximately 10,000 women in a mailed survey, telephone
interview and a review of their medical records.
As women Vietnam Veterans approach their mid-sixties, it is important to
understand the impact of wartime deployment on health and mental
outcomes nearly 40 years later. The study will assess the prevalence of
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental and physical
health conditions for women Vietnam Veterans, and explore the
relationship between PTSD and other conditions.
VA will study women Vietnam Veterans who may have had direct exposure to
traumatic events, and for the first time, study those who served in
facilities near Vietnam. These women may have had similar, but less
direct exposures. Both women Veterans who receive their health care
from VA and those who receive health care from other providers will be
contacted to determine the prevalence of a variety of health conditions.
About 250,000 women Veterans served in the military during the Vietnam
War and about 7,000 were in or near Vietnam. Those who were in Vietnam,
those who served elsewhere in Southeast Asia and those who served in the
United States are potential study participants.
The study represents to date the most comprehensive examination of a
group of women Vietnam Veterans, and will be used to shape future
research on women Veterans in future wars. Such an understanding will
lay the groundwork for planning and providing appropriate services for
women Veterans, as well as for the aging Veteran population today.
Women Veterans are one of the fastest growing segments of the Veteran
population. There are approximately 1.8 million women Veterans among
the nation's total of 23 million living Veterans. Women comprise 7.8
percent of the total Veteran population and nearly 5.5 percent of all
Veterans who use VA health care services. VA estimates women Veterans
will constitute 10.5 percent of the Veteran population by 2020 and 9.5
percent of all VA patients.
In recent years, VA has undertaken a number of initiatives to create or
enhance services for women Veterans, including the implementation of
comprehensive primary care throughout the nation, staffing every VA
medical center with a women Veterans program manager, supporting a
multifaceted research program on women's health, improving communication
and outreach to women Veterans, and continuing the operation of
organizations like the Center for Women Veterans and the Women Veterans
Health Strategic Healthcare Group.
The study, to be managed by VA's Cooperative Studies Program, is
projected to cost $5.6 million.
Veterans find help and hope
When a veteran, especially a Marine, hears the words, Traumatic Brain Injury, it seems a lot easier to deal with, cope with and heal, but when they hear Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, they assume they are being told there is something mentally wrong with them, they are somehow "soft" in the head, just not tough enough, not prepared and it is their fault. Yes, they are still getting this message from others. Why?
TBI comes from an outside force. The force of a bomb blast or head injury, just as the term states clearly. It is an injury so it is easier for the veteran to make peace with it, talk about it and do what they can to help themselves return to "normal" as closely as possible.
PTSD which actually means "after wound" and in other words, injury, yet they assume that it's their fault they have it. Why?
It is still the same part of the body that is injured. It is injured and not "defective" but they think of it that way. It is because they have been told it is their fault with the training they have received as the military tells them they can prevent it by becoming "resilient" and toughen their minds.
While they stand in uniform with weapons, face danger, risk their lives, go through the gates of hell in combat, they have the idea they are trained to be tough. They assume they should be able to take anything and still stay the same. They assume they are also trained to stop being human. They think all the compassion they had inside of themselves all their lives is suddenly gone but it isn't. The military tries to freeze it out of them but it is still there and that's perhaps the biggest problem of all.
Had the military taught them how to understand every part of them can go into making them a better soldier or Marine, or sailor or airman or National Guardsman, then they would put it all into use without considering even a fraction of who they are inside as an enemy. They would be able to make peace with what they see as weakness while using the other "parts" of themselves to support what is not as strong, what is wounded, what is injured.
So much the military could be doing if they finally came to terms with what makes the men and women in their command as valuable as they are.
TBI comes from an outside force. The force of a bomb blast or head injury, just as the term states clearly. It is an injury so it is easier for the veteran to make peace with it, talk about it and do what they can to help themselves return to "normal" as closely as possible.
PTSD which actually means "after wound" and in other words, injury, yet they assume that it's their fault they have it. Why?
It is still the same part of the body that is injured. It is injured and not "defective" but they think of it that way. It is because they have been told it is their fault with the training they have received as the military tells them they can prevent it by becoming "resilient" and toughen their minds.
While they stand in uniform with weapons, face danger, risk their lives, go through the gates of hell in combat, they have the idea they are trained to be tough. They assume they should be able to take anything and still stay the same. They assume they are also trained to stop being human. They think all the compassion they had inside of themselves all their lives is suddenly gone but it isn't. The military tries to freeze it out of them but it is still there and that's perhaps the biggest problem of all.
Had the military taught them how to understand every part of them can go into making them a better soldier or Marine, or sailor or airman or National Guardsman, then they would put it all into use without considering even a fraction of who they are inside as an enemy. They would be able to make peace with what they see as weakness while using the other "parts" of themselves to support what is not as strong, what is wounded, what is injured.
So much the military could be doing if they finally came to terms with what makes the men and women in their command as valuable as they are.
Veterans find help and hope
By Pamela Dozois/Lifestyle Editor pdozois@syvnews.com
John Stephens, a Marine serving near Fallujah, Iraq, was exercising in camp when a mortar landed about 125 feet from him. The blast threw him to the ground but he immediately got back up, thinking he was fine.
But he wasn’t.
He remained on active duty for two more years, even though he began to notice symptoms of fatigue, memory and concentration problems and other emotional and psychological changes just a few weeks after the mortar blast.
Eventually he was told he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, was given counseling and some anti-depressants, and was told to “get over it.”
But he didn’t.
He returned home a changed man; someone who had been social and active in his church was now someone who isolated himself, spoke very little and flew into fits of uncontrollable rage.
read more here
Veterans find help and hope
Vietnam Vet killed while trying to deposit money for WWII veterans
Two generations of veterans have just been attacked by this. This Vietnam veteran was part of a bigger picture. Most service organizations are now headed by Vietnam veterans because of the aging WWII and Korean War veterans. They took on taking care of the older veterans and the money to be deposited was for WWII veterans. The robber has no conscience.
If you know who did this, contact the police and turn them in. This was about a brotherhood of veterans trying to do some good and trying to take care of each other. They put the needs of everyone in this nation ahead of their own and now one is dead because someone decided to take what was not their's.
If you know who did this, contact the police and turn them in. This was about a brotherhood of veterans trying to do some good and trying to take care of each other. They put the needs of everyone in this nation ahead of their own and now one is dead because someone decided to take what was not their's.
Vietnam veteran robbed, killed on his way to deposit VFW money
William Burtner had helped raise money for WWII vets' trip to Washington
Tribune staff report
November 20, 2009
Army veteran William Burtner survived Vietnam and dedicated his life to helping other veterans.
On Monday, Burtner was about to enter a bank in Midlothian to deposit money that the south suburb's Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2580 had raised during a benefit.
He never made it inside.
read more here
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-vietnam-veteran-dies-20-nov20,0,391111.story
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Woman wounded at Fort Hood thought shooting was a drill
Monona woman wounded at Fort Hood thought shooting was a drill
Steven Verburg 608-252-6118
sverburg@madison.com
Posted: Wednesday, November 18, 2009 8:45 pm
A Monona woman who was among the wounded in the Fort Hood massacre told a fellow officer Wednesday that while the shooting was happening she thought it was a drill.
Army Reserves Capt. Dorothy Carskadon and two other wounded members of the Madison-based 467th Medical Detachment have been medically cleared and should be coming home soon, said Capt. Robert LaFountain.
They were among the 15 members of the 467th who were being processed for deployment to Afghanistan on Nov. 5 when an Army psychiatrist, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, allegedly opened fire and killed 13 soldiers, including three from the 467th.
She was sitting in an office cubicle in the processing center when the shooting started.
"Almost through the whole ordeal she thought it was a training exercise," LaFountain said.
She remembered being hit by what she thought was a paint ball round, and the unit commander Maj. Laura Suttinger pulling her to a safe area and propped her up with another soldier, LaFountain said.
read more here
Woman wounded at Fort Hood thought shooting was a drill
Steven Verburg 608-252-6118
sverburg@madison.com
Posted: Wednesday, November 18, 2009 8:45 pm
A Monona woman who was among the wounded in the Fort Hood massacre told a fellow officer Wednesday that while the shooting was happening she thought it was a drill.
Army Reserves Capt. Dorothy Carskadon and two other wounded members of the Madison-based 467th Medical Detachment have been medically cleared and should be coming home soon, said Capt. Robert LaFountain.
They were among the 15 members of the 467th who were being processed for deployment to Afghanistan on Nov. 5 when an Army psychiatrist, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, allegedly opened fire and killed 13 soldiers, including three from the 467th.
She was sitting in an office cubicle in the processing center when the shooting started.
"Almost through the whole ordeal she thought it was a training exercise," LaFountain said.
She remembered being hit by what she thought was a paint ball round, and the unit commander Maj. Laura Suttinger pulling her to a safe area and propped her up with another soldier, LaFountain said.
read more here
Woman wounded at Fort Hood thought shooting was a drill
Soldier's family brings fight with contractor to Congress
Soldier's family brings fight with contractor to Congress
By DAVID GOLDSTEIN
McClatchy Newspapers
Army Lt. Col. Dominic "Rocky" Baragona was killed in Iraq on the very day he was going home.
He was en route, heading south on the road between Baghdad and Kuwait City, when a tractor-trailer lost control, jackknifed across the highway and crushed his Humvee.
That was more than six years ago, when the Iraq war was barely two months old, and Baragona's family has been fighting to hold someone accountable ever since.
His parents, Dominic and Vilma Baragona, and a sister, were on Capitol Hill Wednesday to tell a Senate hearing how their quest for justice after his death has been a frustrating effort.
"Never could I have imagined that I would sit here six years later with no justice, no criminal investigation, few answers," Dominic Baragona Sr. told the Senate Subcommittee on Contracting Oversight.
The family has been asking questions ever since it learned of Baragona's death.
The tractor-trailer that killed Baragona was owned by the Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Co., an overseas U.S. government contractor that has earned millions of dollars from its work for the military.
read more here
http://www.kansascity.com/444/story/1578986.html
By DAVID GOLDSTEIN
McClatchy Newspapers
Army Lt. Col. Dominic "Rocky" Baragona was killed in Iraq on the very day he was going home.
He was en route, heading south on the road between Baghdad and Kuwait City, when a tractor-trailer lost control, jackknifed across the highway and crushed his Humvee.
That was more than six years ago, when the Iraq war was barely two months old, and Baragona's family has been fighting to hold someone accountable ever since.
His parents, Dominic and Vilma Baragona, and a sister, were on Capitol Hill Wednesday to tell a Senate hearing how their quest for justice after his death has been a frustrating effort.
"Never could I have imagined that I would sit here six years later with no justice, no criminal investigation, few answers," Dominic Baragona Sr. told the Senate Subcommittee on Contracting Oversight.
The family has been asking questions ever since it learned of Baragona's death.
The tractor-trailer that killed Baragona was owned by the Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Co., an overseas U.S. government contractor that has earned millions of dollars from its work for the military.
read more here
http://www.kansascity.com/444/story/1578986.html
What do you do with a Legion post that is losing its members?
It is not that the newer veterans are not coming but the Legion, along with too many other posts across the country, are not asking them.
When
New service organizations had to form a few years after Afghanistan was invaded, that should have caused alarm bells to go off in every established post. There would have been no need of them had the needs of the veterans been met by a welcoming neighborhood post showing they cared enough to know what the need was.
Young families wouldn't mind hanging around with people old enough to be grandparents if they knew they were cared about. Since we live in a time where families are no longer staying in their home towns they miss having someone older around to spoil them emotionally. Home could have been where the post was but they wanted to stay the same way they had been while the newer veterans needed oh so much more.
They needed accessibility to online resources but they also needed something the Legion was in a perfect position to deliver on. Experience. They would be able to just be an example of surviving even after what they went through in wars now reported in history books instead of newspapers. Wives could have helped new wives know that their marriages are not hopeless when love is there and support is available. There is so much they could have been doing but maybe its a case of no one ever giving them advice, or showing them how, or in some cases, just doing if for them. The age of these commanders does play into what was not being done and it's easy to jump to the conclusion they simply didn't know how to do any of it.
When
New service organizations had to form a few years after Afghanistan was invaded, that should have caused alarm bells to go off in every established post. There would have been no need of them had the needs of the veterans been met by a welcoming neighborhood post showing they cared enough to know what the need was.
Young families wouldn't mind hanging around with people old enough to be grandparents if they knew they were cared about. Since we live in a time where families are no longer staying in their home towns they miss having someone older around to spoil them emotionally. Home could have been where the post was but they wanted to stay the same way they had been while the newer veterans needed oh so much more.
They needed accessibility to online resources but they also needed something the Legion was in a perfect position to deliver on. Experience. They would be able to just be an example of surviving even after what they went through in wars now reported in history books instead of newspapers. Wives could have helped new wives know that their marriages are not hopeless when love is there and support is available. There is so much they could have been doing but maybe its a case of no one ever giving them advice, or showing them how, or in some cases, just doing if for them. The age of these commanders does play into what was not being done and it's easy to jump to the conclusion they simply didn't know how to do any of it.
What do you do with a Legion post that is losing its members?
Nov, 17-2009 4:05 pm
By JACKIE HANUSEY
Staff Writer
LINWOOD – Linwood American Legion Post 353 sits at 23 Elm Ave., old and in disrepair.
The building’s yellow paint is peeling; the once-red door faded. From the outside, the curtains look worn and moth-eaten.
Birds live in the roof, and the portico over the front porch is rotted and unstable, according to City Councilman Tim Tighe. Sometimes, the grass is unkempt.
Tighe said the city has been wrestling with what to do about the building for several years.
He said it is a shame that the building needs so much work. Owned by the American Legion, it was constructed in 1900. It is on an undersized lot, which would make it hard to sell.
But perhaps the biggest problem to overcome is not the age of the building, but its membership.
“It’s a touchy situation. No one has any intentions of hurting the veterans,” Tighe said. “We don’t understand where the younger veterans are.”
red more here
http://www.shorenewstoday.com/news.php?id=5828
Soldier defends decision to reveal murders of Iraqi detainees
Soldier defends decision to reveal murders of Iraqi detainees
By Abbie Boudreau and Scott Zamost, CNN Special Investigations Unit
November 19, 2009 5:57 p.m. EST
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Sergeant who revealed murders of four Iraqis says he has no regrets about breaking silence
Three sergeants were convicted of murder and conspiracy to commit murder CNN investigation revealed that one of the trio was frustrated with rules for taking in detainees Full investigation on "AC360°" tonight, 10 ET; read blog posts: Abbie Boudreau; Scott Zamost A CNN investigation reveals why the Army's rules for holding detainees may have led to the murders of four Iraqis by three decorated Army sergeants. Watch tonight through Friday on "AC360°" at 10 p.m. ET.
Bakersfield, California (CNN) -- A former Army sergeant who revealed the murders of four Iraqis at a canal in 2007 says he has no regrets about breaking his silence.
"I did the right thing," Jess Cunningham told CNN's "AC360°." "I'm not going to hide behind false brotherhood."
Nine months after the March 2007 murders, Cunningham told his Army lawyer what had happened at the canal. Eventually, three sergeants would be convicted of premeditated murder and conspiracy to commit premeditated murder.
"These men are not heroes. They're not saviors," Cunningham said.
First Sgt. John Hatley, Sgt. 1st Class Joseph Mayo and Sgt. Michael Leahy are all serving terms at the U.S. military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
read more here
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/11/19/army.tapes.soldier.speaks/index.html
By Abbie Boudreau and Scott Zamost, CNN Special Investigations Unit
November 19, 2009 5:57 p.m. EST
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Sergeant who revealed murders of four Iraqis says he has no regrets about breaking silence
Three sergeants were convicted of murder and conspiracy to commit murder CNN investigation revealed that one of the trio was frustrated with rules for taking in detainees Full investigation on "AC360°" tonight, 10 ET; read blog posts: Abbie Boudreau; Scott Zamost A CNN investigation reveals why the Army's rules for holding detainees may have led to the murders of four Iraqis by three decorated Army sergeants. Watch tonight through Friday on "AC360°" at 10 p.m. ET.
Bakersfield, California (CNN) -- A former Army sergeant who revealed the murders of four Iraqis at a canal in 2007 says he has no regrets about breaking his silence.
"I did the right thing," Jess Cunningham told CNN's "AC360°." "I'm not going to hide behind false brotherhood."
Nine months after the March 2007 murders, Cunningham told his Army lawyer what had happened at the canal. Eventually, three sergeants would be convicted of premeditated murder and conspiracy to commit premeditated murder.
"These men are not heroes. They're not saviors," Cunningham said.
First Sgt. John Hatley, Sgt. 1st Class Joseph Mayo and Sgt. Michael Leahy are all serving terms at the U.S. military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
read more here
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/11/19/army.tapes.soldier.speaks/index.html
Standoffs Involved Vets Who May Have PTSD
Standoffs Involved Vets Who May Have PTSD
By: Jenny Griswold and Becky Nahm
Two standoffs in the metro in three days both involved Iraq war veterans who friends say suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.
On Nov. 11, officers went to the Apple Valley home of Robert James Dunnum, 44.
According to a criminal complaint, he had been drinking and told his wife "you want a war, I'll start a war."
He's charged with making terroristic threats and domestic assault.
He allegedly had seven guns and a grenade.
On Nov. 13, in Edina, officers sent neighbors to their basements while a man holed up in his home with a gun. The man was also an Iraq war vet.
read more here
http://kstp.com/news/stories/S1259809.shtml?cat=1
By: Jenny Griswold and Becky Nahm
Two standoffs in the metro in three days both involved Iraq war veterans who friends say suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.
On Nov. 11, officers went to the Apple Valley home of Robert James Dunnum, 44.
According to a criminal complaint, he had been drinking and told his wife "you want a war, I'll start a war."
He's charged with making terroristic threats and domestic assault.
He allegedly had seven guns and a grenade.
On Nov. 13, in Edina, officers sent neighbors to their basements while a man holed up in his home with a gun. The man was also an Iraq war vet.
read more here
http://kstp.com/news/stories/S1259809.shtml?cat=1
Two non-combat deaths under investigation
Death wasn’t combat related Troy Marine lost his life in Iraq; probe is ongoing
By Casey Farrar
Sentinel Staff
Published: Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Military officials have released more information about the death of a Troy Marine in Iraq last week, but say an investigation into how Staff Sgt. Stephen L. Murphy died could take weeks.
Murphy, 36, died Nov. 8 as the result of a non-hostile incident in Anbar province, according to officials at the U.S. Department of Defense.
Further details about how Murphy died won’t be available until military officials complete an investigation into the incident, which could take several weeks, said Marine Master Sgt. Keith Milks.
A non-hostile incident is one that does not take place in combat or involve foul play and could be a suicide, accident or medical condition, said Major Kelly Frushour, a Marine spokeswoman.
read more here
http://sentinelsource.com/articles/2009/11/17/news/local/free/id_379484.txt
Local soldier buried with military honors
Recommend 0
November 17, 2009 5:52 PM
A slow moving funeral cortege moved down Colonie streets Tuesday morning for the funeral of Staff Sergeant Amy Seyboth Tirador.
The 29-year-old 1998 graduate of Colonie Central High School was killed in Iraq on Nov. 4 by what the Army called "non combat circumstances." Amy's parents have said they were told she was shot in the back of the head and the family has promised to find out the truth about what happened.
Neighbors stood outside the Reach Out Fellowship Church watching the flag draped silver casket carried inside while Tirado's husband and parents marched in anguish behind it.
The circumstances of Tirador's death was on the mind of several people. One woman outside the church said, "It's very upsetting. You send your child off to war and then something like this happens."
read more herehttp://www.cbs6albany.com/news/buried-1268519-honors-local.html
The Hell Of PTSD
There is only one problem I have with this. Disney is not always a problem. We live near it and it is the one place where my husband can be in crowds but is relaxed. Even his doctors couldn't understand this. He told them that Disney is all about family and most of the people there are kids under 12. Everyone is just trying to enjoy themselves and he sensed no danger there at all. Some of the rides he'll stay away from depending on the day. He has problems with Universal Studios a bit more especially toward dark because of the changes in the people in the crowds. As for Disney, it's Disney and geared toward kids of all ages.
If you have someone in your family with PTSD, it could be a problem for them and for others not so much a problem. It's up to them and how they view it but it also depends on what kind of a day they are having to begin with.
If you have someone in your family with PTSD, it could be a problem for them and for others not so much a problem. It's up to them and how they view it but it also depends on what kind of a day they are having to begin with.
The Hell Of PTSD
By Tim McGirk / Colorado Springs Monday, Nov. 30, 2009
Ashley Gilbertson / VII Network for TIME
In retrospect, disneyland wasn't an ideal family-vacation spot for Mark Waddell, a Navy SEAL commander whose valor in combat hid the fact that he was suffering from severe mental trauma. The noise of the careening rides, the shrieking kids--everything roused Waddell to a state of hypervigilance typical of his worst days in combat. When an actor dressed as Goofy stuck his long, doggy muzzle into his face, Waddell recalls, "I wanted to grab Goofy by the throat."
It has long been taboo in military cultures for soldiers to complain about the invisible wounds of war. After a distinguished career as a SEAL commando, Waddell reached his breaking point following the worst disaster in SEAL history, in June 2005: a Chinook helicopter filled with eight SEALs and eight Army aviators was shot down while trying to rescue four comrades trapped by a Taliban ambush in the Kunar Mountains in Afghanistan. Waddell, who was stationed at the unit's base in Virginia Beach, had the agonizing task of sorting through the remains of his dead men--young warriors he had fought beside, mentored and led into battle. He also had to tell their families of the deaths. One wife, he recalls, "just ran away from me, ran down the street. I could understand." By Waddell's reckoning, he attended more than 64 memorial services for his friends and comrades in arms. "Finally," says Waddell, "I raised my hand and said I needed help." The doctors' diagnosis: Waddell was suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)--known in previous conflicts as combat fatigue.
For Waddell, the diagnosis was a long time in coming. Several years earlier, his wife Marshéle Carter Waddell and their three kids had noticed that everyday things like a whining vacuum cleaner could trigger his rages. Even his kids riled him. "I'd come back from stepping over corpses with their entrails hanging out, and my kids would be upset because their TiVo wasn't working," he recalls. Arriving home from one combat mission, Waddell insisted on sleeping with a gun under his pillow. Another night, he woke up from a nightmare with his fingers wrapped around his wife's throat, her face turning blue. Marshéle had to change the sheets every morning because of her husband's night sweats. "I had an emergency evacuation plan for myself and the family," says Marshéle. "You feel physically unsafe."
At 48, now retired from the Navy and living in Colorado, Waddell is a thoughtful, good-humored man with a quick, catlike energy. After years on the clandestine side of combat, the idea of sharing secrets--especially those of a personal nature--doesn't come easily to him. But as agonizing as it is to relive the experiences of his ongoing bout with PTSD, he and Marshéle agreed to talk to TIME in an effort to sound the alarm for what has become a broader problem: the vast number of men and women returning from punishing stretches in Iraq and Afghanistan bearing the psychological scars of war. "By speaking out," says Waddell, "maybe it will help someone's son or daughter in the forces."Soldiers who serve in Iraq and Afghanistan may not experience the hostility from society upon their return to the U.S. that Vietnam vets did. But they encounter something that psychologists say is nearly as disorienting: America has found ways to distract itself from the fact that it has dispatched 1.6 million service members to two wars and kept them fighting for far longer than the duration of World War II. This struck Waddell while he was at a mall, when a shopper asked him how he broke his leg. "Iraq," Waddell answered. The reply: "Was it a car wreck or a cycle wreck?" Colorado Springs psychologist Kelly Orr, who is treating the ex--Navy SEAL, says, "We get all excited when Johnny goes marching off to war, and then we forget about him a few days later when our favorite football team loses a game." This, says Orr, adds to a returnee's well of anger and loneliness.
Read more: The Hell Of PTSD
2007 memo criticizes Fort Hood suspect's judgment, professionalism
2007 memo criticizes Fort Hood suspect's judgment, professionalism
November 19, 2009 8:58 a.m. EST
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Memo written by Maj. Nidal Hasan's supervisor at Walter Reed
NPR says it got a copy of the memo; CNN cannot confirm authenticity
Memo says "faculty has serious concerns" about Hasan's work ethic
(CNN) -- A memo reportedly written two years ago by Maj. Nidal Hasan's supervisor at Walter Reed Army Medical Center says the accused Fort Hood shooter demonstrated "a pattern of poor judgment and a lack of professionalism" during his residency at the hospital.
read more here
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/11/18/fort.hood.hasan.memo/
November 19, 2009 8:58 a.m. EST
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Memo written by Maj. Nidal Hasan's supervisor at Walter Reed
NPR says it got a copy of the memo; CNN cannot confirm authenticity
Memo says "faculty has serious concerns" about Hasan's work ethic
(CNN) -- A memo reportedly written two years ago by Maj. Nidal Hasan's supervisor at Walter Reed Army Medical Center says the accused Fort Hood shooter demonstrated "a pattern of poor judgment and a lack of professionalism" during his residency at the hospital.
read more here
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/11/18/fort.hood.hasan.memo/
Companies Bilked Vets Program of $100M
Companies Bilked Vets Program of $100M
November 19, 2009
Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- Companies fraudulently collected at least $100 million in federal contracts from a $4 billion government program designated for disabled military veterans who run small businesses, congressional investigators charge.
The Small Business Administration failed to check if companies were eligible for the no-bid contracts for veterans with service-related injuries, allowing, for example, a contracting employee at a military base in Tampa, Fla., to improperly funnel a $900,000 Air Force contract to his wife's firm.
Moreover, because there are few penalties for companies found ineligible, many were still being handed tens of millions of dollars in government work even after they were found to be flouting the rules, according to the report released Thursday by the Government Accountability Office.
In many cases, small business owners falsely claimed they had a service-related injury to get the federal work - such as a $7.5 million FEMA contract for Hurricane Katrina work - and were only caught when competitors protested. In other situations, the small veteran-owned businesses were legitimate but then improperly passed the work to large or foreign-based corporations.
"Fraud in this program means that honest veterans who own a small business lose out on projects to impostors who, in many cases, aren't small businesses or even veterans," said Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y., chairwoman of the House Committee on Small Business, who requested the report.
read more here
Companies Bilked Vets Program of 100M
November 19, 2009
Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- Companies fraudulently collected at least $100 million in federal contracts from a $4 billion government program designated for disabled military veterans who run small businesses, congressional investigators charge.
The Small Business Administration failed to check if companies were eligible for the no-bid contracts for veterans with service-related injuries, allowing, for example, a contracting employee at a military base in Tampa, Fla., to improperly funnel a $900,000 Air Force contract to his wife's firm.
Moreover, because there are few penalties for companies found ineligible, many were still being handed tens of millions of dollars in government work even after they were found to be flouting the rules, according to the report released Thursday by the Government Accountability Office.
In many cases, small business owners falsely claimed they had a service-related injury to get the federal work - such as a $7.5 million FEMA contract for Hurricane Katrina work - and were only caught when competitors protested. In other situations, the small veteran-owned businesses were legitimate but then improperly passed the work to large or foreign-based corporations.
"Fraud in this program means that honest veterans who own a small business lose out on projects to impostors who, in many cases, aren't small businesses or even veterans," said Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y., chairwoman of the House Committee on Small Business, who requested the report.
read more here
Companies Bilked Vets Program of 100M
PTSD is an invasion
PTSD is an invasion
by
Chaplain Kathie
Once we understand PTSD comes from an outside force, only comes after traumatic events and why it invades one person instead of others, then there will be absolutely no excuse to allow what has been preventing too many from seeking help.
If we use the term defective, it means there was something wrong the day they were born, but there is nothing "wrong" with them. As a matter of fact, it is what is right(eous) and good within them that opens the door. There is nothing "defective" within them. There is however a time in their lives when they have been "damaged."
When an object is damaged, it is cut, torn, cracked, broken, burned and if a damaged thing is not repaired, it is tossed out with the trash. It is no longer useful. If it is repaired, it is just as useful, but we tend to take greater care of it and cherish it more. When we are talking about someone we love and care about, it is easier for us to understand a thing being damaged than a person.
When I was in school one of our star athletes was hurt during a football game. He got up on the field, continued to play, but it was easy to see he was in a lot of pain. He was in class for the first few days after the injury. He assumed it was just something he would get over and recover from as he limped throughout the day. Then one day he was not in class. The following week, he returned to school with his leg in a cast. He had two broken bones. His injury was something no one could really see with their eyes aside from the fact he was clearly hurting when he limped. Everyone assumed the cause of the pain was something minor and he would simply recover on his own. An x-ray proved otherwise. Then we could see what was there beneath the skin. He was helped to heal when the damage was known. The days of him walking around with a serious wound left him wondering every time he was tackled after that if he would end up hurt again.
We tend to understand a broken bone more easily than we can understand PTSD, but as my classmate was wounded by the force of another football player, PTSD is a wound caused by the force invading from the outside. Traumatic events are not part of normal daily life. They are events no one is ever really prepared for. When the events are part of combat, they are more horrific, happen more often and no one really has a time when the senses are not on guard. They wonder when the next one will happen knowing every second that passes could bring the next bullet or bomb blast when their normal reality is once again shattered by violence.
We talk a lot about terrorists knowing they could look just like everyone else. Terrorism works not by the number of people killed, but by the numbers of witnesses because it puts the thought into our heads it could have been us and the next time we wouldn't see it coming either. While most will look over their own shoulder for a time, that feeling of impending doom wears off as time goes by. For others, that feeling lingers.
Imagine being in Iraq or Afghanistan, Kuwait, Vietnam, Korea or any of the other wars, never knowing when the next strike would come. Your sleep would never be deep. Every sound would wake you up. You would lay there in stillness on alert for the next sound as your body is preparing to spring into action. With the return of quite, you drift back off to sleep but your senses do not rest. This is a reaction brought back with you as you return to your neighborhood. Hypervigilance becomes "normal" because it was normal in the environment you left just as when you arrived in that hellish place, you had to adjust to the facts on the ground in the "normal" realities of war.
It all comes back with you. What you show others, knowingly or not, is much like the limp. They can see you have something going on inside of you, but it is easy to expect you will simply recover and get over it. You know there is something wounded inside of you, but you also expect that there will come a time when the pain eases and you recover back to "normal" never knowing that normal for you is the current reality. You have to be helped to transfer that new normal into something that lets you make peace inside yourself.
Much like a cast protects a broken bone, your mind protects your broken spirit. It builds all kinds of defenses around your emotions attempting to keep more painful invaders from getting in. Anger is allowed to come out but every other emotion must remain behind the wall. That wall gets thicker and thicker with each new attack against your emotions. Family and friends attack because of the way you are suddenly acting, unable to understand your detachment from them. Your anger and mood swings seen as coldness, masks the pain trapped behind the wall. Their reaction to you is another assault against your emotions and it feeds the negative forces. The limp in your soul becomes a prison to the person you always were. You expect "you" will never be seen again and others you are supposed to feel closets to begin to judge what you have become instead of trying to understand why you appear to be wounded.
When you know after trauma comes injury(wound)then it is no longer your fault. There was nothing you could have done to prevent it other than not being there in the first place. Like the football game and the broken leg bones would not have happened had he not been there, PTSD would not invade had you not been in place when a traumatic event came. While you cannot prevent PTSD, you can heal it with help and prevent what can come when you do not receive the facts to protect further injury like a cast, do not receive the understanding of the people close to you so they can support you, help you carry this load and let you lean on them. They do not have to become like the enemy attacking you all over again, but retain the care they had for you all along. When they know you are hurting, they will help but they cannot see what is broken needing healing unless you show them.
You do not have to get into details with them but you should with trained professionals. You can however help them to understand what is going on inside of you as an x-ray shows the break in bones, your words can help them see beneith the surface. They loved you before and cared about you before but they need help to understand why you changed. They need to know it came for you because you were in that place at that time. You were there with the same kind of compassion and courage. All you were is still there. You just need help to find it all again.
by
Chaplain Kathie
Once we understand PTSD comes from an outside force, only comes after traumatic events and why it invades one person instead of others, then there will be absolutely no excuse to allow what has been preventing too many from seeking help.
If we use the term defective, it means there was something wrong the day they were born, but there is nothing "wrong" with them. As a matter of fact, it is what is right(eous) and good within them that opens the door. There is nothing "defective" within them. There is however a time in their lives when they have been "damaged."
When an object is damaged, it is cut, torn, cracked, broken, burned and if a damaged thing is not repaired, it is tossed out with the trash. It is no longer useful. If it is repaired, it is just as useful, but we tend to take greater care of it and cherish it more. When we are talking about someone we love and care about, it is easier for us to understand a thing being damaged than a person.
When I was in school one of our star athletes was hurt during a football game. He got up on the field, continued to play, but it was easy to see he was in a lot of pain. He was in class for the first few days after the injury. He assumed it was just something he would get over and recover from as he limped throughout the day. Then one day he was not in class. The following week, he returned to school with his leg in a cast. He had two broken bones. His injury was something no one could really see with their eyes aside from the fact he was clearly hurting when he limped. Everyone assumed the cause of the pain was something minor and he would simply recover on his own. An x-ray proved otherwise. Then we could see what was there beneath the skin. He was helped to heal when the damage was known. The days of him walking around with a serious wound left him wondering every time he was tackled after that if he would end up hurt again.
We tend to understand a broken bone more easily than we can understand PTSD, but as my classmate was wounded by the force of another football player, PTSD is a wound caused by the force invading from the outside. Traumatic events are not part of normal daily life. They are events no one is ever really prepared for. When the events are part of combat, they are more horrific, happen more often and no one really has a time when the senses are not on guard. They wonder when the next one will happen knowing every second that passes could bring the next bullet or bomb blast when their normal reality is once again shattered by violence.
We talk a lot about terrorists knowing they could look just like everyone else. Terrorism works not by the number of people killed, but by the numbers of witnesses because it puts the thought into our heads it could have been us and the next time we wouldn't see it coming either. While most will look over their own shoulder for a time, that feeling of impending doom wears off as time goes by. For others, that feeling lingers.
Imagine being in Iraq or Afghanistan, Kuwait, Vietnam, Korea or any of the other wars, never knowing when the next strike would come. Your sleep would never be deep. Every sound would wake you up. You would lay there in stillness on alert for the next sound as your body is preparing to spring into action. With the return of quite, you drift back off to sleep but your senses do not rest. This is a reaction brought back with you as you return to your neighborhood. Hypervigilance becomes "normal" because it was normal in the environment you left just as when you arrived in that hellish place, you had to adjust to the facts on the ground in the "normal" realities of war.
It all comes back with you. What you show others, knowingly or not, is much like the limp. They can see you have something going on inside of you, but it is easy to expect you will simply recover and get over it. You know there is something wounded inside of you, but you also expect that there will come a time when the pain eases and you recover back to "normal" never knowing that normal for you is the current reality. You have to be helped to transfer that new normal into something that lets you make peace inside yourself.
Much like a cast protects a broken bone, your mind protects your broken spirit. It builds all kinds of defenses around your emotions attempting to keep more painful invaders from getting in. Anger is allowed to come out but every other emotion must remain behind the wall. That wall gets thicker and thicker with each new attack against your emotions. Family and friends attack because of the way you are suddenly acting, unable to understand your detachment from them. Your anger and mood swings seen as coldness, masks the pain trapped behind the wall. Their reaction to you is another assault against your emotions and it feeds the negative forces. The limp in your soul becomes a prison to the person you always were. You expect "you" will never be seen again and others you are supposed to feel closets to begin to judge what you have become instead of trying to understand why you appear to be wounded.
When you know after trauma comes injury(wound)then it is no longer your fault. There was nothing you could have done to prevent it other than not being there in the first place. Like the football game and the broken leg bones would not have happened had he not been there, PTSD would not invade had you not been in place when a traumatic event came. While you cannot prevent PTSD, you can heal it with help and prevent what can come when you do not receive the facts to protect further injury like a cast, do not receive the understanding of the people close to you so they can support you, help you carry this load and let you lean on them. They do not have to become like the enemy attacking you all over again, but retain the care they had for you all along. When they know you are hurting, they will help but they cannot see what is broken needing healing unless you show them.
You do not have to get into details with them but you should with trained professionals. You can however help them to understand what is going on inside of you as an x-ray shows the break in bones, your words can help them see beneith the surface. They loved you before and cared about you before but they need help to understand why you changed. They need to know it came for you because you were in that place at that time. You were there with the same kind of compassion and courage. All you were is still there. You just need help to find it all again.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)