VA backlog buries veterans’ claims

UPDATE
Veterans for Common Sense has published an article on a lot of questions veterans have.

Unknown Impacts of Government Shutdown of VA on Our Veterans
Written by VCS
Thursday, 07 April 2011 11:52
Tea Party Presses for Shutting Down Government - and Our VA

The Tea Party folks do not stand by our veterans. They have proven this whenever they are asked about the debt we owe our veterans. They say turn their care over to private companies and let them be used for profit. That is what it boils down to no matter what they actually admit to wanting to do. They take pride in the fact they want to privatize the VA, get rid of Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid. The fact the troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan right now, along with the forces serving with NATO addressing the Libya crisis may not end up getting their pay does not bother them at all. They want what they want and they don't care who has to suffer for it. What really gets me angry is that there are some really good people in the Tea Party and their care for our veterans along with the troops are deeper than words. So why don't they stand up to the hacks they elected and demand they stop their plans to hurt the veterans? I do not blame Democrats on this one for standing their ground. Someone has to fight for regular people and not just the rich. These same people also demanded the tax breaks for the rich.

When you read about the backlog of claims the VA already has, know this will make their lives even worse because as far behind the VA is on processing claims, they will end up with a bigger pile of claims and more veterans suffering waiting for the debt we owe them.

VA backlog buries veterans’ claims
By Gregg Zoroya - USA Today
Posted : Thursday Apr 7, 2011 6:23:51 EDT
WASHINGTON — The number of veterans’ disability claims taking more than four months to complete has doubled, prompting criticism from veterans and Congress that the Veterans Affairs Department failed to prepare for a rise in cases it knew was coming.

“Without question, I believe that the VA disability claims system is broken,” Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., chairwoman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, said Wednesday.

The number of claims that take more than 125 days to decide has gone from 200,000 a year ago to 450,000 today, according to administration budget documents. As a result, veterans must wait even longer to receive payments for disabilities.

VA says the delays are due in part to a generation of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans with more complex claims, and a decision two years ago to expand compensation for Agent Orange-related illnesses. Claims also increase in a poor economy.

But veterans groups and Murray said VA was aware that claims would rise.

“The explosion in the claims backlog is another predictable, preventable insult to thousands of veterans of all generations,” said Paul Rieckhoff of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.

It now takes VA six months on average to process each compensation demand for illnesses or injuries. And the delay will reach an eight-month average next year, according to documents.
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VA backlog buries veterans claims

Government shutdown: How it will affect veterans

Government shutdown: How it will affect veterans
By LEO SHANE III
Published: April 7, 2011

WASHINGTON -- The Department of Veterans Affairs is less likely to see major disruptions than other government agencies in the event of a government shutdown, but that doesn't mean everything will remain normal for veterans seeking help.

According to a VA department official, veterans health care services will remain operating despite the budget impasse. Veterans’ medical appointments will not be canceled or delayed, and hospitals will stay open. That's because most of the funding for those efforts was covered in advance appropriations legislation, passed by Congress well before the current budget stalemate.
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Government shutdown: How it will affect veterans

US Marine and His Dog Honored as Fallen Soldiers

US Marine and His Dog Honored as Fallen Soldiers

Written by
Ashleigh Messervy

Columbia, SC (WLTX)- Lance Corporal William H. Crouse and his bomb sniffing dog, Caine, were honored during the annual South Carolina Fallen Soldiers Ceremony and Luncheon on Wednesday.

"They were like two peas in a pod," said Nancy Siders, Crouse's mother. "[Caine] lovingly looked after Bill. There was an enormous bond between them."

Crouse and Caine were responsible for locating bombs during their tour in Afghanistan. On December 21, 2010 the two were killed by an Improvised Explosive Device.

Siders said not even a bomb could break the bond between the two.

"My son in the medevac asked for Caine to be with him. He assumed that Caine's life could be saved. They honored that. They put Caine with William."

Siders said the two came as a package, so if one went, the other one would followed.

"Together they served. Together they died. Together they live in Heaven."
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US Marine and His Dog Honored as Fallen Soldiers

Marine attacked waiting from ride home from nightclub

Man pleads not guilty to assaulting a Marine outside nightclub
By SEAN EMERY
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

COSTA MESA – A 24-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to blindsiding and critically injuring a Marine during an early-morning attack in a parking structure near a Costa Mesa nightclub, according to court records.

Mark Allen Vasquez is facing felony charges of battery with serious bodily injury and assault with a deadly weapon other than a gun, as well as sentencing enhancements for inflicting great bodily harm and bodily injury resulting in a coma or paralysis, according to Orange County Superior Court records.

The Marine and his friend decided against confronting Vasquez, police say, and were waiting for a ride home when they were attacked and knocked unconscious.

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Man pleads not guilty to assaulting a Marine outside nightclub

Army Captain's dead in Iraq under investigation

Army captain from Carlisle killed in Iraq
By staff reports, April 6, 2011

A 1993 graduate of Boiling Springs High School and a member of the Shippensburg University Class of 2001 died in Iraq on Monday.

Capt. Wesley J. Hinkley, 36, of Carlisle, died as a result of a non-combat related incident, the Department of Defense announced on Tuesday.

Hinkley was assigned to the 3rd Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Sustainment Brigade from Fort Stewart, Ga.

During his high school years, Hinkley was a member of the chess club, Boiling Springs High School Principal Joe Mancuso said.

He served in the Army, returned to Shippensburg University, where he was a history major and a member of the university's Army ROTC program, and then returned to the Army as an officer, Gene Mizdail, recruiting operations officer with the Shippensburg University Army ROTC, said.

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Army captain from Carlisle killed in Iraq

Courts for PTSD-affected veterans passes Florida Senate

Courts for PTSD-affected veterans passes Senate
posted by khaughney on April, 6 2011 10:31 AM

A measure to create a statewide veteran’s court system passed the Florida Senate Wednesday morning by a 37-0 vote.

The bill, SB 138, directs the state courts to create a system where veterans with post traumatic stress disorder are identified through a preliminary screening process and then shuffled to a specific docket that places the offender in a treatment program, instead of in jail.

“They are different and this would allow them to have a healing process before going to criminal court,” said Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, the sponsor of the bill.

The first veterans’ court was established in Buffalo, NY in January 2008, and according to the National Association of Drug Court Professionals, there are now 41 similar programs nationwide. In Palm Beach and Okaloosa counties, judges have already begun veterans programs specific to that area.

The House companion measure, HB 17, has three more committee stops before it goes before the entire chamber for a final vote.
Courts for PTSD-affected veterans passes Senate

MERCT, not your average PTSD

Military Environmental Reaction to Combat Trauma

by
Chaplain Kathie

When we lump all causes of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder together, we end up ignoring the differences between survivors of the events. When the survivor happens to be a combat veteran, they have PTSD at a whole different level than anyone else. Exposing them to life threatening situations over and over again, should be reflected in not only the term used to describe it, but in the way it is treated as well.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder happens because of traumatic events but as we seem to be able to understand someone having trouble after one event, we don't seem to have the same capacity to understand how repeated exposures can cause a different level of PTSD. MERCT is not your average PTSD.

For almost 30 years, I've been trying to explain what PTSD is and beating my head against the wall when the stigma associated with the term gets in the way. Veterans can accept "Post Traumatic" and they may even be able to accept "Stress" but they can't accept the "Disorder" part. They do not like the term "anxiety disorder" when a mental health worker is trying to explain it is not the other types of mental illnesses. When a veteran self-medicating with drugs and alcohol would rather be considered a drunk or drug addict than confess he/she actually has PTSD, it should be a waring bell to change the term used.

These men and women are much different than the rest of the general population. They have it within them a will to be willing to die for someone else. Yet these same men and women come home so effected by what they went through, they run out of reasons to stay alive. Imagine surviving all that comes with combat, the horrors and hardships, only to return home and not be able to heal the wounds of war. That is exactly what happens in this country everyday. We lose 18 veterans a day to suicide. Over 10,000 a year attempt it. The suicide prevention hotline receives hundreds of thousands of calls from desperate veterans and their families. This is when they are supposed to be back home, safe and sound.

Thirty years ago, we had excuses for veterans not knowing what was happening to them when they came home. Twenty years ago, we had excuses for not being able to take care of them because the government was playing catchup. Ten years ago, when we sent troops into Afghanistan, we began to run out of excuses. Five years ago we should have been ashamed all the terrible suffering they were going through were still going on.

Today I posted about a Marine's Dad from Clearwater FL. Homeless Emergency Project started by Bruce Fyfe after U.S. Marine Brendan Fyfe died of a heroin overdose. He served three tours in Iraq and ended up homeless, dying in a motel room in Massachusetts. Brendan had PTSD. His family tried to do all they could to help him but something didn't get through to him so that he was able to heal. What was it? What was it that kept him from being able to heal?

It happened in my family too. My husband's nephew, a Vietnam Vet, had PTSD, locked himself in a motel room and killed himself in the 90's. His death is one more reason I do what I do. My husband has PTSD and I thank God everyday he is in treatment, healing and we're still married going on 27 years. Same family, two different outcomes.

Also posted this morning was story our of Fort Lewis when a combat medic is dead following a police chase. Along with David Stewart was a wife and 5 year old son needing to be buried. He is being blamed for killing them before the police chase.


We know more about PTSD than ever before and more people know about it. While this is a good thing, it is even more of an indication there is something missing in all of this. I can't remember how many programs have started any more than I can remember all the organizations trying to make a difference but as more is being done at the same time there are more heartbreaking stories, the difference needs to be addressed in an honest term that will not pile on stigma on top of what is already happening to them.

Combat is not a one time event but many of them along with the idea each day could be the last, on top of worrying about what is going on at home. It is behind the "environmental" aspect of MERCT.

The stress they are under causes a "reaction" inside of them, mind, body and soul.

Until we address what comes next, we will never be able to justify ourselves to any other generation of veterans. If changing the term will help them past the stigma, help them to understand they didn't cause it but combat did, we will keep reading stories like the ones posted today and that, that is just too much to be acceptable to anyone saying they care about the troops and our veterans.

Father's pain behind new $3.2 million veterans housing complex

Clearwater complex will offer abode, counseling for homeless veterans

By Keyonna Summers, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Wednesday, April 6, 2011

The Homeless Emergency Project broke ground Tuesday on a $3.2 million complex in Clearwater. U.S. Marine Brendan Fyfe died of a heroin overdose.

CLEARWATER

Homeless Emergency Project board chairman Bruce Fyfe smiled Tuesday as he and his colleagues held up shovels symbolizing the groundbreaking on the nonprofit's new $3.2 million veterans housing complex.

However, the 150 spectators at Everybody's Tabernacle also heard the occasional breaks in Fyfe's voice, the result of an underlying sadness.

Sadness that the driving force behind the project was the death of Fyfe's son Brendan, a former U.S. Marine. Melancholy that, despite Fyfe's repeated efforts, he wasn't able to save Brendan, whose severe post-traumatic stress disorder from three tours in Iraq blossomed into alcohol and drug addiction.

On Dec. 19, 2009, two years after an honorable military discharge, Brendan, 24, died homeless and alone in a Massachusetts motel room of a heroin overdose.

"I don't think any parent wants to see young men and women survive the horrors of war only to not successfully come all the way back home," said Bruce Fyfe. "I don't want any family to go through what our family has gone through."
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Clearwater complex will offer abode, counseling for homeless veterans

Don't let aircrafts for our Air Force be built by foreign companies

Hawker win is key to 800 jobs in Wichita

BY MOLLY MCMILLIN
The Wichita Eagle

Hawker Beechcraft is competing with Brazil-based Embraer for a U.S. Air Force Light Air Support contract.

The company has put its AT-6 light attack and surveillance aircraft up against Embraer's Super Tucano military aircraft in the bid for the award.

The prize is an initial contract to supply 20 aircraft to two air bases in Afghanistan and another 15 for the Air Force to use in "building partner capability."

But the number could grow to 55 aircraft worth up to $950 million.

"We believe this is the beginning of a production run that is significantly larger than this first 35 aircraft," said Derek Hess, director of light attack for Hawker Beechcraft.

The Air Force estimates a June 30 award date with deliveries beginning in April 2013.

The AT-6 is based on Hawker Beechcraft's turboprop T-6 trainer used to train U.S. Air Force and Navy pilots under the Joint Primary Aircraft Training System contract. Other countries are also using the plane.

The derivative readies the trainer for a new role — combat missions.

The AT-6 is designed for counterinsurgency, close air support, armed overwatch, homeland defense, homeland security and other missions, the company said.

A win would help Hawker Beechcraft's production line for the T-6 stay running.

"That's a key issue," said Jim Maslowski, Hawker Beechcraft president for U.S. and international government business. "This is about sustaining production."

The company has delivered nearly 700 T-6 trainers, including 444 to the Air Force and 123 to the Navy. Others have gone to Greek, Canadian, Iraqi, Israeli and Royal Moroccan air forces and NATO Flying Training in Canada.

Final deliveries to the U.S. Navy under the JPATS program are scheduled to take place in 2015.


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Hawker win is key to 800 jobs in Wichita

Fort Lewis combat medic is dead after chase, wife and son found dead

Man dies from gunshot after I-5 police chase; wife, son also dead
A Fort Lewis combat medic is dead, along with his wife and 5-year-old son, in what appears to be a bizarre murder-suicide pieced together following a high-speed police chase on south Interstate 5 near Tumwater.

By Sara Jean Green and Christine Clarridge
Seattle Times staff reporters

Three members of a Joint Base Lewis-McChord family are dead after an Army combat medic killed himself and his wife, and police found the body of the couple's 5-year-old son in their Spanaway home, according to police and the military.

Authorities identified the soldier as 38-year-old David F. Stewart, who shot himself in the head as his disabled car was approached by a Washington State Patrol trooper after a high-speed chase along Interstate 5 near Tumwater, Thurston County. In the passenger seat was the body of his wife, Kristy Sampels, also 38, who also had suffered a gunshot wound to the head. Autopsies are scheduled for Wednesday, said Thurston County Coroner Gary Warnock.

Officials said the woman appeared to have been ill.

The child was found in the couple's home in Spanaway, Pierce County. The medical examiner identified him as Jordan Stewart. The cause of his death was not immediately released.

Sampels' 10-year-old daughter from a previous marriage initially was thought to be missing but was found safe with her father in Redmond, Ore., said sheriff's spokesman Detective Ed Troyer.

The bizarre events began just before 6 a.m., when a trooper on routine patrol clocked the driver of a silver Ford Focus going south on I-5 at 85 mph, said Trooper Guy Gill. The trooper pulled his patrol car behind the Focus and turned on his emergency lights in an attempt to pull the vehicle over, he said.

As soon as the car was stopped, the trooper saw the driver — Stewart — lift his hand to his head, a gesture followed by the sound of a gunshot, Gill said. Sampels' body was found in the passenger seat and Gill said it initially did not appear that she had been shot or injured during the collision.

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Man dies from gunshot after I-5 police chase

3 Medal of Honor recipients ride to unite nation for wounded warriors

Mike Thornton, a Vietnam veteran who was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1972, hugs U.S. Navy Master at Arms 3rd Class Nathan DeWalt after DeWalt completed a leg of the Texas Challenge Ride 2 Recovery from Austin, Texas, to Killeen, Texas.

Photo Credit: Michael Heckman, III Corps Fort Hood Public Affairs.

3 Medal of Honor recipients join 350-mile bike ride to unite nation, wounded warriors
Apr 4, 2011

By Michael Heckman (III Corps Fort Hood Public Affairs)

FORT HOOD, Texas -- With the assistance of three Medal of Honor recipients, this year's Texas Challenge, one in the Ride 2 Recovery series, helped wounded warriors heal from the wounds of wars suffered in Vietnam, Desert Storm, Iraq and Afghanistan.

The approximately 230 riders passed through Fort Hood, Texas, March 31, en route to Arlington, Texas for a Major League Baseball game. They began their six-day, 350-mile journey March 28, at the Center for the Intrepid in San Antonio.

After a crowd of several hundred people had gathered near the flagpole outside the III Corps Headquarters, Lt. Gen. Bob Cone, III Corps and Fort Hood commanding general, praised the wounded warriors.

"To see this is awe-inspiring. Folks, the Ride Two Recovery is an amazing group," Cone said. "It represents what is best about our country, about the military and most important, the human spirit. Thanks for inspiring my Soldiers to do their best in every endeavor."

Three medal of honor recipients participated in the Texas Challenge, including Staff Sgt. Sal Giunta, the first living recipient of the nation' highest military award since Vietnam. Cone also acknowledged "Fort Hood's local hero," Staff Sgt. Patrick Zeigler.

Zeigler, who was severely wounded in the Nov. 5, 2009, shootings on Fort Hood, sat near the front of the column of riders, ready to pedal his way on a recumbent-trike from the flagpole to the front gate.

It was Zeigler's first ride since undergoing brain surgery March 4, after falling while on vacation with his wife, Jessica, in Reno, Nev.

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3 Medal of Honor recipients join 350-mile bike ride

Governor Scott Walker learns we owe veterans and not the other way around

GI Bill restored, veterans services funded in proposed Wisconsin biennial budget
by Micah Pilkington
April 04, 2011

On Friday, April 1, Governor Scott Walker met with veteran’s groups to announce that his proposed 2011-2013 Biennial budget would restore the GI bill, fully fund veteran assistance programs and ensure the solvency of the Veterans Trust Fund in the state of Wisconsin.

“Protecting Wisconsin’s most courageous citizens is of the highest priority, and restoring the Wisconsin G.I. Bill is a promise that I am proud to keep,” said Gov. Walker, who was most recently in the news in February for his controversial efforts to eliminate collective bargaining rights for the state’s government employees.

New funding for the Wisconsin G.I. Bill was eliminated from the state’s 2007-2009 budget under former Gov. Jim Doyle; increased state support for veterans was one of Gov. Walker’s campaign promises.

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GI Bill restored, veterans services funded

Tuesday execution date for former recruiter in Huntsville Texas

Tuesday execution date for former recruiter
By Michael Graczyk - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Apr 4, 2011 19:44:50 EDT
HUNTSVILLE, Texas — A condemned inmate moved closer to being the first person to be executed with Texas’ new drug cocktail after the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles on Monday refused a petition to convert his sentence to life in prison and an appeals court rejected arguments prison officials improperly made the lethal drug swap.

Cleve Foster, 47, is scheduled to die Tuesday nine for the slaying of a Sudanese woman abducted and shot after she met Foster and another man at a Fort Worth bar nine years ago.

Foster would be the third Texas prisoner executed this year, but the first to die since the state switched from using sodium thiopental to pentobarbital in its lethal three-drug mixture. The switch resulted from a nationwide shortage of sodium thiopental. Texas is the nation’s busiest death penalty state.

Foster’s attorneys claim Texas Department of Criminal Justice officials didn’t follow administrative procedures properly when they announced the drug change last month. But a state district judge rejected that argument last week and the 3rd Texas Court of Appeals in Austin upheld the ruling Monday. Lawyers said they would take their challenge Tuesday to the Texas Supreme Court.
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Tuesday execution date for former recruiter

Fort Hood soldier charged with shooting, killing GI

Hood soldier charged with shooting, killing GI
The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Apr 4, 2011 18:32:32 EDT
KILLEEN, Texas — A Fort Hood soldier has been charged with murder in the weekend shooting death of a fellow soldier.

Michael Fitzgerald Reese, 27, remained jailed Monday on $1 million bond, according to Bell County Jail records.

Spc. Justin Sheldon Richardson, 25, was shot in the chest early Saturday morning in a restaurant parking lot a few blocks from the post, Killeen police say.
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Hood soldier charged with shooting, killing GI

Soldier dies from chest gunshot wound at Fort Hood

Soldier dies from chest gunshot wound
Circumstances under investigation

Updated: Monday, 04 Apr 2011, 12:07 PM CDT
Published : Monday, 04 Apr 2011, 12:07 PM CDT

FORT HOOD, Texas (KXAN) - Fort Hood officials have released the name of a soldier who died from a gunshot wound to the chest April 2.

Specialist Justin S. Richardson, 25, whose home is Bronx, N.Y., died at Carl R. Darnall Medical Center , Fort Hood.
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Soldier dies from chest gunshot wound

SWAT finds, arrests soldier who allegedly shot at wife

SWAT finds, arrests soldier who allegedly shot at wife
STACIA GLENN - Staff writer

Pierce County sheriff’s deputies on Sunday were looking for a soldier who shot at his wife during an argument and left his 2-year-old daughter alone for hours after he escaped the apartment while SWAT was called to respond.

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SWAT finds, arrests soldier who allegedly shot at wife

Fort Drum soldier shot at self-storage facility

NY Police Search for Soldier Involved in Shooting at Self-Storage Facility

Police are still looking for a man involved in a shooting Sunday at a self-storage facility in Watertown, N.Y.

The man has been identified as 25-year-old Leonard R. Whitefield. Police want to question him about a shooting at ABC Self-Storage on Water Street where an unnamed soldier from Fort Drum was shot in the leg.

The shooting occurred Sunday around 11 a.m. and involved two men and a woman, all three soldiers from Fort Drum, an army base located near the facility.
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NY Police Search for Soldier Involved in Shooting

Veterans "jail-diversion programs" among 50 Florida Bills in Tallahassee

Veterans Are the Focus Of 50 Bills This Session

By KATIE SANDERS
Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau

Published: Monday, April 4, 2011 at 11:03 p.m.
Last Modified: Monday, April 4, 2011 at 11:03 p.m.
TALLAHASSEE | As a retired Army Reserve brigadier general, Judge T. Patt Maney looks out for veterans who show up in his courtroom convicted of crimes at home after a tour of war.

Lawbreakers should get a sentence appropriate for their misdeeds, he said. But certain veterans deserve special evaluation.

Maney, 62, is the namesake of SB 138, which allows counties to develop jail-diversion programs for veterans charged with certain crimes as a result of traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder or substance use stemming from military combat. Serving in Afghanistan in 2005, Maney suffered a traumatic brain injury, the signature affliction of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

The idea is one of about 50 bills introduced between the House and Senate this session to benefit veterans and their families. The bills influence veterans' college admissions and tuition, property taxes, state parks admissions, driver's license fees and hunting grounds, among other things.
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Veterans Are the Focus Of 50 Bills This Session

2 trainers dead in attack in Afghanistan are Americans

Karzai: 2 trainers dead in attack are Americans
Victims killed by man wearing an Afghan border police uniform
By Heidi Vogt And Rahim Faiez - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Apr 4, 2011 11:46:30 EDT
KABUL, Afghanistan — Two Americans training security forces were killed Monday by a man in an Afghan police uniform, Afghanistan’s president said.

Hamid Karzai condemned the killing of what he described as two American trainers. There were no further details in a statement released by his office. Karzai offered his condolences to the men’s families.

“According to reports this morning, two American trainers were killed by a person with a police uniform in the capital of Faryab province. Hearing this report, President Karzai was saddened and expressed his deep condolences to the families of both trainers who were killed in the incident,” the statement said.

NATO said earlier that a man wearing an Afghan border police uniform shot dead two of its service members inside a compound in northern Afghanistan. It did not provide their nationalities. It was unclear if the attacker was an Afghan police officer who turned on his Western counterparts or an insurgent who put on a uniform to infiltrate the base. There have been cases of both in Afghanistan.
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2 trainers dead in attack are Americans

Wounded Marine Gets Grand Homecoming

Woodbridge Wounded Marine Joshua Himan Gets Home Makeover and Homecoming

Written by
Brittany Morehouse

WOODBRIDGE, Va. (WUSA) - A wounded soldier returned home Saturday to a home makeover style welcome as hundreds of community members gathered for miles with flags and smiles.

Marine Corporal Joshua Himan, 27, was paralyzed from the waist down in September of 2009 when he was serving in Afghanistan as a machine gun operator for the marines. His Humvee hit an explosive device causing him to suffer life altering injuries.

Since then, Himan has spent 18 months of rehabilitation at Walter Reed Medical Center while back home, a community pulled together to raise enough money to build him a home addition.

"In 58 days we constructed a 1100 sq. ft. addition," said Jacob Koch, President of Northern Virginia Fuller Center for Housing, a non-profit that helps build homes for people in need. "We added a bathroom, a family room, his bedroom and a kitchen."

The Himan family addition marks the organization's first project for the the Center's Military Builders Program. While Himan knew about the plans, he had no idea what to expect until Saturday.


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Wounded Marine Gets Grand Homecoming

Is Iraq the New Forgotten War?

A few years ago, we were asking the same question about Afghanistan. It is still very hard for me to understand how the general public disregards the men and women serving in combat operations. According to this report, news coverage is less than one percent of the daily news. Is it the lack of coverage or is it the lack of interest from the public? Which came first? Do we really know?

Is Iraq the New Forgotten War?

April 04, 2011
Stars and Stripes|by Megan McCloskey

Before the sympathy, Britney Hocking sometimes gets skepticism when she shares that her older brother was killed last month in Iraq.

“I’ve actually had people ask me: ‘Do you mean Afghanistan?’ ” she said.

Some also have wondered aloud whether Sgt. Brandon Hocking’s death was a freak accident.

That a Soldier could still be killed in Iraq by an improvised explosive device surprises people. Our presence there and the potential for violence has largely faded from the American conscience.

Hocking’s death, one of the latest since the official end of combat operations in August, serves as a grim reminder of what is fast becoming a forgotten war. The United States has spent eight years of war in Iraq, with 4,443 servicemembers killed there. About 46,000 troops remain on the ground in “advise and assist” roles, and 23 servicemembers -- 11 this year -- have been killed since the mission change.

Iraq was once the dominant story on any given front page and nightly newscast. Today, attention has dropped to less than 1 percent of the daily news, according to the Pew Research Center.
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Is Iraq the New Forgotten War

With such little interest in Iraq and Afghanistan, do they have any chance of being paid attention to back home? I doubt it.

Last night the "feel good" making a difference story on NBC was about a man restoring children's books. Good story? Sure but how about reporting on veterans coming home, suffering, healing and then helping other veterans? How about reporting on all the work being done to help all of them? When Lifetime can do a show like Coming Home following Army Wivesbut the national news cannot be bothered to cover the men and women risking their lives in Iraq or Afghanistan, cannot be bothered to report on what it is like on any of the families, or what it is like coming back home, then there is a huge problem in this country. We're great at committing them to fight our battles but then our interest dies off. We have a state of A.D.D taking over the country. When our kids have it, parents do everything possible to get them to focus on what they need to be doing. When the media refuses to get the public to pay attention, this is what we get. A nation filled with people that stopped paying attention after a couple of months.

We forgot about Afghanistan as soon as the debate began about Iraq and then Iraq was the center of everything. Then we forgot about Iraq and Afghanistan for a while until a few reports came out about Afghanistan. Now it's all Libya. We should be ashamed to lack interest but more ashamed of our media for not reminding us about what is going on.

Battlefield angels are military's saving grace

Battlefield angels are military's saving grace
Elkton National Guardsman and medic is among 10 honorees
By Mary Gail Hare, The Baltimore Sun
2:39 p.m. EDT, April 2, 2011

Sgt. Antoine A. King, 41, lives in Elkton, works for the City of Havre de Grace and has spent much of the past decade serving as a medic with the Army National Guard.

He was one of 10 medical personnel, representing all branches of the military, honored as Angels of the Battlefield at the fifth annual Armed Services YMCA gala Wednesday in Washington.

"I really was quite surprised to receive the award and honored to represent the Army National Guard medics at this event," King said.

Each year, the ASYMCA, which has offered support and relief to soldiers and their families since the Civil War, asks the various branches to nominate their most outstanding corpsmen for the award.

"These are medics who are putting their own lives on the line to bring home their comrades," said Michael J. Landers, chief operations officer for the nonprofit organization based in Alexandria, Va. "Every year, we hear incredible instances of recovery because a wounded soldier was found in the field on time. It is amazing how quickly these medics react."

King, the only Maryland honoree, has served more than 14 years and completed three deployments, including tours in Nicaragua and Iraq.

"I joined later in life at 28," he said. "I just looked around and decided it was time for me to give back. The Guard is a great way to know you are helping others. As medics, you almost feel you are bringing people back to life."

In the late 1990s, few guardsmen ever expected to leave home on long deployments, he said. Many joined for the extra pay and benefits as much as the experience, but "that all changed after 9/11," he said. "Now nearly every Guard unit in the country has gone on deployment."

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Battlefield angels are military's saving grace
linked from Stars and Stripes

A fake Medal of Honor or Purple Heart: Is it free speech?

A fake Medal of Honor or Purple Heart: Is it free speech?
Federal appeals court rules that the "Stolen Valor Act" curbs free speech: You don't have to actually have a Medal of Honor or Purple Heart to say you have one.

By Lee Lawrence, Correspondent / April 3, 2011

New York
Manners, decency, even morality are one thing – free speech is another. So the federal court of appeals March 21 ruling that lying about one's military record is protected free speech, rankles many who respect the special currency of a military medal, badge, or honor.

At issue is the Stolen Valor Act (SVA). Until it was enacted in 2006, you could hold up a medal, say you were a war hero and, as long as you didn't actually pin it on, no law was broken. The SVA closed that loophole by making it a crime for anyone to falsely state – "verbally or in writing" – that they hold such honors.

In two of the 60 or so cases brought exclusively under the SVA, courts in Colorado and California challenged the act's constitutionality on free speech grounds. The California case – involving Xavier Alvarez, of Pomona, Calif., a public official who said at a public meeting in 2007 that he was a retired marine who had received the Medal of Honor, even though he never served in the military – went on to the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which last month upheld the initial ruling: Despicable, yes. Criminal, no.

More than a quarter of the 26 active judges dissented, paving the way for federal prosecutors to take it to the Supreme Court.

Decorated Vietnam veteran Doug Sterner, who was instrumental in getting the SVA enacted, maintains it is not only just, but useful: "Over the last five years, I would estimate that Stolen Valor investigations have uncovered somewhere between 5 and 10 million dollars in fraud against the Veterans Administration. And that's just the cases that I'm aware of."
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A fake Medal of Honor or Purple Heart: Is it free speech?

linked from Stars and Stripes

The Military's Secret Shame, rape

Victims speak out: (from left) Greg Jeloudov has debilitating PTSD; Blake Stephens twice attempted suicide; Jamey Michael Harding saw a drill sergeant go on to rape underage cadets.

The Military's Secret Shame
by Jesse Ellison
April 03, 2011
When men in the military rape other men in the ranks, no one wants to talk about it. Why the sexual assault of males in the service is finally being confronted.

Like in prisons and other predominantly male environments, male-on-male assault in the military, experts say, is motivated not by homosexuality, but power, intimidation, and domination. Assault victims, both male and female, are typically young and low-ranking; they are targeted for their vulnerability. Often, in male-on-male cases, assailants go after those they assume are gay, even if they are not. “One of the reasons people commit sexual assault is to put people in their place, to drive them out,” says Mic Hunter, author of Honor Betrayed: Sexual Abuse in America’s Military. “Sexual assault isn’t about sex, it’s about violence.”

Greg Jeloudov was 35 and new to America when he decided to join the Army. Like most soldiers, he was driven by both patriotism for his adopted homeland and the pragmatic notion that the military could be a first step in a career that would enable him to provide for his new family.

Instead, Jeloudov arrived at Fort Benning, Ga., for basic training in May 2009, in the middle of the economic crisis and rising xenophobia. The soldiers in his unit, responding to his Russian accent and New York City address, called him a “champagne socialist” and a “commie faggot.” He was, he told NEWSWEEK, “in the middle of the viper’s pit.” Less than two weeks after arriving on base, he was gang-raped in the barracks by men who said they were showing him who was in charge of the United States. When he reported the attack to unit commanders, he says they told him, “It must have been your fault. You must have provoked them.”

What happened to Jeloudov is a part of life in the armed forces that hardly anyone talks about: male-on-male sexual assault. In the staunchly traditional military culture, it’s an ugly secret, kept hidden by layers of personal shame and official denial. Last year nearly 50,000 male veterans screened positive for “military sexual trauma” at the Department of Veterans Affairs, up from just over 30,000 in 2003. For the victims, the experience is a special kind of hell—a soldier can’t just quit his job to get away from his abusers. But now, as the Pentagon has begun to acknowledge the rampant problem of sexual violence for both genders, men are coming forward in unprecedented numbers, telling their stories and hoping that speaking up will help them, and others, put their lives back together. “We don’t like to think that our men can be victims,” says Kathleen Chard, chief of the posttraumatic-stress unit at the Cincinnati VA. “We don’t want to think that it could happen to us. If a man standing in front of me who is my size, my skill level, who has been raped—what does that mean about me? I can be raped, too.”
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The Military's Secret Shame

Canada failing soldiers with PTSD

Soldiers paying a heavy price


BY KRIS KOTARSKI, FOR THE CALGARY HERALD APRIL 4, 2011 2:22 AM


In one of the most heartbreaking stories of the 2011 election season, the CBC reported domestic violence on Canadian military bases has climbed steadily in recent years as soldiers who carry physical and psychological battle wounds return home.

This sad piece of news did not come from a stumping parliamentarian or the Department of National Defence. Instead, it came from a freedom-of-information request that revealed a military police report that was shelved and later downplayed by Canada's military bureaucracy.

According to the report, military police noted a five-fold jump in reported cases of domestic violence after troops returned from a heavy combat tour in Afghanistan to Ontario's CFB Petawawa in 2007.

Although this should serve as yet another reminder that too many of Canada's soldiers (and families) look to be suffering from the effects of posttraumatic stress disorder, Canada's military is keen to make this issue go away.

Col. Jean-Robert Bernier, deputy surgeon general with the Canadian Forces, dismissed the report, noting "some methodological flaws in the way some of that military police data was collected and analyzed."

If you find such a dismissal a little odd considering the gravity of the statistics unearthed by the investigation, you may wish to call your local federal election candidate to ask what he or she thinks about how Canada is handling post-traumatic stress disorder and its veterans.

Is suicide interesting enough for our public debate? In 2008, the CBC cited research by Laval University doctoral student Maj. Michel Sartori, who obtained military police records that showed the suicide rate among Canada's regular forces and reserves doubled from 2006 to 2007, rising to a rate triple that of the general population.

Read more:
Soldiers paying a heavy price

Wyoming veteran helps others cope with combat PTSD

Wyoming veteran helps others cope with post-traumatic stress disorder

By KRISTY GRAY
Star-Tribune staff writer
Posted: Monday, April 4, 2011

On April 1, one year ago, Spc. Jason Billiot bypassed the homecoming ceremonies for the 700 Wyoming Army National Guard soldiers returning from a yearlong deployment to Kuwait.

He got off the plane in Casper and drove straight to the Wyoming Medical Center. His family’s Jeep had rolled over as they were driving from Cheyenne to meet him, and his wife and three children all needed considerable care when they finally made it back to Cheyenne.

Billiot had no time to decompress, to readjust to the family or let the family readjust to him.
“The things that guys dealt with right after they got back, I’ve dealt with here in the last few months, almost a year later,” said Billiot, a budget analyst with the Wyoming National Guard.

This winter, he attended a presentation by retired Wyoming National Guard major and former Laramie firefighter D.C. Faber. It was called, “How and Why We Are Different After War and Trauma: A Veteran’s Perspective.”

The presentation wasn’t about war stories, the telling of what Faber saw in Afghanistan. It was about coming home, struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder and readjusting to a concept of time that isn’t hyper-focused on the present.

“It really kind of hit home for me,” Billiot said. “The family I knew was the family from 2009. You reintegrate yourself, but at the same time, you are reintegrating them to you.”
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Wyoming veteran helps others cope

Arizona Veterans Center on wheels for combat veterans

Bringing services to combat veterans
LARRY HENDRICKS News Team Leader
Posted: Sunday, April 3, 2011
The brunt of the counseling services Erik Adams, a veteran and counselor, offers is for post-traumatic stress disorder.

Combat veterans come to him to speak of their experiences in combat zones and their difficulties in readjusting to civilian life.

In Arizona, combat veterans living in rural communities typically had to drive long distances to receive services from a Veterans Center set up by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
But no longer.

"We have the ability to bring a mobile Vet Center into areas where there is no fixed site," said Bobby Fields, readjustment counseling tech for the Veterans Center in Prescott.

In late 2009, the Prescott Veterans Center received a $286,000 mobile Vet Center to take mental health services to vets throughout northern Arizona. And since 2010, the mobile unit comes to Flagstaff twice a month.

According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Vet Centers provide readjustment counseling to help combat veterans and their families successfully transition back to civilian life.
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Bringing services to combat veterans

Tea Party Seniors got their wish, Medicare cuts coming

UPDATE 4-6-11

Budget Would Affect Elderly, Poor
The Republican budget proposal presents a dramatically different vision of the role of government in America.



Say a big thank you to the Tea Party folks since this is what they voted for. Yes, that's right. You get the shaft because they didn't care if you could afford to live or not. Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security are government run programs, but people like the ones below didn't understand that. This is just the beginning of the senior slaughter of programs we need.

House budget chairman to propose Medicare, Medicaid changes
By the CNN Wire Staff
April 3, 2011 11:54 a.m. EDT

House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan's spending plan is to be unveiled Tuesday.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: Democratic Sen. Warner challenges Ryan's plan
Instead of Medicare, seniors would get help paying insurance premiums
Medicaid would be cut by up to $1 trillion
Ryan offers few details, but says his plan would balance the budget and pay down debt
Washington (CNN) -- House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan said Sunday he will unveil a Republican budget for 2012 this week that proposes dramatic changes to Medicare, Medicaid and other political lightning rods.
The plan, to be released Tuesday, calls for a controversial overhaul of Medicare, the health care program for seniors, and would impose deep cuts in Medicaid, which provides health benefits to low-income Americans, Ryan told "Fox News Sunday."
Starting 10 years from now, in 2021, elderly Americans would receive government help in paying health insurance premiums instead of enrolling in the government-run Medicare program, Ryan said. He rejected the label of "vouchers" for the payments, calling them "premium assistance" payments instead.
The plan is modeled after one Ryan proposed last year with Alice Rivlin, budget director under President Bill Clinton. The Ryan-Rivlin plan said the amount of assistance would be calculated in part by taking the average federal cost per Medicare enrollee.
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House budget chairman to propose Medicare, Medicaid changes

Patriot Guard adds 10,000 additional members within weeks of the decision

Add me to the list now. I just joined. Considering how many posts I do for them along with rides we have done with them, it only made sense to join. After all, I adore them and what they do. Why haven't you joined yet?

Patriot Guard Riders expand mission
Group isn’t just antidote to Westboro Baptists anymore
By Philip Grey - The Leaf Chronicle
Posted : Saturday Apr 2, 2011 16:22:46 EDT
Mario Chavez is adamant about a lot of things. One is that he and his fellow members of the Patriot Guard Riders do not want to be forever defined strictly in the context of their opposition to the Westboro Baptists.

However, at the present time, trying to tell the story of one without the other is like trying to talk about World War II without mentioning Germany. A recent film by noted documentary maker Ellen Frick showed why.

Last Monday, Chavez and other PGR members — including Ward 2 Councilwoman Deanna McLaughlin and Deb Saunders of the Fort Campbell Casualty Affairs office — were gathered at the home of Pam Wynn, assistant state captain for the PGR, to screen the documentary, “Patriot Guard Riders.” Though the film was largely centered on the PGR, its motivations, and its appeal to veterans and current military members, the Westboro Baptist group was also an integral part of the story.

After the screening, Frick, along with PGR members and supporters of the group, stayed to talk about the film, but mostly to talk about the PGR. Also present was Kari Upchurch, the wife of Spc. Clinton Robert Upchurch, a 101st Airborne Division soldier killed by an improvised explosive device in Iraq in 2006.

Situations like the one Kari Upchurch experienced are one reason that the PGR and the Westboro Baptists are so firmly fixed together in the public mind.

As for Westboro, many PGR members feel that the PGR has won the war, even as Westboro has prevailed time after time in the courts. Following the recent Supreme Court ruling in favor of the Westboro Baptists, the PGR picked up 10,000 additional members within weeks of the decision, according to Annette Robeck, Tennessee PGR state captain.

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Patriot Guard Riders expand mission

Hunting season prompts warning signs at Fort Bragg after soldier shot

Warning signs posted on trail after Bragg death
The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Apr 2, 2011 11:17:05 EDT
FORT BRAGG, N.C. — The apparent accidental shooting death of a soldier on a jog on a 21-mile trail just outside of Fort Bragg has prompted officials to install permanent signs reminding runners and bikers the path is closed for three months during hunting season.

The new, brightly colored metal signs were installed at each entry point to the All American Trail and on some roads leading to the path. The signs are green when the trail is open, but can folded down to show a red warning sign telling people the trail is closed during hunting season from Oct. 1 to Jan. 3, Fort Bragg range officer Bill Edwards told The Fayetteville Observer.

Officials at the Army base reviewed safety on the trail after 33-year-old Capt. Jeremiah Sipes, Belgrade, Mont., was shot and killed Jan. 1. A man calling 911 said his friend accidentally shot the soldier while they were hunting. The Army’s Criminal Investigation Command is still investigating the shooting.
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Warning signs posted on trail after Bragg death

Veterans, less than 10% of population, 16% of the homeless

Report Finds Veterans Make Up High Number of Homeless
By Janelle Benham
Published April 01, 2011
FoxNews.com


It is being called the most authoritative analysis of homelessness among military veterans, and the numbers are disturbing.

The joint report, conducted by the Department of Veterans Affairs along with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, says that while veterans make up only 10 percent of the population, they account for 16 percent of all homeless adults.

Veterans advocates say the reasons vary from person to person and what kinds of trauma they experienced during their time in the military.

“There's as many reasons as there are vets you know. You can categorize this guy as he has PTSD so he can't deal with people ... this guy became an alcoholic when he became a vet and he's still an alcoholic,” says Richard Rudnick spokesman with the National Veterans Foundation.


Read more: Report Finds Veterans Make Up High Number of Homeless

Fort Eustis leaders break ground for new WTU complex

Eustis leaders break ground for new WTU complex
by Lyna Tucker
633d Air Base Wing Public Affairs

4/1/2011 - FORT EUSTIS, Va. -- "The new WTU complex is very timely as the expectation of care and needs for warriors increases," said Warrior Transition Unit Commander Capt. LaCederick Jackson in a brief speech during a ceremony marking the start of construction of a new WTU complex March 25 at Fort Eustis.

With wounded warriors, WTU cadre and leadership, and members of the Joint Base Langley-Eustis on site, Fort Eustis leadership broke ground for construction of the $9.7 million complex behind the McDonald Army Health Center at the corner of Sternberg and 25th Streets.

On the nearly 15-acre site, the new complex will consist of a 16,600-square foot, two-story Company Operations Facility to house the unit command team and WTU cadre offices and a new 7,000-square foot Soldier and Family Assistance Center. The complex will also include a 48,200-square foot, 80-room barracks facility to be awarded at the end of April. The project is set for completion July 2012.
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Eustis leaders break ground for new WTU complex

Sailor still hospitalized after fire aboard carrier USS John C. Stennis

MILITARY: Sailor still hospitalized after fire aboard carrier

Only one sailor remained hospitalized Friday after 11 people were injured Wednesday when a Marine Corps jet fighter engine exploded, sending shrapnel out its exhaust and catching the plane on fire.

The only man still hospitalized suffered a severely broken leg as a result of debris from the explosion that occurred aboard the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis.
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Sailor still hospitalized after fire aboard carrier

Some veterans fear their service is more of a liability than an asset

This is wrong on so many levels, it really is hard to know where to start. Let's start with the National Guards and Reservists. For them, being without jobs as this article suggests, because of fear they will be redeployed, shows the ignorance of employers. They are missing hiring people they already depend on. National Guards and Reservists show up every time there is a disaster right in their own community. Doesn't matter what time of the day it is, how tired they are, what else they have going on in their own lives, or even if their own home has been destroyed. They show up to take care of others. Team work? Do you know anyone else so able to set everything else aside, they have risked their lives with other members of their team in combat? Following orders? Do you know anyone else able to follow orders to the point where they could be ordered to do something that could very well kill them? These men and women are good enough to depend on when an emergency calls them to action but not good enough to hire so they can pay their bills and be able to stay in the communities.

For other veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, along with the citizen soldiers, coming home to join others in their age group should make them more attractive to employers for the above reasons and beyond. We complain that most young people are too self-absorbed and detached. They lack discipline and are disrespectful. Face it. They show up late for work, for classes, turn in assignments late and whine when they "don't feel good" so they call in sick and make other people pick up the duties they are not doing. They cannot communicate unless they have a cell phone in their hands and can text what they want to say. Don't even ask them to compose a letter because you'll end up with a bunch of text code instead of real words.

Veterans on the other hand have proven they are not self-absorbed. They spent a year, or more, without being able to call in sick no matter how sick they really were because people were counting on them to be there. Their lives depended on it. They showed up on time. They are respectful. They are disciplined. They also know how to think fast on their feet. They do not crack under pressure. They do not walk away from something just because it is hard to do. For all the qualities they bring to the job, there is one more, no other employee can honestly say they know what it is like to be willing to die for someone else, unless they are members of law enforcement or emergency responders.

What's the worst that can happen if they are hired? Nothing more than hiring any other employee. No one knows what someone else is like until they are hired and have spent enough time on the job to have proven themselves. Every new hire comes with the same set of risks. Will they show up on time? Do their jobs? Be all they say they are during the interview? Will they get along with other employees? No HR director knows anything about anyone they hire but they decide to take a chance.

The excuse of the possibility of them being redeployed is nothing more than an excuse. Hire any woman in her 20's or 30's and there is the possibility of her getting pregnant and needing maternity leave. Do they avoid hiring her because she may need some time off to have a baby?

For all the excuses HR directors can come up with to not hire a veteran, there are more reasons to hire them once they understand how tested these men and women really are.

The employment situation is even worse for Reserve and National Guardsmen, whose jobless rate was 14 percent in July 2010.

Veterans' Struggle: A Recovery That's Leaving Them Behind
Posted by Adam Sorensen Friday, April 1, 2011
By Natasha Del Toro
March's jobless numbers, released Friday, offer some hope of a rebound in the labor market, but things aren't so easy for Iraq and Afghanistan-era war veterans.

According to the Department of Labor statistics, the unemployment rate for those returning soldiers in 2010 was 11.5%, compared to 9.7% for non-vets. And while the overall metrics are improving, veterans' plight is actually getting worse. So far this year, their jobless rate climbed to 15.2 percent in January and 12.5 percent in February.

That's why two dozen veterans from the across the country stormed Capitol Hill this week to meet with members of Congress. Their mission: to lower the unemployment rate by the end of the year by pushing a jobs bills package targeted specifically at veterans.

It's part of a campaign by the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), a non-profit organization that advocates for veterans' issues. “If you want to support the troops, support veterans, hire them,” said Paul Rieckhoff, IAVA's founder and executive director.

The legislative package includes job training and transition assistance for vets, tax credits for employers that hire vets and a comprehensive study of how military skills translate into civilian jobs.
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A Recovery That's Leaving Them Behind

From PBS
Returning Vets Face a New Battle

Watch the full episode. See more PBS NewsHour.

A veteran, anonymous in life, is honored in death

A veteran, anonymous in life, is honored in death
Published: Friday, April 01, 2011
By Susan Harrison Wolffis
Muskegon Chronicle
There was no eulogy for Andris Baltaisvilks Friday.

No tears. No funeral luncheon.

No photographs, carefully chronicling his journey from childhood to old age, visual memories of a life now gone.

There was almost no funeral.

When Baltaisvilks died March 15 at the age of 73 at Poppen Hospice Residence in Muskegon, he left behind no next-of-kin, no possessions, no one to make his final arrangements.

But someone at Poppen House — privacy laws don’t allow any more detail than that, said Mary Anne Gorman, Harbor Hospice’s executive director — had taken the time before Baltaisvilks’ passing to talk to him about his life and ask whether he’d ever been in the military.
The answer was yes.


Baltaisvilks, who immigrated to the United States from Latvia with his parents when he was 12 years old, served two years active duty in the U.S. Army from 1961 to 1963. He stayed in the Army Reserves until 1967.
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A veteran, anonymous in life, is honored in death

Afghans Avenge Florida Koran Burning, Killing 12

Last year Jones didn't care about our troops risking their lives in Afghanistan when he wanted to burn the Koran. He backed off because of media attention and pressure. This year, he didn't care about the troops again but while this time his stunt was ignored, it ended up causing the Afghans to search for Americans to kill. When they couldn't find them, they hit the UN.

Afghans Avenge Florida Koran Burning, Killing 12

By ENAYAT NAJAFIZADA and ROD NORDLAND
Published: April 1, 2011

MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghanistan — Stirred up by three angry mullahs who urged them to avenge the burning of a Koran at a Florida church, thousands of protesters on Friday overran the compound of the United Nations in this northern Afghan city, killing at least 12 people, Afghan and United Nations officials said.

The dead included at least seven United Nations workers — four Nepalese guards and three Europeans from Romania, Sweden and Norway — according to United Nations officials in New York. One was a woman. Early reports, later denied by Afghan officials, said that at least two of the dead had been beheaded. Five Afghans were also killed.

The attack was the deadliest for the United Nations in Afghanistan since 11 people were killed in 2009, when Taliban suicide bombers invaded a guesthouse in Kabul. It also underscored the latent hostility toward the nine-year foreign presence here, even in a city long considered to be among the safest in Afghanistan — so safe that American troops no longer patrol here in any numbers.

Unable to find Americans on whom to vent their anger, the mob turned instead on the next-best symbol of Western intrusion — the nearby United Nations headquarters. “Some of our colleagues were just hunted down,” said a spokesman for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, Kieran Dwyer, in confirming the attack.

Friday’s episode began when three mullahs, addressing worshipers at Friday Prayer inside the Blue Mosque here, one of Afghanistan’s holiest places, urged people to take to the streets to agitate for the arrest of Terry Jones, the Florida pastor who oversaw the burning of a Koran on March 20.

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Afghans Avenge Florida Koran Burning

Critics say Army sharing too much mental health therapy info

Critics say Army sharing too much therapy info
By Gregg Zoroya - USA Today
Posted : Thursday Mar 31, 2011 21:13:49 EDT
An Army effort to reduce suicides by sharing more of soldiers’ personal therapy information with squad, platoon or company leaders — even in cases where there is no threat of self-harm — is pushing the limit of privacy laws, say civilian experts on medical records restrictions.

Soldiers may be discouraged from seeking care if they fear their privacy will be violated, says Mark Botts, an associate professor of public law at the University of North Carolina who specializes in the privacy of behavioral health records.

“They definitely run that risk,” he says of the Army. “If the soldier knows [private information will be released], they’re going to be worried.”

Army lawyers say that they are well within the law and that the more leaders know, the more they can help troubled soldiers.

“The emphasis is on trying to prevent suicides,” says Charles Orck, a senior Army lawyer who reviewed the practice. “The more information, the better to be able to evaluate and analyze and try to come up with a solution.”

The Army suicide rate has doubled since 2004, although suicides for 2011 are fewer than at this time last year. Army officials have said that they hope their efforts, such as those dealing with private health information, are among reasons for the decline.
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Critics say Army sharing too much therapy info

Fort Bragg Bragg Infant Deaths ‘Frustrating’

UPDATE May 6, 2011

Investigation of Bragg infant deaths completed
The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday May 5, 2011 19:20:46 EDT
FORT BRAGG, N.C. — The Army completed an investigation of 10 infant deaths at Fort Bragg without finding any evidence of a common environmental link or of crimes.

The cause of death in all 10 cases was classified as undetermined. Two other infants died after the 11-month review began and are being investigated separately, but the Army’s Criminal Investigation Command said it saw no link between those and the 10 included in the review.
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Investigation of Bragg infant deaths completed

McHugh: Bragg Infant Deaths ‘Frustrating’

April 01, 2011
Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer
Army Secretary John McHugh said Thursday that the deaths of at least 10 infants on Fort Bragg remain a frustrating mystery.

Testifying at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, McHugh revealed that he ordered a special team from the Army's Public Health Command to Fort Bragg to take a fresh look at the cases.

A spokeswoman for McHugh said the team visited Fort Bragg in early December and continues to investigate.

But McHugh said the investigators have exhausted nearly every angle and don't appear any closer to understanding why the infants died.

Fort Bragg and Army Criminal Investigation Command officials also have been investigating the unexplained infant deaths on post since last year, after realizing that three of the babies died in one house in the Ardennes community during a four-year period.

During that time, seven other babies died of unexplained causes on post. Two more have died since the investigation began, most recently on Feb. 24. Those deaths remain under investigation apart from the other 10.
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Bragg Infant Deaths Frustrating

Deputies shot at responding to stabbing in Orlando

Deputies shoot, kill armed man outside Goldenrod Road bar

By Anika Myers Palm, Orlando Sentinel
6:59 a.m. EDT, April 1, 2011

One man is dead and two other men, including a deputy, have been wounded in an incident this morning outside a bar, the Orange County Sheriff's Office said.

When two deputies arrived at the Laughing Horse Tavern at 907 North Goldenrod Road about 2:56 a.m., they found one man who had been stabbed or cut several times. As Deputies Daniel Shapiro and Hector Lopez treated the injured man, another man with a gun confronted them, according to the Sheriff's Office.

The armed man shot at the deputies, who returned fire and killed him. Shapiro was struck during the exchange of gunfire, but his bullet-proof vest caught the rounds, Sheriff Jerry Demings said outside Orlando Regional Medical Center this morning.

Demings said the two deputies handled the situation well.

"It looks like the deputies did everything they needed to do to go home this morning," Demings said.
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Deputies shoot, kill armed man outside Goldenrod Road bar

6 soldiers from Fort Campbell 101st 1st Brigade Combat Team killed in Afghanistan

101st general: 6 die in Afghanistan battle
By Kristin M. Hall - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Mar 31, 2011 13:25:56 EDT
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. — A tough battle continues in eastern Afghanistan’s most volatile area where six U.S. soldiers died on Tuesday, said Maj. Gen. John F. Campbell, commanding general of the 101st Airborne Division.

Campbell spoke to reporters at Fort Campbell during a video conference from his headquarters in Bagram on Thursday, and said that 117 members of the 101st have died in Afghanistan since March 2010. All six soldiers were from the 1st Brigade Combat Team.

The latest deaths came during ongoing combat to clear insurgents from eastern Afghanistan. Campbell said he couldn’t discuss details because the operation was ongoing but called it a joint mission involving NATO forces, the Afghan National Army and border police in Kunar province.

“There were a significant number of insurgents killed in this operation, several large caches found and this operation is still ongoing,” he said.

They were

Staff Sgt. Bryan A. Burgess, 29, of Cleburne, Texas

Pfc. Dustin J. Feldhaus, 20, of Glendale, Ariz.

Sgt. 1st Class Ofren Arrechaga, 28, of Hialeah, Fla.

Staff Sgt. Frank E. Adamski III, 26, of Moosup, Conn.

Spc. Jameson L. Lindskog, 23, of Pleasanton, Calif.

Pvt. Jeremy P. Faulkner, 23, of Griffin, Ga.

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101st general: 6 die in Afghanistan battle

Secondary Posttraumatic Stress Population Gets Support

PTSD Caregivers: Secondary Posttraumatic Stress Population Gets Support

Heal My PTSD, an organization for posttraumatic stress syndrome education and support, launches complimentary PTSD Caregiver Teleseminars on Thursday, April 28, 2011, at 6pm EST.



West Palm, FL, April 01, 2011 --(PR.com)-- Studies estimate over 5% of all Americans struggle with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) at any given time. That means the number of PTSD caregivers is roughly equal, or larger, as the caregiver role can land on more than one person in a PTSD family. Heal My PTSD, an organization for posttraumatic stress syndrome education and support, launches complimentary PTSD Caregiver Teleseminars on Thursday, April 28, 2011, at 6pm EST. Facilitated by www.healmyptsd.com founder, PTSD Coach and PTSD survivor, Michele Rosenthal, these hourlong teleseminars will provide a place for PTSD caregivers to find community, connection and creativity in how to manage the posttrauamtic stress caregiver role.

Conducted via a telephone conference line, these groups will focus on topics unique to the PTSD caregiver perspective, including how to:

· understand PTSD symptoms
· practice stress reduction techniques
· balance caregiving and living
· choose Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Treatment options
· talk to your PTSD loved one
· help your PTSD loved one learn how to manage and cope with symptoms
· avoid caregiver burn out

Each monthly call will offer a thirty minute presentation on an important PTSD caregiver topic and then incorporate thirty minutes of a group discussion so that participants can ask personal PTSD questions, talk to each other, avoid secondary posttraumatic stress and receive one-on-one coaching around specific issues.

“The unique challenge of PTSD caregivers is figuring out how to take care of themselves while also supporting their PTSD loved one. Plus, the confusion about symptoms of posttraumatic stress – and the lack of defined PTSD treatment – can make the caregiver role overwhelming,” says Rosenthal. “Our goal is to help bring clarity to caregivers so that they can maintain their own grounded lives while making good decisions and taking strong actions to help their PTSD loved one.”

After struggling with PTSD for over twenty-five years, Rosenthal, a Certified Professional Coach, is now 100% free of PTSD symptoms. Her work with survivors and caregivers includes individual clients and groups. She continues, “PTSD symptoms are universal, regardless of the individual trauma. In the same way, the PTSD caregiver experience is universal, too. This means every caregiver can teach and also learn by interacting in a strong, nurturing and supportive community.”

For more information about the Heal My PTSD Caregiver Teleseminar Series, visit: Heal My PTSD Teleseminar

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder is a wholly treatable condition that results from a life-threatening experience in which the trauma survivor felt helpless. PTSD symptoms include insomnia, nightmares, flashbacks, emotional numbing, hyperarousal and hypervigilance.

Michele Rosenthal is a trauma survivor who struggled with undiagnosed PTSD for twenty-four years. And then she was diagnosed and went on a healing rampage. A PTSD Coach and passionate advocate, she founded www.healmyptsd.com to provide information about Posttraumatic Stress Disorder symptoms, treatment and support. The site contains several complimentary resources including downloads, teleseminars, a healing workshop, and monthly radio programs.
Contact: Michele@healmyptsd.com, 561.531.1405.

For more information: Heal My PTSD.com

Arlington has 1 out of ten headstones wrong

March 30, 2011
CNN's Brooke Baldwin interviewed Mark Benjamin of Time Magazine about his recent article on the Arlington Cemetery mix-up.

Native American youth suicide crisis baffles

Native American youth suicide crisis baffles

Associated Press | Posted: Monday, March 21, 2011
POPLAR, Mont. -- Chelle Rose Follette fashioned a noose with her pajamas, tying one end to a closet rod and the other around her neck. When her mother entered the bedroom to put away laundry, she found the 13-year-old hanging.
Ida Follette screamed for her husband, Darrell.
He lifted his child's body, rushed her to the bed and tried to bring her back.
"She was so light, she was so light. And I put her down. I said, 'No, Chelle!'"
But the time had passed for CPR, he said, his voice fading with still raw grief. His wife sat next to him on the couch, sobbing at the retelling.
Here on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, a spasm of youth suicides had caused alarm and confusion even before Chelle's death.The Follettes had talked with her about other local children who had killed themselves. She had assured her parents that they need not worry about her.
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Native American youth suicide crisis baffles

Marine Corps Steps Up Suicide Prevention Efforts

When they deploy, they think they know all the risks. They know they can be killed. They know they can end up seriously wounded. They are aware there is a stress on their spouse while they are gone. To use this as an excuse for the growing number of suicides, simply does not make sense.

Why? Because too many young service members have taken their own lives without being connected to a spouse. What they all have in common is they were deployed and survived, but when they were supposed to be out of danger, they were really in greater danger. They were unarmed when they were attacked by the invader within their own minds.

While we have come a very long way in the last ten years addressing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, the numbers show there is something missing. Until they actually discover what causes PTSD and really understand it, we will see the numbers continue to grow.

Marine Corps Steps Up Suicide Prevention Efforts to Halt Deadly Trend
By John Roberts
Published March 30, 2011
FoxNews.com

The note begins, “Grandpa, I just wanted to give you my thanks for being a great influence in my life.”

Former Marine Sgt. Dana O’Brien can barely make it through the first line before tears begin streaming down his face. It was sent from his grandson, Marine Cpl. Daniel O’Brien during one of his two tours of duty in Iraq.

On the surface, Cpl. O’Brien appeared to have a lot to live for. He was a good Marine with a promising career ahead of him. And he had a beautiful baby girl, Alexis, who, it is clear from the photographs of the two, really seemed to love her daddy.

But on the inside, O’Brien was tormented. His wife, also a Marine had recently left him. And after an altercation on base at the Marine Air Station in Buford, S.C., he thought his career was over. In July 2009, he took his own life.

O'Brien's death was part of an alarming trend: Fifty-two Marines committed suicide that year, a record high, and the military is still struggling to deal with an elevated suicide rate among those who serve.

As if suicide wasn’t enough of an issue in the military, the problem may extend beyond the services. Gen. Ray Carpenter commands the Army National Guard, where the incidence of suicide nearly doubled from 2009 to 2010.

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Marine Corps Steps Up Suicide Prevention Efforts

John Roberts did a report for FOX


Psychiatrists have told veterans that if they were not affected by what they went through, they would become a sociopath. While this in no way explains why some come home without suffering from PTSD, it was an easy out for them.

Point one they miss is age. The emotional part of the brain in all of us is not fully developed until the age of 25. Most of the men and women we send enter into the military right out of high school.

PTSD only comes after a traumatic event. It is not genetic. Growing up with someone with PTSD, especially untreated PTSD, is traumatic and can cause secondary PTSD.


Redeployments increase the risk of PTSD by 50%, which the Army discovered in 2006, but the practice continues.

This slide was from one of my videos, Wounded and Waiting.


Every effort has not been made to address this. They knew what redeployments would do but as they spent millions of dollars on programs with no evidence of them working, they expanded the list of like programs, recently shown to have been more "research" than treatment.

PTSD strikes. It is not caused by the veteran. Given what knowledge is available, including brain scans, there are key points missing in treating veterans of combat.

Providing knowledge is wonderful however the mistakes made originate with the wrong information being provided. Programs like Battle Mind begin by telling the servicemen and women that they can prevent PTSD by becoming "resilient" and preparing their minds. This not only did not work, it did more harm than good. It suggested to them that if they ended up with PTSD it was their fault.

Providing true knowledge of what PTSD is does in fact help them to heal faster and make peace with what they just went through.

Humans walk away from traumatic events one of two ways. They either believe they were saved by God/divine intervention/someone watching over them, or they believe they are suffering for a reason/in the wrong place at the wrong time/abandoned by God/targeted by God. Shock is what comes after traumatic events. Usually within 30 days, the shock wears off. While the person is changed by the event itself, they are not traumatized by it. Recovered, they take the event with them stronger for having survived it, more loving with a different idea of what is important, along with other good changes or they can go the other way. On the extreme end is the symptoms getting worse and taking over the life of the survivor.

The soul/spirit is connected to our emotions and must be addressed in healing. When psychologist listen to the event that haunts the veteran the most, they can address that, get the veteran to the place where they are able to "watch the whole movie" in their mind about what happened before the event, during it and after, so they can be able to find peace with what they did or what happened.

Forgiving themselves and being able to forgive others is necessary in healing. They need to be guided in achieving this. This can be done with mental health professionals and members of the clergy, as well as informed friends. If they are being judged at the same time they are blaming themselves, it feeds guilt already there and fuels what PTSD is already doing to them.

The military has a history of avoiding the emotions of the humans they turn into warriors. They plan and program training around changing them, breaking them as individuals to turn them into a unit, but no matter how much they want to delude themselves into thinking this can be achieved, they end up with a human suddenly afraid to be human.

History is full of civilizations honoring the human turned into warrior appreciating the gifts each one is capable of while still acknowledging the weakness of being just a human. When the military comes to terms with this fact, then there will be a lot less suffering from PTSD and a lot more healing it.

Families also play a key role in addressing the aftermath of trauma when they are included in on the treatment. Often the veteran will deny the seriousness of what is happening to them but the family can provide truth. They can also aid in the day to day lives of the veterans when they know what to do as well as what not to do once they understand what they need to know.

PTSD is complicated but there is so much more known now than ever before. We all need to be asking why the military keeps repeating the same mistakes instead of learning from them.

Copter crash kills 1 Marine, injures 3 off Hawaii

Copter crash kills 1 Marine, injures 3 off Hawaii
Sea Stallion plunges into the ocean; two survivors reported in critical condition


HONOLULU — One Marine was killed and three injured when a helicopter crashed into a bay on the coast of Oahu, a military spokesman said Wednesday.

The CH-53 D Sea Stallion, with four Marines aboard, crashed about 7:20 p.m. Hawaii time Tuesday, Maj. Alan Crouch, with the Marines' public affairs office in Hawaii, told NBC News.
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Copter crash kills 1 Marine, injures 3 off Hawaii