Marine Receives Second Bronze Star With Combat Valor
By WCTI Staff
CAMP LEJEUNE -- The Operations Officer for 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, received his second Bronze Star with combat distinguishing device aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C., April 8, 2011.
The award was presented to Capt. Matthew J. Martin for actions while in command of Golf Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, during the battalion's deployment to Afghanistan from May to November 2009.
While deployed to Iraq in 2003, Martin served as a company executive officer with Company A, 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division. Martin and his Marines fought for four days to secure the bridges outside of An Nasiriyah. Although he and his Marines were outnumbered and took heavy casualties, Martin directed tank and mortar fire toward enemy strongholds and successfully held off the insurgents. Martin received his first Bronze Star for heroic actions during this battle.
While being awarded the countries fourth highest medal is a rare achievement, eight years after Martin received his first Bronze Star with combat distinguishing device, he was presented with his second.
As the commanding officer of Company G, 2/8, Martin and his Marines were tasked with patrolling, on foot, more than 11 miles to secure a city in Helmond Province, Afghanistan.
MILITARY: First large wave of battle-scarred Marine unit arrives home
CAMP PENDLETON'S 3RD BATTALION, 5TH MARINE REGIMENT SAW 25 OF ITS TROOPS KILLED, MORE THAN 140 WOUNDED
By MARK WALKER - mlwalker@nctimes.com
Posted: Monday, April 11, 2011
About 250 troops from a Camp Pendleton infantry unit that suffered 25 killed and more than 140 wounded in Afghanistan arrived home to thunderous cheers Monday evening.
It was a bittersweet moment for the men from the base's 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, who were met by hundreds of loved ones and fellow Marines.
The battalion had more casualties during its nearly eight-month deployment than any other similar Marine unit in the 10-year-old war.
"It's tough seeing so many of your friends go down," 21-year-old Lance Cpl. Travis Broussard said moments after climbing off a bus and ending his first combat tour. "There were a lot of long days and long nights, but it's great being home."
The homecoming for the "Dark Horse Battalion" has been among the most anticipated at Camp Pendleton in years.
The 950-member infantry troops were engaged in heavy fighting in the Sangin District of the Helmand province from the time they arrived at the end of the summer until they departed.
Axe to grind here, so off topic but forgive me. An unpaid blogger filed suit against AOL for work done posting on Huffington Post. While I really understand how he feels and part of me really hopes he wins, like most bloggers, he knew what he was getting into. Bloggers always know. Sure we hope that our work will lead to a job or a book deal. We hope that one day we can break into the "real world" of journalists or even find some kind of respect, but seriously, hopes aside, most do it to post on things that matter to them. For me it happens to be veterans and the troops. I am an unpaid staff writer for Veterans Today and I post there when I can grateful that I can post whatever I want to say. They get more hits than this blog does, so the extra exposure matters to me. Would I sue if they ended up making money later? Hell no. I'd be jealous but I wouldn't sue simply because being willing to work for free means exactly that. He wrote what he wrote for free so to turn around and want a pay day now seems wrong. 9,000 unpaid bloggers? Really smart business plan.
Huffington Post blogger sues AOL for $105 million
By Julianne Pepitone, staff reporter
April 12, 2011: 2:58 PM ET
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- A longtime Huffington Post blogger has filed a lawsuit against the site, its two co-founders and new owner AOL, seeking $105 million on behalf of himself and 9,000 other unpaid bloggers.
The suit is being led by Jonathan Tasini, a journalist and union organizer, who filed the complaint Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Tasini is seeking class-action status for the case.
read more here Huffington Post blogger sues AOL for $105 million
Lawmakers: Protect new GI Bill living stipends
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Apr 12, 2011 12:57:07 EDT
Two California lawmakers have joined forces to try to prevent Post-9/11 GI Bill living stipends from being cut off between school terms for thousands of students.
Reps. Susan Davis, a Democrat, and Duncan Hunter, a Republican, are co-sponsoring what they are calling the Post 9/11 GI Bill Payment Restoration Act, which would prevent a cutoff of interval payments between terms, quarters or semesters that is scheduled to take effect on Aug. 1.
About 270,000 student veterans will lose money under that provision of law, according to an estimate from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. How much they will lose will depend on the living stipend for their school, and the length of the break.
Denying interval payments, which in some cases have been paid for up to eight weeks a year for full-time students, was included in an overhaul of the Post-9/11 GI Bill approved by Congress in December and signed by President Obama in January.
read more here Protect new GI Bill living stipends
McChrystal to oversee White House initiative
By Julie Pace - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Apr 11, 2011 11:20:24 EDT
WASHINGTON — Nearly a year after President Obama fired Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal as his top commander in Afghanistan, the White House has asked him to head a new advisory board to support military families.
The three-person panel will oversee the Joining Forces program, an initiative led by first lady Michelle Obama and Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Biden. The effort will focus on mobilizing communities, businesses and the government to assist the families of those serving their country.
read more here McChrystal to oversee White House initiative
Whenever suicide figures are released by the DOD, they seem to always go out of their way to mention how many suicides occurred when deployment was not involved. What they never seem to want to address is why this happens.
Charles Williams knows why at least one of them committed suicide. It was his own son, Jeremy. What does a bully do? They terrorize and abuse. More forms of trauma just as child abuse often causes PTSD as well. Maybe, just maybe, this can also help explain why there are so many suicides in the military, deployed or not.
Grieving father says military culture must change
reported this story on Tuesday, April 12, 2011
TONY EASTLEY: The father of a soldier who committed suicide says more young people will kill themselves unless the military's culture is changed.
Charles Williams' son Jeremy killed himself after being bullied during his army training. Mr Williams says his son was a victim of a toxic culture that pervades the armed forces.
Michael Edwards has this report.
MICHAEL EDWARDS: Stories about young recruits being mistreated in the armed forces carry a special resonance for Charles Williams.
His son Jeremy committed suicide at the age of 20 while he was undergoing basic training at a base in Singleton in New South Wales in 2003.
CHARLES WILLIAMS: Jeremy had a leg injury, shin splints, and was transferred to R&D and that platoon was very much the butt of ridicule, and of this culture of abuse and denigration which was fostered and encouraged at the NCO level and junior officer level.
And he basically despaired of his situation.
MICHAEL EDWARDS: Charles Williams says the military treated his son and his family appallingly.
Now his biggest concern is that more young recruits who are bullied and victimised will take their own lives.
CHARLES WILLIAMS: You must remember that when young people go into the ADF they're in a controlled environment from which they can't escape, and if they're subject to bullying then very sinister options emerge. And that's why we've had these suicides. We've had these young people despairing of their situation.
read more here Grieving father says military culture must change
One more story showing how times and attitudes toward veterans has changed for the better. Vietnam Vet David Brown has not been able to do what he was supposed to do 11 years ago, but the city council has been trying to help him. His sister has been trying to help him. A contractor even offered to do the work for free reportedly worth over $20,000. This sounded like one more Vietnam vet needing help but not getting any but after watching the video, it is clear it is a story filled with hope because so many people care.
Property owner is given one last chance
Written by
Jackie Ward
BANGOR, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- The Bangor City Council is giving a resident one more chance to salvage his property even though he's had 11 years to do so.
David Brown owns 34 Holland Street in Bangor and hoped to rent it out, but a fire 11 years ago made it uninhabitable. His sister, Judy Judkins says that as a Vietnam veteran, Brown has struggled with serious illnesses that have prevented him from fixing up the home and paying his taxes. Judkins learned of this issue for the first time last week, and says now that she will act as a property manager to help him reconstruct the building.
read more here or watch video report Property owner is given one last chance
2 US servicemen mistakenly killed by drone attack in Afghanistan
NBC: Pair died in missile airstrike in an apparent case of mistaken identity
By Jim Miklaszewski
Chief Pentagon correspondent
NBC News
updated 4/11/2011 2:04:23 PM ET
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WASHINGTON — A U.S. Marine reservist and a Navy corpsman were killed in a drone airstrike in Afghanistan last week in an apparent case of friendly fire, U.S. military officials tell NBC News.
Marine Staff Sgt. Jeremy Smith and Navy Corpsman Benjamin Rast were reportedly killed Wednesday by a Hellfire missile fired from a U.S. Air Force Predator in what appears to be a case of mistaken identity, NBC reported. Smith and Rast were part of a Marine unit moving in to reinforce fellow Marines under heavy fire from enemy forces outside Sangin in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan.
read more here 2 US servicemen mistakenly killed by drone attack
When we decided to move to Florida, we picked Central Florida because hurricanes were not supposed to hit here. We moved in June of 2004. Charley, Frances and Jeanne decided that it was time Central Florida got a wakeup call from Mother Nature. Our neighbors had a great time blaming us for the welcome party.
7 years after hurricanes, Orlando waits for FEMA cash
By Mark Schlueb, Orlando Sentinel
8:48 p.m. EDT, April 10, 2011
The roofs were repaired long ago and the uprooted trees are just a memory, but nearly seven years after the disastrous 2004 hurricane season, Orlando City Hall is still trying to collect some cash from FEMA.
Long after hurricanes Charley, Frances and Jeanne blew through Florida in quick succession, officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the state Department of Emergency Management continue to comb through invoices from truckloads of fallen tree limbs and stump-removal crews, trying to determine how much Orlando should be reimbursed for its cleanup expenses.
"If asked in 2004 how long I would expect the reimbursement process to take, I would not have said seven years," Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said.
Over the years, FEMA has paid most reimbursement claims from cities, counties and nonprofit agencies for cleanup, rebuilding and other expenses related to Florida's unprecedented hurricane season.
read more here 7 years after hurricanes, Orlando waits for FEMA cash
Bachmann wants to secure pay for troops
By Larry Bivins - USA Today
Posted : Sunday Apr 10, 2011 9:40:59 EDT
WASHINGTON — After voting against legislation to keep the government running, Rep. Michele Bachmann said Saturday that she wants to ensure American troops are paid during any budget crisis.
Bachmann, R-Minn., a tea party favorite who is considering a run for president in 2012, said she would introduce legislation that would prevent troops from being “used as pawns in political negotiations. If we reach another impasse like we did last week, our active-duty military and their families must know that their paychecks are secure.”
read more here Bachmann wants to secure pay for troops
The question is, how could USA Today not know the bill was already introduced to protect military pay April 1st? They reported that Backmann "wants to introduce" a bill 8 days after it was already reported and done by other Republicans.
Bill would guarantee military pay in a shutdown
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Apr 1, 2011 16:22:07 EDT
A group of House Republicans took the first step Friday toward trying to guarantee the military would get paid if there is a government shutdown.
There are heavy political undertones to the bill, and no guarantee it will pass, but it marks acknowledgement by lawmakers that the Defense Department’s current plan calls for service members to work without pay if Congress fails to keep the government running.
Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, chief sponsor of what is being called the Ensuring Pay for Our Military Act, said the goal is to reassure service members and their families that no matter what happens with the federal budget, they will get paid.
“Ensuring the troops are paid is essential to the morale of our soldiers,” Gohmert said. “The last thing they should be thinking about is whether they are going to be paid.”
“Our troops should not suffer for Washington for Washington’s failure to act,” said Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga., one of the cosponsors.
read more here Bill would guarantee military pay in a shutdown
So how is this news worthy of USA reporting on? Why would Backmann feel it was necessary to make it look like she is the only one wanting to protect the troops from being used as pawns when it turns out, she is the one either not paying attention to what is being done in congress by members of her own party or she thinks she can gain their support. Either way, nothing she can do will ever remove the stain on her reputation when she wanted to cut the VA and stop disabled veterans from receiving their full benefits.
Illinois brothers send veterans to D.C.
By Elizabeth Davies - Rockford Register Star Via The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Apr 11, 2011 8:21:06 EDT
SOUTH BELOIT, Ill. — Mark Finnegan stood back and watched as veteran after veteran — more than 100 in all — took in the national memorials before them.
These men, each of whom had seen battle as a member of our nation’s military, never before had made their way to Washington to see the memorials that were built for them. Never before had they been given the chance to properly honor the friends and compatriots who never made it home.
On this day, in this late season of their lives, that mission finally was accomplished.
And Finnegan, a local business owner who brought the veterans to D.C., knew his father would be proud.
“Our father, Cy Finnegan, was a World War II Navy veteran,” Finnegan said. “He had a brutal battle with cancer and passed away in 2000, but he always had a wish to do something for his generation. And he never got to see this memorial they built in D.C.”
So with his brother, John, Finnegan launched a nonprofit organization called VetsRoll. The premise? To take as many Rock River Valley veterans as possible, free of cost, to Washington for a tour of the memorials.
In 2010, the Finnegan brothers raised enough money to take 191 people — 128 veterans, plus caregivers and medical personnel — on a four-day trip to D.C.
“It was just so overwhelming” for veterans to see the memorials, Finnegan said. “Some were so emotional, they couldn’t even talk.”
read more here Illinois brothers send veterans to D.C.
The researchers have part of this right. Smells do play a big role in flashbacks. For Vietnam veterans, even diesel fuel can still be a reminder of war just as the sound of a helicopter can trigger memories.
Humans learn from events in their lives. This article mentions fear of dogs. If someone is attacked or threatened by a dog, they learn from this experience, become afraid the next time and they do have to come into contact with other dogs overcoming their fear as long as it has a different outcome.
For me, my fear was of heights. I was not even 5 when I was pushed off a slide at a drive-in movie playground. My scull was cracked all the way around and I had a concussion. While most kids were daredevils, unafraid to climb trees, I was terrified. I would go with my friends into the woods, climb the rocks to get a view of the city but as they were enjoying it, I was feeling my heart pounding, taking deep breaths to avoid passing out. Amusement parks were even harder when I tried to explain that roller coaster rides were a no go for me. They called me "chicken" but I told them I was only thinking of them and the fact they would end up paying for making me go on when I tossed my "cookies" in their hair. Once they were given the choice of going on without me or having me sit behind them, they decided to let me sit out the ride in peace. That fear stayed with me for many years so I avoided a lot of places that would expose me to the memories of that night when by all accounts, I should not have survived. Time made it a bit easier but I still avoid roller coaster rides.
Dogs come with a "smell" but the scent of a dog is usually not reported to be the cause of a flashback. The sound of a bark or growl can cause nerves to jump. Not all life threatening events come with scents that remind the survivor of it. For me, with drive-in movies, there was the smell of popcorn, hotdogs, burgers and fries but these scents do not remind me of anything other than the fact I usually end up with a craving for them as soon as someone mentions the words. For combat veterans, there are too many reminders of war. While scent therapy wouldn't do much good for someone like me, it can help make a world of difference for combat veterans in helping them heal. It can get them past the "smell" trigger so that other triggers can be addressed like anniversary dates.
Researchers combine smells, combat scenes to treat veterans' stress disorder
By Linda Shrieves The Orlando Sentinel
ORLANDO, Fla. — It's not quite smell-o-vision, but University of Central Florida researchers are kicking off a study that will combine a virtual reality simulation of wartime scenes along with the "smells" of Middle East combat zones to help veterans overcome post-traumatic stress disorder.
Because smells are so acutely tied to memories, researchers hope that the combination of reliving painful experiences — along with the smells of war — will help Iraq and Afghanistan veterans overcome their anxieties.
Known as exposure therapy, the technique teaches people to face their fears by confronting them gradually.
"If you're afraid of a dog, how do you get over it? By being around a dog," said Dr. Deborah Beidel, a University of Central Florida psychology professor who is leading the study.
In the program, Beidel and a team of therapists will use software programs known as Virtual Iraq and Virtual Afghanistan — which look like a video game but simulate the experience of being in those countries — to duplicate the traumatic experiences the soldier witnessed.
Heartache follows call to duty
Monday, April 11, 2011
SALISBURY — When Mo Hopper is out running errands, she likes to say she’s killing rats.
Last week, she was killing a lot of rats, putting the finishing handiwork on a surprise going-away party for her husband, Tim, who will be leaving Saturday for a year’s deployment in Iraq.
Tim, 55 and silver-haired, commands a Black Hawk helicopter unit for the Army National Guard in Salisbury, and he’ll be leading its Iraqi mission. He says he has no worries about the wartime job because he’ll be with soldiers he has complete trust in.
The toughest thing for Tim is leaving Mo behind. She continues to battle a blood and bone marrow disease — MPD, for short — that doctors have said will eventually claim her life.
Mo deflects any concerns about herself — the progression of the disease varies considerably from person to person — and says she has a great support system at home with her friends and military family.
“We definitely do not want Tim worrying about anything here,” she says. “He needs to go — for country, family and God.”
Despite dealing with pain around the clock, Mo remains a fireball. She runs her own business — Hopper’s Quick Bite, a food service at area auctions through the week.
Marine reservists return from Afghanistan with joyful homecoming in Orlando
They transported troops and supplies across Afghanistan
By Dave Weber, ORLANDO SENTINEL
8:58 p.m. EDT, April 10, 2011
A crowd of more than 100 people, waving little American flags, welcomed the returning Marines, who had just flown in from California, at the Armed Services Reserve Center near Orlando International Airport. The reservists with Motor Transport Company A11 had carried troops and supplies across Afghanistan's rugged terrain during their seven-month deployment.
Home from Afghanistan and safe at last, 14 Marine reservists from Central Florida had a joyful reunion in Orlando Sunday night with family and friends.
"I am glad to be back!" said Lance Cpl. Ricky Herndon, 23, of Inverness, as he hugged his wife and two tiny daughters. "Words can't explain it. I am so happy."
Hayden, 2, and Madysen, 3, had grown, but Herndon's wife, Renae, laughed that she had not. She took his seven-month deployment as an opportunity to lose 116 pounds. When he saw her, Herndon lifted her up, swung her around and kissed her.
Johnny Crawford, Jcrawford@ajc.com Mindi Bennett holds a sign welcoming Marine Cpl Todd Simpson Love home at McCollum Field on Saturday, Apr 9, 2011. Over 500 people welcomed him home from the hospital.
Wounded Marine receives hero's welcome from Atlanta
By Shelia M. Poole
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Cpl. Todd Simpson Love is a third-generation Marine, so the words quit and give up aren't found in his vocabulary.
Love was the point man on foot patrol in the Sangin district of Afghanistan on the morning of Oct. 25 last year, when he triggered an improvised explosive device. The most severely injured among his fellow Marines, he lost two legs and part of his left arm.
On Saturday, Love, 20, received a hero's welcome when he returned to Georgia. The wounded member of the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, B Company, which is stationed at Camp Pendleton, Calif., was met by a motorcade of cars and more than 250 motorcyclists from several groups, including Warrior Watch Riders and the American Legion Post 111, at Cobb County Airport-McCollum Field. He next was whisked to Dallas Landing Park in Acworth for a celebration and mayoral commendation.
A relative kept people informed of the Marine's arrival using Twitter and Facebook messages. When his plane landed from Virginia, courtesy of Angel Flight, he was greeted by hundreds of people with applause, cheers and more than a few tears. Streets to Acworth were lined with well-wishers, signs and American flags.
read more here Wounded Marine receives hero's welcome from Atlanta
Virginia Community Surprises Returning Wounded Marine – With Video
Posted By Angelia Phillips
April 10th, 2011
DALE CITY,Va. – Twenty-seven-year-old Josh Himan wept with gratitude, Saturday, when he returned to his family’s home after 18 months of recovery and rehabilitation at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
Hundreds of residents of Dale City, Virginia lined the streets and held up homemade signs. 18 police motorcycle officers formed an honor guard. Then, when Josh reached home, he was shown the addition that volunteers constructed in the back of the house. That addition includes a wheelchair-friendly bedroom and bathroom.
An improvised roadside bomb destroyed the Humvee in which Himan was riding in Afghanistan in September of 2009. The Marine Corporal suffered severe spinal damage, among other injuries.
read more here Virginia Community Surprises Returning Wounded Marine
Marine Sergeant Kenny Lyon received more than just a house from Homes for Our Troops. Over 100 roaring motorcycle riders made sure he did not make the journey to the next part of his life alone. Ahead of this day, over 150 people donated supplies and labors of love so that Lyon would never have to worry about having a roof over his head ever again. Simple acts of kindness reminding the country there are still people out there thinking about others. Lyon had seen this kind of kindness before in Iraq when Col. Paulette Schank pumped her own blood into him so that he could live.
Lyon, for his part, was willing to give up his life if that day ever came. As a Marine, he served watching the backs of his brothers. Just as other men and women spend their days willing, able and ready to do whatever it takes to do what they were sent to do and take care of their "family" Lyon knew what it was like to be unselfish. With all the heroes in this story, the story won't end here. Everyone driving by this house, from this day on, will remember the story of the community coming together, working together, for the sake of someone willing to die in service. They will remember the story of Schank so determined to save Lyon, she took her own blood for his sake. They will remember that heroes come in and out of uniform and the next time they are asked to help someone, they may remember all of these wonderful people saying they wanted to help.
Sgt. Kenny Lyon (left) tells how Col. Paulette Schank (right) directly transfused her own blood into his in her successful attempt to save his life after a mortar attack in Iraq. Homes for Our Troops arranged for Col. Schank, seen here hugging Sgt. Lyon's mother, to surprise Sgt. Lyon on the day the organization presented him a new home. (Photo: Business Wire)
Homes for Our Troops Presents Home to Injured Marine
April 10, 2011
FREDERICKSBURG, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Over 100 motorcycles escorted Marine Sergeant Kenny Lyon to the home that will change his life. Homes for Our Troops, a national nonprofit presented Lyon the keys to a specially adapted home, completely mortgage-free.
Lyon suffered life-threatening injuries after a mortar attack, resulting in a left leg above the knee amputation. Homes for Our Troops, Atlantic Builders and 150 businesses and professional volunteers constructed the home in just four days. The home, the fastest built by the organization, marked the 100th home launched by Homes for Our Troops.
“I’ve travelled all over the country and witnessed communities stepping up for these veterans. Every now and then you’ll see one of these communities pull off something extra special, and what the Fredericksburg community did this week was absolutely amazing,” said John Gonsalves, founder and president of Homes for Our Troops.
The emotional high note of the ceremony came when Lyon reunited with the nurse who saved his life, Col. Paulette Schank. After a tearful embrace, Lyon explained how Schank directly transfused her own blood into his body, keeping him alive.
Lyon later expressed his appreciation to the crowd, saying, “The words ‘thank you’ feel so cheap when I won’t have to worry about anything anymore.”
read more here Homes for Our Troops Presents Home to Injured Marine
Japanese PM thanks U.S. troops during visit to devastated region
By SETH ROBSON
Stars and Stripes
Published: April 10, 2011
ISHINOMAKI, Japan — Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan praised U.S. troops for their efforts to help people recover from last month’s devastating earthquake and tsunami during a visit here Sunday.
Kan arrived in a motorcade with a large group of other Japanese dignitaries to check on the work of 36 U.S. soldiers and four Marines working alongside Japan Self-Defense Force personnel at Ishinomaki Commercial High School. He found the U.S. and Japanese troops hard at work using shovels, Bobcat mini bulldozers and a bucket loader brought by the Americans to remove the mud dumped by the tsunami on the school’s sports fields.
“The U.S. military is working alongside the Japanese Self-Defense Force,” Kan told a group of Japanese reporters. “I’m happy to see that happen here at this high school.”
read more here Japanese PM thanks U.S. troops
Internet helps veterans suffering traumas find help, support
Written by
Carter Andrews
More than 2 million soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. According to RAND Corp. statistics, about 360,000 will suffer from severe depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
One of the particularly heinous consequences of PTSD is it makes people lose trust in institutions set up to support them. They've seen so much and they've lost so much, they don't trust anyone but those who were in the trenches with them.
That's where the Internet comes in. We started notalone.com as a community to help warriors and families support each other as they deal with life after war. To serve the community, we layer in services such as online support groups and online education. These services create the trust we need to persuade warriors and their families to seek our in-person services.
For National Guardsmen and women, the Internet is their life support when they return back to their local communities, where few people can understand what they've been through and how to help.
Through our online portal, Not Alone is helping military families, warriors and veterans heal from devastating psychological and emotional traumas including PTSD, depression, anxiety and alcohol and drug addiction. Without immediate access to behavioral health services, these traumas can have disastrous effects on warriors, their families and communities.
read more here Internet helps veterans suffering traumas find help, support
W.Va. man acquitted in Westboro spitting trial
The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Apr 9, 2011 15:32:53 EDT
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A West Virginia man has been acquitted of battery charges for spitting on a member of the Westboro Baptist Church during a protest outside a Catholic church in Charleston last year.
The Charleston Gazette reports that Billy Spade of Hico was found not guilty by a jury in Charleston Municipal Court on Friday after deliberating for less than an hour.
Spade told jurors that as the son of a deceased coal miner, he was offended by protesters holding signs that said “Thank God for dead coal miners.” But it was the sign that said “Thank God for dead Marines” that prompted him to take aim at Shirley Phelps-Roper’s sign and spit at it.
Spade said a roadside bomb killed a friend whom he considered a little brother while he was serving as a Marine in Afghanistan.
read more here W.Va. man acquitted in Westboro spitting trial
Marine officers rescue man, woman in wheelchair who fell in lake
BY SUN-TIMES STAFF Apr 9, 2011 11:13PM
They had just finished a training drill on how to treat near-drowning victims.
Not long after, two Chicago Police Marine Unit officers put that training to use Friday night to rescue a man and a woman who had accidentally fallen into Lake Michigan at DuSable Harbor.
The 60-year-old woman, who uses a wheelchair, and 59-year-old man were leaving a party at the Columbia Yacht Club. The man was wheeling the woman down a ramp when they fell into the water about 9:45 p.m. Friday, police said.
read more here Marine officers rescue man, woman
Soldier from Daytona Beach killed in Afghanistan
By Anika Myers Palm, Orlando Sentinel
1:52 p.m. EDT, April 9, 2011
The Department of Defense announced today that a Daytona Beach man died this week while serving with the U.S. Army as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.
Spc. Keith Buzinski, 26, was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 30 Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division out of Fort Drum, N.Y. Soldier from Daytona Beach killed in Afghanistan
Report: Vet on Death Bed Ejected by VA
April 02, 2011
The Virginian-Pilot
HAMPTON -- The Hampton VA Medical Center inappropriately discharged a terminally ill veteran from its emergency room and failed to provide him hospice care requested by his wife, a federal investigation has found.
Investigators from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' Office of Inspector General found that staff members at the Hampton center were unaware of a VA policy requiring that end-of-life care be provided when veterans and their families ask for it.
The investigators' report, issued Wednesday, came in response to a confidential complaint about the treatment of the veteran, a man in his 50s, who came to the center in August ill with lung cancer that had spread to the brain.
read more here Vet on Death Bed Ejected by VA
Wade Coye, attorney and veteran of the U.S. Army, recently completed two video shoots
The Coye Law Firm is pleased to announce the completion of a new public service announcement for the Larry E. Smedley National Vietnam War Museum located in East Orlando. This museum was built to remind current and future generations of Americans of the legacy of courage, valor, and sacrifice that Vietnam veterans showed and that our troops currently overseas continue to show.
Wade Coye, a personal injury attorney in central Florida, recently shot a public service announcement at the Larry E. Smedley National Vietnam War Museum to speak of the importance in remembering our fallen soldiers.
The Larry E. Smedley National Vietnam War Museum, formally the National Vietnam War Museum, is a non-profit war museum dedicated to reminding the people of central Florida of the courage and valor of our servicemen and women during the Vietnam War. The museum was currently renamed after Larry E. Smedley for his actions during the Vietnam War who posthumously received the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions. The museum contains a monument to fallen Vietnam War veterans in the state of Florida as well as a U.S. Navy Patrol Boat River, a Douglas A-4B Skyhawk aircraft, and a Bell UH-1 Dustoff helicopter.
Wade Coye has a special bond with this museum and its meaning as he served in the United States Army, 1st Infantry Battalion, 1st Brigade, 2nd Armored Division in Fort Hood, Texas prior to his legal career. As a veteran, Mr. Coye knows that just because a soldier is not at war anymore doesn’t mean that the battle is over. Having successfully handled cases that deal with USERRA and veteran’s benefits, the attorneys at the Coye Law Firm are acutely aware of the challenges that veterans and current soldiers face.
The Coye Law Firm handles personal injury, workers’ compensation, insurance claims, social security disability, and many different types of legal claims. The Coye Law Firm has five locations in the Central Florida area located in Orlando, Tampa, Kissimmee, Melbourne, and Clermont to meet the diverse needs of Central Florida’s communities. Visit our website at www.coyelaw.com or call (800) 648-4941 to discuss your case today.
About Us: The Coye Law Firm works to help people recover from injuries or civil disputes. Our clients may be dealing with personal injuries, workers compensation claims, or denied disability benefits. We also help individuals with estate planning and probate.
Contact Info: Coye Law Firm
730 Vassar Street
Orlando, FL 32804
www.coyelaw.com
800-648-4941
Military chaplains losing programs that help them cope
The Canadian Press
Date: Saturday Apr. 9, 2011 11:41 AM ET
HALIFAX — Some chaplains in the Canadian military say they are losing the very programs meant to help them cope with the suicides, marital breakdowns and combat-related stress they face in their work.
Monthly reports prepared for the Chaplain General highlight concerns over funding cuts that are affecting some chaplaincy training courses, retreats and meetings that address the strain of tending to Canadian Forces personnel.
One branch of the chaplaincy in Halifax reported concerns about the loss of these programs at a time when staff are heavily affected by the ongoing combat mission in Afghanistan, post-traumatic stress disorder among soldiers and increasing workloads.
"This is particularly disheartening given that many of these programs were put in place to ensure chaplaincy resilience after so many chaplains were lost to PTSD," states a report from last July that was obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act.
"Nearly every chaplain in the (Canadian Forces) has felt the effects of the Afghanistan deployment. Yet we are heading into a period where we will be unable to provide chaplains with the very programs that were developed to mitigate these effects."
The document from last July states that funding for Maritime Forces Atlantic was reduced to $79,000 for that fiscal year, down from $105,000 for the previous year.
This is a must see for families of the men and women serving today! While it is about Vietnam Veterans and our families, the families on this video share years of living with their PTSD veteran.
We had to learn the hard way. You don't have to. We had to learn alone. You don't have to. We had to suffer in silence because they didn't want anyone to know. You don't have to be silent and have the ability to reach out for help to understand this. PTSD is all over the Internet.
I receive a lot of videos and books to review. If you are regular reader of this blog, you know it isn't often I recommend a book or video. Usually I don't say anything about what I'm sent because I don't want to be negative. This one I can honestly say is a must see for any generation of veterans and their families.
It covers the changes in veterans, what the wives went through, how faith can help healing but cannot do it alone anymore than just loving them can. It takes all we can give it. Knowledge, patience, compassion, love and forgiveness. Forgiving is perhaps the hardest part of all. We need to forgive them, but they need to forgive themselves and others.
I really hope you watch this video and know you are not alone and this is not hopeless. Think of it this way. If Vietnam veterans families were able to get this far with no support all these years, think of how far you can go with all that is available today for you.
The War Within: Finding Hope for Post-Traumatic Stress, Part I
Thousands of courageous men and women risk their lives in combat. But few of us understand the private inner battle they bring home. For many, it is an ongoing personal struggle that continues long after the war is over.
In The War Within: Finding Hope for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, you’ll find encouragement for veterans and their loved ones whose lives have been drastically changed by war.
For more information on "post traumatic stress disorder," please click on the following links:
Point Man Ministries
Help for My Life
Approximate runtime: 26 minutes
Other parts of the series:
The War Within: Finding Hope for Post-Traumatic Stress, Part II
The War Within: Finding Hope for Post-Traumatic Stress, Part III
The War Within: Finding Hope for Post-Traumatic Stress, Part IV
Available for Purchase:
The War Within: Finding Hope for Post-Traumatic Stress, 4-Part DVD
Female veteran fights an invisible injury
Angel Harris returned from Afghanistan eight years ago pregnant and — like thousands of other female veterans — with a case of PTSD, a disorder that took six years to diagnose. The military has only recently begun to offer women the same PTSD benefits as men.
By Faye Fiore, Los Angeles Times
April 9, 2011
Reporting from Williamsport, Pa.— The Bullfrog Brewery is crowded for lunch and tables are scarce, but former Army Sgt. Angel Harris finds one where she can sit with her back to a wall and still see out a window. She isn't sure what she's watching for. A sniper maybe, or an ambush.
This is downtown Williamsport — the Appalachian hamlet where Little League was born — not the sort of place where people wait around for something awful to happen. But that's the way Harris has viewed the world since she returned from Afghanistan eight years ago carrying her unborn son and a case of PTSD.
The baby was easy to figure out. A home pregnancy test administered in a camp latrine saw to that. The post-traumatic stress disorder took more than six years to diagnose. Women are not permitted to serve in direct ground combat in the U.S. armed forces, so by military reasoning, they weren't likely to suffer from combat-related trauma.
Except they do.
"I was one tough broad," says Harris, 34, who did a tour in Kosovo and one in Afghanistan, where she was the first female combat photographer deployed by the Army. "I was a bartender. I bounced people. I had no fear. Now, sometimes I'm afraid to leave my house."
Harris is one of more than 230,000 women to serve in Afghanistan or Iraq since 2001, about 15% of the U.S. forces to be deployed there. More than 750 have been wounded in action and 137 killed. Thousands more — 20% by the military's count — came home with PTSD, a debilitating anxiety disorder that, for female veterans, was at one time almost exclusively caused by sexual assault, not combat.
read more here Female veteran fights an invisible injury
Marine Clay Hunt became another after combat casualty when he took his own life. By all accounts, Hunt did everything experts say he needed to do. He went to the VA and got help. He talked about having PTSD openly, meaning the stigma induced silence was not a factor. Hunt went even beyond that and got involved trying to save the lives of others with PTSD. Even with all of this including an informed, supportive family, Hunt lost his battle after battle.
Family photo
Clay Hunt, 28, a Houston native, joined the Marines in 2005.
War casualty on the home front
A poster boy for suicide prevention, Houstonian becomes another statistic
By LINDSAY WISE
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
April 8, 2011, 6:43PM
"He thought the world was supposed to be a better place than it is, and he lived every day of his life thinking, perhaps naively, that his efforts could make the world be what he thought it should be."
Marine veteran Clay Hunt had a tattoo on his arm that quoted Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien: "Not all those who wander are lost."
"I think he was a lot more philosophical about life than a lot of us are, but trying to search for some inner peace and the meaning of life, what was the most important thing," said his father, Stacy Hunt.
His son's quest ended last week when he took his own life at his Sugar Land apartment.
The 28-year-old had narrowly escaped death in Iraq four years ago, when a sniper's bullet missed his head by inches. But he wrestled with post-traumatic stress disorder and survivor's guilt over the deaths of four friends in his platoon who weren't so lucky.
"Two were lost in Iraq, and the other two were killed in Afghanistan," said his mother, Susan Selke. "When that last one in Afghanistan went down, it just undid him."
In many ways, Hunt's death is all too familiar: the haunted veteran consumed by a war he can't stop fighting.
Suicides among Texans younger than 35 who served in the military jumped from 47 in 2006 to 66 in 2009 - an increase of 40 percent, according to state records.
The problem seems increasingly intractable. Efforts by the Pentagon and Department of Veterans Affairs to stop the alarming rise in military suicides nationwide through training and screening have had limited success.
read more here War casualty on the home front
When they come home with PTSD and the family was very involved in their healing, it should stun every expert. What is still missing in what we're trying to do? Why are they still reaching the point where hope has vanished to the point they do not want to survive one more day?
When they come home, deny they need help, we've pointed to that as a factor in their suicide. We say, help is available, PTSD came at them and was not caused by them. We keep talking until they get to that place within where they understand there is nothing to be ashamed of at all. Most of the time it works to the point where they want to get into treatment to heal. Then we think, ok, our job is done but we never seem to be able to wonder why so many are still calling the suicide prevention hotlines. We stop wondering why it still reaches that level of desperation they feel the need to call.
When they come home and their family turns them away, kicks them out, we say it is because their family is not supportive, didn't understand what was going on so they couldn't cope. So we end up pushing for more awareness, more understanding and more support for the families. Well aware that this is the number one cause of veterans becoming homeless we believe if we can help the families, we can prevent the homeless veteran population from growing. Yet here is a family with everything in place and still they are left to grieve for a death that did not have to happen.
Is it because of some medications being given with warnings of causing suicidal thoughts? Is it because a lot of them mix alcohol with their medications or have drug interactions? Are they not hearing what they need to know in therapy? Is it the clergy not getting involved to help them heal spiritually? Is it the lack of knowledge the general public has about where we sent them? What do we keep missing or is it all so complicated that we need to understand that sometimes everything is just not enough?
All of their deaths break my heart but when I read a story like this, it is very hard because he is one more reminder that no matter how far we've come since the early 80's, we are still not where we need to be to stop losing more after combat than during it.
Congressman Jim Moran (D) 8th District of Virginia has become the focus of the blog world because of this exchange with a veteran.
The veteran was respectful asking his question about why the congressman was there instead of in Washington working on the budget because the troops would end up not being paid if the government shut down. Moran listened without interrupting the veteran. When Moran addressed the fact that the majority party (the Republicans) control how congress runs, when they are in session and what hearings they hold, the veteran interrupted Moran and then tempers took over.
While the blog world seems to want to paint Moran as an angry man disrespecting a veteran, this is being blown out of proportion.
The veteran is clearly passionate about the troops but the bulk of his question was about why congress was not working to fix the budget to avoid shutdown. Moran was trying to address that and the veteran's interruption was about the troops. Both men were angry but neither of them got out of control.
At least there is a temporary budget deal to keep the government going as of late last night. All in all the veteran is right and they should have been working on this day and night until they managed to get a budget passed for real instead of these temporary measures. One more thing the media misses in their reporting but the American people are already thinking. How serious were they when Republican leadership didn't think it was worth everyone working overtime for?
Daughter charged in Army recruiter’s death
The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Apr 8, 2011 7:22:19 EDT
BRASELTON, Ga. — The 15-year-old daughter of an Army recruiter has been charged in the shooting death of her mother after police said the two got into an argument.
A 42-year-old soldier and recruiter with the Army was found dead in her home Thursday by a neighbor, said Braselton assistant police chief Lou Solis.
The girl’s father is also in the Army but stationed in Alabama.
In the words of Michael Jackson, "All I wanna say is that they don't really care about us." The rich need their tax breaks and they don't care if they come from taking away from veterans to pay for it. It was the same story when the troops were sent to Afghanistan and Iraq when contractors were getting whatever they wanted (rich) and they were whining programs for the troops and veterans (poor) were too expensive. If they get their way, we will see more than 18 veterans a day killing themselves, see the homeless veterans population grow and even more regret they risked their lives to end up being treated this way.
VA Care End Eyed for 1.3 Million Vets
Tom Philpott
April 07, 2011
Budget Panel Eyes End to VA Care for 1.3 Million Vets
The House Budget Committee, chaired by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), has told a veterans' group it is studying a plan to save $6 billion annually in VA health care costs by cancelling enrollment of any veteran who doesn't have a service-related medical condition and is not poor.
Committee Republicans, searching for ways to curb federal deficits and rein in galloping VA costs, are targeting 1.3 million veterans who claim priority group 7 or 8 status and have access to VA care.
Priority group 8 veterans have no service-connected disabilities and annual incomes, or net worth, that exceed VA means-test thresholds and VA "geographic income" thresholds, which are set by family size.
Priority Group 7 veterans also have no service-connected disabilities and their incomes are above the means-test thresholds. But their incomes or net worth fall below the geographic index. In other words, because of where they live, in high cost areas, they likely struggle financially.
Joseph Violante, national legislative director for Disabled American Veterans, said he first learned of the committee's interest in possibly narrowing access to VA clinics and hospitals from a DAV member from Wisconsin, chairman Ryan's home state.
Violante and other DAV officials arranged their own meeting with a staff member for the committee. He confirmed growing interest in a cost-saving initiative to push priority 7 and 8 veterans out of VA health care.
As this budget committee staffer reminded Violante, proponents for opening VA health care to all veterans had argued it would be cost neutral to VA. That's because VA would charge these vets modest co-payments for their care. Also VA would bill these veterans' private health insurance plans for the cost of their VA care.
read more here VA Care End Eyed for 1.3 Million Vets
Many U.S. troops live paycheck to paycheck, with the average junior enlisted member -- typically with just a high school degree -- drawing a salary of about $43,000 per year.
Troops are political dynamite in budget battle
By Phil Stewart
WASHINGTON | Fri Apr 8, 2011 3:07pm EDT
(Reuters) - A looming government shutdown would be felt thousands of miles away by U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq and there could be a high political cost for the lawmakers who let it happen.
Soldiers will not get their paychecks for the duration of the shutdown, leaving their families at home struggling to pay the bills.
Some relatives are already furious.
"Thanks for sending my husband to war and not paying him in return," the wife of one soldier exclaimed on a website, fearing delayed pay in the case of a shutdown.
The sharp reaction among military families underscores the political dangers for Republicans and Democrats if they fail to reach agreement on funding the government for the remainder of fiscal 2011 by midnight on Friday.
read more here Troops are political dynamite in budget battle
Bachmann, along with other members of congress, are saying they will give up their paychecks during a shutdown. Bachmann went so far as to say that her pay will go to organizations serving military families. While this is a great publicity stunt, she does not mention which charities she plans on giving to any more than she says which ones she normally donates to in the first place. Remember she is the same person wanting to make huge cuts in the VA and stop disabled veterans from getting Social Security along with disability benefits from the VA. This could very well be another stunt to redeem herself in their eyes, but it won't work. Add up the number of days the troops won't be paid and then ask yourself if her pay or the pay of any of them is worth what they will have to go through. Try telling them that this is just a "slowdown" and not a shutdown when they don't get to slow down in Afghanistan, slow down dying, slow down being wounded and their families don't get to slow down worrying. This all adds to the burden they have to carry because people like Bachmann want to have it all their own way.
While she is at it, maybe she could even explain it to the wounded veterans waiting to have their claim processed that they have to slowdown eating and paying their bills so what little money they do have left lasts longer.
Bachmann would skip pay during shutdown
12:03 AM, Apr. 8, 2011
Written by
Larry Bivins
Times Washington correspondent
WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann announced Thursday that she would forgo her congressional pay if the federal government is forced to shut down because of a failure by lawmakers and the White House to reach a spending agreement.
Bachmann’s statement came as President Barack Obama continued to meet with House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to find enough common ground to keep the government from shutting down at midnight tonight.
“I have serious reservations about the fact that Congress and the president will continue to receive a timely paycheck during a government slowdown,” Bachmann said. “Unfortunately, current law prevents our military men and women from receiving their pay on time if government services are interrupted. Because of this discrepancy between the troops and members of Congress, I will personally be donating my pay to a nonprofit organization serving our military families.”
The annual salary for members of Congress is $174,000, meaning Bachmann, R-Stillwater, would give up roughly $477 for each day the shutdown is in effect.
read more here Bachmann would skip pay during shutdown
Acinetobacter Infections Harming Troops
2-5-2007
A story published in Wired says injured U.S. soldiers are facing dangerous infections from multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii in addition to their battle wounds. The article says 700 troops have been infected since the Iraq War began in 2003.
Since OPERATION Iraqi Freedom began in 2003, more than 700 US soldiers have been infected or colonized with Acinetobacter baumannii. A significant number of additional cases have been found in the Canadian and British armed forces, and among wounded Iraqi civilians. The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology has recorded seven deaths caused by the bacteria in US hospitals along the evacuation chain. Four were unlucky civilians who picked up the bug at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC, while undergoing treatment for other life-threatening conditions. Another was a 63-year-old woman, also chronically ill, who shared a ward at Landstuhl with infected coalition troops.
Behind the scenes, the spread of a pathogen that targets wounded GIs has triggered broad reforms in both combat medical care and the Pentagon's networks for tracking bacterial threats within the ranks. Interviews with current and former military physicians, recent articles in medical journals, and internal reports reveal that the Department of Defense has been waging a secret war within the larger mission in Iraq and Afghanistan - a war against antibiotic-resistant pathogens.
Acinetobacter is only one of many bacterial nemeses prowling around in ICUs and neonatal units in hospitals all over the world. A particularly fierce organism known as MRSA - methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus - infects healthy people, spreads easily, and accounts for many of the 90,000 fatal infections picked up in US hospitals each year. Another drug-resistant germ on the rise in health care facilities, Clostridium difficile, moves in for the kill when long courses of antibiotics have wiped out normal intestinal flora.
Forerunners of the bug causing the military infections have been making deadly incursions into civilian hospitals for more than a decade. In the early 1990s, 1,400 people were infected or colonized at a single facility in Spain. A few years later, particularly virulent strains of the bacteria spread through three Israeli hospitals, killing half of the infected patients. Death by acinetobacter can take many forms: catastrophic fevers, pneumonia, meningitis, infections of the spine, and sepsis of the blood. Patients who survive face longer hospital stays, more surgery, and severe complications.
read more here Acinetobacter Infections Harming Troops
"It doesn't make sense. Pass the bill. You guys are still getting paid. You don't have to worry about feeding your kids. You don't have to worry about your safety." Aimee Stafford
I wonder if the Republicans would read a story like this while demanding a rider to end programs they don't like be tucked into the budget? They will get paid if they do their jobs or not. The troops and their families will still have to do their jobs but won't be paid. They don't get to just stop the wars they are fighting and go home until they get a pay check again.
Soldier's Wife Watches, Worries About Government Shutdown
While Congress stalls, Americans ponder and worry about the impact of a government shutdown and among those most vulnerable, military families.
Reporter: Ed Pearce
Email Address: ed.pearce@kolotv.com
RENO, NV - While Congress stalls, Americans ponder and worry about the impact of a government shutdown and among those most vulnerable, military families.
Aimee Stafford sits in a bare apartment in Sun Valley. She hasn't fully unpacked from a move from Fort Hood, Texas.
She's alone with her three young daughters and suddenly she's has a bigger worry. If there's a shutdown her husband's pay could be delayed.
"It's real scary," she says, "because we have these three kids and I don't want to do this alone."
Aimee and Kenneth Stafford met, dated and married out of high school here. Today finds themselves a half a world apart. Kenneth serving in Iraq.
Aimee, with some serious health issues, having just moved back home to Reno to be close to family.
She's been looking for work in day care, but at the moment Kenneth's pay is their only support. Any interruption in his pay will mean hardship.
"I don't know if I'll have enough money to buy my kids food or have a roof over their heads."
It's something they've been unable to discuss and while he's in Iraq, a worry she'd rather he wouldn't have to face.
"I want him to worry about his safety," she says. "The way he is we're his number one concern. I'm sure this is stressing him out."
Aimee first started following the debate in Washington a week ago, now with so much at stake she says she knows what she would tell those involved.
"It doesn't make sense. Pass the bill. You guys are still getting paid. You don't have to worry about feeding your kids. You don't have to worry about your safety."
For now all she can do is wait out the news, continue to look for a job and hope for the best.
And if a shutdown comes and lasts..... "To be honest I don't really want to come to reality with it, but I know I need to start think about what I would do because it could happen and it might be happening as we speak."
go here for the video report Soldier's Wife Watches, Worries About Government Shutdown
Man fires gun inside apartment with wife, daughter
By Jeff Pohjola
97.3 KIRO FM Reporter
By JEFF POHJOLA
KIRO Radio
A soldier recently returned home from duty fired shots inside his Puyallup apartment in front of his girlfriend and daughter.
"The male pulled out a gun pointed it at the female, fired off a round into the ground, took the 2-year-old daughter back into the apartment," says Pierce County Sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer.
Troyer says the wife escaped, but by the time a SWAT team entered the home, the 2-year-old was inside alone.
Military probes Shippensburg University graduate's death in Baghdad
Staff report
The recent death of a Shippensburg University graduate in Iraq is under investigation.
The U.S. Department of Defense announced this week that Capt. Wesley J. Hinkley, 36, Carlisle, died Monday in Baghdad as a result of a non-combat incident.
He was assigned to the 3rd Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Sustainment Brigade, Fort Stewart, Ga.
A "non-combat related incident" may include an accident or suicide, according to Kevin Larson, military spokesman for the public affairs office in Fort Stewart, Ga.
read more here Military probes
Woodstock soldier dies from non-combat injuries
by Barbara P. Jacoby
bjacoby@cherokeetribune.com
April 07, 2011 10:36 PM
Family and friends are remembering a Woodstock man who died while serving in Iraq.
U.S. Army Spec. Gary Lee Nelson III, 20, died on Tuesday from injuries suffered in a non-combat incident in Mosul, Iraq.
Further details have not yet been released by the Department of Defense, as his death is being investigated, which is routine for all military deaths.
A department spokesman said a casualty assistance officer will stay in contact with the family to give them updates about the process and the return of his remains.
Nelson's family traveled to to Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Del., on Wednesday to bring him home.
NC academy head suspected of posing as Vietnam vet
BY MIKE BAKER
Associated Press
OAK RIDGE, N.C. (AP) -- Well before he became commandant of North Carolina's only military boarding academy, William Northrop regaled people with stories of serving in the jungles of Vietnam - how he was wounded in battle, how some comrades committed suicide, how he used amphetamines on patrol.
But his war stories may be pure fiction.
There is no record Northrop ever served in the military, let alone Vietnam.
Northrop, 66, left as commandant at Oak Ridge Military Academy last fall after just a few months on the job, the same day a parent formally asked school officials to look into his background.
He refused to discuss his past or explain the discrepancies in his record to an Associated Press reporter. The academy's president would not discuss Northrop's background either.
If his claim of wartime service proves false, it will be the latest and one of the most audacious to emerge in recent years, and comes as the courts grapple with the constitutionality of a 2006 federal law that makes it a crime to pose as a war hero.
The academy, with an enrollment of about 125, had hired Northrop to oversee the cadets even though there had been long-standing suspicions about him, including a 1998 book on military impostors, "Stolen Valor," that pronounced Northrop a "pretender."
read more here NC academy head suspected of posing as Vietnam vet
How a shutdown would affect troops, families
By Karen Jowers - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Apr 7, 2011 17:48:56 EDT
If the government shuts down at midnight on Friday, what are service members and Defense Department civilians expected to do? How will they be paid? What installation functions will remain open?
The intensifying budget crisis on Capitol Hill has sparked many concerns throughout the military community. While some details remain unclear, Pentagon officials have put out guidance in a number of key areas. Here’s a rundown of what is known:
REPORTING FOR DUTY
Uniformed service members are not subject to furlough and must report to duty as normal during a shutdown. Reserve component personnel should refer to the DoD Contingency Guidance document and to their chain of command for specific information.
DoD civilian personnel must still report to work on their next scheduled duty day at their normal time and await further instructions.
The military will continue to conduct operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Japan, Libya-related support operations, and “other operations and activities essential to the security of our nation,” Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn said in a message to the DoD workforce Thursday.
PAY
If the government shuts down, the Defense Department will have no funds to pay service members or civilian employees for the days during which the government is shut down.
read the rest here How a shutdown would affect troops, families
NATO: Policeman who shot U.S. soldiers killed
The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Apr 7, 2011 7:39:37 EDT
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — NATO says a joint operation by Afghan and coalition troops killed a border policeman who had shot and killed two U.S. soldiers earlier this week.
On Monday, an Afghan border policeman shot and killed Sgt. Scott H. Burgess, 32, of Franklin, Texas, and Sgt. Michael S. Lammerts, 26, of Tonawanda, New York.
read more here Policeman who shot U.S. soldiers killed
April 07, 2011
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review|by Carl Prine
For more than five years, thousands of wounded and injured military reservists and National Guard troops nationwide might have lost medical benefits because of a Pentagon mistake, according to an investigation by Sen. Ron Wyden.
In a letter sent on Wednesday to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, the Oregon Democrat said that many wounded troops returning from Afghanistan and Iraq who ended up in Warrior Transition Units at military bases or in community-based programs near their homes lost up to six months of medical coverage that's provided to them under a 2005 law.
The Transition Assistance Management Program, or TAMP, was supposed to help personnel returning from active duty get the medical care they needed before their civilian coverage kicked in. The problem was that the Pentagon began counting the 180 days of coverage the moment the troops returned to the United States, not once they left active duty.
Those who needed extensive care in the Warrior Transition Units often exhausted their six months of benefits before they went home, according to Wyden. Pentagon paperwork leaked last year to the Tribune-Review showed that the typical reservist or Guard member will spend about a year in the special medical units, or longer if they're in a community-based program.
read more here Mistake May Shortchange Wounded Vets
17 One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick. 18 Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. 19 When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.
20 When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”
Back in the days when Christ walked the earth, people had a strange idea about their own suffering. They believed they were suffering because they did something wrong, committed a sin and God was punishing them. They even believed it when their child was ill. They thought it was their fault. Christ knew differently but was not about to argue with them before He healed them. He could heal their bodies but if they thought they were being punished, judged for some kind of sin from God, and left them believing it, then the healing would only be partial. Whatever "sin" they were guilty over, needed to be "forgiven" before they could heal all the way.
You can tell a veteran over and over again, they have nothing to feel guilty over, but if they believe they are guilty, it will do you no good. If they believe it, you need to get them to understand they are forgiven so they can see themselves and what they had to do differently.
There have been many reports of soldiers being replaced by someone else. They carry guilt over the death of their replacement saying "it should have been me" and not being able to stop thinking someone died in their place. Are they guilty? Do they really have anything to blame themselves for? Would telling them their life was saved for a reason help them? No to all of these questions. Telling them their life was spared enforces the thought the other one died in their place. You need to help them understand they were not responsible for the death because they did not plan it that way. That is the only way they would really be guilty of anything.
They feel guilty over most deaths, especially involving civilians. Could they have done something differently? What if they didn't do what they believed they had to do at the exact moment they had to decide what to do? If they only focus on the outcome, they will not remember what happened before that moment.
When a veteran has been suffering for their service, most of the time their families suffer as well. There is a lot to be forgiven for by the family when the pain the veteran carries is taken out on the people they are closest to. The family also needs to be forgiven when they do the best they can but lack understanding. When everyone is doing the best they can at that moment but suffer they need to find peace with all of it. A lot of forgiving needs to happen or the wedge between family members will never be removed.
If you are a veteran and believe you are being punished for something, then ask to be forgiven for it. Remember there is nothing you cannot be forgiven for. When Christ was taking his last breaths upon this earth, while nailed to the cross, He asked God to forgive the people for doing it. You will be forgiven for whatever you believe you need to be forgiven for. You also need to forgive yourself.
If you are a family member, try to understand as much as possible so that the mistakes you made in the past will not be repeated. This will also help you to forgive your veteran for the way he/she acted. It will help you to forgive yourself. You didn't know any better at the time, so you acted out of what you knew. You will allow love to grow back again in your family and this will ease away the emotional pain you carry.
Everyone can heal and be happy again but it takes a lot of work and a lot of faith. It is not as easy to forgive yourself as it is to forgive other people but at the end of the day, when you do forgive yourself, you will lay your head down in peace.
Doctors and help your mind with medication. You can help your body feel better by eating right, getting more rest and even taking walks. Until you learn how to find peace in your soul, you will not heal the pain within. Be forgiven and forgive others in your life. Then you will heal your whole life.
