Troops have some fun (and talent) in Afghanistan
Britney Spears Invades Afghanistan
Friday, April 22, 2011
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Col. Parker Schenecker says "Wife was ‘sick’ when she killed kids"
Colonel: Wife was ‘sick’ when she killed kids
The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Apr 21, 2011 15:51:06 EDT
TAMPA, Fla. — The husband of a woman who admitted killing her two teenage children says his wife suffered from mental illness since before they were married and likely had substance-abuse issues.
Still, Army Col. Parker Schenecker said, he never suspected his wife Julie would harm their children. Schenecker talked to People magazine for an issue that will be on newsstands Friday.
Julie Schenecker, 50, planned and carried out the fatal shootings of her 16-year-old daughter, Calyx, and 13-year-old son Beau, in January, police said.
read more here
Wife was ‘sick’ when she killed kids
The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Apr 21, 2011 15:51:06 EDT
TAMPA, Fla. — The husband of a woman who admitted killing her two teenage children says his wife suffered from mental illness since before they were married and likely had substance-abuse issues.
Still, Army Col. Parker Schenecker said, he never suspected his wife Julie would harm their children. Schenecker talked to People magazine for an issue that will be on newsstands Friday.
Julie Schenecker, 50, planned and carried out the fatal shootings of her 16-year-old daughter, Calyx, and 13-year-old son Beau, in January, police said.
read more here
Wife was ‘sick’ when she killed kids
Army "promises" change in the way National Guards-Reservists are treated
Wyden: Army Vows to Improve Guard Treatment
Changes Outlined Involving irag, Afghanistan Returnees
From KTVZ.COM News Sources
WASHINGTON -- Responding to concerns raised over the past year, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.),said Wednesday the Army has announced changes aimed at improving the treatment of National Guard and Reserve troops returning from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The changes announced in documents provided to Wyden’s office include ensuring each soldier receives proper medical care, improving communication about entitlements and benefits and greater access to medical care following demobilization.
The changes also include keeping Guard and Reserve leaders with their units at demobilization stations until each soldier receives the care and resources they have earned
“For more than a year now, we have been concerned that the Army was treating National Guard and Reserve troops differently by sending them home too quickly following demobilization and not informing them or providing them with the medical care they needed and deserved following a combat deployment,” Wyden said.
“The Department of Defense has acknowledged that the treatment of these troops was not what it should be. Now the military has taken steps to improve the situation. They deserve a great deal of credit for recognizing these problems and taking steps to fix them.”
"Our National Guard and Reserve men and women have served this nation honorably and with distinction," said Schrader. "They deserve, and are frankly entitled to, the same consideration during and after demobilization as Active Component service members. Being provided misinformation two hundred miles from the nearest Military Treatment Facility is not acceptable."
Under the new policies, the demobilization process for Guard and Reserve soldiers will be extended to up to 14 days rather than the previous five- to seven-day limit. This change addresses complaints that troops were being rushed off active duty too quickly and before their medical issues were properly identified and resolved. Another change includes making it easier to admit Guard and Reserve troops into the Warrior Transition Unit for medical treatment.
read more here
Army Vows to Improve Guard Treatment
Changes Outlined Involving irag, Afghanistan Returnees
From KTVZ.COM News Sources
WASHINGTON -- Responding to concerns raised over the past year, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.),said Wednesday the Army has announced changes aimed at improving the treatment of National Guard and Reserve troops returning from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The changes announced in documents provided to Wyden’s office include ensuring each soldier receives proper medical care, improving communication about entitlements and benefits and greater access to medical care following demobilization.
The changes also include keeping Guard and Reserve leaders with their units at demobilization stations until each soldier receives the care and resources they have earned
“For more than a year now, we have been concerned that the Army was treating National Guard and Reserve troops differently by sending them home too quickly following demobilization and not informing them or providing them with the medical care they needed and deserved following a combat deployment,” Wyden said.
“The Department of Defense has acknowledged that the treatment of these troops was not what it should be. Now the military has taken steps to improve the situation. They deserve a great deal of credit for recognizing these problems and taking steps to fix them.”
"Our National Guard and Reserve men and women have served this nation honorably and with distinction," said Schrader. "They deserve, and are frankly entitled to, the same consideration during and after demobilization as Active Component service members. Being provided misinformation two hundred miles from the nearest Military Treatment Facility is not acceptable."
Under the new policies, the demobilization process for Guard and Reserve soldiers will be extended to up to 14 days rather than the previous five- to seven-day limit. This change addresses complaints that troops were being rushed off active duty too quickly and before their medical issues were properly identified and resolved. Another change includes making it easier to admit Guard and Reserve troops into the Warrior Transition Unit for medical treatment.
read more here
Army Vows to Improve Guard Treatment
Another insult to 9-11 first responders, screening by FBI
Before you hit the roof, you need to know who to thank on this one. Here you go.
For the last 9 years all we've heard them say is 9-11 this and that. They started two wars using 9-11. They used the troops, they ignored veterans, they made the first responders wait all this time for help after they voted against taking care of their healthcare needs and now this!
"The provision was added in an amendment by Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) during the heated debate over the bill in the House Energy and Commerce Committee last May.
Sept. 11 responders in the committee room at the time mostly shook their heads at the move, which Democrats accepted on a voice vote after battling to bar other amendments on abortion and immigration that might have killed the bill."
For the last 9 years all we've heard them say is 9-11 this and that. They started two wars using 9-11. They used the troops, they ignored veterans, they made the first responders wait all this time for help after they voted against taking care of their healthcare needs and now this!
9/11 Responders To Be Warned They Will Be Screened By FBI's Terrorism Watch List (EXCLUSIVE)
First Posted: 04/21/11
Michael McAuliff
mike.mcauliff@huffingtonpost.com
WASHINGTON -- A provision in the new 9/11 health bill may be adding insult to injury for people who fell sick after their service in the aftermath of the 2001 Al Qaeda attacks, The Huffington Post has learned.
The tens of thousands of cops, firefighters, construction workers and others who survived the worst terrorist assault in U.S. history and risked their lives in its wake will soon be informed that their names must be run through the FBI’s terrorism watch list, according to a letter obtained by HuffPost.
Any of the responders who are not compared to the database of suspected terrorists would be barred from getting treatment for the numerous, worsening ailments that the James Zadroga 9/11 Health And Compensation Law was passed to address.
It’s a requirement that was tacked onto the law during the bitter debates over it last year.
The letter from Dr. John Howard, director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, informs medical providers and administrators that they should begin letting patients know before the new program kicks in this July.
“This is absurd,” said Glen Kline, a former NYPD emergency services officer. “It’s silly. It’s stupid. It’s asinine.”
“It’s comical at best, and I think it’s an insult to everyone who worked on The Pile and is sick and suffering from 9/11,” said John Feal, a former construction worker who lost half a foot at Ground Zero and runs the advocacy group Fealgood Foundation.
read more here
9/11 Responders To Be Warned
Decorated Vietnam Vet sues Army over discharge
John Shepherd is not alone. He has plenty of company. When we acknowledge that it is still going on today, even with what we know about PTSD, you need to remember it was a lot worse for the Vietnam Vets when no one knew anything.
Vietnam veteran with Bronze star and 2004 PTSD diagnosis sues Army over discharge
JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN Associated Press
First Posted: April 21, 2011 - 11:02 am
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A Vietnam veteran who received the Bronze Star and later was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder filed a federal lawsuit Thursday trying to get the Army to modify his other-than-honorable discharge so that his sacrifice will be recognized and he can get disability benefits.
John Shepherd, a 63-year-old New Haven resident, says he battled alcoholism and struggled to stay employed for 40 years, but was not diagnosed with PTSD until 2004.
"My other-than-honorable discharge has made me feel deeply ashamed for many years," Shepherd said in a statement. "I hope this lawsuit can finally change that."
An Army spokesman says the service does not comment on pending lawsuits.
In 1969, Shepherd served a combat tour in the Mekong Delta, participating in patrols and search-and-destroy missions. The Army awarded him with a Bronze Star after his unit came under intense fire and Shepherd rushed toward an enemy bunker, entered it and threw a grenade that killed several enemy soldiers, according to the lawsuit.
Shepherd developed symptoms of PTSD after blowing up the enemy bunker and later witnessing the gruesome deaths of several comrades, according to his lawsuit. Shepherd also witnessed the killing of his commanding officer, who was reaching down to pull Shepherd out of a ditch when he was shot multiple times.
read more here
Vietnam Vet sues Army
Jonathan Shay to receive Salem Award for work with veterans
DR. JONATHAN SHAY: RECIPIENT OF THE 19th ANNUAL SALEM AWARD FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND SOCIAL JUSTICE
DR. JONATHAN SHAY: ADVOCATING FOR VETERANS
Dr. Jonathan Shay’s work has been instrumental in building public awareness and acceptance of post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD as a serious and bona fide war injury, and his focus on how the military can reduce the incidence of such injury has been influential within the services.
From 1987 to 2008, he was a staff psychiatrist at the Department of Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic in Boston. Treating approximately 200 Vietnam veterans during that period, he became deeply knowledgeable about the psychological trauma that these men had experienced during the war and that they were still reliving.
In 1994 he published Achilles In Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character, and in 2002, Odysseus In America: Combat Trauma and the Trials of Homecoming. The books form a comprehensive description of the specific nature of catastrophic war experiences, and how they combine with a number of other critical factors to produce PTSD in soldiers and veterans.
In particular, the books explore the effects on individual human character that disabling psychiatric wounds cause. PTSD can and does afflict anybody, including the strongest, bravest, and most capable among us.
Because of Shay’s work and the work of others, the more than six million troops who have served in combat since the beginning of the Vietnam War can now seek treatment for PTSD, though many continue to fear that the stigma will affect their careers.
Rigorous studies conducted in the late 1980’s showed that approximately 36 percent of male Vietnam combat veterans still suffered from PTSD. That translated to roughly 250,000 men with severe psychological injuries still alive in 1990.
Untreated PTSD results in on-going emotional pain and suffering, difficulty with families and jobs, self-destructive and criminal behavior, homelessness, and incarceration of veterans at rates disproportionate to their presence in the population.
Dr. Shay has worked closely with the military to implement reforms both in the training of soldiers and in the practices and policies used in actual deployment. He has collaborated with General James Jones, the past commandant of the Marines, and Major General James Mattis of the Marines.
In 1999 to 2000, he performed the Commandant of the Marine Corps Trust Study, and in 2001 he was Visiting Scholar-at-Large at the US Naval War College. From 2004 to 2005 he was Chair of Ethics, Leadership, and Personnel Policy in the Office of the US Army Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel, and in the spring of 2009 he was the Omar Bradley Chair of Strategic Leadership at the US Army War College. In 2007 he was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship.
Like those who spoke out against the Witch Trials in 1692, it is Dr. Shay’s voice and the voice of others speaking out against injustice that have changed the way that both the public and the military treat a group of citizens, in this case American troops who suffer from PTSD, both while in active duty and after. Through his work, Dr. Shay has helped make it possible for those who serve in the military and others in the path of war with PTSD to be offered treatment so that they have an opportunity to lead a full life.
go here for more
Salem Award/
DR. JONATHAN SHAY: ADVOCATING FOR VETERANS
Dr. Jonathan Shay’s work has been instrumental in building public awareness and acceptance of post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD as a serious and bona fide war injury, and his focus on how the military can reduce the incidence of such injury has been influential within the services.
From 1987 to 2008, he was a staff psychiatrist at the Department of Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic in Boston. Treating approximately 200 Vietnam veterans during that period, he became deeply knowledgeable about the psychological trauma that these men had experienced during the war and that they were still reliving.
In 1994 he published Achilles In Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character, and in 2002, Odysseus In America: Combat Trauma and the Trials of Homecoming. The books form a comprehensive description of the specific nature of catastrophic war experiences, and how they combine with a number of other critical factors to produce PTSD in soldiers and veterans.
In particular, the books explore the effects on individual human character that disabling psychiatric wounds cause. PTSD can and does afflict anybody, including the strongest, bravest, and most capable among us.
Because of Shay’s work and the work of others, the more than six million troops who have served in combat since the beginning of the Vietnam War can now seek treatment for PTSD, though many continue to fear that the stigma will affect their careers.
Rigorous studies conducted in the late 1980’s showed that approximately 36 percent of male Vietnam combat veterans still suffered from PTSD. That translated to roughly 250,000 men with severe psychological injuries still alive in 1990.
Untreated PTSD results in on-going emotional pain and suffering, difficulty with families and jobs, self-destructive and criminal behavior, homelessness, and incarceration of veterans at rates disproportionate to their presence in the population.
Dr. Shay has worked closely with the military to implement reforms both in the training of soldiers and in the practices and policies used in actual deployment. He has collaborated with General James Jones, the past commandant of the Marines, and Major General James Mattis of the Marines.
In 1999 to 2000, he performed the Commandant of the Marine Corps Trust Study, and in 2001 he was Visiting Scholar-at-Large at the US Naval War College. From 2004 to 2005 he was Chair of Ethics, Leadership, and Personnel Policy in the Office of the US Army Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel, and in the spring of 2009 he was the Omar Bradley Chair of Strategic Leadership at the US Army War College. In 2007 he was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship.
Like those who spoke out against the Witch Trials in 1692, it is Dr. Shay’s voice and the voice of others speaking out against injustice that have changed the way that both the public and the military treat a group of citizens, in this case American troops who suffer from PTSD, both while in active duty and after. Through his work, Dr. Shay has helped make it possible for those who serve in the military and others in the path of war with PTSD to be offered treatment so that they have an opportunity to lead a full life.
go here for more
Salem Award/
A year after Deepwater Horizon explosion, 3 survivors still struggling
This happened after one traumatic event in their lives. For all the veterans out there still finding it hard to accept the reality of PTSD in them, count the number of times your life was on the line and then wonder no more. You were just a human before you went into combat, still human during it and still human after it. You saw more, did more and endured more hardship than anyone else, so there is nothing to be ashamed of unless you think your ability to feel things deeply is wrong.
A year after Deepwater Horizon explosion, 3 survivors still struggling
By Chuck Hadad, CNN
April 21, 2011 5:34 a.m. EDT
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Survivors say the scars from the disaster have taken their lives away
Medical records: Survivors have been diagnosed with multiple mental issues
One says he wakes up screaming from nightmares
Transocean says its focus is on providing support for employees
(CNN) -- For some survivors of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, escaping the inferno of the doomed rig made them feel like they'd cheated death.
But living with the scars of what they witnessed that night, and the memory of the 11 men who perished when the rig exploded off the coast of Louisiana a year ago, has in many ways taken their lives away.
"I remember feeling invincible when it first happened. I remember driving in my truck on the way home after the rig exploded and (I) pushed the gas (pedal) to the floor and never let off it," says Daniel Barron.
But the high Barron felt from surviving didn't last long.
"You have that guilty conscience of, 'Okay, I made it, that's great, but then these guys didn't.' Was there something I could have done to save more people?"
read more here
A year after Deepwater Horizon explosion
Life after war not easy for Iraq, Afghanistan veterans
Life after war not easy for Iraq, Afghanistan veterans
By Lauren Adkins
Contributing Reporter
Published: Thursday, April 21, 2011
When we think of soldiers who die in battle, we often think of those who die fighting for our country on the battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq.
We usually don't think about soldiers who survive their tours only to succumb to internal battles caused by .
Suicide among United States military veterans increased by 26 p e r c e n t from 2005 to 2007 and have continued to rise. Of the 30,000 s u i c i d e s committed in this c o u n t r y each year, fully 20 percent of them are veterans. This means that on average about 18 veterans commit suicide each day, according to new statistics released by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
SHSU has a growing veteran's population, with about 600 students drawing VA college benefits and another 200 dependents who use benefits, according to Kathy Hudson, who is the coordinator at the Veterans Resource Center.
The VA states that the spike in the suicide rate can most clearly be attributed to the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the high amount of veterans returning to the United States with PTSD.
Tri-County Services, a mental health service agency covering Walker County, received a grant in 2010 to form local support groups for veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. Military veteran Ryan Leonard, who works for Tri-County Services, said that the groups are not led by professional counselors or psychiatrists. They are led by guys who have "been there." The groups meet for one hour on weeknights on the SHSU campus and in Conroe.
"We haven't had much success in the groups so far," Leonard said. "I mean the guys just don't seem interested in the groups. They will come right out and say that they have PTSD, but when asked if they're interested in support groups, they claim to be fine, but always seem to know of someone else who they think would benefit. Part of this is because of the way soldiers are trained today."
Leonard left for basic training in June 2003 and was thrown into a soldier's harsh reality. He was trained to forget about his problems and focus on the mission at hand. Things that would be viewed as necessities such as water, lunch and sleep were considered a "crutch."
While Leonard knew that he and his fellow soldiers were being trained to do what they volunteered for, he said he feels that veterans are all too often prepared for what they are going to face in battle but not what they will face when they enter back into life as a civilian.
The problems that were ignored for so long do not just go away. All too often they resurface, dramatically changing a veteran's life.
read more here
Life after war not easy for Iraq, Afghanistan veterans
By Lauren Adkins
Contributing Reporter
Published: Thursday, April 21, 2011
When we think of soldiers who die in battle, we often think of those who die fighting for our country on the battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq.
We usually don't think about soldiers who survive their tours only to succumb to internal battles caused by .
Suicide among United States military veterans increased by 26 p e r c e n t from 2005 to 2007 and have continued to rise. Of the 30,000 s u i c i d e s committed in this c o u n t r y each year, fully 20 percent of them are veterans. This means that on average about 18 veterans commit suicide each day, according to new statistics released by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
SHSU has a growing veteran's population, with about 600 students drawing VA college benefits and another 200 dependents who use benefits, according to Kathy Hudson, who is the coordinator at the Veterans Resource Center.
The VA states that the spike in the suicide rate can most clearly be attributed to the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the high amount of veterans returning to the United States with PTSD.
Tri-County Services, a mental health service agency covering Walker County, received a grant in 2010 to form local support groups for veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. Military veteran Ryan Leonard, who works for Tri-County Services, said that the groups are not led by professional counselors or psychiatrists. They are led by guys who have "been there." The groups meet for one hour on weeknights on the SHSU campus and in Conroe.
"We haven't had much success in the groups so far," Leonard said. "I mean the guys just don't seem interested in the groups. They will come right out and say that they have PTSD, but when asked if they're interested in support groups, they claim to be fine, but always seem to know of someone else who they think would benefit. Part of this is because of the way soldiers are trained today."
Leonard left for basic training in June 2003 and was thrown into a soldier's harsh reality. He was trained to forget about his problems and focus on the mission at hand. Things that would be viewed as necessities such as water, lunch and sleep were considered a "crutch."
While Leonard knew that he and his fellow soldiers were being trained to do what they volunteered for, he said he feels that veterans are all too often prepared for what they are going to face in battle but not what they will face when they enter back into life as a civilian.
The problems that were ignored for so long do not just go away. All too often they resurface, dramatically changing a veteran's life.
read more here
Life after war not easy for Iraq, Afghanistan veterans
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Sgt. Linda Lamou Pierre of Immokalee Florida among 5 killed in Afghanistan
5 soldiers killed in suicide attack identified
The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Apr 19, 2011 19:48:35 EDT
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. — The Defense Department on Tuesday released the names of five soldiers killed in a suicide attack in Afghanistan last weekend.
The victims were:
• Capt. Charles E. Ridgley Jr., 40, of Baltimore, who was assigned to the 17th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 3rd Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska.
• Sgt. 1st Class Charles Lewis Adkins, 35, of Sandusky, Ohio.
• Staff Sgt. Cynthia Renea Taylor, 39, of Columbus, Ga.
• Sgt. Linda Lamou Pierre, 28, of Immokalee, Fla.
• Spc. Joseph Brian Cemper, 21, of Warrensburg, Mo.
Adkins, Taylor, Pierre and Cemper were assigned to Fort Campbell.
The Army said that the soldiers were killed by an Afghan solider working as a Taliban sleeper agent who set off multiple grenades in the Nangarhar province.
5 soldiers killed in suicide attack identified
Congressman Mica fights for St. Augustine homeless veterans
Mica blames bureaucracy for delays in accreditation
April 19, 2011
U.S. Rep. John L. Mica held an emergency meeting of state VA and other leaders today, April 19th, at 3:30 p.m. in St. Augustine City Hall, where he tells Historic City News Editor Michael Gold that he wants answers regarding the delay in getting proper accreditation for the Clyde E. Lassen State VA Nursing Home.
Mica voiced his concern today to Veterans Administration and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, “To resolve this outstanding matter and to prevent any further veterans from being turned away.”
The new Clyde E. Lassen State VA Nursing Home, which opened this past September, will help homeless veterans in the region and will also provide much needed counseling and long-term medical care for those who have served our nation.
“It is a shame that it has taken nearly seven months for the new state VA nursing home in St. Augustine to become fully accredited,” said Mica. “St. Johns County is home to over 17,000 veterans — and growing.”
read more here
Mica blames bureaucracy for delays in accreditation
April 19, 2011
U.S. Rep. John L. Mica held an emergency meeting of state VA and other leaders today, April 19th, at 3:30 p.m. in St. Augustine City Hall, where he tells Historic City News Editor Michael Gold that he wants answers regarding the delay in getting proper accreditation for the Clyde E. Lassen State VA Nursing Home.
Mica voiced his concern today to Veterans Administration and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, “To resolve this outstanding matter and to prevent any further veterans from being turned away.”
The new Clyde E. Lassen State VA Nursing Home, which opened this past September, will help homeless veterans in the region and will also provide much needed counseling and long-term medical care for those who have served our nation.
“It is a shame that it has taken nearly seven months for the new state VA nursing home in St. Augustine to become fully accredited,” said Mica. “St. Johns County is home to over 17,000 veterans — and growing.”
read more here
Mica blames bureaucracy for delays in accreditation
2nd sailor found dead aboard Enterprise
2nd sailor found dead aboard Enterprise
By Hugh Lessig, hlessig@dailypress.com
April 19, 2011
A sailor aboard the USS Enterprise was found dead Tuesday, and the death is under investigation, the Navy reported.
The sailor was not identified and no other details were released. However, the Navy said it has notified the sailor's family and sends condolences.
It is the second time in about a month that a sailor has been found dead aboard the ship, which is currently in the Arabian Gulf.
Petty Officer First Class Vincent A. Filpi III, 41, died March 22 in a non-combat related incident, the Defense Department previously reported. He was an aviation ordnance man and had enlisted in the Navy in 1992. He had been on the Enterprise since 2009.
read more here
2nd sailor found dead aboard Enterprise
By Hugh Lessig, hlessig@dailypress.com
April 19, 2011
A sailor aboard the USS Enterprise was found dead Tuesday, and the death is under investigation, the Navy reported.
The sailor was not identified and no other details were released. However, the Navy said it has notified the sailor's family and sends condolences.
It is the second time in about a month that a sailor has been found dead aboard the ship, which is currently in the Arabian Gulf.
Petty Officer First Class Vincent A. Filpi III, 41, died March 22 in a non-combat related incident, the Defense Department previously reported. He was an aviation ordnance man and had enlisted in the Navy in 1992. He had been on the Enterprise since 2009.
read more here
2nd sailor found dead aboard Enterprise
PTSD? They have an app for that too!
A New Way to Serve Our Veterans
By Secretary Eric K. Shinseki , Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs
Some of the most important programs our department provides are mental health services. I am pleased to announce that VA and the Department of Defense (DoD) have launched the PTSD Coach – our first in a suite of jointly developed mobile smartphone applications (apps) for mental health.
When speaking with Veterans living with PTSD, we were told that they wanted and needed a convenient way to learn more about the services and resources available to them, as well as an app that could help them manage symptoms of PTSD at any given moment. The PTSD Coach is a cutting edge app which provides information and tools that Veterans and service members can use to cope with their PTSD symptoms any moment of the day—24/7.
This new tool is useful for anyone who is receiving treatment for PTSD. It is also an anonymous resource that will be important for Veterans and service members, who may not be in treatment now, but who may be seeking quick, accessible information about PTSD. It’s available now on iTunes and will be online soon for Android phones, as well. I recommend it for anyone, who wants to learn more about PTSD, and we’ll look forward to introducing additional apps over the course of the coming year. This is just one more way that VA and DoD are working together to provide 21st Century tools for the men and women who are serving, and have served, our great Nation.
A New Way to Serve Our Veterans
By Secretary Eric K. Shinseki , Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs
Some of the most important programs our department provides are mental health services. I am pleased to announce that VA and the Department of Defense (DoD) have launched the PTSD Coach – our first in a suite of jointly developed mobile smartphone applications (apps) for mental health.
When speaking with Veterans living with PTSD, we were told that they wanted and needed a convenient way to learn more about the services and resources available to them, as well as an app that could help them manage symptoms of PTSD at any given moment. The PTSD Coach is a cutting edge app which provides information and tools that Veterans and service members can use to cope with their PTSD symptoms any moment of the day—24/7.
This new tool is useful for anyone who is receiving treatment for PTSD. It is also an anonymous resource that will be important for Veterans and service members, who may not be in treatment now, but who may be seeking quick, accessible information about PTSD. It’s available now on iTunes and will be online soon for Android phones, as well. I recommend it for anyone, who wants to learn more about PTSD, and we’ll look forward to introducing additional apps over the course of the coming year. This is just one more way that VA and DoD are working together to provide 21st Century tools for the men and women who are serving, and have served, our great Nation.
A New Way to Serve Our Veterans
Fallen airman's daughter send cookies and love to the troops
Her Girl Scout cookie project wins praise from top general
By Meg Jones of the Journal Sentinel
Waukesha - Mackenzie Frost's dad loved Girl Scout cookies, especially peanut butter sandwiches.
When U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Christopher Frost was deployed to Iraq, he received Girl Scout cookies in the mail and even sent a photo of himself holding up a cookie. So when 8-year-old Mackenzie sold Girl Scout cookies this year for the first time as a Brownie, she asked her customers if they would be willing to donate boxes of cookies to send to troops in Iraq.
The second-grader wrote a note for each package introducing herself, explaining which Brownie troop she belonged to and how she came up with the idea. She also told the U.S. service members in Iraq that the cookies were a great way to remember her dad.
Christopher Frost was killed in a helicopter crash in Iraq in March 2008 when Mackenzie was 5.
Touched by her heartfelt letter, as well as the 600 boxes of Girl Scout cookies sent by Mackenzie and the rest of the girls in Waukesha Brownie Troop 2653, the U.S. service members decided to say thank you the best way they knew how.
They sent her a care package.
And on Tuesday afternoon, in front of her classmates at Hawthorne Elementary School in Waukesha, Mackenzie was presented with gifts sent from troops in Iraq - a U.S. flag flown over Iraq in Christopher Frost's memory, a large framed photo collage and a video greeting from a three-star Army general who is deputy commander of U.S. forces in Iraq.
read more here
Girl Scout cookie project wins praise from top general
By Meg Jones of the Journal Sentinel
Waukesha - Mackenzie Frost's dad loved Girl Scout cookies, especially peanut butter sandwiches.
When U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Christopher Frost was deployed to Iraq, he received Girl Scout cookies in the mail and even sent a photo of himself holding up a cookie. So when 8-year-old Mackenzie sold Girl Scout cookies this year for the first time as a Brownie, she asked her customers if they would be willing to donate boxes of cookies to send to troops in Iraq.
The second-grader wrote a note for each package introducing herself, explaining which Brownie troop she belonged to and how she came up with the idea. She also told the U.S. service members in Iraq that the cookies were a great way to remember her dad.
Christopher Frost was killed in a helicopter crash in Iraq in March 2008 when Mackenzie was 5.
Touched by her heartfelt letter, as well as the 600 boxes of Girl Scout cookies sent by Mackenzie and the rest of the girls in Waukesha Brownie Troop 2653, the U.S. service members decided to say thank you the best way they knew how.
They sent her a care package.
And on Tuesday afternoon, in front of her classmates at Hawthorne Elementary School in Waukesha, Mackenzie was presented with gifts sent from troops in Iraq - a U.S. flag flown over Iraq in Christopher Frost's memory, a large framed photo collage and a video greeting from a three-star Army general who is deputy commander of U.S. forces in Iraq.
read more here
Girl Scout cookie project wins praise from top general
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Medal of Honor recipient Sammy L. Davis speaks at Fort Benning
MEDIA ADVISORY
April 15, 2011
FORT BENNING, Ga. – Medal of Honor recipient Sammy L. Davis will address an audience of Fort Benning Soldiers at 1 p.m. April 19 in Pratt Hall.
Davis was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on Nov. 18, 1967 in Vietnam while serving as a cannoneer at a remote fire support base.
Davis’ fire support base, under heavy mortar attack, was simultaneously attacked by a battalion- sized ground assault which came within 25 meters of friendly lines.
Davis was providing covering fire as his artillery gun crew attempted to fire. An enemy recoilless rifle round scored a direct hit on his crew’s artillery piece, Davis was blown into a foxhole and set the artillery piece on fire.
Despite being seriously injured and disregarding enemy gunfire aimed at his position, Davis managed to fire the artillery gun five times. He then seized an air mattress, and despite his inability to swim, made his way across a river to rescue three wounded Soldiers on the far side. While the most seriously wounded Soldier was helped across the river, Davis protected the other two, standing upright and firing into dense vegetation to prevent the Viet Cong forces from advancing, until he could pull the wounded Soldiers back across.
Refusing medical attention, he then joined another artillery crew which fired at the Viet Cong forces until they broke contact and fled.
There will be a brief media opportunity at the conclusion of Davis’ presentation.
The Medal of Honor is the nation’s highest military award, presented for gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States.
Media interested in attending this event should contact the Public Affairs Office during duty hours to coordinate a media escort to Pratt Hall.
Michelle Obama, Jill Biden talk about Military families on the View
Michelle Obama, Jill Biden talk military families, other issues, on 'The View'
By: CNN Political Producer Shannon Travis
Washington (CNN) – First lady Michelle Obama and Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, appeared on ABC's "The View" on Monday to talk about the challenges military families face and urged Americans to do more to support them.
And since the show is known for casual chats, Mrs. Obama and Mrs. Biden also discussed other subjects, such as how each woman reacts to political criticism of their husbands, the upcoming presidential race – even how President Obama, as a dad, is handling his oldest daughter's becoming a teenager.
Most of the talk focused on support for military families. In the audience were service members and their families, some of whom explained the challenges they face as they serve abroad while loved ones must care for family matters at home.
The issue is one that Mrs. Obama and Mrs. Biden have long been passionate about. Last week, the first lady and Mrs. Biden visited four states, in two days, to raise awareness about the needs of families of military service members.
"We're trying to expand public awareness. Because our military families sacrifice so much for us," the first lady said. "And most Americans are probably like I was. Not really recognizing the sacrifices and the challenges that these families make."
Obama said that the focus on the campaign, titled "Joining Forces: Taking Action to Serve America's Military Families," will be on employment, mental health and wellness for troops and their families and education.
Mrs. Biden urged Americans to commit to acts of kindness.
"Go to your schools or your churches or your communities and find out [who] the families who are," she said.
read more here
Michelle Obama, Jill Biden
By: CNN Political Producer Shannon Travis
Washington (CNN) – First lady Michelle Obama and Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, appeared on ABC's "The View" on Monday to talk about the challenges military families face and urged Americans to do more to support them.
And since the show is known for casual chats, Mrs. Obama and Mrs. Biden also discussed other subjects, such as how each woman reacts to political criticism of their husbands, the upcoming presidential race – even how President Obama, as a dad, is handling his oldest daughter's becoming a teenager.
Most of the talk focused on support for military families. In the audience were service members and their families, some of whom explained the challenges they face as they serve abroad while loved ones must care for family matters at home.
The issue is one that Mrs. Obama and Mrs. Biden have long been passionate about. Last week, the first lady and Mrs. Biden visited four states, in two days, to raise awareness about the needs of families of military service members.
"We're trying to expand public awareness. Because our military families sacrifice so much for us," the first lady said. "And most Americans are probably like I was. Not really recognizing the sacrifices and the challenges that these families make."
Obama said that the focus on the campaign, titled "Joining Forces: Taking Action to Serve America's Military Families," will be on employment, mental health and wellness for troops and their families and education.
Mrs. Biden urged Americans to commit to acts of kindness.
"Go to your schools or your churches or your communities and find out [who] the families who are," she said.
read more here
Michelle Obama, Jill Biden
Attempted robbery at Allied Veterans Internet Café leaves one dead
Suspected robber shot dead in Apopka
By Anika Myers Palm, Orlando Sentinel
7:01 a.m. EDT, April 19, 2011
A man who may have been trying to rob an Internet café was shot dead early today in Apopka
Gary Bryant, 21, was one of two men who walked into the Allied Veterans Internet Café at 3030 East Semoran Boulevard about 1 a.m., according to the Seminole County Sheriff's Office.
When the men entered the building, one of them immediately became involved in an altercation with a security guard.
One of the robbers fired a shot at the security guard, who in turn fired a round and struck Bryant in the back.
Just before leaving the scene in an older model tan Oldsmobile, one of the robbers fired several gunshots into the business.
read more here
Suspected robber shot dead in Apopka
By Anika Myers Palm, Orlando Sentinel
7:01 a.m. EDT, April 19, 2011
A man who may have been trying to rob an Internet café was shot dead early today in Apopka
Gary Bryant, 21, was one of two men who walked into the Allied Veterans Internet Café at 3030 East Semoran Boulevard about 1 a.m., according to the Seminole County Sheriff's Office.
When the men entered the building, one of them immediately became involved in an altercation with a security guard.
One of the robbers fired a shot at the security guard, who in turn fired a round and struck Bryant in the back.
Just before leaving the scene in an older model tan Oldsmobile, one of the robbers fired several gunshots into the business.
read more here
Suspected robber shot dead in Apopka
Military had better be ready after tornadoes for mental healthcare
700 from Fort Bragg are getting ready to deploy into Afghanistan.
How many are still deployed with this going on back home?
When you remember the shootings at Fort Hood, what you may not have noticed was the increase in mental healthcare demands. Their safety was taken away from them. The tornadoes brought one more kind of trauma beyond combat and the military had better be ready for what will follow from military families in crisis and needing help.
Bragg deals with aftermath of tumultuous stormsImagine packing to leave your family after the tornadoes. Then imagine you will spend a year worrying about them on top of your own life.
Staff report
Posted : Sunday Apr 17, 2011 18:16:38 EDT
FORT BRAGG, N.C. — Fort Bragg officials announced on Facebook that the base will operate on a two-hour delay on Monday except for adverse weather personnel, who are to report at normal duty hours or as directed. Civilian employees and schools will also operate on a two-hour delayed schedule.
The base remained closed Sunday except for key and essential personnel after severe weather damaged buildings and cut off power to the installation Saturday.
There are no reports of loss of life or significant injuries on post, according to a statement posted to Fort Bragg’s Facebook page Saturday night. Power was restored to the majority of the base late Sunday morning, officials said in a statement. Progress Energy utility crews were working to restore power to the Linden Oaks community and Simmons Army Airfield.
read more here
Bragg deals with aftermath of tumultuous storms
Camp Lejeune homes destroyed and damaged by tornado
Onslow County tornado damage, Camp Lejeune homes destroyed
By CHRIS BROWN
Published: April 16, 2011
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. - Base officials say 10 to 12 homes were destroyed, 40 to 60 homes were significantly damaged and 40 to 60 more homes have suffered minor damage including broken windows, siding, gutters and trees in the yard. A 23-month old child was flown to Pitt Memorial Hospital Saturday night and is still listed in critical condition with multiple trauma related injuries.
read more here
Camp Lejeune homes destroyed and damaged by tornado
How many are still deployed with this going on back home?
When you remember the shootings at Fort Hood, what you may not have noticed was the increase in mental healthcare demands. Their safety was taken away from them. The tornadoes brought one more kind of trauma beyond combat and the military had better be ready for what will follow from military families in crisis and needing help.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Dr. Keith Ablow using hero's suicide for attention?
The story of Clay Hunt and his family came out April 8. It has been a very big story online with most sites picking up his story out of heartache. Ten days later, it seem Dr. Keith Ablow decided to write something but added nothing to the story of Clay Hunt or to his life. Had he wanted to just write a story on "survivor's guilt" then he should have left this Marine out of his story. Had Ablow known about the reports already done on Clay, he would have known how much pain he was carrying and why it was there.
Perhaps some of these questions? This is what this article was all about. Guess work, adding nothing new, not talking to the family or adding anything that could help but he had to drag Hunt into this from the beginning.
Survivor's Guilt Haunting the Military
By Dr. Keith Ablow
Published April 18, 2011
FoxNews.com
On March 31, 2011, Clay Hunt, a 28-year-old Marine veteran who had served with great honor in Iraq and Afghanistan, receiving a Purple Heart, finally succumbed to the psychological fallout of that service, killing himself in his Sugar Land, Texas, apartment.
Hunt, a leading voice in helping other veterans get psychological help, had struggled publicly with the demons of war, especially the loss of four friends in his platoon.
“Two were lost in Iraq, and the other two were killed in Afghanistan,” his mother, Susan Selke, told the Houston Chronicle. “When that last one went down, it just undid him.”
Perhaps some of these questions? This is what this article was all about. Guess work, adding nothing new, not talking to the family or adding anything that could help but he had to drag Hunt into this from the beginning.
Perhaps some of these questions plagued Clay Hunt. Maybe they plagued many of the other veterans who have taken their lives after returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Maybe many are more hobbled by guilt than by terror, awakened in the night not by flashbacks to their own near-death experiences, but to the deaths of others; not by terror, but by guilt—by the very fact that they somehow do not deserve to be alive, even that others died because of something lacking in them.
read more here
Survivor's Guilt Haunting the Military
Camp Lejeune homes destroyed and damaged by tornado
Onslow County tornado damage, Camp Lejeune homes destroyed
By CHRIS BROWN
Published: April 16, 2011
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. - Base officials say 10 to 12 homes were destroyed, 40 to 60 homes were significantly damaged and 40 to 60 more homes have suffered minor damage including broken windows, siding, gutters and trees in the yard. A 23-month old child was flown to Pitt Memorial Hospital Saturday night and is still listed in critical condition with multiple trauma related injuries.
read more here
Onslow County tornado damage
By CHRIS BROWN
Published: April 16, 2011
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. - Base officials say 10 to 12 homes were destroyed, 40 to 60 homes were significantly damaged and 40 to 60 more homes have suffered minor damage including broken windows, siding, gutters and trees in the yard. A 23-month old child was flown to Pitt Memorial Hospital Saturday night and is still listed in critical condition with multiple trauma related injuries.
read more here
Onslow County tornado damage
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Soldier home from Afghanistan wins $250,000
Soldier home from Afghanistan wins $250,000
The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Apr 16, 2011 10:11:29 EDT
ATLANTA — An Army veteran in Georgia won $250,000 playing the lottery just days before his return to Afghanistan.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Gregg Curry bought a winning Georgia Lottery Cool Cash ticket in Fayetteville.
He was home for two weeks from Bagram Airfield, where he has been stationed for the past seven months.
The 47-year-old father of three and a master sergeant with the Third U.S. Army Forces Central Command, is scheduled to return to Afghanistan Monday.
Curry told lottery officials that he plans to use his $250,000 to pay bills and take a vacation after he returns from the Mideast
The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Apr 16, 2011 10:11:29 EDT
ATLANTA — An Army veteran in Georgia won $250,000 playing the lottery just days before his return to Afghanistan.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Gregg Curry bought a winning Georgia Lottery Cool Cash ticket in Fayetteville.
He was home for two weeks from Bagram Airfield, where he has been stationed for the past seven months.
The 47-year-old father of three and a master sergeant with the Third U.S. Army Forces Central Command, is scheduled to return to Afghanistan Monday.
Curry told lottery officials that he plans to use his $250,000 to pay bills and take a vacation after he returns from the Mideast
Counselors told not to treat PTSD and suicide?
Missoula therapist fights human resources firm over confidentiality, PTSD treatment for soldiers
By BETSY COHEN of the Missoulian
Outraged by a change in a counseling contract that provides mental health care to military personnel and their families, a Missoula therapist is waging a one-person war to defend soldiers' rights.
Taking on this battle is David Stube, a licensed clinical counselor who is fighting Ceridian, a global human resources firm that is contracted with the U.S. Department of Defense to provide psychological health services to soldiers.
The issue came to light in January when Ceridian sent a letter to counselors it contracts with in all 50 states. The letter asked those professionals to sign an addendum that not only waives doctor-patient confidentiality, but also forces counselors to agree not to provide counseling for post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, addiction issues, or violent or suicidal behavior.
Stube refused to sign the addendum and believes Ceridian's new requirements and the Defense Department's acceptance of those changes are unethical. Now, a few months into the fray, he's recruited and gained support from Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont.
"If you are a soldier or in a soldier's family, this means you can no longer be counseled for these conditions, even though all military websites refer all soldiers to Ceridian MilitaryOne Source counselors for these exact issues," Stube said. "The websites neglect to tell the soldiers that the counselors have agreed to not treat PTSD, depression, addiction issues and problems with dangerous angry behavior.
"Furthermore, if the counselor does not post their clinical notes after each session on the Ceridian website within three days after seeing the soldier, the counselor will not be paid," Stube said.
read more here
Missoula therapist fights human resources firm
By BETSY COHEN of the Missoulian
Outraged by a change in a counseling contract that provides mental health care to military personnel and their families, a Missoula therapist is waging a one-person war to defend soldiers' rights.
Taking on this battle is David Stube, a licensed clinical counselor who is fighting Ceridian, a global human resources firm that is contracted with the U.S. Department of Defense to provide psychological health services to soldiers.
The issue came to light in January when Ceridian sent a letter to counselors it contracts with in all 50 states. The letter asked those professionals to sign an addendum that not only waives doctor-patient confidentiality, but also forces counselors to agree not to provide counseling for post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, addiction issues, or violent or suicidal behavior.
Stube refused to sign the addendum and believes Ceridian's new requirements and the Defense Department's acceptance of those changes are unethical. Now, a few months into the fray, he's recruited and gained support from Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont.
"If you are a soldier or in a soldier's family, this means you can no longer be counseled for these conditions, even though all military websites refer all soldiers to Ceridian MilitaryOne Source counselors for these exact issues," Stube said. "The websites neglect to tell the soldiers that the counselors have agreed to not treat PTSD, depression, addiction issues and problems with dangerous angry behavior.
"Furthermore, if the counselor does not post their clinical notes after each session on the Ceridian website within three days after seeing the soldier, the counselor will not be paid," Stube said.
read more here
Missoula therapist fights human resources firm
Marine attacked at zoo, fought back
Marine released following stabbing arrest
A Marine, who was arrested for stabbing a man in Waikiki, was released after prosecutors decided not to charge him.
Just after midnight Saturday, police say a group approached the Marine near the Honolulu Zoo, and tried to rob him of his beer.
When the marine said no, police say the group then attacked him.The marine fought back and stabbed one of the group's members.
read more here
Marine released following stabbing arrest
A Marine, who was arrested for stabbing a man in Waikiki, was released after prosecutors decided not to charge him.
Just after midnight Saturday, police say a group approached the Marine near the Honolulu Zoo, and tried to rob him of his beer.
When the marine said no, police say the group then attacked him.The marine fought back and stabbed one of the group's members.
read more here
Marine released following stabbing arrest
Afghan soldier "sleeper agent" blamed for killing 3 US soldiers and 5 others
NATO: 3 service members killed in Afghanistan
(AP) – 4 hours ago
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Three more NATO service members were killed in attacks in Afghanistan on Saturday, the international coalition said, making a total of eight killed on one of the deadliest days for NATO troops this year.
The three deaths announced Sunday came from two separate bomb attacks in the south on the same day that five NATO service members were killed in a suicide bombing by a Taliban sleeper agent at a U.S. base in the east.
NATO officials have said they expect a particularly violent spring and summer in Afghanistan as insurgents try to pour back into areas taken over by international troops over the winter.
Fighting usually increases in Afghanistan as the weather warms and insurgents climb back over the mountainous border with Pakistan. This year, NATO has pushed further into Taliban strongholds in the south and has said their goal is to hold these areas so that militants cannot re-establish themselves.
The next couple months are particularly key for the United States, because President Barack Obama has pledged to start drawing down troops in July.
The suicide attack in eastern Laghman province also killed four Afghan soldiers and an interpreter. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the bombing and spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said Sunday that the soldier was a sleeper agent who had been in the army for years and had been in contact with Taliban operatives for "a long time."
read more here
3 service members killed in Afghanistan
(AP) – 4 hours ago
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Three more NATO service members were killed in attacks in Afghanistan on Saturday, the international coalition said, making a total of eight killed on one of the deadliest days for NATO troops this year.
The three deaths announced Sunday came from two separate bomb attacks in the south on the same day that five NATO service members were killed in a suicide bombing by a Taliban sleeper agent at a U.S. base in the east.
NATO officials have said they expect a particularly violent spring and summer in Afghanistan as insurgents try to pour back into areas taken over by international troops over the winter.
Fighting usually increases in Afghanistan as the weather warms and insurgents climb back over the mountainous border with Pakistan. This year, NATO has pushed further into Taliban strongholds in the south and has said their goal is to hold these areas so that militants cannot re-establish themselves.
The next couple months are particularly key for the United States, because President Barack Obama has pledged to start drawing down troops in July.
The suicide attack in eastern Laghman province also killed four Afghan soldiers and an interpreter. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the bombing and spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said Sunday that the soldier was a sleeper agent who had been in the army for years and had been in contact with Taliban operatives for "a long time."
read more here
3 service members killed in Afghanistan
When faith crashes
I haven't felt I've been living up to the title of Chaplain for a long time. I haven't lost faith in God or questioned the love of Christ, but I lost faith in people. When too many people turn their backs on others, it is almost impossible to look for the goodness in others.
Last night I went with ten other members of Valencia College Veteran's Council to a homeless shelter run by Coalition for the Homeless. We served meals and smiles to 290 men and women. The words of Christ rang in my ears.
Then the voices I've heard from the few getting attention in this country took over. The people who claim to be so concerned with the debt of this nation, pretending passing on the debt to our kids is more tragic than taking care of the least among us has made me doubt the suffering today matter at all.
Their voices of not wanting to make sure everyone has access to healthcare while conditions that could have been treated early end up causing death ignored by their hearts. They say they don't want to be forced to get health insurance but they never seem to have an answer for what will happen and who will be expected to pay when they get cancer or need a transplant to save their lives. Many of them have government health insurance in the form of Medicare and Medicaid but they don't seem to want anyone else to have it.
My cousin passed away Wednesday after spending two months in the hospital. She had decided, for whatever reason, to not go for checkups. In December, it was clear she something was going on inside of her body. Two months later, she was in enough distress that she finally went to the doctor. Her liver was failing, she had heart problems and no one knew what caused any of it. Then her kidneys shut down. Checkups might have been able to catch these problems in the beginning but by the time she went, it was too late.
She wasn't one of the people without health insurance. She had it but decided she didn't want to use it. How many people in this country saying they don't want to be forced to have health insurance any more than they want other people to have it, ever thought about the day when they are suddenly unhealthy? Do they plan on losing everything they have to pay for their care? Do they plan on other people paying for it? Do they plan on just ending up on pubic assistance then?
Here in Florida we have cut after cut for what regular people need but at the same time the folks wanting these cut backs scream about giving to the rich and what they need. Yet 290 showed up for a meal and a place on the floor to sleep. Some of them were in wheel chairs. Some of them were clearly veterans with metal where their legs used to be and the scars they carry are deep inside of them. They risked their lives for this country, ended up paying a very high price for it and then ended up paying more back home.
The folks wanting to cut 1.3 million veterans from getting healthcare from the VA never consider that most of these veterans have unapproved claims for wounds they suffered in combat and no one cared enough to make sure they got what they needed when they came home before they just gave up.
When you see and read so much suffering and then hear what people are unashamed to say, it is very hard to hang onto any kind of faith in man when they are so unkind.
But last night, when I went to bed, the sadness I felt at the shelter was replaced with the knowledge that as the "conservatives" end up with all the media attention, the people showing up to help others are doing God's work and there are a lot more of them than the people getting the attention of the media these days and there is great hope in that.
I used to work as the Circulation manager of a newspaper. There was a saying that "if it bleeds, it leads" and the "conservatives" have proven that fact. They get the attention for bleeding help for the needy dry and the others showing up to help are totally ignored.
So, faith restored in the goodness of ignored outnumbering the greedy, Palm Sunday is not going to feel empty to me. Some of us did learn from Christ but others, well, they must still be looking for the Easter Bunny instead.
Matthew 25
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.
35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,
36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?
38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?
39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
Then the voices I've heard from the few getting attention in this country took over. The people who claim to be so concerned with the debt of this nation, pretending passing on the debt to our kids is more tragic than taking care of the least among us has made me doubt the suffering today matter at all.
Their voices of not wanting to make sure everyone has access to healthcare while conditions that could have been treated early end up causing death ignored by their hearts. They say they don't want to be forced to get health insurance but they never seem to have an answer for what will happen and who will be expected to pay when they get cancer or need a transplant to save their lives. Many of them have government health insurance in the form of Medicare and Medicaid but they don't seem to want anyone else to have it.
My cousin passed away Wednesday after spending two months in the hospital. She had decided, for whatever reason, to not go for checkups. In December, it was clear she something was going on inside of her body. Two months later, she was in enough distress that she finally went to the doctor. Her liver was failing, she had heart problems and no one knew what caused any of it. Then her kidneys shut down. Checkups might have been able to catch these problems in the beginning but by the time she went, it was too late.
She wasn't one of the people without health insurance. She had it but decided she didn't want to use it. How many people in this country saying they don't want to be forced to have health insurance any more than they want other people to have it, ever thought about the day when they are suddenly unhealthy? Do they plan on losing everything they have to pay for their care? Do they plan on other people paying for it? Do they plan on just ending up on pubic assistance then?
Here in Florida we have cut after cut for what regular people need but at the same time the folks wanting these cut backs scream about giving to the rich and what they need. Yet 290 showed up for a meal and a place on the floor to sleep. Some of them were in wheel chairs. Some of them were clearly veterans with metal where their legs used to be and the scars they carry are deep inside of them. They risked their lives for this country, ended up paying a very high price for it and then ended up paying more back home.
The folks wanting to cut 1.3 million veterans from getting healthcare from the VA never consider that most of these veterans have unapproved claims for wounds they suffered in combat and no one cared enough to make sure they got what they needed when they came home before they just gave up.
When you see and read so much suffering and then hear what people are unashamed to say, it is very hard to hang onto any kind of faith in man when they are so unkind.
But last night, when I went to bed, the sadness I felt at the shelter was replaced with the knowledge that as the "conservatives" end up with all the media attention, the people showing up to help others are doing God's work and there are a lot more of them than the people getting the attention of the media these days and there is great hope in that.
I used to work as the Circulation manager of a newspaper. There was a saying that "if it bleeds, it leads" and the "conservatives" have proven that fact. They get the attention for bleeding help for the needy dry and the others showing up to help are totally ignored.
Colossians 1 13
For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves
So, faith restored in the goodness of ignored outnumbering the greedy, Palm Sunday is not going to feel empty to me. Some of us did learn from Christ but others, well, they must still be looking for the Easter Bunny instead.
Matthew 11
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Marine Clay Hunt's suicide not counted as "military suicide"
In this report, it is pointed out that Clay Hunt's suicide will not be considered "military suicide" but the painful truth is, none of them are considered that after they are no longer in the service. It doesn't seem to bother the Pentagon that young men and women are taking their own lives after they leave the service because they were in the service, deployed into combat, survived combat but could not survive being back home. Full circle, all tied to their service but the military does not have to count them anymore and they, well, they can't count on the military anymore. The startling truth is that yesterday was no different than the day Clay joined 17 other veterans in ending their own pain with suicide. 18 veterans take their lives everyday in this country with over 1,000 attempting suicide every month.
Hunt did everything right in combat and afterwards. He was told to get help and he did. His family did all they could to be supportive. Hunt not only sought help but offered to give it to others and that is one more thing experts tell them to do. No matter what, nothing was enough to help him heal the pain he brought back with him.
While the Daily Mail reporter does not seem to know that a Purple Heart is for being wounded and is not "won for bravery" they did a good job otherwise on this report.
Heartbroken: His parents, Stacy Hunt and Susan Selke, said he had battled through his difficulties and seemed to be turning his life aroundHe had turned his life around
Mystery of handsome Purple Heart-winning Marine and mental health advocate who killed himself
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 11:39 AM on 16th April 2011
He won a Purple Heart for his bravery in Iraq and so epitomised the survivor spirit he appeared as a mental health advocate in a public service announcement to help veterans cope.
But last month, 28-year-old former Marine corporal Clay Hunt shot himself in his Houston apartment.
His heartbreaking suicide has deeply shaken his fellow veterans, who are at a loss to explain why the handsome Marine - who outwardly was coping well after leaving the military - would take his own life.
They say it is a 'wake-up call for America', and are demanding the military does more to help its veterans of war cope.
The haunting question of 'why' hung over a memorial service for the popular former Marine attended by more than 1,100 mourners in Houston last week.
Moving on: Mr Hunt travelled to Haiti to help the earthquake relief effort with an organisation called Team Rubicon.
Although he battled post-traumatic stress disorder, he had 'turned his life around' and thrown himself into charity work and lobbying.
His mother, Susan Selke, told CNN: 'In my mind he is a casualty of war. But he died here instead of over there. He died as a result of his war experience. There is no doubt in my mind.'
His death will not be counted as an official military suicide by the Pentagon, because he left the Marines in 2009.
His best friend, Jacob Wood, told CNN: 'That is a complete sham in my opinion. Part of Clay was killed in Iraq. Part of Clay was killed in Afghanistan and the rest of him was killed in Houston, Texas. And if that is not reflected in military statistics, it's a shame.'
When Mr Hunt left the military in 2009, he seemed to put the trauma of war behind him, travelling to Chile and Haiti to help the rescue effort after the earthquakes, road-biking with wounded veterans and lobbying on Capitol Hill.
But friends and family say although outwardly he seemed to be coping, he suffered post-traumatic stress disorder, depression - and was wracked with survivor's guilt.
They said he never truly recovered from the deaths of four of his closest friends in Iraq.
click link for more
Army is investigating death of Fort Drum soldier
Army is investigating death of Fort Drum soldier
FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 2011
FORT DRUM — The Army’s Criminal Investigation Division is investigating the non-combat-related death of a 10th Mountain Division soldier last month in the final days of his Afghan deployment.
Spc. Andrew P. Wade, 22, of Antioch, Ill., died March 10 in Kunduz, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered March 7.
read more here
Army is investigating death of Fort Drum soldier
FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 2011
FORT DRUM — The Army’s Criminal Investigation Division is investigating the non-combat-related death of a 10th Mountain Division soldier last month in the final days of his Afghan deployment.
Spc. Andrew P. Wade, 22, of Antioch, Ill., died March 10 in Kunduz, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered March 7.
read more here
Army is investigating death of Fort Drum soldier
Southampton police officer found dead, Police Chief suffers heart attack responding
UPDATED: Township Mourns Loss of Veteran Officer
Officials said Officer Richard Lizzio was found in his patrol car Friday morning, following a self-inflicted gun shot wound.
By Jennifer Mohan
April 15, 2011
Flags around the township are flying at half-mast in honor of an Upper Southampton police officer found dead early Friday morning.
Just after 8:30 a.m., Officer Richard Lizzio, a 24-year veteran of the Upper Southampton police force was found in his patrol car, which was parked at the Jesus Focus Ministry.
Upper Southampton Chief of Police Ron MacPherson said Ofc. Lizzio was a firearms instructor for the department as well as an officer in charge, a position that often required him to substitute for an off-duty sergeant.
“He was a valuable member of our team,” said MacPherson. “He will be sorely missed.”
Lizzio was on duty at the time of the incident, but was not answering a call at the church.
read more here
Township Mourns Loss of Veteran Officer
Officials said Officer Richard Lizzio was found in his patrol car Friday morning, following a self-inflicted gun shot wound.
By Jennifer Mohan
April 15, 2011
Flags around the township are flying at half-mast in honor of an Upper Southampton police officer found dead early Friday morning.
Just after 8:30 a.m., Officer Richard Lizzio, a 24-year veteran of the Upper Southampton police force was found in his patrol car, which was parked at the Jesus Focus Ministry.
Upper Southampton Chief of Police Ron MacPherson said Ofc. Lizzio was a firearms instructor for the department as well as an officer in charge, a position that often required him to substitute for an off-duty sergeant.
“He was a valuable member of our team,” said MacPherson. “He will be sorely missed.”
Lizzio was on duty at the time of the incident, but was not answering a call at the church.
MacPherson said Ivyland Borough Police Chief Nicholas Rosato was out in the street directing traffic around the area of the incident when he suffered a heart attack
read more here
Township Mourns Loss of Veteran Officer
Friday, April 15, 2011
Remember Clay Hunt's life as much as his death
Team Rubicon, is where Clay Hunt's family wants donations sent to. (Please read down to the bottom for the address.) By all accounts he tried very hard to make a difference for other veterans with PTSD. Remembering his life will end up helping other veterans survive after war. To lose 18 veterans a day, is just too much to ignore.
HUNT
Clay Warren Hunt, a war hero and giant-hearted humanitarian, died in Houston, Texas on Thursday, the 31st of March 2011, at the age of 28.
Following his heart, Clay joined the United States Marine Corps in May of 2005, completed the School of Infantry in 2006, and shipped out to Iraq in January of 2007 as part of the Second Battalion, Seventh Regiment of the U.S.M.C. While on patrol in Anbar Province, near Fallujah, he was wounded in a sniper attack, earning a Purple Heart. Clay recuperated in 2007, and applied for and graduated from the Marine Corps Scout Sniper School in February of 2008.
His scout sniper teams shipped out to an area near Sangin, Afghanistan in March of 2008 as part of NATO's multi-national force deployed against the Taliban in southern Afghanistan. Clay's unit returned to the states in October of 2008, and he was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps in April of 2009.
Clay cherished his time in the Marine Corps and the unconditional and absolute bonds of camaraderie that he built with his band of brothers in Iraq and Afghanistan. He often wondered why he survived when so many close friends and others paid the ultimate price for our nation's freedom.
Clay continued to give back to ease the suffering of others in January of 2010, when he and Marine brother Jake Wood and others founded Team Rubicon, an early response team for natural disaster relief. Clay and Team Rubicon entered Port-Au Prince, Haiti one week after that country's devastating earthquake, and immediately established field medical facilities, and secured transportation to those facilities for thousands of injured Haitians during a month-long stay in that ravaged country. Team Rubicon was on the ground saving lives long before the Red Cross and other institutional organizations were up and running. Clay found his true calling for service in the chaos of Haiti, and his warrior mentality along with his compassion for others were the perfect combination to deliver "hands-on" medical and other humanitarian aid to those so desparately in need.
Clay also went to Chile in 2010 with Team Rubicon to aid earthquake victims in that nation, and returned to Haiti in June of 2010 on a follow-up mission. He also "felt the pain and did something about it" of his fellow veterans by participating in four Ride2Recovery challenges to raise money for struggling wounded veterans across the U.S. Additionally, he helped lobby Congress on behalf of Iraq-Afghanistan Veterans of America for better and more timely delivery of benefits for our veterans of these two conflicts.
Clay had a smile that would light up a room, and his boundless energy was his greatest asset. No family could have had a better son.
HUNT
Clay Warren Hunt, a war hero and giant-hearted humanitarian, died in Houston, Texas on Thursday, the 31st of March 2011, at the age of 28.
Following his heart, Clay joined the United States Marine Corps in May of 2005, completed the School of Infantry in 2006, and shipped out to Iraq in January of 2007 as part of the Second Battalion, Seventh Regiment of the U.S.M.C. While on patrol in Anbar Province, near Fallujah, he was wounded in a sniper attack, earning a Purple Heart. Clay recuperated in 2007, and applied for and graduated from the Marine Corps Scout Sniper School in February of 2008.
His scout sniper teams shipped out to an area near Sangin, Afghanistan in March of 2008 as part of NATO's multi-national force deployed against the Taliban in southern Afghanistan. Clay's unit returned to the states in October of 2008, and he was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps in April of 2009.
Clay cherished his time in the Marine Corps and the unconditional and absolute bonds of camaraderie that he built with his band of brothers in Iraq and Afghanistan. He often wondered why he survived when so many close friends and others paid the ultimate price for our nation's freedom.
Clay continued to give back to ease the suffering of others in January of 2010, when he and Marine brother Jake Wood and others founded Team Rubicon, an early response team for natural disaster relief. Clay and Team Rubicon entered Port-Au Prince, Haiti one week after that country's devastating earthquake, and immediately established field medical facilities, and secured transportation to those facilities for thousands of injured Haitians during a month-long stay in that ravaged country. Team Rubicon was on the ground saving lives long before the Red Cross and other institutional organizations were up and running. Clay found his true calling for service in the chaos of Haiti, and his warrior mentality along with his compassion for others were the perfect combination to deliver "hands-on" medical and other humanitarian aid to those so desparately in need.
Clay also went to Chile in 2010 with Team Rubicon to aid earthquake victims in that nation, and returned to Haiti in June of 2010 on a follow-up mission. He also "felt the pain and did something about it" of his fellow veterans by participating in four Ride2Recovery challenges to raise money for struggling wounded veterans across the U.S. Additionally, he helped lobby Congress on behalf of Iraq-Afghanistan Veterans of America for better and more timely delivery of benefits for our veterans of these two conflicts.
Clay had a smile that would light up a room, and his boundless energy was his greatest asset. No family could have had a better son.
In lieu of customary remembrances, the family requests with gratitude that memorial contributions in Clay's name be directed to Team Rubicon, Inc., P.O. Box 7476, Santa Monica, CA, 90406 (www.teamrubiconusa.org); or to Ride2Recovery, 23679 Calabasas Rd., #420, Calabasas, CA, 91302, (www.ride2recovery.com).
UK report tries to blame the veteran for US PTSD higher rates
Here's another theory for the UK. Maybe the UK has not diagnosed as many of their veterans but that does not mean they do not have PTSD. The 4th paragraph of this "report" is one sentence typed twice, so it was a little hard to take seriously.
The US has longer tours of duty and is expected to carry most of the load no matter how many other nations are involved in the operations. They are redeployed more with less dwell time. The list of reasons for PTSD is longer than in the UK but with all the other reports coming out of the UK, the evidence points to the lack of soldiers being diagnosed with PTSD and not the lack of PTSD in UK soldiers.
Over the years there have been many other studies boiling down to blame the veteran but this one may very well top the others.
The invisible division: US soldiers are seven times as likely as UK troops to develop post-traumatic stress
By Ethan Watters
Something is happening at the end of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that mental health experts are finding hard to explain: British and American soldiers appear to be having markedly different reactions to the stress of combat. In America, there has been a sharp increase in the number experiencing mental-health problems, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Between 2006 and 2007 alone, there was a 50 per cent jump in cases of combat stress among soldiers and suicides more than doubled. Why the precipitous rise? And why hasn't there been an accompanying rise in these symptoms among British troops?
The conclusion that British soldiers appear to have a different psychological reaction to the stresses of these modern conflicts was the finding of several recent high-profile studies. This year, in a Royal Society journal, Neil Greenberg of the Academic Centre for Defence Mental Health at King's College London and colleagues reported that studies of American soldiers showed PTSD prevalence rates of in excess of 30 per cent while the rates among British troops was only four per cent. UK soldiers were more likely to abuse alcohol (13 per cent reported doing so) or experience more common mental disorders such as depression (20 per cent).
Such differences were found even when comparing soldiers who served in the most intense combat zones. In addition, while researchers found increased mental-health risk for American personnel sent on multiple deployments, no such connection was found in British soldiers.
One theory to explain these differences is that the minds of soldiers are responsive to cultural expectations of how they should feel – and that those expectations can be different from one place (or time) to another. One theory to explain these differences is that the minds of soldiers are responsive to cultural expectations of how they should feel – and that those expectations can be different from one place (or time) to another.
"Despite some claims to the contrary," Greenberg et al write, "PTSD seems not to be a 'universal stress reaction', arising in all societies across all time. Evidence from both world wars suggests that the ways in which service personnel communicate distress is culturally determined and that the development of PTSD may be one more phase in the evolving picture of human reaction to adversity."
read more here
The invisible division
Dark Horse Marines "relatively unscathed mentally"
Sounds like a great story and while it may make you want to go "yippie" this story is filled with warnings. First, they just got back home. People are all happy to be back together. Then comes the time when life gets back to normal as much as possible and they realize that it is not back to "normal" for them.
There is a report they will be kept with their units for three months. Good news on that one and it very well may save some lives. They will have support behind them. This offers a warning for the National Guards and Reservists coming home with no support after the welcome home parties are over.
There is a report they will be kept with their units for three months. Good news on that one and it very well may save some lives. They will have support behind them. This offers a warning for the National Guards and Reservists coming home with no support after the welcome home parties are over.
Marines Battalion Mentally Upbeat, Despite Record Deaths
1 in 5 Combat Veterans Get Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, But Training, Unit Cohesion Can Foster Resilience
POST A COMMENT BY SUSAN DONALDSON JAMES
April 15, 2011
The Marine 3-5 battalion returned home from one of Afghanistan's deadliest war zones this week after a grueling eight-month deployment with record casualties. Remarkably, military psychiatrists say the men appear, for the most part, to be relatively unscathed mentally.
"So far so good," said their second-in-command, Maj. Mark Carlton, who endured the 20-hour flight back with the first wave of Marines and Navy personnel from Afghanistan's Helmand Province to California's Camp Pendleton.
The battalion witnessed 25 dead, 140 wounded and more than a dozen amputees. But overall rates of combat stress among the 250 mostly infantrymen, at least in their first medical evaluations, appeared to be no higher than other units in the southern province, experts said.
Some wonder why that battalion -- nearly 1,000 in all in the heart of the Taliban insurgency -- appears so psychologically intact, when some reports show as many 37 percent of recent war veterans are being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD.
Carlton attributed much of the good mental health to the battalion's "proactive" small-unit leadership structure.
"They know each other and live with each other the entire deployment and are never far from someone on the team," he said. "If there's a change in behavior or signs of stress, it's immediately picked up by someone who knows the guy really well."
"You absolutely see that in a lot of places and not just the military," he said. "On high school sports teams, kids get tight over time. Common understanding can't be replicated."
The 3-5 battalion faced combat almost immediately when they took control of the Sangin District from the British last September. One of the fatalities was 2nd Lt. Robert Kelly, son of Lt. Gen. John Kelly, the personal military aide to Defense Secretary William Gates, the most senior officer to lose a child since American troops arrived in the country in 2001.
But as casualties mounted, visiting mental health professionals said they didn't see a comparable rise in mental health issues and were surprised by the unit's resiliency.
Now, back at Camp Pendleton, the Marines have ordered the unit to stay intact with their families for three months to allow them to decompress together. There, additional mental health professionals have been brought in to watch for signs of post-traumatic stress disorder.
An estimated 1 in 5 combat veterans will eventually be diagnosed with PTSD and 1 in 3 will have some emotional or neurological problems related to war, according to a New York University study of 300,000 returning soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan at veterans' hospitals.
read more here
Marines Battalion Mentally Upbeat, Despite Record Deaths
Thursday, April 14, 2011
No further results of investigation of death of Maj. Michael Evarts
The pain of losing someone you love is hard enough, even when you know the cause but when you have no idea what happened, why they are not here anymore, it never stops hurting. Why should it take over three months to find out what happened? Why does the military allow families to suffer waiting for answers? Honestly I don't care if the family releases the information to the public or not but they should not be forced to wait any longer before they know why Major Evarts did not come home alive.
No further results of investigation of death of Maj. Michael Evarts likely to be released
Published: Wednesday, April 13, 2011
By Cassandra Shofar
CShofar@News-Herald.com
The investigation surrounding the death of a local soldier will likely take a few more months to complete, according to Maj. Matthew Lawrence of the 807th Medical Command in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Maj. Michael S. Evarts, 41, of Concord Township, who died on Jan. 17 in Tikrit, Iraq, in a noncombat related incident, was a father of two sons, Zachary and Lukas, and husband to Monique Evarts.
While the circumstances surrounding his death are still under investigation, Lawrence said any more information about the results is up to the family to release.
“And they have said they do not want to do so,” Lawrence said via e-mail. “The official military classification is that it was a non-combat related death.”
Evarts — who has been described by family and friends as infectious, funny, selfless and full of life — had been deployed to Iraq in support of Operation New Dawn in November 2010.
read more here
No further results of investigation of death of Maj. Michael Evarts
A soldier's-eye view of PTSD
Published: Thursday, March 31, 2011, 8:46 AM
found on
A soldier's-eye view of PTSD
PTSD veteran in custody after standoff
Breaking news: Man in custody after standoff
Suspect was armed in Kronenwetter home
KRONENWETTER — A man who held police and SWAT team members at bay outside his home has been taken into custody, according to official sources.
Police said the man, a 41-year-old Kronenwetter resident, apparently phoned the VA Clinic in Wausau this morning and threatened to show up there with a gun. The suspect's family told police the man suffers from post traumatic stress disorder and was having a crisis, police said.
Wausau police were at the VA Clinic at about 10:30 a.m. interviewing employees to learn more about the suspect and what he said.
read more here
Breaking news: Man in custody after standoff
Suspect was armed in Kronenwetter home
KRONENWETTER — A man who held police and SWAT team members at bay outside his home has been taken into custody, according to official sources.
Police said the man, a 41-year-old Kronenwetter resident, apparently phoned the VA Clinic in Wausau this morning and threatened to show up there with a gun. The suspect's family told police the man suffers from post traumatic stress disorder and was having a crisis, police said.
Wausau police were at the VA Clinic at about 10:30 a.m. interviewing employees to learn more about the suspect and what he said.
read more here
Breaking news: Man in custody after standoff
Obama to Honor Two Korean War GIs With Medal of Honor
Obama to Honor Two Korean War GIs With MoH
April 14, 2011
Stars and Stripes|by Travis J. Tritten
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa -- Two Soldiers who gave their lives fighting in the Korean War will be posthumously given the nation’s highest military honor by President Obama during a ceremony next month, the White House said Wednesday evening.
Pfc. Anthony Kaho’ohanohano and Pfc. Henry Svehla will be recognized with the Medal of Honor for braving certain death and painful wounds to charge and repel overwhelming enemy forces during the war.
Family members of both Soldiers will attend the May 2 ceremony at the White House to commemorate their “selfless service and sacrifice,” according to a presidential news release.
In September 1951, Kaho’ohanohano was in charge of a machine gun squad near Chopra-Ri, Korea, while assigned to the U.S. Army’s 7th Infantry Division, according to the Army.
“He was 6’1” and he was all muscle and he could hit like a horse kicks. I’ll testify to that,” his younger brother David Kaho’ohanohano, 77, of Hawaii told Stars and Stripes on Thursday.
read more here
Obama to Honor Two Korean War GIs With MoH
April 14, 2011
Stars and Stripes|by Travis J. Tritten
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa -- Two Soldiers who gave their lives fighting in the Korean War will be posthumously given the nation’s highest military honor by President Obama during a ceremony next month, the White House said Wednesday evening.
Pfc. Anthony Kaho’ohanohano and Pfc. Henry Svehla will be recognized with the Medal of Honor for braving certain death and painful wounds to charge and repel overwhelming enemy forces during the war.
Family members of both Soldiers will attend the May 2 ceremony at the White House to commemorate their “selfless service and sacrifice,” according to a presidential news release.
In September 1951, Kaho’ohanohano was in charge of a machine gun squad near Chopra-Ri, Korea, while assigned to the U.S. Army’s 7th Infantry Division, according to the Army.
“He was 6’1” and he was all muscle and he could hit like a horse kicks. I’ll testify to that,” his younger brother David Kaho’ohanohano, 77, of Hawaii told Stars and Stripes on Thursday.
read more here
Obama to Honor Two Korean War GIs With MoH
Senator Olympia Snowe's Bill to Give Military Funerals More Protection
Bill to Give Military Funerals More Protection
April 14, 2011
Portland Press Herald
WASHINGTON -- Families of fallen troops "have earned the right to bury their loved ones in peace," says U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe.
And in the wake of a Supreme Court decision earlier this year to permit the Westboro Baptist Church to carry on its disruptive protests at military funerals, lawmakers must step in with stronger protections for those families, says Snowe, R-Maine.
On Wednesday, Snowe introduced the Sanctity of Eternal Rest for Veterans Act -- dubbed the SERVE Act -- an effort to keep raucous protesters from getting too close to military funerals and increase penalties for breaking the rules of conduct.
Snowe's involvement in the issue was prompted by a Maine high school student's campaign to ban such protests.
"Those who fight and die in the service of our country deserve our highest respect," Snowe said in a prepared statement. "The SERVE Act strikes a balance between the sanctity of a funeral service and the right to free speech."
Snowe's proposal would alter federal law to increase the "quiet time" in which protests are prohibited before and after military funerals from one hour to two hours, and increase the distance that protesters must stay from services.
read more here
Bill to Give Military Funerals More Protection
April 14, 2011
Portland Press Herald
WASHINGTON -- Families of fallen troops "have earned the right to bury their loved ones in peace," says U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe.
And in the wake of a Supreme Court decision earlier this year to permit the Westboro Baptist Church to carry on its disruptive protests at military funerals, lawmakers must step in with stronger protections for those families, says Snowe, R-Maine.
On Wednesday, Snowe introduced the Sanctity of Eternal Rest for Veterans Act -- dubbed the SERVE Act -- an effort to keep raucous protesters from getting too close to military funerals and increase penalties for breaking the rules of conduct.
Snowe's involvement in the issue was prompted by a Maine high school student's campaign to ban such protests.
"Those who fight and die in the service of our country deserve our highest respect," Snowe said in a prepared statement. "The SERVE Act strikes a balance between the sanctity of a funeral service and the right to free speech."
Snowe's proposal would alter federal law to increase the "quiet time" in which protests are prohibited before and after military funerals from one hour to two hours, and increase the distance that protesters must stay from services.
read more here
Bill to Give Military Funerals More Protection
"Our welcome home was whoever came to pick us up at the airport"
Medics return from serving in Afghanistan
Eleven Navy corpsmen back in Akron
By Jim Carney
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Thursday, Apr 14, 2011
Eleven Navy corpsmen who were deployed to Afghanistan with an Akron-based Marine Reserve unit and other area Marine reservists finished their paperwork Wednesday, completing their overseas tour of duty.
The Navy reservists spent part of Wednesday at the Navy Operational Support Center on Dan Street in Akron, winding up their war time service a few weeks after Marines they served with came home.
While more than 100 Marine reservists attached to 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines, 4th Division, Weapons Company arrived to publicized homecoming ceremonies in late March, the sailors arrived home with little fanfare.
''Our welcome home was whoever came to pick us up at the airport,'' said Hospital Corps
man 1st Class Mark Albert Sr., 40, of Jackson Township, who works for UPS as a driver in his civilian job.
Albert, a former Lakemore reserve police officer, said he and some other Weapons Company corpsmen, who work as medics, were attached to 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, in southern Afghanistan. The unit suffered numerous combat casualties — Marines killed or wounded.
read more here
Medics return from serving in Afghanistan
Eleven Navy corpsmen back in Akron
By Jim Carney
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Thursday, Apr 14, 2011
Eleven Navy corpsmen who were deployed to Afghanistan with an Akron-based Marine Reserve unit and other area Marine reservists finished their paperwork Wednesday, completing their overseas tour of duty.
The Navy reservists spent part of Wednesday at the Navy Operational Support Center on Dan Street in Akron, winding up their war time service a few weeks after Marines they served with came home.
While more than 100 Marine reservists attached to 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines, 4th Division, Weapons Company arrived to publicized homecoming ceremonies in late March, the sailors arrived home with little fanfare.
''Our welcome home was whoever came to pick us up at the airport,'' said Hospital Corps
man 1st Class Mark Albert Sr., 40, of Jackson Township, who works for UPS as a driver in his civilian job.
Albert, a former Lakemore reserve police officer, said he and some other Weapons Company corpsmen, who work as medics, were attached to 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, in southern Afghanistan. The unit suffered numerous combat casualties — Marines killed or wounded.
read more here
Medics return from serving in Afghanistan
National Guard soldiers given "bum's rush in favor of regular Army troops"
There are so many secrets this country has, it is hard to know where to begin. It isn't that no one is talking about these things, but too many are dismissing them as just rumors. Nothing new really. Considering when veterans of wars going back to the Revolution, came home with what we call Post Traumatic Stress Disorder today, up until 40 years ago, no one was doing anything about it other than looking for excuses to ignore their pain.
They used to shoot the wounded for being cowards. Reports have come out going all the way up to WWII.
It is not a unique problem to the USA. The UK dealt with soldiers in pain by shooting them as well.
When they came home, they were still haunted by what they saw with their own eyes as their minds tried to come to terms with horror movies playing with their nerves. Wives would hear their screams in the middle of the night. Kids would learn quickly they couldn't make any sudden moves and they were terrified of Dad lashing out because something they did surprised him in a bad way. Families were reluctant to let anyone outside the family know the war came home long after peace was declared by the governments and the powers ordering them to kill.
How does one declare peace of mind? How does a family explain to the rest of the population the war is still going on? There is a story being told all across this country from Vietnam Veterans when they are asked "When were you there?" and they respond with "Last night." More and more are talking about it but it was no less real when no one else was.
Now we have a new secret tied to war. As bad as it has been for regular military folks coming home, it's been even worse for the National Guards and Reservists. First, we need to begin when they arrived in Iraq as reports came out about how they were belittled by the active military. No one wanted these "weekenders" there. They were regarded as more trouble than they were worth. That attitude held. The National Guards and Reservists families knew about it, but they wouldn't talk about it. They just sucked it up. That was not the last insult to their service. That came after they were back and needing help to heal, just like the regular military folks but as we focused on the trouble they had getting help, we ignored the worst of their problems. The "weekenders" were getting even less help.
They were told to just go back to their lives, back to their families and jobs. Too many ended up risking their lives back home after risking them over there. Not just on jobs with law enforcement or in fire departments as many think, but risking them while carrying their own secret war just as every other generation had waged.
They were easy to ignore. Less than one percent of the population of this nation has served in Afghanistan or Iraq. Even less were "weekenders" expected to take off their boots and put on work shoes or college sandals. The regular military folks, well they suffered too, but they had the rest of their unit to lean on. Guardsmen came back to a nation filled with more people knowing who was winning American Idol more than they knew troops were still dying in Iraq and Afghanistan. While the media spent more time making celebrity "heroes" out of people like Sarah Palin and her every tweet along with other famous idiots last scandal, they just didn't have time to cover anything about any of this.
As 18 veterans committed suicide on a daily basis families knew what was going on. More and more of them began to talk about it openly but the media had other things to report on cable TV for.
Now we have this fantastic look inside one National Guard unit painting the picture crystal clear so that the whole nation can see it, feel it and understand how real all of this is but I doubt you'll see it on CNN, FOX or MSNBC. The less than one percent serving can't compete with the budget battle, or if the Idol judges are "too nice."
These are our neighbors coming home. These are our coworkers. They go to our churches. They shop in our stores. They are suffering and they have been screaming for help but this is one more case of ignorance. Instead of shooting them for being cowards, we let them suffer to the point where they regret surviving.
They used to shoot the wounded for being cowards. Reports have come out going all the way up to WWII.
It is not a unique problem to the USA. The UK dealt with soldiers in pain by shooting them as well.
Pardons Granted for Shell-Shocked WWI Soldiers
Shot for Cowardice or Desertion
Friday August 25, 2006
By Angela Morrow, RN,
Soldier’s Heart=Shell Shock=Combat Fatigue=War Neurosis=PTSD
Nearly 90 years after their deaths, 306 soldiers who were shot for military offences during World War I have been granted posthumous pardons from the British Ministry of Defense. These soldiers were executed between 1914 and 1918 for breaches of military discipline that included desertion, cowardice, quitting their posts and casting away their arms.
Many men of the men executed for cowardice or desertion were suffering from "Shell Shock" after enduring months of military combat and horrors during WWI. British Defense Secretary Des Browne said these men were "as much victims of World War One as those who died in the battlefield." The group pardon recognizes that the men were not "cowards" or "deserters" and should not have been executed for military offences. This group of soldiers has been upgraded to being "Victims of War." Not one of the executed soldiers would have been executed today, since the British military death penalty was outlawed in 1930.
Many family members are glad that their ancestors are finally receiving these pardons and official vindication after all this time.
Recognizing Soldier’s Heart, Shell Shock or Combat Fatigue as PTSD
Shell Shock is the terms used during World War I for what is has been termed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder since the 1980’s. During the Civil War, the condition was referred to as "Soldier’s Heart." During World War II Shell Shock went by several names including "Combat Fatigue," "Traumatic War Neurosis," "Combat Exhaustion" and "Operational Fatigue." However, it wasn’t until after World War II that psychiatrists started to recognize that the symptoms of Shell Shock were not due to an inborn mental illness, such as depression or schizophrenia. Instead they determined that this form of psychological dis-ease was caused by too much exposure to war trauma.
According to the National Center for PTSD, studies have shown that the more prolonged, extensive, and horrifying a soldier's or sailor's exposure to war trauma, the more likely it is that she or he will become emotionally worn down and exhausted. This happens to even the strongest and healthiest of individuals, and often it is precisely these soldiers who are the most psychologically disturbed by war because they endure so much of the trauma.
When they came home, they were still haunted by what they saw with their own eyes as their minds tried to come to terms with horror movies playing with their nerves. Wives would hear their screams in the middle of the night. Kids would learn quickly they couldn't make any sudden moves and they were terrified of Dad lashing out because something they did surprised him in a bad way. Families were reluctant to let anyone outside the family know the war came home long after peace was declared by the governments and the powers ordering them to kill.
How does one declare peace of mind? How does a family explain to the rest of the population the war is still going on? There is a story being told all across this country from Vietnam Veterans when they are asked "When were you there?" and they respond with "Last night." More and more are talking about it but it was no less real when no one else was.
Now we have a new secret tied to war. As bad as it has been for regular military folks coming home, it's been even worse for the National Guards and Reservists. First, we need to begin when they arrived in Iraq as reports came out about how they were belittled by the active military. No one wanted these "weekenders" there. They were regarded as more trouble than they were worth. That attitude held. The National Guards and Reservists families knew about it, but they wouldn't talk about it. They just sucked it up. That was not the last insult to their service. That came after they were back and needing help to heal, just like the regular military folks but as we focused on the trouble they had getting help, we ignored the worst of their problems. The "weekenders" were getting even less help.
They were told to just go back to their lives, back to their families and jobs. Too many ended up risking their lives back home after risking them over there. Not just on jobs with law enforcement or in fire departments as many think, but risking them while carrying their own secret war just as every other generation had waged.
They were easy to ignore. Less than one percent of the population of this nation has served in Afghanistan or Iraq. Even less were "weekenders" expected to take off their boots and put on work shoes or college sandals. The regular military folks, well they suffered too, but they had the rest of their unit to lean on. Guardsmen came back to a nation filled with more people knowing who was winning American Idol more than they knew troops were still dying in Iraq and Afghanistan. While the media spent more time making celebrity "heroes" out of people like Sarah Palin and her every tweet along with other famous idiots last scandal, they just didn't have time to cover anything about any of this.
As 18 veterans committed suicide on a daily basis families knew what was going on. More and more of them began to talk about it openly but the media had other things to report on cable TV for.
Now we have this fantastic look inside one National Guard unit painting the picture crystal clear so that the whole nation can see it, feel it and understand how real all of this is but I doubt you'll see it on CNN, FOX or MSNBC. The less than one percent serving can't compete with the budget battle, or if the Idol judges are "too nice."
These are our neighbors coming home. These are our coworkers. They go to our churches. They shop in our stores. They are suffering and they have been screaming for help but this is one more case of ignorance. Instead of shooting them for being cowards, we let them suffer to the point where they regret surviving.
Brandon Barrett's War
The Army didn't tell anyone about a disturbed AWOL soldier until it was too late.
By Rick Anderson Wednesday, Apr 13 2011
Two of Spc. Brandon Barrett's fellow Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldiers were killed and more than 20 wounded in three major firefights and suicide bombings the 5th Stryker brigade endured during its year in Afghanistan. Between the summers of 2009 and 2010, Barrett and his colleagues came under fire from snipers, mortars, and roadside bombs in sparsely-settled Zabul province, bordering Pakistan, and, to the south, in the Taliban-controlled Helmand province.
One particular firefight between the Taliban and Barrett's 5th Stryker detail lasted five hours. "His unit saw some of the worst combat in Afghanistan," says Barrett's brother, Shane, a Tucson, Ariz., police detective. Firefights were so intense the Lewis-McChord soldiers were sometimes known as the Shit Magnets. "If it was bad and it happened," a grunt told a reporter last year, "it happened to us."
Brandon Barrett, who killed at least two enemy fighters during his year-long tour, didn't seem to fare badly, however. During a post-deployment health screening last summer, he told doctors only that he was a bit nervous, could be startled from time to time, and had seen lots of dead people. Otherwise, he was fine, he added, and certainly not suicidal. But doctors, according to a 200-page Army report on Barrett's case obtained exclusively by Seattle Weekly, worried he was keeping his real feelings to himself. He denied having any medical or mental-health issues, doctors noted, although they did refer him to the service's substance-abuse program.
The base also was in turmoil over claims that it mistreated members of an Oregon National Guard team that was demobilized at Lewis-McChord after returning from Iraq last year. Madigan Army Medical Center officials handled them as second-class soldiers, Guard members told reporters, citing a briefing held by Madigan staff to prepare for the unit's arrival. It included a PowerPoint presentation that showed a ball cap emblazoned with the words "Weekend Warrior," and a staff advisory that suggested Guard members might try to game the system to extend their active-duty pay. The soldiers say they didn't get necessary treatment, and were given the bum's rush in favor of regular Army troops.
Spc. Nikkolas W. Lookabill, 22, was shot to death by Vancouver (Wash.) police outside his house four months after he was processed at Lewis-McChord. He was killed September 7 after refusing to put down his gun.
Army veteran Robert Quinones, 29, armed with four guns, held three hostages at gunpoint at a Fort Stewart, Ga., hospital, threatening to kill them as well as President Obama and former President Clinton. He pleaded for mental-health treatment, then surrendered. Injured in Iraq and suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, Quinones had recently been medically discharged from Lewis-McChord.
"Who'd miss me anyway?"
Spc. Dustin Knapp, 23, got into a fight with his uncle, stormed out of his Wisconsin home, and was struck and killed by a car as he walked down a two-lane road at 4:30 a.m. His August 16 death, two months after he returned to Lewis-McChord from Afghanistan, was ruled an accident, although there was speculation he'd jumped in front of the car.
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Brandon Barrett's War
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Camp Pendleton's 3/5 Finally Home
Camp Pendleton's 3/5 Finally Home
by Katia Lopez-Hodoyan
Any Marine or sailor who has seen combat has stories to tell but few have seen action in recent years like the troops from Camp Pendleton's 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment.
They've experienced some of the most violent attacks from insurgents in Afghanistan. Dozens died in the line of duty.
All that was set aside for just a moment Monday night when families celebrated the safe return of more than 150 troops.
Some may say it was a homecoming that never felt so sweet.
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Camp Pendleton's 3/5 Finally Home
by Katia Lopez-Hodoyan
Any Marine or sailor who has seen combat has stories to tell but few have seen action in recent years like the troops from Camp Pendleton's 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment.
They've experienced some of the most violent attacks from insurgents in Afghanistan. Dozens died in the line of duty.
All that was set aside for just a moment Monday night when families celebrated the safe return of more than 150 troops.
Some may say it was a homecoming that never felt so sweet.
read more here
Camp Pendleton's 3/5 Finally Home
Divorce Rate For Women In Military Double That Of Men
Divorce Rate For Women In Military Double That Of Men
Laura Stampler
When naval officer Amanda Smith was deployed to Kuwait in August of 2009, her job was to find holes in existing military medical programs and fix them. Smith (her name has been changed) was a mender. She held together the morale of her peripatetic unit. When she found out that a child of one of her soldiers had been molested during their deployment, Smith stayed up nights comforting the inconsolable single mother.
She also tried to maintain the fabric of her own dislocated family. Her husband, Jeff, had returned from Iraq only three months before her own deployment, and their children were living with extended family in Oklahoma while their father went back to school in California.
Then, without any reason for suspicion, Jeff began to berate her for having an affair while abroad. “When the accusations kept flying at me, I wondered if he had a guilty conscience,” said Smith, who never questioned Jeff during his deployment. “Is that what he did when he was gone?”
On a cold Friday in December 2009, Jeff called Smith in Kuwait to say he wanted a divorce. Emotionally overwhelmed, she did not contact him again until she returned to an empty house in April. She found out that he was engaged to someone else Mother’s Day weekend; although their divorce was finalized only last week, Jeff filed for “single status” so that he could remarry last November.
Smith joined the rank and file of military divorcées.
read more here
Divorce Rate For Women In Military Double That Of Men
Laura Stampler
When naval officer Amanda Smith was deployed to Kuwait in August of 2009, her job was to find holes in existing military medical programs and fix them. Smith (her name has been changed) was a mender. She held together the morale of her peripatetic unit. When she found out that a child of one of her soldiers had been molested during their deployment, Smith stayed up nights comforting the inconsolable single mother.
She also tried to maintain the fabric of her own dislocated family. Her husband, Jeff, had returned from Iraq only three months before her own deployment, and their children were living with extended family in Oklahoma while their father went back to school in California.
Then, without any reason for suspicion, Jeff began to berate her for having an affair while abroad. “When the accusations kept flying at me, I wondered if he had a guilty conscience,” said Smith, who never questioned Jeff during his deployment. “Is that what he did when he was gone?”
On a cold Friday in December 2009, Jeff called Smith in Kuwait to say he wanted a divorce. Emotionally overwhelmed, she did not contact him again until she returned to an empty house in April. She found out that he was engaged to someone else Mother’s Day weekend; although their divorce was finalized only last week, Jeff filed for “single status” so that he could remarry last November.
Smith joined the rank and file of military divorcées.
read more here
Divorce Rate For Women In Military Double That Of Men
First lady wants you: to help military families
(AP) – 20 hours ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — Drawing in everyone from Best Buy's Geek Squad to the Afghan war commander fired by her husband, Michelle Obama ramped up her campaign to support military families on Tuesday and prodded everybody else in the country to get in on the act.
The first lady, joined in the East Room by the president and Vice President Joe Biden and wife Jill, launched "Joining Forces," an initiative to help military families who face a long list of unique challenges, such as moving around a lot and having a parent or spouse facing wartime perils far away.
Mrs. Obama didn't dangle federal grants or incentives, rather a call to be civic-minded.
"This is a challenge to every segment of American society not to simply say thank you but to mobilize, take action and make a real commitment to supporting our military families," Mrs. Obama said.
President Barack Obama, for his part, said it was time to do more to support "the force behind the force."
"They, too, are the reason we've got the finest military in the world," he said.
Over the past year, Mrs. Obama's primary focus has been an ambitious campaign against childhood obesity, in which she urged businesses, non-profits, school and others to get involved in fighting the problem. Now Mrs. Obama, working closely with Mrs. Biden, wants to use that same model to tackle military family issue.
As a down payment, the White House released a list of companies and groups that already have signed on to the effort.
For example, Best Buy's Geek Squad will help military families use technology to connect with loved ones who are deployed, Sears and WalMart will offer transfers to employees who are military spouses who have to move, and the national PTA will expand efforts to help military children adjust to new schools.
Mrs. Obama, in an interview with The Associated Press, said she first got to know about the special challenges facing military families during the 2008 presidential campaign, as she met with military spouses while participating in roundtable discussions with women.
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First lady wants you: to help military families
UK War hero sues police force after they wrongly brand him a paedophile
There can't be enough money to make up for what this additional stress did to this man when he already had PTSD from serving his country in Bosnia.
War hero sues police force after they wrongly brand him a paedophile
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
A war hero with post-traumatic stress disorder is suing a police force for tens of thousands of pounds after they wrongly branded him a paedophile.
Devastated Michael Bennett, 35, suffered vigilante attacks and was banned from seeing his girlfriend's three young children.
Mr Bennett, a Royal Artillery gunner and soldier for nine years, suffered a breakdown after witnessing horrific atrocities while serving in Bosnia.
But his life went from bad to worse when blundering cops got him mixed up with another genuine sex offender living near his home in Nuneaton, Warwickshire.
Warwickshire Police reported him to social services after they received a malicious phone call from a man who claimed Mr Bennett was a paedophile.
Shockingly, officers did not carry out any checks before reporting the innocent man, who now works as a lorry driver, to the authorities last summer.
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War hero sues police force
Veteran in college says "I paid a steep price to have my butt in that seat"
How can most civilians understand any of them if they do not even know what veterans went through in combat? The news stations won't cover any of it, not that the average college aged student would watch much news in the first place. Veterans go back to school with a whole different mindset after combat than they had during high school. When you consider most enter into the military right after high school by the time they serve their time, they enter into college a few years older than other students, but that obvious fact is overshadowed by what they were doing with those years.
I attend Valencia College and I'm a member of the Veterans Council. My husband is a Vietnam Veteran. I thought college life was over when our daughter graduated but the month she was done, I went in. One of the problems this article does not address is that for families, we don't seem to fit in with anyone. We are not really civilian. When you look at the back of a military ID issued to families of disabled veterans, it has "civilian NO" and this allows us to go to military commissaries and get onto bases. We are not veterans, so we don't really belong to them. Wives have no idea what it is like to be gone for a year risking our lives. They only know what it is like to worry about them and do the best they can to take care of what they used to do. In my case, I didn't even do that part. I met my husband over 10 years after he got back from Vietnam, so I don't really fit in with them. There is always a price to pay for membership in any of these groups but the fact is, less than 10% of the population of this nation has a clue about any of this.
While Valencia has veterans attending classes, most of them have the same experience with coming back from combat duty. They can't understand fellow students showing up late for class any more than they can understand assignments not being turned in on time. The attitude of some students bother veterans a great deal when the price of a veteran's education came with putting their lives on the line, as this veteran put it, “I paid a steep price to have my butt in that seat.”
The good thing is that more and more colleges are stepping up to help veterans feel better about their days of learning instead of fighting.
I attend Valencia College and I'm a member of the Veterans Council. My husband is a Vietnam Veteran. I thought college life was over when our daughter graduated but the month she was done, I went in. One of the problems this article does not address is that for families, we don't seem to fit in with anyone. We are not really civilian. When you look at the back of a military ID issued to families of disabled veterans, it has "civilian NO" and this allows us to go to military commissaries and get onto bases. We are not veterans, so we don't really belong to them. Wives have no idea what it is like to be gone for a year risking our lives. They only know what it is like to worry about them and do the best they can to take care of what they used to do. In my case, I didn't even do that part. I met my husband over 10 years after he got back from Vietnam, so I don't really fit in with them. There is always a price to pay for membership in any of these groups but the fact is, less than 10% of the population of this nation has a clue about any of this.
While Valencia has veterans attending classes, most of them have the same experience with coming back from combat duty. They can't understand fellow students showing up late for class any more than they can understand assignments not being turned in on time. The attitude of some students bother veterans a great deal when the price of a veteran's education came with putting their lives on the line, as this veteran put it, “I paid a steep price to have my butt in that seat.”
The good thing is that more and more colleges are stepping up to help veterans feel better about their days of learning instead of fighting.
Colleges, VA work to help veterans on campus
By Trevor Hughes - The (Fort Collins,Colo.) Coloradoan
Posted : Monday Apr 11, 2011 21:02:12 EDT
After a four-year stint in the Marines that took him to Iraq and Afghanistan, Michael Dakduk returned home to Las Vegas in 2008, enrolled in the University of Nevada, and got bored.
It wasn’t that Dakduk, now 25, lacked the discipline or drive to succeed in school. But the former sergeant says he found it hard to study calculus or write English papers — and listen to fellow students complain about the workload — when his mind was still replaying what he had seen and been through.
“I’d revert back to thinking about guys getting blown up, getting shot at,” he says, instead of focusing on what he called his “mundane and menial” schoolwork.
As returning veterans struggle to make the transition from military to civilian life on campuses with younger students without their kind of life experience, colleges and universities are increasingly developing programs to address their needs.
“I paid a steep price to have my butt in that seat,” says Matt Randle, 30, a former Army combat medic who is now a senior at the University of Arizona. “I had a keen sense of not fitting in.”
Dakduk graduated in December and now helps other returning veterans as executive director of the Student Veterans of America in Washington. Randle founded and is student-director of the Arizona campus’ Veterans Education and Transition Services office.
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Colleges, VA work to help veterans on campus
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