Wounded Warrior Project’s Soldier Ride at White House

A participant in the Wounded Warrior Project’s Soldier Ride heads to the South Lawn of the White House through the Diplomatic Reception Room before the start of their ride, May 4, 2011. The President welcomed the group to the White House in advance of their fifth annual ride on Friday and Saturday. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

This afternoon, the South Lawn of the White House was full of veterans, military families, and their bicycles, as the Wounded Warrior Project's Soldier Ride came to the White House. The Soldier Ride started as a way to help wounded soldiers recover from their injuries through adaptive cycling. Nearly a decade later, the program has expanded to involve civilians as well, raising money for and promoting the cause of America's wounded warriors.

In welcoming the riders, President Obama said a few words about the beginnings of the Soldier Ride effort:

Today is a reminder -- as Michelle and Jill Biden have already said -- that every American, every single person in this country, can do something to support our remarkable troops and their families. Everybody can do something.

So seven years ago, a bartender from Long Island had the same idea. He wasn’t from a military family. He had never served in the military. But he knew that he owed our military something. He was just an ordinary American who was grateful for the service of all those who wear the uniform. And he said, “I just wanted to give something back.”

So he jumped on his bike and rode across the country -- over 5,000 miles -- to raise funds and awareness for our wounded warriors. Today, there are Soldier Rides all across America giving our wounded warriors the confidence and support they need to recover. That’s the difference a single person can make. Today we want to thank Chris Carney and everyone from the Wounded Warrior Project for reminding us of our obligations to each other as Americans.

After taking special note of a few individual soldiers with whom he had met before, President Obama thanked the riders for the inspiration they provide him and so many other Americans:

So to all the riders here today, I want to say, as your Commander-in-Chief and as an American, thank you. We are grateful for you. You represent the very best in America. And in your fight to recover and in the ride that you’re about to begin, we see the values and virtues that make our country great.

We may take a hit. We may endure great loss. But we are a strong and resilient people. We push on. We persevere. We’re confident in our cause. And we know that, like generations of Americans before us, we will emerge stronger than before.
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Wounded Warrior Project Soldier's Ride

Fort Wainwright buried toxic waste cleaned up during construction for housing

Toxic waste cleaned up at Army housing project
The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday May 5, 2011 12:07:32 EDT
FAIRBANKS, Alaska — Toxic waste discovered during the construction of housing at Fort Wainwright has been cleaned up.

The discovery of the buried toxic waste in 2005 delayed the completion of the 55-unit development known as Taku Gardens at the Fairbanks base. It also delayed occupation of the housing. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner says the housing now is slated to open October 2012.

Joe Malen, the Army’s cleanup manager, said at a town hall Tuesday that the top level of soil is now considered safe. But tenants will not be able to dig wells or garden without using raised beds because of contamination deep in the soil.

The cleanup of Taku Gardens cost more than $21 million. The Army used the area as a dumping ground in the 1940s and 1950s.
Toxic waste cleaned up at Army housing project

Wilson expects to fund benefits improvements as long as he can take some away

Wilson expects to fund benefits improvements
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday May 4, 2011 13:16:54 EDT
The chairman of the House subcommittee responsible for military benefits said Wednesday he is “very hopeful” of finding money to pay for some major benefits improvements next week when the House Armed Services Committee takes up the 2012 defense budget.

Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., chairman of the committee’s personnel panel, said he is looking for money to pay for improvements in reserve retired pay, to reduce the so-called “widow’s tax” that cuts military survivor benefits for those also receiving such benefits from the Veterans Affairs Department, and to prevent a proposed retail pharmacy co-pay increase for new prescriptions for acute ailments.

Wilson said he is not making promises for large and sweeping changes, but he believes committee aides have identified some sources of funding from within the defense budget that could be tapped to pay for modest changes in those three programs.

Wilson has the support of the panel’s ranking Democrat, Rep. Susan Davis of California, in his effort to find a way around budget rules that limit sources of funding.

“I am an optimist, and I believe we can do things,” Wilson said. “I’m not saying we can do it all, but that we can take some steps in the right direction.”

Wilson made no mention of finding money for another cause he has long supported: complete elimination of the offset in military retired pay for those also receiving veterans disability compensation.

Committee aides, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said they have located possible sources of funding that Wilson and Davis could use, but they did not want to say more, out of fear that someone else might claim the money for another addition to the defense bill.

“Let’s just say that to get something, you have to give something, so we can find money if we are willing to cut, and we are willing to cut,” said one aide.
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Wilson expects to fund benefits improvements

Soldier kicked out for being in wrong unit over substance abuse

Their future should not depend on who their commanders are or what rules they apply. Over the last ten years there have been many reports of soldiers using alcohol and drugs to stop feeling the effects of combat but finding help instead of discharges. Unfortunately there there have also been too many given the "bums rush" out the door cutting them off from everything as a member of the military as well as what they would have received as a veteran.

They lose their military pay and benefits including housing and when they need it the most, their healthcare. Where do you think they can go after serving and suffering for doing it when they have been cut off from everything?

They lose the chance to go to college topped off with the fact that most companies won't hire a dishonorably discharged veteran especially when there are so many honorably discharged veterans with medals looking for work when employers won't hire them. They lose the VA healthcare along with compensation for wounds they received including TBI and PTSD. They lose support from organizations, most with bylaws regarding conditions that the veteran was honorably discharged.

Their future should not depend on who they served under but it does. How do you tell a soldier like Bill Surwillo that his service leading to all of his suffering just killed off his future but others found the help they needed and are still in or going to college or being treated for what combat did to them? Then how to you tell him that had they left him alone for one more day, he would have received everything he should have? How do you tell him that? How do you explain to him that while he served at Lewis-McChord and lost it all, if he served under another commander, he would be in treatment and see his service appreciated? Four years in a unit that went through hell and they couldn't give him one more day to heal his life?

Combat Vet Loses GI Bill Over Pot And Spice
Austin Jenkins
05/03/2011

TRANSCRIPT

NEAR JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. – Here's a soldier's tale. Bill Surwillo deploys to Afghanistan. Nearly a quarter of his platoon is killed. He comes home with PTSD. He turns to marijuana and spice – a synthetic version of the drug – to relax. The Army kicks him out and takes away his GI Bill. Is this fair?


I meet Bill Surwillo at a noisy café just outside the gates of Joint Base Lewis-McChord. His car is packed and he's ready to head home to Wisconsin. He's been kicked out of the Army for drug use one day shy of his official end of service date – and he's bitter.

Bill Surwillo: "I gave my life to that unit for the past four years."

Surwillo is especially upset the Army took away his college benefits. He wanted go to trade school to become a plumber or welder.

Sitting next to him in the café booth is his friend and fellow battle buddy, Nick White. Over the din, they describe the chaos in both their lives since they returned home.

That leads them to war stories from what they call their "gnarly" deployment to Afghanistan.

Surwillo tells me about one of the many roadside bombs that maimed and killed his friends and fellow soldiers.
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Combat Vet Loses GI Bill Over Pot And Spice

Chaplains ponder ethics of celebrating bin Laden's death

Honestly there are many things people do not agree on. This is one of them and has nothing to do with being a Chaplain or even a Christian since we can't agree on much else anyway. The death penalty is another thing people cannot agree on. So let's stop trying to. Why can't we just agree that the long nightmare that began in the 90's is over and may the souls killed because of Osama rest in peace?

Chaplains ponder ethics of celebrating bin Laden's death
By PATRICK DICKSON
Stars and Stripes
Published: May 4, 2011

KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — Army Chaplain (Maj.) Mitchel Tulloss was pondering whether it was acceptable, from a theological standpoint, for the soldiers he counsels in Afghanistan to rejoice over the killing of Osama bin Laden when he abruptly excused himself from a telephone interview. He had to check on noises he thought were incoming fire.

Navy Chaplain (Cmdr.) Philip J. Pelikan, an Eastern Orthodox priest who spent a year with Marines in Helmand province, Afghanistan, from 2009-2010, said he understood the instinct to celebrate, but hoped to appeal to servicemembers’ better selves.

“When you’ve been in the morgue and seen our guys, the temptation to rejoice when the bad guys get it is a strong one,” he said. “I think we have to fight those tendencies to celebrate or rejoice in the death of anyone.”
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Chaplains ponder ethics of celebrating bin Laden's death

Fort Carson Chaplain: 'I'm Not Going To Lose Any Sleep'

Army Wives Of Deployed Soldiers, Recently Returned Soldiers React To Bin Laden Death

Marshall Zelinger, 7NEWS Content Producer/Presenter
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Military families in Colorado Springs continue to deal with the unknown even though Osama bin Laden has been killed.

Outside of the main gate at Fort Carson is the Global War on Terrorism Fallen Soldier Memorial Wall. The names of 282 Fort Carson soldiers killed in Afghanistan and Iraq since Sept. 11 have been etched into rocks. On May 26, the names of 17 more soldiers killed in the last year will be added to the memorial.
click link for more

Missouri National Guardsmen rescue 93-year-old from car

Guardsmen rescue 93-year-old from car
The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday May 4, 2011 11:07:09 EDT

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. — Two members of the Missouri National Guard are getting recognition after their rescue, captured on videotape, of a 93-year-old woman from a flooded roadway along the Black River in Poplar Bluff.
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Guardsmen rescue 93-year-old from car

Missing Iraq Veteran Jerry Beck Showed Signs of PTSD

Wife: Missing Iraq Veteran Jerry Beck Showed Signs of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Jennifer Beck said she last saw her husband April 26 at their home in Georgia. His abandoned car was tagged April 27, and linked to him three days later, after being found on Interstate 75, beneath the Leroy Selmon Crosstown Expressway.
By Linda Chion Kenney


Uncertainty, fear and anger overshadow the life of Jennifer Beck as she awaits word — any word — about her missing husband, U.S. Army Specialist Jerry James Beck, whose green Toyota Corolla was found abandoned on Interstate 75, underneath the Leroy Selmon Crosstown Expressway outside of Greater Brandon.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office is treating this disappearance as a missing-person case and is seeking the public’s help. So are police in Hinesville, Ga., near Savannah, where Beck, 35, was stationed at Fort Stewart.

Beck’s car was first spotted by Road Rangers for the Florida Department of Transportation, who tagged the car as abandoned on April 27, one day after Beck’s disappearance and the same day Jennifer Beck reported him missing.

It wasn’t until April 30 that the car was linked to Jerry Beck, who used to live in Florida and has friends in the Tampa Bay area.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office at 813-247-8200. Or, the Hinesville Police Department at 912-368-8215.

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Missing Iraq Veteran Jerry Beck

Honoring the members of the military and intelligence community

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
S. RES. ll Honoring the members of the military and intelligence community who carried
out the mission that killed Osama bin Laden, and for other purposes.

Mr. REID (for himself and Mr. MCCONNELL) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on
RESOLUTION
Honoring the members of the military and intelligence com- munity who carried out the mission that killed Osama bin Laden, and for other purposes.
Whereas, on May 1, 2011, United States personnel killed terrorist leader Osama bin Laden during the course of a targeted strike against his secret compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan;
Whereas Osama bin Laden was the leader of the al Qaeda terrorist organization, the most significant terrorism threat to the United States and the international community;
Whereas Osama bin Laden was the architect of terrorist at- tacks which killed nearly 3,000 civilians on September 11, 2001, the most deadly terrorist attack against our Nation, in which al Qaeda terrorists hijacked four airplanes and crashed them into the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and, due to heroic efforts by civilian passengers to disrupt the terrorists, near Shanksville, Pennsylvania;
Whereas Osama bin Laden planned or supported numerous other deadly terrorist attacks against the United States and its allies, including the 1998 bombings of United States embassies in Kenya and Tanzania and the 2000 attack on the U.S.S. Cole in Yemen, and against innocent civilians in countries around the world, including the 2004 attack on commuter trains in Madrid, Spain and the 2005 bombings of the mass transit system in London, England;
Whereas, following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the United States, under President George W. Bush, led an international coalition into Afghanistan to dismantle al Qaeda, deny them a safe haven in Afghanistan and ungoverned areas along the Pakistani border, and bring Osama bin Laden to justice;
Whereas President Barack Obama in 2009 committed additional forces and resources to efforts in Afghanistan and Pakistan as ‘‘the central front in our enduring struggle against terrorism and extremism’’;
Whereas the valiant members of the United States Armed Forces have courageously and vigorously pursued al Qaeda and its affiliates in Afghanistan and around the world;
Whereas the anonymous, unsung heroes of the intelligence community have pursued al Qaeda and affiliates in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and around the world with tremendous dedication, sacrifice, and professionalism;

Whereas the close collaboration between the Armed Forces and the intelligence community prompted the Director of National Intelligence, General James Clapper, to state, ‘‘Never have I seen a more remarkable example of focused integration, seamless collaboration, and sheer pro- fessional magnificence as was demonstrated by the Intelligence Community in the ultimate demise of Osama bin Laden.’’;
Whereas, while the death of Osama bin Laden represents a significant blow to the al Qaeda organization and its af- filiates and to terrorist organizations around the world, terrorism remains a critical threat to United States national security; and
Whereas President Obama said, ‘‘For over two decades, bin Laden has been al Qaeda’s leader and symbol, and has continued to plot attacks against our country and our friends and allies. The death of bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our Nation’s effort to defeat al Qaeda.’’: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Senate declares that the death of Osama bin Laden represents a measure of justice and relief for the families and friends of the nearly 3,000 men and women who lost their lives on September 11, 2001, the men and women in the United States and around the world who have been killed by other al Qaeda sponsored attacks, the men and women of the United States Armed Forces and the intelligence community who have sacrificed their lives pursuing Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda; commends the men and women of the United States Armed Forces and the United States intelligence community for the tremendous commitment, perseverance, professionalism, and sacrifice they displayed in bringing Osama bin Laden to justice; commends the men and women of the United States Armed Forces and the United States intelligence community for committing themselves to defeating, disrupting, and dismantling al Qaeda;commends the President for ordering the successful operations to locate and eliminate Osama bin Laden; and reaffirms its commitment to disrupting, dismantling, and defeating al Qaeda and affiliated organizations around the world that threaten United States national security, eliminating a safe haven for terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and bringing terrorists to justice.

Fall River Reflects On Bin Laden's Death

Paul Barrett, right, father of fallen U.S. National Guard Sgt. Robert Barrett, receives a hug as Paul's wife Carlene, left, looks on at the funeral of their son in April 2010. (AP)

Hit Hard By War, Fall River Reflects On Bin Laden's Death
WBUR
FALL RIVER, Mass. — In the past year, five young men in this community have lost their lives fighting in the two wars that started because of Osama bin Laden and the Sept. 11 attacks. For their friends and family, the news of the al-Qaida leader’s death brought a particular sense of pride and justice.

A Family Remembers Its Son

One of those men was U.S. National Guard Sgt. Robert Barrett, who was killed in Afghanistan by a suicide bomber on April 19, 2010. At his family’s modest home, adorned with American flags and tributes to Robert, his grandmother, Sue Galloway, sat on the porch the afternoon after bin Laden’s death. Beside her was her great-granddaughter, Sophie — Robert’s 3-year-old daughter.

The night before, Galloway had watched President Obama’s announcement on television with Robert’s mother. She said they largely kept their feelings to themselves as they listened to the news. “I was just kind of happy that he was gone,” Galloway explained. “Because of all the chaos that he’s created in America itself — and all of the boys that he is at fault of killing. Especially here in Fall River.”

The week before had been the one-year anniversary of Robert’s death. While Galloway says bin Laden’s death doesn’t make the loss of her grandson any easier, she says it marks the time to get the other soldiers out of Afghanistan and Iraq. “Bring all these boys, mothers, fathers, sons, daughters — bring them home to their families. That’s where they belong,” she said, her voice straining.

“My grandson is never coming home. But it don’t mean that he’s not here, because he is,” she said, looking to her great-granddaughter. “Right there. In Sophie. He was a great kid. I miss him, I miss him so much it’s unbelievable. And I have 14 grandchildren.”

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Hit Hard By War

Veteran reaches out to help others connect

Veteran looks to make connection

Lake of the Ozarks, Mo. —
A local veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom is looking to connect fellow members of the armed services who served in this conflict, in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

Keith A. Lucas of Osage Beach is encouraging these soldiers and sailors to join him and other veterans at the VFW Post 5923 in Camdenton as a way to deal with the after effects of the battlefield.

For many veterans who have served in combat, conflict continues once they are home — the internal wounds of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and what is known as survivor's guilt.

For some soldiers who make it home, while others did not, there is a feeling of guilt, which can lead to depression and, in extreme cases, suicide.

Lucas has seen first hand what survivor's guilt can do. In his first few weeks in Iraq, there was a suicide at his camp. Lucas discovered the body of a non-commissioned officer who had been stricken with guilt after a younger soldier had been shot and killed near him.

But it doesn't have to be another tragic ending for soldiers who feel this way. Talking about what happened with those who have 'been there' can help, he said.

For Lucas, his time in Iraq was "the best experience I never want to do again.”

"It helped me see what was important in life, and that is family,” Lucas said. “It brought me back to God.

 I learned to pray again. Most of all it taught that your time on Earth is short and not guaranteed, you should use every minute wisely, let people you care about know that they are important and live for now."

The Camdenton VFW pays the membership dues the first year, Lucas said.

"It's really a positive thing to get involved with people who have the shared experiences of combat," he said. "They'll pay for the first year, so what do you have to lose?"
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Veteran looks to make connection

Wyoming Army National Guard sniper kills wife then self

It's over: David Munis dead of self-inflicted gunshot wound to chest

By Cameron Mathews

cmathews@wyomingnews.com

CHEYENNE -- The Cheyenne man wanted for the sniper-style murder of his estranged wife died Tuesday night of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest.

Cheyenne Police Chief Bob Fecht said a ranch hand spotted David Munis earlier Tuesday evening and contacted the Albany County Command Center.

The center then contacted Albany County sheriff's deputies, who approached Munis in a Wyoming Army National Guard Black Hawk helicopter, Fecht said.

As the helicopter was landing about six miles northwest of the Rogers Canyon area near the Albany-Laramie County border, deputies watched Munis shoot himself in the chest, Fecht said.

"He had been hiding up there in a small camper," he added.

Munis, 36, was wanted by the Laramie County District Attorney's Office on a charge of first-degree murder in connection with the shooting death of Robin Munis, 40, early Saturday morning at the Old Chicago restaurant here.

She died while singing with a band inside the restaurant.

Cheyenne Police Lt. Jeff Schulz said Munis was taken in the Black Hawk helicopter to Ivinson Memorial Hospital in Laramie. He was pronounced dead there.

"Obviously we wanted to catch him alive," Schulz said. "We didn't want him to do this to himself, but it's a relief the search is over."

David Munis' death ended a nearly four-day manhunt for the Army-trained sniper, who had been a member of the Wyoming Army National Guard since 2003.
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David Munis dead of self-inflicted gunshot wound to chest

VA to Take Applications for New Family Caregiver Program

VA to Take Applications for New Family Caregiver Program

VA Implementing Enhancements to Existing Services

for Veterans and Their Caregivers



WASHINGTON - Today, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) published
the interim final rule for implementing the Family Caregiver Program of
the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act 2010. This new
rule will provide additional support to eligible post-9/11 Veterans who
elect to receive their care in a home setting from a primary Family
Caregiver.

"We at VA know that every day is a challenge for our most seriously
injured Veterans and their Family Caregivers," said VA Secretary Eric K.
Shinseki. "I know many Veterans and their Family Caregivers have been
waiting anxiously for this day and I urge them to get their applications
in as soon as possible so they can receive the additional support they
have earned."

On May 9, staff in VA's Office of Care Management and Social Work will
open the application process for eligible post-9/11 Veterans and
Servicemembers to designate their Family Caregivers.

Additional services for primary Family Caregivers of eligible post-9/11
Veterans and Servicemembers include a stipend, mental health services,
and access to health care insurance, if they are not already entitled to
care or services under a health care plan. Comprehensive Caregiver
training and medical support are other key components of this program.
The program builds on the foundation of Caregiver support now provided
at VA and reflects what families and clinicians have long known; that
Family Caregivers in a home environment can enhance the health and
well-being of Veterans under VA care.

Starting May 9th, Veterans may download a copy of the Family Caregiver
program application (VA CG 10-10) at www.caregiver.va.gov. The
application enables the Veteran to designate a primary Family Caregiver
and secondary Family Caregivers if needed. Caregiver Support
Coordinators are stationed at every VA medical center and via phone at
1-877-222 VETS (8387) to assist Veterans and their Family Caregivers
with the application process.

"Providing support to Family Caregivers who sacrifice so much to allow
Veterans to remain at home surrounded by their loved ones, is very
important to us at VA. We offer a range of Caregiver support services
including training, counseling and respite care to ensure that our
caregivers have the tools and support they need to continue in their
care giving role," said Deborah Amdur, VA's Chief Consultant for Care
Management and Social Work. "We appreciate the patience, support and
assistance we have received from Veterans, Veterans Service
Organizations, and the greater Caregiver community in shaping this
program and bringing this new VA program to our wounded warriors and
their dedicated Family Caregivers."

Caregivers for Veterans of all eras are eligible for respite care,
education and training on what it means to be a caregiver, how to best
meet the Veteran's care needs, and the importance of self-care when in a
care giving role. The full range of VA services already provided to
Caregivers will continue, and local Caregiver Support Coordinators at
each VA medical center are available to assist Family Caregivers in
identifying benefits and services they may be eligible for. The
Caregiver Support Coordinators are well versed in VA programs and also
have information about other local public, private and non-profit agency
support services that are available to support Veterans and their Family
Caregivers at home.

VA programs for Veterans and their Family Caregivers include:

o In-Home and Community Based Care: This includes skilled
home health care, homemaker home health aide services, community adult
day health care and Home Based Primary Care.

o Respite Care: Designed to relieve the Family Caregiver
from the constant challenge of caring for a chronically ill or disabled
Veteran at home, respite services can include in-home care, a short stay
in one of VA's community living centers or an environment designed for
adult day health care.

o Caregiver education and training programs: VA currently
provides multiple training opportunities which include pre-discharge
care instruction and specialized caregiver programs in multiple severe
traumas such as Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), Spinal Cord
Injury/Disorders, and Blind Rehabilitation. VA has a Family Caregiver
assistance healthy living center on My HealtheVet, www.myhealth.va.gov
, as well as caregiver information on the
VA's main Web page health site; both Websites include information on VA
and community resources and Caregiver health and wellness.

o Caregiver support groups and other services: Family
Caregiver support groups, offered in a face to face setting or on the
telephone, provide emotional and peer support, and information. Family
Caregiver services include family counseling, spiritual and pastoral
care, family leisure and recreational activities and temporary lodging
in Fisher Houses.

o Other services: VA provides durable medical equipment
and prosthetic and sensory aides to improve function, financial
assistance with home modification to improve access and mobility, and
transportation assistance for some Veterans to and from medical
appointments.

Florida Vietnam Vet battles to build American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial

Vietnam vet from Fort Lauderdale battles for national Disabled Veterans Memorial

By Mike Clary, Sun Sentinel
8:06 p.m. EDT, May 2, 2011


FORT LAUDERDALE— When Marine Corps 1st Lt. Jim Patrick came home from the Vietnam War in 1966, he had a Bronze Star, a Purple Heart and a shattered right knee that would give him 40 years of physical pain. But he did not think of himself as disabled.

"I was a Marine," said Patrick, 70, a family counselor for the Broward schools. "I was just glad to be alive, and I was glad to be back in the world."

In recent years, however, Patrick has embraced his dual identity. He is both a decorated warrior afflicted with chronic joint pain and post traumatic stress disorder, and an activist for a cause much bigger than his own recovery.

The American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial, an $86 million project scheduled to open in Washington, D.C., in November 2012, promises to become a national landmark. It will also serve as a tribute to more than 3 million living, disabled American veterans.
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Disabled Veterans Memorial

Miami-Dade starts specialized drug court for military veterans

Miami-Dade starts specialized drug court for military veterans


For the first time, drug-addicted veterans facing low-level drug charges will get coordinated assistance from the Veterans Affairs agency and the courts.

BY DAVID OVALLE

DOVALLE@MIAMIHERALD.COM

Miami’s Terrell Cooper spent three years in the U.S. Air Force as a missile technician, but left in 2004 after his father and the mother of his baby died within a few months of each other.

Seven years later, Cooper, 30, has a steady job and four daughters — but is also battling addiction to cocaine and marijuana. On Friday, facing a cocaine possession charge, he became part of a fledgling Miami-Dade court program designed specially for veterans with drug problems like his.

Thanks to the new Veterans Court, Cooper will for the first time get coordinated services from the Department of Veterans Affairs and the county’s lauded Drug Court, offering the promise of specialized drug treatment and financial assistance returning to college.

“I feel more motivated,” said Cooper, a UPS delivery man. “I’ll be able to go to school, and move in a direction I’ve been wanting to move in.”

The Veterans Court is part of a growing nationwide movement of courts designated specifically for veterans, allowing them to avoid jail or prison by entering intense court-monitored drug rehabilitation. The concept is an extension of drug court, which first started in Miami more than two decades ago.

Miami’s Veterans Court is the 69th in 24 states across the country. It started in Buffalo, N.Y., three years ago to handle the crush of substance-abusing service men and women running afoul of the law after stints in Middle East conflict zones. That city’s program claims not a single graduate has been re-arrested, and people familiar with the other courts say anecdotal reports are encouraging.


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Miami-Dade starts specialized drug court for military veterans

VA Hosts Veteran Small Business Conference in New Orleans

VA Hosts Veteran Small Business Conference in New Orleans

Supports Veteran-Owned Businesses and Helps Them Compete for Federal
Contracts

WASHINGTON (May 3, 2011) - The Department of Veterans Affairs will host
the upcoming National Veterans Small Business Conference and Expo,
Aug.15-18 in New Orleans. It will be the largest nationwide conference
of its kind focused on helping Veteran-owned businesses succeed in
winning federal contracts.

"Veteran-owned businesses provide world class services and expand
employment opportunities for some of our Nation's most highly-trained
and motivated men and women," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K.
Shinseki. "That is why VA is proud to host this annual conference to
help better prepare these veteran-owned businesses to compete and win
contracts with the federal government."

The conference, scheduled for the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center,
will provide Veteran-Owned and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned small
businesses of all sizes with an opportunity to learn, network, and
market their businesses.

The conference will offer a variety of new training sessions on
navigating the federal acquisition process, including finance,
compliance, business development, marketing, strategy, contract
management, human resources, technology, and program management. The
conference track sessions will be targeted for a variety of businesses
from new business owners just back from theater to well-established
Veteran-owned businesses looking to expand opportunities or increase
market share.

An open house has been added to the event to give Veterans from both the
conference and local region the opportunity to experience the wide range
of resources available to the Veteran community.

The National Veteran Small Business Conference is open to both
government and non-government personnel. For more information and to
register for the conference, go to www.nationalveteransconference.com.

President Obama knew better when Americans disapproved of management of Afghanistan War

Obama watched live video of bin Laden raid, U.S. official says
By Mark Milian, CNN

Shortly after taking office in 2009, Obama had directed Panetta "to make the killing or capture of bin Laden the top priority of our war against al Qaeda," the president said in his speech Sunday night. "We give thanks to the countless intelligence and counterterrorism professionals who've worked tirelessly to achieve this outcome. The American people do not see their work, nor know their names."

While we celebrate this week it was just one week before Osama was killed that more Americans disapproved of the way President Obama was managing the war in Afghanistan.

Poll:
More Americans disapprove of Obama’s management of Afghan war
By Scott Wilson and Jon Cohen, Published: April 25

More Americans disapprove of President Obama’s management of the war in Afghanistan than support it, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, a finding that reflects the public’s broader concern over the course of the nearly decade-old conflict.

Americans have given Obama wide leeway in escalating the conflict in Afghanistan, which as a presidential candidate he called “the war we have to win.” That latitude is changing — and fairly quickly — as the longer-running of the two wars he inherited approaches the 10-year mark.

In the Post-ABC News survey released Monday, 49 percent of respondents said they disapprove of Obama’s management of the war and 44 percent voiced approval. The disapproval mark is the highest on record in Post-ABC News polling. Overall, the figures have essentially flipped since January, the last time the poll asked the question. In that survey, 49 percent approved of Obama’s handling of the Afghanistan war and 41 percent disapproved.

Last month, the survey revealed that nearly two-thirds of Americans think the war is no longer worth fighting, the highest number recorded in response to that question.

How do they feel about the fact while they stopped supporting what he was doing, he knew what was coming?

Death because of combat should be honored as much as during it

If they added all the names of the fallen because of combat in Vietnam, the entire park around the Vietnam Memorial would be taken up. There are deaths from Agent Orange not listed on the Wall but there are also many suicides caused by living in hell during combat. The military has yet to be able to come to terms that lives lost because of combat are just as worthy of honor as those killed during it. It is time to stop having a second class sacrifice for this country and honor all the lives lost serving it.

Does a Servicemember's Suicide Qualify him as a Combat Casualty?
Written by Geoff Ziezulewicz
Thursday, 28 April 2011 10:06

June 3, 2010 (Stars and Stripes) - Monica Velez sees no difference in the deaths of her brothers, Jose and Andrew. They both died in an Army uniform while serving their country.

The American Legion doesn’t see it that way.

At the Lubbock Area Veterans Memorial in Texas, Army Cpl. Jose A. Velez’s name is inscribed on the black granite wall honoring local residents killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Jose, 23, was killed Nov. 13, 2004, in Fallujah, Iraq.

His little brother, Spc. Andrew Velez, 22, took his own life in Afghanistan in 2006.

Despite Monica Velez’s pleas, American Legion Post 575 refuses to add Andrew’s name to the wall.

“He’s probably in a better place and doesn’t care about it, but he worked for that recognition,” she said.

Every three or four months, when she asks the group to reconsider, she gets the same answer: Andrew doesn’t belong there.

As the military and families reel under an alarming increase in troop suicides, units and communities across the country are faced with the question of how and whether to memorialize those deaths. The social stigma attached to suicide, and differing views about what constitutes a war death, often play a role in deciding whose loss is commemorated on a wall, plaque or monument.

The Velez family is welcome to buy a commemorative brick for $125, said Jerry Dickson, a member of the legion’s board of directors. But that black granite wall is only for combat deaths.

Andrew Velez “had a choice,” Dickson said. “He took his own life. His brother did not. He was taken by the enemy. All of them up there lost their lives to the enemy.”

There is no military guidance regarding what kind of deaths can be memorialized. Such decisions are left to local groups and military communities, decisions sometimes colored by personal views on suicide.

“When you start looking at the issues of who died and how they died, it gets very complicated,” said Ami Neiberger-Miller of the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, a group that helps military families deal with loss. “There are a lot of ways you can die in the military.”

Velez will never know for sure, but she believes Andrew’s suicide began when he escorted their brother’s body home from Iraq in 2004. Andrew was in-country with another unit.

Bad weather at Germany’s Ramstein Air Base left him stranded for hours next to the casket holding Jose’s remains. Velez remembers him calling her on a cell phone he borrowed from someone in the terminal, crying and screaming for hours. No one was there to help him, she said, adding that she feels Andrew was treated too callously by the military after his brother’s death.
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Does a Servicemember's Suicide Qualify him as a Combat Casualty

Osama lived in mansion and told others to die

We waited almost ten years for this, "an American bullet in bin Laden's head" but as people line up to take credit, including Bush's cabinet members, it is stunning to discover that for 8 years of his presidency, it turns out Osama has been living in the mansion for years and it took Obama two years to do what Bush couldn't get done in 8. We all remember the news interview in 2002 when Bush said he didn't spend much time thinking about Osama. After all, the talk at that point changed to Iraq and Saddam.

Most of the young men and women enlisted because of September 11, 2001 but the exact number of the over 2 million deployed into Afghanistan and Iraq is not known. This is what they wanted and the rest of the country demanded until they just didn't care anymore. When was the last time Osama's name was even mentioned? As more and more Americans decided the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were not worth the money anymore, the men and women serving in the military still risked their lives everyday. Now it seems as if every American and most of the world is celebrating an American bullet ending Osama's terror.

Precision mission ends with an American bullet in bin Laden's head
By CHRIS CARROLL
Stars and Stripes
Published: May 2, 2011

WASHINGTON — The plan was to slip in smoothly. Elite Navy SEALs would descend from helicopters and kill or capture the ghostlike figure who had overseen the murder of thousands and haunted the American imagination for a decade.

Instead, the raid began with a bang as a Black Hawk helicopter crash-landed in the courtyard of a fortified compound in Abbottabad, an affluent area outside Islamabad, Pakistan. Here, among retired military officers and near Pakistan’s leading military school, the world’s most wanted man had been hiding in plain sight while the search for him focused on Pakistan’s rough-and-tumble tribal region near Afghanistan.

Bedeviled by helicopter problems, the raid began with echoes of the foiled 1980 mission to free U.S. hostages in Iran, or the brutal Battle of Mogadishu — another Black Hawk down.

But it didn’t play out that way, as some two dozen elite members of fabled SEAL Team Six and CIA operators pulled it together. They continued on with their mission — perhaps the most consequential American military operation in decades — without missing a beat.

Bin Laden had been holed up within an extensive, roughly triangular compound surrounded by walls up to 18 feet high. Inside, it was divided by more walls and dominated by a three-story mansion.

Months of CIA intelligence work based on information from detainees had established first that a trusted emissary of the terrorist leader lived there.
Precision mission ends with an American bullet in bin Laden's head

Osama was a coward, hiding in a mansion, telling poor and frustrated fools that they could become martyrs by blowing themselves up, but in the end, he was not even willing to die and hid behind his wife.

As of today, according to iCasualties there have been 4,452 lives gone paying the price in Iraq and 1,566 in Afghanistan. Naturally we do not factor in all the wounded any more than we factor in all the deaths caused by combat PTSD and suicides because that would just be too much for our imagination and conscience to grasp fully. As we are celebrating the death of Osama, how long will it take to think of the price paid for this to happen? Will the American people now respond to surveys saying it was worth it? What does this end up meaning to the veterans of our wars we stopped paying attention to?

Army Vet: This Is Why I Signed Up (VIDEO)
— By Tim Murphy Mon May. 2, 2011


Ret. Sgt. Evan Cole enlisted the Army when he was a 17-year-old Michigan high school student in 2001. He got out of Walter Reed Naval Hospital three months ago. He has a six-inch scar on his right leg to go with injuries to his hand and his head from his tour in Ramadi. He made up his mind to join the army after the watched the Twin Towers fall in his geography class. Cole was one of thousands of revelers who gathered in front of the White House late last night and stayed well into the early hours of the morning to celebrate the death of Osama Bin Laden.

"In the last few years, it seemed like nobody even cared, like what we did over there in Iraq; nobody even talks about it anymore. It is so amazing to see so many people out here wearing red, white, and blue," Cole said. "See, that's what we were over there for—it's these people!"
Army Vet: This Is Why I Signed Up

Will this Memorial Day be sacred to us or will it be just one more long weekend to kick off our summer? Will the media finally admit that when some wiser heads were saying that a full blown occupation was not necessary when this operation was pulled off with the bravery of SEALS and intelligence of CIA agents? Calm determination of President Obama ended this even while he was being attacked over "silly" accusations like his birth certificate. The media fed the frenzy but he was planning to finally being Osama's life to an end.

6 Boy Scouts, 2 troop leaders missing in Arkansas National Forest

UPDATE 9:38

Missing Boy Scout troop found in Arkansas national forest
May 3rd, 2011



A Boy Scout troop from Lafayette, Louisiana, which was missing after a weekend camping trip in an Arkansas national forest, was found safe on Tuesday, officials said.

The campsite of troop No. 162 in the Ouachita National Forest was spotted by a National Guard helicopter, said Jerry Elizandro, spokesman for the Montgomery County Emergency Management Agency.

The scouts were being transferred by helicopter to a command post, said Art Hawkins, scout executive for the Evangeline Area Council of Boy Scouts of America. All the boys are fine, he said. Officials hope to find out what happened from the scout master later, he said.

Hawkins said Monday officials were confident the troop was safe, saying the scout master with the troop was very experienced and serves as a backpacking trainer. The average age of the youths is 14, he said.

Arkansas State Police were prevented from conducting an aerial search on Monday because of the weather, Hawkins said. A lack of cell service in the area was also hampering search efforts, he said.

The area being searched was near the scene of a fatal flood last year. Twenty people died in flash floods during the summer.
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6 Boy Scouts, 2 troop leaders missing in Arkansas National Forest
By Rick Martin, CNN
May 2, 2011 10:08 p.m. EDT

Arkansas authorities are searching the Ouachita National Forest for a missing Boy Scout troop from Louisiana.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Search continues for Louisiana Boy Scout troop
Weather has prevented air search
Location has no mobile phone service

(CNN) -- A Boy Scout troop from Lafayette, Louisiana, is missing after camping this weekend in a national forest in Arkansas.

Arkansas emergency official Tommy Jackson said the search by the Montgomery County Sheriff's office for Troop No. 162 continues in the Ouachita National Forest.

"We're very confident the kids and adults are safe," scout executive Art Hawkins of the Evangeline Area Council of Lafayette said. "The Scout master with them is very experienced and serves as a backpacking trainer. The average age of the youth is 14 and they are the more experienced hikers of his organization."

Arkansas State Police have tried to conduct an aerial search, but due to the weather have not been able to, Hawkins said.

Arkansas authorities describe their search as being near the scene of 2010's fatal camp flood where 20 people died in flash floods during the summer.

"We're dealing with all kinds of floods in the state," Jackson said. There's no cell service in the area and it's hampering search efforts, he said.
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6 Boy Scouts, 2 troop leaders missing

Senators hope to learn more about bin Laden op

Chuck Todd on NBC Nightly News didn't mention the helicopter having to be blown up by the SEALS but congress is looking into what happened to it.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

This is the report of the helicopter.

Senators hope to learn more about bin Laden op
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Monday May 2, 2011 16:06:58 EDT
The Senate Armed Services Committee wants more information about the special operations helicopter that was blown up Sunday by U.S. Navy SEALs after suffering some kind of failure during the raid that led to the death of Osama bin Laden.

At one point Sunday night, during a briefing with reporters, White House officials said the helicopter had suffered a mechanical failure that led to a forced landing in the Pakistan compound; another chopper was sent to extract the U.S. forces. But, later in the same briefing, White House officials said mechanical failure may not have been to blame.

News photos of the remains of the helicopter appear to show a UH-60 Black Hawk.

The failure of a helicopter during a key part of the military mission was eerily similar to the mechanical failures and crash that resulted in disaster during Desert One, the 1980 incident when U.S. forces attempted to free U.S. hostages being held in Iran. The rescue mission was aborted when three of the five helicopters suffered mechanical problems or did not reach the rendezvous point because of bad weather and malfunctions.

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., the armed services committee chairman, said during a Monday conference call with reporters that the committee hopes to discover exactly what happened to the helicopter on Tuesday afternoon, when the Obama administration promised to provide a full briefing on details of the operation.

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Senators hope to learn more about bin Laden op

Report from Richard Engle

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Headline spin on soldiers with PTSD again

How did this report end up being another "blame the veteran" piece?

Soldiers with mental illness more often get PTSD

When you read further down you find this.

In the new study, published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, more than 22,000 soldiers completed a health questionnaire before they were deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, and again after they returned.

Just over three percent had some mental illness, including PTSD, at the outset.

When you put the whole thing together, you get not much adding up to this headline.

Soldiers with mental illness more often get PTSD


NEW YORK | Mon May 2, 2011 5:18pm EDT
(Reuters Health) - Preexisting mental health problems could be setting soldiers up for posttraumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, when they return from the battlefield, U.S. Navy researchers said Monday.

They found those with depression, panic disorder or another psychiatric illness were more than twice as likely to develop the condition as their mentally stable peers.

"More vulnerable members of the deployed population might be identified and benefit from interventions targeted to prevent or to ensure early identification and treatment of postdeployment PTSD," Dr. Donald Sandweiss of the Naval Health Research Center in San Diego, California, and colleagues write.

Earlier studies have come to different conclusions, but their methods were less reliable than those used in the current one, the researchers add.

Between seven to eight percent of the general population eventually develops PTSD, according to the National Center for PTSD at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

The psychological toll -- including flashbacks, "numbing" toward other people, and drug problems -- can be extremely hard to deal with and may destroy relationships or cause trouble on the job.
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Soldiers with mental illness more often get PTSD

Are they saying that 7 to 8 percent of the population are exposed to traumatic events causing PTSD or are there actually more since the going rate of PTSD is one out of three exposed to events that put their lives in danger. Do they address the fact that when you look up the symptoms of PTSD, you find depression, panic attacks along with a very, very long list of symptoms that could be misdiagnosed when taken all together along with the stressor of a traumatic event, it all turns out to be PTSD. They have been misdiagnosing PTSD as something else for a very long time but when you talk to experts they always look for what is behind what they are seeing.

They will ask about when the person started to show signs and then ask about events. They listen for key words from patients as well as families and then zero in on the term "suddenly changed" so they can discover if it is mental illness or PTSD. Much like going to a doctor with any condition cannot be diagnosed without knowing what you feel is wrong with you, they get this one wrong all the time. If you went to a doctor and said you had a headache but they never checked for a bullet hole in your head, aspirin isn't going to do you much good at all.

But this is the Reuters version of the piece in Science Daily.

Post-Deployment PTSD Symptoms More Common in Military Personnel With Prior Mental Health Disorders

At baseline, 739 participants (3.3 percent) had at least one psychiatric disorder, defined as PTSD, depression, panic syndrome or another anxiety syndrome. Of the overall group, 183 individuals (0.8 percent) sustained a physical injury during deployment. Follow-up questionnaires showed that 1,840 participants (8.1 percent of the 22,630 subjects in the study population) had PTSD symptoms after deployment.

Participants who showed signs of PTSD at baseline had nearly five times the odds of developing the disorder after deployment. Similarly, among those who experienced other mental health issues were at baseline, the odds of post-deployment PTSD symptoms was 2.5 times more likely. Further, the study found each three-unit increase in Injury Severity Score (as assigned by the JTTR or CTR EMED) was associated with a 16.1 percent greater odds of having post-deployment PTSD symptoms.

Pre-deployment? Were these men and women deployed prior to this study and how many times were they deployed before this? The Army said that redeployments increased the risk of PTSD by 50%. Experts also say that a lot of times PTSD does not cause problems in some until years after the event itself. So what is this study really all about? Is it about trying to say they have no responsibility to the veterans they discharged under "personality disorders" and they can start doing that again? After all, if they were already mentally ill then the military is not responsible for them if they end up with PTSD. In other words, is this one more attempt at blaming the troops for the price they pay serving and risking their lives?

Cole CO during 2000 attack says crew vindicated

Cole CO during 2000 attack says crew vindicated
By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Monday May 2, 2011 13:25:13 EDT
A former commander of the destroyer Cole cheered the news that Osama bin Laden had been killed during a raid on a secret compound in Pakistan early Monday, but said the news was also a sobering reminder of those who lost their lives or were injured during the Oct. 12, 2000, bin Laden-directed attack in Aden, Yemen.

“I’m absolutely thrilled that we finally reached out and got bin Laden,” said retired Cmdr. Kirk Lippold, who commanded the ship at the time of the attack. “But as you would expect, that’s also tempered with the fact that there are still 17 families out there that are missing their loved ones, along with thousands of other Americans who’ve also paid a price at the hands of that guy.”
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Cole CO during 2000 attack says crew vindicated

Osama tried to hide behind his wife?

UPDATE 4:13

May 03, 2011
Obama aide: Bin Laden not armed when killed


By David Jackson, USA TODAY

Osama bin Laden was not armed when a U.S. Navy SEAL shot and killed him during the raid two days ago in Pakistan, a White House spokesman said today, contrary to previous accounts provided by Obama administration officials.

"He was not armed," spokesman Jay Carney said today while reading a revised narrative that corrects other errors from previous readouts of the operation that took the life of the world's most wanted terrorist.

The new account changes the initial claim, later withdrawn, that bin Laden had used a woman believed to be his wife as a "human shield" when confronted by U.S. forces during the raid that began at 4:15 p.m. Sunday, Washington time.

The updated version says "a woman -- bin Laden's wife -- rushed the U.S. assaulter and was shot in the leg but not killed."

"Bin Laden was then shot and killed," the narrative adds at that point. "He was not armed."

At a White House briefing yesterday, counter-terrorism adviser John Brennan said that bin Laden "engaged in a firefight with those that entered the area of the house he was in. And whether or not he got off any rounds, I quite frankly don't know."

Brennan also said bin Laden was "hiding behind women who were put in front of him as a shield."
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Obama aide: Bin Laden not armed when killed

40 minutes to capture or kill: Timeline, history of Osama bin Laden raid
Sunday's dramatic events, with a continuous firefight that ended in Osama bin Laden's death in Pakistan, were preceded by years of intelligence gathering and extensive, painstaking planning.

By James Oliphant, Washington Bureau
4:01 p.m. EDT, May 2, 2011


Reporting from Washington— After landing by helicopter at the Pakistani compound housing Osama bin Laden on Sunday, the U.S. special operations team tasked with capturing or killing the Al Qaeda leader found itself in an almost continuous gun battle.

For the next 40 minutes, the team cleared the two buildings within the fortified compound in Abbottabad, north of Islamabad, trying to reach Bin Laden and his family, who lived on the second and third floors of the largest structure, senior Defense Department and intelligence officials said Monday.

"Throughout most of the 40 minutes, they were engaged in a firefight," said a senior Pentagon official, who characterized the operation as intense but deliberate.

Bin Laden "resisted" and was killed by U.S. gunfire in the larger building toward the end of the operation. He fired on the assault team, a U.S. official said, and may have tried to use his wife as a shield. The woman also was killed.

After the firefight, the special-operations force quickly gathered papers — valuable intelligence on Al Qaeda, officials said — and other materials in the two buildings and clambered back on helicopters, taking Bin Laden's corpse with them.
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40 minutes to capture or kill

Two Korean War vets receive Medal of Honor posthumously

Two Korean War vets receive Medal of Honor posthumously
(Reuters) - President Barack Obama posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, the highest declaration of military valor, to two Korean War veterans on Monday.

Family members of Army Private First Class Anthony Kaho'ohanohano and Private First Class Henry Svehla accepted the awards on the soldiers' behalf over 50 years after their deaths.

Kaho'ohanohano, a native Hawaiian, held off enemy soldiers with his firearm, grenades and eventually his hands on September 1, 1951, allowing his comrades to regroup and repulse the attack.

After his platoon appeared to be losing in a fight on June 12, 1952, Svehla, from New Jersey, charged enemy positions, firing and throwing grenades. Despite being wounded, he carried on. Finally, he threw himself on a grenade to save the lives of fellow soldiers.
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Two Korean War vets receive Medal of Honor posthumously

Deltona FL Master Sgt. Tara R. Brown among dead at Kabul Airport shooting

Deltona airman killed in gunfire near Kabul airport
Master Sgt. Tara R. Brown, 33, died in a hail of gunfire at Kabul International Airport earlier this week.

Compiled by Orlando Sentinel
11:17 p.m. EDT, April 29, 2011

A Deltona airman was among nine Americans killed this week in gunfire at a military compound near Kabul International Airport in Afghanistan, the Department of Defense announced Friday.

Master Sgt. Tara R. Brown, 33, and eight other Americans died when a veteran Afghani pilot opened fire about 10 a.m. Wednesday.

An argument with a foreign colleague at a meeting in the operations room of the Afghan air force building preceded the shooting, according to statements released by NATO and Afghan officials. The pilot targeted foreign instructors and advisers, they said.
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Deltona airman killed in gunfire near Kabul airport

Combat Stress as 'Moral Injury' Offends Marines

When will they ever learn? If it was a "moral injury" then why would survivors of other traumatic events suffer? Yes, moral issues do factor into PTSD but when you have so many believing in what they are doing, telling them it is a moral injury is way off base.

Combat Stress as 'Moral Injury' Offends Marines
April 29, 2011
Stars and Stripes|by Megan McCloskey
SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- The new buzzwords in the mental health community for types of combat stress are "moral injury" -- and some Marines don't really care for the label.

On the third day of the Navy and Marine Corps' annual conference on combat and operational stress control, moral injury was the guiding topic. One Marine commander roped into a panel discussion at the last minute bluntly took issue with the phrase: "As a Marine, I'm insulted."

Lt. Col. James "Hall" Bain, commander of 3rd Combat Engineer Battalion, said he thought the term implied that Marines were stressed as a result of immorality.
Combat Stress as 'Moral Injury' Offends Marines

Military PTSD is a whole different type of wound than regular people suffer from. The closest thing to military PTSD is the type that strikes law enforcement. Why? Because of the number of times they are exposed to traumatic events and the fact they are not just survivors, but part of the trauma itself. Some will and do question the moral justification of what they had to do but that is part of just being human. All humans with any kind of a conscience question themselves but not all humans develop PTSD. Trying to box in PTSD with a "moral injury" tells them they suffer because they did something wrong and that's the end of the story. I am not surprised they feel insulted. It is almost as if the speakers did a fraction of the homework they should have done on this before they addressed the Marines.

Plant City Marine killed in Afghanistan on daughter's first birthday

Plant City Marine wanted to be best dad he could be

By Dan Sullivan, Times Staff Writer

Freeman died in Afghanistan on Thursday on his daughter Kaitlyn Michelle’s first birthday.

Ronald "Dougie" Freeman wanted to be the best.

Those who knew him already knew him as the best student, the best worker, the best brother. But he needed to prove it to himself. To do that, he had to become a Marine.

"He could have had anything he wanted," said his father, Brian Freeman. "But he wanted to go into the Marines."

On Thursday, Lance Cpl. Freeman of Plant City was killed in Afghanistan. He was 26.

A Department of Defense statement said he died while conducting combat operations for Operation Enduring Freedom in Helmand Province.

A minesweeper, Lance Cpl. Freeman got off a truck to search an area when one exploded, killing him, according to his family.

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Plant City Marine wanted to be best dad he could be

Kentucky National Guard returns home

Troops return home after being deployed in Afghanistan for nearly a year

By Marisela Burgos

LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) - More than 60 troops who were deployed for nearly a year in Afghanistan returned home.

The Kentucky National Guard's Agribusiness Development Team 2 had been in Afghanistan since July 2010. A welcome home ceremony was held, Sunday, at the Kentucky Air National Guard Base on Grade Lane in Louisville.

Major General Edward Tonini said the team taught the people of Afghanistan farming, while they were deployed. He said they taught basic techniques. He said it was an important mission.

"It's a country that has known nothing but war for literally hundreds of years and what we're doing is providing them with the elements of being able to sustain themselves," Tonini said.
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Troops return home after being deployed in Afghanistan

Osama bin Laid by Seals and CIA!

Inside the raid that killed bin Laden

SEALs, working with CIA , stormed fortified compound deep inside Pakistan
By Matt Apuzzo - The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday May 1, 2011 23:37:59 EDT
WASHINGTON — Helicopters descended out of darkness on the most important counterterrorism mission in U.S. history. It was an operation so secret, only a select few U.S. officials knew what was about to happen.

The location was a fortified compound in an affluent Pakistani town two hours outside Islamabad. The target was Osama bin Laden.

Intelligence officials discovered the compound in August while monitoring an al-Qaida courier.

The CIA had been hunting that courier for years, ever since detainees told interrogators that the courier was so trusted by bin Laden that he might very well be living with the al-Qaida leader.

Nestled in an affluent neighborhood, the compound was surrounded by walls as high as 18 feet, topped with barbed wire. Two security gates guarded the only way in. A third-floor terrace was shielded by a seven-foot privacy wall. No phone lines or Internet cables ran to the property. The residents burned their garbage rather than put it out for collection. Intelligence officials believed the million-dollar compound was built five years ago to protect a major terrorist figure. The question was, who?

The CIA asked itself again and again who might be living behind those walls. Each time, they concluded it was almost certainly bin Laden.
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Jubilation across the U.S.
Soldiers from Lewis-McChord celebrate the news
Troops react to bin Laden’s death
By Colin Kelly - Staff writer
Posted : Monday May 2, 2011 0:48:33 EDT
BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan — The mood on a U.S. base in the war zone was celebratory early Monday.

For one soldier, in his first day in the theater, it was a historic day.

Army Maj. Erik S. Archer said he heard the news from the soldier who he’s replacing.

“My guy that I’m RIPing in with knocked on my door said, ‘Hey, you gotta come see this, the president is announcing that they got bin Laden,’ and I didn’t believe him at first,” Archer said.

“This is my fourth time overseas, and I went and saw the president and … it was just goose bumps to see all the people outside the White House clapping and cheering. It’s a national moment, I think.”

Troops watching the announcement were mesmerized, Archer said.
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New Yorkers React To Osama Bin Laden Death (PHOTOS, VIDEO)
New Yorkers are responding to the news that Osama bin Laden is dead.

Shortly after the announcement from President Obama, New Yorkers in Times Square and Ground Zero flooded the streets to celebrate the news that the man behind the attacks of September 11th was killed by American forces.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg released a statement on the news, saying that “New Yorkers have waited nearly ten years for this news. It is my hope that it will bring some closure and comfort to all those who lost loved ones on September 11, 2001.”

New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly greeted the news as a "welcome milestone" for the victims of those horrific attacks, and for those "who remain tenaciously engaged in protecting New York from another attack."

Senator Charles Schumer said that the death of bin Laden is a "thunderous strike for justice for the thousands of my fellow New Yorkers -- and citizens from all over the world -- who were murdered on 9/11."

HuffPost's Rob Fishman was downtown near ground zero Sunday, and filed this report:
read more here
New Yorkers React To Osama Bin Laden Death

Buried at sea

Clinton: Bin Laden death shows 'You cannot defeat us'
By the CNN Wire Staff
May 2, 2011 10:20 a.m. EDT
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: Terrorists will almost certainly attempt to avenge the death, Panetta says
DNA matching is under way, a U.S. official says
Intelligence work on a courier for bin Laden led to a key break
Hundreds celebrate in front of the White House and in New York

(CNN) -- The successful U.S. operation that killed Osama bin Laden sends a message to the Taliban in Afghanistan, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Monday.

"You cannot wait us out. You cannot defeat us. But you can make the choice to abandon al Qaeda" and participate in a peaceful political process, Clinton said.

"There is no better rebuke to al Qaeda and its heinous ideology," she said. "The fight continues and we will never waver."

Some doubted that the terrorist leader would ever be caught, she said, but "this is America... We persevere, and we get the job done."

Clinton also noted that bin Laden's death comes at a time of "great movements toward freedom and democracy."

The operation that killed the founder and leader of al Qaeda was designed to do just that, not to take him alive, a U.S. government official told CNN Monday.

DNA matching is under way on samples from his body, the official said. There are photographs of the body with a gunshot wound to the side of the head that shows an individual who is not unrecognizable as bin Laden, the official said.

No decision has yet been made on whether to release the photographs and if so, when and how.
The mastermind of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks -- the worst terrorist attacks on American soil -- was killed by U.S. forces Monday in a mansion in Abbottabad, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, U.S. officials said.

Four others in the compound also were killed. One of them was bin Laden's adult son, and another was a woman being used as a shield by a male combatant, the officials said.

Bin Laden's body was later buried at sea, an official said. Many Muslims adhere to the belief that bodies should be buried within one day.
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Bin Laden death shows 'You cannot defeat us'

Body of Alabama major killed in airport attack returned from Afghanistan

Body of Alabama major killed in airport attack returned from Afghanistan
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First Posted: May 01, 2011
GADSDEN, Ala. — A 41-year-old Gadsden native training pilots in Afghanistan was among nine people who died after an Afghan military pilot opened fire during a meeting at the Kabul airport.

The flag-draped coffin of Air Force Maj. Jeffrey Ausborn was flown to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Saturday. Plans for a memorial service have not yet been announced.

His wife, Suzanna, said he volunteered to go to Afghanistan last year to teach new Afghan pilots how to fly the C-27 aircraft. He was a 19-year veteran of the Air Force.

"He was the most compassionate, kind, patient and understanding husband, father, pilot and supervisor," she told The Gadsden Times.

She said the two talked nearly every day. "That's how is knew something was wrong. I didn't hear from him. I miss him so much," she said.
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Alabama major killed in airport attack


DOD identifies 8 killed in Kabul

Ross Perot to be guest speaker at Veterans Reunion

Saturday May 7, 2011 at 10:30am,
Prior to the massing of the colors, Ross Perot will be the guest speaker.

go here for more information

Florida Veterans Reunion

Reserve deputy chief talks up new Florida center

Reserve deputy chief talks up new Fla. center
By Don Ruane - The (Fort Myers, Fla.) News-Press
Posted : Sunday May 1, 2011

CAPE CORAL, Fla. — An Army Reserve training center to be built in north Cape Coral is a $14.5 million investment that will create 20 to 30 jobs and help local businesses, the deputy chief of the national Army Reserve said Saturday after a tour of the city.

Maj. Gen. Keith L. Thurgood toured the 15-acre training center site on Corbett Road at Diplomat Parkway while in town to address the gathering of the Florida Reserve Officers Association at The Resort at Marina Village.

The construction contract for the center is going out for bids in September. Completion is expected in 2013. The site is on Corbett Road at Diplomat Parkway. A $132-million, four-story Veterans Affairs Clinic is going up just across Corbett Road and is expected to open in 2012. The Reserve wants to look for ways to collaborate with the clinic, Thurgood said.

He said he also is impressed with the city’s efforts to spur more development in the area, which is called the Veterans Investment Zone. The zone is a one-mile circle around the clinic where special incentives are available from the city to entice developers.

Some 300 reservists will pass through the center each year, but they will stay in local hotels at the end of each day, dine at local restaurants and visit local attractions, Thurgood said. The training center also will need the services of local landscapers, plumbers, electricians and others.

“Our soldiers are involved in communities all the time,” Thurgood said at a news conference after inspecting the rehabilitation work on the Iwo Jima flag-raising statue at Four Mile Cove Eco Preserve.

There are 11,000 Army reservists in Florida and they have an annual economic impact of $200 million, Thurgood said.
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Reserve deputy chief talks up new Fla. center

Nevada’s mental health courts are in serious jeopardy

Nevada’s mental health courts are in serious jeopardy

You can tell Clark County’s mental health court sessions on Thursday afternoons are informal because the judge stands behind a lectern in street clothes, and there isn’t a phalanx of high-priced attorneys to be found.

But dealing with adult criminal offenders who suffer from bipolar disorders or schizophrenia is still serious business. During last week’s hourlong session, District Judge Jackie Glass reviewed 28 cases in rapid succession. Among them were jail detainees in restraints seeking admission to the court’s mental health care program and others who live in transitional housing or with relatives who updated the judge on their progress with drug treatment and community service.

One young man skipped a therapy session at church, claiming he was sick and fell asleep, but he was admonished by Glass: “We don’t think you’re invested in your treatment and we have concerns about that.” He was led away in handcuffs, ordered to spend 24 hours in jail.

Another offender appeared before the judge and admitted he wasn’t taking his medication, including insulin. So Glass donned her overcoat, telling him she was wearing a judge’s robe, and said: “If I order you to take your medication, will you take it?” He nodded affirmatively and returned to his seat.

Mental health court has kept mentally ill individuals out of jails and emergency rooms after committing crimes ranging from petty larceny to assault, but it could vanish July 1. That’s because Gov. Brian Sandoval’s call for shared sacrifice to help solve the state’s budget deficit would kill Clark County’s mental health court and others in Washoe and Carson City counties, judges and mental health advocates say.

They argue that Sandoval’s proposal to make the counties, rather than the state, fund mental health courts won’t work because the counties are strapped for money.

Among those leading the outcry is Glass, who helped start Clark County’s mental health court in 2003 after it received seed money through a federal grant. Since the court was established 107 participants have graduated from the program.

“It’s a shame that the governor didn’t put that funding in the budget,” Glass said. “The individuals who would be helped will have a very difficult time receiving treatment.”
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Nevada’s mental health courts are in serious jeopardy

The Hidden Risks of PTSD for Our Nation's Veterans

The Mindful Self-Express
The mind-body experiment
by Melanie Greenberg, Ph.D.
Why Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is Not a Mental Health Problem
The Hidden Risks of PTSD for Our Nation's Veterans
Published on May 1, 2011 by Melanie A. Greenberg, Ph.D. in The Mindful Self-Express

Recent scientific studies show that Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is not a mental health problem. Am I saying this to be controversial and get more readers? The answer is "yes." Do I actually believe this statement? The answer is "yes" again. "But how can you say such a thing?" you ask. "Doesn't the DSMIV-TR, the major diagnostic manual of the American Psychiatric Association, include diagnostic criteria for PTSD." "It sure does," I answer. "The individual must experience a threat to life or physical integrity and his reaction at the time of the event must include fear, helplessness, or horror. In addition, she needs to report symptoms such as nightmares, avoidance or emotional numbing, and chronic anxiety." "Well then?" you ask. And, finally taking pity on you, I say "PTSD is not a mental health issue, it is a mind-body problem. Focusing only on the mental health aspects does a disservice to our nation's veterans because it ignores the links between PTSD and a variety of life-threatening and/or costly medical problems, many of which require preventive intervention."
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The Hidden Risks of PTSD for Our Nation's Veterans

Plant City Marine killed in action 'wanted to be the best'

Plant City Marine killed in action 'wanted to be the best'

By STEPHEN THOMPSON | The Tampa Tribune
Published: April 30, 2011

TAMPA --
Ronald "Dougie" Freeman was an A student at Plant City High School, where he also took part in the ROTC program.

After graduating, he performed so well as a machinist that the company didn't want him to leave, his father said. When he did, he was told he could have his job back when he returned.

Freeman left to join the military. Always striving to be the best, he chose the Marine Corps, said his father, Douglas Freeman.

First, he had to slim down.

In high school, Freeman weighed 300 pounds. But he worked out, running up to eight miles a day to get down to the acceptable 200 pounds or so for his 6-foot-plus frame.

"It'd be raining, he'd still run," recalled his uncle, Bobby Freeman.

In Dougie Freeman's refrigerator, there was only grilled chicken and tuna.

He signed on in 2008.

On Thursday, just three weeks after arriving in Afghanistan for the first time – and nine days after the birth of the son he would never see – Freeman was killed by an improvised explosive device while on patrol in Helmand province. He was 25.

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Plant City Marine killed in action