After severe war injuries, a new battlefield

U.S. Marine Juan Dominguez, 27, takes his first step on his new "stubbies" with the help of prosthetics specialists Kevin Kohler, left, and Peter Harsch at Naval Medical Center San Diego.
(Don Bartletti/Los Angeles Times / May 7, 2011)

After severe war injuries, a new battlefield
Troops with severe war injuries such as multiple amputations face a long and difficult rehabilitation. Naval Medical Center San Diego is where some learn a new way of life.
By Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times
May 7, 2011

Reporting from San Diego—
Marine Lance Cpl. Juan Dominguez has come a long way since October, when a roadside bomb in Afghanistan ripped off his legs above the knees and shredded his right arm above the elbow.

A Navy corpsman, part of the same patrol, kept Dominguez from bleeding to death and wisely refused his pleas for morphine, lest he go into shock. Then there was the Navy doctor at nearby Forward Operating Camp Dwyer who "wouldn't let me die" and the intensive care he received at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany.

After that, Dominguez spent five months at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., and at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., where he underwent 23 surgeries. Today, the 26-year-old from Deming, N.M., is an outpatient at Naval Medical Center San Diego.

"This is home now," he said of the hospital on a hill beside Balboa Park.

Dominguez is among a growing number of Marines and soldiers who have suffered catastrophic wounds that will require years of care in military hospitals. The Pentagon and the Department of Veterans Affairs are scrambling to put together a continuum of long-term care for Dominguez and other severely wounded personnel.
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After severe war injuries, a new battlefield

If there is one thing our disabled veterans have to teach us, not giving up should be at the top of the list.

After the Vietnam War many amputees returned home. Suffering the loss of limbs, there was a time when each of them had to wonder what their future would look like. Then came a time when they decided they were in charge of what their future would be.

In the Orlando Chapter of the Disabled American Veterans there are two living examples of not giving up. As a matter of fact, they went on to become outstanding.

Meet a Hero!

Jim Sursely
Jim recalls fire and noise erupting at his feet. But he doesn’t remember being thrown into the air by the explosion of a Viet Cong land mine. In fact, he didn’t learn the full extent of his sacrifice for America until he landed in an Army hospital in Colorado.

The explosion tore away both of Jim Sursely’s legs and his left arm. It could have been worse. If Jim’s clothing had not caught fire, cauterizing his gaping wounds, the young Army Staff Sergeant might have died. That’s why he says, “It’s an absolute miracle that I’m still around.”

Jim survived some of the most severe battle wounds ever, and the demons of fear, depression and despair came knocking on his door early on. But he remembers the tough love he got from other disabled veterans. As he built a successful real estate career, he always made time to give other disabled veterans the same kind of help that once meant so much to him.

That involvement led to Jim’s election to a one-year term as National Commander of the Disabled American Veterans. He continues to play an active role in the DAV nationally, in the state of Florida, and in his local DAV Chapter.

Jim with Dennis Joyner

Dennis Joyner
Dennis A. Joyner, Director and Secretary

Mr. Joyner served in the U.S. Army, 9th Infantry Division, in Vietnam. While on patrol in June 1969 in Vietnam's Mekong Delta, he became a triple amputee due to a land mine explosion. For the injuries sustained in battle, he received the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart.

Mr. Joyner served as National Commander of the 1.3 million-member-plus Disabled American Veterans (DAV) from 1983-84. During his term as National Commander, President Reagan named him the nation's Handicapped American of the Year, and he was honored as DAV's National Outstanding Disabled Veteran of the Year in 1977.

Mr. Joyner’s DAV leadership includes all elected offices in DAV Chapter 36 in Vandergrift, Pennsylvania; service as an officer in the DAV’s Department of Pennsylvania; and two years as DAV Department of California Adjutant. He served as President of the DAV Vietnam Veterans National Memorial Corporation from 1986 to 1998, when the corporation made a gift of the Memorial to the David Westphall Veterans Foundation. Currently he serves as Secretary-Treasurer of the DAV National Service Foundation Board of Directors, and in various leadership positions at the Department and Chapter level in Florida, where he now lives.

Mr. Joyner earned a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting at Robert Morris College in Pittsburgh in 1975 and an Associate of Arts Degree from the Community College of Allegheny in 1974. His professional experi¬ence includes four years as Westmoreland County Juvenile Service Center Accountant and as Fiscal Manager for the Westmoreland County Courts, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. He was appointed Westmoreland County Court Administrator in 1979, responsible for administration of the eight-judge court system and all court-related offices. While living in Pennsylvania, he was appointed by then-Governor Richard L. Thornburgh to serve on that state's Vietnam Herbicide Commission. He was a budget analyst and manager for the Seminole County, Florida Office of Management and Budget from 1989 to 1998 when he was appointed Assistant Supervisor of Elections. Governor Jeb Bush appointed Mr. Joyner Supervisor of Elections for Seminole County, in January 2004. He retired in January 2005.

Mr. Joyner was appointed to the Disabled Veterans LIFE Memorial Foundation Board of Directors in June of 2008.

Jim Sursley with Gary Sinise

When the newly wounded come home, they have a lot of changes and challenges in their lives. Some of them are lucky to have a spouse like Jean Sursely and Donna Joyner supporting them but some have no one. We need to face the fact that not all families are strong or have an unbreakable bond. For them, it takes the rest of us getting involved in their tomorrows.

101st Airborne makes history again

Obama meets bin Laden raiders, promises victory over al Qaeda
By the CNN Wire Staff
May 6, 2011 5:39 p.m. EDT

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Obama promises victory over al Qaeda while addressing troops at Fort Campbell
Obama and Biden met members of the team that raided bin Laden's compound
Obama awards the Presidential Unit Citation to units involved in the mission
Pressure is growing for a U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan

Fort Campbell, Kentucky (CNN) -- President Barack Obama met Friday afternoon with members of the military team responsible for conducting the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound, and promised a war-weary nation victory over al Qaeda.

"We are ultimately going to defeat al Qaeda," the president told more than 2,300 troops who recently returned from Afghanistan. "We have cut off their head."

"Our strategy is working and there is no greater evidence of that than justice finally being delivered to Osama bin Laden," he declared. "We're still the America that does the hard things, that does the great things."

The president made his remarks at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, home to the Army's 101st Airborne Division and the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, the group that operated the helicopters used in the raid.

While at Fort Campbell, the president, along with Vice President Joe Biden, privately met with members of Navy SEAL Team 6, the unit that conducted the raid.
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Obama meets bin Laden raiders, promises victory over al Qaeda

Osama's death has healing power

Sgt. Andrew Soto pu ton his uniform and went to 1st Lt. Omar Vazquez's funeral. He reflected on the "brother" now gone and the others before him, but he also noticed how this funeral was a little bit different.

Soto said this funeral was different because Vasquez died while the military is preparing to begin withdrawing troops from Afghanistan. But he said the knowledge that bin Laden is no longer a threat was helping him heal.

We can talk about how some people want to take over the conversation about Osama by trying to take away from the fact President Obama lined up all resources to find Osama and remove him from this earth, disregard the actions of the SEALS and the CIA but the minority in this country are irrelevant. Give these folks time and they'll be calling into talk shows saying they saw Osama with Santa trying to get off his naughty list. What Obama did was healing to the people directly touched by what evil did to them and their families.

Families mourn troops amid swirl of emotions
By Josh Lederman - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday May 5, 2011 18:27:01 EDT
TRENTON, N.J. — As mourners filed out of the church, two by two, the organist struck up an unusual tune for a funeral: “America the Beautiful.” Outside, military pallbearers in ceremonial dress carried the flag-draped casket of 1st Lt. Omar Vazquez to the waiting hearse, while a dozen retired servicemen saluted, flags in hand.

About 60 miles away, President Obama was laying a wreath at ground zero — another dramatic moment in a week of celebration and somber reflection that began with news of the death of Osama bin Laden.

Families and friends of U.S. troops recently killed in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan face a swirl of emotions as they bury their dead while the nation marks the killing of the terrorist mastermind of Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

“I was angry at first, because he didn’t get to see what he was actually fighting for,” said Vazquez’s cousin Marilyn Rodriguez.

Vazquez was killed by an improvised explosive device on April 22 in Iraq — nine days before Navy SEALs stormed a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Family members said the 25-year-old officer from Trenton had known since he was a little boy that he wanted to serve in the Army and defend his country from people like bin Laden.

“He would be proud, because they were out to make peace and get the people who hurt other people, to make sure it didn’t happen to other families,” Rodriguez said.

Sitting in the back pews of the Catholic church, under a golden inscription reading “The Lord is Here — He is Calling You,” a soldier who served with Vasquez reflected on the many funerals he’s attended for friends killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“It’s the only time I wear this uniform,” said Sgt. Andrew Soto, who served with Vasquez for about three years when Vasquez was a cadet.

Soto said this funeral was different because Vasquez died while the military is preparing to begin withdrawing troops from Afghanistan. But he said the knowledge that bin Laden is no longer a threat was helping him heal.
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Families mourn troops amid swirl of emotions

Someday when history is being reviewed by students trying to understand what happened after 9-11, they will read about the actions of high school kids joining the armed forces. They will read about how many lives were lost and how many wounded along with what price tag the end of these two wars came with. They will read about heroes. What they will also read about is that while Obama had the plans in place to rid this earth of a monster like Osama, he had to make an announcement about the fact he was born is Hawaii and show his birth certificate because some people were given to much notoriety. That while the media ignored all the troops were doing in Afghanistan and Iraq just as much as they were ignoring what they were going thru after combat, they followed people like Donald Trump and Sarah Palin with cameras making sure their voices were heard.

While some wanted to know what fools were thinking, Obama was doing, but the media didn't care. Let them focus on what divides us so they get ratings but the people paying the price with their lives for our tomorrows know what is healing and good.

Fort Carson soldier deployed to Afghanistan told of child's death at home

Mother hysterical after baby's scalding death, witnesses say

May 05, 2011 1:58 PM
LANCE BENZEL
THE GAZETTE
A Colorado Springs woman accused of first-degree murder in the drowning of her infant son in March would get so angry at her husband that she “didn’t want to touch” the boy, a detective testified Thursday.

Estella Toleafoa, 23, is accused of leaving 9-month-old Erich Tyler Jr. unattended in a bathtub on March 8 while she went across the street and bought chicken wings and cigarettes.

When Toleafoa returned, authorities say, the boy was lifeless – the victim of drowning and scalding of 80 percent of his body.

The murder charge alleges that Toleafoa “knowingly” caused her child’s death by leaving him unsupervised in the tub.

During a preliminary hearing that began Thursday, Colorado Springs police detective Fred Walker testified that a friend of Toleafoa said the woman complained bitterly about her husband, a Fort Carson soldier who was serving in Afghanistan at the time of their son’s death.

Toleafoa suspected Erich Tyler Sr. was having an affair, and told her friend the faltering marriage affected her feelings toward their son, Walker testified.



Read more: Mother hysterical after baby's scalding death

Police seek suicidal, AWOL Marine from Camp Lejeune

Thursday, May 5, 2011 - 10:03pm
Police seek suicidal, AWOL Marine
By Frank Gerace

Alexander Doron
County Police are looking for a Newark man they say has threatened to kill himself.

Police say 21-year-old Alexander Doron is AWOL from the Marine base at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, could be armed, and could be staying in the Newark area.
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Police seek suicidal, AWOL Marine

The Colbert Report celebration that took almost ten years

Bin Laden jokes

The Colbert Report
Tags: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

Two High School Students Holding Benefit for PTSD

Helping Our Troops With Their Own Fight at Home
Written by Matthew A. Piacentini
Friday, 06 May 2011 00:00

Two Students Holding Benefit for PTSD
Brave American military personnel willingly put themselves in danger in service to their country every day. The effects of this kind of activity causes some veterans to experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.

According to information put out by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, “Most people have some stress-related reactions after a traumatic event… In moments of danger, our bodies prepare to fight our enemy, flee the situation, or freeze in the hope that the danger will move past us. But those feelings of alertness may stay even after the danger has passed.” This can lead to anxiety, depression, anger and more.

To help in awareness and prevention of PTSD, two seniors at North Shore High School are holding a benefit event this month.

Dillon Seudat and Gregory Knox will hold “Shots 4 Soldiers,” a benefit basketball tournament with proceeds going to the National Veterans Association, specifically towards veterans with PTSD.

This is a senior project for the two students, part of the Generation Next curriculum in which seniors do a service project.
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Helping Our Troops With Their Own Fight at Home

SSG Seyward McKinney Returns to Warrior Games

SSG Seyward McKinney Returns to Warrior Games

By Donna Butler, WTC Stratcom

In March 2009, AW2 Veteran SSG Seyward McKinney’s life changed. After returning from Iraq, McKinney was diagnosed with an arteriovenous malformation (AVM) in her brain. McKinney was treated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and underwent numerous surgeries and nine days after the last, one of the vessels in her brain leaked, which caused her to have a stroke. Paralyzed on the right side of her body, McKinney’s injury caused her to lose her right-sided peripheral vision. Although her injuries are not combat-related, she is a living testament that non-combat related injuries can challenge Soldiers just as much as combat-related injuries.

McKinney was stationed at the Walter Reed Warrior Transition Unit (WTU) and worked diligently to learn how to overcome her injuries, eventually empowering herself to reach another milestone in her life—competing in the 2010 Warrior Games. She competed in the women’s sitting shot-put, in addition to 10K recumbent cycling, sitting volleyball, and wheelchair basketball. These events helped her attain the sense of teamwork she enjoyed in the Army and now can continue to enjoy with athletics. At the 2010 Warrior Games, she won a gold medal in cycling and a bronze medal in shot-put. These two achievements demonstrated to McKinney that with determination and passion, she could continue to succeed.
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SSG Seyward McKinney Returns to Warrior Games

Gary Sinise working hard for veterans

Lt. Dan Band
Gary Sinise – who co–founded the legendary Steppenwolf Theatre Company in the late 1970s and has enjoyed a successful career on stage, on television and in film – will be in Chicago tonight to perform with his Lt. Dan Band at Joe's Bar to benefit The Veterans Arts Program.

Gary Sinise heads home to Chicago to rock for veterans group
By Tom Lounges Times Correspondent

The tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, deeply affected Gary Sinise and inspired him to become a champion of veterans groups and events.

Sinise – who co–founded the legendary Steppenwolf Theatre Company in the late 1970s and has enjoyed a successful career on stage, on television and in film – will be in Chicago tonight to perform with his Lt. Dan Band at Joe's Bar to benefit The Veterans Arts Program.

Blue Island–born and raised actor/director/musician Gary Sinise said

The Chicago–based organization was co–founded by Kimo Williams, Sinise's musical partner in the Lt. Dan Band.

Sinise, a Blue Island–born and raised actor/director/musician, said it started out as "sort of a culture exchange program," but has since shifted to providing "artist tools" to injured veterans who want to move on in their lives and learn something in the arts, be it playing guitar, or taking up photography, or painting. The Veteran's Arts Program provides instruments and lessons to help enrich the lives of those who served their nation.

Sinise met Williams – a Vietnam veteran and professor at Columbia College – when both were part of Steppenwolf's 1997 production of "A Streetcar Named Desire." Sinise was acting and Williams was composing music for it.
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Gary Sinise heads home to Chicago

Philly thug steals disability check from wounded Marine!

Man Steals $22K From Disabled Veteran: Cops
Police are trying to identify a man who allegedly stole a disability check from a disabled veteran


By Scott Slotkin

Philadelphia Police are asking for your help in identifying a man accused of stealing $22,000 from a disabled veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps.

After waiting for and not receiving his $44,000 disability check, the 27-year old veteran reportedly contacted the U.S. Treasury Department to find out what happened.

His check, he was told, had already been deposited at a Bank of America on Street Road in Bensalem, Pa. bank, police said.
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Man Steals $22K From Disabled Vetera

San Diego Navy Wife begs for return of missing husband with PTSD

Missing sailor found

UPDATE - A San Diego sailor suffering from post traumatic stress disorder who had been missing for five days was located on Saturday.


Amanda Hamilton told San Diego 6 News her husband turned himself into police and is now receiving treatment at Balboa Naval Hospital.

Navy Wife begs for return of missing husband with PTSD

SAN DIEGO (CBS 8) - A local Navy wife is desperate to find her missing husband, who has post traumatic stress disorder and hasn't been seen in days.

"My whole world is collapsing because this is the guy I was going to spend the rest of my life with," says Amanda Hamilton.

She and Nicholas married four and a half years ago and have two sons together. As a couple they've faced deployments, but the most recent deployment on the USS Ronald Reagan to provide humanitarian relief to Tsunami victims in Japan proved to be a tipping point, according to Amanda.

"He had a really bad flashback episode while on the Reagan," she says. Adding that flashback dealt with a previous humanitarian effort to retrieve bodies from the 2004 Tsunami in Indonesia.

"He took nearly 200 over the counter medications to try and end his life," she says.

That was March 25th of this year and Amanda says Nic was then flown to an Air Force Base in Japan for treatment and then sent back home to San Diego for further treatment on March 31st.

Since then he's regularly checked in twice a day to a Medical Hold unit at the Navy hospital, according to his wife, until May 1st when things unraveled.
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Navy Wife begs for return of missing husband with PTSD

Should We Reintroduce the Veteran Employment Assistance Act?

Guest Post

Should We Reintroduce the Veteran Employment Assistance Act?

By Marie Owens



Undoubtedly, the economic dynamic of employment in the United States has changed dramatically since the end of military conscription by the United States government. While all males over 18 years of age are still required to register for the draft, the lottery has not been active since the end of the Vietnam War. Similarly, while educational assistance based on past military status has been available in varying degrees since that time, employment assistance has been nominal, relying on veteran status priority in hiring since the end of the war. Thus, as it becomes tougher and tougher for veterans to find jobs and re-enter the work force once they have returned from overseas, many people, particularly those that have a criminal justice degree, have begun to wonder -- should we consider reintroducing the Veteran Employment Assistance Act?

The Employment Problem

Many of those who plan for a full military career often opt for the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) education program, being ushered into the military with an advanced rank as a commissioned officer. Other enlisted servicemen enter the military with a particular assignment in mind and come out of the service with training and education they have received during their tour of the duty. These individuals who complete their tour with an honorable discharge are commonly placed quickly with positions secured before their Estimated Termination of Service (ETS).

However, there are also many soldiers who enter the military as foot soldiers and often experience trouble securing employment when they return from what may have been multiple tours of duty in armed conflict. This due to the fact that these individuals have often been trained for special missions, and while this work is great, there simply is not an abundance of employment opportunities for people with their job titles (paratroopers, artillery specialists and tank operators) and skill sets in the United States.

Thus, for the myriad soldiers who fill active combat military roles there is a specific need for employment assistance, particularly for those who may have entered the military with a weak primary educational background or because of regional employment opportunities. Some of these veterans are good candidates for long-term training if they show a capacity for academics. While on the other hand, some are good candidates for industrial certifications. In any case, the majority of veterans would simply like assistance in securing employment with a salary that is at least comparable to what they were earning while enlisted. It is a general consensus that they have earned that benefit.

In the past, many of these servicemen were covered by the S. 3234 and was designed to build on the existing restrictive legislation, allowing veterans to use educational benefits while drawing a stipend during their training period. It would also broaden the approved training alternatives, enhancing the current 9/11 GI Bill of Rights and the National Guard Employment Enhancement Program.

The Congressional Budget Office studied the financial impact of the legislation and the cost amounted to an average of $1 per person in the United States. Yet, even with one-fifth of the Senate body signing onto the legislation, it did not make it to the floor. This means that the laws that are currently in force are all that veterans have to rely on when it comes to finding a job when they return from overseas.

Disabled Veterans

The fallout of the Middle East military conflicts has created a new generation of veterans who have enlisted, often on salesmanship of the different military branches, and been strapped into an armed conflict that was never anticipated. In addition, many have been commissioned back into active combat or had tours extended because so many of people have decided to avoid military enlistment as a viable means of building a career. As a result, many of those who enlist to fight are coming home as multiple amputees or suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from concussive head injuries. This has created a specific demographic within the veteran community.

This particular group is at severe risk of being ostracized by potential employers regardless of the sacrifice that they have given for their country. Their sacrifice is much more than the time and battle scars. It is a life altering experience that deserves case-by-case attention. Therefore, introducing legislation to assist these veterans and then allowing the bill to "table," or expire, is for many citizens an unacceptable action of the United States representative body.

Conclusion

It is well understood that the U.S. military is the primary peacekeeper in the world. In fact, the American way of life is largely a result of the work that all military veterans have done to secure what many Americans take for granted. However, the employment market is shifting dramatically as the military does its necessary work overseas. As a result, many veterans have come home to find that there aren’t any jobs available, or none that are applicable to the skill set they have acquired while enlisted. Although there are standard educational opportunities for veterans to improve their knowledge base, just as there are for the civilians, this section of the U.S. society has clearly earned serious consideration for employment programs that will provide them with extra help when integrating back into society after being overseas. These programs should be similar to the Veteran Employment Assistance Act, and should ensure that veterans can obtain employment in the field of their choice, given their individual abilities. The on-the-job training that they receive in the military is often not applicable to the world at home and it is time for the same Congress that sent them into battle to help them readjust when they return home.

Marie writes for the blog at criminaljusticedegree.net and as a prospective law student in Washington state, is particularly interested in criminal law and gender issues. She writes to promote criminal justice education, and teaches martial arts in her spare time.

We needed better than us

There is a lot of talk about if Osama's death pictures should be shown or not. Today Bill Bennett was on CNN and said that pictures are needed after murders but failed to mention the fact the general public doesn't get to see the pictures unless there is a body covered up by a sheet. Only the jury, judge and lawyers get to see them. They need to see them but the public doesn't. Bennett must be watching too much TV to get that fact mixed up with what he wants released. We don't need to see a dead Osama as much as we want to see them.

Today something wonderful happened and it had nothing to do with politics. Today it was all about the people this nation lost almost 10 years ago. These are some of the pictures we should want to see now that the man behind so much pain is dead.

That's what we really should be talking about now. When we needed the best of us to show up after the planes hit the towers, the firemen and cops showed up. The best of us were there no matter if the people in trouble were Democrats, Republicans, Independents or didn't vote at all. They didn't care about anything other than people needed help. Goodness rose out of the pit of hell Osama tried to create.

Block after block around the country in huge cities and tiny towns flew flags outside their homes and on their cars. Politics faded away and every member of congress stood together in a moment of silence, united in grief just as the rest of the nation did. We held the firemen and police officers in our prayers, but then people played politics and tried to keep them from getting what they needed to take care of their health afterwards. Today it was about them.

We waved flags and sent young men and women off to fight against the people behind the attacks, then we turned our backs on them when it took too long, cost us too much money and the wounded just got too expensive to take care of. While most of the country thinks the troops are home instead of 150,000 still risking their lives far away from their homes and families, they do it everyday anyway.

We took down our flags a long time ago and ended up just putting them up for the 4th of July as if the flags were just one more decoration to put up in celebration of a day off of work forgetting that over 5,000 of their bodies have come home covered in a flag that was paid for with their lives.

When people allow the best of us to be forgotten and ignored, let politics trump all else, then we will be wondering why no one is showing up when the rest of us need the best of us.

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.

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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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