Returning U.S. troops insulted again by ignorance

First, considering how few views PTSD Foundation for America has on their videos, this is not huge news. Had the person posting this knew what was really going on, they would have joined the fight to save the lives of our heroes a very long time ago. While he/she may think it is patriotic to turn deaf, dumb and blind to the anguish of thousands of our troops and even more veterans, it insults them to have an article like this.

Returning U.S. troops insulted again
seeingredaz.wordpress.com

Under the guise of supporting our troops, the PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) Foundation of America is running commercials that depict returning American service personnel as “ticking time bombs.”

The organization appears to have gotten it’s marching orders from Homeland INsecurity chieftain Janet Napolitano who issued a similarly insulting report in April 2009 titled “Right-wing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment.” It stated “Returning veterans possess combat skills and experience that are attractive to right-wing extremists.” Napolitano’s report continued, “Proposed imposition of firearms restrictions and weapons bans likely would attract new members into the ranks of right-wing extremist groups as well as potentially spur some of them to begin planning and training for violence against the government.”

If you missed her left-wing drift, she further warned against the possibility of violence by unnamed “right-wing extremists” concerned about illegal immigration, increasing federal power, restrictions on firearms, abortion and the loss of U.S. sovereignty and singles out returning war veterans as particular threats.

PTSD cites soaring divorce rates, suicides and homelessness. And to facilitate their efforts to marginalize our military troops, the site hucksters tee shirts sales and requests credit card donations via PayPal.

This is how the PTSD site describes our American military heroes: “There are thousands of active, guard, and reserve troops and families in our local communities who are silently hurting – bruised and bleeding on our behalf. Men and women returning from service who face difficulty with the transition back to ‘normal’ life, experiencing relationship or financial struggles and even post traumatic stress syndrome, ‘a ticking time bomb in this generation of returning warriors.‘ The personal and societal effect of these burdens is dramatic, as seen in the rising military divorce rates and in the increased potential for substance abuse, domestic abuse, criminality and suicide.”

This portrayal of service personnel as emotionally sick and criminally inclined is offensive to those of us who respect and value our patriots. That this site attempts to raise money as it denigrates loyal defenders of freedom is inexcusable.

Could they have found a better way to convey the seriousness of the situation for our veterans than "time bomb?" Absolutely. The situation for them coming home is a "time bomb" but not in the way this article represents it. As time passes, PTSD gains more control over the veteran's life. The sooner they get help, the more the symptoms can be healed. The longer it is unaddressed, the more it eats away at their lives and yes, destroys the lives of their families along the way. And that is the bad news. The good news is that even Vietnam Veterans without help for 40 years are finding it is not too late for them to live better lives.

When it comes to the men and women serving in the military and our veterans, we should be ashamed we ever let things get so bad for them that as survivors, they would find hope so elusive they want to die back home. They survived combat, watched the backs of their brothers, did their duty, endured hardship after hardship, separations from families and friends, came home and found themselves fighting another battle to have their claims honored and receive the help they were promised.

This article is nothing more than political spin in the guise of supporting the troops. It insults all veterans with PTSD and adds to the stigma from fools acting as if they should be ashamed.

If the site really respected or honored the service of all heroes, they would have learned something over the last ten years regarding what had happened to veterans of all other wars they didn't pay attention to either.

But don't believe just me. Listen to this about one of the lives lost and know what the facts really are.
Marine's Suicide Renews Focus On Military Families

Mother's devotion to son helps him wake from coma

Mother's devotion to son helps him wake from coma

May 08, 2011 3:33 PM
ANIESA HOLMES
Ramona Walters has dedicated many years to improving the lives of helping injured patients through her career in physical therapy.

“I just let them do what they can do, because I’m just letting them inspire themselves — I love what I do,” she said.

She had become passionate about improving the quality of lives of others several years ago after studying physical fitness and eventually working as a physical therapy assistant at Naval Hospital Camp Lejeune for 11 years. However, a tragic accident in her own family last year would test her own faith in the power of healing.

Her 26-year-old son Enrique Vargas had been an avid motorcycle fan since he was 16 and graduated from Motorcycle Mechanics University in 2009. The proud father of a 2-year-old son had just joined the United States Air Force Reserves and was awaiting orders to leave for boot camp on May 15.

“We all ride motorcycles and we’ve always taught him about safety,” Joe said. “There’s time when he and I rode together just to make sure that he was safe.”

Enrique was riding his motorcycle on the afternoon of Sept. 18, 2010 with a group of fellow bikers. While traveling on N.C. 24 towards Jacksonville he collided with car after the driver pulled out in front of him, throwing him from his bike onto the highway. Dr. Darryl Williams, an emergency room doctor at Naval Hospital Camp Lejeune was on his way to Swansboro with his wife when he noticed the accident. He stayed with Enrique until an ambulance arrived to take him to Onslow Memorial Hospital. Ramona and her husband Joe were traveling to Wilmington when they received the news of Enrique’s accident.
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Mother's devotion to son helps him wake from coma

Veterans Disabled, but not unable

Disabled, but not unable
Lodge offers injured veterans, survivors of natural disasters experience of hunting, fishing
By Erin Rhoda erhoda@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

PLEASANT RIDGE PLANTATION -- The air seemed to get colder as the woods outside the camouflaged tent slowly brightened.

One bird called and another responded, as the forest, occupied by a Vietnam veteran, a volunteer hunting guide and a shotgun, woke up.

Waking up. Rejuvenation. That may be what is happening in a free program at Pine Grove Lodge in Pleasant Ridge Plantation that brings injured veterans and survivors of natural disasters into the woods to hunt and fish.

The program "has gotten me out of myself," whispered veteran Joe Baker, of Winslow, as he sat inside the hunting blind at the edge of a field in Concord Township at 4 a.m. He spoke softly so he wouldn't disturb the turkeys he hoped were perched on nearby tree limbs.

Doctors at Togus VA Medical Center in Augusta suggested Baker participate in outings like the one organized by Pine Grove Lodge, he said. They were concerned about how he was isolating himself.

Baker has post traumatic stress disorder and in 1968 suffered a traumatic brain injury on a Navy destroyer off the coast of Vietnam when a man closed a hatch door on his head and knocked him to the deck below. During his civilian career, he worked in the federal Immigration and Naturalization Service, which is now part of the Department of Homeland Security.
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Disabled, but not unable

State College of Florida organization helps in transition back to civilian life

Website helps vets 'come home'
SCF organization helps in transition back to civilian life

By SARA KENNEDY - skennedy@bradenton.com


MANATEE -- When Jason Collins returned to college after military service, he was suffering from flashbacks of faces of people he had seen in Afghanistan.

Thoughts of his time overseas, which included being hit by a homemade explosive device, plagued him, and he was treated for post traumatic stress disorder.

“The PTSD thing -- it really does eat you up,” he said between classes at State College of Florida.

“The good thing about getting involved in school is it allows you to meet people that understand; it gives you somebody to talk to. Veterans really look for that sense of camaraderie.”

Collins, 28, of Bradenton, struggled to adjust to civilian life. So did fellow student Scott Waite, 31, of Sarasota.

Out of their struggle came a campus vets’ organization and a new website, www.MyRebootCamp.com.

The two men and others appear in videos on the website, an effort to help smooth the transition for their fellow military vets returning from Iraq and Afghanistan to the United States and college.


Read more: Website helps vets 'come home'

Fort Carson soldier dies after getting out of moving truck

Soldier, 22, dies after getting out of moving truck

May 08, 2011 2:33 PM
JAKOB RODGERS
THE GAZETTE
A 22-year-old Fort Carson soldier died early Sunday when he got out of a moving pickup in Fountain.

Andrew Dalenko, of North Carolina, died shortly after 1:15 a.m. on the roadway where he landed, said Fountian police spokesman Cmdr. Mike Haley.

A woman was driving a red pickup west on Mesa Ridge Parkway on the bridge over Highway 85/87 when Dalenko exited on the passenger side, Haley said.

Police are still trying to find out how fast the vehicle was going when he got out of it.

It is not known why Dalenko got out of the pickup.

“That’s yet to be determined,” Haley said. “We believe that alcohol was a significant factor.”



Read more: Soldier, 22, dies after getting out of moving truck

Strain on US forces in Afghanistan at a five-year high

Strain on US forces in Afghanistan at a five-year high
Stars and Stripes

U.S. troops fighting in Afghanistan are experiencing some of the greatest psychological stress and lowest morale in five years of fighting, reports a military study according to USA Today.

"We're an Army that's in uncharted territory here," says Gen. Peter Chiarelli, Army vice chief of staff, according to the report. "We have never fought for this long with an all-volunteer force that's 1% of the population."

Mental health strain was most severe among veterans of three or more deployments, with a third of those showing signs of psychological problems defined as either stress, depression or anxiety, the report obtained by USA Today says.

The research, based on a survey of soldiers and Marines in 2010, also found that the praise the troops have for their unit sergeants has never been higher as the United States approaches the 10th year of its longest war, according to the article.
read more here
Strain on US forces in Afghanistan at a five-year high

Robin Hood Foundation helping veterans with Lady Gaga

These folks make it easy to like rich people again.

Lady Gaga, Afghan, Iraqi War Veterans Take Center Stage at Robin Hood Gala
By Patrick Cole - May 9, 2011
When the Robin Hood Foundation was searching for a big-name performer to lure hedge-fund executives to its gala tonight, board member Doug Morris had the perfect bait.

Morris, who left Universal Music Group’s chief executive post in January and will join Sony Music Entertainment as chairman in July, put in a call to Lady Gaga, who was on his artists roster. She immediately accepted the invitation to perform free at Manhattan’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.

The foundation sold all of its 4,100 tickets last month at prices ranging from $3,000 for individuals to $30,000 to $250,000 for a table of 10.

“We were thrilled when she accepted,” David Saltzman, Robin Hood’s executive director, said in a phone interview. “She’s the biggest solo performer in the world, and she’s a native New Yorker who cares deeply about the city.”

The charity will also ask attendees to support a new fundraising initiative to assist U.S. veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, reservists and national guardsmen living in poverty in New York.

Former NBC “Nightly News” anchor Tom Brokaw will moderate a discussion with Admiral Michael Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, to talk about the problems veterans face.

Table Drive

Saltzman said the nonprofit wanted to highlight struggling U.S. service personnel because it’s seeing an increase in veterans at food pantries, homeless shelters and health clinics funded by Robin Hood. He met earlier this year with Mullen, who said that dozens of war veterans are committing suicide each week and suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome and depression after serving on the battlefield.

“Admiral Mullen told us that our country is pretty good at fighting wars, but we’re not as good at taking care of our veterans,” Saltzman said. “It’s now time to serve those who serve us.”
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Lady Gaga, Afghan, Iraqi War Veterans

When a soldier has to question the worth of the sacrifices made

There are names on the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington millions of people will see this month when they travel there for Memorial Day. Looking at all the names we know they all paid the price with their lives but we don't know how any of them felt about the worth of the Vietnam War. There are names of some who died believing in the cause right next to names of some who died believing it was wrong. Just as veterans cannot agree on the worth of that war, the newer veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan will not agree on the worth of these wars. What they will agree on is that in the end, after all the political balls had been played out and most politicians behind sending them have left office, they served for each other.

After 9-11 high school kids joined older men and women in showing up at recruitment offices around the country. They wanted revenge just as much as they wanted to do whatever it took to prevent it from happening again. Pat Tillman was one of them.



His death was due to friendly fire and this was finally owned up to in 2009


Did it change the value of Tillman's sacrifice? No. No matter what happened with the propaganda that followed his death, it didn't change the fact that Tillman gave up millions of dollars as a football player because of 9-11 and the fact this nation needed him along with the thousands joining him because of what happened that September morning. Are these Medal of Honor heroes worth more than heroes from Iraq?

Medal of Honor, Afghanistan

MURPHY, MICHAEL P.

Rank and Organization: Lieutenant, United States Navy
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as the leader of a special reconnaissance element with Naval Special Warfare Task Unit Afghanistan on 27 and 28 June 2005.

MONTI, JARED C.

Rank and Organization: Sergeant First Class, United States Army.
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty: Staff Sergeant Jared C. Monti distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a team leader with Headquarters and Headquarters troop, 3rd Squadron, 71st Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, in connection with combat operations against an enemy in Nuristan Province, Afghanistan, on June 21st, 2006.

GIUNTA, SALVATORE A.

Rank and Organization: Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, Battle Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry,173d Airborne Brigade. Place and date: Korengal Valley, Afghanistan, 25 October 2007. Entered service at: Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Born: 25 January 1985, Clinton, Iowa. Citation: Specialist Salvatore A. Giunta distinguished himself conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty in action with an armed enemy in the Korengal Valley, Afghanistan, on October 25, 2007.

MILLER, ROBERT J.

Rank and Organization: Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, Special Forces Operational Detachment Alpha 3312, Special Operations Task Force 33. Place and date: Konar Province, Afghanistan. Entered service at: Oviedo, Florida. Born: 14 October 1983. Citation: Robert J. Miller distinguished himself by extraordinary acts of heroism while serving as the Weapons Sergeant in Special Forces Operational Detachment Alpha 3312, Special Operations Task Force-33, Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-Afghanistan during combat operations against an armed enemy in Konar Province, Afghanistan on January 25, 2008.

Medal of Honor Iraq
SMITH, PAUL R.

Rank and Organization: Sergeant First Class, United States Army
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty:Sergeant First Class Paul R. Smith distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action with an armed enemy near Baghdad International Airport, Baghdad, Iraq on 4 April 2003.

DUNHAM, JASON L.

Rank and Organization: Corporal, United States Marine Corps
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as Rifle Squad Leader, 4th Platoon, Company K, Third Battalion, Seventh Marines (Reinforced), Regimental Combat Team 7, First Marine Division (Reinforced), on 14 April 2004.

MONSOOR, MICHAEL, A.

Rank and Organization: Master-At-Arms Second Class (Sea, Air And Land), United States Navy
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as automatic weapons gunner for Naval Special Warfare Task Group Arabian Peninsula, in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM on 29 September 2006.

McGINNIS, ROSS A.

Rank and Organization: Private First Class, United States Army
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty:
Private First Class Ross A. McGinnis distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while serving as an M2 .50-caliber Machine Gunner, 1st Platoon, C Company, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, in connection with combat operations against an armed enemy in Adhamiyah, Northeast Baghdad, Iraq, on 4 December 2006.

What about the soldiers deployed into both countries? What kind of thoughts do they have about being wounded in Iraq when they joined because of Osama and wanted to go into Afghanistan? Does it hurt more because they were wounded in Iraq instead?

Apparently, emotionally, being in the "wrong place" has put a heavier burden on their shoulders.

A soldier learns he fought the wrong war

The consensus on Iraq has hardened, and it's a painful one for its veterans.

By Shannon P. Meehan

My initial reaction to the news of Osama bin Laden's death last week was similar to that of many Americans: relief, pride in our country and those serving it, and a sense of closure for those who lost loved ones on that September day many years ago. But I also have other, more troubling feelings that linger.

As a veteran who was injured in combat in Iraq, I wanted to feel a sense of accomplishment and finality. I wanted to feel that bin Laden's death demonstrated the worth of my sacrifice. But I couldn't. And somehow I felt I was on the outside of all of this.

As I sifted through the reactions of my friends on social networks, I read comments like, "Great news. If only we hadn't gotten off course with Iraq for so long," or, "Could have gotten him earlier if we hadn't wasted our time in the illegal war in Iraq."

Reading such comments made me realize just how disconnected I was from the killing of bin Laden. The more I reflect on it, the less I feel part of it or of the war against terrorism, at least in the public's eye.

My war - the Iraq war - is being remembered as quite different from the "war on terror." Its narrative, as shaped by the media and the public, breaks dramatically from that of the war in Afghanistan and the pursuit of terrorists around the globe.

The Iraq war has become the mistaken war, the one that so many Americans believe we never should have waged. I have come to realize that, regardless of my personal beliefs and opinions, this is how the Iraq war will be remembered - as an unfortunate error increasingly divorced from the country's valiant fight against terrorism.
read more here
A soldier learns he fought the wrong war

When you look back at the number of troops in Afghanistan before the Bush Administration decided invading Iraq was more important, you realize this soldier is probably right.
Troop Levels in the Afghan and Iraq Wars
FY2001-FY2012: Cost and Other Potential Issues
Amy Belasco
Specialist in U.S. Defense Policy and Budget July 2, 2009

Experts will debate Iraq for many years just as they have been searching for answers as to what could have been accomplished in Afghanistan had the focus been getting Osama, but the men and women sent will question it for the rest of their lives.

When the memorials are built for Iraq and Afghanistan, they will walk to it, stand in front of it, see a name they know, and they will wonder as much as they will miss their friend. What will we be doing? Will we help them to see that in the end they fought for each other? Is there is nothing more worthy than that?

Father of captured Idaho National Guard Private silent no more

Father makes heartbreaking YouTube to Taliban who have held his soldier son hostage for two years
By OLIVER PICKUP

The father of an American soldier who was captured by the Taliban nearly two years ago has made a heartbreaking plea to his captors in the hope that they will release his son.

Bowe Bergdahl from Sun Valley, Idaho, went missing in June 2009 while on duty in Afghanistan's Paktika province, and now Robert has politely asked whether Pakistan - where he thinks his son is - forces will let him go.

The 25-year-old has been in the captivity of the Taliban supporting Haqqani network and four videos have been released showing the soldier begging for help - and being 'exploited' in the eyes of his father.

In the 23 months since their son went missing his parents have remained out of the public eye, until now, following the death of Osama Bin Laden.

Robert Bergdahl has posted the humble and respectful three-minute appeal on YouTube in the hope that 'this video may be played to our only son'.

From the family in Hailey, Idaho, he addresses the Taliban and the Haqqani network, and begins the film - posted on May 6 - by saying: 'These are my thoughts - I can remain silent no longer.


Read more: Father makes heartbreaking YouTube to Taliban

Soldier who suffered cardiac arrest saved by staying "cool"

‘Cool’ therapy saves life of soldier in Iraq
By Jill Laster - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday May 8, 2011 9:16:56 EDT
It was an incredible task: Take a patient whose condition usually means slim odds of survival, perform an unconventional medical procedure in Iraq and conduct a cross-continental flight to help save his life.

But what’s perhaps more incredible is that the patient — a soldier who suffered cardiac arrest outside Ramadi, Iraq — survived and is now recovering at home after only a short stay at Brooke Army Medical Center, Texas, according to the medics who treated him.

The Air Force Theater Hospital emergency staff used a procedure called therapeutic hypothermia — the body of the patient is cooled from the normal 98.6 degrees to between 89 and 93 degrees — to save the soldier at Joint Base Balad, Iraq.

At a stateside hospital, doctors have high-tech equipment and cooling blankets to drop a patient’s body temperature. At the theater hospital, the medical staff had to rely on their resourcefulness and determination.

The doctors used the University of Pennsylvania’s website to find more information on post-cardiac resuscitation care. And virtually everyone on the medical staff pitched in wherever they could: blending ice that had come from the hospital cafeteria, packing ice-filled baggies around the soldier and hauling a fan from the basement gym to help keep him cool.
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‘Cool’ therapy saves life of soldier in Iraq

USS Michael Murphy named for Medal of Honor recipient

Navy ship dedicated to fallen SEAL
From Susan Candiotti and Ross Levitt, CNN
May 8, 2011 1:48 p.m. EDT

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
USS Michael Murphy named for Medal of Honor recipient
Murphy, a Navy SEAL lieutenant, was killed in 2005 in Afghanistan
His namesake destroyer was christened by his mother at a shipyard in Maine

Bath, Maine (CNN) -- Under clear, blue skies, a ship dedicated to fallen Medal of Honor recipient and Navy SEAL Lt. Michael Murphy was christened Saturday by his mother, Maureen, at Bath Iron Works shipyard in Maine.

"I feel not only Michael's presence, but that ship embodies the spirits of Michael and his teammates," Murphy's father, Daniel, told CNN.

Following tradition, Murphy's mother cracked a bottle of champagne against the hull of the USS Michael Murphy.

"Happy Birthday, son!" Murphy's mom said on what would have been her son's 35th birthday. His life was cut short in the mountains of Afghanistan in 2005.

Dr. Josh Appel, an Air Force Reserve flight surgeon, helped retrieve Murphy's body after a firefight that claimed the lives of 18 other troops, including 2 SEALs from Murphy's team.
read more here
Navy ship dedicated to fallen SEAL

Family adamant about colonel's 2008 death: It was not suicide

Family adamant about colonel's 2008 death: It was not suicide
By HOWARD ALTMAN | The Tampa Tribune
Published: May 08, 2011

HUDSON --
At the kitchen table of their Heritage Pines home, filled with treasures collected over a lifetime of service to the country, John and Mary Lou Stahlman look through pictures of their youngest child, the highest-ranking Marine casualty in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Michael Stahlman as a Marine Corps fighter pilot. As a Judge Advocate General Corps lawyer who investigated civilian killings. As a Marine colonel going on the jogs he loved.

The pictures bring back memories, but the most vivid is the one that came from their daughter-in-law Kimberly Stahlman on July 31, 2008. The news was shocking: The Marines said her husband had been found in his bunk in Ramadi, Iraq, with a single gunshot wound to the left temple.

Michael Stahlman survived for several months but succumbed to infections Oct. 5, 2008. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

To the military, the case is open-and-shut. The Marines ruled his death a suicide, saying Stahlman shot himself with his Marine-issued Beretta 9 mm.

Stahlman's parents, though, don't believe the Marines' version of what happened half a world away.

"He was murdered," John Stahlman says steadfastly.

"I could scream," Mary Lou Stahlman says. "He was making plans to come home. He would never kill himself."
read more here

Family adamant about colonel's 2008 death: It was not suicide

Vietnam Veterans Memorial will have 5 more names this Memorial Day

Vietnam Veterans Memorial adds 5 more names in DC
TAGS: Veterans

By: The Associated Press 05/08/11 2:17 AM
The Associated Press
The names of five U.S. soldiers are being added to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington.

A ceremony will be held Sunday morning to honor Army Spec. Charles Sabatier of Galveston, Texas, whose name is being added. He was wounded in the Tet Offensive in 1968 when a bullet pierced his spinal column and left him paralyzed. He died in 2009 as a result of his condition.

The names of four other service members will be added over the next week.

They are: Army Spec. Charles Vest of Lynchburg, Ohio, who remained in a coma for years before he died; Army Sgt. Henry Aderholt of Birmingham, Ala.; Richard Daniels of Washougal, Wash., who served in the Navy; and Peter Holcomb of Grandy, Minn.



Read more at the Washington Examiner: Vietnam Veterans Memorial adds 5 more names in DC

Vietnam Vets thanked for service and sacrifice

Vietnam Vets thanked for service and sacrifice
Sunday, May 8, 2011
BY KAREN ROUSE
THE RECORD
STAFF WRITER
HOLMDEL — Joe Piacenti felt like Americans had gone on with life, forgetting him and all the other soldiers at war in Vietnam, when he returned to the United States in 1969.


LESLIE BARBARO/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

"Only your family and friends cared about you," he said Saturday, following a ceremony at the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial where he was awarded the New Jersey Distinguished Service Medal.

"We weren’t really appreciated," the River Vale resident recalled.

On Saturday, those feelings were behind him. Piacenti beamed as bright as the blue skies and warm sun that seemed to shine in approval of the dozens of war veterans and about 300 of their supporters participating in the Vietnam Veterans’ Remembrance Day ceremony.
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Vietnam Vets thanked for service and sacrifice

Because they cared so much

You may hear a Marine say they joined to kill some bad guys, and you can walk away believing all they wanted to do was kill without ever wondering what would make them want to risk their lives to do it. If you wonder, you'll find the answer soon enough. They wanted to "kill the bad guys" to save others.

The talk now is about Osama and how he was killed. If Osama had not ordered the deaths of as many people as possible, innocent people just showing up for work, the day he was killed would not have been an issue. Osama was not satisfied with what he had done. He wanted more innocent people to die. The SEALS stopped him from being able to kill more. The evidence found with Osama told a story of more attacks planned. Not on military targets but on civilians.

The troops were sent into Afghanistan because of him. They were sent into Iraq for? It didn't matter to the men and women sent because most of them joined because of September 11th. They were told it was because of our security. In other words, to save the lives of us.

The National Guards sent are another example of why they do what they do. When a natural disaster hits their community, they are the among the first people showing up to help.

Some people can't understand why so many of these men and women end up with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. What they see, what they have to do, what hardships they have to endure, stays with them. These are not selfish people. They do what they do because they care. It is because they care so much they end up paying a price for the rest of their lives.

A soldier deployed for a year becomes a veteran for their lifetime. They come home profoundly changed even if they are not haunted by PTSD. This is very clear when you listen to older veterans, especially Vietnam Veterans.

At the Veterans Reunion in Melbourne FL, yesterday it was more clear listening to these veterans talk. They walked around looking at patches on vest and hats telling a story. They'd stop, reach out a hand and say "welcome home" as memories took them back 40 years. Where were you? When were you in? They knew what happened and when it happened just as they remembered what happened to them.

They came home, returned to the world the rest of us live in. Working jobs, having families and carry the same worries the rest of us have, but these men and women carried the burden the nation put on their shoulders everyday. Just because they were back home, it didn't mean they were back home all the way. Too many came home so changed by what they had to do they find a piece of themselves is still back there. It comes back to them in their dreams and flashbacks, in the hearing of a name or reading it on the Wall.

How you see them depends on what you know of them. If you honor what they did for us, then make sure they have what they need because veterans carry the burden for the rest of us all their lives. Some carry it deeper because they cared so much.

Father Of Miramar Marine Found Dead Talks To 10News

Father Of Miramar Marine Found Dead Talks To 10News

Cpl. Alan R. Bays Jr. Pronounced Dead En Route To Hospital

SAN DIEGO -- The father of a Miramar-based Marine who was found unconscious in his barracks spoke to 10News on Friday.

Cpl. Alan R. Bays Jr. of Cincinnati was found unconscious in his barracks on April 28, according to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar's public affairs office. Bays was pronounced dead en route to the hospital.

Bays was recovering from a head injury at Miramar after he was critically injured in Yuma, Ariz.

Bays' father, Alan Bays Sr., believes his son was training in Arizona to prepare for his second deployment to Afghanistan.

"They told me basically that my son had died as a result of injuries while training for redeployment to Afghanistan," said Bays Sr.

Bays was a flight equipment technician with the Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 462, Marine Aircraft Group 16, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing. He enlisted in the Marine Corps in October 2007.

After Bays was injured on April 16, he first went to Yuma Regional Medical Center. Then, he was airlifted to Phoenix Memorial Hospital where he stayed for four days. On April 20, Bays was driven back to Miramar where he stayed until April 28, the day he died.

"I don't see how you could discharge somebody from the hospital after four days… and then eight days later he dies," said Bays Sr.
read more here
Father Of Miramar Marine Found Dead Talks To 10News

Missing sailor found and is getting help

Found Navy Sailor Was "Disoriented and Confused"
Sunday, May 8, 2011


Source: Missing Sailor Found "Confused" | NBC San Diego

By Artie Ojeda

A Navy sailor missing since last Tuesday had been living underneath a bridge for the past four days before he was found Saturday afternoon "disoriented and confused" at a friend's house in La Mesa.

Petty Officer Second Class Nicholas Hamilton, 31, had been missing since he failed to check in at Naval Base San Diego. His wife said he suffered from depression and PTSD and had tried to kill himself while aboard USS Ronald Reagan.
Missing Sailor Found

Missing Sailor Found
San Diego 6

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.

Missing sailor found

Navy wife begs for return

Veteran of Beirut bombing remembered after drowning death

Drowning victim remembered as a good man, former Marine by friends

By Don Lehman--dlehman@poststar.com

GLENS FALLS -- The Glens Falls man who drowned in a stream near Hovey Pond Park last weekend was a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who served in Beirut in the 1980s, with friends saying he survived the 1983 barracks bombing there that killed hundreds.

Jeffrey Miswell was a disabled veteran who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder from his time overseas, according to his roommate, Randy Mlenar. Miswell was honorably discharged, he said.

Mlenar and a former neighbor of Miswell's said he was in the Marine Corps barracks that was bombed in October 1983, killing 241 U.S. servicemen and women. A 1983 Post-Star article confirmed he was in Beirut as a U.S. Marine at the time.

Miswell, 47, died Saturday night after he fell into a stream that drains Hovey Pond while fishing. He fell several feet off a concrete wall, and police don't know what caused him to fall.

Mlenar, a former Marine with whom Miswell lived in an apartment on Bay Street, fought back tears as he talked about his longtime friend.
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Drowning victim remembered as a good man, former Marine by friends

Terminally ill Vietnam Vet shot by police in Seattle

Armed man shot by Kent cops was ill and wanted to be killed, family says
The family of a Kent man thinks he intended to be killed when he armed himself and confronted police Wednesday near the Kent Transit Center.
By Sara Jean Green
Seattle Times staff reporter

The armed man fatally shot Wednesday by Kent police was a terminally ill Vietnam veteran who had been deeply depressed, according to his adult daughters.

The three women and their mother, who had been married to the man for more than 20 years before they divorced a few years ago, cried and held each other soon after arriving near the Kent Transit Center, where the shooting occurred.

"I believe he came down here with the intent to be killed by police. He wouldn't hurt anybody," said the man's youngest daughter, declining to give her name or the name of her father.

The man, whose name has not been released by authorities, had been depressed and frustrated with his declining health, medical care and the amount of medication he was required to take, said his daughters. They said he was terminally ill and suffered from diabetes, hepatitis C and cirrhosis of the liver.

"He's the type that would give you the shirt off his back. He wouldn't threaten anybody," said his eldest daughter. "He's always just been so strong. I don't understand how this could be the end of it."

At 9:10 a.m., Kent police received a 911 call from a Far West cabdriver who was concerned about his passenger, said Cathy Schrock, spokeswoman for the Federal Way Police Department, which is investigating the shooting. The cabbie, who pulled over at the transit center and was able to get out of the cab, told the 911 operator his passenger held a rifle or shotgun across his knees, she said.
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Armed man shot by Kent cops was ill

Dryhootch: Using Coffee and Conversation to Prevent Veteran Suicides

Dryhootch: Using Coffee and Conversation to Prevent Veteran Suicides
Non-profit Helps Veterans and Families "Survive the Peace"
Studies show 18 vets commit suicide in America each day, and more Wisconsin National Guard members are dying from suicide than in battle. A Milwaukee non-profit is working to prevent those deaths, through coffee and conversation.
Reporter: John Stofflet

Posted May 5, 2011--10:00 p.m.

Heather Morales' story is all too common. Mental combat wounds sustained in the Iraq War led her ex-husband to kill himself.

During an interview in her La Crosse home, Morales said, "I never in a million years thought he'd take his own life. The toughest part is him not being here for our daughter Katherine".

Heather's is a story Bob Curry has heard far too often. Curry, a Vietnam veteran, who has post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) says, "They don't train you to come back to civilian life. We need to take care of them when they get home."

Curry is co-founder of Dryhootch--a Milwaukee non-profit coffeehouse that serves much more than coffee. "The mission is, we say, to help the veteran and their family who survived the war to survive the peace. When you're in the military, your brother is the person next to you, or your sister, and so we want to create that bond here and help the veteran, who gets back and their family members, by being their
battle buddy here."

Veterans returning from Iraq or Afghanistan facing addiction or mental health issues can talk to other vets in counseling sessions, or they can just talk informally over coffee.

Iraq War veteran Manuel "Manny" Mora also has PTSD, and has found it therapeutic to talk to fellow vets at Dryhootch and, "have people to connect to, and let me know that I'm not the only one out there. There are other people in the same situation as I was."

Mora says he saw comrades severely wounded next to him in Iraq, and was under constant pressure there. "Just that constant paranoia of not knowing if you're going to get killed one day....kind of that worst feeling to go out of the gate and not know if you're going to come back or not. I imploded from the inside, and once that happened, I pretty much exploded on everything else outside, which left me homeless, pretty much sleeping in my car."

Curry says, "When I first met Manny a year and a half ago, Manny didn't talk." Thanks to Dryhootch, Manny's not only talking now...he's leading veterans counseling sessions there. Mora says, "My way of paying back is just helping other veterans in any way I can."
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Using Coffee and Conversation to Prevent Veteran Suicides

Soldier found dead at home on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson

Soldier found dead at home on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska — Military officials in Alaska say a soldier has been found dead at Join Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage.

Officials say the soldier's name will not be released until the family notification process is complete.

According to officials, the soldier was found dead in his family quarters at the base early Friday.
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Soldier found dead at home on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson

Hundreds show up to honor fallen soldier against Westboro groups hatred

Hundreds Pay Respects to Soldier, Ward Off Protesters

The whole town of Jamestown, Pa., has 600 to 700 residents.

But Friday, there were several times that many people in the small community for the funeral services of Army Capt. Joshua McClimans, 30, who died last month in Afghanistan.

They took their places along Liberty Street, waiting to see if a threatened protest against McClimans by members of the controversial Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church would ever materialize.

"We will not stand back quietly while someone tries to disrupt the memory of a man who lived and breathed and died for our rights and our freedom," said Tammy Hodge, of Jamestown.

McClimans was killed April 22 as he was on his way to work at Forward Operating Base Salerno, in Khost province near Kabul. He was a member of the 848th Forward Surgical Team based in Twinsburg, Ohio. He would have turned 31 next week and had a young son, Max.

The Westboro Church has become known for sending members to military funerals, carrying obscene signs and shouting that the deaths of servicemen and women are God's way of punishing us for accepting homosexuality. After learning the church had listed McClimans' services on its list of demonstration sites, Hodge went online herself using Facebook to encourage others to support the Captain's family and friends. The effort drew hundreds from surrounding communities and even other states.
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Hundreds Pay Respects to Soldier, Ward Off Protesters

A mother’s love fans son’s will to survive

A mother’s love fans son’s will to survive

By ERIC ADLER

The Kansas City Star

On the fifth floor of the University of Kansas Hospital, in a corner room in the burn unit, a mother leans close to her son’s right ear.

He lies on the bed, eyes closed. Burns cover 90 percent of his body. Tubes snake from veins and his throat into humming machines.

“Josh?” Lisa Ott Battagliola whispers.

Whether her boy, Josh Langton, 27, can hear her, she doesn’t know. Even if he can, the memory of her presence may be lost in the fog of pain medication.

It doesn’t matter.

“Josh?” she says again.

Because if there’s one simple Mother’s Day lesson that Battagliola — a 4-foot-11-inch mom given to form-fitting jeans and high heels, born 50 years ago to a tough Las Vegas construction family — has learned through years of family hardships, through ups and down with her eldest son, it’s this:

“At the end of the day, tell your child, no matter how old they are, that you love them. Because no matter how old they are, they’re your child. Make sure they know you love them. One day you may get that 4 o’clock in the morning phone call.”

Josh has a wife, Jamie, and a 3-year-old daughter, Lilly, to live for. He was a soldier who survived Iraq and the PTSD nightmares that later haunted him.

Read more: A mother’s love fans son’s will to survive

US Military Suicidal Thoughts Up 7,000%

Why does it ever have to get so bad suicide seems to be better than living?

Suicidal Thoughts Up 7,000% As Reason For U.S. Military Hospitalizations Over Past Five Years
Posted by MARK THOMPSON Friday, May 6, 2011

This surprising chart is contained in a new Pentagon report. "Annual numbers of hospitalizations with primary (first-listed) diagnoses of suicidal ideation at discharge have steadily and sharply increased (from 5 in 2006 to 355 in 2010)," the Pentagon notes. That's a 7,000% increase in patients who reported thinking of killing themselves.



Read more: Suicidal Thoughts up 7,000 percent

Because they don't know how to heal? Or because no one ever told them what they needed to understand?
This is where the healing begins

Benjamin Campione’s decades-long struggle ends with shooting by police

Man details brother's struggle with mental illness before Thursday's fatal shooting by police
Published: Friday, May 06, 2011, 8:42 PM
By Charles McChesney / The Post-Standard

Syracuse, NY -- Victor Campione said he’d been to police three times in the past year, alerting them that his younger brother wasn’t taking his medication and was slipping deeper into paranoid schizophrenia.

On Thursday, two sheriff’s deputies and one Syracuse police officer ended Benjamin Campione’s decades-long struggle with mental illness by shooting him dead when he pointed a pellet gun at them in the parking lot of the Regional Transportation Center.

“This wasn’t suicide by cop,” said Campione, of Jordan, it was a mentally ill person reacting to what he thought was a threat.

Campione said his brother, who he calls “Benny,” was first diagnosed while serving in the Army in the late 1970s. He was discharged from the service after a year and a half of peacetime service as a medic. After that he came home and lived with or near family.
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Benjamin Campione

A warrior’s toughest battle: getting some help for the veterans

A warrior’s toughest battle: getting some help for the veterans
A military man and support expert outlines problems in a meeting with area care providers.
MATT HUGHES mhughes@timesleader.com

NANTICOKE – When U.S. Army Col. David W. Sutherland enters a building, part of him can’t help but think how he and a team of armed soldiers might take it over.


Standing telephone poles and working street lights sometimes leave him bewildered.

Sutherland, a veteran of both Iraq wars, has been shot at, bombed and not long ago witnessed a suicide bomber kill 20 people before his eyes, less than 10 feet away. Normal life isn’t quite normal for him any more.

At Luzerne County Community College on Friday, Sutherland commanded the attention of more than 80 representatives of organizations and agencies in Luzerne, Lackawanna and Wyoming counties about how they can better aid returning military and veterans’ transition to civilian life.

The symposium was part of a new collaborative initiative called the Tri-Vets Community Task Force aimed at doing just that.

Sutherland is now the special assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff with the principal focus on Warrior and Family Support. He has served in the military for 28 years and in 2008 and 2009 was regional division chief in the J5 Strategic Plans and Policy Directorate, making him responsible for strategic planning and advising the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on issues relating to the Middle East.
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A warrior’s toughest battle: getting some help for the veterans

Father of captured Idaho National Guard Private asks for son's freedom

Father of captured U.S. soldier asks for son's freedom
By Laura Zuckerman
SALMON, Idaho | Sat May 7, 2011 12:00am EDT
(Reuters) - The father of a U.S. soldier who was captured in Afghanistan two years ago on Friday posted an online appeal asking the government of Pakistan and its armed forces to help free his son.

"Our family is counting on your professional integrity and honor to secure the safe return of our son and we thank you," Robert Bergdahl says about his son, Idaho National Guard Private Bowe Bergdahl, in a video posted on YouTube.

Bowe Bergdahl, of Hailey, Idaho, was a member of the 1st Battalion of the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment in Afghanistan when he went missing June 30, 2009, and was declared captured by the Taliban three days later by the U.S. military. The Army specialist was 23 at the time.

The branch of the Taliban suspected to be holding Bowe Bergdahl operates on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border and may be based in tribal lands in Pakistan, according to 2009 statements by the U.S. Department of Defense.
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Father of captured U.S. soldier asks for son's freedom

Vietnam veteran finally faces the wall at Melbourne Reunion

Vietnam veteran finally faces the wall
Written by
R. NORMAN MOODY
FLORIDA TODAY
MELBOURNE — George Taylor stretched his left hand out, his fingers touching the name of a fellow soldier killed in the Vietnam War more than 40 years ago and engraved on the Vietnam Memorial Traveling Wall.

It was the first time Taylor could emotionally bring himself to face the wall at the Florida Vietnam and All Veterans Reunion at Wickham Park. The wall, which will be on display through Sunday, bears the names of more than 58,000 Americans who died in the war.

Taylor, who turned 61 on Friday, took off his ever-present cowboy hat, bowed his head with his forehead touching the wall, and he paused for a moment of silence as he touched the name of Rafael Colon-Santos.

Turning away from the wall, Taylor faced fellow veterans and supporters who gathered behind him. Some held a banner that said "Happy Birthday, Cowboy George." They shook his hand and hugged him.

"I had to try to lay 41 years of nightmares to rest," Taylor said, lips quivering as he choked back tears.

Taylor, founder and president of the National Veterans Homeless Support, which helps local homeless veterans, some from the Vietnam War, with supplies and helps to get them out of homelessness.
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Vietnam veteran finally faces the wall

PTSD veteran told to leave Hooters because of his service dog!

Veteran says restaurant refused to serve him with his service animal
Posted at: 05/06/2011 10:52 PM
By: Eddie Garcia, KOB Eyewitness News 4


Justin Jordan says a Hooters refused to serve him and tried to kick him out with his licensed service dog Dallas.

A Rio Rancho man says an Albuquerque Hooters violated his rights after trying to kick him and his dog out.

He is a war veteran and is still actively serving; his dog is a licensed service animal and is protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Air Force Master Sergeant Justin Jordan has served his country all over the world for 18 years but post traumatic stress disorder began creeping up on him making every aspect of his life seem like torture.

That was until he met a specially trained English bulldog named Dallas.

"So many of our veterans are stuck in their homes, not being able to go out in public. She gives me the ability to go out in public and participate in things I haven't done in a while - go to the park with my kids," said Jordan.

Last week, Jordan wanted to see a syndicated radio host who was in town and meeting fans at the Hooters on Alameda and Coors.

All was going well until management told Jordan to leave because of his dog, Dallas.
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Veteran says restaurant refused to serve him

Wounded vet makes progress in recovery

Wounded vet makes progress in recovery

By Anna Krejci, Dells Events | Posted: Friday, May 6, 2011

A little over a year ago, Army Spc. Michael Gawel, serving in Afghanistan, received injuries to his spine from an improvised explosive device that tore apart his vehicle.

In that span of time he recuperated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington D.C. where he was wheelchair bound most of the time, to walking with a cane at his Wisconsin Dells home.

As for what's happening in Afghanistan now, Gawel said he follows the news. Sunday night President Barack Obama announced that Navy SEALs had killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. Bin Laden is blamed for the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

"It was a good job to the soldiers for doing what we were over there for. I'm not going to say I'm glad about anybody getting killed. I guess it brings us one step closer to the win on the war on terrorism in my mind," he said.

Now he is on his feet and walking without a cane while he performs office work for the Army National Guard in Reedsburg.
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Wounded vet makes progress in recovery

Army, charity save ailing Afghan boy

Army, charity save ailing Afghan boy
Child recovers from bladder surgery
6:57 AM, May. 7, 2011
Written by
Matt Manochio | Staff Writer

Livingston, May 6, 2011---US Army Major Glenn Battschinger of Mays Landing, NJ meets with six-year-old Muslam Hagigshah , a boy from Afghanistan that Battschinger met while on combat patrol and helped to arrange for medical help for the child who was born with his bladder outside his body.
BOB KARP/STAFF PHOTO / Staff Photo/staff photo

LIVINGSTON — Muslam Hagigshah didn’t stand much of a chance.

Born in poverty in Afghanistan with his bladder literally hanging over his groin outside of his body, he was unable to properly function, and could only walk bow-legged.

Then one day his mother brought the 6-year-old boy to an Army base in Jalalabad City, where she met Army Maj. Glenn Battschinger of Mays Landing.

Fast-forward one year to the John and Jacqueline McMullen Children’s Center at St. Barnabas Medical Center, where the Army major, the little boy, and his Egyptian-born pediatric urologist met Friday to celebrate the child’s recovery.

Many things had to happen in the 12 months that elapsed from when Muslam met Battschinger, whose mission in Afghanistan was government mentorship, acting as an outreach to the locals.
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Army, charity save ailing Afghan boy

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.
read more here
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.
read more here
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