13 veterans died while waiting for VA care

In at least 13 cases, Murray said, veterans committed suicide or died from drug overdoses while waiting to receive help from the VA.

Senators tell VA to reduce veteran suicides


BY ROB HOTAKAINEN

MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

WASHINGTON -- With veterans now accounting for one of every five suicides in the nation, the Department of Veterans Affairs is under pressure from the courts and Congress to fix its mental health services in an attempt to curb the death toll.

"The suicide rate is out of control. It's epidemic proportions right now," said Paul Rieckhoff, the executive director of the group Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. "There are very few programs that are effective, and there's a serious lack of national awareness."

While the government keeps no official tally of veteran suicides, the VA said last year that veterans account for roughly 20 percent of the estimated 30,000 suicides annually in the United States.

The latest attack on the VA came two weeks ago from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, which ordered a major overhaul of the agency. The court said that with an average of 18 veterans killing themselves each day, "the VA's unchecked incompetence has gone on long enough; no more veterans should be compelled to agonize or perish while the government fails to perform its obligations."

Suicides among active-duty troops are also a cause of concern: In April, 25 soldiers killed themselves, equal to about half the deaths in Afghanistan during the month.


Read more: Senators tell VA to reduce veteran suicides

County Court judge considers letting dog calm witness at trial

County Court judge considers letting dog calm witness at trial

Written by
Larry Hertz

In a case that may break new legal ground, an 11-year-old golden retriever trained to help young people ease their stress may get the chance to put her skills to work in a Dutchess County courtroom next month.

The dog, named Rose, was in court Wednesday afternoon as Judge Stephen L. Greller heard testimony at a pretrial hearing in the case of City of Poughkeepsie resident Victor Tohom, who is accused of sexually abusing a young girl. Rose spent most of the two-hour hearing dozing under the prosecution table in the fourth-floor courtroom of the county courthouse in the City of Poughkeepsie.
read more here
County Court judge considers letting dog calm witness at trial

Not so far fetched,,,,,,

What's a dog doing in court?

PTSD on trail:Marine accused of firing on deputies strikes deal

Marine accused of firing on deputies strikes deal
Written by
DOUGLAS WALKER

WINCHESTER -- A Marine veteran of the Iraq War accused of opening fire on three Randolph County sheriff's deputies has struck a deal with prosecutors that would eliminate the most serious charge against him.

Under the terms of the plea agreement submitted Wednesday, Andrew S. Ward, now 27 and of Farmland, would plead guilty to criminal recklessness and battery resulting in bodily injury. Randolph County Prosecutor David Daly would then recommend that Ward receive an eight-year sentence with four years suspended.
read more here
Marine accused of firing on deputies strikes deal

Psychiatric service dog helps veteran with PTSD

‘She has my back …' Psychiatric service dog helps veteran with PTSD
Written by
LeAnne Rogers

Disabled with post-traumatic stress disorder after two tours of duty in Iraq, Terran Frye would feel his anxiety level increase when faced with a trip to the mall or other crowded places.

“When you've been in combat and dealing with crowds, then you come back to society, it's not an easy transition,” said Frye, who served four years in the U.S. Marine Corps. “It's hard trusting people. In a crowd, someone can come up behind you. There are so many people, you feel crowded in there.”

Now Frye is getting more comfortable in crowds and other places thanks to a four-legged friend, his service dog, Hershey.
read more here
Psychiatric service dog helps veteran with PTSD

Pete Damon lost both arms in Iraq paints better than most can

Pete Damon, the artist click link to view more of his work
About Me
I am an artist and a severely wounded Iraq war veteran. In October of 2003 I lost parts of both my arms while serving in Iraq as a helicopter mechanic in the military. The accident killed my buddy, SPC. Paul J Bueche 19, of Daphne AL. Since then, art has become a huge source of therapy for me, both physically and mentally. Painting has given me a new perspective on life. I've made a promise to Paul to make the most of it. This website is dedicated to him.

" Tuesday Morning " 8x8 oil on canvasboard ( to be

auctioned for highest bid, proceeds will go to

Homes For Our Troops )

Winning bid : $1000

e-mail me at dannyowen03@yahoo.com to bid

VA fails to bill insurers when it should

When Obama was attacked for even thinking about the VA billing insurance companies for care, the media was all over him for even thinking about it but that was only because they didn't know it was already happening. Any care a veteran gets that is not tied to his claim or falls under inability to pay under "means testing" is supposed to be billed, either to the veteran or to an insurance company. The problem comes when insurance companies refuse to pay as in cases where the VA doctor may diagnose a condition tied to service but the claim has not been approved.

Private insurance companies usually do deny claims when a VA doctor says it is tied to service, especially in combat as in the cases of thousands of veterans with private insurance but denied claims. What happened to them was that while they visited private doctors, the mental health claims were covered but as soon as the VA doctor said it was because of Vietnam, they began to deny claims stating it was the responsibility of the government to provide care and no longer their responsibility. If a veteran was still able to work or had coverage with a spouse, once their insurance company turned down the claim the VA went after the veteran. One more thing that is not discussed is the VA has the ability to attach tax refunds to cover care.

Here is the flip side of this.

IG: VA fails to bill insurers when it should
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday May 26, 2011 12:27:14 EDT
The Veterans Affairs Department is losing more than $110 million a year by failing to bill third-party insurance companies for medical care, according to an inspector general report.

Blaming an ineffective medical billing process and a lack of a system to track fees, the VA is not billing private insurers for 46 percent of health care costs that they should be covering, according to Wednesday’s audit report from the VA inspector general that calls this a “missed opportunity” due largely to “ineffective and unreliable” practices.

“This is way too much money that is just being left on the table by VA,” said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee chairwoman.

“Especially now, when we have to fight for every dollar our veterans get, VA cannot allow insurance companies to walk away with taxpayer dollars that could go back to veterans care,” Murray said.

The VA inspector general found similar problems 2004 and 2008.

The report recommends an overhaul of billing practices, which the Veterans Health Administration agreed to do in an official response.

By law, VA is required to bill private health insurers for medical care, supplies and prescriptions related to treatment of conditions not related to a veteran’s service. Veterans receiving VA care are required to provide details about their private health insurance, including coverage under a spouse’s policy.
read more here
VA fails to bill insurers when it should

This part is almost right.

Generally, veterans are not required to pay any balance uncovered by their insurance. Insurance payments may be used to offset the cost of any co-pay a veteran is charged by the VA.

When they have an approved claim but go for other care, the VA does bill the insurance company but does not go after the veteran for what is not paid, that is, as long as they have a rating high enough to provide it. (My husband is 100% but we also carry private health insurance, so anything not connected to his disability, they bill our insurance company.) If not, then they bill the veteran if their income is too high for free care. Now that they are talking about going after poor veterans without service connected claims, more veterans will be pushed out of care.

At least they are finally talking about what has been really going on instead of just letting people assume the veterans are given free care!

Help Available for Veterans in Joplin, Mo.

VA Announces Disaster Assistance After Tornado Outbreaks


Help Available for Veterans in Joplin, Mo.


WASHINGTON (May 26, 2011)- The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
announced today that special disaster assistance may be available to
Veterans with VA-guaranteed home loans who have been affected by recent
tornados in Missouri.

"We will to do everything we can to help Veterans and their families get
through this difficult time," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K.
Shinseki. "We urge Veterans to use VA resources available to help them
recover from this disaster."

VA strongly encourages mortgage companies not to initiate any new
foreclosures in the disaster areas for a period of 90 days. The agency
also encourages mortgage companies that service VA-guaranteed home loans
to extend every possible forbearance to borrowers who are in distress
through no fault of their own. This includes suspension of reporting to
credit bureaus and waiving late charges for affected borrowers.

Veterans should contact their insurance company as soon as possible to
file claims for losses. At the same time, they need to contact their
mortgage companies to let them know their circumstances.

Veterans should also start the FEMA disaster application process as soon
as possible by calling 1-800-621-3362. Low interest loans, cash grants,
and housing assistance may be available from agencies associated with
the disaster recovery effort.

VA has information available on its web site
(www.benefits.va.gov/homeloans) that provides basic guidance on options
veterans should consider following a major disaster. Veterans may also
contact their nearest VA Regional Loan Center at 1-877-827-3702.

For updated information on eligible counties, visit the "Are you a
disaster survivor?" section on the FEMA website at
http://www.fema.gov/index.shtm.

WITN should be ashamed of report on "Preventing Suicides In The USMC"

The ad on the video for this report lasted 9 seconds and the report lasted 33 seconds. 33 seconds? Is that all this report was worth?

Preventing Suicides In The USMC
Marines and Sailors from Camp Lejeune and Cherry Point heard from speakers Wednesday about how to face personal issues after war.
Posted: 9:35 PM May 25, 2011
Reporter: Dave Jordan

Marines and Sailors from Camp Lejeune and Cherry Point heard from speakers Wednesday about how to face personal issues after war.

The program, "Heroes and Healthy Families," featured speakers on topics like substance abuse, post traumatic stress and suicide.

Organizers say that 97-percent of the service members that sit through the program say it's helpful.

In 2011 there have been 66 suspected suicide attempts and 10 suspected suicides in the United States Marine Corps.

Preventing Suicides In The USMC

Don't bother looking for more on this report but there is the link to the video. My rule is to always post just a paragraph or two to honor the work of the reporter and take you to the article so they get credit for the work they do. We need reporters covering all of these stories so if we do not go to the links, the producers and editors won't know they matter. In this case, the coverage was so lacking, what you see above is the whole thing. That's it!

WITN producers did the Marines and their families a huge injustice on this. Why did they bother to send a reporter at all to cover this? How can a story talking about the heartbreak of 10 families of the suspected suicides and 66 Marines suffering so much they tried to end their own lives end up being so unworthy of a full report?

Long Island Power Authority charged money to honor fallen soldier?

New York Utility Charged for Hanging Flags From Its Poles at Memorial for Slain Soldier
By MARK REEVES
May 26, 2011

The folks on Shelter Island, N.Y., were furious after they held a memorial parade to honor Lt. Joseph Theinert, a town resident who was killed in Afghanistan. The service included having members of Theinert's old unit march along a flag draped street that was named after Theinert.

Then they got the bill. The Long Island Power Authority charged them for hanging the American flags from its utility poles.

The resulting outcry has prompted a change of heart from the embarassed power company and LIPA CEO Michael Hervey is offering to personally pay for the flags. The tab only comes to $23.75 to put flags on 19 LIPA poles, but it wasn't the cost that left some folks sizzling like a summer barbecue.

"It was outrageous," County Legislator Ed Romaine told ABC News. "How do you charge for putting up American flags? LIPA didn't even put up the flags. The American Legion did. To do something patriotic and get charged for it was ridiculous."
read more here
New York Utility Charged for Hanging Flags

Team Rubicon making a difference for all

When you take a bunch of veterans, many like Clay Hunt trying to carry on with PTSD eating them alive, put them to work for others, it is the best medicine. Doing for others feeds the gift they were born with. There is not a selfish bone in their body. They have to be unselfish to be willing to serve in the military and be willing to die in the process. Clay's death after combat by suicide was a very hard story to post on because he had done everything experts say needs to be done to heal.

Marine Loses Battle with PTSD: MyFoxHOUSTON.com

After the shock of his death subsided it occurred to me, and many more, that getting involved with Team Rubicon may have added to his days on earth because he was giving so much back to others. Volunteer work for these veterans is a blessing to them giving them an emotional jolt but it also wears on their souls being exposed to more and more suffering.

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

When they show up to do this kind of work, there needs to be more emotional support for them just as with other emergency responders. Crisis intervention teams need to be ready and able to help them after especially when they are already carrying the burden of combat inside. Team Rubicon's efforts are spot on considering veterans volunteering are happier than an isolated veteran but there is only so much they can do. If you are trained in Crisis Intervention, please be there for them so more like Clay Hunt will be here tomorrow.

Team Rubicon
Mission Statement
Team Rubicon bridges the critical time gap between large humanitarian disasters and conventional aid response. We provide vanguard medical care by fielding small, self-sustaining, mobile teams of specially skilled first-responders. To deploy rapidly, we rely heavily on a horizontal command structure, social networking technology, and the employment of local nationals.

Mail From Home Lessens PTSD Symptoms

Mail From Home Lessens PTSD Symptoms? Well it depends on what is in the mail. A box of favorite snacks, a loving letter about how much they are missed and drawings from their kids could remind them they are loved and someone back home is thinking about them. Then again, there is another kind of mail. Dear John letters, mail from neighbors telling them there is a strange car parked in the driveway all night long, a stranger has been cutting their lawn or complaints by the spouse back home about how they are never around will leave a very bad taste in their mouth. The types of mail they can get could either help or hurt but we should be wondering what the hell this study was even done for. It is all common sense, which apparently, the military is lacking.

Study: Mail From Home Lessens PTSD Symptoms
May 25, 2011
Military.com|by Amy Bushatz

The more mail a happily married Soldier receives downrange, the less likely he is to have PTSD issues when he comes home -- but frequent mail for unhappily married Soldiers can result in stronger symptoms, a new study says.
While frequent mail from home works as stress relief for happily married Soldiers, it likely causes unhappily married Soldiers additional stress, the study's authors said.
"What we believe is that the communication is acting as support for the [Soldier]," said Sarah Carter, the report's primary author. "It may be that for those that aren't as satisfied, it's just not offering the same extent of support that those that are very satisfied are getting from that communication."
read more here
Mail From Home Lessens PTSD Symptoms

It said that "symptoms" of PTSD are lessened but not the rate of PTSD, but again, this would fall under common sense. When they have supportive people standing behind them it makes living with PTSD a bit easier to cope with. When they are alone, it is harder. It makes the need to isolate excusable, which is a common desire for combat veterans but supports the notion no one will ever understand them. For the lonely deployed, no news is not good news for them.

GI Found Guilty of Killing 2 Comrades in Iraq

GI Found Guilty of Killing 2 Comrades in Iraq
May 26, 2011
Associated Press
FORT STEWART, Ga. -- An Army sergeant was found guilty on Wednesday of two counts of premeditated murder in the 2008 slayings of his squad leader and another U.S. Soldier at a patrol base in Iraq, but he was spared the death penalty when the military jury didn't return a unanimous verdict.

Sgt. Joseph Bozicevich now faces a sentence of life in prison, either with or without the possibility of parole. The death penalty is an option in a court-martial only when there's a unanimous guilty verdict for premeditated murder. The 12-member jury at Fort Stewart did not report exactly how it was split when it announced its verdict.

Bozicevich, 41, admitted during the trial that he shot Staff Sgt. Darris Dawson and Sgt. Wesley Durbin at a patrol base outside Baghdad on Sept. 14, 2008, after they criticized him for making mistakes in an unforgiving war zone. But he testified that he only opened fire because the two Soldiers aimed rifles at his head and threatened to kill him if he didn't sign off on their written reports about him.

Prosecutors insisted that he grabbed his gun in anger after the men wounded his pride, when Dawson decided to strip the Soldier of his leadership role of a four-man squad because of a series of battlefield blunders. Prosecutor Maj. Scott Ford told jurors Tuesday that Bozicevich snapped after that "final blow to his ego."
read more here
GI Found Guilty of Killing 2 Comrades in Iraq

VA crisis hotline takes record number of calls, no one asks why?

Will anyone else ever ask why so many reach the point they have to call in the first place? With all the programs and money invested in helping them when they come home, the numbers go up instead of down. What is going on here? More calls to the suicide prevention hotline and more deaths. Any reporters bothering to check into why this is all happening?

VA crisis hotline takes record number of calls
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday May 25, 2011 12:01:23 EDT
The Veterans Affairs Department’s Veterans Crisis Line received 14,000 calls in April, the highest monthly volume ever recorded for the four-year-old suicide prevention program.

“Every day last month, more than 400 calls were received,” said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee chairwoman who disclosed the call volume during a Wednesday hearing. “While it is heartening to know that these calls for help are being answered, it is a sad sign of desperation and difficulties our veterans face that there are so many in need of a lifeline.”

The hotline, established in 2007, is a suicide prevention and crisis counseling program available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The number is 800-273-8255.

Antonette Zeiss, VA’s chief mental health officer, said that since the 2007 launch, the call center has received more than 400,000 calls, referred 55,000 veterans to local suicide prevention coordinators for same-day or next-day help and initiated 15,000 “rescues” of callers near suicide.
read more here
VA crisis hotline takes record number of calls

At Vietnam vet's funeral, strangers mourn a lost soul

At Vietnam vet's funeral, strangers mourn a lost soul

Written by
Will Higgins

MARION, Ind. -- Kenneth Earl Taylor Jr.'s funeral drew two-dozen Patriot Guard motorcyclists, a VFW honor guard and five Daughters of the American Revolution, among others.

Nearly 100 people in all.

But only three of them actually knew Taylor.

The others mourned not Taylor personally but rather the circumstances that formed one man's grim narrative: Vietnam veteran, living in squalor, kills himself.

Marion Behr, Indianapolis, came to the services at the national cemetery to "represent all the mentally ill people and their troubles."

David Gray, Indianapolis, came for his brother, Danny White, who died alone in Texas, a Vietnam vet who'd been living under a bridge. Gray missed that funeral -- he didn't hear of his brother's passing until five years later.
read more here
At Vietnam vet's funeral, strangers mourn a lost soul

First Person: Memorial Day 2011

First Person: Memorial Day 2011: United States Marines: A ‘Band of Brothers’
May 25, 2011
By Commander (Chaplain) MANUEL DON A. BIADOG JR., CHC, USN

HONORING THE FALLEN Corporals Stephen Rothermelpilla (left)and Richard Castagna salute Lance Corporal Kevin Michael Cornelius and Lance Corporal Tyler Owen Griffins gravesite at Arlington National Cemetery. Photo by Dan DeGuzman, Jr.

ARLINGTON, Va. (BP)—Today’s Marines in combat are our modern-day Band of Brothers.

Band of Brothers was made famous by the 2001 Stephen Spielberg and Tom Hanks 10-part television miniseries based on a book about a U.S. Army elite paratrooper unit during World War II by historian and biographer Stephen E. Ambrose.

In the book and in the miniseries, the Band of Brothers were men of Easy Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. They formed together a band of brothers, a brotherhood of their shared experiences from basic training in 1942 at Camp Toccoa, Ga., to D-Day in June of 1944 and their ultimate triumph at the end of World War II.

A modern day band of brothers, or brothers-in-arms, has shared a difficult, dangerous, traumatic, and stressful experience in battle, losing their fellow brothers-in-arms in combat. Those who know the true meaning of brotherhood, have lived it each and every day, and established a special bond that binds them together for the rest of their lives.

Obamacares

Rant for the day off topic but can't help it.

I keep hearing about "Obamacare" which is nothing to be ashamed of since it shows he does care about people, not the corporations controlling their healthcare insurance. He doesn't think that companies should have the power to tell a new Mom after she delivers a child with birth defects the child will be too expensive to take care of. He doesn't think that someone finding out they have cancer after working all their lives should be shut off because staying alive will be too expensive. Just as he doesn't think that someone without getting insurance should just be able to have the rest of the country cover their care when they find out they are the patient with cancer and no insurance simply because they didn't want it when they were healthy.

This is not the only thing that gets me stirred up.

When you hear some of the talking heads on radio shows talking about the evils of "socialism" maybe you should consider the tornadoes taking out towns, leaving thousands homeless and killing many. FEMA shows up funded by taxpayer dollars. The National Guards show up funded by taxpayer dollars and civilians show up to take care of those in need.

Over and over again I keep wondering who decided that taking care of people was a bad thing and taking care of companies was a good thing? Doesn't sound fishy to you? These same folks saying that the oil companies should keep getting what they get from taxpayers also say that people don't deserve Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid on top of not deserving to be able to go to the doctor's office without being sent into the poor house. They complain about things people have paid into but want corporate welfare to continue? Is the deficit important or not? Do people matter to them or not? What happened to all the "family values" these same folks used to talk about? They proved they don't care when they keep going after someone who does. Every time they say "Obama care" I say, yes he does but they don't.

4 hurt in accidental shooting at Smokey Bones including 4 year old boy

4 hurt in accidental shooting at Smokey Bones on East Colonial
The injuries are minor. The man whose gun went off has a concealed-weapon permit.

By David Breen, Orlando Sentinel
9:17 p.m. EDT, May 24, 2011

Thinking of bringing your gun out to dinner with the family? A man who did just that this evening ended up injuring four people, himself included, at a Smokey Bones restaurant on East Colonial Drive in Orlando.

The victims, including a 4-year-old boy, were slightly injured when the gun went off accidentally in the restaurant's foyer, Orlando police said.

The owner of the gun, a 35-year-old man who was not identified, suffered powder burns and abrasions to his leg. He declined medical treatment.

The other three people were slightly injured, primarily in the legs, by either bullet fragments or bits of floor tile, according to Orlando police Lt. John Holysz. Those victims were a 32-year-old woman, her 4-year-old son, and an unrelated man in his 20s. All three were taken to local hospitals as a precautionary measure.

According to Lt. Holysz, the man had just arrived for dinner with his wife and child at about 7 p.m. when the gun discharged near the restaurant's entrance.
read more here
4 hurt in accidental shooting at Smokey Bones

Over 1,900 Guardsmen Activated for Weather Emergencies

Over 1,900 Guardsmen Activated for Weather Emergencies
May 24, 2011
Stars and Stripes|by Derek Turner
WASHINGTON -- The half-mile-wide tornado that ripped through Joplin, Mo., Monday morning has claimed the lives of 117 people so far, and it's prompted the mobilization of the state's National Guard troops, a common occurrence lately as violent weather has pummeled parts of the South and Midwest this spring.
So far, more than 1,900 guardsmen are responding to disasters in 10 states. In Missouri, 270 had been mobilized as of Tuesday morning and members of the the 117th Engineer Team were sifting through the rubble, carrying out search-and-rescue missions. They're also conducting emergency route clearance, communications support and security efforts, according to a National Guard statement.


read more here
Over 1,900 Guardsmen Activated for Weather Emergencies

Woman Wanted For Stealing From Marines

Woman Wanted For Stealing From Marines
By Megan Cassell / Reporter

ONSLOW COUNTY -- A woman last seen in Jacksonville is wanted for stealing from Marines.

When Victor Arroyo got a call from Navy Federal Credit Union saying he was writing bad checks, he had an idea of who may be to blame.

Christine Jean Maloney-Beville was his old roommate's girlfriend in 2009.

In a phone interview, he said, "I actually got a Facebook message from a Marine's wife that rented a room out to her...she ended up stealing a bunch of money and jewelry from them and ran and left behind my old checks."

She was allegedly signing his name of checks written for more than $1,000 each.

Authorities say he's not the only Marine she's targeted. Maloney-Beville has a list of arrest warrants dating back to 2007, including ID fraud, worthless checks, and most recently probation violations and failure to show up in court.
read more here
Woman Wanted For Stealing From Marines

Special Forces soldier in flip-flops caught suspect running from police

Special Forces soldier awarded for putting self in harm's way to assist local police officer

Story by David Chace
FAYETEVILLE, N.C. - The streets of Fayetteville, N.C., are a little safer thanks to the quick thinking and initiative of a recent Special Forces Qualification Course graduate.

Sgt. Valentin Birlean was assigned to the 1st Special Warfare Training Group (Airborne) awaiting transfer to the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Fort Carson, Colo.

In mid-April, Birlean, his wife and son were enjoying their last weeks in Fayetteville before moving the family out west, and were driving down Cliffdale Rd. toward a local park when he noticed a police officer in need of assistance.

At an intersection, a Fayetteville police officer had conducted what seemed to be a routine traffic stop. The officer and the car’s owner stood nearby.

Suddenly, the owner of the car grabbed his backpack, which they’d been searching through, and started running down the road. The police officer attempted to chase after him, but was pushed onto the ground.

Birlean didn’t think twice; he threw his car into park, jumped out and chased after the man, who didn’t expect to have to compete with a Special Forces soldier who could run 5 miles in less than 37 minutes.

Even in flip-flops, it didn’t take Birlean long to catch up with and subdue the suspect.
read more here
Special Forces soldier awarded for putting self in harm's way

Vietnam Vet killed in motorcycle accident showed up for others

Vietnam vet who died in crash was dedicated to greeting returning soldiers

May 24, 2011 8:52 PM

Vietnam veteran David Fitzgerald saw the devastation on a soldier’s face when he wasn’t greeted home from the perils of war.

He vowed it would never happen again.

The 60-year-old Manitou Springs resident rode his burly tricycle on 140 missions the past couple years with the Colorado Patriot Guard Riders, a group of motorcyclists that greet soldiers when they return from tours overseas.

“When he liked something, he kind of went at something like he was killing snakes — all or nothing,” said his wife, Judith Fitzgerald.

But his time on that tricycle ended Thursday while on what was to have been one of his longest missions: A trip to the Vietnam Memorial in Washington D.C. called the Run for the Wall.

Fitzgerald, a two-time cancer survivor, lost control of his tricycle around 6:45 a.m. while exiting Interstate 25 in Albuquerque. He died at the scene of the crash; his passenger, Mark Gritton of Colorado Springs, survived.



Read more:
Vietnam vet who died in crash

Fort Carson on alert after armed man robs post store

How does this happen after what happened at Fort Hood?

'Armed and Dangerous' Man Robs Fort Carson store
Fort Carson officials are looking for an armed and dangerous man accused of robbing a store on post.
Reporter: KKTV
Fort Carson sent out the following information to military and families on post: "Community members should be on the lookout for a thin, dark-complexioned black male wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt, dark shorts and white tennis shoes in connection with a robbery at the Gate 3 Shoppette. He should be considered armed and dangerous.
read more here
'Armed and Dangerous' Man Robs Fort Carson store

What's a dog doing in court?

Court dog offers hope, help to veterans facing legal trouble

Lisa Blanchard of Clinton Township watches her 3-year-old Doberman pinscher, Rylan, get some attention Monday from Judge Brian MacKenzie of 52nd District Court. Rylan is the newest addition to the therapy-heavy program for veterans that MacKenzie started last year. / Photos by MANDI WRIGHT/Detroit Free Press

BY L. L. BRASIER

DETROIT FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

Fourteen men sitting in a room at the Novi district courthouse had two things in common: They were military veterans, and they were in legal trouble.

Rylan, a 3-year-old Doberman pinscher, offered up some sympathy to the men waiting Monday. She wagged her tail and placed her long snout on an occasional knee. Rylan is the nation's first veterans court dog, a trained support animal that provides distraught and often anxious veterans with a way to cope as they work through their legal problems. She sits with them before court, then accompanies them before the judge -- a calming presence in a sometimes threatening environment.

"I was surprised when I first saw her. I thought, 'What's a dog doing in court?' " said Dean Hayden, 48, of Wixom, a Marine Corps vet participating in the veterans court program following a drunken-driving arrest last year. "But then I could see how she helps everybody relax."
read more here
Court dog offers hope

Camp Pendleton Marine Awarded 2nd Bronze Star

Camp Pendleton Marine Awarded 2nd Bronze Star

1st Sgt. Curtis Rice Awarded Honor For Actions In Afghanistan In July 2009

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- One of the highest honors for valor in combat was presented to a Camp Pendleton Marine during a ceremony at the base on Tuesday.

1st Sgt. Curtis Rice was awarded the medal for his actions on July 27, 2009 in the Uzbin Valley in eastern Afghanistan.

"We were coming back from a village when our patrol was attacked," said Rice.
read more here
Camp Pendleton Marine Awarded 2nd Bronze Star

Darkhorse Marine to receive Victory motorcycle

L-R: Sgt.Maj. Kent, Lt.Col. Morris, LCpl., Gen. Amos in Sangin, AFG; 12/25/10

Home from war, Marine to receive his Victory Motorcycle
By Ann Hamilton
May 24, 2011 - 5:51:49 PM

Blackanthem Military News


VAN NUYS, Califonia - Operation Gratitude today announced that on Sunday, June 5 a Marine infantryman recently returned from Afghanistan will be given the Victory Vegas 8-Ball Motorcycle promised in the organization's milestone 600,000th Care Package assembled in December, 2010.

The milestone package was delivered on Christmas day by the Commandant of the Marine Corps, General James Amos, to a Lance Corporal with Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, who at the time was serving a seven-month deployment in the deadly Sangin district of Afghanistan's Helmand province.

The name of the Marine who received the 600,000th care package will be revealed at the event on June 5.

The 3/5, also known as "Dark Horse Battalion," experienced heavy combat throughout the deployment, with 25 of its men killed and more than 150 wounded. The 600,000th package recipient, along with his 3/5 comrades, returned to Camp Pendleton in April. The Marine, who received the package containing symbolic keys attached to a letter describing the bike, was recently promoted to Corporal and will join the Operation Gratitude volunteers and guests at the armory to receive the motorcycle generously donated by Victory Motorcycles.
read more here
Home from war, Marine to receive his Victory Motorcycle

Wounded Marine cheered at Angel Stadium

Angels honor local Marine's sacrifice in Afghanistan
Bob Tompkins

As Marine sergeant Micah Crooks walked with a slight limp to to the pitcher's mound at Angel Stadium of Anaheim, the Alexandria native was introduced to some 43,000 fans settling in to watch the Los Angeles Angels host the Atlanta Braves Saturday night.

Crooks, 25, had been invited by the Angels, as a Marine combat engineer who had been injured in Afghanistan, to help the team celebrate Armed Forces Day by throwing out the ceremonial first pitch.

"There was a low murmur from the crowd (during the intro), but when they said 'United States Marine,' everybody started cheering," Crooks said.

Crooks and his wife, Raelena, from Orange Country, Calif., live at the Marine base in Camp Pendleton, Calif., and they have season tickets for Angels home games.
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Angels honor local Marine's sacrifice in Afghanistan

Ft. Hood massacre victim posthumously awarded the Secretary of the Army's Award for Valor

Ft. Hood massacre victim awarded by Army
The only civilian to die in the Fort Hood Shootings received high honor on Monday.

Michael Cahill was posthumously awarded the Secretary of the Army's Award for Valor, the highest honor possible for a civilian.

On November 5th, 2009, Cahill was working as a physician's assistant on Fort Hood when gunfire rang out. The retired National Guardsman threw a chair at the gunman before he was shot and killed.
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Ft. Hood massacre victim awarded by Army

War hero to prisoner

War hero to prisoner: Would all that he valued slip away?
The war at home
Last of three chapters:

By Moni Basu, CNN
May 24, 2011 08:00 a.m. EDT
The war hero's reputation fell hard around parts of Georgia.

Disorderly conduct. Obstruction of an officer. DUI. Since his return from Iraq, the former sheriff's deputy had found himself time and again on the other side of the law.

He was accused of taking a 12-pack of beer out of a convenience store on a Sunday, when alcohol sales are prohibited in Georgia, and almost ran over the store clerk with his truck. Twice, he tried to kill himself.

A year ago, an unexpected message popped up on my Facebook page. It was Spc. Shane Parham's sister, Mandi. Her brother was in jail.

He was incarcerated in neighboring Newton County, so he would not have to deal with former colleagues in the Walton County Sheriff's Office and jail.

They were tired of dealing with him.

Some whispered that his Iraq knee injury occurred during a volleyball game at Camp Striker, not a vehicle rollover. They suggested Parham was an angry man even before Iraq and was using battle scars as a crutch to get away with belligerent behavior.

Some of his fellow soldiers in Alpha company said Parham was making up his Iraq stories in a cry for attention.

Capt. Ty Vance of the sheriff's office said Parham developed an image as a whiner who was leading life with an "I deserve better" attitude. I asked him if he felt sorry for his former colleague.
"Not anymore," Vance said. "Not after the way he's handled things."
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War hero to prisoner

Blue Angels Nix Naval Academy Show After Incident

Blue Angels Nix Naval Academy Show After Incident

May 24, 2011
Associated Press
PENSACOLA, Fla. -- The Blue Angels have canceled a practice and show this week at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., days after announcing a safety standown after four of the six jets flew below a specified altitude at a recent air show.

The famed flight squadron said it is scrubbing Tuesday's scheduled practice and Wednesday's show. Navy Lt. Kaitie Kelly, the Blue Angels spokeswoman, says it hasn't been decided yet if the team will perform its traditional flyover at the academy's graduation Friday.
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Blue Angels Nix Naval Academy Show After Incident

When you don't hold a job but it holds you

When you don't hold a job but it holds you
Chaplain Kathie

There are days when I get up too early, start searching the headlines and then wish I had stayed in bed a few hours longer. When you see just a few posts on this blog, more than likely it was one of those days or like yesterday, I just tied up with projects for Digital Media. Today began like one of those days when the headlines looked great but the stories ended up being written as if the reporter regretted having to cover the story. I saved a few I found then started to search for pictures for a new project. I found the above picture, being a sucker for dogs, especially puppies, I followed the link to the story. I was stunned and happy I got up early this morning.

This is a job that I do not hold. It is a job that holds me. There is no walking away from it. I didn't get a gold watch when 25 years of marriage reminded me of how long I've been doing this. But there are many more people in the country with jobs holding onto them instead of the other way around.

This puppy wandered up to Marines with 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, in Afghanistan in January, and later starred in a video about 1/6 that has gone viral on the Web. (Photo by Cpl. Charles Mabry/Marine Corps)

Less than a week from now this nation is supposed to be remembering all the men and women willing to lay down their lives for the sake of this nation. Usually I am in Washington DC but this year I will be at the Navy Exchange for their 65th anniversary celebration. Many of my classmates will be going away, having parties, taking very little notice of what this day is for. That is why I thought this article written last year holding a video from a Marine giving a speech to his men was so powerful. These young men and women, serving this nation, know full well what Memorial Day is for and Gunnery Sgt. Brian Walgren speech reflected the fact some in this country have no clue what it is like to have this job.

The real story behind the John Glenn speech to Marines in Afghanistan
NOVEMBER 10TH, 2010
POSTED BY DAN LAMOTHE
Times were tense before the initial February assault on Marjah, Afghanistan. A narcotics hub and Taliban stronghold, it was expected to be booby-trapped with improvised explosive devices and filled with insurgents waiting for a fight.

Obviously, the Corps took control of Marjah within days. It’s still a dangerous place, but one where Marine officials say they see hope, at least.

Before the assault, Gunnery Sgt. Brian Walgren, the company gunny for Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, fired up his troops with a gritty, heartfelt speech.

”Howard, I can’t believe you said that. I served 23 years in the United States Marine Corps. I went through two wars. I flew 149 missions. My plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire on 12 different occasions.

”I ask you to go with me as I went the other day to a veterans’ hospital, and look those men with their mangled bodies in the eye and tell them they didn’t hold a job. You go with me to any Gold Star mother and you look her in the eye and tell her that her son did not hold a job.

”You go with me on Memorial Day coming up and you stand in Arlington National Cemetery, where I have more friends than I like to remember, and you watch those waving flags, and you stand there and you think about this nation and you tell me that those people didn’t have a job.

”I tell you, Howard Metzenbaum, you should be on your knees every day of your life thanking God that there were some men – some men – who held a job.”

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John Glenn speech to Marines in Afghanistan

Army mulls future of National Guard, Reserve

Army mulls future of National Guard, Reserve
Declining demand, budget pressures are behind the review
By Michelle Tan - Staff writer
Posted : Monday May 23, 2011 8:03:02 EDT
Leaders of the National Guard and Army Reserve are looking to theater security cooperation missions as a way to keep their forces ready, even as demand for boots on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan declines after almost a decade of war.

The Reserve already is involved in these missions — working with partner nations; building schools and roads; providing medical and dental care, administering immunizations and giving lessons on diet and nutrition.

“This past year, I visited soldiers who’ve been to Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, El Salvador, Uganda, Kenya, doing these types of missions,” said Lt. Gen. Jack Stultz, chief of the Reserve. “It’s very fulfilling for the soldier because they feel like they’re making a difference, but we’re usually there for three to four weeks, then we go home.”

In the future, when the demand in Iraq and Afghanistan diminishes, Stultz envisions more and longer missions like this.

“We have these units that are in the available year, why wouldn’t we let them go do something like that for a longer period of time?” he said. “Three months instead of three weeks, for example, and really make a huge impact and build relationships.”

The Reserve also could partner with Southern Command or Army South and assign available units to those commands to use for their missions or exercises, Stultz said.
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Army mulls future of National Guard, Reserve

Tenn. guardsmen come to stricken man’s aid

Tenn. guardsmen come to stricken man’s aid
The Jackson (Tenn.) Sun
Posted : Sunday May 22, 2011 15:38:45 EDT
JACKSON, Tenn. — Quick thinking on the part of four Tennessee guardsmen who recently provided medical assistance to an elderly man at a Jackson restaurant may have saved his life.

While on their lunch break at about 1:15 p.m. May 15, Staff Sgt. Shane Hutchens, Staff Sgt. Kenji Yamauchi, Sgt. Loren Steele and Spc. James Davis of the Union City-based 913th Engineers, 230th Engineer Battalion, were standing in line at a Subway restaurant when they noticed an elderly man lose his balance and catch himself on the edge of the vegetable counter, according to a news release.

“He began to sway back and forth,” Davis said in the release. At this point, the soldiers asked the man if he was all right.

When the man failed to respond, Yamauchi and Hutchens caught him as he began to fall to prevent him from being injured. Davis pulled up a chair so he could sit down. But before he could be seated, the elderly man blacked out.
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Tenn. guardsmen come to stricken man’s aid

Fort Carson honors volunteers

Fort Carson honors volunteers
May 19, 2011

By Staff Sgt. Wayne Barnett (Fort Carson)

Photo credit Staff Sgt. Wayne Barnett (Fort Carson)

FORT CARSON, Colo. -- Exemplary Volunteer Service Awards line the table at the Elkhorn Conference Center Tuesday 17. Thirty five awards were given for at least 500 hours of service to the Fort Carson Community.

FORT CARSON, Colo. -- Five Fort Carson volunteers were honored for donating more than 750 hours of their time in 2010, during the annual awards luncheon held Tuesday at the Elkhorn Conference Center.

Robin Arnold, Tessa Hebert, Clara Huff, Alicia Michael and Martha Reed each received Volunteer of the Year awards during the "Celebrating Fort Carson Volunteers in Action" luncheon that honored nearly 150 post volunteers for their efforts.

"I feel that volunteers are pivotal to keeping Fort Carson running; I feel that they are giving their hearts, souls and time," said Ginger Perkins, wife of Maj. Gen. David G. Perkins, commanding general, U.S. Division-North and 4th Infantry Division. "I really don't think Fort Carson could survive without its volunteers."

"I work a lot with the Families of wounded warriors making sure they are supported while their Soldier heals," Hebert said.

Nearly 2,400 registered Mountain Post volunteers logged a combined 147,532 hours in 2010, saving Fort Carson an estimated $2.5 million, according to Joey Bautista, Fort Carson volunteer coordinator.

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Fort Carson honors volunteers

Outlaw motorcycle groups on the rise in ENC

Authorities: Outlaw motorcycle groups on the rise in ENC

May 22, 2011 10:01 PM
HOPE HODGE

If you drive anywhere in Onslow County, you have likely seen them: groups of bikers out on a run, straddling Harleys with high handlebars and sporting well-worn leather or denim vests emblazoned with an evocative image: a skull wearing an Indian headdress. A mythical troll-god. A winged harpy.

They are members of motorcycle clubs, close-knit, dedicated and frequently secretive groups formed around a shared identity and a collective love of steel pipes and roaring down the freeway.

The prized jackets are known as colors, a military term emphasizing a regimental authority structure and the notion of brotherhood that is signature to the armed forces. They identify the biker’s club affiliation and frequently his state of origin as well.

While the majority of motorcycle clubs in Onslow and elsewhere cooperate with local authorities and may even participate in community events or charitable causes, a few label themselves “outlaws” or “one-percenters,” contributing to a fierce subculture of violence, drug dealing and other fringe criminal activities.

And this region’s one-percenter population is thriving.

Last July, Onslow County Sheriff’s detective John Dubois told The Daily News that among local gangs, outlaw biker groups were among the office’s greatest concerns.

“Motorcycle gangs are the biggest problem we’re going to have right now,” he said. “They’re very active and moving into this area, although there’s no evidence of any increase in crime associated with those gangs.”

According to the report, Naval Criminal Investigative Service Officials observed members of the Pagans recruiting Marines for their main support club, the Untamed Rebels.

“It has been observed that many members in the Untamed Rebels are either active-duty or recently retired USMC, Government contractors at Camp Lejeune, or retired military members who are attracted to the lifestyle and camaraderie of being a member or associate of an OMG,” said the report.

Among regional recommendations for law enforcement: identify the large number of Pagans support club members who are retired United States Marine Corps and/or current DoD contractors at Camp Lejeune and Cherry Point, and identify the United States Marines, active duty and prior enlistment, who are associating with the Outlaws OMG.

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Outlaw motorcycle groups on the rise in ENC

A once-homeless vet beats 'a terrible 20 years'

From living in his truck to commencement: A once-homeless vet beats 'a terrible 20 years'
Published: Sunday, May 22, 2011
By Glenn Coin / The Post-Standard

While his Le Moyne College classmates studied in the library, Tom Sleeth read by a camp light in the cab of his Ford Ranger.

While they were eating at dining halls, Sleeth, a Marine veteran, was pulling food from Dumpsters. While they were turning in for the night in warm beds, Sleeth was driving around Syracuse, seeking spots beyond the reach of stiff winds and police cruisers.

Today, on his 45th birthday, Sleeth will graduate from Le Moyne College with a bachelor’s degree in English. To get there, he has overcome more obstacles than many of his classmates will endure in their lifetimes. He has suffered two crippling, life-altering injuries; gone bankrupt twice; been divorced twice; lost his parents and extended family; lost his home; and lived for more than two years off the largesse of friends and in the back of his pickup truck.

Now he is on the verge of graduating, has a home in Clay, and just last month reconnected with the love of his life whom he had not seen for 20 years. He hopes to get into graduate school in Buffalo and rekindle the romance with Aimee Latone, who lives in Jamestown.

“Everything is looking really, really wonderful for the first time ever,” Sleeth said. “It’s been a terrible 20 years.”

He’s been driven, he said, by a faith in God and an inextinguishable sense of optimism and a fierce pride.

“I don’t like giving up,” he said.
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A once-homeless vet beats a terrible 20 years

Church to hold service to remember veterans

How do you know God is there if you can't see Him? You can see Him as soon as you look for Him. You can see Him when people come to help you. When they set aside their own needs, wants, comforts and even their own problems for your sake. You can see Him when someone is able to care more about other people than for themselves. You can see Him in this article.


Chaplain Robert Crossan II visited some wounded Marines and said,

“I wanted to pray for them,” Crossan said.

But, instead, they asked him if they could pray for someone else — another Marine, more badly injured, who was in intensive care.

“Can we pray for him? We don’t know if he’s going to live or die,” they told him.

No matter what they were facing they wanted to pray for someone else they felt needed the prayers more. In moments like that, God is there.

When people see the worst that people can do to others, it is very hard to believe God's love or even that He cares at all. We can walk away believing we're on our own or we can look at what else is right in front of our eyes. Compassion, tenderness, mercy and a stranger caring for someone else even while they are in need.

Church to hold service to remember veterans

PRINCE OF PEACE: Navy chaplain to deliver message after deployment to Afghanistan.
By KARI HELTON/The Valley Chronicle

Published: Sunday, May 22, 2011 7:07 AM PDT
In the midst of the carnage of war, Chaplain Robert Crossan II and the Marines he serves with find evidence of God’s presence.

Crossan will be the speaker at the Armed Forces Sunday service on May 29, a day before Memorial Day, at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church.

The purpose of the service, said church Pastor Ron Ritter, is to remember what Memorial Day is about.

“It is to remember and give thanks for the veterans who, when the time came to defend the principles and freedom and liberty upon which this country were founded, were willing to do so and sometimes gave up their lives in so doing,” Ritter said.


Crossan, who recently returned from a seven-month deployment in Afghanistan, “brings a fresh perspective on what this global war on terrorism translates to,” Ritter said. “He certainly is going to emphasize that the young Americans who are serving the country are every bit as dedicated as the many millions of men and women who have preceded them in the military service.”

Crossan, a 27-year Navy chaplain who has served in Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan, and tsunami-ravaged Indonesia, said he will speak of “God with us.”

“As a chaplain, I like to say that I am a reminder that God is in the midst of us,” Crossan said.

In Afghanistan, Crossan served as a group chaplain with the 1st Marine Logistics Group based at Camp Pendleton. He related stories from his and the Marines’ experience in Afghanistan in which faith was found.

There was, for example, his hospital visit to three of his guys who were injured.

“I wanted to pray for them,” Crossan said.

But, instead, they asked him if they could pray for someone else — another Marine, more badly injured, who was in intensive care.

“Can we pray for him? We don’t know if he’s going to live or die,” they told him.

“That’s powerful stuff,” Crossan said.
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Church to hold service to remember veterans

When they leave combat, it is easy for them to return without the faith they may have had all their lives. Their faith was tested by horrors. Some come home thinking they deserved God to abandon them or that they have become as evil as what they have seen but if they look back at all of what they lived through, they will find moments when all that was good was still there.

Marine Corps Records on Camp Lejeune Site Missing

Marine Corps Records on Camp Lejeune Site Missing
By WILLIAM R. LEVESQUE
ST. PETERSBURG TIMES

Published: Saturday, May 21, 2011
Some soil at Camp Lejeune, N.C., was so saturated with fuel and chemicals by the late 1980s, the Marine Corps knew it was critical to test the air in nearby buildings for carcinogens.

"We want to be sure that there are no compounds present inside the work spaces in these buildings — which could have a long-term chronic adverse health effect on occupants," base environmental engineer Bob Alexander told the public in 1988.

Testing, he said, would begin "in the very near future."

But nothing in the vast collection of public records detailing one of the nation's worst contamination sites shows the Marine Corps kept that promise.

The only indoor air quality testing reflected in records occurred a decade or more later. And by then, fuel odors were so bad that five buildings would be demolished.

After weeks of searching their files, Corps officials acknowledged to the St. Petersburg Times that they could find no documentation that testing was completed before the late 1990s.
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Marine Corps Records on Camp Lejeune Site Missing

Afghanistan: 82 Airborne CO PowerPoint with "Slavery Reinstated" and "Slap a bitch"

PowerPoint slides spur ouster of CO, CSM
By Joe Gould - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday May 22, 2011 8:45:39 EDT
On Nov. 7, 2009, in Afghanistan, a PowerPoint slide appeared in the daily battle update briefing of a battalion from the 82nd Airborne Division. The slide was meant as a joke, but it set off a firestorm.

The slide, among those emailed throughout the battalion, bore the photo of a black college basketball player crying in victory with a basketball net around his neck; draped over his shoulders is the arm of his white coach. The text beneath it reads, “Slavery Reinstated,” and “Catch yourself a strong one.”

The picture, found online, sparked a formal equal-opportunity complaint and a division-level investigation. Five months into a yearlong deployment, two rising stars, Lt. Col. Frank Jenio and Command Sgt. Maj. Herbert Puckett, were fired from their positions leading 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team.

An Army investigation over the course of two weeks took 32 sworn statements from soldiers in Afghanistan and compiled the 47 slides used in the briefings.

The slides, which had appeared in the morning briefings for about two months, showed scantily clad women in provocative poses, a cartoon of a man kicking a pregnant woman in the stomach, and on the day after the racially charged slide, a man was shown hitting a woman in a slide above the words, “Slap a bitch.”
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PowerPoint slides spur ouster of CO, CSM

Public defender confronts post-traumatic stress

Vandeveld: Public defender confronts post-traumatic stress

BY DARREL VANDEVELD
Contributing writer
I can still remember -- in fact, I don't think I will ever forget -- the first time I began to realize that I had been deeply affected, that I had been profoundly changed in some way that I could not define, by my experiences as a soldier serving since 2001 in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Africa and Iraq.

I had returned to Erie from Iraq in August 2006, after a yearlong tour where I spent long days in southern Iraq, in the Green Zone in Baghdad, and in other small towns and villages in that hostile land. In September 2006, now safely at home, I waited in a crowded supermarket to pick up a cake for my son's seventh birthday. Without warning, a sense of unease descended upon me like a shroud.

The people around me seemed to have placed a weight on my chest, their proximity becoming a kind of oppression. My hands started to tremble, my heart began to race, and sweat ran in streams down my face. I felt unable to breathe, and fled in a panic to my car, where I sat, mystified as to what had just happened. I refused to admit to myself, as I wiped the beads of sweat from my brow, that I had just experienced the first public pangs of a disorder that would continue to afflict me and those close to me for years: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD.

I may have heard of the term "PTSD" before that September day, but if I had, I hadn't given it much thought. PTSD is something cowards or weaklings claim to suffer from, I thought, and I knew I was neither weak nor a coward. I'd never shirked a mission, never sought to avoid danger, never froze or failed to act when danger presented itself, and I'd borne the physical burdens of over two years of deployments, laboring in unbelievable heat, fourteen hours a day, seven days a week, with no apparent physical harm and no complaint.

To the contrary, I felt strong, confident -- a man in full, with nothing left to prove to myself or anyone else. Post-traumatic stress? I rejected the notion out of hand. My agony in the supermarket had to have been low blood sugar or an undigested bit of beef, nothing that a good meal and some rest wouldn't cure.

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Public defender confronts post-traumatic stress

Seven months in Iraq, six years back home

Seven months in Iraq, six years back home: A soldier's war on two fronts
The war at home
By Moni Basu, CNN
April 25, 2011 11:24 a.m. EDT
The first time I met Spc. Shane Parham, his face was wrinkled with sadness. Beads of sweat met Iraqi dust and curved down his sunburned skin like the swampy Alcovy River in his native Georgia.

He was in the checkout line at Baghdad's Camp Striker commissary, only two months into his Iraq tour. But already, he'd witnessed war's brutality.

I thought of that first meeting recently as I peered at Parham through a 2-inch thick slab of glass in a prison visitation booth. The cinder-block walls, drab like the Iraqi desert, closed in on him.

Gone was his Army uniform. Instead, he wore tan prison garb, his hands bound in cuffs. His nails were long, his beard scraggly. He was not allowed to trim or shave for fear he might turn sharp instruments against himself, though he had once been chosen to man an M203 grenade launcher.

Tears trickled out of his tired blue eyes, no longer bright and full of promise.

He was a hero, honored by the governor of Georgia. Now the former sheriff's deputy was sharing quarters with thieves, addicts, even murderers.
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Veterans' court treatment program receives support

Veterans' court treatment program receives support from Pa. Supreme Court Justice
Published: Friday, May 20, 2011


By CARL HESSLER Jr.
Journal Register News Service

COURTHOUSE – Montgomery County’s fledgling veterans’ treatment court program has garnered support and glowing reviews from a Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice.

“The Supreme Court is 110 percent behind these courts. It’s our way of giving back to our veterans. Montgomery County has taken a lead role in this,” Supreme Court Justice Seamus P. McCaffery said at a news conference at the county courthouse on Friday.

McCaffery, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who also worked as a Philadelphia police officer and municipal court judge before becoming a state justice, explained Montgomery County is home to the third-largest veterans’ community in the state.

“Many, many of our troops and reservists…they are rotating in and out from service overseas four, five and six times. These young men and women are coming home on a Friday and basically being required to go back to their civilian jobs on Monday not having the opportunity to really seek treatment where needed to help them with some of the horrors that they’ve been exposed to in war and that’s why we’re seeing a growing number of veterans in our court system,” said McCaffery, whose military career spanned 40 years.
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Veterans' court treatment program receives support

Agent Orange Quilt of Tears tours for a reason

Never forget the price of Vietnam is still being paid by those we sent and their families.

The "In Memory" Plaque to Vietnam Veterans missing honor

The "In Memory" Plaque is part of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. It serves as a place to honor the veterans who died in the years following the war from causes directly related to their military service. The Plaque, unfortunately, is unseen and unknown by many because of the way it is displayed. National Vice-President of VVA Jack Devine and President of AVVA Nancy Switzer discuss the problem with Frank Campanaro, the son of a Vietnam veteran and a combat veteran himself.

Veteran's conference aims to help veterans and their families

Veteran's conference aims to help veterans and their families


Posted: May 16, 2011 5:42 PM

By Ronnie Mason, New Media Content Producer

JACKSONVILLE, TX (KLTV) – Veterans and military life were the topic of discussion at the first Caring for All Who Serve event Monday at Lon Morris College.

Medical and military agencies gathered to discuss the resources available to them and their families. Those families say that it's important to know where to go for help.

"It's a conference designed for caregivers to learn about military culture, to learn about traumatic brain injury, and post-traumatic stress disorder," says Julianne Sanford of Lone Star Military Resource Group.

"What I hope people will gain is the understanding of a military patient, an understanding of the issues the family deals with and also the injuries that occur in a combat situation and how to treat them," adds Sanford.

For the last sixteen years, Sanford has been gathering resources for servicemen and women, veterans and their families, resulting in the very first veteran's conference in East Texas.

Along with medical personnel, veterans who were medically discharged shared their story, stressing the importance of seeking help.
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Veteran's conference aims to help veterans and their families

Gainesville Soldier Killed In Afghanistan

Gainesville Soldier Killed In Afghanistan
3 Other Soldiers Die After Insurgents Attack

WJXT-TV
updated 5/19/2011 3:45:20 PM ET
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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A 26-year-old Gainesville soldier was among four killed during an attack in Afghanistan on Monday.

Pvt. Lamarol J. Tucker, of Gainesville, died from injuries suffered when insurgents attacked his unit using an improvised explosive device in Zabul province, according to the U.S. Department of Defense.
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Gainesville Soldier Killed In Afghanistan

Navy associate chaplain accused of gang rape

Men Accused In Local Gang Rape

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- An Navy religious program specialist is among three people accused in a local gang rape.

Two men have been arrested and a third is on the run.

The victim's husband said his wife is doing better but is not ready to talk about what happened.
Deputies said the victim put herself in a bad situation but couldn't predict and didn't deserve what happened to her next.

"(It's a) very graphic description, and I was horrified, because I knew two of the people very well," said one of the suspects' roommates, who did not wish to be identified.

Investigators interrogated the man about his roommate and the reported gang rape.

Police said the woman told them she went to the New Smyrna Beach area home to buy some drugs and three men attacked her, taking turns holding her down and raping her.

"I was just shocked," the roommate said. "How could they do this?"

Read more: Men Accused In Local Gang Rape

Returning Middle East soldiers cope with stress disorder

Returning Middle East soldiers cope with stress disorder
Michael D. Abernethy / Times-News

“The guys who make the best soldiers are the ones who’ve lost the fear of dying.”

U.S. Army National Guard Sgt. E-5 Jamie Gregory, 34, says this matter-of-factly while describing two tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“An I.E.D. could explode or a bullet could come at you any time. You can’t stop it from happening, so why worry about it? You have to get over it,” Gregory says. “Once you do, you never lose it.”

It was several weeks into his first tour in Iraq in 2004 when he accepted the possibility of death. He knew military benefits would provide for his wife and two children. And at least there would be a purpose to his death there, rather than being killed by a drunken driver on an American highway. When he was deployed a second time — to Iraq first and then moved to Afghanistan — with the Alpha Company 30th Special Troops Battalion with the National Guard in 2009, he was more prepared for what life in a war zone would look and feel like.

As a crypto-linguist, he worked with Afghani civilians gathering military intelligence. He feels blessed that none of the 84 in his unit was severely injured or killed in 25 off-base missions.

But he was wounded.

When he returned to Alamance County in January, he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and was found to be suffering from a traumatic brain injury — likely caused by a blast, though he’s not sure when the initial injury occurred. When he first arrived home he couldn’t relax. He woke up in the middle of the night in a panic, looking for his weapon. He still has trouble remembering large numbers.
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Returning Middle East soldiers cope with stress disorder

Jordan Frasure star of motorcycle charity ride

Orlando Bikers give hope to little girl

check back later for some pictures and maybe even a video. I'm on my way to the Nam Knights now.

UPDATE

Airborne medics save life and limb from chopper over Afghanistan's war zone

Airborne medics save life and limb from chopper over Afghanistan's war zone
By Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press

U.S. medic Staff-Sgt. Rob Marchetti places ear phones on a seven-year-old Afghan girl who had been shot in the back en route a medevac chopper over southern Afghanistan on Saturday, May 7, 2011. The American medevac team provides air evacuation services to Canadian and other coalition soldiers. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Colin Perkel 

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — The distressed cries of the little girl are obvious in any language: "Daddy, daddy, it hurts."

Her eyes speak pain, fear and confusion, even if her words are drowned out by the pulsing scream of the helicopter turbines.

Her father, clutching a stuffed animal in his left hand, reaches over and puts his right hand on her bare chest, soothing her as he gently admonishes her to be quiet.

The girl, just seven years old, is on her way to hospital via an American medevac chopper from Kandahar city, where she had been shot in the back during insurgent unrest.

The bullet tore her through her slender frame, exiting her abdomen and lodging in her arm.

U.S. Staff Sgt. Rob Marchetti places an oversized pair of headphones over her ears to quiet the noise of the chopper and allow the calm chatter of the crew to comfort her.

He puts an oxygen mask over her mouth, hooks her to a monitor, and keeps a close eye on her stable vital signs for the 15-minute flight to the hospital on an Afghan army base.
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Airborne medics save life and limb from chopper over Afghanistan's war zone

Camp Lejeune Toxic Water, Now Toxic Air?

Lejeune Toxic Water, Now Toxic Air?
The Marine Corps may have known the air could make people sick for years before taking action.
By CHRIS BROWN
Published: May 19, 2011

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. - For years we've told you about toxic chemicals in tap water at camp lejeune, and the impact they're having on the health of people exposed, but recently uncovered documents show the water may not have been the only thing making people sick.

The air on some areas of the base may also have been toxic.

Document after document, paint a startling picture.

More than a million gallons of contaminants leaked into the ground at Camp Lejeune, not only poisioning the water, but the air as well, and Jerry Ensminger found proof.

“One skeleton after another comes falling out of the closet in this situation,” said Ensminger, whose daughter died of cancer when she was 9, while their family lived on base.
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Lejeune Toxic Water, Now Toxic Air?

Search off Camp Pendleton after sailor swept out to sea

Search off Camp Pendleton after sailor swept out to sea

CAMP PENDLETON (CNS) - Lifeguards, Coast Guard crews and Marine Corps personnel searched the Pacific Ocean and miles of shoreline in the far northern reaches of San Diego County Friday for a Navy petty officer who went missing during a recreational swim off the coast of Camp Pendleton.

The serviceman, a Kentucky native in his 20s whose name was not released, was in the surf with another sailor when he was swept out to sea about 5:30 p.m. Thursday, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. Officials suspected he may have become caught in a particularly strong rip current.
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Search off Camp Pendleton after sailor swept out to sea