Delta unfriendly skies to soldiers coming home from Afghanistan

UPDATE but the question is, will they refund the money other troops have had to pay already?

Army Welcomes Delta Policy Shift on Extra Baggage Fees
Published June 09, 2011
FoxNews.com


Reuters
The U.S. Army on Thursday welcomed Delta Air Line's decision to allow soldiers to check an extra bag on its planes free of charge, after a unit returning from Afghanistan was charged thousands of dollars in baggage fees.
"We're pleased Delta is taking positive action on this to support the soldiers," Army spokesman Gary Tallman said. "The commercial airlines have been an efficient and critical (partner) for decades in providing additional capability to move hundreds of thousands of troops around the world."
Delta's policy shift came just one day after two soldiers, Staff Sgts. Fred Hilliker and Robert O'Hair, filmed a video onboard Flight 1625 and posted it on YouTube. They criticized Delta for the additional charges, complaining that the 34 soldiers were charged as much as $2,800 in baggage fees.


Read more: Army Welcomes Delta Policy Shift on Extra Baggage Fees

On YouTube, soldiers home from war recount paying Delta for extra bags
Stars and Stripes
Published: June 8, 2011
Two U.S. soldiers returning from a deployment in Afghanistan said Delta Air Lines charged them $200 each for extra bags for their connecting flight from Baltimore to Atlanta.

While on board Delta Air Lines flight 1625 Tuesday morning, Staff Sgts. Fred Hilliker and Robert O’Hair shot a video laying out their case. In the video, which was posted on YouTube, the soldiers say they are authorized to check as many as four bags, free of charge, on their return trip from Afghanistan.

Filming while in their seats, Hilliker opens the video by saying he and the other 33 members of his unit were told in Baltimore that they were only authorized to check three bags for free.

“Just back from Afghanistan yesterday,” Hilliker says in the video, “... on an 18-hour layover, we had a little issue with the bags this morning.”

He soon turns the camera on O’Hair to explain further. Interview style, they note that their orders authorize them to carry four bags, and talk of having to pay “out of pocket,” despite an existing contract between the airline and the government.

“How much did we pay?” asks Hilliker.

“Over $2,800, and there’s only 34 of us,” O’Hair replies.
read more here

On YouTube, soldiers home from war recount paying Delta

Military sexual assaults reporting slammed by GAO

GAO slams VA sex assault reporting, prevention
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Jun 7, 2011 16:51:24 EDT
A new report from a congressional watchdog agency questions efforts by the Veterans Affairs Department to reduce sexual assaults in its hospitals and clinics, finding flaws in security and failures to report crimes to higher headquarters.

The report released Tuesday by the Government Accountability Office says 284 sexual assaults were reported to VA law enforcement officials between January 2007 and July 2010, but many of those cases were never reported to regional offices or to VA’s central office. A spot review of a few regions showed two-thirds of rapes were not reported to higher headquarters.

The report says the cases “included incidents alleging rape, inappropriate touching, forceful medical examinations, oral sex, and other types of sexual assaults,” but that records reviewed by GAO investigations made it impossible to determine how many accusations were substantiated.

Additionally, the report says there is reason to believe that many assaults went unreported.

“Factors that may contribute to the underreporting of sexual assault incidents include the lack of both a clear definition of sexual assault and expectations on what incidents should be reported, as well as deficient [Veterans Health Administration] Central Office oversight of sexual assault incidents,” the report says.

The findings unnerved lawmakers. Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee chairman, said he was “aghast” when he first read it. “It reminded me of a 1950s prison system — lawlessness, lack of security and reporting, and outright disregard for human dignity,” Miller said, pledging to force VA to make improvements.

read more here
GAO slams VA sex assault reporting, prevention

USS Liberty hero dies without seeing justice

USS Liberty hero dies without seeing justice

By DELINDA C. HANLEY | ARAB NEWS
Published: Jun 8, 2011 00:01 Updated: Jun 8, 2011 00:07

WASHINGTON: Forty-four years ago, on June 8, 1967, Israeli aircraft and torpedo boats attacked a US intelligence ship, the USS Liberty, with gunfire, napalm and torpedoes in international waters for more than two hours.

My friend, John Hrankowski, was on board.

During the assault, hours before Israel’s invasion of the Golan Heights during the six-day war, Israel destroyed the ship’s antennas and jammed its radios.

Finally, the crew managed to send a distress call to the USS America, which sent two fighter aircraft to save the ship.

But then US Defense Secretary, Robert McNamara, and then President, Lyndon Johnson, recalled the planes — giving Israel time to fire torpedoes.

When the Liberty failed to sink, the Israeli government concocted a bizarre tale of mistaken identity to cover its crime. and they’ve stuck by that claim ever since.

By the time two US destroyers reached the Liberty — 16 hours after the attack — 34 officers and civilians of the 294-man crew were killed, and 174 injured — many, like my friend John Hrankowski, seriously.

Hrankowski, then 20, who worked as a technician in the ship’s engine room, received the Purple Heart-and a lifetime of serious medical problems.

The USS Liberty was the most decorated ship since the Second World War, and perhaps the most decorated for a single attack in the history of the US Navy.

It is also entirely possible that Liberty survivors broke another record-dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for the nearly 44 years since the attack.
read more here

USS Liberty hero dies without seeing justice

also
US Liberty Memorial

Memories of day when Boston firefighter saved Boston cop in Fallujah

For two Hub officers, a day to remember

By Renee Nadeau Algarin
Tuesday, May 31, 2011

When Staff Sgt. Terrence Burke, a Marine Corps reservist and Boston cop, was blown out of his Humvee by a roadside bomb and lay bleeding in a Fallujah street in 2006, it was a Boston firefighter who came rushing in under insurgent fire to pull him to safety.

Burke, now 33 and an amputee but still a Boston cop, used his keynote address at yesterday’s Memorial Day observance in Dorchester to publicly thank Boston Fire Lt. James O’Brien for saving his life. Thousands of miles from home, O’Brien — a Naval Reserve Medical Corpsman — was one of two medics who pulled Burke and two other Marines to safety that September day.

“I was definitely going into shock, but I was conscious. I remember being on a stretcher and then being on the back of an evacuation vehicle,” Burke said, rattling off his injuries: a severely injured left leg that had to be amputated; a fractured right ankle and left forearm; two collapsed lungs; a ruptured ear drum; and third-degree burns over nearly 20 percent of his body.
read more here
For two Hub officers, a day to remember

Mass. veteran says he claimed medals he didn’t win

Mass. veteran says he claimed medals he didn’t win

By Associated Press
Tuesday, June 7, 2011

ORANGE — An Iraq war veteran has acknowledged he didn’t receive two combat medals he listed in a biography given to Massachusetts students before he addressed them at a Memorial Day ceremony.

Adam Whitten’s biography claimed he’d received two Bronze Stars for valor in combat. The biography also said a Purple Heart was pending. But a check of his military records by The Gardner News showed no medals, awards or combat injuries.
read more here
Mass. veteran says he claimed medals he didn’t win

Still fighting the Iraqi war back home

Still fighting the Iraqi war
Derek Giffin battles the 'demons' of post-traumatic stress
Tuesday, June 7th, 2011 10:00 PM

"You come back home, and you really wouldn't know that we're at war," Vincent Emanuele

Derek Griffin, an Iraq War vet, has struggled with PTSD.

J. GEIL/Staff Photographer

It's an image that haunts Oak Parker Derek Giffin some seven years after it happened. In his nightmares many nights, he sees a military specialist getting hit with a mortar about 30 feet away from him in Iraq, killing the man instantly.

"All that was left was just a pool of blood where he died," Giffin said. "Unfortunately, it's a moment I revisit daily."

After spending a year in Iraq in 2004, Giffin, now 30, was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. He says he came back to America a "different person," obsessed by his experience in Iraq and constantly fighting "demons." It resulted in the dissolution of his marriage.

But Giffin is trying to turn that negative upside down as he's joined the group Iraqi Veterans Against the War. There he has taken part in "Operation Recovery," an effort to stop the military from deploying troops who are suffering from traumatic brain injuries. He and others gathered by the Vietnam War Memorial near the Chicago River to bring attention to the effort on Memorial Day.

Giffin also works at the Chicago office of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, helping former soldiers file for disability and get their full benefits after serving. The job, in a way, is calming. He meets people who share his experiences, though that can also "tear open scabs," reviving memories he'd rather forget.

read more here
Still fighting the Iraqi war

A family's tragedy, death after combat

A Family's Tragedy
WJFW-TV
Submitted: 06/07/2011

EAGLE RIVER - An alarming statistic shows an estimated 18 service members kill themselves everyday due to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

One Northwoods family recently experienced this loss, and shares their story.

This 28 year old began serving his country at age 18.

His sister, Amanda, says he wouldn't have it any other way. "That's what he wanted to do, that's the one thing he was so proud of, to be able to say that he did it."

But after returning home from Iraq, Amanda says Mark wasn't the same, and suffered from post traumatic stress. "He was out in the war. He did two tours in Iraq. Every loud noise you hear, you automatically think, 'Is that a bomb going off? Is that someone coming after us?'"
A Family's Tragedy

There are too many people in this country believing it is unnecessary to pay attention to any of what is going on, over there or back home.

A Washington Post/ABC poll released on Monday found that support for the war in Afghanistan had actually risen in the past month. The poll, conducted last week, found that 43 percent of Americans say the war is worth fighting, compared with 31 percent in March.

43 percent now think it was worth fighting since Osama had been killed. Pretty sad considering that after the attacks, Bush's approval rating shot up and almost everyone supported going to Afghanistan for revenge. As you can see here
Bush approval rating

The country forgot about all of them too fast and for those still paying even the slightest attention, they wanted the troops out of Afghanistan almost as much as they wanted them out of Iraq.

Considering most people don't want to even know how many have been killed in either war, the likelihood of them considering stories like this are important enough to pay attention to is just about zilch.

When they survive combat but cannot survive coming back home, the entire nation should be appalled enough to demand action for their sake and stop being so fixated on what the broadcast media wants them to focus on.

Home From Afghanistan to New Battles

There are some stories that pretty much write themselves but usually those stories are due to pictures so powerful words can't even begin to express. This is one of those stories. There are many pictures on this page and they have a story to tell. It is one we have to listen to before it is too late to notice. These men and women are dying AFTER COMBAT and this should bother all of us. The other issue to pay attention to here is the reports about the 10th Mountain and all they went through.

June 7, 2011, 5:00 AM
Home From Afghanistan to New Battles
By JAMES ESTRIN

In Afghanistan with the Third Brigade of the 10th Mountain Division, the photojournalist Erin Trieb faced firefights, anxieties about land mines and the strangeness of being the only woman among hundreds of alpha males. Then came the hard part.

Ms. Trieb, 28, said she found it far more daunting to photograph the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder among the same soldiers when they returned to Fort Drum in upstate New York in December 2009. “Almost every soldier I talked to said they were having problems,” she said. These included drug abuse, binge drinking, attempted suicide and spousal abuse.

She would like to do something about it. On Tuesday, Ms. Trieb plans to open the Homecoming Project, a Web site intended to encourage discussion about the aftermath of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, to connect soldiers and their families with the assistance they need and to offer opportunities for service to organizations and individuals. She is raising money through Kickstarter to expand the site and keep the project going. In addition, her work will be shown Saturday at the Look 3 photo festival in Charlottesville, Va.

“I‘ve been privileged to see things behind closed doors that others don’t get to see,” Ms. Trieb said. “It’s a sacred exchange that comes with responsibilities.”
read more here
Home From Afghanistan to New Battles

90 Year old veteran never forgot about homeless veterans

A veteran who never forgot
South Bend Tribune
June 6, 2011

Two years ago, at a stage of life where he easily could have rested on his many accomplishments, former St. Joseph Superior Court Judge Robert L. Miller Sr. found a calling and a new purpose.

Miller, a retired lieutenant commander in the U.S. Naval Reserves during World War II and the Korean War, was haunted by the plight of homeless veterans.

Collaborating with the Center for the Homeless, he founded Miller's Vets to help restore dignity and pride in the lives of those oft-forgotten who served their country.
read more here
A veteran who never forgot

68,000 female veterans in New York, one out 16 of them are homeless

Shelter for homeless female veterans to open this month with ribbon-cutting ceremony
Published: Monday, June 06, 2011

By MICHAEL CIGNOLI
mcignoli@saratogian.com

BALLSTON SPA — More than 68,000 female veterans live in New York state.

One in 16, or more than 4,200, of those women are reported homeless.

A transitional facility that will accommodate up to 10 homeless female veterans at a time will hold its ribbon-cutting ceremony later this month, with the first group of residents slated for a mid-July move-in.

Located at 1214 Route 50 in Ballston Spa, the Guardian House will provide a home for displaced female veterans from all branches of the U.S. military.

Operated by the non-profit Saratoga County Rural Preservation Co., the Guardian House will celebrate its opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 2 p.m. June 23.
read more here

Shelter for homeless female veterans

Sentencing of Fort Stewart soldier to resume in late June

Sentencing of Ga. soldier to resume in late June
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

FORT STEWART, Ga. -- An Army sergeant convicted of murder is scheduled to return to a Fort Stewart courtroom in late June for the sentencing phase of his trial to resume.

Sentencing of Ga. soldier to resume in late June

Reminder of what this story is all about.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Sgt. said ‘kill me’ as leaders lay dying

By Michelle Tan - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Apr 13, 2009 16:29:46 EDT

FORT STEWART, Ga. — The sergeant accused of killing his squad leader and his fellow team leader in Iraq shouted “just kill me” as the other men lay bleeding, according to testimony at his Article 32 hearing on Monday.

Several fellow soldiers testified Monday morning they heard Sgt. Joseph C. Bozicevich saying “kill me” after the shootings in the early hours of Sept. 14, 2008, at Patrol Base Jurf as Sahkr, south of Baghdad. Bozicevich is charged with premeditated murder in the deaths of Staff Sgt. Darris J. Dawson, 24, of Pensacola, Fla., and Sgt. Wesley R. Durbin, 26, of Hurst, Texas, who were each shot multiple times.

The soldiers were with A Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division. Bozicevich and Durbin were team leaders, and Dawson was their squad leader. Durbin and Dawson were counseling Bozicevich when he opened fire with his M4, Army officials have said.
go here for the rest
Sgt. said ‘kill me’ as leaders lay dying

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Sgt. Joseph Bozicevich faces trail for slaying two soldiers
Sgt. accused of killing NCOs to face trial

By Russ Bynum - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Jul 8, 2009 7:05:43 EDT

SAVANNAH, Georgia — An Army sergeant accused of slaying his superior and another U.S. soldier in Iraq will face a court-martial and could be sentenced to death if convicted, the military said Tuesday.

Army prosecutors say Sgt. Joseph Bozicevich, 39, shot his squad leader, Staff Sgt. Darris Dawson, and Sgt. Wesley Durbin on Sept. 14 at a joint U.S.-Iraqi patrol base south of Baghdad. Witnesses have said Bozicevich opened fire on the soldiers when they tried to counsel him for poor performance.

Maj. Gen. Anthony Cucolo, commander of the 3rd Infantry Division based at Georgia's Fort Stewart, ordered a general court-martial for Bozicevich on charges of murder. His decision Tuesday was based on preliminary evidence heard in April at the accused soldier's Article 32 hearing, similar to a civilian grand jury.

If Bozicevich is convicted but not sentenced to death, he would face life in prison without parole, said Fort Stewart spokesman Kevin Larson. No trial date has been set.

Bozicevich's attorney, Charles Gittins, said Tuesday evening he had no comment.

Dawson's stepmother, Maxine Mathis, said she was thankful the military was moving forward with the case. But she said she couldn't support the death penalty for Bozicevich.

"If they could just send him to prison, that wouldn't bother me one bit," Mathis said by phone from Pensacola, Fla. "I just feel in my heart something snapped in that man. I don't know what those young men go through over there."
go here for more
Sgt. accused of killing NCOs to face trial

Wichita lawyer admits stealing from veterans

Wichita lawyer admits stealing from veterans

By Associated Press
Monday, June 6, 2011

WICHITA, Kan. — A disbarred Wichita attorney admitted Monday to embezzling from the veterans whose pension benefit checks she had been entrusted to administer in a case the defense contends only came to light because "the guilt was eating away" at her.

Janell Jenkins-Foster, 57, pleaded guilty to two counts of embezzlement and agreed to pay back the more than $330,600 she had stolen from veterans and their estates.

Her defense attorney, Craig Robinson, told The Associated Press outside the courtroom that when Jenkins-Foster first came to him to admit to the thefts, the guilt was deteriorating her health.

Wichita lawyer admits stealing from veterans

Dropping the 'Disorder' from PTSD?

How about instead of just talking about the label these veterans actually understand what it is so that a label won't get in their way of getting better?

Dropping the 'Disorder' from PTSD. What Do Psychiatric Labels Mean?
By Maia Szalavitz Monday, June 6, 2011

What's wrong with me? The question of where to draw the line between normal and abnormal and how to label our mental differences has become more vexing than ever. It's an issue that fuels the continuing debates over Americans' liberal use of psychiatric medications and the possible overdiagnosis of conditions like Asperger's syndrome. Now it's at the heart of an interesting move by the military.

As our colleagues over at the Battleland blog reported today, Pentagon officials are trying to remove the disorder from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), arguing that posttraumatic stress is a "normal reaction" to very serious events in soldiers' lives.

Read more: Dropping the Disorder from PTSD

If it is a "normal reaction" then why support the stigma by talking about changing the name instead of changing attitudes? I get a lot further with these veteran by making them human again and reminding them of what they were like before. Once they know they didn't cause it, was not born with it, fully understanding it invaded them, they are on their way to defeating it. Maybe dropping one word will help but considering it took 40 years to get them used to the term PTSD, I doubt it will do much good when there isn't enough being done for them after all these years.

My beef is that they still don't understand there is a different type of PTSD military folks end up with than what civilians have after traumatic events. They should have a term that really separates them considering they do not suffer after only one event, but have to endure many other events while deployed. We're talking about a whole different type of stress on them and that's where the name change should begin.

Charges Filed In KC Police Shooting

Charges Filed In KC Police Shooting

According to court documents, a witness told police that Pendleton served in the Iraq War as a bomb dismantler and has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Landis Pendleton Charged With Assault On Law Enforcement Officer

POSTED: 11:29 am CDT June 6, 2011

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Prosecutors said charges have been filed in connection with a standoff and police shooting last week in the 1700 block of East 76th Street.

Police said Landis Pendleton, 33, drove over bushes and road signs near the Metro Patrol police station near 75th Street and Prospect Avenue on Thursday. Police said he drove into the back yard of a nearby home, ran inside and told officers he had guns and explosives with him.

According to an arrest report, Pendleton broke out an upstairs window and pointed a gun at officers. An officer fired, hitting Pendleton in the shoulder.


Read more: Charges Filed In KC Police Shooting

Soldier Taking PTSD Medication arrested for impersonating police officer

Police: Soldier Arrested, Accused Of Impersonating Moon Twp. Officer
Soldier Taking PTSD Medication

Police: Soldier Arrested, Accused Of Impersonating Moon Twp. Officer
Posted: 4:23 pm EDT June 6, 2011


MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- Police in Moon Township said a soldier who recently returned from Iraq was arrested on charges of impersonating an officer over the weekend.

Officer David Stitch said he arrested Steven Lockhart, 20, in an apartment complex parking lot after telling residents that he was there in response to a noise complaint.

"He said he was from Moon Township police and was an undercover officer. But he was wearing plain street clothes," said Chris Lemaster.
read more here
Soldier Arrested, Accused Of Impersonating Moon Twp. Officer

Marine charged with killing fellow corporal

Marine charged with killing fellow corporal
By Dan Lamothe - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Jun 6, 2011 16:28:48 EDT
A Marine corporal accused of stabbing another corporal to death in Afghanistan last summer has been charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter, Marine officials said.

Cpl. William C. Dalton will face general a court-martial at Camp Lejeune, N.C., beginning June 16, said 2nd Lt. D. Oliver David, a spokesman with 2nd Marine Division. Dalton, a field wireman, is accused of killing Cpl. Dave Santos, 21, a fellow member of 2nd Battalion, 6th Marines, on July 16 at Forward Operating Base Marjah, the unit’s headquarters in Afghanistan last year.

The unit had recently deployed to Afghanistan when Santos, a field radio operator, was involved in two separate altercations on base, according to a redacted report of the investigation into Santos’ death. Dalton’s name is redacted from the report, but it says Santos was choking another Marine against a wall when Santos was stabbed in the neck with a Ka-Bar knife.
read more here
Marine charged with killing fellow corporal

Hundreds Visit Pizzeria to Help Fort Campbell Soldier

Hundreds Visit Pizzeria to Help Fort Campbell Soldier


Posted: Jun 05, 2011 10:55 PM

Allen says the outpouring of support this weekend has been sort of a whirlwind.
Homecoming for a Hero

NASHVILLE, Tenn.- If a warm-hearted welcome home at Outlaw Field in Clarksville wasn't enough Saturday, hundreds turned out Sunday to help a wounded soldier who is finally back home.

"I really love everybody coming out. It's just awesome," said Sgt. Charles Allen, Ft. Campbell soldier.

While Sgt. Allen was deployed in January, he stepped on an IED and lost both of his legs. Sunday at Bella Napoli Pizzeria, friends came to build his spirits, and support a fundraiser to help the family build a new home.
read more here
Hundreds Visit Pizzeria to Help Fort Campbell Soldier

Governors order flags lowered for fallen soldiers

Gov. Rick Snyder orders flags lowered for Army sergeant today

A casket carrying the body of Army Staff Sgt. Ergin V. Osman is carried away from a charter plane by soldiers in uniform after arriving at Bishop International Airport in Flint, Mich. on Friday, June 3, 2011. Osman, 35, formerly of Harrison Township, was killed along with five other soldiers by an improvised explosive device on May 26. He was a member of the Army's 101st Airborne Ranger Pathfinders based at Fort Campbell, Ky. Gov. Rick Snyder has ordered U.S. flags throughout Michigan to be lowered to half-staff Monday. / The Flint Journal / AP PHOTO
read more here
Gov. Rick Snyder orders flags lowered

Fly state flags at half-staff Tuesday

By Staff reports
Augusta Gazette
Posted Jun 05, 2011 @ 05:49 PM

Topeka, Kan. —
Kansas Governor Sam Brownback has ordered flags in the State of Kansas to be flown at half-staff on Tuesday, June 7. pursuant to Executive Orders 10-12, in honor of Sergeant Thomas A. Bohall, 25, of Bel Aire, who died on May 26, 2011, in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
read more here
Fly state flags at half-staff Tuesday

Camp Pendleton Marine to ride for fallen friend

Camp Pendleton Marine to claim motorycycle, ride in fallen friend's honor
Lance Cpl. Clancy Cheek got the keys during Afghanistan tour

By Gretel C. Kovach
6 a.m., June 5, 2011

Cpl. Clancy Cheek was recently honored as a Marine of the Quarter for Third Battalion, Fifth Marine Regiment. — Nelvin C. Cepeda

Cpl. Clancy Cheek is finally getting his new motorcycle, the one he plans to ride in honor of his best friend killed in action in Afghanistan. The Camp Pendleton Marine was serving a brutal tour with the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment in Sangin, Afghanistan when the commandant of the Marine Corps handed him the keys on Christmas Day.
read more here
Camp Pendleton Marine to claim motorycycle

Al-Qaida commander dead, Pakistan minister says

There was a time in this country when stories like this mattered and reporters were trying to be the first to tell them on the nightly news but those days were long ago. Now reports like Palin's lack of knowledge regarding history, John Edwards cheating on his wife and hiding a child he didn't want anyone to know about topped off with Weiner's tweets, these stories were buried. It's almost as if no producer really cares about any of this.

Al-Qaida commander dead, Pakistan minister says
By Asif Shahzad - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Jun 6, 2011 11:47:47 EDT
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan's interior minister said Monday he was "100 percent" certain that wanted al-Qaida commander Ilyas Kashmiri was killed in a U.S. drone strike.

Rehman Malik's claim came as suspected American missiles targeted hideouts in the militant sanctuaries near Afghan border, killing at least 16 people.

Malik did not say how his government knew that Kashmiri was killed Friday by a missile, or if it had evidence of his death.

Kashmiri, wanted for attacks in Pakistan and India as well European plots, was wrongly reported to have been killed in a similar strike in Sept 2009. U.S. officials have described Kashmiri as al-Qaida's military operations chief in Pakistan. He was rumored to be a contender to replace Osama bin Laden as the terror network's chief.
read more here
Al-Qaida commander dead, Pakistan minister says

Troops: What does bin Laden’s death mean to war?
By Robert Burns - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Jun 6, 2011 14:52:12 EDT
COMBAT OUTPOST ANDAR, Afghanistan — In encounters with troops in Afghanistan this past week, the question Defense Secretary Robert Gates heard more than any other was this: What does Osama bin Laden’s death mean for the war?

Soldiers on the front lines of a conflict that began when many were pre-teens seemed to be wondering: Must we keep fighting and dying in this country if the terrorist who was the reason we came here is dead?

Gates said emphatically, yes, because Afghanistan could yet again revert to a haven for terrorists bent on perpetrating another 9/11 attack.

But it’s a question that hangs over an intensifying debate in Washington about charting the next steps in a war — now in its tenth year — that is growing more costly and less popular among the American public and in Congress.

The bin Laden factor arguably has put Gates and other advocates of sticking to the current war strategy on the defensive. Although he is retiring June 30, Gates clearly is not shying away from a Washington policy debate that will come to a head this month with President Obama’s decision on how many troops to withdraw in July and, perhaps, how quickly to pull out the rest of the 30,000 “surge’“ forces the commander in chief sent here last year.

There are now 100,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan — three times the total when Obama took office in January 2009.
read more here
What does bin Laden’s death mean to war

3-star SEAL’s Osprey targeted in jailbreak
By Dan Lamothe - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Jun 6, 2011 14:28:40 EDT
Two detainees escaped from a detention facility on a Marine base in Afghanistan, then used a grenade launcher to target an MV-22 Osprey about to take off with a three-star Navy SEAL on board, Marine Corps Times has learned.

Vice Adm. Robert Hardward was in the Osprey on base Aug. 7 after visiting the headquarters of 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines, in the Musa Qala district of Helmand province. He heads Joint Task Force 435, which oversees detainee operations in Afghanistan, and has been nominated to replace Marine Lt. Gen. John Allen as the deputy commander of U.S. Central Command. Allen is expected to become the top commander in Afghanistan this fall.

The details are outlined in an investigation report obtained by Marine Corps Times through the Freedom of Information Act. Marine officials in Afghanistan said last summer that two Marines and a contractor were shot to death by a detainee who escaped from an Afghan-run detention center. However, it was not disclosed that a detainee had taken aim at the landing zone with a grenade launcher, or that Harward was on base when the detainees escaped.
read more here
3-star SEAL’s Osprey targeted in jailbreak

PTSD Iraq Vet faces charges after wanting cops to kill him

How does a combat veteran want to survive combat but wants to die back home? Any ideas? This is the question everyone in the media should be asking. To lose more when they come home and are supposed to be "safe" is wrong beyond any words.

Iraq war veteran who pointed pellet gun at KC police faces charges

Jackson County prosecutors have filed charges against a Kansas City man who allegedly lured police to his house last week in hopes they would kill him.

Officers wounded him in the shoulder after he allegedly pointed a pellet gun at them from a second-story window.

Pendleton dismantled bombs while serving in the Army during the Iraq war, and he has been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, court records said.

Read more: Iraq war veteran who pointed pellet gun

Military suicide bill passes House

Military suicide bill passes House

Written by
Kirk Moore | Staff Writer

A legislative amendment setting aside an additional $20 million for preventing suicide among military veterans passed the House of Representatives Thursday night, said co-authors Reps. Rush Holt, D-N.J., and Jon Runyan, R-N.J.

The amendment was attached by a voice vote to the annual military construction bill. If it survives the final stages of the process in the House and Senate, the legislation would allow a major expansion of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ $4.5 program for reaching out to veterans in crisis. Established earlier this year, the VA program is using direct advertising and social media to steer troubled vets to help, including a suicide prevention hotline, 800-273-TALK (8255).

In a joint statement, Holt and Runyan said deaths could be prevented if veterans can find help in time.
read more here
Military suicide bill passes House

A shortened life inspires effort to save other veterans

A shortened life inspires effort to save others
Bucyrus Telegraph Forum


BUCYRUS -- July 2 is going to be John Delaney's kind of day, chock full of golf, buddies and beer.

"Oh, yeah," his father, David Delaney, said of the event planned for The Golf Course at Bucyrus. "He would have loved it."

Andy Schell, organizer of the John Delaney Memorial Golf Scramble, said the event is to celebrate its namesake. Unfortunately, the elder Delaney and Schell were speaking of John in the past tense. The 29-year-old Bucyrus man committed suicide on Oct. 5, in his East Mansfield Street apartment.

Crying uncontrollably, Delaney phoned his childhood friend and told Schifer what he planned to do. The Columbus man called his parents, Connie and Russell Akers, who rushed to East Mansfield Street. Schifer's stepfather found Delaney's body in the darkened upstairs apartment.

read more here
A shortened life inspires effort to save others

VA trauma center treats most grievously wounded troops

VA trauma center treats most grievously wounded troops
The Palo Alto facility is among four nationwide in which physicians and therapists take a team approach to care for those who have suffered amputations and other catastrophic injuries, many from bomb blasts.

By Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times
June 5, 2011
Reporting from Palo Alto— Marine Lance Cpl. Jorge Ortiz is in pain.

Marine Lance Cpl. Jorge Ortiz, 19, of Fresno, who stepped on a buried explosive in Afghanistan, rests in the hospital. The blast ripped off his legs, snapped off four fingers on his left hand and his right thumb. (Mark Boster, Los Angeles Times / June 5, 2011)

A combat photographer, Ortiz was taking pictures of a captured weapons cache in Sangin, Afghanistan, on Jan. 15 when he stepped on a buried explosive device.

The blast ripped off his legs above the knees and snapped off four fingers on his left hand and the thumb on his right hand.

Classified as a triple amputee, Ortiz is now an inpatient at the Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center at the Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in Palo Alto — one of four VA centers nationwide staffed and equipped specifically to treat the most grievously wounded U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The centers have become a key element in caring for the wounded as the war in Afghanistan enters its second decade and the injured from Iraq continue to need care. They are the result of important medical insights gleaned from the long wars in the Middle East — that modern battlefield injuries, particularly those from bomb blasts, require a team approach from physicians and therapists.
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VA trauma center treats most grievously wounded troops

Kentucky police officer killed in Afghanistan

Kentucky police officer killed in Afghanistan
Madison County native Brett Benton died Saturday when an improvised explosive device detonated near him.
Posted: 6:40 PM Jun 5, 2011
Reporter: Gabriel Roxas
Email Address: Gabriel.Roxas@wkyt.com

Family and friends are grieving the loss of a Kentucky police officer killed in Afghanistan.

Madison County native Brett Benton died Saturday when an improvised explosive device detonated near him. Benton had just left the Kenton County Police Department a few weeks ago to work as a private contractor in Afghanistan training local police there. The work followed a life in public service. "He was wanting to serve his country again," longtime friend Toby Coyle said, "I guess that goes back to his military roots."


Coyle grew up with Benton in Madison County and was proud to see his friend rise through the law enforcement ranks across central Kentucky. "After high school he went to the National Guard, and then while he was still in the Guard he worked at the state police post in Richmond as a dispatcher," Coyle said, "and then he worked for the Nicholasville Police Department, and then he went on to the Kenton County Police Department, where he left there as a sergeant."

read more here
Kentucky police officer killed in Afghanistan

Collecting benefits is a losing battle for some veterans

Collecting benefits is a losing battle for some veterans

By Will Doolittle -- will@poststar.com

Editor’s Note: This is the second of a three-part series on blue water veterans, and part of a larger series on the struggles of veterans to collect benefits from the VA.

FORT EDWARD -- Charles Cooley, Vietnam veteran, shuffled out of his bedroom with an oxygen hose looped around his nose like a bridle and fell into a chair at the dining room table.

"Ungh," he gasped. "I fell out of bed again last night."

"Did you?" said his wife, Dolores. "Jesus Lord."

Day after day, the Cooleys sit around in their doublewide trailer in the Drifting Ridge subdivision, watching TV and listening to the cries of their four cockatiels.

They do not get out much. Charles can’t even sit outside, because the breeze would chill his arms and legs.
Collecting benefits is a losing battle

Friends of the Forgotten riders come to rally for POW/MIA

From New Jersey to Pittsburgh, riders come to rally for POW/MIA
Published: Sunday, June 05, 2011

By REBECCA D. CATAGNUS
For The Times Herald

NORRISTOWN — An overcast sky hovered above the parking lot at Norristown Area High School Sunday morning as the sound of a slow, loud roar pierced the air with a thunder-like clap.

And with the intensity of a tremendous storm hitting the street, roughly 600 bikers, riders, local law enforcement members and supporters came out en masse from the greater five-county area — New Jersey, Delaware and Pittsburgh — to remember those service members who never came home.

This year marks the 22nd anniversary of the event sponsored by the nonprofit Friends of the Forgotten.
read more here
Riders come to rally for POW/MIA

Nashville’s was among the worst out of 16 VA centers

Nashville VA Knocked in New Internal Report
Monday, June 06th, 2011, by Capitol News Connection
Lawmakers in Washington are not happy about findings from an audit on veterans affairs offices.

The report looked at 16 centers. Nashville’s center was among the worst.

The VA‘s inspector general wanted to know how regional centers were responding to veterans’ disability claims. How quickly and how accurately. They picked Nashville’s regional office at random to inspect from April 2009 to September 2010.

The Nashville center was only in compliance with five out of fifteen claims categories.
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Nashville VA Knocked in New Internal Report

News reports 5 soldiers killed in Iraq but hey, Palin said something stupid again

Well at least this story made it to the top of the NBC online site.

NBC: 5 US soldiers die in Iraq rocket attack
Incident is the single largest loss of life for American military in the country in two years
NBC, msnbc.com and news services

NBC News' Jim Miklazewski reported that the troops died in a rocket attack that targeted a base in Baghdad.

However, a military statement gave no additional details about where the incident occurred or how they died.

The incident was under investigation and the names of the deceased were being withheld pending notification of the next of kin, the U.S. military said.

The deaths raised to 4,459 the number of American service members who have died in Iraq, according to an Associated Press count.
read more here
5 US soldiers die in Iraq rocket attack

It also came before Palin on this morning's news report but didn't last very long.

You'd think a story like this would be more important than just a couple of minutes this morning on NBC, but they decided it was not as important as covering Palin and the rest of the political news. You'd think that the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan would matter more than a person the media turned into a celebrity. You may think way but it just goes to show how little the troops matter to broadcast media.

Palin: I didn't mess up Paul Revere history

Steven Senne / AP
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, accompanied by her youngest daughter Piper, right, speaks briefly with reporters while visiting Boston's North End neighborhood on Thursday.

Former Alaska governor says she wants to travel to Britain to meet Margaret Thatcher
WASHINGTON — Sarah Palin insisted Sunday that history was on her side when she claimed that Paul Revere's famous ride was intended to warn both British soldiers and his fellow colonists.

"You realize that you messed up about Paul Revere, don't you?" "Fox News Sunday" anchor Chris Wallace asked the potential 2012 presidential candidate.

"I didn't mess up about Paul Revere," replied Palin, a paid contributor to the network.

"Part of his ride was to warn the British that were already there. That, hey, you're not going to succeed. You're not going to take American arms. You are not going to beat our own well-armed persons, individual, private militia that we have," she added. "He did warn the British."
read more here
I didn't mess up Paul Revere history

In every state, we're reading about the men and women giving their lives up for the sake of this country, but national news wants us to think the troops have been forgotten about. We read about them coming home everyday and what they are up against back home, but they only merit coverage once in a while and then they only give the reports a few minutes.

NBC along with all the other stations should be ashamed of themselves. They may cover stories on their sites online but more people watch the news than read it. They decided what the American people think about and what they can just forget about. So why is Palin saying something stupid more important than another 5 fallen soldiers in Iraq?

They also thought that John Edwards mattered more too.

PTSD recovery began when vet hit bottom

PTSD recovery began when vet hit bottom

Kevin Fagan, Chronicle Staff Writer

Michael Macor / The Chronicle
Mike Hofler, a veteran of the Iraq and Afghan wars, began his recovery after a jail stint for a fatal accident.

Monday, May 30, 2011

It didn't even take a full week after mustering out of the Air Force in 2005 for Mike Hofler to find trouble.

Four days into civilian life, he accidentally hit a man with a truck on a freeway off-ramp in Nevada and killed him. While awaiting trial, he became so edgy that he couldn't go to sleep at night until he'd loaded a rifle and placed it next to his bed.

He developed a hair-trigger temper, and he started drinking too much and delving into cocaine.

But it wasn't until he hit bottom by starting a one-year jail term in Nevada in 2006 for the fatal accident - for reckless driving and leaving the scene in a panic - that Hofler, 32, woke up to what he needed to do.

How could a man who gave four years of his life in military service to his country, doing combat tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan, have careened so far off the rails, he asked himself as he lay in his jail cell.



Read more: PTSD recovery began when vet hit bottom

Veteran trades weapon for pen

Veteran trades weapon for pen
By Andrea Keating and Abigail Donaldson

Contributing Writer and Copy Editor

Published: Sunday, June 5, 2011

While stationed in Kuwait and Iraq as a U.S. Marine Corps police officer, Alejandro Mujica used a rifle to protect and serve. Now, the UCF graduate student has armed himself with something different — a pen.

Mujica, who spent four years in the military police, felt displaced upon returning home from duty. During this period of transition, one where he returned to the civilian world, he discovered the power of reading, the serenity of meditation and the art of journaling.

Now, Mujica, a graduate student at UCF majoring in creative writing, has been approved by the Veterans Academic Resource Center to begin a writing group for veterans.

The goal of the writing group is to allow veterans to discover new skills and possibly aid with post-traumatic stress disorder.

After returning home from duty, Mujica decided to take advantage of the resources that were available at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

According to the VA's website, the veteran population in Florida is 1,650,900. Nationwide, one in eight military personnel returning from the battlefield suffers from some form of PTSD.

read more here
Veteran trades weapon for pen

When you damage your brain, you lose your personality

American Football: 'When you damage your brain, you lose your personality'
New medical studies confirm what many former gridiron players have long feared – bangs to the head can have debilitating and potentially deadly consequences.

By Gerard Wright in Los Angeles

GETTY
Dave Duerson shot himself in February

There is mounting scientific and medical evidence that the collisions in American football are taking a delayed but devastating toll on the players in terms of the concussions and head trauma they cause.

There are big hits in every game at college and professional level between big men. Even a small offensive or defensive lineman can weigh 120kg (almost 19st). The collisions are a clatter of helmet on helmet, like rams butting heads, with the helmets protecting their wearers from immediate external damage.

But two medical studies have shown that athletes, in particular American footballers repeatedly concussed in their playing days, are suffering from a neurological condition, chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), that mimics dementia, Alzheimer's disease and, in some cases, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or motor neurone disease, the usually fatal condition with which Joost van der Westhuisen, the former Springbok scrum-half, has been diagnosed.

When you damage your brain, you lose your personality

The drowning suicide that shook an island

The drowning suicide that shook an island

By Kristin J. Bender
Oakland Tribune
Posted: 06/05/2011

ALAMEDA -- Only two people went into the chilly San Francisco Bay waters Monday to help a suicidal Raymond Zack and neither wore a police or firefighter uniform.

When Zack, 52, despondent and depressed, walked fully clothed into the bay at Robert Crown Memorial State Beach to take his own life, at least 10 Alameda firefighters and police officers made the choice not to come to his aid. They stood on the beach and watched, for about an hour.

Their decision not to retrieve the man from the 55-degree bay waters when it was clear the U.S. Coast Guard was not going to be able to rescue him in time raises the question: When should first responders ignore protocol and provide lifesaving support?

"I believe that the value of life supersedes man-made laws. Why is there confusion about that?" said Jack Hoban, who cowrites the column "The Ethical Warrior" for PoliceOne.com and is also president of Resolution Group International, a New Jersey-based group that conducts leadership and ethics training.

Firefighters say they could not enter the water because budget cuts two years ago did not allow the department to recertify in land-based water rescues. A rescue attempt would have opened the city to liability. Police said they did not know if Zack, 6 feet 3 and 280 pounds, was violent, armed or had drugs in his system.
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The drowning suicide that shook an island

Bikers rev engines for injured marine

Bikers rev engines for injured marine
Money raised will go toward family's expenses

Updated: Sunday, 05 Jun 2011

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - Members of the American Legion came together Sunday afternoon to help the family of Corporal Matt Bowman.

More than 200 bikers participated in the charity ride held by Lafayette Post 11. Bikes left the Legion just as the rain began at noon. The ride took bikers through the towns of Crawfordsville, Attica, Rockville, and Hillsboro.
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Bikers rev engines for injured marine

James Arness, Actor and Veteran

‘Gunsmoke’ actor dies; fought at Anzio
By Frazier Moore - The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Jun 3, 2011 20:25:46 EDT
It takes a special kind of lawman to carry on for 20 years in the Wild West of TV.

Matt Dillon, the mythical marshal of Dodge City, stood tall — all 6 feet, 6 inches of him — on “Gunsmoke” from 1955 to 1975. He outlasted dozens of other Western heroes while making history on TV’s longest-running dramatic series, a record that held until NBC’s “Law & Order” tied the CBS Western’s record in 2010.

Through all those gunslinging years, James Arness, who died June 3, kept Marshal Dillon righteous, peace-seeking and, most of all, believable.

Fickle viewers can kill a TV hero as surely as a bullet from an outlaw’s six-gun. But Arness knew how to maintain order not only in circa-1870s Dodge City, but also among the TV audience, whose itchy fingers on their channel changers he knew how to calm.

In an era when TV actors typically chewed the scenery, Arness had a credible, commanding presence by hardly uttering a word. A typical scene found a dozen cowboys riding up to the town jail intent on busting out a prisoner pal.

Dillon faces them all down.

“The first move anybody makes,” he says, with a slight shake of his head, “I cut you in two.”

Arness’ defiant but rueful delivery is so understated, he makes Clint Eastwood seem like a loudmouth.

read more here
Gunsmoke actor dies

Sgt. Charles Allen's life changed forever

Homecoming for a Hero
Posted: Jun 04, 2011


CLARKSVILLE, Tenn.- One day last January changed Sgt. Charles Allen's life forever. While deployed, the Fort Campbell soldier stepped on an I.E.D. and lost both of his legs.

For months, Walter Reed Medical Center has been his home, but that all changed Saturday. Charles Allen figured a trip home on a private jet would have meant a private homecoming, but his wife and hundreds of other people had a different idea.

"Everybody wanted Chaz to know how much we support him," explained his wife, Jessica.

Team Allen, a tight-knit support group that has been there since day one for Jessica, Charles, and their two little girls, was at Outlaw Field in Clarksville to welcome him home.

"As the plane turned, I couldn't believe it. There was a dang mob out there!" Charles said.
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Homecoming for a Hero

Nam Knights Orlando and Homes For Our Troops Event

Nam Knights Orlando and Homes For Our Troops joined forces yesterday for Army SPC Luis Puertas was left a double amputee after an EFP explosion in Baghdad, Iraq, on September 20, 2006.


Two double amputees from Iraq talk about what it is like to live after and offer hope.

Paul "Russ" Marek
Branch: Army
Rank: Staff Sergeant
Home: Melbourne, FL

SSG Paul Russell Marek was serving with the 4th Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division in Iraq when his tank was destroyed by an IED. Three of his crew members perished in the explosion and Russ lost his right leg and right arm, his right ear and left thumb and suffered brain injury and severe burns over 20 percent of his body. That happend on September 16, 2005 as he rode in a tank near Baghdad.


Luis Puertas
Branch: Army
Rank: Specialist
Home: Orlando, FL

Army SPC Luis Puertas was left a double amputee after an EFP explosion in Baghdad, Iraq, on September 20, 2006. SPC Puertas was the driver of the lead HUMVEE on a daily patrol near Sadr City when an unseen EFP, planted at the base of a light pole launched into the vehicle, amputating both of his legs on impact. Leaving him trapped beneath the 400 pound up-armored door of the HUMVEE. Miraculously, his team was able to extricate him from the wreckage, and prepare him for medevac from the scene.

Luis and Amber talk about meeting after he came home and how they fell in love. If you want a good love story, here it is.

I have to say that it was amazing being a part of this event just as it has been to know these fantastic Nam Knights.

Vero Beach clinic wants veterans to know what is there for them

Vero Beach clinic wants veterans to know what it has to offer
By Janet Begley
Posted June 4, 2011 at 9:18 p.m.
VERO BEACH — For Indian River County veterans, access to medical care is as close as 17th Street in Vero Beach, thanks to the Community-Based Outpatient Clinic.

The medical office, which is run by the Department of Veterans Affairs, held an open house Saturday to encourage eligible veterans to sign up for medical services.

According to Operations Director Tracy Sims, the clinic currently sees about 40 patients each day, with services ranging from blood pressure monitoring, diabetes testing and other primary care services. About 3,500 veterans, both men and women ranging in age from 18 to 100, are registered at the Vero Beach clinic.

"We are trying to let veterans know that we're here to help them," said Sims. "They deserve to get their health benefits because they served our country proudly."

The team at the Vero Beach office handles basic medical care including laboratory work, but refers patients in need of more specialized care to the VA Hospital in West Palm Beach.

"We try to do as much here are we can," said Sims. "Veterans really seem to like coming to this office rather than making that drive down to West Palm Beach."

read more here
Vero Beach clinic wants veterans to know

Blue Water Vietnam Vet cut off after Agent Orange took over

VA ceases benefits for veteran suffering ailments linked to Agent Orange

By Will Doolittle will@poststar.com
Posted: Saturday, June 4, 2011

Editor's Note: This is the first of a three-part series on blue water veterans, and part of a larger series on the struggles of veterans to collect benefits from the VA.

The benefit checks from the Department of Veterans Affairs were a lifeline for Charles and Dolores Cooley, as critical to their financial health as the oxygen tube Charles wears is to his physical health.
But that lifeline was severed last year when the VA determined that awarding Cooley benefits for exposure to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War had been an error.

Having their benefits cut off has set the Cooleys down a slope to financial ruin. She is 66; he is 67. They live in a double-wide trailer on a grassy lot in the Drifting Ridge subdivision off Durkeetown Road in Fort Edward.
read more here
VA ceases benefits for veteran suffering

Officials tour VA mental health wing

Officials tour VA mental health wing

By SANJAY TALWANI
Independent Record
Posted: Saturday, June 4, 2011

The new mental health wing at the Veterans Administration Hospital at Fort Harrison, ready to welcome its first inpatient July 5, is something veterans have needed a long time and now more than ever, said several people involved with a dedication ceremony and tour of the facility.

PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), should be called PTSW, for post-traumatic stress wound, because that’s what it is, said Ken “Rosy” Rosenbaum of Helena, a veteran of Korea, Vietnam and Operation Enduring Freedom and a facilitator of Vets-to-Vets, a support organization.

“The invisible wound that results in substance abuse, family issues, job changes — America, we’re going to see more of that,” he told the crowd of more than 150 at the ceremony. “And this is where they’re going to come.”

The $6.7 million facility will provide the VA’s first inpatient mental health beds in the state, preventing some veterans from having to seek care out of state.

Before the ceremony, U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., who sits on both the Senate Veterans Affairs and Appropriations Committees and who pushed the VA to build the facility, heard from several veterans advocates in a discussion that also included national and regional leaders of the VA.

Officials tour VA mental health wing

Army Ranger Sgt. 1st Class Joseph Kapacziewski on duty after amputation

Amputee NCO honored for selfless service
Sgt. 1st Class Joseph Kapacziewski returned to Afghanistan 4 times with his Ranger unit after rehab with prosthetic
By Michelle Tan - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Jun 5, 2011 9:09:02 EDT

ARMY Then-Staff Sgt. Joseph Kapacziewski is shown gearing up as a Ranger squad leader for a mission in Afghanistan. Kapacziewski, who lost his right leg after an October 2005 blast in northern Iraq, has deployed four times to Afghanistan as a below-the-knee amputee.

When Sgt. 1st Class Joseph Kapacziewski decided to have his right leg amputated, he had one goal in mind: to return to the line and serve alongside his fellow Rangers.

It took months of hard work and painful rehabilitation, but Kapacziewski achieved his goal and has deployed four times to Afghanistan as a below-the-knee amputee.

He was presented with the No Greater Sacrifice Freedom Award on May 24 in Washington, D.C.

Honored alongside Army Chief of Staff nominee Gen. Ray Odierno, the commander of Joint Forces Command and former commander of U.S. troops in Iraq, Kapacziewski is the first noncommissioned officer to receive the award, which recognizes individuals who epitomize selfless service to the nation.

“It’s a little embarrassing,” Kapacziewski said about being singled out for the honor. “Everyone here in the regiment is a team player, so being recognized as an individual is a little awkward.”
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Amputee NCO honored for selfless service

4 Richardson soldiers killed by IED in Laghman

4 Richardson soldiers killed by IED in Laghman
The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Jun 5, 2011 8:48:36 EDT
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska — Four Alaska-based soldiers were killed by an improvised explosive device in Laghman province, Afghanistan, the Army said Saturday.

The soldiers, from the 3rd Maneuver Enhancement Brigade at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, were on a mounted patrol, the Army said.

Their names were withheld while their families were notified.

NATO reported earlier Saturday that four coalition troops were killed by a roadside bomb in eastern Afghanistan. The alliance did not provide further details.
4 Richardson soldiers killed by IED in Laghman

Vietnam Vet Distinguished Veteran of the Year

Vietnam War veteran, veterans advocate named Distinguished Veteran of the Year
Published: Saturday, June 04, 2011

By PAUL POST
ppost@saratogian.com

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Ned Foote accepted a prestigious individual honor — Distinguished Veteran of the Year — on behalf of all the people he served with.

The retired U.S. Marine, who lost a leg while fighting in Vietnam, was recognized Saturday at the New York State Military Museum for his ongoing veterans advocacy.

Foote, of Queensbury, co-founded Adirondack Chapter 79 of the Vietnam Veterans of America, has been president of the Vietnam Veterans of America New York State Council since 2005 and was a driving force behind the creation of a Vietnam Veterans Memorial at the Adirondack Community College campus.

“I’m very humbled to receive this award,” he said. “I’m also very excited. It’s not for me. It’s for all my brother and sister vets. It’s great that we are finally being recognized.”

read more here
Distinguished Veteran of the Year

Illinois National Guard members face PTSD

Illinois National Guard members still fight their own battles after war
By Army Sgt. Keith Vanklompenberg
Illinois National Guard

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (5/31/11) - For most of the 33rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, the battle ended a year and a half ago when they returned home from Afghanistan in the fall of 2009. For some, the battle is still going today.

Several Soldiers were wounded in the Illinois National Guard's largest deployment since World War II, and though the physical scars eventually fade, the invisible injuries linger.

Post traumatic stress disorder has become a more recognized issue among deployed service members, said Juliann Steinbeigle, the Illinois National Guard's director of psychological health.

The issue of PTSD has two major aspects. The first is due to the current overseas operations, which brings with it unique dynamics that constitutes trauma and contributes to the risk factors associated with PTSD, said Steinbeigle. The other aspect is the increased capacity by the military mental health professionals to recognize and address symptoms that attribute to the diagnoses of PTSD.

PTSD can consist of several symptoms such as difficulty falling or staying asleep, irritability or outbursts of anger, difficulty concentrating, hyper vigilance and exaggerated startle responses, she said.

"This can affect every aspect of an individual's life from work to individual self-care to relationships. Feelings of inadequacy can develop and increase the symptomatology creating isolation, self medication through substance or prescription abuse, violence or suicidal tendencies."

Steinbeigle said 20 percent, 1 in 5, more than 300,000 service members returning from Middle East deployments reported symptoms of PTSD and/or major depression, yet only 53 percent of these troops sought treatment according to the National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Rand Center for Military Health Policy Research, U.S. Department of Defense in 2008.

read more here
Illinois National Guard

After meltdown, Navy Cross Marine gets help he needed and support

Marines need to support fellow Marines

Posted : Saturday Jun 4, 2011 12:35:41 EDT

Jeremiah Workman was a mess.

The Navy Cross recipient — so recognized for his leadership during a gruesome 2004 firefight in Iraq — suffered from horrible nightmares and survivor’s guilt. He had flashbacks and was unable to control his temper.

After a meltdown in front of recruits at Parris Island, S.C., Workman was removed from drill instructor duty, diagnosed with PTSD and reassigned — as a janitor.

He tried to kill himself.

His wife and child moved out.

Leadership had failed him.

Then in 2007, Workman found a lifeline. Sgt. Maj. Carlton Kent, the newly appointed sergeant major of the Marine Corps, did what no one else had: He stepped in to help a Marine in need.

“I called his battalion sergeant major, and his first thing to me was, ‘Hey, Sergeant Major Kent, that sergeant ain’t nothing but a problem,’ ” Kent told Marines during a recent trip abroad. “I said, ‘Stop. He’s not your problem no more. He’s our problem.’ And I said, ‘Have him report to the Pentagon.’ ”

read more here
Marines need to support fellow Marines

Arrest made in connection to death of Spc. Christopher Wheeler

Arrest Made In Fatal Hit-And-Run Crash
FRED HALSTIED
KRDO NewsChannel 13

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- On Friday, police in Colorado Springs said they arrested 31-year-old man in connection to an area hit-and-run.

Police said Michael Conyer is accused of crashing into 19-year-old U.S. Army Spc. Christopher Wheeler, of Boston. Wheeler was a soldier at Fort Carson and served in Afghanistan for more than a year.
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Arrest Made In Fatal Hit-And-Run Crash

Gulf War PTSD vet killed by police remembered

Matthew Speese, shot after he pointed gun at police, was a 'wonderful father,' relatives said
Published: Friday, June 03, 2011
By John Tunison
The Grand Rapids Press

MONTCALM COUNTY — When Matthew Speese returned from the Gulf War in the early 1990s, family members said he was a different person.

He had episodes of depression and unpredictable behavior that made his then-wife scared.

“He was my husband when he went over there, but when he came back, he was a completely different person,” said Tania Felix, who was married to Speese for nine years and had two children with him.
Felix believes his post-traumatic stress disorder may have played a role in the Wednesday police shooting and death of Speese, 47, near Howard City.

read more here
Matthew Speese, shot after he pointed gun at police

Family of vet shot by police wants attention paid to post-combat stress
Published: Saturday, June 04, 2011
By Nate Reens
The Grand Rapids Press
MONTCALM COUNTY — A split-second decision by officers ended nearly 20 years of post-traumatic stress disorder that tormented Matthew Speese after he returned from multiple tours of duty in the first Gulf War.

Relatives of the 47-year-old victim of Wednesday’s fatal police-involved shooting, allegedly triggered when Speese raised a long gun at officers during an evening standoff, said Friday they hope discussion about the effects of war linger in the public consciousness.

“This is really bigger than Matt because there are so many people out there like him,” said Mark Speese, one of the victim’s five siblings. “These veterans come home from war and the impact is still there. It doesn’t just go away, and maybe this sheds some light on those troubles.”

read more here
Family of vet shot by police wants attention paid to PTSD

Marine died in his sleep; autopsy lists 27 medications

We read stories like this all the time but there is a deeper, darker secret going on here connected to the pills being pushed instead of real therapy. All of this "take a pill and you'll feel better" approach to combat PTSD leaves them with a bitter taste in their mouth. They feel as if they are just being given them to shut up and go away. This is especially hard on them when they are still in combat, given pills and no one is doing any kind of therapy with them. Pills do a good job getting things back into balance when they work but they only hide the symptoms of PTSD, usually numbing them instead of helping them.

Medication is needed most of the time but experts have been working on PTSD for almost 40 years and the good ones all say that therapy is key in healing. This is unique in mental illness because it was not something already there, something they were born with, any more than it is something they had control over. It invaded them. Like an infection, it picked on a sensitive part of their body, hit with force and then tried to claim more territory. It is a wound to the emotional part of the brain after exposure to traumatic events and you don't get much more trauma than combat because as long as they are in it, as many times as they are in it, it feeds PTSD.

The excuse offered in theater is the lack of mental health professionals and the need to keep boots on the ground instead of getting them out of there to heal. So they get pills for every issue and are expected to do their duty. (Snipers are even getting medicated.) So they spend a year with PTSD exposed to more trauma and threats to their lives along with the lives of their "brothers" and then we expect them to just go with the flow back home taking a pill, or in many cases, a handful of them.

One huge issue here is that part of PTSD is short term memory loss. Sometimes they forget if they took their pills or not, so they take them just in case, many times, after they already took their daily dose.

The only way to heal them is to add in therapy plus constant checkups to see how the medications are working and then adjust them depending on how the veterans lives are. Without therapy, you'll find them on heavy medications for the rest of their lives and no real healing happening.

After decade of war, concerns about over-medicated military
From Charley Keyes, CNN Senior National Security Producer
June 3, 2011 8:00 p.m. EDT

John Keith suffered blackouts taking his medication. He once threw furniture off a balcony and had no recollection of it.

"After I was taking the 10 pills and it wasn't working, I went back to the VA, and they prescribed me five more pills on top of everything else," Keith said.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
One Navy veteran says he took 15 medications a day
Marine died in his sleep; autopsy lists 27 medications
General says Army has new rules on prescriptions

Washington (CNN) -- John Keith rattles each pill bottle and raps it down on the table, 15 in all. "That's what they had me on right there, every day," the former sailor says of the prescriptions he received from Veterans Affairs doctors.

Keith, who lives in California, says his case is an example of how government doctors over-prescribe for active-duty and retired military, with often disastrous results.

On the other side of the country, the Ohio family of Chris Bachus, a decorated Marine who died in his sleep from an accidental drug overdose, also says military doctors are writing too many prescriptions.

"How could a team of doctors, allegedly working together, prescribe all those things together?" Jerry Bachus asks of the doctors who treated his brother with dozens of separate medications.
And the military itself is struggling with demands of its personnel returning from multiple warzone deployments and seeking treatment for a variety of injuries and mental issues.

Navy veteran Keith blames multiple tours in the Persian Gulf, on board the USS Kitty Hawk, for a variety of ailments including post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury.

The cover letter on the official military autopsy for Chris Bachus strongly recommends that family members not read it alone, but with a family friend or minister.

It spells out the 27 prescriptions found near the body in March 2008, at Camp Geiger in North Carolina. The death was ruled accidental, blamed on "multi-drug toxicity."

The list of 27 prescription bottles found at the scene of death takes up most of a page of the autopsy, from topiramate to oxycodone to lorazepam.

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After decade of war, concerns about over-medicated military

"60 Minutes" Presents: Honoring Our Soldiers

"60 Minutes" Presents: Honoring Our Soldiers
May 29, 2011 5:00 PM

The first living soldier to earn the Medal of Honor since Vietnam tells Lara Logan what he did to be awarded the nation's highest combat honor; plus Logan takes viewers to the border area between Afghanistan and Pakistan.



Read more: Honoring Our Soldiers

For veterans, getting to the VA is a big problem too

Veterans committee hosts town hall forum
By SANJAY TALWANI Independent Record
Some veterans come to the Veterans Administration Hospital at Fort Harrison for treatment, only to have no money for gasoline for the return trip.

Fortunately, thanks to a private fundraising effort, the VA can give gas cards to those without the money, and more and more have needed the help.

“The number of gas cards we have given out in the last six months has doubled,” Robin Korogi, Montana Health Care Services director for the VA, said at a town hall-style discussion at the VA Wednesday. The event was organized by the Veterans Rural Health Advisory Committee, a nationwide group chaired by Jim Ahrens of Helena, former president of the Montana Hospital Association.

That committee makes one visit as a group to rural areas each year, and aims to bring the concerns of rural veterans to VA leadership in Washington.

Dr. Mary Beth Skupien, director of the VA Office of Rural Health, is also in Helena, visiting from Washington.
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Veterans committee hosts town hall forum

122 grants to help homeless and at risk veterans in several states

17,000 Homeless and at Risk Veterans to Benefit From More than $28 Million
Thursday, June 02, 2011
From a press release . . .

Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis today announced 122 grants totaling more than $28 million to provide approximately 17,000 veterans who are homeless or at risk of being homeless with job training to help them succeed in civilian careers.

The grants, including funding in Colorado, Iowa, Missouri and Wyoming, are being awarded under the U.S. Department of Labor’s Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program to continue successful programs into second and third years.
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17,000 Homeless and at Risk Veterans

Fort Drum soldier gets help instead of jail

Drum soldier admits to robbing Kinney's Pamelia location twice
By BRIAN KELLY
TIMES STAFF WRITER
THURSDAY, JUNE 2, 2011

A Fort Drum soldier admitted Wednesday in Jefferson County Court that he twice robbed the same pharmacy of drugs while threatening that he had a gun.

Sentencing was deferred until Aug. 12 while Mr. Languet completes an inpatient substance abuse rehabilitation program. Mr. L......, an Army truck driver with the rank of sergeant, served with the 3rd Battalion, 85th Infantry, Warrior Transition Unit, which is for injured and ill soldiers working to transition back to a deployable unit or to become a civilian.

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Drum soldier admits to robbing

10 year old girl wows with National Anthem

video from Huffington Post will make your day

Nude motorcycle romp nets fine, probation even though he has PTSD

NOTE: I removed the Gunnery Sergeant's name since what he did happened last year but you can read the whole story by clicking on the link.

Nude motorcycle romp nets fine, probation

Wreck occurred in 2010 on Meadowview Road
June 03, 2011 6:12 AM
LINDELL KAY
A Marine gunnery sergeant who recently pleaded guilty to driving while impaired in a situation last year where he crashed his motorcycle while riding naked with a nude woman must undergo psychotherapy as part of his sentencing.

(SS), 38, of Meadowview Road, was ordered in late May to continue therapy, surrender his N.C. Drivers license, pay $573 in fines and court costs, sentenced to two years probation and given seven days in jail.

The court gave (SS) time-served credit for the seven-day active sentence because he completed a 30-day chemical treatment program in March at Twelve Oaks Drug and Alcohol Treatment Center. Sheals was diagnosed by doctors there with post traumatic stress disorder and alcohol dependency, according to court records.
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Nude motorcycle romp nets fine, probation

Vietnam Vet talks about tainted water at Camp Lejeune

Marines exposed to tainted water