ACLU's lawsuit against the VA is a step in vet's recovery
steve.lopez@latimes.com
Greg Valentini hopes the case will help other veterans who ended up traumatized and homeless
Combat veteran Greg Valentini slept in Wednesday morning in Hollywood, the day he sued the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Actually, Valentini didn't file the suit himself, and he was only one of four plaintiffs in what could become a class-action case. The ACLU of Southern California argues in the suit that the VA has mismanaged and underutilized its sprawling West Los Angeles campus even as mentally impaired homeless vets sleep on the city's streets.
If there's money to wage two wars, there ought to be money to restore abandoned medical buildings at the VA and fill them with some of the estimated 8,200 homeless veterans in Greater Los Angeles, as well as provide them the rehab services they need. That's how the ACLU's Mark Rosenbaum described the thinking behind the lawsuit to me this week.
As the suit notes, the VA campus has enough space for private companies to store buses and rental cars and for a hotel laundry facility, but no permanent housing for veterans, even though the property was deeded to the government more than 100 years ago specifically to house veterans.
As for Valentini, his involvement in the lawsuit came as a surprise to me, even though I've been shadowing him for several months in a series of columns about his efforts to rehabilitate himself. He told me he was sworn to secrecy until the suit was filed.
On Wednesday morning I visited him at the Hollywood rehab center where he has lived since last August along with a few dozen other veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Valentini, 33, hadn't seen the lawsuit, so I delivered a copy.
Valentini, who grew up in Lakewood, wasn't entirely comfortable being named in the suit. He doesn't enjoy reviewing the harrowing details of his combat tours in Afghanistan and Iraq and his later descent into suicidal fantasies, homelessness and drug addiction. But he was willing if it would help others.
read more here
ACLU's lawsuit against the VA is a step in vet's recovery
Thursday, June 9, 2011
When they die after war, we pulled the trigger
Can someone please explain to me how easy it is to accept the fact these men and women, managed someone to survive combat, but died back home because of it? Isn't that what we're really talking about here? They live through the worst man is capable of doing, watching out for their "brothers" and "sisters" but when they come home, the pain is so deep, they cannot fight that battle alone. We're supposed to be there for them. That's why the VA started. To take care of the wounded. For heaven's sake going all the way back to General Washington, we we've been reminded about the fact the wounded are just as much our responsibility as they are when they are sent to fight OUR COUNTRY'S BATTLES, no matter what you think about those battles.
Congress has no problems at all coming up with the money to train them, send them and arm them, (especially defense contractors) but they have not managed to use the same level of planing when it comes to then coming home. No war should ever be started until the VA is ready to take care of the wounded. They should be included in on every single funding request but above that, congress needs to stop the insanity of funding programs that are not working and make sure that when a business comes to them saying they need funding to help, they can prove it works. To have programs with no data to back up the claims is nothing more than funding research using the wounded as lab rats.
But congress is not the only problem the veterans have. The elected come and go but a combat veteran is a combat veteran for the rest of his/her life. They will see politicians elected and defeated while the state of their lives blows with the changing political party in charge at the time. Why? Do we owe these veterans for what they did for us or don't we?
William Hamilton's sister Angela left a comment on a blog post I put up about the Veterans for Common Sense Law suit against the VA.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Original post
Veterans for Common Sense Lawsuit on Veteran Suicide on KGO/ABC
Veteran's suicide reveals problems in VA system
VCS Lawsuit on Veteran Suicide on KGO/ABC
Written by Dan Noyes
Saturday, 12 February 2011 10:44
Two Part KGO News Investigation Reveals VA Turned Away Suicidal Veteran in California in 2010
Part One:
February 8, 2011, San Francisco, California (KGO ABC 7 News) - Three hundred thousand of the military veterans coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, according to a recent study. But many are not getting the care they need and the results can be tragic.
New data shows that veterans are more than twice as likely as other Californians to commit suicide.
William Hamilton enlisted in the Army at 19 and served two tours in Iraq with the 82nd Airborne Division. His mother Diane says he loved the discipline and camaraderie.
"Every time he came back the commander said he did such a wonderful job," she said. Hamilton was guarding a rooftop in Mosul in 2005 with his best friend Christopher Pusateri when insurgents attacked.
Congress has no problems at all coming up with the money to train them, send them and arm them, (especially defense contractors) but they have not managed to use the same level of planing when it comes to then coming home. No war should ever be started until the VA is ready to take care of the wounded. They should be included in on every single funding request but above that, congress needs to stop the insanity of funding programs that are not working and make sure that when a business comes to them saying they need funding to help, they can prove it works. To have programs with no data to back up the claims is nothing more than funding research using the wounded as lab rats.
But congress is not the only problem the veterans have. The elected come and go but a combat veteran is a combat veteran for the rest of his/her life. They will see politicians elected and defeated while the state of their lives blows with the changing political party in charge at the time. Why? Do we owe these veterans for what they did for us or don't we?
William Hamilton's sister Angela left a comment on a blog post I put up about the Veterans for Common Sense Law suit against the VA.
This is my little brother and I am so happy people are getting his story out to help and encourage others and force the VA to help these people that have put their lives on the line for us.William did what he was supposed to do and he went for help, but ended his life by stepping in front of a train. The train hit him but the lack of proper care he was given pushed him into thinking there was no reason to spend one more day on this earth. Anyone wondering why he managed to want to spend one more day deployed into hell enough so he managed to stay alive there? Anyone wondering why back home, he wanted to die? Anyone finally understanding that we pulled the trigger when we didn't demand that congress and our communities do all it takes to make them want to spend as many days as possible back home?
Troubled Veterans and Early Deaths After Iraq
By AARON GLANTZ
Published: May 28, 2011
This month, the Department of Veterans Affairs informed the parents of William Hamilton, an Iraq war veteran, that it was not responsible for his death.
Mr. Hamilton had been admitted nine times to a V.A. psychiatric ward in Palo Alto. He saw demon women and talked to a man he had killed in Iraq. His parents allege that the V.A. illegally turned away Mr. Hamilton — three days before he stepped in front of train on May 16, 2010, at the age of 26.
The agency denied the wrongful-death claim in a one-page letter: “The VA did not breach a legal duty,” wrote Suzanne C. Will, the agency’s regional counsel in San Francisco.
Mr. Hamilton’s death was recorded in an obscure government database called the Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem death file, which contains records for all veterans receiving benefits since 1973. The file provides a detailed portrait of the mental and physical wounds of veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the high rate of suicides and risky, sometimes-fatal behaviors.
read more here
Troubled Veterans and Early Deaths After Iraq
Monday, February 14, 2011
Original post
Veterans for Common Sense Lawsuit on Veteran Suicide on KGO/ABC
Veteran's suicide reveals problems in VA system
VCS Lawsuit on Veteran Suicide on KGO/ABC
Written by Dan Noyes
Saturday, 12 February 2011 10:44
Two Part KGO News Investigation Reveals VA Turned Away Suicidal Veteran in California in 2010
Part One:
February 8, 2011, San Francisco, California (KGO ABC 7 News) - Three hundred thousand of the military veterans coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, according to a recent study. But many are not getting the care they need and the results can be tragic.
New data shows that veterans are more than twice as likely as other Californians to commit suicide.
William Hamilton enlisted in the Army at 19 and served two tours in Iraq with the 82nd Airborne Division. His mother Diane says he loved the discipline and camaraderie.
"Every time he came back the commander said he did such a wonderful job," she said. Hamilton was guarding a rooftop in Mosul in 2005 with his best friend Christopher Pusateri when insurgents attacked.
Angela said...
This is my little brother and I am so happy people are getting his store out to help and encourage others and force the VA to help these people that have put their lives on the line for us. Please see the links below.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/29/us/29bcveterans.html
Here is a TV Story they did on him too
Here is the I-TEAM investigation they did back in Feb.. It was a two night report they did. They guy who wrote the article from the NY Times found that the Congressman from the I-TEAM investigation never actually did anything after the TV report aired!
First one
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/iteam&id=7947431
Second one
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/iteam&id=7949915
Please pass along so we can stop this epidemic...
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Soldiers need to worry about their hearts
Hypertension: More Soldiers die from silent killer than from combat
June 7, 2011
By Patricia Deal
FORT HOOD, Texas, June 7, 2011 -- Many people think that combat is the most life threatening event for Soldiers, when actually more Soldiers may die off the battlefield fighting a common enemy.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. About every 25 seconds, an American will have a coronary event, and about one every minute will die from one, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Between 70 and 89 percent of sudden cardiac events occur in men, and as part of Men’s Health Awareness Week June 13 through 17, 2011, the medical professionals at the Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center want to make sure male beneficiaries know the best way to help reduce their risk.
There are several risk factors affecting heart disease. High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, is the leading cause of stroke, according to the American Heart Association.
Hypertension has been labeled "the silent killer" because there are no symptoms. It may remain unnoticed for many years.
A significant number of Soldiers are affected by hypertension, according to the Department of Defense's 2008 Survey of Health Related Behaviors. Approximately 17 percent of Soldiers have reported high blood pressure since they entered the Army.
Another 1.7 percent said they never had the condition checked, and 12.7 percent reported they didn't know or remember what their blood pressure was.
read more here
More Soldiers die from silent killer than from combat
June 7, 2011
By Patricia Deal
FORT HOOD, Texas, June 7, 2011 -- Many people think that combat is the most life threatening event for Soldiers, when actually more Soldiers may die off the battlefield fighting a common enemy.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. About every 25 seconds, an American will have a coronary event, and about one every minute will die from one, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Between 70 and 89 percent of sudden cardiac events occur in men, and as part of Men’s Health Awareness Week June 13 through 17, 2011, the medical professionals at the Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center want to make sure male beneficiaries know the best way to help reduce their risk.
There are several risk factors affecting heart disease. High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, is the leading cause of stroke, according to the American Heart Association.
Hypertension has been labeled "the silent killer" because there are no symptoms. It may remain unnoticed for many years.
A significant number of Soldiers are affected by hypertension, according to the Department of Defense's 2008 Survey of Health Related Behaviors. Approximately 17 percent of Soldiers have reported high blood pressure since they entered the Army.
Another 1.7 percent said they never had the condition checked, and 12.7 percent reported they didn't know or remember what their blood pressure was.
read more here
More Soldiers die from silent killer than from combat
9 Soldiers Injured in Training Exercise
9 Soldiers Injured in Training Exercise
June 08, 2011
Seattle Times
SEATTLE -- Nine Soldiers were injured Tuesday morning in a military vehicle accident at the Yakima Training Center, according to a spokesman for Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
Two of the Soldiers were seriously injured and airlifted to a nearby hospital but are in stable condition, said Joe Kubistek, a Lewis-McChord spokesman.
The other Soldiers were evaluated by medical personnel on scene, he said. They were treated and returned to duty at the training center.
read more here
9 Soldiers Injured in Training Exercise
June 08, 2011
Seattle Times
SEATTLE -- Nine Soldiers were injured Tuesday morning in a military vehicle accident at the Yakima Training Center, according to a spokesman for Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
Two of the Soldiers were seriously injured and airlifted to a nearby hospital but are in stable condition, said Joe Kubistek, a Lewis-McChord spokesman.
The other Soldiers were evaluated by medical personnel on scene, he said. They were treated and returned to duty at the training center.
read more here
9 Soldiers Injured in Training Exercise
Fallen Marine Selected For Navy Cross Heroism Medal
Local Family Proud Of Fallen Marine Selected For Navy Cross Heroism Medal
June 7, 2011 10:20 PM
SAN CLEMENTE (CBS) — His family is so proud. And rightly so.
They don’t have their son back — Marine Lance Corporal Donald Hogan didn’t return from war alive. But he was a hero nonetheless.
For his heroism he is being awarded the prestigious Navy Cross.
Hogan was killed in Afghanistan in 2009 by a buried roadside bomb. He was on his first tour of duty…there just three months.
read more here
Fallen Marine Selected For Navy Cross Heroism Medal
June 7, 2011 10:20 PM
SAN CLEMENTE (CBS) — His family is so proud. And rightly so.
They don’t have their son back — Marine Lance Corporal Donald Hogan didn’t return from war alive. But he was a hero nonetheless.
For his heroism he is being awarded the prestigious Navy Cross.
Hogan was killed in Afghanistan in 2009 by a buried roadside bomb. He was on his first tour of duty…there just three months.
read more here
Fallen Marine Selected For Navy Cross Heroism Medal
Marine steps in to accept brother's diploma
Akron: Marine steps in to accept brother's diploma
2:10 AM, Jun 8, 201
Written by
Jennifer Lindgren
AKRON -- When Thomas Roberts left the night before his high school graduation to go to U.S. Marine Corps boot camp, his brother, Cpl. Robert Roberts, walked the stage and accepted his diploma.
In a way, it was a thank you for what Thomas did four years ago.
When Cpl. Roberts graduated from North High School in 2007, Marine training kept him from walking the stage.
read more here
Marine steps in to accept brother's diploma
2:10 AM, Jun 8, 201
Written by
Jennifer Lindgren
AKRON -- When Thomas Roberts left the night before his high school graduation to go to U.S. Marine Corps boot camp, his brother, Cpl. Robert Roberts, walked the stage and accepted his diploma.
In a way, it was a thank you for what Thomas did four years ago.
When Cpl. Roberts graduated from North High School in 2007, Marine training kept him from walking the stage.
read more here
Marine steps in to accept brother's diploma
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
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
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
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 JuneReminder of what this story is all about.
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
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."
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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
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?
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.
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
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
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
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
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
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
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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 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.
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Camp Pendleton Marine to claim motorycycle
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
Monday, June 6, 2011
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
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.
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.
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.
read more here
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.
read more here
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
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
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
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.
read more here
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.
read more here
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.
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.
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.
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 / APFormer Alaska governor says she wants to travel to Britain to meet Margaret Thatcher
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.
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
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
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
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
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
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
GETTYThere 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.
Dave Duerson shot himself in February
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.
read more here
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.
read more here
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.
read more here
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.
read more here
Bikers rev engines for injured marine
Sunday, June 5, 2011
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.
read more here
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.
read more here
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.
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
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
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
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
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.”
read more here
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.”
read more here
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
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
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
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
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.
read more here
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.
read more here
Arrest Made In Fatal Hit-And-Run Crash
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