Veterans ride for lost brother, Eric Hall

Maybe this post should be titled, Out of Hopelessness, Comes Miracles? It's really amazing what Eric Hall did after he suffered so much back home. The sadness comes knowing he was not here to see it. He is somewhere in Heaven looking down and has God's ear to help his brothers. How do I know? Because that is exactly what is happening.

Leonard “Taz” Leary became a Chaplain for the Vietnam Brotherhood after suffering from PTSD. Joe “Blooper” Tine, President of the local Leathernecks MC is talking about it. If these are not miracles, nothing is.

There have been other stories on this blog about the reporting on Eric Hall from the time he was missing and everyone was looking for him, to when his body was found and what came later. Deaths like his tug at the heart of anyone becoming aware of them. They happen all too often. Yet somehow out of tremendous grief and anger, families rise above their own pain for the sake of other sons and daughters in need of help to prevent another parent from feeling the same kind of pain. In the process, other lives are saved because they understand that PTSD does not mean the end of life. It means they need help to heal to have a better life. They understand that all of it has a reason behind it and that reason is not because they are flawed, but because they are caring humans, exposed to horrific events in combat and felt the pain of others.

If you are a newer veteran, I'm begging you to get help to heal. If any pin head utters one single word against you, tell them science has proven PTSD, but they don't have a cure for idiots refusing to learn anything. If you are a Vietnam veteran, I can assure you that it is not too late to get help. My husband did and he's living life again. He's a Vietnam vet too. With one out of five coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan right now, they need all the help they can get and who better to help them than you? First you have to heal yourself and then you can help them. Make some miracles for your own family and then you can make some for other families feeling lost, alone and afraid.

Veterans ride for lost brother, Eric Hall
By GREG MARTIN
Staff Writer

A memorial ride Saturday to raise awareness of post-traumatic stress disorder in honor of late U.S. Marine Eric Hall may have been led by his cousin, Adam Birge.

But many of the veterans participating in the ride said they felt like Hall's brothers, because they, too, know the horrors of war.

The intent of the Home Front Fight Motorcycle Ride — the second ride to be held since Hall, 24, died in Deep Creek on Feb. 3, 2008 — was to raise funds for the Eric Hall Memorial Foundation. The organization is dedicated to helping military personnel returning from war with PTSD, said Hall's aunt, Marge Baker of Deep Creek.

The foundation's goal is to establish a safe house or two to provide a refuge for PTSD victims, Baker said.

“Our family feels that if there were something like that for Eric, we would have been able to save him,” she said.

About two dozen people participated. After an hour's delay due to a torrential downpour, the riders embarked from the Black Widow Harley-Davidson/Buell dealership in Port Charlotte.

Often, due to the nature of combat, soldiers can't react to trauma until years later, said Leonard “Taz” Leary, chaplain for the Vietnam Brotherhood.

Leary said he didn't become aware that PTSD was the cause of his own anti-social traits until after Hall's death compelled him to review his VA file.

“I owe him my life,” Leary said.

Joe “Blooper” Tine, president of the Port Charlotte Chapter of the Leathernecks Motorcycle Club, said he experiences PTSD as “a startle reaction.” It could be set off by the sound of a helicopter or a 21-gun salute, he said.

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Veterans ride for lost brother, Eric Hall

Army Reservist Spc. David Hutchinson receives Silver Star

Soldier Receives One of Nation's Highest Awards


Posted: 7:49 PM Jun 6, 2009

Reporter: Shannon Dillon




On the 65th anniversary of D-Day, a crowd gathered on the campus of Texas A and M University to honor a soldier for his courage in Afghanistan.

Rodney and Darla Hutchinson couldn't be more proud of their son, Spc. David Hutchinson, who was deployed a year overseas.


"We're just so proud of everything he's done in his service while he was over there," says Darla Hutchinson.

The 22-year-old Brenham native, is the fifth person in U.S. Army Reserve history to be awarded The Silver Star. The nation's third highest award for combat valor, was awarded to Spc. Hutchinson, because of his actions when his convoy was ambushed by insurgents.

On May 21, 2008, Hutchinson, made a decision that ultimately saved the lives of and 17 of his fellow soldiers.The military says Hutchinson used his machine gun to decisively wipe out sniper nests, with disregard for his own safety.

Despite having severe shrapnel wounds to his legs, the army says Hutchinson treated another soldier in his jeep who was worse off-and made sure that soldier received treatment first.
go here for morehttp://www.kbtx.com/local/headlines/47131177.html

Bride collapses, dies at own wedding reception

Bride collapses, dies at own wedding reception


By Associated Press HOLLAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — A bride who met her fiance at a university in Oregon collapsed and died at her wedding reception in California, the victim of a brain aneurysm.

Amy Lynn Slenk, 26, died on the day she married longtime boyfriend Cole Handley in a vineyard in Soledad, Calif., about 115 miles southeast of San Francisco.

The bride was enjoying "the happiest day of her life" on May 25 when she collapsed at the reception, said her mother, Diane Slenk of Ottawa County's Holland Township.
go here for more and please, pray for the families.
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/46957932.html

PTSD Personal to President Obama's family

When I tell people that President Obama has been paying attention to PTSD since he was a Senator, they don't believe me. They don't believe me when I tell them that he's so informed on the problems associated with this wound, that he picked the best program to address it. He went to the Montana National Guard to find out about their program. I track all of this everyday, usually with 70 hours a week invested in it, so for me to know this program was one of the best, what I've invested in learning about it brought me to it. For Obama, able to pick any program across the nation including the failure programs the government came out with, he picked one that works. That proved something to me right there. He has to care to even know about it. Well, now maybe the rest of the people in this country I've been trying to get thru to will finally understand why it is that they now have more hope of healing than at any other time. To President Obama, PTSD is personal, familiar and family.

Veterans and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

By Maggie Vespa

Story Published: Jun 5, 2009 at 9:55 PM CDT



It was somewhat unexpected. In the middle of his highly publicized trip to Germany this morning, President Obama got personal.


"Because my great uncle, my grandmother's brother, was part of the unit that first liberated Buchenwahl," said the president this morning.

But for some, what may be an unexpected anecdote, for others may be much needed recognition. Because while it's a disease that's plagued many for generations, it's only recently been brought out into the open.

"He suffered what we now know, what we call Post Traumatic Stress Disorder."

Over twelve-hundred veterans in Illinois alone suffer from P.T.S.D.,
and while treatment for it is at an all time high, experts say, for many returned from duty, it's still vastly under diagnosed.

"Oftentimes, they're in denial and don't want to seek help. They feel like if they ask for help, that they're weak," said Kathy Thomas, clinical social worker for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

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http://www.week.com/news/local/47110497.html

'Forgive me' begged Iraq War veteran

'Forgive me' begged Iraq War veteran, Brandon Connelly, arrested in fatal FDR DWI wreck
BY Melissa Grace
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Saturday, June 6th 2009, 4:00 AM

An Iraq War veteran busted on manslaughter and drunken driving charges begged for forgiveness after the tragic three-car pile up on the FDR, it was revealed Friday.

"I did that. Oh, my God, I did that," Brandon Connelly, 32, cried as a cop told him at Bellevue Hospital shortly after the May 30 crash that he'd killed Jamil Aljabal, prosecutors said.

The former Marine, who served in Bosnia and did two tours in Iraq, faces up to 15 years in prison, if convicted.
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Forgive me begged Iraq War veteran

Marine kills himself in front of deputy

Marine kills himself in front of deputy

By Journal Star staff
GateHouse News Service
Posted Jun 05, 2009 @ 11:02 AM

PEORIA — Believing he was stopping to assist a motorist early Friday, a Peoria County sheriff's deputy instead witnessed a man fatally shoot himself.

About 6:15 a.m. Friday, the deputy saw a car pulled onto the shoulder of southbound Illinois Route 6, just north of where it meets Interstate 74.

The driver of the car, Jacob A. Favri, 23, shot himself in the head with a handgun.

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Marine kills himself in front of deputy



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Democratic Underground

Ex-Marine gives Shriners hospital $1 million

Ex-Marine gives Shriners hospital $1 million

By Associated Press
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — George Ruhberg, a 93-year-old retired Marine, figured there was no time like the present to write a $1 million check to the local Shriners Hospital for Children.



Ruhberg had been a volunteer at the hospital since 1994, and had included a bequest for it in his will. But the former accountant thought, why wait?

Ruhberg told hospital officials a couple of months back that he wanted to make the donation now.

Development Director Mark Thoreson told him to have his broker contact Shriners headquarters in Tampa, Fla., to arrange a funds transfer.

"But he said, 'Hold on, I want to write a check,'" Thoreson said. "And I totally understand that: I wanted to make the transfer safe and he wanted the thrill of writing that check."

Ruhberg got his moment on Memorial Day, when he wrote the check during a gathering with hospital officials in a common room of his retirement community.
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http://www.kpic.com/news/local/47071727.html

Medal of Honor, George E. Wahlen Passes away at age of 84

VA hospital namesake, Medal of Honor recipient dies
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - George E. Wahlen, the man for whom Salt Lake City's VA Hospital was named has passed away at 84.

Wahlen earned the Medal of Honor as a Navy Corpsman at the battle of Iwo Jima where he is credited for saving countless lives. He was injured on three separate occasions but refused to leave the battlefield. Many who witnessed his heroics remain dumbfounded he survived.

President Harry S. Truman presented the Medal of Honor to Mr. Wahlen in 1945.

He later re-enlisted in the United States Army, where he served during the Korean War and the Vietnam War.
He retired with the rank of Major. He then went on to a career with The Department of Veterans Affairs where he continued to serve for fourteen years.go here for more
VA hospital namesake, Medal of Honor recipient dies

Soldier from La Porte Texas death under investigation

DoD Identifies Army Casualty


The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

Spc. Jarrett P. Griemel, 20, of La Porte, Texas, died June 3 at Forward Operating Base Gardez, Afghanistan, of injuries suffered from a non-combat related incident. He was assigned to the 425th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, Fort Richardson, Alaska.

The circumstances surrounding the incident are under investigation.
http://icasualties.org/oef/

Group calls for paying caregivers of wounded

For all the wounded coming back from Afghanistan and Iraq, we never seem to think about the family members. While places like Fisher House take care of the families lodging and Haley House in Florida, they give up their paychecks to travel to be with their wounded family member. We also don't discuss the sacrifices they make when severely wounded go home and they take on caring for them at home. Isn't this the least we can do for them considering how much loving service they provide instead of nursing care?

Group calls for paying caregivers of wounded
By Rick Maze - Staff writerPosted : Friday Jun 5, 2009 16:54:09 EDT

Family members caring for severely wounded service members should receive pay for the medical and nonmedical assistance they provide to at least partly offset their time, the National Military Family Association says.
Compensation should be paid both while the injured members are on active duty, and after they separate or retire, said Barbara Cohoon, deputy government relations director for the association.
The call for pay comes in response to an April 2009 report by the Center for Naval Analyses that found 85 percent of primary caregivers for seriously wounded or disabled service members left their jobs, either permanently or by taking a leave of absence, resulting in an average loss of $3,200 a month in family income.
The losses begin while the service member is still on active duty and continue for the severely disabled as they undergo treatment and rehabilitation as a veteran, Cohoon said in a June 4 interview.
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Group calls for paying caregivers of wounded

Bodies Found Near Air France Crash Site

Bodies Found Near Air France Crash Site
By EMMA VANDORE, AP
(June 6) — A Brazilian military official says searchers found two male bodies in the Atlantic Ocean near the area where an Air France jet is believed to have crashed.
Air force spokesman Col. Jorge Amaral says the bodies were recovered Saturday morning.
They were picked up roughly 400 miles northeast of the Fernando de Noronha islands off Brazil's northern coast.
Amaral says a suitcase also was found containing a plane ticket for the flight.
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Bodies Found Near Air France Crash Site

101st Airborne returns home

101st Airborne returns home
Division command and colors back at Fort Campbell
By JAKE LOWARY • The Leaf-Chronicle • June 5, 2009


Thursday brought a joyous but bittersweet end to a 15-month Afghanistan deployment for the 101st Airborne Division.

Commanding General Maj. Gen. Jeffrey J. Schloesser and 31 other division staff officers were greeted at Fort Campbell by an excited crowd for a celebratory ceremony.
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101st Airborne returns home

Injured and disoriented, soldier 'had some fight left'

Injured and disoriented, soldier 'had some fight left'

By Bill Sizemore
The Virginian-Pilot
© June 6, 2009
Blinded by a dust storm kicked up by helicopter rotor wash and grenade explosions, all Sgt. 1st Class Michael Lindsay could see was shadowy figures scurrying about in the dim light, grabbing weapons.

In the ensuing firefight inside a remote rural compound in Samarra, Iraq, Lindsay was seriously wounded. But he and his fellow Army Green Berets kept firing.

When it was over, 11 insurgents were dead - including the target of the predawn raid, a man described by the Army as a high-value terrorist who had been financing weapons and roadside bombs with profits from a kidnapping and extortion ring.

Last month, in recognition of his "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity" in the Sept. 10, 2007, firefight, Lindsay, a 1997 graduate of Gates County High School in North Carolina, was awarded the Silver Star, the Army's third-highest medal for valor.
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Injured and disoriented, soldier had some fight left

Army doctor stays positive after seeing horrors of war

Dr. Sudip Bose treats a wounded soldier in Najaf, Iraq. Bose spent 15 months as an Army doctor during the Iraq war. That’s one of the longest deployments of a military physician since World War II. (Supplied photo)

Army doctor stays positive after seeing horrors of war


June 5, 2009

By Maura Possley, Staff Writer
He was alongside U.S. forces in Najaf, Iraq, as they fought the Al-Sadr militia.

He was there as troops seized the Iraqi city of Fallujah.

In his 15 months as an Army doctor in Iraq - one of the longest deployments of a military physician since World War II - Dr. Sudip Bose saw the worst humanity can offer.

His tour treating thousands of servicemen and women fighting in the war was spent on those front lines or at the scene of a raid or injury as part of what's called the Quick Reaction Force in the 1st Calvary Division.

He's also treated one of the most notorious men to walk the earth - Saddam Hussein, the former president of Iraq convicted and hanged and one reason the United States invaded the country.

Today, four years after Bose returned from duty, he serves on a different sort of front line in the emergency room at Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn as its attending emergency physician.

When he's not reacting to trauma in Christ's emergency room, Bose is out speaking here and across the country in hospitals, schools and churches about a rising need for awareness on post-traumatic stress disorder.

"Even if you come back 'uninjured', you can have mental abrasions that can be worse - these are the things that go unrecognized," the doctor said. "It's tough to reintegrate into a modern world after being in a zone where you're just concerned about surviving; soldiers sometimes feel detached, indifferent and even frustrated with 'problems' we have here."
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http://www.southtownstar.com/news/1608366,060509saddamdoctor.article

Bill to ease VA proof of PTSD moves forward

Flood congress with your phone calls. Over 900,000 claims in the backlog and among them are PTSD veterans waiting along with their families. Why focus on them in the backlog? Simple. As bad as it is for all veterans to have to wait, because it means no income, for PTSD veterans, it's worse.



I know because we went through it for six years. Each day it was waiting and hoping for the letter to come saying his claim was approved. It was beyond just financial issues. It was the acknowledgment of the government that what was eating my husband away was because he served this nation. Having to fight the VA along with suffering PTSD, made it worse.

PTSD veterans lose hope among other things. They try to hang on for reasons to get up after nightmares plague their nights and flashbacks attack their days. Telling them the VA doesn't have time for their pain is a cut to the hope line they try to hang onto. An approved claim is acknowledgment of the cause of the wound they carry.

While all wounds caused by service to this country need to be honored as soon as possible, this backlog of claims is non-defensible. When they cannot work, who is paying their bills? What makes all of this worse is when a veteran has sought treatment and compensation they are responsible for the medical care they receive until the claim is approved. If they do not meet the threshold of free care based on past income, they have to pay out of pocket because insurance companies do not have to pay.

We had private health insurance. We thought that while the VA was denying my husband's claim, the insurance would pay for it until his claim was finally approved, but as soon as the VA doctors said it was PTSD due to Vietnam, they said it was the government's responsibility. The insurance company wouldn't pay, the VA wouldn't pay and we were the only ones paying the price. We had to pay the price of endless days with him suffering, pay with the income he was loosing, then had to pay the price of his care. The VA attached our tax refund each year until his claim was approved.

When it was finally approved, they paid us back most of the money but what they could not pay back was the damage it had done to him. In the process of seeking care and having to pay for it, it damaged him to the point where he stopped going for treatment. We lost all that time when he could have been receiving the help he needed to heal. The bitter taste in our mouths took a long time to fade. Wasn't it bad enough he waited from 1971 until 1993 to seek help? All that time lost because the VA wasn't doing the outreach they needed to do to help the veterans know what PTSD was made it worse.

What we see going on today with some outreach work being done was not available for Vietnam veterans, or older veterans, until they came home and fought for it. Now they are understanding the wound the carried home with them along with the newer veterans. Each day that passes without their claims being honored cost them more and more suffering and PTSD getting worse. One more thing not discussed is the fact many of the physically wound also have PTSD. This bill needs to move quickly so that their claims are approved and they are finally reassured the government takes responsibility for the wounds they carry because they served and risked their lives.

Make sure your congressman does not come out with another assault against them by voting against this bill or coming out with some ridiculous statement like "it's too good for them" because when it comes to our veterans, it's the least we owe them.

Bill to ease VA proof of PTSD moves forward

By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Jun 5, 2009 16:54:09 EDT

A bill designed to make it easier for veterans to receive benefits and immediate care for post-traumatic stress disorder moved to the House Veterans Affairs Committee on Wednesday and is expected to be voted on by the committee next week.

HR 952 would clarify that “combat with the enemy” is defined as duty in a combat theater during a time of war or against a “hostile force during a period of hostilities” for those seeking service-connected benefits for disabilities.

Rep. John Hall, D-N.Y., introduced the bill, saying it “essentially establishes service in combat as a presumptive stressor for the incurrence of PTSD.”

“No longer should veterans have to leap high hurdles and battle with VA in order to receive urgently needed benefits,” Hall said.

In the past, veterans have had to ask for witness letters from commanders or fellow service members to verify that they had been exposed to a traumatic event. In some cases, those people were difficult to find; some had died. In other cases, the veterans gave up because asking for the letters forced them to relive experiences they were not ready to talk about.

Those not in infantry or other combat-related positions — including all women — also have had a difficult time proving combat status.
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Bill to ease VA proof of PTSD moves forward

Disabled service members gather for Fla. festival

Disabled service members gather for Fla. festival
By LISA ORKIN EMMANUEL
Associated Press Writer
MIAMI -- Army Specialist Chris Miller was injured in Iraq last fall and has since had his right leg amputated below the knee along with part of left foot. He hadn't been to a beach in three years.

He used to play ice hockey and wants to get back to doing that. Until then though, he will settle for a little scuba diving.

Miller and a group of 17 service members joined hundreds of disabled people Friday for a four-day No Barriers Festival, which includes classes in scuba diving, sailing and an appearance by an amputee pony with a prosthetic leg. It is being held at the Shake-A-Leg Miami Sea Base in Coconut Grove.

The service members were brought to the festival by the Wounded Warrior Disabled Sports Project, which provides year-round sports programs for severely wounded service members and veterans from recent conflicts.

Staff Sgt. Earl Granville, 25, was injured in Afghanistan last summer during a patrol. The vehicle he was in struck a roadside bomb. Four people were in the vehicle, two lived. His left leg had to be amputated through the knee. His right leg was salvaged. He already knows how to scuba dive. He said he used to run and play soccer.


Neal Cabanting, 19, got an infection in his left leg during Army basic training and had to get it amputated in January.
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Disabled service members gather for Fla. festival

Why thank a soldier?

by
Chaplain Kathie

Camp Victory Iraq

Camp Eggers Afghanistan

Camp Eagle Vietnam

Some people say "thank you" to a soldier or a veteran without thinking about what they are thanking them for. It's easy to say the words but putting anything behind those words requires a lot more.

First, why should we thank them? After all, do we really care they served in Vietnam? What did Vietnam have to do with us? For that matter, what did Iraq have to do with us? Most of the people in this nation believed sending troops into Afghanistan was a "just" war and in response to 9-11. Do we thank them more because we approve of it? We have an all volunteer military now, but up until the Gulf War, there was a draft and many were sent because their numbers came up. It happened in WWI, WWII and Korea as well. Is it wrong to thank them when they didn't want to go? How do you separate any of them? You don't. At least not if you really know why you are thanking them in the first place.

When you think about the wars you approve of you call them heroes. The Patriots of the Revolutionary War stepping up to set this nation free. The men fighting in the Civil War trying to set slaves free or fighting to keep them on the other side. The calvary soldiers fighting against the Indians so settlers could have their lands. We may view them as heroes but it's for sure the Native Americans don't feel the same way. Yet even with that, generations later, they joined in the rest of this nation's battles fighting in wars right next to calvary soldiers descendents. Pretty remarkable when you think of that just as soldiers from the south, they also fight right next to descendents of Northern Soldiers. WWI and WWII were seen as "just" wars while Korea was debated. Vietnam is still debated and the cause of a lot of heated arguments. The Gulf War some say didn't last long enough to complain about it but the legacy lives on with the wounded of the still unknown cause behind Gulf War Syndrome. All of this taking us right back to where we are. Men and women serving in harms way no matter if you agree with it or not. This we thank them for.

They go into the military for all kinds of reasons. They train with people from other parts of the country. They learn their jobs and wait for orders. This is what we thank them for. Doing what they are asked to do, going where they are asked to go and risking their lives for what the nation's leaders say they need to do. They do not serve one President and then stop when he is replaced by another election. They do not serve one political party following only the orders of the a fellow Republican or Democrat. They serve under one flag. The same flag we celebrate every July 4th and fold perfectly after taking it off of one of their caskets. This we thank them for.

But their giving and serving doesn't end there. They come back to our cities and towns, joining the rest of us knowing we will never be able to understand them or what they have inside of them that let them do what they did, see what they saw, go where they went. Yet they go into law enforcement putting on the uniform of police officer or sheriff's deputy. They go into the National Guards, still willing to risk their lives to take care of the rest of us planning on responding to disasters while the rest of us are dazed, confused and suffering from whatever loss we had, all the while they have lost homes and their own families are in need, but they put us first. They enter into fire departments ready once again to risk their lives for the rest of us. And yes, some go into business but will be the first one to rush out to help someone in need when there is a car accident across the street, or get out of their car to push a broken down car in the road. This we thank them for.

Still, there is more. They come back and take on the burdens of other veterans helping them with whatever they need. They join together as we saw this last Memorial Day in ceremonies across the nation and in Washington DC. They come together at other times during the year holding bike runs for charities, showing up at airports to welcome home the troops and escorting the hearse talking a fallen soldier to their grave. They show up at funeral parlors trying to find out who the ashes collecting dust belonged to as with the Missing in America Project, just so they could receive and military funeral with honor guard. They volunteer at homeless shelters to take care of the least among us, letting them know someone cares. This we thank them for.

Perhaps the most forgetful thing we should thank them for is that once they put on the uniform of whatever service they entered into, Army, Marine, Air Force, Navy, National Guard or Reservists, no matter if they were a sniper or a medic, once that uniform comes off, they will forever be a tiny fraction of the rest of us because they become a veteran for the rest of their lives, forever changed. While this we forget to thank them for and then when they come home wounded, we forget about them. When they come home especially with wounds no one can see on their body, they are really unnoticed. Sure we can thank them with words, but really thanking them requires us to actually do things for them for a change.

Taking the time to contact your local officials and make sure they do not cut the state VA budget because they are veterans no matter what the economy is like.

Taking the time to write your US senator or Congressman to make sure the funding gets to the veterans in your state needing help especially in a bad economy.

Reaching out to a new veteran going back to college and feeling out of place.

Taking a widow out to lunch or making a phone call to let them know you care.

Donating used clothing to the veterans organizations calling you instead of selling them for pocket change at your yard sale.

Really thanking them requires you think about them not just on Veterans Day, Memorial Day or the 4th of July. It's thinking about them everyday because everyday they carry with them the thoughts of what they were willing to sacrifice for you. Give them something to thank us for, for a change.

Former Marine's New Mission: Helping Iraq War Vets

Former Marine's New Mission: Helping Iraq War Vets

New America Media/Los Angeles Daily News, News feature, Tony Castro, Posted: Jun 05, 2009

When he was discharged from the Marines in 2001, Christopher Duarte of Chatsworth felt lost and unsure of his future, especially in the wake of 9/11 and the United States gearing up for an invasion of Iraq.

“I didn’t know if I should re-enlist -- I was just looking for a mission where I could best serve,” he recalls.

Duarte soon found his mission: helping returning veterans like Ramon Contreras of Pacoima navigate through the seemingly endless red tape of a vast government bureaucracy to get the benefits they were promised for serving their country.

“We still have cases where a lot of guys come out of the military, and they really come out with no clue. There’s no real guidance from the military,” says Duarte, 31, a benefits counselor with the Los Angeles County Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.

“In the end, it’s going to take veterans looking out for other veterans,” he said. “What troubles us is to see so many not getting the help they need.”
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Helping Iraq War Vets

Operation Iraqi Stephen: Going Commando

Stephen Colbert lands in Iraq for new shows
Fri Jun 5, 2009

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Making a surprise visit to Iraq is not just for presidents anymore.

Comedian Stephen Colbert has landed in the battle-scarred country to broadcast four episodes of his TV show, "The Colbert Report," which spoofs U.S. politics and culture.

Cable television network Comedy Central on Friday said "The Colbert Report" will be broadcast from Iraq Monday through Thursday (June 8 - June 11) under the banner "Operation Iraqi Stephen: Going Commando."
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Stephen Colbert lands in Iraq for new shows

Seattle Seahawks turn into soldiers for a day

NFL players become soldiers for a day
FORT LEWIS, Wash. — T.J. Houshmandzadeh is used to manhandling NFL defensive backs. That skill made him the most coveted wide receiver in the free agent market this offseason.

“It’s amazing, to see what a day is in these soldiers’ lives. And this is probably one of their easier days, hosting us,” Hasselbeck said.

None of the soldiers said they wanted to trade lives with their privileged NFL visitors, defensive tackle Craig Terrill said, “and that was the coolest thing of the day.”

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