Enhancing care for women Veterans is one of Secretary Shinseki's top priorities

VA Advisory Committee on Women Veterans Visits Dallas

WASHINGTON, July 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As part of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) upgrade of programs and services for women Veterans, the Department's Advisory Committee on Women Veterans, an expert panel that advises VA on issues and programs affecting women Veterans, recently traveled to the VA North Texas Health Care System in Dallas.


"Enhancing care for women Veterans is one of Secretary Shinseki's top priorities," said Dr. Irene Trowell-Harris, director of VA's Center for Women Veterans. "Our Dallas meeting helped us develop new and innovative ideas for providing a full spectrum of improved care for women Veterans."


Intent on improving VA programs and services for women Veterans, the advisory committee heard views on facets of physical and mental health care, benefits, access, processing military sexual trauma claims, women-specific health needs, and services for returning troops. In addition, Carl E. Lowe II, director of VA's Waco Regional Office, gave an overview of new benefits programs.


Members also had the opportunity to tour the Dallas VA Medical Center, Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery, the Sam Rayburn Memorial Veterans Center and the State Veterans Home in Bonham. The visit concluded with a town hall meeting at the Dallas Hilton Anatole that was open to the community.


VA accomplishments for women Veterans already in place include:

More than $32.5 million in Fiscal Year 2008 supplemental funding was sent to facilities for women's health equipment, training and supplies (including DEXA scans, mammography machines, ultra-sound and biopsy equipment).
Women Veterans' program managers, advocates and advisors for women Veterans were made full-time positions at every VA facility, as of Dec. 1, 2008, to improve women Veterans' access, to coordinate necessary services and to assist in planning for comprehensive primary care at each VA facility.

Women Veterans are one of the fastest growing segments of the Veteran population. There are approximately 1.8 million women Veterans. They comprise 7.5 percent of the total Veteran population and nearly 5.5 percent of all Veterans who use VA health care services.


VA estimates women Veterans will constitute 10 percent of the Veteran population by 2020.


The Advisory Committee on Women Veterans reviews VA's programs, activities, research projects and other initiatives designed to meet the needs of women Veterans, then makes recommendations to the Secretary on ways to improve, modify and affect change in programs and services for women.





SOURCE U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

Army Releases June Suicide Data

UPDATE


Suicides in US Army rise in first half of 2009

In about 90 percent of previous cases, suspected suicides have been confirmed, officials say.

"Every soldier suicide is different and tragic in its own way," said Brigadier General Colleen McGuire, director of the Army's suicide prevention task force.

"Although suicide can impact anyone, we're finding that male soldiers, in combat-arms occupational specialties, between ages 18 and 27 are more vulnerable," McGuire said.

The army has responded to the growing problem with more suicide prevention programs, efforts to screen soldiers for mental health problems and campaigns to reduce the stigma that prevents soldiers from seeking treatment.

The trauma of combat combined with the effect of repeated tours has led to a record rise in suicides across the armed services and particularly the US Army -- which has carried the heaviest burden in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. click above for more

IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 497-09
July 09, 2009



Army Releases June Suicide Data


The Army released suicide data for the month of June today. Among active-duty soldiers there were no confirmed suicides and nine potential suicides. In May, the Army reported one confirmed suicide and 16 potential suicides among active-duty soldiers. Since that time, seven have been confirmed and nine remain under investigation.



There have been 88 reported active-duty suicides in the Army during calendar year 2009. Of these, 54 have been confirmed, and 34 are pending determination of manner of death. For the same period in 2008, there were 67 confirmed suicides among active-duty soldiers.



During June 2009, among reserve component soldiers not on active duty, there were no confirmed suicides and two potential suicides; to date, among that same group, there have been 16 confirmed suicides and 23 potential suicides currently under investigation to determine the manner of death. For the same period in 2008, there were 29 confirmed suicides among reserve soldiers not on active duty.



“Every soldier suicide is different and tragic in its own way,” said Brig. Gen. Colleen McGuire, director, Army Suicide Prevention Task Force. “Our current research and prevention efforts are identifying common denominators that lead soldiers to take their own life. It’s often a combination of many factors that overwhelm an individual.



“Although suicide can impact anyone, we’re finding that male soldiers, in combat-arms occupational specialties, between ages 18 and 27 are more vulnerable,” McGuire said. “That’s why we’re looking at existing programs and other institutional safety nets to see what works, and what needs to be changed to enhance the support network of trained leaders and behavioral healthcare providers who can identify and treat risk factors before young soldiers get to the point where they feel there’s no way out.”



The Army will complete the second phase of a three-phased service-wide suicide stand-down and chain teach program, July 15, 2009. Phases one and two included an interactive training program, that features a video, and a small unit leader training effort which began on February 15, 2009. The third phase of the Army program will include sustained annual suicide prevention training for all soldiers, emphasizing common causes of suicidal behavior and the critical role Army leaders, friends, co-workers and families play in maintaining behavioral health.



The Army’s Suicide Prevention Task Force will continue implementation of the Army Campaign Plan for Health Promotion, Risk Reduction and Suicide Prevention to further enhance suicide prevention and behavioral health programs that directly affect our Army community and save soldiers’ lives.



Soldiers and families in need of crisis assistance should contact Military OneSource or the Defense Center of Excellence (DCOE) Outreach Center. Trained consultants are available from both organizations 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.



The Military OneSource toll-free number for those residing in the continental U.S. is 800-342-9647, their Web site address is http://www.militaryonesource.com/ . Overseas personnel should refer to the Military OneSource Web site for dialing instructions for their specific location.



The DCOE Outreach Center can be contacted at 866-966-1020, via electronic mail at Resources@DCoEOutreach.org and at http://www.dcoe.health.mil/resources.aspx




The Army’s most current suicide prevention information is located at

http://www.armyg1.army.mil/hr/suicide/
linked from
http://icasualties.org/oef/

VA seeks clinic site for Putnam County Florida

VA seeks clinic site

By Chris DeVitto
Published: Thursday, July 9, 2009 1:07 AM EDT
Palatka, Putnam County and local business leaders are still looking for a building to house a Veterans Administration outpatient clinic that would serve 4,000 area veterans.

During a phone conference Wednesday with U.S. Rep. John Mica, Veterans Affairs officials, Palatka officials and county officials discussed options for housing the clinic.

"We are still looking at a neighborhood of 10,000 gross square feet and probably 70 to 100 parking spaces?" Mica, R-Winter Park, asked veterans officials during a 30-minute phone conference.

In 2008, a spokeswoman for the VA said the new clinic would offer an opportunity for local residents to receive basic treatment without driving 30-40 miles to an existing facility and would be similar in nature to what would be offered at a large doctor's office. More complicated specialty care would remain with one of the larger VA facilities in Jacksonville, Lake City or Gainesville.
read more here
VA seeks clinic site

Vietnam vets hope to reach new generation

Vietnam vets hope to reach new generation
Support group makes push to connect with returning troops

By Joe Goldeen
Record Staff Writer
July 09, 2009 6:00 AM
STOCKTON - The country called, and some young men went to war. They were kids, mostly - 18 and 19 years old - thrust into a dark and foreboding place known as Vietnam.

Upon their return, some were taunted as "baby killers," rejected for jobs by employers who looked at them as misfits or long-haired, wild-eyed pot smokers. The Veterans Administration - the federal agency charged with helping them after they left military service - had nothing for them if they didn't suffer from an obvious physical injury. Even family members who had gone to war in Europe, the South Pacific or Korea a generation earlier rejected them, telling them to "suck it up."

On a recent Tuesday morning, 11 Vietnam-era combat veterans met for breakfast in the back room at UJ's Family Restaurant on Pacific Avenue.
go here for more
Vietnam vets hope to reach new generation

PTSD has not changed since Vietnam. It did not change before Vietnam when it was called other things. It is a human wound. Unlike the change is the technology, humans are still pretty much under the same design, with all the same dreams and fears, courage and compassion, same style body, same kind of mind and same kind of soul. No one can ever make humans stop being human.

There is no excuse the newer veterans can use to tell a Vietnam veteran they do not understand what it's like for them. They've already been there. What this group of Vietnam veterans is doing is not new but there are far too few doing the same thing. A couple of years ago I made this video talking about how Vietnam veterans are helping the newer veterans heal and in the process, healing themselves.

Hero After War - watch more videos

This video used to be on YouTube and Google.

Advocates raise alarm about rise in mentally ill prisoners

Advocates raise alarm about rise in mentally ill prisoners


By Kate Santich

Sentinel Staff Writer

July 9, 2009
The number of people with mental illness filling Florida's jails and prisons is growing at an alarming rate, costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars and threatening to exhaust the entire budget for mental-health programs, advocates warned Wednesday.

State Rep. William D. Snyder, R-Stuart, announced a renewed push for legislative changes that would redirect money to community-based programs aimed at stopping the "almost madness" of the current system.

"We know the cost of constantly incarcerating and re-incarcerating the mentally ill is ... huge," said Snyder, whose previous attempt to change the system died in the 2009 legislative session. "And this is a human-rights issue."

The proposed legislation was based on well-researched treatment strategies at pilot initiatives across the state that Snyder said are already showing reduced repeat-arrest rates and increased public safety.

About 9,000 inmates leave Florida prisons each year with "very serious mental illnesses," Leifman said, and without community follow-up treatment, half of them wind up back in prison within 18 months, typically for violating parole. They have become the fastest-growing group of the prison population.

The number of state prison beds serving inmates with mental illnesses is projected to more than double in the next decade from 17,000 to more than 35,000, requiring one new prison to be built each year to house them and costing taxpayers at least $3.6 billion, Leifman said.

read more here

Advocates raise alarm about rise in mentally ill prisoners

Charles Heard of Freeport, decorated Vietnam veteran, has died

Charles Heard of Freeport, decorated Vietnam veteran, has died
BY SID CASSESE
July 8, 2009

Charles Heard, a highly decorated Vietnam veteran, former Roosevelt business owner, longtime foster parent and community activist, died Friday at South Nassau Communities Hospital in Ocean-side from stroke complications.

He was 63 and had lived on Long Island 40 years, 17 in Hempstead and the last 23 in Freeport.

Heard, who saw action as a paratrooper in Vietnam, where he lost an eye and won a Purple Heart, a Bronze Star and a Silver Star, had enlisted when he was 18 and served three years before gaining a medical discharge in 1967.
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Charles Heard of Freeport, decorated Vietnam veteran, has died

Former Camp Lejeune resident sues feds citing contaminated drinking water

Veteran’s Administration News - Former Camp Lejeune contaminated drinking water!
2009-07-09 01:43:31 (GMT) (JusticeNewsFlash.com - Justice News Flash, Personal Injury)

Former Camp Lejeune resident sues feds citing contaminated drinking water.

Dallas, TX (JusticeNewsFlash.com)–Star News reported, a personal injury lawsuit was filed against the U.S. government on July 4, in federal court in the Eastern District of North Carolina. The lawsuit is seeking an upwards of $10,000 in personal injury damages. The plaintiff alleges she consumed polluted drinking water during the time she was living at Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, Florida. Attorneys for the plaintiff and former Lejeune resident, Laura J. Jones, asserts the United States government, and agents of the Department of Defense, knowingly and willfully exposed Marines, sailors, their families, and civilian employees to highly polluted drinking water contained at the military base.
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Former Camp Lejeune contaminated drinking water

VA workers charged with fraud lowest of lows

First when you read the headline it appears that veterans are to blame here but when you read the story, it is a limited number of employees and service officers involved. These people are the lowest of lows. Not just because they thought they could take money from the VA, but because they ended up hurting veterans with legitimate claims. The very people these leaches were supposed to be helping.

Can we really wonder why it is so many veterans never file claims? Can we really wonder why so many don't trust the VA? These actions matter to them. Their real claims are tied up as they are suffering physically, emotionally and financially waiting for their claims and their service to be honored while people like this decide the others can just suffer. Do you understand what kind of time a scam like this takes? Imagine if they had been spending time taking care of real wounded veterans instead of themselves! These people are the lowest of lows and not fit to ever stand next to a real disabled veteran. They just dragged the VA and the DAV reputations down with them.

Probe Finds VA Vulnerable to Fraud
Review in Wake of Case at Ky. Office Detects Security Lapses

By Steve Vogel
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, July 9, 2009

An investigation in the wake of a major fraud case involving the Department of Veterans Affairs regional office in Louisville has found that other VA offices around the country suffer security shortfalls that leave them vulnerable to the same type of alleged fraud.

The review by the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General found no similar allegations of fraud, but its report warns that gaps in VA's internal controls mean that "opportunities exist . . . to generate fraudulent large benefits payments."

A VA spokeswoman said yesterday that the department has taken actions to correct the problems. "VA has implemented safeguards to protect the integrity of benefit payments and actively monitors our payment processes for compliance," said Katie Roberts, press secretary for VA. "We remain committed to taking all actions necessary to eliminate the potential for fraud and ensure our veterans receive every benefit to which they are entitled."

In November, acting after an investigation based on a tip from a confidential source, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Kentucky indicted 14 people in connection with a scheme to defraud VA by submitting altered or counterfeit medical records.

The government accused Jeffrey Allan McGill, a former veteran service representative at the Louisville VA office, of working with co-conspirators, including 11 veterans, to submit fraudulent claims for military-related disabilities. McGill and co-defendant Daniel Ryan Parker, a former officer with the Disabled American Veterans service organization, are accused of falsifying documents to ensure that those claims were approved.

Five of the defendants have pleaded guilty to charges in connection with the case. The remaining defendants, including McGill and Parker, have pleaded not guilty and are set to go to trial in September, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Louisville.

"These results mean we can say with 90 percent confidence that this particular type of fraud is unlikely to be occurring at the VAROs selected for review during the sampled period," said the IG report, which was released June 30.
read more here
Probe Finds VA Vulnerable to Fraud

Children shocked with stun guns at Florida prisons

Report Shows Stung Guns Used on Children in Florida Prisons
07/08/09 - 11:02 AM

Associated Press

Tallahassee, Fla:

New reports indicate Florida correctional officers may have used stun guns to shock children as part of demonstrations at prisons in the past, perhaps as far back as six years ago.

That contradicts what Corrections Secretary Walter McNeil said in May when he announced that 43 children were shocked with stun guns by corrections employees at three prisons during this year’s annual “Take Your Sons and Daughters to Work Day.”

The Corrections Department has completed its investigation of the incidents and released nearly 300 pages with photos of children who were shocked with stun guns in April.
read more hereReport Shows Stung Guns Used on Children in Florida Prisons

Soldier survived Afghanistan but died saving friend

Spc. fatally shot while trying to rescue pal

The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Jul 9, 2009 7:08:19 EDT

TULSA, Okla. — The family of an Oklahoma soldier who was fatally shot in Tennessee says he was trying to rescue a friend from a crime-ridden neighborhood when he was killed.

Army Spc. Brandon Buettner, who was stationed in Fort Campbell, Ky., died Saturday.

Steven and Denise Buettner say their 25-year-old son and another soldier went to the Clarksville, Tenn., neighborhood to pick up his girlfriend and attend a fireworks display.
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Spc. fatally shot while trying to rescue pal

Wanted Central Florida Veterans Charity Paying Attention

Wanted Central Florida Veterans Charity Paying Attention

It's no secret I need income to keep me going since I lost my job in January of 2008. I am in the process of setting up a charter of my favorite organization. (More on this later but it will be soon) Since I track the news reports coming out on our veterans and what they need all across the country, I am aggravated with the lack of things being done for veterans right here in Central Florida. There are things being done but compared to the rest of the country, Florida is not doing enough.

I have been looking for an organization or foundation in Central Florida that I would go to work for. This is no easy task considering they all seem to be doing different things, which are good and fine, but they are not what is needed when it comes to mental health or heading off a lot of what can be avoided with PTSD.

If you know of a charity or foundation in the Orlando area, this is what I'm looking for;
Provides education to veterans and their families on what PTSD is
Provides education to the community of the unique issues veterans face
Provides local clergy with a full understanding of PTSD so they can help their congregations
Provides support groups for veterans as well as their families
Provides day care while parents are in support groups
Provides day care when parents have doctors appointments
Provides support for families living with disabilities with home aid
Has connections with other organizations helping veterans to fill the gap in what they cannot provide
Believes in cooperation instead of competition with other service organizations

If you know of any like this, please let me know.
email me at Namguardianangel@aol.com or leave a comment here

PTSD On Trail:War vet cleared for murder trial

War vet cleared for murder trial
Psychiatrist deems Horner competent

By Phil Ray, pray@altoonamirror.com
POSTED: July 8, 2009
HOLLIDAYSBURG - The Iraqi War veteran accused of killing a high school senior during the robbery of a Subway restaurant and a retired insurance executive during his subsequent getaway attempt is troubled but competent to stand trial, according to a psychiatrist's report filed in the Blair County Courthouse.

Nicholas A. Horner is in the Blair County Prison awaiting trial for the homicides of Scott Garlick, 19, and Raymond Williams, 64. His attorney, David S. Shrager of Pittsburgh, has asked that his client be moved to a state mental health facility at least until his trial.

Shrager argues that Horner, 28, cannot obtain the ongoing mental health treatment he needs in the county jail.

District Attorney Richard A. Consiglio said Tuesday his office is reviewing the suggestion.

A hearing on the matter is scheduled for July 14 before Blair County President Judge Jolene G. Kopriva.

Dr. Edwin Tan, a Hollidaysburg psychiatrist, performed the court-ordered mental health assessment.

In his report, he stated that Horner suffers from war-related post-traumatic stress disorder as well as depression, panic disorder and sleep problems.
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War vet cleared for murder trial

Study: No best way to deal with stress

Study: No best way to deal with stress

By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Jul 7, 2009 16:59:12 EDT

After several studies showed that people who react emotionally during a stressful event are more likely to develop symptoms for post-traumatic stress disorder later, researchers wanted to see whether the obverse was true: Are people who react to a stressful situation by problem-solving, rather than by becoming numb or feeling as if they’re in a daze, less likely to develop acute stress symptoms that could lead to PTSD?

The logical answer might seem to be yes. But researchers were surprised to find that’s not necessarily the case.

Researchers from the Naval Health Research Center in San Diego tried to figure out how much the way a person interacts with his environment can affect his mental health. They also wondered whether behavior during stressful training situations might be a possible predictor for PTSD.

“A central premise of leading theories of human stress is that the stress response results from a complex interaction of the human with his or her environment,” lead researcher Marcus Taylor wrote in a study published in the June issue of the Journal of Traumatic Stress.
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Study: No best way to deal with stress
Do you think the military will get that what they have been doing is wrong and finally understand their programs don't work?

Family of Federal Way veteran settles VA suit for $700,000

Family of Federal Way veteran settles VA suit for $700,000
The family of a veteran whose suicide at the Veterans Affairs hospital on Beacon Hill in 2006 helped expose unsafe conditions in the facility's psychiatric ward has settled a lawsuit against the government for $700,000, according to court documents and the family's attorney.

By Mike Carter

Seattle Times staff reporter

The family of a veteran whose suicide at the Veterans Affairs hospital on Beacon Hill in 2006 helped expose unsafe conditions in the facility's psychiatric ward has settled a lawsuit against the government for $700,000, according to court documents and the family's attorney.

Gordon Whitcomb, of Federal Way, had a history of psychiatric disorders when he admitted himself to the VA hospital in November 2006 because he was hearing voices and was paranoid and delusional, according to the lawsuit.

The 49-year-old veteran had been discharged from the military in 1987, had a 100 percent service-connected disability for chronic psychiatric problems, and had been treated at the hospital before, according to the family's attorney, John Greaney, of Kent.

For two days, according to the lawsuit, staff in the psychiatric ward documented that Whitcomb was delusional, paranoid and at serious risk for suicide. He was hearing voices and said his neighbors were plotting to kill him. Twice on Nov. 9, the lawsuit said, nurses put notes in his file saying that Whitcomb was suicidal and delusional.

Yet, the staff never took away his belt. Just hours after the last note was written, he hanged himself with the belt on a non-breakaway shower bar in a bathroom, Greaney said.
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Family of Federal Way veteran settles VA suit for $700,000

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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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/07/ap_fragging_case_bozicevich_070709/

This is one amazing woman to be able to look past her pain and find compassion for the one accused of killing her step-son.

Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund honors first 2 killed in Vietnam

First 2 killed in Vietnam War to be honored

The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Jul 8, 2009 7:09:14 EDT

WASHINGTON — The first two Americans to lose their lives during the Vietnam War are being honored.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the deaths of Army Master Sgt. Chester Ovnand and Maj. Dale Buis during a special ceremony Wednesday at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

The two men were watching a movie when their residential compound in Bien Hoa, Vietnam, was attacked. Ovnand, of Texas, was a month away from finishing up his tour of duty, and Buis, a Californian, had arrived in Vietnam two days before he was killed.

More than 58,000 Americans were killed in combat during the war.

Jan Scruggs, president of the Memorial Fund, says he hopes the ceremony will cause people to remember all the fallen soldiers — as well as those fighting now.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/07/ap_vietnam_casualties_070809/

Alarming spike of military children hospitalized for mental health reasons

More military children seeking mental care

By Kimberly Hefling - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Jul 7, 2009 19:35:31 EDT

WASHINGTON — Two million children with parents in the military sought outpatient mental health care last year, twice the number from the start of the Iraq war, internal Pentagon documents show.

The documents, obtained by The Associated Press, also reveal an alarming spike in the number of military children hospitalized for mental health reasons.

From 2007 to 2008, 20 percent more children of active duty troops used inpatient mental health services, many of them under age 14, the documents show. Since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, inpatient visits among military children have increased 50 percent.

The total number of outpatient mental health visits for children of those on active duty doubled from 1 million in 2003 to 2 million in 2008. During the same period, the total yearly bed days for children of active duty personnel 14 and under increased from 35,000 in 2003 to 55,000 in 2008, the documents show.
read more here
More military children seeking mental care

'The soul of a real American hero'

'The soul of a real American hero'
Hundreds gather at funeral for Steilacoom man

MIKE ARCHBOLD; The News Tribune
Published: 07/07/09

The more than 600 people who gathered Monday to celebrate the war-shortened life of Lt. Brian N. Bradshaw heard in his own words the secret of a life well-lived.

“Service (to others) is the foundation of life,” Bradshaw wrote in a paper read at the celebration at St. John Bosco Catholic Church in Lakewood. He had written it as a junior at Bellarmine Preparatory School in Tacoma.

“Without service our lives have the same impact and meaning as a stick lying on the ground. No one remembers the sticks stepped on in the woods, but everyone remembers the flowers ... If we serve and work throughout our lives, we will be the flowers that everyone remembers.”

The 24-year-old U.S. Army first lieutenant from Steilacoom died June 25 of wounds suffered in Kheyl, Afghanistan, when an improvised explosive device exploded near him.

He was the first Pierce County service member to die in Afghanistan in more than a year. He was also the first member of his unit – 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Regiment, 4th Airborne Brigade Combat Team – to die there since the unit was deployed in February.
read more here
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/802721.html

The story behind HR 2647 is Sgt.Coleman Bean

Legislation would help some returning veterans
Coda • GREG BEAN
This Fourth of July was certainly a bittersweet holiday in our home. Those who know me know that our son Coleman, an Army sergeant who served two tours in Iraq, took his own life last September.




In the months since, our family has learned a lot about the problems faced by returning vets, and the difficulties they sometimes have finding and obtaining services like psychological and career counseling.

We don't know that better availability of services would have changed our own personal outcome, and we will never know. But we did make a decision to do whatever is in our power to make a difference for some other soldiers and those soldiers' families.

As part of that effort, I reached out to U.S. Rep. Rush Holt this spring and I found him to be a truly caring man.And at the end of one of our conversations, he told me that he would begin working on legislation to address some of the problems, and he put me in touch with Patrick Eddington, his Senior Policy Advisor for Defense and Intelligence Issues. I spoke with Patrick Eddington at some length, and he assured me of the congressman's commitment to the issue and his determination to do something meaningful.

That conversation was several months ago, and I don't know that I believed anything would ever come of it. So I was overjoyed last week when Rep. Holt called me to tell me that an amendment he had proposed had passed the House and has a good shot at becoming law. First, however, it must pass a conference committee with the Senate, but there's great optimism the amendment will survive intact.

The amendment to H.R. 2647 would require the Secretary of Defense to call returning Individual Ready Reserve veterans once every 90 days to determine the emotional, psychological, medical and career needs of the veterans. It would also require any IRR veteran identified as being at risk of selfcaused harm to be referred to the nearest military medical treatment facility or accredited TRICARE provider for immediate evaluation and treatment by a qualified mental health care provider.
read more here
http://ems.gmnews.com/news/2009/0708/greg_bean/016.html

Veteran gets help after his wheelchair was stolen

Someone had absolutely no compassion for Bill Lamb when they decided to take his wheelchair. What type of person is so self-absorbed they would do something like this? I have no clue. I wonder if the person knew God was watching him/her when this was done? Does this person read the news reports and feel guilt? Does this person look at the money gained if the wheelchair was sold and think they deserve to hold that money in their hand more than this disabled veteran deserved to be able to get around? Does this person have any conscience at all?

The good news is that compassionate people stepped up to help and to make Bill Lamb's life easier after this. Their acts of compassion are greater than any act of selfishness the criminal could ever hope to know.

Veteran gets help after his wheelchair was stolen
By By JESSICA SCHREIFELS MILLER
Standard-Examiner Staff

FARR WEST -- Bill Lamb couldn't have received a better birthday present.

After having his electric Jazzy wheelchair stolen from his carport last week, Lamb wasn't sure how he'd get around. A U.S. Air Force veteran, Lamb suffers from arthritis that makes it impossible to walk more than 15 feet at time.

Today, on his 67th birthday, his luck changed when a man called his home, offering the use of his wife's Jazzy wheelchair, until he can replace it through the Department of Veteran Affairs.
read more here
Veteran gets help after his wheelchair was stolen