Can you forgive when they have PTSD?

by
Chaplain Kathie

When Jesus talking about forgiving, it was not for the sake of the person that hurt you, but for your own sake He wanted you to forgive. Sometimes it seems impossible to forgive when you've been hurt, mistreated, abused and even after you've gone through traumatic events caused by someone else. Yet when you look at this passage in the Bible, nothing could be unforgivable.

Luke 23:34


(New International Version)
Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing

Jesus forgave in his last moments on the cross. He preached of how important it was to forgive. It is something we all struggle with. How do you forgive someone after they have hurt you? How do you forgive someone after they caused you pain and suffering? How do you forgive someone when they have taken all the love you had to give and appeared to have taken it for granted or thrown it all away? This is one of the hardest parts of living with and loving someone with PTSD. If we do not understand it, understand what they are going through, we are the ones carrying around a lot of pain.


"They don't know what they are doing" when they have PTSD. They have no idea how much they are hurting you emotionally. They do not do what they do or say what they say on purpose. They think differently, process what we say to them differently and most of the time, mistrust us. Paranoia has them thinking everyone is out to get them or hurt them. They can change from very caring people into ambivalent, detached emotionally from people they loved. This is part of their protection, pushing people away, trying to not feel pain from the "next shoe dropping" or the next person they care about leaving them behind, or the ultimate abandonment of death. Some believe that if they refuse to let anyone get close to them, they will avoid more pain. Some feel they don't deserve anyone caring about them. Some, will have these two thoughts blended.

They can appear to be totally selfish, out of character for them. They seem to only care about what they want, what they need and to hell with everyone else. This comes from their own sense of worthlessness, as strange as that sounds.

Filling the parts inside of them where love used to live, they spend money on extravagances when there is not enough money to pay bills. Some normally very careful and responsible with money, no longer act rationally.

The list that comes with PTSD is almost endless. What is left behind are very hurt and confused family members and friends. We get angry but beneath that anger is a lot of pain. How could they do that to me? How could they treat me so badly? What did I do to deserve their hatred? All these questions and so much more flood through us as we search for the answers. What did we do wrong? We can turn that anger combined with pain and seek revenge. We make them leave the house, file for divorce or end all contact with them. If they end up homeless, it's their fault. If they end up in jail, it's their fault. If they drink themselves to death, it's their fault. Yet if we know what PTSD is, what it is doing to them, we can understand them, forgive them and find forgiveness for ourselves.

There is a video I want you to watch. It's one of the longest ones I put together. It was also one of the first so that I could explain what PTSD is and what family members face.

When you watch it, notice your own life in it. I can guarantee you that either whatever you're going through either I have lived it as well or have had contact with someone that went through something as bad. There is a remarkable thing that happens when we know what PTSD is. We end up helping the people that caused the pain we have inside. The way we react to them changes the outcome. We either help make PTSD stronger inside of them or we help them to heal. The choice is our's to make.

Even when families have fallen apart because they didn't know what PTSD was, relationships have been rebuilt in some cases. When that does not happen, or knowledge comes too late, there is at least our own emotional healing because we can understand them and why they did what they did, said what they said and treated us the way they did. We stop asking why and stop blaming ourselves. One more thing is that we finally understand that we did the best we could with what we knew at the time. Forgiving them at the very least, takes the weight out of our own soul.

Please watch this video and find a reason to forgive them. Then you can forgive yourself.

Wounded Minds Veterans and PTSD - watch more videos

Army captain reaches out to refugees from Iraq

Army captain reaches out to refugees from Iraq
By Saundra Amrhein, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Sunday, July 12, 2009
While the U.S. resettlement program remains one of the safest alternatives for thousands of Iraqi refugees fleeing sectarian violence, it is underfunded and relies on refugee self-sufficiency "in a reactive manner that lacks strategy, flexibility and compassion," concluded the International Rescue Committee in a June report titled "Iraqi Refugees in the United States: In Dire Straits.

Without jobs, the refugees, who are eager to work, quickly exhaust the resources available from refugee agencies that contract with the U.S. government. Private donations the program depends on have plummeted. Unable to pay the rent, Iraqis face homelessness. Some who worked as interpreters with U.S. troops have gone back, exposing themselves again to death threats by militias.

Into this mix stepped people like U.S. Army Capt. Jason Faler.
read more here
http://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/article1017533.ece

Armed, and praying, lethal weapons in the church?

Lethal weapons in the church?
Armed, and prayingTAMPA — Beneath the dim glow of purple stage lights in the church's sanctuary, the choir sways and claps.

"God gave me authority to conquer the enemy! He wrote it in my destiny, and my name is victory!"

Just beyond them in the shadows of the pulpit, near an area set aside for former senior pastor Randy White and other ministers, an armed and uniformed Tampa Police Department officer scans the few hundred worshipers at Without Walls International Church. A 9mm Glock fills the holster on his belt.

When it's offering time, the officer escorts ushers from the altar to an undisclosed area. A few minutes later, he returns to his post, standing for the duration of the two-hour service.



It has long been common for churches to employ off-duty police officers to help with parking lot security and direct traffic. But shootings inside churches around the country in recent years has opened a debate to this question: Should lethal force be invited inside for protection?
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Florida couple who adopted 12 children found slain

Fla. couple who adopted 12 children found slain

The Associated Press

12:35 PM EDT, July 10, 2009


BEULAH - Investigators searched Friday for three men wanted for questioning about the Thursday night home-invasion deaths of the mother and father of 16 children.

The Escambia County Sheriff's Office said the men were driving a red full-size van when they were seen leaving the home of Byrd and Melanie Billings after the Escambia County couple were found shot to death in the bedroom of their home in Beulah, just west of Pensacola near the Alabama border.

Sgt. Ted Roy, a sheriff's office spokesman, said the men may have been involved in the slayings.

The couple were the parents of 16 children -- 12 adopted.

Roy said the children living in the home were found safe after the attack. Deputies had to wake some of the children who ranged in age from infants to 11 years old, he said
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Fla. couple who adopted 12 children found slain

Another Stolen Valor Case

At first, I was furious over this. Another case of Stolen Valor. Why do they do it? What do they really hope to gain? Do they think they will get respect for lying? How could they when they don't have enough respect for themselves already? Think about it. The ones charged, usually did serve in some capacity. You would think that would be enough for them to respect themselves, just for having served but no, they have to try to portray themselves as extreme heroes. Do they do it because they think they deserve what they did not earn or is it because they think what others think of them will give them what they lack inside? If that is the case then they will never find what they are looking for. If they respected themselves in the first place, they would already be proud of their real service and what they really did instead of making up stories to empress strangers.

His medals aren't real, but his search for honor is
Wracked by guilt, local veteran admits deception on his war record
By LINDSAY WISE
Copyright 2009 Houston Chonicle
July 11, 2009, 12:10AM
Houston native Charles Bass had told the story about how he survived a deadly snake bite in Vietnam so many times it seemed natural to tell it again, this time in front of a TV camera on the Fourth of July. He pointed at scars on his hand and the crook of his elbow, explaining how he'd stuck a hollow bamboo in the vein to stop the venom from reaching his heart.

The camera panned a display case full of his medals at the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum on Southmore Boulevard. A placard explained that Sgt. Maj. Bass had earned the Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star, Bronze Star for gallantry and Purple Hearts for his wounds.

Bass, in a rumpled fatigue jacket, seemed humbled by the attention. “I thank God that I endured what I had to endure for my country,” he said.

The story on Channel 2 KPRC that day was less than three minutes long, but that's all the time it took for nearly 40 years of lies to unravel.

Five days later, a tearful Bass apologized for his dishonesty — not only about the snake, but also the rank of sergeant major, Special Forces status, and all of the medals at the museum. He'd bought them in military surplus stores, he said, and forged certificates from forms he found online.

“It's a hell of a load off my shoulders,” said Bass, 66. “It's pressure off me. Things that needed to be said for a lotta, lotta years.”
read more here
Wracked by guilt, local veteran admits deception on his war record

Marine Spouse Battles Navy Over Contamination at Naval Base in Japan

Marine Spouse Battles Navy Over Contamination at Naval Base in Japan
Robert O'Dowd Salem-News.com
Shelly Parulis, wife of a retired Marine Master Sergeant, is engaged in a running battle with the Navy over dioxin and other toxins at NAF Atsugi, Japan.


(ATSUGI, Japan) - No one assigned to Naval Air Facility (NAF) Atsugi, the home of Carrier Air Wing 5, would have suspected that duty in Japan could exposed them to toxic chemicals, including deadly dioxin, the carcinogen infamously associated with Agent Orange.


In fact, prior to the closure of Atsugi’s privately owned Envirotech (formerly Shinkampo) incinerators in 2001, that is exactly what happened to military, dependents, and civilian workers stationed at NAF Atsugi during the period 1985 to 2001. Your browser may not support display of this image.

NAF Atsugi is located on Honshu, the main island of Japan. The base, about 20 miles from Tokyo, was originally built in 1938 by the Japanese Imperial Navy as Emperor Hirohito's Naval Air Base to address the threat posed by foreseen American bombing raids of the Japanese mainland.

Shelly Parulis, a spouse of a retired Marine Master Sergeant who was stationed at Atsugi from 1995 to 1998, and her family suffered the results of toxic exposure and leads the effort to obtain compensation and health benefits for Atsugi veterans, dependents ad civilian workers.
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Marine Spouse Battles Navy Over Contamination at Naval Base in Japan

Cpl. Matthew Lembke died of wounds received in Afghanistan

Marine Matthew Lembke of Tualatin dies of injuries suffered in Afghanistan
by Julie Sullivan, The Oregonian
Friday July 10, 2009, 5:04 PM

Cpl. Matthew Lembke, a Tualatin man serving his third combat tour, died Friday at Bethesda Naval Hospital from complications from his blast injuries suffered in Afghanistan.

The 22-year-old Marine sniper had been patrolling on foot June 22 when an IED exploded. He lost both his legs and sustained internal injuries.


He was flown to the U.S. Army's Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany where his parents, Claudia and Dale, and sister Carolyn, joined him. Last weekend, he was flown to Bethesda in Maryland where he underwent several surgeries.

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Marine Matthew Lembke of Tualatin dies of injuries suffered in Afghanistan

“Battle Buddy’s” for the veterans

“Battle Buddy’s” for the veterans
July 9, 1:44 PM

There is a need for wounded veterans to have help with daily activities after coming back from war. Freedom Service Dogs has joined with the Veterans Administration to create Operation Freedom. They train and place service dogs with the appropriate veteran or service member for their needs. Once a dog has passed the AKC Canine Good Citizen test they then endure a six week program. Each dog endures the same program but each is then individualized for the particular individual needs of the person they are going to. Sharon Wilson, executive director of Freedom Service Dogs says, “Operation Freedom has been more successful than we ever imagined”.Quotes noted in the Freedom Press Summer 2009 Edition.

Army Specialist Cameron Briggs finished the course with his dog Harper this past June. He is a client and a volunteer for FSD. He, as well as many others, resides in the Warrior Transition Unit at Fort Carson. Cameron suffers from a traumatic brain injury and PTSD. He also suffers from physical injuries to his back, knees and ankles.
read more here
Battle Buddy for the veterans

Here's to the Heroes: A Military Tribute

luckylucie
August 09, 2007

This is dedicated to all the men and women who continue to fight for our freedoms. Thank you!!!

I was sent a link to this video and must say it left me a bit weepy. This is one message I really wish all of our men and women serving today and those who served before, would totally understand.

When you call them heroes, they will tell you "I'm just doing my job." and then humbly walk away or change the subject. They don't see themselves as heroes. Considering what they go through in times of war, it weighs heavily on their hearts. It leaves them torn between the lives they saved and the memories of the lives they had to take.

We have friends with all kinds of medals honoring their service to this nation during Vietnam. Bronze Stars, Silver Stars, a Medal of Honor, several Purple Hearts, and every single one of them are about as down to earth as everyone else. They don't do it for rewards, or medals, they did it for their brothers. When you look up the records on many of these men, you will find many drafted into the military. It didn't matter how they got there, once there, they were putting their lives on the line and doing whatever it took to take care of each other. The truly magnificent thing is, even now, they still do it. They still put others first.

We see this when the Vietnam veterans manage to do whatever it takes to reach out to the newer veterans and fight just as hard for them to heal now as they have been doing for their brothers ever since they got back home. They fight to make sure the newer veterans receive the welcome home celebrations, parades and parties they didn't receive at the time of their return, just as they are now receiving them for themselves. They fight to make sure the government takes care of all veterans and have taken leadership positions in the service organizations across the nation.

The veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan are no different than these graying veterans. So many of them risking their lives side by side no matter what their background is or what color skin they have, political party they support or if they came from a small town or big city, north or south, they act as a family. They do not see themselves as heroes.

It is very hard for most of them to come home with what they are carrying inside of them. The wound of PTSD, or what I think should be called Traumatic Recoil, will not release them from all they had to endure. They find it very hard to seek help as they look at others missing limbs or other visible wounds. They see themselves in the mirror and think help is for the others, not them. Again, quiet heroes, they suffer in silence with the same kind of courage they found within themselves in battle. They think they can just grit their teeth and push on beyond the pain, the nightmares and flashbacks. They think they can just get over it the way they got over boot camp and the way they got over their 5th deployment into Iraq or Afghanistan. The problem is they are confusing courage with denial. It takes more courage for them to seek help to heal and this they have within them but they do not understand this is a wound and not as most of them think, their fault or a flaw within them. As they spend days suffering they still think they can "get over it" but time is wasted suffering instead of healing simply because they do not understand it.

So many Vietnam veterans with this wound to their soul returned but did not seek help until recently. While with treatment they can heal, they will not fully recover. Had they received the help they needed when they first came home, it would have been healed instead of festering. This is why so many of them are making sure the newer veterans understand what PTSD is and get the help they denied for themselves all those years. They stand as an example that it is not too late to heal and are a testament to the need to heal instead of suffering. They don't want the newer veterans to waste endless days and nights they will live to regret wasting. Many of these veterans got the message and are taking the lead in getting their brothers and sisters to seek help to heal. There is no shame in having PTSD any more than there is any shame in being human. These are still normal humans suffering from the abnormal world of war in a foreign land few others would ever see.

They are all heroes because they put others first in battle. Now they still are because many veterans want to help others heal even before they are fully healed themselves. They have been thru the darkest days, suddenly finding themselves experiencing the feelings again they were not able to feel and they want to share that hope as soon as possible with others. They reach out their hands and say "I've been there and I want you where I am now." standing right by their side to help them get there.

I wish all of our veterans could know how wonderful they really are. For veterans with PTSD, these are truly remarkable people because others are able to just get on with their lives and careers, returning to being a citizen, but for these veterans, the war they carried home with them ends up with them still saving the lives of others out of the compassion filling them. They set aside their own lives for the sake of others everyday.

While I post about some that took their own lives, sadness fills me because a few posts earlier, there will be a news report about veterans saving the lives of others. I wonder why help did not come soon enough to save the lives of the others. If every veteran with PTSD knew what it was and received the help they need to fight it, there would be more standing at the side of those losing hope. Will you help all these heroes get to where they need to be for the sake of the others? Learn what PTSD is and help them heal. The life you save could end up being a chain of lives saved because you really thought of these men and women as heroes worthy of every effort on your part to learn and reach out to them.

"Did Anyone Survive the War?"

"Did Anyone Survive the War?"
"Did Anyone Survive the War?"

A few weeks ago while showing the Vietnam War Memorial to some out of town visitors, a young man's voice startled me. This ten or twelve year old surveyed the more than 58,000 names on the wall, Including 16 of my Air Force Academy classmates, and asked his dad "did anyone survive the war?"

"Yes," I thought. "I did but barely."

But the question deserves a better answer, especially in light of the recent death of Robert S. McNamara, the architect of the Vietnam War and later its remorseful critic.

It is an axiom that no one who goes to war returns as the same person. The changes can be as trivial as the thrill of a first view of a new country thousands of miles from home. Or it can be as profound as holding a dying friend or staring into the eyes of someone you have killed. But in a very real sense, no one survives the war.

The changes wrought by war are often so small as to be undetectable except on close examination by those who knew the individual before the war. A certain ease to anger. A reluctance to discuss the experience. A frequent sense of being in another place. But too often the returning soldier is a far different person even if there are no visible wounds. This is especially true of those who have seen combat. Another axiom of war is that soldiers do not fight for King or country, nor for God or flag. Those in battle fight for themselves and their comrades, to achieve victory and bring the group home intact.
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Veteran's Thunder Motorcycle Ride rolls into town Saturday

Veteran's Thunder Motorcycle Ride rolls into town Saturday

By Gary Nelson / gnelson@crossville-chronicle.com

Everyone needs a hero.

For one Vietnam veteran that hero is Ron Dyer, president and founding member of the Cumberland County Vietnam Veterans chapter.

"I'm not ashamed to tell you this man is my hero. With what he did, getting the Welcome Home (event) together — I will never forget it — He saved my life," Larry Bates of Monterey said.

Bates, who is nicknamed "Tin Man" due to the leg braces and crutches he is forced to wear, says the Vietnam Veterans Welcome Home event in 2008 and earlier this year gave him a reason to want to live.

"I suffer from rheumatoid arthritis and have been fighting cancer. I was in a wheelchair, but I've gotten better, I've gotten on the crutches and it's because of this," he said as he put his arm around Dyer's neck.

Bates met Dyer at the Waffle House in Crossville a few years ago.

"I overheard these guys, Vietnam vets, talking about organizing this event. I went up to him and I said, 'I want to be a part of it, whatever you're planning,'" Bates said.

Bates and Dyer became friends and the group of vets soon began affectionately calling Bates the Tin Man.
read more here
http://www.crossville-chronicle.com/local/local_story_191090506.html

What do veterans groups really stand for

Category: History - Military - Vietnam War
Format: Hardcover, 336 pages
On Sale: September 26, 2006
Price: $32.95
ISBN: 978-1-84603-020-8 (1-84603-020-X)

A bad thunderstorm rolled through Central Florida this afternoon so I took off to Borders Books. I just bought this book for $4.99 and frankly, I'm stunned. I can't believe a book like this was at such a low price. It only came out in 2006.

When I am working on videos, I find pictures from several places. Online, from people sending me their pictures, my husband's pictures and from books.

This picture got to me and I wanted to share it with you.





What really got to me about this picture was this

"A GI holds protectively a badly wounded buddy. In Vietnam, out in the field racial conflicts were minimal. Soldiers were neither black nor white, but green. You depended on your comrades to cover you, and they depended on you do to the same. (Larry Burrows, Life, Time Life)

This is what I've been trying to get across but not doing a good enough job of it.

Because I'm involved with so many groups, what I hear all too often is the division of committed people when it comes to politics. I often wonder what really matters the most to some of these people. Is it the veterans from all political parties and demographics, or is it the political ideology they hold?

The men and women veterans along with those serving today come from all thoughts and backgrounds. What makes all of them united is that they are the smallest percentage of Americans and they were willing to lay down their lives for the sake of the rest of us. They are not all Republicans and they are not all Democrats, but they are all veterans.

Attending some of the events and gatherings I do, too often I heard "We need to support the president" when the President happened to have been Bush, a Republican. It didn't seem to bother many people there what I knew to be facts as far as how he was not supporting them, but only claiming to do it. The facts were there for anyone to find but some of them just didn't bother. Now that the President happens to be a Democrat, the talk has changed to attacking the President and bumper stickers show up on the backs of their cars against the President they used to say they needed to support because "He was the Commander-in-Chief."

No group will agree on everything, but when it comes to veterans, they need to agree on truth and what they were willing to risk their lives for in the first place. There are a lot of rumors out there about President Obama, just as there were a lot of rumors out there about President Bush and every other President before them. The facts are there to find for anyone interested enough in looking for them. While President Obama has increased the VA budget more than it has been done in over 30 years, he has been accused of being against veterans. Yet when President Bush cut VA funding, had less doctors and nurses working for the VA than there were after the Gulf War, with two military campaigns going on, they said we needed to support the President. It didn't matter what the truth was. It mattered more what party he belonged to.

What good did this do? Were the wounded taken care of properly? Were the veterans treated with the care they were promised? Were politicians held accountable for what they did not do? What about the service organizations claiming to be about veterans but clearly with an agenda of more political power than putting veterans, all veterans, first?

This is the part that I will never understand. They are supposed to be fighting to get it right no matter which party is in control. They are supposed to be standing up for all veterans no matter what party they come from and not making them feel as if they don't belong there simply because they happen to be a Democrat among Republicans or a Republican among Democrats. The truth is the truth no matter which party hears it.

It should never matter what party is in control. These groups need to fight to make sure the veterans are taken care of and stop all the nonsense about party loyalty. Things got as bad as they did because some people in these groups only cared one of their own was in power and to tell you the truth, it's one of my fears now. I don't want to see more of a repeat of the time when President Clinton was in office and too many Democrats would not complain and the Republicans managed to spread rumors that were not true. I don't want to see a repeat of the last eight years when some want to support President Obama no matter what he does nor do I want to see more of the false rumors being allowed to be spread out without correction.

If these groups really care about veterans, all veterans, and the troops, then they need to support the truth and not participate in party over any of them. Our veterans fight for the entire nation and not just parts of it and they are looking to the service organizations to support them no matter what party or person they vote for. If I feel as uncomfortable as I do at some of these events when I hear what I hear, imagine being a veteran and hearing one of your own attacking your thoughts because you happen to vote differently than they do. If we are not a nation where all are equal, the right to have your own opinion and vote according to your conscience, then what are the troops defending? What does it actually mean to be "free" when they cannot be embraced by these groups as a veteran because they vote the "wrong" way? If service groups and veterans groups cannot keep political opinion out of group events, then they need to stop saying they are working for veterans because that means, they are only working for the ones they agree with.

I have heard from too many veterans not wanting to join any of these groups because of this reason. It's time for all of them to open their eyes and decide if they are more about party or people. They all serve the same nation side by side with members from all walks of life. They should be welcomed into any group the same way.

Military police seek mom of abandoned baby

Military police seek mom of abandoned baby

The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Jul 10, 2009 10:49:46 EDT

FORT BRAGG, N.C. — Military police at a North Carolina Army post are asking for the public's help in finding the mother of a newborn baby boy who was abandoned on a doorstep in a housing area.

Fort Bragg officials said the baby was discovered about 4 p.m. Thursday in the St. Mere Eglise neighborhood. The baby's umbilical cord still was attached.

The baby was taken to Womack Army Medical Center.

Officials say the baby last was seen with a young woman who had dirty blonde hair and was believed to be in her early 20s.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/07/ap_abandoned_baby_071009/

VA overdose problems still exist, report says

VA overdose problems still exist, report says

By Kimberly Hefling - The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Jul 10, 2009 12:05:24 EDT

WASHINGTON — Two years after an Iraq war veteran overdosed on medication at a Veterans Affairs facility, the problems blamed in his death have not been corrected at many of the VA’s residential treatment sites, a government study found.

The VA’s inspector general ordered the review as part of legislation passed to fix problems after the 2007 death of 27-year-old Justin Bailey in a Los Angeles residential facility.

Bailey, a Marine, had surgeries for a groin injury he sustained during the first part of the Iraq war and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
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VA overdose problems still exist, report says

Guard units strained by chaplain shortage

Guard units strained by chaplain shortage

By Nomaan Merchant - The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Jul 10, 2009 7:38:42 EDT

MINNEAPOLIS — When patriotism inspired the Rev. Jerry Fehn a decade ago to serve soldiers in combat zones abroad, the 45-year-old was afraid he had waited too long.

He needn't have worried. The National Guard, wrestling with a chronic shortage of priests, cleared the roadblocks that might have kept Fehn out.

"They didn't really want to take someone over 40," Fehn said. "But because there's such a shortage of Catholic priests in the military, they said they would grant me a waiver if I could pass the physical."

Fehn went on to serve in Bosnia, Kosovo and Iraq. Meanwhile, the guard has made significant strides in adding chaplains to its ranks, though many units still struggle to recruit for a position seen as crucial to morale. About 200 positions are open in the Army National Guard and 45 in the Air National Guard.

"It makes it harder to provide religious support," said Chaplain Samuel J.T. Boone, commandant of the U.S. Army Chaplain Center and School at Fort Jackson, S.C. "There are some people who we can't provide their religious rites and sacraments as we can back here in the States."
read more here
Guard units strained by chaplain shortage
The answer is,,,,change the rules to allow Chaplains with the traning to work with the National Guard,,,,,like maybe the IFOC Chaplains I belong to, but even with over 25 years of experience with veterans and PTSD, I'm not good enough. Go figure!

Specialty PTSD clinic planned for east Tennessee servicemen

Specialty PTSD clinic planned for east Tennessee servicemen
Anthony Welsch Updated: 7/10/2009


The mantle in Captain Mark Brogan's west Knoxville home is filled with memories of his time in the military and Iraq, although he can't remember some of it.

"In the beginning, it was survival really. The emotional part just wasn't there," Brogan said.

After a month-long coma, time at Walter Reed Medical Center, and surgery to install a plate to replace the piece of skull blown off by a suicide bomber, life started to return to normal.

The Purple Heart recipient returned to Knoxville, and the emotional toll of war started to surface.

"Over time, I was having nightmares. I would wake up in the middle of the night, accidentally punch my wife," he said.

Deciding he needed help was one thing, but receiving it was another.

"You have the clinic here in Knoxville, but it's rather small," he said. "We saw a person at the VA clinic here, and I was told they'd get me a gym membership so I could go work out. That'll make me feel better."

"I think the people living back home that are living comfortably without having to worry if they are going to get shot or not, we need to think what can we do for these people when they get here," State Representative Richard Montgomery, a Republican from Seymour said.

Now, in what will soon be the old Fort Sanders Hospital in Sevierville, a Post Traumatic Stress Disorder specialty clinic is in the works.

It will be a place for servicemen, law enforcement, or firefighters to get help, drastically changing how veterans are cared for.
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Specialty PTSD clinic planned for east Tennessee servicemen

Urn Accompanied By American Flag, Silver Mug Left at Marine Recruiting Center

Owner Of Urn Left At Marine Recruiting Center Found
Urn Accompanied By American Flag, Silver Mug
POSTED: 9:30 am EDT July 8, 2009


KEENE, N.H. -- The owner of an urn left a U.S. Marines recruitment center in Keene has been found.

Police began an investigation after the urn, along with a heavy silver mug and a folded, framed American flag, was dropped off at the recruitment center on Winchester Street over the weekend.

"The officers collected the property, and they tried to contact the owner and determine what were the circumstances, why they were left there," Lt. Jay Duguay said. "At the time, there was no note to determine why it was at the recruiting center."

Police found that the urn belongs to an active Marine, Sgt. Scott Mastyk, who is currently stationed at Camp Lejuene in North Carolina. (They must mean Camp)
read more here
http://www.wmur.com/news/19989926/detail.html

Former Marine fighting for his life after argument over dog

Former Marine fighting for his life after argument over dog

ABINGTON, Mass. -- A former Marine is in a fight for his life after an argument outside an Abington coffee shop took a violent turn.

Brian Cherry, 48, was having coffee with a friend at Mary Lou's coffee shop.

Police said Cherry became concerned that a fellow customer's dog was frightening people; from there, things took a life threatening turn.
read more here
http://www3.whdh.com/news/articles/local/BO118456/

Army Guardsman Named 'Chaplain of the Year'

Army Guardsman Named 'Chaplain of the Year'
National Guard Bureau
Story by Sgt. Patrick McCollum
Date: 07.09.2009
Posted: 07.09.2009 06:46

ARLINGTON, Va. – Chaplains have a myriad of reasons for serving their country, but recognition is usually not one of them.

"Chaplains are often in the position where we love to serve so much, it's always a surprise to be rewarded for it," said Army Capt. Rebekah Montgomery, who will receive the "Chaplain of the Year" award from the Military Chaplains' Association July 17.

A Unitarian Universalist chaplain serving at both the Army National Guard Readiness Center, Arlington, Va., and Maryland's 58th Troop Command, Montgomery, she has been a student of religion since high school.

She found that religion fascinated her. "I was always drawn to how people negotiate their daily lives with the experience of the spiritual," said Montgomery, who grew up in Bethesda, Md. "I got so much stimulation out of understanding other faith traditions and I still do."

After an 18-month tour in Afghanistan, Montgomery found herself back in Maryland with two jobs. One weekend a month, she is the brigade chaplain in the 58th TC, a job that she says keeps her grounded in the "M-Day" unit mentality.

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Army Guardsman Named Chaplain of the Year

Program pays family members for taking care of Mom and Dad

Program pays family members for taking care of Mom and Dad
Written by Debra Sorensen news@toledofreepress.com
Looking for a way to help Mom and Dad pay for home care or assisted living? Perhaps you are their caregiver. Wouldn’t it be nice to receive some extra income to help you provide their care? There is financial help available for senior veterans and their spouses.

For veterans who served during a time of war, or for their surviving spouses, the Veterans Aid & Attendance Pension will pay additional income to cover long-term care costs. The great news about this program is that the VA will allow veterans’ households to include the annual cost of paying any person such as family members, friends or hired help for care when calculating the pension benefit.

Pension can provide an additional monthly income of up to $1,949 a month for a couple, $1,644 a month for a single veteran or $1,056 a month for a single surviving spouse of a veteran. This money can be used to help pay the cost of home care, adult day services, assisted living or nursing home services.

To reduce income to meet the income test for pension, a rating for “aid and attendance” or “housebound” is crucial. Not only does the rating significantly increase the benefit amount, but without a rating, room and board costs for assisted living are not deductible for purposes of reducing income. Only the much smaller assisted-living medical costs are deductible.
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Program pays family members for taking care of Mom and Dad