Counsel for a Marine’s mother

Counsel for a Marine’s mother
By Terri Barnes, Special to Stars and Stripes
Stars and Stripes Scene, Sunday, August 2, 2009
Q. My 22-year-old son, a Marine, came back from nine months in Iraq and now will not even speak to me. My son who left for Iraq came back very different. I raised him, practically by myself, sacrificed for him and gave him the best upbringing I could. He never went hungry, dirty or did without. He was fine before he left and while he was there. He called me from Iraq a couple of times and sent e-mails back and forth.

I don’t know what happened to change him like this. I do know that he suffers from (post-traumatic stress disorder) and he was in a dangerous zone there, but why has he turned on me, his mother?

He came back from Iraq and two months later, he married a girl he barely knew that he met up with on MySpace while in Iraq.

Has anyone else heard of a case like this? My son still keeps in contact with his high school friends also, but not me. This has broken my heart. The pain is indescribable.
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Counsel for a Marine mother

The advice given on Spouse Calls by Terri Barnes was good on two levels. First she told the Marine Mom to get counseling for herself. The other level was that she shared her own story with the Marine Mom. Barnes also told her to learn what PTSD is. This is something everyone should learn at the very least, so they can pass on the information especially to other military families.

PTSD is a wound that cuts into emotions. Love is one of the targets. They end up pushing away the people that loved them the most, knew them best, because they no longer feel like they are the same person. Inside the old person is still there but they cannot find "themselves" in their own skin.

Sons push away parents. Daughters push away parents. Spouses push away wives/husbands. At a time when they needed these people most in their lives, they push them out of their lives. Most will say that they don't want the other person to know what's inside of them. They fear the person they love the most will end up hating them so it's easier to just push them away first.

Even more complicated is the "need" they have to be loved is working in the opposite direction. Serial marriages are part of it. They can hide the pain they have for a while as the fantasy of a "new life" fills them with false hope that this time things will be different. This time they will be happy. This time they will be loved. Sometimes the flashbacks don't seem as strong or hit as often. Other times the nightmares may stop coming every night. The "honeymoon" stage wears off and it all comes back. Depending on the understanding of the spouse and the ability they have to cope with PTSD in their lives, this can either help the veteran or quickly end another marriage.

The VA is seeing a lot of older veterans seeking help for the first time with PTSD. Part of the reason is they are finally understanding what has been going on inside of them all along because of outreach efforts and media attention. The most striking reason is that they are no longer working having retired. When they went to work after WWII, Korea, Vietnam and the Gulf War, they sunk themselves into their jobs avoiding any focus on the changes in them. They became "workaholics" focusing on work alone. Every time the demons of combat began to strike, they avoided dealing with any of them and quickly changed their focus onto work. Work was not remembering "who they were inside" before combat. It didn't demand love they couldn't really feel as much as they wanted to. Distant and detached from the rest of the family, they grew accustomed to the reactions or lack of reactions.

Once they retire, there is nothing to hide behind. They are forced to see what has been there all along.

In other cases, it is not so much hiding their emotions in work, but mild PTSD striking full force after suffering emotionally. Secondary traumas or "secondary stressors" strike without warning. It is the one "too many times" assault on their emotions. It could be the loss of a spouse, parents, children, an accident, a natural disaster or crime sending mild PTSD into PTSD on steroids.

A WWII veteran, lived his life as a professional, long term married believing he had a good life. He was a lawyer. He wouldn't talk about WWII except to tell impersonal accounts or funny stories. One night his apartment was broken into. That was all it took. Nightmares stuck and flashbacks invaded. Every sound became someone else wanting to break in. Doors and windows were constantly checked. Alarms were put in as fear took hold.

These traumatic events in lives already assaulted by PTSD become a living hell.

They hope if they close their eyes and shut their ears it will all go away. They escape what They do not want to face with whatever they can find. Drugs, alcohol, work, new love, driving too fast, dangerous sports, pushing away people once close to them and seeking others they feel nothing for is all safety in the storm for them.

Believing if they do not feel anything, they will feel no more pain at the same time they want to feel all the good they used to feel.

If people in their lives do not know what is happening, there is a sense of wondering taking hold. We blame ourselves, wonder what we did wrong or what we did not do at all. It eats away at us like this Marine Mom wondering why her son has pulled away from her. It happens all the time. When it comes to PTSD, what we do not know can destroy us, eat away at our self confidence and change us to the point where we can't recognized who we are. Often living with PTSD in our homes can cause what is called Secondary PTSD. That comes from all the chaos and confusion living on the roller coaster ride of emotions out of control in the other person. If we know what is behind all of it, it gives us tools to cope and respond in the right way so that emotional turmoil does not escalate. Again, everyone should learn what PTSD especially if you are involved with someone in the military or a veteran. Knowledge could end up saving "you" instead of leaving everything you were sure of behind.

Mental trouble is no less real

Mental trouble is no less real
By Mark M. Rasenick
August 2, 2009
Men and women serving in our armed forces are returning home with not only broken bodies, but broken brains. According to a recent Pentagon health survey, 31 percent of Marines, 38 percent of Army soldiers and 49 percent of National Guard members suffered from anger, depression or alcohol abuse after they came home from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The Army recently announced that it will fund the largest study ever undertaken about suicide and the mental health of military personnel.

Researchers will try to identify the risks and the factors that may protect soldiers from mental health problems.

The problems in the military cut across the entire U.S. population. According to the National Institute for Mental Health, suicide is the fourth leading cause of death among 25- to 44-year-olds in the U.S. Depression impairs 15 million Americans each year. That's more people than are affected by cancer, AIDS or coronary heart disease. Women are twice as likely as men to suffer from depression.
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Mental trouble is no less real

After Combat, Victims of an Inner War

This hasn't gotten any easier over the years. I've been at this for so long now that it should be easy to just post these stories and move on. It should be, but I doubt it will ever stop hurting. If anything, the pain in my soul of having to still be reading about the suffering of our troops, our veterans and their families, cuts even deeper. We do a great job sending them off to risk their lives for us, but after that, well, they're someone else's problem. They're all stuck in a political game right in the middle of the Right ranting that other people are "Bush bashing" and the Left screaming about how they all need to just come home. Is anyone screaming about them? Is anyone willing to stuff politics, their own ideology, their own power trip, long enough to notice what is happening to them?

I have to read the emails from both sides and most of it has nothing to do with anything we can do anything about today. They have nothing to do with the troops suffering from PTSD, being pushed into such a deep depression that they lose all hope, or what they come home with haunting them. Cable news is useless when they could be reporting on what has been happening all along, but they don't want to bother. People, well they want to be entertained so very few will bother to read this article beyond the first page, if they read it at all. They get their news from their TV sets so if the broadcasts don't bother to tell them, they will never know and the troops, well, they'll just keep paying the price.

Clinton Gill
Sgt. Jacob Blaylock, seated left, one of four in his Guard unit to commit suicide, at the grave of Sgt. Brandon Wallace.

Suicide's Rising Toll
After Combat, Victims of an Inner War

By ERICA GOODE
Published: August 1, 2009
Sgt. Jacob Blaylock flipped on the video camera he had set up in a trailer at the Tallil military base, southeast of Baghdad.


He lit a cigarette, inhaled deeply, blew the smoke upward.

“Hey, it’s Jackie,” he said. “It’s the 20th of April. We go home in six days. I lost two good friends on the 14th. I’m having a hard time dealing with it.”

For almost a year, the soldiers of the 1451st Transportation Company had been escorting trucks full of gasoline, building materials and other supplies along Iraq’s dark, dangerous highways. There had been injuries, but no one had died.

Their luck evaporated less than two weeks before they were to return home, in the spring of 2007. A scout truck driving at the front of a convoy late at night hit a homemade bomb buried in the asphalt. Two soldiers, Sgt. Brandon Wallace and Sgt. Joshua Schmit, were killed.

The deaths stunned the unit, part of the North Carolina National Guard. The two men were popular and respected — “big personalities,” as one soldier put it. Sergeant Blaylock, who was close to both men, seemed especially shaken. Sometime earlier, feeling the strain of riding the gunner position in the exposed front truck, he had switched places with Sergeant Wallace, moving to a Humvee at the rear.

“It was supposed to be me,” he would tell people later.

The losses followed the men and women of the 1451st home as they dispersed to North Carolina and Tennessee, New York and Oklahoma, reuniting with their families and returning to their jobs.

Sergeant Blaylock went back to Houston, where he tried to pick up the pieces of his life and shape them into a whole. But grief and guilt trailed him, combining with other stresses: financial troubles, disputes with his estranged wife over their young daughter, the absence of the tight group of friends who had helped him make it through 12 months of war.

On Dec. 9, 2007, Sergeant Blaylock, heavily intoxicated, lifted a 9-millimeter handgun to his head during an argument with his girlfriend and pulled the trigger. He was 26.
read more here
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/02/us/02suicide.html?_r=1&hp

2 Ft. Lewis soldiers sentenced in UW robberies

2 Ft. Lewis soldiers sentenced in UW robberies

By KOMO Staff SEATTLE -- Two Fort Lewis soldier have been sentenced for his role in an attack near the University of Washington earlier this year.

Pvt. 1st Class Chad A. Braden, 19, of Etna, Ohio, and Pvt. Robert E. Lucas, Jr., 20, of Murfreesboro, Tenn. were sentenced to 34 months in jail on Friday after reaching a plea deal. The two pleaded guilty to beating and robbing two men in January.

But before the judge made his decision, Braden broke down in tears and apologized to the victims and his own family.
read more here
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/52233972.html

National Guard Mom watches daughter grow a world away

Mother logs on, watches her daughter grow up a world away
By James Janega and Sara Olkon Tribune reporters
August 2, 2009

In the predawn darkness, Ashley Calhoun's laptop cast a blue glow over her tiny Army National Guard cubicle as she adjusted her Web camera so she could be seen in her living room back home.

"You have to say hi to Mommy," he told their daughter. At the moment, the toddler wasn't interested, another torment for her mother in a year of missed milestones.


Around her in the tight quarters were a still-warm bunk, a folding metal chair, a 9 mm pistol on the floor and 103 photographs fixed to the wall -- all but five chronicling the life of a little girl Calhoun has watched grow up over the Internet during the year she has spent in Afghanistan.

"Zoey, come and see Mommy," Ashley Calhoun begged softly in her plywood barracks. "Please?"

Thousands of miles from her home in Rockton, Ill., yet connected through a peculiar online intimacy, Calhoun watched on her computer display as her husband, Tim Calhoun, turned off the family television in an attempt to coax Zoey's attention from a Dora the Explorer cartoon to her mother's image on the computer.

The girl was 14 months old when Ashley Calhoun left home, committed to a career in the National Guard and resolved to endure the separation. Since then, however, the Rockford police officer has missed a year of holidays and watching her child learn how to run. Zoey has discovered how to ride a tricycle, started to speak in sentences and gotten dressed up for her first class picture, all without her mother's help.
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Thousands attend memorial for slain Border Patrol agent

Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times
Thousands attend memorial for slain Border Patrol agent
The Border Patrol honor guard stands at attention before carrying agent Robert Rosas' flag-draped coffin from a memorial service at the Southwest High School theater in El Centro.

About 4,000 attend a service for Robert Rosas, who was shot dead while on duty in eastern San Diego County. Mexican authorities have detained five men in connection with the case.
Associated Press
6:27 PM PDT, July 31, 2009


EL CENTRO, CALIF. -- A Border Patrol agent who was slain in a rugged, remote area along the Mexican border was buried today after being remembered as a gregarious family man who dreamed that his 2-year-old son would follow in his footsteps.

About 4,000 people attended a memorial service for Robert Rosas, 30, who was found dead with bullet wounds to his head and body on the night of July 23 in Campo, about 60 miles east of San Diego. People crowded the aisles of Southwest High School's theater, and many agents arrived too late to get even a glimpse of the service on closed-circuit television in the adjoining gym.
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Thousands attend memorial for slain Border Patrol agent

Women's Air Force Service pilot flew in World War II

Women's Air Force Service pilot flew in World War II
WASP Marjory Munn, an aviation pioneer, dies at 88.

By Nancy Bartley

Seattle Times staff reporter


Marjory Munn received a three-year appointment in 1983 to the Defense Advisory Committee On Women in the Services, the equivalent of being a lieutenant general when visiting bases for inspections.

Marjory Munn was a West Virginia-born beautician when she won a contest that would change her life. The prize was flying lessons, and they opened a world Mrs. Munn had never experienced and for the first time made her feel totally free, she said in 1993.

Mrs. Munn, who in 1943 became a Women's Air Force Service Pilot, or WASP, continued flying and became one of a group of women who flew noncombat missions in the U.S. during World War II. She died July 25 of cancer. She was 88.

In early July, President Obama signed an order giving the more than 1,000 WASPs the Congressional Gold Medal for their service. Mrs. Munn will receive hers posthumously in January.

"She was a very remarkable woman and a great lady," said Dr. Bonnie J. Dunbar, chief executive officer of the Museum of Flight, in which Mrs. Munn was deeply involved for years. "If you look back in history, women started flying not long after the Wright Brothers but never flew in combat. The WASPs were put together to train other pilots and test airplanes, and they did it before the era of good navigation. Their performance opened the door to many ... in aviation and space."
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Women Air Force Service pilot flew in World War II

Killer python owner: 'It was a terrible, awful accident'

Killer python owner: 'It was a terrible, awful accident'
In his first interview with the Orlando Sentinel, Charles Darnell said he has been stricken by grief in the month since the family's pet Burmese python suffocated his girlfriend's 2-year-daughter in her crib in a rural community about 60 miles northwest of Orlando.

Anthony Colarossi

Sentinel Staff Writer

6:41 PM EDT, July 31, 2009


Almost a month ago, a pet Burmese python escaped from its enclosure in a rural Sumter County home and suffocated 2-year-old Shaiunna Hare as she slept in her crib.

The attack made international headlines and became a convenient tragedy for politicians and bureaucrats to use as they called for organized hunts of wild Burmese.

But for Charles Darnell and his girlfriend Jaren A. Hare, the loss was indescribable.

The last month left them mourning a child they loved, questioning themselves for becoming so trusting of the snake and worrying if criminal charges will come.

Darnell, 32, spoke Friday in his first interview with the Orlando Sentinel.

He said the child's death has altered his life forever and made him a "monster" in the eyes of many around the world and in his tiny town Oxford, 60 miles northwest of Orlando.
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It was a terrible awful accident

Police: 13 year old boy carjacked woman, grandchildren at gunpoint

Police: Boy carjacked woman, grandchildren at gunpoint

Susan Jacobson

Sentinel Staff Writer

10:27 PM EDT, July 31, 2009


A 13-year-old boy carjacked a woman and her three grandchildren today in broad daylight, authorities said.

The boy pointed a handgun at the woman as she walked to her car in the Circuit City plaza at 1140 E. Altamonte Drive about 3:20 p.m., Altamonte police Officer Timothy Hyer said.

"Give me your keys," he said, according to investigators.

The woman complied, and the boy fumbled for a couple of minutes before he got the car started and took off, Hyer said.
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Boy carjacked woman, grandchildren at gunpoint

Skeletal remains believed to be missing homeless veteran

Skeletal remains believed to be missing homeless veteran in Riviera Beach

By ADAM PLAYFORD

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Thursday, July 30, 2009

RIVIERA BEACH — The police made two announcements about Gary Dale Wilson this week, back to back: Person lost, remains found.

Person lost: Homeless, veteran, 61, 5-foot-10, 140 pounds, missing two months, very ill, needs medicine.

Remains found: In woods, south of Martin Luther King Boulevard. Near a dozen bottles of medicine and cans of liquid food and a little wooden shelter just big enough for someone to sleep comfortably. Still seeking his family.

The medical examiner has not yet given the skeleton a name. But the bottles' labels said Gary Dale Wilson, and Gary Dale Wilson's Veterans Affairs Hospital medication card was there.

OK, then. So who was Gary Dale Wilson?
read more here and find out who he was
Skeletal remains believed to be missing homeless veteran

VA claims process needs radical changes

Filner: VA claims process needs radical changes

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Aug 1, 2009 10:33:21 EDT

Improving the veterans’ claims process will require more than just hiring more staff, the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee chairman said Friday.

Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., said in an interview that radical change is needed to eliminate the backlog of claims and make the whole process easier for veterans by automatically accepting claims for disabilities rated at 30 percent or less, with only spot-checking for accuracy.

Filner called this the “IRS model,” a reference to the Internal Revenue Service process of auditing a small percentage of federal income tax returns, not every one.

He said automatic claims approval, with some auditing, is a way of clear what he estimates are 100,000 claims from Vietnam veterans related to exposure to Agent Orange. And the practice also could put a big dent in the overall backlog of all claims pending before VA, which Filner estimates to be almost 1 million.

“When you are getting to a 1 million backlog, the insult is so great you really have to do something,” he said.
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VA claims process needs radical changes

Illinois Soldier Dies in Afghanistan

Illinois Soldier Dies in Afghanistan

WSIL-TV- An Illinois soldier based in Marion has died in Afghanistan. The National Guard says 19-year- old Specialist Gerrick Smith of Sullivan died Wednesday. His injuries were NON-Combat related.
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Illinois Soldier Dies in Afghanistan

First lady offers a White House welcome for Hampton Roads sailors

First lady offers a White House welcome for Hampton Roads sailors

By Hugh Lessig

247-7821

10:30 PM EDT, July 31, 2009


NORFOLK - First lady Michelle Obama on Friday pledged the administration's continued support for military families in addressing homecoming sailors, their spouses and children at Naval Station Norfolk.

"I will use every ounce of my power in this position to highlight the sacrifices that you make, and to rally the country around you," she said. "It won't stop today."

Mrs. Obama addressed military families in the 2008 presidential campaign and has maintained that theme during her husband's first months in office.

Hampton Roads offered her a built-in audience.

Some 6,000 sailors arrived home this week with the return of the aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower from supporting coalition forces in Afghanistan.

Also this week, the USNS Comfort arrived in Norfolk, bringing home 42 staff members of Naval Medical Center Portsmouth from a four-month humanitarian mission in the Caribbean and Central and South America.

Speaking directly to an audience of about 250 on a wind-whipped pier, the first lady praised the crews of the Ike and the Comfort and highlighted areas of President Barack Obama's budget that benefit service members. That includes a pay raise and more permanent forces to reduce the stress of long deployments.
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First lady offers a White House welcome for Hampton Roads sailors

The Pirate Hunters Marines return to Camp Pendleton

Pirate-chasing Marines return to Camp Pendleton
2:40 PM July 31, 2009


The official nickname of Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 267 is "The Stingers."

But for the seven-month deployment with the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit that ended in a joyous homecoming Friday at Camp Pendleton, the squadron had a new name: "The Pirate Hunters."

Flying off the amphibious assault ship Boxer, the squadron's Hueys and Cobras chased pirates in the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Aden, and the waters off Somali. The presence of the loud and heavily armed helos gave warning to the pirates to leave the merchant ships alone.


Capt. John Geisler told his wife via e-mail to watch for the Jolly Roger flag in the cockpit window of his Cobra. And so when Tristan Geisler, 28, spotted the needle-nosed chopper as it landed and taxied into position, she let out a shout.
read more at link above

Iraq wounded vet's clash with Boise police still a mystery

Reasons for Iraq vet's clash with Boise police still a mystery
By Patrick Orr - porr@idahostatesman.com
Published: 07/30/09
George Nickel Jr. couldn't explain to police why he used a rifle to shoot into a Vista neighborhood apartment complex and pointed a handgun at officers, according to court testimony Thursday.

Nickel is being held in the Ada County Jail on a $500,000 bond -- which is half as much as Ada County prosecutors said is necessary to keep the 38-year-old former Iraq vet incarcerated after an armed confrontation with Boise police late Tuesday night.

Boise police say Nickel told them he was looking for his dog in his apartment building when he used an AR-15 rifle to try to shoot the locks off two different doors. Minutes later, Boise police say, officers confronted him in a stairway and fired an estimated 12 rounds at Nickel, who was seen holding a handgun with a flashlight attached and didn't shoot back. No one was struck by any of the gunfire, police say.

A few new details emerged during Nickel's court arraignment Thursday, but they did not include a possible motive.

After he was arrested, Nickel could not explain to Boise police why he shot at the doors and confronted officers. All he said was that on a scale of one to 10, he was angry to the level of nine, Ada County Deputy Prosecutor Whitney Faulkner said.
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http://www.idahostatesman.com/mobile/story/851137.html

Too few Medals of Honor for Iraq, Afghan valor

Too few Medals of Honor for Iraq, Afghan valor?
By KEVIN FREKING (AP) – 1 hour ago

WASHINGTON — Eight years of war in Afghanistan and Iraq. About 4,000 U.S. soldiers killed in action. More than 34,000 wounded. Just six considered worthy of America's highest military award for battlefield valor.

For some veterans and members of Congress, that last number doesn't add up.

They question how so few Medals of Honor — all awarded posthumously — could be bestowed for wars of such magnitude and duration.

Pentagon officials say the nature of war has changed. Laser-guided missiles destroy enemy positions without putting soldiers in harm's way. Insurgents deploy roadside bombs rather than engage in firefights they're certain to lose.

Those explanations don't tell the whole story, said Rep. Duncan Hunter, a first-term lawmaker who served combat tours as a Marine in Iraq and Afghanistan. He has sponsored legislation that directs the defense secretary to review current trends in awarding the Medal of Honor to determine what's behind the low count.

The bill passed the House. If Senate negotiators go along, Secretary Robert Gates would have to report back by March 31.

"It seems like our collective standard for who gets the Medal of Honor has been raised," said Hunter, R-Calif.

"The basis of warfare is you've got to take ground and then you've got to hold it. That takes people walking into houses, running up hills, killing bad guys and then staying there and rebuffing counterattacks," he said. "That's how warfare has always been no matter how many bombs you drop and how many predators you have flying around."

The Medal of Honor has been awarded 3,467 times since the Civil War. Almost half — 1,522 — were awarded in that conflict alone. The next highest tally came from World War II — 464. In the Vietnam War, 244 were awarded.

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Too few Medals of Honor for Iraq, Afghan valor

Veterans Groups using horse sense

NWS Vail Veterans Program 1 DT 7-31-09 Dominique Taylor/dtaylor@vaildaily.com Army specialist Keith Maul, center, gets a hand getting off his horse from volunteer Cricket McLaren, during the Vail Veterans' summer program Friday at Yarmony Creek Lodge along the Colorado River Road. Miller, who lost his leg and his arm while serving in Iraq in Feburary, was enjoying getting back on a horse after his own horse bucked him off a few weeks ago.

Vail vets: ‘Best treatment out there'
Vail program take 14 injured vets fishing, horseback riding, rafting and camping
Lauren Glendenning
lglendenning@vaildaily.com
Vail, CO Colorado
VAIL, Colorado — Less than six months ago Keith Maul had two arms and two legs — now he's learning to get around with a prosthetic right arm and right leg after a grenade exploded on top of his vehicle near Baghdad.

You'd never know it happened so recently — Maul is moving around almost effortlessly and his attitude is positive.

“I just try to be happy and cheerful around everybody,” he said.

Maul is one of 14 of veterans in town for the Vail Veteran's Program. Different groups of injured soldiers come to Vail in both the winters and the summers to get active and realize their injuries can't stop them from doing whatever they want to accomplish, said Cheryl Jensen, the program's founder.
read more here
http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20090731/NEWS/907319946/1078&ParentProfile=1062

These programs are wonderful and Florida has our own program taking care of wounded veterans

Welcome and Thank you for Visiting SouthFloridaVets.org
The South Florida Veterans Multi-Purpose Center (VMPC), is unique. It was started by Veterans in 1989 out of a single desire to help and benefit all Veterans and their families in South Florida.

Since the granting of its IRS 501(c)(3) Tax Exempt status in 1991, the Center has been involved in a broad base of Veteran services. The Center works closely with the VA and other government agencies as well as the public and private sectors to provide quality services and benefits to Veterans throughout Florida.

We are proud that we are the only Veterans organization in South Florida with an IRS 501(c)(3) status that:


Provides professional referral and outreach services to Veterans utilizing public, private, and government organizations.


Owns and operates a Mobile Veterans Center that travels throughout the state and participates in community based Veterans' events.


Funds food programs for Indigent Veterans and their families.


Partnerships with other non-profits for the sole purpose of providing transitional housing for homeless veterans.


Provides a substance abuse and recovery program for Veterans.


Doesn't have special eligibility requirements for veterans to receive services.


Our position is to work towards making a change in the life of veterans who have suffered from the trauma of war or any other duty-related issue. Our goal is to provide veterans of all ranks, backgrounds, and socioeconomic statuses with the services they need and deserve.

We recognize that substance abuse and alcoholism is alarmingly prevalent among veterans. For this reason we dedicate a good portion of our programs and projects to those suffering from the trauma of war (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD) and those who may need ongoing counseling and special assistance.

They need donations to keep providing help to our wounded!

On a personal note, last year, when I was about as depressed as I could get, I received an email from Bob offering to help with the work I do. He found my videos on YouTube and thought they would be very helpful. He is a dear, caring man focused on making life better for our wounded veterans. Bob also made a donation to the work I do. This was at a time when the IRS had me so confused I didn't know what the hell I was doing. I know a lot about PTSD but not the rest of this cluster of bureaucratic mess. I asked for a tax exempt number. It took almost a year to figure out what I was told on the phone by the IRS rep was wrong. Working alone, it has been extremely difficult to figure out exactly what I had to do but I'm learning. The IFOC and I set up a Charter for me. While I have the certificate of Charter from the IFOC, I found out there is more needed to be done before I am registered with the IRS. Donations made to me after July 1 will be tax exempt but I'm asking you not to donate to me right now. Please donate to the South Florida Vets instead. (Believe me, I'll be asking for all the help I can get once everything is done with the IRS because I'm flat broke and really tired of going to H and R Block to be told I can't keep taking a loss and still be considered a business.)

People doing this work not only face very stressful and heart tugging times, they also have to face a mountain of paperwork to provide the work they do. I have a greater appreciation of groups like the South Florida Veterans than ever before after understanding what kind of other things they have to go through to provide help to our veterans. Working with veterans is what we have been called to do and it one of the most gratifying pleasures to see their days a little easier. It is also expensive. The South Florida Veterans not only have to pay the usual expenses, they also have to care and feed their horses. Even is you only have little to spare to donate, please do it and support this organization that is helping so many of our veterans.

Thank you for your interest in donation to the South Florida MPC. Please make a donation using any of the following methods:

Mail us your donations:
South Florida Veterans Multi-Purpose Center
4311 SW 63rd Avenue
Davie, FL 33314
Phone: 954-791-8603

They also have a PayPal button on site.

Our Director: Mr. Robert Bambury
Veterans Affairs Field Services Representative

Mr. Bambury is the Executive Director of the Center and is accredited by the Department of Veterans Affairs. He is assigned responsibilities involving the coordination of benefits and other related services for eligible veterans and their dependents and as legal representative/Power of Attorney on their behalf before U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (USDVA) federal boards. Serves as an advocate for veterans in order to maximize services and benefits for eligible veterans and their families in a designated geographical area. Serves as a liaison to other federal and state agencies in matters related to veterans services and benefits. Interviews veterans and families assessing their needs and eligibility as related to receipt of state and federal benefits in the areas of medical treatment, disability compensation, insurance, pension, debt management, education, training, rehabilitation and housing placement.

Performs case management duties throughout the processes of assessment, researching information, compiling reports, filing claims, formulating appeals, and obtaining benefits; interprets laws, rules, regulations and procedures and provides assistance in the completion of required forms; counsels and assists clients in utilization of appropriate resources, identifies deficiencies and develops a strategy to initiate actions necessary to obtain maximum benefits; advises clients of documentation required to support benefit claims; and makes referrals to other agencies and resources.


Reviews rating board decisions insuring compliance with Title 38 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations; determines if appeal is warranted; initiates the appeal process by preparing a written brief outlining the basis of disagreement; and obtain client's Power of Attorney to utilize as necessary.


Prepares financial statements and interprets the correlation of Social Security, military retirement, other income and net worth affecting USDVA pension and compensation; assists clients in dealing with USDVA Debt Management Agency; prepares financial reports to support client's request for waiver, postponement, compromise offers, or repayment plan for benefit overpayments.


Independently reviews client USDVA files, evaluates evidence including veterans' service and post-service medical records, as well as service histories; researches laws, regulations, policies and case law/precedent decisions from USDVA Board of Veterans Appeals and US Court of Veterans Appeals to prepare for hearings; and writes appellant briefs on issues that were previously adjudicated at a lower level.


Acts as claimant's legal representative during informal hearings before USDVA decision review officers, formal hearings before USDVA administrative hearing officers and Board of Veterans Appeals administrative law judges; presents oral arguments during hearings; obtains sworn testimony during formal hearings through a series of questions that are supportive of the issues on appeal.

By Direction of the Board 2008

Suspect in gay sailor's death commits suicide

Suspect in gay sailor's death commits suicide
Story Highlights
Sailor charged in death of gay sailor found dead in brig, officials say

Officials believe Jonathan Campos asphyxiated himself

Seaman August Provost was shot, killed during sentry duty in June


(CNN) -- A sailor accused of killing another sailor was found dead in his cell in a southern California military jail, officials said Friday.


Petty Officer Jonathan Campos was found dead in the brig at the Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in San Diego, a military statement said.

The cause of death was self-inflicted asphyxiation, according to the statement.
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Suspect in gay sailor death commits suicide

Florida ranks among the worst in the nation in volunteering

Floridians Rank 49th In Volunteering
Friday, July 31, 2009 6:49:29 AM

ORLANDO -- Florida ranks among the worst in the nation when it comes to the number of people who volunteer.

Figures from the Corporation for National and Community Service show the state ranks 49th when it comes to people giving their time. The study ranked all U.S. states and the District of Columbia.

From 2006 to 2008, 19.6 percent of Floridians volunteered. Only Nevada and New York ranked lower with 18.8 and 18.7 percent respectively. The national average is nearly 26.5 percent. Utah ranked first with 43.5 percent.

The report only includes people who volunteer for official organizations, and doesn't include things like helping neighbors.
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Floridians Rank 49th In Volunteering

Take back KBR bonuses, senators urge Pentagon over electrical work

Take back KBR bonuses, senators urge Pentagon
Story Highlights
Military contractor has been awarded $83.4 million for its electrical work in Iraq
Dems ask to reclaim bonuses in light of report blaming KBR in part for death
Report says KBR failed to ground water pump, leading to soldier's electrocution
KBR defends its performance, says safety and security is its "top priority"


From Abbie Boudreau and Scott Bronstein
CNN Special Investigations Unit

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Two Democratic senators called on the Pentagon to take back more than $83 million in bonuses paid to military contractor KBR after a Defense Department report criticized its electrical work on U.S. bases overseas.



"I want them to tell us on what basis can they possibly continue to justify having paid $83 million of the taxpayers' money for shoddy work that resulted in risk to our soldiers," Sen. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota told reporters Friday.

Dorgan said he and Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania are pressing Defense Department officials to reclaim $83.4 million in bonus payments it awarded KBR for its work in Iraq.
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Take back KBR bonuses senators urge Pentagon