Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Labor Department Offers VETS Grants

Labor Department Offers VETS Grants
Week of June 14, 2010
The U.S. Department of Labor's Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS) announced a $750,000 grant competition aimed at supporting Department of Labor grantees that provide employment services to homeless veterans and veterans at risk of becoming homeless. National Technical Assistance Center Cooperative Agreements grants will establish partnerships that will, in turn, continue and improve training, technical assistance, research and other support services offered by more than 150 existing grantees that work with homeless and at risk veterans. For more information on this solicitation, call 202-693-4570 or visit grants.gov and the Department of Labor VETS webpage.

Warriors Not Forgotten Motorcycle Run


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The “Warriors Not Forgotten Motorcycle Run” to assist severely wounded returning veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan will be sponsored by RI-4GIs for the Wounded Warrior Project on June 27, beginning with staging at 9 a.m. and kickstands up at 11 a.m.

This ride will be hosted by and begin at VFW Post 9404, 29 South Main St., Coventry RI 02816.Riders will return to the VFW post where food, entertainment, prizes and raffles will be available. The cost per person is $25. There are 1,765 veterans in New England considered severely wounded who need support and help.

Bikers please show your support for our wounded veterans.

Contact; frankmarabello@aol.com

Missing in America honors abandoned veterans' remains

Historic service honors abandoned veterans' remains
By JOHN FRIEDLEIN

jfriedlein@thenewsenterprise.com

After Lisa Hutchings’ father died more than 20 years ago, she assumed the Korean War veteran’s cremated remains were interred for good.

Then about two months ago she received a phone call: Somebody had found the remains.

“I didn’t know they were lost,” she said.

The veteran — along with more than 30 others and some of their wives — received a military burial and service Monday at a Radcliff cemetery. Their ashes had sat neglected for years.

The Missing in America Project recovered the remains from the University of Louisville, which stored them after Eastern Cemetery was charged with violations and targeted by vandals. The remains belong to veterans who served in wars from World War I to the Korean War.
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Historic service honors abandoned veterans remains

"Hurt Locker" producers fire back at Iraq veteran

"Hurt Locker" producers fire back at Iraq veteran
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Producers of "The Hurt Locker" are firing back against the Iraq War veteran who claimed that his life story was ripped off to create the Academy Award-winning drama.

Master Sgt. Jeffrey S. Sarver filed his case with much fanfare just days before the film won best picture at the Oscars in March. He claimed the depiction of an Army bomb squad was a thinly veiled account of his own story.

According to Sarver's complaint, journalist/screenwriter Mark Boal breached an agreement with the U.S. military that restricted the reporting of detailed personal information about service members. Sarver said the information was used in Boal's Playboy article and then the screenplay for "The Hurt Locker," and that the depiction of the character of Will James violated his publicity rights, defamed him and caused emotional stress.

But now the defendants, including distributor Summit Entertainment, financier Voltage Pictures, Boal, director/producer Kathryn Bigelow and others, have responded to the complaint with a motion to dismiss.
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"Hurt Locker" producers fire back at Iraq veteran

Deadline to appeal PTSD rating one month away for some

File your appeal. It is not a handout. You earned it as soon as you decided to serve and paid for it the day the trauma began to take over. If you were hurt on the job in civilian life, would you hesitate to file a claim for Workman's Comp? Hell no! This was your job and you were hurt doing it. Had you not gone into combat, you wouldn't have been exposed to the traumatic events causing PTSD. That is after all the only way to get PTSD. It literally means "after trauma" with POST Traumatic Stress Disorder. Don't waste time so that later on in life you have regrets for not doing all you can now for your future.

Time Running Out for PTSD Sufferers to Claim Benefits
posted 06/14/10 5:46 pm posted by: Markham Evans

WASHINGTON - The U.S. military has agreed to pay millions of dollars to veterans who were discharged from the service for post-traumatic stress disorder with lower disability ratings than they are entitled to. But time is running out for those who are eligible.

The law says that veterans whose PTSD was serious enough to result in discharge from the military are entitled to 50-percent disability, which would give them and their families lifetime medical care, and, if the PTSD is combat-related, tax-free retirement payments, as well. But for some reason, Iraq (web news) war veteran Ryan Peck and more than 4,000 others did not receive the 50-percent rating.

Enter Lawyers Serving Warriors, volunteers like Morgan Lewis attorney James Kelley, who provide free legal assistance to people like Peck through the National Veterans Legal Services program.



But there's a catch: Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans like Peck have only until July 24 to apply for the 50-percent rating.


read more here
http://www.news8.net/news/stories/0610/745743.html

Monday, June 14, 2010

A show of gratitude for Vietnam Vets felt deeply

A show of gratitude
By: MANASEE WAGH
Bucks County Courier Times
The field of red, white and blue stretching out before the patriotic crowd drew tears from many who remembered loved ones lost in the line of duty.

At the 25th annual Flag Day memorial ceremony by the Delaware Veterans, 58,000 miniature American flags fluttered in the humid breeze at Falls Community Park.

Named the Donald W. Jones Flag Memorial for local Sept. 11 victim Donald W. Jones, the afternoon ceremony started with a motorcycle rally by the Delaware Valley group. It drew more than 200 people Sunday and hundreds more for a Saturday concert that celebrated veterans' contributions.

Members of the Delaware Valley group and community volunteers stuck the flags in the grass on Friday. Each flag honors an American killed doing his or her duty. In the middle of the array of patriotic colors, volunteers planted a field of nearly 2,000 black flags to pay solemn tribute to soldiers still missing in action.

Together, the individual flags create the shape of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Patriotic songs set the mood, including a rendition of the "Star Spangled Banner," and "Amazing Grace" by the Bucks Caledonian Pipe Band and poems about remembering fallen soldiers by various speakers.

"It's altogether fitting and proper that we should have a day to recognize the symbol of this country and all it represents. Each of these three by five flags represents a human life. It represents a loved one. They gave their life for a principle, an idea," said Bucks County Commissioner James Cawley, one of several speakers that included various local lawmakers, veterans and their family members.
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William Dayton, who used to be Falls Supervisor and recommended holding the annual memorial at Falls Park, said the event helps war veterans heal. It especially helps those who didn't receive thanks when they came home from battle emotionally and physically scarred, he said.

"At night after the flags are put in the ground, Vietnam veterans come stand here. Some of them break down. It's an emotional cleansing. They saw a lot of ugliness over there. This is an in-your-face thank you. It's gratitude," he said.
A show of gratitude

Motorcycles roll across Eastern Connecticut have "Reason to Ride"

They wear leather, so does my husband and so do I. They have long hair turning gray, so does my husband and so do I. (Well, his is a lot more gray than mine is.) Some drink a lot but some don't drink at all. Some of them have to be worried about other drivers wanting to run them off the road while others are just afraid of the bikers. What really gets to me is when most of the American public have no clue what these leather wearing bikers do on most of the rides they go on. They ride in all kinds of weather, all kinds of temperatures and road conditions. They are usually spotted in large groups called "packs" because they have to stay together usually because they need to be in a certain place at a certain time as well as the fact if one of them breaks down, they all come to help. They do all of this because there is someone, somewhere needing some help and they do it all the time. Next time you see a motorcycle with a couple on it, think of that and know, they are putting themselves out for the sake of someone else.



Motorcycles roll across Eastern Connecticut to raise money for vets in need
12th annual event draws more than 900 people, 450 bikes

By DEBORAH STRASZHEIM
Norwich Bulletin
Posted Jun 13, 2010 @ 11:46 PM
Plainfield, Conn. — Perhaps Lori Sadosky always had a reason to ride, even before her friend needed help from the motorcycle run that raises money for veterans.

But now the event, A Reason to Ride, held Sunday for the 12th year, is different to her because she knows where the money goes.

Sadosky, of Canterbury, said her friend’s husband was a Vietnam veteran.

The couple had a two-bedroom house in Plainfield when he was diagnosed with cancer. He got too sick to work, his wife quit her job to care for him, and they fell behind on their mortgage payments.

“Her husband was her life,” Sadosky said of her friend.

The couple eventually were forced to sell the house, and Sadosky’s friend’s husband died. But while he was still living, A Reason to Ride paid their mortgage for one month, she said.

click link for the rest

USA Cares Marks Military Aid Milestone

$7 Million in 7 Years
USA Cares Marks Military Aid Milestone

Radcliff, KY (Vocus/PRWEB ) June 14, 2010 -- USA Cares is celebrating providing post-9/11 military and their families with $7 million dollars in assistance in seven years. This achievement represents financial aid given to thousands of families across the United States, its territories and military installations around the world. Specifically, the $7 million represents:

Over 22,000 clients helped—service members, veterans and their families
Over 1,000 homes saved from foreclosure or eviction
Over 2,000 children spared the trauma of displacement


Along with housing assistance, USA Cares assists with the real problems service members face every day including utility shut off, car repair, unemployment and access to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) treatment.
read more here
USA Cares Marks Military Aid Milestone

Military wants your poems

Poetry has drawn in observers since the beginning of time, pulling them into worlds and lives they never would have otherwise known. War poetry, perhaps the most heart wrenching of all, explains what the soul lives with. Between losing friends and watching enemy die, to not being home for milestones in their children's lives to missing the one they love back home, and yes, the occasional Dear John letter coming to inform the soldier they will not be there when they return home, poems know no generational boundaries. Reading poems held in achieves from the Revolutionary War all the way thru to the wars of today, while the vocabulary may vary, the message is the same and just as powerful as if it were written today on Facebook or a crunched down to an eloquent tweet on Twitter. These poem not only deliver a message from the soul, they also help to heal the soul of the writer as well as the reader.

This is a wonderful thing to participate in.

Share Your Poetry With Us
Posted by Brigadier General Loree K. Sutton, DCoE Director on June 14, 2010

DCoE Director Brig. Gen. Loree K. Sutton.


The DCoE Blog Team wants your poetry! Please scroll down to the end of the post to see the criteria for poem submissions. All poems should be e-mailed to Victoria.Shapiro.ctr@tma.osd.mil, in the body of the e-mail, not as an attachment.

The tradition of Warrior poetry is thousands of years old. For as long as wars have been fought, Soldiers have expressed their feelings and experiences with poems and creative writing – a powerful outlet to help heal the invisible wounds of war and foster an unprecedented level of understanding.

Today marks the United States Army’s 235th Birthday, and it is also Flag Day. As the Nation commemorates both, and we’re thinking of our Warriors, Veterans and their loved ones, I encourage you to share your writings with us.
read more here
Share Your Poetry With Us

Lt. Gen. Eric Schoomaker defends noncompliance on TBI tests calling it "no better than coin toss"

562,000 troops were tested once, before they left, but not after. Seems that the most important test would be for after deployment but this is the one not being done.

Military fails on brain-test follow-ups

By Gregg Zoroya - USA Today
Posted : Monday Jun 14, 2010 13:33:50 EDT

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has failed to comply with a congressional directive to give all troops tests before and after they serve in combat to measure their thinking abilities and uncover possible brain injuries, military records show.

More than 562,000 tests of troops taken before they deployed have not been re-administered on their return by military health officials, the records show. That means the Pentagon could be missing thousands of cases of brain injury, says Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., who helped write the 2008 order.

"This is a total failure," says Pascrell, co-chairman of the bipartisan Congressional Brain Injury Task Force. "We're failing to find TBI (traumatic brain injury) and post-traumatic stress disorder in an era when the military is trying to find and assist folks who need it."

Lt. Gen. Eric Schoomaker, the Army surgeon general, and other Army officials say the test is flawed and no better than a "coin flip."
read more here
Military fails on brain-test follow ups

Vietnam Vet, "Rose Garden" Marine Sgt. Taliano laid to rest


Ex-Marine, S.C. resident on famous poster dies
By PATRICK DONOHUE - The Beaufort Gazette
BEAUFORT —

Sgt. Chuck Taliano was awaiting an honorable discharge at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island in 1968 when a reservist writing a book about boot camp snapped a picture of him giving a recruit an “attitude readjustment.”


That cemented Taliano’s place in Corps legend.



Chuck Taliano, the mean-mugged drill instructor pictured on the Marine Corps’ ‘Rose Garden’ recruitment poster, died June 4.



The photo captured his snarling mug inches from a fresh-faced recruit with the caption, “We don’t promise you a rose garden.” It was on thousands of Marine Corps recruiting posters printed during the 1970s and 1980s.


The poster made Taliano a celebrity among Marines, said Stephen Wise, curator of the Parris Island Museum, where Taliano worked as manager of the gift shop.


“Everyone from generals to former privates would stop by to see him,” Wise said. “Everyone knew Chuck.”


Taliano, 65, died in his Beaufort home Friday after a long battle with multiple myeloma, a cancer of the plasma cells in bone marrow. A memorial service was held Wednesday for Taliano at the depot’s Recruit Chapel, and he will be buried today at Beaufort National Cemetery.



Read more: Ex Marine SC resident on famous poster dies

First Lady's Trip to Camp Pendleton Sparks GOP Criticism

This is a pretty appalling thing to do considering Michelle Obama has been visiting bases since the beginning, even before she became First Lady and has taken and active interest in meeting with Military Families! When political figures do something wrong, then yes, complain but when they do something good, for the right reasons, at least be honest if you have to say anything at all.

Denis Poroy, AP
First lady Michelle Obama speaks to troops and their families during a visit to Camp Pendleton on Sunday.

First Lady's Trip to Camp Pendleton Sparks GOP Criticism
Julie Watson

AP
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (June 13) -- After meeting with wounded Marines, first lady Michelle Obama told thousands of troops and their families Sunday that she is launching a national challenge to Americans to find ways to support them.

Since her husband took office, Obama has been visiting bases across the country as part of her mission to improve the quality of life for military families. She called Camp Pendleton and the surrounding Southern California cities a model for community support of troops.

But California Republicans called the event a publicity stunt to help Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who is running for a fourth term and has been criticized by opponents for not doing enough to support troops. President Barack Obama flew to California last month to support Boxer's fundraising efforts for her campaign.

The first lady said she came to Camp Pendleton for a simple reason: "To help the rest of our country better understand and appreciate the incredible service of you and your families, and to make sure your voices are heard back in Washington and that your needs are met."
read more here
First Lady Trip to Camp Pendleton Sparks GOP Criticism

for the rest of this story, this is what else went on

First lady at Pendleton: Take care of families
By Gretel C. Kovach,
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER


CAMP PENDLETON — First lady Michelle Obama brought her national call to action on behalf of military families to Camp Pendleton on Sunday, where she challenged each American to find a way to support service members and their loved ones.

Obama met privately with injured service members and their families at the Marine Corps base and then addressed a crowd of about 3,500 — most of them troops from the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force headquartered at the base near Oceanside.

“Given all that you and your family do to take care of America, America needs to take care of you,” she said. “Not just now, but for decades to come.”

The Camp Pendleton visit was one in a series of appearances by Obama to highlight one of her signature issues as first lady — the challenges military families continue to face during nearly a decade at war.
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First lady at Pendleton

UConn wants to know why you're angry?

Actually if they come up with ways to help you control your anger that would be a good thing but unless they are planning on addressing the spiritual side of PTSD, they will not be able to find the best way to treat it. Much like AA works on the spiritual issues, when ex-active-alcoholics stop drinking without addressing it, they end up being what is called a "dry drunk" and usually remain pretty nasty.

PTSD hits the emotional part of the brain and this should be directly tied to the spiritual life of anyone they treat. Without it, they are receiving only a third of the help they need. They need to be treated body, mind and soul.

Anger keeps soldiers alive and keeps them going long after their bodies are too tired to move. It keeps them alert long after they want to fall asleep. This emotion was part of the reason they survived and it is the strongest one even when they come home and cannot "get over it" when they have nothing else to fight against accept what is happening inside of them.
UConn seeks participants for study of PTSD, anger problems
Published 06/14/2010 12:00 AM

Men who served in the military in Afghanistan or Iraq are being sought for a University of Connecticut study comparing two treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder and anger problems.

An estimated 2,500 or more male Connecticut military personnel and veterans may require help with PTSD and anger problems, according to a UConn news release.
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UConn seeks participants for study of PTSD

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Author claims Post-traumatic stress disorder claims are just an excuse

It would be a great joy for this man to face some of the Vietnam Veterans and tell them this bit of news. Think of how much better they would feel to know they were faking all along so many years after they were in fact out of the military! I am sure this is really making sense to this person but to the rest of the world, he would be equal to the cavemen thinking fire was a bad thing. People like this are part of the reason we are not as far ahead on PTSD help than we are. They love to stand in the way of the help they need without ever once thinking of how many of the PTSD veterans would love to stay in the military and be healed instead of being jerked around like this and once again being blamed for what combat did to them. What's this person's excuse for the survivors of other kinds of trauma with PTSD? The people in New York after 9-11 would be trying to get out of what? PTSD goes back to the start of recorded history. What were they trying to "get out of?"

Post-traumatic stress disorder claims are just an excuse to quit the army, says best-selling SAS author Andy McNab
Former SAS soldier Andy McNab tells a Howard League for Penal Reform inquiry that lack of education is the real reason for the large number of ex-servicemen in prison
Jamie Doward The Observer, Sunday 13 June 2010

One of Britain's best-known soldiers has dismissed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among the armed forces as little more than an excuse for recruits to leave the service early.

Andy McNab, the former SAS soldier now turned best-selling author, said servicemen and women "were very resilient" and that the perception that significant numbers of them suffered PTSD was wrong.

McNab, who spent the best part of two decades in the army, said there was a trend for armed forces personnel wanting to leave before the end of their contract to claim they had PTSD in order to obtain a medical discharge and a pension.
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Post-traumatic stress disorder claims are just an excuse

Video shrinks distance to mental health care

Five years ago when I started to make the videos on PTSD, it was with the understanding that the only way to reach people was by being where they are and not where I want them to be. Face to face is uncomfortable for many people, especially PTSD veterans used to being the ones others depend on and not easy to accept they need help from time to time as well. Online provides anonymity so they can open up without feeling as if their deepest, darkest secrets will end up leaving them vulnerable. I get a lot further getting them to understand what PTSD is and why they are going through most of it by emails and with using the videos than I ever could over the phone or in person. Not to say these are not useful approaches, but while they are fine for some people, most find it easier to open up with emails.

Now it seems as if the military has caught onto this approach. Give An Hour has been doing it online and many other groups have been following the same line of therapy. Put it this way, if it's easier to get them to understand what PTSD is online then it is also easier to treat them online too.



A majority of soldiers surveyed said they preferred that the person screening them was far away and that it heightened the sense of confidentiality, Venezia said.

“There’s some freedom, when you’re on the computer, to be who you want to be, who you are, and not necessarily have to feel uncomfortable about sitting 5 feet away from a provider,” she said. “And you don’t have to worry about going to the commissary and bumping into the guy you just told your deepest darkest secrets to.”



Video shrinks distance to mental health care

By Joe Gould - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Jun 13, 2010 10:32:16 EDT

When the soldiers of the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, entered the post-deployment processing site, they sat down in a private room and had “face-to-face” conversations with mental health professionals thousands of miles away via video conference.

The Virtual Behavioral Health Program was part of a limited pilot program within Western Regional Medical Command. However, a senior Army leader said he would like the Army to explore and expand use of the technology, and he is not alone: The Veterans Affairs Department and the Defense Department’s National Center for Tele-health and Technology are studying how tele-mental health care might work.

Proponents see it as a means to address rising numbers of soldiers with PTSD, ease the stigma attached to mental health issues and bridge gaps between troops at rural posts and doctors in urban facilities.

“If I had my way, I wanted to provide this particularly for the Reserve components, so that you can do it from your home,” said Gen. Peter Chiarelli, the Army vice chief of staff. “So when Mrs. Chiarelli thought Mr. Chiarelli was having a rough time, and she couldn’t get him to go in, she could get him to do a session like this from his own home. What a stigma beater that is.”
read more here
Video shrinks distance to mental health care

Baltimore cop who allegedly murdered Marine goes missing

Baltimore cop who allegedly murdered Marine goes missing

By Stephen Janis
Saturday, June 12th, 2010

A cop who shot an Iraqi war vet nine times at point blank range last weekend for making a pass at his female companion has been charged with murder.

The problem is, no one can find him.

Authorities in Baltimore issued an arrest warrant Friday evening charging Baltimore police officer Gahiji A. Tshamba with first degree murder in connection with the death of former marine Tyrone Brown.

But efforts to locate the 15-year veteran have been unsuccessful, leading investigators to consider the possibility Tshamba may have absconded rather than face murder charges and possible jail time.

“We have been to several places where he is known to live and he was not there,” a Baltimore police officer speaking on condition of anonymity told Raw Story Saturday morning.
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Baltimore cop who allegedly murdered Marine goes missing

EMT and PTSD

EMT Sounds Alarm About PTSD
Written for the Web by CBS4 Special Projects Producer Libby Smith Reporting
Dr. Dave Hnida AURORA, Colo. (CBS4)



Lights and sirens are a sure sign that tragedy has struck. In many cases it's the first responders that get the worst shock.

"If you come upon a scene where people's bodies are maimed, you feel a sense of tremendous horror; and often times helplessness, especially if there is a family member standing by begging you to save their loved one," said Dr. Neil Weiner, Director of Clinical Services at the Depression Center at the University of Colorado Denver.

Michael Ferrara is a first responder in the mountains. During his 28-year career he's seen a lot of horror and he says it's taken a heavy toll.

"I had what I was calling slide shows in my head. Hundreds and hundreds of slides that would run in my head of pictures of horrible, horrible things," Ferrara told CBS4.

"Because these images of the trauma are imprinted so much on their minds, they develop flash backs, intrusive recollections and nightmares that really keep the trauma alive," Weiner added.

For Ferrara the trauma lived for years. He says PTSD became debilitating.
read more here
http://cbs4denver.com/health/emergency.workers.PTSD.2.1747845.html

PTSD Hits National Guard Soldiers Harder

PTSD Hits National Guard Soldiers Harder: Study
National Guard Soldiers Have Higher Rates of Mental Health Problems Than Others

By KRISTINA FIORE
MedPage Today Staff Writer
June 13, 2010


After combat duty in Iraq or Afghanistan , members of the National Guard appear to have higher rates of mental health problems than those in the Active Component, researchers have found.

Over 20 percent of service members report psychological distress.Rates of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with serious functional impairment increased from about 7 percent to more than 12 percent over a nine-month period, compared with only about a 1 percent increase among those in the Active Component, according to Jeffrey Thomas of Walter Reed Army Institute in Silver Spring, Md. and colleagues.

The researchers reported their findings in the June issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.

"The emergence of differences ... likely does not have to do with the differences in the health effects of combat, but rather with other variables related to readjustment to civilian life or access to health care," they wrote.
read more here
PTSD Hits National Guard Soldiers Harder

Vietnam Wall exhibit heals old wounds say veterans

Vietnam Wall exhibit heals old wounds, say veterans
by Mondee Tilley



Read more: Mount Airy News - Vietnam Wall exhibit heals old wounds say veterans


Since the arrival of the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall on Thursday, at least 6,000 veterans have stopped by to pay tribute, according to Don Belle, president of the Vietnam Veterans of America group, who worked to bring the wall here.

“Most people thought it couldn’t be done. But not only did we do it, but this has brought healing to those who have been able to stop by and see the wall,” said Belle Saturday afternoon.

Gary Wagoner, a member of the VVA group, said seeing the wall and all of the veterans who have been touched by it has brought healing.

“This has been a healing process,” Wagoner said.


Read more: Mount Airy News - Vietnam Wall exhibit heals old wounds say veterans

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Pipe bomb, weed found outside Mass. VA hospital

Pipe bomb, weed found outside Mass. VA hospital
(AP) – 10 hours ago

BEDFORD, Mass. — Police detaining a man on an outstanding warrant outside a Massachusetts veterans affairs hospital got a surprise when the man's friend handed them a pipe bomb.

Police Sgt. Michael Cloutier says Sean Carney and Christopher McDonald arrived at the Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital in Bedford, where one was planning to attend a detox program Friday.
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Pipe bomb, weed found outside Mass. VA hospital