Broken bodies, broken minds, broken system

Broken bodies, broken minds, broken system
Sympathetic Sen. Murray gets an earful at VFW post from veterans decrying care system
BY MIKE FAULK
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

YAKIMA, Wash. -- Local veterans told U.S. Sen. Patty Murray on Thursday that they’ve been mistreated, ignored and in some cases totally forgotten by the federal government in seeking medical care and applying for benefits.

"There’s no worse tragedy than being forgotten," Graciela Marroquin, an Iraq War veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder, said at a panel discussion on veterans’ issues held Thursday at Yakima’s Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 379.

Among the biggest concerns voiced: lack of access to specialized medical care in the region. Many are forced to drive more than two hours to Veterans Administration hospitals in Walla Walla or Seattle to see specialists.

Panelists also warned that problems are likely to increase as more veterans return from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Among those testifying to the difficulties in obtaining proper care was Maggie Pezzullo, a 28-year-old Iraq War veteran. Pezzullo, who said she suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and severe back pain from combat injuries suffered in 2003 and 2004, said VA representatives had tried to cut her number of chiropractor visits in half by offering her narcotics instead of physical therapy.
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It is a shame that not much has changed since this letter from Senator Murray in 2006.

Murray Requests Hearing on VA Mental Health Services
June 27, 2006
Senator calls on leadership of VA Committee to look into supply and demand of mental health care servicesFor Immediate Release:
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) –
U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) – a key member of the Senate Veterans Affairs (VA) Committee – today sent a letter to Senate VA Committee Chairman Larry Craig (R-ID) and Ranking Member Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-HI), requesting a hearing of the Committee on the status of mental health services provided by the VA."We need real answers from the VA and the Bush Administration. No gimmicks. No games," Murray said. "I am requesting a hearing on the mental health services provided by the VA so we can learn more about the need for mental health care, how to meet that demand, and what changes need to be made to provide our veterans with the care they need and deserve."

Murray's call for a hearing follows an article in the May edition of Psychiatric News in which Frances Murphy, M.D., Undersecretary for Health Policy Coordination at the VA, indicates that the agency is ill-prepared to serve the mental health needs of our nation's veterans. In the article, Dr. Murphy notes that some VA clinics don't provide mental health or substance abuse care, or if they do, "waiting lists render that care virtually inaccessible."

"With an estimated one third of the 1.3 million Americans who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan facing mental health challenges upon their return, I am concerned that they are not getting the services they need," Murray wrote. "It is unacceptable that they are encountering VA waiting lists that render mental health care 'virtually inaccessible.'"The full text of Senator Murray's letter to Sen. Craig and Akaka follows:

June 16, 2006
The Honorable Larry Craig
Chairman
Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee
Senate Russell Office Building
Room 412Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Daniel Akaka
Ranking Member
Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee
Senate Russell Office Building
Room 412Washington, DC 20510

Dear Chairman Craig and Ranking Member Akaka:
I recently read an article in Psychiatric News that leads me to believe the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is unprepared to serve the mental health care needs of our nation’s veterans.The article reads as follows:“Frances Murphy, M.D., undersecretary for Health Policy Coordination at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), said the growing numbers of veterans seeking mental health care has put emphasis on areas in which improvement is needed. She noted that some VA clinics do not provide mental health or substance abuse care, or if they do, ‘waiting lists render that care virtually inaccessible.’” As you know, access to mental health services is vital to America’s veterans.

The VA must ensure that resources are available to them whether facing challenges from PTSD and depression or other ailments. If we fail to provide these men and women with the care they need, we will set our nation up for the future cost and complications of veterans struggling with drug and alcohol addiction, homelessness and other conditions.In addition, with an estimated one third of the 1.3 million Americans who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan facing mental health challenges upon their return, I am concerned that they are not getting the services they need.

It is unacceptable that they are encountering VA waiting lists that render mental health care “virtually inaccessible.”

I am requesting that the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs hold a hearing on the status of mental health services provided by the VA. I believe the committee needs to learn more about the demand for mental health care, how the VA is meeting that demand, and what changes need to be made to rectify access problems within the current system.

I know you both share my concerns with the VA’s ability to care for the needs of our veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, and I look forward to working with you to ensure the VA is addressing the mental health needs of America’s veterans.Thank you for taking my request into consideration.

Sincerely,
Patty Murray
United States Senator

90 year old WWII veteran still doing her part to help the troops

WWII vet still doing her part to help the troops

By Arline A. Fleming/Special to the Independent



NARRAGANSETT — Doris Blaney might be 90 years old, but she is hardly an idle nonagenarian.

In addition to knitting items to sell at the South Kingstown Farmers Market and being an active member of the Washington County VFW Post 916, she decided that when it came time to donate to the state-wide project for the Ladies Auxiliary of the VFW, offering an average donation wouldn’t be enough.

This year’s cause, Suicide Prevention in the Military, just felt more important to her than that.

“I was a Marine during World War II and it just hit home, so I decided we should do something as big as we can possible do.”

Blaney decided to organize a fund-raiser to make a significant donation and raise some awareness in the process, and when she announced her intention to her five grown children, her 12 grandchildren, her great-grandchildren and other relatives and friends, “they all jumped in with both feet,” she said.

With her grandson, Christian, by her side handling some computer work – though she is very capable of using her home computer herself – she began to plan the benefit, to be held at the donated Elks Club, 60 Belmont Ave., Wakefield, on Saturday, Jan. 28, from 4 to 6 p.m.

“The incidence of suicide in the military is absolutely astounding. If you talk to people who have friends or relatives in the military, they all know somebody who committed suicide,” she said, telling of the challenges of serving overseas and then returning home to an absence of jobs.

“It just gets overwhelming and they can’t handle it.”

So Blaney, who during World War II felt she wasn’t contributing enough to the cause and so enlisted, could recall the fragile conditions of returning soldiers, including her own husband, Russell, and the memory has never left her.

“We didn’t do much about trauma then,” she said, and though Russell didn’t talk often about his war experiences in the Army, he had many sleepless nights, she said.
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Camp Lejeune Water Contamination Cover-Up Hinted In Navy Letter

Camp Lejeune Water Contamination Cover-Up Hinted In Navy Letter

Lynne Peeples


The U.S. Navy is asking government investigators to suppress information concerning the toxic water scandal at the Marine Corps' Camp Lejeune, according to a letter obtained Thursday by The Huffington Post.

The letter, signed by Maj. Gen. J.A. Kessler of the Marine Corps and dated Jan. 5, 2012, asks the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry to withhold from a forthcoming report details about the whereabouts of water lines, wells, treatment plants and storage tanks on the North Carolina military base -- in the name of national security.

"The Marine Corps understands the need to share information with the scientific community," writes Kessler, the Marines' assistant deputy commandant for installations and logistics. "Prudence requires, however, that information sharing be within the rubric of responsible force protection."

Government watchdogs and environmental advocates said they interpret the letter as further evidence of a Navy effort to evade culpability for what many call the worst and largest drinking water contamination in U.S. history.
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Camp LeJeune community reacts to controversial Marine video

Camp LeJeune community reacts to controversial Marine video

By: KIM GENARDO
NBC17.com
Published: January 12, 2012

Raleigh, N.C. --
An Internet video apparently showing four U.S. Marines urinating on Taliban fighters' corpses has a lot of people talking in the Camp Lejeune community.

The military has confirmed at least two of the four Marines are based in North Carolina.

"I was pretty repulsed," said Marine Corps Reservist Joe Harrington of Raleigh. "They don't seem to view the enemy as people. They're de-humanizing the enemy and that's happened in conflicts throughout history, but it doesn't make it right."
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Retired Marine Master Sergeant found dead in Goettge Memorial Field House

Retired Marine found dead in Goettge Memorial Field House
January 12, 2012 3:37 PM
HOPE HODGE - DAILY NEWS STAFF
Updated at 4:26 p.m.

A retired Marine Master Sergeant was discovered dead at the Goettge Memorial Field House aboard Camp Lejeune Thursday morning, base officials confirmed Thursday afternoon.

Shawn P. O’Shea, 45, was discovered unresponsive in a sauna at the field house, which is used for public events, ceremonies and sports activities. Base officials are currently performing renovations on the 1940s-era building to equip it with an air conditioning system.

According to officials, he was pronounced dead on-scene by emergency services personnel. Naval Criminal Investigative Services is investigating the death, and O’Shea’s next-of-kin were notified.
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