Veterans, Neighbors Clash Over Proposed VA Facility
New Psychiatric Facility Would Provide Help To Veterans
SAN DIEGO -- Nearly 150 people packed the Mission Hills Town Council meeting Thursday night to hear the Veterans Administration proposal to put a psychiatric facility at the now vacant Thomas Jefferson School of Law building in Old Town.
The new facility would provide single room residences for 40 veterans suffering from the emotional stresses of their tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.
read more here
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Veterans, Neighbors Clash Over Proposed VA Facility for PTSD
When will people ever get it? These veterans are troubled and need help but they are not dangerous. Aside from spending the last 30 years of my life with one of them, I have never met a veteran I felt I needed to be afraid of. These men were willing to die for the sake of someone else. The average person has no idea what most of these veterans are like because all they read about is one of them being arrested. The only way for people to learn is for them to meet these veterans face to face and listen to them.
Veterans continue their fight at home, against PTSD
Veterans continue their fight at home, against PTSD
Back from deployment, 15 to 20% of soldiers experience some form of the disorder.
Posted: 6:58 PM Jan 13, 2012
Reporter: Andie Adams
An Iraq war Veteran accused in a recent incident at the VA Medical Center went before a federal judge Friday.
Joel Anderson is accused of breaking two wooden doors at the center and escaping.
He was in court for a detention hearing, where the judge said he will remain in custody because he is a flight risk and a potential risk to the public. Anderson is charged with a felony count of destruction of government property.
But his story could be part of a bigger issue that service men and women face when returning from war.
"There is no more front lines as such," said Paul Sweeney, the public affairs officer at the VA Medical Center. He described what it was like returning home from his time on the battlefield.
"When I came back from Sarajevo, there were 6 million mines that were unaccounted for," Sweeney said, "and I would not step on green grass."
read more here
Iraq Vet arrested after breaking out
Back from deployment, 15 to 20% of soldiers experience some form of the disorder.
Posted: 6:58 PM Jan 13, 2012
Reporter: Andie Adams
An Iraq war Veteran accused in a recent incident at the VA Medical Center went before a federal judge Friday.
Joel Anderson is accused of breaking two wooden doors at the center and escaping.
He was in court for a detention hearing, where the judge said he will remain in custody because he is a flight risk and a potential risk to the public. Anderson is charged with a felony count of destruction of government property.
But his story could be part of a bigger issue that service men and women face when returning from war.
"There is no more front lines as such," said Paul Sweeney, the public affairs officer at the VA Medical Center. He described what it was like returning home from his time on the battlefield.
"When I came back from Sarajevo, there were 6 million mines that were unaccounted for," Sweeney said, "and I would not step on green grass."
read more here
Iraq Vet arrested after breaking out
Georgia National Guard soldier killed in car accident
Soldier Killed in Traffic Accident
A Georgia National Guard soldier died Thursday after his car crashed into a school bus.
By Ryan Smith
January 13, 2012
A Georgia National Guard soldier who worked on Fort Stewart was killed Thursday when his car crashed into a Tattnall County school bus, according to a Fort Stewart press release.
Sgt. Steven M. Coghlan, 30, was killed when his car hit the school bus at about 6:30 a.m.
read more here
A Georgia National Guard soldier died Thursday after his car crashed into a school bus.
By Ryan Smith
January 13, 2012
A Georgia National Guard soldier who worked on Fort Stewart was killed Thursday when his car crashed into a Tattnall County school bus, according to a Fort Stewart press release.
Sgt. Steven M. Coghlan, 30, was killed when his car hit the school bus at about 6:30 a.m.
read more here
Women at War Have Same PTSD Rate as Men
Women Soldiers See More Combat Than In Prior Eras, Have Same PTSD Rate as Men, Study Says
By Steve Tokar on January 13, 2012
Women who served in the U.S. Army in Iraq and Afghanistan were involved in combat at significantly higher rates than in previous conflicts, and screened positive for post-traumatic stress disorder at the same rate as men, according to a study led by researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and the University of California, San Francisco.
“While women technically are not supposed to serve in direct combat, this research demonstrates that, in reality, they are experiencing combat at a higher rate than we had assumed,” said lead author Shira Maguen, PhD, a clinical psychologist at SFVAMC and an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at UCSF. “At the same time, it shows that men and women really don’t differ in how they react to the stresses of combat.”
Women in the U.S. military gradually have been integrated into combat roles since the early 1990s, and today comprise about 14 percent of Americans serving in uniform. Of roughly 2.2 million troops who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, more than 255,000 have been women, according to the Pentagon. Under current U.S Army rules, women are not officially assigned to units whose primary mission is direct combat on the ground, but can be assigned to other roles in combat zones.
The study of 7,251 active-duty soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan is the first study, the authors say, to include gender as a variable in examining responses to four combat-associated traumatic experiences: killing, witnessing someone being killed, exposure to death (seeing dead soldiers or civilians) and injury.
The authors found that 4 percent of women reported killing, 9 percent reported witnessing killing, 31 percent reported exposure to death and 7 percent were injured in the war zone.
read more here
By Steve Tokar on January 13, 2012
Women who served in the U.S. Army in Iraq and Afghanistan were involved in combat at significantly higher rates than in previous conflicts, and screened positive for post-traumatic stress disorder at the same rate as men, according to a study led by researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and the University of California, San Francisco.
“While women technically are not supposed to serve in direct combat, this research demonstrates that, in reality, they are experiencing combat at a higher rate than we had assumed,” said lead author Shira Maguen, PhD, a clinical psychologist at SFVAMC and an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at UCSF. “At the same time, it shows that men and women really don’t differ in how they react to the stresses of combat.”
Women in the U.S. military gradually have been integrated into combat roles since the early 1990s, and today comprise about 14 percent of Americans serving in uniform. Of roughly 2.2 million troops who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, more than 255,000 have been women, according to the Pentagon. Under current U.S Army rules, women are not officially assigned to units whose primary mission is direct combat on the ground, but can be assigned to other roles in combat zones.
The study of 7,251 active-duty soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan is the first study, the authors say, to include gender as a variable in examining responses to four combat-associated traumatic experiences: killing, witnessing someone being killed, exposure to death (seeing dead soldiers or civilians) and injury.
The authors found that 4 percent of women reported killing, 9 percent reported witnessing killing, 31 percent reported exposure to death and 7 percent were injured in the war zone.
read more here
Super heroes get PTSD too
After all these years some people still think that cowards and criminals are the only veterans claiming PTSD. That if they have PTSD, they are dangerous. What can we expect when the only time they make the news is when they are arrested or killed in a police standoff? While we read other reports here, the general public has no clue what it is really like for any of them.
Here's a story you should pass onto anyone you think needs an attitude adjustment. Read about Sgt. Rieman and what he did to earn his Silver Star. If this isn't courage, nothing is.
Here's a story you should pass onto anyone you think needs an attitude adjustment. Read about Sgt. Rieman and what he did to earn his Silver Star. If this isn't courage, nothing is.
Silver Star Recipient Talks About His PTSD at Free Symposium
Posted Fri, Jan 13, 2012
By Bobbie O'Brien
SARASOTA
Sgt. Tommy Rieman was awarded a Silver Star for conspicuous gallantry and courage under fire while serving in Iraq. But, he will do something that takes as much courage this Saturday in Sarasota. He will discuss living with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
The free symposium will start with a documentary that features the soldier and others struggling with PTSD and examines the military culture that stigmatizes mental health.
Rieman survived 11 wounds while guiding his team through multiple attacks in Iraq December 2003 and President Bush recognized his bravery.
“Tommy Rieman was a teenager pumping gas in Independence, Kentucky when he enlisted in the U.S. Army,” Pres. Bush said. “He was on a recognizance mission in Iraq when his team came under heavy enemy fire. For his exceptional courage, Sgt. Rieman was award the Silver Star. He has earned the respect and gratitude of our entire country.”
And Rieman is proud of his country and the Army. So much so, he agreed to be a part of the Army's video program called Real Heroes. But while on his second tour in Iraq, his situation changed and he considered suicide.
“I was just fed up. So, I loaded a rifle and played with the idea of taking my life for several hours at night,” Rieman said during a telephone interview earlier this week. “And it wasn’t until that exact point that I realized, hey, I’ve got two children, I’m in a great relationship, I don’t want to live my life this way. I am not going to be held hostage to this.”
So, he got some immediate help from a combat stress team while he was still in Iraq. Yet, Rieman acknowledges it’s tough admitting you have problems.
“A lot of people will believe, especially within the service, hey you just need to get over it. You’re just sad or upset because this happened and you just need to suck it up,” Rieman said.
He saw the need to educate his own service members as well as the general public on the invisible wounds of war. So, the Silver Star recipient agreed to let everyone see behind his soldier’s veneer. He agreed to do a documentary about PTSD with filmmaker Paul Freedman.
Rieman said as a leader, he owed it to the 30 men he commands in the National Guard as well as to the men and women who served in Iraq.read more here
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