Fort Benning soldiers roll up their sleeves to help their own
COLUMBUS, GA
WTVM
August 11, 2012
Some Fort Benning soldiers rolled up their sleeves to help one of their own on Saturday.
News leader 9 was at the home and talked to the former soldier who says it's nice to finally have someone do something for him.
At his home on Memphis Street in Columbus that he shares with his wife Katie, 77 year-old Jackie Kirkpatrick Sr. told us old stories of his days as a soldier in Vietnam.
He's a highly decorated veteran who spent 24 years of his life serving in the army.
"His overall spirit was just awesome and to see the struggles that they're going through right now, he's just an awesome energy. He's told me on several occasions that he would be out here doing it himself but unfortunately he's just not physically able," team captain and soldier in Delta Company 146th Infantry, added Lt. E. Thomas Bowen
1st Lt. Bowen and soldiers from 146th Infantry, teamed up with the organization House of Heroes to help Kirkpatrick out around his home.
read more here
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Dallas-area veterans try to leave battle behind
Dallas-area veterans try to leave battle behind
NECN.com
Aug 12, 2012
DALLAS (AP) — Just after the United States invaded Iraq in 2003, Mike Rials was on track to graduate from Richardson's J.J. Pearce High School and start his freshman year at Texas Tech. But at the last minute, Rials decided he wanted a bigger challenge: He enlisted in the Marines.
Nine years later, Rials, 27, will finally get his diploma when he graduates next week from the University of Texas at Dallas with a degree in psychology. He credits UTD's Center for BrainHealth, and its work with him and other recent war veterans struggling physically or emotionally from their time in combat.
Many recently discharged veterans have difficulty adjusting to civilian life, especially those dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder or a traumatic brain injury, the two signature wounds of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. That adjustment can be even more difficult when the veteran goes from the battlefield to the classroom.
"When they come off the battlefield, where they've had to be hyper-vigilant to so much that's going on, it triggers the brain to do the opposite of what you need to do for a higher-thinking job," said Dr. Sandra Chapman, the center's founder and chief director.
"You're hyper-focused, stressed and not sleeping well."
In five years with the Marines, Rials did three combat tours. Assigned to the infantry, Rials was just 19 when he deployed to Iraq during the height of the insurgency. In his first two tours, in 2004 and 2005, he fought in Fallujah and Haditha, two major hot spots.
His last tour of duty, in Afghanistan in September 2007, left Rials physically and emotionally scarred when a roadside bomb destroyed his Humvee. A close friend was badly injured and trapped in the burning vehicle. Rials pulled him out, but the Marine died soon after. Rials, who was briefly knocked unconscious by the blast, suffered second-degree burns to his arm. The wounds to his psyche lasted much longer.
After his discharge in 2008, Rials returned to the Dallas area. But the veteran, who had risen to the rank of sergeant and commanded up to 40 Marines, could barely make it through an average day. He couldn't turn his mind off of potential threats. Going into grocery stores, restaurants or other public places turned into a nerve-racking, heart-pounding experience. He isolated himself and used alcohol to self-medicate.
He hated what he'd become.
read more here
NECN.com
Aug 12, 2012
DALLAS (AP) — Just after the United States invaded Iraq in 2003, Mike Rials was on track to graduate from Richardson's J.J. Pearce High School and start his freshman year at Texas Tech. But at the last minute, Rials decided he wanted a bigger challenge: He enlisted in the Marines.
Nine years later, Rials, 27, will finally get his diploma when he graduates next week from the University of Texas at Dallas with a degree in psychology. He credits UTD's Center for BrainHealth, and its work with him and other recent war veterans struggling physically or emotionally from their time in combat.
Many recently discharged veterans have difficulty adjusting to civilian life, especially those dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder or a traumatic brain injury, the two signature wounds of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. That adjustment can be even more difficult when the veteran goes from the battlefield to the classroom.
"When they come off the battlefield, where they've had to be hyper-vigilant to so much that's going on, it triggers the brain to do the opposite of what you need to do for a higher-thinking job," said Dr. Sandra Chapman, the center's founder and chief director.
"You're hyper-focused, stressed and not sleeping well."
In five years with the Marines, Rials did three combat tours. Assigned to the infantry, Rials was just 19 when he deployed to Iraq during the height of the insurgency. In his first two tours, in 2004 and 2005, he fought in Fallujah and Haditha, two major hot spots.
His last tour of duty, in Afghanistan in September 2007, left Rials physically and emotionally scarred when a roadside bomb destroyed his Humvee. A close friend was badly injured and trapped in the burning vehicle. Rials pulled him out, but the Marine died soon after. Rials, who was briefly knocked unconscious by the blast, suffered second-degree burns to his arm. The wounds to his psyche lasted much longer.
After his discharge in 2008, Rials returned to the Dallas area. But the veteran, who had risen to the rank of sergeant and commanded up to 40 Marines, could barely make it through an average day. He couldn't turn his mind off of potential threats. Going into grocery stores, restaurants or other public places turned into a nerve-racking, heart-pounding experience. He isolated himself and used alcohol to self-medicate.
He hated what he'd become.
read more here
Combat Vet With PTSD Booted From Army, Barred From Healthcare
Combat Vet With PTSD Booted From Army, Barred From Healthcare
OPB News
Austin Jenkins
Aug. 11, 2012
SALEM, Ore. – In Salem , a former Army staff sergeant named Jarrid Starks has run out of the medications that keep him stable. He has severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and other mental and physical wounds of war. But he’s currently not eligible for veterans’ health benefits that would include prescription refills. That’s because Starks was kicked out of the Army for bad behavior. He’s far from alone.
Jarrid Starks joined the Army right out of high school with dreams of a 20-year career.
He left the Army earlier this year in disgrace. Starks recalls being escorted from the psychiatric ward at Madigan Army Hospital to an out-processing center and then to the front gate of Washington’s Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
“I had a 90-day supply of medication that I received from Madigan in a paper lunch sack,“ he says.
That sack of pills was Stark’s lifeline: a combination of antidepressants, beta-blockers, anti-psychotics, muscle-relaxants and sleep aides. A daily cocktail that allowed Starks to keep his anger and anxiety in check.
He sports a baseball cap that reads, “Warning this vet is medicated for your protection.”
It’s a joke, but not really.
“Ya, in every joke lay a bit of truth," Starks quips.
read more here
OPB News
Austin Jenkins
Aug. 11, 2012
SALEM, Ore. – In Salem , a former Army staff sergeant named Jarrid Starks has run out of the medications that keep him stable. He has severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and other mental and physical wounds of war. But he’s currently not eligible for veterans’ health benefits that would include prescription refills. That’s because Starks was kicked out of the Army for bad behavior. He’s far from alone.
Jarrid Starks joined the Army right out of high school with dreams of a 20-year career.
He left the Army earlier this year in disgrace. Starks recalls being escorted from the psychiatric ward at Madigan Army Hospital to an out-processing center and then to the front gate of Washington’s Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
“I had a 90-day supply of medication that I received from Madigan in a paper lunch sack,“ he says.
That sack of pills was Stark’s lifeline: a combination of antidepressants, beta-blockers, anti-psychotics, muscle-relaxants and sleep aides. A daily cocktail that allowed Starks to keep his anger and anxiety in check.
He sports a baseball cap that reads, “Warning this vet is medicated for your protection.”
It’s a joke, but not really.
“Ya, in every joke lay a bit of truth," Starks quips.
read more here
Wounded war hero Spc. Charlie Lemon to receive free home
Wounded war hero Spc. Charlie Lemon to receive free home
By: Jennifer Moore
TAMPA - Last year on June 8, 2011, Army Spc. Charlie Lemon lost both his legs deployed overseas with the 3rd Armored Calvary out of Fort Hood, Texas.
An IED destroyed the Humvee Lemon was riding in, and he endured months of extensive rehabilitation at San Antonio Military Medical Center.
ABC Action News covered Lemon's homecoming as family and friends greeted him at Tampa International Airport back in April when he returned for a week in the Tampa Bay area.
read more here
By: Jennifer Moore
TAMPA - Last year on June 8, 2011, Army Spc. Charlie Lemon lost both his legs deployed overseas with the 3rd Armored Calvary out of Fort Hood, Texas.
An IED destroyed the Humvee Lemon was riding in, and he endured months of extensive rehabilitation at San Antonio Military Medical Center.
ABC Action News covered Lemon's homecoming as family and friends greeted him at Tampa International Airport back in April when he returned for a week in the Tampa Bay area.
read more here
This is what CNN thinks is the biggest problem with Romney picking Ryan?
This is what CNN thinks is the biggest problem with Romney picking Ryan
They didn't seem to think that cutting the VA budget or selling it off to private for profit companies was a big deal. Do they even know about this? They talk about Ryan's budget but didn't seem interested in what the rest of his plan has in it.
If you want to know why CNN Hit 20-Year Weekday Primetime Low I just may be one example of why that happened. There are millions of Americans just like me.
CNN joined in the 24/7 coverage of politics and dropped everything else Americans care about. That isn't the only problem. They failed to actually report on the rest of the story when they covered politicians.
When Mitch McConnell and the Republicans became the party in charge of the congress, he didn't say their number one job was to put Americans back to work. He said their job was to make President Obama a one term president. Then they began to take the steps to do it.
The rest of the country had to pay for their plan to work. If they fixed anything, it wouldn't be in their best interest but they had to act as if they were doing something to earn their pay checks and their own insurance coverage. So they went after the deficit they had been silent about every year before.
Most of us remember the fact two wars were never in the budget but were put on the charge card with no plans on how to ever pay for them. The fact that billions were unaccounted for didn't matter before.
This didn't matter either.
They wanted to end the Affordable Care Act, they dubbed "Obamacare" and not fix what they thought was wrong with it. They took the easy way out and said just kill it. While this may have "fired up their base" it would have left millions right back where they were with no way to pay for a doctor visit and adult kids without any insurance up to 26.
They complained about the unemployment rate as millions of people were out of work and then made it worse by saying they had to cut the deficit and laid off public employees. They didn't say their number one job was to take care of veterans even though every day we saw more and more of them suffering without getting the care they not only needed, but earned when they lived up to their promise to defend this nation with their lives. There is a very long list of things they didn't say was their job and veterans ended up suffering for all of what they didn't want to do.
Veterans usually go into public service. It is in their blood to want to be of service to this country. They become police officers, firefighters and emergency responders. They go into healthcare and they become teachers. They go into public service working for their cities and towns to make them better. What happened? A lot of them lost their jobs with the budget cuts but CNN didn't seem to think any of this was important to mention. If they mentioned it at all, I missed it and so did most Americans.
They didn't seem interested in the fact that National Guards and Reservists on repeated deployments were coming back home with no jobs and no healthcare since they are not covered unless they are deployed and their families are not covered so if they get sick, they are on their own.
FOX Orlando
But this happens all the time. Instead of CNN covering what is happening to so many military families and veterans, they just put on politicians from both parties to make whatever claims they want to make. Some political coverage is necessary but not as much as they decided to do especially when troops were being killed overseas and veterans right here were suffering, waiting for care they were promised.
The only good thing to come out of all of this is there is finally some incentive to hire veterans and companies are taking advantage of it. The unemployment rate for veterans has gone down. It could have gone down a lot lower if cable news stations devoted time to covering them all along.
When I go to events, there is always someone with a political point of view, but the majority of the veterans I am with are talking about their lives and what is going on with them as veterans and their kids serving today.
I don't watch CNN much anymore while I gave up on FOX cable news and MSNBC a very long time ago. They act as if politics are all that matters but most of us are fed up with that topic being covered most of the time. Oh, sorry I almost forgot that Anderson Cooper on CNN covers Syria a lot too.
UPDATE
THE BIGGEST PROBLEM WITH PICKING RYAN IS HIS BUDGET THAT CUTS THE VA WHEN VETERANS NEED IT THE MOST!
But a serious downside to a Romney-Ryan ticket may be Ryan's specific policy ideas. Widely lauded in conservative circles, Ryan's budget plan will become front and center in the campaign. This is especially true for the fundamental restructuring of Medicare as proposed in the plan. Medicare and Social Security are typically viewed as the "third rail" of American politics, and presidential candidates have historically shied away from proposing sweeping changes to these programs.
They didn't seem to think that cutting the VA budget or selling it off to private for profit companies was a big deal. Do they even know about this? They talk about Ryan's budget but didn't seem interested in what the rest of his plan has in it.
If you want to know why CNN Hit 20-Year Weekday Primetime Low I just may be one example of why that happened. There are millions of Americans just like me.
CNN joined in the 24/7 coverage of politics and dropped everything else Americans care about. That isn't the only problem. They failed to actually report on the rest of the story when they covered politicians.
When Mitch McConnell and the Republicans became the party in charge of the congress, he didn't say their number one job was to put Americans back to work. He said their job was to make President Obama a one term president. Then they began to take the steps to do it.
The rest of the country had to pay for their plan to work. If they fixed anything, it wouldn't be in their best interest but they had to act as if they were doing something to earn their pay checks and their own insurance coverage. So they went after the deficit they had been silent about every year before.
Most of us remember the fact two wars were never in the budget but were put on the charge card with no plans on how to ever pay for them. The fact that billions were unaccounted for didn't matter before.
This didn't matter either.
Iraq Banks Billions in Surpluses, GAO Says The United States has appropriated about $48 billion for Iraqi reconstruction since 2003 and has committed all but about $6 billion.
They wanted to end the Affordable Care Act, they dubbed "Obamacare" and not fix what they thought was wrong with it. They took the easy way out and said just kill it. While this may have "fired up their base" it would have left millions right back where they were with no way to pay for a doctor visit and adult kids without any insurance up to 26.
They complained about the unemployment rate as millions of people were out of work and then made it worse by saying they had to cut the deficit and laid off public employees. They didn't say their number one job was to take care of veterans even though every day we saw more and more of them suffering without getting the care they not only needed, but earned when they lived up to their promise to defend this nation with their lives. There is a very long list of things they didn't say was their job and veterans ended up suffering for all of what they didn't want to do.
Veterans usually go into public service. It is in their blood to want to be of service to this country. They become police officers, firefighters and emergency responders. They go into healthcare and they become teachers. They go into public service working for their cities and towns to make them better. What happened? A lot of them lost their jobs with the budget cuts but CNN didn't seem to think any of this was important to mention. If they mentioned it at all, I missed it and so did most Americans.
They didn't seem interested in the fact that National Guards and Reservists on repeated deployments were coming back home with no jobs and no healthcare since they are not covered unless they are deployed and their families are not covered so if they get sick, they are on their own.
FOX Orlando
During the time that Marine Cpl. Adam Byler spent his 8 months in Afghanistan, his little girl, Adalynn, was born. When he recently came back home, it was love at first sight.
Adalynn Byler was pronounced on Monday evening and was on support in order to allow organ transplant teams to be set up. Her family was very generous in allowing other families to have their prayers/wishes/dreams answered. There are three lives whose futures changed on Tuesday by the forward and outward thinking of the Byler family.
But this happens all the time. Instead of CNN covering what is happening to so many military families and veterans, they just put on politicians from both parties to make whatever claims they want to make. Some political coverage is necessary but not as much as they decided to do especially when troops were being killed overseas and veterans right here were suffering, waiting for care they were promised.
The only good thing to come out of all of this is there is finally some incentive to hire veterans and companies are taking advantage of it. The unemployment rate for veterans has gone down. It could have gone down a lot lower if cable news stations devoted time to covering them all along.
When I go to events, there is always someone with a political point of view, but the majority of the veterans I am with are talking about their lives and what is going on with them as veterans and their kids serving today.
I don't watch CNN much anymore while I gave up on FOX cable news and MSNBC a very long time ago. They act as if politics are all that matters but most of us are fed up with that topic being covered most of the time. Oh, sorry I almost forgot that Anderson Cooper on CNN covers Syria a lot too.
UPDATE
THE BIGGEST PROBLEM WITH PICKING RYAN IS HIS BUDGET THAT CUTS THE VA WHEN VETERANS NEED IT THE MOST!
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