Injured Veteran becomes US Open ballperson

Injured Veteran becomes US Open ballperson
Published on Aug 29, 2012
by ESPN

Injured US military man Ryan McIntosh attempts to make it as a US Open ball person to prove that the loss of a leg in battle won't slow him down.

Veterans deserve respect, best health care

Veterans deserve respect, best health care
Aug 30, 2012
Written by Robert Collins
Soapbox

“The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation.” — George Washington

There are hundreds of negative unintended consequences with many more to come from the U.S. involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. They represent the scars of war; some may heal, some may never heal. The ugliest scar, after the death of more than 6,000 brave men and women, is the treatment of returning wounded veterans.

This generation is the most heavily damaged generation in U.S. history. There are more than 50,000 wounded veterans, and hundreds of thousands of veterans with certifiable “invisible wounds.” The U.S. has never experienced this high ratio of wounded soldiers to slain soldiers — 7 to 1. Medical advances, new technology and faster evacuation capabilities have insured more military personnel recover from battlefield wounds. However, treatment for these wounded heroes is inadequate. The problem, overwhelming now, can only get worse. read more here

Back side of National News, Hell for our troops

A wife called police because her husband was suicidal and now they are being evicted from privatized military housing. No, you didn't read that wrong. A private company is in control of military housing. The general public had no idea this has been going on. Why? Because the 24-7 national news only has time for politics and stopped covering what politicians do.

Police Standoff Has Navy Family Facing Eviction
Aug 29, 2012
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser
by William Cole

An 18-year Navy man, his wife and their three children -- one of whom is autistic -- are being kicked out of their Forest City military housing because the sailor was stressed, threatened to take his life inside his home, and caused a 12-hour standoff with police before he was taken into custody, the man's wife said.

"I am horrified that Forest City is trying to remove my family from military housing because they did not like the police in the neighborhood when I called thinking my husband might harm himself," said Melissa Carter.

"Suicide is a huge problem in the military right now, so I was shocked that my trying to get my husband help for what is quite possibly a military-related mental break is being treated so callously by private housing."

The action raises the question as to privatized military housing operator responsibilities at a time when military stress is rising and well-documented.

Chad Carter, a 36-year-old sonar technician on the destroyer USS Chung-Hoon, was admitted to Tripler Army Medical Center's psychiatric ward after the incident and will be in a civilian post-traumatic stress center for at least four weeks, his wife said.

The incident happened Aug. 14 in Radford Terrace housing. On Aug. 17, privatized military housing landlord Forest City sent the Carters a letter saying their month-to-month lease was being terminated and they had 45 days to move out.

A separate barricade situation Thursday in Moanalua Terrace military housing saw a 22-year-old Pearl Harbor sailor armed with a shotgun threaten others before surrendering to police, officials said.

Navy Cmdr. J.P. Orlich, the commander of the Pearl Harbor-based destroyer Chung-Hoon, wrote to Forest City on Aug. 22 asking that the lease "non-renewal" be reconsidered for the Carters.
read more here

Hurricane Isaac brings thousands of National Guard troops

Hurricane Isaac brings thousands of National Guard troops to the region
Published: Tuesday, August 28, 2012
By Paul Purpura
The Times-Picayune

Hours before Hurricane Isaac's full effects were to be felt in New Orleans Tuesday, Army National Guard Capt. Mark Castillon and his soldiers rolled up on a burglary scene in the Bywater neighborhood. Several New Orleans police officers converged on the shotgun home in the 1000 block of Independence Street, and they already had a suspect in custody, a middle-aged with a lengthy rap sheet.

And in a scene reminiscent of the months following Hurricane Katrina seven years ago, the police officers and a detective searched the house accompanied by a soldier who carried an M-4 assault rifle, as other armed soldiers stood nearby on St. Claude Avenue beside their Humvees.

"We have a familiar relationship with NOPD," said Castillon, a Harahan resident who commands Bravo Battery, 1st Battalion, 141st Field Artillery Regiment, a storied unit known as the Washington Artillery at Jackson Barracks. "We're both serving the community as best as we can during this emergency. This is what we're here for, to assist the community."
read more here

It happened again: Man in Afghan army uniform kills 3 NATO troops

Man in Afghan army uniform kills 3 NATO troops
The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Aug 29, 2012 16:39:18 EDT

KABUL, Afghanistan — The U.S.-led military coalition in Afghanistan says three of its troops have been killed by a man in an Afghan army uniform.

The attack is the latest in a rising number of disturbing shootings this year by Afghans soldiers — or insurgents dressed as government troops — on the international forces training them to fight the Taliban as the international coalition withdraws.
read more here