Troops in Kandahar send message to Boston, stand strong

A Dark Day in Boston Resembles Too Many in Afghanistan
April 19th, 2013
by Capt. Thomas L. Dickens

"Our message to the people of Boston must be consistent with that we send to the people of Afghanistan: stand strong."

Last week, word quickly spread through Regional Command South in Kandahar of the horrific attacks that took place during the Boston Marathon. Major General Robert Abrams, commander of the 3rd Infantry Division, promptly ordered that flags be flown at half-staff in honor of the fallen. And while we were thousands of miles away, our hearts were with and continue to be with the victims of this act of terror and their families.

These acts of terrorism bring about a feeling of familiarity for those of us serving in Afghanistan. First, it was an act of terror on American soil that opened the door to our engagement in South Asia. And while the number of casualties from 9/11 was much greater than last week, their similarities lie in that they both brought with them the immense feelings of fear that are meant to paralyze our lives.

The second parallel with the Boston bombing is that we unfortunately are seeing similar attacks on a regular basis in Afghanistan. We now know that the attacks in Boston were the result of two homemade improvised explosive devices (IEDs) made with pressure cookers and commonly found items such as ball bearings, BB s and everyday hardware like nails. These cheaply made weapons are highly effective in that they inflict terror by tearing through flesh and creating unfathomable damage to their victims. IEDs are the weapon of choice for al Qaeda cells as well as local insurgents who wish to stop the democratization of Afghanistan.
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Oklahoma City bombing parent reaches out to Boston

“It wasn’t your fault”
APR 19, 2013
Salon.com

I know the unfathomable grief that Martin Richard's parents must be feeling. I lost my daughter to a bomb, too
BY KATHLEEN ANIOL TREANOR

I haven’t been able to watch footage of Boston. When it comes on TV, I can watch a little bit, but then I have to walk away. The picture of Martin Richard, the little boy who died, brings tears to my eyes, because I know what his parents are going through. I lost my 4-year-old daughter, Ashley, in the Oklahoma City bombings, along with my husband’s parents, LaRue and Luther. Eighteen years later, I’m still living with the trauma. The trauma never goes away.

I was at work when the bomb went off. Everything on my desk shifted. In my naiveté, I wondered: Did one of the silos blow up? We turned on the news, and saw the chaos, the building torn away. I thought, “Thank God no one I love is in that building.”

My husband’s parents were taking care of Ashley that day. My husband’s father had an appointment at the Social Security Building at 9 o’clock, which I didn’t realize was in the federal building. When it finally sunk in what was happening, I collapsed in on myself. It’s a very hopeless feeling, not knowing.

We spent days looking for her, sitting in hospitals and churches, watching and waiting. I kept thinking, she’s just lost. She’s a little girl. Someone has her, and they don’t know where to take her. But eventually we realized there was no hope of finding her. It was inevitable that she was gone. That they were all gone. It was Wednesday when they finally called us to say they had her body. A few months later, I received a call after she was buried that they had found her hand. We put it in a little urn, and we buried it with her.
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Military Suicides should have been at the top of the fold

When I started writing THE WARRIOR SAW, Suicides After War I thought that I knew just about everything that was happening. Because of families asking me to tell their stories, I figured it would be emotionally draining but considered the fact I had so many reports, it wouldn't be that hard to find the stories. I was wrong.

I thought I'd have it done by January, but it just went up this week on Amazon and Kindle.

There was a time when I was talking to friends, thinking it would never be done. One report ran into another and another. Two weeks into writing it I had one of those "Oh My God!" moments when I finally realized as much as I knew from tracking these reports across the country, there was a whole new world of information I hadn't discovered yet.

I knew the Department of Defense has a site with press releases because I am in there all the time. I didn't know that each branch puts out a Posture Statement every year. I didn't know they also have Department of Defense Suicide Event Report. I knew they were spending a lot of money on "suicide prevention" and "resilience training" but what I didn't know was that it was worth billions a year. Why didn't I know any of this? Because reporters failed to tell us. I trusted they were reporting on everything we needed to know.

I didn't know that while the DOD is spending billions a year, so is the VA, the Department of Health and the National Institute of Mental Health. While I was appalled by what Congress was doing, I didn't how little they were in fact doing when it came to holding anyone accountable.

Reporters again failed because as they were reporting on the VA claims backlog, they forgot they were also reporting the same thing years ago but dropped the story as soon as something else came along they thought would get them more attention.

I was sickened by the growing list of "charities" raising money to "take care of our veterans" when in fact it appears they have raised more for themselves than actually doing what they need to do to save the lives of our veterans.

Sickened by the fact families had no clue what PTSD was or what they could do to help someone they loved when there was still time to save their lives.

This week we had a perfect lesson on what the media does. Two huge stories happened. One in Boston and one in Texas.

Boston was attacked by two deranged bombers. 3 were killed and about 200 wounded. Really terrible and deserved attention especially with the manhunt on for the murderers. In Texas there was an explosion at West Texas fertilizer plant claiming the lives of at least 14, 200 injured and 60 people still missing and 50 homes damaged. Some of the missing are firefighters. What did we see all week? Almost every major news station was covering what happened in Boston as if they just didn't have the time to do both stories.

That is the way they have operated for far too long. One station's producer decides to cover something and every other station does the same.

What we end up with is missing too many important stories that also need our attention.

We needed them to pay attention to what was happening to the troops and investigating why it was happening. I had to do it! I am not a reporter. I rely on them to do the reporting and I just research what they report so that everyone who wants to know can find the reports in one place, or at least as best as I can considering I am only one person and work 70 hours a week.

They should have cared all along and treated it as if lives depended on them letting us know what was happening. They failed and more troops died from suicide than combat. But they even got those numbers wrong because they forgot about Army National Guards and Reservists also included in the reports from the DOD every month but not in the top section.

All reporters cared about was making it into the top of the fold. (news paper term meaning what people see when the paper is folded to go the public.) Could you imagine them only paying attention to Army suicides and forgetting about the Marines, Navy and Air Force?

No suicide statistics for military family member suicides?

Are you listening?
By TERRI BARNES
Published: April 19, 2013

Army wife Karen Francis said she thought it was great that the Army devoted a whole duty day last year to suicide awareness. “Suicide Stand Down” was a service-wide mandatory training day conducted in September, the Army’s response to the alarming suicide rate among brothers and sisters in arms.

Francis couldn’t help wondering about Army spouses and children. Though family members were welcomed at the event, the program and timing — on a weekday — were not suited to them. She was concerned that suicide and its effects on military family members was not being addressed.

Francis said she can’t base that concern on statistics concerning suicides among family members. However, she said most military spouses know a story or two about a friend’s child who attempted suicide or a military spouse who tragically succeeded.

“I can’t even give you numbers, because no one counts us,” she said. “We do not have one solitary [suicide] statistic for spouses and other family members.”

Francis, a Family Resource Group leader at Fort Belvoir, Va., approached her command leadership about having a similar awareness day for families. They were supportive, she said, and encouraged her to take on the project. So she did.

“Are You Listening?” is the title of the suicide awareness symposium for military families Saturday at Fort Belvoir’s USO Warrior and Family Center, the product of several months of planning.
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Iraq Veteran Robbery Suspect Received Poor Care from Atlanta VA

Mother: Robbery Suspect Received Poor Care from Atlanta VA
Sy Smith was charged this week with assaulting an elderly man and stealing his car.
By Jonathan Cribbs

The mother of an Iraq war veteran accused of beating and robbing an elderly man said she believes the Atlanta VA Medical Center did not properly treat her son's post-war mental disorder.

Sy Smith was charged this week with assaulting a Korean War veteran and stealing his car. He was treated at the medical center for post-traumatic stress disorder following a suicide attempt, according to wsbtv.com.
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