PBS’ Favorite Unsung Heroine for 2009 Abandoned for Speaking Out

A tale of two military sides


Maybe as the cable news stations are fixated on Don't Ask Don't Tell regarding gay people serving in the military, someone can come up with something to make families attractive enough to report on as well. Considering how many members in the military are gay vs how many families there are in the military but not serving themselves, there are a hell of a lot more of them.

We don't see reports on CNN covering PTSD or suicides with as much devotion as they have been doing since the earthquake in Haiti, but it is a crisis right here, right now claiming more lives after war than during it, plus taking whole families down with it. Once in a while they do a brief report almost as if they felt they had to then they just move on to cover the latest news everyone else is jumping on. Tabloid journalism at it's finest hiding under humanitarian coverage.

Should they report on the fact bodies are being dumped into piles barely covered by dirt instead of shown some respect? Absolutely but considering we're burying bodies of servicemen and women taken by suicide, they should be shown some respect as well.

Maybe I'm wrong but I thought the job of journalists was to inform about what was going on in the world, including this country and telling stories that should be in the spotlight so that people will be informed enough to know they should care.

Had some gay people not been brave enough to seek justice for themselves and others, this issue would still be a deep dark secret and no one would really care if a gay service member was kicked out once in a while. Then it didn't matter if this was right or wrong because it just wasn't personal to most Americans. Now it is. It is because we know some of their stories.

With military families we know their stories way too late to do much at all. We read about the suicides and how the families are grieving as they beg for privacy or others traveling to Washington to try to stop other families from feeling their pain. We read about the numbers of divorces, but we don't know their stories except for very few willing to talk after to a reporter willing to ask.

Well, here we have a story of a woman who used to be of interest to reporters when they needed her to help them put together an article they could just right and move on from. Not that most of them were ever personally involved in any of this, or they would have not been able to walk away from any of this. This military wife didn't walk away. She was shoved away.

Carissa is a dear friend and there have been very few advocates for the servicemen and women coming from within. She broke the unspoken rule of telling the truth about what was going on and she gained the media spotlight so fast it was a testament to her talent as well as her work. To see what has happened to her in a little over a year should be an alarm bell to every reporter out there that there is a serious problem this nation has and it stems from the military culture itself.

How many divorces could have been prevented if the military had resources that worked? How many suicides could have been prevented if the military families were given enough educational weapons to fight the ghosts soldiers bring back from battle? Ever wonder?

We have spouses willing to drop their own lives and careers to be married to someone willing to lay down their lives for this country. We have kids settling for going without making any long lasting friends because they have to move too often. We have men and women deployed worrying about what it happening back home because their spouse is too lonely and no one seems to care. They move away from their extended families so they can be with their military spouse but then when they deploy, where are they supposed to go with kids in school and families hundreds of miles away? Working? How can they find a job when they may be transferred? There are only so many jobs on base or temp jobs in traveling distance.

So when we read about divorces in the military, read this and then maybe the next time you hear some numbers it'll be a bit more personal to you because you will see what happened to a wife after she cared enough to try to change what was wrong.

PBS’ Favorite Unsung Heroine for 2009 Abandoned for Speaking Out
February 2, 2010 by Robert L. Hanafin ·
Last December I posted an article Military Divorces continue to increase, a spokesman for the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) said that,

“Every marriage has controllable and uncontrollable factors, but when you interject eight years of war, preparing for war, being at war, coming home and having to think about going back to war again, and when you have children, it just has a tremendous impact on the family unit.” However, the VFW also said that the military prides itself on taking care of military families.

As a retired military officer who served in two services the Army and Air Force, I can assure you that WE do take care of our own as long as our own stays in line, and does not make wave. However, what happens to military spouses once their uniformed husband or wife decides that that the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marines is their real family during a war that our nation is not committed to?

Yes, we can say that before a man or women marries someone in uniform they must agree to the Soldier’s Creed, Airmen’s Creed or whatever creed, even the one made up for Military Spouses to place ‘the mission’ above all else including family, but that does nothing for the spouse and children that the military member, and the Pentagon abandons.

Despite being a licensed attorney in good standing with the bar in MD, having been named a national unsung heroine by PBS for women’s history month in 2009 AND being an being an unpaid advocate for Wounded Warriors and Military Families, plus an active duty spouse for nearly eight years, she has not been able to find a job despite her best efforts.

She has been applying for jobs since April of 2009, and now she, like many other spouses enduring military divorces, is desperate for help. She is being forced into the streets with her two sons (ages 6 and 9), because she has to move out of her on-post housing by March 8.

She is willing to relocate ANYWHERE in the country and she is now open to any position even if she is overqualified.

Simply put no military spouse rather they decide to permanently marry the military or not should have to send out such a desperate plea for help.

Frankly, I should not even have to be posting this, because this lady and thousands like her feel abandoned.

If anyone has any ideas how to approach the over issue of how military spouses once divorced are mistreated and abandoned, or can at least help this lady with job prospects, please contact me.

read more here

Favorite Unsung Heroine for 2009 Abandoned for Speaking Out

What Color Star Should a Military Spouse Get

The following was written by a woman of great courage and compassion. Her courage is evident in this heartbreaking article. Her compassion is known to me because she is a good friend. Carissa founded Military Spouses for Change and then later, renamed it to Military Spouses of America. I was on the board of directors and very proud of all the work Carissa did, and still does for military families.

Most of the time when a spouse talks, it is long after the service member has left the military. It is when they feel free to open up. In this case, Carissa is still living on Fort Hood with her children, opening herself up to more judgments and attacks because she lifts the curtain, letting the rest of us know how hard it is on military families. Too often forgotten when we report on the rates of PTSD, suicides and attempted suicides, we forget about the families they leave behind, just as we forget about the fact half of civilian marriages end in divorce without half the problems the military families have. I am also sure many military spouses will feel grateful she did this, said what they would not dare talk about.

The next time you read a story about how grateful Americans should be for those willing to serve this country, maybe, just maybe, you can also offer a prayer of thanks for the families standing where few will ever see.

What Color Star Should a Military Spouse Get?....
by Carissa S. Picard

"There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why... I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?" Robert Francis Kennedy
The U.S. Army, Fort Hood, and War in Iraq from the perspective of an activist Army Spouse


"The blood and tears shed in houses back home aren't tallied by the Department of Defense even though these losses are casualties of the same wars that were being ‘fought over there' so they wouldn't ‘be fought over here.' I think the...reasoning was fundamentally flawed. Both wars are being fought on two fronts, but America only recognizes one." Carissa S. Picard, Esq.
Ironically, it would be at the largest military installation in the United States that I would come to know loneliness and isolation better than the man who brought me there. This stranger who was rarely home was the very person who "defined" me as well as justified my presence at Fort Hood. Once I married Caynan, I was no longer Carissa, I was Caynan's wife.

My tasks, outside of raising our children, generally revolved around the navigation of the unspoken interstitial space of the Army wife-being neither here nor there, neither this nor that. Or, put more plainly, learning how to live your life when you are no longer a civilian, but you are not a soldier either.

I wasn't a photograph, I was its negative. I wasn't sure what I was anymore, but I always knew what I wasn't. I wasn't a practicing attorney. My license was in Maryland. I wasn't a voice for myself, my family, or other military families. Soldiers speak for their families. I wrote the occasional blog or op-ed, until my husband threatened to divorce me if the writing didn't stop. Advocacy from within was a career killer. Apparently, it was a marriage killer as well.

Every species has to adapt or die. In my muddled attempts to survive the last eight years, I learned to engage in covert warfare, practice collateral damage control, manipulate pain management, and master the rules of dis-engagement. Landmines abound and I am not without battle scars.

The blood and tears shed in houses back home aren't tallied by the Department of Defense even though these losses are casualties of the same wars that were being "fought over there" so they wouldn't "be fought over here." I think the Administration's reasoning was fundamentally flawed. Both wars are being fought on two fronts, but America only recognizes one.
read more here
http://www.veteranstoday.com/article9953.html

Fort Hood Resident: Incident "Disturbing"

Fort Hood Resident: Incident "Disturbing"
Katie Couric Speaks with Advocate for Soldiers Suffering from PTSD Whose Husband is Based at Fort Hood
By Katie Couric

Fort Hood is the largest U.S. military base - home to more than 53,000 active duty soldiers, many of whom have served multiple times in Iraq and Afghanistan. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a major concern there as at any base.

CBS News Anchor Katie Couric spoke via Skype with Carissa Picard, an advocate for soldiers suffering from PTSD. Her husband is a soldier based at Fort Hood.

Katie Couric: Can you tell me what was going on when all of this was unfolding?

Carissa Picard: It was a little bit disturbing, for those of us here in the military housing community. We had these tornado sirens, and those started going off and telling us that we needed to seek shelter immediately, close and lock our doors and windows.

It also said that we needed to turn off our ventilation system.

So that last part had us wondering what is going on? At that point we didn't know that there had been this mass shooting.

Couric: And we understood from a spokesman at Ft. Hood, General Cone, it took place in the building where soldiers are processed before they go off on their deployments?

Picard:In fact, it's also the building where when you come back from a deployment, you actually go through you're first PTSD screening, or your screening to see if you're at risk for that.

It's the first place that when a unit returns in mass, they would have to go individually into this building, and this is their first contact with a social worker or a counselor.
read more here
Fort Hood Resident: Incident Disturbing

Proud to announce Military Spouses of America new site

Dear Friends and Colleagues:
I am pleased to announce that Military Spouses for Change (MSC) is now Military Spouses of America (MSA). MSA seeks to be a voice for the American military spouse and her family, in a MEANINGFUL way. MSA will help our spouses understand and utilize all resources available to them, both within the Departments of Defense and VA (if applicable) and outside of them. MSA will also encourage spouses to share their insight and experiences with each other, DoD leadership, elected officials, and the American public.
Why? Because Military Spouses of America believes (and is committed to promoting) the following facts:
1. Family readiness is vital to mission readiness.
2. The well-being of the spouse cannot be divorced from the well-being of the servicemember or veteran (and vice-versa).
3. Both the military and veteran communities benefit from well-informed and well-connected military spouses.
4. The spouses of servicemembers and veterans face unique challenges--challenges for which spouses can, and have, come up with the most effective and creative solutions (individually and collectively).
5. Servicemembers are not the only veterans in military marriages!
Military Spouses of America can be found at www.militaryspousesofamerica.org.
Please make a note of this change and pass this on to anyone you know who may be interested in our organization. Our site also provides fairly in-depth information on PTSD and TBI (as those are issues of particular importance to our community in this time of prolonged military conflict).Take care,Carissa-- Carissa Picard, Esq.PresidentMilitary Spouses of Americawww.militaryspousesofamerica.org

I am on the Board of Directors and have been excited about this for a while but I was waiting for the new site to be up and for Carissa to announce it publicly. She has been working tirelessly to get this up and running.

I will be doing a Q & A session every night very soon where you can ask questions and get some insight to help you understand what is "normal" with PTSD and to learn a lot easier than I did.

What a lot of people do not understand is that older veterans and their families made all the mistakes already and found out what works to live with PTSD in their lives. This is not hopeless, marriages do not have to fall apart and end if love is there and you have the tools to help you navigate through all the changes it brings. Naturally as a Chaplain I can, and probably will more often than not, address the spiritual issues that lead to reconnecting with God and your own faith, or finding faith when you had none before.

Keep in mind that I am not a minister, so I don't push one faith over another nor do I recommend one branch of Christianity over another. I'm too complicated for that. I'm Greek Orthodox, which is a minority in the Christian faith but is the oldest, so I tend to stay out of supporting one denomination over others. As a Chaplain, I'm here to address spiritual needs as you are and where you are spiritually. So if you happen to be of another faith, I will address the faith you have as well as I can. Your spirit called you to your faith for a reason.

The only thing I stay away from as much as possible is medication. That's for your doctor to decide and not someone like me. Your body is too complicated for me to recommend any medication over any others. I will post up warnings when I see them and will post stories on medications but I draw the line on what I will and will not say.

I am not in competition with the VA psychologist and social workers. My job is to get you to understand what PTSD is so you go to them for help and above all, get enough of them there so they are there to help you.

Please go to the new site for Military Spouse of America and go over the pages. A lot of information there. I'll post up when the Q & A begins. Hope to see you there.

War? What War?

Carissa is a dear friend and tenacious fighter for the troops. I wholeheartedly agree with what she wrote. I run into this attitude all the time. Carissa sees the lives of the families on base. I see them in everyday life. No one really seems to care what's going on when they have their own problems. At least that's what I want to excuse it as. It's very difficult to contemplate the American people are so self-absorbed with their own lives they don't care there are two military operations claiming lives of our men and women on a daily basis. It's even more difficult to get it through my own brain they don't care about them coming back to a backlog of claims, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain injury, no money when they can't work and faced with having to prove they were wounded. If I ever accepted this appalling fact, my faith in human nature would erode to the point of no return.

When people ask me what I do, they reveal how little they have paid attention. They have a puzzled expression as I explain what my days are like. When I tell them that financially I'm suffering on top of it they are stunned. They cannot understand that most of the people in this country are doing without for the sake of the troops and the veterans. I'm only one of them.

Carissa is another one. With two small children and a husband deployed, she has been doing this work instead of making money as a lawyer. Think of the kind of money she could be making instead of spending countless hours working for free. Why does she do it? Because it is important to her to make sure she changes what's wrong so that we finally get this right. She set aside her own personal needs for the sake of the greater good and finds the American people taking their cues from the media ignoring what is happening in Iraq and Afghanistan. Her husband's life is on the line and so are the lives or a lot of her friends.

Read what she has to say and then ask yourself how you could possibly ignore any of this.

War? What War?
Posted on January 27th, 2009
by Carissa Picard in Iraq War, New York News, North American News, Op-ed, US Government News, US News
I am beginning to wonder if the American public thinks former President Bush went ahead and brought home all 140,000 troops from Iraq as an inaugural gift for President Obama (you know, so Obama wouldn't have to trouble himself with it) or if they simply forgot we were still there. Then again, considering the precipitous drop in media coverage of the war in Iraq (the war in Afghanistan was always under-covered in my opinion), who knows what most Americans think is going on in Iraq now.

For example, according to a study by the Project for Excellence in Journalism, Iraq composed 23 percent of network news stories in the first 10 weeks of 2007 but only three percent during that same period in 2008. For cable networks, it dropped from 24 percent to one percent.

Conventional wisdom is that the American public has "lost interest" in the war. I find this troubling. If media coverage is the measure of American interest, we were never particularly interested in the war in Afghanistan and that was the source of the terrorist attacks that led to where we are today.

This lack of coverage—excuse me, "interest"–to date has reached a new low. On 26 January, there was a mid-air collision between two Kiowa helicopters outside of Kirkuk, Iraq, at approximately 2:15 AM. The collision resulted in the death of all four pilots—one of whom was the husband of a friend of mine. My friend and her husband were happily married for many years and had several children together. At 7 AM the following day, my friend was informed that the man she had spent nearly half of her life loving was dead. At 7 AM, she went from being an Army wife to an Army widow; as did, potentially, three other spouses when those helicopters hit one another.

Meanwhile, aviation spouses around the country came together to support her, clicking closing ranks around her. Many are making plans to go visit her, coming from all parts of the country to where she is. Collectively, our hearts are breaking—not only for her loss, but for the losses sustained by all four families. The day after we learned of the collision, most of us remained somber, unable to shake the sadness of losing so many of our own in one night. This collision, like all crashes, was an unasked for and costly reminder of the dangers our loved ones face, and of the emotional Russian roulette we unwittingly play every time we know our soldier is going to fly: it was her husband today, it could be mine tomorrow.

Although this was the deadliest "incident" in Iraq for U.S. soldiers in four months and resulted in the loss of multi-million dollar airframes and soldiers whom the military had invested millions of dollars to recruit, promote, train, retain, and deploy, it did not grace the front page of any major news site after two PM CST Monday. This life changing event for these four families was relegated to the Iraq war page on CNN's, MSNBC's, and yes, even FOX News' websites. After looking for coverage of this collision, I went back and looked to see if any of these three sites had a single story on their main pages about the war in Iraq OR Afghanistan at all. None did. It was infuriating.

Words get used like "war fatigue" to describe the American public and its waning interest. Americans are tired of hearing about war so if the media covers it (or so the logic goes), viewers or readers will tune out and/or go elsewhere for their news. Evidently, men and women dying overseas while carrying out our government's foreign policy just got old.

War fatigue is a luxury not afforded the military community. Those four pilots volunteered to serve this country and their families supported this service. When we choose to love and support our servicemembers, we forego the ability to experience "war fatigue." Quite the opposite, we unwittingly facilitate this luxury for others by keeping the specter of a draft at bay as these wars grind on. In fact, I find it more than a little ironic that voluntary service, which protects Americans from having to face being sent to war involuntarily, seems to be appreciated less by our nation, as opposed to more. Instead, it leads to apathy and "war fatigue." I wonder if those who don't feel like thinking about these wars realize why they are able to do so?

On behalf of every deployed servicemember as I write this—and on behalf of the families who love and support them—I would like to say to the American public, "your welcome."

Carissa Picard is a freelance writer whose husband is a pilot currently serving in Iraq. -- Carissa Picard, Esq.
President Military Spouses of America

I watched the story on CNN of a family selling everything they have on eBay because their kids have health problems. A very admirable thing to do. What ended up happening is that people don't want to buy their possessions. They want to donate instead. So far they've raised $10,000 of the money they need to cover the health care needs of their kids. This proves the American pubic are generous. The need was known and money came in. I'm sure after the story was on CNN, even more donations will flow into them.

In November CNN covered the story of Brenden Foster, an 11 year old boy with Leukemia offering his dying wish for the homeless. KOMO covered the story and then CNN picked up on it. The donations flooded in from around the world soon after.

11 year old Brenden Foster's dying wish, feed the homeless

I have to think that it's not that the American people are so self-centered they fail to step up and help when I've read countless stories like these. The media will say that the people have lost interest in Iraq and Afghanistan but I believe it's the other way around. They made a financial decision and the troops have paid for it with the lack of attention they've been getting. To think of what we could be doing for the troops and the veterans of this nation if the need were known and understood by the American people instead of a tiny percentage of us. Two thirds of the American people do not even know what PTSD is but there are millions of people wounded by it. Ask someone how many died in Iraq or Afghanistan and they don't have a clue.

When the media paid attention and reported on what was going on, there were people in this country slamming them for focusing on the negative without thinking that at least they were reporting on it and connecting the people of this nation with the troops. Now there is nothing being reported and the same people that complained have gone off on their merry way ignoring all of it.

When the protestors focused on Iraq, they ignored Afghanistan. Now there is a new President and a foreseeable conclusion to the occupations of Iraq while the same people who took to the streets protesting it are back to their own lives and not paying attention any longer. Do they feel they've done their job and it's over? No longer claiming lives? The death count in Afghanistan has gone up every year. Do they even know this? Do they think that supporting the troops, as they all claimed they did, ended when they felt as if they won something?

I've complained in the past about the disconnect between the people willing to protest and counter protest across this nation being oblivious to what they could really do to help the men and women serving this nation. I think what Carissa wrote nailed it. When it comes to really supporting the troops they have really been ignored instead.

Treating PTSD: Are we there yet?

From Carissa Picard
In 2007, the DoD Mental Health Task Force recommended MEB/PEB for soldiers with PTSD/TBI versus disciplinary or other administrative action (when possible) in cases of misconduct as both injuries were known to cause what it identified as "disinhibitory" behavior. If senior leadership isn't going to honor those recommendations, how can we expect that of lower level leadership? And why hasn't Congress done anything about this yet?

Carissa is a good friend of mine and I'm very proud of what she's doing. I'll be joining here site soon to focus on PTSD. Right now I feel like Lisa Simpson on the Disney ride when she and Bart keep repeating "are we there yet" only to have Homer tell them "Yes, we've arrived at this exact spot at this very moment!"

We are not there yet but no one seems to be asking why we are not even close to being able to treat all the wounded with PTSD adequately enough that things like this do not happen any longer. What's it going to take? Three Generals not enough for them to wake up and understand what PTSD does? Think about that. Three Generals came out and said they had PTSD. Did the military try to end their careers too? When will the DOD stop treating them as if they are useless instead of wounded?

I posted yesterday about an Iraq veteran who had a limb amputated. He was treated, went through physical training, fitted with a prosthetic leg and he's right back with his troops. It's the same thing with PTSD. There are different levels of it and depending on the person, they can return to their units after they are treated properly. So why isn't this being done for them when the wound is PTSD? Why are they not given what they need without having to fight for it? Did they have to fight the DOD for a gun to train and deploy under orders? Who can expect them to get on with their lives after without the proper tools to do it with?

How many more years do they need to get any of this right and why aren't we there already?

PTSD victim booted for 'misconduct'
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Jan 7, 2009 12:55:53 EST
After serving two tours in Iraq — tours filled with killing enemy combatants and watching close friends die — Sgt. Adam Boyle, 27, returned home expecting the Army to take care of him.

Instead, service member advocates and Boyle's mother say his chain of command in the 3rd Psychological Operations Battalion at Fort Bragg, N.C., worked to end his military career at the first sign of weakness.

In October, a medical evaluation board physician at Bragg recommended that Boyle go through the military disability retirement process for chronic post-traumatic stress disorder — which is supposed to automatically earn him at least a 50 percent disability retirement rating — as well as for chronic headaches. The doctor also diagnosed Boyle with alcohol abuse and said he was probably missing formations due to the medications doctors put him on to treat his PTSD.

But in December, Lt. Gen. John Mulholland, commanding general of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, signed an order forcing Boyle out on an administrative discharge for a "pattern of misconduct," and ordering that the soldier pay back his re-enlistment bonus.

Last year, after a number of troops diagnosed with PTSD were administratively forced out for "personality disorders" following combat deployments, the Defense Department changed its rules: The pertinent service surgeon general now must sign off on any personality-disorder discharge if a service member has been diagnosed with PTSD.

"Not even a year later, they're pushing them out administratively for 'pattern of misconduct,' " said Carissa Picard, an attorney and founder of Military Spouses for Change, a group created in response to the personality-disorder cases. "I'm so angry. We're seeing it all the time. And it's for petty stuff."

In Boyle's case, according to Picard and Boyle's mother, Laura Curtiss, the soldier had gotten in trouble for missing morning formations and for alcohol-related incidents such as fighting and public drunkenness.

"The whole thing is absurd to me," Picard said. "They acknowledge that PTSD causes misconduct, and then they boot them out for misconduct."

FOR THE REST OF THE ARTICLE, click link

Attention Military Spouses:Congress needs to hear from you!

Attention Military Spouses!

YOUR VOICE IS NEEDED IN CONGRESS IMMEDIATELY.

The House of Representatives recently passed the Military Spouses Residency Relief Act. This bill, if it passes the Senate, will apply the same rules of residency to military spouses that currently apply to their active duty service member (so you would no longer have to worry about changing your driver's license, vehicle registration, voter's registration, etc., every time you move). The idea that we should be penalized for these moves WHEN IT IS THE MILITARY that is choosing to move us is ridiculous. Military spouses, like service members, simply go where the military tells them to go. The hardships associated with these frequent moves should be ALLEVIATED by Congress, not perpetuated.

Shockingly, the Military Spouses Residency Relief Act is currently BEING CHALLENGED by the DoD as it is being considered by the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. If this bill does not get approved by the VA Committee, it will never get voted on in the Senate and thus never become law.

This is your chance to make a difference and to be heard. You need to call the Senators that are sitting on the VA Committee. Ask to speak with their legislative aide about the Military Spouse Residency Relief Act. Tell them that "the committee needs to support the Carter Military Spouse language." For some reason, the DoD does not believe that military spouses should have the same residency protections that service members do. Obviously, Military Spouses for Change disagrees with the DoD on this.

It will not cost the federal government anything to make this bill a law. It will not cost the Department of Defense anything. All we are asking for is a reprieve from the practical and financial burdens of having to change our state of residence every time the military decides to move our family. Either that or the military should start giving our married service members the option of staying at one duty station for his or her entire career. Since the latter is unlikely to happen, then the federal government should at least move to provide us with the same legal protections it provides our service members since we are no more immune to the change of duty stations than he or she is (absent divorcing or separating).

Print out the numbers below and take the time to call each office and tell them that military spouses deserve the same legal protections that their service members get when it comes to state residency laws. They say that the military recruits a service member but retains the family, well this is a step the federal government can take toward doing that.

Please forward this email to other military spouses you know and/or post on message boards and blogs!


Akaka, Daniel K.- (D - HI) (202) 224-6361
Aide: Lisa F.

Brown, Sherrod- (D - OH) (202) 224-2315
Aide: Diane Wilkinson

Burr, Richard- (R - NC) (202) 224-3154
Aide: Kevin Tuess(??)

Craig, Larry E.- (R - ID) (202) 224-2752
Aide: Patrick (Nielman??)

Graham, Lindsey- (R - SC) (202) 224-5972
Aide: Adam Brake

Hutchison, Kay Bailey- (R - TX) 224-5922

Isakson, Johnny- (R - GA) (202) 224-3643
Aide: Lauren Walter (along with Houston Ernst)

Murray, Patty- (D - WA) (202) 224-2621
Aide: Joshua Jacobs

Obama, Barack- (D - IL) (202) 224-2854
Aide: Ruchi Bhowmik

Rockefeller, John D., IV- (D - WV) (202) 224-6472
Aide: Clete Johnson or Barbara Pryor

Sanders, Bernard- (I - VT) (202) 224-5141
Aide: Janko Mitric

Specter, Arlen- (R - PA) (202) 224-4254
Aide: Will Wagner

Tester, Jon- (D - MT) (202) 224-2644
Aide: James Wise

Webb, Jim- (D - VA) (202) 224-4024
Aide: William Edwards

Wicker, Roger F.- (R - MS) (202) 224-6253


Your ally in progress,

Carissa Picard


--
Carissa Picard, Esq.
President
Military Spouses for Change
P.O. Box 216
Copperas Cove, TX 76522

Military Spouses Working to Improve Lives of Soldiers

Military Spouses Working to Improve Lives of Soldiers

Last Edited: Thursday, 14 Aug 2008, 9:20 AM CDT
Created: Thursday, 14 Aug 2008, 9:20 AM CDT


Military Spouses Fight for Change
"Military Spouses for Change" is working to improve the lives of soldiers and their families. They want to convince government to improve health care, treatment for PTSD and other issues that soldiers face when they return home.


click post title to watch the interview with Carissa Picard, President of Military Spouses for Change.

Obama and McCain let the troops down at Fort Hood

Carissa Picard sent this email. In case you don't know who she is, she is the President of Military Spouses for Change. She's been very active helping the troops at Fort Hood. Living with the families and the troops, she's well aware of what's going on today and how the troops need to be heard. She tried to put together a Town Hall meeting with the troops and the two candidates running for President and Commander-in Chief. This was such a big deal CBS was going to cover it. Obama had better things to do, as well as he also had better things to do than attend the DAV convention and sent a tape to be played at the convention. McCain, well he was willing to do this but would only commit if Obama did. The whole thing fell apart. What is very troubling is that we have two occupations going on right now, troops suffering and families suffering as they are expected to do their duties. The two people who think they have the right "leadership" to command these men and women do an awful lot of talking about how important the troops are to them but they never really do much to prove it. So is this all just more talk from politicians trying to use the love the American people have for the troops and not really doing anything for them or what? Read what Carissa wrote and then you decide.

DIARY on MILITARY SPOUSE PRESS - POLITICS AS USUAL: The Injustice of Not Having the Fort Hood Presidential Town Hall

Some of you know me and know that what I do comes from the heart (see: http://www.milspousepress.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=573). Caynan, my husband, is a medevac pilot covering the Baghdad area. Yes, progress has been made. But it isn't pretty. (Magilla the Gorilla, the large stuffed animal I sent him that is now a part of the crew for my husband's team, needs a harness because he gets tossed around during the missions and is getting bloodied up.) You will not like what you are about to read but I hope you will remember that I tried to invite the candidates to Fort Hood back in November of 2007 (http://blip.tv/file/500866), that you met me when I was stumping for Biden in Iowa because I believe so strongly in being a voice for our active duty service members and families.

What I wrote below, I wrote in response to a personal email, I wrote in my OWN voice, not as the President of MSC, and not as the organizer of the FOrt Hood Presidential Town Hall Consortium. I have been a Democrat all my life. My husband has taken heat from his chain of command because of my advocacy for our soldiers here at Fort Hood (See also why we should take care of our wounded: http://www.military.com/opinion/0,15202,157747,00.html). But I am heartbroken and disappointed and angry. I approached the campaigns asking for ANY dates that worked for them. I will be more than happy to give you the invitation and press release if you want it, just email me. You know what, I understand that town halls are risky. But every time my husband gets in that Blackhawk he is risking his life, and he does it anyway. We honor those who have the courage to take risks. The stakes are high, you may be thinking. Yes, they are. They are very high. No one knows that more than we do.

I am officially an independent now. I think that this was town hall was a political game too for the campaigns--AND I AM ANGRY. I am speaking out as the spouse of a soldier serving 15 months in Iraq. Fort Hood is home to approximately 56,000 soldiers and 24,000 spouses. Our "in house" records, as of Feb. 2007, had our death toll at 650 deaths to this "Global War on Terror" but the DoD numbers, of course, for Fort Hood, have us at that RIGHT NOW. (Guess it all depends on how you define dead). (I'm sorry, casualty of war.) Six weeks ago, a 19 yr old stationed from Hood shot himself to death via webcam in front of his 19 year old wife (he is listed by the army as a "non-combat related casualty; small arms fire"). He was stationed at Camp Taji.

On July 22, my husband calls me from Taji to inform me he can't shower because another soldier has been electrocuted to death in the shower. A few months ago, 4th ID announced it was raising funds to expand its soldier memorial on post for the THIRD time as its Division losses have been so great. 4th ID is, of course, on its 4th tour in Iraq. 1st Cav Division will be going back for the fourth or fifth time in six months (they just back in this past December when their tours were extended to 15 months).

A soldier with TUMORS in his lungs that I am helping here at Ft. Hood was CLEARED as fit for duty for AFGHANISTAN even though he can't run or do push ups without passing out. (General Schoomaker has been informed of the situation and is now having this soldier re-evaluated.) MEANWHILE, when I approached Obama's people about the event (whom I thought would jump on this opportunity), I get stonewalled by their vet coordinator. I get told by McCain's people he won't come if Obama won't come (nice).

I get NO dates from Obama's people and one date from McCain's people. I go with that date to the network and the venue and Obama. Obama's deputy director of scheduling tells me, "oh, the Senator is spending time with his family on that day, Ms. Picard. Surely you can appreciate that the Senator's time with his family is sacred." I felt like my head was going to explode when she said that to me. The Senator's time with his family is SACRED? Yes, it is but what about OUR TIME with OUR FAMILIES? Between 2002 and 2006, the divorce rate for Army officers TRIPLED and for Army enlisted soldiers doubled. Incidents of child abuse and neglect increased with the length of the soldier being deployed. PTSD is a HUGE risk factor for domestic violence. Repeat tours increase the likelihood of returning with PTSD. 2 in 5 service members are returning with either a traumatic brain injury or PTSD (or both).

WHAT ABOUT OUR FAMILIES? Last time I checked, the Senator gets to see his family. They CAN travel with him. He does not rely on 15 minutes DSN phone calls with bad connections that he has to wait in line to make or internet that may or may not be working. And after NOvember, he WILL be with his families. I told Ms. Koehkne, with all due respect, no one knows more than an Army wife, how sacred time with one's family is. And I certainly don't appreciate the fact that the man whose orders will send my husband away from my family for yet ANOTHER 12 or 15 months cannot commit to talking to our troops because time with his family is more important than time with us, especially when the war in Iraq is such a large part of his election platform.

It is utterly outrageous that these two men have not come to US together and worked out a time for BOTH of them to talk to our service members and spouses. We should know how they plan to maintain our all volunteer force after six years of war and in the face of the escalating "global war on terror," strengthen our domestic security and replenish national guard/reserve forces and equipment (particularly in the event of a natural disaster and/or, god forbid, an internal attack), and fortify our military and veteran institutions while doing this.

I am not bashing Obama, I am angry at McCain as well for not trying to make this happen either. Our soldiers are MORE THAN A PHOTO OP. OUR FAMILIES AND OUR SERVICE MEMBERS ARE LIVING AND DYING for this country and for this war on terror. We wanted the country to remember that the next president is going to determine exactly how much longer we are going to keep living this way and where exactly our service members will be living and dying and being wounded when NOT WITH US, their families. WIll it be Iraq? WIll it be Afghanistan? Will it be Iran?? Pakistan??? AND WHEN YOU ARE DONE WITH THE SERVICE MEMBER, when he or she returns wounded, battered, bruised, broken, what is this country going to do to help this service member and this family put itself back together?

Since Fort Hood has lost the most soldiers in the war on terror and its soldiers have spent the most fighting in this war, I think this is clearly the most compelling audience for these questions. Every soldier knows that orders to Hood equals orders to combat. THe National Veterans Organization wants to help create a presidential town hall before November for our soldiers and spouses and veterans. Ralph Nader wants to be involved. I say we challenge ALL candidates to attend. I say we tell them to put up or shut up because I am, quite frankly, sick of it. And God help them if my husband goes down in his helicopter in Iraq, because it won't be pretty. They think that this military spouse is on fire now, as a gold star spouse I will make Cindy Sheehan look like a pussy cat. (I should mention that I am Irish.)

I expect both campaigns will be angry at me for this email but they don't have to work with me to do this event. They just have to come together to make this happen for our troops and their families. If not Fort Hood, then at least some other Army installation. It's the Army and National Guards that are deployed the longest at 15 months and they should be heard.

Candidates’ forum at Fort Hood is scrubbed

It will be very interesting to find out why Senator Obama thought doing something else was more important. Don't get me wrong. I think he'd make a fine president but this was very important to the troops. I hope he plans on doing it another day and I hope Senator McCain does as well. The future of the troops depends on who takes the chair next and they should be able to ask all the questions they want.

Candidates’ forum at Fort Hood is scrubbed

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Jul 29, 2008 15:52:57 EDT

A proposed Aug. 11 town hall meeting near Fort Hood, Texas, in which it was hoped that the two presidential candidates would talk to audiences of military members, veterans and retirees is off, the event’s chief organizer said Tuesday.

But whether the event is canceled or simply being postponed is unclear.

“We are open to rescheduling, if they want to, but it was getting to close to Aug. 11 to leave it open,” said Carissa Picard, managing director of the Fort Hood Presidential Town Hall Consortium that was planning the event, planned for the Bell County Expo Center in Belton, Texas, near Fort Hood, the largest U.S. military base.

Picard had announced July 11 that the town hall meeting would be televised by CBS and that aides to Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the Republican presidential candidate, had indicated McCain was willing to attend.

Picard tried to bring pressure to get Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, the Democratic presidential candidate, to agree to attend, but campaign officials said Obama had another event previously planned for that day.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/07/military_forthood_townhall_072908w/

August 9 - 12, 2008 Bally's Hotel Las Vegas 3645 Las Vegas Boulevard South Las Vegas, NV 89109

But Senator Obama will not be able to go to this either. This is from the DAV site.

Delegates to DAV 87th National Convention to
hear from Presidential Candidates

Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain (R-AZ) is tentatively scheduled to address the delegates at DAV’s 87th National Convention on Saturday, Aug. 9.

Senator Barack Obama (D-IL), the Democratic presidential candidate, will be unable to attend the convention because he is travelling out of the country. He will provide a taped message to delegates however.

DAV's 87th National Convention is being held at Bally's Hotel Las Vegas Aug. 9 - 12.

http://www.dav.org/

Senator Obama, what's more pressing than the troops and veterans?

When NAMI sent out a questionnaire on mental illness, you (or one of your advisors) took the time to answer every question, while others didn't bother. When NAMI asked you to send a representative of your campaign to the convention in Orlando, you did when McCain didn't bother to do more than send in the same kind of letter he responded to the request from NAMI with. For most of your campaign, you seem to claim there is nothing more important than taking care of the troops and veterans. You said the invasion of Iraq and occupation of it was wrong and spoke out against it, but for all the claims you have about the importance of the troops and veterans is to you, you decline to participate in a Town Hall meeting with them. What is more pressing then the needs the men and women serving this nation have? What is more important than addressing the military families sacrificing while their family member is deployed? What is more pressing than addressing the special needs of citizen soldiers and their families?


From Carissa Picard, President Military Spouses for Change

If there is one more debate or town hall before the general election, it should be before an audience composed of the men and women whose service and sacrifice ensure that these events continue through their defense of our country and of our Constitution; particularly after six years of war.



Press Release about the event is attached.


NEW YORK TIMES

July 12, 2008
Obama Won't Commit to Event at Military Base
By KATE ZERNIKE
A coalition of military groups is planning a nationally televised town-hall-style meeting with the presidential candidates near Fort Hood, Tex., the largest active-duty military installation in the country. But so far, only Senator John McCain of Arizona, the presumptive Republican nominee, has agreed to attend.

CBS has agreed to broadcast the meeting live from 9 to 11 p.m. Eastern time on Monday, Aug. 11. The candidates would face questions directly from an audience of 6,000 people, made up of veterans, service members and military families from the base.

Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, the presumptive Democratic nominee, has not agreed to participate.

"Senator Obama strongly supports America's veterans and military families and has worked hard on their behalf in the Senate," said Phillip Carter, director of Mr. Obama's veterans effort and an Iraq war veteran. "While we unfortunately had a previously scheduled commitment on the date proposed, Senator Obama looks forward to continuing the dialogue he's been having throughout the country with veterans on how we can better serve our men and women in uniform as they serve us."

Carissa Picard, managing director of the Fort Hood Presidential Town Hall Consortium, said she had suggested Aug. 11 and asked the campaign to suggest other dates if that was not convenient, but after several conversations she had not been able to work anything out.

"I'm having extreme difficulty getting the Obama campaign to commit to this event, and we do not understand why," said Ms. Picard, whose husband is deployed in Iraq. "We made it very clear to them that if they would commit to the event, we would work with them on dates."

The organizers released details about the event in hopes that it would pressure the Obama campaign to agree to the event.

"This was a decision that was made with tremendous difficulty, to publicize it," Ms. Picard said. "We were at a point where we had no other option. We got the impression that they could talk us to November."

The meeting would be at the Expo Center in Belton, Tex., about 25 miles from Fort Hood.

A military audience might seem more hospitable to a Republican candidate, particularly one like Mr. McCain, who has made his support for the war in Iraq the heart of his campaign. But the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have taken a heavy toll on Fort Hood; one of the groups organizing the event estimates that up to 800 of the service people who have died in Iraq have come through the base.

And organizers say many Fort Hood residents — the base serves about 218,000 people, including service members, retirees and military families — have grown tired of the war and agree with Mr. Obama's declaration that it must end.

Still, Mr. McCain prefers the town-hall-style format. He had proposed a series of 10 similar events with Mr. Obama, and the two campaigns were said to be working out details for a more limited series of meetings.

Organizers say the veterans and military population in the United States, including families, totals about 44 million people.

"McCain and Obama are asking to be the next commander in chief," Ms. Picard said. "What's a more compelling audience than this, the people that you have asked to maintain our security? It would be tremendous for the morale of this community."

Organizers include American Veterans, Disabled American Veterans, Military Order of the Purple Heart, Veterans for Common Sense and Military Spouse Corporate Career Network.

Carissa Picard, Esq.

"Carissa Picard totally rocks" says veteran

More About Soldier Jonathan Norrell, PTSD Sufferer
By Justin Gardner
Related entries in Afghanistan, Health Care, Iraq, Mental Health, Military, War
I saw this in the comments from my post today,
Nearly 1 In 5 Soldiers Have PTSD:
I’m the Vet who contacted Carissa Piccard and Liz Dozier at CBS. Jonathan & I talked for over an hour today. He agrees that both Carissa & Liz totally rock. So do I - in spades. Jonathan is still waiting for a medical discharge, wants to get productive again and realizes he has some new limitations with which to deal.

Time constraints for Liz’s piece left out a couple of details. Jonathan Norrell is one hell of a kid. A goof-off in High School, he got a GED to get into the service. He did so well that he got to be a medic. This day & age - that’s unheard of in the Army.

In Iraq you heard about the IED’s he encountered, but not all the firefights. Traumatic Brain Injury is strongly suspected & hasn’t been checked out by the DOD yet.

You didn’t hear that he endured demeaning treatment from his Commanding Officer for “faking it”. There’s more, but Jonathan’s prime concern is that he is only the most vocal one at Ft. Hood. His unit will return to Iraq. He tells me only a fraction are mentally up to the challenge.

My thoughts are with Norrell and all those who have fought for us and suffer from this awful condition. Let’s hope we bring them all home soon.

I couldn't agree more.

Carissa Picard on NPR To The Point

Most of you know that Sancho Press has been taken over by Military Spouses for Change and it now Military Spouse Press. Tom Kole is staying on. Carissa is the president of Military Spouses for Change. Carissa is a dynamo! Her husband must be very proud of her for taking on the government for the sake of those who serve. What she has created with Military Spouses for Change is vital in order to really take care of those who serve as well as their families. Gone are the days when there used to be support groups in VA hospitals for the family members. Gone are the days when the all powerful groups like DAV, VFW, American Legion were providing the networking that was supporting the families by brining them together. While organizations like IAVA and Veterans for Common Sense, along with the new breed of veterans, has been filling the gap, it has taken the action of these fledgling operations to fill the void the government should have been serving. I am humbled by her dedication and the fact she wanted me to be a part of her group.

While wives connected to the Vietnam veterans have been dealing with all the issues facing them, we have much to offer the newest generation and Carissa embraced that. She thinks the years of living with it all may provide some hope to those suddenly finding it isn't their husband's war or their wife's war alone, it is also their's to fight when they come home. She is a true patriot!

The President, the War in Iraq and American Soldiers

THU APR 10, 2008



President Bush today gave General David Petraeus the pause in troop reductions he asked for. When the surge ends in July, American forces will remain 140,000 strong. We get the reactions of soldiers and families. Also, how does Bush measure up to his White House mentor?


Bush Speech Caps Week of Iraq Testimony 12:01P
President Bush today accepted the recommendations of General David Petraeus. The draw-down of troops from Iraq will stop when the "surge" ends in July. Democratic leaders of Congress said, "He's just dragging this out, leaving a failed war and a failed economy on the doorstep of the next president." Because of strains on the troops, Mr. Bush also reduced tours of duty from 15 months to 12, but that won't start until August. We talk with soldiers about the state of morale after six years of war. What do multiple tours on the front lines mean for their families? What about recruitment, retention and readiness to meet future contingencies?
Guests:
Mark Silva: White House Correspondent, Chicago Tribune
Carissa Picard: President, Military Spouses for Change
Sig Christenson: Military Reporter, San Antonio Express-News
Pete Hegseth: Executive Director, Vets for Freedom
Brandon Friedman: Editor, VetVoice.com
http://www.kcrw.com/news/programs/tp/tp080410the_president_the_wa

Military Wife Answers Her Own Call to Service
by: Lynda Waddington
Jun 28, 2007 at 15:27 PM
Carissa Picard openly admits she isn't comfortable speaking in front of groups. Corner her privately afterward and she'll confess to not eating anything beforehand for fear she might become physically ill. Publicly or privately, however, she'll also tell you the message she carries is so important that she plans to spend the next few weeks speaking in front of Iowa groups at every available opportunity.


"Military spouses, above all else, want to support the person they love," said Picard, president of Military Spouses for Change. "Our organization was founded on the belief that political awareness and involvement is a key way military spouses can honor and support our troops. We can have a voice."


Picard's husband, Chief Warrant Officer Caynan Picard, is an active-duty helicopter pilot who recently returned to their home at Fort Hood, Texas after serving a year in Central America. He is expected to redeploy to Iraq in early 2008. Their family includes two sons, ages 6 and 3.
"Basically, we think we'll have about nine months before he's deployed again," Picard said while simultaneously smiling and blinking back tears. "It wasn't an easy decision for me to come to Iowa. But when we talked about it, Caynan asked if I thought I could make a difference. I told him that I thought I could and he told me I should go -- that it was my turn to serve my country."


http://www.iowaindependent.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=447