Cancer-fighting vet sues the VA after failing to ID tumor
Darryl E. Owens | Sentinel Staff Writer
March 1, 2008
An Ormond Beach veteran faces an uncertain future after doctors at the Department of Veterans Affairs clinic in Daytona Beach missed a cancerous tumor on his chest X-ray, a mistake for which military officials have apologized.
Ted Schrolucke, 63, who served in Germany for the U.S. Army from 1965 to 1967, has filed a $200,000 claim against the VA. The complaint says doctors at the William V. Chappell Jr. VA Outpatient Clinic failed to diagnose a late-stage mass in his right lung that had developed from a previous bout he had with colon cancer.
VA officials earlier this month admitted the error and offered its apologies in a memo it sent to Schrolucke.
But he wanted more than a concession and a mea culpa. He wanted to give other vets a warning that an incorrect diagnosis could happen to them. But the VA handles such matters internally, he was told, so he went public.
"Veterans are walking in there every day getting X-rays and sitting down with doctors and are told everything is OK," he said. "I want them to fix this."
Schrolucke's problems began in August 2005, when he turned to the VA to cover his medications and care until his wife could add him to her insurance plan. His own private policy had become too expensive, he said.
In his VA paperwork, he noted his 2002 colon-cancer diagnosis. Doctors took X-rays, and Schrolucke "walked out of there feeling cancer-free."
In March 2006, under his wife's insurance plan, he visited a non-VA doctor. A blood test suggested cancer, and a repeat of the test six weeks later proved more telling. Scans showed "a big tumor on my right lung," Schrolucke said.
click post title for the rest
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Bill to highlight female veterans
Bill to spotlight issues for female veterans
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Mar 1, 2008 8:11:43 EST
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., is expected to announce legislation next week aimed at increasing the focus on female veterans at Department of Veterans Affairs facilities.
Since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan began, Murray has spent many hearings questioning VA officials about female veterans with histories of sexual trauma, whether research has been done to determine their health needs and whether VA hospitals are so focused on men’s health issues that women get left behind.
Though VA officials say they are conducting a survey on women’s experiences at their facilities, as well as offering programs specifically for women, proponents of the proposed bill say it would target areas VA has not addressed. It follows a similar House bill proposed by Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, D-S.D., and Ginny Brown-Waite, R-Fla.
Murray’s bill will ask for:
• Assessment and treatment of women who have suffered sexual trauma in the military.
• More use of evidence-based treatment for women — particularly in areas such as post-traumatic stress disorder, where responses may be different or involve different issues than it does for men.
• A long-term study on gender-specific health issues of female veterans.
“One of the things we started to see early on is that there’s a lot we don’t know,” said Joy Ilem, assistant national legislative director for Disabled American Veterans.
go here for the rest
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/03/military_femalevets_health_022908w/
VAWatchdog takes on Sally Satel and AEI over PTSD
THINK-TANKER SATEL PUSHES "TREATMENT FIRST"
LEGISLATION FOR PTSD VETS -- "Treatment First Act"
would urge vets with mental health issues not to file
for VA disability but seek treatment instead.
Dr. Sally Satel of the American Enterprise Institute
by Larry Scott
Dr. Sally Satel is a psychiatrist, paid mouthpiece and think-tanker for the American Enterprise Institute. And, she's back in the news pushing her agenda to marginalize PTSD veterans.
This time she's joined by two old friends, Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) and Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID). Burr is the Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Craig was the Ranking Member until the Republican party removed him after he got caught playing tappy-toes with an undercover cop in an airport men's room.
Burr has introduced a bill (S. 2573) titled Veterans Mental Health Treatment First Act. Craig is the only cosponsor of the bill.
Now, Satel, who is not known for her love of veterans or her ability for rational thought, has decided that "Treatment First" is a must for veterans with mental health issues. (For background on Sally Satel, use the VA Watchdog search engine...click here... http://www.yourvabenefits.org/sessearch.php?q=satel&op=and )
Satel's basic premise is: Work will set you free. Seems to me I've heard that someplace. Satel says, "By abandoning work, the veteran deprives himself of its therapeutic value: a sense of purpose..."
Satel's web site is here... http://www.sallysatelmd.com/
Satel's email is... satel@sallysatelmd.com
The "Treatment First Act" will give a small allowance to vets with mental health problems who forego filing a VA disability compensation claim and enter treatment.
The "Treatment First Act" is just a way for the VA to save money by conning veterans into delaying filing a claim. Even if the veteran goes into treatment, and then a year later files a claim, a lot of money has been saved.
Also, this program would cause a shift in attitude at the Veterans' Benefits Administration (VBA) that handles claims. If a vet does not go into the program and just files a claim, it would be easy for a claims person at VBA to feel that the vet doesn't want to "get better" and then deliberately mishandle the claim, causing delays in compensation.
Below you will find two pieces of information. First is the Sally Satel opinion piece from The Wall Street Journal. Second is the Veterans Mental Health Treatment First Act as posted on Thomas.
Satel opinion here...
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120399050749092455.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
go here back to VAWatchdog
Empty Casing, Testament of a soldier with PTSD
Testament of 'an honest man and a soldier'
PATRICK RENGGER
March 1, 2008
EMPTY CASING
By Fred Doucette
Douglas & McIntyre,
256 pages, $34.95
It has been said with some truth that in war there are no unwounded soldiers. Yet the nature of those wounds, particularly the psychological ones, and their effect on the lives of the men (and increasingly, the women) involved are as different and multitudinous as the individuals.
Whether you call it battle fatigue, shell shock, PTSD (posttraumatic stress disorder) or OSI (operational stress injury), the mental trauma that can occur in conflict areas is still barely understood. It is often governed, particularly in the military, by ignorance and hidden by a culture of macho denial. Why some are affected, while others remain apparently uninjured, by the same circumstances remains largely a mystery. In Empty Casing, Fred Doucette tells the story of one soldier, Doucette himself, who rises through the ranks of the Canadian army until, faced with the extraordinary stresses and particular viciousness of the Bosnian conflict, he finally succumbs to mental injury and is ultimately medically discharged from the army.
The story Doucette tells is, in many ways, a quite ordinary soldier's tale, filled with the small struggles and triumphs of life in the military and family life, and the business and boredom of professional soldiering. And yet, its very ordinariness is partly what makes it compelling. When Doucette is finally posted to Bosnia as a United Nations Monitoring Officer, everything changes. In Bosnia, Doucette is sent to Sarajevo in the midst of the siege, a posting that Doucette, whose previous UN tours of Cyprus were his only experience of war, didn't really want. He comforts himself with the thought that it couldn't be that bad, adding, "I could not figure out why all the military observers who had been 'in country' kept wishing me luck."
go here for the rest
PATRICK RENGGER
March 1, 2008
EMPTY CASING
By Fred Doucette
Douglas & McIntyre,
256 pages, $34.95
It has been said with some truth that in war there are no unwounded soldiers. Yet the nature of those wounds, particularly the psychological ones, and their effect on the lives of the men (and increasingly, the women) involved are as different and multitudinous as the individuals.
Whether you call it battle fatigue, shell shock, PTSD (posttraumatic stress disorder) or OSI (operational stress injury), the mental trauma that can occur in conflict areas is still barely understood. It is often governed, particularly in the military, by ignorance and hidden by a culture of macho denial. Why some are affected, while others remain apparently uninjured, by the same circumstances remains largely a mystery. In Empty Casing, Fred Doucette tells the story of one soldier, Doucette himself, who rises through the ranks of the Canadian army until, faced with the extraordinary stresses and particular viciousness of the Bosnian conflict, he finally succumbs to mental injury and is ultimately medically discharged from the army.
The story Doucette tells is, in many ways, a quite ordinary soldier's tale, filled with the small struggles and triumphs of life in the military and family life, and the business and boredom of professional soldiering. And yet, its very ordinariness is partly what makes it compelling. When Doucette is finally posted to Bosnia as a United Nations Monitoring Officer, everything changes. In Bosnia, Doucette is sent to Sarajevo in the midst of the siege, a posting that Doucette, whose previous UN tours of Cyprus were his only experience of war, didn't really want. He comforts himself with the thought that it couldn't be that bad, adding, "I could not figure out why all the military observers who had been 'in country' kept wishing me luck."
go here for the rest
Is one week in Iraq worth a year of veterans care?
It is the Least We Can Do for Their Sacrifice: One Week of War Spending
Posted February 29, 2008 10:13 AM (EST)
Senator Jim Webb has reintroduced an updated version of what he has dubbed "21st Century GI Bill" framed on the wildly successful GI Bill from World War II. With this war dragging on for six and one half years and our troops involuntary serving tour after tour, it is the least we can do for them. There are many other issues that we need to address to help our returning troops but this is a broad based program that will give a hand to all the troops who have served since 9/11.
Webb is co-sponsoring this bill with Senator Hagel and Senator Lautenberg and yesterday they got the important support of moderate Republican John Warner. His support will hopefully give cover for other Republicans to vote for this measure. For any of those who claim that it is too expensive, consider this: The estimated yearly cost for this program is $2 billion -- equivalent to one week of spending on this war.
Long established veteran groups, such as the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and new veteran groups such as Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) have endorsed this legislation.
Many of us have fathers who took advantage of the World War II GI bill. My father did and has told me stories of how crowded the universities were after World War II with veterans, many who may not have otherwise gone to college, taking advantage of a program that they earned. According to Senator Webb's research, out of a war time veteran population of 15 million, approximately 7.8 million took advantage of the program. Webb also claims that for every dollar invested in the WWII program, seven dollars were generated. This was a program that educated that greatest generation and helped build the base for the country we live in today. It was the WWII GI bill generation of engineers and scientists that built our space program, put men on the moon, developed the transistor and laid the basis for the digital computer.
click above for the rest
Posted February 29, 2008 10:13 AM (EST)
Senator Jim Webb has reintroduced an updated version of what he has dubbed "21st Century GI Bill" framed on the wildly successful GI Bill from World War II. With this war dragging on for six and one half years and our troops involuntary serving tour after tour, it is the least we can do for them. There are many other issues that we need to address to help our returning troops but this is a broad based program that will give a hand to all the troops who have served since 9/11.
Webb is co-sponsoring this bill with Senator Hagel and Senator Lautenberg and yesterday they got the important support of moderate Republican John Warner. His support will hopefully give cover for other Republicans to vote for this measure. For any of those who claim that it is too expensive, consider this: The estimated yearly cost for this program is $2 billion -- equivalent to one week of spending on this war.
Long established veteran groups, such as the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and new veteran groups such as Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) have endorsed this legislation.
Many of us have fathers who took advantage of the World War II GI bill. My father did and has told me stories of how crowded the universities were after World War II with veterans, many who may not have otherwise gone to college, taking advantage of a program that they earned. According to Senator Webb's research, out of a war time veteran population of 15 million, approximately 7.8 million took advantage of the program. Webb also claims that for every dollar invested in the WWII program, seven dollars were generated. This was a program that educated that greatest generation and helped build the base for the country we live in today. It was the WWII GI bill generation of engineers and scientists that built our space program, put men on the moon, developed the transistor and laid the basis for the digital computer.
click above for the rest
16,269 exposed to chemicals not notified of health issues?
The Pentagon hired a contractor to try to identify more veterans, but GAO found the project lacked sufficient oversight. For example, in 2007, a contractor identified 2,300 people exposed to biological tests at Fort Detrick, Md., in “Operation Whitecoat,” which ran from the early 1950s to the early 1970s.
VA, DoD urged to find chemical-exposed vets
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Mar 1, 2008 7:56:47 EST
The Pentagon and Veterans Affairs Department must work harder to find tens of thousands of veterans involved in military chemical and biological weapons tests since World War II, the Government Accountability Office said in a new report.
“As this population becomes older, it will become more imperative for DoD and VA to identify and notify these individuals in a timely manner because they might be eligible for health care or other benefits,” according to the GAO report.
The classified tests exposed people to various agents. Some were simulated, but many were not. The list included blister and nerve agents, biological agents, PCP and LSD, in a series of tests over several decades known as “Project 112.”
According to the GAO, the military also exposed healthy adults, psychiatric patients and prison inmates in the experiments.
In some cases, service members volunteered for the tests but were misled about what they would be asked to do.
“Precise information on the number of tests, experiments and participants is not available, and the exact numbers will never be known,” the GAO report states.
Still, in 1993, the Defense Department began trying to find as many as it could. They identified almost 6,000 veterans and 350 civilians who may have been exposed. That search effort ended in 2003.
But in a 2004 study, GAO said the Pentagon should review further data and see if it would be feasible to find more people who may have been exposed.
Defense officials decided that looking further would not yield significant results, but GAO said that decision was “not supported by an objective analysis of the potential costs and benefits,” and that the Pentagon had not documented the criteria for its decision.
Since 2003, the Institutes of Medicine as well as other non-military agencies have found 600 more people.
GAO found that the Defense Department efforts in this area lack consistent objectives and adequate oversight, and officials have not used information gained from previous research that identified exposed people. GAO also aid the process lacks transparency because it has not kept Congress and veterans groups informed of its progress.
VA officials sent letters to only 48 percent of the names provided by the Pentagon because those were the only ones for whom they could find addresses. At least 16,269 known to be living still need to be notified.
Some records have been lost or destroyed, but GAO said VA does not work with the Social Security Administration or the Internal Revenue Service to obtain contact information for veterans.go here for the rest
http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2008/03/military_chemicalweapons_tests_022908w/
A couple of things really wrong with this aside from the obvious. The VA can and does work with the IRS and Social Security when it involves the ability to collect for treatment classified as "non-service connected" and they did this in the 90's at least because they kept taking our tax refund until my husband's claim was approved. The Pentagon also must work with the IRS and Social Security because they managed to track down the National Guardsman they are sending to jail because he had income from a private job while part of the time he was deployed to Iraq. In other words, when they want to find you, they do.
PTSD:Some Returning Troops Rely on Local Services, Not Military
MENTAL HEALTH CARE
Va. Braces for Veterans' Needs
Some Returning Troops Rely on Local Services, Not Military
By Chris L. Jenkins
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, March 1, 2008; Page B10
Virginia officials are preparing for a sharp increase in requests for community mental health services from troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, and they are concerned that the system will be overwhelmed.
Mental health experts and officials said they are seeing a growing number of recently returned military personnel with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and other ailments seeking services from behavioral health clinics.
But with a waiting list of about 5,700 for community mental health services, many officials are concerned that the state will not be able to adequately serve the veterans and family members going to these clinics, operated by what are known as community services boards.
State officials said they are preparing for a 15 percent increase over the next decade in people seeking services from the state's mental health network, especially in emergency situations. That does not include family members who might need counseling. The issue is of particular concern in Virginia because the state has the third highest number of military service members in the country, behind California and Texas.
"This is a population that we're going to have to think about for some time," said James Reinhard, commissioner of the state Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services. "We're concerned and believe that [the population] is going to clearly have an impact on our services."
click post title for the rest
Va. Braces for Veterans' Needs
Some Returning Troops Rely on Local Services, Not Military
By Chris L. Jenkins
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, March 1, 2008; Page B10
Virginia officials are preparing for a sharp increase in requests for community mental health services from troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, and they are concerned that the system will be overwhelmed.
Mental health experts and officials said they are seeing a growing number of recently returned military personnel with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and other ailments seeking services from behavioral health clinics.
But with a waiting list of about 5,700 for community mental health services, many officials are concerned that the state will not be able to adequately serve the veterans and family members going to these clinics, operated by what are known as community services boards.
State officials said they are preparing for a 15 percent increase over the next decade in people seeking services from the state's mental health network, especially in emergency situations. That does not include family members who might need counseling. The issue is of particular concern in Virginia because the state has the third highest number of military service members in the country, behind California and Texas.
"This is a population that we're going to have to think about for some time," said James Reinhard, commissioner of the state Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services. "We're concerned and believe that [the population] is going to clearly have an impact on our services."
click post title for the rest
Staff Sgt. Steven Vickerman died of wounds but won't be counted
How many more will it take before all of them get help? How many more will die because this nation decided they could wait before help was available for all who needed it?
Staff Sgt. Steven Vickerman died of a combat wound. Yet his death will not be counted as a price paid by those we send. None of the thousands of others wounded will be counted when this nation let them down and they lost their battle with the enemy that followed them home.
While they are deployed with the rest of their unit, they have the men and women they serve with watching their backs. If they are wounded by a bullet, the others try to rescue them. If they are blown up, the rest of their unit using everything they have to save their lives. Yet when they are wounded by PTSD, all the rules are broken, the sense of urgency to act to save their lives is ignored and some are even attacked for being wounded in this way.
When they come home, their military family is no where to be found as they return to their families back home. They try to cope, adjust, get on with their lives, but for some it is impossible when they try to seek help with the DOD or the VA. They feel they are battling this enemy alone.
Vickerman will be added as a number but not part of the honorably deceased names when monuments of the sacrifice are built. His wound did not come with a Purple Heart. Vickerman is just one more of the thousands of others who died because they were wounded.
There is a great debate going on that you do not hear about within the units of those who commit suicide while deployed. Some feel as if the suicide is nothing to honor while others see it as a true wound and the death should be just as honored as the life lived. Those who want to honor it as equally as a bullet or bomb death, see PTSD as another wound. Why can't the rest of them?
What will it take for this nation to add these names, these lives, these stories into the history books of war? What will it take this nation to stop separating PTSD wounds from the rest of the wounds the men and women serving this nation suffer from?
If they really wanted to end the stigma of PTSD the best place to start is to fully acknowledge PTSD for what it is and that's a combat wound.
My husband will be wounded for the rest of his life and his service, his acknowledged risk of life ended in 1971, but the real risk to his life is an ongoing battle. He fights to stay alive everyday by taking his medication and going for therapy. It all works to keep him stabilized. He is not alone. There are hundreds of thousands of other Vietnam veterans like him, Korean veterans, Gulf War veterans and now this new generation of Afghanistan and Iraq veterans. Our family is not alone and neither are the rest of the families like Vickerman's family. We all care for the wounded as if their lives depended on it because they do. To us, they are wounded by combat, wounded by their service to this nation and they should be regarded as what they are. The time to stop separating this wound from all the other wounds should have ended as soon as we understood what PTSD was. A wounded caused by trauma.
There is nothing more traumatic than combat or the events involved with combat operations. They would not have been wounded if they did not go. They would not have nightmares and flashbacks of the horror if they were not sent. We need to acknowledge this and honor it.
Kathie Costos
Namguardianangel@aol.com
http://www.namguardianangel.org/
http://www.namguardianangel.blogspot.com/
http://www.woundedtimes.blogspot.com/
"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
Carole and Richard Vickerman visit their son's grave Feb. 28, 2008 at the Rockland Cemetery in Sparkill, two days after his funeral. Their son, Staff Sgt. Steven Vickerman, who suffered from post traumatic stress disorder
For Palisades native, war trauma ends in suicide
Video by Angela Gaul
“We’re still in shock. Our son was a proud Marine. He served his country honorably and we don’t know what happened to him,” said Carole Vickerman, who buried her son Feb. 26, 2008 at Rockland Cemetery.
Video by Angela Gaul
“We’re still in shock. Our son was a proud Marine. He served his country honorably and we don’t know what happened to him,” said Carole Vickerman, who buried her son Feb. 26, 2008 at Rockland Cemetery.
Video
For Palisades native, war trauma ends in suicide
By Hannan Adely • The Journal News • March 1, 2008
PALISADES - After two tours in Iraq with the Marine Corps Reserve, Steven Vickerman tried to resume a normal life at home with his wife, but he could not shake a feeling of despair.
His parents, Richard and Carole Vickerman of Palisades, went to visit him at a veterans hospital after he suffered a mental breakdown; they were in disbelief. The funny and adventurous baby brother had become sullen, withdrawn and full of anxiety. Vickerman, who was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, killed himself Feb. 19.
"We're still in shock. Our son was a proud Marine. He served his country honorably, and we don't know what happened to him," said Carole Vickerman, who buried her son Tuesday at Rockland Cemetery in Sparkill.
As soldiers return from service in Iraq and Afghanistan, many are unprepared to deal with the anxiety and depression stemming from their experiences in war. Some seek help from the Veterans Health Administration, part of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, but become frustrated by paperwork and long waits for counseling and care. Others feel too proud or embarrassed to seek help at all, or believe they can tough it out with time. Despair drives many to take their own lives, according to reports and experts.
The Veterans Health Administration estimated in a May 2007 report that 1,000 suicides occurred per year among veterans who received care within the VHA and as many as 5,000 per year among all veterans. At the same time, the number of returning veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder is surging, according to studies and veterans advocacy groups.
Families like the Vickermans often feel overwhelmed by the guilt and helplessness that surrounds post-traumatic stress disorder. The Vickermans wanted to help their son but did not know where to look for support services or how to deal with the effects of the illness.
The VA, they believed, had failed their son. The services available, they said, were insufficient, and the government should do more to address the issue for returning war vets.
"There should be something that can be done, not only for the proud soldiers but also for their families," Carole Vickerman said. "When you hear the word 'stress,' it sounds so innocuous. It's not stress; it's a killer."
Steven Vickerman, a Tappan Zee High School graduate, enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve in 1998. A whiz at technical jobs and an electrician by trade, the staff sergeant served as a small arms technician with Marine Aircraft Group 49, Detachment B, at Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh.
His first tour in Iraq was interrupted when he returned home to be with his older brother, who was dying of a brain tumor. Robert died at age 35. Vickerman served a second tour and was honorably discharged in 2005.
About two weeks ago, Vickerman's wife went on a business trip in New York City and could not reach her husband by phone. The Vickermans also could not reach him.
They called his therapist, who was scheduled to see him on a Wednesday, but Vickerman missed his appointment. The therapist called police, who found Vickerman dead at his home, where he had hanged himself.
http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008803010370
Staff Sgt. Steven Vickerman died of a combat wound. Yet his death will not be counted as a price paid by those we send. None of the thousands of others wounded will be counted when this nation let them down and they lost their battle with the enemy that followed them home.
While they are deployed with the rest of their unit, they have the men and women they serve with watching their backs. If they are wounded by a bullet, the others try to rescue them. If they are blown up, the rest of their unit using everything they have to save their lives. Yet when they are wounded by PTSD, all the rules are broken, the sense of urgency to act to save their lives is ignored and some are even attacked for being wounded in this way.
When they come home, their military family is no where to be found as they return to their families back home. They try to cope, adjust, get on with their lives, but for some it is impossible when they try to seek help with the DOD or the VA. They feel they are battling this enemy alone.
Vickerman will be added as a number but not part of the honorably deceased names when monuments of the sacrifice are built. His wound did not come with a Purple Heart. Vickerman is just one more of the thousands of others who died because they were wounded.
There is a great debate going on that you do not hear about within the units of those who commit suicide while deployed. Some feel as if the suicide is nothing to honor while others see it as a true wound and the death should be just as honored as the life lived. Those who want to honor it as equally as a bullet or bomb death, see PTSD as another wound. Why can't the rest of them?
What will it take for this nation to add these names, these lives, these stories into the history books of war? What will it take this nation to stop separating PTSD wounds from the rest of the wounds the men and women serving this nation suffer from?
If they really wanted to end the stigma of PTSD the best place to start is to fully acknowledge PTSD for what it is and that's a combat wound.
My husband will be wounded for the rest of his life and his service, his acknowledged risk of life ended in 1971, but the real risk to his life is an ongoing battle. He fights to stay alive everyday by taking his medication and going for therapy. It all works to keep him stabilized. He is not alone. There are hundreds of thousands of other Vietnam veterans like him, Korean veterans, Gulf War veterans and now this new generation of Afghanistan and Iraq veterans. Our family is not alone and neither are the rest of the families like Vickerman's family. We all care for the wounded as if their lives depended on it because they do. To us, they are wounded by combat, wounded by their service to this nation and they should be regarded as what they are. The time to stop separating this wound from all the other wounds should have ended as soon as we understood what PTSD was. A wounded caused by trauma.
There is nothing more traumatic than combat or the events involved with combat operations. They would not have been wounded if they did not go. They would not have nightmares and flashbacks of the horror if they were not sent. We need to acknowledge this and honor it.
Kathie Costos
Namguardianangel@aol.com
http://www.namguardianangel.org/
http://www.namguardianangel.blogspot.com/
http://www.woundedtimes.blogspot.com/
"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
Herseth Sandlin discusses mental health issues for vets
Herseth Sandlin discusses mental health issues for vets
By Peter Harriman
pharrima@argusleader.com
PUBLISHED: February 29, 2008
The U.S. faces a looming mental health crisis associated with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to comments made during a roundtable discussion with Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin today.
Herseth Sandlin says she is frustrated that Congress and high ranking veterans health officials are not doing more creative thinking to deal with it.
In a 90-minute session covering education benefits, timely payments and various other issues for recent military veterans, more than an hour was devoted to anecdotes about shortcomings in the delivery of mental health services, suggestions how to improve it, and Herseth Sandlin’s inquiries to participants.
Afterwards she said “the focus needs to be on the vet not on the system.” While a veterans health care system concentrated in VA facilities works well for things like getting veterans access to prescription drugs, “with mental health we’ve got to think outside the box and utilize the resources we’re going to make available in Washington to greatest effect,” she said.
click post title for the rest
By Peter Harriman
pharrima@argusleader.com
PUBLISHED: February 29, 2008
The U.S. faces a looming mental health crisis associated with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to comments made during a roundtable discussion with Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin today.
Herseth Sandlin says she is frustrated that Congress and high ranking veterans health officials are not doing more creative thinking to deal with it.
In a 90-minute session covering education benefits, timely payments and various other issues for recent military veterans, more than an hour was devoted to anecdotes about shortcomings in the delivery of mental health services, suggestions how to improve it, and Herseth Sandlin’s inquiries to participants.
Afterwards she said “the focus needs to be on the vet not on the system.” While a veterans health care system concentrated in VA facilities works well for things like getting veterans access to prescription drugs, “with mental health we’ve got to think outside the box and utilize the resources we’re going to make available in Washington to greatest effect,” she said.
click post title for the rest
Walz works to ensure quality oversight at VA
February 29, 2008
Walz works to ensure quality oversight at VA
While the three Republican candidates have been squabbling in their quest to be able to be their party's nominee, Representative Walz has been in Washington D.C. doing his job. One of his committee assignments is on the House Veterans Affairs committee.
Here's a press release from his office about the congressman's efforts to adequately fund VA'swatchdog agency, the Office of the Inspector General:
This week, Congressman Walz continued the fight to ensure quality care and oversight at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) by pushing to adequately fund the VA's watchdog agency known as the Office of the Inspector General (OIG).
Walz, who organized the effort with the support of several of his House colleagues, said that the VA OIG monitors VA spending and contracts to make sure the taxpayers' money is being spent wisely. The OIG also evaluates VA clinics and reports any substandard care.
Walz and his colleagues sent a bipartisan letter to the Chairman of the Budget Committee, asking him to reject the budget cuts requested by the Bush Administration for the VA OIG.
"Last year, the Democratic-led Congress increased the budget for the VA's watchdog and in doing so, expanded its oversight and ability to protect our veterans," said Walz, a 24 year veteran of the National Guard. "This year, the President's budget request asked Congress to cut employees from the VA's watchdog office and reduce its ability to stop fraud and waste at the VA. That's unacceptable."
Walz said that the VA OIG provides a return of $11 for every $1 invested. By reviewing contracts between the VA and private businesses hired to assist our veterans, the OIG ensures that veterans are receiving the highest level of care from these contractors.
At a Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee hearing on January 29, representatives from the VA OIG testified that with more funding, their office would be able to more effectively evaluate the quality of care at VA facilities across the country. In short, the experts said, increased funding for the OIG would improve care at the VA, which all veterans deserve.
Walz concluded, "It makes no sense to cut funds from an office that both saves the government money and protects America's veterans. Our soldiers served this country with honor and distinction. We owe them nothing less than the highest quality care and the Office of the Inspector General is a key player in making sure that happens."
Posted by Ollie Ox on February 29, 2008
http://www.bluestemprairie.com/a_bluestem_prairie/2008/02/walz-works-to-e.html
Walz works to ensure quality oversight at VA
While the three Republican candidates have been squabbling in their quest to be able to be their party's nominee, Representative Walz has been in Washington D.C. doing his job. One of his committee assignments is on the House Veterans Affairs committee.
Here's a press release from his office about the congressman's efforts to adequately fund VA'swatchdog agency, the Office of the Inspector General:
This week, Congressman Walz continued the fight to ensure quality care and oversight at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) by pushing to adequately fund the VA's watchdog agency known as the Office of the Inspector General (OIG).
Walz, who organized the effort with the support of several of his House colleagues, said that the VA OIG monitors VA spending and contracts to make sure the taxpayers' money is being spent wisely. The OIG also evaluates VA clinics and reports any substandard care.
Walz and his colleagues sent a bipartisan letter to the Chairman of the Budget Committee, asking him to reject the budget cuts requested by the Bush Administration for the VA OIG.
"Last year, the Democratic-led Congress increased the budget for the VA's watchdog and in doing so, expanded its oversight and ability to protect our veterans," said Walz, a 24 year veteran of the National Guard. "This year, the President's budget request asked Congress to cut employees from the VA's watchdog office and reduce its ability to stop fraud and waste at the VA. That's unacceptable."
Walz said that the VA OIG provides a return of $11 for every $1 invested. By reviewing contracts between the VA and private businesses hired to assist our veterans, the OIG ensures that veterans are receiving the highest level of care from these contractors.
At a Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee hearing on January 29, representatives from the VA OIG testified that with more funding, their office would be able to more effectively evaluate the quality of care at VA facilities across the country. In short, the experts said, increased funding for the OIG would improve care at the VA, which all veterans deserve.
Walz concluded, "It makes no sense to cut funds from an office that both saves the government money and protects America's veterans. Our soldiers served this country with honor and distinction. We owe them nothing less than the highest quality care and the Office of the Inspector General is a key player in making sure that happens."
Posted by Ollie Ox on February 29, 2008
http://www.bluestemprairie.com/a_bluestem_prairie/2008/02/walz-works-to-e.html
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