Marine from Waterbury dies in Iraq

Marine from Waterbury dies in Iraq
May 31, 2008

Connecticut military deaths. May be updated.

WATERBURY, Conn. (AP) _ A 21-year-old Marine from Waterbury has died during his first tour in Iraq, according to his family's pastor.

The military notified Christian Cotner's family on Friday about his death. Details about how and when he died had not been released Saturday, and the military had not publicly announced his death.

He is the 40th military member with ties to Connecticut who has died in Iraq and Afghanistan since U.S. operations began in those countries in 2003 and 2002, respectively. Two civilians from the state have also died.

The Cotner family's pastor, the Rev. Kenneth Frazier Jr. of the First Congregational Church of Waterbury, said Saturday that the family was too grief-stricken to make public statements, but planned to do so soon.

"They would like for the public to respect their grieving process and they will make themselves available at some point when they are ready and able," Frazier said.
go here for more
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/connecticut/ny-bc-ct--marinedeath0531may31,0,7401126.story

DoD Identifies Marine Casualty


The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Cpl. Christian S. Cotner, 20, of Waterbury, Conn., died May 30 from a non-hostile incident in Al Anbar province, Iraq. He was assigned to Marine Wing Support Squadron 172, Marine Wing Support Group 17, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Okinawa, Japan.

The incident is currently under investigation.

'Improper denials, poor service to vets'

VA claims pace lagging: 'Improper denials, poor service to vets'
Spokesman says radiation claims slowed all claims, but that the numbers are improving
Sid Salter • ssalter@clarionledger.com • June 1, 2008


Complaints that claims for Mississippi's 233,888 military veterans - including Iraq and Afghanistan combat veterans - aren't being processed in a timely manner have led to calls for a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs investigation

Documents obtained by The Clarion-Ledger show that in April of this year, claims at the U.S. Veterans Affairs' Jackson Regional Office were being processed 53 percent slower than the national and regional average. That includes claims from combat veterans seeking help for combat-related post traumatic stress disorder.

The records show that on April 30, the national average "days pending" on veterans' claims ratings were 127.4 days while the Southern Area average was 127.5 days. But the average "days pending" for claims ratings in the VA's Jackson Regional Office was 194.8 days - a difference of 67 days.

In a May 1 letter to Secretary of Veterans Affairs James Peake, interim U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Tupelo, called for the VA's Office of Inspector General to investigate the findings of a Senate Veterans Affairs Committee counsel who uncovered "lapses in procedure" and "complaints from senior staff regarding the work environment" at the Jackson office.
go here for more
http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080601/OPINION/806010327/1046

PTSD 22 years of service John Staubach fell through cracks

John Shaubach hangs out with his step-daughters, Obra and Jess, in his Alaska home. Shaubach served 22 years in the Army before receiving a medical discharge because of a severe case of post-traumatic stress disorder, a result of his service in Iraq and Afghanistan. (Submitted)

Who will help with post-traumatic stress disorder?
'I fell through the cracks,' said an Iraq war vet crippled by the syndrome.
By JEFF FRANTZ
Daily Record/Sunday News

Article Last Updated: 06/01/2008 03:13:00 AM EDT

Could that man be my brother?
Melissa Gieniec had been warned he didn't look good, but this?
She remembered her brother as a man who plucked his eyebrows.

The man sitting on the bench in the baggage claim of the Anchorage airport looked like he hadn't showered or shaved in weeks. He smelled homeless.

John Shaubach served 22 years in the Army. He jumped out of planes with the 82nd Airborne Division. He led men into combat in Iraq and Afghanistan and earned a pair of Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart.

The man in front of her looked lumpy, she later recalled. His shoulders slumped forward.
Twice, she said, she had walked past the man before she realized this was her brother.
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http://ydr.inyork.com/ci_9441818

Gov. Joe Manchin, taking the lead taking care of veterans

Helping Afghanistan, Iraq veterans cope theme of conference

By Bill Byrd
Times West Virginian

FAIRMONT — Helping the state’s Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans — and their families — cope with readjustment issues, including care for those with traumatic brain injuries, is the theme of a conference this week in Charleston.

Speakers will discuss issues such as financial counseling, addictive behaviors, suicide prevention, treatment for those with traumatic brain injuries, women in the military, and post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, said the Rev. Ricardo Flippin, a conference organizer.

Flippin is the coordinator of the “Care-Net: Beyond the Yellow Ribbon” program, sponsored by the West Virginia Council of Churches.

Gov. Joe Manchin, one of the leaders in the effort to help the state’s veterans, including those on active duty, will open the conference Wednesday morning. The June 4-5 event at the Charleston Civic Center will consist of workshops and panel discussions. The conference is free and open to the public.

“We want to assure all veterans and their families have the same resources available to them no matter where they live in the state,” Manchin said.

“The Care-Net conference is an opportunity to network and learn about programs, agencies and systems that offer assistance to military members and their families,” he said in a statement.

“We hope to highlight our strong assistance programs and outline our weaknesses so we can learn how to provide the best services and assistance through a combined effort,” the governor said.

Manchin and state lawmakers have been working since early last year and the disclosure of neglect in the care of seriously wounded soldiers to make sure active duty members and veterans of all wars get the services and help they need.
go here for more
http://www.timeswv.com/intodayspaper/local_story_153003504.html

Iraq Vet Michael Lufors, two years later, no help for PTSD

County struggles to fill veterans' needs
By Sarah Frier
MEDIANEWS STAFF
Article Created: 05/31/2008 06:32:13 PM PDT


Two years after returning from duty in Iraq, San Mateo County resident Michael Lufors says he has yet to see a county veteran service officer for help in dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder.

It's not for lack of trying, Lufors said, noting he has called the county office four times and visited once but nobody was ever available.

Some say that's because there is only one veteran service officer in a county with 40,000 veterans, a much lower ratio than in most California counties.

"We need more guys to talk to," Lufors said. "It's fairly necessary stuff." When the issue was raised last year, the Board of Supervisors added a veteran service representative position to the budget in October to work with the lone veteran service officer. But eight months later, that position still hasn't been filled because the veteran service officer retired in December, and county officials wanted to replace him first. "We wanted to first hire for the veteran services officer position and get that person started," County Human Services Manager Lorena Gonzalez said.

The county now is recruiting for the second position and hopes to have someone hired by the end of June, said Beverly Johnson, director of human services.

But the quality of service won't change immediately because training a new representative could take a couple of years, said Allan Moltzen, the current veteran service officer, who was hired in January.
go here for more
http://origin.insidebayarea.com/sanmateocountytimes/ci_9440829

Tsunami trauma still haunts victims

Sunday, June 1, 2008
NIMHANS: Tsunami trauma still haunts victims


June 1, 2008
By Syed Akbar
Hyderabad: The Tsunami that hit the Indian Ocean in December 2004 is now history. But
four years after the devastation, people affected by Tsunami are still in trauma. Their psychiatric morbidity is quite high and children are the worst-hit. The Bangalore-based National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences conducted a study on people affected by Tsunami and compared the data with those of normal population. About 12,000 victims were interviewed as part of the study to establish psychiatric morbidity and the extent of mental trauma they had undergone.

"People are still traumatised. The effect will continue for some more time. In case of children, it may continue for life," NIMHANS assistant professor of psychiatry Dr

Suresh Bada Math, told this correspondent. A meta-analysis of 160 studies of disaster victims found that post-traumatic stress disorder, major depressive disorder, generalised anxiety disorders, and panic disorders were identified.

The team found that 475 survivors had at least one psychiatric diagnosis. Of these, 244 were displaced survivors residing in the Port Blair relief camps, and 231 were in the Non-Displaced Survivors Group from Car-Nicobar Island. The most common psychiatric problems observed in the survivors’ group were adjustment disorder in 178 (37.5 per cent), depression in 102 (21.5 per cent), panic disorder in 57 (12 per cent), PTSD in 53 (11.2 per cent), anxiety disorder not otherwise specified (NOS) in 26 (5.5 per cent), and other disorders in 16 (3.4 per cent). The "other" disorders were noted in children and adolescents by their parents, and included dizziness, vertigo, startle response, sleep-wake cycle disturbance.

go here for more

http://syedakbarindia.blogspot.com/2008/06/nimhans-tsunami-trauma-still-haunts.html

Don't Throw Sergeant VerSteegh From His House

Don't Throw Sergeant VerSteegh From His House

Robert Naiman


Huffington Post

May 31, 2008

May 29, 2008 - I'm delighted Senator Webb's GI Bill and Senator McCain's opposition to it presents another opportunity to emphasize that the neoconservative elite who lied about Iraq also lied about "supporting the troops" -- the very club they used to silence criticism when they lied about Iraq. If we can reach the place where a super-majority of the U.S. population is permanently convinced that you can't trust anything related to military affairs said by neocon elitists like Pastor John Hagee's AIPAC, it's quite plausible that we could, at long last, enjoy a Presidency of the United States in which the U.S. commits no new violations of international law with respect to the use of military force.

In the latest evidence that neocons "support the troops" as long as it doesn't cost anything to them or their rich elitist friends, Bloomberg reports:

In the midst of the worst surge in mortgage defaults in seven decades, foreclosures in U.S. towns where soldiers live are increasing at a pace almost four times the national average.
You might think veterans' groups would be very concerned about this. You'd be right.

"We've never faced a situation like this, not in the Vietnam War, World War II, or the Korean War, where so many military are in danger of losing their homes," said Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense, a Washington-based advocacy group started in 2002 by Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans. "No one asked them for their credit score when we asked them to fight for us."

How does this affect the family of an individual soldier?

go here for more
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/ArticleID/10259

Thomas Lipscomb wrong on PTSD attitude

He is so wrong on this. Let me count the ways.

Leave the Purple Heart Alone
Thomas Lipscomb May 27, 2008

Since the 1960s the combination of the antiwar and non-military serving sectors of academia, the media, the leaders of various peace causes, the "allergic to combat" upper income sector of society and the shrinkocracy have made various cases with various levels of proof that not only was the old Mothers for Peace poster correct that "war not healthy for children and other living things," but that it causes far more casualties than are normally counted.

1-One word, Afghanistan. Proof of this is Bush's approval rating when he decided to invade Afghanistan in retaliation to the attacks of 9-11. His approval rate was near 90%. This removes any notion that "antiwar and non-military serving sectors of academia, the media, the leaders of various peace causes, the "allergic to combat" upper income sector of society and the shrinkocracy" but apparently he has also forgotten another event called the Gulf War. This also found favor with the American people so much so that Bush the 43rd thought Bush the 41st, should have ran his re-election campaign on the "political capital" he gained by it. People can claim whatever they want but what they cannot do is remove history.

Veterans have always found war downright hazardous to their health. But now their own lobbying groups such as the Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion, and Vietnam Veterans of America, and employees of the Veterans Administration itself have decided to facilitate a blizzard of dubious veterans' benefit claims worse than the wildest dreams of any welfare queen.

2-Welfare queen? Ok and how does one accomplish this? This argument has so many holes in it. Welfare is for people in need regardless of what they earned. The VA compensation however, is dependant upon what is earned. The very fact they have to prove they were wounded in service to this nation blows any notion of "welfare" out the door. The key word here is wounded. In the private sector, there is a thing called workman's compensation and social security disability insurance that is paid should a worker become injured and unable to work due to their employment. This argument may play well with the ambivalent crowd of "screw you I got mine" but it appalls the rest of us who have been paying attention and do in fact value the lives of the men and women serving this nation now and in all the years prior.

The financial "benefit" has been provided all along. The Purple Heart has nothing to do with the fact the VA and the DOD not only acknowledge PTSD, but they have invested hundreds of millions of our tax dollars in addressing it since the 80's. Sure, they are lacking in what needs to be done but if it was not such a huge real problem, they would be sinking the funds into defense instead of the needs of the veterans created by defending the nation.

Now the anti-military groups and some veterans' lobbyists appear to be combining forces in asking that the honored Purple Heart for those physically wounded in combat be awarded for mental conditions based upon some highly dubious criteria. And this proposal is actually receiving serious consideration by the Bush Department of Defense.

3- The "anti-military" groups in his mind would include all the groups established to take care of the veterans needs. If they were anti-military, this would include veterans. There would be no veterans if they did not serve in the military. How can these groups be anti-military if they are fighting for the members who made up the military in the first place?

Claims of injuries from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder are being used to grossly inflate the casualty rate and establish a whole new class of dubious "victims" out of veterans who served their country and are now being induced to serve themselves by both those who hate the American military while, of course, ritually praising their "service," and veteran lobbyist groups who claim to speak "for veterans" while increasing their ability to sell veterans on the benefits they get by paying for membership.

4-To "grossly inflate the casualty rate" would require the fact the media would be adding in the deaths associated with service. When a soldier dies in country (the place they are risking their lives in) they are counted no matter how that death occurred. Natural causes, accidents, suicides while deployed are counted in the death count. Yet when they die back in this country (the country they were risking their lives in service of) this is where the line is drawn. Sometimes if they die as a result of their acknowledged physical wounds, they do get included in the total death count, but there are many who do not ever get added to it. The deaths connected with the wound of PTSD do not get added to the count. We need to look at the word trauma itself. Many who argue against awarding the Purple Heart are simply unaware of what trauma is. It comes from the Greeks and means wound. When they named PTSD what they did, they knew what they were doing.

In doing so, they have helped veterans and in some cases people who simply claimed to be veterans make hundreds of thousands of PTSD injury claims in what military records fraud expert B.G. Burkett calls "by far the largest collection of military disability fraud cases in the history of the United States, all alleging PTSD."

5- "Claim to be veterans" again is a fraudulent statement. They must prove they are veterans first. Records from the DOD are required before any claim can be begun. Evidence has to be presented. You cannot walk into a DAV office and sit there and claim to be a veteran without any documentation to back it up. Are there frauds who manage to pull off fake documents that even experts believe? Absolutely but they are a tiny fraction of the vast population of real veterans needing help.

If you go here http://www.va.gov/oig/52/reports/2001/99-00054-1.pdf you will find that the "fraud" cases reported here do not involve fake claims, but claims where income has not been reported as required. A veteran's pay (percentage of disability) allows veterans to work depending upon the percentage of the claim awarded. A veteran with 100% disability is paid because they are deemed to be unemployable. In other words, they are not supposed to be able to work at all. A lower rate would be calculated on the fact they can work but have been limited to how much they can work. These are not fraudulent claims but fraudulent financial compensation instead.

If you go here http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_20_15/ai_54775001/pg_2 you will find a report on workman's comp claims from federal employees, in other words, people who work for the VA and not veterans with disability claims.

It turns out that it's only 2.5% that are potentially fraudulent.

It also raises the specter that some veterans might be engaging in fraud, stating that 2.5 percent of cases where veterans were getting some money for PTSD were "potentially fraudulent." "We noted an abundance of Web sites providing advice to veterans filing PTSD claims or offering ways to compile less than truthful evidence to obtain approval," the report reads. It notes that one Web site sells a fake Purple Heart for $19.95.

http://obama.senate.gov/news/050810-sticker_shock_over_shell_shock/index.php


For six years, the VA would not approve my husband's claim. They did not doubt PTSD, but they did question his Bronze Star award. The social security number on his award was typed in wrong. When he pointed this out, while still in Vietnam, they said they would correct it. They did not fix the record all the way through. It took a general to review all the documents to have it corrected all the way. His claim was approved soon afterward. This is where the "potentially fraudulent" claim can come in. His claim was truthful but he had to prove it, then his claim was honored.

PTSD is a real condition and many do suffer from it, but it is a lot easier to fake than it is to diagnose, and with the sloppy standards currently in effect, it is inevitable that the system is constantly abused.

6-Again, take a look at the 2.5%. There are some who do try to fake a claim but there are far more who never file a claim at all because of all that comes with having the claim approved. The attitude of people in this country, from employers to co-workers is still appalling. You don't have to search very hard to find reports of people thinking PTSD is funny. They will go to great lengths to obtain entertainment from a PTSD veteran by trying to set them off. Then there is the attitude of the military itself telling the troops that it could harm their careers and yes, that is still going on. The other factor is the future. Try to apply for a life insurance policy with PTSD diagnosed. Try to get health care with it. When it comes to getting a job because you have less than 100% VA disability, you'll have a very hard time finding one.

Seventy per cent of the disability claims presented to the Veterans Administration come through what is called "a membership representative," who often works for one of the veteran's lobbyist organizations and helps applicants with the difficult paperwork. One of the recent candidates for president of the Vietnam Veterans of America had to disqualify himself when it was revealed that he had admitted drawing up phony claims for disabilities by VVA members to the Veterans' Administration.

7-The service organizations would not have to help with claims if the claim process was easier to understand and there was not such a huge backlog of claims. The help is needed especially with PTSD claims because the veteran is under a disability when they cannot advocate for themselves, have limited thinking, decision making ability and short term memory loss. Most of the veterans filing claims are on their own when it comes to having a family member fighting for them. This is why there are so many service organizations filing claims on behalf of veterans.

The other part about the VVA, I couldn't find anything on considering the name of the person was not even provided.

Since a 100 percent disability payment for PTSD can be worth more than $30,000 a year for life, it is not surprising that a high percentage of veterans working for the VA also receive payments for PTSD themselves. It also makes the grantee eligible for a 50 percent disability payment under Social Security. Together they total over $40,000 a year, tax free and inflation-indexed.

8-For the real facts go here and see what they get

http://www.military.com/benefits/veteran-benefits/va-compensation-tables

Even with this, think about how much money the veteran in fact loses. Take a veteran who makes a good living while they can work. $30,000 is a drop in the bucket for a lot of them. The VA does not provide overtime and does not provide bonuses. This is also given up when a veteran can no longer work. The key here is unable to work. They are unable to provide themselves with income to live. Most of them would prefer to work since they can make more money being able to work but their condition eliminates this.

9-Another thing is that while this rant is supposed to be about the Purple Heart being issued for PTSD, this "author" has taken it upon himself to attack every veteran with a claim into the VA for compensation. He is not separating any figures out for what he would acknowledge as a "worthy" claim and compensation. This makes his whole argument an attack against all disabled veterans.

Burkett, a veteran himself, has been hired as an expert to the Marine Corps and the FBI, and testified on cases of phony assertions of rank, military service and medals awarded in numerous legal cases. His book Stolen Valor led to the recent passage of the Stolen Valor Act of 2006. The Act established Federal penalties for attempts to pass off fraudulent claims for medals or military service.

10-What does this have to do with PTSD and the Purple Heart? Are there jerks in this country who are trying to find some gain in pretending to be heroes? Yes. I'm glad people are going after the frauds who have been in the media reports but most of the ones they caught were not getting VA disability. They were just getting people to suck up to them.

Newspapers have carried stories for years about Burkett's work in helping unmask pretenders to military rank and honors who had been showing up on 4th of July reviewing stands and public ceremonies for years in full dress uniforms, with ranks and decorations they had invented rather than earned.

In an attempt to try to get a handle on the flood of PTSD disability claims overwhelming the Veteran's Administration, its Inspector General department briefed Burkett about a pilot study the VA had made of 2100 random PTSD cases that had been extracted out of the 287,000 cases they were considering at the time.

11-And this proves what? "Considering" "Pilot study" What does this prove?

Of that sample group, for example, more than 28 percent had no medical trauma event of any kind in their records. And the rate of successful PTSD claims processed through the VA system was far higher in some parts of the country. Some areas approved 60 percent of claims with no trauma record while only 10% were granted in others. The VA seemed on the edge of uncovering the most massive fraud in its history and one in which it bore at least part of the blame. As the second largest agency in the Federal government with almost 300,000 employees it was at least possible for it to do a solid evaluation.

12-Again when the cliam is proven the evidence has to be there. No trauma means it is not PTSD. PTSD is after trauma. They have to prove the trauma. Until a claim is approved, they fall into "not proven" and the claim is denied. We could also address the fact that there were over 22,000 troops discharged under a false "personality disorder" diagnoses when in fact the evidence pointed to PTSD, but then that would blow his argument yet again. This is not even addressing the fact that when a claim is turne down, a lot of veterans walk away and give up because they don't have the fight in them to fight the government.

But as soon as word of the VA's intention of a broad review of hundreds of thousands of PTSD claims costing potentially billions of dollars got out, Congressional members like Barack Obama and Lane Evans proposed legislation to block any review of possible fraud as an attack upon the rights of veterans. Not surprisingly, no review has taken place. In the meantime the paperwork on PTSD disability claims has gotten so huge at the VA and the expense of reviewing each claim is so high, that the VA is considering routinely granting disability payments before finally approving claims.

13-72,000 became "hundreds of thousands" in his mind.

In August, the VA announced it would be reviewing 72,000 PTSD awards granted between 1999 and 2004. This amounts to about one-third of all PTSD claims. The majority of the awards went to Vietnam veterans who have battled the VA, many for ten years or longer, to receive compensation for PTSD. The awards to be reviewed will be ones where full disability (100%) for PTSD was granted. Veterans? groups stand united in opposition to the review.

http://www.vawatchdog.org/milcom/veteransbenefitsarenotsafe.htm

There has been enough medal inflation in the American military over the past half century. From the medals "package" that started being handed out like Red Cross donuts in the Vietnam War to the rows of ticket-punching "I was there" ribbons that clutter the chest of an 18 1/2-year-old who had some involvement in the current conflict in the Middle East, it is hard enough to separate those that mean something from the rest.

14-Ok, he just insulted Vietnam veterans who earned their medals. Why do they do this? Why do they attack all veterans trying to prove a point?

Gaming the military awards system for medals has always been a problem. The fictional Victorian Sir Harry Flashman was constantly able to get medals for bravery during his worst acts of cowardice. And the real Swift boat naval officer John Kerry managed to somehow get the three Purple Hearts it took him to get out of any further service in Viet Nam in just four months, without losing a single day on duty.

15-When all else fails, attack John Kerry.

But the idea of seriously considering awarding the Purple Heart for an as yet difficult to establish PTSD condition that is the focus of an immense fraud being concealed from the public, whose taxes have to pay for it, by both the Executive and Legislative branches of the Federal Government, is a cynical obscenity.

16-This is it. This is the problem with PTSD and he just admitted it. "Difficult to establish PTSD condition" because of all the things that go along with this. The fraud is not that these wounded veterans are seeking what they already earned in service to this nation. The fraud is when you have lip service being paid to the suffering of our veterans with cameras rolling and then they turn around and say PTSD is not worth addressing. Peake tried to say it was like a football injury and that attitude is what they hold behind closed doors. Read some of the things they've said and you'll know what I mean. Most of them are on this blog.

Let's do the best we can to support the Military Order of the Purple Heart, made up of those to whom it has actually been awarded, in keeping the one medal established by the nation's first commander in chief and first President, George Washington, for what it is. It is one of the few awards that has maintained its value during all the medal inflation of the past 70 years since it was re-established by Douglas MacArthur.

17-They used to shoot PTSD soldiers for being cowards. That was when they had an excuse from lack of knowledge. Just like when they used to bleed patients to death to "cure them" and amputate limbs because they didn't know what else to do. The death rate of severely wounded has dropped because now the medical advancements have saved lives. If he wants to go back in time to a place where we did a lot of stupid things then he needs to consider all the ramifications in doing so. Again PTSD means wound! It is acknowledged in police departments, fire departments, emergency responders and all other walks of life as a human wound. How can it be that so many in this country still fail to acknowledge this fact?

It should not be allowed to fall the victim of the military's self-interested "friends" and long-standing enemies. We don't need another worthless example of the inability of our society to tell a proud citation for what novelist Stephen Crane called "the red badge of courage" from the bloodless transmittal sheet for yet another questionable disability claim.

18-This lost any sense of seriousness of this rant. Why on earth would "enemies" of the military give a crap for anyone in the military or any veteran who served in the military? What point was he trying to make here and failed so miserably in doing so?

(Journalist Thomas Lipscomb served as an officer in the Army from 1961 to 1964. He was chairman of the Vietnam Veterans' Leadership employment program in New York. This article originally appeared at Real Clear Politics.)

Sound Off...What do you think? Join the discussion.


Copyright 2008 Thomas Lipscomb. All opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily reflect those of Military.com.
http://www.military.com/opinion/0,15202,168565,00.html

I've heard all the nonsense about this before but when they try to toss in everything with their usual talking points, it blows their argument right out the door. The fact there are fraudulent claims is real, but tiny and those claims are not all about PTSD. This list goes on and so does the type of rant we just read.

I don't know who this person is and I do not care to learn who he is but the blessing is that people like him are dwindling in numbers. More and more people in this country and all over the world are awakening to this century and advancements in technology. The dark ages are drawing to a close and soon we will stop fighting over what we already know so we can begin to address what needs to be done and do it. Fighting over the existence of a problem does nothing to fix a problem.

It comes down to this. The men and women who serve in the military are doing their jobs. They are doing what they were trained to do and what we are lucky to have them willing to do. When will we be willing to acknowledge this? Civilian employees have an easier time collecting for injuries on their jobs. We make those who fight for this country turn around and fight the country to have their wounds taken care of and their families provided for. Post means "after, Traumatic means "after trauma" and trauma means "wound" but people like him can't get that into their own brains and will make all kinds of lame attempts to dismiss the suffering of our troops and our veterans. Why do they do it? What do they hope to gain by attacking veterans? Why do they hide behind them instead of standing beside them?

This is what Washington had to say

"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

So why is it that people fight against doing the right thing for the sake of those who serve?

Army Surgeon General Eric Schoomaker:PTSD Help Not Adequate

MILITARY PTSD CASES SOAR AS ARMY SURGEON GENERAL

SAYS MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES "NOT ADEQUATE" --

"As a nation, our mental health capability is not adequate

to the need," and the Army suffers from the same problem.

Wartime PTSD cases jumped nearly 50 pct. in 2007

By PAULINE JELINEK



WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of troops diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder jumped by roughly 50 percent in 2007, the most violent year so far in the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, Pentagon records show.

In the first time the Defense Department has disclosed a number for PTSD cases from the two wars, officials said nearly 40,000 troops have been diagnosed with the illness since 2003, though they believe many more are likely keeping their illness a secret.

"I don't think right now we ... have good numbers," Army Surgeon General Eric Schoomaker said Tuesday.

That's partly because officials have been encouraging troops to get help even if it means they go to private civilian therapists and don't report it to the military. The 40,000 cases cover only those that the military has tracked.

go here for more

http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/nf08/nfMAY08/nf052808-1.htm

Stand Down Tucson for Homeless Veterans

Saturday Stand Down helps homeless vets
SHERYL KORNMAN
Tucson Citizen
Homeless Army veteran Joseph Battle said he’d rather keep on living in his pickup truck than give up his dog to get into subsidized housing.
“This is companionship,” he said Saturday morning at a Department of Veterans Affairs-sponsored “Stand Down” here.
Saturday's Stand Down, underwritten in part by Wal-Mart, Tucson Electric Power and Tucson Truck Driving School, was organized by the local group Tucson Veterans Serving Veterans.
Stand Downs give homeless vets a chance to rest, get in out of the heat, shower, get a haircut, a meal, a sleeping bag, new boots and sunglasses.
Perhaps more important, the Stand Down Saturday gave veterans access to about 20 social service providers and to employment services.
A banner reading “Welcome Home Veterans” was draped across the entrance to the event at the U.S. Army Reserve Center, 1750 E. Silverlake Road. It began at 8 a.m. and was scheduled to end at 2 p.m.
“We want you to be happy, safe and healthy,” said Mary Pat Sullivan, director of Comin’ Home, a nonprofit that provides housing to homeless vets.
She welcomed the veterans after a Color Guard ceremony in the building’s cafeteria.
Battle, 49, said Buddy, his 14-month-old Shepherd-Chow mix, is important to his wellbeing and said most landlords won’t rent to him because of the large dog.
Battle panhandles for a living.
He said he has emphysema – though he still smokes – hepatitis C, arthritis and two compressed discs. He’s been trying for years to get on Social Security disability, he said.
He collects food stamps and gets his medical care at the Veterans Affairs hospital.
He has a 14-year-old daughter living in the Tucson area and he hasn’t seen her in about 10 years. “I’d like to see her,” Battle said.
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