MG Jeffrey J Schloesser, CG 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) has announced a Welcome Home Ceremony for Vietnam Veterans during the Week of the Eagle at Fort Campbell Kentucky on Sunday 16 August 2009.
Vietnam Veterans from ALL units, branches and services are invited to participate in this very special opportunity. Vietnam Veterans will have the rare privilege of receiving the same welcome home that every member of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) receives when they return from the war on terrorism.
To participate, everyone is to enter Fort Campbell, KY at Gate 7 on Sunday 16 August 2009 and assemble in casual patriotic attire no later than 1400H CST (2:00 PM) at the Freedom Fighter Gymnasium near the 4th BCT (506th Currahee) headquarters.
Buses at the Freedom Fighter Gymnasium will transport everyone to and from Hangar 3. At Hangar 3, family and friends will assemble inside while the Vietnam Veterans form and “dress right dress” outside the hangar.
The grand moment will be when the hangar doors open to the sound of patriotic music, banners, cheers and tears. The Vietnam Veterans will be greeted by our new Commanding General, MG John F Campbell (former Commander 1st Bde 82nd Abn Div), families, friends and other patriots. What a memorable moment! I am a veteran of the Vietnam War and it touches me deeply to know that our Commanding General has made this special effort to include the Vietnam Veteran in the same honors given to our active duty Soldiers.
After the Hangar 3 ceremony, buses will return everyone to the Freedom Fighter Gymnasium (air-conditioned) and a sit down free Bar-B-Q meal for the Vietnam Veteran and one guest. The Golden Rule Smokehouse Restaurant is donating the meals.
To confirm (1) how many will attend the ceremony (2) to reserve a meal for yourself and one guest, (3) your branch of service and (4) handicap needs, please call the Hopkinsville-Christian County Chamber of Commerce at (270) 885-9096 or email akrohn@hopkinsvillechamber.com NLT 9 August 2009.
Also, please show your appreciation to the Golden Rule Smokehouse Restaurant (http://www.goldenrulebbq.com/stores.php) for their generosity to the Vietnam Veterans.
While at the WOE, be sure to visit the 101st Airborne Division Association office at 32 Screaming Eagle Blvd near Gate 4
So, plan your trip, confirm your attendance, come to Fort Campbell, visit the 101st Airborne Division Association office and celebrate the Week of the Eagle with other veterans and members of our active duty Screaming Eagle family.
Joe R Alexander, President 101st Airborne Division Association
Mary Brenner Membership Administrator 101st Airborne Division Association PO Box 929 Fort Campbell, KY 42223 (931) 431-0199 ext 35 Fax (931) 431-0195 assocmemberinfo@comcast.net
I received a link to this from a friend online. It raises the question about what was done about any of this. Was anything done? Did they still use whatever the vaccine was and did they ever admit to what it was?
Former Marine Claims Illness From Mystery Vaccine
Military Source Believes Experimental Shots May Have Been Given
POSTED: 3:03 pm EDT May 7, 2007
CLERMONT COUNTY, Ohio -- Target 5 has discovered that an alarming number of U.S. troops are having severe reactions to some of the vaccines they receive in preparation for going overseas.
"This is the worst cover-up in the history of the military," said an unidentified military health officer who fears for his job.
A shot from a syringe is leaving some U.S. servicemen and women on the brink of death.
"When the issue, I believe, of the use of the vaccine comes out, I believe it will make the Walter Reed scandal pale in comparison," said the health officer.
Lance Corporal David Fey, 20, has dialysis three days a week. His kidneys are failing, his military career is over, and he feels like his country abandoned him.
"I can't look at my old pictures. I really can't," said Fey. "I start looking at my old pictures, and I start crying."
Eleven months later, her son's medical records were mysteriously changed with a handwritten notation indicating that the mystery shot was a flu vaccine.
The military official who spoke to Target 5 on the condition of anonymity said that it was not surprising that nothing appeared originally in Fey's records.
"We have a lovely term for that," he said. "We call it C.Y.A. That's unfortunately an S.O.P. in the military."
Fey is one of a growing number of U.S. servicemen and women who are getting sick after receiving vaccines. And the highly praised Department of Defense medical officer who spoke with Target 5 said that the number is up in the thousands. The symptoms range from joint aches and pains and arthritic symptoms to death.
The Department of Defense said that it encourages "healthcare workers and vaccine recipients to report adverse (reactions) events." But the military never reported Fey's reaction to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the FDA.
go here for more http://www.wlwt.com/news/13271378/detail.html
I am on the NAMI Veteran's Council, or should I say, I have been. After the decision of NAMI to give an award to Dr. Katz, I am struggling finding a reason to participate at all.
When news of Dr. Katz came out during a conference call a few months ago, I was shocked. I respected the other members on the call and managed to keep my mouth shut. I did fire off an angry email, that was never responded to.
This is part of the email
I finally had some time to call in and listen. I am now thoroughly disappointed. The award the council is giving to Dr. Katz is wrong beyond belief. If NAMI wants to award someone for lying about PTSD suicides and attempted suicides then clearly NAMI does not know the facts. I'm involved with a lot of groups, several of which ended up filing law suits because of Dr. Katz and his abysmal record while the troops and veterans were killing themselves. The members that made the choice of Dr. Katz would have known what he's done if they read one tenth of the reports I do. How could you award him anything when he denied the enormous problem with the VA and suicides for the suicide prevention line he was forced to do? Do you know what this will do to NAMI's reputation? The stories have been all over the news for a couple of years and the organizations I'm involved with have massive lists of memberships they will notify of NAMI's award to Dr. Katz. Plan on a massive backlash against NAMI by these organizations because the fury this will cause.
Later in another conference call, someone said that Dr. Katz was vilified by the media. Seems he did a good enough job doing that himself. He was denying the suicides and attempted suicides were as high as they were trying to paint a picture of everything humanly possible being done to address the devastation our troops and veterans were going thru. A lawsuit filed by Veterans for Common Sense followed by another lawsuit on the delay in processing claims.
Arguments in the lawsuit, which pushes for better care for veterans injured in Iraq and Afghanistan, started April 21 in U.S. District Court. Veterans for Common Sense and Veterans United for Truth, the lawsuit’s plaintiffs, say unless the U.S. institutes systemic and drastic measures to care for injured veterans, the numbers of broken families, unemployed and homeless veterans, cases of drug abuse and alcoholism, and the burdens on health care and social services systems will be incalculable. That includes the impact of poor care for Black soldiers with PTSD, they add.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs denied charges that discrimination and racism exacerbate the stress of wartime service and contributes to PTSD, in a written response to Veterans for Common Sense et al vs. Peake. When psychiatrists treat Blacks for PTSD, they are “much less likely to attribute the PTSD to combat than when they treat Whites, leading to a denial of services at the VA,” the lawsuit charges.
Veterans also say that over the last six years, the Bush administration has systematically denied veterans the health care they were promised and that they went to court as a last resort.
Suicide rates alarming
“We are here because veterans are committing suicide at an alarming rate,” Atty. Arturo Gonzalez told U.S. District Court Judge Samuel Conti, citing government documents showing that 18 U.S. war veterans kill themselves every day. “More of these veterans are dying in the United States than in combat—that’s wrong.”
“There is only one person on Earth who can do anything to help these men and women,” he told the judge, “Your honor, these veterans need help. The VA has demonstrated that they won’t do it on their own.”
The veterans’ groups are asking the judge to order the Department of Veterans Affairs to fully implement its own mental health strategic plan, which they argue has been left to wither on the vine; to comply with an internal VA memo setting out “specific programs intended to stop the suicides;” and to shorten claim times.
In his early May closing argument, Justice Department attorney Daniel Bensing countered that “the VA is providing world-class health care across the board” and dismissed as “immaterial” the fact that 18 veterans commit suicide every day.
“We don’t dispute that suicide is a major issue among veterans,” he said, but “there is no evidence that suicidal veterans have been turned away.”
“Extensive care is being provided,” he said.
But internal VA documents made public at the trial appeared to paint a different picture.
Hiding serious problems?
In one e-mail made public during the trial, the head of the VA’s Mental Health division, Dr. Ira Katz, advised a media representative not to tell reporters that 1,000 veterans receiving care at the VA try to kill themselves every month.
“Shh!” the e-mail begins.
“Our suicide prevention coordinators are identifying about 1,000 suicide attempts per month among the veterans we see in our medical facilities. Is this something we should (carefully) address ourselves in some sort of release before someone stumbles on it?” the e-mail concludes. Leading Democrats on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee have since called for Dr. Katz’s resignation.
Another set of documents showed that in the six months leading up to March 31, 2008, 1,467 veterans died waiting to learn if their disability claims would be approved by the government. A third set of documents showed that veterans who appeal a VA decision to deny their disability claim have to wait an average of 1,608 days, or nearly four and a half years, for their answer.
These documents, which contained information that journalists and veterans’ groups had been trying to obtain for months, only came to light because of the discovery process of the trial, which required high-ranking government officials to give depositions under oath.
“No matter how this trial turns out, it has given us a wealth of information,” said Amy Fairweather of the nonprofit group Swords to Plowshares, which provides counseling, employment and housing to returning veterans. “We can use the information that’s been discovered to show how to do things better.”
Ms. Fairweather said she hopes Judge Samuel Conti will grant the veterans’ groups request for a Special Master to monitor the Department of Veterans Affairs’ compliance with its mental health strategic plan.
“When someone’s watching over you it’s an incentive to do your job,” she said. “Right now, there’s no accountability.”
As the trial wrapped up, Judge Conti appeared to be friendly to the arguments of the veterans groups, but the judge, an 86-year-old World War II veteran who was originally appointed to the bench by Richard Nixon, expressed a concern that he not overreach his authority.
“This court is restricted by statutes and case law,” he said, asking both sides to file legal arguments on his jurisdiction.
“Whatever I do, one side or the other is going to appeal,” he noted, expressing a desire that his decision not be overturned by a higher court.
Speaking with reporters afterwards, representatives for the veterans and the government both agreed that the losing side will likely appeal the case all the way to the Supreme Court. http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/article_4730.shtml
Yet NAMI seems to think that it was the media's fault that Dr. Katz was attacked while our veterans were dying. How many posts are on this blog about the suicides? How many do you think it would have taken NAMI to understand that this was not some kind of political game or media witch hunt going on?
We were reading their stories! We knew what was going on at the same time Dr. Katz among others were denying it was going on.
Advocacy Groups File Lawsuit Against VA Over Disability Claims Delays
Main Category: Veterans / Ex-Servicemen
Also Included In: Litigation / Medical Malpractice
Article Date: 12 Nov 2008 - 11:00 PST
Two veterans' advocacy groups on Monday filed a lawsuit against the Department of Veterans Affairs alleging that its failure to process disability claims in a timely manner has resulted in economic and other problems for hundreds of thousands of military personnel, the Cox/Memphis Commercial Appeal reports. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by the Vietnam Veterans for America and Veterans of Modern Warfare, which represent about 60,000 veterans.
According to the lawsuit, "The VA's failure to provide timely benefits decisions often leads to financial crises, homelessness, addiction and suicide." The suit calls on VA to provide waiting veterans with interim benefits for claims that take at least 90 days to process or more than six months to appeal.
Robert Cattanach, a Minneapolis-based attorney for the veterans, said there currently are about 600,000 service members who are awaiting the outcomes of their disability claims, which can take six months to one year to be processed. Appeals can take up to four years to be processed. Cattanach said that as more veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan return to the U.S., VA likely will see an increase of hundreds of thousands of additional disability claims. Phil Budahn, a VA spokesperson, declined to comment on the lawsuit (Deans, Cox /Memphis Commercial Appeal, 11/11).
During the Bush Administration, with two military campaigns producing more wounded everyday, the VA was in denial mode at the same time the people on the lower tiers were struggling to help the veterans, process mountains of claims and get them diagnosed properly. What the top of the food chain was doing was quite different. There were less doctors and nurses working for the VA than there were after the Gulf War. IT workers were cut back at the same time people like Sally Satel were being allowed to dismiss the suffering of our veterans with PTSD as if they were just looking for a free ride. Still wonder why nothing was done to the help these veterans during the Bush Administration? Dr. Katz, very well could have been a fall guy for the administration but he was given a chance do decide if he cared more about his job and protecting the administration or cared about the veterans more. He decided to cover up what was going on.
Subject: Dr. Katz to receive top award from National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
Dr. Ira Katz, Deputy Chief PCS Officer for Mental Health, has been named recipient of NAMI’s Veterans Council Dedication to Veterans Mental Health Care Award. Dr. Katz will receive his award at NAMI’s national conference in San Francisco, July 6-9.
NAMI is the nation’s largest grassroots organizations for people with mental illness and their families whose mission is to be an advocate to ensure that all persons affected by mental illness receive the services they need and deserve, in a timely fashion. In announcing the prestigious award, NAMI noted that despite criticism in the media following reports of increased suicides among veterans, Dr. Katz worked tirelessly behind the scenes to launch the VA’s first-ever suicide presentation initiative, including a nationwide crisis call line that has intervened in thousands of potential suicides by veterans. NAMI noted that Dr. Katz spearheaded VA-wide approval of dramatic reform of its mental health programs to embrace recovery principles. “All Veterans receiving mental health care in the VA are better served today because of the work of Dr. Ira Katz,” NAMI said in its statement about the award.
That's the most appalling part in all of this. If Katz believed the crap the administration was putting out, then he was not paying attention enough to know better. If he didn't believe what he was saying then he was provided with enough opportunities to tell the truth. Either way, the veterans kept dying for attention and the truth to come out.
Another conversation during the conference call it was said that Dr. Katz had come a long way and deserved to be recognized for his work on suicide prevention. This stunning statement came after the law suits were filed, after congress and the senate Veterans Affairs Committees decided to figure out what was going on and do something about it. After Nicholson was finally replaced. After families of veterans that committed suicide told their stories to congress and after the needless military burials had already happened. Today, we still see the rise in suicides and attempted suicides but NAMI, well, NAMI decided that Katz deserves this award because he was forced to do something!
There is a lot of great work NAMI has been doing to address PTSD, from Peer To Peer and Family to Family, to other groups forming partnership with the VA and the DOD. All their work should be applauded but when they are wrong, they are wrong and I refuse to dismiss it.
I got into all of this because the veterans came first, not the people with the power. The veterans were and still are suffering, but the people with the power will not do what it takes, whatever it takes or how much money it will take to really take care of them. If I remain silent on this, I will be betraying the veterans I've fought so hard for since 1982. If I leave NAMI over this, it's no great loss to them because they never listen to me anyway. I am no one in their organization. In giving this award to Dr. Katz after his history it is a slap in the face to all the other groups around the country that tried so hard to bring accountability for the sake of the veterans, make the changes necessary to save their lives and provide them with a better quality of life.
I am torn up over this. If I did not believe in NAMI, know what good they are doing, I would not hesitate to stop supporting them. Thinking about what they are preparing to do makes me wonder how much they have really been paying attention to what has been happening to our veterans. It makes me sick thinking they could possibly be so unaware of any of this they reward someone responsible for it.
I think I just made up my mind. All the years and all the experience I have has meant nothing to NAMI Veterans Council in the past year so I'm done wasting my time. I'm done trying to get them to pay attention. I'm done reading emails sent with the "latest news" days after I've already posted it on the blog. This is the last straw on this overburdened back of mine. If they want to do something like this, after all the harm done, I can no longer support them.
My friend, Lily Casura wrote another great article you should read.
Combat veterans, families pay heavy price By Lily G. Casura Thursday, July 02, 2009 Recently I had the opportunity to attend a memorial service of sorts at the St. Helena Library, honoring the 500-plus California service members who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan, including 10 from Napa and Sonoma counties. The brief biographies, complete with photos, of all those killed were poignant and moving; as were the longer bios of the local soldiers, which audience members stood and read, frequently with tears.
The causes of death for all 500-plus ran the gamut: frequently improvised explosive devices (IEDs) or small-arms fire. But sprinkled throughout were the telling deaths from “non-combat injuries,” sometimes shorthand for a soldier killing him or herself. Of course, once combat veterans return, the difficulties only continue. Veterans who committed suicide after returning from war weren’t included in the rolls of who we honored that night.
A few days later, I was saddened to read of another service member’s death. Roy Brooks Mason Jr., 28, originally from Fairfield, a two-tour Iraq war veteran who’d come home with PTSD, took his life in Capitola.
Mason’s death highlights the ongoing problem of returning veterans, PTSD and suicide. A childhood friend was quoted in the local paper, saying that “Mason wrote several letters before killing himself, including one to a … congressman, in which he asked for more intense screening and other help for returning soldiers.” go here for more Combat veterans, families pay heavy price
240,000 in-wall electronic timers recalled
Consumers have been shocked while replacing Intermatic timers' batteries
The following recall has been announced:
About 240,000 Intermatic model ST01 and EI600 in-wall electronic timers, made in Mexico by Intermatic Inc., of Spring Grove, Ill., because the product might pose a shock hazard to consumers trying to replace its battery.
Prescription drug overdoses spike in Orlando, Florida Willoughby Mariano Sentinel Staff Writer 4:49 PM EDT, July 1, 2009 Deadly overdoses of anti- anxiety drugs and painkillers spiked in the Orlando area and across the state last year, experts said, evidence of the growing threat posed by the abuse of legal prescription drugs.
And in what experts say is a major shift, Florida deaths by anti-anxiety drugs, painkillers and a heroin treatment drug surpassed those from cocaine in 2008, according to a report released this week by a commission of Florida medical examiners. Cocaine caused the most deaths in 2007.
In Orlando and Osceola counties alone, deaths caused by an anti-anxiety drug often sold as Xanax killed 50 people, a jump of 61 percent.
"Not a week goes by, and sometimes, not a day goes by, without a [prescription drug] case," said Dr. Jan Garavaglia, the Orange-Osceola office's medical examiner. "It's unbelievable."
Anti-anxiety drugs were present in 130 bodies examined by the office, a 132 percent increase
Staten Island Ferry crash injures 10
Story Highlights
Ferry loses power and hits a pier at full speed, Coast Guard says
1 person injured seriously, 9 others hurt
Accident happens at St. George Terminal on north shore of Staten Island
Impact did not send any passengers overboard, spokesman says
NEW YORK (CNN) -- A Staten Island Ferry lost power and hit a pier Wednesday at full speed, resulting in one serious injury and nine minor injuries, a Coast Guard spokesman said.
The New York Fire Department estimates that 750 to 800 passengers were aboard the Staten Island Ferry.
By Matthew Cox - Staff writer Posted : Wednesday Jul 1, 2009 20:26:34 EDT
Don’t drink the dairy shakes. They might give you diarrhea.
Defense Department officials are warning all military personnel to temporarily avoid drinking dairy shakes found in Meals, Ready to Eat and Unitized Group Rations-Express because they might contain Salmonella.
“There is a remote chance that we might have some dairy shakes that could have some Salmonella,” Gerry Darsch, director of the DoD Combat Feeding Program, told Army Times on Wednesday.
Silver Rose medals awarded Sierra Vista Herald - Sierra Vista,AZ,USA Local Vietnam War vets were exposed to Agent Orange By Dana Cole Herald/Review Published/Last Modified on Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009
SIERRA VISTA — During a special ceremony on Sunday, nine Vietnam War veterans were recognized for their contributions and service to this country.
The Order of the Silver Rose is a medal awarded to veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange while serving in the Vietnam War.
In Sierra Vista’s first Silver Rose ceremony, presentations were made by Rose and Aaron Possien at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Hall, where the victims of Agent Orange, in the presence of family members and friends, were honored. Three of the honorees were deceased; their medals were presented to a family member or close friend.
Aaron Possien is the Arizona state director for The Order of the Silver Rose, a nonprofit organization that not only honors the veterans who have been sickened or killed by Agent Orange, but strives to raise awareness about a wide range of cancers and other illnesses caused by exposure to the defoliant.
These drugs work fine for some people. I've written before how they helped an elderly aunt and uncle quit successfully. The warning should be taken seriously for anyone with a mental health issue. Especially troubling right now is that the military has said they want to crack down on smoking. If they want to use these products, fine, but they better be prepared to make sure they are paying close attention to the troops that take them.
Suicide Warning Issued for 2 Anti-Smoking Drugs
By GARDINER HARRIS
Published: July 1, 2009
WASHINGTON — Federal drug regulators warned Wednesday that patients taking two popular stop-smoking drugs should be watched closely for signs of serious mental illness, as reported suicides among the drugs’ users mount.
But officials emphasized that patients should not be scared away from taking the smoking-cessation medicines, Chantix, made by Pfizer, and Zyban, made by GlaxoSmithKline.
“Stopping smoking is a goal we should all be working towards,” said Dr. Curt Rosebraugh, director of a drug evaluation office at the F.D.A. “We don’t want to scare people off from trying a medication that could help them achieve this goal. You should just be careful.”
The F.D.A. required Pfizer and Glaxo to place so-called black box warnings — the agency’s most serious caution — on the prescribing information for both drugs. Both companies will be required to conduct clinical trials to assess the mental health risks associated with the drugs’ uses.
go here for more http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/02/health/02drug.html?_r=1&hp
Man accused of trying to smuggle bomb parts on OIA flight reaches plea agreement
Willoughby Mariano and Amy L. Edwards Sentinel Staff Writers
July 1, 2009
A man accused of trying to carry bomb parts onto a plane at Orlando International Airport last year will enter a plea to a misdemeanor after experts concluded he did not pose as serious a security threat as first thought.
Kevin Brown, 33, faces up to 12 months in prison on a charge of entering an aircraft or airport area in violation of security requirements but has already spent 14 months in jail awaiting trial. Originally, he was charged with attempting to place an explosive or incendiary device on an aircraft, which carries a sentence of 20 years.
A couple of points that should be paid attention to here;
The first one that struck me is that they are paying attention to the fact nothing works for all of them the same way, so they have a variety of programs going on.
They are keeping the groups small, and this also helps them to feel connected instead of being lumped into such a large group, they would feel lost.
They are using EMDR and yoga, two of the latest programs being used.
To me, this is all good even though it's early on in this program. It seems they are doing everything right and should be seriously considered.
New PTSD program answers need for comprehensive treatment
by Capt. Bryan Lewis
Landstuhl Regional Medical Center Public Affairs
7/1/2009 - LANDSTUHL REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER, Germany (AFNS) -- Symptoms of combat stress and post-traumatic stress disorder for wounded warriors include continual nightmares, avoidance behaviors, denial, grief, anger and fear.
Some servicemembers battling these and other symptoms, can be treated successfully as an outpatient while assuming their normal duties, but for others; however, returning to work and becoming their old selves again were challenges recognized by several mental health professionals across the European theater.
"We were looking at how we can best meet the needs of our clientele, and we were identifying that a lot of the Soldiers needed more than once a week outpatient, individual therapy and probably needed more than once or twice a week group therapy," said Joseph Pehm, the chief of Medical Social Work at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center.
The solution came in the creation of an intensive eight-week therapeutic Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Day Treatment Program called "evolution" that began in March 2009 at LRMC. During the eight-hour days, patients enrolled in the program participate in multiple disciplines and interests, including art therapy, yoga and meditation classes, substance abuse groups, anger and grief management, tobacco cessation, pain management and multiple PTSD evidence-based practice protocols.
"I am a great believer in the kitchen sink, meaning I throw everything, including the kitchen sink, and something will stick," said Dr. Daphne Brown, chief of the Division of Behavioral Health at LRMC. "And so we've come with all the evidence-based treatment for PTSD that we know about. We've taken everything that we can think of that will be of use in redirecting symptoms for these folks and put it into an eight-week program."
Doctor Brown, Mr. Pehm and Sharon Stewart, a Red Cross volunteer who holds a Ph.D. in psychology, said the program is designed from research into the effects of traumatic experience and mirrors successful PTSD programs at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the Department of Veterans Affairs, as well as programs run by psychologists in the U.S.
"We are building on the groundbreaking work that some of our peers and colleagues have done and just expanding it out," Doctor Brown said.
go here for more http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123156957
JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq (American Forces Press Service) – Six wounded soldiers, all amputees, returned here last week hoping to close the door on the combat that changed them forever.
The last time Sgt. Christopher A. Burrell was in Iraq, he was pulled from a burning vehicle in Baghdad’s Sadr City neighborhood. A tourniquet applied by another soldier saved his life, but a nurse here at the Air Force Theater Hospital had to break the tragic news—his left leg was gone, taken by an explosively formed projectile.
Now, almost a year and a half later, and after months of rehabilitation and physical therapy at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., Burrell returned to Iraq with five other amputee combat veterans as part of Operation Proper Exit.
”I don’t remember much, but I remember my nurse,” Burrell said. ”Shelly. She was an angel, there to comfort me when I was in a difficult spot.“
Operation Proper Exit, a United Service Organizations pilot program sponsored by the Army and the Troops First Foundation, allows soldiers wounded in combat to return to Iraq. The goal of the program is to give the soldiers an opportunity for closure, and to see the progress made in securing and stabilizing the country, Burrell said.
”It kind of helps you heal mentally and emotionally, to close that chapter in your life so you can move on,” he said. ”The progress that’s been made—it shows that we made a sacrifice but it was for a reason.” go here for more http://www.army.com/news/item/5539
Star Wars society raises funds for wounded warriors at Walter Reed by J.H. Freeman Jun 30, 2009
J.H. Freeman/Medill
The Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi graces the front of the Pennsylvania Star Wars Collecting Society's medallion to raise money for patients in Walter Reed's Ward 57
WASHINGTON - Injured soldiers recuperating in Walter Reed Army Medical Center’s Ward 57 are getting special assistance from a galaxy far, far away.
The Pennsylvania Star Wars Collecting Society is selling a one-time run of 1,000 souvenir medallions inspired by the films, with proceeds going to Operation Ward 57—a group dedicated to raising money for DVD players and electronic gaming consoles, like Xbox and Playstation, for the wounded.
The 24-bed Ward 57, known as the “amputee ward,” is home to some of the most severely wounded soldiers in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Child Suffocated By Python Wednesday, July 01, 2009 4:15:58 PM OXFORD -- News 13 has confirmed that a 2-year-old girl is dead after being suffocated by a python.
Shaiunna Hare died in her home in Oxford, just off of County Road 466, east of The Villages.
The snake was a 12-foot long albino Burmese python and was a pet of the family.
According to Lt. Joy Hill with Florida Fish and Wildlife, Charles Darnell, the boyfriend of the child's mother, Jaren Hare, put the python away in an aquarium and when he woke up around 9 a.m., he found the aquarium was empty. He ran to Shaiunna's bedroom and found the snake on top of the her.
Amster says he never knew what was on his discharge papers until he wanted to get a loan and needed it. This could be just a mistake, considering during the Vietnam War, there were many errors on records. Wrong social security numbers were typed all the time and while corrections were attempted to be made, most of them never ended up being fixed all the way through on every record in every file. The question here is, did Amster ever claim having the Medal of Honor to anyone for his own advantage? Seems really odd that it would take him until 2005 to come up with a story like this.
Man In Hot Water Over Medal Of Honor Dispute
Wednesday, July 01, 2009 8:13:07 AM
Reported By Greg Pallone
PALM BAY -- A veteran could get a year in jail and pay up to a $100,000 fine if convicted on charges of claiming to be a Congressional Medal of Honor winner.
Last week in Tampa federal court, Gary Amster, 62, was arraigned on charges he misrepresented himself as a recipient as early as September 2007 through April 2008.
Another three brothers from Washington state also serve in Afghan war
Two mothers open up about the stress of having three sons in harm's way
Nevada Army National Guard unit has nine sets of brothers serving in Afghanistan
Huddling in a parking lot outside a motel near Camp Shelby, Mississippi, the Callaway family members hold on to what they value most: their faith and each other. Mark and Karmen Callaway clutched their three soldier sons before sending them off to Afghanistan. "I know that people lose their children every day," said Karmen Callaway. "A fear that I have is that something will happen to all three of them." full story
MINNEAPOLIS — A medical examiner's report says the military chaplain gravely wounded in Iraq five years ago suffered head injuries in a fall at his nursing home just before his death.
Soldiers return from the frontlines to face war with VA
By Sheldon Traver
from WillametteLive, Section News
Posted on Tue Jun 30, 2009 at 08:45:07 PM PDT
This year marks a milestone for the Oregon Army National Guard.
More than 3,000 soldiers have already left or are preparing for deployment to Iraq in 2009. It will be the largest deployment for the Oregon Army National Guard since World War II.
However, questions have recently been raised about the care veterans receive upon their return from war. Some Oregon weekend warriors are finding a Department of Veterans Affairs that is unwilling or unable to care for the long-term physical and mental disabilities they are now facing.
With little outside help, some have given up the fight and others continue to struggle for the benefits they say they deserve.
The Veterans Affairs office in Portland disputes these claims, saying it is doing more for veterans now than any time in the past, and points to increased services and a new processing facility in Hillsboro that has prepared the federal agency to aid all returning veterans.
Todd Marcus
In November 2006, then-23-year-old Army specialist Todd Marcus was on patrol in a small Afghan village outside of Kabul.
He carried his M-16 barrel down with his finger just inside the trigger housing. He sweltered under more than 50 pounds of combat gear, including body armor and a Kevlar helmet. Beads of perspiration trickled down to the palms of his gloved hands. Even with the fingertips cut off, the salty runoff made the cuts in his hands sting and itch.
Approximately 100 meters to his left, Marcus saw an Afghan police officer walking a few meters behind another police officer in patrol formation. The officer looked nervous as he scanned the rooftops, looking for those who might intend to kill him. Each little boy, each expectant mother could have been a suicide bomber, paid or extorted by insurgents to end their lives in a desperate bid to feed their families.
Suddenly, a bright flash of light filled Marcus’ peripheral vision, followed by a percussion of hot wind that knocked him aside. His sunglasses flew off and the smell of cordite wafted through the air with a cloud of concrete and dust. He looked toward the ground where the blast originated. The Afghan police officer that was walking just yards from him lay in a pool of blood along with two other officers. An improvised explosive device planted inside the corner of a bullet-riddled concrete home had taken their lives.
The good news is that the American Legion along with other service groups are stepping up. The bad news is that they have to. Most of what we are seeing today could have been prevented had anyone in charge been paying attention and planning for it. All of this was predicable. It didn't take some kind of clairvoyant to see it coming. All it would have taken was open eyes and caring hearts.
Now you can see what we knew and when we knew it. By 1978 the DAV had already set up Veterans Centers to focus on helping the veterans of Vietnam. In the process, they ended up helping all other generations because Vietnam veterans pushed for PTSD to be treated instead of ignored.
We knew the numbers. We knew what it did to the veterans with suicides, homelessness, incarcerations and families falling apart. We knew about self-medicating with drugs and alcohol. We knew about the long list of symptoms. Above all, we knew the men and women in the military were all still just humans facing the traumas of combat. The studies were all done in the 80's and 90's. We knew the earlier treatment began after trauma, the better the recovery because PTSD gets worse without intervention.
We also understood the need to respond to traumatic events right here at home. Read any traumatic event from natural disasters to crimes and then read how crews of mental health providers were being brought in. That came because of what we understood about humans after combat. Read about how police officers go to see someone after a shooting and again, know this came about because of the veterans of Vietnam. What you won't read is how the military has taken any of this seriously enough so that they do the same in times of war.
Could you imagine most of what we see today being just a fraction of what it is? It would have been if there were enough mental health workers and Chaplains deployed with the troops. It would have been if the military didn't come out with what could have been great programs but ended up doing more harm than good by telling the troops they could toughen their minds to prevent PTSD. The military has been really great at coming up with ways to kill but totally dysfunctional when it comes to saving lives. They wouldn't even listen to their own studies about redeployments and the increased risk of PTSD. They didn't listen to their own studies about improper dwell time between deployments either.
Well, the American Legion should be applauded with this effort because this is going to take as many people as possible to save the lives of the veterans. Using the figures from Vietnam with the studies on redeployments, it's easy to know we are looking at least a million veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan needing to heal from PTSD. All of this coming at the same time the older veterans are finally figuring out what has been the root of their problems all along. Not a good scenario at all.
Jim Deremo was tired of the calls. The department services officer for North Dakota American Legion heard too often from family of clients who attempted suicide.
By: Dave Roepke, INFORUM
Jim Deremo was tired of the calls.
The department services officer for North Dakota American Legion heard too often from family of clients who attempted suicide.
“It just really bothered me, tugged at my heart,” Deremo said.
So he started an American Legion campaign to encourage veterans to seek help for post-traumatic stress disorder. The media blitz featuring images of actual veterans, called “Courage Carries On,” kicked off this winter.
On Tuesday the Legion announced it will expand the campaign nationwide, offering it to every Legion organization in the U.S.
Carroll Quam, past state commander of the North Dakota American Legion, said heads of other state Legion groups have told him they’d like to pick up “Courage Carries On.”
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