Friday, July 2, 2010

Homeless vets starting new lives

Homeless vets starting new lives

By Mindy Blake - email

TUCSON, AZ (KOLD) - On any given night there are 700 homeless veterans sleeping in temporary shelters or on the streets of Tucson.

For many of them, homelessness is just one problem.

If they had a permanent place to stay, they could begin to deal with their other difficulties.

There is a place they can go for help.

It's the first step to getting out of a painful and dangerous cycle.

Navy veteran David Smith doesn't get to sit in an air conditioned room very often.

"I'm experiencing some difficulty in my life. I've been living in a wash for the past six weeks."

And before that, David lived in his pickup truck for two years.
read more here
http://www.kold.com/Global/story.asp?S=12737436

Community steps up to find PTSD Vet's dog

A War Hero Reunites with his Dog

Two days after a Rogersville War Hero's dog disappeared, the much loved pet is back home.

Tuesday night, WAAY 31 told you about "Sam." he was a gift to wounded veteran, Jimmy Roberts, who struggles with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, after two tours in Iraq. After our story aired, people all over Rogersville started looking for Sam. Tonight, we're happy to report he's back home.

It's the story of a War Hero, wounded in Iraq, given the gift of a Blue Heeler, to help him get through the day. The dog named Sam disappeared on Monday, but now he's back in his owner's arms. He's Jimmy best friend, he's also his therapy, as he fights Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

"I feel like things are more cheerful and lighter now, it's good to have him back," said Former Sgt. Jimmy Roberts.
read more here
http://www.waaytv.com/Global/story.asp?S=12738523

VA Scandal - VA Manipulates Appointment Scheduling

Thanks to Larry Scott over at VAWatchdog.org this became a story in the first place. Then Paul Sullivan over at Veterans For Common Sense.org jumped on it to get the word out to even more people. These are the heroes who track what is really happening to veterans day in and day out. Want to know how we really care, or should I say, don't really care about our veterans, read some of the work they do and then you'll know what are fairytales and what is their worst nightmare. We cannot go blindly day to day and just assume all is well with our veterans because it isn't and it won't be until the American people actually do pay attention as much as they pay attention to them coming home to their hometowns in flag draped coffins.


VA Scandal - VA Manipulates Appointment Scheduling

On June 23, 2010, veteran
Larry Scott at VA Watchdog uncovered a huge VA scandal. Larry posted VA's memo descrbing 24 "tricks" or "gaming strategies" so VA would appear to help veterans get appointments fast. In fact, VA was delaying and denying medical care.

VA failed to fulfill the agency's promise to provide our veterans with prompt medical care. Instead of taking responsibility and actually improving access to care, VA is cooking the books and hoping no one will dig deeper.

VA cheated, and our veterans suffered.

Thanks go out to the investigative journalist who wrote the first news article about the VA scandal, Nora Eisenberg at AlterNet. Additional commendation goes to Kyra Phillips at CNN for making this national news. The CNN article contains a VCS statement about VA's outrageous "Cooked Appointment Books" scandal.




Vets' care hurt by bureaucratic games, memo says
By the CNN Wire Staff
July 2, 2010 12:25 p.m. EDT

Paul Sullivan, from the group Veterans for Common Sense, told CNN the memo is "absolutely" symptomatic of a nationwide problem with the VA. "It's tragic (and) beyond unacceptable," he said. If VA employees are "cooking the books, (they) need to find another job."



STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Memo: Veterans being denied care due to improper scheduling practices
VA employees using "gaming strategies" for better performance scores
Top VA official promises to stop denial of care
Advocate for veterans says practice is "tragic" and "unacceptable"

(CNN) -- Military veterans are being denied health care due to "inappropriate scheduling practices" at VA facilities, according to an internal memo from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The memo, written on April 26, says employees at various VA facilities often canceled veterans' appointments with doctors in order to generate better performance scores in reports to supervisors.

"In order to improve scores on assorted access measures, certain facilities have adopted use of inappropriate scheduling practices sometimes referred to as 'gaming strategies,'" the memo says.

"Example: as a way to combat Missed Opportunity rates some medical centers cancel appointments for patients not checked in 10 or 15 minutes prior to their scheduled appointment time. Patients are informed that it is medical center policy that they must check in early and if they fail to do so, it is the medical center's right to cancel that appointment."
read more here
Vets care hurt by bureaucratic games, memo says

Texas Revokes Late Senator Herring's Hero Status

Texas Revokes Late Senator’s Hero Status
July 02, 2010
El Paso Times

EL PASO -- Charles Ferguson Herring, a former state senator and U.S. attorney, no longer will be proclaimed a war hero by the state of Texas.

All references to combat valor were stripped Thursday from Herring's online biography at the Texas State Cemetery. The action came after its officials received military records contradicting Herring's claims of heroism during World War II.

Herring said he received the Navy Cross, a decoration for valor second only to the Medal of Honor; three Purple Hearts, each indicating combat injuries; and a Bronze Star, although not for valor. The biography also stated Herring left the Navy as a lieutenant commander.

Related story: Honored Texan's Medal Claims Fraudulent?

The record shows that Herring received no awards for combat valor or for being wounded. It makes no mention of a Bronze Star for service in a war zone. And it shows he left the Navy Reserve as a lieutenant junior grade, two ranks below lieutenant commander, after 10 years of service.
go here to read more
http://www.military.com/news/article/texas-revokes-late-senators-hero-status.html

Vietnam Vets have Graves' Disease to worry about after Agent Orange exposure

Link Between Agent Orange Exposure and Graves’ Disease in Vietnam Veterans
June 30, 2010 posted by Michael Leon ·


By Source:
Lois Baker
University at Buffalo

Vietnam War-era veterans exposed to Agent Orange appear to have significantly more Graves’ disease, a thyroid disorder, than veterans with no exposure, a new study by endocrinologists at the University at Buffalo has shown.

Ajay Varanasi, MD, an endocrinology fellow in the UB Department of Medicine and first author on the study, garnered first prize in the oral presentation category for this research at the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists annual meeting held in Boston in April.

“Our findings show that Vietnam veterans who came in contact with Agent Orange are more likely to develop Graves’ disease than those who avoided exposure,” says Varanasi.

“The autoimmune disorder was three times more prevalent among veterans who encountered the dioxin-containing chemical. We also looked at other thyroid diagnoses, but we didn’t find any significant differences in thyroid cancer or nodules.”
go here for more
Link Between Agent Orange Exposure and Graves Disease

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Medal of Honor recommendation for a soldier's bravery in Afghanistan

Military recommends MoH for living recipient

By Pauline Jelinek - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Jul 1, 2010 11:17:30 EDT

WASHINGTON — U.S. officials say the military has sent the White House a recommendation to award the Medal of Honor to a soldier for bravery in Afghanistan, which could make him the first living recipient since the Vietnam War.

The military says the soldier ran through a hail of enemy fire to repel Taliban fighters in a 2007 battle, saving the lives of a half dozen other men. Officials spoke on the condition of anonymity and declined to name the soldier because he is still under consideration for the honor.

The nation's highest award for valor has been awarded only six times in the nine years of war in Afghanistan and Iraq — and all were awarded posthumously.
Military recommends MoH for living recipient

Protesters gather at Roseburg VA

While seeing any veteran forced to protest for the care they have already paid for is heartbreaking, maybe we need to see more protests at VA hospitals before the American public gets it. It is not that they don't care about our veterans. It's more a matter of they don't have a clue what's going on. Most simply assume veterans are taken care of after they served this country.

If you read blogs you may have encountered postings about private health insurance and the VA but what you have not read is the fact our veterans have to carry private health insurance, Medicaid or Medicare. If they have a disability rating from the VA, they will cover the care attached to the disability claim for free, but the rest is billed to insurance companies. Most of the time the insurance companies won't pay because they say it's the responsibility of the VA to cover the cost. With a claim pending or denied and on appeal, that is a claim considered "non-service connected" which means the veteran is responsible unless their income is too low to be able to afford to pay. No rating from the VA actually means that any medical need caused by service leaves the veteran S.O.L.

With all the pending claims, the private insurance companies deny claims because the doctor diagnosis cases like PTSD as service connected but the VBA denies the claim over paperwork. This happened to and is still happening to Vietnam veterans along with the new veterans. When my husband is treated for anything not attached to his claim, they bill our private insurance, which is very expensive. Before his claim was approved, the VA tried to bill our insurance but the claim was denied and we had to pay the fees. This was terrible for a couple of years until his claim was finally approved and we got most of the money back.

There are veterans across the country being denied the help they need to heal and be well after service to this country and they are suffering. Maybe if every veteran caught in the red tape flood, took to the streets and protested at the VA hospitals and clinics across the country then maybe the media may actually find their hearts and report on it so the public knows how the veterans are actually being treated or neglected. Politicians actually have the courage to stop bills for veterans by saying the congress has to pay for anything done for the veterans. They don't have a clue our veterans already paid for their care when they served with their lives on the line.

It is time the public knew exactly what was going on so if you are part of a group, paint your signs and show up in mass and let the American people know their independence they celebrate in a few days came with a heavy price you are still paying for.

Protesters gather at Roseburg VA

ANNE CREIGHTON
The News-Review

More than 50 protesters gathered in front of the Roseburg Veterans Affairs Medical Center Monday morning to voice concerns about health care for Southern Oregon veterans.

After the local VA medical center replaced its six-bed intensive care unit with a two-bed telemetry unit last October, veterans began to fear more changes.

“People are always skeptical of services being moved,” said State Rep. Tim Freeman, R-Roseburg, who was standing among fellow protesters on Garden Valley Boulevard. “There's a certain anxiety that surrounds a change in health care.”

A press release from the Douglas County Veterans Forum said “the reduction of medical services at the VA not only degrades our veterans rights for quality and timely care in a VA environment, but impacts the livelihood of thousands of residents in our area.”

The press release also emphasized the importance of veteran health care in a facility that understands and respects their experiences and needs.

“We made a promise to our vets that we would take care of them when they went in harm's way,” said James Little, forum president, on Monday. “It's dishonorable to not give them the health care they deserve.”
read more here
Protesters gather at Roseburg VA

Program helping service women cope with PTSD

Program helping service women cope with PTSD
By: Benita Zahn

Twice this month, the Capital Region has known the sorrow of losing a soldier to war.

Many more will return home bearing the scars of battle.

Some will be the invisible wounds of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD.)

For women, traditional care givers, PTSD can be especially disabling.

That's where Project Odyssey comes in.

It's a story you'll only see on News Channel 13

It's conversation and coffee with a side of toast and eggs, for these 13 female combat vets and their counselors.

Welcome to the start of the day for Project Odyssey, from which none of the women will return home unchanged.

“I see someone who came in to us Monday, not talking, very shy, not one smile, and then today I hear laughs. Can't shut them up. I see a lot of change,” said Nancy Schiliro of Project Odyssey.

Her own life changed so much by Project Odyssey that Schiliro now works for the Odyssey.

It's run by the Wounded Warriors Project and the Vet Centers, an offshoot of the V.A.
read more here
Program helping service women cope with PTSD

Here's one of my videos on female veterans

Family Remembers Minn. Soldier Who Died At Fort Riley

Family Remembers Minn. Soldier Who Died At Fort Riley

ST. CLOUD, Minn.

Family members are remembering a Minnesota soldier who died at a Kansas military base earlier this month as someone who loved serving his country.

Twenty-three-year-old Spc. Seth Zencius was found dead June 14 in his bunk at Fort Riley. He grew up in St. Cloud and graduated from Technical High School in 2004.

Zencius joined the U.S. Army in 2005 and served two tours of duty in Iraq.
read more here
http://wcco.com/local/family.remembers.soldier.2.1779459.html

Please help me


I am in financial distress and alone.(clarification: I work alone, still happily married) While I work with many fine organizations, I am independent of them so that I can provide all of them with equal guidance.

Two and a half years ago, I had a job that supported my volunteer work with veterans but the economy hit the church so hard, the job closed down and they had to rely on volunteers. After two years on a job I loved, I was out of work and shocked to discover I couldn't get unemployment because the church didn't pay into the system.

That was when I decided to become a Chaplain. The training, insurance, communication expenses and travel caused more financial hardship, but I trusted the Lord with all of it in His hands. After over 25 years working with veterans and all these years of doing it online, there isn't much I don't know about PTSD but when it comes to finding financial support, I am dumber than dirt. I am not very good at it at all.

Since I lost my job I have found only temp jobs with a week here, two weeks there but nothing I could depend on. It is very stressful offering spiritual counseling to veterans and their families, which I am more than happy to do, but the financial stress is often more than I can carry.

What you see on this blog as I track reports around the country is only a part of what I do. There are many emails and phone calls helping veterans. When you see videos I've created to provide education and emotional support, there are countless hours putting them together. During the hours spent online there are also many hours helping organizations understand what needs the veterans face on a daily basis. Most of these groups offer nothing in return for my help simply because they are just starting up with very tiny budgets.

I am willing to carry these burdens because I don't want anyone to ever feel alone with PTSD ever again. I remember what that felt like and it breaks my heart knowing so many still feel alone. None of what we're seeing in the veterans suffering has to happen. Healing is possible no matter how long they have been living with PTSD. I plan on doing this for many more years to come but what I cannot do is to be alone and struggling to be able to pay my bills.

If you are able, please help me by making a donation into PayPal. The button is on the sidebar. It's tax deductible. If you cannot donate, please pray that God willing, someone with the means to support me helps me carry on.



Mark12:42-44
Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans.
So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood.”



Sincerely devoted
Chaplain Kathie