Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Australian Soldiers returning home with PTSD

Soldiers returning home with PTSD
Paula's husband Glenn is an Australian soldier, and after serving in Timor, and Afghanistan he has returned home, a changed man, and his family are finding it hard to reach out to him.

Paula's story is not an easy one to listen to. And she thought long and hard before telling it today.
The Brisbane mother and wife didn't want to - she wanted to work it out in her family. And then she wanted to work it out in the army.
None of that's worked. She even went to the Minister for Defence Science and Personnel minister Warren Snowdon. And now she's decided to tell it publicly.
Her husband Glenn is an Australian soldier. He went to Timor, and then Afghanistan.
And then last Christmas he came home. She almost didn't recognise him.
"He's like a shell.
"You see him and it looks like Glenn, but that's as far as you go, there's nothing there."
Paula says it took months before her husband Glenn was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and now he's being cared for at home.
Now Paula is asking how many other soldiers are suffering from PTSD.


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Soldiers returning home with PTSD

J.D. Salinger and combat PTSD

What Salinger tells us about caring for veterans
By Nicolaus Mills, Special to CNN
March 1, 2011 9:40 a.m. EST

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Nicolaus Mills: J.D. Salinger known for "Catcher in the Rye" but had things to say about war
He says Salinger fought in WWII, returned with post-traumatic stress disorder
His story "For Esme -- With Love and Squalor" explored how injured vet helped by young girl
Mills: Salinger reminds us of the nation's obligations to veterans today
Editor's note: Nicolaus Mills is professor of American Studies at Sarah Lawrence College and author of "Winning the Peace: The Marshall Plan and America's Coming of Age as a Superpower."
(CNN) -- A year after his death at 91, J.D. Salinger is known, above all else, as the author of "The Catcher in the Rye." Since its publication in 1951, identifying with Holden Caulfield has become an American rite of passage.

But a new biography, "J.D. Salinger: A Life," by Kenneth Slawenski, reminds us that there is another Salinger, one especially relevant to our own times.

This other Salinger is the World War II veteran. He served in the 4th Division's 12th Infantry Regiment as it fought its way from D-Day through the Battle of the Bulge, suffering horrendous casualties. Of the 3,080 troops who landed with Salinger's regiment at Utah Beach on June 6, 1944, only 1,130 were alive three weeks later.

For Salinger, post-traumatic stress disorder, known then as "battle fatigue," was no abstraction. He was hospitalized in 1945 in Nuremberg, Germany, for a nervous breakdown.

In his 1950 short story, "For Esme -- With Love and Squalor," Salinger gives an account of PTSD that speaks directly to us today. It echoes the condition of thousands of the 1.6 million veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, for whom the estimated PTSD rate is nearly 20%.
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What Salinger tells us about caring for veterans

Mental Health Program For National Guard, Reservists Faces Budget Cut

List this as dumb to cut funds for National Guards and Reservists after all these years of hard work to even come close to taking care of them and even dumber when you think that it will come at a time when there are more veterans needing mental healthcare.

Mental Health Program For National Guard, Reservists Faces Budget Cut
BY Peggy McCarthy | FEB 28, 2011 10:00 PM


Posted to: Eye on Veterans

Because of money problems, the state is cutting its groundbreaking counseling and support program for National Guard soldiers, Reservists and their families, according to Jim Tackett, director of Veterans Services in the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.

This comes at a time when officials had hoped to expand the program to also include enlisted Armed Forces and families, he said.

The program, called the Connecticut Military Support Program (MSP), was the first of its kind in the country when it was established in 2007 and is still considered unique, but is running out of money.

The commissioner of mental health has helped by allocating up to $175,000 from the department budget to keep it operating another year, but that and what remains from the original funding won’t pay for the existing level of services, Tackett said.

The program was started to help deployed Connecticut National Guard members, Reservists, and their families deal with mental health and substance abuse problems, usually referred to as “behavioral health.” Some issues they face include depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), marital problems, arrests for driving under the influence, separation issues faced by children, and stress resulting from war zone service and home coming.
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Mental Health Program For National Guard, Reservists Faces Budget Cut

Florida Senate President's deal: 1 book, 1 copy, $152K

Fla. politician's deal: 1 book, 1 copy, $152K

By BRENDAN FARRINGTON
The Associated Press
Monday, February 28, 2011; 4:46 PM
COCOA, Fla. -- Florida's new Senate president, who wants the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate next year, got $152,000 from a coastal community college to write a book on politics, a product taxpayers will have to share if they want to see.

The lone copy of "Florida Legislative History and Processes" by Mike Haridopolos can only be read at Brevard Community College's administration office.

The 175-page, double-spaced manuscript doesn't come close to meeting the original contract's call for a publishable, textbook-quality look at the development of the Florida Legislature, state constitution, the governor's office and judiciary from pre-statehood until present.
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Fla. politician's deal: 1 book, 1 copy, $152K

'Topping out' ceremony marks halfway point in VA hospital construction

'Topping out' ceremony marks halfway point in VA hospital construction

By Jeff Kunerth, Orlando Sentinel
6:02 p.m. EST, February 27, 2011

Orlando's VA hospital, with 134 in-patient beds, will shorten the trip for 90,000 veterans in Central Florida who now go to VA hospitals in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Gainesville.

Veterans and elected officials marked the halfway point Sunday in the construction of the $665 million Orlando VA Medical Center with a "topping out" ceremony.

A 20-foot, 1,100-pound I-beam was lowered into place 140 feet above the ground, completing the steel framework.

The hospital, with 134 in-patient beds, will shorten the trip for 90,000 veterans in Central Florida who now go to VA hospitals in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Gainesville.

"We've been waiting for this for a long time," said Vietnam veteran Eustace L. Horne, 66, of Longwood.

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Topping out ceremony marks halfway point in VA hospital construction

San Diego Navy Base Security Shoots Sailor

Navy Base Security Shoots Sailor
February 28, 2011
UPI
One U.S. Sailor was shot and another taken into custody Saturday during a chase at Naval Base San Diego, a Navy spokesman said.

The incident started about 1:30 a.m. when the two Sailors showed up at a base entrance and a guard ordered the driver to pull over to check to see if he was intoxicated, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
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Navy Base Security Shoots Sailor

GOP budget eliminates $75 million for homeless veterans

Will the GOP ever understand that when it comes to veterans, they cannot pay the price for their service depending on who is in charge or which way the wind blows? They served this country in good financial times as well as bad times. They get hurt, by body or mind, because the elected at the time decided to send them to war. Some of them signed up because we were at war while others signed up in case we had to go to war. What they need should never, ever be fair game in budget battles.

The members of Congress do not take a pay cut or see their benefits cut because we "can't afford" them. They never have to worry when they are no longer in Congress because they still get a paycheck for their "service" and this doesn't even matter if they can work or not afterwards. No one says we should stop paying them even when they get cushy jobs worth millions a year (or more) so why is it these same people think the service veterans provided is worth any less? After all, politicians only risk their reputations but soldiers risk their lives.

Let congress cut their own budget first since they are the people behind the reason we have so many veterans in the first place and then ignored their problems making them homeless and in need.

U.S. Rep. McCollum: Republicans wrong to go after public broadcasting

Republicans want to strip it of funding in their cutting extravaganza. That's dumb.

By BETTY MCCOLLUM
Last update: February 27, 2011 - 5:39 PM

Congressional Republicans assert that their federal budget-cutting, regardless how destructive, reflects the desires of the American people.

The cuts passed last week by House Republicans trim the remainder of the fiscal 2011 budget. They eliminate $75 million for homeless veterans; completely wipe out funding for women's health and family planning ($317 million); slash funding for Head Start; reduce Pell Grants that help low-income students go to college -- and the list continues.

The sum of the Republican cuts would reduce this year's federal budget deficit by about 4 percent, while, according to the Economic Policy Institute, costing 800,000 American jobs in the public, nonprofit and private sectors.
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Republicans wrong to go after public broadcasting

Fisher House, good family medicine for the wounded

Families are good medicine for wounded warriors
By Robin Beres
Published: February 27, 2011

The sight of a long-missed loved one is good for more than just sore eyes. It's good medicine for the entire body — especially when one is injured or ill. There can be few things more comforting to a wounded service member then having his family by his side. And there are few wives, mothers or fathers who wouldn't go through hell to be with a hurt spouse or child.

But what happens when an injured service member is sent to a hospital far from home for recovery and medical care? How does a family afford to pack up and stay for weeks or months at a time in a city that may be hundreds of miles away?

Neither the Department of Defense nor the Veterans Administration provides funds for extended family visits. Hotel stays can run into the thousands of dollars. For a young wife anxious to be near her husband — or a family wanting to be close to a son, a sister, a father — the cost of a prolonged stay far from home can be financially devastating and oftentimes impossible to manage.

Enter Zachary and Elizabeth Fisher, founders of the Fisher House Foundation. A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., Zachary Fisher was a fabulously successful real estate developer. Although rejected for service at the outbreak of WWII due a childhood leg injury, Fisher became a strong advocate of the U.S. armed forces, devoting incredible amounts of time and money to military and veteran causes.

In 1990, Pauline Trost, wife of the then-chief of naval operations, Admiral Carlisle Trost, approached the Fishers about the desperate need to provide temporary lodging for families of patients undergoing treatment at military hospitals. The Fishers immediately donated $20 million to the project.

One year later, the first Fisher house opened at Bethesda Naval Hospital. Fully furnished, the sprawling home was able to accommodate eight families. It was a place where family members could return in the evening after an often grueling day spent in a hospital — a warm, homelike setting rather than a cramped, impersonal motel room. It provided families a chance to meet and share concerns with others going through similar crises.

Today, 53 Fisher Houses provide homes away from home that serve families of both active-duty service members and veterans. The homes are located on or near military and veterans' medical centers and hospitals. There is no cost to the government to build these homes — they are gifts from the Fisher Foundation. And there is no charge to the families who stay at the homes.
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Families are good medicine for wounded warriors

228th Engineer Company returns to hugs, tears after serving in Iraq

228th Engineer Company returns to hugs, tears after serving in Iraq (VIDEO)
Published: Sunday, February 27, 2011; Last Updated: Sun. Feb 27, 2011, 11:00pm

By Phil Ellingsworth Jr., pellingsworth@pottsmerc.com

SPRING CITY — It was a heroes welcome for the members of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard 228th Engineer Company Sunday morning, as family, friends and loved ones greeted soldiers returning home from a year-long deployment in Iraq.

Tears of joy were shed, and hugs and kisses exchanged as the 96-member brigade arrived to the Spring City Armory after completing its mission of clearing improvised explosive devices and training the Iraqi Army in Baghdad.

The day was an especially poignant one for Sgt. Anthony Pezzletti of South Philadelphia, who got to see his 9-month-old son for just the second time since he was born.

After bring reunited with his son, Pezzletti was “excited” to be home and spend time with his infant son.

With the community turning out to support the troops, Spc. Dana Hess, 31, of Pittsburgh, said it was “important and special” to have loved ones greet the soldiers as they returned home.

“It means a lot to us,” Hess said.

During the mission, the company spent a great deal of time working together as a team to keep Baghdad safe, and to receive encouragement from family and friends shows they support what the troops did overseas, he said.
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228th Engineer Company returns

Lazarus Project helps soldiers' families find support

Lazarus Project helps soldiers' families find support
BY PHILIP GREY • THE LEAF-CHRONICLE • FEBRUARY 27, 2011

At her office in the Wesley Foundation building on College Street, Jodi McCullah sat behind a desk topped with orderly clutter and began to explain the Lazarus Project, starting with its name.


In the New Testament, when Lazarus was brought back to the world of the living, Jesus instructed the community to unbind the tightly wound cloth that constricted him head to foot. Had they not done so, Lazarus could not have lived.

She uses the metaphor to relate her deeply held belief that a society cannot send young men and women to war without taking some responsibility for it. The community needs to help unbind the soldiers and their families so they can re-enter the world and live.

That is the Lazarus Project, an organization that is supported by the United Methodist Church and administered by McCullah, a Methodist pastor whose role is to marry people with support and services.

The project was started two years ago to help Austin Peay State University students with family members deployed overseas. Counseling services on post were limited at the time, McCullah said, because they were overwhelmed just dealing with active-duty members. The campus counselors were good. But there were only two, and neither was familiar with military issues.

"We were dealing with students who were dealing with the war," she said. "Then we started looking at the fact that one in five students were active-duty or veterans on the GI Bill. Another one in five were family members of people who were deployed or who had been deployed.

"We had students with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder," she continued. "And at that time, traumatic brain injury wasn't even on our radar.
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Lazarus Project helps soldiers' families find support