For some vets, the Iraq war will never end
February 29, 2012
By David Martin
(CBS News) If you think the Iraq war is over, you haven't met Casey Owens. We first met him in 2004 after a roadside bomb had torn off both his legs. We caught up with him again in 2009 undergoing a pressurized oxygen treatment in an effort to cure his blinding headaches. When he walked out of that clinic, he seemed ready to get on with his life.
"Free at last," Owens said.
However, one of his prosthetic legs was giving him trouble, and when we found him again in Denver he was using a wheelchair. Owens no longer thought he would be free.
"I really don't think I'll ever be free. I don't think the burden of war is ever gone," Owens said.
He had made it out of the ICU and learned to walk again but he still suffered from traumatic brain injury and post traumatic stress. When he tried to get back to a normal life by going to college, it didn't work.
read more here
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Veterans Affairs found more than 100 unmarked or mismarked graves at two cemeteries in California
More problems at VA cemeteries discovered
Published: March 1, 2012
The Department of Veterans Affairs found more than 100 unmarked or mismarked graves at two cemeteries in California, The Washington Post reported. The revelation adds to a seemingly growing list of problems and scandals at military cemeteries across the country that has sparked outrage and official investigations.
Officials began a review of VA cemeteries last year. and led to revelations that problems plagued one of the nation's most hallowed cemeteries - Arlington National Cemetery. The most recent review uncovered unmarked graves at Golden Gate and San Francisco national cemeteries, the Post reported. At least seven other cemeteries around the country have reported problems, ranging from headstones over wrong graves or people buried in the wrong place.
read more here
Published: March 1, 2012
The Department of Veterans Affairs found more than 100 unmarked or mismarked graves at two cemeteries in California, The Washington Post reported. The revelation adds to a seemingly growing list of problems and scandals at military cemeteries across the country that has sparked outrage and official investigations.
Officials began a review of VA cemeteries last year. and led to revelations that problems plagued one of the nation's most hallowed cemeteries - Arlington National Cemetery. The most recent review uncovered unmarked graves at Golden Gate and San Francisco national cemeteries, the Post reported. At least seven other cemeteries around the country have reported problems, ranging from headstones over wrong graves or people buried in the wrong place.
read more here
Army investigates ‘flat-out abuse’ in Kosovo
Army investigates ‘flat-out abuse’ in Kosovo
Officers, NCOs suspended for alleged harsh training
By Joe Gould - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Feb 29, 2012 8:29:50 EST
Seventeen commissioned and noncommissioned officers in a single company in Kosovo have been suspended amid an Army investigation into allegations they employed harsh training tactics to initiate junior soldiers, the commander of U.S. Army Europe said.
“It was all about not respecting soldiers, using the wrong kinds of training methods, frat house kinds of jackassery, and just poor leadership,” Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling said in an interview with Army Times on Friday.
“There is training to get folks tough, there is training to get folks strong, and then there is flat-out abuse,” he said. “This wasn’t training. It was a rite of initiation, ‘Are you tough enough to join this company?’”
The commander of the company — Georgia's 3rd Squadron, 108th Cavalry Regiment — was reassigned, Hertling said. Also suspended were senior noncommissioned officers and young officers, “who were obviously caught up in what their NCOs were doing,” Hertling said.
Hertling said the complaint alleged racially tinged abuse, but he declined to describe in detail the allegations, citing the Army’s ongoing criminal investigation. Hertling said the soldiers could face a range of punishments, from courts-martial to administrative action under Article 15 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The soldiers were not identified.
read more here
Officers, NCOs suspended for alleged harsh training
By Joe Gould - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Feb 29, 2012 8:29:50 EST
Seventeen commissioned and noncommissioned officers in a single company in Kosovo have been suspended amid an Army investigation into allegations they employed harsh training tactics to initiate junior soldiers, the commander of U.S. Army Europe said.
“It was all about not respecting soldiers, using the wrong kinds of training methods, frat house kinds of jackassery, and just poor leadership,” Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling said in an interview with Army Times on Friday.
“There is training to get folks tough, there is training to get folks strong, and then there is flat-out abuse,” he said. “This wasn’t training. It was a rite of initiation, ‘Are you tough enough to join this company?’”
The commander of the company — Georgia's 3rd Squadron, 108th Cavalry Regiment — was reassigned, Hertling said. Also suspended were senior noncommissioned officers and young officers, “who were obviously caught up in what their NCOs were doing,” Hertling said.
Hertling said the complaint alleged racially tinged abuse, but he declined to describe in detail the allegations, citing the Army’s ongoing criminal investigation. Hertling said the soldiers could face a range of punishments, from courts-martial to administrative action under Article 15 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The soldiers were not identified.
read more here
Organizers prepare atheism-themed Fort Bragg event
Organizers prepare atheism-themed Bragg event
By Tom Breen - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Feb 29, 2012 13:41:13 EST
RALEIGH, N.C. — It has been more than a year in the making, but organizers of the first concert at a U.S. military base aimed at atheists and other non-religious service members and their families say they’re putting the final touches on the Fort Bragg event.
“Rock Beyond Belief” is scheduled for Saturday, March 31, and plans to feature bands and speakers, including Richard Dawkins, the famed British scholar and atheist author. It will be the highest-visibility event so far in a growing effort by military personnel without belief in God or religions to be recognized by their peers and the Pentagon.
“We just want an equal place at the table,” said Sgt. Justin Griffith, primary organizer of the event and the military director of American Atheists.
Griffith is also trying to gain official recognition at Bragg for a chapter of the Military Atheists and Secular Humanists, which would give it the same privileges enjoyed by Christian denominations and other religious groups at the post. An active duty officer stationed at Bragg is applying to be the first humanist recognized as a “distinctive faith group leader” by the Army, a position roughly equivalent to a lay leader in a religious group.
Organizers hope the concert, with its high-profile speakers and openness to the public, will be the first large demonstration of the extent of the military’s non-believing population. They expect a crowd of 5,000 for an event initially planned as a rejoinder to a Christian event called “Rock the Fort” held at Bragg in 2010 by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.
read more here
By Tom Breen - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Feb 29, 2012 13:41:13 EST
RALEIGH, N.C. — It has been more than a year in the making, but organizers of the first concert at a U.S. military base aimed at atheists and other non-religious service members and their families say they’re putting the final touches on the Fort Bragg event.
“Rock Beyond Belief” is scheduled for Saturday, March 31, and plans to feature bands and speakers, including Richard Dawkins, the famed British scholar and atheist author. It will be the highest-visibility event so far in a growing effort by military personnel without belief in God or religions to be recognized by their peers and the Pentagon.
“We just want an equal place at the table,” said Sgt. Justin Griffith, primary organizer of the event and the military director of American Atheists.
Griffith is also trying to gain official recognition at Bragg for a chapter of the Military Atheists and Secular Humanists, which would give it the same privileges enjoyed by Christian denominations and other religious groups at the post. An active duty officer stationed at Bragg is applying to be the first humanist recognized as a “distinctive faith group leader” by the Army, a position roughly equivalent to a lay leader in a religious group.
Organizers hope the concert, with its high-profile speakers and openness to the public, will be the first large demonstration of the extent of the military’s non-believing population. They expect a crowd of 5,000 for an event initially planned as a rejoinder to a Christian event called “Rock the Fort” held at Bragg in 2010 by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.
read more here
Army Chief Warrant Officer thought dinner at White House invite was a prank
Theme for troops at Iraq war dinner: ‘Humbled’
By Gina Harkins - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Feb 29, 2012 20:45:45 EST
Getting a phone call that you have a dinner scheduled with the president in the White House’s East Room might sound like a prank — and that’s what many Iraq war veterans thought when they got that call.
“My brigade commander said, ‘Hey, you’ve been selected as one of x number of people to go — congratulations,’” Army Chief Warrant Officer 4 John Nikolao said. “I kept waiting for him to say, ‘just kidding.’”
The menu for Wednesday’s White House included:
• Salad of heirloom tomatoes with baby mozzarella cheese with basil and balsamic vinaigrette.
• Dry aged ribeye steak with bearnaise sauce and yukon gold potato croquettes.
• Chocolate creme brulee with brownie.
President Obama and the first lady hosted the formal dinner of gratitude Wednesday night for those who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn and their family members. In a room typically reserved for heads of state, veterans and their families were invited to commemorate the end of the war.
The nearly 80 veterans, hand-selected by Pentagon officials, are meant to serve as a cross-section of not only the more than 1 million troops who served in Iraq, but the U.S. in general. Every state and territory was to be represented.
read more here
Gold Star wife gets seat next to first lady
By Karen Jowers - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Feb 29, 2012 14:38:43 EST
Kim Felts, a Gold Star wife from Fayetteville, N.C., will sit next to Michelle Obama tonight at a dinner being hosted by the president and first lady in honor of service members.
Felts’ husband, Col. Thomas H. Felts Sr., died Nov. 14, 2006, in Baghdad when an explosive device detonated near his vehicle.
read more here
By Gina Harkins - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Feb 29, 2012 20:45:45 EST
Getting a phone call that you have a dinner scheduled with the president in the White House’s East Room might sound like a prank — and that’s what many Iraq war veterans thought when they got that call.
“My brigade commander said, ‘Hey, you’ve been selected as one of x number of people to go — congratulations,’” Army Chief Warrant Officer 4 John Nikolao said. “I kept waiting for him to say, ‘just kidding.’”
PABLO MARTINEZ MONSIVAIS / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS President Obama leads guests to a toast Feb. 29 as he hosts a dinner for members of the U.S. military who served in Iraq in the East Room of the White House.WHAT’S FOR DINNER?
The menu for Wednesday’s White House included:
• Salad of heirloom tomatoes with baby mozzarella cheese with basil and balsamic vinaigrette.
• Dry aged ribeye steak with bearnaise sauce and yukon gold potato croquettes.
• Chocolate creme brulee with brownie.
President Obama and the first lady hosted the formal dinner of gratitude Wednesday night for those who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn and their family members. In a room typically reserved for heads of state, veterans and their families were invited to commemorate the end of the war.
“These rooms have hosted presidents, prime ministers, kings and queens,” Obama said. “But in the history of this house, there has never been a night quite like this.”
The nearly 80 veterans, hand-selected by Pentagon officials, are meant to serve as a cross-section of not only the more than 1 million troops who served in Iraq, but the U.S. in general. Every state and territory was to be represented.
read more here
Gold Star wife gets seat next to first lady
By Karen Jowers - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Feb 29, 2012 14:38:43 EST
Kim Felts, a Gold Star wife from Fayetteville, N.C., will sit next to Michelle Obama tonight at a dinner being hosted by the president and first lady in honor of service members.
Felts’ husband, Col. Thomas H. Felts Sr., died Nov. 14, 2006, in Baghdad when an explosive device detonated near his vehicle.
read more here
Ft. Carson Patrols Help Soldiers Stay Out of Trouble
Downtown Ft. Carson Patrols Help Soldiers Stay Out of Trouble
LINDSAY WATTS
KRDO NewsChannel 13
February 29, 2012
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Fort Carson soldiers are looking out for their own, and not just on the battlefield.
Every weekend, top leadership from the Mountain Post patrols downtown Colorado Springs, helping soldiers who've had too much to drink stay out of trouble and get a safe ride home.
"The idea is to get a leadership role downtown, because a lot of soldiers do come down to the entertainment district," said First Lt. Bret Guglielmi.
They're called courtesy patrols and consist of six uniformed soldiers who walk up and down Tejon Street for several hours every Friday and Saturday night, and additional nights when there's a long weekend or certain holidays.
The patrols have two vans that make trips to and from Fort Carson throughout the night, dropping off soldiers. As they walk the streets, patrol members will step in if a soldier has gotten kicked out of a bar or seems to be having a problem.
"We can help them back to the barracks, we can de-escalate situations if that's necessary," said Guglielmi. "We're here to help the soldier."
LINDSAY WATTS
KRDO NewsChannel 13
February 29, 2012
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Fort Carson soldiers are looking out for their own, and not just on the battlefield.
Every weekend, top leadership from the Mountain Post patrols downtown Colorado Springs, helping soldiers who've had too much to drink stay out of trouble and get a safe ride home.
"The idea is to get a leadership role downtown, because a lot of soldiers do come down to the entertainment district," said First Lt. Bret Guglielmi.
They're called courtesy patrols and consist of six uniformed soldiers who walk up and down Tejon Street for several hours every Friday and Saturday night, and additional nights when there's a long weekend or certain holidays.
The patrols have two vans that make trips to and from Fort Carson throughout the night, dropping off soldiers. As they walk the streets, patrol members will step in if a soldier has gotten kicked out of a bar or seems to be having a problem.
"We can help them back to the barracks, we can de-escalate situations if that's necessary," said Guglielmi. "We're here to help the soldier."
On the Friday night we went out with the patrol, 18 soldiers got rides home, and, according to Ft. Carson, only one had used the service before.
read more here
The great dilemma is do we talk about PTSD or go back to silence
The great dilemma is do we talk about PTSD or go back to silence
by
Chaplain Kathie
The great dilemma is do we talk about PTSD so that others can heal and know they are not alone or go back to not talking about it so that veterans go back to work? I wish it was a simple choice, but it isn't.
When Vietnam veterans came home, no one wanted to hire them. The talk back then was that they were all "crazy Nam vets" because the news reports about them were all negative. If one of them got into trouble, you'd see a headline making sure everyone knew the story involved a Vietnam veteran. Stories about them in a positive readjustment situation were not considered "news worthy" so if there were any reporters bothering to do an article about them opening a business, doing things for their communities or anything else that was good, no one knew about it.
Remember, back then the Internet was a pipe dream so what happened in one community was not known unless a major newspaper picked up the story. The mood of the country toward Vietnam veterans was fed by the media reports against them.
Vietnam veterans fought like hell to have PTSD treated by the VA but they also fought like hell to get jobs and then fought even harder to keep them. Most of them became pretty successful because they worked harder than everyone else. Once employers understood how valuable they were, they hired more veterans.
Maybe it was because of the attitude of the country, they felt the need to suffer in silence. I know families thought it was better to keep our mouths shut just like our parents did when it came to war veterans suffering afterwards. It was a big secret to the rest of the world but when it came to families, everyone knew because back then more families had parent-veterans of WWII and Korea and grandparents of WWI. Even today, some Vietnam veterans are refusing to end their secret pain so they can heal.
Some think it is too late for them to get better. Some look back on their lives and figure they made it this long without help that they can finish their lives living the same way. They don't know it is never too late to begin to heal and live a better life.
The good news came when Vietnam veterans' kids grew up in an age when the Internet was able to connect all of them. The men and women serving today are less than 1% of the population of this country but they are able to connect across the whole world and find others just like them. They are able to talk to someone suffering the same way they are with PTSD. Families are able to find support and learn the ropes to know what to do and what they should not do. Talking about it opened the doors to more seeking help to heal simply because they knew they were not alone and that help was available for them.
Unfortunately, the media kept to the formula of putting bad stories in the headlines. Murder in a city is headline grabbing. As the expression goes, "if it bleeds, it leads" because everyone is more interested in that kind of story. Yet tie in an Iraq veteran or veteran of Afghanistan and it gives the story more punch for the buck.
Murderers are a small portion of the population but veterans committing murder are even more rare. Reporters often omit the part that there have been over 2 million men and women back from Iraq and Afghanistan but infinitesimal incidences are reported. The vast majority would be the last ones to commit a crime or harm someone else. There are more suicides and attempted suicides than there are arrests. While headlines read "Iraq veteran killed by Swat" grab attention there are 18 veterans committing suicide only found in the obituary sections of local papers, usually under "died suddenly" or occasionally using "lengthy" illness.
The majority of veterans do not cause any trouble at all. Most, as mentioned about the Vietnam veterans, come home, work harder to prove themselves and have it in their character to do for others. That fact is still fact even though reporters find no value in mentioning them.
PTSD is big news and we do have some reporters bothering to tell their stories and investigate the failings of the DOD and the VA. Their reporting on veterans seeking help has encouraged others to seek help for themselves. Many veterans have go so far as to dedicate their lives to saving the lives of other veterans. This is all great news but coupled with the negative reports employers read, the numbers scare them simply because they don't really understand what they are reading. The truth is, even experts get confused on the numbers being reported.
Over and over again Wounded Times has pointed out that while one report uses one set of figures, another report issued months before had a different set of numbers. It all goes back to the reporter and the person being interviewed at the time. If the reporter does not know the subject they are covering, they will never think to question what they are being told.
So what do we do? Do we spread the word about the numbers of veterans coming home with PTSD or avoid reporting on them so that the fear is removed? Neither is a good option unless there is clear reporting done on this topic. Local reporters are vital in bringing understanding and providing knowledge to their communities because the national news services have dropped the ball on covering the veterans coming home. All we end up seeing is news from other countries, politics and celebrities.
The clear choice in removing the stigma of PTSD and taking away the fear factor employers have is to tell the stories of average veterans coming home. There needs to be more stories like this one to clear up the misconception of veterans being anything but valuable to any business.
by
Chaplain Kathie
The great dilemma is do we talk about PTSD so that others can heal and know they are not alone or go back to not talking about it so that veterans go back to work? I wish it was a simple choice, but it isn't.
HIre Me! Veterans: Invisible wounds make it tougher to find and secure a job
One in five vets returning from Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder or depression
BY PHYLLIS FURMAN / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Thursday, March 1, 2012, 5:00 AM
Esteban Alfaro, an ex-Marine and Iraq war veteran who suffers from anxiety and depression, just started work as a delivery driver for Klenosky Paint in Williamsburg. JEFF BACHNER/FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
You wouldn't know it from looking at him, but Esteban Alfaro came home wounded from Iraq.
The 26-year-old from Brooklyn, a former Marine corporal, spent seven months in Ramadi, Iraq. He was a half-mile away when a bomb went off in a forward operating base, taking the lives of two fellow Marines. Just one day before, Alfaro had been on that base.
“That messed me up mentally,” Alfaro said. Had the bombing happened “one day earlier, I would have really been hurt or I wouldn’t be here.”
Alfaro suffers from anxiety and depression — and he certainly is not alone.
Many veterans carry similar invisible wounds that affect their daily lives — and their ability to find and retain a job.
As many as one in five servicemembers who return from deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan have symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or depression, according to a report from Rand Corp.
Symptoms of PTSD can include insomnia, irritability, being hyperalert to danger or feeling on edge. As a result, those who suffer might have trouble performing certain tasks. Some require treatment during work hours.
“Some have difficulty concentrating for long periods of time,” said Melissa Earle, a professor at Touro College Graduate School of Social Work who specializes in PTSD and veterans. “Many avoid assessment because they don’t want to be seen as sick.”
read more here
When Vietnam veterans came home, no one wanted to hire them. The talk back then was that they were all "crazy Nam vets" because the news reports about them were all negative. If one of them got into trouble, you'd see a headline making sure everyone knew the story involved a Vietnam veteran. Stories about them in a positive readjustment situation were not considered "news worthy" so if there were any reporters bothering to do an article about them opening a business, doing things for their communities or anything else that was good, no one knew about it.
Remember, back then the Internet was a pipe dream so what happened in one community was not known unless a major newspaper picked up the story. The mood of the country toward Vietnam veterans was fed by the media reports against them.
Vietnam veterans fought like hell to have PTSD treated by the VA but they also fought like hell to get jobs and then fought even harder to keep them. Most of them became pretty successful because they worked harder than everyone else. Once employers understood how valuable they were, they hired more veterans.
Maybe it was because of the attitude of the country, they felt the need to suffer in silence. I know families thought it was better to keep our mouths shut just like our parents did when it came to war veterans suffering afterwards. It was a big secret to the rest of the world but when it came to families, everyone knew because back then more families had parent-veterans of WWII and Korea and grandparents of WWI. Even today, some Vietnam veterans are refusing to end their secret pain so they can heal.
Some think it is too late for them to get better. Some look back on their lives and figure they made it this long without help that they can finish their lives living the same way. They don't know it is never too late to begin to heal and live a better life.
The good news came when Vietnam veterans' kids grew up in an age when the Internet was able to connect all of them. The men and women serving today are less than 1% of the population of this country but they are able to connect across the whole world and find others just like them. They are able to talk to someone suffering the same way they are with PTSD. Families are able to find support and learn the ropes to know what to do and what they should not do. Talking about it opened the doors to more seeking help to heal simply because they knew they were not alone and that help was available for them.
Unfortunately, the media kept to the formula of putting bad stories in the headlines. Murder in a city is headline grabbing. As the expression goes, "if it bleeds, it leads" because everyone is more interested in that kind of story. Yet tie in an Iraq veteran or veteran of Afghanistan and it gives the story more punch for the buck.
Murderers are a small portion of the population but veterans committing murder are even more rare. Reporters often omit the part that there have been over 2 million men and women back from Iraq and Afghanistan but infinitesimal incidences are reported. The vast majority would be the last ones to commit a crime or harm someone else. There are more suicides and attempted suicides than there are arrests. While headlines read "Iraq veteran killed by Swat" grab attention there are 18 veterans committing suicide only found in the obituary sections of local papers, usually under "died suddenly" or occasionally using "lengthy" illness.
The majority of veterans do not cause any trouble at all. Most, as mentioned about the Vietnam veterans, come home, work harder to prove themselves and have it in their character to do for others. That fact is still fact even though reporters find no value in mentioning them.
PTSD is big news and we do have some reporters bothering to tell their stories and investigate the failings of the DOD and the VA. Their reporting on veterans seeking help has encouraged others to seek help for themselves. Many veterans have go so far as to dedicate their lives to saving the lives of other veterans. This is all great news but coupled with the negative reports employers read, the numbers scare them simply because they don't really understand what they are reading. The truth is, even experts get confused on the numbers being reported.
Over and over again Wounded Times has pointed out that while one report uses one set of figures, another report issued months before had a different set of numbers. It all goes back to the reporter and the person being interviewed at the time. If the reporter does not know the subject they are covering, they will never think to question what they are being told.
So what do we do? Do we spread the word about the numbers of veterans coming home with PTSD or avoid reporting on them so that the fear is removed? Neither is a good option unless there is clear reporting done on this topic. Local reporters are vital in bringing understanding and providing knowledge to their communities because the national news services have dropped the ball on covering the veterans coming home. All we end up seeing is news from other countries, politics and celebrities.
The clear choice in removing the stigma of PTSD and taking away the fear factor employers have is to tell the stories of average veterans coming home. There needs to be more stories like this one to clear up the misconception of veterans being anything but valuable to any business.
Norovirus hits area hard, fast at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune
Norovirus hits area hard, fast
Posted: Thursday, March 1, 2012 12:00 am
Cpl. Damany S. Coleman Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune
The infamous Norovirus. It’s a particularly wicked strand of the stomach flu that has risen in notoriety over the past several weeks nationwide, and sounds like something from the opening scenes of a science-fiction horror film.
Officials aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune received a norovirus warning weeks ago and the base’s medical facilities have since had their fair shares of patients plagued by this virus.
There is no known vaccine, yet it spreads quickly and hits the infected with a triple threat of nausea, diarrhea and vomiting that can last from as short as 24 hours to as long as a week. If infected by one strain, there is still the possibility of being infected by another, or even re-infected a few months later by the one that infected you the first time around.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the incubation period is, on average, two days and people are contagious from the moment they feel ill to at least three days — and possibly two weeks — after they recover.
These viruses spread from person to person, through contaminated food or water, and by touching contaminated surfaces. It is also recognized as the leading cause of foodborne-disease outbreaks in the country.
Petty Officer 1st Class Gary Cherry, a service independent duty corpsman at building 15 aboard the base, said since the bulletin was posted by the CDC, there has been a rise in patients diagnosed with the virus.
read more here
Posted: Thursday, March 1, 2012 12:00 am
Cpl. Damany S. Coleman Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune
The infamous Norovirus. It’s a particularly wicked strand of the stomach flu that has risen in notoriety over the past several weeks nationwide, and sounds like something from the opening scenes of a science-fiction horror film.
Officials aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune received a norovirus warning weeks ago and the base’s medical facilities have since had their fair shares of patients plagued by this virus.
There is no known vaccine, yet it spreads quickly and hits the infected with a triple threat of nausea, diarrhea and vomiting that can last from as short as 24 hours to as long as a week. If infected by one strain, there is still the possibility of being infected by another, or even re-infected a few months later by the one that infected you the first time around.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the incubation period is, on average, two days and people are contagious from the moment they feel ill to at least three days — and possibly two weeks — after they recover.
These viruses spread from person to person, through contaminated food or water, and by touching contaminated surfaces. It is also recognized as the leading cause of foodborne-disease outbreaks in the country.
Petty Officer 1st Class Gary Cherry, a service independent duty corpsman at building 15 aboard the base, said since the bulletin was posted by the CDC, there has been a rise in patients diagnosed with the virus.
read more here
2 more American soldiers killed in Afghan shooting
2 American troops killed in Afghan shooting
PATRICK QUINN, Associated Press
Updated 04:49 a.m., Thursday, March 1, 2012
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Two American soldiers were killed Thursday in a shooting by an Afghan soldier and a literacy teacher at a joint base in southern Afghanistan, officials said, the latest in a series of deaths as anti-Americanism rises following the burning of Qurans by U.S. soldiers.
Both were killed on the same day that the top NATO commander allowed a small number of foreign advisers to return to work at Afghan ministries after more than a week of being locked down in secure locations because of the killing of two other Americans.
Thursday's killings raised to six the number of Americans killed in less than two weeks amid heightened tensions over the Feb, 20 burning of Qurans and other Islamic texts that had been dumped in a garbage pit at Bagram Air Field near Kabul. More than 30 Afghans also were killed in six days of violent riots that broke out after the incident.
read more here
PATRICK QUINN, Associated Press
Updated 04:49 a.m., Thursday, March 1, 2012
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Two American soldiers were killed Thursday in a shooting by an Afghan soldier and a literacy teacher at a joint base in southern Afghanistan, officials said, the latest in a series of deaths as anti-Americanism rises following the burning of Qurans by U.S. soldiers.
Both were killed on the same day that the top NATO commander allowed a small number of foreign advisers to return to work at Afghan ministries after more than a week of being locked down in secure locations because of the killing of two other Americans.
Thursday's killings raised to six the number of Americans killed in less than two weeks amid heightened tensions over the Feb, 20 burning of Qurans and other Islamic texts that had been dumped in a garbage pit at Bagram Air Field near Kabul. More than 30 Afghans also were killed in six days of violent riots that broke out after the incident.
read more here
"Military woman" survives attack in attempted murder-suicide
One dead after attempted murder-suicide in Portsmouth
8:12 p.m. EST, February 29, 2012
According to police, 41-year-old Loring Larry Walker drove over from his apartment, less than a mile away on Gateway Drive, and broke into a home where his ex-girlfriend lived. He shot her in the stomach and the leg before killing himself.
Neighbor Teirra Jackson says that a sequence of gunshots woke her up just before 5:30 Wednesday morning.
When she looked outside of her window towards Canoe Court, police were already pulling up.
“Went downhill from there, emergency vehicles, whole line of cop cars there,” says Jackson.
read more here
8:12 p.m. EST, February 29, 2012
According to police, 41-year-old Loring Larry Walker drove over from his apartment, less than a mile away on Gateway Drive, and broke into a home where his ex-girlfriend lived. He shot her in the stomach and the leg before killing himself.
Neighbor Teirra Jackson says that a sequence of gunshots woke her up just before 5:30 Wednesday morning.
When she looked outside of her window towards Canoe Court, police were already pulling up.
“Went downhill from there, emergency vehicles, whole line of cop cars there,” says Jackson.
read more here
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