4 arrested in VFW shooting in Florida
Associated Press
WINTER SPRINGS, Fla.
(AP) — Four men were charged in a shooting at a Veterans of Foreign War post in Florida that killed two people and critically wounded another, authorities said Monday.
The gunfire happened after a fight Sunday morning in the VFW's parking lot as a motorcycle club gathered for a charity ride. Police have not said whether the men arrested or the shooting victims were VFW members or with the motorcycle club, known as the Warlocks.
Police confiscated several weapons. Authorities have not said what started the fight or how the shooting unfolded. A news conference was planned for Monday afternoon.
Killed in the gunfire were Harold Liddle and Peter Schlette, police in Winter Springs said. David Jakiela was hospitalized in critical condition.
The parking lot at the post, located in central Florida, was taped off. A nearby senior center had to be evacuated after the shooting.
read more here
Shots fired at Winter Springs VFW
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
4 arrested after Winter Springs VFW shooting
3rd victim dies in shooting at central Florida VFW post; FBI and DEA join investigation
Military Families: Ian's Dad came home from Iraq
I've seen a lot of ads for and against Obama and Romney. Some of them paid for by the campaigns while others have been paid for by super-packs. This one is about a 10 year old boy named Ian, writing a letter to President Obama about his Dad coming back from Iraq.
It isn't bad enough the rest of the country forgets about the men and women we send into combat but we make it worse when we forget about the families back home. Especially the kids.
Monday, October 1, 2012
Tricare Prime fees jump 17% today for some
Tricare Prime fees jump 17% today for some
Army Times
By Patricia Kime
Staff writer
Posted : Monday Oct 1, 2012
Military retirees enrolled in Tricare Prime will see a dip in their net retirement pay starting today: Annual fees for the health benefit increased as of Oct. 1.
The fees rise by 3.6 percent for some retired military members and their families and by 17 percent for most.
Military retirees who enrolled in the system on or after Oct. 1, 2011, and all new beneficiaries will pay $269.28 a year for an individual, up from $260, and $538.56 for a family, up from $520.
Those who were in Prime before Oct. 1, 2011, will see their annual fees increase from to $269.28 from $230 for individuals and to $538.56 from $460 for families.
Affected retirees and family members received notification of the increase by mail in August.
The fee increases are within limits set by Congress last year. Legislation passed in 2011 restricted the amount the Pentagon can increase annual fees to the annual military cost-of-living adjustment. The 3.6 percent increase is equal to the most recent cost-of-living adjustment in military retired pay for 2012.
read more here
Army Times
By Patricia Kime
Staff writer
Posted : Monday Oct 1, 2012
Military retirees enrolled in Tricare Prime will see a dip in their net retirement pay starting today: Annual fees for the health benefit increased as of Oct. 1.
The fees rise by 3.6 percent for some retired military members and their families and by 17 percent for most.
Military retirees who enrolled in the system on or after Oct. 1, 2011, and all new beneficiaries will pay $269.28 a year for an individual, up from $260, and $538.56 for a family, up from $520.
Those who were in Prime before Oct. 1, 2011, will see their annual fees increase from to $269.28 from $230 for individuals and to $538.56 from $460 for families.
Affected retirees and family members received notification of the increase by mail in August.
The fee increases are within limits set by Congress last year. Legislation passed in 2011 restricted the amount the Pentagon can increase annual fees to the annual military cost-of-living adjustment. The 3.6 percent increase is equal to the most recent cost-of-living adjustment in military retired pay for 2012.
read more here
Alarming breast cancer rates among troops
Alarming breast cancer rates among troops
Army Times
By Jon R. Anderson
Staff writer
Posted : Monday Oct 1, 2012
If you think breast cancer is just something for your grandmother, mom and aunts to worry about, think again. Not only is breast cancer striking relatively young military women at alarming rates, but male service members, veterans and their dependents are at risk, as well.
With their younger and generally healthier population, those in the military tend to have a lower risk for most cancers than civilians, including significantly lower colorectal, lung and cervical cancer rates in certain groups.
But breast cancer is a different story.
“Military people in general, and in some cases very specifically, are at a significantly greater risk for contracting breast cancer,” says Dr. Richard Clapp, a top cancer expert at Boston University. Clapp, who works for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on military breast cancer issues, says life in the military can mean exposure to a witch’s brew of risk factors directly linked to greater chances of getting breast cancer.
Indeed, in a 2009 study, doctors at Walter Reed Army Medical Center found that breast cancer rates among military women are “significantly higher” — that military women are 20 percent to 40 percent more likely to get the disease than other women in the same age groups.
Researchers point to a higher use of oral contraception — also linked to breast cancer — among military women as a possible culprit.
read more here
Army Times
By Jon R. Anderson
Staff writer
Posted : Monday Oct 1, 2012
If you think breast cancer is just something for your grandmother, mom and aunts to worry about, think again. Not only is breast cancer striking relatively young military women at alarming rates, but male service members, veterans and their dependents are at risk, as well.
With their younger and generally healthier population, those in the military tend to have a lower risk for most cancers than civilians, including significantly lower colorectal, lung and cervical cancer rates in certain groups.
GET INVOLVED
As local installations roll out events in conjunction with National Breast Cancer Awareness Month — like the fun runs and walks this week at Fort Polk, La., and Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., and coming up Oct. 19 at Camp Lejeune, N.C. — we want to try an experiment. We’ve set up the MilTimes Boot Breast Cancer Facebook page in hopes of establishing a forum where military people affected by breast cancer can network, tell stories and get the word out about events — like the PCB Navy Diver Wives team raising money for Making Strides Against Breast Cancer on Oct. 27 in Panama City, Fla.
But breast cancer is a different story.
“Military people in general, and in some cases very specifically, are at a significantly greater risk for contracting breast cancer,” says Dr. Richard Clapp, a top cancer expert at Boston University. Clapp, who works for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on military breast cancer issues, says life in the military can mean exposure to a witch’s brew of risk factors directly linked to greater chances of getting breast cancer.
Indeed, in a 2009 study, doctors at Walter Reed Army Medical Center found that breast cancer rates among military women are “significantly higher” — that military women are 20 percent to 40 percent more likely to get the disease than other women in the same age groups.
Researchers point to a higher use of oral contraception — also linked to breast cancer — among military women as a possible culprit.
read more here
Veterans Affairs’s HR chief resigns amid conference scandal
VA’s HR chief resigns amid conference scandal
Army Times
By Rick Maze
Staff writer
Posted : Monday Oct 1, 2012
Two multimillion-dollar conferences for Veterans Affairs Department human resources officials have resulted in the resignation of the agency’s top personnel official, as an internal investigation found excessive spending and evidence that some of those planning the events had improperly accepted gifts from potential vendors.
The report, released Monday by the VA’s Office of Inspector General, found $6.1 million spent on two weeklong conferences at the Orlando Marriott World Center Golf and Spa Resort, held in July and August 2011, with about $762,00 being on “unauthorized,” “unnecessary” or “wasteful” expenses, according to the report.
The report is especially hard on John Sepulveda, the VA assistant secretary for human resources, who “abdicated his responsibilities when he failed to provide proper guidance and oversight to his senior executives,” the report says. Sepulveda has resigned.
read more here
Army Times
By Rick Maze
Staff writer
Posted : Monday Oct 1, 2012
Two multimillion-dollar conferences for Veterans Affairs Department human resources officials have resulted in the resignation of the agency’s top personnel official, as an internal investigation found excessive spending and evidence that some of those planning the events had improperly accepted gifts from potential vendors.
The report, released Monday by the VA’s Office of Inspector General, found $6.1 million spent on two weeklong conferences at the Orlando Marriott World Center Golf and Spa Resort, held in July and August 2011, with about $762,00 being on “unauthorized,” “unnecessary” or “wasteful” expenses, according to the report.
The report is especially hard on John Sepulveda, the VA assistant secretary for human resources, who “abdicated his responsibilities when he failed to provide proper guidance and oversight to his senior executives,” the report says. Sepulveda has resigned.
read more here
Three US soldiers among at least 14 killed by Afghan suicide bomber
Three US soldiers among at least 14 killed by Afghan suicide bomber
By NBC's Courtney Kube and wire reports
A suicide bomber detonated a device in Afghanistan on Monday, killing three U.S. soldiers, one interpreter and four members of the Afghan National Police, a military official told NBC News.
The U.S. soldiers and Afghan police were on a dismounted partner patrol near the center of the Khost region in eastern Afghanistan. The attacker approached and detonated as they were preparing to get back in their vehicles.
Six civilians also died in the attack, Reuters reported.
Despite reports that the bomber was riding a motorcycle, the official said there was no evidence of that. The official added that the dead interpreter is thought to be Afghan.
A witness told Reuters a suicide bomber was wearing a police uniform.
read more here
By NBC's Courtney Kube and wire reports
A suicide bomber detonated a device in Afghanistan on Monday, killing three U.S. soldiers, one interpreter and four members of the Afghan National Police, a military official told NBC News.
The U.S. soldiers and Afghan police were on a dismounted partner patrol near the center of the Khost region in eastern Afghanistan. The attacker approached and detonated as they were preparing to get back in their vehicles.
Six civilians also died in the attack, Reuters reported.
Despite reports that the bomber was riding a motorcycle, the official said there was no evidence of that. The official added that the dead interpreter is thought to be Afghan.
A witness told Reuters a suicide bomber was wearing a police uniform.
read more here
Carol Shea-Porter distorts Frank Guinta's voting record on veterans
From Politifact
Carol Shea-Porter distorts Frank Guinta's voting record on veterans programs
Veterans funding was back in the news recently as the U.S. Senate failed to take up a new veterans jobs bill. But, even before the vote, one New Hampshire congressional candidate was already taking aim over the issue.
In a television ad, released Sept. 18 in and around New Hampshire, former Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, who is once again challenging U.S. Rep. Frank Guinta, charged her opponent with failing to support the country’s veterans.
"Tea Party Congressman Frank Guinta voted for billions in cuts to veterans programs," a narrator declares in the ad, "Debt,’ aired on WMUR-TV.
"I’m Carol Shea-Porter and I approve this message because our veterans deserve better," she said to conclude the ad.
Guinta, a freshman Republican, immediately disputed the ad and organized a rally in Manchester to call attention to his "strong record of supporting our veterans."
So, who’s right? We decided to check the records.
read it here
The real uncounted casualties of war are families!
Yesterday I posted Think of like an ex-wife because it was our 28th anniversary. Yes, we made it that many years even with PTSD trying to end it. We can watch reality TV and see struggles in regular family life, but this is far from regular.
The truth is, if you don't live with it, you don't really understand it.
For 30 years, I've been trying to do something about it. Most of the people involved in this battle after combat are long gone because when we started, no one else was talking about it. Patience Mason another wife of a Vietnam veteran is still around and trying to do what she can to help other families. There used to be so many more but what all of us had to teach has been forgotten and for the others, they were ignored so they gave up.
I understand how that feels since everyday I feel as if I should be walking away and pretend that none of this is happening to other families just like mine. Forget the Moms and the wives trying to cope when it is too little, too late to save the life of someone they loved. Forget the "kid" the same age my husband was when he came home from Vietnam. After all, I had to fight alone with all of this, so they can too. The problem is, I remember what it was like fighting alone, struggling to learn what few others knew and trying to save my husband. That's what this is really all about.
I did an interview when I was asked why I help and I said I'm helping myself from back then when I had no one. (this interview will be available soon)
It sucks to be right when they are still dead addresses more of this but for right now, just remember, none of this has to happen if the veterans and their families had the right kind of help and the government stopped the better than nothing approach that has not worked in all of these years and never will.
The real uncounted casualties of war are families!
The truth is, if you don't live with it, you don't really understand it.
For 30 years, I've been trying to do something about it. Most of the people involved in this battle after combat are long gone because when we started, no one else was talking about it. Patience Mason another wife of a Vietnam veteran is still around and trying to do what she can to help other families. There used to be so many more but what all of us had to teach has been forgotten and for the others, they were ignored so they gave up.
I understand how that feels since everyday I feel as if I should be walking away and pretend that none of this is happening to other families just like mine. Forget the Moms and the wives trying to cope when it is too little, too late to save the life of someone they loved. Forget the "kid" the same age my husband was when he came home from Vietnam. After all, I had to fight alone with all of this, so they can too. The problem is, I remember what it was like fighting alone, struggling to learn what few others knew and trying to save my husband. That's what this is really all about.
I did an interview when I was asked why I help and I said I'm helping myself from back then when I had no one. (this interview will be available soon)
It sucks to be right when they are still dead addresses more of this but for right now, just remember, none of this has to happen if the veterans and their families had the right kind of help and the government stopped the better than nothing approach that has not worked in all of these years and never will.
The real uncounted casualties of war are families!
UNCOUNTED CASUALTIES: MENTAL HEALTH
Which veterans are at highest risk for suicide?
Sept. 30, 2012
PTSD, injuries combine with everyday stresses; studies also say women especially vulnerable.
By American-Statesman Investigative Team
The stresses that can contribute to suicide — relationship problems, legal problems, mental illness, depression — are the same for military personnel and veterans as for the rest of the population, experts say.
But the former have higher rates of post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury, both of which increase the chance of self-harm, said Peter Gutierrez , co-director of the Military Suicide Research Consortium in Denver, a joint effort by the U.S. military and research scientists to understand and prevent suicidal behavior. Having two or more such conditions that affect mental health — known as co-morbidity — is also known to increase the risk.
According to Department of Veterans Affairs data, the likelihood of suicide among Afghanistan and Iraq veterans was greatest during the first two years after leaving active duty; it declined by half after four to six years had passed. Although those veterans faced a “significantly higher” risk than the general population, it’s unclear how they stack up against veterans of other wars, such as Vietnam.
“One of the questions that clearly needs to be answered is how does the suicide rate among our youngest veterans compare to suicide rates among other (groups of veterans)?” Gutierrez said.
Research is trickling in that addresses that question. A study released in June by the VA found that suicide risk in Iraq and Afghanistan veterans diagnosed with a mental health condition was four times higher than in veterans without that diagnosis.
read more here
Suicide among veterans receiving less attention than active-duty deaths
Many family members noticed dramatic changes in their loved ones after they returned from the war and before committing suicide.
Soldier's Words Have Some Questioning War in Afghanistan
Dead Soldier's Words Have Some Questioning War in Afghanistan
Matthew Sitton, who once attended Southeastern University, wrote to Rep. Bill Young
By John Woodrow Cox
Tampa Bay Times
Published: Sunday, September 30, 2012
The sun had just crept above the tree line over the Arghandab Valley in Afghanistan when Army Staff Sgt. Matthew Sitton reached the far side of the dirt road.
The sun had just crept above the tree line over the Arghandab Valley in Afghanistan when Army Staff Sgt. Matthew Sitton reached the far side of the dirt road.
The day before, engineers had been clearing a path when one of them stepped on a buried explosive. One had died, four others had been injured. Staff Sgt. Michael Herne and his men had guarded the scene overnight.
At 6 a.m. the next day, Aug. 2, Sitton took over.
"All right," Herne told his platoon mate, "I'm going to sleep."
Sitton, who almost always wore a smile across his freckled face, stopped him. He looked serious. He gripped Herne's hand and squeezed. Herne promised to be back in six hours, then left.
He had just returned to their outpost, about 1,000 feet away, when the air cracked and the earth shivered. A cloud of dust the size of a football field ballooned over the horizon.
Sitton and another sergeant had tripped an explosive. A big one. Both died instantly.
On June 4, Sitton had written a letter to U.S. Rep. C.W. Bill Young. In it, he explained to the Republican legislator that for weeks his platoon had been mandated to patrol empty fields and compounds strewn with explosives. The missions, he wrote, served no purpose. Soldiers were losing arms and legs every day. He had objected, but no one had listened.
Someone would die, he wrote, if nothing changed.
read more here
Matthew Sitton, who once attended Southeastern University, wrote to Rep. Bill Young
By John Woodrow Cox
Tampa Bay Times
Published: Sunday, September 30, 2012
The sun had just crept above the tree line over the Arghandab Valley in Afghanistan when Army Staff Sgt. Matthew Sitton reached the far side of the dirt road.
The sun had just crept above the tree line over the Arghandab Valley in Afghanistan when Army Staff Sgt. Matthew Sitton reached the far side of the dirt road.
The day before, engineers had been clearing a path when one of them stepped on a buried explosive. One had died, four others had been injured. Staff Sgt. Michael Herne and his men had guarded the scene overnight.
At 6 a.m. the next day, Aug. 2, Sitton took over.
"All right," Herne told his platoon mate, "I'm going to sleep."
Sitton, who almost always wore a smile across his freckled face, stopped him. He looked serious. He gripped Herne's hand and squeezed. Herne promised to be back in six hours, then left.
He had just returned to their outpost, about 1,000 feet away, when the air cracked and the earth shivered. A cloud of dust the size of a football field ballooned over the horizon.
Sitton and another sergeant had tripped an explosive. A big one. Both died instantly.
On June 4, Sitton had written a letter to U.S. Rep. C.W. Bill Young. In it, he explained to the Republican legislator that for weeks his platoon had been mandated to patrol empty fields and compounds strewn with explosives. The missions, he wrote, served no purpose. Soldiers were losing arms and legs every day. He had objected, but no one had listened.
Someone would die, he wrote, if nothing changed.
read more here
Many Iraq, Afghan vets choosing ‘2nd service’
“As to the fatal, but necessary operations of war, when we assumed the soldier, we did not lay aside the citizen; and we shall most sincerely rejoice with you in that happy hour, when the establishment of American liberty on the most firm and solid foundations, shall enable us to return to our private stations, in the bosom of a free, peaceful, and happy country.” George WashingtonThe fact is, once they were citizens just like everyone else, but then they became veterans after war and that makes them not like everyone else.
Many Iraq, Afghan vets choosing ‘2nd service’
By Allen G. Breed
The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Sep 30, 2012
RALEIGH, N.C. — The link between U.S. military service and running for office is as old as the republic itself. It started with George Washington, who famously wrote that, “When we assumed the Soldier, we did not lay aside the Citizen.”
During the long wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, hundreds of thousands of veterans have come home and laid aside their uniforms. But not all have opted to simply blend back into civilian life.
Many have chosen to run for public office.
Several dozen veterans — some of them from earlier wars — are vying for U.S. House and Senate seats this year. And many others are seeking state and local offices across the country. Men and women, Republicans and Democrats, they range from well-known hopefuls such as congressional candidate Tammy Duckworth in Illinois, who became a double amputee when her National Guard helicopter was shot down in Iraq, to Arizona state House contender Mark Cardenas, a 25-year-old Iraq vet who remains a National Guardsman.
They are people like former Marine tank commander Nick Popaditch, who lost his right eye during the April 2004 Battle of Fallujah in Iraq and who is now the Republican nominee in California’s 53rd Congressional District.
“I was looking at my government and I wasn’t happy with it,” says the ex-gunnery sergeant, who cuts a striking figure on the campaign trail with his shaved head and black eye patch. “So rather than complain, I decided to run myself. I thought I could do a better job, and I still feel that way.”
After back-to-back wars, there are more recent combat veterans in the United States today than at any time since Vietnam.
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