Sun May 11, 2008 at 11:37:26 AM EDT
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The following is a great editorial on veterans suffering from what they have suffered from since the beginning of time, dealing with the horrors of war. It's well worth reading and I suggest you go to the link and finish reading it.
GUEST COLUMN: The invisible wounds of war
By Greg Dobbs, Special to the Rocky
Saturday, May 10, 2008
It is a crude way to put it, but "they are dropping like flies." That's how one soldier I spoke with characterized the spike in suicides among servicemen coming home these days from war. With bodies intact, but minds wounded - sometimes mortally.
It's not a new phenomenon - mental trauma is a normal reaction to the abnormal horror of war. Back in the Civil War it was called "soldier's heart." In World War I, it was known as shell shock. In World War II, battle fatigue. After Vietnam, it was called Post Vietnam Syndrome. Nowadays it has a formal name: post traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.
But it is an invisible wound, and soldiers with injured minds often haven't gotten the treatment they needed. Some have been discouraged from even seeking treatment because of the ghost called "stigma." Some have only been told to "suck it up," get back out there and fight! Which has cost our armed forces dearly.
go here for more of this
http://www.rockymountainnews.c...
The problem is the comments this article received. While some were very sympathetic to the plight of our veterans, others were not and their attitude needs to be spotlighted. It is perplexing where this attitude comes from. It is also what has to be overcome if we are every going to live up to what we claim when it comes to the men and women we send into combat. If we are ever going to really be a grateful nation, these kinds of idiotic statements need to be addressed for what they are, uneducated, opinionated hacks who would rather get in the way of taking care of our wounded warriors than taking care of them.
Posted by Mike_In_Hartsel on May 10, 2008 at 6:27 a.m.
Bull hockey. Has anyone noticed that the increase in post-battlefield mental trauma has increased in proportion to the increase in the number of psychiatrists and psychologists who are telling the public that soldiers can't cope? The number of mental disorders has grown so much over the years that it is a wonder how the human race ever survived without these mental experts to tell us how sick we really are and how we cannot cope with the realities of life and death.
Get rid of the psychiatrists and psychologists, who have all the answers but have never solved a single problem, and watch the general mental health of the world improve dramatically and quickly. They are Charlatans dancing in the misty smoke of deceit.
FYI - before you accuse me of being insensitive to the plight of combat soldiers, I have two purple hearts, both receieved in 1967. Been there, done that.
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Sun May 11, 2008 at 02:12:45 AM EDT
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| HAPPY MOTHERS DAY, 5/11/08
Here on Military Spouse Press we have been writing mostly about the many important issues, events, legislature, facts and latest military related items.
I know every milspouse who has a loved one who is or was deployed is filled with emotions about their spouse, their family and much more. Mothers day must bring many feelings and emotions. A small portion of our articles have been about what is going on inside and what the struggles are emotionally.
I can only assume that every milspouse experiences the same emotional roller coaster. I don't know first hand because I have never walked a mile in your shoes. I am sure that every milspouse could comment, lend support and relate to any contribution in which a milspouse articulates their own personal thoughts and feelings about having a spouse who is or was deployed.
I'm sure those who have the courage it takes to write about this, would help others who are feeling the same.
I would like to read more about what is going on "inside" milspouses whose spouse is or was deployed. I am sure others would also. It could be done in comments to this article but with the immense amount that I am sure is within, it would probably be better in a "stand alone" article. I would truly appreciate anyone who would be willing to share of themselves with me and the community. IMHO, this is as important or more important than the issues we have been primarily writing about. |
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Thu May 08, 2008 at 23:01:07 PM EDT
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DoD: 43,000 unfit troops sent to war
By Gregg Zoroya - USA Today
Posted : Thursday May 8, 2008 8:41:24 EDT
WASHINGTON - More than 43,000 U.S. troops listed as medically unfit for combat in the weeks before their scheduled deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan since 2003 were sent anyway, Pentagon records show.
This reliance on troops found medically "nondeployable" is another sign of stress placed on a military that has sent 1.6 million service members to the war zones, soldier advocacy groups said.
"It is a consequence of the consistent churning of our troops," said Bobby Muller, president of Veterans For America. "They are repeatedly exposed to high-intensity combat with insufficient time at home to rest and heal before re-deploying."
The numbers of nondeployable soldiers are based on health assessment forms filled out by medical personnel at each military installation before a service member's deployment. According to those statistics, the number of troops that doctors found nondeployable but who were still sent to Iraq or Afghanistan fluctuated from 10,854 in 2003, down to 5,397 in 2005, and back up to 9,140 in 2007.
The Pentagon records do not list what - or how serious - the health issues are, nor whether they were corrected before deployment, said Michael Kilpatrick, a deputy director for the Pentagon's Force Health Protection and Readiness Programs.
A Pentagon staffer examined 10,000 individual health records last year to determine causes for the nondeployable ratings, Kilpatrick said. Some reasons included a need for eyeglasses, dental work or allergy medicine and a small number of mental health cases, he said.
This is the first war in which this health screening process has been used, the Pentagon said.
Most of the nondeployable service members are in the Army, which is doing most of the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Between 5 percent and 7 percent of all active-duty, National Guard and Reserve soldiers slated for combat were found medically unfit due to health problems each year since 2003, according to statistics provided to USA Today.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/...
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Thu May 08, 2008 at 22:50:23 PM EDT
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Utterly speechless!
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Army barracks "better than sleeping in the woods"
Report: Thousands living in shoddy barracks
By Kristin M. Hall - The Associated PressPosted : Thursday May 8, 2008 12:08:47 EDT
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. - Spc. Kaila Colvin is looking forward to getting married for the usual reasons, and for one more particular to a soldier: not having to live in Fort Campbell's decrepit barracks anymore.
Spc. Loren Dauterman, who trained at Fort McCoy last month with the Wisconsin National Guard, found something good to say about the falling-apart floors and ceilings in his quarters. Barely.
"It is better than sleeping out in the woods," Dauterman said last week, "but not a whole lot better."
Thousands of soldiers are assigned to barracks built for the GIs who fought World War II and the Korean War. The buildings are showing their age, and the soldiers are getting fed up.
After a soldier's father posted a video on YouTube last month showing the dilapidated barracks for paratroopers at Fort Bragg, N.C., Defense Secretary Robert Gates called those conditions appalling and ordered base commanders to ensure their troops have proper quarters.
The commanders have their work cut out for them.
A spot check by Associated Press reporters over the past week found many barracks plagued by recurring problems with mold, mildew and their plumbing and wiring.
Read:
• Barracks at Ga. posts in adequate condition
• Fort Lewis fixing up old barracks
• Fort Riley barracks undergoing changes
• Jackson barracks undergoing $1B in upgrades
• Knox working to improve housing conditions
• Meade barracks in need of repair
In many cases, the wooden, cramped and outdated housing units were scheduled for destruction, but the space and economic constraints from the war in Iraq have again filled the old barracks with soldiers. Major installations like Fort Campbell and Fort Stewart, Ga., report pumping more than $100 million into barracks improvements in recent years to make room for the flood of recruits and brigades.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/...
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Thu May 08, 2008 at 16:20:59 PM EDT
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I can't lie- I have been anxiously anticipating the DVD release of the movie "PS I love you" with Hilary Swank since I saw the previews for it late last year. Something about it appealed to me in a way that most movies deemed "chick flicks" did not and I wasn't sure why until I watched it. (The funny thing is, the weekend before I watched this movie, I watched "300" for the first time- starring Gerard Butler, who plays Swank's husband in the movie.)
ANYWAY, let me get to my review- I'm writing it a few hours earlier than I'm supposed to- hope you don't mind- I've got a busy night ahead and I'm really looking forward to writing this review!! |
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Wed May 07, 2008 at 19:11:29 PM EDT
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May 5: Another Outrage as VA Official Says Suicides Occur 'Just Like Cancer Occurs'
Bob Brewin
Government Executive
May 06, 2008
May 5, 2008 - Suicides among veterans of wars overseas occur "just like cancer occurs," and are not an indication of negligence by Veterans Affairs Department mental health care providers, a top VA official has argued in a lawsuit filed by two veterans groups. The official said he does not know how well VA hospitals are complying with a directive to provide 24-hour referrals to veterans with mental health problems.
Last year, two groups, Veterans for Common Sense and Veterans United for Truth, filed suit in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, charging that VA had failed to make mental health services immediately and widely available to returning veterans. Testimony in the non-jury trial ended last week.
Documents filed in the case revealed that the Justice Department tried to have the lawsuit thrown out on the grounds that language in the department's appropriations bills and prior case law "specifically and substantially limits VA's obligation to provide care ... [and] creates no such expectation [that veterans are entitled to care] (emphasis and brackets added by Justice)."
Internal VA memos released at the trial in April disclosed that in February, the department knew it was facing 1,000 suicide attempts per month, which the veterans groups argued could have been avoided if VA had adhered to its 2004 Veterans Health Administration Mental Health Strategic Plan, which called for development of a "national, systemic program for suicide prevention."
A deposition by a VA medical center psychiatrist caring for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan backed up the veterans groups' assertion that the department had not done enough to provide adequate mental health care for all veterans.
Dr. Marcus Nemuth, medical director of Psychiatry Emergency Service for VA's Puget Sound Health Care System in Seattle, which operates three hospitals, said in his deposition on March 25 that he expected a high volume of post-traumatic stress disorder cases among veterans returning from Afghanistan and Iraq. He said he was concerned with both with the quantity and quality of care provided to those veterans.
go here for more
http://www.veteransforcommonse...
Too bad the heads didn't listen but then with the attitude they took all this time, it's easy to understand why they didn't want to do anything but hide the data. |
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Tue May 06, 2008 at 16:23:25 PM EDT
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| A 2004 RAND study provides an excellent, comprehensive picture of challenges facing military spouses who want to work. I read it with fascination and approval until I came to the last section of the article, which provides a list of what the DoD can do to alleviate these problems.
To be fair, it is the RAND corporation's job to tell DoD what to do. They are hired by DoD to provide suggestions for improving life in the military. But. . .
The DoD should "influence states to provide in-state tuition arrangements for military families in order to reduce educational costs?" The DoD should "explore ways to address licensing and certification issues for spouses who relocate?" The DoD should "consider compensating spouses for the costs of transferring or re-obtaining professional certification and licensure??" Don't get me wrong. All of these measures sound lovely. There is one problem: The last time I checked, "securing spouse employment" was not in the U.S. military's mission statement. And I'm pretty sure that anybody in the DoD reading these suggestions had the exact same reaction. In short, it just ain't gonna happen.
And it shouldn't. Stretched thin as it is these days the military shouldn't be focused on guaranteeing my career satisfaction. It should be focused on directly supporting its excellent soldiers and officers, who are giving their all and more in our current conflicts. But the military has recognized that the issue is important to its families, and therefore important to retention.
As a result, it has taken measures to encourage families to stay by providing resources to spouses seeking to improve their lives. There have been collaborative, unprecedented efforts by the military and civilian communities in recent years to help spouses obtain employment, get a college degree, and receive emotional support for their efforts.
All encouraging measures. They won't work in a box. Unfortunately, the military increasingly looks like a black box, impenetrable and unknowable to outsiders. Many of today's servicemembers are children of parents who served before them. As the all-volunteer force becomes a family tradition, fewer civilians even know somebody in the military, let alone know their challenges. This includes the media, the upper classes and our members of Congress. The lack of familiarity breeds a complacency with the status quo and a temptation to let those big Pentagon budgets take care of any and all problems within the ranks.
In 2003 and 2006, Congressman Charles Rangel suggested a return to the draft. Seventy percent of America opposed it. Leadership in Congress from both parties prevented debate on the Bill. All symptoms of a population that has lost its connection to service, that assumes that the DoD will take care of its own while the wheels of civilian life keep turning. It's clear that they are trying. What's not clear is why they have to do it alone.
Next week: An Army of (Every)One |
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Tue May 06, 2008 at 08:01:02 AM EDT
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Yes, that is a rotor-tiller propelling this cart down a main street.
Read the rest of the article below the fold! |
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Mon May 05, 2008 at 21:49:14 PM EDT
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Family of GI who killed himself wants changes
The Associated Press
Posted : Monday May 5, 2008 15:03:09 EDT
HANCEVILLE, Ala. - The family of an Army soldier who committed suicide after returning from Iraq is hoping to use his tragic death to get help for other service members who may suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Dorothy Screws says she witnessed her only son, Army Pvt. Tommie Edward Jones, kill himself on March 25 at Fort Carson, Colo. Later the family learned Jones, 27, suffered symptoms of PTSD after seeing combat in Iraq in 2007.
"I can't save my son now ... I want to save somebody," Screws told The Cullman Times. "If I can save one soldier, it will be worth it."
Screws said she will push for the government to pass a law requiring soldiers to undergo some type of psychological therapy after they return from intense combat. Soldiers returning from deployments receive health assessments, but Screws said many soldiers, including her son, were concerned that asking for mental health treatment would hurt their careers.
"If they can make them tote 150 pounds on their backs and march ... why can't they make it mandatory to get help?" she said.
Jones mentioned a few of the traumatic events he experienced in Iraq to his mother shortly before his death.
"He said, 'I wake up every morning angry,"' Screws said. "He said, 'My body is here but my mind is in Iraq."'
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/...
Dorothy Screws is making sure her son's death counts for something. I hope you can understand what it takes for a parent to come forward and talk about something like this. It is what is needed if we are ever going to come close to getting rid of the stigma of PTSD. Other things need to be done but if the families remain silent, afraid to speak out on how their veteran died when it's tied to suicide and PTSD, then there will be many, many more families suffering in silence. |
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Mon May 05, 2008 at 16:09:36 PM EDT
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Right now I want to label this post "Damn the media!" How long are they going to let the government get away with saying "they didn't know" and they "still don't know" when even I knew? What pissed me off the most about this (yes, I know I'm a Chaplain but I'm still human) is all the data was there and they should have known. What I suspect right now is that they did know and were crossing their fingers to see what they could get away with not doing first. How else can you explain how I would know what was coming and they, the experts, the people paid to know, didn't?
Post-War Suicides May Exceed Combat Deaths, U.S. Says (Update1)
By Avram Goldstein
May 5 (Bloomberg) -- The number of suicides among veterans of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan may exceed the combat death toll because of inadequate mental health care, the U.S. government's top psychiatric researcher said.
Community mental health centers, hobbled by financial limits, haven't provided enough scientifically sound care, especially in rural areas, said Thomas Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Maryland. He briefed reporters today at the American Psychiatric Association's annual meeting in Washington.
Insel echoed a Rand Corporation study published last month that found about 20 percent of returning U.S. soldiers have post- traumatic stress disorder or depression, and only half of them receive treatment. About 1.6 million U.S. troops have fought in the two wars since October 2001, the report said. About 4,560 soldiers had died in the conflicts as of today, the Defense Department reported on its Web site.
Based on those figures and established suicide rates for similar patients who commonly develop substance abuse and other complications of post-traumatic stress disorder, ``it's quite possible that the suicides and psychiatric mortality of this war could trump the combat deaths,'' Insel said.
Post-traumatic stress disorder, known as PTSD, is the failure to cope after a major shock, such as an auto accident, a rape or combat, Insel said. PTSD may remain dormant for months or years before it surfaces, and in about 10 percent of cases people never recover, he said.
go here for more
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/...
It already has a long time ago but they didn't notice. |
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Mon May 05, 2008 at 15:00:00 PM EDT
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| 5 May 2008, Edition 2 (Amy Van Riper)
Hope doesn't come from calculating whether the good news is winning out over the bad. It's simply a choice to take action. - Anna Lappe
Welcome back to another week of positive news from the military world.
Senate Seeks Additional Boost to Military Pay
http://www.military.com/featur...
The Senate is asking for a 3.9% pay raise for FY2009 - 0.5 percent more than the Defense officials requested. While this is excellent news, the best news from the articles is that the bill also includes "a provision to provide a 500-pound weight allowance during [PCS] moves for military spouses' professional books and equipment." Any time military spouses are acknowledged like this is a GREAT step in the right direction.
Read beyond the fold for more good news. |
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Mon May 05, 2008 at 09:23:09 AM EDT
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cross posted to Docudharma, Dailykos, Turn Maine Blue and VetVoice from Military Spouse Press, http://www.milspousepress.com/
I began writing a response to NamGuardianAngel's article below this one, http://www.milspousepress.com/... and it became a MEGA comment.
I also realized that the information was too important to you as a military spouse to contribute as just a comment. I had to ensure it was read by the maximum number by making it a stand alone Editorial Page contribution.
Hopefully, what is discussed will never affect you personally but statistics, studies and history prove beyond any doubt that they will affect a high percentage of military spouses.
PLEASE do not wait. Take action. If not for your soldier, yourself, your family, then for the other military spouses who will be affected by this. |
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Sun May 04, 2008 at 21:29:06 PM EDT
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| The UK has been way ahead of us on awarding veterans with TBI and PTSD for their wounds the way we award the Purple Heart for blood shed. They have been trying to do this and I fully support it being done. Now, it looks as if we are finally catching on. At least they are at Fort Bliss.
A few months ago I posted how we should reinstate the Wound Chevron they used to award instead of the Purple Heart. The idea is to put PTSD and TBI into the category they belong in and that is a wound suffered because they went to war. It doesn't matter if they worked in the morgue or in the motor pool or just in the vicinity of bombs if they have to pay for the rest of their lives because of it. Some come home fine and that's great. Some come home with bullet wounds and some come home with more severe wounds, but they should not keep treating these two signature wounds as second class wounds.
Purple Heart urged for veterans with PTSD
By Jeff Schogol, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Sunday, May 4, 2008
A military psychologist suggests making troops suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder eligible for the Purple Heart to help remove the stigma of a disorder affecting about 20 percent of combat veterans.
Such a move would be a major change in the Purple Heart awards policy, which does not classify PTSD as a combat wound.
John E. Fortunato is chief of the Recovery and Resilience Center at Fort Bliss, Texas, where he treats soldiers suffering from PTSD.
During a visit to Fort Bliss on Thursday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates praised the center, which uses intensive individual therapy and nontraditional ways such as acupuncture, meditation and yoga to treat PTSD.
At Red River Army Depot on Friday, Gates said it was an "interesting idea" to award the Purple Heart to troops suffering from PTSD, adding the issue is "clearly something that needs to be looked into."
On Thursday, Fortunato said PTSD is a "physical disorder, at least in part," because it damages the brain, making it no different from shrapnel wounds.
However, an Army regulation precludes troops suffering from PTSD from being awarded the Purple Heart, he said.
go here for more
http://www.stripes.com/article...
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Sun May 04, 2008 at 02:01:16 AM EDT
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| Trivia question of the day (answer in next edition) - About how many feathers does the average bald eagle have?
Word of the day (definition in next edition) - Proxemics
Name this countries capitol (answer in next edition) - Uzbekistan
Name the state this relates to (answer in next edition) - Brevet Brigadier General, U.S. Volunteers, Selden Connor later became Governor.
Riddle (answer in next edition) - I'm sometimes white,
Although sometimes I'm black.I take you there, But never bring you back. What am I?
NO QUESTIONS OR ANSWERS
Quote of the day - "It doesn't matter what they are saying about you as long as they are talking about you." Anonymous successful businessman
Reasons to love America - The Brooklyn Bridge
Useless information - The first five years sales for Coca-Cola - 25 bottles
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Sat May 03, 2008 at 21:01:02 PM EDT
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| Sound Off! What to YOU as a family member makes a good leader? I know the things I admire in a leader aren't always the things that my soldier looks for, but they most definetly shape my opinion of a leader.
Share your opinion! Mine's below the fold... |
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Sat May 03, 2008 at 13:28:49 PM EDT
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We're right in the middle of preparations for a PCS overseas to Germany. There are a million things on my lists, things to make sure that get done, people to see, a house to sell among them. My baby brother (he is 18, but he's the baby of the family) is graduating high school in June- so I have to squeeze that in as well. We're supposed to be IN Germany by the end of June- so I'm pulling some magician tricks right out of a hat to maximize time and minimize stress.
YEAH RIGHT! I am not doing quite that well.
I'm actually approaching the point where I'm a little sad about our impending move. And I just wonder- does it ever get to you? I mean, my house is full of a lot of memories- but most of them were during the time of my husband's deployment and I have to say- leaving our house behind doesn't really bother me. But then I think about the friends I've made here at Fort Hood. And the fact that I'm going to be in another country- away from my family- my parents, my sisters and brother- and it gets to me. |
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