'Mac' is a Ph.D., and a professor of philosophy at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. His focus is in Ethics, particularly as it applies to war and warriors. As a veteran recovering from his experiences as a United States Marine Corps Officer during the Vietnam War, he founded, and coordinated for five years, the Veterans Self-Help Initiative, a therapeutic community of veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He is a long-time activist for peace and justice, a member of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War, and a founding member of the Long Island Chapter of Veterans for Peace.
I argued that the readjustment difficulties suffered by active duty military and veterans because of their experiences in Iraq are not exhausted by references to trauma and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. To correctly diagnose and adequately treat our returning servicemen and women, we must appreciate the relevancy of moral values and norms to the war experience and recognize that soldiers suffer not only the effects of trauma – PTSD – but what I termed “moral injuries.” In this essay, I will argue that moral injuries are primarily the consequence of late adolescents/young adults having undergone the sophisticated psychological and emotional conditioning regimen of basic training/boot camp – being programmed to kill – and then, upon experiencing the horror and insanity – the reality – of war, suffering the realization of the moral gravity of their actions on the battlefield.
He breaks it down in a series of his own, and endnotes of other sources, to explain.
The first:
Moral Foundations Starts out with:
Whatever their source and however the process occurs, humankind has accepted and internalized a set of values and norms through which we define ourselves as persons, structure our world, and render our relationship to it, and to other human beings, comprehensible.
What were you taught, or observed, from childhood that shaped your own being, and what do you try to teach, or set by example, to your own children or any new generation coming to be, as the responsible adult that you are?
He goes on with this:
A Reluctance to Kill
New Guinean tribesmen are excellent marksmen with their bows during hunting, when they go to war, the warriors remove the feathers from their arrows rendering their weapons relatively ineffective keeping casualties low.
If, in fact, humankind is biologically predisposed to respond, using violence, to certain external stimuli, such a predisposition has been effectively offset by the societal mores and ethical values instilled in us {and we have internalized} during childhood.
So what are Societies left to do in order to keep the policies, towards others, they choose to follow, or protect themselves from others doing the same:
Solving the “Problem”: Programming Soldiers Who Will Kill
Human beings, then, are not killers by nature. Political leaders, including our own, whose aim it is to further their political goals through violence, have recognized that this reluctance to kill, this foundational aspect of a human being’s moral identity, jeopardizes their ability to wage war effectively. Consequently, following the Second World War, warrior preparation – basic training/boot camp – was modified to shift its focus from acquainting soldiers with tactics and weaponry to rather sophisticated techniques of value manipulation, moral desensitization, and psychological conditioning, aimed at destroying/overriding the recruits’ moral aversion to killing.
Now depending on how one was brought up, or learned through observing, this can be easily done or a total reframing of ones mindset, the complete opposite of what was taught, or observed, in ones developement towards adulthood.
Thing is, having served in the military and sent to one of this countries misadventures of failed policies, like so many others, you realize within that you haven't become exactly what they were seeking. That goes for the majority that serve even in theaters of war. This is also realized by those that lead, civilian and military, and is used as a tactic of war, or at least attempted, called 'Winning hearts and minds of the invaded populace'. Trouble is no matter how much good, an invading force, through their own individual internal ideologies they may hold, single actions of atrosties, killing of innocents, destroying their homes and lives, wipes out All the good that was attempted. Even those that act like they support you, from the invaded populace, can quickly become ones enemy depending on what happens in the Hell of War.
'Mac' goes on:
Confronting War’s Existential Reality and a Crumbling Warrior Mythology
Upon completing basic training, most soldiers view themselves as part of a select group of courageous knights with a noble and chivalrous tradition willing {programmed} to kill the demonic agents of evil and selflessly to sacrifice their lives, if need be, for right and justice.
Consequently, as the warriors’ mythology begins to crumble, ideology, and the lofty and abstract ideals of chivalry and patriotism become irrelevant, war becomes a struggle for personal survival and revenge.
I don't completely understand, myself included, why most can come back from War theaters and not suffer the extreme's from those theaters, wether they participated in the many actions of combat or knew exactly what was happening in those theaters.
I do know that everyones minds are altered from their experiances, wether that means everyones minds experiance PTSD but handles it differantly is why Combat PTSD must be better understood, for the results of what happens to an individuals mind effects the society they live in wether it be from the trauma of Wars or Extreme trauma that many experiance in their lives.
I do understand what PTSD can do to many and why some experiance their nightmares of. I also feel that a few, and you only need a few to create extreme negative actions towards those around them and others, give in to their nightmares and start living them. One reason we have always had those that become the Mercenaries of our own and others conflicts. I'm not an expert but I've always felt that since knowing a few, from Vietnam, that took that route in their lives.
Moral Injuries
It may be true that because of either a previous psychological abnormality or some uncanny ability for rationalization and pretense, some soldiers have “enjoyed” a lust for killing with little subsequent remorse or guilt. Many, perhaps most, however, were (and are) profoundly affected by their participation in war. Consider an expanded excerpt of the poem, The Warrior’s Dance {Tai Chi Chuan}, cited in Part One, written during the author’s experience in Vietnam.
Conclusion
Whether we act rightly or wrongly, i.e., according to or in violation of our moral identity, will affect whether we perceive ourselves as true to our personal convictions and to others who share our values and ideals.
There is one item that we, and other societies, seem to readily ignore, as we've ignored the Trauma of PTSD, and that is what happens within the societies we, or others, invade!
warning that the violence there was causing widespread emotional and behavioural damage - and could lead to spiralling violence in the future.
For the game hasn't changed, it will just become more Intense! As we've had Criminal Terrorism, on a Worldwide stage, for a long time. These Criminal acts will become more numorous and much more extreme! The overwelming hatreds that are being set forth will become the leading norm for this planets future!
Morning Edition, June 15, 2007 · A Pentagon report decries the status of mental health care in the military. As many as one in four who serve have symptoms. Some are suicidal. But there are too few mental health specialists to provide needed help. Listen Here
We, in our self righteous, so called christian nation, who's citizens grow more apathedic, not by the year no more, but by the day, as to whom shall rule this planet, should take a long hard look at our own history!
From our landing on these shores to the present day, we have been what are now loosely labeled terrorists all along, and we have exported our terror to many parts of this planet, I served in one of those terrorist actions on another little country that did nothing to us, and yet we killed and destroyed with abandon, and we're doing it again.
Here's a walk down memory lane. Why may you ask should we look at this, well we've hired the same mindsets, that once were and never went away, to leadership positions making policies, In Our Names, as we continue to allow this disgusting behavior to continue, holding no one accountable!
MONROE, Ga. (AP) -- Newly released files from the lynching of two black couples more than 60 years ago contain a disturbing revelation: The FBI investigated suspicions that a three-term governor of Georgia sanctioned the murders to sway rural white voters during a tough election campaign.
Have some, who seek what is called Power, changed over the years, I say not. One only needs to look back, over their own lives, to come up with numorous questionable occurrences that have vaulted some to the seats of power and leadership.
Racism has reared it's ugly head and not just white on black racism, but across the board. You see it in the double speak of many politicians, you see it in their supporters, you see it in everyday life, just look abit closer, it's all around.
Talmadge, who died just months after his 1946 election to a fourth term, dominated Georgia politics in the 1930s and 1940s with a mix of racism and pocketbook populism.
Sound familiar to alot of today's politics, does to me.
Votes from small rural counties played a crucial role in Georgia's elections then because primaries were decided by a "county unit system," similar to the electoral college, which minimized the impact of urban centers.
Why does 'similar to electoral college' ring a bell?
In fact, Talmadge's challenger, James V. Carmichael, actually received the most popular votes but lost the election because of Talmadge's strong support in rural areas.
The lynchings of Roger and Dorothy Malcom, and George and Mae Murray Dorsey on July 25, 1946, came eight days after the election and followed weeks of simmering tensions.
Malcom was waiting in jail when white farmer Loy Harrison paid $600 to bail him out.
Then the mob fired three volleys of bullets at the couples, leaving their dead bodies slumped behind in the dirt. One of the victims, Dorothy Malcom, was seven months' pregnant. An outraged President Truman dispatched FBI agents to Monroe, about 45 miles east of Atlanta. But the local community - both white and black - clammed up.
Terrorism, Fear, seems to rule in the past and the present!
Eventually, the FBI identified 55 possible suspects, including George Hester, but no one was ever arrested. After a federal grand jury in December 1946 could not identify any members of the mob, the FBI retreated from the case.
The FBI previously released a 500-page summary of the case file, but the full file was only released this week after the AP appealed to the Justice Department for more than two years. The Moore's Ford lynching is among about a dozen other unsolved cases from the civil rights era that the FBI has recently reopened but the bureau refused to comment on the ongoing investigation.
Local activists weren't shocked to learn that agents investigated Talmadge and the possibility of state employees being involved.
Does that little snip of the sentence also sound abit familiar to the present?
"It would not surprise me if state officials at all levels were implicated, if not in the actual killings, at least in the cover-up that followed," said Rich Rusk, secretary of the Moore's Ford Memorial Committee. "The conspiracy of silence wasn't just the fault of the local farmers. It was the entire culture, from the top down."
And that culture is once again very prevelent, it never went away, it actually expanded worldwide, in our political policies and business dealings!
"They had a right to feel the way that they did," he said. "It's sad that today, it's still the same way, with all that fear in these people."
As we now roam this World, for years now, spreading our own Terror on others in the name of bringing, or protecting, Democracy, at the end of a gun or our high tech bombs!
We invade these countries than call those who rise to our invasions 'Enemies', or in todays modern double speak 'Terrorists', everyone it seems is a 'Terrorists' but certainly not us, for we are bringing those who survive our Invasions, of their countries, Freedom and Democracy!
The above was typical of those years of the 'Dixiecrat', most long ago switched over to greener pastures and now call themselves 'Republican'!
Keep in mind, Always, when finding this reports that there are tens of thousands on innocents living in these invaded and occupied country's that are living their daily lives in the conditions that bring on the Breakdown of the human minds. These are people like you and me and we have placed them into a living hell on earth that never ends once started, that to few are helping them! Then we ask "Why do they hate us?"!
Overwhelmed by the number of soldiers returning from war with mental problems, the Army is planning to hire at least 25 percent more psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers.
A contract finalized this week but not yet announced calls for spending $33 million to add about 200 mental health professionals to help soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health needs, officials told The Associated Press on Thursday.
"As the war has gone on, PTSD and other psychological effects of war have increased," said Col. Elspeth Ritchie, psychiatry consultant to the Army surgeon general.
"The number of (mental health workers) that was adequate for a peacetime military is not adequate for a nation that's been at war," she said in an interview.
The new hiring, which she said could begin immediately, is part of a wider plan of action the Army has laid out to improve health care to wounded or ill veterans and their families. It also comes as the Defense Department completes a wider mental health study — the latest in a series over recent months that has found services for troops have been inadequate.
Ritchie said long and repeat deployments caused by extended wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are causing more mental strain on troops. "At the time that the war began, I don't think anybody anticipated how long it would be going on," she said. Surveys of troops in Iraq have shown that 15 percent to 20 percent of Army soldiers have signs and symptoms of post-traumatic stress, which can cause flashbacks of traumatic combat experiences and other severe reactions.
About 35 percent of soldiers are seeking some kind of mental health treatment a year after returning home under a program that screens returning troops for physical and mental health.
The military has seen a number of high-profile incidents of alleged abuse in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, including the killings of 24 civilians by Marines, the rape and killing of a 14-year-old girl and the slaying of her family and the sexual humiliation of detainees at Abu Ghraib prison. Officials and military analysts have blamed ethics lapses partly on the strain of combat and insufficient training troops got before being sent to the battlefront.
Ritchie said the 200 new medical health workers will be added to more than 600 uniformed and civilian mental health professionals now working at three dozen Army medical centers and hospitals.
The Army also is planning a number of other improvements, such as streamlining bureaucracy that vets must go through to get care and adding more lawyers and other workers to help them and their families.
A report from a Defense Department task force released Thursday also found "current efforts fall significantly short" in providing help for troops.
"The psychological health needs of America's military service members, their families and their survivors pose a daunting and growing challenge to the Department of Defense," it said.
The task force was required by Congress under in 2006 law.
Also on Thursday, a Senate panel voted to expand brain screenings and counseling for wounded veterans of the Iraq war and to reduce red tape for service members moving from Pentagon to Veterans Affairs care.
The bill, approved by the Senate Armed Services Committee, also would boost disability pay and provide more counseling for family members of tens of thousands of U.S. service members wounded in combat.
The action, which sends the bill to the Senate floor, capped a flurry of activity in recent weeks to reach broad agreement on a single measure that would improve health care following reports of shoddy outpatient treatment at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
Separately, the VA said that it would bolster programs to prevent suicide among veterans by hiring additional counselors at each of its 153 medical centers after an internal review found that current VA programs were inadequate.
The unspecified number of new counselors would join 9,000 mental health professionals already employed by the VA to help veterans.
Meanwhile, the White House has backed away from earlier threats to veto a spending bill containing $4 billion more than President Bush sought for veterans' health care.
Just last month, White House budget director Rob Portman pledged that Bush would veto bills from Congress that would break through Bush's budget caps. The House is slated on Friday to take up the $64.7 billion measure, which also funds military base construction. A companion Senate bill sailed through the Appropriations Committee Thursday afternoon.
___
Is 'Funding' Really For Troops? What Happened To Funding and Oversite For Military/Veteran Care In Previous Congresses?
Charlotte Talks Wednesday June 13, 2007 UNCC Veterans' Club { University of North Carolina - Charlotte }
We invite members of the UNCC Veterans' Club back to the program today to look at some of the latest news out of Iraq and Afghanistan, including the surge in troop levels, the war spending bill and challenges facing guardsmen and women who leave their jobs and families for service overseas. Guests Kris Tyte - Veteran and specialist with the Mecklenburg County Veteran's Services Office Jack McKinley - Veteran and member of the UNCC Veterans' Club Listen to Discussion
Vets helping Vets and themselves. Nothing new there, that's what happens when Veterans return from conflicts especially.
The last show they talked about a number of things but most on their agenda is fighting for educational benefits for the returning Veterans of these present day conflicts.
In the last show they showed their feelings, especially about Iraq. This show is no differant they go after the truth!
If the media, and others, Had Listened To Us 'Focus Groups', Millions in numbers WorldWide, labeled as such by this criminal administration, starting as the drums of War started, we would Not have this Historical Tragedy, for what we said has been Proven Correct, Sadly! I for one Wish We Were Wrong! Now we, and those to follow, will be living with the results of!!
Last week, VotersForPeace joined Marine Sgt Adam Kokesh and other Iraq Veterans Against the War in Kansas City for a historic hearing on the rights of veterans to speak out against the occupation of Iraq. In this case, Adam challenged the military's attempt to stifle his freedom of speech as an inactive reserve of the Marines. Adam was given a general discharge {rather than the "other than honorable" discharge they were threatening to give him}, but the fight for veterans' rights to speak out is still far from over!
Adam Kokesh
Watch the press conference filmed by WhyNotNews {posted below} where Adam and others promise to appeal the military's decision in his case. Also keep your eye on the story of former Marine Liam Madden who has been charged with "disloyal statements" for declaring that Bush is guilty of war crimes and that the war in Iraq is a war of aggression. To Adam, Liam, and so many others, we thank you for using the same rights you once were put in uniform to protect!
Press conference and rally for Adam Kokesh during his trial in Kansas City.
And
Sgt. Liam Madden-Justified Dissent
And This Just In
*Pentagon Cracks Down on Anti-War Iraq War Veterans For Protesting in Uniform*
Last week a military panel recommended that Marine Sergeant Adam Kokesh have his honorable discharge revoked for wearing his uniform during an anti-war protest. We also speak with Private First Class Evan Knappenberger. On Thursday, he wrapped up an eight-day, 24-hour vigil in Bellingham, Washington to protest the military's stop/loss policy.
US war veterans are twice as likely to kill themselves as ordinary civilians, a study following 320,890 men found. Researchers compared data between non-veterans and those who had served at some point between 1917 and 1994.
Men who were white, better educated and older than the other men appeared to be at higher risk, as did those with a physical or emotional disability.
Researchers say the findings emphasise the need for mental health care for those serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The research, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, included men who had served in World War II, the Vietnam war, the Korean War and the Gulf war.
'Inadequate screening'
It said the rate of suicide among men who had taken military service was 2.13 times higher than those who had never served in the armed forces.
War veterans were also twice as likely to use a firearm to kill themselves, it said.
Disabled veterans, or those who had experienced emotional or psychological trauma during their service were identified as the highest risk group.
Interestingly, overweight veterans were less likely to have killed themselves than those of normal weight, the study found.
Although the research did not include data from men returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, authors said the findings had strong implications for them.
Lead researcher Mark Kaplan, of Portland State University in Oregon, said doctors should "scrutinise veterans for signs of suicidal behaviour or thoughts and, if needed, they should intervene to make sure these patients do not have access to firearms".
He said in general "there is inadequate mental health screening, and many of the doctors outside the VA (Veterans Affairs) system are not trained to deal with these sorts of problems and don't have the time to treat them".
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You may want to listen in to this report and pick up this book to find out one of the reasons for above, but it doesn't only pertain to suicides, many act out their nightmares, all are changed from what they once were:
Talk of the Nation, June 11, 2007 · Tony Lagouranis arrived at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison in the spring of 2004, just as allegations of prisoner abuse by American guards began to surface. Lagouranis' new book describes how he used military dogs, sleep deprivation, and even a mock execution to get Iraqi prisoners to confess.
This is your Government, not as the wanna-be little dictator stated today, in response to the 'No Confidence Vote', "my government".
This is your Military, and many of you that haven't served, who visit these blogs or follow the reports, have found out how your DoD and Government treat those that have because us veterans, especially those who have been affected by a wide veriaty of health issues and suspected or known causes, have let you in on the suffering, stonewalling and coverups that have been around since the beginning.
Well here's one more for you all to chomp on that I'm sure many hadn't heard about, or if did didn't want find out more about. Just one more of an extremely long list, far too long and going way back, for those who have suffered with or died, as the stonewalling succeeded, as to their health and their families health
The gruff ex-drill instructor is angry leukemia claimed his daughter, Janey. Parents were guilt-ridden that perhaps their own actions had ruined their daughters' health. An aging major still mourns the wife who shared his torment over their baby's fatal birth defects. A former Navy doctor's career was demolished by his rare cancer.
No one ever seems to question the ever grossly growing Defense Budgets, especially where Exactly your money is going. Rage comes with $400 hammers, than subsides, as life goes on till the next similar report or some Congressperson gets nailed in a defense corruption scandle, than that rage subsides, till the next time, or weapons systems like this that don't work or aren't wanted, till the next time, and the next, and the next.............. We seem to not mind getting screwed!
Yet when it comes to Veterans who've been grossly mistreated by the system they served and ignored by the country they served, only a few will join them in their battles for what is justly theirs, Answers and Compensation!
An environmental tragedy realized a generation ago that is drawing new scrutiny from members of Congress outraged over the government's treatment of sick veterans at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and elsewhere.
How long before the Reed and VA incidents are old news, just like the one in this report that surprisingly resurfaced, or Defoliants, or Gulf War Syndrom, or the hundreds and thousands of others.
I would suggest a read of this, and especially anyone, Marine, family member living with a Marine, or civilian that were in or around Lejeune from 1957 till 1987.
There are now 850 pending legal claims seeking nearly $4 billion.
At least 120,000 people lived in family housing that may have been affected over three decades, plus uncounted civilian workers and Marines in barracks, Marine Corps figures indicate. Defense officials recently told U.S. health investigators that between 1975 and 1985 alone, nearly 200,000 Marines were stationed at Camp Lejeune.
Health officials and lawmakers complain that the Defense Department has delayed disclosure of important documents during investigations into the health impact of water contaminated by a dry cleaner adjacent to Camp Lejeune and by the base's past industrial activities.
"We wouldn't be investigating this disgraceful situation if {the Department of Defense} had put half as much effort into cleaning up the water as it has into stonewalling those who drank it," said Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
There's an oversight hearing Tuesday investigating the Pentagon's environmental record.
Defense Department considers environmental cleanups to be a low priority.
At Camp Lejeune, the Marine Corps said in a written statement it gave U.S. health investigators "full access" to its records, including "vast and varied" documents, e-mails, maps, contracts and technical information. However, military lawyers acknowledged they are blocking plans for health officials to disclose some records publicly, citing privacy, legal and security concerns.
On four occasions to ease a temporary water shortage in 1985 the Marines quietly reopened one well at night even after they had shut it down because of contamination.
Two former Marines, retired Master Sgt. Jerry Ensminger and retired Maj. Tom Townsend, have directed their grief into an encyclopedic collection of historical documents, hydrology data, e-mails and other military files they obtained mostly under the Freedom of Information Act. Townsend's stack of papers reaches 20 feet.
Townsend's infant son, Christopher, suffered a fatal heart malformation and other birth defects. By the time his wife of 52 years died of liver cirrhosis last year,
Ensminger's wife was pregnant at Camp Lejeune in the 1970s. Their daughter, Janey, died in 1985 at age 9. He described taking dark-haired Janey to the hospital instead of her third-grade classroom, weeping as he watched her slip away. She told him to stop, that she loved him. She lapsed into a coma. She died that day.
"They drag it out and by the time you get them all done, everybody would be dead anyway," he said. "That's the whole purpose of their delaying tactics and it's succeeding."
The Environmental Protection Agency is overseeing cleanups at more than 150 military installations polluted by the same chemicals.
There is another report, in the same paper, filling in, as title states, the events of the contamination.
With current events in the DOJ read what you might in the last item of these Key Events!
April 2005: Criminal investigators from the Environmental Protection Agency find no illegal actions or cover up in Camp Lejeune's handling of its water contamination. The Justice Department declines to prosecute.
The words "Supporting The Troops" mean just what is said "Support The Troops", three words this country fails to follow, over and over and over, and in this day and age of the Patriotic Propaganda we all know who really "Support The Troops"!!
Now how much, of what is happening to todays Military Personal, all of them, but especially those who are serving in our Two Theaters of War Operations, some over and over and over and over.............., are we going to help them fight for, or are we going to let it become Old News till the Next Time!!
All of the below are blog posts, posted for full impact, with links to same, concerning recent activity directly pointed at Veterans of the past and Current Conflicts, a huge book Hell a Damn library could be written on what This Nation does to and has done for those who give Service To Country, while those Conflicts Rage. I have added a number of links, not originally in postings, as well as highlighted some important notations.
"Supporting The Troops" means that if this Country Cheers on, and Pays for, Wars of Choice, of which as information comes out about same have nothing to do with National Security and are thus Not Conflicts of Last Resort and thus Illegal because of the Lies they are based on, than this Country Must Honor Completely The Contracts These Soldiers Took Their Oaths On To Defend The Constitution of This Country!
"Supporting The Troops" also means that everyone signing up for and wearing a Military Uniform give their Service to Country and Country owes them Everything Promised at Recruitment, in Contract and Oath, during their Service, for their Sacrifice to Country of Service duly honored and done with Pride.
"Supporting The Troops" means that for having a Strong National Defense, Strong National Security and Sacrifice By All, those that wear, or have worn, a Military Uniform come First and Foremost!!
Not the armaments developed, nor the profits {and corruption} of the military industrial complex nor their stock holders, certainly not bloated defense budgets with no questions asked by us who are footing the bills, that and much more come secondary and further down!
No one political party has any hold on false claims of being Strong On, for this Country puts it's toys of Destruction first, and says To Hell With Those That Serve, unless they can be used as propaganda tools!
The greater majority Don't give service to Country, that Majority must Also Sacrifice, no matter the Cost!
Keyspan and shelter officials dispute payment Keyspan turned off the gas at the Veterans Arms shelter in Dorchester Thursday, charging the account was $12,000 in arrears.
"It makes me confused, wondering what's going on," said resident Michael McDowell, 23, ex-Air Force.
Shelter spokesperson Mariellen Burns said the shelter owed $10,000 and paid $2,000 last month as part of a "good faith" payment plan.
Carmen Fields of Keyspan confirmed the shutoff and said the shelter last paid in August 2006.
"We're hoping that they will be in touch with us - we're confident we can work out some kind of arrangement," Fields said.
Managing agency Veteran's Clearinghouse, which runs several other shelters in the area, has struggled since losing a federal grant two years ago, Burns said.
"This is a step-up program and in many ways the government needs to step up," said shelter executive assistant Walter Randolph.
Shelter occupancy Only three of the Veterans Arms' 10 bedrooms are currently occupied.
"We're having a hard time getting people in because of CORI issues," said executive assistant Walter Randolph.
Mass. Marine investigated for protesting Iraq War Clad in a black T-shirt emblazoned with "Iraq Veterans Against the War," an Iraq war veteran could lose his honorable discharge status for speaking his mind.
Sgt. Liam Madden, 22, stood on the steps of the Statehouse Thursday afternoon and claimed the Marine Corps was trying to "silence the free speech and assault the First Amendment rights" of veterans.
The North End resident said he was being charged by the Marine Corps with wearing a part of his uniform at a Washington D.C. war protest in March. Madden said is also charged with making disloyal statements at a protest in New York City in February. Madden said that because he is listed as "inactive," he is free to speak his opinions.
A June 1 Marine Corps letter reads, "Sgt. Liam Madden is facing administrative action for unauthorized wear of the military uniform and disloyal statement."
Those statements, Madden said, were that "{President Bush} has betrayed U.S. service members by committing them to a war crime." Madden said that if he is found guilty of the charges, his "honorable" discharge status will be changed to "other than honorable" resulting in the loss of all military benefits including pay and healthcare.
The Marine Corps said the letter sent to Madden was only a notification that his actions were being investigated and that no charges have officially been filed. The change in status to "other than honorable discharge" for Madden, as repercussion of a decision against him, were not confirmed by the Marine Corps. Such a punishment was one possible outcome, the spokesman said.
"I think they're trying to intimidate others from speaking out," said Vietnam veteran Nate Goldshlag. "I think it is outrageous that the military is trying to suppress the guys who are over there and saw what the war is."
Military terms Discharge status benefits
Honorably discharged: Soldiers receive a full range of benefits from retirement pay to access to the Montgomery G.I. Bill. General under honorable conditions: Soldiers may not access Veterans Administration educational assistance, any additional opportunity to use the G.I. Bill, or civil service credit.
Other than honorable discharge: Soldiers lose all benefits, including the right to wear their military uniform, the right to be buried in a national cemetery and civil service credits. They still have access to the Montgomery G.I. Bill.
Dishonorable discharge or bad conduct discharge: Both are punitive decisions by court martial, sometime resulting in jail time.
Veterans Dissent The Marine Corps has filed charges against one other Iraq War veteran. Adam Kokesh was recommended by the Corps's Administrative Separation Board to be charged with wearing a uniform during the same Washington D.C. war protest as Sgt. Liam Madden and was recommended to receive a change in status from an "honorable" to a "general" discharge in Kansas on June 4. General Darrell Moore, who oversees all Individual Ready soldiers Reserve {i.e., inactive soldiers only recalled for emergencies} will make the final decision on the Board's recommendation.
An online petition in support of Sgt. Liam Madden can be found here.
Madden is no stranger to petitions. He is the co-founder of Appeal for Redress, a statement calling for the end of the Iraq war that was signed by nearly 2,000 active-duty troops.
Click To Play {Scroll down for player} Published on Sun, Jun 10, 2007
Comments
JUNE 08, 2007 SGT Madden not only has done nothing disloyal, he has upheld his oath of enlistment, "to support and defend the Constitution against ALL enemies, foreign AND DOMESTIC" with dignity and courage that one rarely finds in or out of the armed services. He eximplifies that "Semper Fidelis" refers to being faithful to the Consitution, the Nation, and the People of this country, not to a particular president, administration, or military leaders. Unfortunately, there are many with stars, birds or brass on their collars who don't believe that, and this very dangerous mindset is what leads to attacks on servicemen/women and veterans who continue to bear true faith and allegiance by opposing this administration and its assault on the Constitution and human rights.
Make no mistake about it, this issue is larger than SGTs Madden and Kokesh. This is part of an organized attempt to silence legitimate dissent. On the one hand, it means that those in power are worried; on the other, it means that they will be getting more and more vicious. We should all be very concerned. — teachervet
JUNE 08, 2007 This is ridicules, we need to help people that will like to exercise their opinions, when governments try to shut up everyone be very scare.. unfortunately I am very scare with the US now a days.. is not just this, but many things like this happening in the US that are in silent taking place... — rek2
JUNE 08, 2007 The cost of war is not free. Those that pay the highest price, risk thier lives and limbs are now being told that they no longer have the right of free speech. Does anyone else see a problem with this? Impeach the President. While you still have that right. — neworleansvoicesforpeace
JUNE 08, 2007 The current political environment give this kind of kangaroo court justice creedence. We are in a military conflict with conflicting reasons for being there and no real strategy for getting the U.S. out. It smells too much like a morass worse than Vietnam ever was. — journeyled
Sergeant Kokesh Goes to Washington While conducting a memorial for the next soldier to fall in Iraq with Reverend Lennox Yearwood, I was arrested for "Unlawful Assembly - Loud and Boisterous," and I didn't open my mouth once.
Florida Veterans for Common Sense wishes to make you aware of an un-American, unpatriotic attack by the U.S. Marine Corps against decorated marines who have served in Iraq and were honorably discharged. When the Marine Corps found out that discharged marines still in the Inactive Ready Reserve were speaking out and protesting against the occupation of Iraq, the Corps re-activated them for a hearing to revoke their honorable discharges as punishment. FLVCS knows of several honorably discharged marines facing this harassment.
The Corps claims that the Uniform Code of Military Justice was violated by the marines because they spoke out against the war and while wearing a marine uniform at a demonstration. The action of the Corps is nothing less than an attack on the free speech of all American citizens, and particularly veterans.
The marines in question do not deny they have spoken out against the war and that on occasion wore parts of their military clothing at demonstrations. Neither marine wore a full uniform. They wore camouflage fatigues without the marine insignia, a right they have earned in blood. There is no law, or regulation against wearing camo. A camo shirt, pants, and hat is not a uniform. You can see people wearing camo everyday all around America.
The corps claims that is against regulations to wear a uniform, or apparently a part of a uniform, at political events. If that is correct, the regulation is selectively enforced by the Department of Defense. President Bush, Vice President Cheney, and other politicians often have soldiers in full dress uniform standing behind them for the cameras at political events.
In short, the Marine Corps is attempting to stifle legitimate pro-American speech, which should not be tolerated. Are we fighting in Iraq to lose our freedoms at home? The Marine Corps has a war to fight against Al Qaeda and shouldn't be wasting its time harassing veterans who exercise their democratic right to free speech. The Commandant of the Marine Corps should be summoned to Congress to explain the Corps' actions and to explain why those responsible should not be held accountable.
As a result of exercising their right to freedom of speech, {a right they were told they were fighting for in Iraq} the Marine Corps, while admitting that The Uniform Code of Military Justice {UCMJ} does not apply to Individual Ready Reserve {IRR} service members, is trying to refuse them IRR honorable discharges for alleged violations of the UCMJ! This bold attempt by the government to suppress the views of our service men and women must not go unchallenged.
The Military Project sees Adam Kokesh, Liam Madden, Cloy Richards, The IVAW, and all active duty and reserve troops who have the courage to speak out against this illegal war as true patriots and heroes. We urge all people of conscience to "Support The Troops!" by sending letters of support and financial donations to IVAW and by contacting elected officials to tell them, "Let Our Troops Speak! Stop Harassing Heroes!"
is now out and she's making a tour talking about it. She has posted up a recent Radio Interview at her site
