The first ran on September 1st and was titled Soldier from LV dies of self-inflictedgunshot
He took antidepressants before returning to Iraq
Virgadamo told them he had been so frightened, he had sought and received psychiatric counseling from the military in Iraq. He received additional counseling during a trip home in late July, his family said.
bush and company would want everyone to exist in their fantasy world of Success in a War Theater they started and have No Idea How To End!
the 19-year-old had died that day of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at a forward post just outside of Baghdad
Life is just ducky, just ask the Iraqi's who are fleeing, or those who've been ethnicly cleansed from their homes, neighborhoods, and many right out of the cities into the refugee camps in the desert, or have left the country to live in neighboring countries who can't spport the millions that have entered!
Or even better, and closer to home, ask those serving, In-Theater, or freshly back, if not in flag drapped coffins.
Someone should have listened to 19yr. old Army Pfc. Travis Virgadamo long before he killed himself, and listened closely!
His aunt, Rebecca McHugh, complained: "They gave him Prozac and sent him back to Iraq."
The second ran on September 5th and was titled Words of comfort, call for pullout
Reid mourns soldier who killed himself, says many service people are suffering
The death of a 19-year-old Las Vegas Army infantryman by his own hand last week inspired words of sorrow and comfort Tuesday from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who reiterated his call to end the Iraq war.
All I have to say to the above is "Reid, Do It, Stop the funding of this Debacle that should never have been, and has cost way to many lives, 3781, of our own Brave Military Troops, Men and Women! And way to many Iraqi deaths, 1,044,607, many of them children, innocent children, and some 298 Coalition deaths! And tens of thousands of American, Iraqi, and others Maimed for life, missing limbs, or severly wounded physically and thousands to tens of tousands mentally!"
That's it Reid, and the rest of Congress, the balls in your court, us citizens have already excepted our guilt, it's time you representatives excepted yours!
Berkley, a member of the House Veteran's Committee, has promised that the committee will investigate military suicides in Iraq, Cherry said.
We had a rubberstamp congress, before we gave the reins over to you, that did absolutely no investigations, the reports that have come out since the beginning of the year prove that out. It isn't only investigating about suicides In-Theater, it's about the Care received Period. The Multiple Tours, of a broken, and breaking further, Military! It's about the War Profitteering while our Military Personal are Sacrificing All and the Country is Sacrificing Nothing! It's about the Crimes that got us into this and those that have kept it going! It's about our Country Falling Apart!
Berkley is following up on the suspected suicide of a soldier who had returned to Southern California . Recently diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder, he had received antidepressants while in Iraq and apparently overdosed back home.
The United States was not prepared for what would happen to military health care after the invasion , let alone mental heath, and both fields have been neglected, Cherry said.
The incompetence that has been this administration and previous congresses must be Stopped and Now! The reality of the World Situation because of this debacle must be taken over by the Responsible Adults who may exist in the seats of the peoples representatives, not the politicians, and It Must Be Ended! Engage the Countries of that region, for it's for their own benefit, to get involved in the security of Iraq and the Region. Engage the Religious leaders of the region to talk to the religious leaders in Iraq and calm the hatreds of the differing sects. Engage the tribal leaders, of the region, to talk to their counterparts in Iraq.
We've lost any semblance of bringing calm to the Hell we've produced!
The next article followed on the 6th of September and was titled Rushed back to the front
Experts: A depressed soldier on a potentially dangerous drug needed more time
In it we find this:
And this starts out the artcle.
A Las Vegas Army infantryman who was prescribed Prozac for depression and several weeks later killed himself in Iraq should have undergone at least three months of observation before returning to normal duties, psychiatrists and other medical experts said in interviews Wednesday.
Family and friends of Pfc. Travis Virgadamo say he told them he was prescribed daily doses of 12.5 milligram's of the anti depressant Prozac beginning in July. He died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound last Thursday outside of Baghdad, the military said.
We have a totally broken Civilian and Military Leadership of our Military Forces and it's only going to get worse. The Civilian leadership are so incompetent they don't even engage country into the Sacrifice the Military and Their Families are suffering through daily and in most cases for the rest of their lives!
The next, and last, was an editorial on the 9th of September titled Editorial: Family needs answers
'Self-inflicted' death of soldier in Iraq raises questions about mental health treatment
The military is not yet commenting about the death in Iraq of Army Pfc. Travis Virgadamo, other than to say he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at a post outside of Baghdad.
Fve years into this Quagmire, and 30plus years after Vietnam, and the Military, the Government, and this Countries Citizens still don't Understand what can happen Mentally to those engaged in, or living in, a War Theater by Man's Hand, a Hell on Earth!
Before Vietnam it was brushed off as being temporary or being a coward, for the soldiers, and it still is. But nobody even thinks or talks about the civilians living in and through that Hell, if they survive!
The Military leadership know how to stay quiet, one Goldstar Mom here, Summer Lipford, still hasn't received the full report of her sons death, in Iraq, early on in this conflict!
Family members in Pahrump, however, are outspoken about what they think contributed to the death of the 19-year-old soldier.
Katie O'Brien, Virgadamo's grandmother, says she thinks Army commanders knew he was suicidal. She told the Las Vegas Sun that Virgadamo had experienced bouts of anxiety and depression dating to his boot-camp days in 2005.
But they need that cannon fodder for their War Profitteering and Twisted Power wants, so buck up soldier and do your duty!!
And outside of PTSD, or actually alongside, is the most common War Injury of these conflicts, Tramatic Brain Injury or TBI. The following wasa recent News report of two soldiers recovering from, or hopefully recovering from.
Soldier Brain Injuries Challenge Doctors
The war in Iraq is not over. One legacy has already spread across America: an epidemic of brain-damaged soldiers.
Some recent reports on PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injury.
San Francisco VA researchers reach out to Iraq and Afghanistan vets
A study getting under way at the San Francisco VA Medical Center (SFVAMC) aims to identify the best ways to encourage veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan to seek treatment for their combat-related problems. It also seeks to identify the most efficient ways for veterans to get the services they need.
The VA website for returning veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan is . Seamless Transition Home.
Nist explains challenges vets, families face with PTSD
Marine Sgt. Dean Nist, an Iraq War veteran, explained to a group of Central Ohio veterans, their families and mental health workers, about the difficulties of living with post traumatic stress disorder, and the challenges of caring about someone with PTSD.
“The decisions I had to make, the things that I saw, that’s why I have PTSD,” he explained.
He also works with veterans with traumatic brain injury, or TBI, a disability affecting thousands of Iraq veterans. Nist said he is concerned that the soldiers currently serving in Iraq may have difficulty finding appropriate treatment when they return from the war.
Just like my brothers of 'Nam these soldiers are reaching out to their peers striving to help, for they truely understand the trauma's gone through and what it can do, to themselves and others!
For, as many of us know, way to few in the civilian society care or even think about those who serve, once they've returned. The ones that do, though few, are extremely dedicated, and that dedication lasts their lifetime!
This must not be allowed to happen again. As Ilona Meagher titled her book Moving A Nation To Care, this Nation must move as one towards the reality of our actions, on us and especially on others if we are to be the Nation we profess ourselves to be!
Brain injury is a growing problem for soldiers returning from war
“I went home - R&R for 10 days - and the day I got back is the day I got hit,” Bryan Malone said.
“It was two weeks, you moron. It was 15 days,” scolded his friend, Eric O’Brien, adding to others: “The problem with him is he’s as dumb as a box of rocks to begin with. We’ve got no baseline on him.”
Their jokes and sarcasm mask a serious worry.
Thousands of U.S. troops coping with brain damage, uncertain futures; doctors challenged
"I've been in the field for 20-plus years dealing with TBI. I have a very experienced staff. And they're saying to me, 'We're seeing things we've never seen before,'" said Sandy Schneider, director of Vanderbilt University's brain injury rehabilitation program.
There are many other articles seeping into the mainstream on PTSD, and Traumatic Brain Injuries, and in this new age, with video so prevalent online, one doesn't need to depend on the Media for reports on these and the other sacrifices our militaty and their families are going through.
But one small simple thing everyone reading this, or similar posts, can do is to click through the links giving traffic to the sites reports, telling those who are investigating them and writing about them that others really care, many others. Which will cause them to seek out more stories and investigative reports, building the momentum for 'Moving A Nation To Really Care', and that's Nation, not a Village!
