20 Forgotten Brothers, Honored in Burial Ceremony

Twenty fallen and forgotten veterans are buried with military honors in Calverton, N.Y.. Visit link for photo captions.







Unclaimed veterans buried with military honor

Photo credit: Ed Betz

8 January 2010 - Flag-draped coffins of 20 veterans who died in New York City and whose bodies went unclaimed were buried in a ceremony that began Saturday morning at Calverton National Cemetery in Calverton.

The soldiers served in war or peace time from the 1940s to the 1970s. Several groups combined efforts to organize and provide for the burials, including Dignity Memorial, a national network of funeral home directors, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, which will reimburse the city for some expenses, and the NYPD, and Nassau and Suffolk police departments which provided police escorts.

No U.S. veteran should end up abandoned at a morgue, tribute organizers believe.

Unclaimed veterans buried with military honor

January 8, 2011 - Twenty U.S. veterans whose unclaimed remains had languished for as long as three years in morgues around New York City were given full military honors during a burial at Calverton National Cemetery Saturday.

The ceremony, which included a gun salute and the playing of taps, drew more than 1,000 people, who endured freezing temperatures to pay their respects to men none of them knew.

The names of the men, who died penniless and apart from family and friends, were read aloud by John Caldarelli, a Korean War veteran and member of the American Legion Greenlawn Post 1244, who had helped arrange the burial ceremony. {continued}

Those lost brothers finally Honored!

Anderson Alston (1924-2008) - - U.S. Army Master Sergeant Anderson Alston was a combat veteran in WWII. He joined the US Army on August 14, 1943 and was honorably discharged on March 22, 1946.

Rafael Arroyo (1936-2010) - - Private First Class Rafael Arroyo joined the US Army on August 10, 1959 and was honorably discharged on July 3, 1971.

Barry Carl Brooks (1936-2010) - - Veteran Barry Carl Brooks joined the US Air Force on August 27, 1957 and was honorably discharged on August 20, 1969. His rank is unknown.

John Cronin (1936-2007) - - Sr. Airman John Cronin joined the US Air Force in August 1955 and was honorably discharged on May 3, 1958.

Donald DeGault (1946-2009) - - Private Donald DeGault joined the US Army on April 1, 1963 and was honorably discharged on December 16, 1965. Private DeGault was a sharpshooter in the Army.

Clifford Henry (1952-2010) - - Petty Officer Second Class Clifford Henry was a Medical Field Service Technician in the US Navy, as well as a Small Arms Marksman.

Henry Hightower (1923-2009) - - Private Henry Hightower joined the US Army on March 26, 1943 and was honorably discharged on September 15, 1943.

Frederick Hunter (1950-2010) - - Private Frederick Hunter joined the US Army on January 11, 1968 and was honorably discharged on January 4, 1971.

Theodore Jackson (1954-2010) - - Private Theodore Jackson joined the US Army on March 20, 1975 and was honorably discharged on October 17, 1979.

Miguel Lugo (1932-2008) - - Private First Class Miguel Lugo joined the US Army on January 25, 1954 and served with the Artillery. PFC Lugo was honorably discharged on January 25, 1956.

Myron Sanford Mabry (1940-2010) - - Veteran Myron Sanford Madry joined the US Navy on May 3, 1960 and was honorably discharged on July 22, 1971. His rank is unknown.

Thomas Miller (1932-2009) - - Corporal Thomas Miller joined the US Army on May 8, 1951 and was honorably discharged on May 7, 1954.

Michael Nardi (1949-2010) - - Private Michael Nardi joined the US Marine Corps on September 1, 1964 and was honorably discharged on October 1, 1967.

PVT Ernest Nichols joined the US Army Aug 28, 1953 and was honorably discharged Aug 7, 1956. PVT Nichols passed away July 29, 2010.

Charles Nicholson (1946-2010) - - Private Charles Nicholson joined the US Marine Corps on December 30, 1963 and was honorably discharged on July 29, 1964.

John Palazzo (x - 2006) - - Seaman Apprentice John Palazzo joined the US Navy on January 11, 1965 and was honorably discharged on January 10, 1967.

Robert Prioleau (1940-2010) - - Spec. 4 Robert Prioleau joined the US Army on November 25, 1958 and was honorably discharged on February 26, 1962.

James Rose (1926-2010) - - US Army Veteran James Rose passed away on July 31, 2010. His rank is unknown.

Robert Thompson (1933-2010) - - Veteran Robert Thompson joined the US Air Force on January 11, 1952 and was honorably discharged on January 10, 1956. His rank is unknown.

Steven Wrighton (1952-2010) - - Private Steven Wrighton joined the US Army on June 30, 1970 and was honorably discharged on October 30, 1970.

Sources: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Dignity Memorial and The Missing in America Project.

Vietnam 35 Years Later: Agent Orange

Thuy Vu's Agent Orange in Vietnam series airs on CBS5 News

September 20, 2010 - Thuy Vu's reports on Agent Orange aired during the week of Sept. 6, 2010.

Vietnam Reporting Project fellow and CBS5 anchor/reporter traveled to Vietnam in August to report on the impact of Agent Orange on Vietnam, 35 years after the end of the war. {continued}

Special Report on Agent Orange - Part One

Vietnam Reporting Project fellow and CBS5 reporter/anchor travels to Vietnam to report on the impact of Agent Orange on Vietnam, 35 years after the end of the war. Generations of Vietnamese continue to be born with birth defects and other illnesses believed to be the result of exposure to herbicide Agent Orange.

Vietnam Soldiers Still Suffer From Agent Orange - Part Two

Vietnam Reporting Project fellow and CBS5 reporter/anchor Thuy Vu reports on one of the most contentious issues remaining from the Vietnam War - the legacy of Agent Orange. Vu explores how the toxin that was sprayed by US forces has impacted both Vietnamese veterans and US veterans of the Vietnam War.

Vietnam Agent Orange Relief & Responsibility Campaign

Hey, Remember the Gulf Oil Disaster?!?!

Three reports, two following one report line, during the last couple of days. This continues and probably will for one hell of a long time, and what about the next one comin as bottom line capitalism still rules!

Gulf of Mexico oil spill cleanup efforts inadequate, Plaquemines President Billy Nungesser says

January 07, 2011 - Standing on a makeshift plywood boardwalk placed atop an oil-choked mat of dead marsh grass in Bay Jimmy, Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser blasted the pace of cleanup efforts, saying the wetlands look worse than when BP's gushing well was capped nearly six months ago.

"The land is washing away as we speak," Nungesser said Friday, his white shrimp boots smeared with oil. "With so little being done to clean this up, we're never going to win this battle."

Coast Guard Commander Dan Lauer said tests are under way to determine the best cleanup method as the focus shifts from emergency response to long-term recovery from the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

"These wetlands are extremely fragile, and you can easily do more harm than good if you're not careful," he said.

Lauer said state and local officials have signed off on the cautious strategy, drawing an angry response from Nungesser.

"Don't give me that song and dance. Don't tell me I had a voice in that crappy document," Nungesser said. "You've got a procedure to follow, and I've got a parish to save." {continued}

Louisiana officials: Parts of coastline still heavily oiled

January 8, 2011 - More than eight months after an oil rig explosion launched the biggest oil disaster in U.S. history, Louisiana officials say they're still finding thick layers of oil along parts of the state's coastline.

"Every day, this shoreline is moving inland," lessening flood protection for residents, Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser said.

On Friday, Robert Barham, secretary of Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, joined Nungesser on a tour of portion of Louisiana's coastline still heavily oiled by the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, according to a statement from the wildlife and fisheries department.

"It has been eight months since the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion, and five months since the well was capped. While workers along the coast dedicated themselves to cleaning up our shores there is still so much to be done," Barham said in the statement. {continued}

But there is some good news, so far, though mixed with some more of the continuing bad reports.

AIR DATE: Jan. 7, 2011
Oil and Oysters: Testing Continues in Louisiana After Gulf Disaster

SUMMARY
The Louisiana Department of Health & Hospitals adopted a sophisticated two-tiered testing system to examine how safe oysters are for human consumption. Bill Rodman from Louisiana Public Broadcasting reports on their findings. {Transcript}

20 Forgotten Veterans

NY burials planned for 20 forgotten veterans

GARDEN CITY, N.Y. — January 7, 2011 - Twenty servicemen from New York City whose bodies have gone unclaimed for months or longer will receive full military honors at national veterans cemetery service.

The mass service will be held Saturday at Calverton National Cemetery on Long Island. The Department of Veterans Affairs says it’s the largest of it kind in U.S. history.

It’s part of a national initiative in recent years to clear a massive backlog of unburied or unclaimed remains of both veterans and non-veterans.

The effort is backed by the Missing in America Project, which has been organizing funerals for forgotten veterans since 2006. Founder Fred Salanti of Redding, Calif,. says there may be millions of unclaimed bodies or cremated remains in morgues and funeral homes across the country, many of them veterans. {backlink}

The War That Comes Home:

There are a few great books out about just this by authors now who were the kids of us Vietnam Veterans and a Country that wouldn't listen to us nor them! One is "Falling through the Earth: A Memoir" by Danielle Trussoni.

Back then, and through the years up to, Finally, these two wars of choice the only civilians listening and joining professions were from the Anti-War movement mostly.

They also started to understand that PTS isn't only something of Wars but happens to many who experience extreme traumatic events or have lives growing up in and that they suffered mostly in silence or if seeking help were misdiagnosed!

How Veterans's PTSD Affects Their Children

January 7, 2011 - This year, all our troops that have been deployed in Iraq will return home. Record numbers of the ones who have already returned -- about one-third -- have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. An unprecedented number of them have committed suicide, and it's quickly becoming clear that our society cannot afford to ignore their invisible wounds -- especially the way we ignored those of our older veterans, namely World War II soldiers.

What words would you use to describe the World War II combat veterans you have known? Humble? Hard-working? Dedicated to their families? Silent about their war experiences?

I'll bet that almost all of us -- especially we children of those veterans -- would agree to the last choice. Our fathers never talked about what they did in the war. {continued with a number of information links}

Do Women Recover Better from TBI than Men?

Emory research offers new hope to those with brain injuries

January 1, 2011 - Emory University professor Donald Stein became captivated years with ago with a question: Why would women recover better from brain injuries than men?

After years of research in the lab, he found a simple answer in progesterone. The developmental hormone turned out to have a remarkable ability to help lab rats recover from brain injuries. And Stein suspected that it could also help people recover from the devastating effects of car crashes, falls and assaults.

Stein’s theory immediately encountered resistance in the scientific and medical community. “Everybody said this is ridiculous, it’s just a female hormone, it’s not going to work. You’re a dreamer,” Stein said.

But Stein didn’t drop the work. He couldn’t, after what he had observed in his lab. “The results were so clear,” he said. “I was aggravated enough that I said I’m going to pursue this because it just seems so reasonable.”

Stein is no longer the only believer. Emory University is now leading a major evaluation of Stein’s theory, with a study sponsored by the National Institutes of Health that is testing the healing possibilities of progesterone on brain injury patients at 17 medical centers in 15 states. {continued}

Fort Hood Suicides!!

And does Anyone hear these patriotic constitution readers, or any of their supporters, even mention their wars of choice or the veterans and families of?!?!

Army efforts don't stem Fort Hood suicides

6 January 2010 - The Army's largest post saw a record-high number of soldiers kill themselves in 2010 despite a mental health effort aimed at reversing the trend.

The Army says 22 soldiers have either killed themselves or are suspected of doing so last year at its post at Fort Hood in Texas, twice the number from 2009.

That is a rate of 47 deaths per 100,000, compared with a 20-per-100,000 rate among civilians in the same age group and a 22-per-100,000 rate Army-wide.

"We are at a loss to explain the high numbers," says Maj. Gen. William Grimsley, acting commander. "It's personally frustrating."

The Army had boosted staffing and psychiatric services to address the problem, particularly after the fatal shootings of 13 people on the post in November 2009. The Army alleges that Maj. Nidal Hasan, a psychiatrist, fired his pistol indiscriminately at soldiers waiting for routine medical care.

Fort Hood now has one of the largest counseling staffs in the Army with more than 170 behavioral health workers.

"Anytime they've asked for it, the Army has done everything it can to provide assistance," says Army Col. Christopher Philbrick, deputy commander of an Army task force on reducing suicides. {continued}

"Energy Program for Security and Independence"

Report: Navy on track to meet energy efficiency targets

January 5, 2011 - The Navy is on track to achieve its goals for energy independence and efficiency, according to a "roadmap" announced Wednesday by Secretary Ray Mabus that underscores the importance of a reduction in the costs and risks involved in fuel delivery on the battlefield.

The report, "Energy Program for Security and Independence," reiterates the Navy's goals to reduce energy usage and dependence, specifically the target of fulfilling 50 percent of its demand using alternative sources, including biofuels, solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, and nuclear, by 2020.

According to comprehensive charts included in the report based on 2008 data, maritime and aviation energy make up a combined 78 percent of Naval petroleum demand. However, only 1 percent of Navy petroleum consumption is devoted to expeditionary operations, which account for 61 percent of the Marine Corps's petroleum consumption. {continue}

Navy: "Energy Program for Security and Independence" -

Iraqs Refugee's, Internal and External

Millions of refugee's that weren't before our invasion and occupation!!

IRAQ: New government plans to tackle population displacements

Photo: Contributor/IRIN: A displaced family in a camp erected in an orchard in Diyala province, about 90 km east of Baghdad (file photo)

5 January 2011 - Iraq’s new government plans to tackle internal displacement and closely monitor and assist Iraqi refugees abroad, the country’s newly appointed migration and displacement minister said on 3 January.

“The Ministry has a strategic plan to tackle some of the sensitive issues related to displaced people,” Minister Dendar Najman Al-Doski said. One of the top priorities is “to work to end internal displacement as much as we can… and to cooperate with Ministry of Foreign Affairs and international bodies to follow up with [Iraqi] refugees abroad,” he said.

Al-Doski said the plan was to encourage internally displaced persons (IDPs) to go back to their areas of origin, stay in the areas they have ended up in, or help them move to a new area.

He said his Ministry would “soon” open representative offices in Syria and Lebanon to assist refugees there, and would also be monitoring the situation closely in Jordan and Egypt. {continued}

St. Charles Vets vs Westboro Baptist

St. Charles Vets Organizing Counter-Protest Against Westboro Baptist

4 January 2011 - They spew messages against homosexuals at military funerals. Now the same group is planning a protest at St. Charles city and county government buildings, all because of an ordinance set in place restricting their access to funerals.



Westboro Baptist Church members will be greeted by angry military veterans when they next visit St. Charles County.

"We are going to stand by it and stand strong," it's the sanctity of a final goodbye that makes St. Charles County Councilmember Joe Brazil defiant in the face of an ACLU lawsuit set to be heard January 18th and still defiant in the face of those his law aims to restrict. {continued}

The April Glaspie Cable: "Green Light" to Gulf War One

While we've known about this now for years, rarely reported on by the media, the cable, like the growing list of proof of Gulf War One to Operation Iraqi Freedom, is now out of the dark and into the light of day.

A message from Veterans for Common Sense about the cable:

5 January 2011 - The world finally knows more of the truth about how the Gulf War started. A secret July 25, 1990, State Department Cable released by Wikileaks shows how U.S. Ambassador April Glaspie told Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein the U.S. had "no position" on the Iraq - Kuwait border dispute, where Kuwait was allegedly stealing oil from Iraq. At the time, the U.S. supported Iraq's recently ended war with Iran (1980 - 1988) that had ruined Iraq's economy. On August 2, 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait. On January 17, 1991, prompted by a massive propaganda campaign, the U.S. began bombing Iraq - and never stopped. More than 20 years later, the war continues with deadly and devastating consequences for Kuwait, Iraq, and the U.S.

Based on the State Department cable, the facts are clear: in 1990, then-President George H. W. Bush's administration, failed to denounce Iraq's intended military action against in Kuwait in July 1990. The silence encouraged Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to invade Kuwait in August 1990. The Gulf War was left unfinished for thirteen years, with an embargo, sanctions, and "no-fly" zones.

By 2001, then-Secretary of State Colin Powell said Iraq was contained. In 2003, then-President George W. Bush lied about Iraq possessing weapons of mass destruction and launched a second invasion. Now, 20 years later, the U.S. has seen our economy nearly crushed with trillions in war debt. Nearly one million new, non-fatal casualties have sought medical care as VA patient, according to VA documents obtained by VCS using the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

The Glaspie Cable must go down in history as the smoking gun of failed diplomacy leading to 20 years of massive death and destruction. VCS encourages veterans to share the Glaspie Cable with fellow veterans, reporters, and legislators. We must learn the lesson from this tragic war that greater transparency is needed in how our nation operates overseas in order to reduce the chance for war.

The April Glaspie Cable at Wikileaks: Viewing cable 90BAGHDAD4237: SADDAM'S MESSAGE OF FRIENDSHIP TO PRESIDENT BUSH

O 251246Z JUL 90
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4627
INFO AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI IMMEDIATE
AMEMBASSY CAIRO IMMEDIATE
AMEMBASSY KUWAIT IMMEDIATE
AMEMBASSY RIYADH IMMEDIATE
ARABLEAGUE COLLECTIVE

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 05 BAGHDAD 04237

E.O. 12356: DECL:OADR
TAGS: MOPS PREL US KU IZ
SUBJECT: SADDAM'S MESSAGE OF FRIENDSHIP TO PRESIDENT BUSH {continued}

Afghanistan: "Windows and Mirrors"

Reflections of war on display

January 4, 2011 - A mural that commemorates civilian casualties that happened during the Afghanistan war is currently on display at Queens College’s Godwin-Ternbach Museum.

“Windows and Mirrors: Reflections on the War in Afghanistan” opened at the Godwin-Ternbach Museum on December 9 and will remain on display through January 30. Before making it to New York, it had made its debut at Philadelphia’s Arch Street Meeting House.

The mural consists of 50 parachute fabric panels that are 4’ x 6’ in size. Artists and students created the pieces. In addition to showing civilian casualties, the panels also depict what it’s like to live in war as seen by schoolchildren in Afghanistan.

snip

“Windows and Mirrors” was organized by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), which created the mural “to help us all understand the human cost of war in Afghanistan,” according to the organization’s web site. It also explained that “in ‘Windows and Mirrors,’ the eyes of artists and children become ‘windows’ through which we see the reality of war. They also become ‘mirrors’ reflecting back to us our own identity as a nation at war.” {continued}

From The War Theaters "Burn Pits." {?} !!

Soldier from W. Babylon dies of rare cancer

January 3, 2011 - After a long year of watching the slow death of her husband, Army Sgt. William McKenna, Dina McKenna decided the final goodbye should be dignified without painful lingering.

snip

He was deployed in 2003 and was awarded several awards and medals during two tours in Iraq. It was there he breathed fumes from burning garbage pits outside of the military bases - leading to his fatal cancer, his wife believes.

"The cancer is caused by toxic fumes," she said. Not only did her husband not smoke, but he had the athletic ability of men two decades younger, she said. "He was perfectly healthy when he got in and a mess when he got out." {continued}

Not the American Way!

Don't deny detainees their day in court

Indefinite detention of post-Sept. 11 detainees without charge or trial is not the American way.

January 4, 2011 - The idea that every person deserves his or her "day in court" is a fundamental principle in the United States and many countries worldwide. Yet more than nine years after 9/11, the United States remains paralyzed not just about how to give the thousands of detainees in U.S. custody around the world their day in court but about whether to give them that day in court.

Multiple judicial forums have been created to try nonstate actors who have perpetrated war crimes from Rwanda to Sierra Leone to Cambodia to the former Yugoslavia — to give them their day in court. That makes the failure to answer this question for post-9/11 detainees particularly perplexing and deeply troubling.

Two successive administrations have been incapable of answering what should be the most basic questions: if, how and where to try terrorists. In the meantime, post-9/11 detainees languish in indefinite detention. The result is a fundamental and overwhelming violation of the rights of individuals who are no more than suspects, in either past or (more problematic) future acts. {continued}

Germans call a Spade a Spade, So.......

Why can't we!

Reading this sounds pretty damn familiar, 21st century amerika, but not quite as blatant yet, or is it.

Actually they use two very descriptive leads to the story, and they should know, first:

Right-Wing Extremism

Is the lead then we get to the meat.

The Village Where the Neo-Nazis Rule

A vaillage sign at the entrance to Jamel bearing the far-right slogan "Free, Social, National." Jamel is an example of the far-right problem that has plagued Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania for years. The rural state, once part of communist East Germany, has a poor reputation in this regard -- the NPD, which glorifies the Third Reich, has been in the state parliament since 2006 and neo-Nazi crimes are part of daily life.

01/03/2011 - Hitler salutes in the street and firing practice in the forest: Neo-Nazis have taken over an entire village in Germany, and authorities appear to have given up efforts to combat the problem. The place has come to symbolize the far right's growing influence in parts of the former communist east.

Horst and Birgit Lohmeyer have been working on their life's dream for six years, renovating a house in the woods near Jamel, a tiny village near Wismar in the far northeastern German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Birgit Lohmeyer writes crime novels, her husband is a musician, and both try to pretend everything is normal here in Jamel.

It wasn't easy to find their new home. The Lohmeyers spent months driving out to the countryside every weekend, heading east from where they lived in Hamburg, but most of the houses they saw were too expensive. Then they came across the inexpensive red brick farmhouse in Jamel. Slightly run-down, but not far from the Baltic Sea, the house sits surrounded by lime and maple trees, near a lake.

The Lohmeyers knew that a notorious neo-Nazi lived nearby -- Sven Krüger, a demolition contractor and high-level member of the far-right National Democratic Party (NPD). What the Lohmeyers didn't know was that other neighbors felt terrorized by Krüger. He and his associates were in the process of buying up the entire village.

Jamel is an example of the far-right problem that has plagued Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania for years. The rural region, once part of communist East Germany, has a poor reputation in this regard -- the NPD, which glorifies the Third Reich, has been in the state parliament since 2006 and neo-Nazi crimes are part of daily life. {continued}

By the way, Charlotte NC in the good ole USofA is in Mecklenburg {just above} County and just north of, on New Years Eve, the yahoo's took up a tradition of the many around the World they condemn. It was all out lets show the neighbors what we're packin, from around 11:30pm till somewhere around 1am, clowns can't even tell time. Semi's to single shot, thank god no reports of injuries.

Now to make my point, remember this screen shot from not to many months back:



And at the time only one responder on the page even questioned the use of the connection to the growing in fame fox and corporate teabaggers.

Coming to a Town Near You

The Village Where the Neo-Nazis Rule

01/03/2011 - Hitler salutes in the street and firing practice in the forest: Neo-Nazis have taken over an entire village in Germany, and authorities appear to have given up efforts to combat the problem. The place has come to symbolize the far right's growing influence in parts of the former communist east.

Horst and Birgit Lohmeyer have been working on their life's dream for six years, renovating a house in the woods near Jamel, a tiny village near Wismar in the far northeastern German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Birgit Lohmeyer writes crime novels, her husband is a musician, and both try to pretend everything is normal here in Jamel.

It wasn't easy to find their new home. The Lohmeyers spent months driving out to the countryside every weekend, heading east from where they lived in Hamburg, but most of the houses they saw were too expensive. Then they came across the inexpensive red brick farmhouse in Jamel. Slightly run-down, but not far from the Baltic Sea, the house sits surrounded by lime and maple trees, near a lake.

The Lohmeyers knew that a notorious neo-Nazi lived nearby -- Sven Krüger, a demolition contractor and high-level member of the far-right National Democratic Party (NPD). What the Lohmeyers didn't know was that other neighbors felt terrorized by Krüger. He and his associates were in the process of buying up the entire village.

Jamel is an example of the far-right problem that has plagued Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania for years. The rural region, once part of communist East Germany, has a poor reputation in this regard -- the NPD, which glorifies the Third Reich, has been in the state parliament since 2006 and neo-Nazi crimes are part of daily life. {continued}

Deadly Weapons: Remnants of All Wars

How Deadly Weapons Continue to Rule Daily Life

Tread carefully In Xieng Khouang, a mother steadies her son as he walks along a rusted bomb casing. Arantxa Cedillo for TIME

Dec. 31, 2010 - At the Vienthong primary school in Laos' Xieng Khouang province, six students take out hand puppets made from clothing scraps and colored felt. Their audience — a class of around 15 children ages 3 to 5 — sits in a semicircle in a darkened classroom as the young puppeteers begin the show.

The puppet theater starts with an old man — indicated by the gray yarn of his hair — asking three child puppets to collect scrap metal. The children discuss the proposition, a dangerous one in Laos, where such a task often requires coming across decades-old explosives. Having learned about the risks in school, the puppets refuse and teach the man about the perils of gathering metal by breaking into song: "There are many types of unexploded ordnance/ It is very hard to guess where they are/ If you find one, please run away."

The lyrics are much catchier in Lao, and this isn't the first time the audience has heard the tune. The Vienthong school has twice-monthly classes on the dangers of submunitions, known locally as "bombies." Each lesson begins and ends with the "bombie song." {continued}

Military Kids Struggle with Repeated Deployments

Notice the No Mention of the Wars of Choice especially by the incoming pols and real noticeable as to those so called outraged teabaggers their supporters and their corporate financed talking heads and cable TV outlet!!

Military kids taking more psychiatric drugs

Prescriptions increase as families struggle with repeated deployments

Mitch Green: From left, Zach Radenz, Army Lt. Col. Blaine Radenz, Tricia Radenz and James Radenz stand in the room where Daniel Radenz, then 12, took his life in June 2009. The room has since been converted into a den.

Jan 3, 2011 - Before his father deployed to Iraq, Daniel Radenz was a well-adjusted fifth-grader earning straight A’s and B’s in school near Fort Hood, Texas.

But shortly after Army Lt. Col. Blaine Radenz left home in June 2008, his 11-year-old son became withdrawn and anxious. His grades at school slipped and his mother noticed mood swings. The child’s longtime pediatrician referred him for counseling.

A psychiatrist at Fort Hood’s Darnall Army Medical Center prescribed the antidepressant Celexa. Daniel also saw a psychologist there. Doctors added to and changed Daniel’s drug regimen, but his problems grew worse, said his mother, Tricia Radenz.

Daniel started cutting himself and once used his own blood to write “the end” on a bathroom wall at school. One day in band class, he began hallucinating and ran into the hall, where teachers found him crouched and hitting and scratching his face.

On June 9, 2009, Daniel hanged himself from a bunk bed in his home. {continued}

Defending Khadr

Defending Khadr shows Edmonton's mettle

January 2, 2011 - In a coffee shop near the provincial museum, Edmonton lawyer Dennis Edney let his cup of java get cold.

He was too busy describing Guantanamo Bay military prison and his meeting with a very controversial client, Canadian Omar Khadr, silent and in chains.

As we talked, Edney watched the e-mail on his BlackBerry. He paused to read another message attacking him for defending "that terrorist." Edney couldn't resist responding. He has turned around a lot of critics by explaining the need to fight for the right to a fair trial, he said.

As I listened, I thought how remarkable this scene was. Of all the lawyers in Canada, it was two men from Edmonton, Edney and Nate Whitling, who took on the Khadr case, one of the most important legal battles since the 9/11 bombings, certainly the most controversial.

This case goes to fundamental principles -- the rule of law and the balance between security and preserving the legal rights that define our democracy. Indeed, this is a cautionary tale that we mustn't take these rights for granted. {continued}

Deployments put strains on families' lives

Fort Drum soldier, single father of two boys, provides example of disruptions

JANUARY 2, 2011 - Life changed for Shawn Eisch with a phone call last January. His youngest brother, Brian, a soldier and single father, had just received orders to deploy from Fort Drum, N.Y., to Afghanistan and was mulling who might take his two boys for a year. Shawn volunteered.

So began a season of adjustments as the boys came to live in their uncle's home here. Joey, the 8-year-old, got into fistfights at his new school. His 12-year-old brother, Isaac, rebelled against their uncle's rules. And Shawn's three children quietly resented sharing a bedroom, the family computer and, most of all, their parents' attention with their younger cousins.

The work of war is very much a family affair. Nearly six in 10 of the troops deployed today are married, and nearly half have children. Those families — more than 1 million since 2001 — have borne the brunt of the psychological and emotional strain of deployments. {continued}