Pairing dogs and troops with PTSD

McClatchy Washington Bureau continues their extremely stellar reporting on the effects of Wars and Occupations of others on those that serve in these theaters of operations, especially as to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder {PTSD} with the following report printed in their Kansas City Star:

Defense Dept. funding study pairing dogs and troops with PTSD

Persian Gulf War veteran Chris Kornkven (left) greeted Rainbow, a female Rhodesian ridgeback, as fellow Gulf War veteran Anthony Hardie met Kenji, another ridgeback, and his handler, Joan Esnayra. The dogs demonstrated how they could help troops with post-traumatic stress disorder during a military health research conference this week in Kansas City. Kornkven has PTSD.

Can a canine companion soothe the volatile emotions of a soldier haunted by post-traumatic stress disorder?

It may sound far-fetched, but the Department of Defense wants to find out.

It is spending millions of dollars on medical research projects like this that may yield groundbreaking results but are too speculative for other government agencies to consider.

While PTSD, especially from the trauma of combat of military operations, has always been a result of Wars, and not only for the combat troops, it didn't start getting recognized for what it was until we started returning from Vietnam and it not only recognized but given the name. Studies followed but way to few and not funded properly. Much of that early work was done by us 'Nam Vets and a few in the civilian population, who also recognized that this occurs with many suffering traumatic experiences in their lives. But when you have huge numbers of individuals you send into combat invasions and occupations, huge numbers of them return with varying degree's of the stresses and trauma's of what took place, everyone is changed, no matter how or what the training, some more severely with the reliving and recurring memories of.

Kenji (left) and Rainbow are specially trained by the Psychiatric Service Dog Society to assist people with severe mental disability. Their handlers were Joan Esnayra, the society’s founder, and Craig Love, a psychologist.

These psychiatric service dogs have been assisting people with a variety of mental illnesses since the late 1990s. About 10,000 such dogs are now in use.

New but preliminary research suggests that the dogs may be particularly helpful for people with PTSD.

And that has the military interested.

Snip

“Where there’s a good idea but not much data, we’re willing to take a risk.”

The Defense Department has measures in place to make sure that innovative ideas get a fair hearing, Kaime said.

When the department sends applications for research grants to its review panels, it deliberately leaves out the names of the scientists and their institutions, so decisions are based on the merits of their proposals and not their reputations.

Finally, after some four decades of strong advocacy by many of us, there are many programs and studies taking place all over the country to help those suffering from the results of their service in combat occupations of others countries. Some of these will wither away depending on the results of, but others will flourish and give the help and better understanding needed, and more will come from further studies.

It's really great to see the DoD getting more involved and finally recognizing the existence of especially as they are finally recognizing the actions of some who suffer from in their taking of their own lives or the lives of others, which in most cases can be the causes of their trauma and lack of help and counseling for, plus the stigma within the ranks of even reporting one is having problems.

An online Veterans news group, Veterans Today, made up of mostly free lance Veterans doing reporting on the many issues of the Veterans community, do an almost daily Top 10 called Top 10 Veterans News from Around the Country, this current one is for 9-03-09. And in this issue page it carries this:

5. Tracking Suicides By New Vets Said To Be A Problem. The Indianapolis Star (9/3, Marshall, 241K) asks, "How many veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan have come back, haunted by memories of war and struggling to cope with life at home, and taken their own lives? Nobody knows," and therein "lies one of the most serious obstacles to preventing suicides by returning veterans. A 2008 Congressional Research Service Report on the issue put it
bluntly" when it said, "There is no nationwide system for surveillance" of veteran suicides. The Star adds, "Recognizing the crucial gap in data, the Army and the National Institute of Mental Health have partnered for a five-year, $50 million study on military suicides." The Department of Veterans Affairs, meanwhile, "has launched" a "10-year health study examining 60,000 'new' veterans, mostly those involved" in Iraq and Afghanistan operations.

The bolding above I placed in as to highlight the fact that this is also not new as to Wars and Occupations of others, Post Traumatic Stress developing from, and especially coming out of Wars of Choice! Add on these Multiple Tours in not only one but two military operations and Guess What! There is also five related topics and links following the one, from the Indianapolis Star, above, at the link above.

Much has finally been coming out of the DoD and especially the Veterans Administration, much of it coming from a Congress finally doing their jobs with investigations and hearings as well as over-site, these past two plus years, which wasn't done by the previous congresses as they walked in lockstep towards sending, and then doing so, our military into two long running occupations, and rarely mentioned nor hearings held for the first five and six years of, respectively, these still running occupations!

Lets hope the forward actions continue, they're all now taking place in a Catch Up mode, but that will only happen if and when the American Public stop their representatives from Obstructing what already should have long ago been, proper funding and over-site, which would be cheaper now if it had been done before, especially as to keeping these agencies up to date with the advanced technology, placing it in or advanced of the 21st century, not the 20th century!

This is also at The Veterans Today link above:

HAVE YOU HEARD?
They call it Warriors Walk, a ten-bed unit where a dedicated team of doctors and nurses to care for terminally ill veterans during the last days of their journey. The new hospice care facility is opening at the William Jennings Bryan Dorn VA Medical Center in Columbia; SC. Warriors Walk will be dedicated to assisting veterans during the final months of their life, with a talented medical staff specially trained in end of life issues. The focus is on relieving pain, managing symptoms, and offering emotional and spiritual support to comfort terminally ill veterans. In addition to the nursing staff, Warriors Walk includes support areas where families and friends of the veterans can come and visit and spend time with their loved ones. They are encouraged to bring memorabilia and mementos to personalize the veterans’ space and make them feel at home. In addition to VA staff, Warriors Walk is supported by many special volunteers who give their time and energy to support the terminally ill. For the grand opening, the Daughters of the American Revolution stitched blankets for every room to make it more like home for the veterans. The VA always strives to give the best care and support to our veterans’ that is possible. This is the last care they will receive and Warriors Walk staff is working hard to ensure it is of the highest quality and comfort.

At What Cost?

The question above is asked on the site of the Commission on Wartime Contracting as to their recently released report.

Remember the meme at the beginning of the War Drum Beating and the easy certain Corporate "No Bid Contracts" in support of the Wars and Occupations: "They're the only ones in the World who can do the organizing and work needed in support of our Military and the Coalition of Willing!"

Never mind they were connected by the hips to those beating the drums, never mind they were only paper pushers tens of thousands of miles away and sub-contracting out all the work, never mind the many issues of lost billions, shoddy work, bonuses, waste and corruption that almost instantly started coming to light and even with that they were given more, not even handshakes, just here ya go Pallets with Shrink wrapped Blocks of Cash, Millions and Billions, freshly printed and minted!!

I had similar questions as this LTE writer asks, well before the report was issued the other day and this posted today, but than again many of us have had the questions of Defense Spending for years, with extremely little questioning from the greater masses. Especially us Veterans of our previous failed policies as we've watched our brothers and sisters being short changed for their service, short changed and no questions or willingness from the greater masses who don't serve!

No tea parties over billions lost in Iraq?

Where are the tea parties? Where is the outrage from the purveyors of the vaunted, unregulated “free market?”

The Wartime Contracting Commission reports that tens of billions have been wasted on private sector contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan, due to “poorly defined work orders, inadequate oversight and contractor inefficiencies.”...........

The following was released a few days ago, yet I've heard very little talk from the talking heads, Especially the opinionated right wing spinmeisters, they have alot to say about everything else, in this country or so called libertarians and very little from the left, All War Drum Beating Supporters Of, remember there was some seventy five plus percent in favor of destroying an innocent country and many still in favor of occupying two countries while bombing another!

Commission on Wartime Contracting

Contingency Contracting In Iraq and Afghanistan

Interim Report to Congress: 121page PDF

Since 2001, Congress has appropriated about $830 billion to fund U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Over that period, America’s reliance on contractors has grown to unprecedented proportions to support logistics, security, and reconstruction efforts related to those operations. More than 240,000 contractor employees—about 80 percent of them foreign nationals—now work in Iraq and Afghanistan, supporting the Department of Defense. Additional contractor employees support the Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Dude, Where's My Money?

Waste, Fraud, and Abuse: three words used in an official report describing what has happened to the 380 billion US dollars spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Contractor oversees security guards in Afghanistan

A major security contractor is running an office overseeing armed guards in Afghanistan, a situation at odds with the Pentagon's claim that military officers would be in charge of such sensitive work.

A new report on wartime spending to be made public Wednesday at a congressional hearing says the contractor, Aegis Defense Services, has operated with limited U.S. government supervision...............

War contractor bonuses an outrage

Yes, bonuses paid to the contractors that rival the corporate bonuses paid here..............

US military wasted taxpayer money in Iraq: Report

The first audit released by US Congressional Commission of Wartime Contracting reveals that the military has wasted huge sums of its USD 834b budget on contractors.

The 121-page report on security, logistics and renovation contracts indicates that the US government has failed to oversee the defense expenditures it disbursed to key contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan. The report refers to large-scale cases of fraud and mismanagement of contracts during the so-called 'war on terror', which have cost American taxpayers 'billions' of dollars.................

US Senators Webb & McCaskill ask Secretary of Defense to review findings, address immediate concerns identified in wartime contracting commission Report

Following today’s release of the Commission on Wartime Contracting’s interim report to Congress, Senators Jim Webb (D-VA) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) asked Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to review the Commission’s findings and address a number of critical issues of “immediate concern.”..............

Again the question should be asked "No tea parties over billions lost in Iraq or Afghanistan?" which won't be answered even at further so called "teabaggin" rallies, certainly not by the speakers invited!

This goes along with another question asked years back now by a GoldStar Mom, "For What Noble Cause Mr. President?"!!

Oh, before I go, one more issue and another question, especially to the masses who never serve but cheer on:

Rape in the Military:

Congress Charges Cover-Up

Congress takes on the Department of Defense in the first oversight hearing held this year by the subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs on sexual assault in the military. Dr. Kaye Whitley, Director of Sexual Assault and Prevention and Response Office (SAPRO) failed to show at the hearing despite being subpoenaed. Her "no show" left some members accusing the DOD of a cover up.

Col. Ann Wright

Sexual Assault in the Military: A DoD Cover-Up?

There was quite a struggle in Congress this week. The Department of Defense refused to allow the senior civilian in charge of its Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office (SAPRO) to testify in Thursday's hearing on sexual assault in the military. Rep. John Tierney, chair of the House Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs, angrily dismissed Principal Deputy Undersecretary of Defense Michael Dominguez from the hearing when Dominguez said that he, the DoD chief of legislative affairs and the chief of public affairs, had ordered Dr. Kaye Whitley, chief of SAPRO, to refuse to honor the subpoena issued by the subcommittee for her appearance.

DoD official booted from sex assault hearing

The Pentagon's No. 2 personnel and readiness official was admonished and dismissed from a House subcommittee hearing on sexual assault in the military Thursday after admitting that he had directed a key subordinate not to appear.

Tierney said Whitley would be subpoenaed and that Dominguez's decision showed disrespect to the two women who had testified moments earleir - one a rape victim, one a rape/murder victim's mother - as well as other victims and the subcommittee itself.

Sex Assaults Against Women in Military 'Epidemic'
GAO Report: Sexual Assaults and Rapes in Military Under-Reported by Half


A look at slayings of 3 military women in 7 months



Rapists in the ranks
Sexual assaults are frequent, and frequently ignored, in the armed services.



Oversight Hearing on Sexual Assault in the Military
More information and video clips at The Gavel

Another DeJa-Vu, All Over Again!

Rock Richard, military and just returned from a tour in Afganistan, has a post up over at 'Vet Voice'
Fort Bragg Behavioral Health: "Don't call us, we'll call you"

Needs some Contacts made to our powers that be, or those that think they rule!!

After 'Nam

This BullS**t Has Got To Stop, though we said that in the 'Nam Years and it hasn't improved much at all!

This Country should have Heeded the Warnings and made the VA System the Best for Care, for Teaching, and for Research In The World, especially as the country Loves these Wars Of Choice and Occupations!
They Didn't, Cost To High for those who Don't Serve!!

They didn't learn those lessons, they didn't learn the lessons of Guerilla Insurgencies, they didn't Learn a Damn Thing and now, once again, they Aren't Paying Any Attention!

Don't even see the Magnetic Ribbons anymore!

Welcome Home to the Deja-Vu world of Service To Country from Wars Of Choice!!

When Soldiers Return from 'Wars Of Choice'!

This is just one result of the Apathy after the Cheering and Support of!

When Soldiers Return from 'Wars Of Choice'!

The above video comes from this report Researcher uncovers what caused Gulf War Syndrome

The Country, who cheers them on, goes into Denial and Refusal to grant what is owed to those they send!

The first Gulf war was a War of Choice when Bush Sr gave a certain old U.S. buddy a 'wink and a nod'!

The conflict I served in was a War of Choice built on lies with the lies continuing, even to today, and just one of the many results was returning military suffering from results of Defoliant Spraying which Government, Producers of, and the Public Denied it had adverse effects. Vietnamesse and Soldiers are still suffering the effects and this Country still Denies!

How many of you pay attention to the results of the first gulf war, Gulf War Syndrom, and the thousands of Veterans, and their families, suffering from the effects of?

There are other reports that trickle out, as there were with the defoliants of 'Nam, like this one from Australia that people who really care pay attention to, others just give passing glances to.

Every day five U.S. soldiers attempt to take their own precious lives in the U.S. army. Or this article about Military Suicides which gives referance to present mysterious ailments of returning OIF Military personal.

Many U.S. veterans of the 2003 U.S. war in Iraq have complained of a range of serious diseases, including tumors, chronic blood strains in their urine and stool, sexual dysfunction, migraines, frequent muscular spasms, and other health issues similar to the debilitating symptoms of the “Gulf War Syndrome” and the Vietnam War Syndrome, known as “Agent Orange”.

Which is a Powerful Writeup that should be a Must Read, giving context to the Suicides and PTSD, which I'll get to shortly, I suggest you visit and read!

Here are a few more recent reports on 'Gulf War Syndrom' you can view Here and Here, the second one again coming out of Australia.

A BIG Thank You goes out to Ilona Meagher over at PTSD Combat: Winning the War Within, if you don't visit You Should! Ilona posts up some very important information and reports that should be read and embedded in this countries concious.

She has two recent ones that are powerful reminders, out of many, of what the Tragic Trauma's many experiance, from the Combat Battlefields to the Extreme Tragedies within a society, can do to some who live them. Many of those who suffer from do so Silently, especially those who never experiance the Combat Trauma's but their own events that live on within them, as well as the Combat Soldier who won't admit to his or hers concious reminders and triggers.

The first, Unknown Allies: School Shooting Victims and Combat Veterans that others should read and follow the back links.

Those of you who read PTSD Combat regularly know I'm currently a student at Northern Illinois University and shared my experiences the day of the shooting and beyond.

After all these years, and the many Wars, with returning troops, and the civilians of countries invaded, suffering from their Traumatic Nightmares of the Living Hell on Earth, PTSD is Finally being mentioned as a result to many who live through the personal and collective tragedies a society create.

It gave mention in an article, from my old hometown paper, I happened to catch yesterday, Discovery still haunts man, a very sad story about a baby:

"It was almost like a post-traumatic stress kind of thing. . . . It was haunting for a number of years, even today," he said.

Along with the above I've heard it brought into the public realm, where it should already have been, a few times recently. One was a movie on Lifetime. The main charactor described an event from her childhood that haunts her with nightmares and fear that she, which was what the movie was about, was trying to rid herself from. Another was an interview on NPR where the young women mentions the trauma of her mothers death, both actually say the four important letters, PTSD.

The second post Ilona has is about Combat PTSD and the effects of on one soldier.

She posts the Video's of a recent show on PBS's A&E 'Intervention' Program

That link brings you to her site post, but hopefully she won't mind, I'm bringing it over to you, as it contains just a short introduction with five video's containing the show.

As Ilona writes:

A&E's Intervention program recently featured a segment on Brad, a young man coping with his PTSD by self-medicating with alcohol and marijuana after two Iraq tours with the 101st Airborne.

For those unfamiliar with the show, Intervention is a "series in which people confront their darkest demons and seek a route to redemption" by profiling "people whose dependence on drugs and alcohol or other compulsive behavior has brought them to a point of personal crisis and estranged them from their friends and loved ones." Brad's journey is a powerful and important episode.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

A healthier homecoming
Houston needs to prepare for flood of veterans with mental and brain disabilities

These are ambitious but critical goals. "Let me tell you my theory about PTSD," said US VET's Mitchell, a Vietnam veteran and licensed counselor. "Everyone that is in a combat zone experiences PTSD. The key is what support systems are there for when they get home."

Growing Grassroots Help
Grassroots aid growing for Iraq war vets

There is no shortage of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan who need help adjusting to civilian life. And, unlike during the Vietnam War, there is no shortage of civilians who want to embrace the nation's returning warriors, even if they don't support the war.

One new grassroots effort will take place at noon Monday, when more than 1,000 therapists from around the country will participate in an online forum on treating Iraq war vets suffering from trauma. It can be seen at UCTV - University of California.

Actually
If one visits, or listens to, the Pro-War, though Not Serving, folks and their sites, Very Little is being done or said by them!

This planet, not only this country, but this country Must Take The Lead, must finally start to realize what it's Wars of Choice do to those they send but more important to those innocents forced into that Hell, the Long Term Effects!

By doing so it will better understand what, in silence, many living within it's communities are going through from their own extreme tramatic life events and how it effects much of what they do as they moved forward from them, from the silent suffering to possibly causing others experiances that should not have occurred!

Just One Base?

I Think Not!

Today we get another followup report Report Faults Mental Care for Iraq Veterans at Upstate Base

Seems as these reports keep coming they all can be considered 'followups', one after the other after the other after the other....., building to what is actually happening to our Military, but Especially the Military Personal that serve, so it seems, not the Country but the whims of the Civilian and some Military Leadership as well as Ideologies not followed by the Majority, as the Nation of Apathy tunes out to their Service and the Care given for same!

WATERTOWN, N.Y. — The four tours in Iraq served by the Second Brigade at Fort Drum here have created an unusual level of stress, especially after the standard Iraq tour was increased to 15 months from 12. Yet according to a new report on the shortcomings of mental health care at the base, a soldier’s wait to be seen for psychological help can take more than a month.

The draft report, “Fort Drum: A Great Burden, Inadequate Assistance,” which was given to The New York Times last week, was done by Veterans for America, a nonprofit advocacy organization for wounded members of the armed forces. It also uncovered several other problems with the mental health services on the post, which is north of Syracuse.

Video Report
Of VFA report from Fort Drum-News 10


You can find backlinks to recent reports, like the ones NPR gave, and information in this report.

The above comes on the heels of this report Suicide by Guard, Reserve Troops Studied

More than half of all veterans who took their own lives after returning from Iraq or Afghanistan were members of the National Guard or Reserves, according to new government data that prompted activists on Tuesday to call for a closer examination of the problem.

The research, conducted by the department's Office of Environmental Epidemiology, provides the first demographic look at suicides among veterans from those wars who left the military.

I could give a number of reason, speculative, on the why of these suicides, but the reasons are very obvious and should be recognizable to everyone, think Regular Military leading to what the Reserves and National Guard are normally used for, especially as to the National Guard. Than think what this Country has been using them for these last five years! And Think War!

I visited Ilona Meaghers site for the above AP link, which I had known she had just added Here a short time ago. I found that she had placed another Important headsup as well: Upcoming Congressional Hearings on Combat PTSD.

Received this head's up on two important upcoming House Veterans Affairs Committee hearings from Mike and Kim Bowman. In December as you may recall, they offered Chairman Bob Filner and the committee heartrending testimony on their son Tim's suicide. Tim was an Illinois National Guard member, one of the OEF/OIF veterans' groups most at risk for taking their own lives after returning home.

For those Really Interested in what is Actually Going On, outside of cult worshipping individuals running in the Presidential Race, can visit Ilona's site to take note of the dates of these Important Hearings and her added comments as well as all the Important information she passes on to the rest of us, and her Dedication!

I could add a number of links to past reports on Military and Veteran Health Care, especially as to the Mental Health conditions of many returning Military Personal, at other Bases and Veterans facilities but just have a few more I would like to note.

Like this one from another well known base, and recently reported on, Fort Carson:

Fort Carson Forcibly Removed Soldier from Mental Hospital and Deployed Him to Iraq War

Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense, was outraged. "If he's an inpatient in a hospital, they should have never taken him out. The chain of command needs to be held accountable for this. Washington needs to get involved at the Pentagon to make sure this doesn't happen again. "First, we had the planeload of wounded, injured and ill being forced back to the war zone. And now we have soldiers forcibly removed from mental hospitals. The level of outrage is off the Richter scale."

Paul has the article, at above, along with the link back to the original at the Denver Post.

The NY Times report, at the top, comes on the heals of a Tragic Incident that happened last weekend and I posted about Drum Soldier Killed by Police 2-09-08 at my site as well as at ePluribus Media and Vet Voice, where I stayed with the report, from right after it broke, updating as new information came in.

Here is a News 10 Video Feed of Tragic Incident

I have the statement, given by the Fort Drum Military Spokesperson, from Sunday morning, at either of the above links.

In the statement we have this:

To our knowledge he had not been referred nor sought counseling for any battle-related illnesses or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Apparently there were no reported signs this Iraq Veteran was suffering from PTSD, but if you read the initial, than followup reports, on how an initial 911 call and hangup, about an apparent domestic disbute, turned into a mutiple shooting and death something more than what was known was happening to Staff Sgt. Dustin J. McMillen age 29.

My thoughts, as this all unfolded, led me to think two things, he either was having a dramatic flashback or was experiancing unseen depression and opted for Suicide By Police, a tragic event that seems to be growing in our society!
In the post, at my site, a comment was left that was signed as the sister of Dustin. I can't verify that is the case, but I don't believe it was just some random person commenting:

I am actually Staff Sgt. McMillens sister. He was the best soilder out there a wonderful husband father and brother. The lack of interest in helping these soilders get help when they get back from a war zone is what killed my brother yesterday. Someone needs to realize they are killing soilders not only in the war but at home afterwards. Its tragic and my brother will be terribly missed.

Rebecka McMillen

Dustin McMillen
February 11, 2008
FORT DRUM, N.Y. — Funeral services and burial for Staff Sgt. Dustin J. McMillen will be held at a later date at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

Calling hours are 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday and 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Friday at the Reed & Benoit Funeral Home, 632 State St., Watertown.

Mr. McMillen, 29, of Saratoga Ave., died Saturday at his home.

Born June 20, 1978, in Klammath Falls, Ore., a son of Kenneth and Vickie Crowder McMillen, he joined the Army in 1998.

He married Alexis Fellerman September 23, 1998.

Besides his wife and parents of Oregon, he is survived by a daughter, Sydney Rose; two stepsons, Sean and Zachery, all of Fort Drum; a brother, Patrick Casey, Pa.; a sister Rebecca Crowder, Ore.; a niece and a nephew.

Information provided by Reed and Benoit Funeral Home and Newzjunky, Watertown, N.Y.

Update: Army Surgeon General Lied!

Back on the 29th I put up a post about an NPR Morning Edition report Army Blocks Disability Paperwork Aid at Fort Drum, the link is to my sites post which I put up on a few others with some added content..
Here is the link to that NPR report.

A soldier described his first briefing with the VA office on base:

According to the soldier, the VA official told a classroom full of injured troops, "We cannot help you review the narrative summaries of your medical problems." The official said the VA used to help soldiers with the paperwork, but Army officials saw soldiers from Fort Drum getting higher disability ratings with the VA's help than soldiers from other bases. The Army told the VA to stop helping Fort Drum soldiers describe their army injuries, and the VA did as it was told.

You can listen to the report here - NPR media player

A spokesperson for the Army Surgeon General had this to say:

Cynthia Vaughan, spokeswoman for the Army surgeon general, says the VA was not doing anything wrong by helping soldiers at Fort Drum.
"There is no Army policy on outside help in reviewing and/or assisting soldiers in rewriting their narratives during the 10-day period which they have to review them," Vaughan says.

They layed the blame on a:

"Tiger Team"— an ad-hoc group assigned to investigate, in this case, medical disability benefits.

Well Ari Shapiro, who gave us the first report, followed it up this morning with this: Document Shows Army Blocked Help for Soldiers, and starts it out with the following:

A document from the Department of Veterans Affairs contradicts an assertion made by the Army surgeon general that his office did not tell VA officials to stop helping injured soldiers with their military disability paperwork at a New York Army post.
The paperwork can help determine health care and disability benefits for wounded soldiers.

You can listen to this report here - NPR media player, I suggest you listen to the first report than this one, especially if you didn't catch that first one. Than this one if you didn't hear the show this morning.

Here is the PDF of the memo being reported on in this morning followup report.

Now, NPR has obtained a four-page VA document that contradicts the surgeon general's statement to McHugh. It was written by one of the VA officials at Fort Drum on March 31, the day after the meeting. The document says Col. Becky Baker of the Army Surgeon General's office told the VA to discontinue counseling soldiers on the appropriateness of Defense Department ratings because "there exists a conflict of interest."

In this report they speak with one of the "Tiger Team" personal, Dr. Alan Janusziewicz, who retired as deputy assistant surgeon general for the Army in October.

They also talk to Rosie Taylor, who recently retired as Fort Drum's Disability Program manager.

Who had this to say:

The document says one soldier was bedridden for three days without a change of clothes or meal. Taylor says nobody listened to her complaints until the Walter Reed scandal.
"Every time I walked into a meeting before, it was like 'Oh my God, there goes $70,000.' And after Walter Reed hit the fan, it was like I was getting phone calls, 'Rosie we're doing over a building and we need your advice on access,'"

I went way over 'Outrage' long ago as these reports started coming out Finally, "Where was the Funding and Enhanced Budgets, for Military and VA Care, as the Drums Of War were being beat Louder and Louder, by the Republican Controlled Congress and Administration, meaning also the Department Heads and Cabinet appointed and under Republican Control, as we went to War and well after"!

These reports should not even be, everything should have been at the Top of the List in their lust for War! Instead we get, after the Walter Reed story broke, "Well it's going to close in a couple of years.". Which means, hey it's closing so don't dump any money into that facility as we send the Maimed Troops, returning from Afganistan and Iraq, into it for the Care They Need, we need the money for the War and the Private Contractors, oh and our pockets!

Why 'Outraged', because many of us knew Exactly what was going to happen if this Country followed the Inept Leadership, and their spin meisters, into the invasion of Iraq, A War Of Choice!, an invasion on Innocent People, and we were Speaking Out!

And not one of the above were Listening nor Speaking, nor were their talking heads, nor their supporters, nor the media........................................................!

They were all to busy calling us 'Focus Groups', 'Unpatriotic', 'Unamerican', 'Giving aid and comfort', you name it we were called it, and many of us are Veterans of our last Fiasco and have way over 30yrs. of Experiance of what happens to those who serve This Country, in Wars of Choice, than return to it's Apathedic Society!

I want to make one thing Perfectly Clear, and Rosie Taylor states very well in the above report:

But she will say this about Fort Drum's VA workers: "They stand on their heads for soldiers. They put their jobs on the line for soldiers. They don't care if they're not supposed to do something; if a soldier needs something done, they do it anyway."

Whenever you read or hear one of these reports, They Are Not Focused On The Workers, they are about what this Country calls 'Leadership', those we hire and the ones Hired by them, to Work for Us, being Paid by Us, for the benefit of the Societies true Needs, Not Their Own!

The workers are just like you and me, good days and bad, and in the case of the VA Hospitals and Clinics they tend to go well beyond their required job billets. And in almost every Facility the many who Volunteer, young to old, disabled and veteran, are what keeps the workers sane in an almost insane system, underfunded and overworked!

Following the report, from today, there was this one:

Alabama Community in Shock After Tornadoes

What does this have to do with the above, well this:

Members of the Alabama state defense force pick through the remnants of a brick home that was flattened and spread a hundred yards across a front yard. Part of its wooden roof is perched high in a tree across the street.

"This is a national guardsmen's home," says First Lt. Will Wright, who is coordinating the cleanup. His team finds a good conduct medal.

"He served in Iraq, and we're trying to find his box of ribbons," he says. "Trying to help the family find as much as we possibly can. He was in the Alabama Department of the military, just like we are, and we're going to do what we can for him."
The former guardsman, Ray Coleman, his wife Rebecca, and their 19-year old son, Garrett , were all killed.

Rebecca's father, James Devaney, says Ray Coleman was a humvee driver who had survived an attack in Iraq and came home suffering from post traumatic stress. Ray and Garrett had been working as plumbers. Rebecca was a cashier at the local grocery store.

"it's a shock, big shock," Devaney says. "Appreciate your family till they not with ya anymore. That's the way I look at it.

You can listen here - NPR media player, but if you visit the title link above you'll find a Photo Gallery of the damaged area!

Update:
General Eric B. Schoomaker answers back:
Army Blames 'Miscommunication' in Fort Drum Flap

The Army Surgeon General says he was mistaken when he denied that the Army had told the Veterans Affairs Department not to help injured soldiers challenge their disability ratings.

You can listen here - NPR media player

Tune Into NPR's 'Morning Edition'

This is going to be quick and short.

I just caught a link to a report that will be airing on NPR Morning Edition

Army Blocks Disability Paperwork Aid at Fort Drum

by Ari Shapiro
Audio for this story will be available at approx. 9:00 a.m. ET

It starts out thus:

Morning Edition, January 29, 2008 · Army officials in upstate New York instructed representatives from the Department of Veterans Affairs not to help disabled soldiers at Fort Drum Army base with their military disability paperwork last year. That paperwork can be crucial because it helps determine whether soldiers will get annual disability payments and health care after they're discharged.

And we get this from one of Drums soldiers:

"To be tossed aside like a worn-out pair of boots is pretty disheartening," the soldier says. "I always believed the Army would take care of me if I did the best I could, and I've done that."

For now Visit here to read, than Tune In to listen to this!

What goes on with each and every Government Agency reflects the Nations Standards and Policies, by The Nation I'm talkin It's People, that's You and Me!

I caught the link in this very short post by IrritatedVet over at Vet Voice. I would have heard it driving to work, getting ready now, but wanted to pass on so More Hear This.

Hat Tip to IrritatedVet from another who's had some 37yrs., an continuing, of 'Irritation' towards an Apathedic Society!

Another Hat Tip goes to One Wife's Perspective, also at Vet Voice for this catch:



Who added this about the clip:

Jan/26/08 08:41 ET Montel Williams turned the question on live television when he choose to focus on the solders dying in Iraq rather than the passing of Heath Ledger. Montel did not return for a further segment.

We have Two Theaters of Raging Conflicts Ongoing so I want to Thank You America for keeping us informed on What Is Really Important To You, Especially on these Political Blogs, both sides of the political ideologies.

One just needs to visit and read the Subject Topics!

Just before I left, this morning I caught this:

VA Links Poor Care to 19 Deaths in Ill. on the local news!!

Than on the Diane Rehm NPR show today they covered this:

Veterans Mental Health Care

A look at what happens to veterans when they come home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, how their families are affected who's there to provide mental health care should they need it.

Guests
Dr. Barbara Romberg, Founder and President of "Give an Hour," a non-profit organization which provides mental health care needs to veterans and their families affected by the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. She's also a clinical psychologist specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of children.

Kristin Henderson, Kristin Henderson is a journalist married to a military chaplain who has served in the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, and Iraq. She's also author of "While They're at War."

Dr. Stephen Xenakis, Brigadier General, U.S. Army (Ret.), psychiatrist and consultant to Secretary of the U.S. Army. He's writing a report on PTSD for the Army and hopes to complete it by year's end.

Tanya Biank, Author of "Army Wives: The Unwritten Code of Military Marriage" which is now the subject of a Lifetime Television show. She also is a syndicated columnist (CinCHouse.com) and broke the story on four Army wife murders committed at Fort Bragg in 2002.

Karie Darga, CEO, Military Spouse Legacy Association. Her husband was killed in Iraq in 2006.

You can listen here:
In Real Player

Or here:

In Windows Media Player

VCS Releases New VA and DoD Fact Sheets

This week Veterans for Common Sense releases updated versions of our popular VA and DoD Fact Sheets. The statistics are very disturbing.

The Pentagon officially reported 72,043 battlefield casualties from Iraq and Afghanistan through Jan. 5, 2008 - PDF.

VA hospitals and clinics have already treated 263,909 unplanned patients from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars - PDF. On top of that, VA reported 245,034 unanticipated disability claims from veterans of the two wars.

VCS issued warnings about this growing problem. On Veterans Day in 2007, VCS posted an editorial about how we believe VA and DoD mask the true costs of the two wars.

To assist you with making sense of the new Fact Sheets, a VCS analysis shows that between June 2007 and November 2007:

* The number of PTSD claims approved rose 80 percent (from 19,015 to 34,138), while the veteran population rose only 16 percent. The incidence of PTSD is dramatically rising, or VA is finally starting to take this problem more seriously, or both.

* 100 PTSD claims were approved every day. VA can expect tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands more PTSD claims from our new war veterans as more service members deploy to the war zone and then begin to return home.

* Veterans who served in the National Guard or Reserves were nearly three times as likely to have their VA disability compensation claim rejected (14% compared to 5%). VCS remains concerned about the apparent unequal treatment faced by our veterans who were ordered to active duty in the war zone from the National Guard and Reserves.

While the PTSD claims situation may be improving slightly due to intense pressure brought about by the VCS and Veterans United for Truth lawsuit against VA, there are still nearly 18,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans diagnosed by VA with PTSD who are not yet receiving VA disability payments.

VCS believes that VA is still not properly reviewing and approving PTSD claims for veterans already diagnosed with PTSD by VA doctors. This means VA continues to deny and delay essential disability payments for our veterans that could be the difference between paying the rent or becoming homeless.

Wounded Warrior Update: Last week, the House voted to include the "Dignity for Wounded Warriors Act" (formerly S 1606 and then HR 1585), in the new Defense Bill, HR 4986. Now we are waiting on the Senate to approve the bill. Sadly, the provision allowing our Gulf War veterans tortured by Iraq to sue the new Iraqi government was watered down.

Please share the critical information in your VCS Update with your friends, reporters, and elected officials so that they know the facts about the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Please donate generously to VCS so we can keep reporting the accurate and complete facts about the human consequences of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. We appreciate your support so we can provide the policy advocacy that all our veterans need.

Thank you,

Paul Sullivan
Executive Director
Veterans for Common Sense