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Veteran's E-News
(May 2008) |
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Healing Wounds |
 The
Veterans Equine Therapy Program (DAVID VOLZ)
The return to civilian life from a war has never
been easy. And many of the veterans returning
from Iraq are experiencing posttraumatic stress
disorders and difficulty with readjustment.
Many are reservists who did not anticipate a
long military engagement in a combat zone. They
have been away from their families and jobs for
years and now must reintegrate into society.
This is where Bob Bambury, executive director
for the South Florida Veterans Multi-Purpose
Center in Davie comes in. For the past 18 years,
this program has worked mostly with homeless
veterans. About a year ago the Center began the
Veterans Equine Therapeutic Project. The program
has five horses and works with five to ten
veterans at a time. |
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National Guard Vital in Long War |
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - The National Guard is
making a vital contribution to current wars and
will continue to be integral as the U.S.
military enter a period of persistent conflict,
the Army chief of staff said here Aug. 26.
With the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11,
2001, terrorist attacks fast approaching, Gen.
George W. Casey Jr. counseled citizen-soldiers
and -airmen to reflect on the future.
"We are at war. We are facing a period of
protracted conflict. ... Stop for a minute and
think about what's at stake here," he urged
those attending the National Guard Association
of the United States' 129th General Conference.
"What's at stake here in this war is the power
and the values of our civilization.
"What's at stake here is whether terrorism or
freedom charts the future.
"What's at stake here is nothing less than our
way of life." |
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| The Purple Heart |
For those that don't know, the Purple Heart is
the oldest American combat medal that is still
in use. It is awarded to any military member who
is wounded or killed in combat, and is
considered a great honor.
But that may be about to change:
A military psychologist suggests making troops
suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder
eligible for the Purple Heart to help remove the
stigma of a disorder affecting about 20 percent
of combat veterans.
Such a move would be a major change in the
Purple Heart awards policy, which does not
classify PTSD as a combat wound.
John E. Fortunato is chief of the Recovery and
Resilience Center at Fort Bliss, Texas, where he
treats soldiers suffering from PTSD.
During a visit to Fort Bliss on Thursday,
Defense Secretary Robert Gates praised the
center, which uses intensive individual therapy
and nontraditional ways such as acupuncture,
meditation and yoga to treat PTSD.
At Red River Army Depot on Friday, Gates said it
was an “interesting idea” to award the Purple
Heart to troops suffering from PTSD, adding the
issue is “clearly something that needs to be
looked into.”
On Thursday, Fortunato said PTSD is a “physical
disorder, at least in part,” because it damages
the brain, making it no different from shrapnel
wounds.
This is a very, very bad idea for the following
reasons: |
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Post-War Suicides May Exceed Combat
Deaths |
The number of suicides among veterans of wars in
Iraq and Afghanistan may exceed the combat death
toll because of inadequate mental health care,
the U.S. government's top psychiatric researcher
said.
Community mental health centers, hobbled by
financial limits, haven't provided enough
scientifically sound care, especially in rural
areas, said Thomas Insel, director of the
National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda,
Maryland. He briefed reporters today at the
American Psychiatric Association's annual
meeting in Washington.
Insel echoed a Rand Corporation study published
last month that found about 20 percent of
returning U.S. soldiers have post- traumatic
stress disorder or depression, and only half of
them receive treatment. About 1.6 million U.S.
troops have fought in the two wars since October
2001, the report said. About 4,560 soldiers had
died in the conflicts as of today, the Defense
Department reported on its Web site. |
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3,500 from Benning to leave Iraq in
weeks ahead |
About 3,500 American soldiers who were part of
last summer’s troop “surge” are scheduled to
leave Iraq in the coming weeks, the U.S.
military said.
The soldiers, part of the 3rd Heavy Brigade
Combat Team, will re-deploy to Fort Benning,
Ga., according to a statement released late
Monday. The U.S. sent some 30,000 additional
troops into Iraq last summer to help stem
growing violence.
Those troops, along with the rise of Sunni
fighters who allied with the U.S. and began
battling al-Qaida and a truce called by a key
Shiite militia, were credited with a sharp
decline in violence during the last 10 months.
The soldiers are part of the third of five
“surge” brigades scheduled to re-deploy. The
other two are expected to return to the U.S. by
the end of July. |
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Helping our veterans |
The psychological toll that soldiers are
suffering as a result of serving in Iraq and
Afghanistan is slowly becoming apparent.
Surveys estimate that 25 percent of our service
members have reported signs of post-traumatic
stress disorder or other mental health problems,
yet less than half seek treatment.
That's why the change in the Pentagon's mental
health policy that was announced Thursday by
Defense Secretary Robert Gates is so important.
Applicants for government security clearances in
many cases no longer will have to disclose they
got mental health counseling related to combat
service.
The change is an effort to alleviate the stigma
associated with seeking mental health treatment
for PTSD and other conditions. |
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Soldier on his seventh tour dies in
Afghanistan |
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Sgt. 1st Class David L. McDowell, 30, of Ramona,
California died Tuesday in Afghanistan of
“wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked
using small arms fires.” The San Diego Tribune
reports, “He had been deployed to Afghanistan
and Iraq seven times and was a recipient of two
Bronze stars and a Purple Heart.” |
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Army widens probe after finding bad
conditions... |
Army officials said Tuesday they are inspecting
every barracks building worldwide to see whether
plumbing and other problems revealed at Fort
Bragg, N.C., last week are widespread.
Brig. Gen. Dennis Rogers, who is responsible for
maintaining barracks throughout the Army, told
reporters at the Pentagon that most inspections
were done last weekend but he had not seen final
results.
While not providing specifics about problems
discovered during the weekend inspections,
Rogers indicated some deficiencies were
corrected. In cases where extensive repairs are
deemed necessary, the soldiers in that housing
would be moved elsewhere until the fixes are
completed, he added.
Rogers said it was too soon to know whether the
Fort Bragg problem was an isolated incident. He
acknowledged the revelations from a video shot
by the father of an 82nd Airborne Division
soldier showing poor conditions such as mold
inside the barracks, peeling interior paint and
a bathroom drain plugged with sewage.
The soldier's father, Ed Frawley, said he was
disgusted by the conditions that greeted his son
and the rest of his 82nd Airborne unit that
returned on April 7-8 after a 15-month tour of
duty in Afghanistan.
“We let our soldiers down, and that's not like
us,” Rogers told reporters. “We let our soldiers
down. That's not how we want America's sons and
daughters to live. There's no good excuse for
what happened.” |
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The Impact of War |
U.S. soldiers attend a 2007 ceremony at Camp
Victory, the post in Baghdad sometimes referred
to as "Club Med."
Morning Edition, April 30, 2008 · On their last
tour in Iraq, the soldiers of the Arkansas
National Guard's 39th Combat Brigade Team saw
heavy combat on a street in Baghdad known as
"Purple Heart Boulevard." Now, in a short
turnaround from that 2004-05 deployment, the
Guardsmen are back.
"You probably won't find anybody out there that
was, you know, thrilled about the prospect of
coming back. But there was very little in the
way of soldiers ... being overly concerned about
coming back," says Col. Kendall Penn, commander
of the 39th. |
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VA Loans for Veterans Overlooked |
On Capitol Hill, it's known as the biggest
goof-up relating to housing in years: Working
with the White House, Congress passed a
bipartisan $150 billion stimulus bill that
raised mortgage limits for home buyers in high
cost areas across the country.
But guess what? The stimulus increased loan
maximums for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the FHA
to $729,750 from the previous $417,000, but
totally forgot about a program that helps
finance more than 11,000 homes a month: VA loans
for veterans.
How could that be? Maybe one answer is another
question: How could Congress have a public
approval rating in the low 20 percent range?
"We just blew it, we didn't catch it," said one
committee staff member who is not authorized to
speak publicly. Congressman Steve Buyer of
Indiana, the ranking Republican on the House
Veterans Affairs committee, blamed the omission
squarely on the Democratic leadership who put
together the package. |
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