Will Return to Posting in Late June

Hello, long-neglected readers.

Thanks for your patience as my writing here has stopped the past weeks while I completed my studies last month, tended to home and family responsibilities, and taken some vacation time. In the meantime, you're invited to join me at Facebook, where I often share veterans' issue-related links and other various information. I will return to posting here in late June.

My best to you until then.

1st Annual Marine Week Kicks off in Chicago, Runs May 11-17, 2009

Marine Week will be hosted by different cities each year offering residents and visitors a chance to attend any number of free events. It also offers Marines a chance to give back directly to and interact directly with their own communities.

Details:

Established to recognize the contributions of local Marine heroes, their families, and the cities from which they came, Marine Week also showcases the rich history and traditions of our beloved Corps.

During the week, citizens will find Marines volunteering at local food kitchens and community parks, inspiring students by sharing their stories of service to their country, conducting intense physical fitness challenges and martial arts demonstrations, and performing with local musical groups.

The Marine Corps will also display aircraft, vehicles, and the latest technology and equipment used to protect and preserve our Nation and its citizens.

I am hoping to attend at least one event, if time permits.

When and if that happens, I'll be sure to share my photos and experience with you. Full schedule of private and public events (free public happenings in extended).

Click on 'Article' link below tags for more...

Marine Week Schedule of Events

Monday - May 11
o Marines volunteer to restore Levin Park (8:00 A.M.)
o Marine Week Dedication Ceremony at Daley Plaza (10:30 A.M.)
o Will feature the 29 Palms Marine Band and Color Guard, Brigadier General Melvin G. Spiese (Chicago native) and a pinning ceremony to honor Marine families and veterans

Tuesday - May 12
o Marines volunteer to restore Riis Park (8:00 A.M.)
o Performance by the Marine Corps Battle Colors Detachment, featuring the Silent Drill Platoon and Drum and Bugle Corps at Oak Park and River Forest High School Stadium (6:00 P.M.)

Wednesday - May 13
o Marines volunteer at Cornerstone Community Outreach Center (8:00 A.M.)
o Performances by the Marine Corps Battle Colors Detachment, featuring the Silent Drill Platoon and Drum and Bugle Corps at Soldier Field (3:00 P.M. & 7:00 P.M.)

Thursday - May 14
o Marines volunteer with Habitat for Humanity (Details forthcoming)

Friday - May 15
o Marines at Navy Pier (10:00 A.M. - 10:00 P.M.)
o Will feature robotics, technology and vehicle displays, Martial Arts and Combat Fitness demonstrations, and the 29 Palms Marine Band
o Marines at Arlington Park racetrack (All Day)
o Will feature aviation, technology and vehicle displays

Saturday - May 16
o Marines at Navy Pier (10:00 A.M. - 10:00 P.M.)
o Will feature robotics, technology and vehicle displays, Martial Arts and Combat Fitness demonstrations, and the 29 Palms Marine Band
o Marine Band Concert at Navy Pier, Skyline Stage (8:00 P.M.)
o Marines at Arlington Park racetrack (All Day)
o Will feature aviation, technology and vehicle displays

Sunday - May 17
o Marines at Arlington Park racetrack (All Day)
o Will feature technology and vehicle displays, performances by the Marine Corps Battle Colors Detachment, featuring the Silent Drill Platoon and Drum and Bugle Corps and Marine Corps Aircraft Demonstrations (12:00 P.M. - 6:00 P.M.)
o Marines at Navy Pier (All Day)
o Will feature robotics, technology and vehicle displays, Martial Arts and Combat Fitness demonstrations, and the 29 Palms Marine Band at Skyline Stage (3:00 P.M)

5 Dead After U.S. Soldier in Iraq Opens Fire at Camp Liberty Stress Clinic [UPDATE #2]

UPDATE #2 May 12, 10:37 pm -- Added official statements to this tragedy by Steve Robinson, a veteran and advocate, Paul Sullivan, Exec Director of Veterans for Common Sense, and IAVA's Paul Rieckhoff.

UPDATE #1 May 11, 2009 12:12 pm -- The New York Times is reporting that the shooter is in custody, and was not among those killed in the incident as early news reports suggested.





CBS Evening News [video at link]:

Tuesday the army identified the American soldier who went on a deadly rampage at an Army base in Iraq and charged him with the murder of five other U.S. service members.

Sgt. John Russell, a 44-year-old Texan, has been in the military 20 years. Russell was on his third tour of duty in Iraq and, as CBS News correspondent Bob Orr reports, there were signs he was in trouble.

His commanders feared Russell was on the edge. So, they took away his weapon and ordered him to counseling at a combat stress clinic in Baghdad.

And it was there Monday, officials say, that Russell opened fire, killing five fellow service members. Among his victims: Navy Commander Charles Springle, a licensed clinical social worker.

Today at their home in Sherman, Tex., Russell's 20-year-old son struggled to understand how his dad, a decorated electronics expert, now faces five counts of murder.

"He's got medals. He was doing good for the country," John Russell II said. "For him to do something like that, he couldn't of been in his right state of mind. They had to have put him to a breaking point. Because he just had to have lost it lost all train of thought to do anything like that."

Sgt. Russell's father said he may have snapped out of fear that his military career could be ended by a stress diagnosis.

Resources and updates in extended.

Click on 'Article' link below tags for much, much more...

In educational interest, article(s) quoted from extensively.

UPDATE #2 --- CBS Reports, May 11, 2009:



James Dao and Lizette Alvarez, NYT:

He was a career Army man who joined up because it was a steady job, but he had fallen into debt paying off a $1,500-a-month mortgage, his father said. Now, just weeks from finishing his third tour in Iraq, Sgt. John M. Russell was in trouble with his commanding officer, who ordered him to turn in his gun and receive psychological counseling.

On Monday, after a confrontation with the staff at a clinic at Camp Liberty, a sprawling base on the outskirts of Baghdad, Sergeant Russell returned with a weapon, possibly wrestled away from his armed escort, and killed five people, Army officials said. It appeared to be the worst case of soldier-on-soldier violence among American forces in the six-year Iraq war.

Sergeant Russell, 44, of the 54th Engineering Battalion, based in Bamberg, Germany, has been charged with five counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault in the shooting, said Maj. Gen. David Perkins, a spokesman for the military in Iraq.

The dead included an Army officer and a Navy officer on the clinic staff, and three enlisted soldiers who were at the clinic. ... General Perkins said the Army had handled the case appropriately.

“The tools were all being used,” General Perkins said. “They thought that he needed a higher level of care than the unit could provide, so they sent him to the clinic. I mean, you see, all the kind of things that we’re taught to do were in place.”

The Navy identified its dead officer as Cmdr. Charles Keith Springle, 52, of Wilmington, N.C., a licensed clinical social worker. The Army on Tuesday night had not released the names of the other shooting victims pending notification of their families.

The shooting has renewed debate over the stresses placed on troops that have deployed multiple times to Iraq and Afghanistan. Last year, the Army had about 140 confirmed suicides, a record since the service began tracking the statistic in 1980. Many experts say that repeat deployments to combat zones are a factor behind the higher rate, along with financial and marital problems.

Steve Robinson, a veterans' advocate that I greatly admire and trust, emailed his impressions and I asked if I could share them with you here:

From: steve robinson
Sent: Monday, May 11, 2009 5:10 PM
To: 'Ilona Meagher'
Subject: RE: official stmt on stress clinic shooting?

We don’t know what happened in this particular case but we do know what is happening in our military surrounding STIGMA, mental health in the Military and the needs of returning veterans.

We must deconstruct the sequence of events that lead to this tragic incident and find out what went right and what went wrong. As a military we must begin to talk about the needs of our service members and families before, during and after war.

Why it is so hard after so many negative stories and reports to get the DoD with so many gatekeepers to change course in the middle of the fight. We must address the OPTEMPO and stress on our military as a National Security issue.

We must have training based on the consequences of long multiple deployments. We must shift from a mental behavioral defective soldier model to a performance enhancement and optimization model targeted also at combat stress mitigation: this includes being open and frank about the realities of combat and the impact on the brain and nervous system. Soldiers appreciate this because it allows them to view their brain and nervous system as part of their weapons' systems, just like understanding their M-4.

Why do we fight? What are we owed? Can the Nation deliver what we need?

The military teaches us through doing. The act of training and repetition create a conditioned response to almost every situation. This is the fundamental reason soldiers are able to set aside the fear of bullets, bombs and the trauma of war while conducting the mission. The military teaches us to dis-identify with the brains normal response to war and pursue the military objective, sometimes for the greater good or national policy but most service members find themselves simple fighting to survive and protect the men and women to the right and left on the battlefield.

But is it that simple? Soldiers can be easily trained to dis-identify with what their mind is telling them and press on with the collective task at hand but being trained to set aside who we are and what we believe or feel to accomplish a military objective does not mean that the mind wont revisit these issues before, during or after the battle is over or the war is done. The military focuses on the training to get things done but often ignores the consequences of doing and participating.

Who we are and what we think is always more powerful than what someone wants us to believe and ultimately when war is over we are left with ourselves to process the wartime experience and give it meaning. The military has long ignored this fact and consequence of war.

Warriors of old were philosophers, poets and artist they had an arsenal of traditions to help them during and returning from the war and back to their society. Today we have no such traditions, soldiers and families are left to figure it out on their own.

Leadership prevents suicides and tragedies like this from occurring but leadership alone wont solve the problem. Individuals and Leaders must be trained to recognize and treat the signs of distress.

For some, war is a positive event and a defining moment in time, for others it is devastating, confusing event that requires a great deal of introspection, processing and debate in ones own mind on what you did, was it right and was it worth the cost. People often talk about the good wars where public opinion was not divided but no matter the public perception, war is ultimately a test of will using weapons that cause death, destruction and trauma. Our military must training that teaches and understanding of this occupational fact.

This is why in this war, like other long wars, the toll on the mind and body has become self evident in daily accounts of soldiers and families falling through the cracks. The military and the Nation now seem concerned about the long term cost of caring for those with mental illness but the military has created this problem because they ignore the last part of the mission, “What happens when you break down in theater or when you come home?”.

In my testimony before the Mental Health Task Force I talked about Operationalizing battlefield experience the same way we care for military equipment. There must be a discussion about what happened and way for the soldier to normalize their feelings rather than suppressing them only to explode later.

This concept if employed would allow the soldier to process all the emotions of war and become more resilient but it requires a serious shift in military doctrine and philosophy.

When faced with soldiers who are having problems with their wartime experience the military has two standard paths they usually choose. The first choice for many commanders is to ignore it. Opting rather to believe the soldiers has a lack of moral character or intestinal fortitude therefore is a discipline problem because they can no longer cope in the military structure. The second path the military chooses is to label the problem with a diagnosis and medicalize the issue ignoring the basic fundamental fact that war stress is part of the problem and ownership of the experience is the cure.

Paul Sullivan, Veterans for Common Sense, sent the following statement via email:

Our heart goes out to the families of the fallen soldiers. This is tragic incident.

Now the situation is getting worse, with nearly two million deployed to combat, and 4-in-10 deployed twice or more, according to DMDC data obtained by VCS using FOIA. We can only deploy humans into war so many times before the structural integrity of either the soldiers and/or the system has a catastrophic failure. Even a notice of impending deployment triggers suicide and homicide. Veterans for Common Sense identified several cases where veterans completed suicide after getting notified of their imminent return to combat.

If the Army and the President want to get to the bottom of the latest spike in the murder - suicide epidemic caused by the war, then the best place to start is the failure of the military to examine our soldiers thoroughly during initial enlistment as well as before and after deployment.

Here are salient questions about the Army's newest war-induced crisis.

1. Press reports indicate the suspect soldier was deployed twice before, and that this was his third combat deployment. Was the suspect soldier given his three pre-deployment medical exams, as required by PL 105-85, enacted in 1997? If yes, was he found fit? If yes, and he was found unfit, why was he re-deployed? If no exam was performed, then why was he not given the required pre-deployment medical exam?

2. Was he given his two post-deployment medical exams, as required by law? If yes, was he found fit? If yes, and he was found unfit, why was he re-deployed? If he was not examined, why was he not given the required post-deployment medical exam?

3. Was the chain of command provided training on mental health issues and the requirement for pre- and post-deployment exams? If so, describe the training materials and dates? If not, why not?

If the military failed to perform both the pre- and post-deployment exams required by law, then the military bears some responsibility for the suicides and murders by failing to identify and treat symptoms before they became fatal. As we repeatedly tell reporters, the Army's intentional deployment of soldiers without medical exams plus deployment of unfit soldiers into combat are tantamount to sending a broken plane on a long-range mission without checking or providing enough fuel and ammunition, thus undermining the safety of the crew and success of the mission. In the end, our military and Nation are weaker because of the failure to take care of our most important asset - our troops. If the military needed more doctors, it failed to demand them. If the military could not send people back for multiple tours, it failed to demand more troops.

Paul Sullivan
Executive Director
Veterans for Common Sense

Paul Rieckhoff, IAVA:

The events at Camp Liberty today are a great tragedy. The friends and families of those killed have suffered a terrible loss, and our thoughts are with them during this difficult time.

Unlike during the Vietnam War, today’s military is a professional, all-volunteer force. There have been only five cases of intentional fratricide by U.S. service members in Iraq. But these incidents, however rare, draw public attention to an important issue: the enormous stress on our armed forces. Many troops are under great psychological strain and are not receiving the treatment they need. Over 600,000 troops have served more than one combat tour since 9/11. Military suicide rates have hit record highs every year since 2003. Much more must be done to address troops’ psychological injuries before they reach a crisis point.

Rieckhoff discussing the issue on CNN:



UPDATE #1 --- As the military aggressively works to calm its escalating suicide rate, horrible news from Iraq. Details are only now trickling in, but -- clearly -- this is a devastating incident.

Timothy Williams, New York Times:

The United States military said Monday that five American soldiers had been shot to death by a fellow soldier who opened fire on them at one of the biggest American bases in Baghdad, and that the suspected shooter was in custody.

The killings appeared to be the worst case of lethal non-combat casualties for the American forces in Iraq since the invasion more than six years ago.

The shooting took place at around 2 p.m. local time at Camp Liberty, a sprawling base next to Baghdad airport, the military said in a statement. The names of the dead soldiers were being withheld pending family notification, the statement said.

“Anytime we lose one of our own, it affects us all,” Col. John Robinson, a spokesman for the U.S. military in Iraq, said in the statement.

CNN, citing unnamed officials, said that at least three others were wounded in the attack, which it said had taken place at a clinic for soldiers suffering from war stress.

The killing of American troops by their fellow soldiers is infrequent, but not unheard of. The latest incident in Iraq occurred in September, when an American soldier was arrested following the shooting deaths of two American soldiers at their patrol base near Iskandariya.

All three soldiers were assigned to the Third Battalion, Seventh Infantry Regiment, Fourth Brigade Combat Team, Third Infantry Division, based in Fort Stewart, Ga.

[See article for more related incidents.] ...

The death toll from the Monday shooting was the highest for American personnel in a single attack since April 10, when a suicide truck driver killed five American soldiers with a blast near a police headquarters in Mosul, news agencies reported.

Violence has dropped sharply in Iraq, but a rash of major bombings by insurgents has raised questions about security less than two months before American forces are due to withdraw combat troops from urban bases.

Earlier this month, two American soldiers were killed by a man wearing an Iraqi Army uniform at an Iraqi military training center south of Mosul. In April, 18 American military personnel members were killed in Iraq — double the number in March and the highest since September 2008, when 25 were killed.

Peter S. Green, Bloomberg News:

“It’s going to take a few days to figure this out,” Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters in the U.S.

The shootings took place at a stress clinic for troops, the Associated Press reported. It’s unclear whether those killed worked at the clinic or were there for counseling, and whether all the dead were members of the military, AP said, citing a senior U.S. military official in Washington who wasn’t identified by name.

President Barack Obama “was shocked by the news of this incident,” Robert Gibbs, a White House spokesman, said today. The president has a meeting later today with Defense Secretary Robert Gates and will raise the matter in their discussion, Gibbs said.

Robert H. Reid, AP:

Separately, the military announced Monday that a U.S. soldier was also killed a day earlier when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle in Basra province of southern Baghdad.

FOX News has a page on Camp Liberty, the scene of the incident:

Camp Liberty can hold about 14,000 troops. Camp Liberty has a chapel, Moral Recreation and Welfare building, PX shoppette, barber shop, Internet cafe, gym and more. Camp Liberty lies northeast of Baghdad International Airport.

The land near the camp is a former hunting reserve for Saddam Hussein. 1st Cavalry Division Headquarters is stationed at Camp Liberty. The Multi-national Corp in Iraq is headquartered at Camp Liberty. The Multi-national Corp coordinates the day to day operations of the military units in Iraq.

Camp Liberty is of the largest overseas posts built since the Vietnam War.

Pentagon Channel news broadcast, May 11, 2009:



ORIGINAL POST --

The first news to arrive, from MSNBC, reported erroneously that the shooter had killed himself. Those early details:

MSNBC reported:

A U.S. service member opened fire on fellow members of the military, killing four and wounding several others, at the main U.S. base in Baghdad, officials told NBC News on Monday.

NBC's Jim Miklaszewski reported the assailant took his own life after the violent outburst. The attacker was described as a "stressed out" U.S. soldier.

The military said in a statement that the shooting occurred about 2 p.m. at Camp Liberty near Baghdad International Airport.

The toll was the highest for U.S. personnel in a single attack since April 10, when a suicide truck driver killed five American soldiers with a blast near a police headquarters in the northern city of Mosul.

While it's obvious a difficult journey is in store for those personally affected by the situation, I can't help but think that this news must also be hard on those families who've previously had to hoe the same military suicide row. Every tragedy like this must bring some of the sting back, I'm afraid.

Sending my thoughts and prayers out to all of those who are involved and/or especially affected by this devastating news.


Related Posts

• Senate Hearing on Military Suicides Slated for Wednesday, March 18, as Army Continues to Attack Problem
  
• Army Learns Secrecy is Deadly When it Comes to Suicide
  
• Rising Tide: 2008 OEF/OIF Army, Marine Suicides 28% of Overall KIA Casualties; Jan '09 Army Suicides May Surpass Month's KIA Count
  
• Army's RESPECT-MIL Program Aims to Reduce Stigma by Screening All Care-Seeking Soldiers for PTSD
  
• Army Vice Chief of Staff General Richard Cody: Soldiers, Families 'Stretched and Stressed' to Limit
  
• Army Report: Civilian Psychologists Needed on OEF/OIF Battlefronts, Suicides Up, Stigma of Seeking Help Down
  
• More than 50% of Army's 948 Suicide Attempts in 2006 Sought Help First
  
• Army Begins 90-Day Push to Educate 1 Million Soldiers on PTSD/TBI
  
• New Army Hotline for Wounded Warrior, Military Family Help Now Available
  
• Army: 83 suicides in 2005, 67 in 2004
  

A Military Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day!

The most wonderful of spring days to all of you who have put your time and love and energy into caring for your children, making sure they have the tools and confidence to go out into the world and live a full, healthy and productive life. For our military mothers, the pride of seeing her child -- now, all grown up -- in uniform, must be an enormous one.

On par with their first steps, or the day they graduated from high school, that first glance must make the heart swell. But, I imagine the heart may as well be wracked with anxiety at having a son or daughter deployed to a combat zone.

It's a range of emotion most Americans can't fathom.

Perhaps rivaled only by the feelings military spouses may have when their mate is shipped off, a mother whose child is at war holds her breath until their safe return. [A recent NYT piece on military mothers and wives being prepared for the return of their loved ones in the next few weeks is well worth a read.]

There are other mothers in this equation, too.

Mothers are serving overseas for the first time in large numbers while their children anxiously wait for them to come home.

Unfortunately, some will return home from Afghanistan or Iraq with physical or psychological wounds that require family caregivers to drop what they're doing, and rally around to comfort and care for their favorite service member.

Volumes have been written and spoken about the experience of our military families since the Global War on Terror began in earnest in 2001. It may feel as though you've heard everything you care to hear. Or, maybe you believe that most of the struggles they have had to bear have been alleviated with the past years' investigations and/or elections.

You would be wrong, I'm afraid.

First lady Michelle Obama sat down for an exclusive Pentagon Channel interview in honor of Military Spouse Appreciation Day, which took place this past Friday, as well as Mother's Day. In it, she outlines her desire to bring the needs of our military families to the forefront of our nation's consciousness.



Part Two of the interview (which is especially good), along with related news clips, in extended. From the first lady on down, we all have a role in pulling together to help take some of the burdens off of those who nurture our military veterans.

Your mother would be proud that you did.

Click on 'Article' link below tags for more...

In educational interest, article(s) quoted from extensively.

Part Two



Laura Incalcaterra, Lower Hudson Valley [NY] Journal News:

A flower delivery is typically a welcome treat, but for some moms this Mother's Day it may be even sweeter than usual. Florists throughout the state have volunteered to deliver free flowers to about 150 mothers whose sons, daughters or husbands are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan with the New York National Guard.

The florists provide the flowers and the delivery at their own expense, and several said they were happy to do so.

"I wanted to honor their sacrifice of being over there," said MariEllyn Dykstra, owner of A. Dykstra Florist and Greenhouse in Chestnut Ridge and a driving force behind the effort.

"They left their jobs," Dykstra said. "They left their mortgages. They left their wives and their husbands. They left their children. "They didn't expect to serve two, three tours, and these people are all in their late 20s, their 30s, their 40s, their 50s," she said. "They're not young enlistees."

Dykstra started the project last year, delivering about 15 bouquets of flowers throughout Rockland. She enlisted the help of her husband, Jerry Donnellan, director of the Rockland Veterans Service Agency and a Vietnam War veteran.

He was asked to provide Dykstra with the names of local mothers with children or spouses in the two war zones, but the contact information for military personnel and their families is private.

Donnellan reached out to the New York National Guard office in Orangetown, asking for help in spreading the word about the Mother's Day deliveries. The effort went statewide after Donnellan asked Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef to send a letter to Gov. David Paterson, who is the New York Guard's commander in chief.

This year, a flier about the deliveries was sent out, via the chain of command, to those in Iraq and Afghanistan. Donnellan said the flowers helped the mothers know the community cared.

"There's a lot of time when she's got to be feeling like she's the only one on the block or in the town who's got a kid over there," Donnellan said. "This is a way for us to say, we may not feel your pain completely, but we feel your sacrifice and we want to let you know that."

Cindy Larson, The Fort Wayne [IN] News-Sentinel:

Flowers, candy, jewelry, maybe even a nice dinner out are just a few of the treats many moms hope for and get on Mother's Day.

But mothers whose children serve in the armed forces often wish for something more simple: They want their children to be safe. Or they just wish they could be with them on Mother's Day, or at least speak to them.

We spoke to four women who are members of the Fort Wayne Area Blue Star Mothers of Indiana. The organization is for people whose sons and daughters are serving or have served in a branch of the U.S. military. They support each other as well as local soldiers and veterans. Here's what they had to say:
Left investment job to enlist

Anita Trotter's son, Jonathan, now 32, had a good job working in Chicago for the investment firm Goldman Sachs at the beginning of the decade. Jonathan's priorities changed when many Goldman Sachs employees died in the attack on the World Trade Center in New York City on Sept. 11, 2001. Shortly after, he told his mother he wanted to join the military.

“I didn't think it was a good idea,” Trotter said. “9/11 seemed like such an ugly thing, and I just thought this would be an ugly involvement for the United States.”

Jonathan listened to his heart, not his mother. He flies B-52 bombers for the Air Force. He's been deployed three times now, and when he's deployed, his mother doesn't know where he is. But she says her situation is better than other military moms, because “I know if no B-52s go down, he's safe. Mothers with sons on the ground, they don't have that safe feeling.”

Still, with a child in the military, “it's not like your child's in college in the next state.”

He's overseas on special assignment now and doesn't have the option to come home for Mother's Day. Trotter says her biggest wish for Mother's Day “probably is just a call from overseas, and let me have more than two minutes,” she said.

Her son has changed from his years in the military, and she says it's mostly a good change. “I'm very proud of Jonathan. Or Capt. Trotter, as they call him.”

Please read the rest to learn how three other Blue Star mothers are coping this Mother's Day. Meanwhile, the sacrifices of our Gold Star Mothers is being honored in New Jersey.

Jessica Diklitch, Asbury Park Press:

Sadly missed. Always loved. Never forgotten.

That is a phrase etched on a monument unveiled Sunday at Brig. Gen. William C. Doyle Veterans Memorial Cemetery in honor of Gold Star Mothers — those who have lost a son or daughter in war. The monument was dedicated by Veterans of Foreign Wars District 6 and its Ladies Auxiliary, based in Monmouth County.

"Their children are our heroes, but they are the ones who deal with loss every day," said Lorraine Brooks, Ladies Auxiliary state president. "This monument is to show we do care about you, and we do appreciate all, not only what your children do for us, but all you do for us every day."

A mass of umbrellas gathered in front of the monument while VFW and Gold Star Mother members addressed the crowd of about 70.

The monument dedication coincided with the 50th anniversary of Loyalty Day, a day to "recognize and reaffirm the principles of American democracy," said Bill Grieman, past state VFW commander. According to the VFW of the United States Web site, Loyalty Day began as Americanization Day in 1921 as a counter to the Communists' May 1 celebration of the Russian Revolution.

"We proudly honor those who have fought and those who are fighting today to protect our liberty," said Grieman, who is also District 6 Gold Star Mothers committee chairman.

The unveiling for the mothers, most of whom wore white, followed the completion of the Loyalty Day program and parade of service flags.

"We know we can't mend your broken heart, but maybe with this monument we can enlighten others of your sacrifice," said Frank Romeo, District 6 commander.

And from Lee Woodruff, wife of ABC correspondent Bob Woodruff and mom to four kids, via The FOX Forum:

I have been honored to meet countless wives and mothers who imagined a life completely different for their loved one. They wanted only the most basic things for their children. These weren’t lofty hopes and dreams, just the stuff of ordinary lives.

Instead of the sons and daughters they care for who are paralyzed or amputees, brain injured or breathing on a trach tube, these mothers’ dreams are for their children to utter a word again, walk independently or maybe even attend a few classes at a local college. These are the thousands of veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who find themselves back at home with lives interrupted. Depression, anger, the inability to hold a job, communicate effectively or organize a day are often the hallmarks of those with the signature injury of this war—a brain injury.

This Mother’s Day, instead of receiving flowers or presents from their children, thousands of military moms and wives, many with young children, will be providing around the clock care for their loved one.

Our veterans and service members are the only ones who have been asked to sacrifice after Sept 11th. And this Mother’s Day, I believe all of us need to come together and honor the mothers of America’s wounded heroes.

And while you are honoring the mothers in your life, think about donating one dollar for someone who risked his life for you –- regardless of your politics.

The [Bob Woodruff Foundation's] goal is to raise a dollar for each of the 1.65 million service members who have cycled through Iraq an Afghanistan. The money goes to local support services and resources to assist their recovery from the physical and psychological wounds of war.

I can’t think of a better way to honor America’s hero Moms on Mother’s Day. And I’m going to guess that after you’ve done something so good, those dogs and burgers at the BBQ will taste even better when the world feels a little brighter.

Related Posts

• A Thank You to Those Who Care for Our Nation's Wounded
  
• A Mother's Day Reflection
  
• A Mother's Day Wish

Dunkin' Donuts Helps Wounded Vets, Duckworth to Help VA Use New Media to Reach Vets, Coming Healthcare Crisis?, Veterans Corps Bill

• The Boston Globe | Dunkin' will help vets with Iced Coffee Day - "Dunkin' Donuts, the Canton-based chain of coffee-and-baked-goods shops, announced an Iced Coffee Day on April 21 that aims to benefit injured veterans. On Iced Coffee Day, the price for a small cup of iced coffee will be reduced to 50 cents at participating shops, the chain said; for every small iced coffee purchased on this day, Dunkin' Donuts said it will donate five cents to benefit Homes for Our Troops, a nonprofit organization that builds specially adapted homes for severely injured veterans." For more, visit their special website or their Facebook event page.
  
  
• Honolulu Advertiser | VA nominee Duckworth plans online outreach to veterans - Duckworth told senators yesterday that: "To become a 21st-century organization, the DVA (Department of Veterans Affairs) will have to change some past methods. It's no longer enough to hand out brochures at demobilization ceremonies. We must develop social networking strategies, use nontraditional outlets such as blogs, and employ the wide variety of new media available to get the message of available benefits to our veterans."
  
  
• GOOD | The Memory War - "We might be on our way out of Iraq but things are just starting to pick up in Afghanistan. With record-high number of veteran suicides and rising rates of PTSD and clinical depression in every branch of the armed forces, is the nation headed for a mental-healthcare crisis?"
  
  
• Navy Times | Senate OKs creation of Veterans’ Corps - "A program in which veterans would volunteer to help active-duty members make the transition to civilian life has moved a step closer to reality with the Senate’s March 26 vote to more than triple the number of national service jobs. The bill, HR 1388, authorizes a new Veterans’ Corps, whose success would be measured by the number of veterans who are helped to go to college or find jobs, the number of military families provided assistance, and the number of homeless veterans who find housing."
  

More PTSD Combat Diigo links.

Salon Investigation: Army Doctors Pressured Not to Diagnose PTSD, Senate Armed Services Committee Refuses to Look Into Matter

And now, back to reality.

After my glowing post yesterday, nodding to the many Army generals nudging military culture into the 21st century by admitting that anyone can and does get PTSD, it doesn't take long for things to come crashing back down to reality.

Michael de Yoanna and Mark Benjamin for Salon:

For more than a year he's been seeking treatment at Fort Carson for a brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder, the signature injuries of the Iraq war. Sgt. X is also suffering through the Army's confusing disability payment system, handled by something called a medical evaluation board. The process of negotiating the system has been made harder by his war-damaged memory. Sgt. X's wife has to go with him to doctor's appointments so he'll remember what the doctor tells him.

But what Sgt. X wants to tell a reporter about is one doctor's appointment at Fort Carson that his wife did not witness. When she couldn't accompany him to an appointment with psychologist Douglas McNinch last June, Sgt. X tucked a recording device into his pocket and set it on voice-activation so it would capture what the doctor said. Sgt. X had no idea that the little machine in his pocket was about to capture recorded evidence of something wounded soldiers and their advocates have long suspected -- that the military does not want Iraq veterans to be diagnosed with PTSD, a condition that obligates the military to provide expensive, intensive long-term care, including the possibility of lifetime disability payments.

And, as Salon will explore in a second article Thursday, after the Army became aware of the tape, the Senate Armed Services Committee declined to investigate its implications, despite prodding from a senator who is not on the committee. The Army then conducted its own internal investigation -- and cleared itself of any wrongdoing.

Fort Carson, you may recall, was the site of a major scandal in 2006-2007 when first the Colorado Springs Independent (CSIndy) and CBS News reported in July 2006 that some troops were receiving abuse rather than proper treatment for their reintegration issues and/or PTSD after returning from Iraq. In December 2006, NPR broke the story even wider; Senate investigations followed.

For a look at today's brewing scandal, be sure to listen to the tape, and read the entire Salon piece, which contains a rough transcript of the conversation and much more information. The work is so important, that rather than quote any more from it, I would urge everyone to read it in full. Tomorrow, Salon will run a companion piece with more details on this developing controversy. Be sure to keep an eye out for that one, too.

In February, de Yoanna and Benjamin presented a series of reports on related problems at Fort Carson. Once your blood pressure is in check after reading their current reportage, be sure to check in with their "Coming Home" series.

I promise you it won't make you feel better.

If you are aware of a soldier who has served or is serving in the Iraq or Afghanistan conflicts and is having trouble getting a PTSD diagnosis or proper benefits, please contact Mark Benjamin at mbenjamin (at) salon (dot) com.

Click on 'Article' link below tags for related Fort Carson posts...


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Sage Markers of Military Culture Change: Generals Continue Coming Forward to Share Their Stories of PTSD and Suicide

Wisdom. What is it?

Something forged out of experience, certainly. Usually that wisdom-forging insight stems from a walk down a challenging or difficult path, and combat experience would surely qualify here, one requiring either cognitive or physical effort (or both) to overcome.

Cognitive elements might include grappling with the events of one's own life as well as contemplating the greater meaning of those experiences. This avenue to wisdom will also eventually lead to a consideration of the greater forces on one's life or the existence of a higher power.

And what would the value of all of this wisdom work be if its product is not shared with others -- no matter the cost?

Cited in Richard Hawley Trowbridge's doctoral dissertation, "The Scientific Approach of Wisdom," [doc] social psychologist and Rutgers University professor Deirdre A. Kramer distinguishes five specific functions of wisdom: (a) finding solutions to problems that confront the self; (b) advising others; (c) management of social institutions; (d) life review; and (e) spiritual introspection.

One function, as noted above, of wisdom concerns its responsibility and ties to social institutions. Again, what benefit would wisdom have if not shared with larger society through organized (and other) means? Those in positions of power to enlighten and broaden the knowledge and understanding base of society and its institutions, especially when the activity might threaten one's career or image, are to be applauded.

Those who do this work are our modern sages and heroes.

When I say hero, it is as described by Franciscan priest and writer Richard Rohr in his book, Quest for the Grail:

The American Plains warriors, according to ancient legend, used to say in the morning: "It's a good day to do great things." To be able to say that and mean it was a magnificent ambition. Such an aspiration stirs something deep in the heart of any [striving] to be a hero. ...

A hero, for the record, is not a saint, much less a god.

In the great mythologies and legends, the hero is always an ordinary human being, with at least one tragic flaw. A hero is one who simultaneously keeps an eye on himself and a goal beyond himself.

Four Army generals of late have become my heroes.

The latest, Army Maj. Gen. Mark Graham, entered this category last week when he shared his personal experience with the stigma of suicide after his son's 2003 suicide. In his efforts, which must be personally and professionally trying, we see the heroic elements of wisdom at work: desiring to find solutions to problems and advising others of that quest, etc.

More on his story in extended, but first a clip from a March 25, 2009, CNN interview with Graham:



Graham joins the ranks of at least four generals since November 2008 who have found the strength to try to destigmatize PTSD and/or suicide in the Army; Lily Casura of Healing Combat Trauma made note of the other three last month, and their stories and interviews are also shared in extended as well.

Click on 'Article' link below tags for more...

In educational interest, article(s) quoted from extensively.

In November 2008, Major General David Blackledge came forward to speak about his PTSD; his story literally helping others to find the strength to come forward to seek help as well. John J. Kruzel, Armed Forces Press Service:

Army Maj. Gen. David Blackledge is doing his part to reduce the social stigma attached to seeking mental health treatment for war-related stress. The general suffered from post-traumatic stress after surviving a near-death experience during his first deployment to Iraq in 2004. Now he willingly shares his tale of recovery and hopes his example will help others in dealing with war's invisible wounds.

"I felt it was critical that we had senior leaders experiencing [post-traumatic stress] come forward," Blackledge, the Army's assistant deputy chief of staff for mobilization and reserve issues, said in an interview at the Pentagon last week.

The wife of a military member suffering from war trauma used Blackledge's story to spur on her spouse to seek treatment, Blackledge said. "She said, ‘My husband was suffering from this, and when I showed him the article in the paper about you coming forward, he said that if a two-star general can get help, then maybe I can too,'" he said. ...

Last month, Gen. Carter Ham and Brig. Gen. Gary Patton spoke out about their own PTSD. They talked to CNN's Barbara Starr:



Tom Vanden Brook, USA Today:

Gen. Carter Ham was among the best of the best — tough, smart and strong — an elite soldier in a battle-hardened Army. At the Pentagon, his star was rising. In Iraq, he was in command in the north during the early part of the war, when the insurgency became more aggressive. Shortly before he was to return home, on Dec. 21, 2004, a suicide bomber blew himself up in a mess hall at a U.S. military base near Mosul and killed 22 people, including 14 U.S. troops. Ham arrived at the scene 20 minutes later to find the devastation.

When Ham returned from Mosul to Fort Lewis, Wash., in February 2005, something in the affable officer was missing. Loud noises startled him. Sleep didn't come easily. "When he came back, all of him didn't come back. … Pieces of him the way he used to be were perhaps left back there," says his wife, Christi. "I didn't get the whole guy I'd sent away."

Today, Ham, 56, is one of only 12 four-star generals in the Army. He commands all U.S. soldiers in Europe. The stress of his combat service could have derailed his career, but Ham says he realized that he needed help transitioning from life on the battlefields of Iraq to the halls of power at the Pentagon. So he sought screening for post-traumatic stress and got counseling from a chaplain. That helped him "get realigned," he says.

"You need somebody to assure you that it's not abnormal," Ham says. "It's not abnormal to have difficulty sleeping. It's not abnormal to be jumpy at loud sounds. It's not abnormal to find yourself with mood swings at seemingly trivial matters. More than anything else, just to be able to say that out loud."

The willingness of Ham, one of the military's top officers, to speak candidly with USA TODAY for the first time about post-traumatic stress represents a tectonic shift for a military system in which seeking such help has long been seen as a sign of weakness.

Jim Garamone, Armed Forces Press Service:

For Army Brig. Gen. Gary S. Patton, the dreams are the worst. Patton, now the Joint Staff’s director for personnel, served as a brigade commander with the 2nd Infantry Division in Ramadi, Iraq, in 2004 and 2005. As a colonel, he commanded 4,100 soldiers who deployed from Korea to Iraq, and then redeployed to Fort Carson, Colo.

“It was a very tough neighborhood,” he said during an interview. “It was a very active terrorist threat.”

Patton calls the dreams “sleep disturbances,” and said that was one of the reasons he sought mental health help. “I’ll wake up in the middle of the night with a loud explosion going off in my head,” he said. “Not only do you have the sound, but the recreation of the smell and taste that you get from being right there in an [improvised explosive device] explosion.

“That effect has diminished, but it’s disturbing nonetheless.”

One of the dreams centers on Army Spc. Robert Oliver Unruh. Patton was observing actions on the north side of Ramadi when Unruh, a 25-year-old combat engineer, was hit in the torso by small-arms fire.

“We put him in an armored vehicle to [medically evacuate] him to our aid station,” the general said. “I was the last person to talk to Specialist Unruh because he died before my eyes there.”

Calling the sleep disturbances dreams doesn’t really give them their due. The incidents unroll as they happened, he said. He smells the cordite, he feels the blood, he hears the conversations, and he sees the young specialist die.

Patton wears a bracelet with Unruh’s name on it as part of remembering the 69 soldiers from his brigade who paid the ultimate sacrifice over a year in Iraq.

“No one is immune from the stresses of combat,” Patton said. “It affects everyone, in all specialties.” ...

Patton found that counseling and conversation helped. “One of the best things for me is just communication with others who went through the same thing,” he said. “Our family members, who love us dearly, have a hard time relating to what we went through. My greatest relief was just through talking over the experiences with others who had been there. I gained coping skills just by talking to other soldiers.”

Counseling helps, but there are other treatments as well. The disorder often comes in tandem with traumatic brain injuries and military and Veterans Affairs researchers continue to make progress in treatments.

But this won’t help if personnel don’t seek aid. “My advice is to go seek mental health care as you would for a physical ailment,” Patton said.

Last week another general, the fourth to discuss sensitive topics not usually discussed so openly by such high-ranking military officers, shared how depression and suicide took the life of his own son. Yochi J. Dreazen of the Wall Street Journal:

Maj. Gen. Mark Graham is on the frontlines of the Army's struggle to stop its soldiers from killing themselves. Through a series of novel experiments, the 32-year military veteran has turned his sprawling base here into a suicide-prevention laboratory.

One reason: Fort Carson has seen nine suicides in the past 15 months. Another: Six years ago, a 21-year-old ROTC cadet at the University of Kentucky killed himself in the apartment he shared with his brother and sister. He was Kevin Graham, Gen. Graham's youngest son.

After Kevin's suicide in 2003, Gen. Graham says he showed few outward signs of mourning and refused all invitations to speak about the death. It was a familiar response within a military still uncomfortable discussing suicide and its repercussions. It wasn't until another tragedy struck the family that Gen. Graham decided to tackle the issue head on.

"I will blame myself for the rest of my life for not doing more to help my son," Gen. Graham says quietly, sitting in his living room at Fort Carson, an array of family photographs on a table in front of him. "It never goes away."

Suicide is emerging as the military's newest conflict.

The article also looks at some of the factors the Army believes are driving the increasing rate of suicide:

Teasing out the underlying causes is difficult, since it is impossible to fully understand just what prompts someone to commit suicide. Military officials point out that one-third of the soldiers who took their own lives last year had never been deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, though they say that the soldiers might still have felt the stresses of constant training and pending overseas tours.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates and other senior Pentagon officials believe that the suicide rate is being pushed higher by the Army's rising divorce rate. Repeated deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan are pushing Army relationships to the breaking point, and many military marriages are buckling under the strain.

Some Pentagon officials believe that military drug and alcohol use is also contributing to the increase in suicides. Growing numbers of soldiers take antianxiety medication like Prozac and Xanax after they return to the U.S., and some commanders worry that the combination of drugs and alcohol is upsetting many soldiers' emotional states.

The poor national economy also adds to the strains facing many soldiers and their loved ones. Foreclosures in towns with large military facilities are rising at several times the national average, and hundreds of military families have lost their homes in recent months. The civilian spouses in many families are also struggling to find work, adding to the financial pressures facing modestly paid military personnel.

Army officials acknowledge that many soldiers are reluctant to seek help because of the stigma around mental-health issues. A survey last year by the American Psychiatric Association found that 75% of military personnel felt that asking for assistance would reduce their chances for promotion. Others worried about appearing weak in the eyes of their peers.

It's vital for leaders to begin leading on this issue. They must continue to find ways to engage in these heroic examples of wisdom-sharing for a higher purpose of bringing relief to the struggles of those serving below them.

It should have come sooner. More could have been done to help save those who have been struggling and lost all of these years. But, the change in openness on this topic is greatly welcomed.

In previous wars, there was very little discussion of the psychological aspects that flow out of the experience of combat; stories of the personal effects of combat stress and PTSD coming from the higher ranks were virtually nonexistent. Many years after the Vietnam War ended, with the steady stream of its veterans seeking help for their symptoms at the VA, discussion of PTSD finally began to emerge.

In 1980, the condition was officially recognized when it was included in the APA's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. At the opposite end of the decade, in 1989, the VA's National Center for PTSD was created by Congressional mandate (PL 98-528) to "address the needs of veterans with military-related PTSD ... with the ultimate purpose to improve the well-being, status, and understanding of veterans in American society."

The relative calm of the '80s afforded us the opportunity to explore and discuss the topic of PTSD In fact, a popular song at the time, "19," is one example of this:



As the song explains, almost a decade after the Vietnam War's end, many of its veterans were still battling the consequences of their having fought in it. We need to continue to push to make sure this isn't the fate of our current vets.

The generals (alongside countless others both inside and outside our military organizations, as well as recently returned OEF/OIF veterans themselves) who are coming forward today with their stories and wisdom are doing vital work to change military culture and the stigma of PTSD. The forthrightness will be a balm for current and previous generations of veterans.

What's fascinating is that this work is finally being done even as the wars continue. That is significant. Starting to chip away at this thing from 'the inside' hopefully will have an enormous effect on how we help move our veterans toward resolution.

The sooner understanding of and care for the normal psychological aftershocks is available, the sooner our veterans can focus on the next chapter in their lives.

They've certainly earned that right.


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Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) Used at Forts Hood and Bliss, Brain Scan Imaging Detects PTSD Sooner, Migraines and PTSD

• Acupuncture Today | Weighing the Costs - "Advocates for the integrated approach in the treatment of PTSD at both Ft. Hood and Ft. Bliss were convinced that the traditional methods of treating PTSD weren't long enough in duration, intense enough or comprehensive enough. A program was created that would address all aspects of PTSD and treat the whole soldier. This integrative approach treats many of the symptoms of PTSD that are not addressed through the standard mental health protocols, including cognitive-behavioral therapy and pharmacotherapy. The concept eventually led to the implementation of the Ft. Bliss Restoration & Resilience Center and the Warrior Combat Stress Reset Program at Ft. Hood that incorporated medical massage, meditation, yoga, acupuncture, marital/family therapy and reiki with the standard treatment protocols of cognitive-behavioral and cathartic psychotherapies and pharmacotherapy."


• Reuters | Brain scans may detect post-trauma stress sooner - "The scans of 42 U.S. soldiers who had served in Iraq or Afghanistan in the recent past showed that, compared with healthy veterans, those suffering from PTSD had marked differences in some areas of brain activity. The study, presented at the World Psychiatric Association Congress in Italy, suggested identifying certain brain patterns could one day help diagnose PTSD before symptoms appeared and better track treatment, the researchers said."


• PTSD Common in Migraine Patients: Study - "Patients with migraine, whether episodic or chronic, are more apt to have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than the general population, suggests new research reported in the April issue of Headache. Furthermore, the presence of PTSD in migraineurs is independently associated with greater headache-related disability. 'Taken together, our findings suggest that identification and treatment of PTSD in migraine sufferers is an important and potentially modifiable part of their care that may reduce migraine-related disability and progression to chronic daily headache,' Dr. B. Lee Peterlin and colleagues conclude. In their study of 593 headache patients (mean age 42.2 years; 92% women) with episodic migraine or chronic daily headache, Dr. Peterlin's team found that PTSD was present in 30.3% of those with chronic daily headache and 22.4% of those with episodic migraine. By comparison, approximately 8% of the population is estimated to have PTSD."

More PTSD Combat Diigo links.

VA Hiring Vets for Outreach, Army's 'Warrior Resilience and Thriving' Program, TRICARE West Offers Benefit Help, Female Veteran Testifies Re: PTSD

Recently in the news:

• The Associated Press | VA hires vets to go find comrades who need help - "Graner is one of 100 former service members hired nationally by the Department of Veterans Affairs as outreach specialists to help get Iraq and Afghanistan veterans into programs aimed at easing their transition back to civilian life. They frequent job fairs, welcome-home events and other places where troops back from the wars might congregate and look for those struggling to adjust. The goal is to persuade them to visit one of 230-plus vet centers nationwide...[for] free services from job hunting assistance to marriage and mental health counseling. Experts applaud the effort to actively search for veterans who may need help, even if some advocates say the program should be much bigger."
  
  
• USA Today | Military puts focus on epidemic of suicides - "In Maj. Thomas Jarrett's stress management class ... American troops are urged ... to strive for 'post-traumatic growth.' During a 90-minute presentation entitled "Warrior Resilience and Thriving," Jarrett, a former corporate coach, offers this and other unconventional tips on how troops can stay mentally healthy once they return home. He quotes Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, Paradise Lost author John Milton and German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche... Walking through the crowd of young GIs in the makeshift classroom, Jarrett urges them to fight their "internal insurgents."
  
  
• News-Leader | Videos explain health care benefits to military families - "Military families throughout TRICARE’s west region now have a new way to learn about their health care benefits through the movies. ... “TRICARE 2 You” video topics, which run an average of three minutes in a prime-time news format, include explanations of TRICARE plan options, how to access specialty care, behavioral health resources, pharmacy options and newborn enrollment, among others. “We wanted to do whatever it takes to help our beneficiaries maximize use of their TRICARE benefit and avoid out-of-pocket costs,” said David J. McIntyre, president and CEO of TriWest Healthcare Alliance. “This is especially useful for service members, particularly those in the National Guard and Reserve who live or work in rural areas without convenient access to military base resources,” he said. Produced by TriWest, in partnership with TRICARE Regional Office-West, the videos are housed in the company’s new TRICARE 2 You Online Library."
  
  
• IAVA | Iraq Veteran Testifies On Capitol Hill - "Veteran Carolyn Schapper testified at a hearing before the House Veterans Subcommittee on Disability & Memorial Affairs about the disparities in PTSD diagnosis for male and female soldiers in combat. During her deployment to Iraq from October 2005 to September 2006, Carolyn participated in over 200 combat patrols as a member of a Military Intelligence unit with the Georgia National Guard."

More PTSD Combat Diigo links.