Chicago Tribune Reports on VA Claims Process Quandary

Headline splashed across the front page of today's Chicago Tribune: The Cost of War.

Analyzing more than 3 million VA disability claims (this figure equals the number of vets receiving such compensation in 2009 -- a jump of 24 percent over the 2003 total), it is the latest in a long line of government and private studies on problems at the VA. The Trib found:

The bulk of the increases didn't come from veterans of the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan but from those who served years or even decades before. Veterans from the Vietnam and Persian Gulf eras accounted for roughly 84 percent of the rise in spending, which hit $34.3 billion last year.

The surge from past eras comes even as more soldiers than expected are returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan in need of care. With hundreds of thousands of troops still deployed, the VA already provides disability payments to nearly 200,000 veterans from the current conflicts, a number that is expected to balloon during the next 30 years.

The unanticipated crush of claims is exacerbated by the VA's antiquated compensation system, which hasn't been overhauled since 1945. Cumbersome and heavily bureaucratic, the system requires a mountain of paperwork, is based on diagnoses that lag far behind medical advances and runs on a computer system that is so outdated it can't accurately verify whether veterans were deployed.

US Military Responds to Haiti Disaster

"When the freedom they wished for most was the freedom from responsibility, then Athens ceased to be free and was never free again." -- Edith Hamilton (1867-1963), USA

President Obama and our military have begun humanitarian ops in Haiti, and roughly 10,000 troops will be stationed in the area by Monday. While the strain on forces and milfamilies needs to be relieved (and this isn't going to help), we must respond.

David Martin, CBS News:



In extended, preserving a few press reports related to the military's humanitarian work in Haiti right now. The first entry is especially stat and data rich.

Goodbye Haughty Aughties, Welcome 2010: Veterans Stories of Past Decade, 2009

Happy New Year, readers of PTSD Combat. I do hope that all of you, old friends and new, have had a great Christmastime, and that your holiday season has been filled with some light and wonder and many moments free from worry and stress.

For those of you who have followed my work since '05, or for new friends to be made in this new decade, I send you a generous New Years Day dose of gratitude. Thank you for your interest in my work. While the need to continue spotlighting issues near and dear to the American military family and their supporters is motivation enough to keep going...your positive support fuels me onward, too.

A Soldier's Christmas Poem And Other Wartime Seasonal Expressions of Light and Love

I meant to post the video below yesterday, a thoughtful reworking of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas called "A Soldier's Christmas Poem." Though the day has passed, the sentiment within its lines still rings true no matter what holiday you and your family personally celebrate.

Yes, it is meant to be the season of light and love. Though, sometimes, it doesn't feel that way, does it?

So many of us rushing around trying to get all of our holiday-related tasks done in time (and hoping we won't get too irritated bumping into so many others tending to their "to do" lists, too).

So many (this year especially) struggling just to keep food on a table and a roof over heads...the luxury of presents being entirely out of the question. So many others who, again, have to spend the holidays distracted -- wondering and worrying about loved ones deployed overseas.



In extended, a few more holiday-related clips and grafs.

I do hope that all of you have found ways to bring the beauty of the season into your life this year, sharing as much goodness as you can with those you love. Here's to a brighter and more loving 2010.

Thanksgiving, From the Frontline to the Homefront and Back Again

Happy Thanksgiving.

How is your holiday shaping up? I hope that you and yours are on your way to building a memorable one. Before moving into the heart of this post, I'd like to take a moment to personally thank the family that I'm blessed to have, who offer me the support and encouragement to continue plugging away.

This work means a lot to me, as do my studies; but, both of these endeavors take enormous amounts of time away from those that love me and that I love in return. So, I thank them for being there for me, nonetheless, through it all.

While certainly on a larger scale and scope magnitude, deployed troops also give up a lot to accomplish their goals and achieve their mission. Their families also give up one of the most valuable and perishable commodities we have in life: time with those we love the most.

This Thanksgiving, I wish you all the best -- ample hours with family and the very best of friends; a good meal; moments to relax or to kick things up if you prefer; and the grace to reflect, no matter the present appearance, on the many things we all have to be thankful for.

Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others. -- Cicero (106-43BCE), Rome

In extended, I've collected a few reflective stops on the media landscape, as well as a few video 'shoutouts' from troops serving overseas to loved ones back home. Let's keep them all in our thoughts, as always, and recommit to extending ourselves to the families who await their return. Happy Thanksgiving, dear readers and friends.

For Those Lost at Fort Hood

For condolences, an online guest book and a Prayers for Fort Hood facebook page have been created for today's shooting victims. Wish to help? Consider donating to TAPS. May their grief be comforted.

[UPDATE Nov 6, 2009 10:51 a.m.]
Today, Friday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has ordered U.S. military forces across the world to observe a moment of silence at 2:34 p.m. EST for those lost at Fort Hood. President Obama has also ordered all federal building and White House flags be flown at half-staff from now until Veterans Day.

TAPS has suggestions for those wishing to lend support to the victims and grieving families. If you are a service or military family member, Military OneSource offers counseling options; please seek out their help (or that of others providing such support) if you are feeling the need to discuss the situation.

Afghanistan, Iraq Veteran Army Suicide Rate Continues to Climb

The problem is clearly complex.

The reasons are many-fold, as varied and numerous and hard to pin down as are people themselves. But this much we know: Our veterans are turning to suicide at an alarming rate; and, at least for now, all of the programs and outreach and educational campaigns the military and the VA have been throwing at the problem have failed to staunch the tide.

The latest numbers do not provide relief.

Yochi Dreazen, Wall Street Journal:

Sixteen American soldiers killed themselves in October in the U.S. and on duty overseas, an unusually high monthly toll that is fueling concerns about the mental health of the nation's military personnel after more than eight years of continuous warfare. ...

The October suicide figures mean that at least 134 active-duty soldiers have taken their own lives so far this year, putting the Army on pace to break last year's record of 140 active-duty suicides. The number of Army suicides has risen 37% since 2006, and last year, the suicide rate surpassed that of the U.S. population for the first time.

It's important to note that the above figure reflects only Army suicides; it does not include data from any of the remaining military branches or from the VA. And so, if this year's active-duty Marine suicide rate is the same as it has been in previous years (41/2008; 33/2007; 25/2006), expect to add another 30-40 incidents to the above total.

And yet, that figure isn't the full measure, either.

Coverage of the First Joint DoD/VA National Mental Health Summit

A selection of press clipping on this past week's watershed conference, and, in extended, you can view Gates' and Shinseki's opening statements in full. First up, Thom Shanker, New York Times At War: Notes From the Front Lines:

In his most extensive comments on mental health challenges facing American forces fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Monday that many military personnel fear a stigma if they seek help for psychological injuries.

And he criticized a government and military bureaucracy that is “frustrating, adversarial and unnecessarily complex” — even for those who actively seek assistance.

The critique was delivered by Mr. Gates as the keynote address during a “Mental Health Summit” convened by Eric K. Shinseki, the secretary of Veterans Affairs who previously served as Army chief of staff.

The two secretaries have pledged that the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs would improve how they share information so that the delivery of benefits could be streamlined, even as both acknowledged that the two current, long wars have brought attention to the types of invisible injuries often ignored in the past.

The fighting in Afghanistan now has surpassed the length of the Revolutionary War by about three weeks, Mr. Gates noted, making it the longest conflict in the nation’s history fought with an all-volunteer force.

IAVA Petition Still 10,000+ Short of Making Stephen Colbert Honorary Member

Last month, the perennially self-important showbiz legend-in-his-own-mind Stephen Colbert went to Iraq at the behest of the USO, setting out to both entertain the troops and the folks back home by taping a week's worth of Colbert Report shows.

Dubbing his brief tour "Operation Iraqi Stephen: Going Commando," the Comedy Central comedian gained at least one fan for his efforts. Christina Everett, NY Daily News:

Colbert, 45, was a hit with the men and women of the armed services, particularly Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) Executive Director Paul Rieckhoff, who was a guest on Monday night’s episode. ...

One of the highlights of Colbert's trip was a video message from President Barack Obama ordering General Raymond Odierno to shave thehost's head in front of the audience of cheering troops.

Since the comedian's trip to Iraq was successful, Rieckhoff posed the question: If Colbert made it to Iraq and back in one piece, would he deserve to be an honorary IAVA Member?

Currently, 13,681 people have signed on to the IAVA petition, less than the 25,000 needed to reach the goal, so there's still a ways to go before Colbert receives the honor.

After learning about his partnership with DonorsChoose.org to raise funds for military children and viewing some of my favorite clips of Colbert's 'deployment' (including the haircut sequence mentioned above as well as the hilarious boot camp segments) in extended, you make the call. Should Stephen be so honored?

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.

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.

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.

Stop-Loss to be Stopped, Military Families to Get Pentagon Dover Travel Assist, Obama Nixes Private Insurance Provision of 2010 VA Budget

• CNN | Pentagon to phase out unpopular 'stop-loss' program - "The military will phase out its "stop-loss" program, the contentious practice of holding troops beyond the end of their enlistments, for all but extraordinary situations, Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced Wednesday. Instead, the military will use incentives programs to encourage personnel to extend their service. Starting this month, the department will provide 'special compensation of $500 per month' to troops whose tour has been extended, Gates said. 'This special compensation will be applied retroactively to October 1, 2008, the date when Congress first made it available.'"
  
  
• NTM Lede Blog | Pentagon Will Help Families Travel to Dover - "Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said today that the Pentagon would pay for families to travel to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware if they want to be present when the body or remains of a loved one is returned from war. Mr. Gates announced last month that the Pentagon was reversing its longstanding policy of barring media coverage during the repatriation of fallen soldiers at Dover. He said then, and reiterated today at a news conference, which the Pentagon's Web site streamed live, that the decision about media coverage would be up to each family."


• Washington Post | Obama's Turnabout On Vets Highlights Budgeting Nuances - "The relatively small proposal -- third-party billing would have saved about $540 million, less than 1 percent of the overall VA budget -- was not even part of Obama's official [2010 VA] budget but quickly threatened to undermine Obama's credibility with veterans. Ultimately, however, Obama listened to the veterans ... 'When you do public policy behind closed doors, you throw a lot of things on a wall, and some things stick and some things don't stick,' said Bob Wallace, executive director of Veterans of Foreign Wars. 'I think the administration and the president handled this with class, bringing the veterans in to talk with them, listening to their positions and two days later the chief of staff saying, 'It's over.''"

Gates announcement on stop-losses and Dover travel assistance:



More PTSD Combat Diigo links.

Op-Ed on Military's PTSD Dilemma, Ranch Reintegration for OEF/OIF Vets, Carrots and Sticks for Obama's 2010 VA Budget Proposal

• The Boston Globe | The military's post-traumatic stress dilemma - Iraq vet Tyler Boudreau begins: "WITH ARMY and Marine Corps suicide rates climbing dramatically, surpassing even those killed in Iraq and Afghanistan last month, the nation is increasingly disturbed and demanding treatment for veterans. But these suicide reports highlight an important distinction: A significant portion of those returning from war are not yet veterans; they are still active or reserve service members, which means, above all, that they probably will be going back to one of our theaters of operations. And that means that any treatment for post-traumatic stress will be positioned in direct conflict with the mission itself. As a former Marine captain and rifle company commander, I witnessed this conflict firsthand."
  
  

• Chicago Tribune | Restoring spirits of men haunted by war - 15 OEF/OIF vets recently took part in a novel reintegration program: "The veterans came from throughout the United States to spend four days at the stylish Wildcatter Ranch, invited by the Wounded Warrior Project and the owners of the ranch to help restore their spirits. Some of the men have physical injuries, but each of them is struggling to deal with combat stress and their return to civilian society. The men went canoeing and rode horses. They got massages and shot skeet. They stayed in luxurious rooms and they visited an elementary school, where the children gave them Graham Steers ball caps. 'I have never seen anything like this before,' said Harvey Stubbs Jr., 32, a Chicago-area native who was medically retired from the Army because of his injuries. 'The outpouring of love ... has been amazing. A lot of people give lip service to supporting the troops, but these people have opened their hearts to us in ways I can't believe.'"
  
  
• CNN | Obama pledges more help for veterans - President Obama, appearing alongside VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, spoke of the $25 billion funding infusion the Department of Veterans Affairs can look forward to receiving over the next five years under his new budget. "'With this budget, we don't just fully fund our Veterans Affairs health care program, we expand it to serve an additional 500,000 veterans by 2013,' [Obama] said. He promised that the VA would "dramatically improve services" related to mental health, post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury, and he said homeless veterans would be targeted for support."
  
  
• Kansas City Star | Veterans assail proposal to have private insurance plans pay for their service ailments - President Obama's 2010 VA budget provision to bill private insurance for service-connected health care is under fire with veterans and their supporters. While no one will see the full budget proposal until April, this idea being floated about is "dead on arrival" according to Sen. Patty Murray [D-WA], who has an influential seat on the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

IAVA's Paul Reickhoff on MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Show:



More PTSD Combat Diigo links.

Michelle Obama Visits Fort Bragg, Marines 'Cover' Each Other, Yellow Ribbon Program Implemented

• US Army | First Lady visits Fort Bragg, vows support for military families - "First Lady Michelle Obama paid a visit to Soldiers and family members at Fort Bragg in what was her first tour outside the White House. During her visit, Obama said she was inspired by the spirit of the Fort Bragg community and said she was fully committed to improving support to all military families."


• MSNBC | Army program helps ease stress of deployment - "Army Reserve's Chattanooga-based 591st Transportation Detachment prepares to implement the new Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program. All branches of the service have some form of the program, according to Lt. Col. Robin Smith Sr., chief well-being officer for the Army Reserve. The...program was launched "to prepare soldiers and their families for mobilization, sustain the families during mobilization and to help with reintegration with their families, communities and employers upon redeployment," he said. The program began as part of a requirement outlined in the Department of Defense Appropriations Act of 2008 and became even more important as the steep suicide rates were recorded in recent months."


• Marine Corps News | 'Cover Me' Leaves No Marine Behind - "The Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund, hosted by Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, screened the film, “Cover Me,” at the South Mesa Club...March 5, to help raise awareness and educate Marine leadership about combat operational stress. The film’s conception was centered on the Corps’ need to let Marines know it is all right to seek medical help for combat operational stress and in doing so, their careers will not be adversely affected."
  
  
• Richmond Times-Dispatch | For these airmen, it’s about surviving, not flying - "The realistic training exercise, staged in a mock village at the U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center at Fort Dix in New Jersey, is part of new combat preparedness received by airmen who perform the ground duties that keep planes flying. The convoy's 25 members passed...They learned to "shoot and scoot." They were among 187 airmen at the center to receive advanced training before deployment overseas. The role of the Air Force in Afghanistan is crucial, especially as Taliban forces try to close a supply route through Pakistan's Khyber Pass and Kyrgyzstan seeks to shut a U.S. air base in that country. Nearly 600 airmen have been killed or wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks - and 96 percent of them have been on the ground, according to Air Force officials. Their mounting losses - partly due to expanded duties off base - prompted intensive training, begun three years ago, to help the ground airmen survive combat."

More PTSD Combat Diigo links.

Duckworth Awaits VA Post Approval, PTSD Advice for the DoD, Alaska's March Focus on TBI

While Illinois Veterans Affairs Director Tammy Duckworth has been tapped by President Obama to be the public face of the federal VA (as assistant secretary of public and intergovernmental affairs), her Senate confirmation hearing has yet to be scheduled. In the meantime, Michael Blecker, a Vietnam vet and executive director of Swords to Plowshares, offers this advice to them both.

More advice: Veterans for Common Sense unveiled its Four PTSD Priorities for 2009 asking the DoD to: 1) "implement the 1997 Force Health Protection law, PL 105-85, Section 761-771, that requires the military to provide pre- and post-deployment medical exams to all service members; 2) implement a strong anti-stigma program as required by the National Defense Authorization Act for 2009; 3) hire additional mental health professionals to meet the increasing demand for examinations and treatment; and 4) urges VA to work more closely with DoD implementing the Force Health Protection law so VA has sufficient records to provide medical care and process disability claims."

And in state news, legislators in Alaska are gearing up to designate March as Brain Injury Awareness Month. "Sadly, Alaska is number one per capita for TBIs [at about 800 reported cases every year] and it is one of the leading causes of death for young people in our state," said sponsor Sen. Lesil McGuire, R-Anchorage. In related news, the Pentagon reports that current wartime brain injuries are thought to be in the 180,000-360,000 range, or about 20 percent of those who have deployed to Afghanistan and/or Iraq.

Rising Tide: 2008 OEF/OIF Army, Marine Suicides 28% of Overall KIA Casualties; Jan '09 Army Suicides May Surpass Month's KIA Count

See Afghanistan, Iraq Veteran Army Suicide Rate Continues to Climb; PTSD Timeline Update for updated OEF/OIF veteran suicide data -- Ilona Meagher, 11/4/09

The continued rise of OEF/OIF veteran suicides reported by the military over the past weeks isn't very surprising news for longtime followers of this issue; but, it's no less alarming.

First, let's take a glance backward.

In December 2007, prepping for my testimony before Congress, I tallied up all of the available officially-reported DoD/VA suicide figures and felt what I'd found was significant: If we added these reported OEF/OIF veteran suicides to the running Afghanistan and Iraq KIA count, the total casualties at the time would have been at least 10 percent higher.

In September 2008, I did another count of the official OEF/OIF suicide data (full breakdown and lots of other related stats collected there) reported by the DoD and VA. During this layman's research, I found that the suicide portion of the overall KIA count had increased to nearly 15 percent.

Over the past few weeks, we have learned that 1) both the Army and Marines have seen increases in their 2008 active-duty suicides -- even in the face of aggressive campaigns to reduce their incidence -- the Army's rate higher than at any other point in the 30 years that they have been tracking such figures; and 2) that, judging by January's reported record-shattering month of Army suicides -- where more active-duty soldiers killed themselves than were killed-in-action fighting the enemy on Afghan and Iraqi combat fields -- 2009 is trending ominously.

Last week, preparing for an interview by NotAlone.com (the audio has not been posted as of yet, but I would highly recommend your checking out their work in the meantime), I added up the just-released figures:

128 - confirmed 2008 active-duty Army suicides
15 - suspected 2008 active-duty Army suicides
41 - confirmed 2008 active-duty Marine suicides
-----
184 active-duty 2008 Army/Marine suicides

Per icasualties.org, 2008's total OEF/OIF KIA count was 469.

Doing the math quickly: 184 of 469 -- or 28 percent -- of our OEF/OIF veteran casualties seem to be as a result of suicide: an astonishing jump. And it's important to note: This figure only reflects the active-duty element in the Army and Marines.

This number does not include Air Force or Navy suicides, nor veterans separated from service but not yet in the VA system, nor any suicides of veterans in the VA system.

So, the reality is much more dire than what the numbers being bandied about in the news today reflect, unfortunately.

On National Day of Service: Civilians, Consider Serving Those Who Serve Us

"Everybody can be great because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love." -- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Today, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, is designated a National Day of Service. My husband is spending it with his 'Little Brother' via the YMCA's Big Brothers program, while my service today is in reaching out to help an Iraq veteran with an upcoming project he is organizing (more about this in extended).

The rest of my day is, unfortunately, devoted to studying for my classes, so additional service will have to come from me later. But, I'm inspired by the promise of the day, and the energy that everyone is putting into it all across the country. Fortunately, as Michelle Obama says in this explanatory video below, "This is more than a single day of service."



To extend that service into the future, may I suggest that you consider serving/helping one of those who have served us in uniform...and continues to serve now that he is out of it?

U.S. Marine Suicides Highest Since 2003, Incoming VA Chief Promises Reform as Gulf Vets Testify on VA, DoD/VA Suicide Conference

The past two days have been stunning.

Seven years into the uptempo stress of our extended wars in the Middle East, as a first-ever joint three-day DoD/VA suicide prevention conference wound down in San Antonio, news came that the selected topic of study remains desperately relevant and urgent. Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times:

More active-duty Marines committed suicide last year than any year since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003, although the suicide rate remained virtually unchanged because the Marine Corps is increasing in size, according to a report issued Tuesday.

Forty-one Marines are listed as possible or confirmed suicides in 2008, or 16.8 per 100,000 troops, the Marine Corps report said. Nearly all were enlisted and under 24, and about two-thirds had deployed overseas.

In 2007, 33 Marines committed suicide -- a rate of 16.5 per 100,000 troops. The Marine Corps is adding troops and calling in reservists to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as other foreign bases and stateside.

The Marine suicide rate is still below that for civilian populations with similar demographics -- 19.5 per 100,000. It is also less than that of the Army in 2007 (18.1 per 100,000). The Army suicide figures for 2008 have not yet been released, but officials said late last year they expected the number and rate to increase from 2007. [More OEF/OIF suicide stats].

The suicide rates for the Marines and the Army have been closely tracked because the two services have borne the brunt of the fighting and repeat deployments in the Middle East.

What's really disturbing about this news is that any increase has taken place, countering an aggressive Marine Corps suicide prevention campaign. Considering their laudable efforts, the figure takes on a starker tone.

Today, as General Eric Shinseki sat down before Congress in Washington, D.C., for his confirmation hearing to speak of his desire to improve VA services for our veterans, a nation's breadth away, Gulf War veterans appeared before a special VA panel assembled in Seattle, Wash., to tell of the care they have received over the years.

Veterans for America Servicemembers Survival Guide a Must-Have for Every Military Family

Veterans for America delivers an early holiday present to our nation's military families: "The American Veterans’ and Servicemembers’ Survival Guide," a 599-page guidebook every veteran should own. And there's no need to worry about being naughty or nice, because the VFA Santa has made the ebook available to everyone as a free download.

Download the whole thing at once, or choose only those of its 28 chapters you most wish to read first. (Specific recommendations for PTSD issues are found as a subchapter in Chapter 3: Service-Connected Compensation [pdf]. I've excerpted a portion in extended to give you an idea of what you can expect to find in this vital survival guide.)