More to Come as Time Permits

Apologies for the momentary halt to postings.

I'm currently swamped with classes and other responsibilities, but will return to updates ASAP. Until then, be sure to check out what others are saying on combat PTSD in the feeds in the right-hand column.

Editorial: Veterans funding or permanent tax cuts?

From the Mankato [MN] Free Press editorial board:

The U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate recently passed budgets that boost funding for veterans’ health care and other veterans’ needs at amounts higher than the Bush Administration’s proposal. The Bush budget boosts total VA funding by about 1.6 percent, or $1.7 billion.

The House bill adds about $600 million to the Bush proposal, which would bolster overall spending to about 2.6 percent. The Senate adds $3 billion, making the overall spending increase about 5 percent.

Many veterans groups have favored the congressional proposals saying the number of veterans entering the VA health system from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan warrants the extra funding. In fact, Congress and the president in the most recent fiscal year boosted VA funding by an “emergency” $3.7 billion appropriation midway through the budget year after seeing tremendous increases in health care costs for veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. That figure is close to the increase being proposed by Bush.

Hiring More Vets, Keeping Them in Their Homes, Offering Group Therapy, East Texas Resources

• KTRE-Ch 9/East Texas has published a comprehensive veterans resources guide chock full of phone numbers and information that is a must to check out if you're an area military family.
  
  
• Sen. Chuck Grassley [R-IA] and the White House are tossing letters back-and-forth with one another, the senator aiming to get the president to "establish the goal that 10 percent of all new hires by federal agencies be veterans." Meanwhile, Senate colleagues are attempting to extend foreclosure protection for veterans to nine months following return from overseas deployment.
  
  
• The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)--Kern County, Calif., chapter offers returning vets, military families local support group services. Phone 661-868-5061 for more information.
  
  
• On the other end of the country, a related feel good story: 11 Tampa Bay-area Vietnam veterans, aka 'Group 11,' have had their PTSD group therapy sessions reinstated after the VA abruptly terminated the program. "We're pleased, and we're shocked," said one member after hearing the news.

Unknown Allies: School Shooting Victims and Combat Veterans

Back in September, I sat down with Diane Strand, a reporter for DeKalb's MidWeek News, to discuss combat PTSD and other issues covered in my book, Moving a Nation to Care.

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

Just this past Wednesday, I posted here on my column that ran in the Northern Star, relfecting on the fact that veterans are a dazed school shooting student's natural ally; they understand the pain and trauma of being in danger and in the vicinity of extreme violence (on an entirely different level than those of us on campus that day, however). Another commonality is an increased risk for post-traumatic stress disorder.