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.

Deliberate Justice: Considering What Society Owes Jailed PTSD-Diagnosed and Medicated Combat Veterans

Recently I received a heartbreaking email from the wife of a former Iraq veteran bearing a heavy burden and seeking help. Sue's husband, Joseph "Pat" Lamoureux, was arrested last fall after engaging in a shootout with police officers responding to a domestic disturbance call. One officer was injured before Lamoureux was shot and subdued.

Like our OEF/OIF forces who turned to war blogging to engage the media and nation even while they were deployed, and the countless grieving military families who erected memorial Web pages after receiving the news that their loved one was killed in action, Sue has gone online to broadcast her appeal and organize a petition for help with her husband's case.

All of these efforts -- infused with passion, pain and complexity -- are also likely a form of writing therapy. They aren't set up to produce tempered and tested professional media pieces, so it's a good idea to visit with an extra helping of empathy for the individual doing the posting and consider sharing a contact or advice or whatever you feel is appropriate.

As much as possible, we must -- all sides -- tread these murky waters with calm, cool collection and a warm heart.

We owe that to one another.

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.

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.

PTSD, the VA and Suicide: Massachusetts Family Settles Government Lawsuit

On the heels of last week's news that the U.S. Marine Corps suicide rate is the highest seen since 2003, came the close of a chapter on one of the Iraq War's first such casualties. It was a case that received national exposure and made many stand at attention, wondering how the system that was meant to take care of our returning troops could fail so desperately.

Kevin and Joyce Lucey were at the leading edge of military families coping with the loss of a loved one returning home forever changed following deployment to the Middle East. Their pain moved them to go public, shining a light on the grave consequences of shortfalls at the VA at the time.

By sharing the story of their son Jeffrey's 2004 suicide, they went far to drag post-combat suicide out of the darkened corners of our military family homes and into the lap of the civilian population, asking if what was happening to our returning troops was right or just. The verdict to the family's 2007 VA lawsuit came last Friday.

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.

California's Landmark Combat PTSD Case: Former Army Ranger Sargent Binkley Receives Treatment, Not Jail

If you ever feel less than empowered, if you ever wonder if members of society can actively play a role in shaping how its returning veterans are treated beyond the accolades given at welcome home parades and Veterans Day potlucks, look no further than the citizens of California for one shining example of how its done.

Back in September 2007, I linked to a piece by John Corté that ran in the San Francisco Chronicle in my post Combat Veterans, PTSD and Prison.

Corté's article introduced us to a former West Point graduate who served in Bosnia and Honduras who was arrested and facing a possible 12-year stint in jail for holding up two pharmacies to feed his painkiller addiction, the same medication the VA prescribed -- over 15 times -- for injuries suffered while the former Army Ranger was based in Honduras.

Civilian doctors had also diagnosed PTSD.

His watershed case has gone to trial and the verdict was delivered yesterday. [ABC-San Francisco news report is now available online; KTVU news report up, which includes interviews with his parents.] Full details in extended.

Reaction to DoD Decision Against Awarding Purple Heart to Veterans with Combat PTSD

This week's news that the Purple Heart will not be considered for those coping with the psychological wounds of war has gotten a reaction from many quarters. The military decoration is awarded for "being wounded or killed in any action against an enemy of the United States or as a result of an act of any such enemy or opposing armed forces."

Through August 2008, 2,743 OEF and 33,923 OIF veterans have received the distinguished medal (of ~1.7 million given out since its modern inception in 1932; more Purple Heart history), which brings with it "enhanced benefits, including exemptions from co-payments for veterans hospital and outpatient care and gives them higher priority in scheduling appointments."

In extended, a selection of some of the debate on the matter. These are lengthy and multiple pieces, but are quite enlightening to read through if you have the time. The issue touches upon a slew of concerns dealing with our positions on tradition, progress, science, psychology, honor, equity -- all well worth examining.

NPR's Impact of War, Linking Higher Post-Trauma Heart/Respiration Rates to PTSD, AWOL Marine Discharged, Report on Rochester Military Families

Recent stories of interest...

• Earlier this month, NPR introduced listeners to John Blaufus, an Iraq veteran who's been hospitalized twice for acute PTSD since returning home. The segment was the latest installment in their important "Impact of War" series.
  
  
• Australian researchers have found that "elevation of the heart and respiration rates, which occur immediately after a traumatic event, are predictive of future PTSD."
  
  
• At Camp Pendleton this past Friday, a summary court-martial was held for a Marine who had gone AWOL for two years and faked his own death, all to keep from deploying to Iraq for a third time. His attorney had argued that he had a nervous breakdown after his experiences in Iraq, which included the death of a close friend who had been killed while taking his place on duty one day. In the unique case, the Marine, who grew up in Saudi Arabia as the son of oil company school teachers, has been discharged.
  
  
• Another court-martial case, this one of a Silver Star Afghanistan veteran and Air Force Captain whose actions in 2002's Operation Anaconda saved three men's lives, has ended with the officer's retirement. "Who rescues the rescuer?" asked the helicopter rescue pilot's attorney, whose PTSD was not recognized officially by the Air Force until the end of his tour when he'd already sunk deeply into illegal and erratic behavior.
  
  
• A recent study of 140 returning Rochester/Finger Lakes [NY]-area veterans, family members and service providers has found that military families "struggle needlessly because they aren't aware of benefits and services available or don't think they need them. ...The report says soldiers and families need honest information about the pitfalls of reintegration, signs to look for, strategies for coping and the fact that it's common to struggle."

Talking Post Trauma Blues: Will Obama Make PTSD a Household Name?

One of my favorite female OIF vets, Abbie Pickett, shared the following video on her facebook page. (If you're a frequent reader of PTSD Combat and wish to connect with me via my facebook account, you're invited to do so; I frequently post PTSD-related content via that channel when I'm pressed for time -- which is often when my semesters are in full-swing).

The video is for a song called "Talking Post Trauma Blues."

OEF/OIF Veteran Suicide Toll: Nearly 15% of Overall U.S. Military Casualties Result from Suicide

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

Back in February, the Marines released their military branch's updated suicide statistics. They revealed the number of Afghanistan and Iraq combat troops and veterans who took their own lives in 2007 had doubled over the previous year.

Earlier this month, the Army reported its own current soldier suicide data, reflecting another year of record increases. And just last week, the VA chimed in with their latest OEF/OIF veterans suicide figures -- also another record-breaker -- for its Afghanistan and Iraq veteran clients.

Heroism, PTSD, Suicide, and September 11

From NPR:

New data from a public health registry that tracks the health effects of 9/11 suggest that as many as 70,000 people may have developed post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the terrorist attacks.

The estimate, released Wednesday by New York City's Department of Health, is based on an analysis of the health of 71,437 people who enrolled in the World Trade Center Health Registry. They agreed to be tracked for up to 20 years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and the study was based on answers they volunteered about their health two and three years after the attack.

Of the estimated 400,000 people believed to have been heavily exposed to pollution from the disaster, data suggests that 35,000 to 70,000 people developed PTSD and 3,800 to 12,600 may have developed asthma, city health officials said.

They include rescue and recovery workers, lower Manhattan residents, area workers, commuters and passers-by.

One of those people on the scene was a man named Kenny Johannemann, a WTC janitor who worked part-time in the basement of the North Tower. Michael Daly picks up the story in the New York Daily News:

Johannemann often said he might have been killed on 9/11 had he not stopped to get a cup of coffee just before the plane hit. Otherwise, he might have been on an elevator when a jet crashed and flaming fuel poured down the shaft.

Instead, he was waiting for an elevator when he heard a huge bang and the doors burst open. A man tumbled out on fire and Johannemann helped him to an ambulance. "He was burned up bad but he was still alive," Johannemann told People magazine.

In the aftermath, Johannemann appeared on the "Jenny Jones Show" and received the letter from the White House. Privately, the hero became a reclusive alcoholic.

"He just started backing away and not bothering with anyone," Joseph Maya recalled. He avoided family, even on the holidays he had always loved. He seemed convinced he was friendless and alone.

Eleven days ago, on August 31, he committed suicide.

Fort Sill's Warrior Transition Unit Problems, Progressive Disabled VA Care, Military Parents Sue AIG, Toledo Vet Center Expands PTSD Program

• Ace USA Today veterans' issue reporter Gregg Zoroya writes an unsettling piece on 20 soldiers who told of "mold in the barracks, delays in processing medical cases and morale in the Warrior Transition Unit (WTU) for wounded and injured outpatients at Fort Sill." Ironically, these WTU's were created to address these very same issues of moldy housing units and substandard aftercare at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. But Fort Sill appears to rely on a heavy-handed approach with their ailing soldiers, some heavily medicated and variably disabled due to their injuries, issuing Article 15 punishments "like they were candy."
  
  
• File this one under "NOT the way to support our military families:" The Charleston Gazette's Andrew Clevenger reports on a lawsuit filed by the parents of an "Iraq war veteran who died in his sleep in February while recovering from post-traumatic stress disorder" against AIG, a private insurance company. The suit revolves around AIG's refusal to pay out on the $50,000 life insurance policy their son, a Marine combat engineer who disarmed IEDs and patrolled the Iraq-Syria border while deployed overseas, purchased after returning home. Wishing to ease any further stress and financial burden on his parents in the event of his own death, he bought the policy after his brother -- serving with the Army in Afghanistan -- died in an RPG attack.
  
  
• A well-written profile piece by Gabe Nelson for the Toledo Blade -- filled with both heart and a lot of local and national data -- introduces us to Maj. Dorian LeBeau, a clinical therapist working at the Toledo Vet Center as they begin an expanded PTSD care program. LeBeau, an "Army mortuary affairs officer based at Camp Doha, Kuwait" recovering remains of fallen U.S. soldiers during past Iraq and Afghanistan deployments, says, "My main focus since I’ve returned home is to help other individuals like myself to ensure they’re getting the things they need, from someone who understands what they’re going through." Maj. LeBeau: You rock, sir.
  
  
• 'This American Veteran' is a half-hour monthly video news magazine produced by the Department of Veterans Affairs aiming to educate its clients on the many benefits they're entitled to. This month, learn about a few new resources for disabled veterans the VA has provided, including a "home telehealth program, where over 30,000 veterans are able to check into their medical center daily without ever leaving home." Some are also jetting off "to the beaches of Malibu, where veterans experience sun and surf in a uniquely California form of physical and mental therapy -- on a surfboard." ABC World News recently reported on this program:

Australian PTSD Documentary: Casualties of War

There is a world of silence that sits between those who have seen unspeakable acts of violence and those who have not. -- Professor Sandy McFarlane, head of psychiatry at the University of Adelaide

So begins director Jennifer Lee's 2008 Australian documentary, Casualties of War, now available on YouTube (and at triple j tv).

"CASUALTIES OF WAR tells the story of Leigh, a Special Forces soldier who served with the Australian Army in East Timor. Leigh believes that the hardest part of going to war is coming home. A year after Leigh returned from East Timor he reached breaking point and left the army. It is only now, 4 years later, he feels able to speak out about the realities of being a soldier."

For Mature Audiences - strong language, violent images

Part 1

War and Sleep: LA Times Offers Story, Live Chat on PTSD Sleep Disorders

An invitation from the Los Angeles Times Booster Shots blog asking us to join in on an upcoming exploration -- both in print and online via a live chat this Tuesday, August 5 -- of the difficulty many combat veterans face in getting a fitful night's sleep. (Heaven knows writers and other creatives like myself generally fall into the night owl category, too, but our lack of sleep is obviously of the less mentally draining and certainly less alarming sort.)

First, details from the Times, and below the fold you'll find a number of recently related reports that have turned up in the news and clinical journals:

Mitch Hood, 25, spent two tours in Iraq with the Marines. Now, like many other veterans, he faces a new enemy: sleep.

Hood has nightmares nearly every night, many like the one above, laced with the fear he felt when he was in Iraq. Most nights, he battles his own body's need to sleep, opting to stay awake so he doesn't fall into nightmares.

Hood knows he is not the only one with these problems. Sleep and wakefulness issues are the most common health problems described by recently returned soldiers, researchers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center found in a study published last year.

A Times reporter and videographer stayed up all night with the former Marine and his fiancee to witness his struggles. The print story will appear in Tuesday's newspaper. A video of the vigil, plus interviews with Hood and other veterans, accompany the story on the Web.

Join us for a live Web chat at noon Tuesday to discuss the influence of war on sleep and how physicians try to treat the problems. We will be doing a question-and-answer session with Dr. Thomas C. Neylan, director of the Posttraumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD) Program at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and Steve Woodward, director of the Sleep Research Laboratory at the VA's National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Palo Alto.

Mark your calendars and set your bookmarks -- the chat happens right here Aug. 5 at noon Pacific time.

Family Strains Worsen as Wars Drag On, Deployments Add Up

From David Crary, AP:

Far from the combat zones, the strains and separations of no-end-in-sight wars are taking an ever-growing toll on military families despite the armed services' earnest efforts to help. ...What makes today's wars distinctive is the deployment pattern — two, three, sometimes four overseas stints of 12 or 15 months. In the past, that kind of schedule was virtually unheard of. ...

An array of studies by the Army and outside researchers say that marital strains, risk of child maltreatment and other problems harmful to families worsen as soldiers serve multiple combat tours.

For example, a Pentagon-funded study last year concluded that children in some Army families were markedly more vulnerable to abuse and neglect by their mothers when their fathers were deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In Iraq, the latest survey by Army mental health experts showed that more than 15 percent of married soldiers deployed there were planning a divorce, with the rates for soldiers at the late stages of deployment triple those of recent arrivals.

For the Army, especially, the challenges are staggering as it furnishes the bulk of combat forces. As of last year, more than 55 percent of its soldiers were married, a far higher rate than during the Vietnam war. The nearly 513,000 soldiers on active duty collectively had more than 493,000 children.

Are PTSD-Medicated Veterans Dying in Sleep -- or Committing Suicide?

Important story on the cluster of OEF/OIF veterans who have recently been found to have died in their sleep, or thought to have committed suicide, while heavily medicated and being treated for PTSD. First, a May 23 introduction by Julie Robinson of the Charleston Gazette:

A Putnam County veteran who was taking medication prescribed for post-traumatic stress disorder died in his sleep earlier this month, in circumstances similar to the deaths of three other area veterans earlier this year.

Derek Johnson, 22, of Hurricane, served in the infantry in the Middle East in 2005, where he was wounded in combat and diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder while hospitalized.

Military doctors prescribed Paxil, Klonopin and Seroquel for Johnson, the same combination taken by veterans Andrew White, 23, of Cross Lanes; Eric Layne, 29, of Kanawha City; and Nicholas Endicott of Logan County. All were in apparently good physical health when they died in their sleep.

Johnson was taking Klonopin and Seroquel, as prescribed, at the time of his death, said his grandmother, Georgeann Underwood of Hurricane. Both drugs are frequently used in combination to treat post-traumatic stress disorder. Klonopin causes excessive drowsiness in some patients.

He also was taking a painkiller for a back injury he sustained in a car accident about a week before his death, but was no longer taking Paxil.

Virginia Heroes, Marlboro Marine, Vet Unemployment, DoD Study

Notable quick stops well worth a visit:

• On Wednesday, 200 social service workers gathered at the Virginia is for Heroes regional conference held at Fort Monroe. A few helpful articles over there, especially "Tune In to Special Needs of Military Families [pdf] ," by Barbara J. Howard, M.D.
  
  
• Jenny Eliscu offers a heart-tugging update on James Blake Miller, 'The Marlboro Marine,' in the latest Rolling Stone.
  
  
• Following-up on yesterday's post, the Topeka Capital-Journal editorial board chimes in on news that unemployment in the younger veterans set had shot up to 23 percent in 2005 from 2000's 10 percent rate.
  
  
• From last week: A University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio research consortium has been awarded $33 million from the DoD to study post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in returning troops. Their main objective will be to "develop and evaluate the most effective early-interventions for detecting, preventing and treating combat-related PTSD."

Time Mag and Minnesota's Warrior to Citizen Campaign: Something to Think About, Then Do

My work on the PTSD Timeline has gone on hiatus again for the past few months as I juggle four NIU classes and all other things (dropping so much along the way -- including far too many wonderful emails from PTSD Combat visitors, I'm afraid; I apologize to those that have gone unanswered).

Yet, the press-reported incidents of a wide variety of reintegration problems awaiting our returning troops continue to scream out from all corners of our county. Collection of these incidents continues behind-the-scenes, too.

While I save them for a time when I can go about the work of submitting them to my colleagues over at ePluribus Media, I rarely point these individual cases out here at PTSD Combat (except when writing about the occasional incident or when sharing news of a batch of our latest timeline entries).

I'm not sure I ever set about explaining why I don't, as a rule, share these difficult stories with you as I find them. The reasons are many-fold, the main one being simply that I don't want the incidents themselves to be the sensational driver of my work here. I think most of the readers that visit this online journal already know that these incidents are taking place; they don't need further proof.

[I, however, can't say enough how greatly I appreciate the work of those who do keep a running tally of such published articles. Kathie Costos at Wounded Times and Paul Sullivan at Veterans for Common Sense come to mind immediately; often their efforts are the only thing standing in the way of lost articles, lost information important for us to catalog, once public but now tucked out of our reach in archives or even wiped completely from servers to make room for the latest news.]