Walter Reed cancer center to be named for Murtha
Late congressman was advocate of medical care for military members and their families
December 2, 2012
By Tracie Mauriello
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
He has a neuroscience institute, an airport, an Army Reserve center, a highway, and a Navy ship named for him. There's even a John P. Murtha memorial tree on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol.
Starting Monday, a comprehensive cancer center at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center will bear Mr. Murtha's name, too.
The popular Democratic congressman died in 2010 but his legacy is still remembered at home in Johnstown, in Washington where he wielded power over defense appropriations and at military medical centers around the country that bear the Murtha name.
Mr. Murtha had a longtime interest in medical care for members of the military and their families.
"It was always his overriding concern. He was worried about our troops being taken care of physically when they get back," said his widow, Joyce, who plans to attend Monday's naming ceremony in Maryland, where top military brass including Defense Secretary Leon Panetta are expected to honor him.
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Showing posts with label Congressman John Murtha. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Congressman John Murtha. Show all posts
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Friday, February 19, 2010
Navy reviewing Murtha’s medical care
Navy reviewing Murtha’s medical care
By Lance M. Bacon - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Feb 18, 2010 19:43:57 EST
The National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., is reviewing the medical care provided to Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., during gallbladder surgery on Jan. 28. Murtha died Feb. 8.
The “in-depth standardized quality assurance review” of the care Murtha received is required when a patient dies at the facility or if there is an adverse event during that care, Navy spokesman Cmdr. Danny Hernandez said Thursday.
Hernandez said he had no information on how long the review would take or how many reviews of this type are done annually.
After Murtha died, his close friend and fellow congressman, Rep. Robert Brady, D-Pa., told Navy Times that Murtha’s death was likely the result of an inadvertent cut to his intestine during laparoscopic surgery. Brady said he had been told by Murtha’s staff that the small nick caused an infection.
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Navy reviewing Murtha medical care
By Lance M. Bacon - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Feb 18, 2010 19:43:57 EST
The National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., is reviewing the medical care provided to Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., during gallbladder surgery on Jan. 28. Murtha died Feb. 8.
The “in-depth standardized quality assurance review” of the care Murtha received is required when a patient dies at the facility or if there is an adverse event during that care, Navy spokesman Cmdr. Danny Hernandez said Thursday.
Hernandez said he had no information on how long the review would take or how many reviews of this type are done annually.
After Murtha died, his close friend and fellow congressman, Rep. Robert Brady, D-Pa., told Navy Times that Murtha’s death was likely the result of an inadvertent cut to his intestine during laparoscopic surgery. Brady said he had been told by Murtha’s staff that the small nick caused an infection.
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Navy reviewing Murtha medical care
Monday, February 8, 2010
Congressman John Murtha dies at 77
John Murtha dies at 77
By Martin Weil and Carol D. Leonnig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, February 8, 2010; 3:06 PM
Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), 77, a Vietnam veteran who staunchly supported military spending and became a master of pork-barrel politics, died today following gallbladder surgery at Virginia Hospital Center.
read more here
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/08/AR2010020802352.html?hpid=topnews
By Martin Weil and Carol D. Leonnig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, February 8, 2010; 3:06 PM
Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), 77, a Vietnam veteran who staunchly supported military spending and became a master of pork-barrel politics, died today following gallbladder surgery at Virginia Hospital Center.
read more here
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/08/AR2010020802352.html?hpid=topnews
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Rep. John Murtha hospitalized after gallbladder surgery complications
Murtha hospitalized after gallbladder surgery complications
From Deirdre Walsh, CNN Congressional Producer
February 2, 2010 3:55 p.m. EST
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Complications arose after Murtha underwent gall bladder surgery
Pennsylvania Democrat is in intensive care, source says.
Murtha top Democrat on committee that oversees Pentagon spending
Washington (CNN) -- Complications arose after Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania underwent gallbladder surgery, and he remains in a hospital, his spokesman confirmed Tuesday.
A source close to Murtha told CNN he is in the intensive care unit of the hospital. The source asked not to be identified, saying the matter is sensitive in nature.
The 77-year-old Democrat underwent scheduled laparoscopic surgery to remove his gallbladder last week, said spokesman Matthew Mazonkey. "Complications did arise from the surgery, and he is currently at the Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington," he said.
read more here
http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/02/02/murtha.hospital/index.html?hpt=T2
From Deirdre Walsh, CNN Congressional Producer
February 2, 2010 3:55 p.m. EST
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Complications arose after Murtha underwent gall bladder surgery
Pennsylvania Democrat is in intensive care, source says.
Murtha top Democrat on committee that oversees Pentagon spending
Washington (CNN) -- Complications arose after Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania underwent gallbladder surgery, and he remains in a hospital, his spokesman confirmed Tuesday.
A source close to Murtha told CNN he is in the intensive care unit of the hospital. The source asked not to be identified, saying the matter is sensitive in nature.
The 77-year-old Democrat underwent scheduled laparoscopic surgery to remove his gallbladder last week, said spokesman Matthew Mazonkey. "Complications did arise from the surgery, and he is currently at the Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington," he said.
read more here
http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/02/02/murtha.hospital/index.html?hpt=T2
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Lawmakers want faster progress on TBI, PTSD
Well Comgressman Murtha is getting it right,,,I didn't need to post the rant after all.
Lawmakers want faster progress on TBI, PTSD
ArmyTimes.com - Springfield,VA,USA
Lawmakers want faster progress on TBI, PTSD
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Mar 3, 2009 16:03:36 EST
A hearing meant to give Defense Department officials a chance to explain their plans for spending $900 million allocated for mental health care quickly turned into a debate on how that money should be spent.
As yet, military experts on post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries are still working out which studies should be funded, which treatment methods should be adopted and which pilot programs should be put in place.
“We keep getting studies,” Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., chairman of the House defense appropriations panel, said at a hearing Tuesday. “That’s the problem with the Defense Department — they study it to death.”
“I would say that you’ve helped us significantly,” Ellen Embrey, deputy assistant secretary of defense for force health readiness and protection, told Murtha and other lawmakers. “I would like to report in future hearings what we’re doing with that money.”
Lawmakers had plenty of ideas of their own: Buy more helicopters to get wounded troops out of Afghanistan faster; begin treating traumatic brain injuries immediately using hyperbaric oxygen chambers; and, most importantly, quit spending so much time studying options that never become reality.
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Rep. John Murtha, how many times do you have to hear before you listen?
Dear Congressman Murtha,
With all do respect, because I do believe you really care about the veterans, it's time to stop hearing the problems and start listening to the solutions.
I've heard enough testimonies in the last few years to know there isn't anything new. I've been doing outreach work with veterans since 1982, plus living with it everyday. I've research the data and talked with them, emailed them, held their hands and hugged them more times than I can count. Going over and over to the same group of people will provide you with the same information. What the DOD and the VA have does not work and they've had over 30 years to get this right. The troops and our veterans keep killing themselves waiting for Congress to get their act together and come up with programs that work. Families are falling apart while Congress keeps asking the same questions over and over again.
We can save their lives, heal marriages and families if we do what they need instead of what Congress wants to do. If you want to know exactly what has to be done, just ask. I've given up on emailing Congressmen and Senators because none of them have wanted to listen. If you do, just email me at Namguardianangel@aol.com.
With all do respect, because I do believe you really care about the veterans, it's time to stop hearing the problems and start listening to the solutions.
I've heard enough testimonies in the last few years to know there isn't anything new. I've been doing outreach work with veterans since 1982, plus living with it everyday. I've research the data and talked with them, emailed them, held their hands and hugged them more times than I can count. Going over and over to the same group of people will provide you with the same information. What the DOD and the VA have does not work and they've had over 30 years to get this right. The troops and our veterans keep killing themselves waiting for Congress to get their act together and come up with programs that work. Families are falling apart while Congress keeps asking the same questions over and over again.
We can save their lives, heal marriages and families if we do what they need instead of what Congress wants to do. If you want to know exactly what has to be done, just ask. I've given up on emailing Congressmen and Senators because none of them have wanted to listen. If you do, just email me at Namguardianangel@aol.com.
Hearing to focus on mental health of troops
By Kimberly Hefling - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Mar 3, 2009 6:28:59 EST
WASHINGTON — A House subcommittee on Tuesday will take a look at military programs targeting mental health.
The Army has been investigating an unexplained spike in suicides in January. Last year, the Army had its highest suicide rate on record.
Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., will chair the hearing before the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, which will also examine programs for soldiers with traumatic brain injuries.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Murtha pushes retroactive stop-loss payments
Murtha pushes retroactive stop-loss payments
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Dec 11, 2008 13:15:33 EST
Retroactive stop-loss allowances of up to $500 a month could be included in the next supplemental war funding bill, providing back payments for anyone whose military service was involuntarily extended since the 2001 terrorist attacks, a key lawmaker said Wednesday.
Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., chairman of the House defense appropriations subcommittee, said about 185,000 people would be eligible for one month of retroactive payment for any month during which their separation or retirement was delayed by as little as one day.
Congress created the stop-loss allowance earlier this year, but restricted the payments only to people affected by involuntary extensions in fiscal 2009, which began on Oct. 1 and ends on Sept. 30. Those payments have not yet begun because the Army — the only service that has had people under stop-loss orders since Oct. 1 — is still working out details, including whether to pay the full $500-per-month maximum authorized under the law, or a lesser level of payment.
click link above for more
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Dec 11, 2008 13:15:33 EST
Retroactive stop-loss allowances of up to $500 a month could be included in the next supplemental war funding bill, providing back payments for anyone whose military service was involuntarily extended since the 2001 terrorist attacks, a key lawmaker said Wednesday.
Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., chairman of the House defense appropriations subcommittee, said about 185,000 people would be eligible for one month of retroactive payment for any month during which their separation or retirement was delayed by as little as one day.
Congress created the stop-loss allowance earlier this year, but restricted the payments only to people affected by involuntary extensions in fiscal 2009, which began on Oct. 1 and ends on Sept. 30. Those payments have not yet begun because the Army — the only service that has had people under stop-loss orders since Oct. 1 — is still working out details, including whether to pay the full $500-per-month maximum authorized under the law, or a lesser level of payment.
click link above for more
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Honoring our veterans takes more than words
JOHN MURTHA Honoring our veterans takes more than words
BY JOHN MURTHA
The Tribune-Democrat
Veterans Day is a time to honor those Americans who answered the call to service and who proudly fought to defend our freedoms.
America owes an immeasurable debt to each of the 23.4 million veterans alive today, including the tens-of-thousands living right here in southwestern Pennsylvania.
Honoring our veterans means more than just words and speeches.
For Congress, it means putting our money where our mouth is and fully funding the Veterans Administration. It means ensuring that our veterans have first-class health care and providing them with access to jobs and higher education.
For too long, the Veterans Administration was under-funded and unable to adequately meet the needs of our veterans. We’ve changed that over the past few years.
The Democratic Congress has made an unprecedented commitment to our nation’s veterans by passing the largest spending increase in the 77-year history of the Veterans Administration – a record $16 billion increase in just two years.
For the 5.8 million veterans in the VA health-care system, this increase provides for the hiring of an additional 15,000 VA health-care workers, including 1,700 new doctors and 6,450 nurses.
This means better care, more services, and shorter wait times.
The Veterans Administration will also hire more than 5,200 new caseworkers to reduce the significant backlog in the claims processing system, which will help our veterans get their earned benefits faster.
For the first time since 1979, when gasoline cost less than $1 per gallon, Congress increased the veterans’ mileage reimbursement rate from 11 cents to 41.5 cents per mile.
Veterans in our area who are forced to travel to Pittsburgh or Altoona for care will now be more fairly reimbursed for their travel.
Congress also provided significant research, treatment, and counseling funds for Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
It is estimated that more than 300,000 of our returning troops will suffer from these mental-health problems, and we provided over $1.2 billion in just the past two years to take care of these injuries.
We have seen a dramatic increase in suicides in the wake of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Congress passed legislation directing the Veterans Administration to develop a comprehensive suicide prevention program which includes access to mental-health staff and a 24-hour toll-free suicide prevention hotline.
Already some 30,000 veterans, family members and friends have used the hotline, and it has helped to prevent more than 1,200 suicides.
Also this year, Congress passed a new 21st Century GI Education Bill to benefit our service members who have served since Sept. 11, 2001.
The new GI Bill funds a full, four-year public university tuition, provides a monthly living expense, and allows service members to transfer unused educational benefits to their spouse and children.
I was given the opportunity to attend college under the G.I. Bill, and I believe it is our responsibility to ensure that America’s next generation of veterans receives the same higher educational benefits.
Over the past two years, the Democratic Congress has put its money where its mouth is.
The new Congress and President Obama will continue to provide our veterans with the services and benefits worthy of their courage and sacrifice.
On this Veterans Day, let us remember the sacrifices of millions of Americans who answered our nation’s call to service.
While we can never fully repay the debt of gratitude we owe to the men and women who put on the uniform, we can and will work to fulfill our promise of taking care of each and every veteran.
We owe them no less.
U.S. Rep. John Murtha,
D-Johnstown, is chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense.
http://www.tribune-democrat.com/local/local_story_315221830.html
BY JOHN MURTHA
The Tribune-Democrat
Veterans Day is a time to honor those Americans who answered the call to service and who proudly fought to defend our freedoms.
America owes an immeasurable debt to each of the 23.4 million veterans alive today, including the tens-of-thousands living right here in southwestern Pennsylvania.
Honoring our veterans means more than just words and speeches.
For Congress, it means putting our money where our mouth is and fully funding the Veterans Administration. It means ensuring that our veterans have first-class health care and providing them with access to jobs and higher education.
For too long, the Veterans Administration was under-funded and unable to adequately meet the needs of our veterans. We’ve changed that over the past few years.
The Democratic Congress has made an unprecedented commitment to our nation’s veterans by passing the largest spending increase in the 77-year history of the Veterans Administration – a record $16 billion increase in just two years.
For the 5.8 million veterans in the VA health-care system, this increase provides for the hiring of an additional 15,000 VA health-care workers, including 1,700 new doctors and 6,450 nurses.
This means better care, more services, and shorter wait times.
The Veterans Administration will also hire more than 5,200 new caseworkers to reduce the significant backlog in the claims processing system, which will help our veterans get their earned benefits faster.
For the first time since 1979, when gasoline cost less than $1 per gallon, Congress increased the veterans’ mileage reimbursement rate from 11 cents to 41.5 cents per mile.
Veterans in our area who are forced to travel to Pittsburgh or Altoona for care will now be more fairly reimbursed for their travel.
Congress also provided significant research, treatment, and counseling funds for Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
It is estimated that more than 300,000 of our returning troops will suffer from these mental-health problems, and we provided over $1.2 billion in just the past two years to take care of these injuries.
We have seen a dramatic increase in suicides in the wake of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Congress passed legislation directing the Veterans Administration to develop a comprehensive suicide prevention program which includes access to mental-health staff and a 24-hour toll-free suicide prevention hotline.
Already some 30,000 veterans, family members and friends have used the hotline, and it has helped to prevent more than 1,200 suicides.
Also this year, Congress passed a new 21st Century GI Education Bill to benefit our service members who have served since Sept. 11, 2001.
The new GI Bill funds a full, four-year public university tuition, provides a monthly living expense, and allows service members to transfer unused educational benefits to their spouse and children.
I was given the opportunity to attend college under the G.I. Bill, and I believe it is our responsibility to ensure that America’s next generation of veterans receives the same higher educational benefits.
Over the past two years, the Democratic Congress has put its money where its mouth is.
The new Congress and President Obama will continue to provide our veterans with the services and benefits worthy of their courage and sacrifice.
On this Veterans Day, let us remember the sacrifices of millions of Americans who answered our nation’s call to service.
While we can never fully repay the debt of gratitude we owe to the men and women who put on the uniform, we can and will work to fulfill our promise of taking care of each and every veteran.
We owe them no less.
U.S. Rep. John Murtha,
D-Johnstown, is chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense.
http://www.tribune-democrat.com/local/local_story_315221830.html
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Marine sues Congressman Murtha for Hadithah comments
Marine sues Murtha for Hadithah comments
By Ramesh Santanam - The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Sep 26, 2008 18:00:52 EDT
PITTSBURGH — A former Marine lance corporal sued Rep. John Murtha for slander Thursday, saying the Pennsylvania Democrat damaged his reputation by saying Marines killed women and children “in cold blood” in Hadithah, Iraq, in November 2005.
The federal lawsuit claims Murtha violated Justin Sharratt’s rights to due process and presumption of innocence with comments on various news shows in May 2006. Sharratt, who was honorably discharged last year, said he received hate e-mails and has been called “baby killer” when he has gone out in Canonsburg, about 15 miles south of Pittsburgh.
“Sharratt, in being labeled repeatedly by Murtha as a ‘cold-blooded murderer,’ and by Murtha outrageously claiming that the Hadithah incident was comparable to the infamous (My Lai) massacre of Vietnam, has suffered permanent, irreversible damage to his reputation,” the lawsuit states. American service members killed as many as 504 Vietnamese villagers in the My Lai massacre.
Military prosecutors have said 24 Iraqis, including women and children, were killed in Hadithah on Nov. 19, 2005, after one Marine was killed and two others wounded by a roadside bomb. Murtha, a former Marine and decorated Vietnam War veteran, blamed the killings on troops under too much pressure in Iraq.
click post title for more
By Ramesh Santanam - The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Sep 26, 2008 18:00:52 EDT
PITTSBURGH — A former Marine lance corporal sued Rep. John Murtha for slander Thursday, saying the Pennsylvania Democrat damaged his reputation by saying Marines killed women and children “in cold blood” in Hadithah, Iraq, in November 2005.
The federal lawsuit claims Murtha violated Justin Sharratt’s rights to due process and presumption of innocence with comments on various news shows in May 2006. Sharratt, who was honorably discharged last year, said he received hate e-mails and has been called “baby killer” when he has gone out in Canonsburg, about 15 miles south of Pittsburgh.
“Sharratt, in being labeled repeatedly by Murtha as a ‘cold-blooded murderer,’ and by Murtha outrageously claiming that the Hadithah incident was comparable to the infamous (My Lai) massacre of Vietnam, has suffered permanent, irreversible damage to his reputation,” the lawsuit states. American service members killed as many as 504 Vietnamese villagers in the My Lai massacre.
Military prosecutors have said 24 Iraqis, including women and children, were killed in Hadithah on Nov. 19, 2005, after one Marine was killed and two others wounded by a roadside bomb. Murtha, a former Marine and decorated Vietnam War veteran, blamed the killings on troops under too much pressure in Iraq.
click post title for more
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Murtha On His Way To Fort Drum
Congressman to visit Drum, discuss PTSD treatment
By MARC HELLER
TIMES WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2008
WASHINGTON — The chairman of a House defense spending panel will visit Fort Drum next Friday to discuss the treatment of soldiers for disabilities and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Rep. John R. Murtha, D-Pa., who heads the House Appropriations subcommittee on defense, said he will meet with base commanders and Department of Veterans Affairs representatives as well as with soldiers and their families.
Mr. Murtha's plans follow reports of long waits for soldiers seeking psychological help at Fort Drum, which came on the heels of revelations that VA counselors stopped helping wounded soldiers navigate the bureaucracy in applying for disability benefits.
As a result, the Army and the VA signed an agreement this week spelling out each agency's responsibilities — a development Mr. Murtha acknowledged Thursday as progress toward addressing the issue identified in reports from National Public Radio.
Mr. Murtha said he wants to know more about how PTSD is being handled at Fort Drum, where the 10th Mountain Division is one of the most heavily deployed units to Iraq and Afghanistan.
click post title for the rest
By MARC HELLER
TIMES WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2008
WASHINGTON — The chairman of a House defense spending panel will visit Fort Drum next Friday to discuss the treatment of soldiers for disabilities and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Rep. John R. Murtha, D-Pa., who heads the House Appropriations subcommittee on defense, said he will meet with base commanders and Department of Veterans Affairs representatives as well as with soldiers and their families.
Mr. Murtha's plans follow reports of long waits for soldiers seeking psychological help at Fort Drum, which came on the heels of revelations that VA counselors stopped helping wounded soldiers navigate the bureaucracy in applying for disability benefits.
As a result, the Army and the VA signed an agreement this week spelling out each agency's responsibilities — a development Mr. Murtha acknowledged Thursday as progress toward addressing the issue identified in reports from National Public Radio.
Mr. Murtha said he wants to know more about how PTSD is being handled at Fort Drum, where the 10th Mountain Division is one of the most heavily deployed units to Iraq and Afghanistan.
click post title for the rest
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