Toby Keith killed PTSD video When War Comes Home Part Two

Dear NamGuardianAngel,

Video Disabled

A copyright owner has claimed it owns some or all of the audio content in your video When War Comes Home Part Two. The audio content identified in your video is Yesterday's Rain by Toby Keith. We regret to inform you that your video has been blocked from playback due to a music rights issue.

To think that when this nation faces losing more of our men and women serving this country after they come home than we do while they are deployed because of PTSD, and this man finds it necessary to have this video blocked from reaching them! What an outrage!

National Guards and Reservists are presenting with higher rates of PTSD, families are falling apart and suffering because they don't know what PTSD. They lack the proper support, educational outreach and hope more than the regular military does, and their numbers are skyrocketing as well.

I actually buy the music I use for these videos, spend countless hours looking for the right songs to reach as many different people as possible knowing everyone's taste in music is different. It takes days on end of hard work to put these videos together for the sake of all who serve and our veterans. Now I have to turn around and find someone else's music to use!

Now I get to go to the music store again, spend hours searching for a song that will mean as much, spend money I don't have buying another CD when I don't make any money off what I do. He makes a bundle. I wonder if he would work 16 hours a day for free out of love while worrying about bills I can't pay because the troops, the National Guards and Reservists, their families and our veterans need as much help as they can get?

I do all of this because I remember what it was like with my Vietnam Veteran husband were going thru all of this with absolutely no support at all, feeling alone and lost. I don't want any other family or veteran to have to go thru any of this the way we did but I guess Toby Keith just doesn't get it. No wonder Country Music Awards passed him by! He sure has the talent but I wonder if he has the heart after something like this.

The PTSD videos I do are non-political because PTSD doesn't care if you are a Democrat or a Republican. It only cares you are a human exposed to trauma. I don't know what Toby Keith's problem is when it comes to using his music on a video like this or the label that produces his CD, but I think it's pretty disgraceful that a video like this would cause them to object. You'd think they would take it as a compliment that the words in the song meant so much out of thousands that it would be selected for a video for the sake of those who serve.

To those who loved this video, I'm sorry you can no longer pass it on. I'll rework it with someone else's music and will never again use Toby Keith for any video I create. I really hope if you buy his music you consider what just happened and think twice about spending any money on his music when he just killed a PTSD video that was helping thousands of families who serve this country and need our real support.

Senior Chaplain Kathie Costos

Namguardianangel@aol.com

http://www.namguardianangel.org/

http://www.woundedtimes.blogspot.com/

"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington

On the Couch Online: Does Tele-Therapy Work?

Forgive me for really cutting this one down but there isn't much new in this. Online mental health help works for some but not for others. That's what this all boils down to. Mental health problems and treatments are never one size fits all. What works for some people, doesn't work for other.

When I help people understand what PTSD (which is the role I determined to stay in) the people emailing me have nothing to gain by being dishonest. I help them understand what PTSD is, support them until they are ready to go for help and then make suggestions for them to get it. I cannot diagnose them or treat them or provide medication. That is not what I do but there are some great therapists I've been posting about doing great work online. People tend to be a lot more open and honest when they aren't looking at someone face to face, but I can see how this could be a problem. When you read this article, keep and open mind and understand, what works for some doesn't work for everyone.

On the Couch Online: Does Tele-Therapy Work?
By Alice Park

That's why, despite its obvious benefits, even advocates of online therapy don't consider it a substitute for in-the-flesh sessions. "Hell, no," says Dr. Alexander Obolsky, a psychiatrist at Northwestern University School of Medicine and a proponent of remote services. "Nothing is going to replace a well-trained psychiatrist providing face-to-face treatment. But it may bring a different set of patients to mental health who can benefit." Patients like the women Stark has reached. Even if the only advantage of telemental health were to bring like-suffering people together on the Web, say experts, that's an essential first step in mental healing — recognizing that you need support.

Returning troops faced the airport screening from hell

After 15 months in Iraq, servicemembers face an arduous process of returning to ‘normal’
By Heath Druzin, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Monday, November 3, 2008

ALI AL SALEM AIR BASE, Kuwait — It was midnight and home was within grasp, but after 15 months of grueling battle and fleeting sleep, the soldiers of 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment now faced the airport screening from hell.

After carefully packing their bulging bags with clothes, body armor and trinkets picked up in Iraq, 305 soldiers had to empty everything for security officials who picked through shirts, underwear and socks looking for contraband. The check came between two X-ray scans and two metal detectors, a process that took about three hours.

Graffiti on the wall of the screening room summed up the grumbling of many of the bleary-eyed troops.

"The government treats me like I’m the terrorist," it read.

Staff Sgt. Douglas Reynolds mulled over what he saw as a contradiction.

"People coming from India to the United States can get into the country easier than this," he said with a resigned smile.
go here for more
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=58578

John Ripley, Vietnam War hero, dies at age 69

John Ripley, Vietnam War hero, dies at age 69
Marine John Ripley dies at age 69, credited with holding off North Vietnamese tanks in 1972
AP
Nov 2, 2008
(ANNAPOLIS, Md.) Retired Marine Col. John Ripley, who was credited with stopping a column of North Vietnamese tanks by blowing up a pair of bridges during the 1972 Easter Offensive of the Vietnam War, died at home at age 69, friends and relatives said Sunday.

Ripley's son, Stephen Ripley, said his father was found at his Annapolis home Saturday after missing a speaking engagement on Friday. The son said the cause of death had not been determined but it appeared his father died in his sleep.

In a videotaped interview with the U.S. Naval Institute for its Americans at War program, Ripley said he and about 600 South Vietnamese were ordered to "hold and die" against 20,000 North Vietnamese soldiers with about 200 tanks.

"I'll never forget that order, 'hold and die'," Ripley said. The only way to stop the enormous force with their tiny force was to destroy the bridge, he said.

"The idea that I would be able to even finish the job before the enemy got me was ludicrous," Ripley said. "When you know you're not going to make it, a wonderful thing happens: You stop being cluttered by the feeling that you're going to save your butt."

Ripley crawled under the bridge under heavy gunfire, rigging 500 pounds of explosives that brought the twins spans down, said John Miller, a former Marine adviser in Vietnam and the author of "The Bridge at Dong Ha," which details the battle.

go here for more
http://www.newsweek.com/id/167102


Colonel John W. Ripley is a revered Marine Corps legend, one of the most decorated Marines of the Vietnam War and an acclaimed authority on performance under extreme adversity. Col. Ripley, a U.S. Marine combat commander, who also commanded the British Royal Marine Commandos in combat, single-handedly blew up the Dong Ha bridge in Vietnam, thus blunting the largest North Vietnamese Army offensive (the 1972 Easter Offensive) of the Vietnam War. His heroic action at Dong Ha Bridge was chosen to memorialize and symbolize the entire history of all Naval Academy graduates who fought in that war, dramatized by a diorama in the Academy's memorial hall entitled "Ripley at the Bridge."

He is the subject of dozens of books and the recipient of a host of honors, including the Navy Cross, the Silver Star, two awards of the Legion of Merit, two Bronze Stars with Combat "V," a Purple Heart and the Cross of Gallantry. He and one other Marine share the distinction of more combat experience than any other active duty Marine. He has held professorships at The Naval Academy, Virginia Military Institute and Oregon State.

He served as Director of Marine Corps History and Director of the Marine Corps Historical Center. Col. Ripley has served before the Justice Department and on a Presidential Commission as an expert witness on women in combat. He is regularly asked to testify before both Houses of Congress and is called to address the FBI regularly on issues related to the military. A renowned authority on gound combat, he has appeared on national networks FOX, CNBC and CNN and is often quoted in the National Review. He is also a highly sought-after speaker before professional audiences as an expert in combat leadership, high performance and the value of humanities, classics and liberal arts in corporate life.

http://premierespeakers.com/john_ripley/bio

Lieberman calls McCain "Independent" over and over again?

McCain rally in Peterborough NH is on CNN. Liebermann just introduced McCain and said McCain was a "true Independent" over and over and over again. When did McCain switch parties? Why is it in the last few months McCain is suddenly ashamed of being a Republican when he supported the party with all his heart and soul all the other years before? Shocking! Wonder if Cheney wants to take his endorsement back? No I don't think so because Cheney knows, Halliburton wins if McCain wins. All the defense contactors win if McCain does, but the troops, the people they send to war don't have the same kind of support and neither do the veterans. One more thing that is standing out is the faces in the small crowd. McCain talks about brining people together but the lack of diversity at his rallies show he can't even get a diverse group together at a rally so it's very unlikely he can get anyone together on anything.

He talked about Stevens being convicted but didn't mention his name or the fact he's the Senator from Alaska and a Palin pal. He attacked Congress, as usual, as if he had no part in any of it.


He talked about regulatory bodies, even though he's been against all of them, yet again, acting as if he had nothing to do with it.

McCain stumbled over every sentence he had to say, stuttering and trying to figure out what that next word was supposed to be.

He talked about Reagan working with Tip O'Neil to fix social security, then he said it was his record? Ok, so how did that work out to be his record?

"We cannot raise anyone's taxes in a bad economy" but he doesn't say a single word about how he is supposed to pay for anything that has to be fixed or to pay for what they blew or to help out the middle class that has been suffering all these years.

"I've always put my country first" but he picked Palin without thinking about what the country deserved. He only thought about himself.

Q & A

Honest elections question from woman

"Concerned by reports from the media" he then brought up Acorn and Mickey Mouse, even though none of the fake applications will bring in any votes. Said FBI is conducting and investigation.

Economic crisis question by man on stock market loss and taxes

"I don't think there's any doubt there's affects in decreased revenue." He then said he wants to "scrub" every agency.
"7 years 40% increase in the size of government." Which he voted for every single one of them.

Illegal immigration question from woman

"Immigration is a federal responsibility" temporary worker program, drug cartels just as dangerous as illegal immigration. "These are God's children and need to be handled in a humane way."

Man was talking about "One" volunteers and Bono. Crowd did not look to impressed.

Man said McCain took unfiltered questions unlike another candidate and McCain let him get away with that even though Obama takes all questions. Ask "Joe the Plumber"

Energy question. He talked about coal and nuclear power. He didn't say anything about "drill baby drill."

Tax credit question for green businesses.

"Federal buildings need to be energy efficient." Tax credits for businesses.

"50% tax increase on small businesses will be done by my opponent."

College student question on student loans.

"Give break on paying back loans" Didn't McCain vote against grants for student loans?

Education question was asked McCain said No Child Left Behind was not funded, then switched the question over to autism and brought up Palin saying she would take that over.

All in all, not great for the GOP when suddenly McCain wants to avoid being linked to any of them.


http://www.cnn.com/video/live/live_asx.html?stream=stream3

Vermont State Police need help after National Guardsman was attacked

Assault at Guard firing range investigated

The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Nov 2, 2008 10:37:48 EST

JERICHO, Vt. — Police are looking for two suspects who allegedly assaulted a Vermont Army National Guardsman at the Ethan Allen Firing Range in Jericho.

Police say 23-year-old Jordan Paquette of St. Albans was assigned to keep trespassers off the firing range while drills were taking place on Saturday when two men in dark clothing approached the post around 6 p.m.

Police say when he asked them to stop and identify themselves, they refused and assaulted him. Paquette received minor injuries.

The two men then fled.

Anyone with information is asked to call state police.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/11/ap_guard_assault_110208/

What Wednesday in America can bring after election

If Senator Obama loses the election, (which does not seem possible at this point) he will return to the Senate with his head held up high. Obama has managed to inspire people to vote who have never voted before. He brought young people into politics in greater numbers than ever before. He ran a campaign that refused to get down into the mud, make outlandish claims and refused to yield to the temptation to get as ugly as the McCain campaign. Obama proved that experience is not as important as judgment. McCain had plenty of experience but it was the wrong kind of experience for a great number of people in this country. He gave people back hope. Obama will return to working for the average people in this country who have been forgotten. He will return to working for the veterans on the Veterans Affairs Committee. Not many know that he was advised to take a more high powered Committee position, but he wanted to take care of veterans who held his heart. Even one of my neighbors didn't know and she supported Obama.

If McCain loses, he returns to the Senate with a dark cloud hanging over his head. Not only did he run a campaign showing he cannot make up his mind on much at all, he ran one of anger, infusing hatred, supporting lies, bearing false witness against another Senator and allowing his followers to call Obama a traitor and terrorist. He will return to the Senate after insulting the women of this country with the selection of Sarah Palin and then lying about her history no matter what evidence came out afterward. McCain, who once enjoyed the respect of this nation as a former POW, used it to excuse everything he has done since. From the multitudes of houses he owns, to the multitudes of foreign cars he owns, to his $500 shoes, he has excused it all with having been a POW.

No matter what comes Wednesday, Obama has nothing to be ashamed of and everything to be proud of. He made this country return to hope, was greeted around the world as the restoration of the American ideals and will be forever loved by millions who gathered in record breaking numbers to hear him speak. McCain will forever be a comical joke played on the American people that isn't very funny at all. Had it not been for the Palin pick and the curiosity factor, not many would go to hear him speak at all but worse is that he didn't care he made the choice to hand this nation over to Sarah Palin instead of the truly deserving people in the Republican party.

Why Obama-McCain race deserves 'historic' label
Carolyn Lochhead, Chronicle Washington Bureau

Sunday, November 2, 2008


Washington -- Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama often tells voters that the 2008 election is "a defining moment in history." Candidates usually think their particular race is historic, but in this case, it actually is.

Voters themselves feel they are standing at a watershed moment, whether Democrat, Republican or the dwindling conflicted few still undecided two days before the end of a two-year campaign. Half say they are scared of what might happen should the wrong man win.

The candidates themselves embody the moment: The 47-year-old Obama, on the brink of making history as the first African American president, urges voters to take the leap into the future. The 72-year-old Republican nominee, John McCain, warns that his rival is dangerously inexperienced and urges voters to stick with his record in times of peril.
click post title for more of this

Brooklyn Woman Survives 36-Hour Ordeal in Guyanese River

Brooklyn Woman Survives 36-Hour Ordeal in Guyanese River
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
A 48-year-old Brooklyn woman who survived almost two days bobbing in a river said she was kept alive by the desire to see her 19-year-old daughter again.

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — A 48-year-old Brooklyn woman who survived almost two days bobbing in a river here said she was kept alive by the desire to see her 19-year-old daughter again.

The woman, Sherry Haynes, who was born in Guyana, was riding across the Corentyne River, which separates Guyana and the neighboring South American nation of Suriname, in a water taxi on Oct. 24 when it apparently snagged on a fishing net and capsized.


She was in Guyana to spread her brother’s ashes along Guyana’s rivers, as he had wished. The trip along the Corentyne was supposed to last just 20 minutes.

Only Ms. Haynes and a crew member on the boat survived the accident. Six people died, including her sister and a nephew, who also lived in the New York area.

“My husband told me he would have given up after the first night, but I am not like that,” she said on Saturday. “At nights I drifted to Suriname, and in the day to Guyana, and then back again. The tides were very strong.”

Ms. Haynes, who works at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, said prayer kept her going. She said she realized people were trying to rescue her when she saw police boats in the river.

“But none came close to me,” she said. “I saw them in the distance.”

Nearly 36 hours after she went into the water, Ms. Haynes hit a sandbank. A cattle herder rescued her, fed her and called the authorities.
click link for more

Visitors to Vietnam memorial exhibit reflect and connect in Clearwater

Visitors to Vietnam memorial exhibit reflect and connect in Clearwater

By Mike Brassfield, Times Staff Writer

The black metal of the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall is polished to a gleaming reflective finish. When you look at the 58,260 names etched onto it, you see yourself looking back. • People who visit the memorial tend to use one word to describe it: Overpowering.

"It's unbelievable how many died. You don't really get a perspective until you see it," said Nancy Patterson of Clearwater Beach, who found the name of her younger brother, killed in an ambush near Da Nang at the age of 20.

The wall, a 3/5-scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., continues to be on display today and Monday in the Carpenter Complex just north of Bright House Network Field.

A steady stream of people are making pilgrimages to it. They drive up in Harleys, minivans, Porsches and beat-up pickups. They have McCain and Obama bumper stickers.

click link for more

Father of children killed in Floral City learned of shooting on Internet, says he's "in a shambles"

Father of children killed in Floral City learned of shooting on Internet, says he's "in a shambles"
Nov 1, 2008
The father of two of the three children killed Friday in Floral City said Saturday that he's "in a shambles" over the deaths of his family.

Tony Lietz, 25, of Holiday said he found out what happened after a somewhat ambiguous call from the Citrus County Sheriff's Office sent him to check the Bay News 9 Web site. That's where he learned that his high-school sweetheart, 23-year-old Alicia Chomic, and her three children had been shot to death.

"You don't expect something like that to happen," Lietz said Saturday, still sounding shaken. "I'm devastated...As far as I knew, everybody was happy. This was out of the blue."

Police seek St. Louis-area cop killer

Police seek St. Louis-area cop killer
UNIVERSITY CITY, Mo., Nov. 2 (UPI) -- A 41-year-old man suspected of shooting a St. Louis-area police officer to death was being sought Sunday, officials said.

Investigators allege the man, a convicted drug dealer, walked up to Sgt. Michael King of the University City, Mo., police department as he sat in a parked squad car Saturday night and shot him to death, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

The suspect allegedly then jumped into a nearby car and led police on a high-speed chase. The suspect was described as driving a light-colored, four-door 1993 Oldsmobile Cutlass with Missouri license plate 2AB 28J.
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Minister shot dead, deacon wounded before funeral

Minister shot dead, deacon wounded before funeral
Story Highlights
Records: There was a yearlong dispute between gunman and minister

Rev. Donald Fairbanks Sr., Dowdell Cobb were shot Saturday morning

Shootings happened just before the funeral of a 71-year-old woman


COVINGTON, Kentucky (AP) -- A gunman fatally shot a Cincinnati minister and wounded a church deacon just after the two men arrived at a northern Kentucky church to attend a funeral, police said.

Court records in Hamilton County, Ohio, revealed a yearlong dispute between the accused gunman and the minister, the Rev. Donald Fairbanks Sr.

Fairbanks and Dowdell Cobb were shot just before 11 a.m. Saturday, police said. The gunman chased one of the men to a nearby park, where he shot the man a second time, said Lee Russo, the police chief in Covington, Kentucky.

It was unclear which of the men was shot in the park.

Frederick L. Davis, of Covington, quickly surrendered to police and was charged with murder, first degree assault, criminal mischief and violating an emergency protection order. He was being held without bail and is scheduled to appear in court on Monday
go here for more
http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/11/02/church.shooting.ap/index.html

Too many admitted into Warrior Transition Units

Too many admitted into Warrior Transition Units
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky
By Lolita C. Baldor - The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Nov 2, 2008
In a rush to correct reports of substandard care for wounded soldiers, the Army flung open the doors of new specialized treatment centers so wide that up to half the soldiers currently enrolled do not have injuries serious enough to justify being there, The Associated Press has learned.

Army leaders are putting in place stricter screening procedures to stem the flood of patients overwhelming the units — a move that eventually will target some for closure.

According to interviews and data provided to the AP, the number of patients admitted to the 36 Warrior Transition Units and nine other community-based units jumped from about 5,000 in June 2007, when they began, to a peak of nearly 12,500 in June 2008.

The units provide coordinated medical and mental health care, track soldiers’ recovery and provide broader legal, financial and other family counseling. They serve Army active duty and reserve soldiers.

Just 12 percent of the soldiers in the units had battlefield injuries while thousands of others had minor problems that did not require the complex new network of case managers, nurses and doctors, according to Brig. Gen. Gary H. Cheek, the director of the Army’s warrior care office.

The overcrowding was a “self-inflicted wound,” said Cheek, who also is an assistant surgeon general. “We’re dedicating this kind of oversight and management where, truthfully, only half of those soldiers really needed this.”
click link for more

Video McCain failed Commander-in-Chief test in 2001

AFPVeteran McCain can't bank on US military vote
AFP

Veteran McCain can't bank on US military vote
22 hours ago

CHICAGO (AFP) — War hero John McCain should have been able to count on fellow veterans to back his White House bid, but Democrats have managed to trim the Republican lead by actively courting the military vote.

With the United States engaged in two unpopular wars, the military vote is worth more than the relatively small number of ballots it represents.

Democrats are hoping the visible support of top former commanders and troops on the ground will help overcome a decades-long reputation that they are weak on defense.

Republicans continue to beat the drums of patriotism in an attempt to distract voters from the worsening economic crisis.

McCain meanwhile has built his campaign narrative around his lifelong service to his country and his ability to lead in dangerous times.

The former navy fighter pilot who spent five and a half years in a Vietnamese prison camp pauses every rally and town meeting to thank the "guys in the funny hats" for their military service.

He vows to bring troops home from Iraq "in victory and honor, not in defeat" to chase Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden "to the gates of hell" and to "fight for what's right for America."

And the Arizona senator has mounted constant attacks on the judgment and experience of Democratic rival Barack Obama, a 47-year-old first term senator who has never served in the military.

Yet McCain is expected to win the military vote by a narrower margin on November 4 than President George W. Bush did in 2004, even though Bush sat out the Vietnam war in the Texas national guard and was running against decorated Vietnam veteran John Kerry.

"The best guess is Bush won (the military vote) 60-40 and I'm guessing it will be lower than that for McCain," said Peter Feaver, a professor at Duke University who specializes in civil-military relations.

A Gallup survey in early August found 56 percent of veterans supported McCain while only 34 percent planned to vote for Obama.

At the same point in the 2004 presidential race, 55 percent of veterans backed Bush and 39 percent backed Kerry.

Since then, McCain has fallen sharply in the national polls and Obama has expanded his lead from three points to eight in Gallup's tracking of registered voters.

It is likely that McCain has also lost support among veterans, Feaver said, explaining that while members of the military tend to "skew on the Republican side," they also tend to track the sentiment of the general population.

Democrats have also "assiduously courted the military" in the years since the terrorist attacks of September 11, he added.

They sharply criticized the Bush administration for neglecting returning veterans following the scandal over conditions at the Walter Reed Medical Center and have pushed through legislation which would improve medical benefits and expand college funding for returning veterans.

"Then you have Obama, who has exceptional appeal to three groups over-represented in the military: African Americans, Latinos and young people," Feaver said in a recent interview.

Obama, who served on the senate's veterans affairs committee and has been active in expanding benefits and fighting homelessness among veterans, has also tapped into discontent among veterans frustrated with the way the Iraq war has been handled and the strain that multiple deployments has put on families.

He has called for a staged withdraw from Iraq and greater focus on the war in Afghanistan and regularly asks injured veterans to speak on his behalf at rallies and even at the Democratic National Convention.

His highly organized grassroots campaign has set up chapters of Veterans and Military Families for Obama across the country to knock on doors and make calls on his behalf.

And he recently added Colin Powell, Bush's former secretary of state and the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to his tally of endorsements by retired generals.

There are plenty of veterans who believe McCain's military service is sufficient testament to his character and ability to be commander-in-chief
click link for more

I would really love to know what people think qualifies McCain to be Commander-in-Chief when he was pushing to invade Iraq right after 9-11? I mean, aside from his disgraceful record of voting against veterans, while Obama has really supported them, Obama was against invading Iraq when McCain was pushing to do it. Seems to me on test one, McCain failed miserably.

Unearthed Video: McCain Pushed Bush Iraq War Agenda Two Months After 9/11


Recently unearthed video shows that just two months after 9/11, John McCain was not only fully aware of the Bush Administration's Iraq War Agenda, but also that he actively helped make the argument for war.

In an interview broadcast November 28, 2001 on ABC News Nightline, McCain:

* Said that the Bush Administration would build a case for military conflict with Iraq, and expressed his support for such action

* Advanced false claims made by the Bush Administration about the threat of Iraqi WMD

* Connected Iraq with 9/11 by repeating the false claim that 9/11 hijacker Muhammad Atta had met with Iraq intelligence authorities in Prague before 9/11
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/30/unearthed-video-mccain-pu_n_130680.html
Go to this link and see it with your own eyes. McCain was on Nightline on November 28th talking about the need to invade Iraq. He failed the Commander-in-Chief test and began to prove that he does not know how to "win" wars as he claims. He failed the part of the test on sending men and women into harms way without need or facts. He was pushing for this before the trumped up charges were even presented to Congress. Obama had the right judgement and listened to Generals who said that invading Iraq was wrong, believed it was wrong so much that they resigned. Then McCain did the most deplorable thing of all. He failed the veterans wounded for his fantasy of flight.

Shoot the Messenger - VA Tries to Fire Doctor-Turned-Whistleblower in Texas

"I had a chance to help 40,000 veterans with brain injury," Van Boven said. "I felt this was a gift and a blessing to help those who have served and suffered, and I am well trained to do it. ... I don't want these soldiers to become the next generation of homeless veterans."

Nov 1: Shoot the Messenger - VA Tries to Fire Doctor-Turned-Whistleblower in Texas

Laurel Chesky
Austin Chronicle (Texas)

Nov 01, 2008
October 31, 2008 - It all began with such promise. The Brain Imaging and Recovery Laboratory, launched in January, would hunt for treatments for what has become the Iraq war's signature ailment: traumatic brain injury. A program of the Central Texas Veterans Health Care System, part of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, BIRL was housed at the University of Texas' J.J. Pickle Research Campus, where VA researchers had access to UT's $2.7 million brain scanner to help diagnose invisible head injuries.

But now, BIRL's research has ceased, and the program's director, neurologist Dr. Robert Van Boven, has been suspended from duty with pay since September, while the VA decides what to do with him. On Oct. 15, the VA held a closed hearing to determine whether or not to terminate Van Boven's employment. A board presiding over the hearing is expected to make a recommendation to Thomas Smith, the director of the Central Texas system, within a few weeks.

Van Boven is a compact, tightly wound man. Fast-talking and brimming with energy, he could serve as poster boy for the type A personality. His educational and professional feats match his tireless demeanor. Van Boven earned a doctorate in dental surgery from the University of Illinois and an M.D. from the University of Missouri. He completed two neurology residencies, at Harvard's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and at Northwestern University. He has worked as a clinician at the National Institutes of Health and as an associate professor at Chicago Medical School and Louisiana State University.

go here for more
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/ArticleID/11541

Elizabeth Dole would attack Christ too

When Kay Hagan said she was suing Dole for this, I thought Dole would have been smart enough to just stop but she didn't.

Dole, despite outcry, unleashes another 'Godless' ad
U.S. Senate candidate Kay Hagan said she came to talk about issues, but it wasn't long after arriving at an early voting site in Charlotte that a few voters brought up what's become the focal point of the race — the "godless" ad that Sen. Elizabeth Dole is running against her. Dole unveiled a new one Friday. » read more

It doesn't matter to Dole that Hagan is a church elder in a Presbyterian church, and last I heard they were still a branch of the Christian faith. Maybe they are not Dole's kind of Christian, but Christian nonetheless. Dole is a Methodist. Now, while most Methodists I've met remember who Christ spent a good deal of His time with while He was on this earth, apparently this is a part of the Bible Dole skipped over.

Matthew 9:11-13 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society


11When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"

12On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.

13But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.'[a] For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=47&chapter=9&verse=11&end_verse=13&version=31&context=context

Another thing that Dole forgot is that this is a nation made up of many different faiths and many different people. As an elected official, they are supposed to represent all people and not just the people they agree with or like. They are supposed to take care of all of their constituents. If Dole doesn't think they should then she shouldn't be a politician. To attack someone with a lie is also breaking a Commandment and that, Christ made it even more of a sin when He said that it is not what enters into your body that matters, but what comes out of it, in other words, your own mouth. Dole must have skipped over this part too.

The Heart of Man

15 Peter said to Him, “Explain the parable to us.” 16 Jesus said, “Are you still lacking in understanding also? 17 “Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated? 18 “But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. 19 “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. 20 “These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.”
http://biblebrowser.com/matthew/15-1.htm

There is a lot of things someone like Dole must have decided did not matter to her when she can say what she has said about someone else. Someone who has devoted herself to her church, but happened to be in the wrong place, according to Dole. kc

VA hopes new shredding guidelines protect claims seekers

VA hopes new shredding guidelines protect claims seekers
By William R. Levesque, Times staff writer
In print: Saturday, November 1, 2008
The Department of Veterans Affairs is finalizing a sweeping new records policy to prevent the destruction of claims documents in benefits offices around the nation.

The policy comes as the VA continues to investigate improper shredding at a St. Petersburg veterans benefits office and 56 other regional offices in nearly every state.

The policy calls for the appointment of a records control team in Washington, D.C., to oversee the handling of documents. It also would lead to the hiring of records officers in each benefits office to do the same on a local level.

And before shredding any document, two VA employees, including a supervisor, would have to sign off, according to a draft of the policy obtained by the St. Petersburg Times on Friday.
The policy comes after the discovery last month of nearly 500 veterans' claims documents improperly set aside for shredding in 41 VA benefits offices.

The documents, which had no duplicates in VA files, could have been crucial in deciding if an individual veteran received a pension or disability payment.

That total includes 13 documents found in shredding bins in the VA's busiest benefits office at Bay Pines in St. Petersburg, where the agency's inspector general is still conducting an audit.

Bay Pines is the home benefits office for Florida's 1.8-million veterans and the 330,000 who live in the Tampa Bay area.

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http://www.tampabay.com/news/military/veterans/article884990.ece

As Taliban overwhelm police, Pakistanis hit back

As Taliban overwhelm police, Pakistanis hit back
By JANE PERLEZ AND PIR ZUBAIR SHAH
Citizens have been encouraged to form posses of their own in a sign of the shortcomings of Pakistan's police forces.
By Jane Perlez and Pir Zubair Shah
Published: November 1, 2008
SHALBANDI, Pakistan: On a rainy Friday evening in early August, six Taliban fighters attacked a police post in a village in Buner, a quiet farming valley just outside Pakistan's lawless tribal region.

The militants tied up eight policemen and lay them on the floor, and according to local accounts, the youngest member of the gang, a 14-year-old, shot the captives on orders from his boss. The fighters stole uniforms and weapons and fled into the mountains.

Almost instantly, the people of Buner, armed with rifles, daggers and pistols, formed a posse, and after five days they cornered and killed their quarry. A video made on a cellphone showed the six militants lying in the dirt, blood oozing from their wounds.

The stand at Buner has entered the lore of Pakistan's war against the militants as a dramatic example of ordinary citizens' determination to draw a line against the militants.

But it says as much about the shortcomings of Pakistan's increasingly overwhelmed police forces and the pell-mell nature of the efforts to stop the militants, who week by week seem to seep deeper into Pakistan from their tribal strongholds.
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Vickie Castro shares a mother's pain after stop-loss and son's death

Open letter to Mrs. Castro,

I don't know what it's like to lose a son or a daughter in combat. I don't know what it's like to lose a husband or a wife, or a father or a mother. I only see what it does to them after they come home. I pray you're pain is eased and you begin to heal the void your son's death has left within you.

What you said in this video is exactly what many have been saying, but far too few every really hear. You, as a mother, proud of your son, probably since the day he was born, supported what he wanted to do with his life. He was born with the warrior in his soul. That quality that makes them all willing to lay down their lives for the sake of someone else. I bet Jonathan would have been a police officer or a firefighter had he not joined the military or a National Guardsman. They have come into this world to defend others and that is a noble thing. What is not noble, is those who have sent them for absolutely nothing that had to do with our own security. This you know and that must be very painful above the fact your son was killed in combat.

There are some who have twisted supporting the troops into supporting those who sent them blindly. I feel sorry for them because they think they are doing the "patriotic" thing, not noticing the harm they are doing to the troops. They support stop-loss that holds soldiers long after they agreed to give the time in their lives and they find no problem at all with the troops not getting what they need when they need it or asking for proof of what they are told, or even holding any of the people in Washington responsible for any of it. This would not be bad enough if they did not turn around and attack people like you who have paid attention.

The same people who want to hold parades and cheer the troops when they come back, won't bother to write letters to make sure the wounded are taken care of properly, wounded are not forced to stand in a line that does not end trying to have their claims approved or have their wounds treated. They won't demand anything for the sake of the troops or the veterans. I see it all the time.

It must be a lot harder on you to have visit your son's grave and know what you know about why he was in Iraq, but please take comfort in knowing that your son died because he was willing to lay down his life for the sake of this nation and it was up to the people who sent him to honor the life he was willing to lose for our sake. They just didn't respect Jonathan's life enough, or any of the lives lost. The rest of us noticed this and we honor the lives of those who were willing to do what so few are willing to do. I think that's why we fight so hard. We just tend to value the lives more than the mission they are sent on when there is no need for the mission in the first place.

I often wonder if the supporters of the occupation of Iraq ever notice that no one argues about the need to send troops into Afghanistan, which was in direct response to the attacks here. I think they would be fully disgusted with themselves if they ever did. It's also one of the biggest reasons the politicians hardly ever mention Afghanistan. They wouldn't want to remind people that because troops were sent into Iraq, we have lost so many in Afghanistan.

I am determined to fight to have the warriors taken care of when it comes to PTSD because I live with it everyday in my own husband. The veterans and families trying to cope with it have tugged at my heart. You have now taken on the families who do not support the occupation of Iraq but have lost family members all the same. They need to hear you to find the support so few of the others are willing to give. They're too busy calling parents like you "anti-military" or "unpatriotic" depending on which talking point hit them the hardest. I know what it's like to live with PTSD, but you know what it's like to be in their shoes when they lost someone they loved. Reach out to them and help them heal and in doing so, like me, you will begin to heal yourself.

You will forever be in my prayers. Bless you for speaking out.

Senior Chaplain Kathie Costos
Namguardianangel@aol.com
www.Namguardianangel.org
www.Woundedtimes.blogspot.com
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington

'Life as you know it stops
'Vickie Castro's 21-year-old son, Jonathan, was killed by an Iraqi suicide bomber after the Pentagon extended his tour of duty.

Dan Glaister hears her story

guardian.co.uk,
Saturday November 1 2008
Vickie Castro recalls the moment that every soldier's parent dreads most
Link to this video
She knew it could happen at any time. But in order to get through each day, Vickie Castro had to struggle to block the thought from her mind, and keep the fear at bay. That all ended when she saw the man in the neatly pressed uniform with all the medals on his chest coming to the door.
The officer knew what to do. He waited patiently until the screaming stopped. And then said: "I regret to inform you…" Vicki begins to cry as she tells the Guardian's Dan Glaister of the moment when she learned that her son, Army Spc Jonathan Castro, had been killed in Mosul, Iraq.
That was almost four years ago, when Jonathan was serving his second tour of duty on a "stop-loss" order, which required him to stay in the service beyond his initial enlistment. He was 21 years old when he died.
Neither Vickie nor anyone else in her family opposes the war for political reasons. Her son wanted to be a soldier. But the young combat engineer came to believe that the United States should not be in Iraq. Still, he continued to do his duty and serve his country. Vickie mentions that she distrusts John McCain, but says all that matters to her now is that the government brings the troops home.
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Republican and voted for McCain kicked out of rally because she didn't look right?

“I saw a couple that had been escorted out and they were confused as well, and the girl was crying, so I said ‘Why are you crying? and she said ‘I already voted for McCain, I’m a Republican, and they said we had to leave because we didn’t look right,’” Elborno said. “They were handpicking these people and they had nothing to go off of, besides the way the people looked.”

October 30th, 2008 11:14 pm
Pre-emptive ejection: Audience members removed at McCain rally in Cedar Falls


By Dylan Boyle / Iowa State Daily

Audience members escorted out of Sen. John McCain’s, R-Ariz., campaign event in Cedar Falls questioned why they were asked to leave Sunday’s rally even though they were not protesting.

David Zarifis, director of public safety for the University of Northern Iowa, said McCain staffers requested UNI police assist in escorting out “about four or five” people from the rally prior to McCain’s speech.

Zarifis said while the people who were taken out weren’t protesting or causing problems, McCain’s staff were worried they would during the speech.

“Apparently, they had been identified by those staffers as potential protesters within the event,” Zarifis said. “The facility was rented by the RNC for the McCain campaign, so it’s really a private facility for them. We assisted in their desires to have those people removed.”

Lara Elborno, a student at the University of Iowa, said she was approached by a police officer and a McCain staffer and was told she had to leave or she would be arrested for trespassing.

go here for more
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=12471
linked from RawStory

Mary Schmich: A hip bakery where the bakers are homeless

Mary Schmich: A hip bakery where the bakers are homeless
Mary Schmich
October 31, 2008
Meet the cast of characters of the Sweet Miss Givings Bakery.

•Stan Sloan, 45, idea mastermind, a tanned Episcopal priest who wears a black leather jacket and grooves on Madonna.

•Stephen Smith, 28, chief operating officer, Harvard grad who just moved back to town with a master's degree from the London School of Economics.

•Kristi Gorsuch, 30ish, head baker, who earned her pastry degree at a school of the Cordon Bleu.

And the bakery's interns, among them:

•Mary Pelts, 44, 5th-grade graduate whose birth certificate, she says, carries the words "female pelvis" where a name should have gone, who was diagnosed with HIV in 2001 and never had a job except street hustling until she came to Sweet Miss Givings.

•Stanley Long Bey, 44, who was diagnosed with HIV the year he finished high school, who spent half his adult life in prison, and who, when he finally got out, had nowhere to sleep but parks and sidewalks.

Since last week when Mayor Daley snipped the ribbon, Reverend Stan, Stephen, Kristi, Mary, Stanley and a dozen others have come to work at this little brick factory off Division Street near the Chicago River.
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Northwestern students deliver from Campus Kitchen to needy

Northwestern students deliver from Campus Kitchen to needy
Elizabeth Hubbard and her two children know that the meals they deliver to residents at a low-income apartment in Evanston are appreciated, but they recently discovered their visits mean much, much more.

"Mom, look," daughter Frances, 8, whispered during a stop at a woman's apartment. She noticed that every Valentine's Day card that she and her brother, Wyatt, 6, had drawn for residents during four years of delivering meals was displayed on the refrigerator.

"It's been a really rewarding thing for all of us," said Hubbard, whose mother also helps make the food runs for the Campus Kitchens Project at Northwestern University, which started in 2003. "We really enjoy the continuity of going to the same place. [The residents] enjoy watching the kids get bigger."

The project at Northwestern is one of the Chicago-area organizations supported by Chicago Tribune/WGN-TV Holiday Giving, a campaign of Chicago Tribune Charities, a McCormick Foundation Fund.
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4 teens die in head-on collision in Kane County

4 teens die in head-on collision in Kane County

Four people died early this morning in a head-on collision in unincorporated Burlington Township when a Pontiac Grand Am crossed the center line and slammed into a Pontiac Grand Prix.


The driver of the Grand Am, Eric Silva, 18, of Streamwood, was airlifted to Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove where he was pronounced dead just after 1 a.m. Two passengers in his car, Christian Miguel Gody-Olvea, 19, and Andres Solis, 19, both of Streamwood, were pronounced dead at the scene.

The driver of the Grand Prix, Marco Leon, 19, of Elgin, was also pronounced dead at the scene.
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Police officer dies in the line of duty on what was supposed to be a night off

Schaumburg cop collapses, dies chasing suspect on foot
November 1, 2008

A Schaumburg police officer died early Saturday morning after collapsing while pursuing a suspect on foot in the 1000 block of Golf Road, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.


Officer Frank Russo, 47, was taken to Alexian Brothers Medical Center in Elk Grove where he was pronounced dead shortly before 3 a.m. An autopsy is scheduled for today.

Schaumburg police said that Russo was working on his night off along with another officer
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Retired Marine rebuilds his life after brush with death in Iraq

Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times
Wounded in Iraq, Nick Popaditch got a prosthetic eye decorated with the Marine Corps' eagle-globe-and-anchor logo. He has two others: one with the gun sights of a tank gunner and one with the logo of the 1st Tank Battalion.

Retired Marine rebuilds his life after brush with death in Iraq
Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times
Wounded in Iraq, Nick Popaditch got a prosthetic eye decorated with the Marine Corps' eagle-globe-and-anchor logo. He has two others: one with the gun sights of a tank gunner and one with the logo of the 1st Tank Battalion.
He has a new life and a new set of goals, including one to become a high school teacher. He has written a book, works with other wounded veterans and is a sought-after motivational speaker.
By Tony Perry
November 2, 2008
Reporting from San Diego -- In his San Diego apartment, retired Marine Gunnery Sgt. Nick Popaditch keeps two jagged hunks of metal from Iraq: one from a day of triumph, the other from the day he almost died.

One piece is from the statue of Saddam Hussein that Marines pulled down in central Baghdad in April 2003. A news photo from that day shows a grinning, cigar-smoking Popaditch sitting atop his tank as the statue fell.
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Heroes of 2 Para: The bloody reality of the war against the Taliban

Heroes of 2 Para: The bloody reality of the war against the Taliban
By Andrew Malone Last updated at 10:00 PM on 31st October 2008


They've suffered the worst death rate since World War II. In the week they came home, battle-scarred Paras reveal the bloody reality of their terrifying war against 'Terry Taliban'.

On parade for the cameras this week, the soldiers of 2nd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment had finally arrived home. They marched through the streets of Colchester, their Essex garrison town, applauded by hundreds of members of the public, friends and family. Tanned and fit, they cut heroic figures just returned from fighting a war on treacherous foreign fields.

Hugging their loved ones in the English rain, the soldiers spoke of their joy at seeing their families after a six-month tour of duty in Afghanistan's Helmand province, a place of lethal intrigue known as the Tournament Of Shadows on account of the treachery by warlords vying for control. But this was not an entirely joyful homecoming. This battalion have gained the awful distinction of suffering the fiercest 'kill ratio' since World War II.

It was only after the cameras had gone, and the barrack doors were closed, that this remarkable story of 2 Para's deadly sojourn in the badlands of Afghanistan finally emerged in full.

Their mission was to win hearts and minds among the local population, train the Afghan National Army (ANA) to take over and carry out regular patrols to flush out Taliban fighters lurking in opium fields. In truth, all they really wanted to do was 'kill Terry'.

'We'd been training and training,' said Tom Wilson, 24, who had gone through basic selection with Dan Gamble. 'We'd done lots of live firing exercises. We were itching to put it all into action. But nothing happened. We could walk through villages and chat to the local people. It's not what we expected.' YET THE Taliban, many of whose soldiers repelled the might of the Soviet Red Army 30 years earlier, were simply biding their time.

They did not want fighting to damage their precious crop of opium poppies, used to fund their war against the West. That much became clear during a routine patrol on June 8, almost two months after Four Platoon arrived at Camp Inkerman.

About a mile-and-a-half from the garrison, the 30-strong patrol came across a strange fort built from mud. As they approached the fort, an old man shuffled into sight. The Para's regimental motto - Ready For Anything - was of little use. There was a deafening explosion. The old man was a suicide bomber. With the help of fellow Taliban soldiers, he had packed explosives around his body and covered them with his robes.

Then, as the British platoon approached, he pressed the detonator. It was a deadly new twist to the Taliban's tactics in the Afghan war. The scene was chaotic. Cries of 'Medic, medic!' could be heard above the noise of the fading explosion. Some soldiers fanned out to protect their flanks - and the wounded. Three men had been hit: Cuthie, 19, Dan, 22, and Dave, 19. They were treated at the scene, then airlifted out by helicopter. But it was hopeless. They died from their injuries. All three had been popular figures at Camp Inkerman.
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SAS chief quits over 'gross negligence' that killed his troops

SAS chief quits over 'gross negligence' that killed his troops

A commander of the SAS in Afghanistan has resigned – blaming the Government's failure to provide adequate kit for the needless deaths of four of his colleagues. Major Sebastian Morley criticised the 'gross negligence' of Whitehall officials and military commanders. He said they repeatedly ignored his warnings about the vulnerability of Snatch Land Rovers.

Boatswain Mate 2nd Class Eugene Morgan, "buried at sea"

WWII veteran reunited with former shipmates
Archive WWII Disaster Still Vivid -- Survivors Of Indianapolis Sinking To Attend Memorial Ceremonies
When the submarine USS Ohio surfaced at sea and Machinist Mate 1st Class Jason Witty emerged from the hatch to look around, he saw calm...

By Eric Talmadge

The Associated Press


YOKOSUKA, Japan — When the submarine USS Ohio surfaced at sea and Machinist Mate 1st Class Jason Witty emerged from the hatch to look around, he saw calm, blue water under a peaceful sky — perfect for the solemn task he was about to perform.

On the map, the Bangor-based Ohio was afloat in just another indistinguishable expanse of the Pacific Ocean. As Witty, of Puyallup, stood on deck holding a silver pitcher, the vessel was alone.

Just like the ill-fated USS Indianapolis, 63 years earlier.

The pitcher contained the ashes of Witty's grandfather, Boatswain Mate 2nd Class Eugene Morgan, who had survived the sinking of the Indianapolis — one of the worst tragedies for the U.S. Navy in World War II.

Morgan, a Seattle firefighter, had died of a heart attack in June at age 87, just before Witty went to sea, and among his last wishes was the desire to be rejoined with his shipmates at roughly the same spot in the Pacific where the Indianapolis went down.

Witty, sitting in a wardroom of the Ohio at this Japanese port, recounted the Oct. 2 burial at sea, saying he had never participated in one before.

He had sheepishly asked one of the officers if his grandfather's wish could be granted. The request went up the chain of command to Capt. Dennis Carpenter, who quickly approved.

"I thought it would be an honor," Carpenter said. "And I wanted to make sure that we did it right. Sometimes on a submarine at sea, you just can't go topside. But everything seemed to be on our side."
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USS Indianapolis CA-35
This site is the official site of the USS Indianapolis Survivor's Organization. It is dedicated to all of the members of the crew.

The Worst Naval Disaster in US History

At 12:14 a.m. on July 30, 1945, the USS Indianapolis was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in the Philippine Sea and sank in 12 minutes. Of 1,196 men on board, approximately 300 went down with the ship. The remainder, about 900 men, were left floating in shark-infested waters with no lifeboats and most with no food or water. The ship was never missed, and by the time the survivors were spotted by accident four days later only 316 men were still alive.

The ship's captain, the late Charles Butler McVay III, survived and was court-martialed and convicted of "hazarding his ship by failing to zigzag" despite overwhelming evidence that the Navy itself had placed the ship in harm's way, despite testimony from the Japanese submarine commander that zigzagging would have made no difference, and despite that fact that, although over 350 navy ships were lost in combat in WWII, McVay was the only captain to be court-martialed. Materials declassified years later adds to the evidence that McVay was a scapegoat for the mistakes of others.

In October of 2000, following years of effort by the survivors and their supporters, legislation was passed in Washington and signed by President Clinton expressing the sense of Congress, among other things, that Captain McVay's record should now reflect that he is exonerated for the loss of the Indianapolis and for the death of her crew who were lost.
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Man who set self on fire released from UW job in August

Man who set self on fire released from UW job in August


UW students are praised for trying to help a 61-year-old former facilities employee who set himself on fire Thursday on campus. The man died despite the efforts of the students.
By Nick Perry and Will Mari

Seattle Times staff reporters

University of Washington students are being praised for trying to save the life of a 61-year-old man who doused himself in gasoline and set himself on fire Thursday in Red Square.

Despite the efforts of more than a half-dozen students who initially tried to beat down the flames with their clothes and later used fire extinguishers, the man — a former UW employee — died Thursday afternoon at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

"It really is phenomenal how people tried to help him out," said Ralph Robinson, an assistant UW Police Chief. "It says a lot about the caring community of the entire university. People reacted almost instantaneously, even though there was some danger to themselves."

Some new details about the man emerged Friday, although authorities have not released his name pending notification of his next of kin.
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http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008337455_burnedman01m0.html

Chief Master Sgt. Richard Etchberger may be "secret" hero no more

Medal of Honor

Airman may get highest award for actions in secret Laos mission
By Michael Hoffman - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Oct 31, 2008 17:42:24 EDT

Pentagon officials told Cory Etchberger that his father died in a helicopter accident in Southeast Asia on March 11, 1968.

But even at 9 years old, Cory said he felt something was missing in the story when his family was secretly whisked into the Pentagon to accept his father’s Air Force Cross.

Turned out Chief Master Sgt. Richard Etchberger died saving three Americans fighting off waves of North Vietnamese commandos advancing on a top-secret U.S. radar station in the Laotian mountains, but those details were omitted.

Four decades later, Air Force Secretary Michael Donley has recommended Etchberger’s Air Force Cross be upgraded to the Medal of Honor. It’s now up to Defense Secretary Robert Gates and President Bush for final approval, said an Air Force official.

Etchberger was nominated for the Medal of Honor in 1968, but President Lyndon B. Johnson didn’t approve it. Military officials instead awarded Etchberger the Air Force Cross.

This is where the story gets complicated.

Johnson didn’t sign off on the award because the U.S. wasn’t supposed to have troops in Laos, and at the time of his death, Etchberger wasn’t technically in the Air Force.

Before he was deployed to Lima Site 85 — a radar station used to locate bombing targets in North Vietnam and Laos — Etchberger and his wife went to Washington, D.C., along with the other airmen about to go on the secret mission and their wives. There they were told they would be made into civilian employees who worked for Lockheed Aircraft Services as a cover, said Col. Gerald H. Clayton, then the commander of 1043rd Radar Evaluation Squadron, Detachment 1.

Only seven Americans survived past 3 a.m., and they were backed up against a ledge.

With rescue helicopters en route, records show Etchberger tended to the wounded while also trying to fight off the advancing enemy soldiers.

When the helicopters arrived, Clayton said Etchberger loaded the wounded Americans onto the rescue sling as the helicopter hovered over the station. He refused to leave until everyone else was on board.

Those who survived say Etchberger saved at least four airmen before he rushed onto the helicopter. But moments later, an armor-piercing round ripped through the helicopter’s underbelly, hitting Etchberger. He bled to death en route to an air base in Thailand.

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http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2008/10/airforce_etchberger_moh_103108/

Military Rise in drug prescriptions may signal abuse

Rise in drug prescriptions may signal abuse
By Gregg Zoroya - USA TodayPosted : Saturday Nov 1, 2008
The sharp rise in outpatient prescriptions paid for by the government suggests doctors rely too heavily on narcotics, says Army Col. Chester “Trip” Buckenmaier III, of Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington.

Recently, at least 20 soldiers in an engineer company of 70 to 80 soldiers at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., shared and abused painkillers prescribed for their injuries, according to court testimony.

“The groundwork for this toxic situation was laid out through the continual prescription of highly addictive, commonly overused drugs,” said Capt. Elizabeth Turner, the lawyer for one defendant in the case.

In response to six suicides and seven drug-related deaths among soldiers in Warrior Transition Units — created for the Army's most severely injured — aggressive efforts are underway to manage prescription drugs, says Col. Paul Cordts, chief of health policy for the Army surgeon general. These include limiting prescriptions to a seven-day supply and more closely monitoring use.
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John McCain's 14th Amendment Problem

Worth reading and make up your own mind about what this says. One thing to think about is that 100% of people who have been tortured develop PTSD. If he was tortured, then he has it, but the question remains, at what level. The other, if he was not torture, he did give information and did do propaganda pieces for the North Vietnamese. Either way McCain has a problem and needs to explain it fully before Tuesday but given the fact the media have spent so much time on things like people Obama met at some point in his life (without having real relationships with them) and his ex-pastor, who gave a sermon with a lot of anger (but they only came up with one out of all the years Wright was preaching even though the church provides the tapes and Obama was not even there that day) I doubt they will look into any of this at all.

John McCain's 14th Amendment Problem
Giving Aid and Comfort to the Enemy
By DOUGLAS VALENTINE

Technically, the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits John McCain from becoming president of the United States.

Section III of the Amendment says, “No person shall … hold any office, civil or military, under the United States … who, having previously taken an oath … as an officer of the United States … to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have … given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”

It is a fact that McCain was an officer in the U.S. Navy and took an oath to “bear true faith and allegiance” to the Constitution. This was a solemn appeal to Jehovah to smite him silly in the event he lied about or broke his oath. If he fell into captivity, he was bound by the Military Code of Conduct not to answer questions or make any oral or written statements disloyal or harmful to the U.S. To do so was considered collaborating with the enemy, and meant yet another mighty swipe from Jehovah.

It is also a fact that, in 1967, Lieutenant Commander John McCain was shot out of the sky while dropping bombs on North Vietnamese civilians. McCain’s plane crashed in a lake, and he suffered some broken bones and was slapped around after he was rescued. And all of that hurt, but none of it reached the Rumsfeld-Bush-Cheney standard for torture. Yet after a mere four days, McCain cracked like a robin’s egg. He told his captors, “I’ll give you military information if you will take me to the hospital.”

In his autobiography McCain elaborated, saying, “I gave them my ship’s name and squadron number, and confirmed that my target had been the power plant.”

It is alleged that McCain gave the numbers of aircraft in his flight formation, information about location of rescue ships, and the order of which his attack was supposed to take place. According to retired Army Colonel Earl Hopper, McCain divulged classified information North Vietnam used to hone their air defense system, including “the package routes, which were routes used to bomb North Vietnam. He gave in detail the altitude they were flying, the direction, if they made a turn … he gave them what primary targets the United States was interested in.” As result, Hopper claims, the U.S. lost 60 per cent more aircraft, and in 1968 “called off the bombing of North Vietnam, because of the information McCain had given to them.”
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http://www.counterpunch.org/valentine10312008.html

Faith community gathers to hone trauma-support training

Faith community gathers to hone trauma-support training
Colorado Springs Gazette - Colorado Springs,CO,USA

"Spiritually, church counselors want to help, but they don't always understand what PTSD actually is," Griggs said.

MARK BARNA
THE GAZETTE
Religious leaders might know how to comfort someone who has lost a relative or counsel a couple in the midst of a marriage meltdown, but when it comes to helping military members traumatized by battle, they could use some counseling themselves.

That was the purpose of an all-day seminar Thursday in Colorado Springs. The seminar, called the "Trauma Support and Resources Training for the Faith Community," had two goals: to educate faith leaders about combat-related psychological conditions, and to let them know about resources where they can refer military members in need.

"Military folks seek the counsel of church leaders, but most of them don't know how to deal with combat stress-related issues," said Brian Duncan, an event organizer and program manager at First Choice Counseling Center in Colorado Springs. "We want faith leaders to know where they can refer people for services."
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Like feeling the hand of God

While the following article discusses football, the part of the Warrior Ethos reminded me of a conversation I had a few days ago. While discussing the difference between regular military and the citizen soldiers, I seemed to have shocked someone who is considered an expert but never stopped to think about what makes all of us different. It is what is within our souls.

There are many parts within our soul making us into what people see within us. Some of us are giving and caring while others are greedy and selfish. Even the greedy and selfish can take care of their own families but the others tend to look at the needs of others outside their families. Some of us are brave and will stand up to people who appear to be stronger, others will back away. Some of us have it within us to be willing to not only risk our own lives for the sake of others, but kill them. Some do not have it within them to be able to kill to save but will if they are forced to. In other words, they would rather not even think about it.

That is the biggest difference between the citizen soldiers and the firefighters when compared to those who enter into the regular military and the police force.

The people who enter into the military have it within them to not only risk their lives but to take the lives of others, just as the people who enter into the police force. While many will have problems after traumatic events and develop PTSD, the rates are lower than the other group. They have it in the front of their minds that as a warrior, they will have to kill someone at some time and they train for it. The basis is the need to be of service but the awareness of taking a life is active.

The people who enter into the National Guards and fire departments have it within them to risk their lives for the sake of others, but they never think of having to take a life. While they train to do it in the National Guards, this was not something active in their decision to enter into the Guards. The thought is trapped in the back of their minds. The bravery is on equal level to that of a warrior as well as their sense of duty, but what else comes with war is not on an equal level.

When the National Guards and Reservist come home, they are expected to return to their normal lives but they are ill prepared to deal with what came home with them.

This article about football mentions the Warrior Ethos and this applies to the regular military as well as to the citizen soldiers. The difference is that while a football team is putting their bodies on the line being tackled with force, the baseball players put their bodies on the line in a different way, just as the basketball players in yet another way. It is what we all have within us, what we came onto this earth to do and contribute that leads us in different directions.

The Hand of God is always there to guide all of us if we use what He has prepared us to do. He is also there to help us if we were faced with doing what He did not intend for us to have to do.

For those who feel as if God has turned His back on them, please watch PTSD Not God's Judgment. It's on the side bar of this blog under My Videos.

Senior Chaplain Kathie Costos
International Fellowship of Chaplains
Namguardianangel@aol.com
http://www.namguardianangel.org/
http://www.woundedtimes.blogspot.com/
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington

Like feeling the hand of God
Sydney Morning Herald - Sydney,New South Wales,Australia
It is the warrior drive and the warrior ethos that are resurrected in modern football. The team becomes a band of blood brothers, men who assemble together to undertake dangerous exploits under conditions of duress and threat. The experience creates strong bonds of companionship - ones that often last for life, and certainly long after the team has disbanded. Students who were members of teams wrote unselfconsciously, in a similar vein to returned soldiers, about their attachment to their mates.

The warrior ethos, stressing courage, tenacity, and self-sacrifice for the higher good of the collectivity, carries over directly into football with, of course, the one great difference that the greatest sacrifice of all is not asked for. What is involved is "manliness", with its deepest roots, whatever the humanist niceties of modern civilisation, in the war hero. These roots do not seem to wither.

Indeed, I had students who added, without prompting, that if there were a war they and their team-mates would be the first to volunteer, and that, because of their collective morale, they would make an excellent unit. Football shows the young the working of key values in situations of high emotional and physical duress. It shows them what it means to be a hero, and what is shameful.
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Army, National Institute of Mental Health Begin Suicide Study

Army, National Institute of Mental Health Begin Suicide Study
J.D. Leipold, Special to American Forces Press Service
2008-10-31
By

WASHINGTON, Oct. 30, 2008 –

The Army and the National Institute of Mental Health have begun a five-year, $50 million research program into the factors behind soldier suicides and how to prevent them, Army Secretary Pete Geren told reporters at the Pentagon yesterday. Geren said the new partnership with NIMH, the Army Science Board and the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs would build on work that already is under way to conduct the most far-reaching and comprehensive research project ever undertaken on suicide and its prevention.

"It's a five-year study to examine the mental and behavioral health of soldiers, with particular focus on the multiple determinants of suicidal behavior and resiliency across all phases of Army service," Geren said. "Family members and family relationships, including parents and siblings, will also be included in the study where it's appropriate."

The study also will include the National Guard and Army Reserve.

This effort will be followed by an Army Science Board study with the goal of identifying correlated risk factors and recommending mitigation strategies and practices to prevent suicide. At the same time, the secretary said, the Army would not wait for the end of the study to implement mitigation strategies, but would put those strategies into practice as they make themselves clear.
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http://www.emilitary.org/article.php?aid=13637

Republicans let the veterans down and they noticed

This is a picture of Senator Jim Webb. He used to be a Republican but switched to the Democratic party. He is the one who started the new GI Bill that McCain not only refused to support, but voted against. Why? Because he said it was too generous. All this time we've heard about what a hero McCain is supposed to be, but here is something that not many talk about when it comes to a Vietnam Veteran who does in fact support the troops and the veterans. This is Jim Webb.

Military service
After graduating from Annapolis, Webb was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps. As a first lieutenant during the Vietnam War he served as a platoon commander with Delta Company, 1st Battalion 5th Marines. He earned a Navy Cross, the second highest decoration in the Navy and Marine Corps for heroism in Vietnam. Webb also earned the Silver Star, two Bronze Stars, and two Purple Hearts.


Webb received the Navy Cross for actions on July 10, 1969. The citation read:

“ The Navy Cross is presented to James H. Webb, Jr., First Lieutenant, U.S. Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism while serving as a Platoon Commander with Company D, First Battalion, Fifth Marines, First Marine Division (Reinforced), Fleet Marine Force, in connection with combat operations against the enemy in the Republic of Vietnam. On 10 July 1969, while participating in a company-sized search and destroy operation deep in hostile territory, First Lieutenant Webb's platoon discovered a well-camouflaged bunker complex that appeared to be unoccupied. Deploying his men into defensive positions, First Lieutenant Webb was advancing to the first bunker when three enemy soldiers armed with hand grenades jumped out. Reacting instantly, he grabbed the closest man and, brandishing his .45 caliber pistol at the others, apprehended all three of the soldiers. Accompanied by one of his men, he then approached the second bunker and called for the enemy to surrender. When the hostile soldiers failed to answer him and threw a grenade that detonated dangerously close to him, First Lieutenant Webb detonated a claymore mine in the bunker aperture, accounting for two enemy casualties and disclosing the entrance to a tunnel. Despite the smoke and debris from the explosion and the possibility of enemy soldiers hiding in the tunnel, he then conducted a thorough search that yielded several items of equipment and numerous documents containing valuable intelligence data. Continuing the assault, he approached a third bunker and was preparing to fire into it when the enemy threw another grenade. Observing the grenade land dangerously close to his companion, First Lieutenant Webb simultaneously fired his weapon at the enemy, pushed the Marine away from the grenade, and shielded him from the explosion with his own body. Although sustaining painful fragmentation wounds from the explosion, he managed to throw a grenade into the aperture and completely destroy the remaining bunker. By his courage, aggressive leadership, and selfless devotion to duty, First Lieutenant Webb upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and of the United States Naval Service.[7]


James Henry "Jim" Webb, Jr. (born February 9, 1946) is the junior Senator from Virginia. He is also an author and a former Secretary of the Navy under President Ronald Reagan. He is a member of the Democratic Party.

A 1968 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Webb served as a Marine Corps infantry officer until 1972, and is a highly decorated Vietnam War combat veteran. During his four years with the Reagan administration, Webb served as the first Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs, then as Secretary of the Navy.

Webb won the Democratic nomination for the 2006 Virginia Senate race by defeating Harris Miller in the primary, then won the general election by defeating the Republican incumbent George Allen. Webb's thin margin in the general election (less than 0.5%) kept the outcome uncertain for nearly two days after polls closed on November 7, 2006, and provided the final seat that tilted the Senate to Democratic control.

Jim is also an author of many books, stating that "I've written for a living all my life, so writing is as much a part of me as working out."[1]

In 2009, upon the planned retirement of John Warner, Webb will become Virginia's senior Senator.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Webb

Most of the fighting going on in Washington for the last couple of years, has been Democrats pushing for the veterans to be taken care of better than they had been. The difference is the GOP no longer controlled the committees. While they tried to make changes for the sake of the troops when the GOP had control, they beat down most of the things the Democrats wanted to do. These are not just my claims. If you look at the rankings the service organizations give to Republicans, you can see their failures in votes, but what you can't see is the words they used to defend their positions. CSPAN has been covering all of this for years now and has done a fantastic job of just showing who says what and when in real time. CSPAN has also covered hearings the Democrats were forced to hold away from the spotlight of the media in basement hearing rooms. If you really want to know, go to YouTube and see some of the hearings that have been uploaded and know for sure that what I'm saying is true.

I have friends and some family members who have always been Republicans. These are not some of the nuts you see on TV but they are stunned to find out how bad the GOP has been when it really comes to supporting the troops and the veterans. What ends up happening is they finally see that while the GOP has increased military spending, it has not been on the troops, but on the contractors who make a bundle off the Congress. The Democrats have been voting for things like body armor and uploaded Humvees, longer dwell time at home between deployments, better care on medical from the DOD and the VA along with everything else the troops need when they become veterans. The GOP has fought against all of it for the most part, but there are several in the GOP who have actually supported the troops and veterans when it mattered instead of paying lip service to their faces but voting against them behind their backs.

This is one thing McCain has been very successful with. Had he been good for veterans, the veterans groups would not have ranked him as terribly as they have. It's as simple as that. He can come up with any excuse he wants, just as they all can, but the record of what happened when the GOP controlled it all speaks for itself. They didn't care enough to act to fix it. Most of the major spending bills and changes in the DOD and VA medical, especially mental health and TBI research has come in the last two years. Gee what a surprise!

It's not that the problems just made it to the ears of the elected. We had a new elected in charge and they took control for the sake of those who serve. When it comes to who does what, it boils down to the GOP are about business and the Democrats are all about people. The troops noticed and more and more veterans are noticing that they have been voting against their best interests for far too long. kc

"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation."

- George Washington

Veterans issues remain potent in congressional races
Minneapolis Star Tribune - Minneapolis,MN,USA

By MARK BRUNSWICK, Star Tribune
Last update: October 30, 2008


Everything may be overshadowed by the economy in this election, but veterans benefits and military policy can be deciding factors.

Several retired Marine Corps officers responded to the poll expressing anger at Republicans, the degree of their dissatisfaction surprising pollsters.

"If Republicans are going to have a core constituency, what is it if not that?" said Christopher Parker, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Washington, which conducted the poll. "The military is about good order and discipline and taking care of their own. Republicans are being seen as having failed miserably at all three."

When it comes to military donors, Iraq war critic Obama has held his own with the more hawkish McCain. Until August, Obama had received nearly six times as much money from troops deployed overseas at the time of their contribution as McCain had, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. While Obama continued to lead in military donors with overseas addresses, McCain surged in the final months of the campaign to take the lead among military donors overall, fueled largely by employees of the Department of Defense.
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