Thursday, February 10, 2011

Senator Murray slams VA for limiting caregiver benefits

Murray slams VA for limiting caregiver benefits
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Feb 10, 2011 10:25:39 EST
Many caregivers of severely disabled veterans will be unnecessarily excluded from a new benefits and support program because of limitations proposed by the Obama administration, the new chairwoman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee says.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., appointed chairwoman just two weeks ago, is launching a high-profile fight with the Veterans Affairs Department over eligibility rules for benefits for the caregivers of severely injured Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. When Congress passed the benefits law last year, lawmakers believed about 3,500 families would be helped. But Murray said Wednesday VA’s criteria for determining who is eligible would “severely limit” who is covered.

MORE ON CAREGIVERS

• VA outlines plan to help caregivers of wounded

• Senators: Why is help for caregivers delayed?

“I’m not going to let VA minimize the impact of the bill that we passed,” Murray said in a statement.

At issue is a proposed rule that would provide benefits and support only in cases where severely disabled veterans needs a minimum of six months of continuous support from a caregiver or would otherwise have to be hospitalized because of their medical condition, inability to care for themselves or personal safety. What the caregiver is doing cannot duplicate services provided by another entity.

VA officials said the idea is to narrow eligibility to veterans who are “most at need” and to a population that can be supported.

Murray said that is “simply not good enough.” VA intends “to limit this benefit to an even smaller group of caregivers than intended by Congress, which is unacceptable,” she said.
read more here
Murray slams VA for limiting caregiver benefits

Expanding VA clinic meets hike in demand

Expanding Lynn VA clinic meets hike in demand

By David Liscio / The Daily Item

LYNN - With ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and baby boomers who fought in the Vietnam War now reaching retirement age with medical needs, the Veterans' Administration clinic on Boston Street is a busy place.

The clinic recently underwent a major expansion, increasing in size from 1,900 to nearly 8,000 square feet. A ribbon-cutting was held last month.

According to Arthur Salkins, 64, of Lynn, a U.S. Air Force veteran and commander of Franco-AMVETS Post 161, the clinic had 900 registered patients when it opened in 1998. Today, there are 2,143, said Salkins, who counts himself among them.

"Lynn has the highest number of veterans of any community in Essex County," he said Wednesday. "That's why this location is so important."

Michael Sweeney, the city veterans' agent, explained the expansion required gutting the first floor. "It was worth it and work is still under way in some parts of the building," he said. "The clinic provides a level of comfort. It's close by, so there's easy access. For some of the young returning veterans, that may make the difference of whether they come in for services or not."

U.S. Rep. John F. Tierney, a Salem Democrat and longtime proponent of the clinic, said the five-year fight during the Bush Administration to keep the facility in Lynn paid off. "We were able to convince them not to consolidate the clinic. Their proposals didn't stand up to what the actual facts were," he said Wednesday. "
read more here
Expanding Lynn VA clinic meets hike in demand

Murder in Tampa studied by Russian President Medvedev?

This is a National Security issue but the US media have other things to report on.


Julie Schenecker admitted killing her two children in Tampa. There have been a lot of cases in the US and around the world like this but what could have been so important about this case that the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences had to prepare a report for President Medvedev?

This case not only involves this but an Army Colonel with US Central Command. The report prepared by the academy also took a look at the drugs being used like Zoloft, Prozac, Paxil and Cymbalta.

Why Medvedev is so interested in this case? Is he interested in the mental health of our military? Looking for ways to avoid it happening to his military? What is really behind this interest?

In a way it makes our own media a disgrace when they can focus in on topics for days leaving no time for real reporting on stories like this. It is a shame that Russia would be taking a harder look at all of this than our own media does. Issues with these drugs has been reported in print media for years with little being done about any of it. A few minutes here and there talking about what happens to our troops and veterans does not allow the pubic to be informed enough to force politicians to do the right thing. Now a foreign nation is paying more attention to all of this than they are. This is not a good thing at all.

Family Massacre In US Linked To American Military ‘Murder Drugs’
Posted by EU Times on Feb 9th, 2011

A chilling report prepared for President Medvedev by the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences (RAMS) says that a massacre in the United States committed during the past fortnight has as its “most likely cause” what are described as “murder drugs” being given by the millions to American Soldiers by their Military Leaders for the fighting of their Nations wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

According to this report, Julie Schenecker, the wife of US Army Colonel Parker Schenecker, shockingly murdered her two children, Carlyx, age 16, and Beau, age 13, in a sudden bloody rampage that has left family and neighbors stunned as to why a devoted wife and mother would point blank shoot her most beloved possessions to death.

US media reports about Julie Schenecker describe a devoted wife to her career US Army Officer husband (who at the time of his family’s massacre was stationed in the Middle East) and loving mother to her children, all being described as the “perfect” all-American family.

Educated at the University of Iowa, Julie Schenecker had also accompanied her husband to the many US Military bases he served at around the world, including in Germany where she worked as a Russian linguist for the US Army in Munich.

In 2008, Julie Schenecker and her family moved to Tampa, Florida where her husband, by then a US Army Colonel assigned to the US Central Command which oversees the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and began living a life described by her childhood friend Sylvia Carroll as being the “epitome of what wholesome is”.


The same, however, cannot be said about her husband, US Army Colonel Parker Schenecker, who, like all American Military personnel heading towards their war zones in the Middle East and Asia, was “more than likely” given one, or a combination of the powerful psychotropic drugs Zoloft, Prozac, Paxil or Cymbalta, all of which carry mandatory “suicide warnings” and have been linked to nearly every single massacre in the United States for the past two-decades.
read more here
Family Massacre In US Linked To American Military Murder Drugs


Murder in Tampa studied by Russian President Medvedev

Texas National Guard sees a spike in suicides

Texas National Guard sees a spike in suicides
Grim statistic: More took their own lives than died in combat
By LINDSAY WISE
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Feb. 8, 2011, 9:50PM
A spike in the number of Texas National Guard soldiers who took their own lives last year has resulted in a sobering statistic: More members of the Texas Guard have been lost to suicide than to combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.

A total of 12 Texas Army National Guard troops have been killed in action since 2001. During that same time period, 18 killed themselves, according to Texas Army National Guard headquarters at Camp Mabry in Austin.

That grim tally includes seven suicides in 2010, a jump from just one, two or none in previous years.

Senior Texas Guard officials said they're distraught by the sharp increase.

"We can only hope that it's a temporary thing, and we are certainly concerned about it, and we're looking at how can we change that," said Chaplain Lt. Col. Stephen Vaughn, operations chaplain for Texas Army National Guard.

"Losing a soldier in combat is horrible, but losing a comrade here in the States is unacceptable," said Col. Orlando Salinas, director of Joint Family Support Services for Texas Military Forces. "We take that very personally, and we want to do all we can to help all our service members and their families."

The statistics in Texas reflect a nationwide trend in the Army, which recently reported that suicides among National Guard and Reserve forces jumped significantly last year from 80 deaths in 2009 to 145 deaths in 2010, even as the number of active-duty soldiers who took their own lives went down slightly, from 162 in 2009 to 156 in 2010.

"It's emblematic of a string of broken systems, and in the National Guard and Reserve, some of the support structures you have on the active-duty side, you just don't get," said Tom Tarantino, senior legislative associate for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, a nonprofit advocacy group based in Washington .
read more here
Texas National Guard sees a spike in suicides

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Florida investigates contractors of Lake Nona VA Hospital

State investigates VA Center contractors


By Mary Shanklin, Orlando Sentinel
4:14 p.m. EST, February 9, 2011
Contractors for the VA Medical Center's new $665 million complex at Lake Nona are being investigated by state and federal agencies for employment practices, according to the state Department of Financial Services.

"It is an ongoing investigation involving multiple state and federal agencies into the employment practices of some contractors," said Nina Ashley, a spokeswoman for the Financial Services Department.

Officials with the Department of Veteran Affairs offices in Orlando would not comment on the investigation and referred inquiries to the state agency. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement has agents at the site assisting in the investigation, which is being conducted by the Financial Services' Division of Insurance Fraud.

With a 134-bed hospital, community living center and 60-bed nursing home, the VA project represents possibly the largest construction project in the region. It's slated for completion in 2012.

No one would disclose what companies were being investigated.
State investigates VA Center contractors

After war, an Air Force pilot's life spirals out of control

After war, an Air Force pilot's life spirals out of control

I think they're trying to wash their hands of me instead of looking at the whole picture.
--Maj. Chad Bushman
By Ed Lavandera, CNN
February 8, 2011

The Air Force ordered Maj. Chad Bushman to have no contact with his wife and children for almost two years.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Pilot faces military inquiry that may result in being discharged
His wife detailed years of abuse upon her husband's return from duty
Military may have missed the early signs of PTSD
Board to determine whether it's in best interest of Air Force to keep the pilot in its ranks

San Francisco (CNN) -- Air Force Maj. Chad Bushman vividly remembers the worst day of his life, the sound of handcuffs gripping his wrists as six military officers took him away and told him he faced criminal charges for abusing his wife.

"It's shameful. There's no honor in it." Bushman said. "I'm very ashamed of how I had gotten."

What Bushman didn't know at that moment was that a military psychologist would soon determine that he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, and, he says, it led to years of abusing his wife. The diagnosis may have come too late, and the decorated pilot's military career could soon come to a disgraceful end. But Bushman says that he deserves a second chance and that the Air Force has let him down.

"I think they're trying to wash their hands of me," Bushman said. "Instead of looking at the whole picture of 'how did he get this way, and what could we have done to make him better or help him?' "

The secretary of the Air Force will ultimately decide whether Bushman can continue his career as a military pilot. This week, the case goes before a board of inquiry at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama.

How Bushman's career reached this point is a sad and often disturbing tale that raises questions about whether the military missed PTSD warning signs along the way.
read more here
After war, an Air Force pilot's life spirals out of control

UPDATE
Feb. 10, 2011

Air Force panel: Pilot with PTSD should be discharged
By Ed Lavandera, CNN
February 10, 2011 -- Updated 0257 GMT (1057 HKT)

Criminal charges against Chad Bushman were dismissed after his wife learned of his PTSD prognosis.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Board of Inquiry recommends honorable discharge for Maj. Chad Bushman
Bushman was accused of abusing his wife after deployments in Iraq, Afghanistan
His lawyer says Air Force failed to promptly diagnose his PTSD

Montgomery, Alabama (CNN) -- A three-member Board of Inquiry is recommending that a veteran Air Force pilot who has post-traumatic stress disorder be discharged under honorable conditions, according to the pilot's attorney.

Maj. Chad Bushman's 17-year flying career unraveled in November 2008 after he was arrested by military police and accused of abusing his wife in the four years after he returned home from war deployments into Iraq and Afghanistan.

Shortly after the board issued its recommendation Wednesday afternoon, Bushman said that, despite the discharge ruling, he was still hopeful that he could stay in the military. The board could have recommended a harsher ruling of a dishonorable discharge.

"I get to be back with my family. I'm blessed," Bushman said. "The family is the most important part. I'm accepting this is what's going to happen."

Bushman's attorney said the decorated pilot should be allowed to remain in the Air Force because the abuse would not have occurred had the Air Force properly diagnosed his PTSD after returning from war in 2004.

Stephen Karns, Bushman's attorney, argued before the review board that warning signs of the pilot's mental state were missed because the pilot was not given a psychological exam until four years after returning from the battlefield.
read more of this here
Pilot with PTSD should be discharged

Florida Veterans Face Budget Cuts and Agency Changes

Florida Veterans Face Budget Cuts and Agency Changes

Posted Wed, Feb 09, 2011 at 06:02 am

Retired Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Bob Milligan.
By Bobbie O'Brien
TAMPA
At first glance, it appears there is a 44 percent slash in the governor's proposed budget for the Florida Department of Veterans Affairs.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott's budget cuts and agency reductions are now available online. Floridians can compare his recommendations to the agency’s requests and to current budgets.

If you compare the current state veterans affairs budget of $81 million to the governor’s proposed budget of $45.5 million, it appears as if Scott is cutting the agency 44 percent.

But that’s not the case. Veterans Affairs spokesman Steve Murray said the governor’s proposal reflects the transfer of the department’s six nursing homes and one assisted living facility, the largest portion of the budget, to a public corporation.

“This public corporation could report directly to the governor and cabinet," Murray said. "It would operate in the sunshine. Our agency the Florida Department of Veterans Affairs would work hand in hand with the corporation on veterans issues. We would be able to retain VA funding."
read more here
Florida Veterans Face Budget Cuts and Agency Changes

Fort Bliss soldier faces charges of killing another soldier after Super Bowl Party

Fort Bliss soldier killed at East El Paso bar
By Daniel Borunda \ El Paso Times
Posted: 02/08/2011 04:09:43 AM MST

A shooting early Monday outside a popular East Side bar left one Fort Bliss soldier dead and another facing a murder charge.

El Paso police said an altercation broke out just after 1 a.m. inside the Three Legged Monkey and then spilled into the parking lot where Spc. Zareef Quasim Saleel allegedly shot Spc. Alex Gabriel Jaime once in the chest, killing him.

Police and paramedics arrived to find Jaime, 23, dead in the parking lot of the bar on Hawkins Boulevard by Montana Avenue.

After the shooting, Saleel was arrested when a patrol officer stopped him in a vehicle a short distance from the bar, police spokesman Darrel Petry said. Saleel, 25, was jailed in lieu of a $100,000 bond.
read more here
Fort Bliss soldier killed at East El Paso bar

Flag from U.S. base in Iraq brought to injured Orlando soldier

Special delivery: Flag from U.S. base in Iraq brought to injured Orlando soldier
Army Sgt. Matthew Garwood gave injured comrade Sgt. Noe "Lito" Santos a signed American flag once flown in Iraq.
By Bianca Prieto, Orlando Sentinel
8:18 p.m. EST, February 8, 2011
The dirt-stained, rain-soaked flag that had flown over Joint Base Balad in Iraq for the last two months was carefully tucked into Army Sgt. Matthew Garwood's duffle bag.

Garwood, an Evans High graduate on his fourth tour of duty, took special care because he knew the flag had a meaningful destination – the Winter Park apartment of an honorably discharged soldier he had served beside in Iraq.

Garwood has long wanted to honor his buddy, Army Sgt. Noe "Lito" Santos, a former member of the Personal Security Detachment in Iraq who lost his left leg in 2005 when an Improvised Explosive Device blew up while the soldiers were in their vehicles near Taji, Iraq.

This week, while home on leave, Garwood finally had the chance.
read more here
Flag from U.S. base in Iraq brought to injured Orlando soldier

GI Bill Payments Delayed to 55,000 Vets

GI Bill Payments Delayed to 55,000 Vets
February 09, 2011
Virginian-Pilot
NORFOLK -- The Department of Veterans Affairs is blaming bad weather for a paperwork backlog that's left tens of thousands of college students without their February GI Bill money, and it says some may not see their payments for another week or so.

About 300,000 veterans across the United States will receive tuition money and housing assistance this semester under the Post-9/11 GI Bill. Their February payments were supposed to be deposited into their bank accounts by the first of the month, but so far only about 245,000 students have been paid, according to the VA.

That means about 55,000 -- including many in Hampton Roads -- are still waiting.

"It's been really tough," said Titian Maples, a pre-med student at Old Dominion University who served five years in the Navy. "When the government says the money is going to be there and then it's not, it doesn't leave you a lot of options, especially when you're in school and you're living paycheck-to-paycheck."

She said she began calling the VA last week to ask why her payment didn't arrive, and no one could give her answers.

The VA now says January snow storms are behind the delay.
read more here
GI Bill Payments Delayed to 55,000 Vets

Fix the VA, don’t break it

Fix the VA, don’t break it
February 9, 2011 posted by Chaplain Kathie · Leave a Comment (Edit)
One of the biggest problems tracking reports across the country is that there are days when I get hit with more news than I can stand. It makes my head hurt to think of how far we’ve come, then get whacked with one bad news report after another.

Florida

More war veterans at risk of HIV infection after VA hospital error
A dozen more South Florida veterans were being notified Tuesday the colonoscopies they had at the Miami VA hospital might have been with improperly cleaned equipment. It’s the third time such notices have been made.
BY FRED TASKER
FTASKER@MIAMIHERALD.COM
The Veterans Administration said Tuesday it has found another 12 South Florida veterans who never were notified they might have received colonoscopies with improperly cleaned equipment at the Miami VA hospital as far back as 2004. It’s the third such notification, totaling nearly 2,500 veterans.
The VA, which last year said it had taken extensive steps to prevent another such notification error, again blamed the way in which the hospital keeps medical records.
VA officials said this error was discovered when the Miami U.S. Attorney’s Office, gathering information related to veterans who have filed lawsuits in the matter, asked the Miami VA hospital to recheck its records. While the VA hospital has electronic medical records, it said the errors were found by checking supplemental paper log books.
It wasn’t clear why the 12 new names would be on paper but not electronic records. Notification to the 12 veterans began Tuesday; by late afternoon all but three had been reached, a spokeswoman said.

And then we have Gov. Scott and his plans to cut the budget off veterans' backs.


Scott wants to privatize veterans homes

Uncategorized — posted by aaron deslatte on February, 8 2011 1:31 PM
Discuss This: Comments(3) | Add to del.icio.us | Digg it
TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Rick Scott’s $65.8 billion spending pitch to lawmakers includes privatizing veterans homes, mental health facilities and developmental disability centers, which the governor’s budget staff has concluded will save $103.9 million.

Scott health-care policy coordinator Jane Johnson said the governor’s office was still working with Veterans Affairs director Bob Milligan on the specifics of how to hand veterans homes over to private enterprise, a concept she called “public instrumentality.”

“The homes would be operated as a private entity and the employees would not be public employees,” Johnson told the House Health Care Appropriations Committee on Tuesday.

The Veteran Affairs budget would get cut $38 million as part of the plan to hand over those nursing homes for vets to a quasi-public organization like the state’s housing finance corporation. Johnson said 80 percent of the department’s budget goes to 700 veterans in nursing homes, and that the department felt its funding would be better-spent on the other 1.8 million Florida veterans.
Ohio
535 Veterans possibly exposed to HIV and Hepatitis by dentist in Dayton
VA Dentist May Have Exposed Veterans To HIV, Hepatitis
DAYTON: 535 Vets Possibly Infected At Dental Clinic
Jill Del Greco, Reporter
Posted: 10:30 am EST February 8, 2011
Updated: 11:28 pm EST February 8, 2011
DAYTON, Ohio — More than 500 local veterans may have been exposed to diseases like HIV and Hepatitis.
On Tuesday, officials at the Dayton VA Center said 535 veterans may have been exposed to infectious diseases during visits to the dental clinic over the past eighteen years.
A testing clinic has been set up on the grounds of the Dayton VA Center effective immediately.
Then there is the case of the St. Louis VA
Federal Investigation Begins Into Missouri VA Center
Tuesday, February 08 2011
(St. Louis, MO) — The U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs will discuss conditions at a St. Louis VA hospital this week.
Members of Congress are hoping to get answers about the the John Cochran VA Center.
The Department of Veterans says John Cochran is the worst VA hospital in America in some areas, and among the very worst in many others.
You can read more and find links at my blog Wounded Times Blog
Another story on Cochran VA Medical Center.
Lawmakers seek action on Cochran VA Medical Center
By Robert Koenig, Beacon Washington correspondent
Updated 10:56 am, Tue., 2.8.11
WASHINGTON – Disturbed by reports of continued problems at the John Cochran VA Medical Center in St. Louis, all four U.S. senators and six House members from Missouri and Illinois are asking the Department of Veterans Affairs to investigate and “find solutions” to the safety issues at the hospital.
Russ Carnahan
In a letter sent Tuesday to Veterans Department Secretary Eric Shinseki, the lawmakers urged the VA to address concerns about patient safety as soon as possible. “Potential problems in quality management cause grave concern, not just for veterans served by Cochran, but the entire community,” they wrote.
“We offer to work with you and area veterans to find solutions to these concerns so that we can restore the trust of our veterans and bring [Cochran], and all area VA facilities, to the highest level of quality customer service and safety.”
The lawmakers asked the VA to list measures taken to prevent future contaminations and to report any health problems discovered as a result of the most recent incident. They also requested to be informed of the results of instrument handling reviews conducted in response to an incident last June that caused the VA to suspend services in the dental clinic.
The letter was signed by Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.; Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.; Roy Blunt, R-Mo.; and Mark Kirk, R-Ill. House members signing the letter included U.S. Reps. William Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis; Russ Carnahan, D-St. Louis; Jerry Costello, D-Belleville; John Shimkus, R-Collinsville; and Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-St. Elizabeth.
Laredo Veterans Health Clinic
Veteran’s upset over V.A. Clinic Service
Feb 8, 2011
For years, the United States has been criticized for the way they have handled their war veterans. Local veterans are up in arms as frustration builds over what they say is a lack of quality service at the Laredo Veterans Health Clinic.
Laredo war veterans thought their fighting days were over after putting their lives on the line for their country, but they are in another battle over what they say is a lack of quality health care. Vietnam veteran, Jesus Guerra, says, “We went to war because we believe in freedom. We merit respect and services and we aren’t getting them.”
On Tuesday morning, clinic administrators met with a committee of Laredo war veterans to discuss possible improvements for the clinic that has had countless complaints of poor customer service. With plans to expand the clinic in the works, Congressman Henry Cuellar says there needs to be some changes. Currently the clinic is understaffed after unexpected departures from numerous employees. While they do say they plan to hire a new physician in about a week, V.A. officials refused to discuss the state of the Veteran’s Clinic on camera – leaving some veterans wondering about the future employees of the clinic.
The congressman says Laredo’s war veterans have earned the right of quality health service, and there is no room at the clinic for any employee who stands in the way of that right. He goes on to add, “If somebody is misleading the veterans there at the clinic I think its time for that person to go and find a new job. I don’t want people to think I’ve got a government job and I can do whatever I want to.”
read more here
Fix the VA, don’t break it

More South Florida war veterans at risk of HIV infection

More war veterans at risk of HIV infection after VA hospital error
A dozen more South Florida veterans were being notified Tuesday the colonoscopies they had at the Miami VA hospital might have been with improperly cleaned equipment. It’s the third time such notices have been made.

BY FRED TASKER

FTASKER@MIAMIHERALD.COM

The Veterans Administration said Tuesday it has found another 12 South Florida veterans who never were notified they might have received colonoscopies with improperly cleaned equipment at the Miami VA hospital as far back as 2004. It’s the third such notification, totaling nearly 2,500 veterans.

The VA, which last year said it had taken extensive steps to prevent another such notification error, again blamed the way in which the hospital keeps medical records.

VA officials said this error was discovered when the Miami U.S. Attorney’s Office, gathering information related to veterans who have filed lawsuits in the matter, asked the Miami VA hospital to recheck its records. While the VA hospital has electronic medical records, it said the errors were found by checking supplemental paper log books.

It wasn’t clear why the 12 new names would be on paper but not electronic records. Notification to the 12 veterans began Tuesday; by late afternoon all but three had been reached, a spokeswoman said.


Read more:More war veterans at risk of HIV infection

Federal Investigation Begins Into Missouri VA Center

Federal Investigation Begins Into Missouri VA Center


Tuesday, February 08 2011
(St. Louis, MO) -- The U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs will discuss conditions at a St. Louis VA hospital this week.

Members of Congress are hoping to get answers about the the John Cochran VA Center.

The Department of Veterans says John Cochran is the worst VA hospital in America in some areas, and among the very worst in many others.
read more here
http://ozarksfirst.com/fulltext?nxd_id=400766

535 Veterans possibly exposed to HIV and Hepatitis by dentist in Dayton

VA Dentist May Have Exposed Veterans To HIV, Hepatitis

DAYTON: 535 Vets Possibly Infected At Dental Clinic
Jill Del Greco, Reporter
Posted: 10:30 am EST February 8, 2011
Updated: 11:28 pm EST February 8, 2011

DAYTON, Ohio -- More than 500 local veterans may have been exposed to diseases like HIV and Hepatitis.
On Tuesday, officials at the Dayton VA Center said 535 veterans may have been exposed to infectious diseases during visits to the dental clinic over the past eighteen years.
A testing clinic has been set up on the grounds of the Dayton VA Center effective immediately.
read more here
VA Dentist May Have Exposed Veterans To HIV, Hepatitis

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Coalition's mental health strategy inadequate

Coalition's mental health strategy inadequate, warns thinktank
Government accused of failing to consider impact of dysfunctional families on mental health of children and adults


Nicholas Watt, chief political correspondent
guardian.co.uk, Monday 7 February 2011

A thinktank founded by Iain Duncan Smith today criticises the government for failing to take account of the impact of family breakdown on mental health.

Days after Nick Clegg launched the government's mental health strategy, the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) says ministers should have assessed the impact of dysfunctional families on the mental health of children and adults.

The report by the CSJ, which defines family breakdown as "divorce or separation, dysfunction or dad-lessness", says: "The government's mental health strategy launched recently makes no mention of the effect on children's mental health of conflict between parents and living in fractured families. Working with the whole family not only prevents many children from being labelled as mentally ill but can also tackle the causes of their problems – often rooted in or sustained by the dynamics of family relationships."

Clegg and Paul Burstow, the Liberal Democrat care services minister, placed children and teenagers at the heart of the government's mental health strategy, which they launched last week. Talking therapies are to be offered to children and teenagers who show signs of anxiety and depression.
read more here
Coalition's mental health strategy inadequate

Anthony "Sarge" McDowell, Iraq Vet shot by police, laid to rest

Family and friends bury Anthony McDowell, soldier shot by Gresham police
Published: Monday, February 07, 2011
By Steve Beaven, The Oregonian

Family and friends gathered Monday under an iron-gray sky at Willamette National Cemetery to honor Anthony McDowell, a military veteran who was shot to death by Gresham police last week outside his home.

They grieved, but they also wondered: How did it come to this? How could a man so dedicated to his community and fellow soldiers die such a violent death at the hands of police officers?

"There's a lot of unanswered questions," said Sharon Brunner, a friend who was waiting for the funeral procession at the cemetery.

McDowell, 50, was holding a rifle when he was killed on Jan. 31 during an encounter with officers.

The Gresham Police Department said in the immediate aftermath of the shooting that officers were dispatched to the house after McDowell's wife called to report that he was suicidal. A full account of the shooting has not been released.

McDowell was remembered as a devoted father, husband and a "patriot."

He had been in the Navy and the Army Reserve and served in Iraq. He was also the founder of a nonprofit that aids veterans called Sergeant McDowell's Military Relief. His friends called him "Sarge."

McDowell raised money to help veterans and their families. He threw Christmas parties. He bought gifts for children. And he helped soldiers who'd recently returned from war in their efforts to re-engage with society.

Sometimes, friends have said, money for Sergeant McDowell's Military Relief came out of Anthony McDowell's pocket.

"He bent over backward in helping those soldiers," said Kenneth Claiborne, one of the mourners who said he knew McDowell through the military. 
read more here
Family and friends bury Anthony McDowell

Monday, February 7, 2011

Veteran's wife call for help ends with death of husband shot by police

Three deaths involving veterans and police may not seem like a huge problem but when you think they happened in five months in the Portland area alone, that is a clear indication there is an alarm screaming WARNING.



Three deadly encounters between vets and police
Published: Sunday, February 06, 2011
By Mike Francis, The Oregonian

Anthony McDowell. Thomas Higginbotham. Nikkolas Lookabill.

Three men who served in the military. Three encounters with law enforcement officers. Three lives ended by gunfire.

These cases, which occurred in three separate Portland-area jurisdictions within the last five months, have alarmed observers.

"It's really difficult for everyone," said Gresham Police Chief Craig Junginger, whose officers shot McDowell to death outside his house on Monday. "The United States hasn't faced this since the mid- to late-Seventies, since the Vietnam War."

"Military reintegration needs to address this issue further," John Violanti, a former criminal justice professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology, wrote in an email.


McDowell, 50, had been home from war for seven years. His wife called for help, saying he was suicidal and when police arrived, he was holding a rifle. The findings from an investigation into his death, as customary in the case of officer-involved shootings, will be presented to a grand jury later this month.

His funeral service takes place at 11:30 a.m. today at Good Shepherd Community Church in Boring, to be followed by committal at Willamette National Cemetery.

Thomas Higginbotham, a Vietnam War veteran, was 67, homeless and carrying a knife when he was shot to death by Portland police officers at an abandoned car wash Jan. 2. He was intoxicated when he was killed.

Nikkolas Lookabill was 22 and had been home about four months from a mostly peaceful deployment to Iraq when he was shot to death by Vancouver police early in the morning on Sept. 7. The Clark County Prosecutor's Office reported that he told officers "he wanted them to shoot him."
read more here
Three deadly encounters between vets and police

Young Marine dies of suspected case of meningitis at Parris Island

Parris Island Marine recruit dies of apparent meningitis

By Savannah Morning News
A 19-year-old Marine recruit died Saturday of a suspected case of meningitis at Parris Island, S.C.’s Marine Corps Recruit Depot.
read more here
Parris Island Marine recruit dies of apparent meningitis

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Military TAP plagued by inconsistencies, indifference

Military TAP plagued by inconsistencies, indifference
February 6, 2011 posted by Chaplain Kathie
The DOD releases reports of what they’re doing as if it is all good but the truth is, it is not all good. There have been a lot of advances in the care of wounded servicemen and women. While that is true, the stories the veterans tell show that all is not well on the home front.
TAP has problems, Wounded Warriors Program (not to be confused with Wounded Warriors Project) has problems. Until these problems are fixed, we’ll keep losing more and more to suicide.
Program for departing service members plagued by inconsistencies, indifference
By Carl Prine
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, February 6, 2011
WASHINGTON — Launched during a time of peace to aid departing service members, the Transition Assistance Program is failing war veterans and their families, according to Pentagon reports obtained by the Tribune-Review.
Called “TAP,” it began in 1989 as a federal pilot program run by the Department of Defense, Labor Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs. For most of the 140,000 troops who annually must take the course, it’s three days of classes on topics ranging from the new GI Bill for college to special initiatives that help wounded personnel and their families.
Crisscrossing the U.S. and Europe, investigators from the Pentagon’s Office of Wounded Warrior Care and Transition Policy in Alexandria, Va., determined that TAP was plagued with “significant gaps in consistency of services” and “low” spousal participation, according to the files. The reports added that there was “little evidence” financial aid, relocation assistance or post-military education applications “are emphasized or provided” by TAP coordinators.
Reports state that TAP staffers often failed to help military spouses find off-base jobs and were “not well versed” in recovery care programs; TAP support for injured personnel and their families was “not readily apparent.”
The reports allege:
• Instructors at Italy’s Naval Air Station Signorella in late 2009 lacked the training and “established level of competency” to conduct counseling for personnel leaving the service.
• Sailors at Florida’s Naval Station Mayport slept through classes in late 2009 because they were forced to stand overnight watch, a problem of “mission win; Sailors lose.” At naval bases in southern Europe, sailors were forced to pay their own way to attend briefings.
• Military discharge counseling so bad at Naval Hospital Jacksonville in Florida that the “risks of violations of federal statute high.”
• A program at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina that exceeded classroom capacity for Marines, offered limited child care to spouses attending workshops and discharged reservists who weren’t receiving the courses that they needed.
Questions about the program’s ability to “maintain enduring connection with National Guard or Reserve Community questionable; extent of proactive engagement could not be determined.”
for more go here
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2011/02/06/military-tap-plagued-by-inconsistencies-indifference/

Veterans, From the Frontlines to the Farm

From the Frontlines to the Farm
New York Times

“In the military, grunts are the guys who get dirty, do the work and are generally underappreciated,” said Colin Archipley, a decorated Marine Corps infantry sergeant turned organic farmer. “I think farmers are the same.”

Sgt. Matt Holzmann and Stephanie De Alba laying irrigation piping at Mr. Archipley's farm, Archi’s Acres, the site of a program that trains veterans and active-duty service members in organic farming.


Sergeant Holzmann, 33, a Marine, spent seven months in Afghanistan, where he did counterinsurgency work and tried to introduce aquaponics — a self-replenishing agricultural system to rural villages. Along with Combat Boots to Cowboy Boots, a new program for veterans at the University of Nebraska’s College of Technical Agriculture, and farming fellowships for wounded soldiers, the six-week course offered at Archi’s Acres is part of a nascent “veteran-centric” farming movement.

go here for great pictures and more stories
From the Frontlines to the Farm

Rick Scott's Tea-Party-backed proposed budget raises questions

First Bachmann comes out and says the veterans shouldn't be getting what they are getting and now Scott wants to take more away from more people. Do these people ever think about how they will hurt others? Do they care?

They claim they are about managing money but history proves that to not be true. Had they been right about the economy when the wealthy were getting subsidized tax breaks, we'd all be working and wealthy by now. The fact is we're all hurting and waiting for the jobs to trickle down so that we can see the fruits of their promises.

They complain about paying taxes but don't seem to mind paying them when wealthy people benefit from the tax breaks.

People of Florida get ready for more pain.


Rick Scott's Tea-Party-backed proposed budget raises questions as it slashes Florida funding


BY MARC CAPUTO

HERALD/TIMES TALLAHASSEE BUREAU

Calling for billions in tax and spending cuts, Gov. Rick Scott will unveil a budget Monday that's as much a policy roadmap as it is a sweeping political statement.
Even Scott's venue for rolling out the budget drips with political symbolism -- a tea party rally he helped establish in the small rural town of Eustis where activists will also celebrate a Florida court ruling against President Obama's health plan.
Scott's first proposed budget is his best chance to make good on his campaign promise to run government like an efficient business. It also sets the tone of his relationship with the Legislature, which has to turn his plans into a balanced budget.
The $5 billion question:
Is Scott's budget realistic?
Legislative leaders aren't sure, noting that next year's budget faces a shortfall of at least $3 billion and Scott proposes to make the hole even bigger by insisting on $2 billion more in tax cuts. They want Scott to explain how much more they'll cut from schools, prisons, roads, courts, environmental programs, libraries, parks and health care.
``This is a political bombshell,'' said Glenn Robertson, former budget director for governors Bob Graham and Bob Martinez, respectively a Democrat and Republican. ``The key thing is how seriously he's taken.''
``He'll probably get a lot of applause in Eustis. But the Legislature wants details, specifics. What has to be considered is how much the governor respects the process and the political implications of what he's asking,'' Robertson said.
Never before has the Republican-led Legislature cut $5 billion in one session. Over the past five years, though, lawmakers have trimmed a total of about $5 billion from one part of the budget, the general-revenue section, which accounts for most major government services.


Read more:
Rick Scott's Tea-Party-backed proposed budget

Saturday, February 5, 2011

20,000 service members, vets lost homes in 2010

20,000 service members, vets lost homes in 2010
Foreclosure rate in zip codes near military bases increased 32 percent
By Gregg Zoroya - USA Today
Posted : Thursday Feb 3, 2011 22:24:48 EST
More than 20,000 veterans, active-duty troops and reservists who took out special government-backed mortgages lost their homes last year — the highest number since 2003.

The rate of foreclosure filings in 2010 among 163 zip codes located near military bases rose 32 percent over 2008, according to RealtyTrac, a foreclosure research firm. This compares with a 2010 increase in foreclosure filings nationally of 23 percent over 2008.

The housing crisis has hit military families particularly hard in part because of transfers and the loss of civilian jobs left behind by reservists.

About 12,000 military families applied to the Pentagon’s expanded Homeowners Assistance Program. It makes up most of the difference in price for service members who must transfer and sell their homes for less than they owe, or buys their houses outright.

“Our demand, in terms of (military) families coming to us for assistance, went up 19 percent in 2010 over the previous year,” says Bill Nelson, executive director of USA Cares, a charity that provides financial assistance to Iraq and Afghanistan war-era troops.
read more here
20,000 service members, vets lost homes in 2010

But that isn't the only bad news for veterans

Unemployment for young vets jumps to 15 percent
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Feb 4, 2011 10:25:57 EST
The unemployment rate for veterans took an unexpected jump in January — even as the overall unemployment rate fell.

The Labor Department reported Friday that the national unemployment rate dropped 0.4 percentage point, to a new level of 9.0, but the rate for veterans climbed to 9.9 percent, up from 8.3 percent the previous month.

For Iraq and Afghanistan-era veterans, the unemployment rate for January was 15.2 percent. This is a sharp increase from 9.4 percent in November and 11.7 percent in December, a clear trend of a worsening job market for younger veterans, many of them combat veterans.

“This should be a wakeup call for America,” said Paul Rieckoff, executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans of America. “We have a definite employment problem and it is getting worse.”

Labor Department statistics for January show that 15.5 percent of male veterans and 13.5 percent of female veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan era are looking for work and cannot find it. But Rieckoff said IAVA polling shows the true unemployment rate for young veterans is 20 percent or higher.
read more here
Unemployment for young vets jumps to 15 percent

Bachmann backs off pay cuts for disabled vets

Bachmann backs off pay cuts for disabled vets
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Feb 4, 2011 15:29:44 EST
Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., sought Friday to quell a controversy over her budget-cutting plans, dropping a proposal that would have cut compensation for some disabled veterans by $12,000 a year or more.

Bachmann, who heads the tea party caucus in the House of Representatives, said she remains dedicated to cutting federal spending, and has not backed off the idea of freezing veterans health care funding.


But her list of ways to cut $400 billion from the federal budget no longer includes a proposal that would have reduced disability compensation by the amount received in Social Security Disability Income for the 153,000 severely disabled and unemployed veterans eligible for both benefits.

Bachmann came up with the list of possible cuts as part of her opposition to raising the $14.3 trillion cap on government borrowing, an issue Congress will face later this year.
read more here
Bachmann backs off pay cuts for disabled vets

Homeless Veteran will have to go

Homeless Veteran will have to go


By Karen Cohilas

ALBANY, GA (WALB) - A homeless veteran, living under a bridge, has now been evicted from his make-shift home. We brought you a story with Army Veteran Colin Bailey last week. He lives underneath the bridge at the bypass and Slappey Boulevard in Albany.

Thursday, law enforcement hauled away his trash and also told him they'll be back for the rest of his belongings if he doesn't leave soon.

When people saw Bailey's belongings being hauled away, they contacted us at the station. I sat down with Bailey under the bridge this morning. We talked about his life on the streets and the news he got today wasn't all bad. @

"I don't care what corner of this town I come in, try to stay in, I get runoff."

Where else have you been that you got runoff? "Everywhere. Abandoned houses, old cars, abandoned buildings. I'm trying to survive. Trying to survive. Stay away from people."
read more here
Homeless Veteran will have to go

Vets4Warriors offers help to Fort Hood soldiers

Published: Wednesday, February 02, 2011
By Seth Augenstein/The Star-Ledger
After returning home from Iraq in 1992, John Lurker struggled to restart a normal life.

The Desert Storm Army veteran changed jobs frequently. He had marriage troubles and eventually divorced. He especially had problems dealing with conflict, he said, refusing to yield to other people even when he knew he was on the wrong side of an argument.

"There was no empathy. No sympathy. It was only ‘preservation mode,’" he said.

At his lowest point last year, feeling distressed and out of sorts, he called the "Vet2Vet" helpline, run by UMDNJ, where he was directed to seek to professional help and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress syndrome.

With the benefit of professional help, the Hackettstown man’s life started to improve, he said.
But it all began with the helpline.

Soldiers on active duty will now have the the chance to get the same type of help.
The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, which runs the 5-year-old Vet2Vet program with the New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, is offering a new "Vets4Warriors" helpline to the soldiers of Fort Hood in Texas, the most populous Army base in the nation.

As of Tuesday, the Vets4Warriors program is now providing 24-hour help to the roughly 50,000 soldiers who are stationed at Fort Hood. Whether it’s depression, thoughts of suicide, alcohol problems or just advice about how to navigate the military echelons, the veterans staffing the phone lines are listening and offering advice.

The helpline becomes available after a spate of suicides at Fort Hood. The number of soldiers who committed suicide doubled to 22 in 2010, according to the Army. It was the most suicides on an Army base since at least 2003, despite the fact that there are about 150 behavioral health workers on staff at the base, according to Army officials. On one September weekend alone last year, there were four suicides, according to Christopher Kosseff, the president and CEO of UMDNJ’s University Behavioral HealthCare, which administers the call center.
read more here
UMDNJ offers help to Fort Hood Soldiers

Army producing another new suicide-prevention video

Army producing new suicide-prevention video
Jan 27, 2011

By Laura M. Levering (Northwest Guardian)

JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. (Jan. 27, 2011) -- A steady rise in the number of Soldiers who contemplate or commit suicide each year keeps the Army Suicide Prevention Program and behavioral health personnel striving for new ways to save lives.

The program's latest initiative, "Shoulder to Shoulder: Resiliency of the Army Family," is the third in a series of videos created for suicide awareness and prevention training at installations Armywide.

Joint Base Lewis-McChord was one of two installations selected for filming the 20-minute video.

A series of focus groups and interviews were conducted prior to filming "Shoulder to Shoulder," none of which was scripted. The video uses real people with real stories, in hopes of giving suicide a "face" viewers will identify with.

One focus group of leaders met in the "studio," a converted World War II barracks on Lewis North where the video was taped, to target ongoing Army initiatives and future direction of JBLM suicide prevention efforts.

The group included Walter Morales, program manager of DA Suicide Prevention and vice chief of staff, Health Promotion and Risk Reduction Task Force, Dr. Michelle Freedman, chief of Family and Child Services, Mark Brown, JBLM director of Human Resources, Sandi Vest of Child, Adolescent and Family Behavioral Health Proponency, Sam Smith, director of the Airman and Family Readiness Center, Patsy George, chief of Casualty Assistance and Robert Antry, chief of Military Personnel Division.

Morales said that coming to JBLM gave him a large pool of Soldiers to meet with from the thousands who have deployed and returned. He also said that while the majority of the video features Soldiers, his intent is to take feedback from the general population - to include family members and Department of the Army civilians - to produce training tools for suicide prevention.
read more here
Army producing new suicide-prevention video

Numbers on PTSD and TBI expected to increase

It isn't a secret because it has happened after every war. The difference is this time, there are some people talking about it before it happens.
"Jan. 1, some 63 percent of the more than 9,000 Army Wounded Warrior Program Soldiers were diagnosed with behavioral health injuries -- 47 percent had PTSD, 16 percent Traumatic Brain Injury."

Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli also addressed the increase in the Guards and Reserves.


Chiarelli expects increase in behavioral health needs
Feb 2, 2011

By J.D. Leipold
WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Feb. 1, 2011) -- The Army's vice chief of staff said with the drawdown in Iraq and eventually in Afghanistan, the country could expect to see an increase in the number of Soldiers suffering from depression, anxiety, Traumatic Brain Injury and post-traumatic stress.

Speaking at the opening of the Reserve Officer Association's National Security Symposium Jan. 30, Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli praised the reserve component for being "truly remarkable" in what he called a nearly decade-long era of "persistent engagement," and added that the health and well-being of U.S. forces was absolutely critical to the security of the nation.

"Soldiers and their families are under tremendous stress and strain, physically and emotionally," he said. "Unfortunately, and I've said this often over the last couple of years, I do think it's going to continue to get harder, at least for a little while longer before it gets easy."

Of particular concern to Chiarelli were the physically hidden or unseen wounds -- Traumatic Brain Injury and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. Citing the Army Wounded Warrior Program population, he said as of Jan. 1, some 63 percent of the more than 9,000 Army Wounded Warrior Program Soldiers were diagnosed with behavioral health injuries -- 47 percent had PTSD, 16 percent Traumatic Brain Injury.
read more here
Chiarelli expects increase in behavioral health needs

Soldier stationed at Fort Campbell took his own life at 23

Suicides up in area
February 3, 2011 - By BRAD BAUER Special to The News and Sentinel

MARIETTA - The last time Marietta resident Andrew Russell spoke to his younger brother, Travis A. Thomas, was to tell him he'd become an uncle.

On Jan. 10, Thomas, a 23-year-old soldier stationed at Fort Campbell, Ky., took his own life.

"He sounded happy and really proud," said Russell, 25, of the conversation telling Thomas about the birth of Russell's son. "That's why I think this was more of an accident. I think he went a little too far with the alcohol. He was too excited about my son to want to do this."

Although Thomas' suicide did not take place in Marietta, local law enforcement has responded to at least four suicide attempts in January.

There were 13 suicide attempts reported to the Washington County Sheriff's Office in all of 2010. Police say there are probably more attempts that are not reported, or deaths that are never determined.
read more here
Suicides up in area

Homeless Veteran turns his life around

Homeless Veteran turns his life around
By: Sherrie Johnson
BALTIMORE - Air Force Veteran Oliver Avery, III has struggled for 30 years with alcohol. He was divorced twice, homeless, desperate and ready for a change.

With the help of the VA Medical Center, Avery turned his life around. He was selected to attend the Veterans Affairs year long Leadership Development Institute. It's a program designed to enhance the leadership skills of people for higher level positions.
read more here
Homeless Veteran turns his life around

Veteran's Wall Vandalized With "Kill Them All"

This happened last week but I have not been able to find any follow up stories on this.

Veteran's Wall Vandalized With "Kill Them All"

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A tribute to fallen American heroes from the First Coast was vandalized sometime over the past few days, and was discovered on Friday evening.

A Jacksonville Sheriff's Office police report said an EverBank Field Security guard noticed the graffiti Friday on the Veteran's Memorial Wall in downtown Jacksonville.
read more here
Veteran's Wall Vandalized

Friday, February 4, 2011

Florida Grandfather Reclaims His Identity After 17 Years

Fla. Grandfather Reclaims His Identity After 17 Years
Larry Smith Served Time in Jail for a Crime Committed by Alleged Identity Thief
BY JESSICA HOPPER
Feb. 3, 2011
A homeless man who allegedly stole the identity of a Florida grandfather who spent time in jail for a crime he did not commit will be arraigned today on multiple counts that include identity theft and welfare fraud, police said.

Joseph Kidd is accused of stealing Larry Smith's identity for 17 years, also costing Smith access to his medical benefits. The other charges against Kidd are giving false information to a police officer and grand theft of services.

In 1993, Kidd was arrested and fingerprinted in California for an unspecified, nonviolent crime as "Lawrence E. Smith," beginning a nightmare for the real Lawrence E. Smith, who lives in Lehigh Acres, Fla.

Investigators say they have discovered that Kidd had a birth certificate, a marriage license and even a driver's license with Larry Smith's name on it. He married a woman in 2007 allegedly using the alias.

Amid the confusion, the real Larry Smith has been wrongly ticketed for driving a purple Camaro too fast in 2001, billed $300,000 by Medicare and almost had his driver's license revoked for offenses he didn't commit.


"I spent eight days in jail in 2006 and my wife was on the phone 24-7 saying that it's not me," Smith said. "She sent paycheck stubs from where I was working when these crimes occurred to prove it wasn't me."
read more here
Fla. Grandfather Reclaims His Identity After 17 Years

Thursday, February 3, 2011

VA Awards include Orlando VA's Tim Liezert

VA Announces Awards for

Clinical Simulation Training, Education and Research

Innovations Result in Better Clinical and Customer Service Training

WASHINGTON (Feb. 3, 2011)- Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
employees Dr. David M. Gaba and Timothy W. Liezert were recently named
the first-ever recipients of the Under Secretary for Health's Awards for
Excellence in Clinical Simulation Training, Education and Research.

"This award honors individuals who have made a national impact through
the direct provision of innovative clinical simulation training,
education and research in VA," said VA Under Secretary for Health Dr.
Robert A. Petzel. "Dr. Gaba's influence on the skills of clinical staff
throughout VA has benefited the millions of Veterans cared for in our
health care system."

Petzel presented each with the award at the International Meeting of
Simulation in Healthcare in New Orleans on Jan. 24.

Gaba describes simulation as a technique - not a technology - to replace
or amplify real experiences with guided experiences that evoke or
replicate substantial aspects of the real world in a fully interactive
manner.

Simulated learning enhances patient safety by ensuring clinicians
receive experience on virtual "patients" to improve procedural
performance. It also improves team functioning through training
scenarios in emergency rooms, operating rooms and intensive care units
where entire medical teams need to act seamlessly under tremendous
pressure. Recordings of simulated scenarios allow teams to review how
they work together and assess how they might improve their performance.

Dr. Gaba was recognized with the 2011 Excellence in Clinical Simulation
Training, Education and Research Practice Award for his numerous
contributions to the field of clinical simulation over the past two
decades. He created the first modern mannequin-based fully interactive
simulator, which has since been commercialized and, along with his
curricula, is in use in thousands of simulation training and education
programs around the world. He has also conducted ground-breaking
research in Crisis Resource Management (CRM) in clinical care settings
and has designed CRM-oriented simulation instructor training designed to
improve patient safety outcomes.

Gaba is staff anesthesiologist at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System,
Calif., and Associate Dean for Immersive and Simulation-based Learning
and Director of the Center for Immersive and Simulation Based Learning
(CISL) at Stanford University School of Medicine in California. He is
also editor-in-chief of "Simulation in Healthcare," the official journal
of the Society for Simulation in Healthcare.

In receiving the 2011 Clinical Simulation Training, Education and
Research Executive Leadership Award, Liezert was recognized for his role
in championing clinical simulation practice at the Orlando VA Medical
Center (VAMC), and in support of VA efforts to establish its Simulation
Learning Education and Research Network (SimLEARN) as a program of
peerless excellence. An active contributor to the vibrant and
nationally renowned Orlando simulation community, he has established
strong relationships with simulation leaders in industry, government and
academia that are greatly benefiting VA clinical simulation programs.

Committed to simulation excellence in clinical and non-clinical
settings, Liezert has applied simulation methodologies to customer
service training. "Tim Liezert is truly a model leader for VA in the
arena of clinical simulation," said Petzel. "His tireless efforts to
lead the way in establishing simulation as a learning modality for
health care education and training is significant, and is duly
recognized by this award." Liezert is director of the Orlando VA Medical
Center, Fla.

The strategy of VA's SimLEARN program is to improve clinical outcomes
for America's Veterans by providing a safe and supportive environment in
which practitioners master skills, practice protocols, learn
system-based practices, apply critical decision making and promote
communication and interpersonal skills. To learn more about the
SimLEARN program, visit www.simlearn.va.gov.

Pearl Harbor Vet held picture of his ship while caregiver was arrested

Crime & Courts
Family of 93-Year-Old Pearl Harbor Veteran Shocked by Caregiver Abuse Charges
Published February 02, 2011
FoxNews.com

Relatives of a Pearl Harbor veteran say they are shocked at the alleged abuse suffered by their 93-year-old father, who was found disheveled and dehydrated and living in a rat-infested home at the hands of his trusted caregiver.
Deputies with the San Diego County Sheriff's Department said they found Arnold Bauer living in squalor last week at his home near El Cajon, Calif., and charged his caregiver, 63-year-old Milagros Angeles, with elder abuse.
Authorities said they found Bauer -- who has prostate cancer and dementia -- sitting next to rotting garbage and rat feces while clutching a framed photo of the ship he was serving on the day of Pearl Harbor, Fox5SanDiego.com reports.
Angeles has been charged with four felony counts of elder abuse, forgery, theft and false imprisonment. Prosecutors allege that Angeles wrote checks to herself from Bauer's account and sent the money to her native Philippines.


Read more:
Family of 93-Year-Old Pearl Harbor Veteran

Westboro Group ready to protest funeral for murdered children

Kansas church to protest at service for slain Florida siblings
By the CNN Wire Staff
February 2, 2011 4:19 p.m. EST

Westboro Baptist Church, based in Topeka, Kansas, has stirred controversy through its demonstrations at funerals.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Westboro Baptist Church says it will picket service because mother is a military wife
Tampa schools sponsoring service for brother and sister, who were slain last Friday
Julie K. Schenecker, 50, is charged with murder in the deaths of her children
Her husband is with the U.S. Central Command

(CNN) -- A controversial Kansas church says members will picket before the memorial service Wednesday evening for two Florida teenagers allegedly killed by their mother.

In a press release, Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas, said it will demonstrate outside the service in Tampa because the mother is a military wife and "the doomed American military declared war on God & His church."

The controversial church and its pastor, Fred Phelps, have made their name picketing near funerals of people who died of AIDS, gay people and soldiers. The church plans to picket beginning at 5:15 p.m.and ending at 6 p.m., when the service is scheduled to start, according to CNN affiliate WFTS-TV in Tampa.

Julie K. Schenecker, 50, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths Friday of her 16-year-old daughter, Calyx, and her 13-year-old son, Beau. She was denied bail at a court appearance Monday, a court spokesman said.

Her husband, Army Col. Parker Schenecker, is with the U.S. Central Command, which is headquartered in Tampa. Police told WFTS that he was in the Persian Gulf emirate of Qatar when his children were killed.

King High School, which Calyx attended, and Liberty Middle School, where Beau was a student, are sponsoring the service at First Baptist Church of Temple Terrace in Tampa, the church said.
Josh Saliba, director of creative ministries, told CNN he would not comment on Westboro Baptist's plans to protest.

On Monday -- their first day back since the shootings became public -- students at Liberty Middle School wore blue and black in memory of Beau, who was an eighth-grader there.

CNN affiliate Bay News 9 posted a statement Monday from the Schenecker family:
"Colonel Parker Schenecker has returned from his deployment and is grieving with family and friends. He is devoted first and foremost to honoring the lives and memory of his beautiful children, Calyx and Beau," the statement said. "Parker and his family have been touched by the overwhelming support from the community both near and abroad. Arrangements and details are still being finalized with regard to the services to be held for Calyx and Beau."
read more here
Kansas church to protest at service for slain Florida siblings

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Florida Gov. Scott gives $200,000 to Wounded Warriors Project

Florida governor gives $200k for wounded vets
The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Feb 2, 2011 12:39:27 EST
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Gov. Rick Scott is donating $200,000 raised during his inauguration events to the Wounded Warriors Project.

Scott said during a ceremony Wednesday at the governor's mansion that he visited the group's Jacksonville headquarters while campaigning and was impressed with the work it does to help wounded veterans.

Scott said, "You could just see that lives were changed through Wounded Warriors."

Scott, a Navy veteran, also said that his administration will put a strong focus on military issues.
Florida governor gives $200k for wounded vets

Ft. Leonard Wood Battles Sexual Assaults

Ft. Leonard Wood Battles Sexual Assaults
January 31, 2011
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. -- Two days after she joined her military police unit, the 19-year-old private found herself drunk, sick and locked in a barracks bathroom where, she said, a soldier in her unit sexually assaulted her.
Less than three months before, on Christmas Day 2009, the same soldier used similar tactics to assault a 20-year-old woman new to the 988th Military Police Company, prosecutors alleged in a court-martial earlier this month.
Six years after the Pentagon committed to addressing sexual assault within the ranks, such cases remain a fixture in military courtrooms. Of 19 pending courts-martial at Fort Leonard Wood, eight involve sexual assaults by soldiers, most of them on other service members. In many cases, the circumstances are sadly familiar and often difficult to prosecute.
The victim and accused often know each other, and, in some cases, may have had a previous sexual relationship. Alcohol is usually involved.
read more here
Ft. Leonard Wood Battles Sexual Assaults

One Soldier’s Road to God

"I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.”



If you think that an average person cannot be just as important in sharing faith with others, you haven't read the Bible lately.

The truth is, few in the Bible had a formal education, most were common, only a few knew how to write but what they all had in common was a connection to God. Perfect faith? Hardly. Read the struggles they all went through and how they questioned their own faith. Read how they made mistake after mistake and were forgiven over and over again. Read how they started out with no faith at all but had a hunger to make it grow than an even stronger hunger to share what they had gained.

Christ took common fishermen and turned them into being leaders. A need to know she was not alone, Spc. Kelly Lee prayed out of desperation for a sign that she should not take her own life and it came with Psalm 34.



Photo by Sgt. David Bryant
The chaplain's assistant for the 36th Infantry deputy division chaplain, Spc. Kelly L. Lee, grew up in a household of drugs, alcoholism and crime. She was on the brink of suicide when an answered prayer turned her life around. Always an individual, Lee tells teh story of her life before and after being saved through body arwork, with a full "sleeve" on her left arm and plans to complete another "sleeve" on her right. The tattoos on her lower arm were completed by Clint Cummings of Sparrows Tattoo, Mansfield, Texas, and those on her upper arm by John Chancy of Fineline Tattoo in Mesquite, Texas.
A Life Worth Saving: One Soldier’s Road to God
36th Infantry Division Public Affairs Office
Story by Sgt. David Bryant

BASRAH, Iraq – It was a clear, sunny February day. A breeze was blowing through the open window of her apartment; the closet had finally been cleaned earlier in the week and the small study Bible her best friend had given her when she was 12 was laying on the nightstand.

That was when Spc. Kelly L. Lee sat down on the floor next to her bed, placed the razor against her wrist and said, “God, if you’re there, you better let me know because I’m going to come meet you.”

“I was at such a point of self-loathing; that’s why I got out the razor blade,” the 27-year-old Dallas native said. “I had my own place, a good job and a wonderful fiancé at the time. All the pieces of the puzzle were there, but something was missing. That missing piece was the life I didn’t have.”

And life had not always been great for Lee, she said. A self-proclaimed Army brat, the fiery redhead grew up in an unstable home filled with drug and alcohol abuse. Her parents were divorced by the time she was 12 and her mother had been in and out of jail since Lee was 9 years old.

As she sat with the blade against her wrist, a breeze blew the small Bible onto the floor and opened to Psalm 34. As she began to read, a verse leapt out at her: “I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.”

“I didn’t get saved the ‘traditional’ way by being preached to or talking to a minister or anything like that,” Lee said. “You can’t deny a face-to-face meeting with God like that, though. I cried out and he heard me.”

Like most youth, Lee had been searching for an “identity” before she was saved. It was during her search that she first began to express herself through body art by getting her astrological sign, Leo, tattooed on each of her hands.

“I loved being able to express who I am through body artwork,” she said. “When I came to know Christ and his love for me, that translated into the tattoos I have now.”

The artwork now covers her entire left arm in what is known as a “sleeve,” and Lee uses them as part of her “personal ministry.”

“When people ask what they mean, it gives me a chance to express myself and tell my story,” she said.

From the depths of despair, she looked to a razor blade for salvation and instead found a calling, Lee added. “It was all he said; to be prepared. About a year and a half later, he laid on my heart: ‘Army.’ I prayed about it for about eight months, asking, ‘Is this really what you want me to do?’”
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One Soldier’s Road to God


Of David. When he pretended to be insane before Abimelek, who drove him away, and he left.
1 I will extol the LORD at all times;
his praise will always be on my lips.
2 I will glory in the LORD;
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
3 Glorify the LORD with me;
let us exalt his name together.

4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to him are radiant;
their faces are never covered with shame.
6 This poor man called, and the LORD heard him;
he saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him,
and he delivers them.

8 Taste and see that the LORD is good;
blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
9 Fear the LORD, you his holy people,
for those who fear him lack nothing.
10 The lions may grow weak and hungry,
but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.
11 Come, my children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
12 Whoever of you loves life
and desires to see many good days,
13 keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from telling lies.
14 Turn from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.

15 The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous,
and his ears are attentive to their cry;
16 but the face of the LORD is against those who do evil,
to blot out their name from the earth.

17 The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them;
he delivers them from all their troubles.
18 The LORD is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

19 The righteous person may have many troubles,
but the LORD delivers him from them all;
20 he protects all his bones,
not one of them will be broken.

21 Evil will slay the wicked;
the foes of the righteous will be condemned.
22 The LORD will rescue his servants;
no one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.

Soldier's Wife Fights For Daughter's Meds

Soldier's Wife Fights For Daughter's Meds
Girl Has Dravet's Syndrome
Reported By Forrest Sanders

A Fort Campbell soldier's wife said her long fight was worth it. The mother wrote congressmen, senators and mayors to get help for her daughter's rare medical condition.

"If you have a child with special needs, don't give up," said Felicia Harris.

She and her husband were married after being high school sweethearts. Three years ago, they welcomed their daughter Lexy -- a happy baby suffering a rare syndrome.

"They did the blood test, and it came back, and she did have the gene," Harris said. "It's genetic. Hers is a mutation."

It's called Dravet's syndrome.

"It's just a severe type of epilepsy," said Harris. "Their seizures can last from five minutes to hours. My daughter's longest seizure was two hours and 45 minutes."

Harris said the only answer is a medication called stiripentol, but it isn't approved by the FDA and not covered by TriCare, the military's health care plan.
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Soldier's Wife Fights For Daughter's Meds

Man claims PTSD after allegedly killing 100 sled dogs

Man claims PTSD after allegedly killing 100 sled dogs
By Nina Golgowski, CNN
February 1, 2011 10:04 p.m. EST
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
A man files for workers comp, claiming stress
He says he was carrying out company orders to kill 100 dogs
The man cited "a slow winter season" as the reason to decrease the dog pack

(CNN) -- An employee of Canada's Outdoor Adventures company admitted to slaughtering 100 sled dogs, according to a workers compensation report he later filed.

The employee -- whose name authorities have not yet released -- worked as a general manager of Howling Dogs tour company in Whistler, British Columbia. He claimed he was suffering from post-traumatic stress after carrying out company orders to kill the dogs, the report said.

A company with a similar name, Howling Dogs Tours, in Canmore, Alberta, has no connection with this case.

The man cited "a slow winter season" that compelled him to decrease the size of the company's dog pack by 30 percent, the report said.
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Man claims PTSD after allegedly killing 100 sled dogs

Holt brings Sergeant Coleman Bean bill back amid rise in vets’ suicide rate

Holt brings Bean bill back amid rise in vets’ suicide rate

Army report says 145 Guard, Reserve members took own lives in 2010
BY LAUREN CIRAULO
Staff Writer


EAST BRUNSWICK — Rep. Rush Holt (D-12th District) is renewing efforts to pass a bill intended to strengthen treatment resources for returning soldiers.

His reintroduction of the measure, which was suddenly removed from the federal Defense Authorization Act of 2011 in December, was bolstered by a Jan. 19 announcement from the U.S. Army that suicide rates among National Guard and Reserve veterans had increased significantly.

“In the coming weeks, I will be reintroducing the Sergeant Coleman Bean Reserve Component Suicide Prevention Act, which has passed the House unanimously twice but was blocked by members of the Senate minority,” Holt said. “My legislation, named in memory of a constituent who tragically took his own life after serving two combat tours in Iraq, would directly address the lack of follow-up with at-risk Guard and Reserve members …”

Army Chief of Staff Peter Chiarelli issued a report in January indicating that in 2010, the Army’s active-duty force saw a slight drop in the number of suicides, from 162 in 2009 to 156. However, there was a significant rise in the number of suicides among National Guard and Reserve units, nearly doubling from 80 deaths in 2009 to 145 in 2010.

“I am thankful that the efforts of Army Chief of Staff Peter Chiarelli and the Army as a whole has led to a slight reduction in the number of suicides among our active duty soldiers,” Holt said. “However, as Gen. Chiarelli acknowledged today, the doubling in suicides among Guard and Reserve members is both alarming and a call to action.”

For East Brunswick resident Greg Bean, whose son Coleman was 25 when he took his life Sept. 6, 2008, a few months after returning from his second tour in Iraq, the numbers demonstrate the need for action.
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Holt brings Bean bill back amid rise in vets’ suicide rate

NJ center to run counseling program at Fort Hood

NJ center to run counseling program at Fort Hood
By BETH DeFALCO Associated Press © 2011 The Associated Press
Feb. 1, 2011, 2:24PM

TRENTON, N.J. — In response to a record number of suicides in 2010, one of the nation's largest Army posts is turning to a successful veteran-to-veteran counseling program in New Jersey for help.

Beginning Tuesday, the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey will provide a toll-free, 24-hour helpline for soldiers and families at Fort Hood in Texas.

Based in Piscataway, N.J., the Vets4Warriors helpline for will be staffed by five veterans, including some who served in Vietnam and Iraq. The counselors, who are trained and employed by UMDNJ, will be available for around-the-clock confidential support both over the phone and through an instant messaging system. Soldiers who call can remain anonymous.

"Unfortunately, the suicide rate among the military has risen dramatically in the past eight years," said Christopher Kosseff, CEO of UMDNJ's University Behavioral HealthCare. "Today, a veteran is twice as likely to commit suicide as someone who has never served."

The Army reported 22 suicides of Fort Hood soldiers last year — double the number in 2009 and even higher than the previous record of 14 in 2008 — prompting officials to look for new ways to help struggling soldiers.

Overall in 2010, the Army reported 343 suicides of soldiers, Army civilians and family members — 69 more than in 2009, according to the Defense Department.

Kosseff, who runs the New Jersey program, had the idea of starting the program at Fort Hood after four suicides were reported in one week at the Army post.

"A veteran can really understand the rigors of military life better than someone who has not lived it," Kosseff said.

Kosseff said that having veterans staff the lines and allowing callers to remain anonymous has been a key reason to its success in New Jersey.

"There's an issue that mental health professionals are not highly regarded by some. They are seen as people who can limit someone's activity, rather than someone who is supporting them," he said.

Known as the Vet2Vet program in New Jersey, the helpline was the first of its kind in the nation when it began operating in New Jersey in 2005. It was modeled after a Cop2Cop counseling program for police.

Master Sgt. Chuck Arnold, a counselor and Vietnam veteran who has worked with the New Jersey hotline since it started said that the peer element is crucial.

"Most are very relieved that they don't have to explain the language of the military," Arnold said. "We follow up and do what we say we are going to do. We are 24-7. You'll always get a live voice."
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NJ center to run counseling program at Fort Hood

Valencia Veterans Association stood out the most


East Campus is my campus and I have to say that I am very proud it is. The association is already doing great things. We had a meeting yesterday and this is a dedicated group of people trying to make a difference at Valencia and in the community.


Tuesday, February 1, 2011

East campus students go clubbing
By Shannon Metherell
smetherell@valenciavoice.com

The Student Government Association had set up tables with individual clubs to promote the club fair. They hosted this event on East campus Thursday, Jan. 27.

With their military uniforms and the training techniques using the pull up bar, the Valencia Veterans Association stood out the most. Many of the club’s activities in creating a brotherhood include recruiting them around campus, helping homeless veterans, and even taking a trip to the gun range with UCF. “We like to help come together and try to help veterans transition into school life” stated president Donald Gibson.
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http://valenciavoice.com/valencia-news/east-campus-students-go-clubbing

Iraq veteran killed by police lived trying to help other veterans

Another veteran dies in confrontation with police
Published: Tuesday, February 01, 2011
By Mike Francis, The Oregonian
Right on the heels of the burial of Thomas Higginbotham, the homeless veteran who was shot to death by Portland police, another veteran was shot to death after a showdown with police at his house in Gresham. Witnesses say he was suicidal and armed with a rifle.

McDowell's death shocked friends and associates, who say he was a jovial, outgoing man bursting with energy and eager to help vets.
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Another veteran dies in confrontation with police

Man shot by Gresham police was an Iraq veteran who tried to help other vets
Published: Tuesday, February 01, 2011
By Lynne Terry, The Oregonian
A 50-year-old Gresham man who was killed in a confrontation with police was a career serviceman who spent the last two years trying to raise money and respect for veterans.

Anthony L. McDowell, an active member of the U.S. Army Reserves and the founder of a nonprofit supporting veterans, was killed outside his home in the 24000 block of Southeast Oak Street in Gresham on Monday evening.

Officer John Rasmussen, spokesman for Gresham police, said McDowell's wife, Teresa, called police right before 7 p.m., saying her husband was suicidal.

"Prior to our arrival, a family member had already taken a weapon away from him," Rasmussen said. "He did rearm himself with a rifle."

Gratton said her son's 13-year-old daughter and his wife witnessed the shooting.

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Man shot by Gresham police was an Iraq veteran

Funeral of Homeless Vietnam Veteran Thomas Higginbotham who Died in Police Shooting

Funeral of Homeless Vietnam Veteran who Died in Police Shooting
Military Funeral of Thomas Higginbotham, 67, a homeless veteran who died in a police shooting after allegedly attacking them with a knife. Portland, Oregon. 01/02/2011
Thomas Higginbotham, 67, was buried at Willamette National Cemetery in Portland, Oregon, with military honors. He had been homeless for an unknown period of time, and had been living in an abandoned carwash in Portland's southeast side.
He had been in the United States Army for approximately 2 1/2 years, and served at least one tour in Vietnam. His life after the service was troubled, and he had been arrested and imprisoned many times in California. At least one arrest was for assault. At the time of his death, he had neither relatives, money, nor address. The police, the Veteran's Hospital database, and even the FBI were unable to locate next of kin or connections. The Dignity Memorial Homeless Veterans Burial Program, founded in St. Louis in 2000, became involved.
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Funeral of Homeless Vietnam Veteran who Died in Police Shooting


Grand jury reports: Portland police shot homeless veteran 10 times after he advanced holding a knife
Published: Friday, January 28, 2011, 7:58 PM

By Maxine Bernstein, The Oregonian

Two Portland police officers fired 12 gunshots at Thomas Higginbotham on Jan. 2 when they say the homeless man inside an abandoned Southeast Portland car wash walked toward them holding a knife with an 8-inch blade.

Higginbotham, 67, was struck 10 times and died from wounds to the chest and abdomen, according to grand jury records released Friday. He had two other knives in his coat pocket, and a blood-alcohol content of .26.
read more here
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2011/01/portland_police_shoot_homeless.html

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Ft. Riley charged with stalking soldier she was supposed to be helping

Ft. Riley therapist charged with stalking, sexually harassing soldier who was her patient

By Associated Press

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A therapist who was treating a Fort Riley soldier for traumatic stress has been accused of sexually harassing the patient.

Rachelle Santiago was charged Monday in a federal criminal complaint with stalking the sergeant she was counseling for post-traumatic stress disorder and marital issues. An affidavit also alleges she sent him sexually explicit messages and pictures, and that she stalked the soldier and his wife.
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Ft. Riley therapist charged with stalking

Man charged with wanting to blow up Islamic Center

The man is a Vietnam Vet with PTSD according to this report. It is not the first time he has been charged with something like this. Why? What kind of help did he get after the threat against President Bush? What kind of help has he ever gotten?

Man who threatend veteran's facilities faces new federal charges

Burlington, Vermont - January 31, 2011

A man who was charged with threatening the VA hospital in White River Junction, the Veterans Center in Colchester and President Bush back in 2002, has picked up new federal charges, this time in Michigan.

Police picked up 63-year-old Roger Stockham last week for allegedly planning to attack the Islamic Center of America. A psychiatric exam in 2004 found Stockham suffered from several issues, including personality disorder and post-traumatic stress.
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Man who threatend veteran's facilities