Parade will welcome home injured soldier

UPDATE August 25, 2012
Disabled soldier acquitted on shooting charge
UPDATE
Parade canceled after soldier arrested

This has been a great morning so far. Posts on homeless veterans and now this. Why? Because it shows people do care about our veterans and the troops. Watching national news, you'd never know that unless something catastrophic happens but there are thousands of stories across the nation proving how much the American people do care.

Parade will welcome home injured soldier
Losing leg 'part of war and part of life,' Braman says
Aug. 26, 2011
Written by
ERIC WEDDLE

Eric Braman talks Friday about his service as an MP with the Army 101st Airborne in Afghanistan. Braman lost his right leg when the vehicle his was riding in was struck by a rocket propelled grenade. (By John Terhune/Journal & Courier)

The intricate sleeve of tattoos on Eric Braman's right arm tells a story.

Among a skull, rose and vibrant colors are permanent drawings that honor his family, a deceased friend, and one that spells out his credo: no regrets in life.

That's the philosophy Braman takes when telling the story of his right leg. It was amputated below the knee a year ago after the military vehicle he was riding in was stuck by a rocket-propelled grenade in Nangarhar, Afghanistan.

Braman's friend and another solider died from the attack.
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I often wonder what it is like for them to be in Iraq or Afghanistan watching news reports and wondering if they have been forgotten or if anyone cares. National media drums up the political discord tracking people in the Tea Party, as if they speak for America, talking about not wanting to pay taxes while avoiding reports about how they want to take away from veterans.

Imagine risking your life and reading what they have to say online or watching one of their videos. Turn on any major news station and you will not find many reports about them in Iraq or Afghanistan any more than you'll see reports on what happens to them back home.

When they are not reporting on politics, they report on celebrities or create new ones. It would be nice if they decided to make the troops celebrities. It takes a disaster to get them to report on anything else. Every station is focused on Hurricane Irene which is fine because of how many lives are affected by this giant. The problem is, there is just never enough focus on them. I had to face the fact the American people have no idea what is going on in other parts of the country because while their local news does a great job talking about their local veterans and troops deployed from their own communities, the national news failed them a long time ago. This is yet one more reason a blog like this exists. The stories are all out there but now we can all know what is happening one state to another. Sure there are heartbreaking reports about what is wrong across the country but there are also many reports about what is right with the people in this country no matter what state they live in. The national news may not care, but the American people do!

Grant helps homeless veterans and veterans living in poverty

$1m grant to help homeless vets
August 26, 2011
By John Ruch
The JP-based Volunteers of America Massachusetts (VOAMA) has received a $1 million grant to help homeless and at-risk veterans.

VOAMA estimates that there are over 1,000 homeless veterans and over 7,000 veterans living in poverty in Suffolk, Norfolk and Plymouth counties.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs grant is for VOAMA programming in collaboration with the Quincy homeless program Father Bill’s & MainSpring.
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Vets gets clothes, food other help at Brunswick National Guard Armory

Vets gets clothes, food other help at Brunswick armory

'Stand Down' event includes clothing, haircuts and more
Posted: August 27, 2011

By Terry Dickson
Men and women who left the military decades ago got some new uniform clothing Friday.

The Army National Guard Armory in Brunswick was lined with tables of new but outdated uniforms and other surplus equipment that volunteers handed out to veterans in the annual Stand Down for Veterans. Although the event concentrated on the homeless, volunteers and agency staff members didn't turn any needy people away.

Gregory Senters of the Carl Vinson VA Medical Center in Dublin, who coordinated the event, said it couldn't happen without the local veterans organizations and other volunteers. Among them was Coast Guard Petty Officer 1st Class Justin Irwin, who came with a contingent of Coast Guardsmen who were handing out clothing.

"It's just people pretty much at the bottom and these people are out here to help them," Irwin said of the Salvation Army, American Red Cross and other agencies set up at the armory.

Irwin said it was heartwarming to see the reaction of the homeless veterans.

There were socks, blankets, underwear, shirts, pants, a bag of toiletries provided by Target and a duffel bag to carry it all in. Those who wanted it left with a full stomach after a free spaghetti lunch cooked by the Salvation Army.

The Humane Society of Coastal Georgia was also there to help veterans with their pets.
"We ran out of dog food," said Leigh Anne Estrada of the Humane Society. "We also brought collars and leashes. Last year, guys were walking around with men's neckties around their dogs."
Senters said a lot of vets have dogs, and not just for the companionship. "That's your alarm system under the bridge," he said.

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3 Doors Down Team Up With Home Depot to Help Homeless Veterans

3 Doors Down Team Up With Home Depot to Help Homeless Veterans
Posted on Aug 26th 2011 11:00AM by Carlos Ramirez

Michael Kovac, Getty Images

3 Doors Down have built their career on the back of an endless parade of melodic rock radio hits. But it's their tireless work with the US Military that has made them the go-to band for the Armed Forces these past few years. "It's the least we can do for these troops and we'll always find time to play for them if it lifts their spirits," 3 Doors Down guitarist Matt Roberts tells Noisecreep. We're in West Los Angeles with Roberts and his bandmates where they're volunteering for their latest passion project.

The band is here with The Home Depot Foundation, The Mission Continues and local volunteers, to refurbish the exterior grounds of New Directions, a nonprofit organization, which runs a residential program on the campus of the West Los Angeles Veterans Administration Medical Center.

New Directions provides an array of services for homeless veterans recovering from "Invisible illnesses" including substance abuse, mental illness and post-traumatic stress disorder.

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Hurricane Irene alters Walter Reed transfer

Hurricane Irene alters Walter Reed transfer
By Patricia Kime - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Aug 26, 2011 14:24:58 EDT
Hurricane Irene’s march up the East Coast has accelerated plans to move the last patients from Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., to a new flagship hospital a few miles away in Bethesda, Md.

The transfer of 100 patients from Walter Reed, scheduled to take place Sun. Aug. 28, will occur on Saturday, Aug. 27, starting at roughly 7 a.m. ahead of the expected arrival of Irene, set to dump tropical rains on the national capital area sometime Saturday afternoon and evening.

The move will involve multiple ambulances and a 5-mile journey from the iconic Army hospital on Georgia Avenue, Washington, D.C., to the newly built Walter Reed National Military Medical Center Bethesda, on the grounds of the National Naval Medical Center. The transfer is expected to be complete by 10 a.m.
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Vietnam veteran presented with medals

Vietnam veteran presented with medals
Posted: Aug 26, 2011
by Melanie Yuill
A Vietnam veteran received six long overdue medals and several ribbons on Thursday.

The VFW, Marine Corps League and American Legion watched from the Butte-Silver Bow Courthouse steps as U.S. Senator Jon Tester presented Gary Sonsteng with the medals. They include a combat action ribbon, Navy Commendation Medal, Vietnam Service Medal and more.
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Video helps VA patients cut out long doctor trips

Video helps VA patients cut out long doctor trips
By Andrew Doughman The Orlando Sentinel
First Posted: August 26, 2011

ORLANDO, Fla. , Jon Yeitrakis used to drive almost an hour each way to see his psychiatrist at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Orlando, Fla.

Now, the Kissimmee, Fla., resident and former Marine medic drives eight minutes to a local VA clinic.

The doctor is still in Orlando. Yeitrakis is still in Kissimmee. But now Yeitrakis attends his 50-minute "tele-psychiatry" appointments over a two-way video system.

Although the technology has been around for decades, only within the past few years has it been available to patients such as Yeitrakis. And the VA plans to expand those telemedicine services during the next year.

"The advantage of telemedicine is that it allows the veteran, or civilian for that matter, to access care in their location," said Nick Ross, assistant director of outpatient clinics and planning at the VA of North Florida and South Georgia.

In some respects, telemedicine represents the death of distance.

Patients with chronic diseases such as diabetes can now use a device to send medical data to the doctor's office from their homes. Then doctors can provide targeted advice over the telephone when necessary.

No more drives to the doctor's office or long waits in the waiting room.
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Matt Blain Honored With Rare Soldier's Medal

Matt Blain Honored With Rare Soldier's Medal For River Rescue (VIDEO)
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Advocates, Veterans Raise Awareness About PTSD

Advocates, Veterans Raise Awareness About PTSD

POSTED: AUG 26, 2011
By Jamie Guirola, Reporter
By Kevin Johnson, Photojournalist

LAS VEGAS - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD is sometimes referred to as a hidden wound of war. Attorney Gerald Gillock produced the documentary "Who Will Stand" to bring attention to the issue.

"Right now, we're finding out that an earthquake that knocked over a couple of lawn chairs in Washington is more important than PTSD," Gillock said. "Sometimes, it's hidden by the soldiers themselves who try to hide it. Other times, it's just that people have ignored it."

Veterans returning home from combat often have the anxiety disorder which is triggered by a traumatic event involving death or injury. PTSD changes how the body responds to stress and varies for each person.
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Military widows bond at Alaska retreat

Military widows bond at Alaska retreat
By MARK THIESSEN, Associated Press
GIRDWOOD, Alaska (AP) — Jennifer Tullis still keeps her husband's camouflage uniform in the closet, all starched, ironed and folded, even though he died 12 years ago.

"He took so much pride in that," she said, smiling at the memory of her husband, Michael Peterson, a powerlifting Marine from Tooele, Utah, whose nickname was Ogre.

"I lost my husband when I was 19 to suicide, which is one of the harder ways because there's so many stigmas attached to it," said Tullis, of Valley Center, Calif.

Tullis and about 75 other military widows — ranging in age from 21 to 62 — shared memories of their loved ones while hiking rugged wooded trails, canyoneering in the backcountry and rafting the rapids of Alaska's Crow Creek last weekend. They were participants in the second Alaska Adventure excursion organized by TAPS, the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors.

Tullis turned to the group for support when Peterson died, and now gives back as a peer mentor to the growing ranks of military widows and widowers whose spouses or significant others died in combat, from illness, suicide, "every type of loss imaginable," said TAPS founder and president Bonnie Carroll.

"What brings us together and really binds us as a community is their life, and their service and their sacrifice to this nation. This is about honoring the life, and remembering the love far more than it is about mourning the death," Carroll said.

Tullis simply calls TAPS family.
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Army Pilot Program Allows Soldiers to Confidentially Enroll in Alcohol Treatment

Army Pilot Program Allows Soldiers to Confidentially Enroll in Alcohol Treatment

August 23rd, 2011
A pilot Army program allows soldiers at high risk for developing alcohol problems to enroll in a confidential treatment program that will not adversely impact their careers. The program, which started at three Army installations, is now at six posts.

The Confidential Alcohol Treatment and Education Project (CATEP) is aimed at helping soldiers who abuse alcohol, before more serious substance abuse problems develop that could harmfully impact their finances, health, relationships and military career.

Soldiers are overwhelmingly young males, who have higher rates of drinking than the general population, according to Colonel Charles S. Milliken, MD, of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. In addition to drawing from this demographic, soldiers have specific reasons for abusing alcohol, including “self-medicating” sleep problems and irritability. These reasons are common in not just those with post-traumatic stress disorder, but in many soldiers first returning from war.


One study found that an estimated 27 percent of soldiers reported alcohol misuse three months after redeploying from Iraq, Col. Milliken says. “Soldiers who drink too much are at high risk of behaviors that put themselves and others at risk, including drinking and driving or riding with a drunk driver.”

Traditionally, when a soldier enrolls in the Army’s substance abuse treatment program, known as ASAP, his or her Commanding Officer is automatically notified. Soldiers who fail to comply with or respond successfully to treatment are processed for administrative separation from military service.

The project initially started in 2009 at three sites: Schofield Barracks Army Health Clinic in Hawaii, Fort Lewis in Washington and Fort Richardson in Alaska. In April 2010, the program was expanded to include Fort Riley in Kansas, Fort Carson in Colorado and Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri. Col. Milliken estimates that the program now covers about 25 percent of those on active duty in the Army.

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Hurricane to do list

After surviving Charlie, Francis and Jeanne in 2004, my family learned a lot of lessons. As Irene heads up the East Coast, there are a lot of people without any idea what they need to do before it hits. Plus, while I live in Florida now, I am a New Englander!

First, go shopping. Think about nothing to cook with unless you have a gas stove. Don't think about using the BBQ grill until it is all over.

Buy
Bread, Peanut Butter/Jelly and marshmallow, fresh fruit or canned as long as you have a hand held can opener. Cereal and comfort foods should be on your list too.

Milk, cold cuts and bags of ice to put in a cooler. If you don't have one, buy one. Keep the bags of ice in your freezer in case the power goes out and then load them into the cooler along with anything that has to stay cold.

Avoid buying frozen foods.

Water, water and more water.

Batteries for a radio and if you don't have one, get one. If your power goes out, your cable TV will too. Forget about portable TV's (analog) because you need cable to get a signal. Batteries for flashlights. Candles do little good if you have nothing to light them with so make sure you have a few lighters or matches to last. Do not leave candles burning unless you are in the room.

Make sure your cell phone is fully charged. Think about buying a car charger so that you can power it up from your car if the power is out for too long. Most people do not have land lines anymore. If you have a battery operated/electric home phone and the power goes out, it will not work.

Buy meats only if they will fit into a cooler so that you can use your grill if the power goes out.

Gas for your car and for your grill for when the hurricane passes.

Think before you buy if you have what you need for at least three days and then think about if you can keep the food safe to eat without any power.

Go to buy plywood for your windows. Taping your windows up won't work with hurricane force winds. Don't forget you need to cut the plywood and need to nail it to your house.

Buy a large tarp in case you lose shingles. It could be a long time before anyone can come to fix your roof.

Buy a bucket in case you lose power and cannot flush your toilet or wash.

Make sure you have enough medicine for at least three days.

Make sure you have some cash in case banks lose power for days.

Shopping done, take care of your home. First remove anything not "nailed down" in your yard. It will save you a lot of grief if there are not things blowing around aimed at your house.

Nail up the plywood to windows. Things left out by your neighbors will blow around plus tree branches can come smashing into them.


Fill your bathtubs and sinks so that you can flush toilets and wash up.

Walk around your property and take a look at trees to see if dead branches should be removed and then get them into a garage until they can be hauled away. If not, then tie up heavy bunches so that the wind will not take them one by one.

Let family members know who to call in case it hits and not everyone is home. This needs to be done in case all you have is a cell phone and cannot power it up or get a signal.

Remember that the wind is not the only thing that you have to worry about. We all live with electronics. No power means nothing will work and this can cause a lot of anguish if you are not ready to rough it a few days and get prepared ahead of time.

For pets

Cats are easy but they may act out so just be aware they may. For dogs, you have to stop feeding and giving water so they can empty themselves before the storm comes. The last thing you want is for your dog to have to go "potty" in the middle of the hurricane. When it is safe, take them out as soon as you can and once it passes, feed them, give them water and plenty of love.

Check for roofing shingles in your yards because if you see them there are roofing nails to go with them somewhere. Watch for broken glass as well.

Fort Riley private. not robbed, shot himself

Police: Riley pvt. not robbed, shot himself
The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Aug 26, 2011 8:29:15 EDT
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Fort Riley soldier who said he was shot and robbed while jogging in Kansas City has been charged with making a false report.
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California, Others Cut Veterans Courts From Budget

California, Others Cut Veterans Courts From Budget

Though specialized veterans courts can save taxpayers up to $12,00 per client, some states have squashed the initiative to curb budget spending.

As many as 25 to 30 percent of returning veterans suffer from mental illness, according to the National Association of Drug Court Professionals, a statistic that inspired Buffalo, NY to establish the first Veterans Treatment Court in 2008. Modeled after drug courts, it aims to lead veterans down the road of recovery and sobriety, instead of throwing them behind bars. While more than 80 such courts have cropped up in the last three years, states like California have nixed their opening to cut spending, the Bay Citizen reports.

“Nobody knows what the hell these guys are going through. It can quickly spiral out of control,” Ken Gardner, a veteran who now practices law, told Lancaster Online. “We certainly owe it to them to at least look at another option [for prosecution].”

Lancaster, PA—home to more than 250 imprisoned veterans—is slated to open a veterans court in January, the news outlet reported.

Though offering troubled veterans access to drug and alcohol treatment, mental health counseling and employment services has proven to help them rehabilitate and kick their criminal past, California Gov. Jerry Brown recently vetoed a bill that would’ve expanded the system, according to the Bay Citizen.
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