Post-war Trauma Cases Up !!!

Post-war Trauma Cases Up
Inadequate care blamed for suicide spike...
By William Johnson • wjohnson@dailyworld.com • June 2, 2008

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Last week's Opelousas Memorial Day observance paid special
tribute to Sgt. Joseph Ronald Barnaba II, who was severely injured
in Iraq and was found dead at his home in St. Landry Parish two
weeks ago.

His first cousin, Dexter Scott Freeman, said it may have been
terrorists who attacked him, but it was a lack of adequate
care at home that killed him.

"The insurgents didn't kill him. Our government killed him. Everbody
wants to wave the flag but the truth is so much more. These guys are
coming home with so much pain, many have lost their jobs, their homes.

They are in so much pain most people can't fathom it," Freeman said.
While critical of the treatment his cousin received, Freeman is
no critic of the military. Freeman, a 10-year military veteran,
said he and Barnaba grew up in the same house - a house with
a strong military tradition. Freeman's brother is still in the
National Guard, and other family members serve in the Marines
and Air Force.

According to Freeman, his cousin was suffering from post-
traumatic stress disorder. Local mental health care
professional Paula Carriere said Barnaba was not alone. She said
she is seeing many veterans who are having trouble adjusting.
"One in eight is suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome.
It is affecting not just them but their families," Carriere told the
Opelousas Noon Rotary Club last week.

(This Vietnam Veteran, strongly believes it's
closer to Six in Eight- that are suffering with
PTSD!)

"A lot aren't getting the mental health counseling they need. They
are dealing with a lot anger, feeling out of control, they are impatient,
constantly on guard," Carriere said. "They have a tremendous set of
issues." In a report released this month, the military said newly
diagnosed cases of PSTD among U.S. troops sent to Iraq and
Afghanistan surged 46.4 percent in 2007.

The numbers are especially troubling concerning the National Guard.
While Guard and Reserve troops make up less than a third of soldiers
serving in the war, they make up more than half of veterans who
commit suicide after returning home.

Officially, the military only acknowledges about 40,000 PTSD cases.
A recent study by the RAND Corporation, a military think tank, called
that number low. It estimates about 300,000 troops, or 18.5 percent,
of the more than 1.5 million troops sent into the war zones exhibit
symptoms of either PTSD or depression.

The government is trying to correct the problem. In November,
President Bush signed a suicide prevention bill, which directed the VA
to improve its mental health training for staff and do a better job of
screening and treating veterans.

As a result, the VA has started its own suicide hotline. The VA and
the military have also made other improvements in suicide
prevention care, such as hiring more counselors and increasing
mental health screening. Despite these efforts, soldiers, veterans
and their families are running into what veterans advocates deem
excessive red tape and roadblocks when they try to use their
military insurance.

The deployment of hundreds of doctors and therapists to Iraq and
Afghanistan and the shortage of military health care providers has
forced patients at veteran's clinics and hospitals to wait months for
appointments - longer if they need to see a specialist.

Meanwhile, civilian doctors and psychiatrists say they're often faced
with tough decisions about whether to turn away patients on Tricare,
the Defense Department program that insures 9.2 million current
and former service members and their dependents. Its
reimbursement rates are low and its claims process cumbersome.

The problem is expected to only get worse. Tricare's reimbursement
rate are linked to Medicare levels. Health care providers who treat
patients on both programs will take a 10 percent pay cut on July 1
and a second, 5 percent, pay cut on Jan. 1, 2009.

In the meantime, Freeman urges family members of veterans to
surround their loved ones with support.

"To those of you who do have family members serving, please make
sure you can surround that individual with the help he or she she
needs because, I have to be frank, this story is going to repeat itself
again and again," Freeman said.

For more information
The toll-free Veterans Affairs Department Suicide hotline number is

1-800-273-TALK (8255).
Veterans Affairs Department: va.gov
Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America: iava.org
------------------------------------------------>
Flashback, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Suicide,
and the Lessons of WAR by Penny Coleman
and---> I Can Still Hear Thier Cries, Even In My Sleep
... A Journey Into PTSD By E. Everett McFall
Both Books are Available on Amazon.com

Combat PTSD or Adjustment Disorder? Saving Money, Not Lives

Stress Management and Relief

Last year, a firestorm erupted when it was found that 24,000 or
more OEF/OIF veterans had been booted out of the military
with Personality Disorder discharges. PD (once labeled "Section 8")
discharges are a quicker and more cost-efficient way of dealing with
service members who are exhibiting problematic behavior.

The problem, of course, was that some of the discharged were
combat-injured Purple Heart recipients who may have instead been
coping with PTSD, a fact that would allow them access to VA health
care benefits to treat their condition.

This week, we've moved from the military's diagnoses of Personality
Disorder over PTSD to a Texas VAMC PTSD program coordinator
advising that Adjustment Disorder diagnoses should be handed out
over that of PTSD. The reason given? Saving money.

From the Washington Post:
"Given that we are having more and more compensation seeking
veterans, I'd like to suggest that you refrain from giving a diagnosis
of PTSD straight out," Norma Perez wrote in a March 20 e-mail to
mental-health specialists and social workers at the Department of
Veterans Affairs' Olin E. Teague Veterans' Center in Temple, Tex.
Instead, she recommended that they "consider a diagnosis of
Adjustment Disorder." VA staff members "really don't . . . have time
to do the extensive testing that should be done to determine PTSD,"
Perez wrote.

"Adjustment disorder is a less severe reaction to stress than PTSD
and has a shorter duration, usually no longer than six months, said
Anthony T. Ng, a psychiatrist and member of Mental Health America,
a nonprofit professional association.

"Veterans diagnosed with PTSD can be eligible for disability
compensation of up to $2,527 a month, depending on the severity of
the condition, said Alison Aikele, a VA spokeswoman. Those found to
have adjustment disorder generally are not offered such payments,
though veterans can receive medical treatment for either condition. ...

"Veterans Affairs Secretary James B. Peake said in a statement that
Perez's e-mail was "inappropriate" and does not reflect VA policy. It
has been "repudiated at the highest level of our health care organization,"
he said. "VA's leadership will strongly remind all medical staff that trust,
accuracy and transparency is paramount to maintaining our relationships
with our veteran patients," Peake said."

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and VoteVets
released a copy of the email on Thursday.

### of Part One
PART TWO TOMORROW
------------------------------------>

The VA has set up a 24-hour suicide hotline round-the-clock access to mental health professionals. The number is 1-800-273- 8255 (TALK). To learn more about PTSD-- visit the National Center for PTSD website. -----------------------------------> Flashback, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Suicide, and the Lessons of WAR by Penny Coleman

and---> I Can Still Hear Thier Cries, Even In My Sleep... A Journey Into PTSD By E. Everett McFall

Both Books are Available on Amazon.com

ILL Gov. Urges Federal VA To Improve Care For Vets with Traumatic Brain Injuries!!!

ILL Gov. Blagojevich urges Federal VA to improve continuation
of care for Vets with traumatic brain injuries. New Federal VA
Inspector General Illinois Warrior Assistance Program
offers 24-hour assistance for Veterans in Illinois through
toll-free helpline at 1-866-554-IWAP (4927)

CHICAGO - Governor Rod R. Blogojevich called on the U.S.
Department of Veterans Affairs today to improve continuation
of care for Vets with traumatic brain injuries in light of their
Inspector General's report released yesterday finding Veterans
in long term recovery for traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) are
not getting the assistance they need. In fact the report found
that Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan with traumatic brain
injuries were receing inadequate follow-up care.


For Veterans in Illinois, the Illinois Warrior Assistance Program
is available and offers 24-hour assistance through a toll-free
helpline for Illinois Veterans suffering from symptoms
associated with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
or TBI.


"The effects of war remain long after our brave men and women
return home to their families and friends. The U.S. Department
of Veterans Affairs has to do more for the men and women
injured in combat. In Illinois, we are doing everything in our
power to make sure that the people who risked their lives overseas
defending our freedom have the opportunity to lead healthy, stable
lives," said Gov. Blagojevich. "The Illinois Warrior Assistance
Program will help our returning Veterans make the transition from
their tour of duty to everyday life. I am proud that Illinois is the
first state in the nation to develop this type of program, and I hope
to see other states develop similar programs to help our brave
Veterans across the country."

The report found that for Veterans of the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan with TBIs, "long-term case management is not
uniformly provided for these patients, and significant needs
remain unmet." These were the findings even though and earlier
report found that, "specific attention to the long-term needs of
those living with TBI is warranted in part because cognitive and
emotional impairments compromise patients' capacity to seek
help on their own. Unlike other types of injury, brain injury often
causes long lasting emotional difficulties and behavioral problems.
Further, in contrast to amputations and other disabilities, these
problems are often not apparent to casual observers even though
they exact a huge toll on patients and families."


"So many of the men and women serving in the armed forces are
deployed overseas multiple times as the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan continue," said Illinois Department of Veterans'
Affairs Director L. Tammy Duckworth. "We must make sure
that our soldiers returning from combat are able to make the
difficult transition from combat life to civilian life, and the
llinois Warrior Assistance Program provides the assistance
Veterans need to make their daily life easier."

The Illinois Warrior Assistance Program confidential helpline,
1-866-554-IWAP (4927), is available and staffed around
the clock by health professionals to assist Veterans, day or night,
with the symptoms associated with PTSD and to screen for a
possible TBI. Information about the program can also be found at http://www.illinoiswarrior.com/.

The Illinois Warrior Assistance Program provides confidential
assistance for Illinois Veterans as they transition back to their
everyday lives after serving our country. Its goal is to help
service members and their families deal with the emotional
and psychological challenges they may be facing. The program
has three major parts: It offers a 24-hour, toll-free helpline at
1-866-554-IWAP (4927), which is staffed by health
professionals to assist veterans, day or night, with the
symptoms associated with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
(PTSD).

It also provides Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) screening to
all interested Illinois veterans over the phone via the helpline
or through the State of Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs
(IDVA) Veteran Service Officers (VSOs).It makes TBI
screenings mandatory for all returning members of the Illinois
Army National Guard and Air National Guard.
----------------------------------->


The VA has set up a 24-hour suicide hotline
round-the-clock access to mental health professionals.
The number is 1-800-273- 8255 (TALK).
To learn more about PTSD-- visit the
National Center for PTSD website.
----------------------------------->
Flashback, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Suicide,
and the Lessons of WAR by Penny Coleman
and--->I Can Still Hear Thier Cries, Even In My Sleep
...A Journey Into PTSD By E. Everett McFall

Both Books are Available on Amazon.com

YES, YOU CAN! Online

YES, YOU CAN! Online

by Speedy - Support Veterans
May 13, 2008 11:26 AM EDT

comments: 3

Popular SCI self-care guide now freely available on the web
Washington, DC-YES, YOU CAN!, Paralyzed Veterans of America's

(Paralyzed Veterans) popular self-care guide for people with spinal

cord injury (SCI), is now accessible online for free.

"Making vital self-help information accessible to millions of people

with disabilities, their families and their caregivers is an important

part of Paralyzed Veterans' mission," said Randy L. Pleva, Sr,

National President of Paralyzed Veterans. "Information is power

and Yes, You Can! has helped to empower so many disabled

people by giving them the information they need to help themselves.

Now this essential resource can be accessed by anyone who has a

computer with an Internet connection."
YES, YOU CAN!, A Guide to Self-Care for Persons with Spinal Cord

Injury, is written and edited by experts. This third edition includes

six new chapters on pain, substance abuse, exercise, alternative

medicine, equipment, and staying healthy.

It is the most comprehensive self-care guide for people with SCI,

including newly injured patients in our nation's SCI units and SCI

patients who are out of the hospital. Family members of people with

SCI will also find this a useful resource.

With this online version of YES, YOU CAN!, you'll be able to:
•· Download the book for free
•· Email the book to a friend
•· Take an online tutorial on how to use the book
•· Conduct keyword searches
•· Bookmark any page
•· Print any page
•· Instantly click on dozens of website references that are all hot-linked
To access YES, YOU CAN! online and to purchase print copies.

please visit http://www.pva.org/.
***************************************************************

Sounds like valiant measures have been taken to ensure betterment

for our paralyzed veterans. I'm so glad to hear this!
Kimberly Ripley, May 13, 2008, 12:05pm EDT

I'm with Kimberly. For years now we haven't done enough for those

who protect us. Any improvement is welcome.
Pamela L., May 13, 2008, 1:13pm EDT

Sometimes "they" attempt to do the right things. Thanks for the info.
Marilyn M., May 13, 2008, 3:19pm EDT
***************************************************************

The VA has set up a 24-hour suicide hotline

round-the-clock access to mental health professionals.

The number is 1-800-273- 8255 (TALK).

To learn more about PTSD-- visit the

National Center for PTSD website.

------------------------------------>

Flashback, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Suicide,

and the Lessons of WAR by Penny Coleman

and--->I Can Still Hear Thier Cries, Even In My Sleep

...A Journey Into PTSD By E. Everett McFall

Both Books are Available on Amazon.com

Combating P.T.S.D. and Preventing Suicides

May 10, 2008
By Jennifer Litz Editor




The founders of the new PTSD treatment center in San Angelo,
First Gulf War veteran Steve Olness and paramedic Rosendo
"Rosey" Velez. ( Photo/Sarah Balderas)

Combating P.T.S.D. and Preventing Suicides

One of the most progressive treatment centers for Post Traumatic
Stress Disorders in the country is coming to San Angelo, made
possible by an $80,000 grant from the TRIAD Fund of Permian
Basin Area Foundation. But what’s really special about the new
center at 2607 Johnson Street is not its christening by foundation
funds. The people conducting counseling services there are not your
typical government bureaucratic types. They’re veterans of war,
and even Ground Zero.

Gulf War vet Steve Olness is program manger for veteran’s services
for Mental Health Mental Retardation Services of the Concho Valley.
MHMR will share digs on Johnson Street with Emergency Services
Respite Center to provide care for recently returned soldiers and
other crisis responders suffering from Post Traumatic Stress
Disorder.

“I was in the army in the first Gulf War, and when we came back,
there was nothing like this,” says Olness. “Our war was nothing
like this one, but there was nobody waiting to try to get you used
to civilian life again. Or get you used to peacetime. There wasn’t
anything. We just came back, and a lot of guys who got out of the
military right after that, you got a handshake and goodbye.”
Olness says the soldiers coming back from tours in Iraq and
Afghanistan are going to need lot of help—and so are the military
resources set up to receive them.

“It’s going to be like a tidal wave,” Olness says. “Because some
of these kids are pulling three, four, and five tours over
there. And when you pull an 18-year-old kid fresh out of high
school, send him to training and he goes to a combat area, and
all he knows is what he was taught to do, sometimes that means
he has to take another person’s life. And then he comes back
home, and everyone lauds him as a hero—but he doesn’t feel
like a hero.”

Olness says there’s a stigma to having PTSD. “If a [solider comes
back with] diagnosed PTSD, the military has to pay ‘x’ number
of dollars for the rest of his life,” he says. “It is easier for them
to say, ‘You’re not doing your job; you’re late for formation; I hear
you’ve had problems with your wife . . .’, they take the easy way...
because it’s easier to put him out of the military and give him
limited benefits if any at all.”

Olness says the new program will offer counseling to vets without
the stigma. “If you’re on active duty, you get labeled right away,”
he says. “You don’t want to be the NCO that is in charge of troops
that’s the guy that can’t handle it. He’s done his time in combat, and
now he’s training other troops, and you don’t want to be trained by
a guy who can’t take it.” The program created with TRIAD funds
features counselors and doctors on staff who can see patients and
even prescribe medicine. Many staffers are veterans themselves.

The Problem with the VA

Pat Dugan was a reconnaissance marine corporal in Vietnam for
19 months, starting in 1966. “There’s a big difference between
being a combat person and a non-combat person,” explains Pat
Dugan. “I’m a marine, and I’m proud to be a marine, but I’m
even more proud to be a combat marine.” He’s now a
passionate voice for veteran help that resounds throughout
West Texas. Dugan says the problem with the Department
of Veteran’s Affairs, is that they haven’t delivered on
the promise, such as: the military will take care of you for
your service.

Instead, Dugan, like Olness, paints the picture of a disrespectful,
mainly incompetent VA system. He foresees bad times ahead
for the “kids” currently turning several tours, who will come home
to bureaucratic red tape rather than help from government agencies.


“I am seeing one of the biggest mushroom clouds,” Dugan says of
times ahead for Iraq/Afghanistan veterans. “’Cause I’m thinking,
the public runs around with yellow ribbons on their cars, but what
I don’t see, except with Congressman Ciro Rodriguez (TX-23), is
people realizing that everyone in this war has PTSD. Because there
are no front lines in this war. You can be [in a non-combat service]
and get your butt blown off the road there with anyone else.
Everyone’s sitting around waiting for an explosion to go off, and
they send you back and back for more tours.”

When these vets do come back home—or in between myriad
deployments—they’re still fighting—for their benefits. “In
Del Rio, for example, we’ve got people with problems,”
Dugan says. “And they have to travel 150 miles to get help
[at a VA clinic]. And then when you get up there, I’m not being mean,
but when you go up there and apply to get help, you get some
VA muffin that’s not a veteran, and they put you through mental
gymnastics like you wouldn’t believe. [Vets] don’t want to be
humiliated and go through that process.”

Dugan praises programs like the new MHMR/ESRC building.
He can even name one state agency that does things right—
The Texas Veteran’s Commission, whom he sees as a shining
example for others like it.

“I think the Texas Veteran’s Commission is as fine as any in
the US,” he says. “They treated me with dignity and respect,
talked with me, and took their time with me. They are an
example.” Conversely, Dugan describes nightmarish situations
at Audie Murphy Memorial Veterans Hospital and others.
During one visit, Dugan was chastised loudly for allowing an
80-year-old woman on oxygen to cut ahead of him for treatment.
Another time, Dugan was rebuked for offering his Marine Corps
serial number as identification. “We don’t use those anymore, we
only use social security numbers,” an administrator scoffed. But
Dugan says the Corps had taught him to be proud of his serial
number. Everyone has a social security number; Dugan felt he
earned that serial number.

“I was so pissed off, I came home and gave my Jack Russell
Terrier my serial number, so now he’s 2164539USMC,” Dugan
says. “That was my rebuke to the VA.” But not only do many
vets express their feeling that VA administrators, many of who
have never served, lack respect for veterans, they also lack some
basic “industry” knowledge. “One of my friends had a Navy Cross
—it’s the second highest medal awarded, for an extreme act of
heroism,” Dugan says. He walked into the VA, and the lady asked
him [about a combat action ribbon]. She said they didn’t issue those
until ’71, and he had gotten out of the service in ‘69. So she says,
‘Do you have any proof that you saw combat?’ And he said, ‘I got a
Navy Cross, does that count?’ And she said, [thinking is was akin to
a Blue Cross/Blue Shield policy]
‘Did I ask you about your insurance? I asked you about your
Combat Action Ribbon!’ She didn’t even know what a Navy
Cross was. She thought it was insurance.”
------------------------------------>
The VA has set up a 24-hour suicide hotline
round-the-clockaccess to mental health professionals.
The number is 1-800-273- 8255 (TALK).
To learn more about PTSD-- visit the
National Center for PTSD website.
------------------------------------>
Flashback, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Suicide,
and the Lessons of WAR by Penny Coleman
and--->I Can Still Hear Thier Cries, Even In My Sleep...
A Journey Into PTSD By E. Everett McFall
Both Books are Available on Amazon.com
Posted by E. Everett McFall at 10:28 PM

1 in 5 Iraq, Afghanistan Vets Suffer PTSD

1 in 5 Iraqi, Afghanistan Vets Suffer PTSD

Published on April 19th, 2008
Posted by Eideard in General

Nearly 20 percent of military service members
who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan —
300,000 in all — report symptoms of post
traumatic stress disorder or major depression, yet only
slightly more than half have sought treatment, according to a new
RAND Corporation study.

In addition, researchers found about 19 percent of returning
service members report that they experienced a possible
traumatic brain injury while deployed, with
7 percent reporting both a probable
brain injury and current PTSD or major depression.

Many service members said they do not seek treatment for
psychological illnesses because they fear it will harm their
careers. But even among those who do seek help for PTSD
or major depression, only about half receive treatment that
researchers consider “minimally adequate” for their illnesses…

“There is a major health crisis facing those men and
women who have served our nation in Iraq and Afghanistan,”
said Terri Tanielian, the project’s co-leader and a researcher
at RAND, a nonprofit research organization. “Unless they receive
appropriate and effective care for these mental health conditions,
there will be long-term consequences for them and for
the nation. Unfortunately, we found there are many barriers
preventing them from getting the high-quality treatment they
need.”

Another cost of Bush’s War ignored beforehand - and since - by our
grand imperial wizards.

------------------------------------>
The VA has set up a 24-hour suicide hotline round-the-clock
access to mental health professionals.
The number is 1-800-273- 8255 (TALK).
To learn more about PTSD-- visit the
National Center for PTSD website.
------------------------------------>
Flashback, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Suicide,
and the Lessons of WAR by Penny Coleman
and--->
I Can Still Hear Thier Cries, Even In My Sleep...
A Journey Into PTSD By E. Everett McFall
Both Books are Available on Amazon.com

VA Confirms 18 Vets Commit Suicide Everyday

Headlined on 4/21/08:

VA Confirms 18 Vets Commit Suicide Everyday!!!


by Jason Leopold Page 1 of 3 page(s)
http://www.opednews.com/

In a stunning admission, top officials at the Veterans
Health Administration confirmed that the agency\'s
own statistics show that an average of 126
veterans per week -6,552 veterans per
year-commit suicide, according to an internal
email distributed to several VA officials.'dated
Dec. 15, 2007.

Brig. Gen. Michael J. Kussman, the undersecretary for
health at the VA, sent the email inquiry about the accuracy
of a news report published that month claiming the suicide
rate among veterans was 18 per day.

“McClatchy [Newspapers] alleges that 18 veterans kill
themselves everyday and this is confirmed by the VA’s
own statistics,” Kussman wrote.

“Is that true? Sounds awful if one is considering 24 million veterans.”

In a stunning admission, top officials at the Veterans
Health Administration confirmed that the agency’s own
statistics show that an average of 126 veterans per week
—6,552 veterans per year—commit suicide, according to
an internal email distributed to several VA officials.

In an email response to Kussman, Ira Katz, the head of
mental health at the VA, confirmed the statistics and added
the “VA’s own data demonstrate 4-5 suicides per
day among those who receive care from us.”

This week, in a federal courthouse in San Francisco, that
email will be cited as evidence that the VA has failed to
properly treat veterans who suffer from PTSD and
veterans who are suicidal.

Those allegations were made in a class-action lawsuit filed
against the VA by two veterans advocacy groups, 'Veterans
for Common Sense' and 'Veterans United for Truth', alleging
a systematic breakdown at the VA has led to an "epidemic
of suicides."

The organizations claim the VA, which has a backlog of 600,000
benefits claims to sort through, is unprepared to deal with
cases of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder among veterans
returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, and has turned away
veterans who have sought help for depression at
VA hospitals.

Some of those veterans later committed suicide, according
to the lawsuit. The groups want a federal judge to issue a
preliminary injunction to force the VA to immediately treat
veterans who show signs of PTSD and are at risk of suicide. ://

------------------------------------>
Our question is: How Many of Those 18 are OEF/OIF Veterans?

Then What is the REAL Death Toll?
------------------------------------>
The VA has set up a 24-hour suicide hotline for
around-the-clock access to mental health professionals.
The number is 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
To learn more about PTSD-- visit the
National Center for PTSD website.
------------------------------------>
I Can Still Hear Thier Cries, Even In My Sleep...A Journey Into PTSD!

"My LIES Are Only This Big !"

"It Was Just a little Mis-Statement!!!"


NO ---SHE PLAINLY JUST LIED, PERIOD!!!


Associated Press
Apr 11, 5:49 PM (ET)

WASHINGTON (AP) - Former President Clinton has added to
the falsehoods surrounding his wife's tale of her trip to Bosnia.
In Indiana on Thursday, Bill Clinton defended his wife's mistake
in claiming that she landed under sniper fire in Bosnia,
accusing the media of treating her like "she'd robbed a bank"
for confusing the facts.

The New York senator had repeatedly described a harrowing
scene in Tuzla, Bosnia, in which she and her daughter, Chelsea, had
to run for cover from sniper fire as soon as they landed for a visit
in 1996. Video footage of the day instead showed a peaceful
reception in which an 8-year-old girl greeted the first lady.

Hillary Clinton has acknowledged that she got the facts wrong in
retelling the tale. Bill Clinton's inaccuracies don't involve long-ago
memories, but misstatements about how his wife has handled the
story.

"A lot of the way this whole campaign has been covered has
amused me," Bill Clinton said in Boonville, Ind. "But there was a
lot of fulminating because Hillary, one time late at night when she
was exhausted, misstated and immediately apologized for it, what
happened to her in Bosnia in 1995.

"Did y'all see all that? Oh, they blew it up," the former president
continued. "Let me just tell you. The president of Bosnia and
Gen. Wesley Clark - who was there making peace where we'd lost
three peacekeepers who had to ride on a dangerous mountain road
because it was too dangerous to go the regular, safe way - both
defended her because they pointed out that when her plane landed
in Bosnia, she had to go up to the bulletproof part of the plane, in the
front.


Everybody else had to put their flak jackets underneath the seat in
case they got shot at. And everywhere they went they were
covered by Apache helicopters. So they just abbreviated the arrival
ceremony.

"Now I say that because what really has mattered is that even then
she was interested in our troops," he said. "And I think she was the
first first lady since Eleanor Roosevelt to go into a combat
zone. And you would of thought, you know, that she'd robbed a bank
the way they all carried on about this. And some of them when they're
60 they'll forget something when they're tired at 11 o'clock at night, too."

THE TRUE FACTS:
Bill Clinton has many of the facts wrong.
His wife didn't make the sniper fire claim "one time late at night when
she was exhausted." She actually told the story several times,
including during prepared remarks on foreign policy delivered the
morning of March 17.

It's also not true that she "immediately apologized for it." Clinton
has never apologized for the comments and only acknowledged
that she "misspoke" a week after the March 17 speech when video
of her peaceful tarmac reception emerged.

It's also not true that she was the "first first lady since Eleanor
Roosevelt to go into a combat zone" - a claim that Hillary Clinton
has also made when talking about the trip. Pat Nixon traveled to
Saigon during the Vietnam War and Barbara Bush went to
Saudi Arabia two months before the launching of Desert Storm.

Clinton campaign spokesman Phil Singer responded to the former
president's remarks Friday by saying, "Senator Clinton appreciates
her husband standing up for her, but this was her mistake and she
takes responsibility for it."
---------------------------------------------------->
Most VETERANS are appalled at this Blatant Two Faced
MISSTATEMENT By a potential Commander-In Chief.
It is Disrespectful to those who were there as well All of The
American Public.
The Video's clearly show women and children calmly waiting for
her to deplane for the "ceremony", while clusters of Armed
Military Personnel behind those civilians.
Why Doesn't She Just Admit That She LIED???

Special thanks to Sgt TerryHunt7USMC@aol.com

Google News Alert for: POST WAR SUICIDE

America's Soldiers Need Support on the War FrontNatural News.com -
Phoenix, AZ, USAOver 27% of soldiers on their 3rd or 4th tours were
suffering anxiety, depression, post-combat stress, or other
difficulties. Compare this percentage with ...See all stories on this topic

Army Under Stress From Long WarsThe Associated Press - The Defense
Department has asked for $46.5 billion in this year's war budget to repair
and replace equipment damaged or destroyed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
...See all stories on this topic

Helping Veterans Suffering from PTSDBy Tom Allen 2008 The bill
will improve diagnosis, compensation, and treatment for veterans
suffering from PTSD. By requiring that Veterans Administration
employees take sufficient time to diagnose and accurately rate the
severity of the disorder, ...- http://www.turnmaineblue.com

Deployed for Third Time with Both PTSD and TBI, A Fort Carson ...By contact@veteransforcommonsense.org (Erin Emery )
Army Staff Sergeant Chad Barrett had been sent from Fort Carson on
a third tour of duty in Iraq despite a brain injury and stress disorder.
Veterans for Common Sense - http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org

PTSD Compromises Battered Women's Future SafetyBy Perez, S., Johnson,
D. M. Using the Chicago Women's Health Risk Study, a naturalistic
longitudinal study of 320 abused women, the current study examined the
impact of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression on battered
women's safety at follow-up.
...Journal of Interpersonal Violence... - http://jiv.sagepub.com

Do You Sleep With Alot of Covers?By linasmom Curious - does anyone
else sleep with tons of covers on their bed no matter the temperature
outside? I have a theory that I love tons of covers because they allow me
to feel like a little child wrapped tightly in a blanket,
...PTSD Forum - http://www.ptsdforum.org

DEPLOYED FOR THIRD TIME WITH BOTH PTSD AND TBI,
A FORT CARSON ...Shelby Barrett said that an agent with the
Army's Criminal Investigation Division told her that two empty prescription-
pill bottles were found next to her husband's body Feb. 2 in Mosul.
Barrett said investigators also found a letter in
...0DayNews.org - Breaking News Headlines - http://0daynews.org/

An Old Man With PTSDBy Gaius Sempronius Gracchus, Last night on
Race for the White House (or whatever it’s called) at the very end a
black woman journalist I’ve never seen before speculated McCain is
hiding his medical records because he has PTSD from his days being
tortured in Vietnam.
...Undemocracy in America - http://undemocracy.blogspot.com/

THE SILENT RANK and RECIPE OF A MILITARY WIFE

From yesterday's issue of "Buffalo Chips", a daily NewsLetter

by Bill Brabant.

From The Collection of Sonny Gutin, wb2dxb

THE SILENT RANK :-Author Unknown

I wear no uniforms, no blues or army greens.

But I am in the military in the ranks rarely seen.

I have no rank upon my shoulders. Salutes I do not give.

But the military world is the place where I live.

I'm not in the chain of command, orders I do not get.

But my husband is the one who does, this I can not forget.

I'm not the one who fires the weapon, who puts my life on the line.

But my job is just as tough. I'm the one that's left behind.

My husband is a patriot, a brave and prideful man,

and the call to serve his country not all can understand.

Behind the lines I see the things needed to keep this country free.

My husband makes the sacrifice, but so do our kids and me.

I love the man I married. Soldiering is his life.

But I stand among the silent ranks known as the Military Wife.

-----> From The Collection of Sonny Gutin, wb2dxb

----------------------------------------->

RECIPE OF A MILITARY WIFE

1 1/2 CUPS PATIENCE

1 LB COURAGE

3/4 TOLERANCE

A DASH OF ADVENTURE

With the above ingredients add two teaspoons of elbow grease.

Let it set alone for one year.

Marinate frequently with salty tears.

Pour off excess fat.

Sprinkle ever so lightly with money.

Knead dough until payday.

Season with international spices

Bake 20 years or until done, and serve with pride.

Buffalo said they checked and couldn't find an author on the net for

either of these, although they wouldn't be surprised if Mary Greeley

did the first one, as her husband was one of the survivors of the

attack on the USS Cole.

Our profound thanks and appreciation to Marnie Mowles, the proud

wife of a US Marine Corps Vietnam Veteran - Semper Fi !

www.theveteransvoice.com/hero.html