Find out more about ePluribus Media.
Veterans
Buckle Down: The Last Doughboy v. John Boehner
Yet again, the Republican "leadership" in Congress shows its true colors - not the red-white-and-blue of the national flag, but the rancid darkness that runs through the veins of the thin-skinned political hacks that are doing their utmost to keep the nation and her people foundering in a mess created by a decade of Republican-spawned (and protected) malfeasance.
I'll let the words of blonde moment from Daily Kos tell the tale:
Fri Mar 04, 2011 at 08:52 AM PST Your help needed! Boehner denies national honor to "the last doughboy"
Frank Buckles, the very last American soldier to serve in the Great War - the War to End All Wars - that is, World War I, passed away Sunday, Feb. 27, at the venerable age of 110.
Now John Boehner, the Speaker of the House, has denied requests by Republicans and Democrats alike that Mr. Buckles, representing an entire past generation, be given the signal honor of lying in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda.
Without explanation.
I know there's no explanation, because I called Mr. Boehner's office to ask why the request was turned down. The #$%#*& who took my call said he didn't know why.
Support The Troops - Pay Your Taxes
 |
| Connecticut Man1 |
It is the tax deadline and this stuff is pretty self explanatory. Make the jump»
The Tragedy of Our 'Disappeared' Veterans
Cross-posted with permission of Penny Coleman from Alternet. The first of a series of three articles bY Penny Coleman.
How the justice system has been manipulated to put astonishing numbers of vets with PTSD and other psychiatric injuries behind bars.
Wayne McMahon was busted on gun charges six months after he got out of the Marines.
He was jumped by a gang of kids in his hometown of Albany, N.Y. , and he went for the assault rifle he kept in the back of his SUV.
He's serving "three flat, with two years of post-release" at Groveland Prison in upstate New York.
Maybe it's tempting to write McMahon off as just a screwed-up person who made the kinds of mistakes that should have landed him in jail, but maybe that's because his injuries don't show on the outside.
Unlike physical injuries, psychiatric injuries are invisible; the burden of proof lands on the soldier (or sailor or Marine), and such injuries are easy for the public to deny.
Valley Forge Village
This comes from Nadia McCaffery who's son Patrick was killed in Iraq. Her campaign to Honor her son, and all that serve:
Sgt Patrick Ryan McCaffrey May 26 1970 * June 22 2004
In Central Minnesota, there is a 244 acre facility with a history of providing healing and training to those in need. For ten years, it has been waiting for a new vision. Valley Forge Village is a vision of a place of peace and beauty for Veterans to heal. Either alone or with their families, they can allow the spirit of nature to soothe and heal, while learning new training skills in a rapidly changing workplace. We desperately need funding to keep this vision alive. Please visit us at Valley Forge Center for more information and/or to make a donation.
Gulf War Syndrome: Crucial Enzyme Interfered With
http://www.prohealth.com/ME-CFS/library/showArticle.cfm?libid=14593&B1=EM061009C
Just stopping in to drop this off.
"Capture the Flag"
‘Capture the Flag: A Political History of American Patriotism’
The flag is not powerful in spite of its ambiguity; it is powerful because of its ambiguity. It has stood, at different times, for radical democracy, opposition to immigration, the abolition of slavery, unregulated capitalism, segregation, integration, and a hawkish war policy, among many other things.
Read a selection from the introduction of "Capture the Flag: A Political History of American Patriotism" by Woden Teachout
A winter wind swept across New York Harbor on a late after noon the day after Christmas in 1971. Tourists riding the last two ferries from Manhattan to the Statue of Liberty huddled against the bulkheads, sheltering themselves from the gusts. Among the passengers were clusters of long-haired adults in well used army-surplus clothing, looking for all the world like hippies taking in the world-famous landmark. The mission of these fifteen men, however, went far beyond tourism.
Immediately upon docking at the island, the men performed a quick reconnaissance. They wedged open a few doors and then took refuge from sight; some crouched behind the massive supporting columns in the base of the statue. Some found storage closets and tucked themselves away......................Read Rest Here
Revive the Civilian Conservation Corps
Faced with millions of Americans out of work, including an army of roughly 154,000 homeless military veterans seeking shelter every night, President Obama and Congress should quickly revive one of the most successful government actions during the Great Depression. That action was creation of the Civilian Conservation Corps, which the Roosevelt administration convinced Congress to support within weeks of FDR taking office in 1933. Over the next several years, the CCC hired more than three million young men to plant three billion trees in over-logged forests, repair 40 million acres of soil-eroded farmlands and create 800 state parks, according to the US Forest Service web site.
Homeless Heroes: Veterans Struggles
Like a recent tragic event in Iraq brought out a number of reports on PTSD around the country there have also been a number of other reports as well that focussed on the homeless veterans, the first one just below is in and around this Nations Capital:
Homeless War Veterans Abound in D.C. Region
A new report is giving sobering statistics about how homeless veterans are treated in the Washington area.
The report says beds are available for only 10% of the homeless vets in Virginia, 8% have beds in Maryland and in the District, there is room is less than 2%.
From the Iraq War with the Army's First Calvary Division to fighting a battle to find homes for fellow veterans, Chad Lego says he never imagined when he came home, he would find some 200,000 service members homeless. >>>>>More
Military,VA and PTSD Around the Country: Vets Urged To Seek Treatment
A number of reports have sprung up in the last few days following the very tragic shooting by one soldier in killing five of his fellow soldiers at an in country military stress clinic, of which he himself was receiving care.
Military training alone starts the process of the change needed from how most are brought up and what they are taught and told to be able to serve and defend, if needed, this country.
Place these now trained soldiers in a War Zone creating the Occupation of same lasting many years and now in these times many tours being served and not only in one but two and for many the stress of war, what they experience, their individual incidents, what they see, feel, and just know, is overwelming!
They aren't the only ones, think of those who live in these occupied countries! It also isn't only a war that creates the traumatic nightmares, individuals that experience trauma in theirs lives also can suffer, most silently, from those traumas!
Below is a number of recent reports, this subject should have been takin seriously many years ago after finally realizing what War and Trauma can do to a Human Being!
Hearing: SOLDIERS’ STORIES FROM THE AFGHAN WAR
COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Time: 10:15 A.M.
Place: 419 Dirksen Senate Building
Presiding: Senator Kerry
On The Anger Over The DHS Security Report {UpDated}
Promoted. Originally posted 2009-04-18 10:15:15 -0500. -- GH
Yesterday I put up a post you can find here {this link takes you to my site} on the recent DHS report that came out and many were extremely angry about as to labeling OIF and OEF Veterans as possible recruits to fanatical rightwing hate groups. The spin being it was labeling All Returning Vets as a possible problem, it didn't, but a few Veterans Groups and The talking heads and Congressional members of the Republican party wanted the spin to come out as that.
Today a friend posted a link to editorial from a Vietnam Vet, at my facebook page, which hits on some of the winger responses himself, and I responded about a Real Incident of Actual Negative Labeling of Many Veterans, these with Honorable Discharges. As you all know less than already gives the negative in the civilian world.
There was a huge stink with us returning Vietnam Veterans when this was found out and there was a re-issue of new DD214's to any who requested or even found out about this. Make the jump»
What motive does the Army have to misdiagnose PTSD?
Promoted by GreyHawk.
So asks the two Salon writers, Mark Benjamin and Michael de Yoanna, following their recent series starting with the incriminating evidence, an audio recording by a Veteran suffering from PTS. Recording his visit because his wife couldn't be there so he needed a way to remember what took place in his session with his army psychologist.
A reluctance to diagnose post-traumatic stress disorder could be about the money, and about the need for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The subject title and the blockquote above are what they use in their forth of four reports from last week. That all started with this audio from a session with Sgt. X and his army psychologist:
"You Picked the Wrong Fight Burr, The Wrong Fight Indeed!!"
Promoted. Orginally posted 2009-04-04 06:18:14 -0500. -- GH
Rachel Maddow 'SLAMS' Republican North Carolina Senator Richard Burr because of his obstruction of confirming Tammy Duckworth to the Veterans Administrations
Health: PBS Frontline and Veterans - VA Updates
Below is a small collection of very recent reports of America's Health Care and Veterans Issues and Care, coming out yesterday or within the last few days.
Once again the Frontline report is a must see!
FRONTLINE: Sick Around America: Watch the Full Program | PBS
Make the jump»
UpDated: Veterans March for VA Hospital in S. Texas
Kathy Upton, pictured above in the red shirt, is the manager of the Best Western in George West. On Tuesday afternoon Upton donated two rooms to Rio Grande Valley veterans who are marching to San Antonio. This allowed the veterans to get showers after their 30-mile trek from Alice. (Photo: RGG/Joey Gomez)
A couple of days ago I posted about a group of Veterans Marching to San Antonio Texas to raise awareness of the need for Veterans Hospital in South Texas that's been needed for a long time, the Texas Pols have promised but it never comes about, typical. {that link is for the post at my site}
This is to update that previous, with a few news reports, video and pictures, as these Vets are On The March!! Make the jump»