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Gerald Vest: Veterans Can Use our Help and Support |
Category: Articles 9 comments
10 May 2009 @ 18:05 by a-d : Haven't read the whole 10 May 2009 @ 19:38 by jerryvest : Yes, I remember this site and will add the link to my articles in the future. As you know, I know how the soldiers are treated as I interact with our Wounded Warriors every day and see how so many are still asked by their units to "suck up" their pain and the many symptoms related to being on Alert Status 24/7-- PTSD, TBI, STRESS and results of receing a vast number of explosions; extended & constant exposure to blood, death, dying, injury, cultural shock, etc. It can be overwhelming, at times, to learn about the traumatic experiences shared by our soldiers; the numerous long deployments they withstand, and being separated from their families and friends makes it almost miraculous, for families to remain together -- life as a soldier and family is often beyond the human body, mind, emotions and spirit to endure. Thanks again, my friend....I hope these messages and these resources continue to gain attention in our global community. 11 May 2009 @ 05:23 by a-d : Yah, you know, I find it quite curious that the Big Boys with all their might and power to inflict violence ( with some Help from --paid-- MERCENARIES) on anybody , are so afraid of the Veterans, who believed in the Cause they were presented and were willing to put Life & limb on the line for something they truly believed in and saw worthy of protection for its own intrinsic value, --opposite to the Mercenaries who do it for BIG BUCKS! WHY are the Crooks afraid of the Vets???? doesn't make sense to me!... though I am happy that they are! : )..... (hope my statement makes sense!...) *!* 11 May 2009 @ 11:28 by jerryvest : Sure, it makes sense, but nothing about these wars are worthy of injuring or losing a single soldier, let alone, the destruction of families with the nonsensical extensive tours of duty. Today we are having a retreat to introduce some health practices for the care givers of the deployed soldiers. "Family First" is a great slogan for the Army, would be good if it was practiced. Thanks, Astrid, appreciate your contributions to this subject. 11 May 2009 @ 14:16 by a-d : "Family First" what a GREAT slogan!... Yeahhh... ONE day it WILL click in: 'FAMILY' !... --NOT the Crooks-- first!. :) 12 May 2009 @ 00:50 by jerryvest : Yes, Astrid we have a lot to be angry about and I am hopeful that our AG will get going--perhaps they are. Anyway, I am going to focus on the healthy, respectful and supportive activities and services that we can offer our soldiers and their families. Because we have been generating a lot of support and energy around the world with a healthy touch program and offering it with a global team of volunteers, it just seems to me to be the Right Action and right thing to do right now. Our NM model programs and others as described on our website is very encouraging and special for many elders, caregivers, families and couples. I have taken my pledge and made a commitment, early on, as a person and professional to serve Humanity. Seems like our use of touch to advance the quality of lives, health and relationships is Working well. Thanks for being here as we continue our journey. 17 May 2009 @ 09:24 by jazzolog : Wounded Vets I'm just finishing an article in last summer's AARP Magazine on this topic. The statistics it presents bring a rude awakening to a grim reality. [link] I imagine Maureen Dowd and Frank Rich know each other, both working for the New York Times as they do. But whether they're friends or travel in the same circles I've never heard. Nor do I know if one phones or texts the other checking on what's the topic of the latest column. I don't know if an editor let's them know they're both writing the same thing for the same edition, but when they do (whether you like either of them or not) it makes a big noise at the Sunday breakfast or brunch table. And that's what happened today. Ms. Dowd's column, entitled Cheney, Master Of Pain, concludes~~~ The more telling news last week was yet another suggestion about Cheney’s reverse-engineering the Iraq war. Robert Windrem, a former NBC News investigative producer, reported on The Daily Beast that in April 2003, after the invasion of Baghdad, the U.S. arrested a top officer in Saddam’s security force. Even though this man was an old-fashioned P.O.W., someone in Vice’s orbit reportedly suggested that the interrogations were too gentle and that waterboarding might elicit information about the fantasized connection between Osama and Saddam. In The Washington Note, a political and foreign policy blog, Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, Colin Powell’s former chief of staff at State, wrote that the “harsh interrogation in April and May of 2002 ... was not aimed at pre-empting another terrorist attack on the U.S. but discovering a smoking gun linking Iraq and Al Qaeda.” More and more the timeline is raising the question of why, if the torture was to prevent terrorist attacks, it seemed to happen mainly during the period when the Bush crowd was looking for what was essentially political information to justify the invasion of Iraq. I used to agree with President Obama, that it was better to keep moving and focus on our myriad problems than wallow in the darkness of the past. But now I want a full accounting. I want to know every awful act committed in the name of self-defense and patriotism. Even if it only makes one ambitious congresswoman pay more attention in some future briefing about some future secret technique that is “uniquely” designed to protect us, it will be worth it. [link] Mr. Rich's is called Obama Can't Turn The Page On Bush, and finishes similarly~~~ The administration can’t “just keep walking” because it is losing control of the story. The Beltway punditocracy keeps repeating the cliché that only the A.C.L.U. and the president’s “left-wing base” want accountability, but that’s not the case. Americans know that the Iraq war is not over. A key revelation in last month’s Senate Armed Services Committee report on detainees — that torture was used to try to coerce prisoners into “confirming” a bogus Al Qaeda-Saddam Hussein link to sell that war — is finally attracting attention. The more we learn piecemeal of this history, the more bipartisan and voluble the call for full transparency has become. And I do mean bipartisan. Both Dick Cheney, hoping to prove that torture “worked,” and Nancy Pelosi, fending off accusations of hypocrisy on torture, have now asked for classified C.I.A. documents to be made public. When a duo this unlikely, however inadvertently, is on the same side of an issue, the wave is rising too fast for any White House to control. Court cases, including appeals by the “bad apples” made scapegoats for Abu Ghraib, will yank more secrets into the daylight and enlist more anxious past and present officials into the Cheney-Pelosi demands for disclosure. It will soon be every man for himself. “Did President Bush know everything you knew?” Bob Schieffer asked Cheney on “Face the Nation” last Sunday. The former vice president’s uncharacteristically stumbling and qualified answer — “I certainly, yeah, have every reason to believe he knew...” — suggests that the Bush White House’s once-united front is starting to crack under pressure. I’m not a fan of Washington’s blue-ribbon commissions, where political compromises can trump the truth. But the 9/11 investigation did illuminate how, a month after Bush received an intelligence brief titled “Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.,” 3,000 Americans were slaughtered on his and Cheney’s watch. If the Obama administration really wants to move on from the dark Bush era, it will need a new commission, backed up by serious law enforcement, to shed light on where every body is buried. [link] Under current financial realities for even this newspaper, it might be a good thing to pick up your copy at the local newsstand. 17 May 2009 @ 18:23 by jerryvest : Great read,Jazzo.... Rory is so lucky to have such a great family to help him survive and prevent him from taking his own life. It is so true that this/these wars have produced so many injuries to the brain and wounded, many who were able to survive because of the improved training, technology, and great medics, surgeons, nurses, PA's, rehab and mental health professionals, and other disciplines. They also credit the armour and safety equipment, but that took some time in the making and delivery as we recall. I am amazed how strong and resilient these warriors are, however, I think the Army should increase and strengthen their screening processes for the soldiers deployed and returning from theater. I have learned that many soldiers will not say yes to the 4 questions on their mental health assessment when they return from war, because if they do, they will be quaranteened, and will not be able to see their family. We can only imagine how hard it would be for a soldier to admit that he is not fit for duty, even knowing that he/she can't sleep and has enormous frightening nightmares; is hypervigilent; easily angered; has constant and painful headaches; lost his short term memory; isolates himself as he can't stand being around others; tremendous back and knee pain from carrying heavy equipment while also jumping from trucks, tanks and planes; and, more. Richard, I do appreciate your contributions to this post as these soldiers and their families are real people who are doing everything they can to help their loved ones through this pain and suffering of war. These soldiers and their families are very brave and we must 'reach out' to do all we can as a society and human family to support and assist our great warriors. We can start by thanking them for providing safety and security for us and being willing to give up their lives for our welfare. Visit our soldiers in the Vet Centers and hospitals. Let them know that we care about them and become a volunteer to do everything possible to help our wounded recover physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. I believe that it is going to take many of our soldiers a long time to forgive their leadership and to overcome their pain and suffering, not just from their battles, but knowing that their families have also been abandoned for years while serving these numerous, long term deployments. I hope everyone will read the links identified in your comments. Thank you, Jerry 11 Jul 2009 @ 17:08 by jerryvest : Billing for medical malpractice? I'm sorry, but I know little if anything about medical malpractice. Perhaps you can find some information on [link] Thank you for visiting my log. Other entries in Articles 23 Jan 2010 @ 18:54: MSG Hunt tells his story about War & PTSD/TBI 13 Dec 2009 @ 18:41: I just came back from the War - Darryl Worley 11 Oct 2009 @ 15:08: Risk Management Prevents Healthy, Skillful, Ethical & Nourishing Touch 7 Sep 2009 @ 14:54: Crimes Against the Soul of America by Caroline Myss 20 Aug 2009 @ 13:43: Visit Our US Army, Ft. Bliss Restoration & Resilience Center - Slide Show 30 Jun 2009 @ 02:54: Senator Sanders charging Fraud-Big Pharmas, Big Insurance & Private Hospital 12 Jun 2009 @ 00:40: Soldiers Reach Out and Touch Veterans 24 May 2009 @ 15:05: Army Suicides continue to Climb 29 Mar 2009 @ 16:35: Mass Punishment Lives On in Public Schools 24 Jan 2009 @ 15:31: Integrative Medicine is Mainstream
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10 May 2009 @ 14:06, by Gerald Vest