PTSD Combat News Roundup: February 2007
Coverage includes:Information on next week's National Salute to Hospitalized Veterans Week (Feb 11-17)A choice Tennessean reader comment on the underfunded VAUpdate on the latest veterans'...
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Playboy (Un)Covers The Real Cost of War
Last year I was contacted by Mark Boal, freelance journalist and writer for Playboy magazine. (His 2004 Playboy article, "Death and Dishonor," is currently in film production and slated to be released...
View ArticleAZ Seeks to Ban Political Opinions in Classrooms
Anyone think this is a good thing?PHOENIX (AP) -- A proposed state law would prohibit any instructor in a public school or college from advocating or opposing a political candidate or one side of a...
View ArticleYouTube Speaks Out: Fix Walter Reed!
So, now that we're outraged at the news out of Walter Reed, what to do?ReluctantRedneck has started a campaign asking us to speak out, write, phone, podcast, or record a video reply to the treatment of...
View ArticleGovernment Contractors: Hidden Casualties, PTSD
Inspired by Salo's recommended post on the Guardian article; mine explores different themes.Stunning figures reported yesterday:In a largely invisible cost of the war in Iraq, nearly 800 civilians...
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What's Reporting Got to Do With It? Everything.
The news just keeps on coming.This time, Newsweek reported that between 500 and 1,000 OEF/OIF veterans are homeless and that "[military] families [are] sliding into debtas VA case managers study...
View ArticleMissing Links: I Know Why Walter Reed Happened
So, President Bush has ordered a full review of all military and veteran hospitals in the country.His decision comes, of course, in the wake of a scandal that's been churning away, picking up steam,...
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Marine Overdose at Los Angeles VAMC, Latest in Long Line
No end in sight.An overdose of a California Iraq vet who'd gone to the VA for help:Iraq war veteran Justin Bailey checked himself in to the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center just after...
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Let's Move a Nation to Care...With Free Books!
OK, let's get busy. Let's have some fun. Let's do some good.Moving a Nation to Care: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and America's Returning Troops is finally heading to the printer, and my publisher...
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Call Representatives Today on the Joshua Omvig Suicide Prevention Bill
Monday I posted a collection of the latest returning veteran suicides that I'd found during my regular search for incidents to add the the PTSD Timeline (the ePluribus Media version was combed quite...
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OEF/OIF Vets Use Art to Share Their Experiences
Creative expressions of war by its warriors is nothing new. That's because one of the most powerful ways to communicate and process an intense experience like combat is through art.Returning vets from...
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The War List: OEF/OIF Statistics
It is said that Sir Winston Churchill once remarked, "Statistics are like a drunk with a lampost: used more for support than illumination." Well, we've got a lot of people seeking a way to steady...
View ArticlePTSD Combat News Roundup: March 2007
Coverage includes:House unanimously passes Veterans Suicide Prevention billMay's 15th Annual International Military and Civilian Combat Stress ConferenceVA report arrives showing run-down conditions in...
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A Personal Call to Keep Pushing for Our Veterans
Have you noticed?The winds have picked up, the ground is shifting. And the sands of time are increasingly falling in our favor. Maybe it was the reporting of the Washington Post, or perhaps the...
View ArticleImportant GAO Request Made By Senators Seeking Answers on PTSD-Deployed Troops
From the The Swamp, Chicago Tribune's Washington bureau blog:A batch of senators led by Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is asking congressional investigators to probe the Defense Department's treatment of...
View ArticleLIVE: Senate VA Committee Hears from Military Families
Following the stunning testimony yesterday by Pat Tillman's family and Army Private Jessica Lynch, more families are coming forward today.Streaming live (beginning 2pm ET) and archived here.Via IAVA:On...
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New Englander? 'Moving a Nation Care' Tour Kicks Off Tomorrow
In Boston, Philadelphia, or New York City? If so, hoping to see you as I hit the road at long last in support of my book, Moving a Nation to Care.An extra bonus for those of you making the events?...
View Article1st Walter Reed's Medical Family Assistance Center, Now DoD's America...
I'm bristling a bit at this latest news.Some background: One of the stories that got lost in the (understandable) outrage earlier this year over outpatient conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center...
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The War Tapes' Zack Bazzi Heads to Afghanistan Tomorrow
If you attended YearlyKos last year, you might have taken the opportunity to see the unique war documentary The War Tapes. Or maybe you made time to attend what I felt was one of the strongest panels...
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Wes Clark CCN's Troops & Vets Combat PTSD Series - Part 2
An invitation to the second in a series of articles of my work appearing in General Wes Clark's Clark Community Network Troops & Vets series on PTSD: Society and the Soldier: Post-Traumatic Stress...
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The Rumsfeld Revolution in Military Affairs
Last year Ig Publishing approached me to write a book on the issue of combat PTSD in our returning OEF/OIF troops. I'd been blogging for a few years, but had never written a book before.As any writer I...
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Join Me for LIVE Firedoglake Blogging
Would love to catch up with everyone here, as well as invite you over (for just a very brief smidgen of an interlude :o) to Firedoglake.com at 5 pm ET.The second half of today's Sunday Book Salon...
View ArticleWhat Is It About Combat PTSD?
When I did my research last year for Moving a Nation to Care, one day it occurred to me that, depending upon the volume I had in my hands, what we call post-traumatic stress disorder never seemed to...
View ArticleMoving a Nation to Care: West Coast/SW Here I Come
Ever heard of a thing called Bookstore Tourism?I hadn't until today, and now I'm completely enamored of the idea:Bookstore Tourism is a type of "cultural tourism" that promotes independent bookstores...
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Moving a Nation to Care Tour: Midwest Leg Begins This Week
Back from San Diego after a hopeful week on the road.This time I visited the great Southwest, stopping at points along the West Coast on the second leg of my Moving a Nation to Care tour (first New...
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PTSD Combat News Roundup: July 2007
It's been waaaaay too long since I've posted over here! How's everyone doing?Busy on this end on my Moving a Nation to Care tour, as well as working on a number of things related to our project. I've...
View ArticleClass Action Lawsuit Brought Against VA
From AP:Frustrated by delays in health care, a coalition of injured Iraq war veterans is accusing VA Secretary Jim Nicholson of breaking the law by denying them disability pay and mental health...
View ArticleOEF/OIF Veteran Affairs Day: Hearings, Reports and Lawsuits
Today:10 am EST - House Veterans Affairs Committee hearing "PTSD and Personality Disorders: Challenges for the VA" [audio stream]11:15am EST - Dole-Shalala Presidential Commission on Care for America's...
View ArticleNew York Times Explores 'In the Valley of Elah'
An upcoming film that I shared news of last week offers today's NYT a chance to explore the more personal aspects of war. Such films allow us to reflect on their effect on society and warrior, as well...
View ArticleWhile Minnesota Proactive, Another Iraq Vet Commits Suicide
Last week, 2,600 of Minnesota's National Guard members returned from overseas duty. Following a 4-month extension, their brigade's 22-month deployment achieved something no other Guard unit has to...
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We're ALL Going to YKC2007
There we were in Las Vegas last year.Me and my new friend at the top of the Stratosphere. (And they say Chicago is the 'windy city'!)Actually, I hadn't seen this incredible photo of me and sidepocket's...
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Convention, Conference and Confluence
Unlike better online writers, I'm not an on-the-fly type who churns things out easily while on the road. From Chicago to Washington, D.C., I've been busy absorbing a lot of information and talking with...
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'In the Valley of Elah' and the Plight of Our Returning Troops
"The kind of great movie that rivets you as entertainment at the same time it carefully sets about saying something deeper about the present time...a brave risk." -- Gregory Kirschling, EW.comDefying...
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PTSD Combat News Roundup: Aug 2007
Happy Labor Day Weekend!My greatly-anticipated Atlanta Journal Constitution Decatur Book Festival stint is this weekend. Yeah!Tomorrow (Sept 1), at 3pm in Fellowship Hall at Decatur Presbyterian I have...
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Join 'IlonaMeagher Underwood' on Second Life Tomorrow, 9pm EST
Psssst. What are you doing tomorrow night at 9pm EST?If you're online, please join me as a new season of Second Life interviews (Howard Dean is slated, too, I hear) kicks into gear. From my sexy avatar...
View ArticlePTSD Combat News Roundup: October 2007
The latest from PTSD Combat:Blackwater Employee PTSD Care Questioned Action Item: Tell Congress to Approve Veterans' Budget Now Combat PTSD Stigma Fades Somewhat, Funding Fight and Political...
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LA Times Photog Offers Heartbreaking Update On Marlboro Marine
[Ammo Hauler touched upon this in a somewhat neglected diary earlier today, but I'd like to add my personal impressions to this important Veterans Day story in the LA Times.]At the end of April 2006, I...
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Dixon Elks Lodge Veteran's Dinner: Pictures and Remarks
This is such a local diary, I almost wasn't going to cross-post it.But, I wanted to send out a special thank you to llbear (aka Dick Pierce; that's us beaming below, top left) for arranging for me to...
View Article//ACTION// Help Amass PTSD Data for Congressional Record
This is an important call to everyone in the community. I need your help -- everyone's.For those who've been around for the past 2+ years, you've been right there with me as I started advocating for...
View ArticleA Thank You to the House Veterans Affairs Committee From a Concerned Citizen
[Thanks to 'KR' from CCN for putting this slideshow together for us.]Moving Congress to Care - Ilona testifies on PTSD (12.12.07)C-Span 2 is rebroadcasting the hearing in full at 8:00pm EST.
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NIU Condolences, Report from Campus
[Being written from my home near Rockford, IL]I just got home from NIU, where I'm a journalism student, about 45 minutes ago. I attend classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays and I was in the building...
View ArticleA&E 'Intervention' Program Features Iraq Veteran with PTSD
A&E's Intervention program recently featured a segment on Brad, a young man coping with his PTSD by self-medicating with alcohol and marijuana after two Iraq tours with the 101st Airborne.For those...
View ArticleMSM/Citizen Journalism Survey
Good afternoon, guys.I'm conducting a survey on the intersection of citizen journalism and the changes taking place in traditional media. The data will be used in a research paper submitted as my final...
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Reiki for Veterans? Military and VA Testing, Already Using Ancient Touch...
The Department of Veterans Affairs uses it in their Hepatitis C treatment program. Fort Bliss' Warrior Resilience program -- the same one Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey believes should be...
View ArticleHeroism, PTSD, Suicide, and September 11
From NPR:New data from a public health registry that tracks the health effects of 9/11 suggest that as many as 70,000 people may have developed post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the...
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The Unmaking of a Marine: How Helping Iraqi Refugees Helps One Iraq Vet
The always fabulous Cho of ePluribus Media reviews Iraq veteran Tyler Boudreau's upcoming book, Packing Inferno: The Unmaking of a Marine:Packing Inferno is a thoughtful meditation on the warrior...
View ArticleOEF/OIF Veteran Suicides Nearly 15% of Overall U.S. Military Casualties
Cross-posted from PTSD Combat.Back in February, the Marines released their military branch's updated suicide statistics. They revealed the number of Afghanistan and Iraq combat troops and veterans who...
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Free Chgo Cultural Cntr Friday Event Brings Vets and Civilians Together
In the Chicago area and looking for something unusual and free to do this Friday night?If so, head on over to the gorgeously-restored Chicago Cultural Center at 7 p.m. and join us for a unique and, if...
View ArticleNetroots For The Troops ...and for Stephen Colbert?
Thanks for clicking on the latest NFTT installment, a dual-purpose diary!What a great honor for me, to get a chance to do this. I want to thank all of you who've made NFTT into the positive force that...
View ArticleMilitary service + remembrance: A runner's personal challenge
Been a long time since I've posted a diary here.The place is looking really, really good! For those of you who don't know or remember me, I was a pretty active member here from 2004-2008. With the...
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