Modern War Heroes » Veterans

Welcome Home Soldier

admin — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 19:53:54 +0000

Here’s a heartwarming image to send you off into the new year. What a beautiful moment.

War Vets And Shelter Dogs

admin — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 16:28:13 +0000

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, is a burden on our war veterans. The disorder eats away at their health and causes tears in their lives. Sadly, the articles on the internet highlight the unfortunate directions these soldier lives often take after being diagnosed with PTSD. Some even end tragically by ending their own lives.

The truly tragic side of this terrible illness is that, with proper help, it could be manageable. But the government doesn’t always care for these soldiers, and often, sadly, the soldiers themselves refuse to seek treatment for fear of appearing “weak”.

Enter Pets2Vets.

Dave Sharpe served in the U.S. Air Force. Returning home, he had trouble adjusting to civilian life and felt that he had no one to turn to – no one to share his experiences in Iraq with. This took his toll on him. Before he knew it, he had started displaying violent tendencies. He would wake up in the middle of the night and punch holes in walls or kick down the refrigerator.

A friend took him to an animal shelter and Dave took home a pit bull puppy named Cheyenne. When he next lost his temper and began his violent rampage, he looked over at the young dog staring at him trustingly and broke down.

“I froze, I put down my drink, I picked her up and laid with her in my bed,” he [Sharpe] said. “I cried and I told her the whole story. I didn’t feel judged.” (source)

Given the extraordinary love and support that Cheyenne gave him, Sharpe was inspired to reach out to his fellow vets. He started the organization Pets2Vets. Pets2Vets has the goal to raise awareness of PTSD and to arrange dog adoptions for veterans suffering form the disorder. With these new pets, the veterans have something outside themselves to focus on – a dependent that won’t judge them and will listen to every word said to them.

While family certainly is an important part of the healing process, so often the responsibilities of family can put pressure on the PTSD sufferer – even if that pressure is only imagined. The dogs provide that comfort needed without any strings attached. Just total love and admiration.

Pets2Vets is still a fledgling operation, but David Sharpe has already seen results. He has hopes to continue to expand across the DC area and soon across the whole country. He also hopes to expand to encompass, not only war veterans, but police, firemen, rescue personnel, and any others who may have emotional trauma.

If you know anyone who may benefit from this organization, or just want more information about it, head over to the Pets2Vets website.

Soldier Walks 1,000 Miles For Iraqi Children

admin — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:22:10 +0000

Sergeant Gunnar Swanson joined the US Army and began serving in Iraq in 2003. During his time there, he and his fellow soldiers spent many hours playing with the local Iraqi children. They gave the kids toys and snacks, shared each other’s language, and played games with them. But months later, war reared its ugly head, and Swanson found himself pointing a gun at a young boy whom they believed was an insurgent.

Luckily, Swanson didn’t have to shoot that day, but the fact that he had had to point a loaded gun at a child and be prepared to shoot tormented him.

“Pointing a gun at a child, threatening to shoot him,” Swanson told the Christian Science Monitor. “I was 25 years old at the time, and it has weighed pretty heavy on me ever since then.”

After Swanson’s tour was complete, he moved to Key Largo and got a job training dolphins. However, despite landing what might be considered a dream job, Gunnar wasn’t happy. He continued to think about the Iraqi children.

So he moved to Minnesota and got a program manager job with War Kids Relief, a non-profit organization set up to help children in war-torn countries, such as Iraq, get help and much needed education.

As part of a fund raising venture for the organization, Swanson vowed to walk from Dallas to Minnesota, a journey of 1,000 miles. It was known as A Soldier’s March for Peace. He began walking of July 4th and finished September 10th. All along the way, Swanson stopped at schools to talk of his mission and the problems facing the children in Afghanistan and Iraq. He even helped them write letters to their overseas peers.

By the end of his long walk, Swanson’s feet were covered in painful blisters, but he knows it was worth it.

“I do this to protect kids in Iraq, Afghanistan, and here at home,” Swanson wrote. “I do this for my friends who didn’t make it home with me from Iraq. I do it for my nephews and my future children. I do it for every kid I see playing on a playground, riding bike down the street, or playing ball in the park.”

Quotes from Gimundo

Not Enough Health Care For Veterans

admin — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:38:41 +0000

I believe I’ve posted before on the absolute mess our veterans are in when dealing with health care. And so many veterans are in desperate need of good health care. Why is this so hard for our government to provide? These men and women put themselves on the line for their country. The least our country could do for them in return is to guarantee care for the physical and emotional injuries these brave people incur in the field.

I found this article giving a few points about how badly cared for are veterans are, and in some cases, the deadliness of that poor care. It was originally posted on Veterans’ Day, but I thought that some of it was worth repeating.

These figures aren’t exactly pretty. The United States government should be ashamed of itself in that it lets these men and women suffer, and in many cases die, without proper post-war treatment.

A research team at Harvard Medical School estimates 2,266 U.S. military veterans under the age of 65 died last year because they lacked health insurance and thus had reduced access to care. That figure is more than 14 times the number of deaths (155) suffered by U.S. troops in Afghanistan in 2008, and more than twice as many as have died (911 as of Oct. 31) since the war began in 2001.

The researchers, who released their analysis today [Tuesday], pointedly say the health reform legislation pending in the House and Senate will not significantly affect this grim picture.

The Harvard group analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s March 2009 Current Population Survey, which surveyed Americans about their insurance coverage and veteran status, and found that 1,461,615 veterans between the ages of 18 and 64 were uninsured in 2008. Veterans were only classified as uninsured if they neither had health insurance nor received ongoing care at Veterans Health Administration (VA) hospitals or clinics.

Using their recently published findings in the American Journal of Public Health that show being uninsured raises an individual’s odds of dying by 40 percent (causing 44,798 deaths in the United States annually among those aged 17 to 64), they arrived at their estimate of 2,266 preventable deaths of non-elderly veterans in 2008.

…While many Americans believe that all veterans can get care from the VA, even combat veterans may not be able to obtain VA care, Woolhandler said. As a rule, VA facilities provide care for any veteran who is disabled by a condition connected to his or her military service and care for specific medical conditions acquired during military service.

Woolhandler said veterans who pass a means test are eligible for care in VA facilities, but have lower priority status…Veterans with higher incomes are classified in the lowest priority group and are not eligible for VA enrollment. (Mother Jones)

This isn’t right. I believe the author, James Ridgeway, quoting these statistics said it all right here:

So after these men and women risk their lives in the military, we throw them on the mercy of the private system of medicine-for-profit, which is touted as a cherished part of the American way of life. It all gives a whole new meaning to dying for your country.

Fighter Pilot Returns The Favor To His Native Saviors

admin — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:25:46 +0000

This is pretty cool. A WWII American fighter pilot crashed in the jungles of Papua New Guinea, and after a harrowing 31 days lost in the jungle, the native people found him and cared for him until he could be sent home. Years later, and after that the rest of his life, the pilot did what he could to repay the community for their courageous generosity.

Gimundo – During World War II, American fighter pilot Fred “Hargy” Hargesheimer was attacked by a Japanese pilot while flying on a mission over Papua New Guinea. As the sound of enemy fire echoed through the sky, he felt bullets pound against his small plane. When the plane’s left engine erupted into flames, he strapped on his flimsy parachute and jumped.

If he’d stayed on board, he was sure to die in the plane crash. Though he might survive the parachute jump, he would be stranded in the jungle alone. Either way, it was almost certain that he’d never make it home alive.

Against all odds, he survived – but that near-fatal accident transformed Hargesheimer’s life in a way that he never could have imagined.

“I’m so grateful for getting shot out of the sky,” he told The Associated Press, 64 years later.

When the pilot jumped from his falling plane, he landed in the depths of a Pacific island rainforest. He had no possessions except a small survival kit that included a compass, a machete, extra ammo, and 2 chocolate bars. He had no idea where he was, and was sure that if he was discovered, he would be killed.

For 31 days, he pushed his way through the thick jungle trees, drinking rainwater and subsisting on snails after his chocolate supply ran out. He had just about given up on ever making his way out of the rainforest when suddenly, he heard the voices of native islanders coming from the nearby river.

Hargesheimer stayed hidden, assuming that they’d attack him if they found him. But when they discovered him, they handed him a note written in English by an Australian officer, saying that they had aided other soldiers and could be trusted.

The villagers took the starving soldier to their village, Ea Ea, and gave him his own hut. They fed him boiled pig, took him fishing, taught him their language, and nursed him back to health when he became sick with malaria. Most importantly, they kept him hidden when Japanese soldiers passed through the area –a decision that could have cost them their own lives.

“If they’d seen my boot prints, I think they would have tortured everyone in the village until they produced me,” he told The AP.

Eight months after the plane crash, Hargesheimer finally returned to the United States, courtesy of a submarine pick-up arranged by Australian soldiers. He married, became a father, and got a sales job in Minnesota. But he never stopped thinking about the people of Ea Ea, and the kindness they had showed him. He vowed to return to Papua New Guinea one day to repay them for saving his life.

In 1963, he finally made it back, taking a ship to the island where he’d spent so much time. The villagers lined up on the beach to greet him, singing a rendition of “God Save the Queen” in his honor.

It didn’t seem like enough to simply thank them for helping him during his time of need. So when he learned that the village needed a school, he decided to do everything he could to build it: Over the next three years, he reached out to everyone he knew for donations, and returned with $15,000 to build the village’s first elementary school. When it opened its doors, it had 74 students. Today, there are more than 400.

That wasn’t Hargesheimer’s last connection with the people of Ea Ea –in 1970, after their own children had left the home, he and his wife decided to move to the island and join the community there. They spent four years in the village, where they taught students and helped to build a second school. Though they had to cope without the comforts they’d been used to in America, those four years were the best of their lives, according to Hargesheimer’s wife, who died in 1985.

Hargesheimer, now 91, recently returned to Ea Ea for what will be his last visit. His fighter plane had just been discovered in the depths of the jungle, and he had been invited to view the wreckage of that fateful crash –in his mind, the best thing that ever happened to him.

Hargesheimer has a hero’s reputation in Ea Ea, where he is known by the formal title, “Masta Preddi.” But he believes that no matter how hard he has worked to repay the hospitality the villagers showed him all those years ago, it will never be enough.

“These people were responsible for saving my life,” he told the AP. “How could I ever repay it?”

Original story by Kathryn Hawkins

Women In Combat

admin — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:31:35 +0000

As time goes on, more and more women are signing up to serve in the military. In previous years, the roles these women played were, more often than not, set far from the front lines. Now as they gain more traction in the military factions, women are beginning to appear on the front lines of war. No longer are they confined to desk or technical jobs. They are women warriors.

But with gain comes loss. Even though women are serving alongside their male peers, the old ideas and concepts of who can be a warrior still hold. These preconceptions lead both the military and civilians to treat these brave women differently than their male counterparts, despite the fact that both sexes are experiencing the same events and participating equally in the field.

The NY Times had a thoughtful article about women and their roles in the military. It also faces the ever present problem of PTSD in our soldiers, and the unique problems that arise when the condition arises in female soldiers. Overall, men and women experience PTSD almost exactly the same, but the way society treats the sufferer varies drastically between the sexes.

Perhaps it is time to put aside these archaic preconceptions and make sure that we treat our returning soldiers with respect and care – all of out soldiers, both men and women.

…In Iraq and Afghanistan, the military has quietly sidestepped regulations that bar women from jobs in ground combat. With commanders needing resources in wars without front lines, women have found themselves fighting on dusty roads and darkened outposts in ways that were never imagined by their parents or publicly authorized by Congress. And they have distinguished themselves in the field.

Psychologically, it seems, they are emerging as equals. Officials with the Department of Defense said that initial studies of male and female veterans with similar time outside the relative security of bases in Iraq showed that mental health issues arose in roughly the same proportion for members of each sex, though research continues.

“Female soldiers are actually handling and dealing with the stress of combat as well as male soldiers are,” said Col. Carl Castro, director of the Military Operational Research Program at the Department of Defense. “When I look at the data, I see nothing to counter that point.”

And yet, experts and veterans say, the circumstances of military life and the way women are received when they return home have created differences in how they cope. A man, for instance, may come home and drink to oblivion with his war buddies while a woman — often after having been the only woman in her unit — is more likely to suffer alone.

Soldier Dies From Cancerous Transplant

admin — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 19:38:06 +0000

My heart goes out to this man’s family. The hospital really dropped the ball on this one. The hospital admits to not just one, but a number of failures on their part. Not OK.
Matthew Millington, 31, died at home in Brown Lees, near Stoke-on-Trent, after receiving the organs from a donor who is believed to have smoked between 30 and 50 roll-up cigarettes a day, an inquest heard.

Following the death, an investigation at Papworth Hospital, in Cambridge, pinpointed a string of problems, including issues with communication, record-keeping and patient handover. It found that a radiographer had failed to highlight the growth of a cancerous tumour.

Dr Steven Tsui, clinical director of transplant services, was not involved in the procedure, but told North Staffordshire Coroner’s Court there had been problems.

He said: “There were a number of failures. I didn’t feel the team performed to the standard I would expect.”

Cpl Millington joined the army on his 16th birthday and rose to become a corporal in what was later to become the Queen’s Royal Lancers.

He served as a tank crewman in Cyprus, Germany and Bosnia among other countries.

After leaving the Army in 2001, he was employed in a number of jobs, including installation engineer, factory worker and builder’s labourer.

He was recalled in October 2005 and it was as he was serving in Iraq with the Queen’s Royal Lancers at Christmas that year he was diagnosed with a lung illness.

He was told that he had only two years to live unless action was taken and in April 2007 received a double lung transplant.

But he died ten months later as a result of damage caused by disseminated lung cancer.

A lack of communication between radiographers and consultants meant it was not until October 2007 that a tumour, which had grown from eight mm to 13mm between June and August 2007 was detected.

Its’ growth was accelerated by the immunosuppressive drugs Cpl Millington was taking to prevent his body rejecting the transplanted organ.

He died on February 8, 2008 at his family home in Stoke, Staffs, leaving behind wife Siobhan.

She told the inquest her husband had to go back into surgery three times in nine days as post-operative problems with infection and stitching emerged.

She said: “He came through the first one extremely well and when he woke up he said he wanted a full English breakfast.

“But it was after the third one he was in a state and in pain.

“He said from the moment he woke up other patients had told him he would be able to take a deep breath and be able to breathe.

“He said his lungs felt like two deflated balloons.”

North Staffordshire coroner Ian Smith discounted a verdict of misadventure or neglect.

He said Cpl Millington had died from “complications of transplant surgery and immunosuppressive drug treatment”.

He said: “This is the result the family wanted and at least these days there is more transparency about the way things are conducted.

“We are now away from the old days where things would be hushed up.” (Telegraph.co.uk

POW/MIA Recognition Day

admin — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 16:23:56 +0000

Today is a day dedicated by the United States Air Force to remembering those lost without closure in past and current wars. Throughout our country’s history, many have been simply written off as MIA or POW – never to be found. Families couldn’t have closure on the final whereabouts of a loved one. But the organization JPAC (Joint Pow-MIA Accounting) is hoping to change that. They are engaging in the monumental task of collecting potential MIA victim remains, along with thousands of mitochondrial DNA samples, and comparing them in hopes of finding these lost soldiers. So today let us remember them and hope to one day bring them home.

Is there anything more horrific than burying a loved one felled in a war? Perhaps. Some families of those who have fought overseas have never received closure in the form of their loved ones’ remains or even a small personal memento. In 1947, having calculated that the whereabouts of 78,750 American soldiers remained unknown after World War II, the United States Air Force dedicated the third Friday of every September as POW/MIA Recognition Day.

Over the course of the next six decades, the number of missing warriors rose. The Korean War claimed 8,051; Viet Nam, 1,742. The Cold War took another 165 and the Gulf War, 7. To date, the sole American soldier missing in Iraq is Ahmed Qusai al-Taayie. These numbers do not include personnel killed in action and never brought home.

JPAC (Joint POW-MIA Accounting) is the governmental organization charged with the daunting task of locating, identifying, and returning to their native soil the aforementioned service men and women. Housed in Hawaii, JPAC has been headed, since 2008, by Rear Admiral Donna L. Crisp. Colonel John M. Sullivan serves as Deputy Commander, Johnnie E. Webb as Deputy Public Relations-Legislation Affairs, Sergeant Major Jackie D. Brown Jr. as Command Senior Enlisted Leader, and Dr. Thomas D. Holland as Scientific Deputy Director for the Central Identification Lab. In addition to these officers are teams dedicated to search and retrieval missions, comprising archaeologists, anthropologists, linguists, and deontologists. A quick second read of those job titles is indicative of the enormity of JPAC’s objectives.

…On the third Friday in September, the State of New Jersey honors its POW-MIA‘s with a breakfast sponsored by Assemblymen Jack Conners and Herb Conaway. These public officials invite veterans from all over the state to join in a memorial ceremony dedicated to the men and women who never made it home from the wars. Honored Guests at the 2008 event included WWII POW veteran Joseph O’Donnell, Mrs. Judith Young, who is a Past President of the “Gold Star Mothers,” Mrs. Anna Marko of Cherry Hill, an 84 year old widow of WWII POW Leon Marko, State Adjutant General Glenn Reith, Colonel Stephan Abel, and other veteran dignitaries.

Read the rest of the article…

Hero Is Selling His Medals

admin — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 21:58:12 +0000

An Iraq war hero is putting his bravery medal up for sale – so his family can have financial security.

Ex-Royal Marine Justin Thomas, 30, won the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross in 2003 for single-handedly fighting off more than 100 insurgents.

But the lance corporal turned civil servant says his wife Heather and child mean more to him and has put a £60,000 reserve on the medal at auction later this month.

Justin, of Llantwit Fadre, near Pontypridd, said: “I’ll be sad to part with it. But we’ve got a little one now and want more children. So we’ll need to move for more space.”

He added: “Rather than just sit in a drawer, the medal will make our lives better.”

Justin is also selling his Northern Ireland, Afghanistan and Iraq service awards.

Source

All I can say is wow, 100 insurgents? I’m sure this brave man will have no trouble with fatherhood if he can pull that off.

But this is really sweet. I would think that it would be hard to part with those hard-earned medals, but this man is a real hero to his family. I hope those medals can bring financial security to him and his wife.

Search Engine Submission – AddMe

A Home For A Hero

admin — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 22:37:48 +0000

WORTHINGTON, Mass. (WWLP) – A local Iraq veteran will soon have a new place to call home thanks to hundreds of volunteers.

Army Sgt. Peter Rooney lost both legs while on duty in Iraq two years ago when his truck hit a roadside bomb. From that moment he knew his life would never be the same.

“While we were in Walter Reed we were dreading the idea of coming back home and scouring the area for a handicap accessible apartment,” Sgt. Rooney said.

Thanks to Homes for our Troops he won’t have too. In six months Sgt. Rooney and his wife be the owner of a beautiful home in Worthington. The $275,000 home is free of charge.

The money is donated by those in the community. All the building supplies come from the pocket of complete strangers who were touched by the story of an American soldier.

Kent Hicks, a local contractor, saw an ad in the paper asking for volunteers. He called the listed number and weeks later he became the general contractor for the project. Every week he spends over 20 hours at the site.

“You just make the time,” Hicks said. “Everyone feels that way.”

Sgt. Rooney was deeply moved Friday as he watched the volunteers build his home board by board.

“I’m grateful. I just want to say thank you for everybody, “Sgt. Rooney said. “I know that I was the only one wearing a uniform but these people are definitely the heroes.” (source)

Truly fantastic. It is always heartwarming to hear of a person’s community banding together to help them out. And this man really deserved it. I can’t imagine losing both of my legs and being faced with the everyday challenge that the injuries bring. These people were able to bring a little peace of mind to this brave veteran.