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All John Marshall Blogs > Veterans Legal Support Center Blog
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| The blog site for the Veteran's Legal Support Center of the John Marshall Law School |
8/17/2010By TIM HSIA
I am leaving active duty this month, and the biggest fan of this change is my wife. The decision to leave the military did not come easily. During required counseling sessions with my battalion and brigade commanders, these senior officers sought to persuade me to stay on active duty.
Peers and subordinates also sought to persuade me, many citing the troublesome economy as a good reason to keep a steady job. But the counsel of commanders and soldiers, despite their good intentions, did not equal my wife’s influence and her recommendation that I leave. She no longer wants to deal with the hardships associated with deployments and training missions.
As the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have continued, the military has become more attuned to the concern of the families of service members.
The first lady, Michelle Obama, has sought to provide more support for military families, and the vice president’s wife, Jill Biden, has played a cameo role in the television show “Army Wives.”
....
For the full article: http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/13/the-increasing-role-and-influence-of-military-spouses/?hp
By ANNE FLAHERTY
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- At the height of the Iraq war, the Army routinely dismissed hundreds of soldiers for having a personality disorder when they were more likely suffering from the traumatic stresses of war, discharge data suggests.
Under pressure from Congress and the public, the Army later acknowledged the problem and drastically cut the number of soldiers given the designation. But advocates for veterans say an unknown number of troops still unfairly bear the stigma of a personality disorder, making them ineligible for military health care and other benefits.
"We really have an obligation to go back and make sure troops weren't misdiagnosed," said Dr. Barbara Van Dahlen, a clinical psychologist whose nonprofit "Give an Hour" connects troops with volunteer mental health professionals.
For the Full Article: http://ap.stripes.com/dynamic/stories/U/US_SOLDIERS_WRONGLY_DISCHARGED?SITE=DCSAS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2010-08-15-09-38-21 6/9/2010(Reuters Health) - Older veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are nearly twice as likely to develop dementia as their peers without PTSD, according to research released today.
Dr. Kristine Yaffe of the University of California, San Francisco, and the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center and her colleagues followed more than 180,000 veterans aged 55 and older for seven years. All were free from dementia at the study's outset, while about 30 percent had PTSD.
Nearly 11 percent of the vets with PTSD developed dementia during follow-up, compared to only about 7 percent of those who didn't have PTSD.
Once the researchers took into account factors such as other physical or mental health problems, they found that vets with PTSD were still nearly twice as likely to develop dementia.
"PTSD is a pretty common diagnosis, sadly, that does seem to occur in roughly maybe 10 percent of combat-exposed veterans," Yaffe noted in an interview with Reuters Health. "This is not a short-lived thing necessarily...probably in a third or possibly more it's a chronic disorder."
While it's unknown how PTSD might up dementia risk, the researcher noted, it's possible that years of stress can cause lasting changes in the brain. "The implications in terms.....
For the full article... http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6565M420100607
By Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, June 8, 2010 – A program announced last week by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development will provide $58.6 million to get homeless veterans off the streets this year.
Vouchers will be provided to some 8,000 displaced veterans and their families across the country through the department’s Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Program, offering long-lasting support to the housing needs of veterans, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan announced June 3.
“Though they served and sacrificed so much for our country, too many of our veterans find themselves on the streets and in homeless shelters,” Donovan said. “Thankfully, these vouchers will provide a more-permanent solution to housing and services these veterans need.”
The program is in its third year and is a joint endeavor between HUD and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Ending homelessness among veterans is a top priority for VA. The issue has been the topic of numerous public forums and working groups since VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki took the department’s helm in January 2009.
Shinseki announced the framework for a plan in November that would end homelessness among veterans within five years. The plan outlined his desire to attack homelessness at the top of the “downward spiral,” addressing mental health, substance abuse and unemployment before veterans become homeless.
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For the full story... http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=59543 4/15/2010
The University of Illinois at Chicago Veterans Student Association and Student Veterans of America will be hosting the Illinois Warrior Summit & 3rd Annual Welcome Home Celebration on April 24, 2010 from 9am-4pm at the UIC Forum (25,000 sq ft). The UIC Forum is located at 725 W. Roosevelt Road in Chicago, IL 60607.
The Illinois Warrior Summit & 3rd Annual Welcome Home Celebration is a full day event to honor service members past and present. This event will bridge the gap between veterans, benefits, educational goals and employment opportunities. This is a “one stop shop” for ALL VETERANS.
From NBC's Jim Miklaszewski and Mark Murray
U.S. military officials tell NBC News that the U.S. Army will court martial a lieutenant colonel who refuses to deploy to Afghanistan because he considers orders from President Obama to be "illegal."
Army doctor Lt. Col. Terry Lakin believes Obama does not meet the constitutional requirements to be president and commander-in-chief, because he believes (incorrectly) that Obama wasn't born in the United States.
4/14/2010By Tim Jones and Jason Grotto, Tribune reporters
Corey Gibson's right leg bounces when he sits. At 29 he sleeps fitfully, with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle mounted above his bed. "That's my sense of security," he says.
Laurie Emmer, a 47-year-old mother of four, shuns crowds and strangers. She always sits facing the restaurant door when she goes out to eat and, before sitting down, makes sure to identify the quickest route out.
And Eric Johnson, 62, who revisits Vietnam nearly every night in his head, escapes the demons who rob him of sleep by patrolling the streets of his South Side neighborhood with his yellow Labrador retriever, Che.
The veterans come from different generations and different wars, yet they share a common and increasingly costly wartime affliction — post-traumatic stress disorder and other forms of psychological damage. Last year, mental illnesses accounted for 35 percent of the $22 billion spent on disability payments to veterans who served in the Vietnam, Persian Gulf and "global war on terror" eras, according to a Tribune analysis.
For the full story... http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/ct-met-veterans-mental-illness-20100412,0,2457126.story The burden of repeated deployments appears to be a contributing factor to the rising suicide rate among Army personnel. The surge in suicides, which have risen five years in a row, has become a problem for which the Army's highest levels of command have yet to find a solution, despite deploying hundreds of mental-health experts and investing millions of dollars.
3/30/2010donations to help them continue their suit.
BALTIMORE (AP) — The father of a Marine killed in Iraq and whose funeral was picketed by anti-gay protesters was ordered to pay the protesters' appeal costs, his lawyers said Monday.
On Friday, Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ordered Snyder to pay $16,510 to Fred Phelps. Phelps is the leader of the Westboro Baptist Church, which conducted protests at Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder's funeral in 2006.
The two-page decision supplied by attorneys for Albert Snyder of York, Pa., offered no details on how the court came to its decision.
3/4/2010By Zac Anderson
Published: Tuesday, March 2, 2010 at 1:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Monday, March 1, 2010 at 11:58 p.m. \
The convoy of Humvees bumped along a parched Afghan river bed when the bomb exploded, throwing a cloud of dirt and rocks into the clear sky.
Former Army Green Beret Pete Perez, riding shotgun in the lead vehicle, awoke face down with a mouth full of dirt. Five years of migraines, insomnia, depression and efforts to take his own life followed as he grappled with crippling anxiety and greatly diminished sight.
But thanks to a yellow Labrador retriever named Lucy, Perez is more hopeful today than at any time since the bomb violently jarred his brain and broke his foot...
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