Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Health Problems in Veterans Exposed to Toxic Environments
In 1991, as part of Operation Desert Storm, former U.S. Army Spc. Candy Lovett arrived in Kuwait a healthy 29-year-old eager to serve her country. Two decades later, she's accumulated a stack of medical records over five feet high -- none of which relates to injuries inflicted by bullets or shrapnel.
"It's just been one thing after another," said the veteran, who now resides in Miami and whose ailments run the gamut from lung disease and sleep apnea to, most recently, terminal breast cancer. "At one point," she said, "I was on over 50 pills."
Former Air Force Tech. Sgt. Tim Wymore, who was deployed to Iraq in 2004, suffers from an array of health problems that mirror Lovett's. "Everyone has the same things," said Wymore, who has inexplicably shed 40 pounds in the last few months. "It's just weird."
Wymore and Lovett -- and countless others who served in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere in the desert region over the past three decades -- have struggled to understand this, but they share one nagging conviction: These ailments are tied to service in a war zone. Read More
Wednesday, June 05, 2013
TEApublican Senator From Georgia Says Military Rapes Are Caused By ‘Hormones’
"In a stunning statement that sounded like it came straight from the Todd Akin School of Biology, Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) said that military rapes are caused by “the hormone level created by nature."
Source: Georgia Sen.: 'Hormones' Cause Military Rape
Friday, January 18, 2013
How a Bronze Star-winning Army doctor saved his troops in Iraq, but couldn't save himself | TIME.com
Dr. Peter Linnerooth spent nearly five years wearing an Army uniform, including the bloodiest 12 months in Iraq at the height of the surge. As a mental-health professional, his top mission was to keep troops from killing themselves. After he returned home, he spent another two years trying to save the vets he loved, working for the VA in California and Nevada.
Read more: How a Bronze Star-winning Army doctor saved his troops in Iraq, but couldn't save himself | TIME.com:
Read more: How a Bronze Star-winning Army doctor saved his troops in Iraq, but couldn't save himself | TIME.com:
Friday, December 14, 2012
Slowly, Toxic Vets Get Recognition
"Some two million men and women have served in Iraq and Afghanistan since the wars began in 2001. Little did these individuals know that surviving the improvised explosive devices and insurgent gunfire wouldn't necessarily guarantee their health or survival once they got home." Slowly, Toxic Vets Get Recognition. Read more.
Friday, August 24, 2012
“The End of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” edited by J. Ford Huffman and TammyS. Schultz
Marine Corp University's book on the end of DADT presents an argument for the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act.
"'The End of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell' is a timely and necessary book...and goes far beyond to articulate and make fully human the toll of DADT on many military service members and their loved ones."
Read More: Opinion on The End of Don't Ask, Don't Tell.
"'The End of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell' is a timely and necessary book...and goes far beyond to articulate and make fully human the toll of DADT on many military service members and their loved ones."
Read More: Opinion on The End of Don't Ask, Don't Tell.
Friday, August 17, 2012
Natalie Dell: VA Researcher and Olympian
The Olympics are filled with inspirational stories that bring the
country together in celebration of exceptional accomplishment and
national pride. And we at VA are very proud to share an inspiring story
from one of our own, Natalie Dell—a Bronze Medal winner at the Summer
Olympics."
Sunday, July 08, 2012
Friday, May 18, 2012
One Shot, One Kill | Carl Prine
One Shot, One Kill | Carl Prine
"It blew to the right, 2 o’clock from the gun, and I’d just taken out the plug to listen to the patrol leader below, twisting the turret and me away from the steel shavings rising like black fireflies from the shoulder of Route Michigan.
"It blew to the right, 2 o’clock from the gun, and I’d just taken out the plug to listen to the patrol leader below, twisting the turret and me away from the steel shavings rising like black fireflies from the shoulder of Route Michigan.
Hours later I held a throbbing skull and my left ear felt like someone jabbed a broken chopstick through the drum."
Read more: http://www.lineofdeparture.com/2012/05/17/one-shot-one-kill/#ixzz1vEzXya77
Monday, March 12, 2012
Personality Disorder-Trashing Our Army for Profit | Veterans Today
Personality Disorder-Trashing Our Army for Profit | Veterans Today: "In a report today, the New York Times acknowledged the Army’s practice of diagnosing troops with Post Traumatic Stress as having “personality disorders.”
This makes them ineligible for benefits. The number diagnosed as such is unknown, 26,000 at one point years ago, much higher now."
This makes them ineligible for benefits. The number diagnosed as such is unknown, 26,000 at one point years ago, much higher now."
Friday, December 23, 2011
Toxic Trash Pits Take Toll on U.S. Soldiers - Wild Green - Utne Reader
And yet still another article on the subject of burn pits and their affects on Soldiers health.
Toxic Trash Pits Take Toll on U.S. Soldiers - Wild Green - Utne Reader:
'via Blog this'
Toxic Trash Pits Take Toll on U.S. Soldiers - Wild Green - Utne Reader:
'via Blog this'
Monday, November 14, 2011
Toxic Trash: The Burn Pits of Iraq and Afghanistan :: Oxford American - The Southern Magazine of Good Writing
Billy McKenna and Kevin Wilkins survived Iraq—and died at home. The Oxford American sent filmmaker Dave Anderson and journalist J. Malcolm Garcia to Florida to investigate this deadly threat to American soldiers.
Toxic Trash: The Burn Pits of Iraq and Afghanistan :: Oxford American - The Southern Magazine of Good Writing
Toxic Trash: The Burn Pits of Iraq and Afghanistan :: Oxford American - The Southern Magazine of Good Writing
Wednesday, November 02, 2011
What’s Choking U.S. Troops? Feds Have No Idea.
In a 2010 study of 80 soldiers who struggled to run two miles, half of them were huffing and puffing because of undiagnosed bronchiolitis.
And the feds have no idea why.
The military’s widespread use of open-air burn pits — massive heaps of Styrofoam, human waste and plastic water bottles, in flames around the clock — seemed to be the most obvious answer.
But results of a study published today by the Institute of Medicine, and commissioned by the Department of Veterans Affairs, are frustratingly inconclusive — largely because the military didn’t collect adequate data for researchers to do their jobs.
Read more >>
And the feds have no idea why.
The military’s widespread use of open-air burn pits — massive heaps of Styrofoam, human waste and plastic water bottles, in flames around the clock — seemed to be the most obvious answer.
But results of a study published today by the Institute of Medicine, and commissioned by the Department of Veterans Affairs, are frustratingly inconclusive — largely because the military didn’t collect adequate data for researchers to do their jobs.
Read more >>
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Want to Fix the Deficit Problem?
Then contact your elected officials and pressure them to put an end to fraud, waste and abuse such as this.
DoD IG Blasts Army LMP Program
VA Awards New Contract for Debunked PTSD Drug
Someone is lining their pockets with YOUR hard earned money.
DoD IG Blasts Army LMP Program
VA Awards New Contract for Debunked PTSD Drug
Someone is lining their pockets with YOUR hard earned money.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Remembering those we've lost to war and military suicide this Memorial Day
Our military faces an epidemic of trauma among troops who are sent back into war without treatment for their hidden wounds. At Fort Hood, Texas, 10,000 soldiers each month get mental health evaluation and treatment, and more sit on waiting lists. This is only the tip of the iceberg. It is estimated that 20-50% of those who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from PTSD.
Congress members who vote to continue spending for these wars don't take into account the full costs that our society will be paying for decades to come.
This summer, Iraq and Afghanistan veterans from the Operation Recovery Campaign are at Fort Hood investigating the epidemic of trauma and organizing soldiers there to do something about it. Operation Recovery aims to defend a soldier’s right to heal and calls for an end to redeploying troops who already suffer from PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injuries, and Military Sexual Trauma.
This Memorial Day, let us remember those who have died in Iraq, Afghanistan and past wars. But let's also think of the thousands who have committed suicide as a result of their war trauma, and those for whom we can prevent a similar fate.
Iraq Veterans Against the War has launched the Operation Recovery campaign to stop the deployment of troops suffering from PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury, and Military Sexual Trauma. Thousands of troops are being re-deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq despite suffering from serious trauma from previous combat tours.
Take the Pledge to Stop the Deployment of Traumatized Troops!
Send a letter to the editor of your local newspaper!
Note: Copy taken from IVAW material.
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