Samantha Allen 01.08.165:01 AM ET
Service members suffering from PTSD often feel like they’re wearing a mask. Melissa Walker asks them to make one.
Continue reading "Veterans Let Slip The Masks Of War: Can This Art Therapy Ease PTSD?" »
A California couple helps rescued wolves and veterans with PTSD forge lasting bonds.
SIDNEY STEVENS
January 5, 2016, 9:34 a.m.
About 90 minutes north of Los Angeles at the Lockwood Animal Rescue Center (LARC), healing magic happens every day. Nestled on acres of scenic land inside the Los Padres National Forest, LARC’s Warriors and Wolves program offers combat veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder the chance to bond with wolves and wolfdogs that have been rescued from abusive situations or abandoned because their wild roots make them poor pets. Together they heal and gain a sense of belonging — and a second chance at life.
Continue reading "How wolves and warriors help each other heal" »
Resources for handling the holidays with PTSD.
Posted on Wednesday, December 30, 2015 2:52 pm Posted in VA Careers by Darren Sherrard
According to psychologist Michael Terman, as many as 60 million Americans suffer winter doldrums. Consequently, they often don’t find much to celebrate during the holiday season. Add PTSD to the mix – 11-20% of Veterans who served in Operations Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Enduring Freedom (OEF) have PTSD in a given year – and the “season to be jolly” can be downright challenging.
By Nicole Kwan Published December 22, 2015 FoxNews.com
When Josh Sweeney stepped on an improvised explosive device (IED) in Afghanistan in October 2009, the Marine Corps Sergeant lost both legs above the knee. Now, the Purple Heart recipient is an accomplished athlete- scoring the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team’s game-winning goal to earn its third gold medal at the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games and receiving the inaugural Pat Tillman Award for Service at the 2014 ESPYS. Sweeney’s transition from Marine to injured veteran to team captain is just one example of the positive impact the growth of sled hockey has had on veterans and paralyzed athletes in the past decade.
DEC 16 2015, 4:43 PM ET
by GABE GUTIERREZ and TRACY CONNOR
He endured the trauma of war with man's best friend. Now a young veteran is hoping a reunion with his canine comrade will finally bring him peace of mind.
Continue reading "'He Was My Rock': Veteran With PTSD Reunited With Military Dog" »
By Gina Harkins, Staff writer 9:17 a.m. EST December 12, 2015
Justin Constantine defied the odds when he made it home from Iraq.
Continue reading "How to approach wounded warriors, a Marine vet's tips" »
by Kate Good
November 7, 2015
There is such a thing as happily ever after. Just take a look at the story of this Marine and a shelter dog who waited seven, long, lonely years to be adopted!
Continue reading "Marine Adopts Shelter Dog That Waited 7 Years for a Home" »
By TIM STANLEY World Staff Writer | Updated 11/1/2016
SAND SPRINGS — He’s “still the same ol’ Sam.”
By John Hanc TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2015, 4:35 PM
Hank can relate to the people he’s running for.
Continue reading "Retired Marine On Marathon Streak To Raise PTSD Awareness" »
By AVIANNE TAN
Oct 15, 2015, 4:48 PM ET
After years apart, a dozen Marine are being reunited with the explosives-detecting dogs who served at their sides during deployment in the Middle East.
Continue reading "Marines Reunite With Dogs They Served With in Middle East After Years Apart" »
NEWS OCT 15 2015, 8:21 PM ET
by ASHLEY MUNGIGUERRA and DANIELLA SILVA
A college student whose soldier dad was having trouble sleeping after experiencing combat and his friends are helping veterans with a new app that tracks their sleep.
Continue reading "Student Whose Army Dad Has PTSD Creates App to Help Vets Sleep" »
“This farm was a savior for me. It was like I belonged here.”
Thursday, September 17, 2015 11:07 am Posted in Health by Tom Cramer
How would you like to spend a couple of restful, worry-free days on a scenic New Hampshire farm where you can pet a lamb or a friendly goat, ride a horse, gather eggs from the hen house, or just go for a walk in the woods?
Continue reading "Women, horses and healing: Veterans find therapy at retreat" »
September 15, 2015 1:00 am • By Nick Mariano
MARION – Ian Michael and his Human Hug Project are hardly slowing down.
Continue reading "800-mile ride for PTSD starts at Marion VA" »
Andrea c. Dickerson - September 10, 2015 Featured in Veterans Health Center
As I limped through the doors of the Washington DC VA Medical Center, I carried along the same restless feelings of nervousness and anxiety I normally experience on a day-to-day basis.
Continue reading "'I didn't want to live like that anymore'" »
Posted on Thursday, August 13, 2015 10:33 am in Health, Top Stories by Tom Cramer
Kenny liked his job. As a 22-year-old Marine participating in the initial invasion of Iraq, life couldn’t have been more exciting.
Continue reading "Battle buddy: Canine friend helps Veteran cope with PTSD" »
Jul 24, 2015
By USA Today
A puppy in training as a wounded warrior service dog is named after a Marine who was injured in Iraq.
Continue reading "See Marine's reaction when he meets puppy named after him" »
Tanya Basu July 26, 2015
Each day, 22 former servicemembers commit suicide
A group of Marines is marching 22 kilometers, or about 13.5 miles, wearing nothing but short shorts—called “silkies”—and hauling 22 kilograms, or about 50 pounds, of gear to honor the 22 service members who commit suicide every day.
Continue reading "Shirtless Marines March in ‘Silkies’ to Raise Suicide Awareness" »
The “gold standard” treatment for PTSD makes many vets’ symptoms even worse.
By David J. Morris
JULY 21 2015 9:49 AM
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is the world leader in research on post-traumatic stress disorder. No organization spends more money or expends more resources to treat it than the VA. Yet its efforts to stamp out the disorder, which afflicts upward of 30 percent of veterans today and is the fourth most common mental health condition in the world, are often strikingly wasteful and driven by shoddy science. In 2006, the VA began treating veterans with a form of therapy charmingly known as prolonged exposure. It is now a central piece in the VA’s war on PTSD and its most popular type of individual psychotherapy. Prolonged exposure is heavily promoted by the VA, which describes it as the “gold standard” treatment for PTSD.
BY TIARE DUNLAP 07/13/2015 AT 07:35 PM EDT
Ian knows the anxiety and isolation faced by combat veterans returning from and even years after war – because he's faced it himself.
Continue reading "Marine Travels Across the Country Giving Out Free Hugs to Veterans" »
Peter Tuerk TED Talk from TEDxCharleston
Posted on Friday, July 10, 2015 10:30 am | Posted in Guest Posts by VAntage Point Contributor
Psychologist Peter Tuerk was attracted to the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center because it allowed him to marry two of his passions: clinical treatment of Veterans with PTSD and continuing advancement of PTSD treatments through research. Tuerk’s passion for treating Veterans has propelled him to be a leader in the field.
By James LaPorta, Special to Military Times 1:36 p.m. EDT June 27, 2015
Marine Cpl. Jason Dunham received a posthumous Medal of Honor after fighting an Iraqi insurgent and then diving onto a hand grenade to protect his fellow Marines.
Continue reading "War dog movie 'Max' honors four-legged troops" »
Home away from home for traveling military families visiting wounded loved ones
By Linda McIntosh9:34 A.M.MAY 12, 2015
CAMP PENDLETON — Barely six months after its groundbreaking, a home away from home for military families visiting their wounded at Camp Pendleton’s Naval Hospital is set to be dedicated May 15.
By Michelle Tan, Staff writer 8:07 a.m. EDT May 9, 2015
For almost two years, Jim Kuiken retreated into himself.
Continue reading "Spared from the kennel: These rescue dogs now help vets" »
BY NATHAN S. WEBSTER 04.03.1512:30 PM ET
Vietnam’s strong hold—not trauma, maybe, but close—on Michael Herr’s psyche comes across in the final words of his legendary Dispatches: “And no moves for me but to write down some last few words and make the dispersion, Vietnam, Vietnam, Vietnam, we’ve all been there.”
The Huffington Post | By Lindsay Holmes
Posted: 04/02/2015 7:48 pm EDT Updated: 04/02/2015 7:59 pm EDT
Mental health disorders can be so complex that many adults can't comprehend them. So, how exactly do you explain them to children?
Continue reading "Army Veteran Writes Children's Book To Explain PTSD To Younger Kids" »
By Nate Gotlieb
The Free Press, Mankato, Minn.
Published: February 14, 2015
MANKATO, Minn. (Tribune News Service) — Physically, Joshua Jablon appeared unhurt. But mentally, he was deteriorating.
Continue reading "Marine veteran finds healing through throwing" »
POSTED 12:21 AM, FEBRUARY 12, 2015
BY WEB STAFF, UPDATED AT 08:09AM, FEBRUARY 12, 2015
RICHMOND, Va. – Spike is a member of the K-9 patrol with the Virginia Capitol Police. Sweet as he is though, Spike, is also a heartbreaker. He didn’t mean to be – he just got caught in a love triangle. At the State Capitol in Richmond on Wednesday Spike was reunited with U.S. Marine Jared Heine. They hadn’t seen each other in three years.
Continue reading "Why a Capitol Police Officer gave her beloved dog to a U.S. Marine" »
By Matthew M. Burke
Stars and Stripes
Published: January 31, 2015
Retired Marine and lifelong New Yorker Matthew Raible knows that service dogs save lives.
Continue reading "Study examines impact of service dogs on veterans with PTSD" »
By Liberty Zabala and Samantha Tatro
Updated at 11:23 AM PDT on Monday, Mar 30, 2015
More than a dozen bikes used by Wounded Warriors are missing from a facility and the Navy is looking for the public’s help in finding them.
By Lance Cpl. Isaac Ibarra | | December 14, 2014
CAMP KINSER, OKINAWA, Japan -- In 2006, Lt. Col. Justin Constantine was injured during a routine combat patrol while deployed to Iraq. An enemy sniper fired upon Constantine and his Marines, and before he could take cover a round hit the back of his head, exiting through his jaw.
Continue reading "Combat veteran shares recovery success story with Okinawa Marines" »
By George Decker, Public Affairs Officer, VA National Center for PTSD
Monday, November 24, 2014
There are currently more than 50 brain banks in the United States. The focus of these brain tissue repositories is on investigating alcoholism, Alzheimer’s disease, depression, schizophrenia and a variety of neurological disorders. Yet there has never been a PTSD brain bank — until now.
Continue reading "Brain Bank to Help in Treatment of PTSD" »
By Leora ArnowitzPublished November 09, 2014
When Jim Stanek returned from his deployment with the 1st Infantry Division of the Army with a traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder, he saw first-hand in therapy the impact service dogs can have on veterans.
Continue reading "'Dogs of War:' A&E; makes reality show about veterans struggling with PTSD" »
POSTED 7:04 PM, OCTOBER 28, 2014
BY JIM ALTMAN, UPDATED AT 07:06PM, OCTOBER 28, 2014
BROOKLYN–He served in both Iraq and Afghanistan, and now the community is serving him. Marine Pfc. Robert Vardaro was injured in three separate IED attacks while on combat missions in Afghanistan, and, as he continues to heal from the brain injuries he sustained, he has been given the keys to a new life.
Continue reading "A marine gets the gift of a lifetime, and the keys to his future" »
By Emily Wax-Thibodeaux | The Washington Post | Published: October 19, 2014
RICHMOND, Va. — The acupuncturist in his glow-in-the-dark yellow Crocs gently leaned over the burly and bearded Army Special Operations officer, who was stretched across a bed in the "zen den" of the Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center.
Aug 31, 2014 | by Bryant Jordan
Veteran suicide numbers have gone up in recent years with much of the attention focused on veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan killing themselves. However, almost seven out of 10 veterans who have committed suicide were over the age of 50, according to a Department of Veterans Affairs study.
Continue reading "Older Vets Committing Suicide at Alarming Rate" »
by Vets Prevail
August 27, 2014
Identifying the signs of mental health needs can be a challenging and confusing time for many individuals. Everyone experiences different emotions and feelings when dealing with difficult or stressful situations, and mental health may not be at the forefront of one's mind. In the US, 1 in 4 people experience a mental illness in a given year; and Veterans experience rates of depression and PTSD at 5 times higher rates than civilians, but up to 60% never seek treatment. This can be caused by a variety of barriers including stigma or a lack of access to treatment. The most important fact to remember is that mental illness is not a sign of weakness or a personal flaw, and should be regarded as any other medical issue. Knowing some of the signs and symptoms for mental illness can be the first step to finding help.
Continue reading "Program Helps Vets Improve Mental Health From Home" »
By Gerald herbert
The Associated Press
Published: August 7, 2014
VENICE, La. — Two tours in Afghanistan took a toll on Joshua Ploetz.
Continue reading "Former Marine paddles away 2 tours in Afghanistan" »
By Jennifer Griffin
Published July 04, 2014
FoxNews.com
Marine Sgt. John Peck is one of very few quadruple amputees to survive the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now he is preparing for his next mission: an experimental double-arm transplant that will give him, in part, his freedom back.
Jun. 20, 2014 - 04:35PM
By Patricia Kime
New research links Iraq dust to sick soldiers
The Veterans Affairs Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry is now live.
Continue reading "Service members can now register on burn-pit list" »
Nikki Burdine 6:13 p.m. EDT June 17, 2014
WASHINGTON (WUSA9) -- Two D.C. area Marines quit their jobs and decided to walk thousands of miles to raise awareness of PTSD last year, but little did they know, their journey would turn into so much more.
Continue reading "Marine veterans walk cross-country for PTSD awareness" »
By Tom Charlier
Published: May 31, 2014
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — That very first kill haunted him most. There were many others, to be sure, but long after he’d returned to Memphis from three deployments with the Marines, Paul Oliver voiced the greatest pain while recounting his lethal encounter with an Iraqi insurgent who ignored a command to disarm and raised his rifle.
May 10th, 2014 | Posted by Hope Hodge Seck
Not all working dogs in Afghanistan sniff explosives or walk patrols.
Continue reading "Meet Steel, the Marines’ morale dog in Afghanistan" »
BY AARON CLAVERIE
STAFF WRITER
April 17, 2014; 10:46 AM
The water’s surface forms a shield.
Continue reading "Diving as therapy for injured veterans " »
By Anja Niedringhaus, Associated Press
Friday, April 11, 2014 6:03pm
Editor's note: Anja Niedringhaus, 48, an internationally acclaimed German photojournalist, was shot and killed by an Afghan police officer earlier this month while on assignment for the Associated Press. In 2005, she was part of the AP team that won the Pulitzer Prize for coverage of Iraq, and she was awarded the Courage in Journalism Award from the International Women's Media Foundation. One of her bosses said "she truly believed in the need to bear witness." In years of reporting from war zones, the story that most haunted her was one about a Marine who was grievously wounded by a IED in Afghanistan in June 2011. This is what she wrote about it two days before Christmas 2011 — six months after the attack.
Inside the medevac helicopter in Afghanistan, U.S. Marine Cpl. Burness Britt bleeds profusely from his neck. He and two other Marines have just been hit by shrapnel, with Britt's injuries the most serious. The medevac crew chief clutches one of Britt's blood-covered hands as he is given oxygen. I take hold of the other.
Continue reading " Anja Niedringhaus felt the need to bear witness" »
By Gretel C. Kovach
3:27 p.m.March 19, 2014
Children of seriously wounded combat veterans are “the hidden casualties of war,” according to a study released Wednesday.
Continue reading "Study finds family challenges, limited support for offspring of healing vets" »
Written by Ernesto Londoño
Published: March 4
At BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan — Shortly after midnight on this frigid night, Capt. Nicholas Ingham arrived at this massive air base, in the belly of an Air Force C-130. As the back door swung open, flooding the cabin with light, the heavily sedated Marine, strapped onto a stretcher, blinked away a tear. An American flag tattooed on his chest rose and fell gently as a ventilator pumped air into his collapsed lung.
Continue reading "The last casualties: As a long war ends, risks still prove real" »
By Linda McIntosh
6 a.m.Feb. 27, 2014
CAMP PENDLETON — Several hundred injured Marines are set to compete in the annual Marine Corps Trials, starting Sunday at Camp Pendleton. The trials help determine who will represent the Marine Corps at the military paralympics, known as the Warrior Games, to be held at the U.S. Olympic Training Center and the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., this fall.
By Justin Zaremba/NJ.com
on February 20, 2014 at 1:47 PM, updated February 20, 2014 at 4:39 PM
BETHESDA, Md. — U.S. Marine Sgt. Aaron Alonso, who was critically injured and lost his legs in an explosion in Afghanistan earlier this month, has a long road ahead in his recovery including "upwards of 100 surgeries," according to his wife.
Continue reading "Marine's goal after explosion takes his legs: 'To play with my daughter'" »
EOD Marine is first to receive prosthetic implant
By Hope Hodge Seck | Staff writer
Feb. 8, 2014 - 06:00AM
A year after an improvised explosive device pulled him from the front lines of the battlefield, a Marine staff sergeant stood on the front line of medical science, becoming the first patient to receive an implant that allows him to operate his prosthetic arm with his upper arm muscles.
Continue reading "EOD Marine is first to receive revolutionary prosthetic implant" »
By Andy Fillmore
Correspondent
Published: Wednesday, February 5, 2014 at 6:19 p.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, February 5, 2014 at 6:19 p.m.
Lance Cpl. David Garrett Burgess, wounded in December while serving with the U. S. Marine Corps in Afghanistan, will be honored Saturday with an official “welcome home” fundraising dinner to benefit him and his wife Emily, and their son Joseph.
Continue reading "Groups rally to plan dinner for wounded Marine" »
Jan. 26, 2014 - 02:44PM
By R. Norman Moody
Florida Today
MELBOURNE, FLA. — It took time, but Mariette Kalinowski is now more open to identifying herself as a veteran than when she first returned from war.
Continue reading "Film helps women veterans find safety at home" »
By Joanne C Gerstner | Jan. 09, 2014, 11 a.m. (ET)
In so many ways, everything Josh Sweeney has been through in his life — good and bad — keeps bringing him back to hockey.
Continue reading "After Being Injured In Afghanistan, Josh Sweeney Finds Solace On Ice " »
Marine determined to move forward, set example
By Susan Ladd
News & Record, Greensboro, N.C.
Published: December 22, 2013
GREENSBORO — Cindy Gitter laughs and shakes her head when asked to describe Nathan Harris as a teenager.
By Leo Shane III
Stars and Stripes
Published: December 16, 2013
WASHINGTON — Veterans Affairs officials are easing disability filing rules for brain injured veterans with additional combat complications like depression, dementia or Parkinson’s disease.
Continue reading "VA eases rules for claims on some TBI-related health problems" »
Dec. 14, 2013 - 06:00AM
By James K. Sanborn
The Corps has overhauled its manual governing how Marines retire or are separated from the service, with broad changes that cover everything from transition assistance requirements and involuntary separation protections for career officers to drug use and sexual assault.
By Travis J. Tritten
Stars and Stripes
Published: December 11, 2013
Traumatic brain injuries during deployments appear to increase the risk of troops experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder after returning home, according to Department of Veterans Affairs-sponsored research published Wednesday.
Continue reading "Study links traumatic brain injury and PTSD" »
By Derek Herrera 12:17 P.M.NOV. 27, 2013
Thanksgiving is a tremendous opportunity to pause and reflect on the beauty of the human experience. This Thanksgiving, I have much to be thankful for. I consider myself lucky to do so, and like many others who have experienced life-altering events, I have had a cathartic shift in the way I view my role in the world.
Continue reading "A Thanksgiving story: Life-changing injury doesn’t dim Marine’s gratitude" »
November 10, 2013 5:15 pm • Associated Press
HELENA – A Montana program aiming to honor wounded veterans recently brought two men from different wars together for a hunting excursion in Big Sky Country.
Continue reading "Afghanistan, Vietnam veterans hunt together as part of new Montana program" »
Caitlin Johnston, Times Staff Writer
Friday, October 25, 2013 6:14pm
When asked what gets him out of bed every morning, J.T. Doody's response is simple: Jesus, football and women. • His morning ritual involves an hourlong process in which the 30-year-old Iraq War veteran depends on his mom or a nursing assistant to do everything. Brush his teeth. Scrub his body. Wash his hair. • Doody spends his life in constraints, paralyzed because he contracted a hospital-borne infection while under treatment for injuries suffered in Iraq. • His days consist of a series of movements between his hospital bed, a 375-pound motorized wheelchair, and a sling that transfers him from his bed to his shower. • But Chris Ott refuses to let her son's limitations define his life.
Continue reading "With mother at his side, a wounded veteran fights to stay positive" »
By ELIZABETH FLOCK
October 10, 2013
In the months before Joseph Petit, a trained Army airborne ranger, died in a bathroom at the Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center, his sister Brandie watched her brother age far beyond his 42 years.
Photos by Cpl. Caitlin Brink | Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island | Date: 09.05.2013
Date Posted: 09.19.2013 13:32
Recruits of India Company, 3rd Recruit Training Battalion, took turns donning modified dress blue uniforms and posing for their boot camp photo Sept. 5, 2013, on Parris Island, S.C. India Company is scheduled to graduate Oct. 25, 2013. Parris Island has been the site of Marine Corps recruit training since Nov. 1, 1915. Today, approximately 20,000 recruits come to Parris Island annually for the chance to become United States Marines by enduring 13 weeks of rigorous, transformative training. Parris Island is home to entry-level enlisted training for 50 percent of males and 100 percent of females in the Marine Corps.
BY CHRIS · SEPTEMBER 15, 2013 ·
Hartford, CT to Danbury, CT
Day 5 from Newburgh to Ft. Lee got underway with very iffy weather conditions that gave way to serious thunderstorms and heavy rain. This caused a delay in the day’s ride just as the riders reached the lunch stop in Haverstraw, NJ. The day’s highlights included a stop at the world famous Orange County Chopper with the owner Paul Sr. coming out and visiting with the riders.
Continue reading "Ride2Recovery: Minuteman Challenge, Days 5 and 6" »
By J.D. Leipold
Army News Service
FORT BELVOIR, Va., Sept. 12, 2013 – Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks 12 years ago, more than 2.5 million U.S. troops have deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, and over that same period, more than 260,000 service members have been diagnosed with the invisible wounds of traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress as a result of combat-related injuries and accidents.
Continue reading "First of 9 ‘Intrepid Spirit’ Centers Opens at Fort Belvoir" »
Friday, September 6, 2013
A group of approximately 200 injured veterans and their supporters will set off on Sunday, September 8, on the UnitedHealthcare Ride 2 Recovery (R2R) Minuteman Challenge, a seven-day, 425-mile bicycle ride. The route begins in Lexington, Mass., and will conclude in Philadelphia, Penn., on Saturday, September 14.
By Don Norcross
4 p.m.Sept. 2, 2013
TEMECULA — Josue Barron’s left leg was ripped off just below the hip after stepping on an improvised explosive device nearly three years ago in Afghanistan. He later lost his left eye, now replaced by a glass prosthetic.
Continue reading "Marine brings message to U-T Honor Bowl" »
By RACHEL COHEN
The Associated Press
Published: August 25, 2013
NEW YORK — From his hospital bed, Angelo Anderson could see the wheelchair, the cane and the walker with the tennis balls on the bottom.
Continue reading "Injured in Afghanistan, now US Open ballperson" »
Darkhorse Marines from 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, three years later
By Gretel C. Kovach
1:50 p.m.Aug. 10, 2013 Updated3:56 p.m.
Juan Dominguez and his bride Alexis exchanged vows on a warm evening this spring at a Temecula winery. The couple met a year after a bomb buried in the hard ground of Sangin, Afghanistan, blew away his legs and an arm.
Continue reading "After Sangin, still fighting for their lives" »
Posted: Friday, July 26, 2013 4:00 am
By STEPHANIE BUCKNER
Freedom does not come without a price, and that price for United States Marine and Cleveland resident Adam Brochin is constant anxiety and persistent memories of his active-duty experiences, which haunt his dreams like a roadside bomb waiting to explode.
Continue reading "Local Marine carries memories of war, for better or for worse" »
By Cpl. Trevon S. Peracca | Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton | July 19, 2013
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. --
Fifteen Marines and four coaches from Wounded Warrior Regiment, participated in a swim camp at the Wounded Warrior Hope and Care Center here July 18.
By Pfc. Samuel Ellis | Marine Corps Base Quantico | July 17, 2013
MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. (July 17, 2013) --
Disability. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a disability is a limitation in the ability to pursue an occupation because of a physical or mental impairment.
Continue reading "Transition class offered to disabled Marines " »
Patients at Camp Pendleton’s Wounded Warriors program use cameras as tools for recovery
By Michael Gardner
12:01 a.m.June 30, 2013
Sacramento — The images are haunting and stories powerful.
The new career came after a years-long dark period following his return from Afghanistan
By Mekahlo Medina and Brandon Lowrey
Sunday, Jun 16, 2013
U.S. Marine Alex Minsky of Venice Beach was caught in a downward spiral.
Continue reading " Wounded SoCal Marine Becomes Underwear Model" »
By Terri Moon Cronk
American Forces Press Service
BETHESDA, Md., June 12, 2013 – Wounded warrior amputees at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center here got a chance today to share the wisdom and experience they’ve gained through tough rehabilitation and prosthetic fittings with a man who lost a leg during the April 15 Boston Marathon bombings.
Continue reading "Wounded Warriors Inspire Boston Marathon Amputee" »
By Amaani Lyle
American Forces Press Service
ARLINGTON, Va., June 11, 2013 – Service members and veterans transitioning from the military to Veterans Affairs for treatment or between military treatment facilities now have access to greater consistency in psychological health and traumatic brain injury care, a Defense Department official said here today.
Continue reading "Program Aids Mental Health Care for Transitioning Troops" »
Lloyd I. Sederer, MD and Sandro Galea, M.D.
Posted: 06/11/2013 11:07 am
June is PTSD Awareness Month, so declares the Veterans Administration. Hundreds of thousands of war returnees from Iraq and Afghanistan have or will develop post-traumatic stress disorder. It is a condition that induces suffering in veterans -- and their families, who can be repeatedly separated from their loved one, live with more limited resources as a member is gone and emotionally contend with anxiety about the possible injury or death of their soldier.
Continue reading "Wartime PTSD: What Works and How to Care for a Loved One " »
Foundation raising money for exoskeleton for SpecOps Marine
By Gretel C. Kovach
6:45 p.m.May 30, 2013
CAMP PENDLETON — The first enemy bullet blew a hole in the neck of a Marine sergeant. The second lodged in the spine of Capt. Derek Herrera, a special operations team leader who was deployed last summer in southwestern Afghanistan.
Continue reading "Paralyzed, Marine fights for active duty" »
Foundation raising money for exoskeleton for SpecOps Marine
By Gretel C. Kovach
6:45 p.m.May 30, 2013
CAMP PENDLETON — The first enemy bullet blew a hole in the neck of a Marine sergeant. The second lodged in the spine of Capt. Derek Herrera, a special operations team leader who was deployed last summer in southwestern Afghanistan.
Continue reading "Paralyzed, Marine fights for active duty" »
Athletic competition for wounded troops taps competitive drive for rehab
By Gretel C. Kovach
3:19 p.m .May 17, 2013
The Marines fought off a near upset from the Army this week in the 2013 Warrior Games, claiming a fourth Chairman’s Cup and another year of bragging rights as undefeated champion of the athletic competition for troops injured by combat, illness or accidents.
By Gregg Zoroya and Alan Gomez
USA Today
Apr. 26, 2013 - 05:29PM
BELTSVILLE, Md. – Six years have passed since a roadside bomb set Ronny “Tony” Porta on fire in Iraq when he was 20, and he’s still trying to find his way home.
Continue reading "Disfigured Marine veteran faces disrespect at home" »
By Tony Perry
Los Angeles Times
Published: April 11, 2013
SAN DIEGO — Marine Staff Sgt. Mark Zambon was in Afghanistan, on his fourth combat deployment as an explosive ordnance disposal technician, when he took a step and heard the ominous click.
Continue reading "Afghan bomb cost Marine his legs, but not his spirit" »
By Patricia Kime - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Mar 27, 2013 11:07:00 EDT
Starting today, injured service members no longer will need to remove their shoes, jackets or hats at airport security checkpoints, but they must call ahead to qualify for the perk.
Continue reading "Airport screenings eased for injured troops" »
Special Consideration
15 March 2013
TSA wants to facilitate the screening of injured and wounded service members. To address these specific situations, TSA has established the Wounded Warrior/Military Severely Injured Joint Support Operations Center Program to support and facilitate the movement of severely injured service members and veterans through the security screening process at our nation’s airports.
Story by Lance Cpl. Scott Reel | Marine Corps Wounded Warrior Regiment | Date: 03.02.2013
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - Lance Cpl. Chad Ohmer, 25, from North Bend, Ohio, had the dream.
Continue reading "Wounded Ohio Marine competes at 2013 Marine Corps Trials" »
Tuesday, February 05, 2013
By Eric Brandner
There were large scissors. There was a large ribbon. And when the ceremonial cuts were finally made, the USO fulfilled one of the most ambitious goals in its 72-year history.
Continue reading "Warrior and Family Center at Fort Belvoir Opens" »
Story by Aquita Brown | Marine Corps Wounded Warrior Regiment | Date: 02.04.2013
MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - The U.S. Marine Corps Wounded Warrior Regiment will host the third annual Marine Corps Trials for wounded, ill and injured Marines aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., March 1-6.
Continue reading "Marine Wounded Warrior Regiment To Host Third Annual Marine Corps Trials" »
Veterans learn to write the words they could not speak.
By CECILIA CAPUZZI SIMON
Published: February 1, 2013
RON CAPPS sat alone in a truck in a Darfur desert preparing to shoot himself in the head. He had been in the military for 22 years, serving in the Army and working for the Foreign Service in the world’s hot spots, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Kosovo, Sudan and Rwanda. He’d debriefed Iranian terrorists held in Iraq, observed rebel forces and assessed the carnage they’d left behind in Sudan, counted the mass graves of the hundred thousand killed in the civil war in Zaire — and reported all back to Washington. After five wars in 10 years, Mr. Capps had developed post-traumatic stress disorder, and it was killing him.
By Marilynn Marchione, AP
January 29, 2013
The first soldier to survive after losing all four limbs in the Iraq war has received a double-arm transplant.
Continue reading "Soldier who lost 4 limbs has double-arm transplant" »
By Julie Watson - The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Jan 19, 2013 14:28:57 EST
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — The U.S. Marine Corps, known for turning out some of the military's toughest warriors, is studying how to make its troops even tougher through meditative practices, yoga-type stretching and exercises based on mindfulness.
Continue reading "Marines studying mindfulness-based training" »
Courtesy Story | Marine Corps Wounded Warrior Regiment | Date: 01.17.2013
MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va., - Stress is a part of everyday life. However, due to increases in operational tempo and multiple combat deployments many Marines face a greater risk of developing combat stress, post traumatic stress disorder and survivor’s guilt.
Continue reading "Wounded Warrior Regiment promotes basewide discussion of combat stress" »
Story by Cpl. Jeff Drew | 2nd Marine Division | Date: 12.14.2012
CAMERON, N.C. – The cheers of the gathered crowds overpowered the roaring of the motorcycles that escorted Lance Cpl. Richie Chavis as he arrived at his new home. Marines with 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, Chavis’ former unit, joined vendors, friends and family in applause as he arrived to receive the keys.
Continue reading "Operation Coming Home provides wounded Marine veteran with new home" »
By Annie Groe
The Washington Post
Published: December 14, 2012
On Dec. 13, 2011, Marine Lance Cpl. Christian Brown was leading his squad on a foot patrol in Afghanistan’s Helmand province when he stepped on an explosive device that blew off both his legs, one above the knee, the other below his hip. He also lost part of his right index finger.
Continue reading "Marine double-amputee’s treatment on Delta flight angers other vets" »
Learning to Accept, and Master, a $110,000 Mechanical Arm
By JAMES DAO
Published: November 26, 2012
SAN ANTONIO — After the explosion, Cpl. Sebastian Gallegos awoke to see the October sun glinting through the water, an image so lovely he thought he was dreaming. Then something caught his eye, yanking him back to grim awareness: an arm, bobbing near the surface, a black hair tie wrapped around its wrist.
Written by
Linda McIntosh
12:01 a.m., Nov. 7, 2012
Updated 12:26 p.m. , Nov. 6, 2012
Randy Abbott used to surf in Todos Santos, Mexico. But after a back injury forced him to use a wheelchair, the Marine veteran thought he could never surf again. Now he rides the waves every Thursday off Del Mar.
Continue reading "WOUNDED MARINES TAP OCEAN’S HEALING POWER " »
By Martin Griffith - The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Oct 28, 2012 11:53:38 EDT
RENO, Nev. — A Marine who has undergone 22 surgeries and lost a leg since being critically wounded in an explosion in Afghanistan is getting a big boost in rebuilding his life in Nevada.
Continue reading "Wounded Marine gets boost in rebuilding life" »
Tony Perry in San Diego
October 26, 2012 | 10:23 am
Marine Cpl. Nicholas Kimmel, who lost both legs and his left arm in Afghanistan, threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Thursday's World Series game in San Francisco: a strike.
Continue reading "Marine injured in Afghanistan throws first pitch at World Series" »
Jim Michaels, USA TODAY
1:25AM EDT October 19. 2012 - CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. — The shrapnel tore into his midsection and blood was squirting from his right leg. Marine Cpl. Joseph Singer plugged the hole in his leg with a finger and fretted about his dog.
By Bill Briggs, NBC News contributor
September 28, 2012
Everything you see in the music video happened to Marine-turned-country-singer Stephen Cochran: Pushing the girl away, boozing into oblivion, the gun on the blanket. It all went down last year.
Continue reading "A country song about PTSD: 'All you've got left are these pieces'" »
By Jamie Stengle - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Sep 24, 2012 9:33:50 EDT
IRVING, Texas — As former President George W. Bush kicked off a golf tournament for wounded members and veterans of the U.S. military Monday, he said the event was not only a chance to watch good golf, but also “a celebration of patriotism, courage and sacrifice.”
Continue reading "Bush hosts golf tourney for wounded military" »
Story by Pfc. Joshua Grant | Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune | Date: 09.18.2012
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. - Improvised explosive devices are a threat to every service member fighting overseas. For those who have faced them, IEDs can leave wounds everyone can see.
Continue reading "Resources for those with traumatic brain injuries" »
By Katherine Dorsett Bennett, CNN
updated 6:53 PM EDT, Mon September 10, 2012
(CNN) -- While serving on an assignment in Afghanistan on October 23, 2010, Marine Cpl. Juan Dominguez landed on a buried bomb after slipping down an embankment and lost both of his legs and his right arm in an explosion.
Continue reading "Triple-amputee veteran gets 'smart' home on September 11" »
By Gina Harkins - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Aug 25, 2012 12:46:17 EDT
A Marine has reached the summit of Africa’s tallest mountain just 18 months after losing his legs to an improvised explosive device — and he did it at the pace of an able-bodied climber.
Continue reading "Amputee EOD tech tackles Africa’s tallest peak" »
By Patricia Kime - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Aug 11, 2012 9:05:02 EDT
The Social Security Administration is putting a rare lung disease found in some veterans exposed to burn pits and fires in Iraq and Afghanistan on its “compassionate allowances” list, a designation that should speed the process to receive Social Security disability benefits.
Continue reading "Lung disease put on list for faster benefits" »
By C.J. Lin
Stars and Stripes
Published: August 3, 2012
BROOKEVILLE, Md. — Marine Sgt. Jon Gordon hadn’t been able to sleep soundly after driving over three roadside bombs in a six-week period during a 2010 deployment to Afghanistan.
Continue reading "Finding comfort in training service dogs for other wounded vets" »
Community members help build accessible house
By Kathleen Ronayne
News Staff Reporter
Published:July 29, 2012, 12:08 AM
NORTH TONAWANDA - Dust and the percussion of hammers on nails filled the air as Marine Cpl. Paul Schaus, who lost both legs in Afghanistan, watched his new home take shape Saturday afternoon.
Continue reading "'Build Brigade' gets to work for wounded vet" »
By Piper Haugan of The Montana Standard | Posted: Friday, July 27, 2012 8:30 am
When Lance Cpl. Thomas Parker joined the Marine Corps, it was because he wanted to be a part of something bigger than himself.
Continue reading "Field of Honor: Injured Marine bolstered by citizens’ support " »
By Jeff Branscome
The Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg, Va.
Published: July 20, 2012
Sgt. John Peck says he remembers everything.
Continue reading "Groups team up to build home for wounded Marine in Virginia" »
July 18, 2012
The soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines in the United States armed forces are some of the toughest, most dedicated, most dependable personnel that make up the most formidable fighting force on earth.
Continue reading "Joyce Orrell serves wounded warriors in Purple Heart Family Support program" »
By: Jessica Shumaker - [email protected]
Created: Wednesday, July 18, 2012 9:00 a.m. CDT
DIAMOND — Area groups are mobilizing to support a local Marine who was critically injured last week by a rocket-propelled grenade in Afghanistan.
By John Gillie
The News Tribune, Tacoma, Wash.
Published: July 9, 2012
The Transportation Security Administration is making a new program available for wounded and injured veterans that’s designed to make their passage through airport security screening easier and more dignified.
Continue reading "New airport security procedures available for wounded warriors" »
Posted: Saturday, June 30, 2012 5:30 am
TWENTYNINE PALMS — A relay team of U.S. Marines crossed the Hi-Desert Friday, bearing an American flag to present to a veteran whose legs were destroyed in Afghanistan.
By Chuck Haga
Grand Forks Herald, N.D.
Published: June 24, 2012
SAN DIEGO — On a small organic farm outside San Diego, a former combat Marine has found peace and purpose in the tending of plants and in providing other combat veterans a way to find their places in life after war.
Continue reading "Farm program aims to help returning veterans find peace, purpose" »
By Sara Bruestle | Jun 20, 2012
A U.S. Marine from Mukilteo is running an American flag more than 50 miles in the desert to raise funds for a wounded fellow Marine.
Continue reading "Marines honor their brother with 160-mile run in the desert" »
Combat stress conference in San Diego emphasizes building resilience
Written by
Gretel C. Kovach
6:53 p.m., May 24, 2012
The military is expanding its stress control programs and studying ways to protect against the strains of combat and nonstop deployments, adding psychological armor to its kit bag in the same way it once up-armored Humvees.
Continue reading "War winding down, but strain on military continues" »
By Patricia Kime - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday May 20, 2012 15:40:50 EDT
A group of investors, government officials, business executives and former military personnel broke ground May 18 on a private retreat they hope will become a premier getaway for wounded warriors recovering in the Washington, D.C., region.
Continue reading "Va. wounded warrior retreat breaks ground" »
By Chip Reid
May 3, 2012
(CBS News) For nearly 100 years, since World War I, the U.S. military has used combat artists to create a visual record of America's wars.
Continue reading "Sketching veterans recovering from war, so their stories aren't lost" »
5/1/2012 By Sgt. Aaron Hostutler , Headquarters Marine Corps
COLORODO SPRINGS, Colo. —
The U.S. Olympic Committee and Department of Defense held its opening ceremony today for the 2012 Warrior Games at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Continue reading "First lady kicks off 2012 Warrior Games - Marines prepared for a three-peat " »
Reporter: Conroy Delouche
Posted: Fri 8:05 PM, Apr 27, 2012
SPEEDWELL, Tenn. (WVLT) - An injured marine from east Tennessee who spent time recovering in Maryland, is finally home.
Continue reading "Injured Marine returns home to Claiborne County" »
Story by Aquita Brown | Marine Corps Wounded Warrior Regiment | Date: 04.26.2012
FORT CARSON, Colo. — “There is nothing wrong with having post traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury. You are not letting anyone down when you seek help for the symptoms that you are encountering and you are not alone in the fight.”
By Gidget Fuentes - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Apr 22, 2012 10:06:22 EDT
A Defense Department inspector general report found gaps in the care, treatment and transition programs for wounded Marines — plus poor morale fueled by idled hands, long waits for medical review boards, mixed messages about using and abusing medications and illegal drugs, and the sense their units had forgotten them. Worse, investigators found, wounded warriors complained they were put on public display, much like in a petting zoo, when charities visited and wanted the “visibly wounded” for their events.
Continue reading "DoD reports gaps in care of wounded warriors" »
Written by VINCE DEVLIN Photographed by KURT WILSON of the Missoulian | Posted: Saturday, April 21, 2012 10:00
SAN DIEGO – A few nights ago as she prepared dinner for herself and her son, Lisa Corbett punched through the top of a can of vegetables, gripped the can opener handles with one hand and turned the key with the other.
April 7th, 2012 | Posted by Dan Lamothe
CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan — Lance Cpl. Scott Anderson had been in Afghanistan about a month when he was “blown up.”
Continue reading "Marines at Leatherneck concussion center heal, return to combat" »
By Tom Vanden Brook
USA Today
Published: April 2, 2012
WASHINGTON -- Staff Sgt. Ross Cox's wounds from the buried bomb were horrific enough: left foot blown off, right leg shattered, three tourniquets strapped to his bleeding limbs.
Continue reading "Protective underwear helps guard troops against IEDs" »
By Patricia Kime - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Mar 31, 2012 9:54:58 EDT
The Tricare Assistance Program for behavioral health counseling is being shut down due to lack of use, Tricare officials said Friday.
Continue reading "Tricare to close online mental health program" »
By CHRIS PETERSON Hungry Horse News
Posted: Wednesday, March 28, 2012 8:29 am
Can you still play video games? Are your fingers inside the flesh on your hand? How do you get out of the pool with no legs? What does your stump look like? How does that wheelchair work?
Continue reading "Marine tells tales of Afghanistan, recovery" »
Story by Cpl. Sarah Dietz | Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms | Date: 03.21.2012
Date Posted:03.26.2012 19:14
TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. - Cpl. Carlos Torres has a quiet spirit and is a man of few words. He is not arrogant, but he is proud of what he does.
Continue reading "1st Tanks Marine, double amputee named best Marine in 1st MarDiv" »
3/26/2012 By Capt. Jill L. Wolf , Wounded Warrior Regiment
MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. — The United States Marine Corps Wounded Warrior Regiment announced today the final roster of 50 Marines and Marine veterans who will serve on the 2012 All-Marine Warrior Games team.
Continue reading "WWR names 2012 All-Marine Warrior Games team " »
By Matthew M. Burke
Stars and Stripes
Published: March 17, 2012
SASEBO NAVAL BASE, Japan — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is collecting video testimony from people suffering from traumatic brain injury, or TBI.
Continue reading "TBI sufferers invited to share their stories online to help others" »
Rock group led by Gary Sinise to raise funds for an accessible home
By Dennis Yusko
Updated 10:10 p.m., Monday, March 12, 2012
NASSAU — Actor Gary Sinise came to the Capital Region Monday to roll out the red carpet for an Air Force veteran partially paralyzed from exposure to toxic chemicals in Iraq.
3/12/2012 By Sgt. John Jackson , 1st Marine Logistics Group (FWD)
HELMAND PROVINCE, Afghanistan — Staff Sgt. Marcus Burleson, an explosive ordnance disposal technician and team leader with 2nd EOD Company, 9th Engineer Support Battalion, 2nd Marine Logistics Group (Forward) was awarded the General Kvinitadze medal, which is given to foreign service members who significantly contribute in the development of Republic of Georgia-foreign nation military cooperation, Feb. 3.
Continue reading "Wounded EOD Marine receives award from Georgian President " »
By Chris Carroll
Stars and Stripes
Published: March 11, 2012
WASHINGTON — In late July last year, Marine Cpl. Kevin Dubois headed out to take the place of another Marine wounded while guarding a hastily setup landing zone near Sangin, a Taliban hotbed in southern Afghanistan.
Continue reading "Prosthetics give injured Marine hope for future" »
By Joe Gould - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Mar 10, 2012 10:17:55 EST
In the movie “The Empire Strikes Back,” Luke Skywalker’s hand is severed in a battle with Darth Vader and replaced by a futuristic prosthetic. Now science fiction is becoming science fact as the Defense Department funds the development of the “Luke Arm,” which may replace limbs that veterans have lost in battle.
Continue reading "New prosthetic arm born from ‘Star Wars’" »
By Michael Hill - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Feb 22, 2012 10:15:57 EST
HYDE PARK, N.Y. — Julio Gerena is in a wheelchair, his long career in the Navy and Army forever behind him. But the 52-year-old recaptured some of the old military camaraderie while peeling potatoes and chopping cilantro in a crowded kitchen.
Continue reading "Vets find camaraderie in cooking ‘boot camp’" »
February 22, 2012 3:52 PM
ERIKA I. RITCHIE - Orange County Register
CAMP PENDLETON — Cpl. Anthony McDaniel spun his wheelchair and strategically placed it between it himself and two guards from the opposing team.
CNN|Added on February 17, 2012
News video
Marines just back from war in Afghanistan reunite with their injured buddies, CNN's Barbara Starr reports.
By Jay Reeves - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Feb 8, 2012 11:26:40 EST
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. — Shot through the upper back on a rooftop in Afghanistan and gasping for breath after a bullet ripped through his chest, Marine Sgt. Ben Tomlinson had a fear worse than death.
Continue reading "Homecoming pushes wounded vet toward recovery" »
By MICHAEL M. PHILLIPS
FEBRUARY 4, 2012
DALLAS—The night Katie Brickman met Ian Welch at the bar, she knew right away the Iraq war veteran was the man she wanted to marry.
Continue reading "For Wounded Vet, Love Pierces the Fog of War " »
By Elaine Sanchez
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Jan. 30, 2012 – First Lady Michelle Obama today announced a series of measures intended to increase the nation’s support for caregivers of wounded, ill and injured service members.
Continue reading "Proposal Would Expand Support for Military Caregivers" »
1/27/2012 By Capt. Jill Wolf , Wounded Warrior Regiment
MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. (Jan. 27, 2012) — Marines, sailors and family members gathered here to honor a Wounded Warrior Regiment staff member during an award ceremony at the regimental headquarters today.
By Julie Watson - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Jan 19, 2012 7:18:12 EST
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — When the Marine unit that suffered the greatest casualties in the 10-year Afghan war returned home last spring, they didn’t rush back to their everyday lives.
Continue reading "Wars’ lessons applied to ease combat stress" »
By BILL LEUKHARDT, [email protected] The Hartford Courant
12:24 a.m. EST, January 13, 2012
CHICOPEE, Mass.—
— The sight of a young man with a USMC tattoo on his right forearm, standing with the help of two canes next to a wheelchair, was the big treat Thursday night for a group of Connecticut-based Marines returning from Afghanistan.
Continue reading "Wounded Marine Surprises Comrades As They Return Home From War" »
Photo Essay: The Story of Scott Ostrom
Friday, December 30th, 2011
After serving four years as a reconnaissance man and deploying twice to Iraq, Brian Scott Ostrom, now 27, returned home to the U.S. with a severe case of post-traumatic stress disorder. “The most important part of my life already happened. The most devastating. The chance to come home in a box. Nothing is ever going to compare to what I’ve done, so I’m struggling to be at peace with that,” Scott said. He attributes his PTSD to his second deployment to Iraq, where he served seven months in Fallujah with the 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion. “It was the most brutal time of my life,” he said. “I didn’t realize it because I was living it. It was a part of me.” Since his discharge, Scott has struggled with daily life, from finding and keeping employment to maintaining healthy relationships. But most of all, he’s struggled to overcome his brutal and haunting memories of Iraq. Nearly five years later, Scott remains conflicted by the war. Though he is proud of his service and cares greatly for his fellow Marines, he still carries guilt for things he did — and didn’t do — fighting a war he no longer believes in.
Posted: Friday, December 30, 2011 7:10 pm
By HILARY MATHESON/The Daily Inter Lake
One misstep on a path containing improvised explosive devices destroyed Lance Cpl. Thomas “Tomy” Parker’s legs and four fingers of his left hand.
By Staff reports
Lombard Spectator
Posted Dec 27, 2011
Lombard, IL —
On a warm summer night, throngs of people gathered at O’Hare Airport, at the Yorktown Shopping Center then outside a single-family home on Lewis Avenue. They were in a festive spirit to welcome home Marine Sgt. Billy McIntyre, a Lombard resident returning home after being wounded in Afghanistan.
Continue reading "Catching up with: Billy McIntyre, U.S. Marine wounded in Afghanistan" »
Written by
Gretel C. Kovach
8 p.m., Dec. 24, 2011
The current generation of young war-wounded amputees like Sgt. Collin Raaz, a 25-year-old Marine scout sniper, will likely live 50 to 60 more years.
Continue reading "Amputee needs will continue long after wars" »
With his surgeries in the past, Marine sergeant sees a clear path forward
Written by
Gretel C. Kovach
8 p.m., Dec. 24, 2011
Sgt. Collin Raaz has a few things to give the guys after they return from Afghanistan.
Sgt. Collin Raaz wears tall prosthetic legs to the ball
Written by
Gretel C. Kovach
8 p.m., Dec. 23, 2011
Sgt. Collin Raaz stops in the lobby of Caesars Palace hotel, leaning on two canes. The 25-year-old Marine is dressed casually in shorts that reveal his new prosthetic legs. He spray-painted them in red, white and blue stripes to match the motorcycle he used to ride before he was wounded.
Associated Press
By ANJA NIEDRINGHAUS
AP – Fri, Dec 23, 2011
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Inside the medevac helicopter in Afghanistan, U.S. Marine Cpl. Burness Britt bleeds profusely from his neck. He and two other Marines have just been hit by shrapnel, with Britt's injuries the most serious. The medevac crew chief clutches one of Britt's blood-covered hands as he is given oxygen. I take hold of the other.
Continue reading "Wounded Marine inspires AP photographer's search" »
Marine is poised at nexus of man and machine
Written by
Gretel C. Kovach
8 p.m., Dec. 22, 2011
In a sunlit room of the naval hospital, Sgt. Collin Raaz balances on two tall prosthetic legs, standing at the threshold of his bionic future.
Written by
Gretel C. Kovach
8 p.m., Dec. 21, 2011
The Marine lies on his side in the military hospital, his wheelchair parked nearby, waiting to be cast for his first pair of legs. The prosthetist dips strips of fabric coated in plaster into a bucket of warm water, then smooths them over thin pants covering Sgt. Collin Raaz’s battle-scarred thighs.
12/21/2011 By Capt. Patrick Boyce , Manpower & Reserve Affairs
MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. — No one steps foot into the combat zone in hopes to be wounded. But it’s a fact that some Marines in combat will be wounded or injured as a result of enemy action, with many of the Marines being eligible for award of the Purple Heart.
Continue reading "Marines with concussion, mild brain injury may qualify for Purple Heart " »
By Gidget Fuentes - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Dec 21, 2011 14:47:52 EST
The Marine Corps wants to make sure Marines and sailors who suffer concussions and other head injuries are tagged and tracked in a medical database, which officials hope will lead to better health care and treatment.
Continue reading "New database tracks Marine head injuries" »
Written by
Gretel C. Kovach
8 p.m., Dec. 20, 2011
On moving day, Sgt. Collin Raaz doesn’t have far to go or many belongings to transport. His car, his motorcycle and most of his other possessions remain in storage at the Twentynine Palms Marine base he called home before deploying to Afghanistan.
Written by
Gretel C. Kovach
9 p.m., Dec. 19, 2011
Sgt. Collin Raaz sits in a dimly lit physical therapy room on a September morning, gripping a six-pound weight in each hand. His thighs are scored with scars from the explosion, the many surgeries that followed and skin grafts.
Continue reading "Healing hurts for Marine after return from war" »
Written by
Gretel C. Kovach
9 p.m., Dec. 18, 2011
Updated 7:33 p.m.
The field where they wait for the medevac flight is strewn with dead stalks of opium poppy. Sgt. Collin Raaz, a 24-year-old Marine scout sniper, is critically injured from a bomb strike.
Continue reading "Military doctors on a mission for wounded Marine " »
Written by
Gretel C. Kovach
5 p.m., Dec. 17, 2011
Reporting for the eight-day series “The Long Walk Home” was compiled during periodic visits and lengthy interviews with Sgt. Collin Raaz over three months of his recovery at San Diego Naval Medical Center.
Marine left disabled by explosion in Afghanistan greeted with flags, ribbons, cheers
By Jack McCarthy, Special to the Tribune
7:17 p.m. CST, December 17, 2011
Josh Misiewicz couldn't stop grinning, even as he stood outside his family's La Grange home on prosthetic legs with an ear injury suffered in Afghanistan.
Continue reading "La Grange welcomes wounded warrior home" »
Marine had seen his share of IED casualties in Afghanistan, then he became one
Written by
Gretel C. Kovach
9:47 p.m., Dec. 17, 2011
Click. Boom.
By Kenneth Klein/Contributing Writer | Posted: Friday, December 16, 2011 12:15 am
Sitting in a wheelchair with a giant smile on his face, Marine Lance Cpl. Cody Elliott matched the excitement of those welcoming the wounded warrior back to the Central Coast.
Continue reading "Wounded Marine from Grover is welcomed home" »
By Patricia Kime - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Dec 2, 2011 15:53:29 EST
Veterans whose genitals have been severely injured as a result of trauma are now eligible for a lump-sum payment under the Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance Traumatic Injury program, or TSGLI.
Continue reading "Traumatic injury pay now covers genital trauma" »
POSTED: 9:25 pm CST November 30, 2011
OMAHA, Neb. -- Months after a roadside bomb blew up his vehicle, a Fremont Marine has returned home, thankful to be alive.
Continue reading "Injured Marine Greeted With Hero's Welcome" »
By Seth Robbins
Stars and Stripes
Published: November 25, 2011
LANDSTUHL, Germany — During a firefight in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province in 2002, U.S. Army Maj. Kevin Kit Parker stood atop a hill awaiting a Medevac flight for an injured soldier when a bomb exploded several miles away.
Continue reading "Groundbreaking research looks at how blasts injure brain" »
By BRITTANY SHAMMAS
Posted November 23, 2011
About 40 people gathered Wednesday night to pray and show support for a local Marine and Gulf Coast High School graduate who lost his leg after stepping on an improvised explosive device last week in Afghanistan.
Continue reading "Friends, strangers turn out to support local Marine who lost leg in Afghanistan" »
Julia Prodis Sulek
[email protected]
Posted: 11/22/2011 03:58:46 PM PST
Marine Cpl. Daniel Franke will be coming home this Thanksgiving, wheeling across the concourse at the San Jose airport after a long and painful journey.
Continue reading "Injured San Jose Marine returns home to family" »
By Megan McCloskey
Stars and Stripes
Published: November 20, 2011
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. — The breaking point came when Sandra Rivera found their 9-year-old son backed against a wall with his arms over his face, shielding himself from her husband’s screaming.
Continue reading "War-torn marriage: Family shattered by TBI, PTSD picks up pieces" »
By Gina Cavallaro - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Nov 20, 2011 9:49:10 EST
Fresher blood, sharper training and more rehab in theater have meant higher survival rates for wounded Marines and allowed thousands more to stay with their units longer after suffering an injury downrange.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
John Garcia
November 20, 2011 (MANHATTAN, Ill.) (WLS) -- A suburban Marine injured in Afghanistan was welcomed home to an early Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday.
Continue reading "Local Marine injured in Afghanistan returns home" »
Greg Caron was seriously injured in Afghanistan and the whole town is now coming together to support him and his family.
By Erin Quinlan
Nov. 17.2011
When people in Ellington heard that Marine Greg Caron had been injured in Afghanistan, they rallied.
Continue reading "Ellington Comes Together for Injured Marine" »
By taniameireles2
– November 17, 2011
The Department of Defense (DoD) recently published the 2011 DoD Compensation and Benefits Handbook, a comprehensive resource guide describing compensation and other benefits Service members and their families would be entitled to upon separation or retirement as a result of serious injury or illness.
By NICK VLAHOS
OF THE JOURNAL STAR
Posted Nov 10, 2011 @ 08:25 PM
Last update Nov 11, 2011 @ 08:48 AM
PEORIA —
Happy birthday, U.S. Marine Corps.
Continue reading "Marine injured in Afghanistan receives hero's welcome" »
Published: Saturday, November 05, 2011, 7:38 PM
MONROE (Middlesex County) — At first, Marcella Pascik didn’t notice the color scheme on the outside of her newly renovated home.
By Patricia Kime - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Nov 4, 2011 13:09:32 EDT
Apparently, wounded warriors who find a way to overcome grievous injuries tend to share a common characteristic: a wicked sense of gallows humor.
Continue reading "Wounded warriors share tales of recovery, hope" »
By Paula J. Caplan, Published: November 4
Psychologist Paula J. Caplan on how civilians and veterans can find common ground
We are a war-illiterate nation, and our ignorance can be obvious when civilians say to veterans: “Thank you for your service.” That simple phrase might seem like the best thing to say — it strikes us as easy, respectful and appreciative — but some veterans find the thank you disturbing, even if they realize that the speaker has good intentions.
Continue reading "Just by listening, civilians can help veterans heal" »
By Tom Smith
Senior Staff Writer
11/3/11
Christina Felber said her family members have had some anxious moments since learning her brother, Marine Cpl. Brian Felber, was severely injured while on patrol Monday morning in Sangin, Afghanistan.
By CNN National Security Producer Jennifer Rizzo
November 1st, 2011
02:27 PM ET
For the first time ever, MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) systems were deployed to a combat zone last month, ending an initiative by the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps to obtain the technology for brain injury treatment in Afghanistan.
Continue reading "Military surges MRIs to war zone to diagnose brain injuries" »
Active-duty Marines will undergo trials at Pendleton, Lejeune naval hospitals
By Gidget Fuentes - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Oct 22, 2011 9:18:14 EDT
Marines are participating in a study to see whether treatments of pure oxygen will help heal service members with mild traumatic brain injuries, one of the most common wounds of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Continue reading "Pure oxygen used in treating brain injuries" »
David Wood
Posted: 10/21/11 08:10 AM ET
In the dusty desert village of Jigjiga, in Ethiopia, I once watched a man die.
By MARK WALKER [email protected] | Posted: Sunday, October 16, 2011 5:30 am
The Marine Corps is trying to ease some of the hell of war, ordering that initiatives with roots at Camp Pendleton be put in place across the force to stem troop suicides and reduce combat stress disorder.
Continue reading "Pendleton leads way in easing hell of war " »
By Michael Doyle
McClatchy Newspapers
Published: October 14, 2011
WASHINGTON — Kurtis Foster knows the cost of wartime service.
Continue reading "Badly wounded Marine finds a new way to serve his country" »
David Wood
First Posted: 10/14/11 08:31 AM ET Updated: 10/18/11 11:14 AM ET
Luana Schneider gave up her career as an interior decorator and her "side job" as a mother of six, and moved to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio to care for her son. In addition to his severe burns, he had suffered perforated internal organs and leg injuries that eventually required an amputation. She lived in a hotel room and devoted days and nights to his care. Just changing his dressings took up to eight hours a day.
David Wood
First Posted: 10/13/11 08:57 AM ET
Last January, on a dusty parade ground in Mosul, Iraq, Army Sgt. Robert Fierro was shot in the head.
10/12/2011 By Lance Cpl. Michelle S. Mattei , Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton
A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held in celebration of the opening of Camp Pendleton’s Warrior Hope and Care Center, Oct. 6, marking the end of a nearly three-year-long construction. MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — The new facility located in the Wounded Warrior Battalion West will house offices for counseling and transition services that cater to wounded, ill and injured Marines, sailors and their families during their healing process.
Continue reading "Hope and Care center opens for wounded warriors " »
David Wood
First Posted: 10/11/11 08:28 AM ET
Stepping carefully through the blinding sun and heat and dust of southern Afghanistan with Lance Cpl. Tyler Southern and several squads of sweating Marines was a brand-new Navy corpsman, James Stoddard. He had never treated a real-life battle casualty. He was 19 years old.
Events for wounded warriors draws former president back into spotlight
By Jamie Stengle - The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Oct 8, 2011 14:17:00 EDT
DALLAS — George W. Bush says that after eight years in the White House, he’s happy to be back home in Texas and out of the spotlight.
Continue reading "Bush hosting Warrior Open for injured troops" »
By JANE ROSETT
Published: October 8, 2011
Jane Rosett is an artist at work on a multimedia project, “Adaptivitudes: Navigating My Brain Injury Rehabilitation,” and currently a brain injury patient at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital.
Boston
“WANT a piece of gum, Jane?” asked my friend Andrée.
The Physical Disability Board of Review (PDBR) provides veterans who were medically separated from military service between September 11, 2001 and December 31, 2009, with a new chance to have their disability ratings reviewed for fairness, consistency and accuracy.
By Brigid Brett | Posted: Friday, September 30, 2011
Richard "Sunny" Farrand hates to see anyone who has been injured while serving in the military falling through the cracks. Which is why he spends pretty much all his time checking up on wounded warriors at Naval Medical Center San Diego and helping military families who are trapped in bureaucratic limbo.
Continue reading "Preventing injured military families from falling through the cracks" »
By MARK WALKER [email protected] | Posted: Friday, September 30, 2011
A half-dozen Marines with brain injuries from combat in Afghanistan or Iraq will crawl inside a hyperbaric chamber at Camp Pendleton next week to begin eight weeks of treatment breathing pure oxygen to see if it speeds their recovery.
Continue reading "Brain injury study under way at Camp Pendleton " »
By Associated Press, Updated: Saturday, September 24, 2:10 AM
FORWARD OPERATING BASE JACKSON, Afghanistan — After the suicide bombing, the U.S. Marine dog handler lay on a stretcher, his bloodied legs laced with shrapnel. They brought in his wounded dog, too. Blood dripped from the haunches of the Belgian Malinois.
by Dave Franzman :: UPDATED: 23 September 2011
MARION – A Marine who was wounded in a blast in Afghanistan in late May still has a long way to go to meet his goal of returning to duty.
Continue reading "Wounded Marion Marine on road to recovery" »
9/19/2011 By Aquita Brown , Wounded Warrior Regiment
MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va., (Sept 19, 2011) — Marine reservists who are combat wounded, injured stateside or fall ill while in a duty status can be assured that they will have someone on their side. Mark Brokaw, who works at the Wounded Warrior Regiment here, wants reserve Marines to know this. Brokaw works at the Regiment as the program manager for the Reserve Medical Entitlements Determination section. Unique to the Marine Corps, the Wounded Warrior Regiment has an RMED section that tracks and manages the non-medical and medical care of wounded, ill and injured reserve Marines.
Photos and story by Sarah Weiser, The Herald
Published: Sunday, September 18, 2011
LAKE STEVENS -- The crowd's shouts were lighthearted.
Continue reading "The battle within: Trying to find the man inside the Marine" »
TSGLI Payments Will Be Made for Qualifying Injuries
September 16, 2011
WASHINGTON – The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is extending retroactive traumatic injury benefits to Servicemembers who suffered qualifying injuries during the period Oct. 7, 2001 to Nov. 30, 2005, regardless of the geographic location where the injuries occurred.
Continue reading "Retroactive Traumatic Injury Benefits No Longer Just For OEF/OIF Injuries" »
Five years after they joined the Marines, one of the Shipp twins is home and thankful for help from family and veterans programs
September 10, 2011
[email protected]
Five years ago, fraternal twin brothers from Hauser Lake realized their lifelong dream of enlisting in the U.S. Marines. They were eager to “see action” in Iraq or Afghanistan and defend their country.
SAN FRANCISCO | Fri Sep 9, 2011 3:38pm EDT
(Reuters) - Jordan Towers said he was unpacking a truck during a family move from Truckee, California, to the state capital of Sacramento when he heard the news that a plane had flown into New York's World Trade Center.
Continue reading "Man who joined U.S. Marines after 9/11 made sacrifice" »
Published: Wednesday, September 07, 2011
By Daniela Forte
“If it wasn’t for people in the military, and people in the CIA and FBI, still out there doing their jobs, Osama Bin Laden would still be out there.”
Five years after a gunshot changed his life, the author reflects on what a decade of war has cost Americans
By Justin Constantine
Sep 6 2011
I cry whenever I think of a memorial service I attended in Iraq. From the back of the hot, packed room next to the chaplain's office, I looked down the center aisle and saw six sets of boots, rifles, helmets, and dog tags. Six Americans had lost their lives defending their country. I had seen these Marines hug each other before heading out on patrol -- real hugs, as if they guessed they might not see each other again. They had been in Iraq for a while and knew how dangerous every mission was.
By R. Norman Moody - Florida Today
Posted : Sunday Sep 4, 2011 11:09:15 EDT
With the touch of a button, Russ Marek’s easy chair lifts him to a standing position.
Continue reading "Wounded vets applaud new caregivers plan" »
Sep 3, 2011
Written by
David Rising
Associated Press
LANDSTUHL, Germany - Volunteer staff from the U.S. military's Landstuhl Regional Medical Center huddle outside the emergency room doors, waiting under heat lamps on a crisp morning for what has become a daily routine in a decade of war - the arrival on a blue bus of the latest casualties from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Continue reading "U.S. military hospital at forefront of saving lives" »
By Janese Silvey - The Columbia (Mo.) Daily Tribune via AP
Posted : Saturday Sep 3, 2011 10:18:36 EDT
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Aaron Johnson applauded when Stella, a boxer mix, made it through a dark, curved tunnel on an obstacle course at Columbia Canine Sports Center.
Continue reading "Shelter dogs train to aid vets with PTSD" »
9/2/2011 By Capt. Jill L. Wolf , Wounded Warrior Regiment
MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. — Some service members who are catastrophically wounded, ill or injured are now eligible for compensation designed to offset the economic burden primary caregivers incur when assisting them.
Continue reading "Special Compensation for Assistance with Activities of Daily Living " »
Proceeds to benefit USO Wounded Warrior Family Centers
September 4, 2010(Nashville, Tenn. – Aug. 31, 2011) Active-duty U.S. Marine and multi-genre artist Mike Corrado is raising public awareness for wounded service members with his latest single and video, titled “Still In The Fight.”
8/29/2011 By Lance Cpl. Daniel Wulz , II MEF (FWD)
CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan — Within the military, it is said that service members look out for their own. In combat, brothers and sisters in arms have given life and limb for one another countless times throughout the history of our nation’s military.
By Tanya Eiserer - Dallas Morning News
Posted : Monday Aug 29, 2011 11:40:38 EDT
DALLAS — Dallas police Officer Andrew Litz falls frequently and can’t walk across the room without help.
Continue reading "Vet struggles to get care for PTSD, TBI" »
By NICK VLAHOS
of the Journal Star
Posted Aug 05, 2011
EL PASO —
Rodney Holzhauer has a severe heart problem. "I'm a bomb waiting to explode," the El Paso resident said with a chuckle.
Continue reading "Fundraiser will help Marine who lost lower legs in Afghanistan" »
August 1, 2011
by JTOZER
Captain Matthew Kutilek, U.S. Marine Corps
My interaction with Navy Medicine during my first eight years of service in the Marine Corps proved to be limited, uneventful and quite normal. An appointment here, sickness there, the birth of two healthy daughters over a span of two years and follow-on requisite visits proved to be the norm.
Continue reading "Medical Monday: A Grateful Marine’s Journey Through Navy Medicine" »
By Kimberly Hefling - The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Jul 29, 2011 7:25:44 EDT
WASHINGTON — More than a thousand Iraq and Afghanistan veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder would be given lifetime disability retirement benefits such as military health insurance under the terms of a settlement reached between the government and the veterans.
Continue reading "Vets with PTSD, government reach settlement" »
Story by Cpl. Jeff Drew | 2nd Marine Division | Date: 07.27.2011
CAMP HANSON, Helmand province, Afghanistan – The pouring rain drenched the streets of Ramadi, Iraq, mixing with the rancid stench of backed-up sewage canals. The knee-deep concoction made the night patrol difficult for the Marines, but they had a mission to accomplish.
Continue reading "An American hero: Georgia native loses leg, returns to combat zone" »
By Amy Norton
NEW YORK | Thu Jul 21, 2011 4:03pm EDT
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Reservists returning from Iraq or Afghanistan may have more trouble adjusting to life at home than full-time soldiers do -- and that can take a toll on their mental well-being, a UK study finds.
Continue reading "After tour, Reservists' mental health may suffer" »
OSCAR, the mental health arm of the Marine Corps, offers a host of services designed to ensure that no Marine has to recover alone from the trauma of battle.
By Judy Erickson
July 14, 2011
In an effort to identify and treat Marines who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the Navy and Marine Corps have developed certain protocols in recent years. Psychiatrists, nurse practitioners and psychiatric technicians deploy with and also live in regiments on the front lines with troops.
Kurt Busch carries a deep passion for connecting with veterans of the United States military...
FOXSports.com | Posted July 05, 2011 Daytona Beach, FL
Article by Lee Spencer, FOXSports.com
Johnny “Joey” Jones is as elated as any NASCAR fan who would have the opportunity to hang out in the driver/owner lot at Daytona International Speedway.
Continue reading "Kurt Busch Gives To Soldiers In Personal Way" »
Saturday, VFW Post 2593 held a fundraiser barbecue and auction to benefit U.S. Marine Corporal Justin McLoud, of Cedar Hill, who was severely injured by a roadside bomb while serving in Afghanistan.
By Sarah Worner | July 4, 2011
U.S. Marine Corporal Justin McLoud, 23, of Cedar Hill, briefly returned to St. Louis for the first time since Christmas 2009.
Continue reading "VFW Raises Close to $60,000 for 23-Year-Old War Veteran" »
Published: Sunday, July 03, 2011, 6:11 AM Updated: Sunday, July 03, 2011, 7:37 AM
By Roy Hoffman, Press-Register
At Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, Christopher Montgomery, a U.S. Marine corporal from Mobile, is learning to walk on artificial limbs.
Continue reading "U.S. Marine from Mobile who lost legs in Afghanistan determined to walk" »
By LAURA SUMMERS World Correspondent
Published: 7/2/2011 4:49 PM
Last Modified: 7/3/2011 2:02 PM
BARTLESVILLE — Marine Lance Corp. William Ely pounded the pavement Saturday on a 20-mile run down U.S. 75 to raise awareness and support for the Marine 1st Battalion, 5th Regiment serving in Afghanistan.
By Gidget Fuentes - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Jul 2, 2011 9:54:21 EDT
SAN DIEGO — An advanced, high-tech scanner is providing a team of Navy, Veterans Affairs Department and university researchers with detailed pictures of brain activity that will better identify traumatic brain injury, the signature but often-invisible war wound.
Continue reading "Scanner helps find traumatic brain injuries" »
Grover Beach man loses leg in IED explosion
By April Charlton/Senior Staff Writer [email protected] | Posted: Thursday, June 30, 2011
Life forever changed for one U.S. Marine from Grover Beach during his second tour of duty in Afghanistan.
Continue reading "Local Marine severely injured in Afghanistan explosion" »
AMANDA CROWE
Fairborn Editor
June 30, 2011
FAIRBORN � While Homes For Our Troops is completing a new home for Corporal Larry Draughn another organization wants to help him take care of it.
Continue reading "Help �stuff the trailer� for local Marine" »
By GoFISHn Editors on June 29, 2011
Anyone who's fly fished in Montana knows how soothing it can be, and that's why retired Marines colonel Eric Hastings decided to start Warriors and Quiet Waters–to share that tranquility with servicemen and women who have been traumatically wounded.
6/28/2011 By Cpl. Damien Gutierrez , Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton
MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — The legacy and tradition of one Camp Pendleton Marine who changed the lives of hundreds of wounded veterans was given new life at the place where it all began.
Continue reading "Horse riding program named after Marine Corps legend" »
By Mark Schulman
Times-News Staff Writer
Published: Saturday, June 25, 2011 at 4:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Friday, June 24, 2011 at 12:32 p.m.
The family of a fallen Marine from Stanley has stepped up to help a Marine from Hendersonville who was severely injured in an IED attack in Afghanistan earlier this month.
Continue reading "Fallen Marine's family reaches out to Hendersonville Marine" »
6/24/2011 By Lance Cpl. Walter D. Marino II , 2nd Marine Division
MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. — Imagine you’re driving down a road with loved ones and suddenly a deer leaps in front of your car. Maybe you’re able to avoid the crash, maybe not – either way, that moment will affect you for the rest of your drive and maybe the rest of your life. Now multiply that by 100 and you might have an idea of what it’s like to encounter an improvised explosive device.
Continue reading "Help available for Lejeune Marines with PTSD" »
11:00 PM, Jun. 18, 2011
Written by
LA TONYA FRELIX
Community members turned out Saturday to welcome home Petal resident Cpl. Colte James, who was injured June 4 in Afghanistan.
By ANJA NIEDRINGHAUS
Associated Press
Jun 17, 6:19 AM EDT
ABOARD A BLACK HAWK HELICOPTER IN SOUTHERN AFGHANISTAN (AP) - The Army medics had just dropped off a Marine wounded in a bombing when one reached over and handed me a scribbled note inside the noisy U.S. helicopter.
Continue reading "Lucky charms and bullet holes in Afghan helicopter" »
Commemorative DVD raises funds for Camp Pendleton troops
By Gretel C. Kovach
4:45 p.m., June 14, 2011
Amber McLoud was shopping in Walmart when she got the call. A gunnery sergeant wanted to inform her of some “really bad news” about her husband, an infantry Marine deployed to Afghanistan.
Continue reading "'The Day Remembered': Wounded Marines reflect on life after Afghanistan" »
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, June 13, 2011 – A month after the Veterans Affairs Department began processing applications for primary family caregivers of eligible post-9/11 veterans, officials report steady progress toward delivering the new services and benefits.
Continue reading "VA Works to Provide Post-9/11 Family Caregiver Benefits" »
By Denise Bonura
The Record Herald
Posted Jun 11, 2011 @ 11:01 AM
Lance Cpl. Matthew Shank of Waynesboro was among five Marines to receive the Purple Heart by Marine commandant Gen. James Amos Thursday.
Continue reading "Lance Cpl. Matthew Shank of Waynesboro receives the Purple Heart" »
By Dan Lamothe - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Jun 8, 2011 12:42:25 EDT
When Sgt. Maj. Carlton Kent hits the road to visit Marines, he likes to share the story of one man’s fight with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Continue reading "Navy Cross recipient credits Kent in recovery" »
The Palo Alto facility is among four nationwide in which physicians and therapists take a team approach to care for those who have suffered amputations and other catastrophic injuries, many from bomb blasts.
By Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times
June 5, 2011
Reporting from Palo Alto—
Marine Lance Cpl. Jorge Ortiz is in pain.
A combat photographer, Ortiz was taking pictures of a captured weapons cache in Sangin, Afghanistan, on Jan. 15 when he stepped on a buried explosive device.
Continue reading "VA trauma center treats most grievously wounded troops" »
Frank Gray
Last updated: June 5, 2011 10:36 a.m.
Normally a placid place, the Fort Wayne International Airport terminal was jammed Saturday afternoon with people carrying flags, signs and cameras.
Wounded Propst won't come home without unit
Andrew Dys - Columnist
Published: Friday, Jun. 03, 2011
YORK --
When you are the son of a guy who runs a sawmill in rural western York County - and your grandfather and great-grandfather that ran that mill - you grow up tough and hard-nosed.
Continue reading "Marine from York injured by shrapnel in Afghanistan" »
He's home from war early, not unscathed. It's the first time Marine Lance Cpl. Johnathan Bedwell has been back since he was injured in an IED Explosion in Afghanistan.
Posted: 5:46 PM Jun 1, 2011
Reporter: Sara Shookman
Email Address: [email protected]
MORRISTOWN, Tenn. (WVLT) -- A wounded warrior is home with family in East Tennessee Wednesday.
Story by Gunnery Sgt. Pauline Franklin | 2nd Marine Division | Date: 05.27.2011
CAMP LEATHERNECK, Helmand province, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan – At 6:50 p.m., May 25, a Marion, Iowa, Marine struck an improvised explosive device while patrolling in southern Garmser district. The infantry point man with Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, was wounded and needed care, but just as the communication lines began to light up to coordinate transportation for him, a sandstorm brought it all to a halt, putting the Marine in grave danger of bleeding to death before he reached medical assistance.
Continue reading "Americans Don’t Wait for Memorial Day to Unite in Helmand" »
May 25, 2011
Military.com|by Amy Bushatz
The more mail a happily married Soldier receives downrange, the less likely he is to have PTSD issues when he comes home -- but frequent mail for unhappily married Soldiers can result in stronger symptoms, a new study says.
Continue reading "Study: Mail From Home Lessens PTSD Symptoms" »
BY BILL LAMBRECHT • [email protected] and MARLON A. WALKER • [email protected]
STLtoday.com | Posted: Tuesday, May 24, 2011 7:00 am |
At a benefit concert Friday on his behalf, Marine Cpl. Todd Nicely's thoughts may travel from the explosion in Afghanistan that nearly killed him to the peaceful environs of Lake of the Ozarks.
Continue reading "Marine who lost limbs to war looks ahead to concert, new home" »
By Gen. James F. Amos - 05/24/11 06:45 PM ET
On a typically beautiful Southern California day in March of this year, First Lieutenant Cameron West of 3rd Platoon, Company I, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment rolled his wheelchair up to the podium in front of a crowd gathered for his battalion’s family readiness meeting. With a determined look, he deliberately halted the wheelchair several feet from the podium, stood on his one leg and hopped confidently to the microphone. West gave the crowd a wry grin and, in his characteristic good humor, introduced himself, “You Marines on the left side of the room can call me Lieutenant West and all you beautiful ladies and people on the right can call me Cam. I live in Oceanside and I’m open for visits,” he said.
Continue reading "Stories of our brave Marines teach us what it means to be truly selfless" »
11:00 PM, May. 24, 2011
As Marine sergeant Micah Crooks walked with a slight limp to to the pitcher's mound at Angel Stadium of Anaheim, the Alexandria native was introduced to some 43,000 fans settling in to watch the Los Angeles Angels host the Atlanta Braves Saturday night.
Continue reading "Angels honor local Marine's sacrifice in Afghanistan" »
5/22/2011 By By Sgt. Michael S. Cifuentes , Headquarters Marine Corps
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The Marines continue to dominate the competition at the 2011 Warrior Games, and the gold medals continue stacking.
Continue reading "Still in the fight: All-Marine team closing in on Warrior Games success" »
Story by Aquita Brown | Marine Corps Wounded Warrior Regiment | Date: 05.19.2011
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- The All-Marine shooting team consists of 18 athletes who competed in the 2011 Warrior Games preliminary rounds. The Marines went head to head with athletes from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and Special Operations Command. Victorious in their pursuit, the Marines advanced all 18 of their athletes to the final round that will be held at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., May 19.
Continue reading "Entire Marine shooting team advances to Warrior Games final round" »
Story by Lance Cpl. Kayla Hermann | Marine Corps Wounded Warrior Regiment | Date: 05.18.2011
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. James F. Amos, his wife Bonnie, and Sgt. Maj. of the Marine Corps Carlton W. Kent, surprised Marines during an intense sitting volleyball match between the Marines and Air Force, at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., May 18.
Continue reading "Amos, Kent surprise Wounded Warrior Regiment at Warrior Games" »
Story by Sgt. Heidi Agostini | Marine Corps Wounded Warrior Regiment | Date: 05.18.2011
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - By the end of the track and field meet, fans were not surprised to hear the Marines’ Hymn play during medal presentations at the 2011 Warrior Games, May 17, in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Continue reading "Marine team dominates track and field competition at 2011 Warrior Games" »
BY FRANK MORTIMER SUN CHRONICLE STAFF
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 2:57 AM EDT
FOXBORO - A young Marine from Foxboro was seriously wounded this week in an attack by insurgents in a rugged desert region in southwestern Afghanistan.
Story by Sgt. Heidi Agostini | Marine Corps Wounded Warrior Regiment | Date: 05.17.2011
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The U.S. Paralympics and Department of Defense held its opening ceremony today for the 2011 Warrior Games at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Continue reading "2011 Warrior Games commence with opening ceremony" »
Story by Aquita Brown | Marine Corps Wounded Warrior Regiment | Date: 05.15.2011
From their first day on the yellow footprints at recruit training or day one at Officer Candidates School, Marines have developed into athletic warriors. A program that was established in February 2008 has succeeded in bringing out that same warrior instinct for wounded, ill and injured Marines nationwide. The Wounded Warrior Regiment’s Warrior Athlete Reconditioning program, also known as the WAR program, provides opportunities for Marines to engage in individual or team sports settings that improve their overall mental and physical fitness.
Continue reading "Program brings out the warrior in Marine athletes" »
By Gretel C. Kovach
Saturday, May 14, 2011 at 6 p.m.
CAMP BASTION, Afghanistan — Flags for the international fighting force were flying at half-staff outside the military trauma hospital the morning of our visit, in remembrance of the latest troops killed in the war.
Continue reading "Trauma surgeons fight to keep troops alive" »
Story by Aquita Brown | Marine Corps Wounded Warrior Regiment | Date: 05.14.2011
The Warrior Games is an annual athletic competition that allows the Wounded Warrior Regiment’s wounded, ill and injured Marines to strengthen their mind, body and spirit. Athletes from all branches of service have an opportunity to compete, fine tune their skills and build camaraderie. However, for Marine veteran Chuck Sketch it means much more than that. Chuck has the opportunity to share this experience with his fellow Marines and his father, Roger Sketch.
Continue reading "Blind Marine competes in Warrior Games with the help of his family" »
By PAUL ELIAS
Associated Press
May 10, 4:47 PM EDT
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Noting that an average of 18 veterans a day commit suicide, a federal appeals court on Tuesday ordered the Department of Veterans Affairs to dramatically overhaul its mental health care system.
Continue reading "Appeals court blasts VA mental health care system" »
Article updated: 5/9/2011 10:33 PM
By Russell Lissau
Marine Cpl. John Peck doesn't remember who told him he lost his limbs after stepping on an explosive device in Afghanistan nearly a year ago.
Continue reading "Antioch honors wounded Marine, but he denies he's a hero" »
Naval Medical Center San Diego is where some learn a new way of life.
By Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times
May 7, 2011
Reporting from San Diego—
Marine Lance Cpl. Juan Dominguez has come a long way since October, when a roadside bomb in Afghanistan ripped off his legs above the knees and shredded his right arm above the elbow.
By Kelly Kennedy, USA TODAY
04.29.11
WASHINGTON — More than 190,000 active-duty servicemembers sought treatment for back injuries in 2010 — roughly 70,000 more than did in 2001, before the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan began, according to a Defense Department morbidity report released Friday.
Continue reading "Troop ailments, from backs to breathing, swell" »
NASCAR star drops by Quantico to visit wounded Marines, sign autographs for fans
Date published: 4/29/2011
By RUSTY DENNEN
On any given weekend in NASCAR's racing season, driver Tony Stewart is greeted by thousands of cheering fans.
Continue reading "NASCAR champ driven to honor pair of warriors" »
By Chris Carroll
Stars and Stripes
Published: April 22, 2011
WASHINGTON -- About 30 percent of traumatic brain injury patients will develop clinical depression, a level three times higher than the general population, according to a new study.
The Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs launch the free PTSD Coach to help veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder seek immediate help or manage their symptoms.
By Elizabeth Montalbano InformationWeek
April 19, 2011 14:06 PM
Veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) now can turn to their mobile devices for help, thanks to a new application from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of Defense (DOD).
By DAVE TARRANT
Staff Writer
[email protected]
Published: 17 April 2011 12:15 AM
Second of a two-part series
Doctors told Ivonne Thompson to prepare for the worst. Her husband might not survive the night.
Continue reading "Wife faces life-or-death decision for her war-injured husband " »
1 in 5 Combat Veterans Get Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, But Training, Unit Cohesion Can Foster Resilience
By SUSAN DONALDSON JAMES
April 15, 2011
The 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment returned home from one of Afghanistan's deadliest war zones this week after a grueling eight-month deployment with record casualties. Remarkably, military psychiatrists say the men appear to be relatively unscathed mentally.
Continue reading "Marines Battalion Mentally Upbeat, Despite Record Deaths" »
By Gretel C. Kovach
Saturday, April 9, 2011 at 6 p.m.
With his family at his bedside, there was no reason for the phone in Cpl. Marcus Chischilly’s hospital room to ring. Then one day it did.
Continue reading "Marines stick together, even after battle" »
By DAVID TARRANT
Staff Writer
[email protected]
Published: 09 April 2011 10:21 PM
First of two parts
For nearly four days, the squad of Marines stood guard on Bridge 286, an overpass that crossed a highway thick with traffic between Baghdad and Fallujah. Just a few hours before the end of their shift, a dump truck approached the bridge and rolled to a stop under the overpass. It was loaded with 3,000 pounds of explosives.
Continue reading "Military families are thrust into caregiving roles for severely injured troops " »
by Julie Rose
April 8, 2011 from WFAE
Hundreds of veterans are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with disabilities that make it hard or impossible for them to get a job. Many are eligible for disability benefits, but with a wait time that can last months or even years, the veterans are at risk of serious financial trouble.
Continue reading "VA Officials Try To Ease Disability Exam Backlog" »
Study shows 2010 saw at least 171 troops suffer battlefield injuries resulting in amputations; 65 of them lost two limbs or more.
By Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times
April 6, 2011
Reporting from Landstuhl, Germany, and Helmand— Grim combat statistics that one military doctor called "unbelievable" show U.S. troops in Afghanistan suffered an unprecedented number of catastrophic injuries last year, including a tripling of amputations of more than one limb.
Continue reading "U.S. troops in Afghanistan suffer more catastrophic injuries" »
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
HAMPTON, Va., March 24, 2011 – The “F-bombs” fell fast and furiously yesterday at an otherwise perfectly proper gathering of military health care professionals here as they broke away from their lectures and academic exchanges to watch a documentary play about the challenges many of their patients struggle to overcome.
Continue reading "Play Shares Emotions of Deployments, Reintegration" »
By Andrew deGrandpre and Richard Sandza - Staff writers
Posted : Tuesday Mar 15, 2011 18:27:36 EDT
More U.S. troops who sustain combat-related brain injuries could soon be eligible for the Purple Heart.
Continue reading "Mild brain injury could soon rate Purple Heart" »
3/14/2011 By Maj. Paul Greenberg , Wounded Warrior Battalion-East
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (March 14, 2011) — In September 2001, Than Naing was cooking hamburgers in a fast-food restaurant in New York City and taking prerequisite classes part-time at the City College of New York in hopes of pursuing an engineering degree.
Continue reading "Wounded Warrior shows true grit to stay in the fight" »
The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Mar 14, 2011 11:28:10 EDT
WELLINGTON, Nev. — A Marine who had both legs amputated after his Humvee struck an anti-tank mine in Iraq in 2007 will soon realize his dream of a new home for his family in Nevada.
Continue reading "Groups build home for Marine wounded in Iraq" »
By Leo Shane III
Stars and Stripes
Published: March 11, 2011
WASHINGTON — Veterans Affairs officials promised Friday that traumatic brain injury victims will be covered under new caregiver benefits scheduled to start this summer, but veterans advocates remain skeptical.
Continue reading "VA insists benefits will cover caregivers of vets with TBI" »
The Associated Press
Posted: Tuesday, Mar. 08, 2011
LOS ANGELES Former TV game show host Bob Barker is donating $2 million to a charity that helps injured members of the military and their families.
Continue reading "Bob Barker donates $2 million to Semper Fi Fund" »
2/28/2011 By Lance Cpl. Michelle S. Mattei, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton
MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — Some competed blindly; some competed without their arms or legs—but for the first ever Marine Corps Trials, wounded warriors from all over the world did not let their injuries deter their will to compete.
Continue reading "Wounded Warriors Compete During First Marine Corps Trials" »
By Alison St John
February 21, 2011
More than 150 Marines, many of them missing a limb, are competing this week in the first ever Marine trials for the Warrior Games later this year. More Marines are remaining in the service, even with serious injuries that might have disqualified them in the past.
Continue reading "Inaugural Marine Trials for Wounded Warrior Games" »
Richard Johnson February 19, 2011 – 6:00 am
In remarkably candid interviews from a veterans hospital in Richmond, Virginia, three U.S. Marines tell National Post graphics editor and illustrator Richard Johnson about coming under fire in Afghanistan, and the long road to recovery.
Continue reading "Wounded Warriors: Life will never be the same" »
By VINCE DEVLIN of the Missoulian missoulian.com | Posted: Saturday, February 19, 2011 11:00 pm
RONAN - They rolled in by the hundreds Saturday, close friends, distant relatives and complete strangers alike, never-ending waves of people who packed the Ronan Community Center to welcome Lance Cpl. Thomas Parker home, and thank him for his sacrifice.
Continue reading "Ronan friends, strangers come out in force for Tomy Parker" »
February 17, 2011 6:30 AM
by Patty Kleban
After spending two weeks at Marine base Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, N.C, I considered the many things I could write about for this week’s column. The dedication of those who have volunteered to serve in the Marine Corps. The enthusiasm of the Marine Corps Community Service personnel who serve those who serve. Adjusting to life, even temporarily, in a community where “security” means more than locking the front door. Acronyms. Artillery practice and helicopter training missions overhead at night. Being the only person in civilian clothes in the long lines of young men and women in uniform at the food court at the MC Exchange.
Continue reading "Wounded Warrior Serves as Inspiring Example to Marines Injured in Action" »
By VINCE DEVLIN of the Missoulian Wednesday, February 16, 2011
As Marine Lance Cpl. Thomas Parker of Ronan returned home Wednesday night for the first time since losing both legs and four fingers in Afghanistan, it was hard to tell what got to him more.
Continue reading "Injured Ronan Marine returns home for first time" »
By Leo Shane III
Stars and Stripes
Published: February 10, 2011
WASHINGTON — A plan to provide benefits to caregivers of wounded troops may now exclude some of the same families who appeared alongside President Barack Obama when the measure was signed into law last spring.
Continue reading "Caregiver benefits proposal irks families of wounded troops" »
The lifelike limb, controlled by a chip planted on the brain, is being tested as part of a program designed to speed development of medical devices.
By Andrew Zajac, Washington Bureau
February 9, 2011
Reporting from Washington —
Responding to the needs of badly wounded war veterans, federal officials said Tuesday they were accelerating reviews of a science-fiction-like robotic arm controlled by a computer chip on the brain.
By Leo Shane III
Published: February 9, 2011
WASHINGTON – A group of senators is asking White House officials to speed up plans to train and pay caregivers of wounded troops, noting that by law the first checks should have gone out to those families last month.
By Nancy Montgomery
Stars and Stripes
Published: February 7, 2011
CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan — Gunnery Sgt. Williams had done it before, clearing a compound with his company, preparing to build a new patrol base.
Continue reading "Military tries one-stop shop for treatment of concussions" »
The New York Times
by CJ Chivers
02.04.2011
By any reasonable measure, Specialist Peter Sprenger, a radio operator in an Army infantry company, could easily have been dead. It was Dec. 19, 2003, in Talafar, Iraq. An Iraqi man driving an explosives-laden car had breached his company’s perimeter. American soldiers fired at him with light machine guns, but the driver accelerated toward the company command post.
Continue reading "Exploding Bombs and Wounded Eyes: From Blindness Back to Patrol" »
2/4/2011 By Capt. Jill Leyden , Wounded Warrior Regiment
IRVING, Tx. — Marines and Marine veterans, supported by the United States Marine Corps Wounded Warrior Regiment, gathered here to attend a welcome dinner at the Irving Convention Center, marking the start of events leading up to their attendance at Super Bowl XLV. The 40 Marines and Marine veterans are from military treatment facilities, military bases and communities across the nation. They were hand selected by Wounded Warrior Regiment staff to attend Super Bowl XLV and participate in various activities throughout the week.
Continue reading "Wounded Warrior Marines SuperBowl Bound" »
By Elaine Wilson
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Feb. 3, 2011 – From benefits and compensation to education and training, an online directory is providing wounded warriors, veterans and their families a direct connection to thousands of state, local and national resources.
Continue reading "Directory Links Wounded Warriors, Families to Resources" »
by Julie Watson, The Associated Press
Posted: Monday, January 31, 2011
MOORPARK, Calif. — The crisply ironed uniforms of the father and son hang side by side in what they have dubbed the “Marine Corps closet,” a dark space filled with vestiges of their tours of duty.
Continue reading "Marine father, son battle brain injuries" »
JULIE WATSON
Associated Press
January 25, 2011, 11:50 a.m.
MOORPARK, Calif. (AP) — The crisply ironed uniforms of the father and son hang side by side in what they have dubbed the "Marine Corps closet," a dark space filled with vestiges of their tours of duty.
By Dr. Patrick B. Massey
Article updated: 1/24/2011 07:36 AM
Traumatic brain injury is a major cause of death and disability worldwide, especially in young adults and children. Unfortunately, war is also a significant factor in the number of serious brain trauma events. The end result of TBI can be significant deficits in speech, understanding, memory and higher brain functions.
Continue reading "Old and new ways to treat traumatic brain injuries" »
Brain Trauma Foundation guidelines drafted in 1995 have been widely adopted. Iranian physicians who treated the wounded in the Iran-Iraq war also helped treatment advance.
By Melissa Healy, Los Angeles Times
January 24, 2011
In the 1946 issue of the Annals of Surgery, U.S. Army Maj. Ralph A. Munslow chronicled in exquisite detail the emergency care of 140 soldiers and civilians who suffered grievous head wounds — mainly from shell fragments — during the 5th Army's 1944 operation to seize and hold a beachhead in Anzio, Italy.
Continue reading "Advances in treatment help more people survive severe injuries to the brain" »
The Virginian-Pilot
© January 24, 2011
The Defense Department has launched an interactive simulation designed to help those dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Continue reading "Website aims to increase awareness of PTSD" »
Staff Writer
6:18 p.m. EST, January 21, 2011
THOMASVILLE, N.C. (WGHP) —
Dozens of volunteers are building a new home for a former Marine who was severely wounded in Afghanistan.
Continue reading "Thomasville Marine Vet To Get New Home Built By Volunteers" »
By Sharon L. Peters Special for USA TODAY
01.20.11
The number of veterans who get rehabilitation and re-entry help from dogs will substantially increase if a bill introduced in the House of Representatives this month becomes law.
Continue reading "Man's best friend could soon be veteran's best medicine" »
Posted: Jan 18, 2011 7:27 PM by Allyson Weller (KPAX News)
Updated: Jan 18, 2011 8:42 PM
MISSOULA - The Ronan community is working to raise money for a local Marine who lost both his legs and most of his left hand in Afghanistan.
Continue reading "Ronan banding together to help injured Marine" »
Before he headed back to base, Santa and the American Legion paid Michael Brattole a visit.
By Lauren Mazzarella and Jessica Remo
01.18.11
Marine Sergeant Michael Brattole was on the nice list this year.
Continue reading "Santa, Clark American Legion Visit Recovering Marine Sgt. Michael Brattole" »
By VINCE DEVLIN of the Missoulian missoulian.com | Posted: Saturday, January 15, 2011 10:49 pm
BETHESDA, Md. - Both of his legs are gone. The flesh was torn to shreds half a planet from here, and what little remained - mostly bone - was amputated in a field hospital in Afghanistan last month.
POSTED: 4:53 pm CST January 14, 2011
TEXARKANA -- A U.S. Marine from Broken Bow, Okla., who was wounded by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan returned home on Friday.
Posted: Jan 13, 2011 6:01 PM by Amanda Venegas
Updated: Jan 13, 2011 6:03 PM
BILLINGS - United States Marine Corps Sergeant Dustin Stroble is finding himself in a whole new world, after being seriously wounded in service. Now, instead of patrolling the streets of Marja, Afghanistan, he is rebuilding his strength and body one day at a time.
Continue reading "Wyoming marine gives meaning to the word sacrifice" »
By Corinne Reilly
The Virginian-Pilot
© January 11, 2011
The Department of Veterans Affairs must work harder to address combat stress in women returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a new government study says.
Continue reading "Study: Women shortchanged on combat-stress help" »
By Diana Kuyper Special to The News-Sun Jan 8, 2011 02:34AM
Marine Cpl. John Peck may have lost his legs and arms in an IED explosion in Afghanistan, but he hasn’t lost his heart.
BY VIK JOLLY
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Published: Jan. 6, 2011
CAMP PENDLETON – About a dozen Pendleton Marines will hike from San Francisco to San Clemente over 22 days starting next month to raise money for wounded warriors and their families.
Continue reading "Pendleton Marines to hike from San Francisco to O.C. for the wounded" »
Story by Donna Miles | Office of the Secretary of Defense Public Affairs | Date: 01.05.2011
BETHESDA, Md. - A popular program that turns donated frequent-flyer miles into free airline tickets for wounded warriors receiving medical care as well as their families will expand this year so families of the fallen and combat wounded can participate in two upcoming events.
Continue reading "'Hero Miles' Program Supports Families of Fallen, Wounded" »
By Andrew Tilghman - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Jan 1, 2011 10:07:25 EST
Military health officials are refusing to pay for a new treatment for traumatic brain injury despite widespread support for the therapy among doctors and lawmakers.
Continue reading "Tricare denies coverage of newer TBI treatment" »
By Kate Wiltrout - The Virginian-Pilot via AP
Posted : Friday Dec 24, 2010 12:43:53 EST
CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Jason Redman remembers what it was like to go out in public while recovering from war wounds — out into what he called “the land of stares and gawks.”
Continue reading "Vets launch clothing line for wounded warriors" »
by T. Christian Miller, ProPublica, and Daniel Zwerdling, NPR Dec. 23, 2010, 8:30 a.m.
Last month, the Pentagon sent a soothing letter [1] to members of Congress worried about the treatment of soldiers who suffered brain injuries in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Continue reading "Pentagon Told Congress It’s Studying Brain-Damage Therapy" »
By T. Christian Miller and Daniel Zwerdling
ProPublica and NPR
Published: December 21, 2010
ATLANTA — One afternoon this fall, Bobby McKinney hunched over a coffee table with a clear glass surface. A lamp with a bare light bulb illuminated it from below. Pencil in hand, the former Marine traced the pattern for a tattoo across delicate paper, a swirling, intricate design reminiscent of a Celtic cross.
Continue reading "Philanthropist, not Pentagon, bankrolls promising TBI therapy" »
By T. Christian Miller and Daniel Zwerdling
ProPublica and NPR
Published: December 20, 2010
WASHINGTON — Over the past few decades, scientists have become increasingly persuaded that people who suffer brain injuries benefit from what is called cognitive rehabilitation therapy — a lengthy, painstaking process in which patients relearn basic life tasks like counting, cooking and remembering directions to get home.
Continue reading "Battle over science, money blocks widely recommended TBI therapy" »
By: Todd South
Sunday, Dec. 19, 2010
DALTON, Ga. — Joyce Jones barely could wait for the car door to open to hug her son, a Marine sergeant who arrived home Saturday for the first time since an August bomb blast in Afghanistan took his legs.
Continue reading "Joey Jones makes first visit home since Afghanistan blast" »
December 18, 2010 12:32 AM
Craig Smith / CBS 6 Staff
COLONIE -- It was a special holiday homecoming for a local Marine -- his first time back to Westerlo since he lost his lower legs to an explosion in Afghanistan in June.
Continue reading "Wounded Marine arrives home to hero's reception" »
Published December 16, 2010
| FoxNews.com
A pair of recently released government
reports shows that more military trainees are being discharged for "pre-existing" psychiatric conditions than any other reason, with those cases particularly high among Marines.
Continue reading "Troop Discharges High for 'Pre-Existing' Psychiatric Disorders" »
Four Marines Who Lost Limbs in Afghanistan Talk About the Afghan People, Their Time in Afghanistan and the Price They Paid
Dec. 15, 2010
By David Martin
(CBS) If ever Marines earned the right to speak their minds about the war, it is a group of four men who were all gravely wounded by roadside bombs in Afghanistan, reports CBS News National Security correspondent David Martin
Continue reading "Are Marines Giving Up too Much in Afghanistan?" »
1st Reconnaissance Battalion arrives home in time for the holidays
By MARK WALKER - [email protected] North County Times - Californian | Posted: Wednesday, December 15, 2010 8:53 pm
He lost his legs, his left arm and part of his right hand to a roadside bomb in Afghanistan in August, but Navy Medical Corpsman James Raffetto says that's not what's been worrying him.
Continue reading "Injured corpsman greets troops who helped save him" »
John Davis • Poughkeepsie Journal • December 15, 2010
FREEDOM PLAINS — Individuals, businesses and organizations such as the LaGrange Sunrise Rotary Club can help the recovery of Marines severely wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Continue reading "Colonel asks community to help wounded Marines' recovery" »
The Price of Progress: At Bethesda Naval Hospital, Amputees Recover From Injuries Received While in Afghanistan
By David Martin
BETHESDA, Md., Dec. 14, 2010
(CBS) If you want to measure the price of progress in Afghanistan, there's no better place than the surgical ward at Bethesda Naval Hospital, reports CBS News David Martin
Continue reading "Soldiers Sacrifice Limbs for Afghanistan" »
By Cheryl Pellerin
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Dec. 8, 2010 – Improvised explosive devices and multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan are boosting the incidence of mild traumatic brain injury, a condition that some early studies indicate may increase a soldier’s future risk for Alzheimer’s disease, a researcher said yesterday.
Continue reading "Mild Brain Trauma May Raise Long-Term Alzheimer’s Risk" »
By Bob Brewin [email protected] December 6, 2010
During the past decade, 767,290 active-duty military personnel have received a diagnosis of a mental health disorder, according to a series of reports expected to be released today by the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center in Silver Spring, Md. Overall, from January 2000 through December 2009, such diagnoses increased 60 percent.
Continue reading "Report: Defense faces large and growing mental health problem" »
Last Updated on Friday, 03 December 2010 12:49 Friday, 03 December 2010 00:15
Written by Rick and Alice Linahan
This 3 day outdoor excursion was successful before the first Marine stepped foot onto the property, into a deer blind, or on the lake shore.
Continue reading "These Marines are Real American Heroes and they know how to Hunt and Fish" »
By Gretel C. Kovach • U-T,
Saturday, November 27, 2010 at 6 p.m.
A young soldier who returned from Iraq drives across the country to visit a buddy at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The patient’s legs have been blown off by a rocket-propelled grenade.
Continue reading "After decade of war, impact of combat stress becomes clearer" »
Findings of a study by MIT engineers might contribute to a future redesign.
By Melissa Healy, Los Angeles Times
November 22, 2010|6:34 p.m.
The much-maligned combat helmet worn by U.S. soldiers and Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan sustained another blow Monday as engineers from MIT reported that the headgear, as currently designed, did little to protect troops from blast-related brain injury.
Continue reading "Helmet face shield could reduce troop brain injuries" »
U.S. Department of Defense
Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs)
News Release
IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 1075-10
November 19, 2010
The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness announced today the names of 14 people who will serve on the Department of Defense Task Force for Care, Management, and Transition of Recovering Wounded, Ill, and Injured Members of the Armed Forces.
Continue reading "DOD Establishes Wounded Warrior Task Force" »
Story by Kristen Wong | Marine Corps Base Hawaii – Kaneohe Bay | Date: 11.19.2010
KANEOHE — All Lance Cpl. Joshua Kelly wants for Christmas is a cane.
Continue reading "Wounded warriors write winter wishlists" »
By Michelle Tan - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Nov 11, 2010 21:20:43 EST
SAN ANTONIO — Col. Alan Sutton knows he can make lives better. He just has to get the word out. Sutton and a team made up of other doctors and highly skilled technicians at Wilford Hall Medical Center, the Air Force’s premier hospital in San Antonio, painstakingly restore the faces of service members injured in war.
Continue reading "Prosthetics team restores looks of injured" »
By Michael E. Ruane
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, November 11, 2010; 9:28 AM
The morning that Marine Cpl. Todd A. Nicely received his medal for valor, he and his wife, Crystal, paused in a restroom at Walter Reed Army Medical Center to pull the trousers of his uniform over his artificial legs.
Continue reading "On Veterans Day, honoring Marine who lost limbs in Afghanistan, but not spirit" »
'A SOLDIER'S HEART': DAY FOUR OF A PG SPECIAL SERIES
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
By Michael A. Fuoco, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Don Bankosh stands next to the bathroom door in his bedroom and points to large holes he punched into it during a fit of rage several years ago.
Continue reading "Medevac soldier makes peace with PTSD diagnosis" »
By Cheryl Pellerin
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Nov. 9, 2010 – Troubled troops, veterans and family members have a round-the-clock, free resource for locating the help they need to deal with psychological health problems and traumatic brain injury.
Continue reading "DOD Call Center Links Troubled Troops, Resources" »
'A SOLDIER'S HEART': DAY THREE OF A PG SPECIAL SERIES
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
By Michael A. Fuoco, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
In his mind's eye, Mike Cranmer is a young boy, romping amid the rural lushness of a Greene County farm, his family's rustic getaway from suburban Pittsburgh. He's safe among the trees, the rolling hills, the foliage. A calmness envelops him.
By Arthur Allen
Special to The Washington Post
Monday, November 8, 2010; 1:51 PM
Rick Yount and his golden retriever puppy, Gabe, had separation issues every morning. "The dog kept looking at me at the door with those sad eyes, and finally it was just impossible to resist," Yount recalled. So one morning, "I decided to take him with me."
Continue reading "Vets with PTSD train dogs to help comrades" »
A PG SPECIAL SERIES: DAY TWO
Monday, November 08, 2010
By Michael A. Fuoco, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
WHEELING, W.Va. -- Carrie Kleeh is calm and relaxed behind the steering wheel in Pittsburgh as other drivers fret and fume in the city's stop-and-go traffic.
Continue reading "Carrie Kleeh carries the unseen battle scars from Iraq" »
By John McCoy - The Charleston Gazette via AP
Posted : Sunday Nov 7, 2010 12:00:18 EST
FRANKLIN, W.Va. — With a quick squeeze of a crossbow's trigger, James Raffetto proved that it would take more than an insurgent's bomb to keep him from enjoying life.
Continue reading "Program lets wounded vets experience W.Va. hunts" »
A PG SPECIAL SERIES: DAY ONE
Sunday, November 07, 2010
By Michael A. Fuoco, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
WELLS TANNERY, Pa. -- Derrick Earley steers a four-wheeler up the gravel driveway to his father's hand-built stone home and climbs off. Fit and goateed, the 23-year-old is wearing a cutoff T-shirt, camouflage shorts and cap as he shyly greets visitors, not quite making eye contact, not quite avoiding it, either.
Continue reading "Caring for the invisible wounds that warriors bring home" »
A brief film shows three men struggling against a death wish after returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
By Steve Lopez
November 6, 2010|6:41 p.m.
The Marine from Downey had the muzzle of an assault rifle in his mouth and was ready to pull the trigger when his fellow Marines saved him. Back home, he tried to overdose on Valium and he once called a suicide hotline with a gun in his hand and police at his door.
By Kelly Koopmans KVAL News
Story Published: Nov 5, 2010 at 4:00 PM PDT
EUGENE, Ore. - Harvey Jay Leal remembers how and when Iraqi insurgents blew up his convoy, but it’s hard for him to remember how our conversation even started.
Continue reading "'The signature injury of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan'" »
BY MARTHA QUILLIN - Staff Writer
Published Fri, Nov 05, 2010 02:00 AM
FUQUAY-VARINA -- The cold rain that came down Thursday morning as former Marine Corps Sgt. Stanley A. Roberts received the keys to his new house felt like a blessing falling from the sky.
Continue reading "Volunteers give injured ex-Marine a house" »
By Kelly Koopmans KVAL News
Story Published: Nov 4, 2010 at 4:49 PM PDT
PART TWO of a three part series. Watch KVAL News on Friday for more on Traumatic Brain Injury
KEIZER, Ore. - There is a reason Julio Najara keeps his apartment dark.
Continue reading "Veteran with brain injury: 'Freedom isn't free ... it has a heavy price'" »
By Megan McCloskey
Published: November 3, 2010
WASHINGTON - HBO's new documentary about the psychological toll of combat will be aired on AFN this Veterans Day, the same day it premieres in the States.
By Kelly Koopmans KVAL News
Story Published: Nov 3, 2010 at 7:33 PM PDT
PART ONE of a three part series. Watch KVAL News on Thursday and Friday for more on Traumatic Brain Injury
EUGENE, Ore. -- It's a wound few understand or even see: Many of Oregon's service members are coming home forever changed by Traumatic Brain Injury, known as TBI for short.
Continue reading "Silent epidemic: 'Brain injury and war go hand in hand'" »
By Drew Brown
Stars and Stripes
Published: November 2, 2010
Second in a two-day series
KANDAHAR AIR FIELD, Afghanistan — The U.S. soldier arrived at NATO’s Role 3 hospital here in dire shape. A homemade Taliban bomb had torn off both legs and an arm, and he had lost a tremendous amount of blood.
By Drew Brown
Stars and Stripes
Published: November 1, 2010
First in a two-day series
KANDAHAR AIR FIELD, Afghanistan — Hardly a day passes when the American flag above the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade’s headquarters here is not flying at half-staff.
Continue reading "'More missions, more contact' for Task Force Shadow" »
By David Brown
Saturday, October 30, 2010; 2:45 AM
BAGRAM AIR FIELD, AFGHANISTAN -- It's a heart-stopping and heartbreaking catalogue of the mayhem, heroics and human toll of modern war.
Continue reading "Teleconferencing from the war zone improves treatment for wounded soldiers" »
1st Marine Logistics Group Public Affairs
Story by Lance Cpl. Kenneth Jasik
Date: 10.24.2010
Date Posted: 10.29.2010 11:53
DEMAZONG, Afghanistan – Slightly more than a month ago, a Marine with Combat Logistics Battalion 2, 1st Marine Logistics Group (Forward) suffered a grade-three concussion in a blast from an improvised explosive device. Today, he is back on top of his game as a combat engineer who just completed a mission helping build Patrol Base Demazong.
Courtesy Story | Office of the Secretary of Defense Public Affairs | Date: 10.29.2010
WASHINGTON - Calling post-traumatic stress "the military health issue of our era," the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff last night re-emphasized his commitment to ensuring that war veterans and their families get all the help they need to deal with war's invisible scars.
Continue reading "Mullen Renews Commitment to 'Military Health Issue of Our Era'" »
AOL News
(Oct. 29) -- Suppose a stranger showed up at your doorstep and offered to help you run a marathon. How would you react?
Continue reading "Former Marine to Be Iraq War Vet's Legs in Marathon" »
Posted on: Fri, 22 Oct 2010 08:21:43 EDT
Oct 22, 2010 (The Daily News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
A two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup winner met with some of his biggest fans Thursday: wounded Marines stationed at Camp Lejeune's Wounded Warrior Battalion East.
by Cpl. Priscilla Sneden | Wednesday, October 20, 2010
For more than seven years, the U.S. has been engaged in a two-front War. While the physical casualties of that war continue to be tallied, the total number of victims claimed by the Global War on Terror may never be certain.
October 20, 2010
U.S. and Israeli vets tour Israel to show anything is possible
Tuesday, October 19, 2010 10:40 PM EDT
By LISETTE VELASQUEZ
Staff Writer
NEW BRITAIN — In the warmth of his mother Ana Mendoza’s apartment, 21-year-old Manuel Jimenez is back from war, back to the comfort and normalcy of home, with his nephews and older brother Hector watching football highlights and Saturday morning cartoons.
Continue reading "‘I’m still here:’ Local Marine who lost arm is grateful for family" »
By Mike LaBella
The Eagle Tribune
Mon Oct 18, 2010, 02:30 AM EDT
HAVERHILL — Ron Powell, a three-time Purple Heart decorated Marine veteran of the Vietnam War, has had many sleepless nights since his three sons followed in his footsteps.
Hands badly wounded by bomb
By Tanner Kent Free Press Staff Writer The Mankato Free Press Sat Oct 16, 2010, 11:42 PM CDT
MANKATO — In war-torn Iraq, Neil Schalk’s hands protected the lives of the Marine Corps’s top commanding generals.
Air Force Doctor Lt. Col. Eric Holt Injured By IED In Battle
POSTED: 6:28 pm PDT October 15, 2010
SAN DIEGO -- An Air Force doctor is hoping his recovery from injuries sustained in battle can encourage other wounded servicemen and women.
Continue reading "Doctor Injured In Afghanistan Hopes To Inspire Others" »
Published: Sunday, October 10, 2010
By PAULA ANN MITCHELL
Freeman staff
ABOUT 70 friends and relatives gathered Friday afternoon at the Orange County Choppers headquarters in Newburgh as a modified and customized hand cycle designed for former Marine Sgt. Eddie Ryan was unveiled.
Donations sought to aid Marine Lance Cpl. Colin Pascik in recovery after IED explosion
BY PATRICIA A. MILLER
Staff Writer
October 7, 2010
Members of the VFW Monroe Central Post 262 had a simple mission on Monday night: To publicize the plight of a hometown son who lost both his legs in Afghanistan.
Continue reading "Monroe rallies for Marine wounded in Afghanistan" »
By Christian Davenport
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, October 2, 2010; 6:16 PM
The doctor begins with an apology because the questions are rudimentary, almost insultingly so. But Robert Warren, fresh off the battlefield in Afghanistan and a surgeon's table, doesn't seem to mind.
Continue reading "Traumatic brain injury leaves an often-invisible, life-altering wound" »
By Gretel C. Kovach
Wednesday, September 29, 2010 at 7:05 p.m.
Source: Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center
CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan — The first bomb blast that day left Sgt. Michael Monday light-headed. The next one knocked him unconscious for 10 minutes.
Continue reading "Marines put new focus on treating brain injuries" »
Posted: Sep 27, 2010 5:47 AM PDT
(WRCB) Two different groups held events over the weekend to benefit Marine Sergeant Joey Jones.
Continue reading "Benefits help Marine family with expenses" »
Injured Marine progresses through good times, bad
Jamie Jones
Sun Sep 26, 2010, 01:25 AM EDT
DALTON — The raucous blast propelled Joey Jones skyward to the heavens.
by Stacy Bannerman
September 25, 2010
With thousands of troops now preparing to return, a new crisis may open on the domestic front. Military wife Stacy Bannerman on the husbands she's seen transformed into domestic abusers.
by NPR Staff
September 4, 2010
More than seven years after U.S. troops first invaded Iraq on March 20, 2003, President Obama addressed the nation on Tuesday to commemorate the official end of the Iraq War. However, the legacy of one of America’s longest combat missions will continue to affect the thousands of troops who came home suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries.
Continue reading "Thousands Of Returning Soldiers Face A New Enemy" »
Regimental Combat Team-7, 1st Marine Division Public Affairs
Story by Cpl. Skyler Tooker
Date 09.04.2010
CAMP DWYER, Afghanistan — Health officials with Regimental Combat Team 7 are conducting post-deployment health assessments for the Marines and sailors at the end of their yearlong deployment to identify and address any mental and physical health issues.
Continue reading " RCT-7 ensures mental health for returning Marines and sailors" »
Thursday, September 2, 2010 02:59 AM
By Jeb Phillips
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
One of the most highly decorated Marines during the war in Iraq had to drink to fall asleep. He once tried to kill himself.
After emergency surgery, a Marine is airlifted to the Landstuhl medical center on a special cargo plane. Since 2004, nearly 13,000 wounded U.S. service personnel have been evacuated there.
By Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times
August 30, 2010|5:24 p.m.
Reporting from Landstuhl, Germany —
Before Marine Cpl. Corey Griggs went on his last patrol in Afghanistan's restive Helmand province, he had a premonition of sorts.
Continue reading "U.S. hospital in Germany handles America's Afghan war wounded" »
By MATTHEW PERRONE
AP Health Writer
Posted on Monday, 08.30.10
WASHINGTON -- Andrew White returned from a nine-month tour in Iraq beset with signs of post-traumatic stress disorder: insomnia, nightmares, constant restlessness. Doctors tried to ease his symptoms using three psychiatric drugs, including a potent anti-psychotic called Seroquel.
Continue reading "Questions loom over drug given to sleepless vets" »
By Julien Pearce
August 27, 2010
As President Obama prepares to address the nation next week about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the casualties continue to mount.
Continue reading "One Marine’s Struggle To Return To The Battle Field." »
LEXINGTON, Va., Aug. 26, 2010 – A Virginia Military Institute cadet wounded last month by an improvised explosive device while on active duty with the Marine Corps in Afghanistan is a cadet no more.
Continue reading "Wounded Cadet Meets Graduation Requirements" »
August 25, 2010
Julie Watson,Kevin Maurer, The Associated Press
The Canadian Press, 2010
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. - They have been in harm's way for years in two countries, in a branch of the military where toughness and self-reliance have been especially prized for generations. Now the Marines are struggling against an enemy that has entrenched itself over nearly a decade of war: mental illness
8/23/2010
By Lance Cpl. Michelle S. Mattei,
Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton
MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. —
Four Marines were added to the Purple Heart’s list of heroes injured during battles in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Continue reading "Four Marines awarded Purple Heart for their sacrifice" »
Volunteers build addition to parents' house to aid recovery from wounds suffered in war
By Barbara O'Brien
NEWS STAFF REPORTER
Published:August 21 2010
A year ago, Marine Staff Sgt. John Stanz was fighting for his life in a military hospital in Germany after a bomb hit his Humvee in Afghanistan.
by WKBW Programming
August 20, 2010
HAMBURG, NY (WKBW) - Marine Staff Sergant John Stanz Jr. was nearly killed in Afghanistan when an enemy attack destroyed the humvee he was riding in.
Flag-raising, dedication set for tonight in Caledonia.
By Chris Green
RRSTAR.COM
Posted Aug 12, 2010 @ 11:31 PM
CALEDONIA — Less than two weeks after being moved out of Bethesda Naval Hospital’s intensive care unit in Maryland, U.S. Marine Cpl. John Peck returned.
Continue reading "Critically wounded Marine shows improvement" »
A Whitfield County Marine family is praying and preparing this evening to fly to Bethesda, Maryland.
Continue reading "Afghanistan Bomb Blast Injures Whitfield Marine" »
Some of Cpl. John Peck's best friends are people he has never met.
Continue reading "Antioch event raises funds for badly wounded Marine" »
CASPER — At 5:30 a.m. on July 1, Lance Cpl. Jake Henry and roughly 17 other Marines left for a normal patrol in southern Afghanistan. They crossed over a canal and into an old poppy field, died out from the season before.
Clayton Jarolimek’s injuries are serious, but not ‘life-threatening,’ mother says
A U.S. Marine from Minto, N.D., was injured Monday by an improvised explosive device, or IED, while on a foot patrol in Afghanistan.
A U.S. Marine from Minto, N.D., was injured Monday by an improvised explosive device, or IED, while on a foot patrol in Afghanistan.
Although he was half a world away from home, DeAvila was quickly surrounded by family and friends, due to a strong military family and community.
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. • The reading of Sophocles' classic drama "Ajax" was polished and powerful.
Continue reading "'Ajax' strikes chord with Marine veterans" »
CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan — Lance Cpl. Frank Martin had only been in Afghanistan a few days when a 60-pound improvised explosive device detonated while he and his squad were on their first foot patrol in northern Marjah, hurling him into the air.
Continue reading "'Wounded Warrior’ Facility Helps Injured Marines Get Back to the Fight" »
MOUNT PLEASANT, TX (KLTV) - Marine Lance Corporal Dustin Dryden, 21, of Mount Pleasant was on his second tour in Afghanistan when he was wounded by an IED late Tuesday.
Continue reading "East Texas Marine wounded by IED, family shares story" »
By Gregg Zoroya - USA Today
Posted : Wednesday Jul 28, 2010 22:14:27 EDT
TAMPA, Fla. — Army Ranger Cory Remsburg was thrown like a rag doll into an Afghanistan canal Oct. 1 by the blast from a 500-pound roadside bomb, the right side of his head caved in by shrapnel.
Continue reading "Long journey back for troops with brain trauma" »
By Gregg Zoroya - USA Today
Posted : Wednesday Jul 28, 2010 22:14:27 EDT
TAMPA, Fla. — Army Ranger Cory Remsburg was thrown like a rag doll into an Afghanistan canal Oct. 1 by the blast from a 500-pound roadside bomb, the right side of his head caved in by shrapnel.
Continue reading "Long journey back for troops with brain trauma" »
As Marine Cpl. John Peck fights in his recovery from near-fatal injuries suffered in Afghanistan, the Antioch community is continuing its support by planning a fundraising concert.
Continue reading "Fundraising concert to help injured Antioch Marine" »
MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — Marines with Wounded Warrior Battalion West did not let their injuries slow them down as they took part in the Ocean Therapy Program hosted by a local foundation at Camp Del Mar’s beach, Camp Pendleton, July 20.
Continue reading "Wounded Warriors dive into Ocean Therapy Program" »
Local effort started to help family
Lance Cpl. Jake Henry received a Purple Heart July 15 at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. The 21-year-old Casper Marine is recovering from injuries received in Taliban stronghold Helmand province, Afghanistan, July 1.
He nearly lost his life to an improvised explosive device just last month in Afghanistan. Despite that, Lieutenant Nathan Jeffcoats is fighting to go back to war.
Continue reading "Wounded Adams County marine fights back" »
By Natalie Bailey - Medill News Service
Posted : Tuesday Jul 13, 2010 18:08:55 EDT
With her copper hair, pale skin and small stature, Army Reserve Sgt. Jennifer Hunt, 26, stands out in the Veterans Affairs Department hospital waiting room filled with Vietnam War-era veterans.
Continue reading "Back home, female vets fight for recognition" »
On a perfect summer day, Kyle Francis sat in a rocking chair on his parents’ front porch in Clay and talked about the worst part of having visible war wounds: People asking him what happened.
Continue reading "U.S. Marine from Clay: Being shot makes you grow up fast" »
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Jul 10, 2010 9:07:07 EDT
New rules could take effect as early as Monday to streamline the process for veterans of all eras with post-traumatic stress disorder to become eligible for disability benefits and treatment.
Continue reading "VA to loosen rules to get PTSD benefits" »
An area Marine is adjusting to new prosthetic feet while working to get the pieces of his life together.
Continue reading "Injured Marine determined to adjust to new prosthetic feet" »
BETHESDA, Md. — The U.S. military is opening a new medical center in suburban Washington dedicated to traumatic brain injury, sometimes called the signature wound of today's wars.
Continue reading "Military opens brain injury center in Md." »
The anger burns inside Niko Lorris.
Continue reading "New research could help explain the lasting effects of PTSD" »
Banding Together to Get BetterAmputees at Walter Reed Army Medical Center Rely on Each Other For Inspiration to Push Themselves to Walk Again
(CBS) May was a cruel month. The number of servicemen and women who lost an arm or a leg since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan began went over 1,000, many of them more than one. They come to the physical therapy room at Walter Reed, reports CBS News correspondent David Martin.
NEW YORK - Maria Del Carmen Del Toro couldn't access her husband Israel's bank account for more than four months while he lay comatose after a roadside bomb attack in Afghanistan.
Continue reading "Family Finance: War can lead to financial battle" »
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday May 20, 2010 13:54:13 EDT
A study shows that there may be a reason that those with chronic post-traumatic stress disorder deal with more physical health issues as they age: Their immune system has been compromised.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., - Army Chief of Staff Gen. George W. Casey Jr. made a surprise visit to the inaugural Warrior Games here, May 13, capping a pivotal night in medal game play.
Continue reading "Army Chief Presents Medals at Warrior Games" »
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- People are calling Corporal Tyler Southern a hometown hero.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The inaugural Warrior Games at the Olympic Training Center here will draw to a close this evening, leaving in their wake a few hundred happy, but very tired troops, family members and volunteers.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., May 13, 2010 – When retired Marine Corps 1st Sgt. John Fuller was asked how he thought the inaugural Warrior Games archery competition would turn out, his answer was complicated, yet simple. And it was right.
Continue reading "Marines Earn Gold, Silver in Warrior Games Archery" »
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., May 13, 2010 – The Marine Corps teams competing at the inaugural Warrior Games here have a wealth of coaching knowledge available to their athletes.
Continue reading "Husband, Wife Coach Marine Shooting Team" »
An Afghan insurgent's homemade bomb shattered Marc Esposito's lower legs, broke his back and knocked him cold for four days. But the Air Force staff sergeant says the worst part was being torn from his Special Operations teammates who stayed in the field after he was evacuated.
Continue reading "Warrior Games give injured vets kinship, strength" »
Guidance Helicopters will offer helicopter rides to the public to raise money to help U.S. Marine Corps Lance Corporal Michael Martinez, a 2008 graduate of Prescott High School, who lost his legs in Afghanistan.
Continue reading "Company offers helicopter rides to raise money for injured Marine" »
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., May 12, 2010 – The Marine Corps team is on top after yesterday’s first day of competition at the inaugural Warrior Games here, sweeping their opponents and finishing 4-0 in team play.
Continue reading "Marines Dominate in Early Competition at Warrior Games" »
Conference to examine consequence of battlefield transgressions, exposure to carnage
A group of mental health experts is giving a name to the guilt and remorse troops feel when they see or do bad things during war: moral injury.
By Gidget Fuentes - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday May 2, 2010 9:16:02 EDT
The Corps is expanding special pay and allowance eligibility for Marines wounded or ill as a result of combat or hostile fire.
Continue reading "More wounded Marines eligible for special pays" »
FORT CARSON, Colo. – The All-Marine Warrior Games Team training camp kicked off with a dinner for athletes and staff April 27, at the Colorado Inn. The team, guests and staff celebrated the beginning of the training, as well as the mark of a new tradition when the games commence May 10 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center.
Marine slowly getting his life back together after being shot in Afghanistan
Lewis Skerry is adjusting to a new, strangely diminished life.
Continue reading " A slow journey back for wounded Marine" »
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Apr 27, 2010 13:33:37 EDT
Disabled veterans with sight, hearing and mobility limitations who might benefit from having a service dog at their side are being encouraged by a major veterans service organization to apply for government reimbursement of some dog-related expenses.
Continue reading "More vets eligible for service dog benefits" »
FORT DETRICK, Md., - From developing a new microprocessor-controlled prosthetic leg to a non-chafing socket device, the Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center here is making big strides in advancing prosthetic science to improve wounded warriors' quality of life.
Continue reading "Better Prosthetics Coming for Wounded Warriors" »
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Apr 19, 2010 16:36:46 EDT
People caring for severely disabled veterans would be eligible for a host of new benefits — including payment for some — under a compromise reached between key congressional committees, the Veterans Affairs Department and the White House.
Continue reading "Deal reached on family caregiver benefits" »
By Natalie Bailey - Medill News Service
Posted : Saturday Apr 17, 2010 9:42:40 EDT.
Three years ago, Cpl. Matt Bradford lost both legs and his vision after a bomb blast in Iraq. Despite these devastating injuries, Bradford had no interest in retreating to civilian life. He wanted to continue his Marine career
Continue reading "Cpl. first blind double-amputee to re-enlist" »
Retired Marine will help paralyzed vet achieve dream
ELLENVILLE — It began with an impossible wish, a wish to run. And though he's paralyzed from the waist down, nobody who knows Marine Sgt. Eddie Ryan, his friends and especially his family should ever have doubted that wish would come true.
Continue reading "Sgt. Eddie Ryan training to roll in fall marathon" »
A local Marine who survived a devastating injury during a tour in Iraq marks a milestone with a new plan to complete a marathon. Lori Chung has more on how a fellow Marine is helping him to make his mission.
ELLENVILLE, N.Y. -- Marine Sergeant Eddie Ryan is used to defying the odds.
By Sharon Cohen, The Associated Press
Stars and Stripes online edition, Monday, April 12, 2010
It wasn't his first tour in Iraq, but his second and third when Joe Callan began wondering how long his luck would last — how many more months he could swerve around bombs buried in the dirt and duck mortars raining from the skies.
Continue reading "Revolving door of multiple tours linked to PTSD" »
FRANKLIN—Franklin’s Jeane Brown says her 25-year-old grandson, Bobby Brown, is her hero.
Continue reading "Marine with local ties injured in Afghanistan" »
After all he's been through, the only real regret Marine Cpl. Matthew Bradford says he has now is not being able to return to combat duty in Iraq.
COOS BAY, Ore. -Three months ago, a local Marine, 1st Lt. Richard Rush was fighting a war in Afghanistan when he and seven others were hit by a roadside bomb.
Continue reading "Injured Marine continues recovery in Coos Bay" »
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan—Under a dusty hospital tent where doctors yell over the roar of jet engines, Dr. John York studied an electronic image of a blood vessel in the neck of a soldier wounded by an improvised bomb. It looked like a balloon ready to pop. Too delicate to operate on directly. Dr. York would have to try a procedure that had rarely been attempted so close to a battlefield.
Continue reading "On Distant Battlefields, Survival Odds Rise Sharply" »
Camp Pendleton troops will be first to undergo experimental technique
Dozens of brain-injured Camp Pendleton troops from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan soon will climb inside a pressurized chamber and breathe pure oxygen to see whether the treatment speeds their recovery.
Continue reading "Brain-injured Marines to test new treatment" »
By Dan Blottenberger, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Wednesday, March 31, 2010
BAMBERG, Germany — Spc. Joseph Pickering has found a way to let some of his painful memories of the Iraq war float away.
Continue reading "Wounded find new freedom in scuba classes" »
By Amy McCullough - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Mar 31, 2010 7:47:00 EDT
The Defense Department hopes to find a better treatment for the 100,000 troops who have been diagnosed with mild Traumatic Brain Injury since 2003, and it’s looking at hyperbaric chambers — often used in cases of carbon monoxide poisoning — for the answer.
Central graduate stepped on IED in Afghanistan
About 5 a.m. Saturday, Becky Palmer, 25, got the phone call.
Continue reading "Milton Marine loses leg in blast in Afghanistan" »
MILTON, Fla. (WALA) - A Milton Marine stepped right onto a roadside bomb in Afghanistan. His foot had to be amputated and he's being treated for injuries in Germany. His family is keeping in close contact with him and is thankful he's still alive.
Medical providers stress that there's a commitment to serve all military personnel.
CHEYENNE -- Veteran health care is changing along with changing military demographics.
Continue reading "VA focuses on needs of more female vets" »
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Defense Department is rolling out a new set of guidelines for the treatment of mild traumatic brain injury among service members in combat areas.
Continue reading "New Protocol to Provide Early Brain Injury Detection" »
The shattered Marine Part 1
“I was killing myself without even knowing it,” said Pvt. Travis Westhoven, an inmate at the Camp Lejeune Brig.
By Lauren Glendenning - Vail (Colo.) Daily via AP
Posted : Saturday Mar 13, 2010 16:15:15 EST
VAIL, Colo. — Sgt. 1st Class Joe Kapacziewski’s 2005 injury in Iraq might have gotten the best of his right leg, but it certainly didn’t get the best of him.
Continue reading "Vail ski program gives boost to injured vets" »
By Gregg Zoroya - USA TODAY
Posted : Tuesday Mar 2, 2010 17:33:08 EST
WASHINGTON — Troops caught near a roadside blast will be pulled out of combat for 24 hours and checked for a mild traumatic brain injury, even if they appear unhurt or say they are fine, according to a new treatment policy the Pentagon is planning to release.
WASHINGTON - Scientists at the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center and a professor at Columbia University are working on a collaborative study measuring brain damage on traumatic brain injury patients.
Brain scans, blood tests may help predict condition
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Dec 27, 2009 8:40:52 EST
Two new studies seem to provide more evidence that post-traumatic stress disorder is a chemical change in the brain caused by trauma — and that it might be possible to diagnose, treat and predict which troops are most susceptible to it using brain scans or blood tests.
Continue reading "Studies find breakthrough in PTSD treatment" »
By KIMBERLY HEFLING Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON December 14, 2009 (AP)
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Nobody wants to buy them a beer.
Continue reading "Back from combat, women struggle for acceptance" »
U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Michael Blair sits tall in a saddle that has been used by soldiers since before World War I. Today he is riding Bud, a jet-black horse whose usual job is leading caissons through the somber funeral ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery With his crew cut and his Marine Corps windbreaker, Sgt. Blair, 34, looks every bit the part of a soldier as he rides down the path at Arlington's Fort Myer. When he dismounts, though, he grabs a walking stick with a Marines logo on it and walks unevenly to the stables.
Continue reading "Injured troops find therapy on horseback" »
WASHINGTON, Nov. 24, 2009 – As Army Sgt. First Class John Wright lay in a hospital room after being wounded in Afghanistan this summer, he probably didn’t envision himself feeling especially thankful a few months later.
Continue reading "Vice President Opens Home to Recovering Troops" »
Marine Corps League Detachment 061 honored Purple Heart recipients representing three generations at a banquet Saturday that celebrated today as the 234th anniversary of the founding of the U.S. Marine Corps.
Continue reading "Marine Corps League honors wounded warriors" »
From the series - Women at Arms
For Vivienne Pacquette, being a combat veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder means avoiding phone calls to her sons, dinner out with her husband and therapy sessions that make her talk about seeing the reds and whites of her friends’ insides after a mortar attack in 2004.
ARLINGTON, Va. - An Evansville Marine injured in Afghanistan was one of 25 soldiers awarded personal mobility vehicles at a ceremony in Arlington, Va., on Thursday.
Continue reading "Evansville Marine, wounded in Afghanistan, receives electric vehicle" »
Man loses lower leg in Monday’s helicopter wreck; parents fly from the county to see him
A Marine captain and San Luis Obispo High School alumnus is recovering in a hospital in Germany after he lost one of his lower legs and suffered other serious injuries in a helicopter crash Monday in Afghanistan.
By Ralph D. Russo - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Oct 20, 2009 16:23:22 EDT
NEW YORK — Maryland and South Carolina will wear uniforms with camouflage designs during their games Nov. 14 to honor military veterans and promote the Wounded Warrior Project.
Continue reading "Teams to raise cash for Wounded Warrior Project" »
By Kimberly Hefling - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Oct 15, 2009 13:10:33 EDT
WASHINGTON — Female soldiers and others serving in dangerous roles behind the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan have long complained it was hard to prove their combat experience when applying for disability for post-traumatic stress disorder.
Continue reading "Proposal could ease way for disability payments" »
MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. — For the men and women who put themselves in harms way for our country and return injured, little can be done to fully repay them for their sacrifice.
Harrisburg, Pa. - A local Marine wounded in Afghanistan was honored for his service and his sacrifice on Thursday night.
By Eloise Aguiar - The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted : Sunday Sep 20, 2009 9:46:48 EDT
KANEOHE BAY, Hawaii — Marine Corps Base Hawaii’s latest recruit breaks the mold with his laid-back attitude and nonregulation hairstyle. But he’s highly trained and devoted to his unit.
DENVER - It's been one month since Staff Sergeant Jesse Cottle was seriously injured in Afghanistan. In that time he has had six surgeries and lost both of his legs.
By Karen Jowers - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Sep 6, 2009 8:16:30 EDT
The Department of Veterans Affairs is moving closer to simplifying the process for many veterans to link post-traumatic stress disorder to their military service, whether in a war zone or not, which opens the door for disability benefits.
Continue reading "Change would streamline PTSD claims for vets" »
FAIRBORN, Ohio -- It was a homecoming in Fairborn for a disabled Marine who got a hero’s welcome from thousands of people.
WASHINGTON | It wasn’t a bullet or roadside bomb that felled Lance Cpl. Josef Lopez three years ago, after just nine days in Iraq.
Continue reading "Missouri veteran injured by vaccine ineligible for benefit" »
FAIRBORN — Marine Lance Cpl. Larry Draughn Jr. credits his remarkable recovery after losing both legs in Afghanistan on May 31 to his stubbornness and something he learned from his late father.
Continue reading "Local Marine loses both legs, not his spirit" »
BETHESDA, MD,— Crestron hosted the third Eagles Program dedication ceremony yesterday for the Wounded Warriors Battalion – East at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, unveiling the new home theater donated to provide comfort and entertainment for America’s heroes recovering from injuries sustained during combat overseas. The Crestron Eagles Program was conceived by Crestron
President George Feldstein to honor the service and sacrifice of our wounded warriors returning home from battle.
Continue reading "Crestron Eagles Program Donates Theater to Marines" »
Densfords seek assistance with meals program that supports military families as they visit injured or ill servicemen at National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda
Military service is a family tradition for Peggy and Joe Densford's family. Two of their three children are Marines — Capt. Nathan Densford, 30, is currently serving his third tour in Iraq as an air operations officer. Sgt. Seth Densford, 25, a veteran of Afghanistan, is currently serving at Camp Lejeune, N.C. Nathan is a 1997 graduate of Great Mills High School. Seth is a 2002 graduate of St. Mary's Ryken
ST. LOUIS MO ( KTVI-FOX2Now.com ) - There is an effort underway by moms of St. Louis area Marines to make sure no injured Marine is left without a letter showing them America cares.
Continue reading "Effort To Give Every Injured Marine A Letter Showing America Cares." »
DENVER - In a place where crowds are a given and homecomings happen every day, a couple of hundred people, most perfect strangers, gathered to surprise one man in a way that doesn't happen every day.
DENVER - Lance Corporal John T. Doody is finally back home in Colorado. But it wasn't an easy trip.
Continue reading "Wounded Iraq War veteran receives hero's welcome at DIA" »
Gannett Washington Bureau - Gannett Washington Bureau
Posted : Thursday Jul 16, 2009 20:48:40 EDT
WASHINGTON — Marine Lance Cpl. Josef Lopez of Springfield has spent the last three years recovering from a smallpox vaccination that left him paralyzed and nearly took his life.
Continue reading "Stricken Marine spurs senator’s amendment" »
DENVER (CBS4) ― A wounded war veteran received a hero's welcome at Denver International Airport on Wednesday.
By Alysia Patterson - The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Jun 28, 2009 13:48:10 EDT
FORT CARSON, Colo. — Army Spc. Cameron Briggs washes down a cocktail of prescription drugs every day for post-traumatic stress disorder and a brain injury he suffered when four roadside bombs rocked his Humvee in Iraq.
Continue reading "Dogs more actively integrated into rehab" »
By Karen Jowers - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Jun 27, 2009 12:00:25 EDT
The deadline is July 27 for troops with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury, and their families, to register for a free getaway near Big Bear Lake in California’s San Bernardino Mountains.
Continue reading "Free retreat offered for TBI vets, families" »
Staff report
Posted : Thursday Jun 25, 2009 21:38:01 EDT
The Marine officer who devised centralized barracks for wounded warriors is leaving the Corps.
Continue reading "Marine behind Wounded Warrior barracks to retire" »
WASHINGTON, June 19, 2009 – A foundation formed by the family of a fallen Marine whose story was told in the HBO movie “Taking Chance” has donated $10,000 to a group that works to help wounded veterans and their families.
Continue reading "Chance Phelps Foundation Donates $10,000 to ‘Hope for the Warriors’" »
Staff report
Posted : Thursday May 7, 2009 21:41:11 EDT
JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — Marines recovering at Camp Lejeune, N.C., from wounds sustained in Afghanistan and Iraq are getting new digs conveniently located next to the base naval hospital.
Continue reading "Lejeune maps out new Wounded Warrior barracks" »
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday May 7, 2009 19:58:16 EDT
When an improvised explosive device blew up in Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004, Derek McGinnis, a former Navy corpsman, lost the bottom half of his leg.
Continue reading "Conference brings vets, caregivers together" »
By David Carter, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Sunday, May 3, 2009
YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — Lance Cpl. Matthew Bradford was nervous.
Continue reading "Injured Marine shares story to inspire others" »
Researchers are not sure whether the treatment will have any positive impact
Brain injuries are fast becoming one of the signature injuries of the wars in Iraq and Afghantistan. Now, some San Antonio researchers are trying a cutting edge way to treat these wounded warriors. It involves oxygen
Continue reading "Hyperbarics under study as a treatment for traumatic brain injury" »
By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Apr 20, 2009 5:21:31 EDT
Inexact post-deployment questions about service members’ health are leading to incorrect diagnoses of mild traumatic brain injury, resulting in troops sometimes receiving the wrong medications and inappropriate treatment while other maladies go untreated, two leading Army TBI researchers conclude in a paper published April 16 in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Continue reading "TBI screens need to get specific, report says" »
ARLINGTON, Va. — Military scientists are learning how roadside bombs — the most common weapon used against U.S. troops in on the battlefield — harm the brain even when there is no other physical damage, according to research results released by the project’s lead scientist.
Continue reading "Military studies shed light on brain injuries" »
The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Feb 1, 2009 8:56:50 EST
MIDDLEVILLE, Mich. — Former Marine Cpl. Joshua Hoffman was paralyzed from the chest down two years ago by a sniper’s bullet in Iraq. He uses a wheelchair and has been in and out of hospitals with infections.
Reaching for a cigarette to cope with a flashback is all too common among sufferers of post-traumatic stress disorder. The nicotine hit may feel good but scientists say its brain action probably makes their PTSD worse in the long run.
Continue reading "How to help when smoking, alcohol complicate PTSD" »
Reaching for a cigarette to cope with a flashback is all too common among sufferers of post-traumatic stress disorder. The nicotine hit may feel good but scientists say its brain action probably makes their PTSD worse in the long run.
Continue reading "How to help when smoking, alcohol complicate PTSD" »
It took an explosion on the streets of Iraq to put in a kink in Sergeant Andrew Simmons stride back in 2006 as he made his way home to East Tennessee.
Continue reading "Local group carves honors for wounded vets" »
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Jan 15, 2009 12:11:52 EST
The Defense Department has created a new outreach center for troops and family members who need help understanding post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries, as well as to help them get the resources they need.
ANN ARBOR, Mich – The McCormick Foundation in Chicago has awarded $350,000 to the University of Michigan Depression Center and Department of Psychiatry to help address the “invisible brain injuries” among returning Iraqi and Afghanistan veterans and their families. These include sleep, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and associated problems. The gift is part of a larger fundraising initiative called Welcome Back Veterans created by New York Mets Chairman and CEO Fred Wilpon to provide returning veterans the quality evaluations, treatment, support systems, and long-term employment assistance they deserve to restart their lives and care for their families.
Reduced sense of smell might also signal need for testing, expert says
MONDAY, Jan. 5 (HealthDay News) -- Headache frequency and severity caused by traumatic brain injury might signal cognitive deficits, suggests a new study of Iraq war veterans.
Continue reading "War Vets With Headaches Could Have Brain Problems" »
TAMPA - Lance Corporal J.T. Doody has a newfound freedom. He's in a wheelchair, but now he can go where he wants.
By Jeff Schogol, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Wednesday, December 10, 2008
FRANKLINTON, N.C. — The first thing that 1st Lt. Mike McMichael felt when he regained consciousness was a stinging sensation.
An Institute of Medicine report says even mild brain injuries seem associated with problems such as seizures, aggression and dementia reminiscent of Alzheimer's disease.
Traumatic brain injuries, one of the signature injuries of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, can be linked to such long-term problems as seizures, aggression and dementia reminiscent of Alzheimer's disease, according to an Institute of Medicine report released Thursday.
Continue reading "Veterans' long-term problems linked to traumatic brain injuries" »
By Jeff Schogol, Stars and Stripes
Stars and Stripes online edition, Thursday, December 4, 2008
ARLINGTON, Va. – Traumatic Servicemembers Group Life Insurance benefits have been expanded to include new injuries.
Continue reading "Traumatic Servicemembers Group Life Insurance benefits expanded" »
WASHINGTON, Nov. 26, 2008 – Wounded warriors who call into the Marine Wounded Warrior Call Center near Quantico, Va., find truth in the motto, “once a Marine, always a Marine.”
Continue reading "Staying Power: Marine Corps’ Call Center Contacts, Assists Wounded Warriors" »
WASHINGTON, Nov. 12, 2008 – Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Matthew Ryan Bradford was part of a patrol to clear an area near Haditha, Iraq, of roadside bombs with the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, on Jan. 18, 2007.
Continue reading "Face of Defense: Double Amputee Marine Wants to Stay in to Help Others" »
WASHINGTON, Nov. 12, 2008 – A troop-support group that provides education on the brain’s and body’s natural responses to stress launched its redesigned Web site yesterday.
“Our Web site is completely redesigned to power our mission of providing the best education, training and resources for supporting strength and resilience in all areas of military life,” said Elizabeth Hawkins, executive director of “One Freedom.”
Continue reading "Troop Support Group Launches New Web Site" »
WASHINGTON, Nov. 3, 2008 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said a new handbook is another step in improving the care and support wounded, ill or injured troops and their families deserve. The handbook compiles the myriad information they need in one succinct, easy-to-read publication.
CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq, Oct. 31, 2008 – A noncommissioned officer who returned to Iraq nine months ago after his left leg was amputated above the knee soon will represent the Marine Corps in the halls of Congress.
Continue reading "Face of Defense: Marine Amputee Who Returned to Iraq Earns Fellowship" »
KEVIN BLANCHARD’S freshman year at George Washington University was unlike anybody else’s on campus.
By Jeff Schogol, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Wednesday, October 29, 2008
ARLINGTON, Va. — Wounded servicemembers whose combat-related injuries are diagnosed after they return home can keep their special pays while hospitalized, Defense officials said Tuesday.
By Rick Maze - [email protected]
Posted : October 06, 2008
In the first of what could become many revisions in its disability ratings, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced Sept. 23 that it is changing how it evaluates traumatic brain injuries, a move that could increase disability compensation for thousands of veterans who have been injured by roadside bombs or other explosions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Continue reading "VA rule change may mean higher TBI payouts" »
The 12-bedroom facility allows them to stay close to loved ones being treated at the Naval Medical Center, many for traumatic brain injuries.
SAN DIEGO -- When Nicci McClearn of Chicago learned in July that her Marine son had been severely wounded in Afghanistan, she knew where she was headed: Fisher House, adjacent to Naval Medical Center San Diego.
Continue reading "Second house for families of wounded troops opens in San Diego" »
Free Lodging Puts Them Close to Hospital
SAN DIEGO -- More family members visiting badly injured sailors and Marines can now literally stay next door to their loved ones at Naval Medical Center in Balboa Park.
Continue reading "Military Families Get New Home Away From Home" »
Family, friend to come together for Corporal Kaspar
Sometimes, some good can result from a grim situation. Such is the case trusted for by the Kaspar family in the "Coming Together for Corporal Kaspar Foundation," to financially help U.S.M.C. Corporal Sean Kaspar of Orland Park and his family with the many months of therapy and rehabilitation he faces from injuries suffered in active duty.
Continue reading "Benefit planned for injured Orland marine" »
WASHINGTON — The government plans to substantially increase disability benefits for veterans with mild traumatic brain injuries, acknowledging for the first time that veterans suffering from this less severe version of the Iraq war's signature wound will struggle to make a living.
Continue reading "VA to increase benefits for mild brain trauma" »
Petaluma Marine wounded in Iraq greeted by well-wishers upon return to hometown
A young hero came home Monday -- true to plan -- on his own two feet.
Continue reading "Kiernan comes home -- on two (new) legs" »
Scott MacKenzie is sleeping better these days.
Continue reading "‘Wiener dog’ helps Iraq War veteran adjust" »
FORT LEWIS, Wash. -- Home for at least two months, soldiers with a combat brigade still are in the fight.
Continue reading "Fort Lewis Soldiers Get Help Readjusting To Home" »
How One Team Roping Marine Made A Difference
Cody Hill was like most late-teen roping bums you know. Coming off a 300-mother cow operation in Ada, Okla., he gravitated toward the arena and was a natural.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 20, 2008 – After being medically retired from the Army last year as a result of mental wounds he suffered in Iraq, Michael Bradley faced a daunting challenge that would later prove pivotal in his recovery: holding down a job in the civilian world.
Continue reading "Afflicted Soldier Exemplifies ‘America’s Heroes at Work’" »
MIDDLEVILLE, Mich. (WZZM) - Supporters of a local Marine paralyzed by a sniper's bullet in Iraq broke ground today on a new home for him in Middleville.
Continue reading "Supporters break ground on home for West Michigan Marine" »
Former Chicago Bears Super Bowl-winning quarterback Jim McMahon will host a star-studded, two-day celebrity extravaganza before the game at Lakewood Ranch Golf and Country Club. It begins Jan. 29 with an evening under the stars at The Lake Club clubhouse, followed Jan. 30 by a 36-team celebrity golf tournament.
Continue reading "Super Bowl QB McMahon announces local benefit for wounded vets, others" »
A local marine who was severely injured in Afghanistan is back home tonight with his family. But not after an amazing show of generosity from strangers and friends alike.
Continue reading "Local marine receives hero's welcome home" »
EASTON -
A 21-year-old Marine from Easton is recovering at a veterans hospital in Virginia after being seriously injured last month in an attack while serving in Afghanistan.
Continue reading "Easton Marine recovering from Afghanistan attack" »
Scott MacKenzie recalls little of his past. His parents remember every detail.
Continue reading "Memory loss haunts injured Iraq War veteran" »
By Trevon Milliard - Bozeman (Mont.) Daily Chronicle via The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Aug 7, 2008 7:04:15 EDT
ENNIS, Mont. — Alroy Billiman, 28, stood at the front of a drift boat floating in the upper Madison River.
Continue reading "Group brings veterans to Montana to fish" »
JACKSONVILLE, Fla., July 30, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Wounded Warrior Project (WWP), a non-profit organization that honors and empowers wounded warriors, today announced that Michael Ward, chairman and chief executive officer of CSX Corporation, and his wife Terry have personally contributed $1 million toward education and rehabilitation.
Continue reading "Michael and Terry Ward Donate $1 Million to Wounded Warrior Project (WWP)" »
By Trista Talton - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Jul 1, 2008 6:35:03 EDT
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. — Cpl. Mark Marcoux set his sights on college long before he was injured by a roadside bomb in Iraq.
Continue reading "Wounded Warrior job fair offers opportunities" »
40 of America's most recently wounded service members were given a hero's welcome at The Venetian Thursday night.
Continue reading "The Venetian Honors Wounded Service Members" »
By Dan Lamothe - Staff writer
Posted : Monday May 26, 2008 9:39:03 EDT
Lance Cpl. Sam Hansen was on a Mother’s Day vehicle patrol in Taliban-heavy Garmser, Afghanistan, when insurgents opened fire.
Continue reading "Marine recovering after being shot in head" »
A colleague dropped by on a recent day to tell me that it was the third anniversary of her son’s coming home from Iraq. That stopped me. It’s been 40 years since I stepped off the battlefield, and I’m not home yet. I can still feel the muck of rice paddies pulling on my boots, still hear the jungle hiss and snap in the dark. Even after the night dreams and day drifts have stopped and the loud noises no longer startle, you still press your chin against your shoulder and look back.
Navy docs staff medical facilities in Iraq, Afghanistan
TAQADDUM AIR BASE, IRAQ ---- It wasn’t a roadside bomb or small-arms fire that put Marine Lance Cpl. Douglas Cox in a hospital bed here last week.
Continue reading "MILITARY: Treating the wounded in the Middle East" »
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- Any day now, a new medical facility designed specifically for troops with traumatic brain injuries will open at Camp Pendleton, 10News reported.
Continue reading "Brain Injury Clinic To Open At Camp Pendleton" »
Walter Reed Tries Yoga to Counter PTSD
Derrick Farley, a 29-year-old Army sergeant stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C., has seen many people die. He served in Iraq for three year-long tours of duty with only six-month breaks between them. He remembers driving trucks along the dirt roads of Tikrit, ever alert for telltale signs of a sniper or the sudden blast of a hidden roadside bomb. His vehicle, he said, was hit 13 times.
- Challenged Athlete Foundation Members Participating Courtesy of TriWest -
PHOENIX, April 16 /PRNewswire/ -- After sacrificing their limbs while
fighting to protect America's freedoms in Iraq and Afghanistan, Marines Chris
Chandler and Brandon Mendez refused to let their injuries diminish their
spirits. Both received prosthetic limbs, returned to active duty and are
participating in Pat's Run courtesy of TriWest Healthcare Alliance.
Continue reading "Wounded Marines Running Their Way to Recovery at Fourth Annual Pat's Run" »
Sniper’s bullet destroyed gunnery sergeant’s knee, but not his will to serve
If you’ve ever wondered what the Marines have in mind when they advertise for “a few good men,” look no further than Gunnery Sgt. William “Spanky” Gibson.
Continue reading "Marine who lost leg returns to combat in Iraq" »
BETHESDA, Md., April 3, 2008 – Two Marines who were injured in Iraq praised the medical care they’ve received at the National Naval Medical Center here during interviews yesterday in conjunction with a grand re-opening ceremony for their newly renovated outpatient quarters.
Continue reading "Wounded Marines Praise Medical Care, Relate Iraq Experiences" »
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Fighting in Iraq took a heavy toll on Marine Lance Cpl. Daniel Patrick, damaging his hand, injuring his brain and causing him to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Continue reading "Marine Corps Offers Yoga, Massages to Marriages Strained by War" »
Shepherd Center and Humana Military Healthcare Services have partnered with Home Depot co-founder and philanthropist Bernie Marcus to help wounded U.S. military service members and their families obtain additional care to promote their recovery from combat-related injuries.
Continue reading "Shepherd Center and Humana Military Healthcare Services Launch SHARE Initiative" »
CASCADE TOWNSHIP, Mich (WOOD) -- When word went out that Joshua Hoffman was coming home, his family asked the injured Marine corporal if he wanted a public homecoming.
"Can I give you a kiss?"
Continue reading "Paralyzed Marine Joshua Hoffman returns home to well-wishers" »
Little-Known Event Is Emotional Salute;
Cpl. Lyon Pays a Visit
WASHINGTON -- Cpl. Kenny Lyon's mother pushed his wheelchair down a narrow Pentagon hallway, crying as she listened to the applause.
Continue reading "Wounded Soldiers See the Pentagon In Private Parade" »
By Richard S. Lowry
March 12, 2008
December 12, 2004 changed Jason and Lindsey Arellano’s lives forever. U.S. Marine Sergeant Jason R Arellano, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, Kilo Company, 2nd Platoon’s third squad leader found himself in Iraq for the second time. He had last seen American soil on September 11, 2004, leaving his loved ones in prayer and anticipation. Jason and Lindsey recently shared the following write-up with me after I contacted him to request an interview for my book. Jason told me that they wanted to write it all down before the memories faded. Hopefully, they will gather other stories of that fateful day and publish a book of their own. No doubt, I will tell Sergeant Jason Arellano’s story, but this poignant tale will be left for their telling.about
Continue reading "Recording History - Part XIII - Jason and Lindsey" »
MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. —
The Wounded Warrior Regiment sponsored a job fair Monday at The Clubs at Quantico for four hours, where representatives from dozens of companies were waiting to receive resumes from and maybe even hire wounded and retired Marines.
Continue reading "Wounded Warrior Regiment sponsors job fair" »
BETHESDA, Md. (March 4, 2008) -- The Marine Corps officially unveiled its new running suit to Marines assigned to the Wounded Warrior Regiment at the National Naval Medical Center here Feb. 29.
Spanky Gibson was shot by a sniper in May of 2006 while on foot patrol in Ramadi, Iraq. When the firefight was over, his left leg was gone.
But Gunnery Sgt. William Gibson, a decorated Marine, didn't stop serving his country, even after his leg was amputated above the knee. He didn't settle for a desk job stateside, either. He's back in Iraq — his second tour — on active duty with the U.S. Marine Corps.
Continue reading "Iraq War Marine With Amputated Leg Back on Active Duty" »
By Karen Jowers - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Feb 14, 2008 7:24:51 EST
The Pentagon’s top doctor is calling on wounded service members and their families to share their concerns and recommendations in a live online discussion Thursday at http://www.health.mil — and e-mails and text messages are being accepted ahead of time.
Fifteen wounded Marine and Army personnel were welcomed by an enthusiastic round of applause as they exited their plane on the flight deck aboard the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) Jan. 25.
Continue reading "Wounded Warriors Pay Visit to USS Nimitz" »
By Garry Mitchell - The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Jan 26, 2008 14:16:36 EST
IRVINGTON, Ala. — Two Black Hawk helicopters hovered and tipped rotors Friday in honor of Marine Sgt. Greg Edwards at a ceremony to start building a specially adapted home for the Edwards family.
Continue reading "Homes for Our Troops begins house in Alabama" »
MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (Jan. 11, 2008) -- The greatest leaders, it seems, don’t think of themselves as great.
Continue reading "Don't call it a comeback: Marine goes from wounded warrior to silent warrior" »
Strength. Strength to survive. Strength to overcome long odds. Strength to cope with overwhelming adversity. Strength to hope for a better future. And strength to work hard at making that future happen.
Continue reading "Colin Smith a beacon of strength and hope for all who face adversity" »
Colin Smith always has a smile on his face. His sincerity and charm shine through it, making it impossible to not smile back. His smile radiates energy that can be felt by those around him.
Last of two parts
Part one may be found here:
http://www.marine-corps-news.com/2007/12/blasted_off_an_iraqi_bridge_cp.htm
SAN ANTONIO – Marine Cpl. Eric Morante's face darkens with effort, his mouth compressed in a tight line as he struggles for balance while doing abdominal crunches on a big blue exercise ball.
Continue reading "Marine Cpl. Eric Morante fights to find purpose in rehab grind" »
First in a two-part series
Part two may be found here:
http://www.marine-corps-news.com/2007/12/marine_cpl_eric_morante_fights.htm
It's sometime after noon on a Friday, the end of a four-day rotation on Bridge 286.
There’s happy and lucky to be alive, and then there’s the suicide bombing story that Marines Eric Morante and Steven May, both Spring Branch ISD graduates, will tell for years to come after serving in Iraq.
Continue reading "SBISD graduates recovering from suicide truck bombing in Iraq" »
BAY CITY -- A Purple Heart hangs on the wall over his pillow. Photos from Iraq are taped above the desk. A Marine Corps flag is pinned above the bed.
Marine Lance Cpl. Gene Landrus was hurt in a roadside bomb attack outside Abu Ghraib, Iraq, on May 15, 2006, and faces medical separation from the Corps. He's also up for a Purple Heart.
Continue reading "Marine didn't recognize signs of brain injury" »
The young marine lighted a cigarette and let it dangle. White smoke wafted around his helmet. His face was smeared with war paint. Blood trickled from his right ear and the bridge of his nose.
Despite concerns of overstepping, Times photographer Luis Sinco feels compelled to help the Iraq vet he made famous.
James Blake Miller was in a world of pain, and I figured I should be by his side.
Continue reading "Rescue operation aims to save a wounded warrior" »
SAN ANTONIO -- President Bush paid an emotional visit Thursday to soldiers maimed or badly burned in combat and said his administration is determined to mend the nation's system of caring for veterans.
DENVER – During a television commercial break, those at Coors Field for Game 3 saw two men come to the mound to throw out the first pitch.
Continue reading "Soldiers who threw out first pitch bound together before game" »
SAN DIEGO — Marine Sgt. Jordan Pierson, who lost his left leg to a roadside bomb in Ramadi, Iraq, had a request for the therapists at the Naval Medical Center here. He wanted a prosthetic leg that would let him play golf like he did before his injury.
Surrounded by about 2,000 others on foot at today's Sunshine Run, Lance Cpl. Joe Lopez will get by with arm-power — and a set of wheels.
Marines Raising Funds to Support Marines Injured in Iraq or Afghanistan
Washington, D.C. (October 04, 2007) – LCpl. Josef Lopez and Cpl. Neil Schalk didn’t know each other while serving in the Marine Corps in Iraq, but the invisible bonds of brotherhood that tie Marines together made it an easy decision for them to support each other through their next challenge: the Marine Corps Marathon. Those same bonds also made it an easy decision for a Gold Star family to support their cause.
WASHINGTON, Oct. 2, 2007 – The stress of deployments, especially during war time, can take a toll on servicemembers and their families. A group of licensed mental health professionals in Southern California is helping to minimize that impact, however.
TEMECULA, Calif. - He was one of America's first defenders on Sept. 11, 2001, a Marine who pulled burned bodies from the ruins of the Pentagon. He saw more horrors in Kuwait and Iraq.
Continue reading "Wounded Vets Also Suffer Financial Woes" »
FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas, Sept. 20, 2007 – A new Warrior and Family Support Center being built here will be 10 times the size of the current facility.
Continue reading "New San Antonio Center for Wounded Warriors to Replace Current Facility" »
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Sep 20, 2007 17:53:40 EDT
The concept of getting rid of a stigma can be a little nebulous, but experts on a post-traumatic stress disorder panel offered up some concrete changes that could help people overcome years of stereotypes.
Continue reading "Health officials chip away at PTSD stigma" »
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Sep 19, 2007 12:29:38 EDT
Not since the Civil War have so many wounded service members returned to duty.
Continue reading "Rules unclear for wounded troops back on duty" »
WASHINGTON, Sept. 14, 2007 – The new Military Advanced Training Center at Walter Reed Army Medical Center here represents “an evolution in how we embrace, treat and honor,” wounded warriors, the Army vice chief of staff said at yesterday’s opening ceremony.
Continue reading "New Center Makes Good on Military’s Commitment to Wounded Warriors" »
WASHINGTON, Sept. 13, 2007 – Army National Guard Spc. Marco Robledo wants to go home to Arkansas in November standing on his own two feet. A roadside bomb claimed the combat engineer’s left leg and arm in Iraq in May. Since then, he has been recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center here.
Continue reading "New Amputee Care Center Opens at Walter Reed" »
LINCOLN CREEK VALLEY -- When Bryon Chambers stopped on a ledge halfway through the climb to catch his breath and plan his next move, everyone watching was unsure if he would continue.
Continue reading "To war and back: Injured soldiers find healing in the wilderness" »
THE nine men who climbed to the summit of the Colorado mountain were combat veterans who had fought in Iraq, Afghanistan and Vietnam.
Continue reading "Outward Bound program helps veterans heal their emotional scars" »
MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. 2007) – (Aug. 20, 2007) -- How do you create a world class event to increase awareness and raise support for the injured Marines, Sailors and families of the Wounded Warrior Battalion-East? Simple: Start with equal parts dirt and water. Mix vigorously. Then add 14 obstacles and invite hundreds of people who thrive on challenge.
Continue reading "Fun in the mud to support Wounded Warriors" »
SAN ANTONIO – The five badly burned soldiers arrived around 11 p.m., sedated and swathed in bandages from head to foot – the screech of the plane's wheels on the tarmac and waiting ambulances marking the end of a 7,500-mile journey.
Continue reading "Military burn unit filled with pain, hope, humor" »
MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII (July 13, 2007) -- Combat related stress has again become an issue for service members who have served in Afghanistan and Iraq. The Marine Corps recognizes this problem, and has been putting forth their best effort to help treat and cure Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
After surviving a suicide bomb attack in Iraq, ANTHONY THOMPSON and his family find victories in the small stuff
Pregnant wife waits by bedside, prays for recovery
Continue reading "Hometown Hero: Huffman petty officer now in battle for life" »
(CBS) This segment was originally broadcast on Oct. 29, 2006. It was updated on June 28, 2007.
Twenty-first century science and old fashioned guts are revolutionizing combat medicine for our troops. In Iraq, the medical units made famous by "MASH" have been retired in favor of new combat hospitals set up in the midst of the action.
My son, Marine Lance Corporal John McClellan is living proof that prayer really does work and that God is still in the miracle working business.
ROCKVILLE, Md. -- The nation's best and bravest, those severely wounded in the
wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, will participate this summer in sport
rehabilitation offered by Disabled Sports USA, its chapters and
Wounded Warrior Project. This year's summer activities for the Wounded
Warrior Disabled Sports Project will include a series of more than 30
"learn-to" clinics in cycling, golf, outrigger canoeing, kayaking, scuba, rock climbing, camping, water skiing, wake boarding, track and field, and other sports.
Continue reading "Summer Sports rehabilitation program, to teach lifelong sports skills" »
Marine Lance Cpl. Scott MacKenzie of Cherokee County wanted to make his mother proud after receiving a Purple Heart for injuries in Iraq.
Continue reading "Purple Heart winner: 'We are in awe of him'" »
There’s happy and lucky to be alive, and then there’s the suicide bombing story that Marines Eric Morante and Steven May, both Spring Branch ISD graduates, will tell for years to come after serving in Iraq.
Continue reading "SBISD graduates recovering from suicide truck bombing in Iraq" »
NEW YORK (May 25, 2007) -- New York police and firefighters joined forces with the Marine Corps on Thursday for a two-mile motivational run through the lower east side of Manhattan led by a “wounded warrior.”
Continue reading "Wounded warrior leads formation run to Ground Zero" »
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon must use computers to screen troops before and after they go to Iraq or Afghanistan to better determine whether they suffered traumatic brain damage in combat, according to a plan by a congressional brain-injury task force.
Continue reading "Better brain-injury tests planned for troops" »
ENCINITAS, Calif. — At a community hospital here, doctors and therapists are working to help Marines overcome what is often called the signature injury of the Iraq war: brain trauma with no visible wounds.
ELLENVILLE - Sgt. Eddie Ryan says he has the determination of pit bull and has a tattoo to prove it.
MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (April 10, 2007) -- The Purple Heart medal has been awarded to service members and civilians since 1932 for wounds received in action against enemies of the United States and its allies.
Continue reading "Piketon, Ohio, Marine awarded Purple Heart for wounds received in Iraq" »
St. Louis, MO – April 6, 2007 - United States Marine Corps family members from around the country will gather in St. Louis at the MarineParents.com conference to learn about the Marine Corps, combat deployment, recovery from combat, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and ways to encourage awareness for Troop Support in their own communities. Attendance will range from new Marine families, families experiencing first, second or third combat deployments, and families who have experienced casualties of combat.
WASHINGTON, April 4, 2007 – The U.S. Marine Corps has created a new regiment focused on tracking and assisting wounded Marines and sailors across the nation, the regiment’s first commander announced at a Pentagon news conference today.
Continue reading "New Regiment Focuses on Wounded Marines, Sailors" »
Despite life-changing injuries and some 40 surgeries, nothing was going to keep 2nd Lt. Andrew Kinard from greeting his fellow Marines who return home today after seven months in Iraq.
BETHESDA, MD, March 24, 2007 - Purple Heart Family Support ™ announced the start of new program bringing support to families of injured Marines at the National Naval Medical Center (NNMC) in Bethesda, MD. Purple Heart Family Support ™, a subsidiary of the non-profit MarineParents.com, will bring a monthly free meal to families and patients at the hospital, providing a much needed service as the hospital cafeteria is closed on the weekends.
Continue reading "Purple Heart Family Support ™ Bring Lunch to National Naval Medical Center" »
DELTA — Marine Lance Cpl. Bryan Chambers is making steady progress after being seriously injured by a roadside bomb in Iraq, said his father, Craig Chambers, who is with his son at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.
Continue reading "Delta Marine injured in Iraq makes progress" »
When Staff Sgt. Jarod Behee was asked to select a paint color for the customized wheelchair that was going to be his future, his young wife seethed. The government, Marissa Behee believed, was giving up on her husband just five months after he took a sniper’s bullet to the head during his second tour of duty in Iraq.
Continue reading "For War’s Gravely Injured, Challenge to Find Care" »
Reactions were mixed among four Marines who received purple hearts at the Wounded Warrior Barracks recently.
Continue reading "Purple Heart bittersweet for four Marines" »
DINWIDDIE — Lance Cpl. Matthew Bradford, 20, is still in the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., after being wounded in combat in Iraq Jan. 18.
Continue reading "Dinwiddie man continues to recover from war wounds" »
CAMP PENDLETON — If Building 18 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center represents the nadir of outpatient care for wounded military personnel, the Marine Corps is hoping that a former maternity ward here represents the opposite.
BETHESDA, Md. - The first round blew through Maj. K.C. Schuring's helmet, creased the top of his head and popped out through his goggles.
Jason Bingham, like many 22-year-olds, isn't sure what he wants to do with his life.
BETHESDA, Md. - The first round blew through Maj. K.C. Schuring's helmet, creased the top of his head and popped out through his goggles.
Petty Officer Third Class Dustin E. Kirby, a Navy corpsman whose efforts to save a wounded marine in Iraq and his own wounding by a sniper on Christmas were covered by The New York Times, has returned home to Georgia and expects a nearly full recovery, he and his family said.
Continue reading "Lives Entwined by War Enter a Long, Arduous Chapter: Recovery" »
2/9/2007 - TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- An injured Marine received an unexpected upgrade in his flight home from Iraq here Feb. 8.
Continue reading "Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff gives wounded warrior a lift home" »
(CBS4) MIAMI Several injured marines are part of the thousands of fans at Dolphin Stadium watching Super Bowl XLI thanks to the generosity of an NFL team owner.
Continue reading "Wounded Soldiers Treated To Super Bowl XLI" »
MT. JULIET — Gene Leigh McCollum stepped out the door Friday morning to run errands, pay some bills and have a fairly normal day. Less than five minutes later, he was a decorated war veteran.
CALEDONIA -- He lost a kidney, his spleen and almost his life.
Continue reading "Wounded Marine remembers fallen comrade" »
Matthew Bradford, 20, was serving in the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines in Haditha, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device exploded.
SAN ANTONIO -- Some limped gingerly, some rode in wheelchairs as they made their way into the tent. They had missing arms and legs, faces with no ears or with rebuilt noses, bones rebuilt with steel, shrapnel still visible in places.
Cpl. Chris Santiago spent last week in the Cayman Islands.
Continue reading "W.Va. Marine fighting back after losing legs in IED blast" »
Fundraisers planned to aid Saline reservist
Continue reading "For Marine, long list of wounds - and friends" »
MIAMI - The Miami-Dade Police Department has partnered with the organization M1 For Vets to show local servicemen and women how much they are appreciated. Lance Cpl. Patrick Howard was seriously wounded in Iraq last summer. On Tuesday, the Marine's homecoming was met with a pledge that the community will always take care of him and his family.
Continue reading "Miami-Dade Police Honor Marine Wounded In Iraq" »
MIAMI - The Miami-Dade Police Department has partnered with the organization M1 For Vets to show local servicemen and women how much they are appreciated. Lance Cpl. Patrick Howard was seriously wounded in Iraq last summer. On Tuesday, the Marine's homecoming was met with a pledge that the community will always take care of him and his family.
Continue reading "Miami-Dade Police Honor Marine Wounded In Iraq" »
A CONFLICT'S PAINFUL LEGACY: Thousands have come home from Iraq injured, sometimes severely. Here are the stories of three Marines' struggle to heal.
JEFFERSON CITY - Lance Cpl. John McClellan survived a sniper’s bullet to the skull while serving in Iraq, but Rep. Jeff Harris wanted to make sure the 20-year-old was ready for the hubbub the Marine was about to experience on the floor of the State Capitol.
Continue reading "House honors Marine recovering from attack" »
A Columbia Marine who was shot in the head by a sniper while on duty in Iraq was honored as “the living embodiment of patriotism” today on the floor of the Missouri House.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The war in Iraq hit home in Lorain County last fall with headlines about a local Marine, Lance Corporal Colin Smith, 19, being seriously wounded by an Iraqi sniper near the town of Fallujah. Smith, a 2005 graduate of Avon Lake High School, was shot in the head.
The young man speaking to me is Marine Corporal Roy Vanwey, an outpatient at the burn unit at Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) in San Antonio. He has gorgeous brown eyes but the rest of his face is badly scarred by burns he suffered in a roadside bomb attack near the Syrian border in Iraq.
Continue reading "Honor And Sacrifice: Roy & Cassie's Story" »
Two mothers join forces
EUREKA, Calif. -- Kelly Miller has the dream once or twice a week.
Andrew Kinard came back from Iraq more than seven weeks ago, but in many ways, he’s spent the time here fighting harder than ever.
WASHINGTON — On the 52nd day of the rest of his life, Marine Lance Cpl. Eric Frazier chatted with a basketball star, enjoyed time outside soaking up an unusually mild December morning and stood for more than a minute on his new right leg.
Injured Marine Lance Cpl. Colin Smith of Avon Lake, who was initially thought to be brain-dead, recognizes his family, has regained some use of one arm and even plays tic-tac-toe with his father, according to his mother.
Continue reading "Injured Marine showing progress, Colin Smith smiling, playing tic-tac-toe" »
EL DORADO HILLS, Calif. -- A country music star joined the Sacramento community Saturday evening for a benefit conert honoring a local marine.
If a Marine survives being shot in the head, chances are he or she will be looking forward to some quiet time at home. Lance Cpl. John McClellan just wanted to waste some aliens on planet Sera.
Sitting around the dinner table this Thanksgiving, the Leddy family had plenty of reason to be thankful for the past year.
Continue reading "Injured Marine gets hero's welcome home" »
FREDERICK -- After 55 days of hospital food, surgeries and physical therapy, a Frederick Marine who has been back in the United States for two months is finally, truly, back home.
Continue reading "Family, friends welcome home wounded Iraq war veteran" »
Terrence "Shane" Burke wanted a quiet reunion with his Boston police family last evening.
TERRE HAUTE — Mike Watson struggled to hold back tears as he spoke Wednesday via telephone about his son, Lance Cpl. Chad M. Watson.
Continue reading "TH Marine loses leg after Humvee blasted by improvised explosive device" »
Lance Cpl. Timothy Lang manned the turret atop a Humvee patrolling Fallujah, Iraq, when a roadside bomb made him a casualty of war.
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. – When he closes his eyes, Marine Cpl. Christopher Shelhamer can feel the bullet that tore through his body when he was ambushed while on foot patrol outside Fallujah, Iraq.
MOUNT ZION - When a Marine Corps Reserve officer called Mike Watson at work to tell him his son had been seriously injured in Iraq, he asked the officer if his son would survive.
Each time the war wounded are moved, they're taken to a higher level of medical care.
Continue reading "Flight to U.S. begins transition from warfront to homefront" »
Each time the war wounded are moved, they're taken to a higher level of medical care.
Continue reading "Flight to U.S. begins transition from warfront to homefront" »
Steven Schultz had part of his head blown off in Iraq. Shrapnel took much of Todd Herman’s face. Christopher Malone has had his legs sewn together. Ten years ago these soldiers would have died on the battlefield. Ariel Leve talks to them.
The US marine Corporal Steven Schulz, 22, talks softly and quickly as a result of his brain injury. His mother, Debbie, is sitting next to him and tells him to slow down. He nods, just a little bit embarrassed.
Just weeks before Terrence Burke would lose his right lower leg in a bomb blast in Fallujah, the rookie BPD officer had already been dubbed a hero and “all heart” by the Marines of Weapons Company, 1st Battalion, 25th Marines - not an easy feat in a unit that includes four Boston cops and several city firefighters, men generally leery of “hero” tags.
Continue reading "Hub’s bravest doing double duty overseas" »
Greenfield - The Marine uniform symbolizes strength, honor and country. The men and women who answer the call live by the Marine motto "Semper Fidelis." It means "Always faithful" in Latin.
Continue reading "*Greenfield Marine fights battle at home" »
The day her Marine corporal son was wounded in Iraq will forever be etched in Dollie Radhay's mind.
"It was a living hell," said the Jersey City woman, whose son, Shaun, sustained brain, stomach and leg injuries from a mortar at tack. "I can't even explain it."
Continue reading "Funds ease some worries for injured soldiers families" »
Navy's one-stop, state-of-the-art rehabilitation center in California helps war injured realize goals
(11-08) 04:00 PST San Diego -- Nathaniel Leoncio, a petty officer third class with the U.S. Navy, was on patrol with the Marines in the Iraqi city of Ramadi a year ago when a roadside bomb exploded and changed his life. Leoncio had a host of severe wounds, including abdominal injuries that necessitated his wearing a colostomy bag for months.
Injured Marine Lance Cpl. Colin Smith has been moved to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., and his condition Monday was listed as serious, according to a spokesman for the hospital.
Two weeks ago while patrolling Iraq's Al Anbar province, Lance Cpl. Jon Green's truck hit a roadside bomb.
Sgt. Mike Baker fought for his country in Iraq and now he's fighting for his life and needs his community's help. A spaghetti dinner fund-raiser will be held Saturday to raise money for his expenses while he wrangles with his newest enemy, cancer.
Continue reading "*Fund-raiser held for cancer-stricken Marine" »
KARMAH, Iraq – Petty Officer 3rd Class Dustin E. Kirby clutched the injured Marine's empty helmet. His hands were coated in blood. Sweat ran down his face, which he was trying to keep straight but which kept twisting into a snarl.
By Leo Shane III, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Friday, November 3, 2006
WASHINGTON — The third time he was shot was the luckiest day of Lance Cpl. John McClellan’s life.
Continue reading "Thrice-wounded Marine shows his teammates what luck really is" »
Bettye Kinard, of Greenwood, had a few words of loving precaution for her grandson, Marine 2nd Lt. Andrew Kinard, of Spartanburg, before he began his tour of duty in Iraq.
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — Chris Packley returned from Fallujah in 2004 a top marksman on a sniper team showcased in the Marine Corps Times for its 22 kills.
"I was exceptionally proud of that Marine," says Gunnery Sgt. Scott Guise, his former team leader.
WASHINGTON, Nov. 2, 2006 – The Pentagon Channel is taking an in-depth look at post-traumatic stress disorder in a new edition of its monthly documentary “Recon.” The half-hour show, called “The Wounds Within,” explores how the understanding of PTSD has evolved from the Civil War to World Wars I and II to Vietnam and now to operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.
Continue reading "Pentagon Channel ‘Recon’ Sheds Light on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder" »
WASHINGTON, Nov. 2, 2006 – The Pentagon Channel is taking an in-depth look at post-traumatic stress disorder in a new edition of its monthly documentary “Recon.” The half-hour show, called “The Wounds Within,” explores how the understanding of PTSD has evolved from the Civil War to World Wars I and II to Vietnam and now to operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.
Continue reading "Pentagon Channel ‘Recon’ Sheds Light on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder" »
WASHINGTON, Nov. 2, 2006 – The Pentagon Channel is taking an in-depth look at post-traumatic stress disorder in a new edition of its monthly documentary “Recon.” The half-hour show, called “The Wounds Within,” explores how the understanding of PTSD has evolved from the Civil War to World Wars I and II to Vietnam and now to operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.
Continue reading "Pentagon Channel ‘Recon’ Sheds Light on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder" »
CLEVELAND -- New details have emerged about a northeast Ohio Marine injured in Iraq
AVON LAKE, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio Marine was shot in the head while on patrol with his unit in Iraq and was flown to a hospital in Germany, where he has been placed on life support, family members said.
Continue reading "Injured Marine from Ohio put on life support" »
"The Marines talk all the time here. 'I'm having trouble with this. I need help with this,' " Staff Sgt. Lawrence Sommer says. "It's very therapeutic for them."
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Alone and in clusters, collars up to block the rain, thousands of people lined the streets on a gray October day in 2005 to welcome their warriors home. For 13 miles, they rose to wave, a few to salute, as the buses rolled slowly past. More than one tough Marine, homeward bound after a brutal tour in Iraq, shed a tear.
FREDERICK -- A Marine in a Frederick-based unit deployed to Iraq on Oct. 11 was shot twice earlier this week but is expected to make a full recovery, a unit spokesman said Friday.
Peggy and Michael Kreiser got the call around 10 a.m. on Oct. 7.
The voice on the other end of the phone belonged to a Marine Corps officer in Iraq. The Kreisers’ 26-year-old son, Lance Cpl. Jared Kreiser, had suffered injuries from a roadside bomb — one of the infamous “IEDs.”
For a woman who met Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in recent weeks, Connie McClellan is still pretty easy to impress.
Continue reading "*Treatment, son’s recovery thrill local Marine’s mom" »
NORTH COUNTY ---- For Gulf War veteran Nick Morris, it's the smell of diesel. In the case of Vietnam War veteran Charles Hargett, it's the sound of a car backfiring or the scent of Asian food.
GREENFIELD, Ind. -- The family of a Marine from Indiana is awaiting his return to the U.S. after he was severely injured in a roadside bomb blast in Iraq.
Continue reading "*Family Of Marine Severely Injured In Iraq Holds Faith" »
Call it a mother's intuition. Call it coincidence if you want.
Continue reading "Marine's call alerts family of serious wound" »
David Leddy might have thought it a routine assignment if he’d found anything routine in his mere two weeks in Iraq.
Twenty-year-old John McClellan is recovering from a gunshot wound to the head, his third combat injury.
A Marine from Columbia County who was wounded while serving in the Middle East is still fighting for his life.
It's a brotherhood not many can understand. They fight side by side putting their lives in each others hands. They spend months together in the roughest places many will never endure. They count down the days together, eat together and live together. They suffer the loss of fellow Marines, and they carry on when others are injured
Continue reading "*3rd LAR returns to MCAGCC, greeted by wounded buddy" »
No one would blame John McClellan for being bitter after getting shot in the head by a sniper in Iraq, but that’s not the Columbia Marine’s style.
MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (Oct. 3, 2006) -- The Jacksonville Rotary Club and AA Diving have teamed up to help Marines in the Wounded Warrior Barracks recover by becoming scuba certified here.
Marine Staff Sgt. Rudy Perez isn't due to get off duty until midnight, but by 7:30 this evening, his day feels complete.
"I see the weight lifted," says Sergeant Perez, watching a sedate but glowing reunion of wounded Cpl.Brian Smith and his family at the National Naval Medical Center.
Continue reading "*Backstory: A softer side of the Marines" »
Editor's note: This is the second of a two-part series. Part one was published on Page A1 of Sunday's Transcript.
Surgeons at Bethesda Naval Hospital prepared to drill a hole in Lance Cpl. Bret McCauley's badly swollen head to relieve pressure on his brain when he unexpectedly awoke from a two-week coma
Editor's note: This is the second of a two-part series. Part one was published on Page A1 of Sunday's Transcript.
Surgeons at Bethesda Naval Hospital prepared to drill a hole in Lance Cpl. Bret McCauley's badly swollen head to relieve pressure on his brain when he unexpectedly awoke from a two-week coma
The Columbia lance corporal has made a miraculous recovery so far after being shot in the head
When Connie and Carl McClellan of Columbia arrived at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., on Saturday, they didn’t know quite what to expect. Their son, Lance Cpl. John McClellan, 20, had survived a gunshot to the head just four days earlier while serving with 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines, Echo Company in Haditha, Iraq.
As more and more Marines—wounded by roadside bombs and in shootings—continue to return from Iraq, they are surrounding themselves with other wounded Marines to share in their final phases of recovery.
His dad's youth football team has helped raise about $10,000 to ease the burden for the man's family
It has been exactly one month since it happened. Since Mike Delancey and Paula Palmer got the call.
Their son, Marine Lance Cpl. Michael Delancey, 21, had been wounded in an insurgent attack in Iraq. A bullet struck him in the back and tore through his body.
Editor’s notes: This is the first of a two part series. The second part will be published in Monday’s edition.
You hear the mortars going out, but you don’t know where they’ll land. This could be the last breath of your life.
Marine Lance Cpl. Bret McCauley of Kokomo, Ind., recalls crouching close to the ground, moving warily through a Sunni rebel neighborhood in Fallujah just before dusk.
Continue reading "Medical techniques keep soldiers in battle" »
TERRE HAUTE— Vietnam War veteran Doug Herrmann can’t hear a helicopter without tensing up.
Fireworks shot off to honor troops on Independence Day remind him of flares fired in Saigon, the capital of Vietnam.
More than 35 years after he left the nation in Southeast Asia, Herrmann still is unable to completely shake his military service in Vietnam. While soldiers returning home from war in Iraq have suffered difficulty adjusting from the war experience, soldiers in many previous wars also suffered mental and emotional distress long after they came back home and tried to adjust to civilian life.
Continue reading "Stress disorder a familiar occurrence in war veterans" »
Marine who was shot in head was awarded another Purple Heart
Lance Cpl. John McClellan, 20, has a tattoo of shamrocks below his belly button. The image symbolizes the nickname his fellow Marines gave him, “Lucky,” after he was shot in his right arm twice in one week last October, while serving with 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Echo Company in Afghanistan.
Continue reading "*Hickman grad shot for third time in Iraq" »
Candia – Marine Lance Cpl. Louis Stamatelos Jr. doesn't think he's a hero, but his hometown begs to differ and gave him a hero's welcome this weekend.
CANDIA – A young man wounded this summer during Operation Iraqi Freedom says the support of his family, excellent medical care and the prayers of his community have helped answer his wish.
Louis Stamatelos Jr., who celebrates his 21st birthday in a week, will be headed home in three days for the upcoming celebration of Candia's Old Home Days festival, and friends say he may also attend the Deerfield Fair.
Continue reading "NH Marine is home to recover after being hit by enemy sniper in Iraq" »
Colorado Springs - After returning from Iraq, Jason Harvey, a combat soldier with the Fort Carson-based 2nd Brigade Combat Team, raced his car at speeds of more than 100 mph on Squirrel Tree Road and played paint ball to replicate battle situations.
Continue reading "War vets' mental health has police on alert" »
CAMP PENDLETON – Therese Thomas is calling sewing groups across the country to round up a few more quilts for the beds of injured Marines.
Continue reading " Wounded Warrior Center has list of needs" »
ADA — The family of the injured marine, Cody Hill, 23, Ada, has requested that any cards and letters sent to Cody be directed to the guest facilities at the Brooke Army Medical Center. LaDonna Hill, Cody’s mother, said “The address of the guesthouse is where to send mail to Cody to keep from overloading the medical center staff.” The address of the guesthouse is: Powless Guesthouse, 3298 George C. Beach Road, Fort Sam Houston, Tx 73234-7569.
Continue reading "Address available for injured Ada marine" »
ADA — Marine Lance Cpl. Cody Hill is fighting to recover from severe burns and wounds from shrapnel he sustained in Iraq on Sept. 4. The three other riders in the vehicle struck by an improvised explosive device (IED) were killed. Hill’s father Carlyle Hill is very emotional as he stays with his son at the Brooke Army Medical Center in Fort Sam Houston, Texas.“Cody needs your thoughts and prayers. The families of the other three boys that didn’t make it also need prayers,” Carlyle said.
ADA — Marine Lance Cpl. Cody Hill is fighting to recover from severe burns and wounds from shrapnel he sustained in Iraq on Sept. 4. The three other riders in the vehicle struck by an improvised explosive device (IED) were killed. Hill’s father Carlyle Hill is very emotional as he stays with his son at the Brooke Army Medical Center in Fort Sam Houston, Texas.“Cody needs your thoughts and prayers. The families of the other three boys that didn’t make it also need prayers,” Carlyle said.
N.Y. firefighters visit troops in military hospitals, many of whom say are carrying on the fight against terrorism
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Every couple of months, carrying 9/11 in their hearts, New York City firefighters pay a little-noted visit to badly wounded American troops at Washington-area military hospitals.
ANAHEIM - Roy Hoyt wasn't asking for anything when he decided to treat wounded Marines to a limo ride, Angels game and lunch.
NORTH KINGSTOWN -- A 23-year-old Marine reservist from Rhode Island was injured in an attack in Iraq Monday and is being transported back to the United States, according to his father, North Kingstown Fire Chief David Murray.
BELFAST, Maine — The roadside bomb exploded as Michael Jernigan, a young U.S. Marine, drove down a street in Mahmudiyah, Iraq. Shrapnel shredded his left knee, right hand and both eyes. The bomb left him blind and disfigured.
A scar runs across the top of his head, one ear to the other, just one of the many reminders of his nearly 30 surgeries since 2004.
Ed Holmgren of Ishpeming, left, greets Cpl. Neil Frustaglio of Ishpeming during a spaghetti dinner benefit at the Ishpeming Armory recently. Frustaglio planned to take a break from rehab this weekend at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington D.C. Thanks to a group called the Wounded Warrior Project, he was offered a trip to today’s Detroit Tigers game. (Journal file photo)
ISHPEMING — Wounded Marine Cpl. Neil Frustaglio of Ishpeming Township will get a chance to take a break from his rehabilitation activities at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. — even if just for a few days — to attend today’s Detroit Tigers game against the Los Angeles Angels at Comerica Park.
NORTH KINGSTOWN -- Thanks to a special lady from Rhode Island, a quadriplegic Marine from Wisconsin will receive heartfelt cheers -- and a set of keys -- when he's wheeled on the field at halftime of the Naval Academy-University of Massachusetts football game.
Continue reading "Local group provides keys to van for wounded Marine" »
Patrick Howard was determined to become a Marine as a teenager in South Miami-Dade. After being seriously injured in Iraq last month, he hasn't lost his will to fight.
Patrick Howard heard his blood dripping onto the floor. He was on a mesh stretcher, a doctor leaning over him. His right arm was motionless, and he struggled to speak. Only a year out of high school, the 20-year-old Marine from South Miami-Dade faced his mortality last month on the battlefield in Iraq.
The war in Iraq doesn't have one face. It has many.
Readers of The Standard-Times gazed into one of them Tuesday when they read about the injured Marine Lance Cpl. Toben Medeiros, 21, of Dartmouth, who is among the 19,323 service personnel the Department of Defense says has been wounded in the more than three years that U.S. troops have fought in Iraq after the overthrow of President Saddam Hussein's government. Other groups say the number of Americans wounded is much higher. These wounded are in addition to the 2,601 servicemen and women who have given their lives during the Iraq war.
Motorcycle club donates $1,300 to aid in recovery from his injuries in Iraq
A Picatinny Arsenal worker's stepson, who suffered life-threatening shrapnel injuries to his head while serving as a Marine in Iraq, got a boost recently when he visited the Rockaway Township Army base.
The Tri-County Motorcycle Club presented a $1,300 donation on Aug. 2 to Sgt. Jacob Knospler of East Stroudsburg, Pa., Picatinny officials said in a statement released on Wednesday. The arsenal employs his stepfather, Jacob Wood.
A 'Wounded Warrior' opens up his care package that includes a movie, letter of appreciation, candy and several other items from citizens that wanted to show their appreciation for their sacrifices. Photo by: Lance Cpl. Samuel D. White
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION NEW RIVER, N.C. (Aug. 22, 2006) -- Soaring through the cloudy sky, an H-18 Beechcraft from Baltimore, Md., slowly descended toward the watching crowd. Cameras were rolling as everyone, including Col. Darrell L. Thacker, waited for the occupants to emerge.
Continue reading "'Operation Movie Drop Off' a soaring success" »
Marine Miguel Delgado honored at fund-raiser
WINTHROP HARBOR — Marine Sgt. Miguel Delgado headed back to duty at Camp Lejuene, N.C. on Sunday with his arms full of baby supplies, clothes and toys.
Continue reading "'Wounded hero' showered with gifts for baby" »
The Wounded Warriors Barracks brings together injured heroes to help each other heal, but the barracks has also become the gathering place of a community’s heart.
Since the barracks’ dedication in November 2005, celebrities, civic leaders, business owners and families have stopped by with gifts and blessings, grateful to have a place in which they can express their love and admiration of our troops.
Continue reading "Rotarians bring lunch, laughs to Wounded Warriors" »
The Wounded Warriors Barracks brings together injured heroes to help each other heal, but the barracks has also become the gathering place of a community’s heart.
Since the barracks’ dedication in November 2005, celebrities, civic leaders, business owners and families have stopped by with gifts and blessings, grateful to have a place in which they can express their love and admiration of our troops.
Continue reading "Rotarians bring lunch, laughs to Wounded Warriors" »
There are times when Trinette Johnson's life seems to stall, when she finds herself staring at the ceiling fan in her bedroom, watching the blades spin, her mind hung on nothing -- not her receptionist job, not her fiance, not her ailing father or her four children.
BETHESDA, Md. — The cost of war is counted in young men like Marine Lance Cpl. Toben Medeiros.
Marine is first in military to try experiment to preserve vision
The path from Iraq to Gilbert for Marine Corps veteran Brent Phillips was long, painstaking and earned him a Purple Heart.
Continue reading "Prosthetic eye, Purple Heart for young wounded Marine" »
CAMP PENDLETON ---- It was a sniper's bullet. Caught Cpl. Jackson Luna in the back, right underneath his body armor. The round ripped up his gut before exiting through his stomach.
(CBS) CHICAGO A Marine from Tinley Park is hospitalized overseas. The decorated hero was seriously hurt for the second time in Iraq last week.
New barracks will assist Marines, sailors in recovery
The first West Coast barracks for Marines and sailors wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan will open Thursday at Camp Pendleton.
Much more than a roof and walls, the Wounded Warrior Center is designed to give troops a sanctuary where they can recuperate while planning for the next step in their lives.
Continue reading "Pendleton to do 'the right thing' for wounded" »
On Aug. 3, 2005, in Ramadi, Iraq, Marine Cpl. Keith Davis took his last step with his left leg.
The Marines on patrol with him had left the house they were in without incident and continued on their way.
Lima 3/7 Marine, double amputee, among cyclists
More than eight months have passed since 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment's Cpl. Neil Frustaglio lost both his legs in Iraq. As a 22-year-old double amputee, Frustaglio came back to Twentynine Palms, Calif., July 26 on a modified bicycle alongside 10 other cyclists as part of Soldier Ride, an annual cross-country cycling event designed to motivate recovering amputees and raise donations for the Wounded Warrior Project.
Continue reading "Annual ‘Soldier Ride' receives local support" »
Wounded area Marine in VA hospital gets upset at inability to recall tour, mom says
Day by day, Marine Lance Cpl. Bryan Carpenter is remembering more.
MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (July 13, 2006) -- Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Glen Wesley and his family spent the afternoon July 13 sharing the Stanley Cup with II Marine Expeditionary Force wounded warriors.
Continue reading "Hockey star, combat veterans share common ground" »
HALEDON -- Sometimes, when a Marine is badly injured in war, a corpsman will write his condition on the Marine's forehead.
Last year, on July 23, Haledon resident and Lance Cpl. Frank Castro, 24, had been driving a Humvee in Afghanistan, along a road known among Marines as "the valley." It connected the eastern town of Asadabad to U.S. military Camp Blessing, but is better described as "IED hell," for "improvised explosive devices" and the frequency with which they occur, Castro said.
ST. PETERSBURG - Cpl. Michael Jernigan and four other Marines were on a security patrol south of Baghdad two years ago when a roadside bomb tore through their Humvee. The blast killed one Marine and injured several others.
The news came hard when the people of Marshall found out one of their own, Tony Scott Flynn, had been seriously injured in Iraq.
Continue reading "East Texas Marine Critically Injured in Iraq" »
Just two months ago...reading a book was out of reach for Sergeant Scott Flynn.
Continue reading "Ark-La-Tex Wounded Marine Speaks Out About Iraq War" »
DES MOINES, Iowa -- A year ago, doctors told an Iowa Marine who was injured in Iraq that he might never walk again.
Continue reading "Injured Marine Settles Into New Job, Kasal Aims To Return To Middle East" »
The Department of Defense announced today the formation of a congressionally-directed task force to examine matters related to mental health and the Armed Forces.
Continue reading "DoD Establishes Mental Health Task Force" »
QUEENS, N.Y. -- Soldiers and Marines severely wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan will have the opportunity to learn adapted water skiing, scuba and other water sports as guests at the 2006 Adaptive Water Sports Festival, presented by Disabled Sports USA, the Wounded Warrior Project, Graybeards, and the Fire Department of New York City.
Continue reading "Wounded service members learn to water ski, scuba, sail in New York" »
Editor's note: When Marines come back from the war in Iraq, they sometimes find that their war hasn't ended at all. It goes on in their minds and hearts. They have wounds that never bled, but left them badly injured ---- wounds of heart and mind. They look unchanged, but they are, and chances are they will never be the same again. Here is the story of one such Marine.
* * * * * *
He says his last tour in Iraq had him teetering on the abyss.
Continue reading "Lance Cpl. James Tessneer: A broken Marine" »
Marine Lance Corporal Rex McKnight is just a teenager. He served in Iraq for only one month, but the experience has scarred him for life.
Continue reading "Teen Veteran Learning to Deal With War Injuries" »
Iraq War Veteran Shares Personal Experience with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 5 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The National Mental Health Association (NMHA) will honor Iraq War veteran Blake Miller -- widely known as the new 'Marlboro Man' -- for his willingness to speak about combat-related post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). NMHA will present Miller with a forWARDS(tm) award Thursday, June 8, at its Annual Meeting. NMHA developed the forWARDS(tm) to pay tribute to the people, actions and events that move the cause of mental health forward each year.
Continue reading "NMHA to Honor 'Marlboro Man' Blake Miller" »
Iraq War Veteran Shares Personal Experience with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 5 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The National Mental Health Association (NMHA) will honor Iraq War veteran Blake Miller -- widely known as the new 'Marlboro Man' -- for his willingness to speak about combat-related post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). NMHA will present Miller with a forWARDS(tm) award Thursday, June 8, at its Annual Meeting. NMHA developed the forWARDS(tm) to pay tribute to the people, actions and events that move the cause of mental health forward each year.
Continue reading "NMHA to Honor 'Marlboro Man' Blake Miller" »
By Jeff Schogol, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Sunday, June 4, 2006
ARLINGTON, Va. — To get Marines to join the Reserves after active duty, the Marine Corps is promising not to deploy them for two years, the Marine Corps has announced.
Continue reading "Marines joining Reserve after active-duty to get war reprieve" »
RED BANK — A young Marine who almost made the ultimate sacrifice on the battlefield in Iraq got a heartfelt "thank-you" Monday from people helping him on the road to recovery.
Continue reading ""Support Our Troops" not merely a slogan" »
CAMP LEJEUNE, North Carolina (CNN) -- At a first-of-its-kind barracks at Camp Lejeune, Marines wounded in Iraq share their recoveries with the one group of people who understand -- each other.
(at the time of posting, there was an accompanying video clip of Lt. Col. Maxwell)
Lt.Gen. James Amos visits with all his wounded Marines. "I owe it to them."
Continue reading "Marine general takes on personal mission" »
PFC Matt Davis is making progress daily.
More treatment and therapy ahead for BG Marine
Six months after he returned from Iraq in December 2003, former Army Spec. Craig Smith was jobless and living on Unemployment benefits. Mild post-traumatic stress and his discomfort with other civilians' loose discipline made it hard for him to reintegrate into society. Things just weren’t “working out,” he says.
BURLINGTON - The ribbons in Burlington are a little less yellow. The flags still fly, but the wind has taken its toll on many of them.
Burlington is missing a son.
BURLINGTON - The ribbons in Burlington are a little less yellow. The flags still fly, but the wind has taken its toll on many of them.
Burlington is missing a son.
There was a loud bang and the flash of a fireball—and in just minutes an Iraqi suicide bomb killed three American military women and horribly wounded 11 more. It happened one year ago this month and was one of the worst disasters ever to hit U.S. women in uniform. But out of that dreadful attack came a true band of sisters—tied together by friendship, honor and raw courage.
BRANCHVILLE - A Marine from Perry County wounded in a suicide attack in Iraq last summer has been featured in a second major publication.
Then a corporal, Sally Saalman was returning from checkpoint duty in Falluja June 23, 2005 when a car bomb veered into the truck carrying her and other female Marines to nearby Camp Falluja.
Continue reading "Perry County Marine's story featured in Glamour magazine" »
Post-traumatic stress doesn't exempt soldiers from 2nd tour
David Beals, 26, a soldier stationed at Fort Stewart in Georgia, was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after his first tour in Iraq. He was sent back within a few months for the tour that ended this January. He expects to go back for a third time at the end of this year.
Blake Miller's weary gaze hinted at the psychological pain to come
JONANCY, Ky. — Growing up in Jonancy Bottom, where coal trucks grind their gears as they rumble down from the ragged green hills, Blake Miller always believed there were only two paths for him: the coal mines or the Marine Corps. He chose the Marines, enlisting right out of high school.
Continue reading "Iconic Marine Is at Home but Not at Ease" »
WATERLOO --- Warriors returning from conflict frequently face another struggle, one friends and family may not understand. Or willingly accept.
Continue reading "Post-traumatic stress disorder difficult to diagnose" »
CBS News correspondent Michelle Miller reports that for two weeks, this has been her morning routine — ever since the phone call that every mother of a U.S. service member fighting in Iraq fears.
Somerset Marine hospitalized after being seriously injured in Iraq
MARION STATION -- Insurgent fire shot off his lower jaw. Damage to his left leg was so severe, doctors amputated beneath the knee. Shrapnel from a May 1 roadway bombing near Fallujah still penetrates his skin, in some places 2 inches deep.
Continue reading "For wounded soldier, a wealth of support" »
Since the beginning of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, hundreds of thousands of American soldiers have deployed overseas to fight—over half of them parents. That's a lot of children saying goodbye to Mom or Dad—and then, hopefully, welcoming that parent home again.
Continue reading "Returning Soldiers Bring Joy, Stress to Families" »
Volunteers landscape injured Iraq vet's yard, bring him a new Harley
Dan Priestley got a home makeover, Marine Corps-style.
The staff sergeant in the Marine Corps Reserves was confused when his wife, Lisa, woke him at 7:30 Saturday morning. But the confusion dissipated when he saw retired Marines arriving on motorcycles with heavy equipment to work on the front and back yards of his Parma home.
New Sony PlayStation 2 consoles and games will help Marines and sailors injured in support of the global war on terrorism fill time during long recoveries
JACKSONVILLE, N.C., April 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Cingular Wireless, the nation's largest wireless company, salutes our nation's Wounded Warriors at 1:00 p.m., next Wednesday, May 3, with a presentation of 10 Sony PlayStation 2s to "Maxwell Hall," the Wounded Warrior barracks at Camp Lejeune. The donation reflects Cingular's recognition of the sacrifice these Marines have made and is intended to help fill the hours of what can sometimes be a long recovery process.
Nearly one-third of Iraq troops sought care on return
A newly released study shows that nearly a third of all soldiers and Marines who served in Iraq sought mental health care within a year of returning home.
Continue reading "Study shows scope of mental health risk" »
This is part three of a three-part series entitled "The Lifeline" where LA Times Reporter David Zucchino and photographer Rick Loomis follow five wounded troops through a system of military medical care more advanced than in any previous conflict. This series is not for the "faint of heart" and is very graphic, as are the accompanying slides and interactives that can be seen by clicking on the original link. Kudos to these reporters entering this touchy area and at the same time letting us meet, firsthand, another group of military heroes--the medics, the surgeons, the orthopedists, the opthmalogists, and all the rest of the medical staff that are there to take care of our boys.
part one is found at: http://www.marine-corps-news.com/2006/04/bringing_back_the_wounded_with.htm
part two is found at: http://www.marine-corps-news.com/2006/04/the_journey_through_trauma.htm
LAST OF THREE PARTS
THE LIFELINE
New Battle on the Home Front
When wounded U.S. troops return from Iraq, nearly everything has changed. Except, for many, the drive to keep on fighting.
This is part two of a three-part series entitled "The Lifeline" where LA Times Reporter David Zucchino and photographer Rick Loomis follow five wounded troops through a system of military medical care more advanced than in any previous conflict. This series is not for the "faint of heart" and is very graphic, as are the accompanying slides and interactives that can be seen by clicking on the original link. Kudos to these reporters entering this touchy area and at the same time letting us meet, firsthand, another group of military heroes--the medics, the surgeons, the orthopedists, the opthmalogists, and all the rest of the medical staff that are there to take care of our boys. part one is found at:
http://www.marine-corps-news.com/2006/04/bringing_back_the_wounded_with.htm
PART TWO
THE LIFELINE
The Journey Through Trauma
U.S. troops who survive the critical 'golden hour' after being seriously wounded in Iraq owe their lives to a fast-acting team of battlefield medics, pilots, nurses and surgeons.
This is part one of a three-part series entitled "The Lifeline" where LA Times Reporter David Zucchino and photographer Rick Loomis follow five wounded troops through a system of military medical care more advanced than in any previous conflict. This series is not for the "faint of heart" and is very graphic, as are the accompanying slides and interactives that can be seen by clicking on the original link. Kudos to these reporters entering this touchy area and at the same time letting us meet, firsthand, another group of military heroes--the medics, the surgeons, the orthopedists, the opthmalogists, and all the rest of the medical staff that are there to take care of our boys.
PART ONE
THE LIFELINE
Bringing Back the Wounded With Heart, Soul and Surgery
Injured troops are swept up in a lifesaving process unmatched in past wars -- reaching hospitals in minutes and the U.S. in days. But their agony doesn't end on the battlefield.
Continue reading "Bringing Back the Wounded With Heart, Soul and Surgery" »
The local Marine, 21, from Leroy Township, continues to recover from a gunshot wound to his right leg, in his shin bone, that he sustained while serving in Iraq. He was shot by a sniper in February.
Continue reading "Local Marine recovering from gunshot wound" »
A citizens group established to aid state military families awarded its first big grant to a young Marine injured in Iraq.
Continue reading "A $10,000 thank-you from state residents" »
Thousands of Marines, soldiers bear mental scars.
When he sleeps, Jesus Bocanegra sometimes dreams he is back in Iraq. In some dreams, he feels bullets piercing him. Other times, instead of shooting at insurgents, he is trying to help civilians.
For members of Camp Lejeune's newest support group, it was a phone call, not the dreaded knock at the door, that upended their lives.
"Honey, I've got some news," said Sgt. Karl Klepper, 32, calling from Iraq.
"OK," said his wife, Becky, shaking off an afternoon nap.
"I won one of those damn medals," he said.
A Purple Heart.
Continue reading "Spouses of the wounded pull together for support" »
WHAT’S UP: To help wounded service members and their families deal with pressing financial issues and get their finances on track, volunteers from the nonprofit Financial Planning Association are giving presentations and providing financial counseling at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, where the bulk of service members wounded in combat zones are treated. The effort, which kicked off Jan. 31, is being coordinated with Army Community Services.
Continue reading "Pay & Benefits, Money advice for the wounded" »
"Psychological scars always heal more slowly than the bloodier variety," Jeff Key tells the audience at the New Conservatory Theatre Center. The specific scars Key is talking about are those inflicted by the American war in Iraq. His "The Eyes of Babylon," which opened Saturday at NCTC, is a first step in what is certain to be a long national healing process.
Continue reading "Iraq war veteran takes on challenge of beginning the healing process" »
MARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif.(March 10, 2006) -- Growing up in a small Pennsylvania town nestled in the Pocono Mountains and dreaming of becoming a doctor, Joe Strauss would have never predicted he would be the lead resident physician at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., during one of the Marine Corps’ bloodiest battles in Iraq.
Continue reading "Doctor brings trauma experience to Naval Hospital, helps to heal Marines again" »
By Fred Zimmerman, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Saturday, March 11, 2006
IWO JIMA, Japan — Sixty-one years have passed since George Nowacki last set foot on this island — years filled with daily memories of what happened here. He thought maybe, just maybe, if he visited, those memories would fade.
Continue reading "WWII Marine hopes Iwo Jima visit will wash away memories" »
PEQUANNOCK -- A motorcycle club has pledged to help a Pompton Plains group that aids injured Marines.
California-based Rebels With a Cause has pledged half its proceeds from an upcoming cross-country trip to the Family & Friends for Freedom Fund, which helps families of Marines hurt in action with unexpected expenses.
Continue reading "Bikers plan ride to help group that assists injured Marines" »
It’s one of the most deadly and frequent enemy attacks against Marines in Iraq, and now it qualifies under new guidelines to receive one of the Corps’ most coveted — and controversial — awards.
Charitable organizations say they are relieved they can continue helping wounded troops without fear of getting into trouble, thanks to a new law.
Continue reading "Law eases gift rules for wounded troops" »
Other deployed vets experience issue at similar rate
Rates of post-traumatic stress disorder among troops who are severely wounded in combat do not appear to differ significantly from the rates for combat troops who did not suffer traumatic injuries, a new military study has found.
Continue reading "Study: PTSD not more likely in severely wounded troops" »
CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- More than a third of U.S. soldiers received psychological counseling soon after returning from Iraq, according to a Pentagon study that could add fodder to a budget battle in Congress over veterans' health care.
A Marine gripping the dogtags of his fallen comrades. It’s a straight-forward image, with a straight-forward message: If you need help, come and get it.
Continue reading "There’s help for handling rigors of war" »
Throughout a year of ups and downs in running, negative and positive influences can either convince a runner to stay home or go that extra mile. Although runners usually make some of the best excuses, many still overcome some adversity and hit the road.
Some, however, don’t need that extra motivation. It’s as though they’re hard-wired for adversity and they overcome it again and again. A lot of runners can learn something about determination from these individuals — and there are a lot of them.
Continue reading "Runner’s Life: Wounded vets still take to the road" »
When it comes to post-traumatic stress disorder, the war in Iraq is affecting everyone — civilians and soldiers, males and females, Iraqis and Americans — said doctors at a panel at the National Press Club in Washington on Friday
Continue reading "PTSD effect pervasive among Iraq vets, civilians" »
The 120-degree June heat and rising tension in Falluja had already frayed the nerves of the Marine women when the cargo truck they were riding in pulled onto the main road and turned toward camp. It was only a 15-minute trip. But the blast took mere seconds to incinerate lives.
Continue reading "Fatally Exposed-- A Mission That Ended in Inferno for 3 Women" »
2-3 Marine wounded in two separate Afghanistan firefights
By Steve Mraz, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Wednesday, October 26, 2005
ASADABAD, Afghanistan — To the U.S. Marine Corps, he’s known as Lance Cpl. John McClellan of Company E’s combined anti-armor team, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division.
Continue reading "Shot twice in a week, Marine dubbed ‘Lucky’" »
IRAQ VETERAN Daniel Cotnoir learned that Baghdad rules don't apply in Lawrence. The
former Marine sergeant, who was named 2005's ''Marine of the Year" by the Marine Corps
Times newspaper, was charged earlier this month with two counts of armed assault with intent to murder after firing a shotgun near a crowd of revelers outside his home. He had already reported their noise to police and, when a glass bottle shattered his bedroom window, Cotnoir allegedly feared for the safety of his wife and children. The story chilled me, not because I could have been part of the crowd, but because I imagined myself as the shooter.
While post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was not officially recognized as a clinical condition until 1980 -- it was called "battle fatigue" or "shell shock" in wars prior to Vietnam -- there have been studies of the symptoms in earlier conflicts.
Continue reading "U.S. wars and post-traumatic stress disorder" »
SAN ANTONIO — While making a turn in his lumbering, 7,500-gallon fuel tanker in a night convoy through Taji, Iraq, last fall, Spc. Justin Burgess swerved to avoid a roadside bomb.
Too late — a fireball erupted outside the truck cab.
A growing number of U.S. troops whose body armor helped them survive bomb and rocket attacks are suffering brain damage as a result of the blasts. It's a type of injury some military doctors say has become the signature wound of the Iraq war.