Posts Tagged ‘Wounded Veterans’
Fairfax County Needs Veterans to Mentor Service Members Injured in Iraq and Afghanistan for Wellness Activities Program
The Fairfax County Department of Community and Recreation Services is recruiting veterans who are interested in mentoring injured service members who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan. Mentors will assist in leading an eight-week physical exploration class to help participants in discovering their physical activities preferences. The program will start in mid-June. The service men and women will meet once a week for eight weeks in various locations throughout Fairfax County. Training is provided. To receive more information or schedule an appointment for a mentoring interview, please contact Bruce Patrick at 703-324-5528, TTY 711 or via email to Bruce.Patrick@fairfaxcounty.gov.
Department of Community and Recreation Services
12011 Government Center Parkway, Suite 1050
Fairfax, Virginia 22035
703-324-5641, TTY 711, Fax 703-222-9792
Media Contact: Patricia L. McClenic, Public Information Officer
DCRS@fairfaxcounty.gov
www.fairfaxcounty.gov/rec
Fairfax County Project WOW! Is funded by a grant from the National Recreation and Park Association’s 2009 USOC Paralympics Grant Initiative, sponsored by the U.S. Paralympics, a division of the U.S. Olympic Committee.
VA Official: Civilians Must Help in Identifying Combat Trauma
The public must be enlisted in the fight against combat stress because veterans often don’t know they suffer from problems, a top Veterans Affairs official said Thursday.
Tammy Duckworth is an assistant secrfetary at the VA, who lost both legs while serving in Iraq. She was the keynote speaker at the 2010 Virginia is for Heroes Conference in Richmond.
Half-jokingly, she referred to her fellow soldiers as stubborn and hard-headed, the last ones to seek help.
She also spoke haltingly about the fellow soldier who saved her life by pulling her from a wrecked helicopter.
“Often, it is us who see the signs of trouble in a veteran before they are willing to admit it,” she said. “Maybe it’s the colleague or supervisor at work who notices that short-term memory is affected. It is the children who get snapped at because maybe a brain injury is affecting ability to control emotions.” …more
Who’s Helping Our Wounded Vets?
The Pentagon estimates that as many as one in five American soldiers are coming home from war zones with traumatic brain injuries, many of which require round-the-clock attention. But lost in the reports of these returning soldiers are the stories of family members who often sacrifice everything to care for them.
One of our VMFC members, Mike Turner, who is also the Chief of Congressional Affairs with the Wounded Warrior Project helped to write Senate Bill 1963 – Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2009, which is featured in the video above. Any help from VMFC members by emailing their Representatives and Senators would be greatly appreciated by Mike. He can be reached at chairman@loudoundemocrats.org.
Virginia is for Heroes 2010
The Virginia Wounded Warrior Program is proud to host the annual Virginia is for Heroes statewide conference addressing combat/operational stress and traumatic brain injury.
Conference participants include veterans and their family members; local, state and national leaders; subject matter experts; and those serving on the “front lines” of behavioral healthcare and supportive services.
Presenters will be sharing information about recent initiatives to partner with communities to expand behavioral healthcare and supportive services to veterans in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as those affected by previous conflicts.
There also will be opportunities to learn about the infrastructure established throughout Virginia as a result of the Virginia Wounded Warrior Program and to discuss and plan for regional resources.
Recognizing the importance of providing the best information available in order to support veterans and their families in their communities, this conference is offered free of charge.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
9 A.M. to 5 P.M.
The Greater Richmond
Convention Center
403 North 3rd Street,
Richmond, Virginia 23219
More details available here.
Next LYONS NJ VAMC PTSD Visit is December 9th
Wounded Soldiers Return to Iraq, Seeking Solace
FORWARD OPERATING BASE NORMANDY, Iraq — Soldiers have often returned to old battlefields, to honor fallen comrades and to exorcise persistent demons. British soldiers go back to the Falklands. Normandy cemeteries are on many V.F.W. and American Legion itineraries. Vietnam veterans can even get package tours now to the places where they were stationed.
Now, Americans wounded in the Iraq war are being ferried back to the scenes where they were maimed to help achieve psychological closure, the first time such visits have been tried while a war is still in progress.
The seven-day program, called Operation Proper Exit, has been kept quiet previously, partly because returning to a combat zone is considered a delicate experiment. For the eight wounded men who returned to Iraq this week, including five amputees and one blinded soldier, the hope is that returning to places many of them left while unconscious or in agony might reassure them that their losses have been worth it.
More Than 425,000 Iraq and Afghanistan War Veterans Treated by VA – More Than 250 New Patients Every Day
According to government reports obtained exclusively by Veterans for Common Sense (VCS), more than 250 new, first-time Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran patients flood into Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals and clinics every day. In the eight years after 9/11, VA has treated and diagnosed more than 425,000 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans at VA facilities, an average of 258 new, first-time patients every day.
While the press and public are often focused on the more than 5,000 deaths from the two wars, a tidal wave of wounded, injured, and ill continue flooding into VA, with no end in sight. Beginning today, VCS starts publishing official VA reports obtained by VCS using the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) at our web site.
DoD Fact Sheet: Consequences of Iraq and Afghanistan Wars
WAGNER ANNOUNCES VETERANS STEERING COMMITTEE; UNVEILS VETERANS POLICY HONORARY CHAIR SENATOR JIM WEBB
RICHMOND – Today, at an event held in Richmond, 100 veterans endorsed Jody Wagner for Lt. Governor, citing her commitment to fighting for Virginia’s veterans and military families. Also at the event, Wagner unveiled her “Contract with Virginia Veterans,” a detailed set of policy proposals aimed at aiding Virginia veterans and their families.
Wagner said “I’m deeply honored to have the support of these 100 veterans, all of whom have given so much for our Commonwealth and Nation. Their sacrifices have helped to preserve and strengthen our fundamental freedoms and rights, and I strongly believe that it is our duty to ensure that they receive the help and support that is so deeply deserved. As Lt. Governor, I will work with these veterans, with current active duty personnel, and with members of both parties to ensure the needs of veterans in Virginia are met in the coming years. The military plays a critical role in the Commonwealth, anchoring our economy while providing hundreds of thousands of jobs. The next Lieutenant Governor must work to continue strengthening that relationship, and I will fulfill the duties of the office by attending the meetings of the Virginia Military Advisory Council.”
The Virginia Military Advisory Council is comprised of active duty commanders at Virginia military installations, as well as elected officials from both parties. The Commission plays a critical role in maintaining the close relationship between the Commonwealth and the military. Though the Lieutenant Governor is a member of the Council, Bill Bolling has failed to attend a single meeting for which minutes are available.
Wagner’s “Contract with Virginia Veterans,” which is available here, contains six specific policy ideas, including:
-Establishing two additional veterans care facilities in Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia -Fully funding the Wounded Warriors Program -Emphasize the Joint Leadership Council of Veterans Service Organizations -Implement the “TurboVet” portal -Ensure in-state tuition for the children of service members and veterans -Make the Southwest Virginia Cemetery a reality
Wounded Marine Fights VA For Care
Casey Owens wasn’t expected to live after he lost both legs in Iraq. But he made it out of a military vehicle alive and to Bethesda Naval Hospital where CBS News national security correspondent David Martin first met him in October of 2004.
“I don’t remember anything, but I know that it was a mine,” Owens said.
Everyone would agree the U.S. government owes Casey Owens the best possible medical care. No one who hears his story could say he got it.
“I don’t know why I’m just depressed, crying a lot and feeling down, just feeling hopeless,” Owens said.
He said that to the latest doctor he turned to in his desperate search for the help he was not getting from the Veterans Administration.
“Dealing with the VA and being held up and not getting the care that I feel I wanted or treatments that I see fit,” Owens said. “That’s a very discouraging thing for me because I did my part and their part is to help heal us and they failed me.”
VDOT Wounded-Veterans Training Program Gets Grant
The Virginia Department of Transportation has received a $1.2 million federal job-training grant for its Wounded Veteran Internship Program.
The funds from the economic stimulus package are aimed at providing on-the-job training in transportation, engineering or construction for underrepresented or disadvantaged people, according to the U.S. Transportation Department.
The federal agency singled out Virginia’s wounded-veterans initiative, started in 2006, as a successful example of the training programs. The state program helps wounded active-duty military personnel develop or improve job skills while they recover from their injuries.