Through Veterans' Eyes
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78. http://www.us-army-info.com/pages/enlist.html (accessed January 31, 2009).
79. Nancy A. Youssef, “Guardsman Would Rather Face Taliban than U.S. Economy,” McClatchy Newspapers, January 6, 2009.
80. Bryan Bender, “Down Economy Boosts Military, Boston Globe, March 1, 2009.
81. “A Letter to the Republic for Which We Stand,” in Burden, Blog of War, 247–248.
Chapter 10: Accessing Institutional Resources
1. Paul Gregory Mayfield Collection (AFC2001/001/60193), transcript (MS04), VHP, AFC, LOC.
2. Terrell Spencer Collection (AFC2001/001/57175), transcript (MS04), VHP, AFC, LOC.
3. Bobby Lee Lisek Collection (AFC2001/001/60191), transcript (MS04), VHP, AFC, LOC.
4. Ibid.
5. Dax Carpenter Collection (AFC/2001/001/57035), transcript (MS04), VHP, AFC, LOC.
6. Veterans for America, “Fort Drum: A Great Burden, Inadequate Assistance” (Washington, D.C., February 13, 2008), 2, 3.
7. Philip Thomas Collection (AFC2001/001/52496), video recording (MV01), VHP, AFC, LOC.
8. Robert Pear, “Military Medical Care Panel Hears Frustrations of Wounded Soldiers,” New York Times, April 15, 2007.
9. Nicole Ferretti Collection (AFC/2001/001/57083), transcript (MS04), VHP, AFC, LOC.
10. Interview, Concord, New Hampshire, May 16, 2007.
11. Telephone interview, May 25, 2007.
12. One study of noncommissioned officers suffering from PTSD symptoms following duty in Iraq put the incidence at 12 percent after one deployment, 18.5 percent after a second deployment, and 27 percent after a third. The Brookings Institution, “Iraq Index: Tracking Variables of Reconstruction and Security in Post-Saddam Iraq” (February 5, 2009), 28, http:///.www.brookings.edu/iraqindex.
13. Maya Schenwar, “Two Wars, 400,000 VA Patients,” Truthout, January 29, 2009, http://www.truthout.org/012909J. See also Maya Schenwar, “A Lease on Her Life,” Truthout, January 25, 2008.
14. Lizette Alvarez and Dan Frosch, “A Focus on Violence by GIs Back from War,” New York Times, January 1, 2009.
15. A mass shooting at Fort Hood on November 5, 2009, in which thirteen people were killed and thirty wounded—traumatic enough in its own right—also highlighted unmet mental health needs at the largest military base in the U.S., an installation which “for years … has been an emblem of an overstretched military.” James Dao, “At Fort Hood, Reaching Out to Soldiers at Risk.” New York Times, December 24, 2009.
16. Lolita C. Baldor, “Kentucky Base Braces for Soldiers’ Return,” Boston Globe, November 30, 2008. In mid-2009, Fort Campbell, Kentucky, held a three-day stand down for stock-taking purposes after eleven soldiers on the base committed suicide during the course of the year. See “Fort Campbell Holds ‘Suicide Stand-Down.’” UPI, May 27, 2009.
17. Mental Health Advisory Team-IV, Final Report, November 17, 2006, Office of the Surgeon, Multinational Force-Iraq and Office of the Surgeon General, U.S. Army Medical Command.
18. Executive Summary, An Achievable Vision: Report of the Department of Defense Task Force on Mental Health, Department of Defense Task Force on Mental Health (Falls Church, VA: Defense Health Board, 2007).
19. Mental Health Advisory Team-V, Report, March 6, 2008.
20. Leslie Kaufman, “New York City Bolsters Effort to Shelter Homeless Veterans,” New York Times, December 16, 2008.
21. Erik Eckholm, “Surge in Number of Homeless Veterans is Anticipated, York Times, November 7, 2007.
22. Veterans for America, The American Veterans and Servicemembers Survival Guide, 2008 edition, 295, http://veteransforamerica.org.
23. Anna Badken, “Shelters Take Many Vets of Iraq, Afghan Wars,” Boston Globe, August 7, 2007.
24. Paul Rieckhoff, executive director, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, “President Obama: Make Veterans a Priority in the First 100 Days,” January 20, 2009.
25. Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense, quoted in Maya Schenwar, “Two Wars.”
26. Telephone interview, Dr. Andrew Breuder, chief of staff, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Manchester, New Hampshire.
27. Pia Malbran, “VA Staffer Discourages PTSD Diagnoses: The Department of Veterans Affairs Condemns ‘Inappropriate’ E-mail,” CBS News, May 15, 2008. Circulated by VoteVets Political Action Committee.
28. Art Shapiro, “Army Blocks Disability Paperwork Aid at Fort Drum,” National Public Radio, January 29, 2008. For follow-up story, see NPR, February 7, 2008.
29. Charles M. Sennott, Boston Globe, February 11, 2007.
30. Metz Duites Collection (AFC2001/001/58571), video recording (MV01), VHP, AFC, LOC.
31. Nevertheless, the figures for U.S. troops deployed to either Iraq or Afghanistan deemed medically unfit for combat were striking: 10,854 (2003), 8,996 (2004), 5,397 (2005), 8,672 (2006), and 9,140 (2007). Brookings Institution, Iraq Index.
32. David Zucchino, “New Battle for Injured Vets: Benefits,” Los Angeles Times, November 27, 2008.
33. Associated Press, “Study Suggests Mental Health Crisis Looming,” April 17, 2008.
34. Lizette Alvarez, “Nearly a Fifth of War Veterans Report Mental Disorders, a Private Study Finds, New York Times, April 18, 2008.
35. Bob Roehr, “High Rate of PTSD in Returning Iraq Vets,” Medscape Medical News, November 6, 2007, http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/565407 (accessed February 23, 2009).
36. “If current trends continue, suicide will eventually surpass the civilian rate of 19 suicides per 100,000 people. The Army thinks, unlike previous wars, that multiple redeployments may be a factor, along with failed relationships and financial problems.” Betty Ann Bowser, “Military, VA Confront Rising Suicide Rates Among Troops,” The News Hour, Public Broadcasting System, November 10, 2008.
37. Ronald Glasser, “A Shock Wave of Injuries,” Washington Post, April 8, 2007.
38. President’s Commission on Care for America’s Returning Wounded Warriors, President’s Commission on Care for America’s Returning Wounded Warriors Issues Six Groundbreaking Patient and Family Centered Recommendations to Serve, Support and Simplify Care, July 25, 2007.
39. Laura Colarusso, “Concerns Grow about War Veterans Misdiagnoses: Brain Injuries Can Defy Easy Detection,” Boston Globe, June 10, 2007. One account estimates the lifetime cost of treating a single TBI patient at $17 million.
40. Deborah Warden, national director of the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center, quoted in Susan Okie, “Traumatic Brain Injuries in the War Zone,” New England Journal of Medicine 352 no. 20 (May 19, 2005): 2043. For a review of the status of efforts to diagnose and treat PTSD and TBI, see Veterans for America, “Trends in Treatment of America’s Wounded Warriors: Psychological Trauma and Traumatic Brain Injuries: The Signature Wounds of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom,” November 7, 2007.
41. Interview, White River Junction, Vermont, November 13, 2006.
42. Charles M. Sennott, “New Generation’s War Rekindles Earlier Horrors,” Boston Globe, June 18, 2007.
43. President’s Commission on Care, America’s Returning Wounded Warriors.
44. Interview with Jo Moncher, bureau chief, Community-Based Military Programs, New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, January 8, 2009.
45. Minnesota National Guard, “Beyond the Yellow Ribbon pilot program established to help National Guard soldiers with Reintegration,” In the News (undated), http://MinnesotaNationalGuard.org (accessed March 17, 2009). A comparable correlation was confirmed among Army wives by a study released in 2010 based on a 250,000-person sample during the years 2003–2006. See A. J. Mansfield et al., “Deployment and the Use of Mental Health Services among U.S. Army Wives,” New England Journal of Medicine 362, no.2 (January 14, 2010), 101.
46. New York State Health Foundation, “New York State Health Announces RFP Seeking First Comprehensive Needs Assessment of New York’s Returning Veterans and Their Families,” http://NYSHealthFoundation
.org (accessed March 17, 2009).
47. Jude Ferran Collection (AFC2001/001/30609), audio recording (SR01), VHP, AFC, LOC.
48. Among the 190 members of a military police company from Massachusetts sent to Iraq in July 2007, at least thirty left posts in law enforcement and other emergency services agencies. Bryan Bender, “Guard Deployments Weaken Public Safety Forces,” Boston Globe, July 14, 2006.
49. Brian MacQuarrie, “For Self-Employed, Guard Duty Has a Price: Many Struggle to Reclaim Jobs after Service Tours, Boston Globe, August 7, 2005.
50. Pam Belluck, “After Duty, New Chance for Old Job: Ex-Serviceman Wins Case against Employer,” New York Times, June 21, 2008.
51. Eric Heath Collection (AFC2001/001/57086), transcript (MS04), VHP, AFC, LOC.
52. “Bases Brace for Surge in Stress-Related Disorders,” November 29, 2008, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27968227/.
53. Telephone interview, January 15, 2007. After the Fog has been adapted for use by the DVA.
54. Paul Rieckhoff, executive director, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, “President Obama: Make Veterans a Priority in the First 100 Days,” January 20, 2009.
55. Leslie Kaufman, “New York City Bolsters Effort to Shelter Homeless Veterans,” New York Times, December 16, 2008.
Chapter 11: The Global War on Terror and Earlier Wars
1. Mark Kirk Collection (AFC2001/001/38582), video recording (MV01), VHP, AFC, LOC.
2. Jude Ferran Collection (AFC2001/001/30609), audio recording (SR01), VHP, AFC, LOC.
3. Benjamin Braden Collection (AFC2001/001/30610), audio recording (SR01), VHP, AFC, LOC.
4. Ralan Hill Collection (AFC2001/001/43145), transcript (MS04), VHP, AFC, LOC.
5. Jeremy Lima Collection (AFC2001/001/53039), transcript (MS04), VHP, AFC, LOC.
6. “The All-Volunteer Army: Can We Still Claim Success?” Military Review (July–August 2008): 102.
7. Paul Gregory Mayfield Collection (AFC2001/001/60193), transcript (MS04), VHP, AFC, LOC.
8. Benjamin Braden Collection (AFC2001/001/30610), audio recording (SR01), VHP, AFC, LOC.
9. Samuel Main Collection (AFC2001/001/56467), transcript (MS04), VHP, AFC, LOC.
10. Mark Kirk Collection (AFC2001/001/38582), video recording (MV01), VHP, AFC, LOC.
11. Metz Duites Collection (AFC2001/001/58571), video recording (MV01), VHP, AFC, LOC.
12. Larry Bond Collection (AFC2001/001/43890), video recording (MV01), VHP, AFC, LOC.
13. Robert D’Amico Collection (AFC2001/001/62471), video recording (MV01), VHP, AFC, LOC.
14. Gregory Marinich Collection (AFC2001/001/54920), video recording (MV01), VHP, AFC, LOC.
15. Michael Daake Collection (AFC2001/001/44668), audio recording (SR01), VHP, AFC, LOC.
16. William Andrews Collection (AFC2001/001/42880), transcript (MS04), VHP, AFC, LOC.
17. Todd Walton Collection (AFC2001/001/38931), audio recording (SR01), VHP, AFC, LOC.
18. Marinich Collection, VHP.
19. New Hampshire National Guard, Global War on Terrorism.
20. Ibid.
21. Marinich Collection, VHP.
22. Ibid.
23. For an extended discussion on National Guard duties and performance, see Larry Minear, “A New National Guard?” in The U.S. Citizen-Soldier and the Global War on Terror (Medford, MA: Feinstein International Center), 61–65.
24. Mark Warnecke Collection (AFC2001/001/34941), video recording (MV01), VHP, AFC, LOC.
25. In Yvonne Latty, In Conflict: Iraq War Veterans Speak Out on Duty, Loss, and the Fight to Stay Alive (Sausalito, CA: PoliPointPress, 2006), 126.
26. Mark Benjamin, “Medical Evacuations in Iraq War Hit 18,000,” Washington Times, March 31, 2004, available at www.VeteransforCommonSense.org (accessed March 8, 2009).
27. Christopher Haug, “Aeromedical Process Key to Saving Lives in Iraq,” available at http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2005/07/mil-050729-afpn01.htm (accessed March 7, 2009).
28. Maria Cochran Collection (AFC2001/001/62436), audio recording (SR01), VHP, AFC, LOC.
29. Mayfield Collection, VHP.
30. New Hampshire National Guard, Global War on Terrorism.
31. John Cencich Collection (AFC2001/001/48508), video recording (MV01-c.1), VHP, AFC, LOC.
32. His experience ran counter to the findings of a survey which concluded that the rate of PTSD among U.S. troops in Somalia during the years 1992–1994 was about 8 percent, or roughly half of that in Afghanistan and Iraq.
33. David Paxson Collection (AFC2001/001/35232), video recording (MV01), VHP, AFC, LOC.
34. Latty, In Conflict, 185.
35. Ryan Aument Collection (AFC2001/001/62372), video recording (MV01), VHP, AFC, LOC.
36. Mark Kaplan Collection (AFC2001/001/57488), video recording (MV01), VHP, AFC, LOC.
37. New Hampshire National Guard, Global War on Terrorism.
38. Dr. Matthew J. Friedman, “Diagnosis and Assessment of PTSD: A Report to the Institute of Medicine,” PowerPoint presentation (undated).
39. Interview with the author by a chaplain requesting anonymity.
40. David Dobbs, “The Post-Traumatic Stress Trap,” Scientific American, April 2009, 64–69.
41. “Warriors: What It Is Really Like to Be a Soldier in Iraq,” Public Broadcasting System, aired April 2007.
42. For an update, see Lizette Alvarez, “G.I. Jane Stealthily Breaks the Combat Barrier,” New York Times, August 16 2009. (This article is part of the Women at Arms series.) Also, See Paula Broadwell, “Women Soldiers Crucial to U.S. Mission,” Boston Globe, August 26, 2009.
43. Jay Craven and Robert Miller, After the Fog: Interviews with Combat Veterans (Barnet, VT: Kingdom County Productions, 2006).
44. Bob Roehr, “High Rate of PTSD in Returning Iraq Vets,” November 6, 2007, Medscape Medical News. The DVA official quoted is Dr. Evan Kanter, staff psychiatrist in the PTSD Outpatient Clinic of the VA Puget Sound Health Care System.
45. DOD, Defense Manpower Data Center, Contingency Tracking Service, Operation Enduring Freedom, Military Deaths and Military Wounded in Action, October 7, 2001 through January 3, 2009.
46. Interview, Concord, New Hampshire, April 26, 2007.
47. Joelle Farrell, “Female Soldiers Face their Own Challenges,” Concord Monitor, October 4, 2006. By 2010 the term military sexual abuse was in use.
48. Mayfield Collection, VHP.
49. Maria Zambrana Collection (AFC2001/001/44402), video recording (MV01), VHP, AFC, LOC.
50. Ralan Hill Collection (AFC2001/001/43145), transcript (MS04), VHP, AFC, LOC.
51. Sarah Abbruzze, “Iraq War Brings Drop in Black Enlistees,” New York Times, August 22, 2007.
52. Elisabeth Bumiller, “Building on Campaign Effort, Obama Carefully Cultivates the Military, New York Times, January 31, 2009. Also Bryan Bender, “Obama Seeks Assessment on Gays in Military,” Boston Globe, February 1, 2009.
53. Strobe Talbott and Nayan Chanda, eds., The Age of Terror: America and the World After September 11 (New York: Basic Books, 2001), x.
54. Louise Richardson, What Terrorists Want: Understanding the Enemy, Containing the Threat (New York: Random House, 2006), 140, 167.
55. Larry Minear, “Learning the Lessons of Coordination,” in A Framework for Survival: Health, Human Rights, and Humanitarian Assistance in Conflicts and Disasters, ed. Kevin M. Cahill (New York and London: Routledge, 1999), 310.
56. “Barack Obama’s Inaugural Address,” transcript, New York Times (January 20, 2009), www.nytimes.com/2009/01/20/us/politics/20text-obama.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1.
57. Kirk Collection, VHP.
Chapter 12: Listening to Veterans
1. Brandon Bass Collection (AFC2001/001/62664), transcript (MS04), VHP, AFC, LOC.
2. Johnny Torres Collection (AFC2001/001/53414), audio recording (SR01), VHP, AFC, LOC.
3. Blake Cole Collection (AFC2001/001/62554), video recording (MV01), VHP, AFC, LOC.
4. Benj
amin Braden Collection (AFC2001/001/30610), audio recording (SR01), VHP, AFC, LOC.
5. Nicole Ferretti Collection (AFC2001/001/57083), transcript (MS04), VHP, AFC, LOC.
6. Philip Thomas Jr. Collection (AFC2001/001/52496), video recording (MV01), VHP, AFC, LOC.
7. Eric Heath Collection (AFC2001/001/57086), transcript (MS04), VHP, AFC, LOC.
8. Christopher Gamblin Collection (AFC2001/001/60182), transcript (MS04), VHP, AFC, LOC.
9. Bradley Burd Collection (AFC2001/001/30269), video recording (MV01), VHP, AFC, LOC.
10. Gonzalo Gonzalez Collection (AFC2001/001/60176), transcript (MS04), VHP, AFC, LOC.
11. David Brown Collection (AFC2001/001/29450), video recording (MV01), VHP, AFC, LOC.
12. William Andrews Collection (AFC2001/001/42880), transcript (MS04), VHP, AFC, LOC.
13. Ferretti Collection, VHP.
14. Maria Cochran Collection (AFC2001/001/62436), transcript (MS04), VHP, AFC, LOC.
15. Nicholas Fosholdt Collection (AFC2001/001/60174), transcript (MS04), VHP, AFC, LOC.
16. Jude Ferran Collection (AFC2001/001/30609), audio recording (SR01), VHP, AFC, LOC.
17. Gregory Marinich Collection (AFC2001/001/54920), video recording (MV01), VHP, AFC, LOC.
18. Lynn Wagner Collection (AFC2001/001/60931), video recording (MV01), VHP, AFC, LOC.
19. Shawn Stenberg Collection (AFC2001/001/41268), audio recording (SR01), VHP, AFC, LOC.
20. James Welch Collection (AFC2001/001/29065), audio recording (SR01), VHP, AFC, LOC.
21. Jeffrey Beard Collection (AFC2001/001/30470), audio recording (SR01), VHP, AFC, LOC.
22. Bass Collection, VHP.
23. Jeremy Lima Collection (AFC2001/001/53039), transcript (MS04), VHP, AFC, LOC.
24. Robert D’Amico Collection (AFC2001/001/62471), video recording (MV01), VHP, AFC, LOC.
25. Ryan Aument Collection (AFC2001/001/62372), video recording (MV01), VHP, AFC, LOC.
26. Mark Kirk Collection (AFC2001/001/38582), video recording (MV01), VHP, AFC, LOC.
27. Easter Seals New Hampshire, “Veteran and Family Support Services: A Concept Paper” (undated).