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Ilona Meagher

WBEZ | New Art Project Hopes to Help Vets Talk - 0 views

  • A lot of soldiers say war is hell, and then, they won't say anything else. That wasn’t good enough for one west suburban playwright. She’s created a new collaboration called the Vet Art Project. It brings veterans and artists together to make art out of  war. The group's vision is a big one: it aims to be a national model for how veterans can tell their stories and get the public to listen.
  • Matt Ping sits across the circle from Crist. He’s a young vet who served in Afghanistan. PING: That transition from 16 months of isolation on the side of a mountain, and being secluded from American society and American people and then coming back and trying to be the same person you were before, it's really -- I don’t know if it’s even possible. A recent study by the Rand Corporation found that nearly 20 percent of soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or depression. Only half, seek treatment. Ping says part of the problem is Americans don’t seem to know or care about the war or its soldiers. He recalls being in Afghanistan, in the thick of it, and soldiers not being able to reach anxious family members. PING: And that’s probably why the suicide rates are so high, because that’s the easiest out.  I mean, I'm not gonna lie. I sat there with a barrel of a gun in my mouth, thinking about pulling the trigger more than once. And you know I’m glad I didn’t because I was just in an altered state at the time.
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    A lot of soldiers say war is hell, and then, they won't say anything else. That wasn't good enough for one west suburban playwright. She's created a new collaboration called the Vet Art Project. It brings veterans and artists together to make art out of war. The group's vision is a big one: it aims to be a national model for how veterans can tell their stories and get the public to listen.
Ilona Meagher

Veterans For America | News Analysis: March 18, 2009 - 0 views

  • Strain in the ranks is leading directly to a tragic suicide epidemic in our military. A Senate hearing is slated for today on the subject. It’s an epidemic and a disturbing problem that this nation must solve. It has the attention of the top civilian in the US Army. We hope the Army’s plan to help our troops cope with the stresses of war works — but we’re sure that reducing the continuous load of deployments on our troops would be very helpful.  War-related trauma doesn’t just plague our veterans — it also haunts our military children, too. Is there a technique for weakening traumatic memories? The fact is, our troops are also dying at home. Add Nevada to the list of states considering special courts for our veterans suffering PTSD — as war has injured them, not that criminality has overcome them. Add Texas to the list of states looking to boost the mental health of military families. Because the most pervasive combat injury is invisible. Sexual assaults in the military are on the rise — but a glimmer of a silver lining is that such assaults are now being more readily reported than swept under the rug. Even a Navy Chaplain stands accused of sex-related crimes.
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    War-related trauma doesn't just plague our veterans - it also haunts our military children, too. Is there a technique for weakening traumatic memories? The fact is, our troops are also dying at home. Add Nevada to the list of states considering special courts for our veterans suffering PTSD - as war has injured them, not that criminality has overcome them. Add Texas to the list of states looking to boost the mental health of military families. Because the most pervasive combat injury is invisible.
Ilona Meagher

Houston Chronicle | 2nd chance in court for hometown war hero - 0 views

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    Marty Gonzalez - Once Carter learned Gonzalez's story, he agreed that the young man with the heroic record and no previous trouble with the law deserved a second chance. Gonzalez certainly had a bit of luck, or fate, on his side. Not only was Windham a veteran, but so was the judge. Carter is a former Army captain and his father was a career Army officer who served in Vietnam. Carter, 49, a Republican appointed by Gov. Rick Perry in 2003, has made it his personal mission to look out for veterans. About two years ago, he worked with Harris County's pre-trial services office to flag veterans when they're arrested and notify the VA hospital. In March alone, the system logged 350 arrests of veterans, some of whom may have been arrested more than once.
Ilona Meagher

NPR | Suicide Rivals The Battlefield In Toll On U.S. Military - 0 views

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    Edward Colley
Ilona Meagher

Hartford Courant | Lawmaker: Courts Should Take Veterans' Problems Into Account - 0 views

  • Advocates for veterans report an increase in the number of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans facing charges such as domestic violence, firearms violations, breach of peace and drunken driving.A Connecticut lawmaker says the court system should be able to identify troubled veterans and refer them to mental health specialists, the same way family courts and drug courts work."Our troubled veterans may not need to be locked up if their combat experience has led to psychological wounds," said Senate Majority Leader Martin Looney, a New Haven Democrat who has introduced legislation to create a separate criminal docket for veterans.This mirrors actions elsewhere in the country. Some states are setting up veterans' courts or enacting laws to deal with veteran offenders. In 2008, Buffalo, N.Y., created the first Veterans Treatment Court after a judge noticed that hundreds of veterans were showing up in his courtroom facing minor charges. California and Minnesotahavepassed legislation to allow nonviolent veterans to forgo jail time if they can prove that their combat experience played a role in the criminal behavior.Looney said he introduced his bill after hearing stories about returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans in Connecticut and across the nation ending up in jail. Connecticut also is using a $2 million grant from the federal Center for Mental Health Services to devise a program that will keep veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder out of jail.
  • Reluctant To Report SymptomsPeople with experience in overseas conflicts, or who work with those who have recently returned, often refer to one overriding symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder in recent veterans."Anger is a really big problem," said Jay White, an Iraq veteran and counselor at the Hartford Vet Center in Rocky Hill. It's one aftermath of the "high-octane environment" veterans experience in war, he said.According to the Connecticut Department of Veterans Affairs, 16,500 state residents have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. That number includes soldiers in the Connecticut Guard, the reserves and active duty personnel. The high number of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with post-traumatic stress disorder presents a large challenge for the criminal justice system. And given that President Barack Obama last week authorized an additional 17,000 troops to go to Afghanistan this year, the number of people who could eventually experience PTSD is likely to increase.PTSD, triggered by an event or events so extreme that they cause trauma, can shatter a soldier's sense of safety and trust and cause a constellation of reactions, in addition to anger.
  • Tom Berger, former chairman of the PTSD committee of the Maryland-based Vietnam Veterans of America, said post-traumatic stress can easily manifest itself in criminal behavior. "It interferes with your thinking process. You have high anxiety. You do strange things like taking U-turns, or carrying loaded weapons in your car," said Berger, who has worked to change the criminal justice system for veterans. James Campbell's experience may typify that of many veterans. The 28-year-old Middletown resident now works as a veterans' employment representative for the state Department of Veterans Affairs. He said he returned home in a hyper-vigilant, ready-for-battle state of mind. Road rage and driving drunk were problems."When I got back, I felt I was indestructible, especially when I was drinking. I didn't care whether I would get into a car and drive drunk," he said. Berger said jail diversion programs should include treatment and recovery and a mentoring component. He said some Vietnam veterans incarcerated when they returned home from war remain in jail. Jim Tackett, director of veterans' services for the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, said the state's jail diversion program will work closely with mental health officials, the veterans administration and the criminal justice system to identify veterans who need help. "Some veterans who commit minor crimes that are the direct result of traumatic wartime experiences need treatment, not incarceration," Tackett said.
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    Jason Haines was in survival mode in 2005 when a car pulled out in front of him on a side street in New Britain. In his mind, Haines was still patrolling the streets of Baghdad in a Humvee with the U.S. Army, firing his .50-caliber shotgun at enemy insurgents who set off roadside bombs. Haines beeped his car's horn, but the driver wouldn't speed up. In a rage, Haines began tailgating the car - which, he soon discovered, was an unmarked police cruiser. Haines wasn't arrested that day, but he came close to joining hundreds of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans nationwide whose untreated war-related emotional and mental afflictions - usually termed post-traumatic stress disorder - lead to minor criminal arrests.
Ilona Meagher

CNN | King: Veterans' stories show cost of military service - 0 views

  • Tucker received a medical discharge from the Army last year and he now is Officer Chris Tucker of the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department. "You still get to serve your community and your country in other ways," he said. At age 26, he is a veteran of three combat tours. The patrol skills he learned on the streets of Baghdad, Fallujah and Sadr City come in handy as he drives his police cruiser around the neighborhoods of his Savannah precinct.
  • As the war hits the six-year mark, Tucker is part of a history -- and a legacy -- still being written as the military tries to better understand the depth of the damage to those exposed repeatedly to the violence. "I still have the nightmares and wake up and find myself downstairs and I don't know how I got there," Tucker said. "I still see and dream the same things. ... Faces. Kids' faces. People that you have engaged or you have had contact with. ... You see your colleagues blown up. Things like that." He left the Army with a sour taste. He was sent back for his third tour despite the nightmares, depression, major hearing loss and painful injuries to his back and both feet. Then, the Army decided to give him a medical discharge for his back issues even though Tucker believes he could have recovered with rehabilitation. But he tries not to dwell on his frustration. "I try to distance myself from it as much as I can, because for me, the more I think about it, the more I reflect on what happened and what we did, the more I think the dreams and the nightmares actually come back."
  • Police Cpl. Randy Powell is 50 years old and became a grandfather just last week. Watch Tucker and Powell tell their stories » Powell served nearly 20 years ago in the Persian Gulf War, then in 1992 took an early retirement package when the Army was downsizing after the war. The deal required him to stay on what the military calls the IRR -- the Individual Ready Reserve -- but even as troops were sent to Afghanistan after 9/11 and then to Iraq for repeat combat tours, Powell heard nothing. Then last year, nearly 15 years after leaving the military, he was told to report to a local Reserve center. Another request came in January of this year. Both times, after some perfunctory paperwork, Powell was sent home. But when he returned home from work one day last month, an overnight letter from the Army had arrived with orders that he was being activated for an Iraq deployment. First, starting next month, he'll have refresher training on radar systems at Fort Jackson in South Carolina.
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    Chris Tucker received a medical discharge from the Army last year and he now is Officer Chris Tucker of the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department. "You still get to serve your community and your country in other ways," he said. At age 26, he is a veteran of three combat tours. The patrol skills he learned on the streets of Baghdad, Fallujah and Sadr City come in handy as he drives his police cruiser around the neighborhoods of his Savannah precinct.
Ilona Meagher

Standard Times | Women at war topic of conference - 0 views

  • The Saturday program speakers include Ilona Meagher, author of "Moving a Nation to Care: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder & America's returning Troops," Sue Lynch from There and Back Again Yoga, Judy Barrett Litoff, PhD, from Bryant University and Cheryl Baxa Ph.D. of the Natick Soldier Center.
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    The third "Female Faces of War" conference will be held March 27 and 28 at Heritage State Park and aboard the Battleship Massachusetts. Registration deadline is today. The conference will offer stories from the female perspective of military service with a focus on health topics for veterans. The two-day event is hosted by the U.S.S. Massachusetts Memorial Committee Inc., and the YWCAs of Greater Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts.
Ilona Meagher

MSU H-Net Discussion | What You Don't Know About Women in the Military - 0 views

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    "Excerpt: Every month, Ilona Meagher, author of Moving A Nation to Care: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and America's Returning Troops, posts a collection of "combat clips"-essentially a stack of statistics reported in the mainstream media but buried by the daily barrage of news and chatter. The stats, collected at her blog, PTSD Combat: Winning the War Within, cover a lot of ground, from suicides to face transplants, but I wanted to pull out some numbers relating to women in the military... Full story: http://www.utne.com/War-and-Peace/Women-in-the-US-Military-6216.aspx -- Tanya L. Roth PhD Candidate, Department of History Washington University in St. Louis "
Ilona Meagher

Change.org | Advice for Crisis Workers and Journalists With Disaster Stress - 0 views

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    "If you're curious about how crisis workers, journalists, and soldiers overcome the specific stress of working in war and disaster zones, there is a rapidly growing family of resources. Here's a story for you. On combat PTSD, you may have seen Ilona Meagher's PTSD Combat Blog"
Ilona Meagher

Military.com | Major Shares His PTSD Story - 0 views

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    Ryan Kranc
Ilona Meagher

New York Times | James Cameron's Sci-fi Film Is Turning the Heads of Fans - 0 views

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    To date, neither a trailer nor even a still photo from the film, which tells the story of a disabled soldier who uses technology to inhabit an alien body on a distant planet, has been made public by Mr. Cameron or Fox. Dr. Mario Mendez, a behavioral neurologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Medicine, said it is entirely possible that Mr. Cameron's work could tap brain systems that are undisturbed by conventional 2-D movies. One, he said, is a kind of inner global-positioning system that orients a person to the surrounding world. "Three-D demonstrably creates a space that triggers this GPS; it's really very stimulating," Dr. Mendez said. He added that he had used virtual-reality therapy in working with soldiers at the Veterans Administration hospital in Los Angeles - and found himself jarred by his experience with a "virtual Iraq" simulation. "It was with me for days and days," Dr. Mendez said.
Ilona Meagher

Blog Talk Radio | The U.S. Army Online - How the Army is using Social Media 7/14/2009 - 0 views

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    Date / Length: 7/14/2009 10:30 PM UTC - 30 min Description: h:34685 s:607634 Lindy Kyzer, strategist with the Army's Online and Social Media Division, will join us to discuss how the U.S. Army is implementing social media to better tell the Army Story.
Ilona Meagher

Marine Week - Chicago - May 11-17, 2009 - 0 views

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    I am pleased to announce the inaugural Marine Week activities held in partnership with the great city of Chicago from 11-17 May 2009. This is the first of many celebrations honoring country and Corps in cities across the Nation. Established to recognize the contributions of local Marine heroes, their families, and the cities from which they came, Marine Week also showcases the rich history and traditions of our beloved Corps. During the week, citizens will find Marines volunteering at local food kitchens and community parks, inspiring students by sharing their stories of service to their country, conducting intense physical fitness challenges and martial arts demonstrations, and performing with local musical groups. The Marine Corps will also display aircraft, vehicles, and the latest technology and equipment used to protect and preserve our Nation and its citizens.
Ilona Meagher

NPR | On The Media: Transcript of "War Recorders " (July 22, 2005) - 0 views

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    "The true story of any conflict, from Gettysburg to Fallujah, is mostly lost forever, left behind on the battlefield. What remains is the stuff of history books - the letters and recollections of survivors. It is this material that seven Army historians are racing to preserve in Iraq. Judging the value of their work will fall to future academics, when their records are declassified. But until then, we have the accounts of participants in the project, like Lt. Col. John Boyd. Boyd talks with Brooke from Baghdad."
Fawn Wheat

Combat Paper Project - 0 views

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    Combat Paper Project website for news updates and stories.
Kenn Dixon

Disparities in access to mental health services still exist for African Americans | Wel... - 0 views

  • Juxtaposed against the study entailed above, another so-called “experiment” took place in Tuskegee, Alabama in the 1940′s. Unlike the former study, the subjects of this study knew exactly what they were getting into. They became known as the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of African American pilots who were trained to fly combat missions in World War II. In further contrast to the earlier Tuskegee experiments, the Tuskegee Airmen were hugely successful, shooting down a total of 112 enemy aircraft in flight and helping the U.S. secure significant victories in air combat. In the segregated military of WWII, the Tuskegee Airmen also made strides in the battle raging in the country for which they were fighting, a battle for equality. The recently released movie Red Tails tells the story of the Airmen.
  • rom 1932-1972, 399 impoverished African American sharecroppers were allowed to live, and, in many cases, die with untreated Syphilis in what became known as the “Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment” in Tuskegee, Alabama. Run by the United States Public Health Service, researchers used their human victims to study the course of the disease.
Ilona Meagher

KIAH-TV | Officials say armed veteran shot, killed by officers outside Maine VA hospital - 0 views

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    James Popkowski
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