PTSD Combat

Marines and sailors broke ground Friday on a place where wounded warriors will be able to heal, mentally and physically. The new Wounded Warriors barracks, which is scheduled to take about 18 months to build, will include 100 two-man rooms, living area and kitchenette, fitness, physical therapy and counseling space. The rooms are designed to accommodate two wheelchair-bound Marines without collisions, said Lt. Col. Thomas Siebenthal, commander of Wounded Warriors Battalion-East. Camp Lejeune's wounded warriors are currently housed in a 1940s-era building across base from the Naval Hospital. The new facility is just steps away from the hospital.

Christopher Tramontana

On this day, they are laboring at one of many small wetlands created by developers to compensate for marshland filled in for housing. Most of these spots are overgrown with blackberries and other invasive species, and the restoration work is tough labor that often leaves scratched-up arms. "It's been like a breath of fresh air," said Jeremy Grisham, the leader of the crew. "When I first got back, I couldn't find work and gained so much weight. When I started getting outside, it was the first time I felt good about things." Grisham was a Navy medic who took part in the initial U.S. invasion of Iraq. One of his most harrowing tasks was helping civilians suffering from burns and wounds. As Grisham was medically retired in 2005, he was diagnosed with a disabling case of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Grisham is now in his second year in the conservation corps, taking classes and field work at Green River Community College, which offers a two-year degree in natural-resources management. He is one of about 70 Washington veterans who have been able to attend Green River and four other community colleges around the state with the help of the conservation corps, which pays $1,000 per month in living expenses.

Jonathan Strickland

Nicholas Adam Horner

"Part of it, I think, is because we don't have what it takes to offer to young vets," Bogan said. "They're looking for places with Wi-Fi (wireless Internet service) so they can sit down and do laptops. A lot of posts don't have this facility. They're just not into shooting pool. They'd rather play video games or use their laptops." The ambience of American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars halls doesn't appeal to young veterans, said Karl P. Karl, director of the Veterans Transition Center in Marina. Some of the turnoffs, he said, include drinking in the lounge - "many younger vets want a clean, sober environment" - a feeling among young veterans that they aren't welcome, and infighting within and fragmentation of veterans' organizations.

The Air Force reported 13 suicides through April 24 this year, compared with 39 in 2008 and a recent peak of 49 in 2004. That compared with 17 Air Force combat deaths within the past two years, including three in the past six months. The American Psychiatric Association is working with the armed services to help provide counseling to combat veterans and spouses, said Dr. Carolyn Robinowitz, the organization's immediate past president. "The military is trying to address this. But it's kind of a conflict," Robinowitz said. "The culture is one of not admitting weakness."

Amherst artist Matt Mitchell is closing in on the halfway point of his project to paint portraits of 100 U.S. citizens affected by war. Mitchell has more than 50 portraits to create - and years of work ahead of him to document the ways wars change everyone. Also here in our midst, the nonprofit Veterans Education Project continues its efforts, in schools and the wider community, to get people to see through war's myths. Their work helps us avoid being lulled into the belief a changing war no longer needs our attention, our compassion and our political voices.

Mort Reichek - New Jersey - Age:83 ***would be great to interview*** What I do: Retired (former senior editor of Business Week) Me at home: Married, grandchildren My blog's beginnings: Began publishing when I achieved octogenarian status in 2005 Why I blog: As a retired, physically aching 83-year-old man, who once relished playing tennis, blogging has provided a stimulating alternative. Focus: Current events and memoirs as a one-time journalist, World War II army veteran, and first-generation American raised in an immigrant family in the Bronx. On the blog's impact: I published a piece about a fellow journalist who had been a Soviet air force colonel before defecting to this U.S. This produced responses from two of his children who were very young when he died. They were naturally eager to learn more about their deceased father. Above details from http://technorati.com/blogging/state-of-the-blogosphere/who-are-the-bloggers/

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.

Curtis Warren

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.

A video game based on the Second Battle of Fallujah in Iraq is causing controversy as some veterans of the war in Iraq and families of those killed in the war say turning the war into a game will trivialize it. Konami, the company that plans to publish "Six Days in Fallujah," worked with soldiers who fought in Fallujah to develop the game.

Marcus Luttrell - Along the way on the chase, Luttrell placed a desperate call to 911, warning the dispatcher of his potential to strike, as well. "I told them, 'You need to get somebody out here because if I catch them I'm going to kill them,' " Luttrell recalled to The Houston Chronicle. "I was trying to talk myself out of being who I am. Talking to myself about not doing the one thing I am good at."

Matthew Hagen - A county corrections officer was arrested on suspicion of running down deer and fleeing from law enforcement officers, but Matthew Hagen's family and friends said his behavior was a result of what happened to him in Iraq.

A Washington D.C.-based radio reporter says his audio storage device was inappropriately confiscated Tuesday by Veterans Affairs officials after he interviewed a patient at a VA Medical Center forum.

Schultz is a reporter with Public Radio station WAMU. Last Tuesday night, he was covering a public event at the V.A. Hospital in Washington, D.C. While interviewing one of the veterans about the poor treatment he was receiving at the hands of the V.A., Ms. Hairston demanded that Schultz stop recording the interview and hand over his recording equipment.