Sean Webster was helping other severely wounded Iraq vets cope with their injuries but, in the end, could not save himself.
For the past year, Sgt. Sean Webster, 23, had worked in Wounded Warrior Battalion at Camp Pendleton, aiding sailors and Marines wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan get much-needed medical and psychological care.
Just two weeks ago he was featured in a front-page story on this effort in the local North County Times newspaper. "I'm a wounded Marine and I know what these guys are going through," he said.
Be a good neighbor: Stow those fireworks. Resist the temptation to buy them, resist the temptation to set them off in your neighborhood. Don't become your local "terrorist."
Believe it or not, it's NOT unpatriotic to celebrate the Fourth without snap-crackle-pop.
That was the plea of another casualty of the Iraq occupation. But it wasn't cried out on the far off battlefields in the deserts of Iraq, it was cried from behind the door of a small home in Pinehurst, NC on June 28th, as the police kicked in the door. On June 28th, Doc Dywer died of an overdose trying to suppress his demons. He died at an oh-so-young, but for many combat veterans an oh-so-old 31 years of age, leaving behind an estranged wife and daughter.
But rather than going on to enjoy the public affection for his act of heroism, he was consumed by the demons of combat stress he could not exorcise. For the medic who cared for the wounds of his combat buddies as they pushed toward Baghdad, the battle for his own health proved too much to bear.
When I was a kid, I used to love the 4th of July. My parents raised me to be a patriotic American, one who loves his country even despite her flaws. Every 4th, we'd pack the whole family up and have a picnic at Stone Mountain Park. We'd eat sandwiches, toss a frisbee, play gin, and wait for the sun to go down. Then came the laser show, one which featured outlining, then animating, the Confederate generals carved into the rock (this is the South, and, unfortunately, Confederate pride will never go out of style). Then came the fireworks. A gigantic, ear-splitting fireworks display, made louder by the soundwave echo slamming against the mountain, bound for our tender eardrums. It was beautiful, true rocket's red glare and mid-air bomb bursts.
These days I dread the 4th. It's not for the jingoism I was too young to understand as a child, which irks me, but I try not to let other's infantile politics change the spirit of the holiday for me. The real reason is I'm not much for fireworks anymore. I haven't been since I came back from Iraq.
In the aftermath of the presidential primaries, stories of unprecedented voter registration and turnout are drifting to the back burner. But with an exceedingly imbalanced electorate, the fight to create access to the voting rolls and enforce the voting rights of all Americans continues. With historic voter registration drives underway and a preview of the types of problems that could occur in November, the focus of the media is beginning to shift towards the less sexy, but crucial elements that work to maximize voter participation while ensuring eligible voters can cast their ballots and have them counted. In Project Vote’s view, this is a welcome development since many of the potential issues require more time to sort out than is available if problems are noted only weeks in advance of the election. This week, election officials, advocates and a presidential candidate worked to assist in or restore voting rights for hospitalized veterans in Connecticut, minority citizens in Georgia, and former felons in Tennessee.
Most people will assume that John McCain supports veterans, i.e. disabled veterans full hearted and with compassion, but in assuming that they would be dead wrong, researching his record on supporting the "troops" or the veterans shows that he votes against laws that would help them thru Veterans Affairs programs.
Most disabled veterans know how McCain votes, because we live under the largesse of Congress, if the laws pass we get help, if they get voted down, well we are the ones who suffer from it, and of course our families. But Senator McCain is a "war hero" he is a disabled veteran himself,well all I can say is so was ex-Secretary of the VA Jim Nicolson, and who can ever forget the silly interview he gave to Bob Woodruff and claimed all the veterans from the Iraq war were coming to the VA hospitals to get their teeth fixed?
Who the fuck does John McCain think he is, claiming that the Presidency is somehow his divine right while his fellow veterans are bleeding and suffering? He can brag all he wants to about purpose, as he does in his latest ads, yet the McCain Doctrine is drifting along without purpose while more and more people are dying and suffering in Iraq.
Jack is maybe one of the bravest people I never met. Jack's father was a veteran in World War II. When he returned to the United States after the war, he became a coal miner and later died of Black Lung. Jack's family was not wealthy and there were few options for him. As many people do in his circumstances, he volunteered for the United States Army.
The war in Vietnam was just beginning to ramp up, and Jack was sent there almost immediately.
So some good will come from the death of Ryan Maseth after all. The Pentagon -- after Ryan's mother, and my friend, Cheryl Harris, brought his death by electrocution to national attention -- has just ordered electrical inspections of all buildings in Iraq maintained by KBR, the major military contractor.
Cheryl, as I have written here previously, has researched other electrocutions and pressed a wrongful death lawsuit against KBR. You remember: the military lied to her in trying to blame it all on him.
The senator from Cheryl's state, Pennsylvania, Bob Casey made public on Monday afternoon a written statement by Gen. David Petraeus, the American commander in Iraq. Petraeus informed Congress of the new inspections -- while also disclosing that at least 13 U.S. soldiers had been electrocuted in Iraq since the war began, and many others had received electrical shocks. Until now, the Pentagon had said 12 had been electrocuted.
It's a very exciting day for us here at the Tom Udall for Senate campaign. The Associated Press reports that President Bush has signed the Webb GI Bill into law:
The new GI Bill essentially would guarantee a full scholarship at any in-state public university, along with a monthly housing stipend, for people who serve in the military for at least three years. It is aimed at replicating the benefits awarded veterans of World War II and more than doubles the value of the benefit — from $40,000 today to $90,000.
The GI Bill measure, authored by Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., had such extraordinary support from both Democrats and Republicans that White House objections were easily overridden. The bill also allows veterans to transfer their benefits to their spouse or a child, an idea Bush has championed.
We wanted to thank all those on DailyKos who made a difference by signing Tom's letter to President Bush asking him to sign this bill, which we diaried here and here.
There are two Very Glaring wrongs within Our Government, the our is me and you all, that this present administration has brought out front and center, for much of this countries existance they have always been there, but in our recent pasts we see them more and more.
The first are the incompetent people appointed to head the many agencies under our government, on our payroll. As shown over these past years many now in charge aren't qualified and of very questionable intelligence. Did they really learn anything in their days at the higher education establishments than after in their professions?, or did they do like many, Network with the right others and groups!
The second are those appointed into the administrations of these government agencies, on our payrolls. Same as above as to their qualifications!
The rest of this is a re-post of a diary I placed here yesterday, that fell like a big bag of bricks, just like another Take Action post a few days ago. There are a few here that actually do things, they might have missed yesterdays, apparently not a topic of concern for the masses here!
The military has finally, after nine months, announced the results of its probe into the death by gunshot of a gay soldier in Afghanistan, who was engaged to marry her partner in Massachusetts, last fall but her family doesn't seem to be buying it.
The military's handling of the case has been disturbing from the outset, with claims of murder voiced by friends and family due to the fact that the victim was known to be gay and had written home that she had seen some troubling things that might cause her not to survive.
Officials first reported that Ciara Durkin, 30, of Quincy, Mass., who served in the National Guard, had died "in action," then revealed that she was killed in a "noncombat" incident that was being investigated.
The beginning of this is an attempt to bring you up to speed on what has been going on this past year leading up to the purpose of this post, a New Investigation on Veterans Care, and the request for those listed in the subject title to get involved with, especially the Veterans having their troubles with the VA and their Care.
I was very pleased to see that our Nominee Barack Obama will be making an unscheduled, unannouned visit to Walter Reed Medical Center Saturday in Washington, D.C. I don't think you can run for President without listening to the troops who've served and now rest, recovery in that Hospital, which Obama was instrumental in improving.
I was shocked, appauled, and horrified when I read this however about John McCain:
McCain’s visits are usually unannounced to the press, and sometimes he shows up without even giving the hospital notice. He tells friends it gives him a sense of peace and feeds his soul.
This is not a direct quote from McCain, but What the Fuck John.
Not only did John McCain miss the vote on Webb's GI bill, he actively opposed it as overly generous.
But little things like facts don't get in the way of McCain.
Today, in Ohio:
I'm happy to tell you that we probably agreed to an increase in educational benefits for our veterans that not only gives them increase in their educational benefits, but if they stay in for a certain period of time than they can transfer those educational benefits to their spouses and or children. That's a very important aspect I think of incentivizing people of staying in the military.
Then again, maybe he just forgot his previous stand.
"I'm not going back to Iraq," Army Sgt. Benjamin Miller, 24, told friends back home in Minnesota. And, indeed, he is not. Three days ago, he was buried, having committed suicide while home on leave. He had been scheduled to get out of the service in January but was "stop-lossed."
For several years, I have covered the suicides of U.S. military personnel in Iraq or when they returned home. Now it has become an epidemic.
In most cases, the news only emerges because a local reporter gets on the case. It happened again this week, with the reporter this time Elizabeth Mohr of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
The federal government is subjecting veterans to long delays in obtaining mental health care and medical benefits, but the power to change the system rests with officials and Congress, not the courts, a federal judge in San Francisco ruled Wednesday in dismissing a lawsuit by veterans' advocates.
