December 15, 2011 – 13WVEC.com

Mental health specialists are reporting that more women are coming back from this war with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder than any other war.

Women make up 14% of the US military, but the roles they fill are now much closer to the front lines than in past wars.

“The sheer fact that women are in more risk position, it increases that risk,” said Dr. David Spiegel, an associate professor and psychiatrist with Eastern Virginia Medical School.

Spiegel says the number of women coming back from war with PTSD was 2% during the Gulf War, and now it’s up to 13% of women. That’s compared to 15% of men.

The doctor says the triggers are same for both sexes.

“Loud sounds will make them hit the deck.  Helicopters sounds like that will make them feel like it’s happening again.”

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December 17, 2011 – CNN

Suicide continues to plague the American military, with an estimated 18 war veterans in the United States ending their lives each day. One of the last resorts for veterans struggling with the return to civilian life is a suicide-prevention hot line based in upstate New York.

The humble offices of the Veterans Crisis Line in Canandaigua, New York, are like any other office space: desks, computers, telephones. But as you walk past each cubicle, you begin to hear extraordinarily disturbing conversations.

“I have a .45 pointed at my head,” one caller says.

“Can you put that knife away for a bit while we talk? Can you do that for me? Can you hold off just for a little bit?” a hot line worker asks.

“What sort of weapons do you have?” another calmly responds.

The men and women who answer the Veterans Crisis Line phones are on the front lines of an all-out war on suicide. Each speaks to the caller with a very clear purpose: keep the person on the phone long enough to get help.

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December 18, 2011 – The Charlotte Observer

paratrooper, has been deployed into combat seven times with the elite 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team. Kosovo. Bosnia. Two deployments to Iraq. Three to Afghanistan. Each of those deployments involved intense, front-line fighting with Roberts leading some of the nation’s most hardened soldiers: Army Rangers. “I lived for that war stuff,” said Roberts, 45. Today, Roberts is one of the estimated 20 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). And with the Iraq war winding down – the last U.S. troops are leaving that country this month – more and more service members are returning home. Many are returning with injuries, including psychological trauma, and many are in the Midlands.

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/12/19/2860381/trained-dogs-help-soldiers-with.html#storylink=cpy

December 19, 2011 – Tacinc.org

December 19th, 2011 – HUD just launched a new website that provides information related to vouchers targeted to Non-Elderly Disabled persons (referred to as NED vouchers) in one place.  This one-stop website includes information about the various different special purpose voucher program types that have been awarded since 1997, including program Notices of Funding Availability (NOFAs), HUD Funding Announcements, and Frequently Asked Questions.

This website also provides critical information for Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) currently administering these NED vouchers. Specifically, the website states that all vouchers awarded since 1997 for non-elderly disabled families must be reestablished and maintained as NED vouchers. HUD also provides a link to a list of PHAs and the number of NED vouchers that HUD has established as the PHA ”baseline” for meeting PHA obligations [click here (MS-Excel)]. All PHAs will now be clear that, upon turnover, those vouchers must continue to be provided ONLY to non-elderly disabled households. The disability community can use these baseline data to engage PHAs in a dialogue around using these vouchers to meet the housing needs of people with disabilities.

For more information about NED Vouchers and to view TAC’s database of special purpose vouchers, go to www.tacinc.org.

December 20, 2011 – Fayobserver.com

A Fort Bragg soldier was fatally shot by sheriff’s deputies in Hopewell, Va., on Saturday morning after allegedly firing on them during a traffic stop on Interstate 295, authorities said.

The soldier was identified as Pfc. Robert L. Henderson III, 21, of Reisterstown, Md. He was a supply clerk with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade, according to Fort Bragg.

A Hopewell sheriff’s deputy pulled over Henderson’s 2000 Nissan Altima after estimating its speed at 100 mph, according to Virginia State Police. As the deputy approached the car, Henderson drove off but stopped about two miles farther south in a travel lane of Interstate 295, police said.

Henderson got out and confronted the two deputies who had followed him, the Virginia State Police said.

“According to witnesses, the suspect shot at the two deputies, who returned fire striking the suspect,” police said in a release.

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