GIs in Afghanistan run to Remember 9/11
September 11, 2009
Associated Press
BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan—American troops in Afghanistan donned shorts and sneakers Friday to run in memory of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, as they fight a war that was born of that day but now faces waning public support.
About 1,000 service members ran 9.11 kilometers (about 5.5 miles) at the main U.S. base, both to commemorate the anniversary and remember troops who have died in nearly eight years of fighting.
The U.S. and its allies first invaded Afghanistan in October 2001 to oust the Taliban regime for sheltering al-Qaida leaders who planned the attacks. The Taliban were quickly routed, but the militants regrouped and have mounted an increasingly strong insurgency over the past three years.
Organizers of Friday’s race, which also was held at two other bases, called it an act of defiance against insurgents who have killed more American troops this year than in any other since the beginning of the conflict. August was the deadliest month for U.S. troops so far, with 51 killed.
“Our Soldiers are running in the heart of Taliban territory, where the attacks on America were planned,” a military statement said.
Soldiers in the early morning run at Bagram said their mission has grown beyond those autumn days of 2001 when priority No. 1 was to get al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.
“It’s more about establishing Afghanistan’s government and the freedom of the Afghan people,” said Army Capt. Jeremy McHugh, 38, of Petersham, Mass. He says he’s still fighting terrorism, just very indirectly.
The attacks of eight years ago have faded into the background for many U.S. troops here. It’s unclear if bin Laden is even in Afghanistan, and few say they’ll be ready to declare “mission accomplished” if he’s caught.
As Soldiers snacked on oranges and sports drinks after the race, they talked about getting medical supplies out to nearby villages or training Afghan counterparts or improving the government.
A memorial service was planned at Bagram later in the day, timed to coincide with the moment when the first plane hit the World Trade Center in New York.
Many on the U.S. base, including Sgt. Joshua Applegate of Springfield, Miss., cite the Sept. 11 attacks as the reason they signed up for the military or re-enlisted. Applegate was in high school when the planes hit the towers, and enlisted two years later though he said he had wanted to do it right away.
“I like my country too much not to,” said Applegate, who arrived in Afghanistan in April. He facilitates transport and other logistics.
President Barack Obama shifted the spotlight away from Iraq this year and ordered a surge in troops to Afghanistan, where the conflict had worsened while money and troops were focused elsewhere.
But as violence and deaths continue and officials suggest even more troops may be needed, opinion polls in the U.S. suggest Americans may be tiring of a conflict that some say is unwinnable and now seems far removed from the effort to find bin Laden.
In mid-July, an AP poll indicated that 53 percent of Americans opposed the Afghanistan war and 44 percent supported it. In August, an ABC News-Washington Post poll found that 51 percent said the war was not worth fighting, while 47 percent said it was worth it.
Has America forgotten already????
http://www.hubgarage.com/mygarage/PACC/blogs/12430
Friday, September 11, 2009
Sunday, September 6, 2009
DoD, AP battle over photo of dying Marine
By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Sep 6, 2009 15:24:28 EDT
A graphic photograph of a mortally wounded Marine released for publication Thursday by The Associated Press — over the objections of the family and the Pentagon — has reignited the debate over how to juggle combat coverage with sensitivity toward loved ones of the deceased.
Lance Cpl. Joshua Bernard was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade during an Aug. 14 Taliban ambush in Afghanistan. He suffered severe leg wounds and died on a field hospital’s operating table, according to AP.
An AP photographer’s slightly blurred image captured Bernard lying on the ground, with two fellow Marines rushing to his aid. His face is recognizable, and he appears to have lost his legs.
The AP released the photo as part of a larger story package on Bernard’s death after what it called “long deliberations.” AP had placed a one-day embargo on the photo’s release to give media outlets time to consider whether to publish the graphic image. And it had called Bernard’s family before moving the photo to its member publications, AP spokesman Paul Colford said.
The photo’s release prompted a telephone call from Defense Secretary Robert Gates to AP President Thomas Curley asking him to reconsider and defer to the wishes of the family, according to Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell.
Gates, who has supported media access in the past, then sent a formal letter of protest to Curley.
“Why your organization would purposefully defy the family’s wishes knowing full well that it will lead to yet more anguish is beyond me,” Gates wrote. “Your lack of compassion and common sense in choosing to put this image of their maimed and stricken child on the front page of multiple American newspapers is appalling.”
Curley told Gates he would revisit the decision with his editorial team; he later told Morrell that the AP had decided not to withdraw the photo.
In a statement dated Sept. 4, Colford said the AP ultimately decided that in the context of the full story package, “it was important” to release the images.
The Military Times newspapers were involved in a similar incident in 2003. A photo taken in the weeks after the invasion of Iraq showed soldiers carrying a wounded comrade, who later died.
The Army disembedded several Army Times staff members at the time, but it was ordered days later to reinstate them by Defense Department public affairs.
http://www.militarycity.com/valor/4240112.html
http://www.militarytimes.com/static/projects/pages/090409_secdef_curley_letter
Posted : Sunday Sep 6, 2009 15:24:28 EDT
A graphic photograph of a mortally wounded Marine released for publication Thursday by The Associated Press — over the objections of the family and the Pentagon — has reignited the debate over how to juggle combat coverage with sensitivity toward loved ones of the deceased.
Lance Cpl. Joshua Bernard was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade during an Aug. 14 Taliban ambush in Afghanistan. He suffered severe leg wounds and died on a field hospital’s operating table, according to AP.
An AP photographer’s slightly blurred image captured Bernard lying on the ground, with two fellow Marines rushing to his aid. His face is recognizable, and he appears to have lost his legs.
The AP released the photo as part of a larger story package on Bernard’s death after what it called “long deliberations.” AP had placed a one-day embargo on the photo’s release to give media outlets time to consider whether to publish the graphic image. And it had called Bernard’s family before moving the photo to its member publications, AP spokesman Paul Colford said.
The photo’s release prompted a telephone call from Defense Secretary Robert Gates to AP President Thomas Curley asking him to reconsider and defer to the wishes of the family, according to Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell.
Gates, who has supported media access in the past, then sent a formal letter of protest to Curley.
“Why your organization would purposefully defy the family’s wishes knowing full well that it will lead to yet more anguish is beyond me,” Gates wrote. “Your lack of compassion and common sense in choosing to put this image of their maimed and stricken child on the front page of multiple American newspapers is appalling.”
Curley told Gates he would revisit the decision with his editorial team; he later told Morrell that the AP had decided not to withdraw the photo.
In a statement dated Sept. 4, Colford said the AP ultimately decided that in the context of the full story package, “it was important” to release the images.
The Military Times newspapers were involved in a similar incident in 2003. A photo taken in the weeks after the invasion of Iraq showed soldiers carrying a wounded comrade, who later died.
The Army disembedded several Army Times staff members at the time, but it was ordered days later to reinstate them by Defense Department public affairs.
http://www.militarycity.com/valor/4240112.html
http://www.militarytimes.com/static/projects/pages/090409_secdef_curley_letter
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
VA won't pay benefits to Marine injured by vaccine
By David Goldstein | McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON — It wasn't a bullet or roadside bomb that felled Lance Cpl. Josef Lopez three years ago after nine days in Iraq. It was an injection into his arm before his unit left the states.
The then 20-year-old Marine from Springfield, Mo., suffered a rare adverse reaction to the smallpox vaccine. While the vaccine isn't mandatory, the military strongly encourages troops to take it.
However, it left Lopez in a coma, unable for a time to breathe on his own and paralyzed for weeks. Now he can walk, but with a limp. He has to wear a urine bag constantly, has short-term memory loss and must swallow 15 pills daily to control leg spasms and other ailments.
And even though his medical problems wouldn't have occurred if he hadn't been deployed, Lopez doesn't qualify for a special government benefit of as much as $100,000 for troops who suffer traumatic injuries.
The hangup? His injuries were caused by the vaccine.
"I could have easily died, or not been able to walk because of that," Lopez said. "It destroyed my world. It was pretty traumatic to me."
Officials at the Department of Veterans Affairs, which oversees the benefit program, said they're following what the agency has determined to be Congress' intent.
"It's for traumatic injury, not disease; not illness; not preventive medicine," said Stephen Wurtz, deputy assistant director for insurance at the VA. "It has nothing to do with not believing these people deserve some compensation for their losses."
The VA was unable to say how many claims have been rejected because of vaccine-related injuries. Wurtz and others familiar with the program said it probably wasn't a large amount.
As of July 1, the traumatic injury program has granted nearly 6,700 claims, a 63 percent approval rate, and paid $394 million in compensation, Wurtz said.
A representative for the Military Vaccine Agency, which oversees the vaccination of troops for smallpox, anthrax and other diseases, couldn't be reached for comment, despite repeated attempts.
Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat and a member of the Armed Services Committee, drafted a bill named after Lopez to widen the program to include vaccine-related injuries.
She became aware of his plight when he and his mother stopped in her Senate office last year looking for help. Lopez had come to Washington to compete in the wheelchair portion of the Marine Corps Marathon.
"The program was created with a broad mandate to provide financial assistance to folks with serious injuries and given to VA to determine the outlines," said Stephen Hedger, McCaskill's legislative director and an Army veteran of Iraq. The VA "took a narrower approach and defined in greater detail what injuries and illnesses qualified for payment. Our view is it was way too narrow."
Lopez's health insurance through the military has covered all his medical expenses. The VA has paid for his medical costs since he was discharged in June.
What he didn't get were benefits from a program called TSGLI, or Traumatic Servicemember Group Life Insurance. Congress created it in 2005 to provide short-term financial help to severely injured service members until their disability benefits could kick in. The compensation is retroactive to injuries suffered since Oct. 1, 2001.
It's intended to cover expenses such as the costs of having a family member temporarily relocate while an injured service member receives treatment at a military hospital. Another might be the costs of retrofitting a service member's home to accommodate a wheelchair or other medical equipment.
The injuries don't have be the result of combat, however. Service members could be eligible because of a car accident on the way to the grocery store. The fee is an additional $1 each month on top of their regular military life insurance premium.
Lopez seemed to fit the profile. His injuries affected his normal daily activities, one of the criteria to obtain coverage. His family also met another: financial hardship.
His mother, Barbara Lopez, took a leave from her job as a high school secretary to move to Maryland to be with him while he spent six weeks at the National Naval Medical Center at Bethesda. She also had to give up her second job, a part-time position as a cashier.
They'd to build a ramp and widen a door to accommodate his wheelchair at her home in Springfield, where he spent his recovery.
Barbara Lopez said she heard about TSGLI from families of other injured troops at Bethesda. Yet unlike many of them, whose wounds were obvious, her son's application was turned down. She still can't fathom it.
"In his spinal column, he has quite a bit of permanent scarring," Barbara Lopez said. "He takes medication to help his legs. He can walk unassisted, but never far, and he can't stand for very long. I kind of feel Joe was out there fighting the same fight they were. He should be just as eligible."
The military began the smallpox vaccination program in 2003 because of post-9/11 fears that terrorists might attack the U.S. with germ warfare. Plans for the invasion of Iraq were also under way. The military was concerned that Saddam Hussein might use biological weapons against American troops.
Smallpox is contagious and can be fatal. It has no known cure. However, on rare occasions, as in Lopez's case, the vaccine can be as dangerous as the disease. Side effects can range from a simple rash to swelling around the brain and heart, and even death.
Like the inoculation for anthrax, another pre-combat injection, troops are supposed to be informed of the side effects and told that taking the vaccine was optional. Many have said that it was made abundantly clear that refusing wasn't a good idea.
"No one said 'No,'" Lopez said. "I had no qualms. I had no reason not to."
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/244/story/74566.html?storylink=omni_popular
http://truthfortroops.blogspot.com/
WASHINGTON — It wasn't a bullet or roadside bomb that felled Lance Cpl. Josef Lopez three years ago after nine days in Iraq. It was an injection into his arm before his unit left the states.
The then 20-year-old Marine from Springfield, Mo., suffered a rare adverse reaction to the smallpox vaccine. While the vaccine isn't mandatory, the military strongly encourages troops to take it.
However, it left Lopez in a coma, unable for a time to breathe on his own and paralyzed for weeks. Now he can walk, but with a limp. He has to wear a urine bag constantly, has short-term memory loss and must swallow 15 pills daily to control leg spasms and other ailments.
And even though his medical problems wouldn't have occurred if he hadn't been deployed, Lopez doesn't qualify for a special government benefit of as much as $100,000 for troops who suffer traumatic injuries.
The hangup? His injuries were caused by the vaccine.
"I could have easily died, or not been able to walk because of that," Lopez said. "It destroyed my world. It was pretty traumatic to me."
Officials at the Department of Veterans Affairs, which oversees the benefit program, said they're following what the agency has determined to be Congress' intent.
"It's for traumatic injury, not disease; not illness; not preventive medicine," said Stephen Wurtz, deputy assistant director for insurance at the VA. "It has nothing to do with not believing these people deserve some compensation for their losses."
The VA was unable to say how many claims have been rejected because of vaccine-related injuries. Wurtz and others familiar with the program said it probably wasn't a large amount.
As of July 1, the traumatic injury program has granted nearly 6,700 claims, a 63 percent approval rate, and paid $394 million in compensation, Wurtz said.
A representative for the Military Vaccine Agency, which oversees the vaccination of troops for smallpox, anthrax and other diseases, couldn't be reached for comment, despite repeated attempts.
Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat and a member of the Armed Services Committee, drafted a bill named after Lopez to widen the program to include vaccine-related injuries.
She became aware of his plight when he and his mother stopped in her Senate office last year looking for help. Lopez had come to Washington to compete in the wheelchair portion of the Marine Corps Marathon.
"The program was created with a broad mandate to provide financial assistance to folks with serious injuries and given to VA to determine the outlines," said Stephen Hedger, McCaskill's legislative director and an Army veteran of Iraq. The VA "took a narrower approach and defined in greater detail what injuries and illnesses qualified for payment. Our view is it was way too narrow."
Lopez's health insurance through the military has covered all his medical expenses. The VA has paid for his medical costs since he was discharged in June.
What he didn't get were benefits from a program called TSGLI, or Traumatic Servicemember Group Life Insurance. Congress created it in 2005 to provide short-term financial help to severely injured service members until their disability benefits could kick in. The compensation is retroactive to injuries suffered since Oct. 1, 2001.
It's intended to cover expenses such as the costs of having a family member temporarily relocate while an injured service member receives treatment at a military hospital. Another might be the costs of retrofitting a service member's home to accommodate a wheelchair or other medical equipment.
The injuries don't have be the result of combat, however. Service members could be eligible because of a car accident on the way to the grocery store. The fee is an additional $1 each month on top of their regular military life insurance premium.
Lopez seemed to fit the profile. His injuries affected his normal daily activities, one of the criteria to obtain coverage. His family also met another: financial hardship.
His mother, Barbara Lopez, took a leave from her job as a high school secretary to move to Maryland to be with him while he spent six weeks at the National Naval Medical Center at Bethesda. She also had to give up her second job, a part-time position as a cashier.
They'd to build a ramp and widen a door to accommodate his wheelchair at her home in Springfield, where he spent his recovery.
Barbara Lopez said she heard about TSGLI from families of other injured troops at Bethesda. Yet unlike many of them, whose wounds were obvious, her son's application was turned down. She still can't fathom it.
"In his spinal column, he has quite a bit of permanent scarring," Barbara Lopez said. "He takes medication to help his legs. He can walk unassisted, but never far, and he can't stand for very long. I kind of feel Joe was out there fighting the same fight they were. He should be just as eligible."
The military began the smallpox vaccination program in 2003 because of post-9/11 fears that terrorists might attack the U.S. with germ warfare. Plans for the invasion of Iraq were also under way. The military was concerned that Saddam Hussein might use biological weapons against American troops.
Smallpox is contagious and can be fatal. It has no known cure. However, on rare occasions, as in Lopez's case, the vaccine can be as dangerous as the disease. Side effects can range from a simple rash to swelling around the brain and heart, and even death.
Like the inoculation for anthrax, another pre-combat injection, troops are supposed to be informed of the side effects and told that taking the vaccine was optional. Many have said that it was made abundantly clear that refusing wasn't a good idea.
"No one said 'No,'" Lopez said. "I had no qualms. I had no reason not to."
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/244/story/74566.html?storylink=omni_popular
http://truthfortroops.blogspot.com/
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