National Public Radio reported yesterday on the intervention Judge Robert Russel of Buffalo, NY exercises on vets whose downard spiral resulting from undiagnosed PTSD leads to the criminal justice system. It bookends with another NPR report last week about Fort Drum's efforts to stem rising DWI offenses by 10th Mountain Division personnel. It's begun publishinig names and photos of offenders in the pages of the base newspaper, the Blizzard.
Just how many of the 10th Mountain offenders are combat vets is unclear. In a New York Times article, Maj. Gen. Michael L. Oates of the Division acknowledges the stresses of extended and multiple deployments the 10th has endured, but expresses his belief that "Soldiers are making a voluntary choice to abuse drugs and alcohol." Based on that view he greenlighted the outing of offenders for its deterrent effect.
From what a layman can learn of PTSD, it seems to share with alchoholism and addiction the dynamic of denial. The host of the condition is either unaware of it or, suspecting it, defensively refuses to acknowledge it, often constructing elaborate schemes of self and public deception. Mirving the two would surely seem a double whammy that could feed on itself endlessly. Add to that a sense of youthful invincibility -- "It won't happen to me" -- and the hope of a deterrent effect seems dim.
While the shame of exposure might deter future offenders, it's a good bet that the offender will react in unealthy ways. Internalizing the shame keeps the game of self-punishment substance abusers engage spinning. Whipping up community condemnation and promoting social shunning is likely to increase the sense of isolation that an early stage addict/alchoholic or PTSD victim is likely already to be experiencing.
It's clear from all three reports that Fort Drum adopted the DWI outing campaign as an extreme and desperate resort after earlier efforts faild to yield results. Designated driver programs and p.r. efforts at raising awareness of substance abuse had been ongoing at Drum, but DWI arrests continued their climb.
Here's hoping the 10th gets wind of Judge Russell's activist approach over in Buffalo and recognizes an opportunity to intervene for the better health of our troops.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Live Streaming -- Maupin Funeral
Four Cincinnatti television stations will stream their coverage Sunday of Ssg. Matt Maupin's funeral. Slated for 1:00 P.M. Eastern Time, at least one station begins coverage at noon.
Click a link below to take part.
The shifting of Sunday sports programming is not without loss of advertising revenue to the broadcasters. If you do take in the streaming, maybe leave a thank-you e-mail or comment. When a media business supports patriotism over profits and public service over entertainment, it's worth encouraging.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Logistics on Maupin Commemorations
Weekend memorials for Ssg. Matt Maupin culminate in public services 1.00 p.m. Sunday at Great American Ball Park in Cincinatti. Parking accomodations for the event and for Saturday's visitation at Union Township Civic Center (22 hours beginning 11:00 a.m.) are published at Cincinatti.com.
Funeral services graveside are family only, according to the Patriot Guard at their forum. Matt will be interred at Gate of Heaven Cemetery, 11000 Montgomery Road should you wish to acknowledge the cortege enroute.
Ssg. Maupin, then 20 and a PFC, was listed missing-captured in action April 16, 2004 when a videotape aired on Al Jezeera television of Matt hunkered before a group of masked insurgents. He had been reported missing the prior week following an attack on a convoy south of Baghdad in which his unit, the Army Reserve's 724th Transportation Company, participated.
For nearly two years the sole MIA in the war, Matt and his fate commanded the concern of many around the nation. From time to time the national media checked in with his family and friends. From such reports, a fuller picture emerges of just who the young man from Batavia, Ohio was and how a family and a community copes with the anguish of separation, the fear of loss and, now, the knowledge of loss.
For Matt's parents, Keith and Carolyn, coping meant doing something tangible for Matt's comrades. They set up the Yellow Ribbon Support Center to gather and send care packages to the troops and to marshal material support for military families. For Matt's brother Micah, it meant re-upping in the Marines. For Cincinnatti native and funk-fusion legend Bootsy Collins it meant composing a cautionary community hymn.
According to the updated entry at the Military Times "Honor the Fallen" site, a tip from a Sunni
Awakening group Northeast of Baghdad led to recovery of Ssg. Maupin's remains by Schofield Barracks boys attached to 2nd Stryker Brigade.
If you're in proximity to Cincinnatti and can attend Sunday, carry our hearts with yours.
Funeral services graveside are family only, according to the Patriot Guard at their forum. Matt will be interred at Gate of Heaven Cemetery, 11000 Montgomery Road should you wish to acknowledge the cortege enroute.
Ssg. Maupin, then 20 and a PFC, was listed missing-captured in action April 16, 2004 when a videotape aired on Al Jezeera television of Matt hunkered before a group of masked insurgents. He had been reported missing the prior week following an attack on a convoy south of Baghdad in which his unit, the Army Reserve's 724th Transportation Company, participated.
For nearly two years the sole MIA in the war, Matt and his fate commanded the concern of many around the nation. From time to time the national media checked in with his family and friends. From such reports, a fuller picture emerges of just who the young man from Batavia, Ohio was and how a family and a community copes with the anguish of separation, the fear of loss and, now, the knowledge of loss.
For Matt's parents, Keith and Carolyn, coping meant doing something tangible for Matt's comrades. They set up the Yellow Ribbon Support Center to gather and send care packages to the troops and to marshal material support for military families. For Matt's brother Micah, it meant re-upping in the Marines. For Cincinnatti native and funk-fusion legend Bootsy Collins it meant composing a cautionary community hymn.
According to the updated entry at the Military Times "Honor the Fallen" site, a tip from a Sunni
Awakening group Northeast of Baghdad led to recovery of Ssg. Maupin's remains by Schofield Barracks boys attached to 2nd Stryker Brigade.
If you're in proximity to Cincinnatti and can attend Sunday, carry our hearts with yours.
A Salute to ANZAC Day
The Australian Light Horse Regiment invited dawn to outshine their candlelight ceremony this morning at Talil Airbase, Iraq. Across the globe, Aussies and their Kiwi cousins gathered to mark the 93rd anniversary of the landings that launched the Gallipoli Campaign.
Military history and popular culture alike view Gallipoli as a disaster of poor planning aggravated and needlessly prolonged by institutional and bureaucratic egotism. The debacle is mitigated only by the ingenuity displayed during the Allies' withdrawel.
The Australian New Zealand Army Corp lost over 10,000 those hellish nine months in 1915, with near 25,000 wounded. The goal of the campaign, to open a third front on the Southern flank of the Central Powers, failed utterly.
Over the years, ANZAC Day has become for Aussies a sort July 4th / Memorial Day / Veteran's Day all rolled into one. It is a signature date that anchors their national identity. Australians unite not to celebrate a triumphant victory nor to mourn and ruminate on a hurtful defeat. They join together to remember and honor the sacrifice of their mates who fell in common purpose.
While Gallipoli was fought in vain, those who fell there did not die in vain so long as their selflessness is celebrated and their example honored.
That's why we're pleased at the Iraq Memorial Portal to launch this blog on ANZAC Day, 2008.
And, after pausing for Eric Bogle's iconic tune, we plan on cracking a Foster's and gettin' rowdy -- as is (we're reliably informed) Australian custom.
Footnote: Evacuated from Gallipoli, the 4th Light Horse regrouped in Egypt and remounted for history's last successful cavalry charge. Galloping through the Ottoman lines at Beersheba Wells, the Aussies opened up the third front the Allies were seeking at Gallipoli.
Military history and popular culture alike view Gallipoli as a disaster of poor planning aggravated and needlessly prolonged by institutional and bureaucratic egotism. The debacle is mitigated only by the ingenuity displayed during the Allies' withdrawel.
The Australian New Zealand Army Corp lost over 10,000 those hellish nine months in 1915, with near 25,000 wounded. The goal of the campaign, to open a third front on the Southern flank of the Central Powers, failed utterly.
Over the years, ANZAC Day has become for Aussies a sort July 4th / Memorial Day / Veteran's Day all rolled into one. It is a signature date that anchors their national identity. Australians unite not to celebrate a triumphant victory nor to mourn and ruminate on a hurtful defeat. They join together to remember and honor the sacrifice of their mates who fell in common purpose.
While Gallipoli was fought in vain, those who fell there did not die in vain so long as their selflessness is celebrated and their example honored.
That's why we're pleased at the Iraq Memorial Portal to launch this blog on ANZAC Day, 2008.
And, after pausing for Eric Bogle's iconic tune, we plan on cracking a Foster's and gettin' rowdy -- as is (we're reliably informed) Australian custom.
Footnote: Evacuated from Gallipoli, the 4th Light Horse regrouped in Egypt and remounted for history's last successful cavalry charge. Galloping through the Ottoman lines at Beersheba Wells, the Aussies opened up the third front the Allies were seeking at Gallipoli.
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