BROWN STANDOFF | | | MESSAGE FROM ED BROWN From: Ed Brown
Date: Feb 1, 2007 10:33 AM
Something very important is going on here.
Sure it starts with my tax case but lets look at the big picture here.
I am providing a place for us to make a difference, for the people, for this country!
I even offered to pay the taxes just so they would leave me alone, but no,...
They took my guns (before ever being convicted of anything)
Took my wife and court ordered her away from me.
They now want much more money then they say I owe.
Want my house.
And will again offensively attack me and take my life as well as those around me here now unless we have enough people to make a difference!
We may never have another chance!
I need people here Now!
Now is the time!
401 Center of Town Road
Plainfield, New Hampshire 03781
603-675-2909
(Please repost this far and wide) *******************************************************************ED BROWN MY SPACE URL http://www.myspace.com/time2makeastand ********************************************************** Ed Brown Anti-tax advocates out in force | | Couple's trial has attracted their notice |
By Margot Sanger-Katz
Monitor staff
January 21. 2007 10:02AM
| David Baker has read the entire internal revenue code. Twice. The Auburn, Mass., man, who drove to Concord several times to attend Ed and Elaine Brown's tax evasion trial, said that he's spent more than 1,000 hours poring over title 26 of the federal code, searching for the provision that requires him to pay taxes. "You will not see a law making anyone liable for these taxes," he said last week in the federal courthouse. Baker was just one of a rotating cast of supporters who filled one side of the visitors' benches in the Browns' courtroom. About a dozen friends and sympathizers came to court each day, whispering commentary during the testimony, and gathering at pulled-together tables for lunchtime strategy sessions at Remy's, the restaurant across from the courthouse. They came from different places, and many did not know each other before the trial began, but most said they were there because they believed the Browns' legal arguments and wanted to help them make their defense. "That's why I'm here," Michael Famolare of Deering said to another supporter early in the trial. "I know I'll have my time." On Thursday, a jury found the Browns guilty of every crime they had been charged with, including tax evasion, conspiracy to defraud the federal government, failing to withhold employment taxes and disguising large financial transactions to avoid reporting requirements. After the verdict came down, Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Morse said he hoped the outcome would send a strong message to those who might adopt the Browns' views. "The arguments they put forth have been routinely dismissed," Morse said yesterday. "The government is going to prosecute people who do not pay their taxes." But in interviews with several court regulars, not one said that his personal beliefs were swayed by the outcome of the trial. Most felt that the Browns were convicted because of unfair trial conditions imposed by the judge, not because their legal position was incorrect. Others said that the Browns were right in their basic view that tax laws are bogus but made tactical mistakes in their courtroom arguments that cost them an acquittal. "This was not a particularly good representation of someone who was educated at defending themselves in a courtroom," said Greg Lidland, who came to court for one day. "But be that as it may, it was also not a good representation of a true and fair trial." For most of the trial, the Browns represented themselves with the help of Michael Avery, a Florida man who runs a service called Outlaws Legal Service. (Judge McAuliffe referred to Avery as their paralegal.) But after neither Brown appeared in court Jan. 12, the couple chose different courses. Elaine Brown returned to court Tuesday and accepted the assistance of a public defender. Ed Brown, who said he distrusts all attorneys, holed up in his Plainfield home and refused to participate in the remainder of the trial. In his rulings on pretrial motions and his statements from the bench, Judge Steven McAuliffe made clear that he agreed with few of the Browns' legal arguments. He said that he believed the Browns' best opportunity for a defense lay in convincing the jury that they honestly misunderstood the tax laws. McAuliffe allowed some discussion of the Browns' tax views into court, but he would not allow the jury to consider the question of whether the tax laws were valid. His rulings prevented the Browns from entering documents into evidence or asking many questions challenging the content and meaning of tax laws. McAuliffe ruled against nearly 40 pretrial motions filed by the Browns, some of which challenged the jurisdiction of the federal court, the legitimacy of the grand jury indictments and the impartiality of the judge, since he's a federal employee. In court filings, the Browns also demanded documents from the government, including evidence of the plaintiff in their criminal case and the home addresses and social security numbers of grand jury members. Many Brown supporters pointed to this paper trail, often erroneously saying that the judge had denied "all 42" motions, as evidence that the trial had been rigged. "You'd think we lived in Somalia or something like that," said Dennis Mounce of Manchester, who said he was distressed by the judge's rulings. "You wouldn't think that would happen in New Hampshire." Several disgruntled trial attendees plan to meet next week to draft a complaint about McAuliffe for the judicial ethics panel. But while the Browns' supporters said they were upset about the trial's outcome, most said that the judge's behavior was what they had expected. "I wanted to see just how the federal courts are in cahoots with the Internal Revenue Service," said Christopher Gronski of Wolfeboro. Gronski is the New Hampshire state coordinator for We The People, a national group that has been challenging the income tax through lawsuits and public confrontations with IRS officials. "I knew the condition of the courts in this country." Gronski also attended to teach a lesson to his 14-year-old daughter, Rebecca. She sat quietly by his side for two days of testimony, wearing a button reading "No, you can't have my rights. I'm still using them." Gronski home schools his children and expects Rebecca to write a report on her experience. "She gets pretty verbal about the injustice that she sees there," he said. Bernie Bastian, a close friend of Ed Brown's, who was in court every day of the trial, said he was upset by the judge's decisions but not surprised. His study of similar trials had shown him that defendants who don't agree with the standard interpretation of the tax code often lose. "I did expect it going in," he said. "I mean, the government doesn't want anyone to know this, so they're bound to suppress all the evidence they can." But Bastian, who said he doesn't pay federal income taxes himself, said the knowledge that he might be prosecuted and convicted for similar crimes doesn't give him pause. "I believe in God and I believe when I get there he's going to be the judge of judges," he said. "If everybody's jumping off a bridge, that's not going to make me." Scott Wells of Concord has been sending letters to the IRS in place of tax returns for several years. He said that he has his doubts about the treatment he'd receive if he was brought into federal court. But he also said that he was dismayed by some of the strategies employed by the Browns. He has his documents in order and his Supreme Court precedents at the ready, he said, should his time come. "I'm not scared," Wells said. "And I don't know if that's just because I'm very confident in my methods or extremely foolish. Time will tell." |
|
Ed Brown in his Own Words : A "Taxing" Situation (wmv)> Source:
> Union Leader - Manchester, N.H.
> http://www.theunionleader.com/>
> Scofflaw 'to nullify' tax plight
> http://tinyurl.com/38erdf>
> 1/20/07
>
> By KRISTEN SENZ
>
> Plainfield resident Ed Brown, who along with his wife was convicted of
> multiple
> felony tax evasion charges this week, said yesterday he and a group of
> legal
> analysts are preparing to take legal action "to nullify the whole
> problem."
>
> "We're working on legal matters and actions," Brown said during a
> telephone
> interview. "This court is totally off the wall for its actions, and the
> record
> will show that clearly."
>
> Believing he would not get a fair trial because, among other reasons, the
> federal court and his accuser are the same entity, Brown hasn't left his
> house
> for about a week and was not in court for the conclusion of his or his
> wife's
> trial. Dr. Elaine Brown, however, was in court when the verdict was read
> Thursday and is now under electronic surveillance at her son's home in
> Massachusetts.
>
> "The jury was rigged before they were there, the jury was rigged before
> they
> went out, and now my marriage is destroyed," Ed Brown said, clarifying
> that
> there has been no talk of divorce.
>
> The Browns argue that there is no law that requires them to pay federal
> income
> tax and that the federal government has no jurisdiction in New Hampshire.
> The
> couple does pay local, school and county taxes, Ed Brown said.
>
> Although rejected by the courts, the Browns' arguments has struck a chord
> with
> some. Supporters of their cause have gathered at the end of the driveway
> that
> leads to the Browns' house, a concrete-walled structure that, at least for
> now,
> doubles as a prison, Brown said.
>
> "I don't want to hurt anybody, so I'm staying here - right now, but we're
> working on that."
>
> The U.S. Marshal's Office in Concord
> www.usmarshals.gov/district/nh/index.html ,
> has indicated there are no plans to storm Brown's house to arrest him.
>
> The media attention to the Browns' now high-profile case has sparked the
> interest of legal analysts from across the country, Brown said.
>
> "They're stunned that the judge had the audacity to just dismiss
> everything
> offhand," he said. "He violated so many due processes it's incredible."
>
> Brown, a member of the United States Constitution Rangers
> www.uscrangers.org ,
> refused to disclose what type of action he might take, but said his
> "mistake"
> during the recent court proceedings was filing more than 40 motions in the
> case,
> all of which were dismissed.
>
> "We used motions in their court; that's their method and way," he said.
> "We
> should have used affidavits because the judge has to respond lawfully to
> affidavits. That's where we made the mistake. But that's OK; there's still
> room.
>
> "We're going to be working on something pretty soon to nullify the whole
> problem," he said.
>
> Brown, 63, has been convicted of one count of conspiracy to defraud the
> federal
> government and one count of conspiracy to structure financial
> transactions.
>
> Dr. Brown, 65, has been found guilty of one count of conspiracy to defraud
> the
> federal government, one count of conspiracy to structure financial
> transactions,
> five counts of federal income tax evasion, eight counts of failing to
> collect
> federal payroll taxes for employees in her Lebanon dental office, and two
> substantive counts of structuring.
>
> The Browns each face five years' imprisonment for each of the counts of
> conviction, except for the structuring charges, which carry a maximum
> penalty of
> 10 years. Each conviction also carries a fine of up to $250,000. The U.S.
> Attorney's Office said the sentence is likely to be less than the maximum.
>
> The Browns are both scheduled for sentencing April 24.
>
> Related articles:
>
> Couple found guilty
> http://tinyurl.com/268kqz>
> As trial goes on, he hunkers down
> http://tinyurl.com/22fklk>
> Tax trial defendants skip court, asking 'What's the point?'
> http://tinyurl.com/ytovrw>
> 1994 Interview with Ed Brown: Defense Militia Builds NH Base
> http://tinyurl.com/26h9lp>
> What the IRS says
> http://tinyurl.com/2xbygz>
> Wife makes a deal; husband digs in
> http://tinyurl.com/3b7xde Some ready for a shootout
| | | | All of a sudden, Ed Brown has a lot of friends | | His anti-tax stance attracts wide support |
By Margot Sanger-Katz
Monitor staff
January 22. 2007 8:00AM
| JENNIFER HAUCK / Valley News
Supporters of Ed Brown light a bonfire last week near his driveway in Plainfield. Brown has barricaded himself on his 110-acre property and vows to resist attempts to bring him to court.
|
|
Ed Brown parted ways with his wife last week when he decided not to join her for the conclusion of their federal tax evasion trial. But after barricading himself in his fortified Plainfield home and refusing to surrender to authorities, Brown has amassed a new and growing group of friends who support his decision to stand up to government authority. Since Brown and his wife were convicted last week, his case has captured the attention of a variety of fringe groups, including Gandhi-admiring protesters who have limited their involvement to building bonfires and waving signs and armed militia members anxious for confrontation. Some appreciate Brown's stand against the federal income tax, some his pointed criticism of the federal courts, and others his willingness to die for his cause. Whatever their reasons they've all congregated at the sprawling fortress Brown calls home, turning it into a libertarian carnival with an uncertain ending. "Everybody has their own place on that spectrum," said Dave Ridley of Keene, who has spent several days in Plainfield and positions himself on the nonviolent end. Ridley said he owns a gun but locks it up at home before going to Brown's. "Of course, any group of libertarians has a thousand different opinions." When news of Brown's decision began circulating on talk radio shows and militia-oriented blogs earlier this week, journalists at the Brown homestead outnumbered supporters. As Brown declared that Plainfield might become another Waco, three strangers huddled in his heated garage and emphasized that they had no interest in shooting anyone. But as word has spread and the weekend freed many from workday obligations, the number of those camping at the Brown home has swelled. Estimates were difficult to obtain because supporters were spread throughout the house, sleeping in shifts. And some, Brown said, were hidden outside. But several visitors estimated that the number fluctuated between 15 and 30 this weekend. That group includes one woman who drove an hour to Plainfield and brought Brown a bottle of ginger ale, a carload of young libertarians from Keene and the New York leader of a national anti-tax organization with thousands of members. Brown said he's been moved by the number and enthusiasm of the supporters he's met since deciding to hole up at home. "This situation is exploding so fast in this nation and internationally that the Illuminati around the world are becoming very aware," Brown said, referring to a rumored secret society that he believes has infiltrated the highest levels of the world's governments. Brown and his wife, Elaine, were convicted Thursday of 20 felonies related to the couple's refusal to pay income taxes since 1996. They will be sentenced in April. Elaine Brown, who is cooperating with authorities, has been prohibited from returning to the house. On Friday, the court unsealed a bench warrant for Ed Brown's arrest. Brown said he's prepared to wait as long as it takes. His home, with its solar panels and private well, was designed to function "off the grid." Brown said he has enough food to last several months, and those provisions are replenished daily as supporters come and go, bringing snacks and takeout dinners with them. Despite the threat of looming violence, Brown's kitchen was abuzz with activity yesterday afternoon. Young children built forts from the kindling stacked beside his woodstove. Activists shared newsletters on how to avoid paying property taxes and why it's a bad idea to register to vote. Men munched on Doritos, and women poured their children glasses of orange juice. Rob Jacobs of Allenstown prepared to be sworn into the Constitution Rangers of the Continental Congress of 1777, a group charged with holding law enforcement officials accountable to the Constitution. Over the course of the week, Brown has said repeatedly that he would rather die than submit to federal jurisdiction and that he's readying himself for an armed standoff when the marshals come to arrest him. But U.S. Marshal Stephen Monier has said his office has no intention of beginning a violent confrontation. Monier said that his officers have been communicating regularly with Brown in hopes of reaching a peaceful resolution. Several friends and bloggers have been calling for a bloody conclusion to the situation. William Miller, a friend and fellow Constitution Ranger, sent an e-mail last weekend demanding the hanging of the federal judge and prosecutor who worked on Brown's case - and the martyrdom of Brown himself. "Ed Brown, my friend and mentor, for patriotic reasons, is now worth more to me, and to what I stand for, dead, than alive," Miller wrote. Brown said that Miller has clarified his position with the marshals and that he does not personally endorse any violence toward court officials. But Miller is not the only Brown supporter making violent proclamations. Supporters at Brown's home said the only violence they anticipated was defensive, but several said that they see a shootout as an inevitability. "There's been violence throughout our history, and it's sometimes what it takes to right the wrongs." said Bernie Bastian, a close friend of Brown who has been at his side since the trial ended. "It's a shame that men can't right the wrongs without resorting to it." Other visitors said they were visiting Brown to lend moral support but did not plan to participate in any gun battle. Tim and Marylisa Logsdon spent the weekend at the house with their three young children. Tim Logsdon said he did not feel he was putting his family in any danger. "The building is pretty secure," he said. "And the feds have promised that they won't raid." Brown said he was ambivalent about the prospect of violence. He'd prefer a peaceful resolution, he said, but feels that there are few options available to him. "I would like to see this whole thing go away," he said. "But now's the time it's continuing to build." |
|
(((This is war)))Bob Shultz showed @ Ed Brown's Stand Off in NH>>>www.givemeliberty.org
Your assistance, too, is needed to help assure fair trial in Concord, NH...This opposed to the kangaroo court that's already taken place...Ed & Elaine Brown's sentencing is scheduled for April...Please forward this everywhere & do all else possible before it's too late for recovery in America
If you need media or elected official email addresses contact me and I'll send them...mofmars3@sbcglobal.net & mofmars3@netscape.com...send to both so I'll be sure to see the request, please
This "is" war as you'll see fox news reporting here>>>
http://www.questforfairtrialinconcordnh.blogspot.com/ <<
Please load your video cameras & stand with Ed & all other patriots now gathering...This could be the ultimate family vacation of all times...Talk about two birds with one stone...Crusading & camping, combined!
All criminal injustices must be stopped now...From perpetual war for benefit of the rich & greedy (Don't forget the Antiwar March on DC, Jan, 27th-google for information) to the war on our own people>>>Income tax is illegal, oppressing and unnecessary with all the many other taxes being collected...Income tax was to last only for the duration of world war II and is voluntary, only
The truth behind income tax>>>Aaron Russo's, "Freedom To Fascism">>>>>>http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4312730277175242198 or http://tinyurl.com/ybdb9jUpdate on Ed>>>http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070119/ap_on_re_us/tax_evaderNew Hampshire Underground>>>http://www.nhfree.com/If links come apart, paste in browser, carefully closing gaps before clicking
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Invitation to join activists & patriots to help "US" take Back our country>>>
In these dire & dangerous times we must stand together
No matter what group, issue or matter you represent>>>"United We Can Stand" but if we stay divided, we'll fall, for sure...We're all related & connected by our same enemy responsible for all our dilemmas and problems>>>The corrupt who oppress and suppress us all
We are many and there are wayyyy more of us, than them... ********************************************************* Quest for Fair Trial in Concord, NH BLOGBrown Trial Pics, Links + Misc. Imfo Brown Standoff Pics NH UNDERGROUND FORUM ********************************************************** Urgent: Ed Brown has "only just begun to fight!" The ongoing standoff
Posted by: "jsk" jsk@kingcon.com Wed Jan 24, 2007 5:45 pm (PST) Dear friends:
There is much yet to come in the Ed Brown "standoff". I have promised
previously that when I had more time I would give you all an update, and so
I am.
Ed knows that Jackie and I have taken great risk to film him and get the
word out, and that I'm doing so not because I want to self-promote, but
co-promote. That is, his situation is giving my book and me more exposure,
but the reverse is also true - I have numerous upcoming media events related
to my book that were arranged before this situation started, in which I will
tie in to Ed's situation, and also Aaron Russo's film.
But there is a much deeper co-promotion going on. Ed was being portrayed in
the media as a crazy man. In fact, this morning at a local bank when I
mentioned his case the woman there waved her hand and said - that guy's
crazy. Well, some sheeple are so afraid of this government that they think
anything like free speech is crazy. But moreover, this woman formed her
views from watching Channel 3 news last night, which apparently did not
present Ed in a flattering light.
And there is an even deeper co-promotion yet, and that is what all you folks
are doing. We are all co-promoting, for we represent We the People, not We
the Sheeple! Every American has a stake in this matter, whether they see it
yet or not. With God's blessings, they will. Thus we are all co-promoting.
The real story here is that the Internet is replacing the media as a
reliable source of information, and we have to get that story out, to
convert more sheeple to patriots. Ed knows I hold religious beliefs which
prohibit my taking guns to his home over money, and that if the government
came to me for money then I would give them whatever they wanted. No offense
to those who feel differently - this is a debate for another day. But Ed
also knows I respect his freedom to choose his own faith, and his own death,
and that's why he respects my view. I am well armed for my family's defense,
but in this fight my weapon is the pen. Ed feels God brought us together to
do this thing, and we don't fully understand God's plan, but we trust Him
and are filled with joy to be humbly entrusted with this task. But many of
you are also part of this plan, and you know it! Thus we are all
co-promoting, brothers and sisters..Let us not be divided over little
things, or over means.
You must all spread Ed's story and the press coverage, because that is the
real story. Ed trusts me to carry his message, but he is trusting you also.
My life and family are in jeopardy also, and so I too am trusting you.
Please don't let this flame die.
The national media are cooling on this story, presumably because the
government does not want the kind of flashpoint attention that Ed is now
receiving. But we must not let it cool. This will soon be a news story not
about Ed, but about a referendum on an overly powerful federal government
which has already swept away our constitutional rights, and which has evil
plans in store for us. This must be what unites us all in a cause much
greater than a rich guy in New Hampshire with a gun, or a poor couple from
Vermont with a camera. Make no mistake - I more than most of you am keenly
aware of how grave Ed's situation is, and that he is likely to be killed. It
is because of that gravity that I know also that the best way to prolong or
save Ed's life is to humanize him before they kill him, not afterwards, when
he can no longer speak or draw attention to his (our) cause.
Over the weekend I told Ed I'd be coming on Tuesday to visit again, though I
was actually planning to visit on Monday, which we did. Jackie and I filmed
Ed for several hours, including all of the footage taken by Channel 3. We
interviewed that reporter: when he arrived, he told me he was very nervous.
I said "Do you have a gun?" Shocked, he exclaimed "No!" I said "Then you
have absolutely no reason to be afraid". After he interviewed Ed, I
interviewed him, and asked him whether he feared Ed. Completely relaxed, he
answered honestly "No, and it's been a long time since I've seen two gun. We
also filmed Ed's complete conversation with his wife Elaine when she called
to tell him she had been informed that the big guys were on their way from
Washington, D.C. We then filmed Ed as he called many of you, including his
call to Rick Stanley.
I've heard some express that they were afraid to go to Ed's home. Fear of
the federal government is what gives that government power. I had no fear at
all, nor did my wife, for if this is God's plan for our deaths, so be it. If
you don't want to bring a gun (which would likely be aiding and abetting
under federal law: whether "legal" or not), then how can you possibly be so
cowardly as to not go without one? This is a chance to look in the mirror,
and for such people to consider where they will stand when the real
fireworks begin, probably sometime soon. Such fear has no place in this, and
will not serve anything but to enslave you. Imagine how our founding fathers
felt, with no health or homeowners' insurance, and when if they were killed
their wives and children often could not run the farm, etc, without them. We
the People do not fear our servant government: it is this runaway government
which must fear the wrath of an awakened We the People.
And speaking of colonial times, consider how our forefathers advanced their
cause - on horseback, with wax-stamped envelopes and printing presses that
printed one page at a time. Thomas Paine printed his first pamphlet (Common
Sense, I believe) with his own money: he was a model for my own endeavor,
which I similarly printed for people to read with my own money. And now I'm
so broke I am borrowing money to work on this project. I'm not complaining -
Ed's willing to risk everything he has, and I already risked it, with joy.
For we both know that money will not protect us from tyranny, and that we
will just lose everything anyway if we don't stand now. To paraphrase the
New Testament (the book of John): he who tries to save his money will lose
it. Soon the full meaning of that Scriptural gift will be tested - He who
tries to save his own life will lose it. Without God we have nothing, so
what are we willing to give back? As with our government, who is the servant
and who is the master? God is my guide, and it is He who I trust and fear
(respect, in awe).
So Jackie and I are walking this walk, with Ed and with all of you. We have
about six hours of video of Ed Brown the man, and what he stands for. Do you
want to see it? The station that allowed me to use their camera is not
willing to be further involved, for good reason and not cowardice: I must
not ask them to go beyond what their legal purposes are, or many jobs and a
truly independent news medium will possibly be jeopardized. I fully respect
this. I have hidden the tapes securely, but the government does not want
them out. I mean, believe me, the government really does not want them out!
Now who amongst you will stand with me and Jackie, with the power of the
pen, to carry this further? Will we stand alone and go down without the
public seeing these videos? Imagine if the Weavers had been filmed through
their ordeal.. Ed is not even charged with violent crime, or with gun
violations. No one from the government has been shot at, let alone killed.
Don't you think they will come for me soon? I only fear that my work will be
left unfinished - I fear nothing else, for this is my task, and my wife (God
bless her and protect her!) shares this passion. You see, if we get more of
this out, we may be able to save Ed's life, and he knows this. He wouldn't
talk with me about strategy to do this. He just kept saying: "Naw, that's
your thing. I'm doing my thing! People don't seem to understand - I'm all
right with the Father." But it's not just about saving Ed's life, or my and
my family's freedom from the threat of prison - it's about your lives, and
the sheeple's lives. Many of us know this. Rick Stanley takes enormous risk
advising people to bring arms in peaceful defense to N.H. Don't you think he
and his wife are aware of the risks, after all he's been through? Rick and I
differ on some points (because I haven't had time yet to straighten him out!
:-)), but we are brothers in mutual respect who will follow our own paths
I've sent a plea to the guys and gals at Loose Change, and am awaiting a
response. Perhaps you folks will e-mail or phone them
(publicity@loosechan ge911.com; phone # (607) 267-4456) or both, and
encourage them to at least let me bring them the film and encode it before
it's lost, taken or damaged. I await their call anxiously, so that I may
complete my task. You can fire off e-mails even if you don't fire guns,
can't you? Do you want to see what Ed Brown has to say about torture and
depleted uranium, about George W. Bush and the use of the U.S. Military
against American civilians? Ed studies the law - he's got a more complete
law library than most lawyers. He knows that the John Warner National
Defense Authorization Act of 2007, passed with the cowardly assistance of
"our" Democrats in Congress, allows George W. Bush to send National Guard
troops from anywhere in the country to N.H. without state consent, to
assault people like Ed and those who are there with him. Do you want to hear
him say so, so that his voice will carry to others, even the sheeple? For
this government has not passed these laws with no intention of using them,
my countrymen! Look it up on the government's web site: www.senate.gov
<http://www.senate. gov/> . This is our right, isn't it, Americans? To look
at the laws and talk about them? They snuck these and other laws into
massive military spending bills so we wouldn't notice, and they are counting
on the sheeple staying dumb. But Ed noticed, and I noticed, and you have
noticed. How shall we spread the word? What if Paul Revere had owned a
laptop?
Arise, We the People! Don't let this be another tale about the past, unless
it is a glorious one! I am poor in wealth and in health, and I give my
widow's two cents to you now. I'm not a member of many groups, I'm limited
in time (and technical competence), and I need help NOW! Ride, Paul Reveres:
it's not just a story anymore. It's the modern revolution. If Loose Change
declines my approach, who out there will help me? I have guns, all unloaded,
for I will not resist, or otherwise give this government cause to discredit
me and thus you. Ed and Jackie and I are at the Alamo. (Remember the Alamo?
:-)). I'm only afraid of my own potential for failure, but I know that you,
and God, will not fail me.
Just help me get out Ed's story, would you, countrymen? Where are We the
People?
Your humble servant, watching at the wall, in Christ,
John Klar www.christianwords. us <http://www.christia nwords.us/>
jsk@kingcon. com revpress@kingcon. com
<http://www.archive. org/download/ Ed_Brown_ Interview_ IRS_Standoff/ klarBrown. m
pg>
http://www.archive. org/download/ Ed_Brown_ Interview_ IRS_Standoff/ klarBrown Ed Brown Musical Tribute http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQa-m86Uytc Standoff Update Jan 25th Ed Brown Is Only A Symptom Straight Talk with Ed Brown 02-03-07 Ed Brown - Show me the Law and Ill pay! (with Eminem) Ed Brown Audio's Ed Brown Video's *********************************************************** > I can't thank everyone enough for your concern. Elaine Brown is my
> mother, but that aside I can assure you and the world she is no
> criminal. Her only crime is knowing too much. Even if her
> questioning of the IRS was a crime, why does our government feel it
> should be a criminal offense worthy of incarceration while the
> murderers, rapists, and repeat DUI offenders are still walking the
> streets?
>
> Over and over, they have been denied a fair trial as guaranteed by
> the US Constitution. Every motion filed has been denied, they have
> not been allowed witnesses or allowed to submit evidence. Judge
> Steven McAuliffe (widower of Christa McAuliffe) has a serious God
> complex and only his word reigns in his courtroom. He doesn't even
> allow the citation of case law, the most essential part of courtroom
> proceedings!
>
> Elaine is a loving mother, compassionate friend, talented doctor,
> intelligent, and generous to a fault. She does not deserve one day
> in prison for questioning the government. For ten years she wrote
> to the IRS requesting an explaination of the tax law which applied
> to her and Ed, and never once received a response. Rather, the IRS
> just sat on all her letters, waiting a decade, and raided her home
> and office.
>
> Please help our family in this desparate hour. Your support could
> very well save the life of my mother and her husband Ed. I may very
> well see many of you tonight or tomorrow if the idiots from Concord
> don't come to their senses.
>
> Again, my heartfelt gratitude to all of you.
>
> -David Hatch ********************************************************** "A Presidential Address" By John Klar http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3966669656544060917 ************************************************************** Inadequate Care for Veterans at Walter Reed This is no way to treat our Fallen Hero's I'm sad to say. I visited Walter Reed during the 2006 Christmas season to let the troops know that there are people who care about them even though they don't support the war + also to finaly meet my friend + fellow Marine Col. John Folsom from Wounded Warriors. John N.E. COMMANDER L.G.N.A. Me with a TRUE HERO at Walter Reed during the 2006 holidays *************************************************************************** The Cost of War at Walter Reed
A quarter of US war vets diagnosed with mental
disorder: study
Published: Monday March 12, 2007
A quarter of the Afghanistan and Iraq war veterans
treated with US government-funded health care have
been diagnosed with a mental disorder, according to a
study published Monday.
And when psychosocial disorders such as domestic
violence were included, the number of war veterans
suffering from mental illnesses rose to 31 percent.
The instances of mental illness among recently
discharged troops and members of the National Guard
are significantly higher than those of a study
published last year which examined active duty troops,
the lead researcher told AFP.
That study found that while a third of returning
troops were accessing mental health services, only 12
percent were diagnosed with a mental illness or
psychosocial disorder.
"That's a big difference," said Karen Seal, a
physician and researcher at the San Francisco Veterans
Affairs Medical Center.
Of significant concern was the finding that 56 percent
of those diagnosed had more than one mental illness,
Seal said.
"When people have more than one diagnosis they become
more challenging to diagnose and, more importantly, we
believe are more challenging to treat," she explained.
The study comes just days after the Bush
administration vowed a "comprehensive review" of
veteran care following revelations that soldiers being
treated at the renowned Walter Reed Army Medical
Center were living in a building with mold-covered
walls, infestations of mice and cockroaches, and holes
in the ceiling.
That scandal exposed a broader problem with the
under-funding of the VA system, said Joe Davis, a
spokesman for the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
With a backlog of more than 860,000 medical claims and
waiting times of up to a year for treatment, many of
the troops coming home are not getting the help they
need, Davis said.
And that includes treatment of mental disorders, which
are a predictable result of the kinds of stresses
troops face under combat, Davis said.
"War changes everybody and everybody is going to have
to deal with it in one way or another," Davis said.
"The military is not doing enough on the preventative
side or the treatment side because the military's role
is to patch them up and send them to the VA. The VA is
not doing enough because they did not prepare for the
huge influx of new customers coming in from the wars
and they haven't budgeted for it."
Early detection and treatment is critical, the study
authors wrote, if the military is to prevent chronic
mental illness among troops "which threatens to bring
the war back home as a costly personal and public
health burden."
The results also "signal a need for improvements in
the primary prevention of military service-related
mental health disorders, particularly among our
youngest service members," the authors concluded.
The researchers examined the records of 103,788
veterans of these operations who were first seen at
Veterans Affairs facilities between September 30,
2001, and September 30, 2005. About 29 percent of war
veterans accessed VA health care facilities, the study
found.
The most common diagnosis was post-traumatic stress
disorder among 13 percent of troops, followed by
anxiety and adjustment disorders among six percent of
troops and depression and substance abuse among five
percent of troops.
More than half of the troops studied were younger than
30 years of age, 13 percent were women, nearly a third
were members of ethnic minority groups and nearly half
were veterans of the National Guard or Reserve
components, the study found.
The troops most at risk were those aged 18 to 24, the
study found, but mental illnesses were common among
all subgroups.
The study was published in the Journal of the American
Medical Association' s Archives of Internal Medicine. ***************************************************************** The Army is ordering injured troops to go to Iraq
*At Fort Benning, soldiers who were classified as medically unfit to fight
are now being sent to war. Is this an isolated incident or a trend?*
*By Mark Benjamin*
Mar. 11, 2007 | "This is not right," said Master Sgt. Ronald Jenkins, who
has been ordered to Iraq even though he has a spine problem that doctors say
would be damaged further by heavy Army protective gear. "This whole thing is
about taking care of soldiers," he said angrily. "If you are fit to fight
you are fit to fight. If you are /not/ fit to fight, then you are /not/ fit
to fight."
As the military scrambles to pour more soldiers into Iraq, a unit of the
Army's 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Benning, Ga., is deploying troops with
serious injuries and other medical problems, including GIs who doctors have
said are medically unfit for battle. Some are too injured to wear their body
armor, according to medical records.
On Feb. 15, Master Sgt. Jenkins and 74 other soldiers with medical
conditions from the 3rd Division's 3rd Brigade were summoned to a meeting
with the division surgeon and brigade surgeon. These are the men responsible
for handling each soldier's "physical profile," an Army document that lists
for commanders an injured soldier's physical limitations because of medical
problems -- from being unable to fire a weapon to the inability to move and
dive in three-to-five-second increments to avoid enemy fire. Jenkins and
other soldiers claim that the division and brigade surgeons summarily
downgraded soldiers' profiles, without even a medical exam, in order to
deploy them to Iraq. It is a claim division officials deny.
The 3,900-strong 3rd Brigade is now leaving for Iraq for a third time in a
steady stream. In fact, some of the troops with medical conditions
interviewed by Salon last week are already gone. Others are slated to fly
out within a week, but are fighting against their chain of command, holding
out hope that because of their ills they will ultimately not be forced to
go. Jenkins, who is still in Georgia, thinks doctors are helping to send
hurt soldiers like him to Iraq to make units going there appear to be at
full strength. "This is about the numbers," he said flatly.
That is what worries Steve Robinson, director of veterans affairs at
Veterans for America, who has long been concerned that the military was
pressing injured troops into Iraq. "Did they send anybody down range that
cannot wear a helmet, that cannot wear body armor?" Robinson asked
rhetorically. "Well that is wrong. It is a war zone." Robinson thinks that
the possibility that physical profiles may have been altered improperly has
the makings of a scandal. "My concerns are that this needs serious
investigation. You cannot just look at somebody and tell that they were
fit," he said. "It smacks of an overstretched military that is in crisis
mode to get people onto the battlefield."
Eight soldiers who were at the Feb. 15 meeting say they were summoned to the
troop medical clinic at 6:30 in the morning and lined up to meet with
division surgeon Lt. Col. George Appenzeller, who had arrived from Fort
Stewart, Ga., and Capt. Aaron K. Starbuck, brigade surgeon at Fort Benning.
The soldiers described having a cursory discussion of their profiles, with
no physical exam or extensive review of medical files. They say Appenzeller
and Starbuck seemed focused on downplaying their physical problems. "This
guy was changing people's profiles left and right," said a captain who
injured his back during his last tour in Iraq and was ordered to Iraq after
the Feb. 15 review.
Appenzeller said the review of 75 soldiers with profiles was an effort to
make sure they were as accurate as possible prior to deployment. "As the
division surgeon and the senior medical officer in the division, I wanted to
ensure that all the patients with profiles were fully evaluated with clear
limitations that commanders could use to make the decision whether they
could deploy, and if they did deploy, what their limitations would be while
there," he said in a telephone interview from Fort Stewart. He said he
changed less than one-third of those profiles -- even making some more
restrictive -- in order to "bring them into accordance with regulations."
In direct contradiction to the account given by the soldiers, Appenzeller
said physical examinations were conducted and that he had a robust medical
team there working with him, which is how they managed to complete 75
reviews in one day. Appenzeller denied that the plan was to find more warm
bodies for the surge into Baghdad, as did Col. Wayne W. Grigsby Jr., the
brigade commander. Grigsby said he is under "no pressure" to find soldiers,
regardless of health, to make his unit look fit. The health and welfare of
his soldiers are a top priority, said Grigsby, because [the soldiers] are
"our most important resource, perhaps the most important resource we have in
this country."
Grigsby said he does not know how many injured soldiers are in his ranks.
But he insisted that it is not unusual to deploy troops with physical
limitations so long as he can place them in safe jobs when they get there.
"They can be productive and safe in Iraq," Grigsby said.
The injured soldiers interviewed by Salon, however, expressed considerable
worry about going to Iraq with physical deficits because it could endanger
them or their fellow soldiers. Some were injured on previous combat tours.
Some of their ills are painful conditions from training accidents or, among
relatively older troops, degenerative problems like back injuries or
blown-out knees. Some of the soldiers have been in the Army for decades.
And while Grigsby, the brigade commander, says he is under no pressure to
find troops, it is hard to imagine there is not some desperation behind the
decision to deploy some of the sick soldiers. Master Sgt. Jenkins, 42, has a
degenerative spine problem and a long scar down the back of his neck where
three of his vertebrae were fused during surgery. He takes a cornucopia of
potent pain pills. His medical records say he is "at significantly increased
risk of re-injury during deployment where he will be wearing Kevlar, body
armor and traveling through rough terrain." Late last year, those medical
records show, a doctor recommended that Jenkins be referred to an Army board
that handles retirements when injuries are permanent and severe.
A copy of Jenkins' profile written after that Feb. 15 meeting and signed by
Capt. Starbuck, the brigade surgeon, shows a healthier soldier than the
profile of Jenkins written by another doctor just late last year, though
Jenkins says his condition is unchanged. Other soldiers' documents show the
same pattern.
One female soldier with psychiatric issues and a spine problem has been in
the Army for nearly 20 years. "My disease is deteriorating," she said over
dinner at a restaurant near Fort Benning. "My spine is separating. I can't
carry gear." Her medical records include the note "unable to deploy
overseas." Her status was also reviewed on Feb. 15. And she has been ordered
to Iraq this week.
The captain interviewed by Salon also requested anonymity because he fears
retribution. He suffered a back injury during a previous deployment to Iraq
as an infantry platoon leader. A Humvee accident "corkscrewed my spine," he
explained. Like the female soldier, he is unable to wear his protective
gear, and like her he too was ordered to Iraq after his meeting with the
division surgeon and brigade surgeon on Feb. 15. He is still at Fort Benning
and is fighting the decision to send him to Baghdad. "It is a numbers issue
with this whole troop surge," he claimed. "They are just trying to get those
numbers."
Another soldier contacted Salon by telephone last week expressed
considerable anxiety, in a frightened tone, about deploying to Iraq in her
current condition. (She also wanted to remain anonymous, fearing
retribution.) An incident during training several years ago injured her
back, forcing doctors to remove part of her fractured coccyx. She suffers
from degenerative disk disease and has two ruptured disks and a bulging disk
in her back. While she said she loves the Army and would like to deploy
after back surgery, her current injuries would limit her ability to wear her
full protective gear. She deployed to Iraq last week, the day after calling
Salon.
Her husband, who has served three combat tours in the infantry in
Afghanistan and Iraq, said he is worried sick because his wife's protective
vest alone exceeds the maximum amount she is allowed to lift. "I have been
over there three times. I know what it is like," he told me during lunch at
a restaurant here. He predicted that by deploying people like his wife, the
brigade leaders are "going to get somebody killed over there." He said there
is "no way" Grigsby is going to keep all of the injured soldiers in safe
jobs. "All of these people that deploy with these profiles, they are
scared," he said. He railed at the command: "They are saying they don't care
about your health. This is pathetic. It is bad."
His wife's physical profile was among those reevaluated on Feb. 15. A copy
of her profile from late last year showed her health problems were so severe
they "prevent deployment" and recommended she be medically retired from the
Army. Her profile at that time showed she was unable to wear a protective
mask and chemical defense equipment, and had limitations on doing pushups,
walking, biking and swimming. It said she can only carry 15 pounds.
Though she says that her condition has not changed since then, almost all of
those findings were reversed in a copy of her physical profile dated Feb.
15. The new profile says nothing about a medical retirement, but suggests
that she limit wearing a helmet to "one hour at a time."
Spc. Lincoln Smith, meanwhile, developed sleep apnea after he returned from
his first deployment to Iraq. The condition is so severe that he now suffers
from narcolepsy because of a lack of sleep. He almost nodded off
mid-conversation while talking to Salon as he sat in a T-shirt on a sofa in
his girlfriend's apartment near Fort Benning.
Smith is trained by the Army to be a truck driver. But since he is in
constant danger of falling asleep, military doctors have listed "No driving
of military vehicles" on his physical profile. Smith was supposed to fly to
Iraq March 9. But he told me on March 8 that he won't go. Nobody has
retrained Smith to do anything else besides drive trucks. Plus, because of
his condition he was unable to train properly with the unit when the brigade
rehearsed for Iraq in January, so he does not feel ready.
Smith needs to sleep with a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure)
machine pumping air into his mouth and nose. "Otherwise," he says, "I could
die." But based on his last tour, he is not convinced he will be able to be
in places with constant electricity or will be able to fix or replace his
CPAP machine should it fail.
He told me last week he would refuse to deploy to Iraq, unsure of what he
will be asked to do there and afraid that he will not be taken care of.
Since he won't be a truck driver, "I would be going basically as a number,"
says Smith, who is 32. "They don't have enough people," he says. But he is
not going to be one of those numbers until they train him to do something
else. "I'm going to go to the airport, and I'm going to tell them I'm not
going to go. They are going to give me a weapon. I am going to say, 'It is
not a good idea for you to give me a weapon right now.'"
The Pentagon was notified of the reclassification of the Fort Benning
soldiers as soon as it happened, according to Master Sgt. Jenkins. He showed
Salon an e-mail describing the situation that he says he sent to Army
Surgeon General Lt. Gen. Kevin C. Kiley. Jenkins agreed to speak to Salon
because he hopes public attention will help other soldiers, particularly
younger ones in a similar predicament. "I can't sit back and let this happen
to me or other soldiers in my position." But he expects reprisals from the
Army.
Other soldiers slated to leave for Iraq with injuries said they wonder
whether the same thing is happening in other units in the Army. "You have to
ask where else this might be happening and who is dictating it," one female
soldier told me. "How high does it go?"
**************************************************************************** ******************************************************************************************* ***************************************************************************** ***************************************************************** ****************************************************************** ******************************************************************** **************************************************************** **************************************************************** Behind the Mess at Walter Reed ************************************************************** On Sun, 4 Mar 2007 Maj. Gen. Ed Scholes USA (ret.) wrote:
Colonel Hunt:
To use your language--this Sunday morning you called in a B-52 strike on the great people of the U.S. Army Medical Corps, and you missed the bad guys. You, like the SECDEF, should have quickly realized that you can not name any military Medic you have seen/known who was not willing to give their all (life if necessary) to give the best care possible (within their capability) to wounded Soldiers. The great Medics at Walter Reed have been doing just that, during 10-16 hr. days since the War on Terror started, in addition to their normal busy patient load. Using the Washington Post as "the authority on Soldier care", even in their Sunday Edition, they admitted that the relieved Commander had taken action to fix those areas that he was aware of and could fix since being there only 6 months. I personally know that the relieved commander and his wife have spent a lifetime in dedicated care to Soldiers and their Families. He has done it in combat, multiple times, with our elite
forces, and in the medical training center. Their ( and other's) " reward " for a lifetime of dedicated care to Soldiers and Families has been disgraceful and disgusting to anyone who knows the truth.
They have been blamed for decades of under funding for Walter Reed. Will those in DOD responsible for this be relieved? Will the idiots who placed Walter Reed on the BRAC list for closure while this nation's military is at war be relieved and disgraced? Being military, you know what it means when this happens to an installation. It gives the bean counters the excuse not to provide funds to fix anything and not to fill personnel shortages.
Many civilians start looking for other jobs near home and no one wants a job in an installation that is closing. Being military, you should know that the superb military medical care provided by the different Services was gutted during the Clinton administration, and funding centralized at the DOD level. That system has only become worse as you must know if any of your friends have to use that system.
Do the folks at Walter Reed experience problems daily? You bet and they deal with them within their capability while keeping their Rucks packed to be ready to replace some Medic in Afghan, Iraq , or Landstuhl, or to be ready to meet a Medevac plane at Andrews or to pick up some grieving loved ones of a Soldier. Are there problems with paperwork? You bet! Have you tried to complete/coordinate VA disability/medical forms or coordinate medical care between the national guard, reserve and active duty systems? I only have a master's degree and I have problems with the forms.
For those who might want a good news story, I would ask you to look at the other 99% of the operations at Walter Reed. A start would be to look at the lives saved and cared for daily, and the enormous efforts required to do this. Look at the amazing programs initiated at Walter Reed for in-patients and out-patients, and for family members/loved ones of wounded Soldiers. Look at how they bring many family members in to be with their Soldier while they are there for treatment. They and the Soldiers get top priority for housing and other needs while on Post. Look at the multitude of programs conducted daily by the military, veteran's groups, and commercial and private organizations/individuals. They provide everything you can imagine to the Soldiers and Families, all free of charge.
If you want to see the results of a complete reversal of public, private, and governmental support for our Troops compared to our Vietnam period, come and visit Walter Reed, and stop taking the long range cheap shots that paints all with the same brush, I have personally witnessed the dedicated, emotional, exhaustive, selfless service of our Medical Troops caring for their fellow Soldiers from Baghdad to Medevac helicopter to Balad Air Base to Medevac plane to Landstuhl to Walter Reed, and other places in U.S. . It doesn't stop and they must always be ready at all times, day and night.
The Medics many times go until they drop from exhaustion. Why? Because they , more then anyone, know the American Soldiers deserve the finest medical care they can give, within their capability. Because they, more then anyone perhaps, know what the horrors of war do to our/their fellow Soldiers, and they are reminded everyday. They wipe their tears and get on with their critical jobs, and thank GOD for them. Will they give priority to unloading a Medevac or trying to save a life over helping a Troop fill out a form? Yes but they get that done too when they can and if they are able.
Are they responsible for the Gov't. complex, stupid funding and contracting processes? Absolutely not but let all the ones responsible and the publicity seekers run to climb on the blame pointing wagon and get their time on T.V. at the expense of all our great Medics since they are being painted with the same brush. Some are no better then the anti-American bunch that stands across the street from Walter Reed with their obscene signs.
Walter Reed and our other military care facilities needs the maximum attention of our national leadership, but the blame must be shared by all. ************************************************************************************************************ ********************************************************** *********************************************************** WALTER REED VIDEO'S | IAVA Fights Back After Reports of Inadequate Care for Veterans at Walter Reed |
************************************************************************** Are Hospitals Doing Enough to Prevent Mishaps?
"Good morning David. It's time for your meds," the nurse announced. "He can't have that," I said, "The doctor stopped that because he's allergic to it." "Well, that's not in his chart," the nurse replied. "You'd better call the doctor then, because you're not giving that to my son," I declared. This was a real conversation that I had with a nurse during my son's recent stay in a hospital. What if I had not been present? The nurse would have administered the suspect medication to my son, with potentially disastrous results. Incidents such as this take place every day in hospitals across America. Due to a combination of poor communication, and a lack of dedication by many medical "professionals," our hospitals are needlessly endangering a large number of their patients. Medical facilities rely on a well-trained team of professionals to provide quality care to their patients. Like any other team of professionals, communication between team members is crucial to success.
Communication is a two-way street. During shift changes at hospitals, or when moving a patient from one department to another, all parties involved must be made aware of every detail of patients' conditions. My son's case was due to a simple, yet important, lack of communication. An off-going nurse failed to properly brief the oncoming nurse about the change in medication. How common is this? A study, conducted by the Journal of The Association of American Medical Colleges in late 1999, randomly selected 26 of the 85 resident physicians at a 600 bed hospital to scrutinize. The residents reported 70 mishap incidents over a three-month period. The overwhelming majority of these mishaps were the result of poor communication. The rest were the result of outright negligence by various staff members. What can be done to improve critical communications between medical professionals? There are an infinite number of creative ways to improve communication techniques between medical professionals. England's largest children's hospital has modeled their patient handoff techniques on the pit-stop methods of Italy's Formula One Ferrari Racing Team. They have seen a dramatic decline in medical mishaps. A large hospital in Chicago passes a "baton" to oncoming shift members, much like competitors in a relay race. The baton is a plastic tube that contains crucial notes on every patient in the ward. Oncoming team members must sign for the baton, acknowledging that they received it and have read the contents. This is in addition to the verbal brief given to the oncoming team members. Perhaps every hospital should look to other areas of professional teamwork for ideas on improving key communication. While improving communication techniques is crucial to patient care, there is another, subtly brutal problem in hospitals. Like any business that deals with customers, hospitals must hire employees that put the care of their customers above personal desires. To not do so leaves the hospital open to sub-standard customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction takes on a whole new importance when the customer's life is on the line. Far too many professionals today fail to take pride in their work. From craftsmen to engineers, selfishness and laziness seem to be creeping into our nation's professionals like a slow spreading virus. We've all seen uncaring employees in various venues, but what happens when the uncaring employee plays a crucial role in our medical care? A study conducted by Health Grades, a consumer advocacy group, found that an average of 195,000 people died as a result of hospital mishaps annually from 2000, to 2002. How many of those were due to incompetent, or lazy employees? One? A thousand? While medical malpractice suits continue to drive up the cost of health care, negligence is a real problem. According to a study by the U.S. Department of Justice, about half of the sampled malpractice trials (that resulted in the plaintiffs' favor) were against surgeons, while approximately one third were against non-surgeons. While, "to err is human," being lazy or uncaring is unforgivable. Hospitals must take greater strides toward weeding out the lazy and uncaring. Our hospitals are duty bound to provide us with quality healthcare. When the Journal of American Medicine reports that hospitals injure five percent (one in 20!) of their patients, something is woefully wrong with our healthcare system. That figure represents a direct contradiction to the Hippocratic oath. Improving critical communications, and eliminating less than dedicated staff, must become a focal point of our hospitals' efforts toward efficiency. Failing to make these improvements would be morally unacceptable, if not criminal. ****************************************************************************** > The Hotel Aftermath
> Inside Mologne House, the Survivors of War Wrestle
With Military
> Bureaucracy and Personal Demons
>
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/18/AR2007021801335_2.html
>
> By Anne Hull and Dana Priest
> Washington Post Staff Writers
> Monday, February 19, 2007; A01
>
>
>
> The guests of Mologne House have been blown up,
shot, crushed and
> shaken, and now their convalescence takes place
among the chandeliers
> and wingback chairs of the 200-room hotel on the
grounds of Walter
> Reed Army Medical Center.
>
> Oil paintings hang in the lobby of this strange
outpost in the war on
> terrorism, where combat's urgency has been replaced
by a trickling
> fountain in the garden courtyard. The maimed and the
newly legless sit
> in wheelchairs next to a pond, watching goldfish
turn lazily through
> the water.
>
> But the wounded of Mologne House are still soldiers
-- Hooah! -- so
> their lives are ruled by platoon sergeants. Each
morning they must
> rise at dawn for formation, though many are
half-snowed on pain meds
> and sleeping pills.
>
> In Room 323 the alarm goes off at 5 a.m., but Cpl.
Dell McLeod
> slumbers on. His wife, Annette, gets up and fixes
him a bowl of
> instant oatmeal before going over to the massive
figure curled in the
> bed. An Army counselor taught her that a soldier
back from war can
> wake up swinging, so she approaches from behind.
>
> "Dell," Annette says, tapping her husband. "Dell,
get in the
shower."
>
> "Dell!" she shouts.
>
> Finally, the yawning hulk sits up in bed. "Okay,
baby," he says. An
> American flag T-shirt is stretched over his chest.
He reaches for his
> dog tags, still the devoted soldier of 19 years,
though his life as a
> warrior has become a paradox. One day he's led on
stage at a Toby
> Keith concert with dozens of other wounded Operation
Iraqi Freedom
> troops from Mologne House, and the next he's sitting
in a cluttered
> cubbyhole at Walter Reed, fighting the Army for
every penny of his
> disability.
>
> McLeod, 41, has lived at Mologne House for a year
while the Army
> figures out what to do with him. He worked in
textile and steel mills
> in rural South Carolina before deploying. Now he
takes 23 pills a day,
> prescribed by various doctors at Walter Reed. Crowds
frighten him. He
> is too anxious to drive. When panic strikes, a
soldier friend named
> Oscar takes him to Baskin-Robbins for vanilla ice
cream.
>
> "They find ways to soothe each other," Annette says.
>
> Mostly what the soldiers do together is wait: for
appointments,
> evaluations, signatures and lost paperwork to be
found. It's like
> another wife told Annette McLeod: "If Iraq don't
kill you, Walter Reed
> will."
>
> After Iraq, a New Struggle
>
> The conflict in Iraq has hatched a virtual town of
desperation and
> dysfunction, clinging to the pilings of Walter Reed.
The wounded are
> socked away for months and years in random buildings
and barracks in
> and around this military post.
>
> The luckiest stay at Mologne House, a four-story
hotel on a grassy
> slope behind the hospital. Mologne House opened 10
years ago as a
> short-term lodging facility for military personnel,
retirees and their
> family members. Then came Sept. 11 and five years of
sustained
> warfare. Now, the silver walkers of retired generals
convalescing from
> hip surgery have been replaced by prosthetics
propped against Xbox
> games and Jessica Simpson posters smiling down on
brain-rattled
> grunts.
>
> Two Washington Post reporters spent hundreds of
hours in Mologne House
> documenting the intimate struggles of the wounded
who live there. The
> reporting was done without the knowledge or
permission of Walter Reed
> officials, but all those directly quoted in this
article agreed to be
> interviewed.
>
> The hotel is built in the Georgian revival style,
and inside it offers
> the usual amenities: daily maid service, front-desk
clerks in formal
> vests and a bar off the lobby that opens every
afternoon.
>
> But at this bar, the soldier who orders a vodka
tonic one night says
> to the bartender, "If I had two hands, I'd order
two." The customers
> sitting around the tables are missing limbs, their
ears are melted
> off, and their faces are tattooed purple by shrapnel
patterns.
>
> Most everyone has a story about the day they blew
up: the sucking
> silence before immolation, how the mouth filled with
tar, the lungs
> with gas.
>
> "First thing I said was, '[Expletive], that was my
good eye,' " a
> soldier with an eye patch tells an amputee in the
bar.
>
> The amputee peels his beer label. "I was awake
through the whole
> thing," he says. "It was my first patrol. The second
[expletive] day
> in Iraq and I get blown up."
>
> When a smooth-cheeked soldier with no legs orders a
fried chicken
> dinner and two bottles of grape soda to go, a
kitchen worker comes out
> to his wheelchair and gently places the Styrofoam
container on his
> lap.
>
> A scrawny young soldier sits alone in his wheelchair
at a nearby
> table, his eyes closed and his chin dropped to his
chest, an empty
> Corona bottle in front of him.
>
> Those who aren't old enough to buy a drink at the
bar huddle outside
> near a magnolia tree and smoke cigarettes. Wearing
hoodies and furry
> bedroom slippers, they look like kids at summer camp
who've crept out
> of their rooms, except some have empty pants legs or
limbs pinned by
> medieval-looking hardware. Medication is a favorite
topic.
>
> "Dude, [expletive] Paxil saved my life."
>
> "I been on methadone for a year, I'm tryin' to get
off it."
>
> "I didn't take my Seroquel last night and I had
nightmares of charred
> bodies, burned crispy like campfire marshmallows."
>
> Mologne House is afloat on a river of painkillers
and antipsychotic
> drugs. One night, a strapping young infantryman
loses it with a woman
> who is high on her son's painkillers. "Quit taking
all the soldier
> medicine!" he screams.
>
> Pill bottles clutter the nightstands: pills for
depression or
> insomnia, to stop nightmares and pain, to calm the
nerves.
>
> Here at Hotel Aftermath, a crash of dishes in the
cafeteria can induce
> seizures in the combat-addled. If a taxi arrives and
the driver looks
> Middle Eastern, soldiers refuse to get in. Even
among the gazebos and
> tranquility of the Walter Reed campus in upper
Northwest Washington,
> manhole covers are sidestepped for fear of bombs and
rooftops are
> scanned for snipers.
>
> Bomb blasts are the most common cause of injury in
Iraq, and nearly 60
> percent of the blast victims also suffer from
traumatic brain injury,
> according to Walter Reed's studies, which explains
why some at Mologne
> House wander the hallways trying to remember their
room numbers.
>
> Some soldiers and Marines have been here for 18
months or longer.
> Doctor's appointments and evaluations are routinely
dragged out and
> difficult to get. A board of physicians must review
hundreds of pages
> of medical records to determine whether a soldier is
fit to return to
> duty. If not, the Physical Evaluation Board must
decide whether to
> assign a rating for disability compensation. For
many, this is the
> start of a new and bitter battle.
>
> Months roll by and life becomes a blue-and-gold
hotel room where the
> bathroom mirror shows the naked disfigurement of
war's ravages. There
> are toys in the lobby of Mologne House because
children live here.
> Domestic disputes occur because wives or girlfriends
have moved here.
> Financial tensions are palpable. After her husband's
traumatic injury
> insurance policy came in, one wife cleared out with
the money. Older
> National Guard members worry about the jobs they can
no longer perform
> back home.
>
> While Mologne House has a full bar, there is not one
counselor or
> psychologist assigned there to assist soldiers and
families in crisis
> -- an idea proposed by Walter Reed social workers
but rejected by the
> military command that runs the post.
>
> After a while, the bizarre becomes routine. On
Friday nights, antiwar
> protesters stand outside the gates of Walter Reed
holding signs that
> say "Love Troops, Hate War, Bring them Home Now."
Inside the gates,
> doctors in white coats wait at the hospital entrance
for the incoming
> bus full of newly wounded soldiers who've just
landed at Andrews Air
> Force Base.
>
> And set back from the gate, up on a hill, Mologne
House, with a bowl
> of red apples on the front desk.
>
> Into the Twilight Zone
>
> Dell McLeod's injury was utterly banal. He was in
his 10th month of
> deployment with the 178th Field Artillery Regiment
of the South
> Carolina National Guard near the Iraqi border when
he was smashed in
> the head by a steel cargo door of an 18-wheeler. The
hinges of the
> door had been tied together with a plastic
hamburger-bun bag. Dell was
> knocked out cold and cracked several vertebrae.
>
> When Annette learned that he was being shipped to
Walter Reed, she
> took a leave from her job on the assembly line at
Stanley Tools and
> packed the car. The Army would pay her $64 a day to
help care for her
> husband and would let her live with him at Mologne
House until he
> recovered.
>
> A year later, they are still camped out in the
twilight zone. Dogs are
> periodically brought in by the Army to search the
rooms for contraband
> or weapons. When the fire alarm goes off, the
amputees who live on the
> upper floors are scooped up and carried down the
stairwell, while a
> brigade of mothers passes down the wheelchairs. One
morning Annette
> opens her door and is told to stay in the room
because a soldier down
> the hall has overdosed.
>
> In between, there are picnics at the home of the
chairman of the Joint
> Chiefs of Staff and a charity-funded dinner cruise
on the Potomac for
> "Today's troops, tomorrow's veterans, always
heroes."
>
> Dell and Annette's weekdays are spent making the
rounds of medical
> appointments, physical therapy sessions and
evaluations for Dell's
> discharge from the Army. After 19 years, he is no
longer fit for
> service. He uses a cane to walk. He is unable to
count out change in
> the hospital cafeteria. He takes four Percocets a
day for pain and has
> gained 40 pounds from medication and inactivity.
Lumbering and
> blue-eyed, Dell is a big ox baby.
>
> Annette puts on makeup every morning and does her
hair, some semblance
> of normalcy, but her new job in life is watching
Dell.
>
> "I'm worried about how he's gonna fit into society,"
she says one
> night, as Dell wanders down the hall to the laundry
room.
>
> The more immediate worry concerns his disability
rating. Army doctors
> are disputing that Dell's head injury was the cause
of his mental
> impairment. One report says that he was slow in high
school and that
> his cognitive problems could be linked to his native
intelligence
> rather than to his injury.
>
> "They said, 'Well, he was in Title I math,' like he
was retarded,"
> Annette says. "Well, y'all took him, didn't you?"
>
> The same fight is being waged by their friends, who
aren't the young
> warriors in Army posters but middle-age men who left
factory jobs to
> deploy to Iraq with their Guard units. They were fit
enough for war,
> but now they are facing teams of Army doctors
scrutinizing their
> injuries for signs of preexisting conditions,
lessening their chance
> for disability benefits.
>
> Dell and Annette's closest friend at Mologne House
is a 47-year-old
> Guard member who was driving an Army vehicle through
the Iraqi night
> when a flash of light blinded him and he crashed
into a ditch with an
> eight-foot drop. Among his many injuries was a
broken foot that didn't
> heal properly. Army doctors decided that "late life
atrophy" was
> responsible for the foot, not the truck wreck in
Iraq.
>
> When Dell sees his medical records, he explodes.
"Special ed is for
> the mentally retarded, and I'm not mentally
retarded, right, babe?" he
> asks Annette. "I graduated from high school. I did
some college. I
> worked in a steel mill."
>
> It's after 9 one night and Dell and Annette are both
exhausted, but
> Dell still needs to practice using voice-recognition
software.
> Reluctantly, he mutes "The Ultimate Fighting
Challenge" on TV and sits
> next to Annette in bed with a laptop.
>
> "My name is Wendell," he says. "Wendell Woodward
McLeod Jr."
>
> Annette tells him to sit up. "Spell 'dog,' " she
says, softly.
>
> "Spell 'dog,' " he repeats.
>
> "Listen to me," she says.
>
> "Listen to me." He slumps on the pillow. His eyes
drift toward the
> wrestlers on TV.
>
> "You are not working hard enough, Dell," Annette
says, pleading.
"Wake
> up."
>
> "Wake up," he says.
>
> "Dell, come on now!"
>
> For Some, a Grim Kind of Fame
>
> No one questions Sgt. Bryan Anderson's sacrifice.
One floor above Dell
> and Annette's room at Mologne House, he holds the
gruesome honor of
> being one of the war's five triple amputees. Bryan,
25, lost both legs
> and his left arm when a roadside bomb exploded next
to the Humvee he
> was driving with the 411th Military Police Company.
Modern medicine
> saved him and now he's the pride of the prosthetics
team at Walter
> Reed. Tenacious and wisecracking, he wrote
"[Expletive] Iraq" on his
> left leg socket.
>
> Amputees are the first to receive celebrity
visitors, job offers and
> extravagant trips, but Bryan is in a league of his
own. Johnny Depp's
> people want to hook up in London or Paris. The actor
Gary Sinise, who
> played an angry Vietnam amputee in "Forrest Gump,"
sends his regards.
> And Esquire magazine is setting up a photo shoot.
>
> Bryan's room at Mologne House is stuffed with gifts
from corporate
> America and private citizens: $350 Bose
noise-canceling headphones,
> nearly a thousand DVDs sent by well-wishers and
quilts made by church
> grannies. The door prizes of war. Two flesh-colored
legs are stacked
> on the floor. A computerized hand sprouting blond
hair is on the
> table.
>
> One Saturday afternoon, Bryan is on his bed
downloading music. Without
> his prosthetics, he weighs less than 100 pounds.
"Mom, what time is
> our plane?" he asks his mother, Janet Waswo, who
lives in the room
> with him. A movie company is flying them to Boston
for the premiere of
> a documentary about amputee hand-cyclers in which
Bryan appears.
>
> Representing the indomitable spirit of the American
warrior sometimes
> becomes too much, and Bryan turns off his phone.
>
> Perks and stardom do not come to every amputee. Sgt.
David Thomas, a
> gunner with the Tennessee National Guard, spent his
first three months
> at Walter Reed with no decent clothes; medics in
Samarra had cut off
> his uniform. Heavily drugged, missing one leg and
suffering from
> traumatic brain injury, David, 42, was finally told
by a physical
> therapist to go to the Red Cross office, where he
was given a T-shirt
> and sweat pants. He was awarded a Purple Heart but
had no underwear.
>
> David tangled with Walter Reed's image machine when
he wanted to
> attend a ceremony for a fellow amputee, a Mexican
national who was
> being granted U.S. citizenship by President Bush. A
case worker
> quizzed him about what he would wear. It was summer,
so David said
> shorts. The case manager said the media would be
there and shorts were
> not advisable because the amputees would be seated
in the front row.
>
> " 'Are you telling me that I can't go to the
ceremony 'cause I'm an
> amputee?' " David recalled asking. "She said, 'No,
I'm saying you need
> to wear pants.' "
>
> David told the case worker, "I'm not ashamed of what
I did, and y'all
> shouldn't be neither." When the guest list came out
for the ceremony,
> his name was not on it.
>
> Still, for all its careful choreography of the
amputees, Walter Reed
> offers protection from a staring world. On warm
nights at the picnic
> tables behind Mologne House, someone fires up the
barbecue grill and
> someone else makes a beer run to Georgia Avenue.
>
> Bryan Anderson is out here one Friday. "Hey, Bry,
what time should we
> leave in the morning?" asks his best friend, a
female soldier also
> injured in Iraq. The next day is Veterans Day, and
Bryan wants to go
> to Arlington National Cemetery. His pal Gary Sinise
will be there, and
> Bryan wants to give him a signed photo.
>
> Thousands of spectators are already at Arlington the
next morning when
> Bryan and his friend join the surge toward the
ceremony at the Tomb of
> the Unknowns. The sunshine dazzles. Bryan is in his
wheelchair. If
> loss and sacrifice are theoretical to some on this
day, here is living
> proof -- three stumps and a crooked boyish smile.
Even the acres of
> tombstones can't compete. Spectators cut their eyes
toward him and
> look away.
>
> Suddenly, the thunder of cannons shakes the sky. The
last time Bryan
> heard this sound, his legs were severed and he was
nearly bleeding to
> death in a fiery Humvee.
>
> Boom. Boom. Boom. Bryan pushes his wheelchair
harder, trying to get
> away from the noise. "Damn it," he says, "when are
they gonna
stop?"
>
> Bryan's friend walks off by herself and holds her
head. The cannon
> thunder has unglued her, too, and she is crying.
>
> Friends From Ward 54
>
> An old friend comes to visit Dell and Annette. Sgt.
Oscar Fernandez
> spent 14 months at Walter Reed after having a heart
attack in
> Afghanistan. Oscar also had post-traumatic stress
disorder, PTSD, a
> condition that worsened at Walter Reed and landed
the 45-year-old
> soldier in the hospital's psychiatric unit, Ward 54.
>
> Oscar belonged to a tight-knit group of soldiers who
were dealing with
> combat stress and other psychological issues. They
would hang out in
> each other's rooms at night, venting their fury at
the Army's Cuckoo's
> Nest. On weekends they escaped Walter Reed to a
Chinese buffet or went
> shopping for bootleg Spanish DVDs in nearby Takoma
Park. They once
> made a road trip to a casino near the New Jersey
border.
>
> They abided each other's frailties. Sgt. Steve Justi
would get the
> slightest cut on his skin and drop to his knees, his
face full of
> anguish, apologizing over and over. For what, Oscar
did not know.
> Steve was the college boy who went to Iraq, and
Oscar figured
> something terrible had happened over there.
>
> Sgt. Mike Smith was the insomniac. He'd stay up till
2 or 3 in the
> morning, smoking on the back porch by himself.
Doctors had put steel
> rods in his neck after a truck accident in Iraq. To
turn his head, the
> 41-year-old Guard member from Iowa had to rotate his
entire body. He
> was fighting with the Army over his disability
rating, too, and in
> frustration had recently called a congressional
investigator for help.
>
> "They try in all their power to have you get well,
but it reverses
> itself," Oscar liked to say.
>
> Dell was not a psych patient, but he and Oscar
bonded. They were an
> unlikely pair -- the dark-haired Cuban American with
a penchant for
> polo shirts and salsa, and the molasses earnestness
of Dell.
>
> Oscar would say things like "I'm trying to better
myself through my
> own recognizance," and Dell would nod in
appreciation.
>
> To celebrate Oscar's return visit to Walter Reed,
they decide to have
> dinner in Silver Spring.
>
> Annette tells Oscar that a soldier was arrested at
Walter Reed for
> waving a gun around.
>
> "A soldier, coming from war?" Oscar asks.
>
> Annette doesn't know. She mentions that another
soldier was kicked out
> of Mologne House for selling his painkillers.
>
> The talk turns to their friend Steve Justi. A few
days earlier, Steve
> was discharged from the Army and given a zero
percent disability
> rating for his mental condition.
>
> Oscar is visibly angry. "They gave him nothing," he
says. "They said
> his bipolar was preexisting."
>
> Annette is quiet. "Poor Steve," she says.
>
> After dinner, they return through the gates of
Walter Reed in
> Annette's car, a John 3:16 decal on the bumper and
the Dixie Chicks in
> the CD player. Annette sees a flier in the lobby of
Mologne House
> announcing a free trip to see Toby Keith in concert.
>
> A week later, it is a wonderful night at the Nissan
Pavilion. About 70
> wounded soldiers from Walter Reed attend the show.
Toby invites them
> up on stage and brings the house down when he sings
his monster
> wartime hit "American Soldier." Dell stands on stage
in his uniform
> while Annette snaps pictures.
>
> "Give a hand clap for the soldiers," Annette hears
Toby tell the
> audience, "then give a hand for the U.S.A."
>
> A Soldier Snaps
>
> Deep into deer-hunting country and fields of
withered corn, past the
> Pennsylvania Turnpike in the rural town of Ellwood
City, Steve Justi
> sits in his parents' living room, fighting off the
afternoon's
> lethargy.
>
> A photo on a shelf shows a chiseled soldier, but the
one in the chair
> is 35 pounds heavier. Antipsychotic drugs give him
tremors and cloud
> his mind. Still, he is deliberate and thoughtful as
he explains his
> path from soldier to psychiatric patient in the war
on terrorism.
>
> After receiving a history degree from Mercyhurst
College, Steve was
> motivated by the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, to join
the National
> Guard. He landed in Iraq in 2003 with the First
Battalion, 107th Field
> Artillery, helping the Marines in Fallujah.
>
> "It was just the normal stuff," Steve says,
describing the violence he
> witnessed in Iraq. His voice is oddly flat as he
recalls the day his
> friend died in a Humvee accident. The friend was
driving with another
> soldier when they flipped off the road into a swamp.
They were trapped
> upside down and submerged. Steve helped pull them
out and gave CPR,
> but it was too late. The swamp water kept pushing
back into his own
> mouth. He rode in the helicopter with the wet
bodies.
>
> After he finished his tour, everything was fine back
home in
> Pennsylvania for about 10 months, and then a strange
bout of insomnia
> started. After four days without sleep, he burst
into full-out mania
> and was hospitalized in restraints.
>
> Did anything trigger the insomnia? "Not really,"
Steve says calmly,
> sitting in his chair.
>
> His mother overhears this from the kitchen and comes
into the living
> room. "His sergeant had called saying that the unit
was looking for
> volunteers to go back to Iraq," Cindy Justi says.
"This is what
> triggered his snap."
>
> Steve woke up in the psychiatric unit at Walter Reed
and spent the
> next six months going back and forth between there
and a room at
> Mologne House. He was diagnosed with bipolar
disorder. He denied to
> doctors that he was suffering from PTSD, yet he
called home once from
> Ward 54 and shouted into the phone, "Mom, can't you
hear all the
> shooting in the background?"
>
> He was on the ward for the sixth time when he was
notified that he was
> being discharged from the Army, with only a few days
to clear out and
> a disability rating of zero percent.
>
> On some level, Steve expected the zero rating.
During his senior year
> of college, he suffered a nervous breakdown and for
several months was
> treated with antidepressants. He disclosed this to
the National Guard
> recruiter, who said it was a nonissue. It became an
issue when he told
> doctors at Walter Reed. The Army decided that his
condition was not
> aggravated by his time in Iraq. The only help he
would get would come
> from Veterans Affairs.
>
> "We have no idea if what he endured over there had a
worsening effect
> on him," says his mother.
>
> His father gets home from the office. Ron Justi sits
on the couch
> across from his son. "He was okay to sacrifice his
body, but now that
> it's time he needs some help, they are not here,"
Ron says.
>
> Outside the Gates
>
> The Army gives Dell McLeod a discharge date. His
days at Mologne House
> are numbered. The cramped hotel room has become
home, and now he is
> afraid to leave it. His anxiety worsens. "Shut up!"
he screams at
> Annette one night, his face red with rage, when she
tells him to stop
> fiddling with his wedding ring.
>
> Later, Annette says: "I am exhausted. He doesn't
understand that I've
> been fighting the Army."
>
> Doctors have concluded that Dell was slow as a child
and that his head
> injury on the Iraqi border did not cause brain
damage. "It is possible
> that pre-morbid emotional difficulties and/or
pre-morbid intellectual
> functioning may be contributing factors to his
reported symptoms," a
> doctor wrote, withholding a diagnosis of traumatic
brain injury.
>
> Annette pushes for more brain testing and gets
nowhere until someone
> gives her the name of a staffer for the House
Committee on Oversight
> and Government Reform. A few days later, Annette is
called to a
> meeting with the command at Walter Reed. Dell is
given a higher
> disability rating than expected -- 50 percent, which
means he will
> receive half of his base pay until he is evaluated
again in 18 months.
> He signs the papers.
>
> Dell wears his uniform for the last time, somber and
careful as he
> dresses for formation. Annette packs up the room and
loads their Chevy
> Cavalier to the brim. Finally the gates of Walter
Reed are behind
> them. They are southbound on I-95 just past the
Virginia line when
> Dell begins to cry, Annette would later recall. She
pulls over and
> they both weep.
>
> Not long after, Bryan Anderson also leaves Mologne
House. When the
> triple amputee gets off the plane in Chicago,
American Airlines greets
> him on the tarmac with hoses spraying arches of
water, and cheering
> citizens line the roads that lead to his home town,
Rolling Meadows.
>
> Bryan makes the January cover of Esquire. He is
wearing his beat-up
> cargo shorts and an Army T-shirt, legless and
holding his Purple Heart
> in his robot hand. The headline says "The Meaning of
Life."
>
> A month after Bryan leaves, Mike Smith, the
insomniac soldier, is
> found dead in his room. Mike had just received the
good news that the
> Army was raising his disability rating after a
congressional staff
> member intervened on his behalf. It was the week
before Christmas, and
> he was set to leave Walter Reed to go home to his
wife and kids in
> Iowa when his body was found. The Army told his wife
that he died of
> an apparent heart attack, according to her father.
>
> Distraught, Oscar Fernandez calls Dell and Annette
in South Carolina
> with the news. "It's the constant assault of the
Army," he says.
>
> Life with Dell is worsening. He can't be left alone.
The closest VA
> hospital is two hours away. Doctors say he has liver
problems because
> of all the medications. He is also being examined
for PTSD. "I don't
> even know this man anymore," Annette says.
>
> At Mologne House, the rooms empty and fill, empty
and fill. The lobby
> chandelier glows and the bowl of red apples waits on
the front desk.
> An announcement goes up for Texas Hold 'Em poker in
the bar.
>
> One cold night an exhausted mother with two
suitcases tied together
> with rope shows up at the front desk and says, "I am
here for my son."
> And so it begins.
>
> Staff researcher Julie Tate contributed to this
report. Galloway: Walter Reed Hospital Scandal is 'The Last Straw'
As The Washington Post probe proves, there's more to supporting our
troops than making "Support Our Troops" a phrase that every politician
feels obliged to utter in every speech, no matter how craven the
purpose. How can they look at themselves in the mirror every morning?
By Joseph L. Galloway
(February 21, 2007) -- There's a great deal more to supporting our
troops than sticking a $2 yellow ribbon magnet made in China on your
SUV. There's a great deal more to it than making "Support Our Troops" a
phrase that every politician feels obliged to utter in every speech, no
matter how banal the topic or craven the purpose.
This week, we were treated to new revelations of just how fraudulent and
shallow and meaningless "Support Our Troops" is on the lips of those in
charge of spending the half a trillion dollars of taxpayer's money that
the Pentagon eats every year.
The Washington Post published a probe, complete with photographs,
revealing that for every in-patient who's getting the best medical
treatment that money can buy at the main hospital at the Walter Reed
Army Medical Center, there are out-patients warehoused in quarters unfit
for human habitation.
Some of the military outpatients are stuck on the Walter Reed campus, a
couple of miles from the White House and the Capitol, for as long as 12
months. They've been living in rat and roach-infested rooms, some of
which are coated in black mold.
There was outrage and disgust and raw anger at this callous, cruel
treatment of those who have the greatest claim not only on our
sympathies, but also on the public purse.
Who among the smiling politicians who regularly troop over to the main
hospital at Walter Reed for photo-op visits with those who've come home
grievously wounded from the wars the politicians started have bothered
to go the extra quarter-mile to see the unseen majority with their rats
and roaches?
Not one, it would seem, since none among them have admitted to knowing
that there was a problem, much less doing something about it before the
reporters blew the whistle.
Within 24 hours, construction crews were working overtime, slapping
paint over the moldy drywall, patching the sagging ceilings and putting
out traps and poison for the critters that infest the place.
Within 48 hours, the Department of Defense announced that it was
appointing an independent commission to investigate. Doubtless the
commission will provide a detailed report finding that no one was guilty
-- certainly none of the politicians of the ruling party whose hands
were on the levers of power for five long years of war.
They will find that it all came about because the Army medical
establishment was overwhelmed by the case load flowing out of Iraq and
Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, brave soldiers who were wheelchair-bound with missing legs or
paralysis, have been left to make their own way a quarter-mile to
appointments with the shrinks and a half-mile to pick up the drugs that
dim their minds and eyes and pain, and make the rats and roaches recede
into a fuzzy distance.
All this came on the heels of my McClatchy Newspapers colleague Chris
Adams's Feb. 9 report that even by its own measures, the Veterans
Administration isn't prepared to give returning veterans the care they
need to help them overcome destructive, and sometimes fatal, mental
health ailments. Nearly 100 VA clinics provided virtually no mental
health care in 2005, Adams found, and the average veteran with
psychiatric troubles gets about a third fewer visits with specialists
today than he would have received a decade ago.
The same politicians, from a macho president to the bureaucrats to the
people who chair the congressional committees that are supposed to
oversee such matters, have utterly failed to protect our wounded
warriors.
They've talked the talk but few, if any, have ever walked the walk.
No. This happened while all of them were busy as bees, taking billions
out of the VA budget and planning to shut down Walter Reed by 2011 in
the name of cost-efficiency.
Among those politicians are the people who sent too few troops to
Afghanistan or Iraq, who failed to provide enough body armor and weapons
and armored vehicles and who, to protect their own political hides,
refused to admit that the mission was not accomplished and change
course.
But it's they who are charged with the highest duty of all, in the words
of President Abraham Lincoln in his Second Inaugural in 1865: "to care
for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his
orphan."
How can they look at themselves in the mirror every morning? How dare
they ever utter the words: Support Our Troops? How dare they pretend to
give a damn about those they order to war?
They've hidden the flag-draped coffins of the fallen from the public and
the press. They've averted their eyes from the suffering that their
orders have visited upon an Army that they've ground down by misuse and
over-use and just plain incompetence.
This shabby, sorry episode of political and institutional cruelty to
those who deserve the best their nation can provide is the last straw.
How can they spin this one to blame the generals or the media or the
Democrats? How can you do that, Karl?
If the American people are not sickened and disgusted by this then, by
God, we don't deserve to be defended from the wolves of this world.
If you are unfamiliar with Galloway, a friend describes him as flows:
"Galloway was awarded the Bronze Star for Valor, the only journalist I
know of to get one, for his conduct in the Ia Drang valley where Moore's
battalion was almost overrun. It was the same battle that Crandall just
got a long over due Medal of Honor for. If you have seen the movie or
read the book, "We Were Soldiers Once and Young", you will know
something of Galloway.
He seems to have a clear love for the American soldier." Committee subpoenas former Walter Reed chiefBy: SilentPatriot @ 3:51 PM - PST Why would the Army fire the well-respected Gen. Weightman? They say it's because they lost trust and confidence in him. It would appear, however, that it's because they don't want him testifying about the privatization that led to the terrible conditions at Walter Reed. Henry Waxman is trying to get to the bottom of it. And what would cronyism in Bush's government be without.wait for it.Halliburton. (h/t Strawberry) VIDEO UPDATE: CNN is calling the privitization memo a potential smoking gun in the scandal.  Download (825) | Play (692)  Download (349) | Play (368)
Army fires commander of Walter Reed hospital
Story Highlights
* Commander of Walter Reed Army hospital fired after poor conditions
found * Building 18 has mold, holes in walls, newspaper said * Army
secretary said top brass didn't know about problems * Wounded troops
from Iraq, Afghanistan wars treated at facility
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The top general at Walter Reed Army Medical Center
was fired Thursday, the military announced, following revelations of
poor conditions in the building where troops who were wounded in
Afghanistan and Iraq are treated.
Maj. Gen. George Weightman's firing was the first major military staff
change after reports surfaced last month about substandard conditions in
a building that is part of the facility.
Army Secretary Francis Harvey, who removed Weightman from his post
according to an Army statement, had blamed a failure of leadership for
the conditions, which were first reported by The Washington Post.
According to the Army statement, "Maj. Gen. Weightman was informed this
morning that the senior Army leadership had lost trust and confidence in
the commander's leadership abilities to address needed solutions for
soldier-outpatient care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center."
"The commanding general of U.S. Army Medical Command, Lt. Gen. Kevin
Kiley, will be acting temporarily as Walter Reed commander until a
general officer is selected for this important leadership position," the
statement said.
The Post report centered on Building 18. Last week, workers were
repairing plumbing, covering holes in ceilings and repainting
mold-covered walls in the building.
Weightman also served as commanding general of the North Atlantic
Regional Medical Command, the statement said.
Last week, Harvey directed that Vice Chief of Staff of the Army Gen.
Richard Cody develop and implement an Army Action Plan to address
shortcomings at Walter Reed and elsewhere.
The focus areas are: soldier accountability, health and welfare;
infrastructure; medical administrative process; and information
dissemination.
Cody put a 30-day deadline on many of these actions.
In an interview with CNN last week, Harvey said, "if we would have known
about this, we would have fixed it. Unfortunately, we didn't know about
it."
The Post article, titled "The Other Walter Reed," said outpatients at
the facility also include veterans who suffer from depression and were
involved in overdoses and suicide attempts.
Walter Reed is the Army's top medical facility. It opened in 1901 in a
single small building and now is a complex of structures with 28 acres
of floor space.
The hospital can accommodate 250 patients and admits more than 14,000 a
year. Thousands use its outpatient facilities daily.
President Bush has visited wounded troops at the hospital several times,
and presidents often receive medical care there.
The Base Realignment and Closure Commission in 2005 recommended closing
Walter Reed in 2010.
Harvey said an "action plan" was being put together "to ensure across
the board that our soldiers are being taken care of with the highest
quality medicine possible in the kind of facilities that provide a
quality of life for the soldier that is equal to the quality of their
service."
He added, "To have it in this condition is disappointing to me,
unacceptable to me as the secretary of the Army, and we have a plan in
place."
"OPERATION FIELD TRIPS" IS A L.G.N.A. SPONSORED PROGRAM THAT IS DESIGNED TO PROMOTE AWARENESS AND FELLOWSHIP WITH OUR SURVIVING NATIONAL HEROES AND RESPECT TO THOSE WHO HAVE GONE ON BEFORE. WE ARE PROMOTING "OPERATION FIELD TRIPS" FOR ALL SCHOOL-AGE CHILDREN FROM LOCAL COMMUNITIES, YOUTH ORGANIZATIONS, AND/OR ACCOMPANIED BY ANY AMERICAN VETERAN OF THE ARMED FORCES OF THE UNITED STATES: TO BE ABLE TO VISIT THE WARDS OF THEIR LOCAL V.A. HOSPITALS AND VISIT WITH OUR SURVIVING HEROES. THE CHILDREN CAN SEE "FIRST HAND" HOW THESE HEROES ARE QUARTERED, THE MEDICAL TREATMENT THEY RECEIVE, AND TALK TO THE VETERANS ABOUT THEIR SITUATIONS AND THEIR SERVICE EXPERIENCES. WE WOULD ENCOURAGE A TRIP TO THE LOCAL CEMETERY THE SAME DAY TO PLACE FLAGS AND FLOWERS ON EVERY VETERAN'S GRAVE MARKER THAT THEY CAN FIND! THE DAY COULD BE FOLLOWED UP BY A REFRESHER COURSE ON "THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE" AND "THE BILL-OF-RIGHTS" THAT THESE BRAVE SOULS "GAVE ALL" FOR. WE REALIZE THIS WILL BE MET WITH OPPOSITION. BUT, FOR THOSE WHO ARE CONCERNED; WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO FORWARD THIS LINK, OR MAKE FLYERS FROM THIS SITE, TO INFORM AND RALLY AS MANY PATRIOTIC AND VETERANS ORGANIZATIONS AS POSSIBLE. WE MUST KEEP PRESSURE UPON THIS GOVERNMENT "OF THE PEOPLE", "BY THE PEOPLE", AND "FOR THE PEOPLE", TO TREAT OUR VETERANS WITH THE UTMOST OF RESPECT AND CARE ALWAYS. STARTING TODAY!!! LET THE CHILDREN KNOW THE COST OF FREEDOM FIRST HAND, AND SEE HOW WE TREAT THOSE WHO HAVE PAID THAT COST, AND ARE STILL PAYING THAT COST, DAILY. LET AMERICA NEVER BE ASHAMED AT HOW OUR DEFENDERS ARE TREATED. THE L.G.N.A. IS A "LAST CONTINGENCY" EFFORT FOR THE DEFENSE OF LIBERTY IN AMERICA. IF THE PEOPLE ARE EVER ROBBED OF THEIR FREEDOMS COMPLETELY, AND OUR NATION DESTROYED, WE SHALL RISE AGAIN IN LIBERTY... AND... WE SUPPORT OUR VETERANS...100%....THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE AND DEDICATION TO LIBERTY AMERICAN VETS!!! OPERATION FIELD TRIPS WEB SITE _______________________PLEASE FORWARD____________________________
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