News from the HomeFront - Quaker House of Fayetteville NC · PDF fileQuaker huckles A woman went into a ... Wish List: A cordless microphone, a laptop On Veteran’s Day, continued

News from the

HomeFront

December 2014

Front -Line Miss ion For Peace s ince 1969

Quaker Chuckles

A woman went into a fabric store and asked the clerk for nine yards of material to make a nightgown. The clerk said, “Nine yards is way too much material for a nightgown.” The woman said, "I know, but my

husband is a Quaker and he would rather seek than find.”

A Quaker student was doing well in school in all subjects except for math. So his parents decide to send him to a private Catholic school. While there, the boy came home from school and studied every day. At the end of the

term, the boy got straight A’s. So his parents ask him, “What motivated you to do so well in school?” He replied, “When I saw that guy nailed to a plus sign I knew they weren’t fooling around!”

Joanna shares some client “thank you’s” with us:

"I don't think I could be as good as I am today without this program"

"I didn't know if I would ever be able to talk about the pain, but I can and it's helping. I needed this"

" When my husband left I thought 'there goes all of the progress I've made in therapy' because I knew I wouldn't be able to afford therapy without Tricare. I'm so glad I can come here."

With YOUR help, we can continue this valuable program!

Veterans Day invites us to honor those risking their lives in the ongoing “war on terror.” Yet tragically many soldiers like SPC Cory Thomas survive combat only to find themselves abandoned by those who led them into war. Cory joined the Army in 2007. He came home from Iraq in 2009 with a Purple Heart for shrapnel to the face and an Army diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Last year he was transferred to Fort Bragg with a limited supply of his PTSD medication. For weeks, he tried to get follow-up treatment at Bragg’s Robinson Behavioral Health Clinic. Instead of treating his PTSD, clinic staff simply changed his diagnoses to “adjustment disorder.”

Dissatisfied, Cory saw a civilian psychiatrist on his own who reaffirmed that Cory did, indeed, have “chronic and acute” PTSD, grounds for disability and medical retirement. But the Army never acknowledged the error and, in violation Continued on p. 3

On Veterans Day, Acknowledging our

Abandoned Soldiers

An Op Ed in the Raleigh News and Observer by Lenore Yarger, Our GI Rights Hotline Counselor

Our Moral Injury Presentations in Flori-

da Attract Large,

Diverse Audiences

Our Domestic Violence in the

Military Program clients say

4

In Jacksonville, Elaine Martin, and in Tampa, Karen Putney, organized Quaker House Moral

Injury presentations and invited Military and Vet-eran mental health professionals as well as chap-lains and clergy. Elaine is on the far left. We also visited St. Petersburg and Miami Friends Meeting.

Domestic Violence Training at

Ft. Bragg: "Healing humanity starts with us

today" was one of the messages.

The Army Times: "In truth, the military-industrial complex about which President Eisenhower warned

the nation decades ago is in full flower."

The Intercept by Glenn Greenwald: “Key Democrats, Led by Hillary Clinton, Leave No doubt that Endless

War is Official U.S. Doctrine.”

Thank you, Victoria Welborn, for your wonderful work on domestic violence grants for us!

Wish List: A cordless microphone, a laptop

On Veteran’s Day, continued from p. 3:

No one who sacrificed so much for his country should have to fight so hard to recover. Too many who have risked their lives in combat experience this same betrayal. One solution is simply to stop sending troops to war and to use the billions saved to address human needs here and abroad. If this country truly provided the resources and support our veterans needed, one wonders whether we could ever afford to fight another war. At the very least, this Veterans Day, those who take the country into combat owe the troops the guar-antee that they will be fully and completely cared for – without reservation – when they come home.

YOUR donation helps our GI Rights Counselors continue their valuable work!

Breaking our War Addiction, continued from p. 2:

win votes. So, what is proposed will likely be met with skepticism and resistance within the larger public until more Americans are sufficiently disenchanted with wars to “break clean.” 1. Acknowledge our addiction and limitations. Admit we are addicted to war and that war makes us less—not more—safe and secure. As powerful as we are, we cannot bend others to our will by bombing and occupying their homelands. 2. Recognize the higher power of our theologi-cal and moral leaders and call upon them to form a “coalition of the willing,” condemning war and pro-moting human rights for all. 3. Examine past errors in using war as a tool of foreign policy, errors that have brought grave harm to millions of people including our own citizens, and make amends to those who have suffered. 4. Learn new ways of dealing with nations that abuse human rights or that harbor the resources we desire, using a new code of international conduct. Work through the United Nations and the Internation-al Court, rather than acting unilaterally to advance our own interests. 5. Help others suffering from the same addic-tion by halting the sale and stockpiling of weapons while finding new avenues for economic growth that will not destroy our planet. As with any addiction, kicking a habit requires a fundamental transformation, but this Five-Step Pro-gram might be a good start.

As a friend of Quaker House, help break this nation’s addiction to war.

YOUR donation helps us continue to work for peace!

Breaking Our War Addiction:

A Five-Step Program

An Op Ed by our Treasurer, Curt Torell, from the

Raleigh New and Observer (adapted)

Despite the fact that our nation is weary after 13 years of post-9/11 wars, we are embroiled in yet another war, this time on the so-called Islamic State. And though our bombs produced neither peace nor stability in Iraq and Afghanistan but rather unleashed a firestorm of tribal and sectarian violence and a flood of arms circulating in that region, we are being led into doing it all over again. Our homeland was not pillaged or bombed, Continued on p. 2

Lynn & Steve Newsom, Directors

223 Hillside Ave., Fayetteville, NC, 28301

www.quakerhouse.org

Facebook: Quaker House of Fayetteville

email: [email protected]

910-323-3912

Lenore Yarger & Steve Woolford, Counselors

GI Rights Hotline: 877-447-4487

girightshotline.org

Breaking our War Addiction, continued from p. 1:

nor did we lose hundreds of thousands of our citizens to the ensuing violence, hunger, and lack of water and health care that inevitably follow warfare. Large seg-ments of our population were not forced into refugee camps. Even so, Americans are beginning to under-stand that 13 years of war have cost us dearly. But those most addicted to war, and those who profit from it, continue to wage it and refuse to recognize the effects of their addiction upon others. Here at home, military personnel bear the brunt of the physical and psychological effects of these “Wars on Terror.” Of the 2.5 million combat troops deployed, over 50% suffer chronic pain, 20% wrestle with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and/or depression, and another 20% suffer from Traumatic Brain Injury sus-tained in battle. These signature injuries translate to a suicide rate of one active service member and 22 veter-ans each and every day. Since our Wars on Terror be-gan, more than 6,800 American troops and 6,780 pri-vate contractors have died, and 970,000 new disability claims are pending before the VA. Economically, the effects of these wars are stag-gering. While Congress trims programs for basic human needs, our costs of post 9/11 wars--including veteran care—stand at $4.4 trillion. In the same period, we spent $7.6 trillion on defense and homeland security. Our Pentagon, Homeland Security, and other military spending now exceeds almost all other nations com-bined. We are the world’s largest exporter of weapons, supplying 80% of the weapons in the Middle East and ready to sell high tech warships to Saudi Arabia. Yet, research shows that spending those same dollars on peaceful industry—education, health care, infrastruc-ture, and renewable energy—produces more and, in most cases, better paying jobs. War does not make us safer. It creates more enemies and extends the battlefield worldwide. The Islamic State uses our bombing to recruit new mem-bers, while our use of torture and weaponized

Board member Margaret Rowlett invited

us to have a display at the First Friends

Meeting in Greensboro, NC.

drones tarnishes our moral image. Having spent four years being brutalized and humiliated at the Camp Bucca U.S. prison in Iraq, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State, will not forget about our torture nor will any of his recruits or their families who suffered from it. War is destroying our planet. Our Pentagon is the largest institutional consumer of oil and biggest producer of toxic waste, dumping more pesticides, de-foliants, solvents, petroleum, lead, mercury, and de-pleted uranium than the five biggest American chemical corporations combined. According to Oil Change Inter-national, “if war were ranked as a country in terms of annual emissions, it would emit more carbon dioxide than 60 percent of all countries on the planet.” Continuing to ignore the negative consequences of war points to an addiction over which we seem to have no control. As with any addiction, breaking free is neither simple nor cost-free. War profiteers will see their profits dwindle and will need to transition to new industry. Young people will need to find other ways to challenge themselves to “be all that they can be.” Poli-ticians will need to find other ways to look strong and Continued on p. 4

3 2

Quaker House is a manifestation of the Friends’ Peace Testimony. Based in Fayetteville, NC, home of

Ft. Bragg, Quaker House provides counseling and support to service members who are questioning

their role in the military; educates them, their families, and the public about military issues; and

advocates for a more peaceful world.

On Veteran’s Day, continued from p. 1

of its own regulations, discharged Cory for misconduct, claiming he was AWOL on days he’d been at the clinic seeking care. Shockingly, Cory’s story is not unusual. Similar incidents are reported by others who call the national GI Rights Hotline, a private, free service to military mem-bers and their families that receives thousands of calls annually. Elected officials talk about the importance of caring for those who serve our country in combat. But this political will is not backed by sufficient funding nor reflected at the command level. While the Army has been downsizing, cases like Cory’s are on the rise. Combat soldiers returning with unseen wounds describe being ostracized and even castigated by their commands for showing “weakness.” Having lived through harrowing experiences, often surviving the loss of battle buddies and facing survivor’s guilt, soldiers find themselves alone, abandoned by those once sworn to care for them. The Army health care system is overwhelmed and underfunded. Like Cory, soldiers face long delays in getting treatment, and diagnoses often under-represent or misrepresent their problems, paving the way for sol-diers to lose critical benefits. Some health care provid-ers fail to take seriously suicidal or homicidal ideations. Physical injuries and psychological wounds often impede combat veterans’ ability to function well in envi-ronments where previously they thrived. They have difficulty living up to company standards. Some turn to drugs and/or alcohol to cope when the medical system fails to address their needs. Physical injuries and psychological wounds often impede combat veterans’ ability to function well in envi-ronments where previously they thrived. They have difficulty living up to company standards. Some turn to drugs and/or alcohol to cope when the medical system fails to address their needs. Military law requires that soldiers be processed through medical channels if they have “an incapaci-tating physical or mental illness that was the direct or substantial contributing cause of the [mis]conduct.” But wounded soldiers returning from combat who fail to perform to company standards often find themselves facing discharge for their misconduct, with an other than honorable characterization of service that deprives them of most benefits, including medical care.

Sadly, combat veterans who suffer from PTSD, trau-matic brain injury or other psychiatric conditions often find it difficult to advocate for themselves, even when their rights should be guaranteed under military law. And while it is true that some soldiers wrong-fully discharged can apply to the Department of Vet-erans Affairs for benefits and health care, the VA can’t award them medical retirement, which includes health care coverage for dependents and other privi-leges. In addition, vets may face delays of months or even a year before receiving benefits, which can wors-en medical conditions and even become life-threatening. Cory could be considered one of the “lucky” ones. Since his discharge from the Army, the VA has awarded him 100 percent disability with compensa-tion. In addition to his PTSD, he is being treated for a host of other conditions ignored by the Army, includ-ing Traumatic Brain Injury and constructive bronchio-litis, a fatal lung disease caused by burn-pit exposure. He has appealed to the Board of Corrections for Mili-tary Records to upgrade his discharge to medical re-tirement, which would ensure medical coverage for his family in the years ahead. Continued on p. 4

161: The number of active-duty U.S. troops who had committed suicide this year as of July, the most recent data available

154: The number who had killed themselves during the same six-month time period in 2013

8: The percentage increase in the number of suicides among reserve and National Guard members from 2012 to 2013: 203 died in 2012, 220 in 2013

Corey and his wife, Andrea

Corey survived combat only to be abandoned by those who led him into war. YOUR donation

helped us help him!