Stop The War Poem- Soldier's Daughter Poem Copyright© 2006 Kristin Lee...peacefrog 

Vietnam Veteran & Biological Father Asks " When Will They Bring The Troops Home"

In the war that never ends, he sits in his room.
For years his mind would pretend
that he hadn't lost it all, freedom, love, dignity.
Left with wounds so deep they never mend.

Maybe a wiser man to lose your mind,
when the visions that flicker on and on,
show a world gone so wrong.
He knows many are blind.

She cries in the night, that awakes her from sleep
haunted by voices, that scatter and seep in hallow asylum walls,
that echo in administration's war calls.

He was called to fight, he was the young, the strong, the fated pawn.
The warrior marches on,
with stories of combat undergone, memories of precious lives that fell.
Images of hell that tangle and twist in his mind,
and stories so buried he can never tell.

With his battle's scars, he dwells in fear,
in places so dark, who can he tell?
When no one seems to want to hear.

Traded a young man's dreams and wishes for death, partitions,
flag draped coffins, and ammunitions.
Close as breath a memory seems, his fear never softens.

Alone in his room he stares and stares
as the television blares,
he tells his daughter he's had a bad day,
but not to worry as it's been that way for years.
She feels her tears.
He says,"the news declares more troops died today"
He asks her "if anyone cares?" What can she say?

They all told him in Nam "you won't remember the wounded, the dead"
Yet, he remembers their faces and pain as he recites them by name,
with stories of how they each reached their end.
Lost for time in a battlefield haze that lives in his head.
Where his mind returns again and again to honor those slain.
Until he asks her again, "How much longer until we bring the troops home?"

He sees them all die again and again,
and prays for the ones who make it back home.
Home does not change, everything in their head.
He knows many will roam on a hard road to tread,
The meds, buried friends, hospital beds, a soldier, a vet alone.
In a system he knows well, too many will dwell.

They seal his fate and say he lost his mind,
as they lock away the soldier who knows.
It seems his thoughts become clear, when he has his daughter near.
His soldier's wisdom to find in prose.
He knows what he sees is so wrong,
He asks her to write a peace song,
War scenes on flicker on and on.

Though he has come home decades ago, he lives in war that never ends.
He wonders were it all went wrong, lost years,
and how many will come home to sing his sad song,
of a war that lasts far too long

Rest In Peace - January 8, 2008 

Donate to help veterans

Rest In Peace
May 12,1944-January 8,2008
PeacePoet's Biological Father, for whom these poems where written.

Click here to read my blog
I have set up a donation link on my latest blog with the American Veterans Foundation and the IAVA to honor his memory, those who wish to donate in his memory will be giving to organizations that powerfully help veterans and families who are suffering. There is no better way to honor my father and all veterans than to give to these great organizations that help and advocate for veterans and their rights. Please consider a donation to the IAVA or The American Veterans Foundation. Read what these great organizations are doing for veterans and their families in my blog.

Go to my blog or use these direct links to the donation pages
My donation page at Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America

National Veterans Foundation Donation page

Thank you for your support and to all who have sent emails in these very difficult months, and for your positive thoughts and prayers.
Peace.

Stop The War Poetry Website, Soldier Memorials, Peace Art Exhibit -NEW FEATURED WEBSITES 

Here are some of my newest website finds

My NEW Poem,'Lady Liberty Cries' is officially published now! December 20th, 2007.
Click Here To Read My Poem And More Poetry At 'Why Are We In Iraq?' Or scroll down to read this new poem.


Click here for information on submitting a poem to Why Are We In Iraq?

Featured Favorite Poetry Site
Why Are We In Iraq Poetry Website
This website is dedicated to giving the poets of the 21st century a place to speak out about a world consumed with war, peace, religious intolerance, military strategy, violence and hate. Here poets are free to voice how they feel, irrespective of their political allegiance.

Photos and Article About A Father Who Finds Out His Son A Soldier Is Dead
"Next thing, the Marines ask me if I was Carlos Arredondo. I don't understand why they asking me that, and I don't see my son anywhere. I even ask them, "Are you guys here to recruit some kids?" because I have a second son, a 16-year-old, Brian. And he said, "I'm sorry, I'm coming to notify you that Alexander Arredondo got killed in combat." At that moment, not expecting those words, my world tumbled and I felt my heart go down to the ground and rush up through my throat." thenation.com

Peace Art Exhibit
Eyes Wide Open Exhibit- Peace Art
Working with American Friends Service Committee offices, Quaker meetings and peace groups across the country, the Eyes Wide Open state exhibits feature the boots of the soldiers from their home states in addition to a memorial to the Iraqi civilian casualties.

Fallen Soldiers
Faces Of The Fallen Soldiers from The Washington Post.

Washington Post News Dec 22,07- Veteran Health Care
NOTHING WILL ever be able to absolve this country for the disgraceful way it has treated its returning war wounded...read more here">

Cost of the War in Iraq 

Peace --- Anti War Poems---- Poetry Links 

Stop The War: Poetry, Artists, Art, Music,

Poets Against War, Submit Your Anti- War Poetry

Poets Against War continues the tradition of socially engaged poetry by creating venues for poetry as a voice against war, tyranny and oppression. Participate in a poetry reading or submit a poem online

Why Are We In Iraq - Poetry Site

This website is dedicated to giving the poets of the 21st century a place to speak out about a world consumed with war, peace, religious intolerance, military strategy, violence and hate. Here poets are free to voice how they feel, irrespective of their political allegiance.

Poets Against the War

Poets Against The War

Tom Greening: War Poems

Poetry about War and Peace

Worldwide Children's Poetry Home

Worldwide Children's Poetry For Peace
We welcome all children, parents, and grandparents to share poetry for peace throughout the world.

Student poets victimised for anti-war stance

Students Poetry

Good Books For Children -Peace Be With Us Booklist

Berkeley Public Library Good Books For Children

BBC NEWS Poet Laureate pens anti-war poem

Archived news: The UK's Poet Laureate, Andrew Motion, and US director Martin Scorsese voice their concerns about a possible war on Iraq.

JAN HAAG ART & POETRY

ANTI-WAR POEMS INDEX
"APRIL IS THE CRUELEST..."
opening of The Wasteland by T.S. Eliot#6904-04-03
Odd that this "cruelest" should be running through my head today.It is

WW1:"Anthem for Doomed Youth" a poem by Wilfred Owen story of 12 soldier poets

PBS Jeffrey Brown. In the history books, or even reading today's newspaper, war can seem impersonal, involving millions of men and machines. The stuff a soldier carried in his pocket as he was killed, the words he wrote to describe the horror of life and death in the trenches of World War I. "Anthem for Doomed Youth"-- the title comes from a poem by Wilfred Owen-- tells the story of 12 soldier-poets

International Peace Poem

Take a moment to place your thoughts about peace on the Peace Poem. It recognizes the importance of every individual in contributing to this worldwide affirmation of the sanctity of the human spirit.People contributing lines to the poem include - Willie Nelson, Arlo Guthrie, Miss America, students worldwide

Poetry Can Stop War: by Anne MacNaughton

Send your peace poem to us. Organize protest readings. At the Bowery Poetry Club, we hand out ye olde Peace buttons -- only now we wear 'em upside down, as Patti Smith has suggested -- this ain't the 60s any more! What are you doing to stop the war?

WorldPeace.org: Submit Your Own Peace Poem:

A great opportunity to share with the world your own heartfelt feelings in inspirational peace poetry - the language of the soul. We would love you to take the time to write something about peace. We value soulfulness and not technical ability.

United Nations: Children's Peace Poem

Children around the world was invited to submit, via e-mail, two lines of poetry about peace to the United Nations. Once collected, the lines were collated together into one long Peace Poem, and redistributed to all participants as well as posted on the Web. Read what the Children have to say about peace.

VIETNAM POETRY BY SARGE LINTECUM

VIETNAM COMBAT VETERAN Sarge did three tours of duty in Vietnam, 1966-'67-'68. His first tour was eleven months in the jungle/hospital with the 101st Airborne Paratroopers as a combat infantryman.

Xanga page about The Perfect Anti-War Poetry

...... poetry reading at a St. Paul coffeehouse. I thought about anti-war poems for several days. What should they do, exactly? read more here....

Earthfuture - 101 Solutions to Stop the War on Iraq

Ten Ways to Stop the War -Check out # 58: Sing for Peace. Get together with your friends and sing songs for peace. If you are a singer, or if you belong to a choir, folk club, rock group, or chanting circle, include peace songs in your next concert. Suggest that all the singers in town come together for one big peace concert.

World Peace Wave Web Site

Nonprofit, non-sectarian organization dedicated to spreading the message of world peace

News: Iraq War News -Troop News, Activism Links, & Veteran's Health Care Rights 

Help PeaceFrog's Dad-Veterans Rights- Health Care Funding For Veterans- Share your poetry- submit poetry here- 

Share this stop the war poem- sign petition for Veteran's health care funding

Permission to repost the poem 'Soldier's Daughter' is glady granted.
Poem To Stop The War
Please include:
Title: Soldier's Daughter-War Never Ends-Peace Poem
Author: Kristin Lee-Copyright © KLH 2006
Link: http://www.squidoo.com/peacepoet
Optional request: email me to let me know about your post.

Do you have poem on this topic that you would like to share with reader online?If so Email me your poem, name, website (if you have one) contact & copyright info (if so) and state in the email that you give me permission to post your poem! I will add you poem to my Friends Of PeacePoet Webpage.

Check out more news at bottom of this lens. His health has taken a turn for the worse and I am trying to cut through 'red tape' to get him proper medical care!
Thank you for your emails, thoughts and prayers!
If you are an attorney or advocate who can help me to get legal rights and medical care for my father please email me!

Help Veterans Now - With Veteran's Day Coming Soon and the bill to fund Veteran's health care on the president's desk - now is the time to let congress know how you feel about Veteran's Health Care.
Now, it's up to the President and Congress to approve the budget. Add your name to the statement, and demand they take action. Sign The Petition HERE- Let People In Washington Know YOU care About Veterans!
From Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America Fund Site:
As a recent report from the Government Accountability Office reveals, seven months have passed since the Walter Reed crisis and serious problems in veterans' care remain.
As of October 1, the veterans' budget is late. Until it is approved, the VA will be forced to ration care.

Read And Sign Petition To The VA Secretary to Increase Mental Health Staffing Please do what you can to advocate for better medical and mental health care for all Veterans.

Send me your links on these topics and I will add relevant links to this lens and myspace Click here to visit MY PeaceFrog NEW Stop The War MySpace

Click here to read my Blog
For more information read my bio in this lens. I'll be adding new links and resources regularly, if you liked this lens email it to a friend, bookmark it, & come back soon! Send me your website for possible link on this lens....& If you have ideas on how to help this personal situation or veteran's care in general email me! PeaceFrog

Listen to powerful antiwar spoken word poetry by Andrea Gibson, click on 'For Eli'

Panel supports greater disability benefits for veterans
A 25% increase is urged for lost 'quality of life."The commission report comes after the Government Accountability Office last week found that the Bush administration has yet to find clear answers to some of the worst problems afflicting wounded warriors, such as personalized medical care and reducing backlogs in disability pay" Boston Globe Article


Click here to visit Daughters Of Vietnam Veterans Against The War
"With the support from Bill Perry from the Vietnam Veterans Against the War, and Cindy Sheehan. After 10 years of trying to help my Dad, who has been homeless all of my life, I wanted a place for Daughters of Vietnam Veterans to have a place, online, to meet with others and network. This site is also to encourage DOVV's and (Children of Veterans) to raise awareness and blog the true realities of having a Veteran for a Father. Since creating Daughters of Vietnam Veterans online blog I have uploaded short films, pictures, and news from around the world regarding the war in Iraq. DOVV encourages all DOVV's from all over the world to participate in our website. We have a story to tell, so that we may have a gift for Children of Veterans of the current and future wars."

Lady Liberty Cries- A Veteran's Day Poem 

Lady Liberty cries
tears no one can see,
Another Veteran's Day comes and goes
It passes as quick as parade
and the support for the troops,
never shows, in the land of the free.
It is, in short, underpaid.
Ribbons of support with no rightful action,
Administration's gain, a patriotic charade.

The president is not quite sure,
but maybe the budget for Veteran's health
may come along soon, but late.
In the meantime, sit and wait,
or serve another tour.
There is a delay in your care,
the funding is simply not there.

Give service to your country
swear by oath to honor
the rights of life and liberty.
We will show our gratitude and give you years of grief.

Not one of the freedoms and rights you enjoy
were given for free.
I see my sister sigh and hear her sobs across the sea
as her Dad takes his life,
A Vietnam veteran who the system failed to ever see.
Who lived far too long on the streets, in homes here and there,
where no one could show one ounce of care.
I was told he met with many an unknowing doctor,
who had lived only in the land of the free
and had never actually been there...
they gathered up pills to help him be mute, drool and stare.

She told me he ran as long as he could from his battle scenes
and veteran's beds.
He lived his whole life in hell or was it all bad dreams?
In the night he could not turn down the screams.
He died to a bullet that sadly brings to death many a honorable and suffering Vet.
Lady Liberty reaches her hand to console,
another daughter whose Dad will never come home.

Then Roy, who breathed all the toxic tank emissions and took ammunitions,
Saw 60% of his troops die within minutes.
His lungs are torn from years of fumes,
yet in his voice his has no scorn,
as he tells the man, next door, in the hospital bed,
He was lucky,
unlike so many who were laid to rest.
I never heard him complain.
He is given appointments
"when they can find some time to fit him in'
As the time goes he waits and waits
until cancer is all his is.
Yet he finds it in his warrior heart and last days
to visit his ailing friend a Veteran, my father.

The soldier's daughter begs for doctors to save Roy
and prays petitions to intercede.
In the end it is 'the stranger',
a Vietnam Veteran's long lost daughter,
who is there to hold his hand,
awaiting death.
As his coughs turn to gasps and takes his last breathe.

She heard him call out to his friends,
the fallen soldiers,
whose names are to many a word on The Wall,
To him these men have never gone.
As he dies she hears him call out their names,
As they arrive to guide their brother on this last battle road.
The flight jackets are ready
they assure their friend
it won't be long
you are never alone,
he hears them say.
The day is fine with blue skies for clear flying
for this soldier who never forgot his friends,
the buried vets
.... as the angels come to take him home.

Will she ever forget how she saw him in box on the street,
in the cold, all alone?
She wonders were it all went wrong.
For too many years, he heard the screams of soldiers dying,
and tv shows of combat, the new war,
bombarded and tore through his soul.
In the news all that was heard was a system lying.

All he knew was more soldiers, soldiers dying
These were the thoughts in his head,
that broke his marriage to the sweetheart he had wed
thirty years or a lifetime ago.
His life in the hand of a system too slow.
One night the cold winter air took his breath
as he found the only bed he was given was death.

They tell us we'll do better with these boys this time,
the ones who make it home.
We will try our new therapeutic tone
And have a new pill that will surely make them forget hell.
We promise to reopen some closed homes to find the homeless Vets beds.
But the money tied up in the fed
is used to buy new toys,
and feed the war machine.
The Veterans are left with no funds for care,
In black, blood soaked, water the war coffers grow,
In secrets only the financial planners know.

She heard the WW2 Veteran listen politely
as he is told to be more patient, again,
and she can't get rid of the sight,
seeing him suffer in squalor.
"Help is on the way", they all say,
and this goes on day after day.
She notices how the curtains are drawn
to never have this image see the light of day.
As he stares at the ceiling with nothing to say,
he lives in his battle torn mind,
where there was and is no peace to be ever be found.

The nurse tells her to stop all the ruckus,
she finds she has no choice but to raise her voice to a holler.
Still they try to beat her down with blank stares and compassionless glares.
Lady Liberty has donned a megaphone
so she yells,
"please help this man!"
"it is our duty to care for these men who sacrificed so much!"
Yet, the only hope just walks away,
it is the end of just another work day.

In a quiet voice, not much louder than a whisper,
he did tell,
"this nightmare of dying with no care is nothing
when you have already been to and lived in hell"

I saw with my own eyes,
It is only these Veteran brothers
who really care what stories you have to tell.
They are the ones who will take the time to be by your side.
Living an honor like no others.
Every soldier I met is your true brother,
See how they never fail, as you lay dying,
they wipe your daughter's tears,
as if they'd known her for years.

But The "brother" who the courts declare is your next of kin,
has been stealing your VA bankroll,
as the appointed judge sits in sin.
This snotty cat will only hiss
and dismiss the voice that speaks
for the soldier's toll of lost dignity and justice remiss.

So come the young, the bright,
the strong, lay down your weapon,
and your rights.
Where no one will fight for your care,
but you will see our stickers and flags,
a small token,
for a life so broken.

The children who see your oddity will just stare,
never knowing the sacrifices of freedom you bear.
The judge will sit cold hearted, eyes in an icy stare.
This is my father and his brothers
who they mock, provoke, and forget
as they bang their gavel
to dismiss and assure the untimely death of yet another Vet.

Despite her cries, the system wins again
with one less check to write,
one more bed to fill,
as the flag draped coffin is laid to rest.

He fought for your country long ago
and was given nothing but 'the run around'.
He leaves nothing in this world,
as they lower his body into the hard ground,
but his long lost daughter, who grieves for all the soldiers
their daughters, sons, friends, mothers, and fathers.

Who holds the rights and the funds to care for all those
who did not run and hide?
Many Veterans, who fought for the freedoms you enjoy each day,
live in a world you are fortunate to never know.
On Veteran's Day what will your actions show?

His "brother" makes the coffins,
he showed me them stacked high on the wall,
a horrific sight,
as he proudly said, "our business is good"
"we make the boxes in which the boys come home."
Visions of untimely death arrive in the secret cloak of night.
The system just watches as they steal it all,
from the men who came home unwhole.

Once he was a strong warrior:
The few, the proud, the brave, the bold.
The old soldier is left to rot in feces and poisonous blood,
While the insurgents and prisoners are given laws to protect
and their right to life.
He is left to die with his story never told.

Dialysis the only thing that could sustain him
and end his strife,
These are denied to him,
by VA red-tape,
legalities that take too much time,
and laws that are muddled in federal and state.
He lives on in a miraculous fight
in war against death, where wrong is said to be right.

The ones who lived the system know far too well,
the story of your homecoming
for your service and protecting this land.
The young soldier is told,
"your ptsd psychoanalysis appointments are
coming soon, maybe we will have time for you next month.
In the meantime with life of a shadow, a ruin,
forget you hold that gun in your hand."
His mother finds him
as Lady Liberty shed tears that flood the land.

No action or money to protect those that served
as the dawns mourning light shines on
Lady Liberty
as she hang her head in shame.

The wounded and dying soldier's I've met have shown their true colors,
of red, white and blue,
living lives of the star spangled banner
and holding the founding father's beliefs true.
They 'are' the home of the brave
A brotherhood of highest order,
Which the system will not save.
But no government red-tape or grave can steal,
The memories of men so real.
I bow my head and feel
humbled their stories, sacrifices, and valor.

As the weathered soldier struggles
with his own illness, cancer.
He goes to get a wheelchair
to take his dying brother home
for his last home-cooked meal.
For moment,
a dying Veteran is free of all his years
suffering war trauma,
his symptoms soften.
They only met a week ago,
at the hospital,
always looking out for each other.
A stranger you may say.
But this a story of American Soldier
and they are above all brothers.

These men deserve care far above the rest,
The men who live in a never ending war drama,
yet we have failed to give them our best..poem continued below.

Lady Liberty Cries- A Veteran's Day Poem- continued 

Daughter Of Vietnam Veteran

Lady Liberty Cries (continued)
Meet Stanley, no chemo could keep him from living his ideal,
always fighting for the rights of all who served by his side,
even if another place and time.
A bond that is stronger than blood,
deep and real
no man or laws could keep them apart.
She vows to do her part to change the tide,
Not knowing where to start,
this is a Vietnam Veteran daughter's rhyme.

Lady Liberty holds her head high,
as the flag of the American Revolution hangs silent in night sky,
watching over the graveyards of all the brave men who died.
The call of justice is nigh,
as a soldier's daughter hangs her head to cry,
she comforts a soldier's daughter passing by.
A bellowing breaks the silence of those underserved.
Lady Liberty smiles as their lost voice will finally be heard.

Veterans lay dying in a under-funded system,
Veterans are living on the streets, one of every three you see.
A Veteran attends his church service in nothing but rags.
A brain injured soldier returns not remembering his name.
A veteran comes home lame, hoping to be able to walk again,
A woman who cannot put her thoughts in order,
as she trys to care for her bright eyed toddler,
A veteran in need of medical care is being told to wait,
A veteran succumbs to suicide, too tired to play the game.
A mentally ill Veteran is committed as the judge seals his fate.
Another mother hears the doorbell ring,
as she is given her child's dog tags.
Kristin Lee © 2007 Veteran's Day

My Story:

My father is critically ill, I have tried to fight for his medical care, psychiatric care, and legal rights in courts and the Federal VA System...

He may die, his untimely death, yet on his death bed I vowed To speak about the lie, and honor his brothers, whose stories I will share,
and to never rest.
Until America learns to care for all of our Vets.

In knowing him and trying to fight for his rights, I have met many Veterans whose stories have changed my life. This poem is written to honor their lives, and for all Veterans who suffer and their families./ I want to share some of this 'hidden world' with you.

Above all this poem is written with hope that you will find a way to make life better for Veterans today. We cannot allow other Veterans to be failed by the system.

As you pass by in your car with that yellow ribbon
on your way to that one day sale, will you remember my tale?
Will you just stop and listen?
Can you hear what the soldiers and their families have to say?
Find a way to take some action to show the soldiers that your signage is more than a popular, yet hallow statement?
Do what you can or... even more than you can, do it now.
Visit your local veteran's center to help out, attend a Veteran's Day service, call and donate to a Veteran's charity, speak to your elected officials.
Please do something to find a way to bring change and do your part to make life better for Veterans today.


Visit my myspace click here

Click here to visit the Daughters Of Vietnam Veterans website

Click To Read Soldier's Poem 'You Are Not Alone' by Brian Hidalgo

"Human nature itself is evermore an advocate for liberty. There is also in human nature a resentment of injury, and indignation against wrong. A love of truth and a veneration of virtue. These amiable passions, are the "latent spark"... If the people are capable of understanding, seeing and feeling the differences between true and false, right and wrong, virtue and vice, to what better principle can the friends of mankind apply than to the sense of this difference?"
John Adams, the Novanglus, 1775

Flickr Pictures- War 

Vietnam War Memorial Washington DC Oct 2001.

veteran richard

Sign The Petition For Veteran's Mental Health Care 

Thisisforthesoldiers.org 

Please Sign The Petition For Veteran's Mental Health Care

ThisIsForTheSoldiers.org

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Iraq War Soldier's News: Casualty Information, Mental Health, 

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More Links: Stop The War Resources, Veteran's Support Orgs Etc... Visit My MySpace Stop The War- Peace Poems 

Support The Troops, Healthcare For Troops, PTSD Lawsuit

Mistreated Veterans News 

THIS IS THE ANTI-WAR POEM 

Johnny Firefly

Iraq War Information Links 

Veteran Care Could Cost $700 B

By CHRISTIAN B. FLOW. Harvard Crimson Staff Writer.
The possibility of an increased American military presence in Iraq has recently sparked political debate, but according to a new study, the country should focus less on sending more men into battle and more on how those men will be cared for once they return home.

MSNBC Video People Of The Black Hawk Crash

Watch video to learn about the personal lives of those lost in this crash....34 children lost their parent in this crash.
10 of those who died were members of the National Guard-highest number of guard members killed in a combat mission since the Korean War.

Black Hawk Down: The True Cost of Iraq War - Newsweek The War in Iraq - MSNBC.com

There are so many news accounts of troops killed in combat that the details blur. The death of one soldier, or 20, loses its power to shock, except to the families of the fallen.

Told to wait, a Marine dies - The Boston Globe

VA care in spotlight after Iraq war veteran's suicide

Military Families Speak Out

An organization of people opposed to the war in Iraq who have relatives or loved ones in the military. Our membership currently includes over 3,000 military families, with new families joining daily. If you have family members or loved ones in the military and you are opposed to this war, JOIN us......

National Veterans Foundation

Through the links you can find resources through your State's Department of Veterans Affairs, or any of the 206 VA Vet Centers located across the country.

Battle Worn - washingtonpost.com

After he was injured in Iraq, Richard Twohig found himself fighting an unexpected foe: the U.S. Army.

Dead Men Walking - What sort of future do brain-injured Iraq veterans face? Discover Magazine

A soldier-or a civilian-can survive the blast without a single penetrating wound and still receive the worst diagnosis: traumatic brain injury, or TBI, the signature injury of the Iraq War.

Study Details Mental Health of War Veterans

One in eight soldiers returning from service during the first year of the Iraq war was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder or some other mental illness, according to the most comprehensive study yet of the effects of war on the mental health of veterans.

Former Soldier Helps Others Fight Army for Help

The 36-year-old former soldier has become a driving force behind efforts to force the Army to revise its response to soldiers suffering from PTSD. Pogany's saga shows how an advocate can overcome enormous obstacles and battle a powerful institution - and help shine the national spotlight on what had largely been a hidden problem.

As NPR reported last year, numerous soldiers from Fort Carson who have come back from Iraq and Afghanistan with serious mental health problems have been kicked out of the Army with few or no benefits. Those reports prompted a bipartisan group of U.S. senators, as well as officials at the Pentagon, to investigate Fort Carson. In turn, the public attention pressured commanders to pledge that returning soldiers would get better treatment...read more

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Daughter of a Vietnam Veteran- Agent Orange - Reader comments at The New York Sun

The reason why I have all of you gathered here is to discuss and expose the use of DEPLETED URANIUM. We all know, us Daughters of Vietnam Veterans, that the United States Department of Defense KNOWINGLY poisoned our Father's with Agent Orange (amongst other poisons, not discovered or discussed).

Latest News 

Iraq War & Veterans Issues

Read My Poem "Soldier's Daughter" @ Poets Against The War

Happy to report my poem is published on the
Poets Against The War Website. Poets Against The War continues the tradition of socially engaged poetry by creating venues for poetry as a voice against war, tyranny and oppression. Kristin Lee, Self-taught artist and poet. Born in 1967, the poem is written about my biological father, who was in Vietnam.....

Era of war pinches a place devoted to peace - The Boston Globe

SHERBORN -- The Peace Abbey, born of a pacifist's dream 19 years ago, has brought the inner hum of meditation and the occasionally harsh spotlight of international attention to this small, affluent town.... But now, the abbey has been put on the selling block for $5.5 million. Its director, Lewis Randa, cites a plummeting drop in donations that he links to the abbey's visible protests against the Iraq war.

Support The Peace Abbey

I have visited The Peace Abbey several times, it is a very special place-if you are in the area is worth a visit, if not you can visit it online. At one time Yoko Ono donated to help the Abbey when it had some financial issues. I hope that someone or many people step up to help this special place...remain a special place for generations to come. Here is link to their donation page and also for more information about the Abbey. A Multi-Faith Retreat Center in Sherborn, Massachusetts, USA - There is no place like The Peace Abbey.

How the U.S. Is Failing Its War Veterans - Newsweek National News - MSNBC.com

.... stories are raising concerns that the country is failing to meet its most basic obligations to those who fight our wars.

Veterans' support groups and even some former and current VA insiders believe there's a reluctance in the Bush administration to deal openly with the long-term costs of the war. (All told, Bilmes projects it could cost as much as $600 billion to care for GWOT veterans over the course of their lifetimes.)

How You Can Help - Newsweek The War in Iraq - MSNBC.com

These charities were highly rated by multiple philanthropy watchdog groups.

Military prodded on brain injuries - USATODAY.com

The Pentagon lacks a comprehensive plan to identify and treat tens of thousands of troops who may suffer from traumatic brain injury, the signature wound of the Iraq war, according to a previously undisclosed Defense Department memorandum obtained...

PBS -Veterans Hospitals Problems

The Veterans Administration is unprepared to care for brain-injured Iraq war veterans once they leave rehabilitation centers and return home to VA hospitals, a new documentary reports. By Judy Woodruff

Substandard living conditions likely exist throughout the military health care system.

Substandard living conditions found at the Army's flagship veterans hospital Tierney said he is afraid "these problems go well beyond the walls of Walter Reed," adding that "as we send more and more troops into Iraq and Afghanistan, these problems are only going to get worse, not better."

Mr. Woodruff's account of his ordeal , Traumatic Brain Injury on ABC tonight

On this ABC News special, Mr. Woodruff tells his story with candor and restraint, then turns the focus to the men and women who return badly wounded from Iraq and Afghanistan and do not heal as thoroughly.

Lessons of "To Iraq and Back," Mr. Woodruff's account of his ordeal on ABC tonight. Many veterans with similar traumatic brain injuries may never fully regain their ability to speak, walk or pick up a glass of water.

Salon.com

Veterans groups told the Army surgeon general about the shockingly bad mental health treatment at Walter Reed two months before the latest expose, but there's no evidence he followed up.

Stories of neglect pour in from soldiers and veterans at clinics nationwide

Oliva is but one quaking voice in a vast outpouring of accounts filled with emotion and anger about the mistreatment of wounded outpatients at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Stories of neglect and substandard care have flooded in from soldiers, their family members, veterans, doctors and nurses working inside the system. They describe depressing living conditions for outpatients at other military bases around the country.
From FreeNewMexican.com

Study:Thousands of veterans return with mental illness - CNN.com

March 12, 2007 Nearly a third of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan who received care from Veterans Affairs between 2001 and 2005 were diagnosed with mental health or psychosocial ills, a study published Monday has concluded.

Casualty of War: Mental Health --TIME

A new study reveals that one-third of returning veterans have a diagnosed mental illness, and young soldiers are particularly vulnerable

Veteran's issues - bureaucratic crap

... Veterans Center and just feel the pain in these people