We come together today to discuss one of the more disturbing things that the Administration has done recently...and for a President who claims he "supports the troops", this story is even more disturbing than usual.

It has his fingerprints all over it, however: laws ignored, rules rendered irrelevant, secrets kept from those who need to know—and ultimately, the cost of his bad decisions are being borne by those who have already paid about a high a price as could be possible in the service of this Nation.

Follow along, my friends, and I will treat you to a magic trick: one in which "Support The Wounded Troops" magically becomes "Screw The Wounded Troops" right before your very eyes...and while you probably won’t feel like applauding at the end, it’s nonetheless a trick you don’t want to miss.

A few months ago, when I interviewed Josh, an Iraq War veteran, about his struggles with a traumatic brain injury and PTSD that he was affected with in Iraq, and which followed him home to Wisconsin, he told me that it had taken him 2 years to receive treatment for his conditions. His girlfriend told me that she was grateful that Josh was not one of the approximate 1,000 veterans who attempt suicide a month.

"Hundreds of thousands of soldiers who need it aren't even getting taken care of by the VA, and thousands more are attempting to commit suicide under their care. Not only that, but when I went there as 'a danger to myself and other people,' they said it was in the past and that it didn't mean that I was still. They didn't want me to be there and they didn't know what to do with me. It's no wonder they wanted to 'Shhh...' the numbers of veterans attempting to commit suicide under their care."

At Purple Dog Tag, our mission is simple. We are looking to help lend financial and emotional support to our returning wounded as they continue their personal battle to return to normal life.

Several of us here have written about "Doc" Dwyer, the medic who's picture gave a humantarian face to a brutal war, and who's struggles with PTSD ended in death.  But it seems that he was a hero even before he left the states.  Read more below.

Allow me to vent regarding the following:

John McCain cashes his monthly Social Security checks despite calling the federal program "a disgrace," the Associated Press reports.

"I'm receiving benefits," McCain told campaign reporters, but added, "the system is broken."

In 2007, he received benefits of $23,157 from Social Security, approximately $1,930 a month. The maximum monthly benefit under Social Security is $2,185. Social Security benefits are determined by age at retirement.

McCain, who is 71, has received benefits since he was 65.

Last week, McCain told observers at a town-hall meeting in Portsmouth, Ohio, "Americans have got to understand that we are paying present-day retirees with the taxes paid by young workers ... and that's a disgrace."

B.J. Jarrett from the Social Security Administration said that individuals can refuse retirement benefits.

In 2006, McCain's wife Cindy earned $6 million, and has a net worth of approximately $100 million.

(San Francisco Business Times)

Not much to report here. During a police car chase the other day, the car being driven by the suspect struck and killed two as-yet unidentified people on Hollywood Boulevard here in L.A.

It turns out that the man police arrested for driving the fleeing car is an ex-Marine who served in Afghanistan. His sister says his experiences during the war changed him.

"My shot made Joseph Dwyer famous. Did it also help lead to his death?"  So begins a new article in The Washington Post by Warren Zinn.

He is referring to a tragedy I wrote about here a couple of weeks ago:  A former Army medic made famous by a photograph that showed him carrying an injured Iraqi boy during the first week of the war had died of an apparent overdose.  Joseph Patrick Dwyer died at a hospital in Pinehurst, N.C., after battling PTSD.  He was 31.

The photograph, taken by Zinn in March 2003, showed Dwyer running to a makeshift military hospital while cradling the boy. The photo appeared in newspapers, magazines and television broadcasts worldwide, making Dwyer a symbol of heroism.  But he tried to deflect praise back to his entire unit.

In the second time during the Iraq War an "iconic" war photograph has the photographer questioning himself if he is to blame for the development of the veterans PTSD.

The two images I am talking about are the picture taken by  Luis Sinco of the Los Angeles Times of Blake Miller more commongly known as the "Marlboro Man" and the picture taken by Warren Zinn of the Washington Post of Joseph Dwyer carrying a small Iraqi boy to safety during a small arms firefight. What brings this to the forefront is last week Jospeh Dwyer overdosed and died, he was drinking and taking pills, he called 911 and died before reaching the hospital.

Update: I think the decision reflects the reality that you can win on the merits (intent) but still lose on procedure. The U.S. gov has $100,000s and two federal agencies at its disposal; a family in northern Wisconsin not so much, except their service to the country.

via mal contends - In a unanimous opinion (07-1546) a three-member panel for the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has affirmed the controversial conviction on fraud of Wisconsin Navy veteran, Keith Roberts.

The Roberts family is planning on filing a motion for an en banc hearing, a hearing before the full appellate court.

Here are the top stories this week related to our soldiers here and abroad, taken from the Our Troops Newsladder.

In Part V of its War Torn series, The New York Times examines the increased rates of alcoholism among returning combat veterans. (nytimes.com)

After the deadliest month in the war in Afghanistan so far, President Bush announced plans to increase the number of troops deployed to Afghanistan. 28 U.S. troops died in Afghanistan in June, outnumbering the June count in Iraq, which has triple the number of forces there. (armytimes.com)

PINEHURST, N.C. A former Army medic made famous by a photograph that showed him carrying an injured Iraqi boy during the first week of the war has died of an apparent overdose, police said.

Joseph Patrick Dwyer died last week at a hospital in Pinehurst, according to the Boles Funeral Home. He was 31. The photograph, taken in March 2003, showed Dwyer running to a makeshift military hospital while cradling the boy. The photo appeared in newspapers, magazines and television broadcasts worldwide, making Dwyer became a symbol of heroism.

His mother said the military could have done more to help with post-traumatic stress. "He just couldn’t get over the war," Maureen Dwyer said. "He just couldn’t do it. Just wasn’t Joseph. Joseph never came home."
For Dwyer, much like the Marlboro Marine and the thousands of other nameless, faceless Iraq veterans who served in those hellish conditions, coming home was a nightmare. PTSD and horrific suicide rates have plagued our vets, while the Bush Administration can’t begin to handle the staggering numbers and provide them with the mental and physical care they need. I guess these guys just need to suck it up and deal, right?  CROOKS AND LIARS

The New  York Times has a front page story this morning, in the online edition it has 5 pages, and it is worth the read.

The problem is I haven't even read it yet, but I imagine I could have written it. I have lived it, and it wasn't just alcohol, I tried drugs, I tried becoming a workaholic, if there was an escape, legal or illegal I tried them, up to and including suicide, to rid myself of the demons I carried with me.

Counseling and medication weren’t enough to help Laef Fox recover from his grim war experience in Iraq, and drugs and alcohol didn’t work either, so he tried making a movie instead.

There's a new Documentary out, that was shown in a premeir private showing on July 4th in Denver.

A former Army medic made famous by a photograph that showed him carrying an injured Iraqi boy during the first week of the war has died of an apparent overdose, police say.  Joseph Patrick Dwyer died last week at a hospital in Pinehurst, N.C., after battling PTSD.  He was 31.

A diary here mentioned him a couple of days ago but more details have emerged since then, and here they are.

The photograph, taken in March 2003, showed Dwyer running to a makeshift military hospital while cradling the boy. The photo appeared in newspapers, magazines and television broadcasts worldwide, making Dwyer a symbol of heroism.  But he tried to deflect praise back to his entire unit.

It’s the Fourth of July and while other families are enjoying barbeques and fireworks and family together time, I’m fighting a pity party by making a "movable banner" for my dog and dragging her to a public fireworks celebration to register voters this evening.  

Don’t worry, I promise we’ll be home long before the fireworks start and make her heart pound.

I’m kidless for another fourth and if you sense a little self-pity, yeah, I’m indulging.  It’s not too often but on days like this, I think have every right...  You see, my two boys signed up to serve their country and nothing's been the same since.  

Sean Webster was helping other severely wounded Iraq vets cope with their injuries but, in the end, could not save himself.  

For the past  year, Sgt. Sean Webster, 23,  had worked in  Wounded Warrior Battalion at Camp Pendleton, aiding sailors and Marines wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan get much-needed medical and psychological care.  

Just two weeks ago he was featured in a front-page story on this effort in the local North County Times newspaper.   "I'm a wounded Marine and I know what these guys are going through," he said.

That was the plea of another casualty of the Iraq occupation.  But it wasn't cried out on the far off battlefields in the deserts of Iraq, it was cried from behind the door of a small home in Pinehurst, NC on June 28th, as the police kicked in the door.  On June 28th, Doc Dywer died of an overdose trying to suppress his demons.  He died at an oh-so-young, but for many combat veterans an oh-so-old 31 years of age, leaving behind an estranged wife and daughter.

But rather than going on to enjoy the public affection for his act of heroism, he was consumed by the demons of combat stress he could not exorcise. For the medic who cared for the wounds of his combat buddies as they pushed toward Baghdad, the battle for his own health proved too much to bear.

"It doesn't mean you have a disorder that is going to be longstanding ... it is not just a federal responsibility, it is a national responsibility." - VA Secretary Peake