Dr. John Oldham is president of the American Psychiatric Association and chief of staff at the Menninger Clinic in Houston.

Last week, Oldham participated in a roundtable discussion at the White House on raising awareness among civilian health care providers of combat-related mental health conditions, and to better coordinate care among civilian, military and veterans health care systems.

Chronicle reporter Lindsay Wise interviewed Oldham about the national effort to reduce the stigma surrounding post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury, and to help military personnel and their families transition smoothly to civilian life.

Q: What did you discuss Tuesday at the White House?

A: This is in connection with this initiative that was launched by Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden called Joining Forces, and what that entails is really to try  to address some of the needs of the returning military from overseas and combat, and help them even beyond the regular channels that they would normally be using to get help. … They want not only to provide educational information for the families and the public, they also want to facilitate access to appropriate mental health care, and the third thing they want to do is help returning veterans with obtaining meaningful employment. And so what the Joining Forces initiative has done is, it’s pulled together key officials from the Department of Defense and from Veterans Affairs and is trying to link and bridge all of their efforts with leaders from all of the civilian organizations that would be pertinent in a comprehensive program of care. What they want to do is build a strong bridge between the military help that they receive immediately on returning from deployment and continuing care as they re-enter society.

Q: Why is it important to raise awareness among civilian health care providers about neurological and psychological issues affecting military service members and their families?

A: It’s estimated that about 50 percent of military personnel who need mental health care do not get it, and one of the big reasons is the tremendous stigma that’s associated with seeking help for mental problems. Part of the goal here is to heighten awareness among the public to what they call the military culture, so part of the educational materials that this effort is putting together include trying to help people understand the military culture, which really doesn’t make it comfortable for these people to seek help for psychiatric problems. Sometimes there are soldiers who are coming back and want to go back for another tour of duty, so there has to be a careful evaluation as to whether that’s safe for the soldiers and whether they’re fully recovered or can become fully recovered to do that. An analogy is the stories you see in the news about professional football players who have concussions and don’t want people to know it because they want to be able to go back in the game.

Q: I’ve spoken to troops and their families who said they don’t want to see a military doctor or therapist for mental health issues because they’re worried it will affect their security clearances or damage their careers.

A: That’s not uncommon because there’s a real perception that you’re going to jeopardize your military career if you’re known to be seeing mental health care providers, and that’s part of what this whole effort wants to work against, and help people get over and get past.

Q: What can civilians do that the military isn’t already doing?

A: We hope that we can also encourage civilian employers to become a little more proactive in reaching out to returning soldiers to make employment opportunities available to them. Employers would benefit from availing themselves of a lot of this educational material to understand what the re-entry process is like and the experience is like for soldiers returning from combat. … Over the next four years there will be about a million military personnel coming off of active duty as the military downsizes. So that’s a lot of people who are going to be looking for alternative occupational situations and having to make pretty remarkable changes because a lot of these are career military who haven’t known a whole lot else.

This link is to an article that is extremely relevant to the purpose of our golf tournament this Saturday October 1 at Wildcat Golf Club.   The article does a good job of explaining the difficulties and hardships that spread from the combat wounded veteran through the family and community.

When one single member of the military is wounded in action and is permanently disabled from that wound or wounds, he or she must depend upon family and friends to accomplish the most basic bodily functions, motor skills, etc. …,  on a day-to-day basis.   Thus, one casualty over seas changes the lives of multiple people back home.  The costs and hardships of their disabilities are spread out among the family, friends and ultimately the community.

As the article makes clear, the Department of Veterans Affairs (the “VA”) and the federal government are only providing a limited amount of help to our disabled veterans and their families.  It is therefore imperative that people in the community participate in non-profit events that support disabled veterans.  These veterans and their family members continue to make sacrifices every single day.  Their disabilities are permanent and will last their entire life.  They will grow old with their disabilities and they will die with them and from them.

These young warriors do not want your sympathy.  They don’t want anybody the feel sorry for them.  All they want is for their fellow citizens to hold their head high and be proud of their sacrifices.  They want you to take advantage of the freedoms and liberties you possess as a result of their sacrifices.  They will not ask you for help.  The veterans that do seek help are going through the channels like the VA.  However, it is clear that we cannot rely on the government to take complete care of our disabled veterans.

Houston is home to more veterans than any other city except Los Angeles.  We at Combat Wounded Marines Fund (CWMF) want Houstonians to understand that a large number our combat disabled veterans do actually need their assistance.  We want to bring Houstonians together with our local disabled Marines to provide support and awareness.  We can ease their transition by lending a helping hand and reducing some of their mounting debt.  One reason all these non-profit events are so important is because the events are fun and social.  The process of giving back through non-profits are fun events like golf, happy hours, etc. … .

What most people don’t understand about these social non-profit events is the underlying impact on the disabled veteran.  One reason we started the CWMF is because a large number of the disabled veterans feel socially disconnected.  One of the biggest complaints I heard at the VA was the lack of social interaction.  These non-profit events counter attack this issue head on.  I have heard nothing but enormous positive feedback from the disabled veterans that attend these non-profit events.  So just the presence of the community is beneficial.

If you would like to give back and have a blast doing it then join us tomorrow at Wildcat Golf Club.   Your donations will go toward a Houston area Marine who is disabled from his wounds received in combat.  Just your presence alone will have a positive impact on all the veterans attending the event,  disabled or not.

Have fun with a purpose and swing for the Marines.

Semper Fidelis,

Captain John Urquhart, USMC

Please leave comments with your thoughts and opinions.

http://www.vfwonthehill.org/2011/09/vfw-to-senate-stop-predatory-schools.html

Semper Fi,

John Urquhart

In February of 2006, Sgt. Ramirez was wounded in action while serving in Iraq with 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment and two years later became the first hand-amputee to re-enlist in the Marines Corps.

Sgt. Ramirez stated  “Handicap and amputee Marines will see that this is only a limitation if they make it a limitation.”

http://www.dvidshub.net/news/76637/back-work-hand-amputee-deploys-set-example-wounded-warriors

Cpl. Meyer’s fellow Marines came under heavy fire from over 50 Taliban fighters.  Cpl. Meyer asked his command four times to go help his comrades who were pinned down.  Four times his command denied his requests because the command was certain Cpl. Meyer would be killed in the process.

Cpl. Meyer and Staff Sergeant (SSgt) Juan Rodriguez-Chavez looked at each other and said “lets do it”.  They disobeyed a direct order and took action.  SSgt. Juan Rodriguez-Chavez jumped behind the wheel of a Humvee while Cpl. Meyer scrambled up into the gun turret of the Humvee.

SSgt. Rodriguez-Chavez drove the Humvee directly into the kill zone of the ambush while Cpl. Meyer fired the machine gun.  This means that SSgt. Rodriguez-Chavez drove that Humvee directly into where the enemy rounds were impacting.  The Taliban were firing machine guns, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades directly at SSgt. Rodriguez-Chavez and Cpl. Meyer.

Cpl. Meyer and SSgt. Rodriguez-Chavez grabbed some dead and wounded fellow Marines and loaded them in the Humvee and drove them to a safe spot where they could be evacuated via helicopter.

These two Marines drove back and forth, in and out of the kill zone, FIVE times to retrieve their fellow Marines.  During one of the trips Cpl. Meyer was shot in the arm or hit by shrapnel.  If you know then please comment and correct me.

Cpl. Meyer commented that he was absolutely certain he was going to die but that he couldn’t leave his fellow Marines behind.  That is part of our code of honor–Marines don’t leave other Marines behind.

Cpl. Meyer was subsequently promoted to Sergeant and left the Marine Corps.  He currently works construction in his home state of Kentucky.  President Obama called Sgt. Meyer while he was working construction to tell Meyer that his award was approved.  Meyer didn’t take the phone call and stated “I can’t take the call because if I don’t work then I don’t get paid.”  President Obama finally got a hold of him during Meyer’s lunch break.  That is a true Marine.  That is the type of work ethic these Marine veterans our contributing to our economy.

Prior to the award ceremony Sgt. Meyer told President Obama that he felt like a failure because none the Marines that he personally rescued survived.  They were all Killed in Action (KIA) as a result of the ambush.  However, the end result of Sgt. Meyer’s and SSgt Rodriguez-Chavez’s actions that day saved a total of 36 lives.   Sgt. Meyer and SSgt. Rodriguez-Chavez are heroes and definitely not failures.  During the ceremony President Obama made that clear.

Sgt. Meyer is the first living Marine to be awarded the Medal of Honor since the Vietnam War.  SSgt. Rodriguez Chavez was awarded the Navy Cross, this country’s second highest award. SSgt. Rodriguez-Chavez was promoted the Gunnery Sergeant and now instructs Marines on how to drive Humvees.

Click on the link below to see the video of Sergeant Dakota Meyer’s Medal of Honor Ceremony.  The ceremony starts about 4 minutes into the video.

http://www.dvidshub.net/video/125817/medal-honor-ceremony#.TnLGAwsTiMu.facebook

http://www.roanoke.com/editorials/wb/297559

If you need a job or an employee then click on this link below for information about the career expo today. It’s free for veterans.  A big thanks to the Lone Star Veterans Association for their tireless efforts.

Veterans make outstanding employees and employers.  We are leaders in the military and in the civilian work force.  A part of leadership is having the ability to work with groups of people with various personalities, backgrounds, etc. …. The military is a culutural melting pot and produces the exact type of employee or employer this economy needs.

Not only are veterans leaders in the civilian world, but we are highly trained in learning a new skill and mastering that skill within a short period of time.  This is because most veterans maintain the discipline which was drilled into them on a daily basis.

Veterans will bring to the work force leadership, work ethic, team work, discipline, etc. ….  This in turn will have a significant impact on getting this economy back on track.

Semper Fi

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Houston-Veterans-Career-Expo-is-today–25-plus-companies-hiring–Free-for-veterans-.html?soid=1103648265187&aid=LJcMsxeWOs8

http://article.psychiatrist.com/dao_1-login.asp?ID=10007556&RSID=66342820335848

Click on this link to read about what this Marine and his comrade accomplished under impossible conditions.

This is what Marines do.  This is the meaning behind our motto “Semper Fidelis” which translates into Always Faithful.

Sergeant Dakota Meyer is the first living Marine to be awarded the Medal of Honor since the Vietnam War.

http://www.npr.org/2011/09/15/140479024/for-a-marine-hero-a-medal-of-honor?sc=tw

http://www.npr.org/2011/08/06/138983146/at-home-wounded-marines-fight-their-second-battle