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Col. Dallas Homas

Joint Base Lewis-McChord’s Colonel Dallas W. Homas has been administratively removed from his post as commander of the Madigan Healthcare System, amid concerns that soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are not being properly diagnosed. Fourteen soldiers from Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) will soon receive the results from their PTSD re-evaluations. Officials from the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center decided to take a second look at the the soldiers after concerns were raised about their initial diagnoses.

Jorge Gonzalez, Executive Director of Coffee Strong, a non-profit G.I. coffeehouse located within 300 meters of the gates of JBLM stated that “this systemic failure shows that much more needs to be done to help our veterans get the fair diagnosis and treatment that they deserve. Madigan Hospital continues to remove soldiers’ previous diagnosis of PTSD, which in turn lessens the amount of compensation that soldier is entitled to through their experience in the military.”

Gonzalez added, “This tactic of overturning diagnoses is another cost cutting measure the military has set up in order to save money after 11 years of the so-called ‘global war on terror.’” Coffee Strong is operated by veterans of the nonprofit G.I. Voice, which provide services for active-duty soldiers and fellow veterans who have served in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere since 2001.

The .45 caliber single-action, semi-automatic Colt pistol known as the M1911 in military parlance is an extremely destructive handgun at close range. On June 26, 2011, U.S. Army Ranger Jared August Hagemann removed his M1911 from its holster. The 25-year-old already had carried the sidearm with him on eight deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, so he knew how much damage even a single round could do against flesh and bone. It was late Sunday evening at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, and Hagemann stood in a training area, stalked by a terrorist more relentless than any Taliban suicide bomber. His opponent’s name: post-traumatic stress disorder, the clinical term for a severe form of anxiety usually known by its acronym, PTSD.

Staff Sgt. Hagemann placed the muzzle against his right temple and pulled the trigger. His obituary, published by his hometown paper in California’s San Joaquin Valley, said only he had “died unexpectedly,” words his widow would dispute.

U.S. veterans of post-9/11 combat are taking their lives in alarming numbers, and PTSD seems to be the primary cause. If the military’s response is inadequate, is anyone else ready to help GIs heal their psychic damage? And what are combat vets to do when PTSD shreds their souls, yet their commanders order them back to fight in Helmand Province? For the third time?

Ask Ashley Joppa-Hagemann, Jared’s widow and the mother of their two children. She’s sitting in a coffeehouse not far from Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM), a military reservation in western Washington that is home to 100,000 soldiers, Marines, Air Force personnel, their families, and civilian contractors. Sprawling across 91,000 acres set against the majesty of Mt. Rainier, JBLM was recently called “the most troubled base in the military” by Stars and Stripes, the officially sanctioned newspaper of the Department of Defense.

Though JBLM is nominally in Starbucks country, its neighborhood coffeehouse is no ordinary caffeine bar. Wedged between the southbound lanes of Interstate 5 and a Subway sandwich shop, Coffee Strong is run by vets and strategically positioned 300 yards from JBLM’s gate. Active-duty personnel and veterans get free java and advice. Civilians patronize the shop as well, which exists mostly on donations from those who support its cause.

The coffeehouse is part of a grassroots movement of veterans and pro-GI, anti-war Americans determined to help active-duty personnel and discharged veterans receive benefits due them, get out of the military, or cope with what the U.S. government either can’t or won’t treat effectively: PTSD, the mental illness caused by experiencing trauma, like the horrors of war.

“In the last month of his life, Jared put a gun to his head three times. He told me every day was a struggle to wake up and want to live,” Ashley says. “He said the things he had seen and done, no God would have forgiven him.”

***

Jorge Gonzalez began volunteering at the coffeehouse in 2009. He saw it as a chance to help comrades and their families, and also as a kind of self-treatment. A Specialist E-4 in the army, Gonzalez returned from Iraq in 2007. After a couple of months, he realized he was suffering from PTSD and went to JBLM’s mental health professionals. What he experienced when he attempted to get help within the military system is not unusual.

“When I finally sought help, I was put on what I call the Army’s ‘quick fix’ program—the antidepressant Zoloft,” he says. “After that, I was seen once a month by the psychiatrist, usually for five minutes, maybe 10, and that was just to get my prescription renewed.”

Gonzalez says his doctors never discussed coping strategies. “I was depressed. I had thoughts of suicide,” he says. “But there was never really any advice from the psychiatrist, like, ‘This is what you could be doing to get better.’”

Just as frustrating, he felt his chain of command never supported his attempts to recover from PTSD. “There was no interest in pulling me away from any training,” he says. “I was always going out, coming back, getting my prescription filled.”

After a year of zero progress, Gonzalez quit taking Zoloft. Then he left the army. He still struggles with depression and PTSD, “but now I cope with it like this: I am here at Coffee Strong trying to help soldiers and their families get the help they have been asking for.”

One dangerous practice in today’s military, say Gonzalez and his Coffee Strong compatriots, is that soldiers traumatized during their time in combat zones return home suffering from PTSD, and, instead of getting the medical and psychological help they need to heal, their commanders order them back to the fighting. Those who resist are branded “sissies” or malingerers, and earn the scorn of superiors.

The activist group Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) credits this attitude with the frequent episodes of violence related to combat stress that occur at JBLM; these include some domestic crimes so shocking, like the waterboarding of a child, that they’ve been reported in the national media. Coffee Strong activists point to a series of army investigations that found “systematic” shortcomings in how the army treats soldiers just back from war.

At JBLM, Gonzalez says, 50 soldiers have killed themselves since the beginning of the Iraq War, and this trend spiked in 2011—with 11 suicides from January to October. A Pew Research Center poll released in October found that 44 percent of post-9/11 veterans say they have had difficulty adjusting to civilian life, 47 percent say they feel irritable or angry, and 37 percent say they have struggled with post-traumatic stress. One in three vets polled now says the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were not worth fighting.

None of which seems surprising to a Specialist E-4 named Greg who turned up at Coffee Strong one Saturday last September. Because he remains on active duty, he withheld his last name: “You only have to go on one deployment to see the truth,” he says. “America destroyed Iraq. When I got back, I didn’t want to kill myself, but I had days where I told myself, ‘If this is how I’m going to feel for the rest of my life, then I don’t want to be alive.’”

After Greg returned from deployment, he felt a growing anger toward superiors in his chain of command. “I’m not a hothead or a sore person that gets in trouble,” he says, “but I was literally afraid I might see them again and break a chair over their head or something.”

So Greg self-referred to Family and Soldier Readiness Services at JBLM for mental health counseling. He was shocked at the ineptness of his treatment. “This lady is giving me handouts and telling me to take deep breaths. And I said, ‘Lady, this is a big problem. When I was in Iraq, I had an officer who was crazy and vicious.’ We were a couple months from going back to Iraq, and I was afraid I was going to harm this person. And she was giving me pamphlets?”

Then he heard about Coffee Strong. “I walked in one day, I sat down, it took me a long time; I tried to explain myself. Jorge was there. He said, ‘I get it; I was in the infantry too.’ And I knew he got it,” Greg recalls, “because of what he said.”

Greg followed the advice he got at Coffee Strong, and eventually found a new therapist within the Army system who gave him psychological insight and advice. He helped Greg transfer away from the superiors in his unit.

“When I found out about Coffee Strong and Iraq Veterans Against the War, I felt like, ‘Hey, this is okay. There are thousands of other people that feel the way I do. There must be smarter ways we can take care of ourselves,’” Greg says. “Talking to Coffee Strong was a huge help to me.”

***

Grounds for Resistance
Film Trailer: Veteran-run coffee houses like Coffee Strong give service personnel a place to find help outside the military.

Coffee Strong, whose name is a takeoff on the “Army Strong” ad campaign, was started in 2008 by veterans from IVAW. Their aim was to help soldiers get services, and along the way focus some of the anti-war sentiments they knew existed among active-duty personnel. It’s one of three active anti-war coffeehouses near U.S. military bases. Under the Hood Café was launched outside Fort Hood, Texas, by 18-year Army wife Cynthia Thomas when her husband was sent on his third deployment. Norfolk OffBase, in Virginia’s Hampton Roads area, is perhaps more of a resource and organizing center than a full-blown cafe, but it calls itself a coffeehouse nonetheless.

All three enterprises trace their roots to draft resistance counseling during the Vietnam War era, when Quakers and then others helped draft-age men explore alternatives to fighting: going underground, moving to Canada, jail time, seeking conscientious-objector status. Add the support of veterans who counsel GIs based on their own experience of the system, and you have a well-respected method of resisting war by supporting the humanity of the soldier. Coffee Strong is firmly in this tradition, and boasts a luminary board of directors, including Noam Chomsky, former foreign service officer and retired Army Colonel Ann Wright, journalist Dahr Jamail, and, before his death, the historian Howard Zinn.

Two paid staff and about a dozen volunteers keep Coffee Strong open. All the volunteers pull a shift behind the espresso machine, says Kelly Beckham, who’s volunteered at the shop for more than a year. “But we do more than just make coffee.”

Volunteers talk with the soldiers, answer questions, and connect them with a cadre of specialists who help with discharge papers, veterans’ benefits, or getting access to PTSD counselors within the military or from private health care.

“When you’re a volunteer at Coffee Strong, you hear all the time how hard it is to get proper treatment, or just get their paperwork processed,” says Beckham. “Or, they’re upset with lack of support from their chain of command, how any kind of personal problems get swept under the rug.”

Word is that some commanders on base disapprove of the cafe’s anti-war stance, although, Beckham says, “We give benefits advice to anyone, whatever their opinions about the military are.” She pauses. “We are taking care of what the army has left behind. People shouldn’t have to come to a coffee shop to get help with benefits or do their paperwork for medical treatment.”

Cesario Larios, one of the founders of Coffee Strong, believes so strongly in the project’s mission that he’s using vacation days from his paid employment to help out as a volunteer. He says that encouraging GIs to stand up for their rights, including the right to heal, is a first step to opening up room for soldiers to take a moral stance against war.

“That’s why I’m involved,” he says, “so we can encourage soldiers who have huge moral reservations about what the military is doing. Some of them are choosing alcohol and drugs to avoid the reality of feeling trapped within their military contract and a future that includes more deployments that they don’t wish to take part in—that’s why we’re seeing more suicides. I think that if we can show them that there is a broad base of support from vets and civilians, they will begin to see there is another way.”

***

Between deployments, Jared Hagemann grew more alienated and less functional. Ashley says he’d routinely down a six-pack of beer while driving around in his truck. Sometimes he’d guzzle a 24-pack: “And that’s how we spent the first few years of our marriage.” In 2009, after returning from another combat deployment, Jared checked himself into 5 North, the psychiatric ward at JBLM’s Madigan Army Medical Center. He was separated from his wife at the time, and she remembers that, when he was released, Jared phoned and said he was scared to be alone, that she was the only person he trusted.

She raced to find Jared with his Colt in his hand. Soon afterward, some Rangers arrived. Jared said he wanted out of the unit. They told him if he left the Rangers he would either go to jail or be sloughed off to the regular Army, where he likely would face a 15-month combat deployment.

Heal the Warrior, Heal the Country
Breaking the cycle of war making: our country will not find peace until we take responsibility for our wars.

Jared tried the antidepressant Celexa but didn’t like its effects. He saw several counselors at JBLM. Some forced him to talk about what he’d seen and done in combat, and Ashley says it would send him into a drunken rage for two weeks. The Army accused him of using PTSD as a ruse to get out of work and said if he wanted counseling he would have to schedule it on his own time.

“The Rangers knew all about our problems, but they were no longer doing anything to help,” she says. “I even went to the base commander; he told me, ‘That’s normal. It’s normal for the men to come back and drink, abuse their wives and their children.’

“And I told him, ‘That’s not Jared. My Jared doesn’t do that.’

“And he just said, ‘That’s how they handle it.’ And that was that.”

Not until Jared’s suicide did Ashley find dependable support: “I haven’t really gotten any support from the military at all. Coffee Strong treats me like I’m human. They check up on me. They’ll even watch my kids and play with them.

“Whenever I needed somebody to talk with, Jorge and the others at Coffee Strong—they’ve been there for me. They’re amazing.”

Dean Paton wrote this article for The Breakthrough 15, the Winter 2012 issue of YES! Magazine. Dean is Seattle correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor.

(CBS News)

TACOMA, Wash. – Deborah Flagboam is still traumatized by a sexual assault during during boot camp, and needs a post-traumatic stress disorder therapy dog to help her cope with her thoughts of suicide.

“It wasn’t just a cry of help, it was real,” Flagboam tells CBS News correspondent Barry Petersen. “My life really wasn’t the same, I couldn’t really find a way to live any more.”

But the former Marine was told by military officials there was a two-month waiting list for long-term psychiatric therapy. So she came to Coffee Strong, a coffee shop just outside Joint Base Lewis McChord.

Iraq war veteran Jorge Gonzales is executive director of Coffee Strong. The veteran-owned shop opened three years ago to serve free coffee to soldiers and Marines. Over time, it became a place for troops to share their problems and treat the mental scars of war. Veterans at Coffee Strong found help for Flagbom within 24 hours.

“I dont think i would be alive today to be honest,” Flagboam said, “I could have ended up like Sgt. Jared Hagemann. Army Ranger Jared Hagemann killed himself this past June. He was facing his eighth combat deployment as a member of the Special Forces.

“At that moment,” his wife Ashley said, “I knew this would be the death of him.” Ashley said she warned base officials soon after her husband threatened suicide. He had that look in his eyes that he just wanted to die.

In 2004 there were 64 confirmed suicides in the Army. This year, 130 Army deaths are apparent suicides. There have been six at Lewis McCord.

Col. Dallas Homas, in charge of the suicide prevention program at Lewis McChord, said, “We have thrown immense resources at this: Money, effort, time to try to get soldiers to get the help they need and we have come a long way, but we are still losing soldiers to suicide.”

Some officers warn their troops to avoid Coffee Strong — which does not hide it’s anti-war message. But  Homas takes a different view. “I think that where ever a soldier can get help is a good thing.”

To the people who want help and come in to Coffee Strong, Gonzales said, “get help as soon as you feel something wrong with you. You are not going to be weak or less than a soldier.”

At Coffee Strong, there is no weakness. Just the comfort of comrades.

When: Feb 7, 2012 at 2pm and 6:30pm

Where: 606 S. Fawcett Ave, Tacoma, WA 98402

website: http://groundsforresistance.com/

Part of the Grand Cinema’s Tuesday Film series! Two showings, one day only!

In November 2008, a group of U.S. veterans opened COFFEE STRONG, a coffee shop located outside the gates of the U.S. Army base Fort Lewis in Washington. Inspired by the Vietnam-era G.I. coffee house movement, Coffee Strong provides a safe space where service members, military families, and veterans can drink coffee and discuss issues, such as their experiences of war, deployment concerns, the hardships of life in the military, and veteran benefits.

Members of Coffee Strong–most of whom were deployed one or more times to the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and all of whom are under the age of 30–provide G.I. rights counseling and direct people suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, sexual assault, discrimination, recruiter abuse, and medical and legal problems to the appropriate resources. They also provide counseling for those seeking options for leaving the military early, including entry-level, dependency, hardship, medical, psychological, and conscientious objection. Visitors to Coffee Strong read books from the free library, use the free computers with Internet access, explore literature on war and imperialism, and enjoy special events, such as punk rock shows and movie nights.

This fifty minute documentary film is about Coffee Strong: its importance for its most active members, active duty soldiers and their families, veterans of recent and past conflicts, and regional and national political movements. At the center of the film are the men and women whose experiences in the military and war compel them to commit themselves to help others who are serving or have served in the past. Each individual featured in the film exists within a nuanced tangle of conflicting emotions tied to pride, dedication to service, friendship, anger, disillusionment, sadness, and guilt. The film examines each one’s stories from their decisions to join the military, their experiences of war, and their motivations for devoting themselves to Coffee Strong. It explores how their relationships with one another and their activist efforts to make a more peaceful and just world help them cope with their own experiences.

f war.

Feb. 6th at 7pm at Coffee Strong

Bradley Manning, a 24-year-old Army intelligence analyst, faces file in prison for allegedly sharing the “Collateral Murder” video of a US helicopter attack that killed 11 civilians and wounded two children in Baghdad, Iraq with the WikiLeaks website. Bradley has also been charged with blowing the whistle on the “Iraq War Logs”, the “Afghan Diaries”, and “Gitmo Files”, and embarrassing US State Department cables. All of the documents released have added significantly to public knowledge of war crimes, civilian casualties, government corruption, and the over-classification of information. No one has been harmed and the information has helped fuel pro-democratic protests globally.

“God knows what happens now. Hopefully worldwide discussion, debates, and reforms… I want people to see the truth… because without information, you cannot make informed decisions as a public.” –a discussion attributed to Army PFC Bradley Manning

Bradley Manning Support Network campaign organizer Jeff Paterson will provide a multi-media presentation to include:

• An overview of US v. Bradley Manning

• His report from the Fort Meade courtroom where Bradley had his first court hearing after 18 months of pre-trial confinement, while hundreds of supporters marched on base December 16-22.

• Updates on the international grassroots campaign.

• An opportunity to make a tax-deductible donation to Bradley’s defense fund, which in addition to supporting public education efforts is responsible for 100% of Bradley legal expenses.

• Introduction to the new Courage to Resist book, “About Face: Military Resisters Turn Against War”—from Army Lt. Ehren Watada to PFC Bradley Manning, and two dozen other stories. Published by PM Press, September 2011.

In August 1990, Marine artilleryman Corporal Jeff Paterson became the first of many US military personnel to refuse to fight in Iraq. Today, Jeff is the project director of Courage to Resist, an Oakland-based organization dedicated to supporting GI war resisters and conscientious objectors, and helps lead the campaign to support Army PFC Bradley Manning.

JBLM moral low as lockdown continues. click image to watch.

Hundreds of thousands in equipment stolen. click image to watch

A monthly weapons inventory last week revealed equipment totaling $600,000 – sights, optics and scopes – are missing.

As the U.S. Army investigates the incident, the base’s soldiers and officers have been restricted to certain areas where they’re allowed to have visitors, but can’t make phone calls without permission.

Jorge Gonzalez, a JBLM veteran who now works to help soldiers, says the restrictions are worsening morale that has already suffered from overseas deployments.

“And now they’re coming back to being harassed more or on base by their chain of command that they’re all basically known or thought of as possible suspects,” he said.

Gonzalez supports March Forward’s online petition drive calling for an end to the lockdown.

“They’ve been locked down since Wednesday, so it’s pretty over-reactionary for just some lasers and scopes,” said Gonzalez.

The Army says the missing equipment disappeared some time between Dec. 14 and Jan. 3 when many of the soldiers were out on leave for the holidays.

Officials say the restrictions will remain in effect until the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division determines it has exhausted all sources of information among the men and women currently being held on base.

Anyone with information on the theft is urged to call the CID at 253-967-3151 or the Military police at 253-967-7112 immediately.

Additional links: Kirotv.com

As veterans return, the impact of the war could now be felt at home

click on image to open video

Near the gates of Fort Lewis, anti-war veterans serve up support and solidarity (along with double-tall lattes) to their friends in uniform.

Iraq War veteran Josh Simpson is a founding member of Coffee Strong, outside Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. Photo by Paul Dunn for YES! Magazine

The .45 caliber single-action, semi-automatic Colt pistol known as the M1911 in military parlance is an extremely destructive handgun at close range. On June 26, 2011, U.S. Army Ranger Jared August Hagemann removed his M1911 from its holster. The 25-year-old already had carried the sidearm with him on eight deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, so he knew how much damage even a single round could do against flesh and bone. It was late Sunday evening at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, and Hagemann stood in a training area, stalked by a terrorist more relentless than any Taliban suicide bomber. His opponent’s name: post-traumatic stress disorder, the clinical term for a severe form of anxiety usually known by its acronym, PTSD.

Staff Sgt. Hagemann placed the muzzle against his right temple and pulled the trigger. His obituary, published by his hometown paper in California’s San Joaquin Valley, said only he had “died unexpectedly,” words his widow would dispute.

U.S. veterans of post-9/11 combat are taking their lives in alarming numbers, and PTSD seems to be the primary cause. If the military’s response is inadequate, is anyone else ready to help GIs heal their psychic damage? And what are combat vets to do when PTSD shreds their souls, yet their commanders order them back to fight in Helmand Province? For the third time?

Ask Ashley Joppa-Hagemann, Jared’s widow and the mother of their two children. She’s sitting in a coffeehouse not far from Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM), a military reservation in western Washington that is home to 100,000 soldiers, Marines, Air Force personnel, their families, and civilian contractors. Sprawling across 91,000 acres set against the majesty of Mt. Rainier, JBLM was recently called “the most troubled base in the military” by Stars and Stripes, the officially sanctioned newspaper of the Department of Defense.

Though JBLM is nominally in Starbucks country, its neighborhood coffeehouse is no ordinary caffeine bar. Wedged between the southbound lanes of Interstate 5 and a Subway sandwich shop, Coffee Strong is run by vets and strategically positioned 300 yards from JBLM’s gate. Active-duty personnel and veterans get free java and advice. Civilians patronize the shop as well, which exists mostly on donations from those who support its cause.

The coffeehouse is part of a grassroots movement of veterans and pro-GI, anti-war Americans determined to help active-duty personnel and discharged veterans receive benefits due them, get out of the military, or cope with what the U.S. government either can’t or won’t treat effectively: PTSD, the mental illness caused by experiencing trauma, like the horrors of war.

“In the last month of his life, Jared put a gun to his head three times. He told me every day was a struggle to wake up and want to live,” Ashley says. “He said the things he had seen and done, no God would have forgiven him.”

***

Volunteers at Coffee Strong prepare handouts on Operation Recovery, Iraq Veterans Against the War’s campaign for an end to redeployment of traumatized troops and recognition of their right to heal. Coffee Strong is calling for a Congressional investigation into the causes of violence and suicides among combat veterans at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. The Coffee Strong website lists actions civilians can take: sign a statement of support, donate, spread the word, or write to a U.S. Representative.(Photo by Paul Dunn for YES! Magazine.(Photo by Paul Dunn for YES! Magazine.)

“When I finally sought help, I was put on what I call the Army’s ‘quick fix’ program—the antidepressant Zoloft,” he says. “After that, I was seen once a month by the psychiatrist, usually for five minutes, maybe 10, and that was just to get my prescription renewed.”

Gonzalez says his doctors never discussed coping strategies. “I was depressed. I had thoughts of suicide,” he says. “But there was never really any advice from the psychiatrist, like, ‘This is what you could be doing to get better.’”

Just as frustrating, he felt his chain of command never supported his attempts to recover from PTSD. “There was no interest in pulling me away from any training,” he says. “I was always going out, coming back, getting my prescription filled.”

After a year of zero progress, Gonzalez quit taking Zoloft. Then he left the army. He still struggles with depression and PTSD, “but now I cope with it like this: I am here at Coffee Strong trying to help soldiers and their families get the help they have been asking for.”

One dangerous practice in today’s military, say Gonzalez and his Coffee Strong compatriots, is that soldiers traumatized during their time in combat zones return home suffering from PTSD, and, instead of getting the medical and psychological help they need to heal, their commanders order them back to the fighting. Those who resist are branded “sissies” or malingerers, and earn the scorn of superiors.

The activist group Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) credits this attitude with the frequent episodes of violence related to combat stress that occur at JBLM; these include some domestic crimes so shocking, like the waterboarding of a child, that they’ve been reported in the national media. Coffee Strong activists point to a series of army investigations that found “systematic” shortcomings in how the army treats soldiers just back from war.

At JBLM, Gonzalez says, 50 soldiers have killed themselves since the beginning of the Iraq War, and this trend spiked in 2011—with 11 suicides from January to October. A Pew Research Center poll released in October found that 44 percent of post-9/11 veterans say they have had difficulty adjusting to civilian life, 47 percent say they feel irritable or angry, and 37 percent say they have struggled with post-traumatic stress. One in three vets polled now says the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were not worth fighting.

None of which seems surprising to a Specialist E-4 named Greg who turned up at Coffee Strong one Saturday last September. Because he remains on active duty, he withheld his last name: “You only have to go on one deployment to see the truth,” he says. “America destroyed Iraq. When I got back, I didn’t want to kill myself, but I had days where I told myself, ‘If this is how I’m going to feel for the rest of my life, then I don’t want to be alive.’”

After Greg returned from deployment, he felt a growing anger toward superiors in his chain of command. “I’m not a hothead or a sore person that gets in trouble,” he says, “but I was literally afraid I might see them again and break a chair over their head or something.”

So Greg self-referred to Family and Soldier Readiness Services at JBLM for mental health counseling. He was shocked at the ineptness of his treatment. “This lady is giving me handouts and telling me to take deep breaths. And I said, ‘Lady, this is a big problem. When I was in Iraq, I had an officer who was crazy and vicious.’ We were a couple months from going back to Iraq, and I was afraid I was going to harm this person. And she was giving me pamphlets?”

Then he heard about Coffee Strong. “I walked in one day, I sat down, it took me a long time; I tried to explain myself. Jorge was there. He said, ‘I get it; I was in the infantry too.’ And I knew he got it,” Greg recalls, “because of what he said.”

Greg followed the advice he got at Coffee Strong, and eventually found a new therapist within the Army system who gave him psychological insight and advice. He helped Greg transfer away from the superiors in his unit.

“When I found out about Coffee Strong and Iraq Veterans Against the War, I felt like, ‘Hey, this is okay. There are thousands of other people that feel the way I do. There must be smarter ways we can take care of ourselves,’” Greg says. “Talking to Coffee Strong was a huge help to me.”

***

Grounds for Resistance: Film Trailer. Veteran-run coffee houses like Coffee Strong give service personnel a place to find help outside the military.

Coffee Strong, whose name is a takeoff on the “Army Strong” ad campaign, was started in 2008 by veterans from IVAW. Their aim was to help soldiers get services, and along the way focus some of the anti-war sentiments they knew existed among active-duty personnel. It’s one of three active anti-war coffeehouses near U.S. military bases. Under the Hood Café was launched outside Fort Hood, Texas, by 18-year Army wife Cynthia Thomas when her husband was sent on his third deployment. Norfolk OffBase, in Virginia’s Hampton Roads area, is perhaps more of a resource and organizing center than a full-blown cafe, but it calls itself a coffeehouse nonetheless.

All three enterprises trace their roots to draft resistance counseling during the Vietnam War era, when Quakers and then others helped draft-age men explore alternatives to fighting: going underground, moving to Canada, jail time, seeking conscientious-objector status. Add the support of veterans who counsel GIs based on their own experience of the system, and you have a well-respected method of resisting war by supporting the humanity of the soldier. Coffee Strong is firmly in this tradition, and boasts a luminary board of directors, including Noam Chomsky, former foreign service officer and retired Army Colonel Ann Wright, journalist Dahr Jamail, and, before his death, the historian Howard Zinn.

Two paid staff and about a dozen volunteers keep Coffee Strong open. All the volunteers pull a shift behind the espresso machine, says Kelly Beckham, who’s volunteered at the shop for more than a year. “But we do more than just make coffee.”

Volunteers talk with the soldiers, answer questions, and connect them with a cadre of specialists who help with discharge papers, veterans’ benefits, or getting access to PTSD counselors within the military or from private health care.

“When you’re a volunteer at Coffee Strong, you hear all the time how hard it is to get proper treatment, or just get their paperwork processed,” says Beckham. “Or, they’re upset with lack of support from their chain of command, how any kind of personal problems get swept under the rug.”

Word is that some commanders on base disapprove of the cafe’s anti-war stance, although, Beckham says, “We give benefits advice to anyone, whatever their opinions about the military are.” She pauses. “We are taking care of what the army has left behind. People shouldn’t have to come to a coffee shop to get help with benefits or do their paperwork for medical treatment.”

Cesario Larios, one of the founders of Coffee Strong, believes so strongly in the project’s mission that he’s using vacation days from his paid employment to help out as a volunteer. He says that encouraging GIs to stand up for their rights, including the right to heal, is a first step to opening up room for soldiers to take a moral stance against war.

“That’s why I’m involved,” he says, “so we can encourage soldiers who have huge moral reservations about what the military is doing. Some of them are choosing alcohol and drugs to avoid the reality of feeling trapped within their military contract and a future that includes more deployments that they don’t wish to take part in—that’s why we’re seeing more suicides. I think that if we can show them that there is a broad base of support from vets and civilians, they will begin to see there is another way.”

***

Between deployments, Jared Hagemann grew more alienated and less functional. Ashley says he’d routinely down a six-pack of beer while driving around in his truck. Sometimes he’d guzzle a 24-pack: “And that’s how we spent the first few years of our marriage.” In 2009, after returning from another combat deployment, Jared checked himself into 5 North, the psychiatric ward at JBLM’s Madigan Army Medical Center. He was separated from his wife at the time, and she remembers that, when he was released, Jared phoned and said he was scared to be alone, that she was the only person he trusted.

She raced to find Jared with his Colt in his hand. Soon afterward, some Rangers arrived. Jared said he wanted out of the unit. They told him if he left the Rangers he would either go to jail or be sloughed off to the regular Army, where he likely would face a 15-month combat deployment.

Heal the Warrior, Heal the Country Breaking the cycle of war making: our country will not find peace until we take responsibility for our wars.

Jared tried the antidepressant Celexa but didn’t like its effects. He saw several counselors at JBLM. Some forced him to talk about what he’d seen and done in combat, and Ashley says it would send him into a drunken rage for two weeks. The Army accused him of using PTSD as a ruse to get out of work and said if he wanted counseling he would have to schedule it on his own time.

“The Rangers knew all about our problems, but they were no longer doing anything to help,” she says. “I even went to the base commander; he told me, ‘That’s normal. It’s normal for the men to come back and drink, abuse their wives and their children.’

“And I told him, ‘That’s not Jared. My Jared doesn’t do that.’

“And he just said, ‘That’s how they handle it.’ And that was that.”

Not until Jared’s suicide did Ashley find dependable support: “I haven’t really gotten any support from the military at all. Coffee Strong treats me like I’m human. They check up on me. They’ll even watch my kids and play with them.

“Whenever I needed somebody to talk with, Jorge and the others at Coffee Strong—they’ve been there for me. They’re amazing.”

Dean Paton wrote this article for The Breakthrough 15, the Winter 2012 issue of YES! Magazine. Dean is Seattle correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor.

On this Veteran’s Day, Coffee Strong and Iraq Veterans Against the War will be hosting a speaking event with the theme being Women in the Military and the issues women face, but also how they overcame those issues and what these women are doing now to combat issues like Post Traumatic Stress, Military Sexual Trauma, Traumatic Brain Injury.

We will be hosting different female veterans, and active duty military speaking on their experiences, also speaking will be a Vietnam veteran who now works with female veterans within the V.A. with also some audience participation on what we can all do to battle these problems.

Event starts at 4pm, all are welcome.

Scott Olsen, a Marine veteran who did two tours in Iraq, was hit by a police projectile during last night’s brutal police crackdown of Occupy Oakland.  He is in serious but stable condition at an Oakland hospital.

Scott is a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War who was discharged from military service with the Marines in 2010 after two tours in Iraq.  He is one of many veterans who have returned home and gotten involved in the Occupy protests taking place in hundreds of cities around the nation.  Veterans like Scott recognize that they are part of the 99% who face uncertain economic futures, including few job prospects and rising tuition costs. Rates of homelessness and unemployment are higher for veterans than for their civilian counterparts.

IVAW members around the country have been participating in their local Occupy demonstrations, and are finding other veterans there as well.  “Our members are flocking to these occupations,” says Joyce Wagner, IVAW Board President who has been participating in Occupy Pittsburgh.  “The Occupy encampments are a great place to meet other veterans, network, and get veterans services.  We’re actually bringing a VA social worker to our camp and have several older homeless veterans in our camp.”

Supporting Scott’s recovery

Scott remains in stable but critical condition at an Oakland hospital awaiting a decision about whether he will undergo surgery. We have set up a medical fund to support any up-coming health needs he has.

To contribute to this fund, click here.

Thank you for your support. We will keep you posted on Scott’s condition.

In Solidarity,

Iraq Veterans Against the War

Recently a rash of suicides and combat stress-related violence has rocked Joint Base Lewis McChord (JBLM). Of the eleven suspicious deaths that have occurred this year, nine have been confirmed suicides and two are still under investigation. 50 suicides have been committed in the past 9 years; and of those, 10% have taken place in the last 90 days.

Moreover, the increasing number of violent incidents involving previously deployed soldiers has reached unacceptable levels. These include the infamous Afghan kill team, allegations that a soldier poured lighter fluid on his spouse then lit her on fire, the waterboarding of a 4 year old child, and the strangling of a JBLM soldier and mother.

Despite the shocking frequency with which violence and suicides have occurred, politicians and military leaders appear content with throwing money at the problem, piling taxpayer dollars into a growing number of ineffective programs, expensive barracks facilities, and even smartphone applications. According to JBLM spokesperson Lt. Col. Dangerfield there are 23 different mental health programs offered at the base—clearly something isn’t working. As the number of suicides rise, as the laundry list of violent incidents connected with previously deployed troops gets longer, the programs at JBLM seem all the more ineffective. What’s clear, is that these programs simply aren’t working; and that something has to change. Coffee Strong, Iraq Veterans Against the War, and local community members are fed up—and we’re doing something about it. We’re not going to wait for politicians and military leaders to act while our brothers and sisters in uniform fall through the cracks. We’re demanding something be done.

Operation Recovery: Joint Base Lewis McChord is a campaign to end the deployment of traumatized troops, and win the right of service members to heal. We are focusing our campaign on Joint Base Lewis McChord, and demanding a Congressional investigation of the base due to a recent spike in suicides and a disturbing number of violent incidents involving previously deployed service members from JBLM.

We are demanding:

1. That a congressional investigation be conducted to uncover the root causes of the suicide and combat stress epidemic at Joint Base Lewis
McChord.

2. That Letters of Condolence be written to the families of all service members who commit suicide following deployment.

3. That letters of apology be written to the families of service members who commit suicide following deployment!

4. That all service members who commit suicide are given a memorial service.

5. That the military uphold service members’ right to heal, and end the practice of deploying troops with military sexual trauma, post traumatic stress disorder, and traumatic brain injury.

IF YOU HAVE 60 SECONDS

SIGN THE OPERATION RECOVERY PLEDGE

By signing the pledged you’ll be helping to defend service members’ right to heal and demanding an end to the practice of deploying traumatized troops. You’ll also be providing us with contact information that will be used to keep you up to date as the campaign unfolds.

DONATE ONLINE!

Coffee Strong: www.coffeestrong.com

Iraq Veterans Against the War: www.ivaw.org/donate

IF YOU HAVE 5 MINUTES TALK TO ONE PERSON: Talk to one person about issues facing service members returning from deployment, or listen to one of the many stories on the Operation Recovery website.

SHARE OUR PLEDGE: Share our pledge with service members, coworkers, friends, military family members, and other folks within your community. Let them know this is an important issue, and that our community can make a difference.

USE SOCIAL MEDIA: “Like” Operation Recovery, Coffee Strong, and Iraq Veterans Against the War on Facebook. Use Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, or email to share news stories about military sexual trauma, PTSD, traumatic brain injuries, military suicides, or other issues related to war and mental health. If you, or someone you know has a well-read blog, you can write updates on the campaign, provide links to the pledge, or provide information about upcoming campaign events.

*IF YOU HAVE 20 MINUTES WRITE A LETTER: Write a letter to Senator Patty Murray, Representative Adam Smith, or another member of Congress. Inform them about the issues facing our troops, ask them what they’re doing, and tell them what we’re demanding. *There are sample letters and addresses included in this Community Action Pack.

MAKE A CALL: Call folks within your local networks, tell them about the campaign, ask them to get involved, and find ways to organize your community around these issues. Call Senator Patty Murray, Representative Adam Smith, and other members of Congress; be specific about your demands, tell them you support Operation Recovery: Joint Base Lewis McChord.

*IF YOU HAVE AN HOUR OR MORE COME TO A CAMPAIGN PLANNING MEETING: Operation Recovery: Joint Base Lewis McChord is a community-powered campaign and planning meetings are open to everyone! We’re always looking for new volunteers and voices to expand and improve the campaign. Right now meetings are held 7pm, every Thursday at Coffee Strong, but as the campaign develops things might change. Check back by getting in touch with an organizer, or other folks involved in the campaign. *If you attend a planning meeting let the group know how much time you can devote to the campaign, and any skills you possess.

• In 2010, the Department of Defense-authorized newspapers Stars and Stripes named Joint Base Lewis McChord the “most troubled base in the military.”

• There have been 50 suicides at Joint Base Lewis McChord since 2002.

• On Joint Base Lewis McChord, there were nine suicides in the both 2009 and 2010.

• There have been 5 “apparent” suicides at Joint Base Lewis McChord in the last 90 days.

• Violent incidents involving combat-veterans from JBLM include the infamous Afghan Kill Team, the waterboarding of a child, the burning of a spouse, the strangling of a spouse, a shootout between police and a JBLM soldier, a hostage standoff at Fort Stewart involving a JBLM veteran demanding mental health care, and the police shooting of a recently discharged Oregon National Guard soldier processed through JBLM following deployment.

• A series of internal Army investigations, initiated after Oregon National Guard troops claimed they had been treated as “second class soldiers” by the base following deployment, found that there were “systemic” shortcomings in how the Army treats soldiers just back from war.

 

Sen. Patty Murray (Chairperson, Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee)

Tacoma Office:
       950 Pacific Avenue, Suite 650
       Tacoma, WA 98402
       Phone: 253.572.3636
       Fax: 253.572.9488

 Washington, D.C. Office:
       448 Russell Senate Office Building
       Washington, D.C. 20510
       Phone: 202.224.2621
       Toll Free: 866.481.9186
       Fax: 202.224.0238

Rep. Adam Smith (Ranking Member, House Armed Services Committee)
Tacoma Office:
       2209 Pacific Ave Suite B
       Tacoma, WA 98402
       Phone: 253.593.6600
       Fax: 253.593.6776

Washington, D.C. Office:
       2402 Rayburn Office Building
       Washington, D.C. 20515
       Phone: 202.225.8901
       Fax: 202.225.5893

Joint Base Lewis McChord Public Affairs
JBLM Public Affairs Officer
      Phone: 253.447.0164
Community Hotline
      Phone: 253.967.0852
Community Relations
      Public Affairs Office
      Box 339500 MS 14
      Joint Base Lewis McChord, WA 98433
      Phone: 253.967.0154
      Fax: 253.477.0179

Recently a rash of suicides and combat stress-related violence has rocked Joint Base Lewis McChord (JBLM).  Eleven possible suicides alone have occurred this year; and of the 50 suicides committed in the past 9 years, roughly 10% have taken place since July 2011.  Despite the shocking frequency with which violence and suicides have occurred, politicians and military leaders appear content with only throwing money at the problem, piling taxpayer dollars into a growing number of ineffective programs, expensive barracks facilities, and even smartphone applications.  According to JBLM spokesperson Lt. Col. Dangerfield there are 23 different mental health programs offered at the base; yet clearly something isn’t working.  Clearly something has to change.

Coffee Strong, Iraq Veterans Against the War, and local community members are fed up—and we’re doing something about it.  We’re not going to wait for politicians and military leaders to act while our brothers and sisters in uniform fall through the cracks.  We’re demanding something be done.

Join us Saturday afternoon for a panel discussion titled “Base on the Brink” as we kickoff Operation Recovery: Joint Base Lewis-McChord, a locally focused, community-powered campaign to demand change.  At the event we’ll hold an in-depth discussion on recent events at JBLM and present community members with concrete ways in which they can get involved in the campaign.

These are our demands:

*That a congressional investigation be conducted to uncover the root causes of the suicide and combat stress epidemic at Joint Base Lewis McChord.

*That Letters of Condolence be written to the families of all service members who commit suicide following deployment.

*That letters of apology be written to the families of service members who commit suicide following deployment.

*That all service members who commit suicide are given a memorial service.

*That the military uphold service members’ right to heal, and end the practice of deploying troops with military sexual trauma, post traumatic stress, and traumatic brain injury.

Event Information:

What: “Base on the Brink” Speak Out Event

When: September 24th, 3pm

Where: Coffee Strong

15109 Union Ave SW

Lakewood, WA 98498

Take Exit 122 off I-5, turn right at flashing red lights, we’re next to Subway.

If you can’t attend the event get involved by making calls to Senator Patty Murray (202.224.2621/253.572.3636) and Representative Adam Smith (202.225.8901/253.593.6600).

For almost three years Coffee Strong has been at the center of pro-soldier, anti-war activism.  In the past we have campaigned to end unjust Stop-Loss policies, secure the release of war resisters and prisoners of conscience, and bring a close to the U.S. wars overseas.

Yesterday Coffee Strong published a summary of the events that took place at the Donald Rumsfeld book signing on Joint Base Lewis-McChord.  Below is the text from our official press release, sent to our media contacts this morning:

Today, military spouse Ashley Joppa-Hagemann and anti-war veteran Jorge Gonzalez went on Joint Base Lewis-McChord to meet with Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.  Rumsfeld, most infamous for his part in leading the United States into the bloody wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, was at JBLM to promote his New York Times bestselling book Known and Unknown: A Memoir.

Mrs. Joppa-Hagemann introduced herself by handing a copy of her husband’s funeral program to Rumsfeld, and telling him that her husband had joined the military because he believed the lies told by Rumsfeld during his tenure with the Bush Administration.  She then recounted her husband’s painful story of eight deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, his battle with PTSD, and eventual suicide, for which she blamed the military and Rumsfeld himself whose only response was to callously quip, “Oh yeah, I heard about that.”  Despite the reply, Mrs. Joppa-Hagemann continued to lay the blame directly at the feet of Rumsfeld and the military for not providing enough care for soldiers and veterans returning from deployments in combat zones.  However, within moments Ashley and Jorge were dragged from the Post Exchange by a group of 5-6 security agents and military police officers, and told not to return.

Former Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld’s uncaring response is demonstrative of the attitude taken by many at the top-levels of the U.S. government.  While they seize any opportunity to participate at a photo-op in front of expensive new barracks facilities or publicly praise the sacrifice of service members, they rarely take even a moment to honestly listen to those whose lives are overturned by their failed policies and poor planning.  If politicians and top-level officials truly care about Joint Base Lewis-McChord and other military communities they’ll begin to listen to the folks—like Ashley Joppa-Hagemann—who are most affected by the negative consequences of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Today, anti-war veteran Jorge Gonzalez and military spouse Ashley Joppa-Hagemann went on Joint Base Lewis-McChord to meet with Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.  Rumsfeld, most infamous for his part in leading the United States into the bloody wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, was at JBLM to promote his New York Times bestselling book Known and Unknown: A Memoir.

Jorge and Ashley waited along with other patrons for approximately one and a half hours to meet with Rumsfeld.  After shaking the hand of the Former Secretary of Defense, Mr. Gonzalez removed his button down top to reveal an Iraq Veterans Against the War t-shirt, and requested that Rumsfeld dedicate the book to Coffee Strong with the message, “To Coffee Strong: Fight the War, After the War.”  Mr. Gonzalez explained to the confused Rumsfeld that Coffee Strong was, “a veteran-operated coffeehouse, and vital resource to the JBLM community that provides links to services for active-duty personnel, veterans, and military family members. “

Mrs. Joppa-Hagemann introduced herself, handing a copy of her husband’s funeral program to Rumsfeld, telling him that her husband had joined the military because he believed the lies told by Rumsfeld during his tenure with the Bush Administration.  She then recounted her husband’s painful story of eight deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, his battle with PTSD, and eventual suicide, for which she blamed the military and Rumsfeld himself whose only response was to callously quip, “Oh yeah, I heard about that.”  Mrs. Joppa-Hagemann continued to lay the blame directly at the feet of Rumsfeld and the military for not providing enough care for soldiers, and veterans traumatized by multiple deployments to combat zones.

Within moments of their encounter Ashley and Jorge were dragged from the Post Exchange by a group of 5-6 security agents and military police officers, and told not to return.

Having not had a chance to see what message had been left for him, Mr. Gonzalez opened his copy of Known and Unknown to find “With my Donald Rumsfeld” scribbled among the opening pages.  Even in retirement Rumsfeld has left those most affected by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the military’s on-going PTSD crisis wondering about the mysterious “unknown unknowns” of which he once spoke.

GI Voice presents the first installment of the State Of The Soldier Address, a unique and historic occasion for soldiers and veterans to demonstrate that they too have a voice in our communities. Similar to past events like Winter Soldier, the State of the Soldier Address is a forum for active-duty service members, veterans, and military family members to speak out on issues related to military service, and provides an opportunity for civilians from around the community to hear the voices of those often intimidated into silence for fear of retribution. This event will include testimonies from active-duty service members and veterans speaking on a wide range of issues including Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Military Sexual Trauma, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Confirmed speakers include:

Jacob George: Jacob is a three-time veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) turned peace activist. Jacob served as a paratrooper in the United States Army Special Operation Command (USASOC) between 2001 and 2004, and was honorably discharged as sergeant. Jacob is the founder of A Ride Till The End (ARTTE), which is a perpetual bicycle protest that began on May 1, 2010 and has covered over 6,000 miles in the American South. ARTTE facilitates a healing process for veterans interested in unconventional self-healing through art and cycling. ARTTE is the first Afghan veteran lead, direct action protest of the Afghanistan occupation in the U.S.

Brock McIntosh: Brock is an Army National Guard veteran who enlisted in May 2006 while in high school. His views are his own and do not represent those of the Army National Guard or any other branch of the United States military.  Brock was deployed to Afghanistan from November 2008 to August 2009. Following his redeployment home, Brock reflected deeply on his experiences and research and decided to act upon the Army value that meant the most to him: integrity. He joined as a spokesperson for Veterans for Rethinking Afghanistan, became active in Iraq Veterans Against the War and Operation Recovery, and is an applicant for conscientious objection. Brock also previously interned at Win Without War, where he worked primarily on the Veterans’ Trust Fund. His development from a warrior led him to determine that that the highest evolution of a soldier is to master and live the art of nonviolence.

Date: Tuesday, 8/23/11
Location: King’s Books 218 St. Helens Ave. Tacoma, WA
Time: 7:00pm – 9:00pm

Last week the United States Army announced the closing of Walter Reed Army Medical Center, part of a series of cost cutting measures mandated under the Base Realignment and Closure Act of 2005.  Though the Pentagon plans on consolidating the functions of Walter Reed with the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland and a new community hospital at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, the decision to close the iconic Walter Reed Army Medical Center is a poignant reminder of the lowly status of the state of medical care for those who volunteer to serve the American people.

This closure, along with the government’s recent move toward defined contribution retirements for servicemembers, clearly demonstrates the U.S. government’s continued disregard for the well-being of servicemembers and veterans.  However, while the end of the iconic Walter Reed Army Medical Center is disappointing, expanding the capacity for handling traumatic brain injuries, severe burns, and amputee rehabilitation is clearly not the key to sustainably improving the state of care for our servicemembers and veterans.  Only prevention will limit the need for an expanding and increasingly expensive array of mental health and medical facilities; prevention that will only be realized once the current administration ends the senseless and costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The misguided rush to war in Iraq and nearly ten years of continuous conflict in Afghanistan have left the United States with a generation of veterans permanently scarred by the visible and invisible wounds of war.  If the U.S. government truly seeks to improve the lives of servicemembers and veterans it should not look to cut costs by shutting down desperately needed medical centers; instead, it must continue to invest more in health care, end the unfortunate and disastrous conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, and finally bring our troops home.

From Courage to Resist, written by James Branum June 27, 2011

PFC Reed tried to get help from his chain of command when his wife suffered from serious health issues after the birth of their first child, but his request were repeatedly denied. In fact he was told by some of his NCO’s that he should give up his child to either his parents (or the state), so that he could legally abandon his family and deploy with his unit.
PFC Reed left the unit for six months. Upon return he was told that his family would still get no help (he was even forbidden to talk to the chaplain about his problems) and that he must deploy. This time he fled again, taking his family to Canada where he believed he would be safe from prosecution and his wife could get the care that she needed.

In October 2010, PFC Reed made the difficult decision to voluntarily return to the United States. Upon return he was arrested and then escorted back to Fort Hood, Texas. Upon return PFC Reed served in a rear detachment unit while he awaited disposition of his case.

At trial PFC Reed plead guilty to one count of AWOL and one count of desertion. He then presented a strong case showing (1) his serious family hardship, (2) his old unit’s failure to help him, (3) his positive service history upon return to military control, (4) his high rehabilitation potential, and (5) the difficulty his family will experience if he is given jail time. PFC Reed asked the judge to give him a BCD (bad conduct discharge) in lieu of jail time, but he was instead given a 10 month sentence (coupled with the BCD, loss of pay and loss of rank).

The good news is that this fight is not over. PFC Reed has a right under MCM 1105 to submit written matters in mitigation to the convening authority (Lt. General Donald Campbell, Jr., CG of Fort Hood).

We are asking members of the public to write letters of support asking the general to suspend part or all of the 10 month sentence.

Please download the first attachment with details on what a letter should entail, who to address it to and where to submit it. If you would prefer to print out a pre-written letter, please print out the second attachment and sign with your name, date and and a valid mailing address.

All letters of support need to be submitted to James Branum by September 1, 2011.

Attachment 1

Attachment 2

Live Shows:

Ryan Harvey and David Rovics
Sunday July 31st 7pm

www.ryanharveymusic.com
www.davidrovics.com

Coffee Strong Presents: The State of the Soldier Address

Sunday August 28th 5-7pm
@ Kings Books
218 Saint Helens Ave.
Tacoma, Washington 98402

Monthly Events:

Open Mic
Saturday August 20th 7pm
and every 3rd Saturday

IVAW Meeting
Every 2nd and 4th Thursday

Find us on Facebook and keep up to date on events at Coffee Strong!

Coffee Strong is proud to announce that Iraqi metal band, Acrassicauda, will be playing a live show at Coffee Strong in support of their 2011 “Make It or Break It” tour.

Formed in 2001, Acrassicauda was the only heavy metal band in Baghdad. After the American invasion and occupation of Iraq, members of the band lost family and friends. Their practice space was decimated and they were eventually forced to live like refugees, running from Baghdad to Syria to Turkey, finally settling in New York City. They are the subjects of the documentary Heavy Metal in Baghdad.

Acrassicauda is Faisal Talal (lead vocals, guitar), Tony Yaqoo (lead guitar), Firas Allateef (bass), Marwan Hussein (drums) and Muhammad al-Ansari (guitar). In 2010 the band released the EP “Only the Dead See the End of the War,” an album of “intensified war metal” filled with songs born from the frustration of facing death threats, bombings, and constant fears for their families’ safety. However, Acrassicauda transcend negativity to make beautiful, angry, yet ultimately hopeful music that could only originate from a band with such unique life experience.

Jorge Gonzalez, Executive Director of Coffee Strong, said about the upcoming show, “This event is more than  just an Acrassicauda concert, this is a rare opportunity for two groups of people, who often stand on opposite sides of a barbed-wire fence, to meet face-to-face, and find common ground in something they love: Heavy Metal.”

The show is Tuesday, July 19th at 7pm. Tickets are $10 for Enlisted Service Members, and $15 for Civilians.

Soldiers and veterans at Coffee Strong reacted to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision to lift the stay on a previous court ruling baring the military from enforcing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.

“The Court ruled on the side of equality today,” Joseph Carter, Executive Director of Coffee Strong, said in a statement, “DADT is a prejudicial and unsustainable policy; its end will be remembered as one of America’s principal civil rights victories.”

US Army Specialist Trevor Britvec voiced disappointment, stating, “This does not constitute equality in the military. The repeal of DADT is the first hesitant, small step in a much larger struggle for equality in our military. Because of the Defense of Marriage Act, gay couples will get none of the benefits straight military marriages enjoy – healthcare, housing, life insurance, and a million other aspects of the military’s support system for spouses, especially those of soldiers on deployment – how is continued inequality, merely recognized as such, a victory?”

The Coffee Strong staff hope this latest ruling will be the first in a series of reforms ultimately culminating in full and equal rights for all members of the LGBTQ community.

Location and Time:

Capital Theater
206 5th Ave. SE
Olympia, Washington 98501

Saturday, May 14 · 6:30pm – 8:00pm

A stunning new documentary, directed by Lisa Gilman, reflects the importance of Coffee Strong to its members, supporters and the community.

Coffee Strong is proud to have taken part in a new documentary and cordially invites the community to come out in support of the film and the shop. This film tells the intricate tale of Coffee Strong from its humble beginnings to its current position as a neighborhood mainstay.

In November 2008, a group of U.S. veterans opened Coffee Strong, a coffee shop located outside the gates of the U.S. Army base at Fort Lewis, Washington. Inspired by the Vietnam-era G.I. coffee house movement, Coffee Strong provides a safe space where service members, military families, and veterans can drink coffee and discuss issues, such as their experiences of war, deployment concerns, the hardships of life in the military, and veteran benefits. Members of Coffee Strong—most of whom were deployed one or more times to the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and all of whom are under the age of 30—provide G.I. rights counseling and direct people suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, sexual assault, discrimination, recruiter abuse, and medical and legal problems to the appropriate resources. They also provide counseling for those seeking options for leaving the military early, including entry level, dependency, hardship, medical, psychological, and conscientious objection. Visitors to Coffee Strong read books from the free library, use the free computers with Internet access, explore literature on war and the military, and enjoy special events, such as live music shows and movie nights.

At the center of the film are the men and women whose experiences in the military and war compel them to commit themselves to help others who are serving or have served in the past. Each individual featured in the film exists within a nuanced tangle of conflicting emotions tied to pride, dedication to service, friendship, anger, disillusionment, sadness, and guilt. The film examines each one’s stories from their decisions to join the military, their experiences of war, and their motivations for devoting themselves to Coffee Strong. It explores how their relationships with one another and their activist efforts to make a more peaceful and just world help them cope with their own experiences.

The Coffee Strong community hopes you will join us for this fun and historic event, celebrating not only the shop, but all those who use its services.

For more information please visit:

Grounds For Resistance

Olympia Film Society

Coffee Strong proves to be good meeting place for discussion of current events, future policy.

Lakewood, May 2, 2011- Soldiers, veterans and civilians around the world are reacting to the unexpected news of the death of Osama bin Laden. Locally, soldiers are congregating at Coffee Strong, a pro-soldier, anti-war coffee shop to discuss the quickly unfolding news that broke late last night. Discussions quickly turned to the courage of the soldiers involved, the future of military actions in Afghanistan and the illogical levels of funding allocated to military actions.

Former US Army soldier Joe Carter noted,”In contrast to the high cost of the Iraq war, this relatively low cost, as far as American and civilian lives go, operation demonstrates that successfully fighting terrorists does not require the occupation of entire countries nor out of control spending.”

For further quotes from soldiers or information about the services Coffee Strong offers, please contact Coffee Strong at 253-581-1565. For media inquiries, please contact media@coffeestrong.org.

Kick off party and informational meeting April 30th, 7pm at Coffee Strong

Lakewood, April 21, 2011 – Coffee Strong is proud to announce the first annual Spares and Strikes Bowl-a-Thon fundraiser. The Bowl-a-Thon will gather teams of six anti-war activists and allies for good times and a worthy cause. The informational meeting for interested teams and individuals is happening at a kick-off party taking place April 30th at Coffee Strong, located at 15109 Union Ave. SW in Lakewood.

Organizer Jamila Hammami stresses the importance of participation in the Bowl-a-Thon stating,” it will provide Coffee Strong with funds to continue providing services to benefits Soldiers, Veterans, and Military Families. Not only will the event directly benefit Soldiers, Veterans, and Military Families, but it will also aid in building a network of allies within the Anti- War Community on the West Coast.”

The fundraising for this event officially starts May 1st, 2011, and teams of 6 are asked to raise a minimum of $600 each. Fundraising for the event can be a party in and of itself. There are many ways to fund raise- whether it be through open mics, benefit shows, happy hours, house parties, backyard bashes, yard sales, or sponsorship donations. Be creative. In the end, participants get together and celebrate by bowling together (free to all participants)! We’ll bowl, have some brews, pass out awards, and have a good time!

For more information, contact Jamila Hammami at jamila.coffeestrong@gmail.com
or check out the event on Facebook.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Ann & Muhammad Zahid Chaudhry
justice4chaudhry@gmail.com

Contact: Seth Manzel
Executive Director of G.I. Voice
Coffee Strong
253-228-8912

Muhammad Zahid Chaudhry, a decorated disabled American Veteran, is the victim of an ongoing witch hunt since the 9/11 attacks, and is being deported back to Pakistan where he will “inevitably be murdered by the Taliban for his service in the U.S. Army,” says Seth Manzel Executive Director of G.I. Voice. He came here legally over 13 years ago and has been married to a native born citizen for nearly 10 years. Their suit against the INS in Federal US district court for citizenship was dismissed on October 26, 2010 on summary judgement without any trial or opportunity to further present their circumstances.

The main issue is that Chaudhry qualifies for citizenship on so many basis, and there are no legal grounds to deny him citizenship. He qualified for and filed an application to become a U.S. citizen under the military naturalization program in 2003 (which INS claimed they lost) and again in 2004, which requires the U.S. government to provide expedited processing for citizenship applications for individuals in the armed forces. His military awards include: National Defence Service Medal, Global War On Terrorism Service Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal W/M Device and the Army Service Ribbon.

He has never broken any U.S. laws, and has been married to a U.S. citizen for nearly10 years. He qualifies for citizenship based on “married to US citizen” also. Additionally, before injuries in service of our Nation left him in a wheel chair, he was an avid community volunteer. He served for thousands of hours as an unpaid volunteer for the American Red Cross (both as a general volunteer and as youth co-ordinator), unpaid Ready Reserve volunteer in the Fire Department (carrying pager 24/7 & responding to fire emergencies),Habitat for Humanity and plenty of other worthwhile community and civic organizations.

Last but not least, the Chaudhrys have two children and four grandchildren; they do not wish for their family and friends to be ripped apart by an uncaring, inefficient federal bureaucracy acting with repressive measures.

Chaudhry is scheduled for a deportation hearing at the immigration court in Seattle on Wednesday January 12, 2011 at 1PM and he has no legal representation. The couple reports that Senator Patty Murray’s staff, Lindsay Herbst, often sends them an email saying to “hang in there” and that they are “working on it”– a behaviour of our top politicians for the last 7 to 8 years. They have spent tens of thousands of dollars in this struggle for Justice, not to mention lost opportunity. “Our physical, spiritual, mental & financial capabilities have been torn asunder & ground to nothingness by this great Nation we both love & have served so much and continue to serve,” says Ann Chaudhry.

They are calling for the community to support them by writing emails, letters or calling Senator Patty Murray’s secretary at lindsay_herbst@murray.senate.gov. Telephone listings: 206-553-2195 Seattle or DC office below:
173 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: (202) 224-2621
Fax: (202) 224-0238
Toll Free: (866) 481-9186

You can see a short video clip of Chaudhry’s speech at Interfaith Forum on Immigration in Washington, DC at the website.
www.justice4chaudhry.info

We are told the war in Iraq is over, however, the war is only beginning for soldiers coming home. As GIs return from Iraq and the conflict in Afghanistan heats up, the challenges faced by veterans have only begun to emerge. The rates of suicide, substance abuse, homelessness, and imprisonment among veterans is already skyrocketing to epidemic proportions due to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and other deployment-related issues. There is a stigma attached to seeking help in the military. Many service members are afraid that doing so will affect their reputations or military careers. An ongoing Department of Defense study has determined that reluctance to seek help through the military is a contributing factor in active-duty suicides. Coffee Strong provides a casual atmosphere that allows service members and veterans to access information and resources without having to worry about being judged, labeled, stigmatized, or punished.

Opened in 2008, Coffee Strong is a veteran-owned and veteran-operated coffee shop outside of Fort Lewis, Washington that provides a comfortable and safe atmosphere for veterans to share their experiences and find out about resources available to them. Coffee Strong provides free coffee, Internet, concerts, movie screenings and other events to active-duty military personnel, veterans, and their families, and acts as a meeting place for various organizations and support groups. It provides a place for service members and veterans to socialize and relax in a safe atmosphere that also allows them to feel comfortable in seeking help. Coffee Strong is also dedicated to helping soldiers stand together so that they can improve their conditions and hold the military and government responsible for their policies.

Because Coffee Strong is a non-profit organization and not a business, we rely on the support of the community to keep our doors open and continue providing free coffee and services to veterans and active duty personnel. As a sustaining donor, you can support the work of Coffee Strong with an automatic monthly donation.

In the past year, Coffee Strong has provided the following resources for the GI / veteran community:

* Free, confidential referrals to licensed therapists for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and their families
* G.I. rights counseling and advocacy for active-duty service members stationed at Fort Lewis
* Weekly veterans’ benefit assistance by experienced Veteran Service Officers
* Access to information and resources available to veterans within the local community
* The new website http://www.coffeestrong.org for updates and connections to assistance

We deeply appreciate the support we have received from the community and ask that you support our continuing efforts to help service members, veterans, and their families. Thank you for your support.

Click here to become a sustaining donor now.

For Immediate Release

November 2, 2010 JOINT BASE LEWIS MCHORD, WASHINGTON – An anonymous group of soldiers in 4-9 Infantry Brigade have released a statement detailing how the Army drove one soldier to suicide. It details the humiliation that soldiers who seek help for mental problems face from their superiors. This comes on the heels of a rash of incidents involving soldiers from JBLM who had untreated mental issues, including one soldier who shot a police officer in Salt Lake City, UT. The letter reads:

“On March 17, 2010, Spc. Kirkland returned home from his second deployment to Iraq. Three days later he was dead—killed by the Army. Spc. Kirkland was sent home from Iraq because the burden of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder became too great—so much that he wanted to take his own life. Many of us also struggle with the effects of PTSD, which is a completely natural, human response to what we are exposed to overseas. It is not a sign of weakness or cowardice, but the inevitable result of serving in combat. It is a burden we all share, and we all deserve adequate treatment and understanding for the sacrifices we have made.

Upon returning home, Spc. Kirkland was not more than three steps into the barracks before the acting First Sergeant publicly ridiculed him, calling him a “coward” and a “pussy,” knowing full well that Kirkland was suffering from severe depression and anxiety. He was then carelessly assigned to a room by himself, and like every other soldier with PTSD, given substandard care by Army mental health doctors. Forty-eight hours after he was in the care of 4-9 Infantry, he was dead. Spc. Kirkland had a wife and young daughter. Before his blood had even dried off the floor, our respected leadership was already mocking his death.

Spc. Kirkland did not kill himself. He was killed by the Army. The Army inadequately treats PTSD, while it re-enforces a culture of humiliation for the soldiers who suffer from it. Spc. Kirkland was accused of faking his trauma. PTSD is a legitimate medical condition that is unavoidable in a combat zone. As soldiers who lay down our lives every day, we deserve adequate treatment for the wounds we receive in combat. We deserve to be treated for PTSD just like we would for a bullet wound or shrapnel. Spc. Kirkland received the opposite. But what happened to Spc. Kirkland is not an isolated incident. This is happening at such a high rate in the Army that it is becoming an epidemic. Now, more active duty soldiers commit suicide than are killed in combat. Every year, the number of suicides far surpasses the year before, and 2010 is already dwarfing last year’s numbers.

How has the Army responded? Scandal after scandal has broken out about Army officers ordering doctors not to diagnose PTSD; to instead deny veterans the care they deserve, pump them full of pills, and return them to combat. It has become Army policy to do everything possible to avoid diagnosing PTSD. And when it is diagnosed, the care is inadequate.

Throughout the Army, soldiers have to fight for simple medical care. The Army doesn’t care at all about us, our lives, or our families—and hundreds of us are dying because of it. We are denied care because the Army needs bodies to throw into two quagmires, and because the VA doesn’t want to pay us the benefits we deserve. Maj. Keith Markham, Executive Director of 4-9 Infantry, put it very clearly in a private memo to his platoon leaders: “We have an unlimited supply of expendable labor.” That’s what we soldiers are to the Army and the Officer Corps: expendable labor. Spc. Kirkland was expendable, and we witness that fact every day. But soldiers all over the Army are standing up. At Ft. Hood, the base with the highest number of suicides, protests have been held both outside the base and in the hospitals, consisting of active duty soldiers demanding better treatment. All over the country soldiers are organizing in their units to fight for adequate care. The Army will never give us the care we deserve unless we force it to do so. As soldiers, we have rights. Mental health care is a right for the job we were made to do. We have the right to be adequately treated and compensated for PTSD—but the Army is not doing that, so we have the right to collectively organize and demand proper treatment.

Actual defense spending in the U.S. is over 1 trillion dollars a year. Most of that money goes into the pockets of defense contractors, while only a tiny fraction is allocated for mental health care. There are hundreds of billions of dollars for new fighter jets, or to open Burger Kings and KBR facilities overseas, but when extra resources are needed to combat a suicide epidemic, we only get scraps from the table.”

The Army has taken no disciplinary actions against the leadership involved with SPC Kirkland’s death. Nor has the Army released any statements regarding the circumstances behind the incident.

GI Voice, DBA COFFEE STRONG, is a veteran owned and operated coffee house for soldiers, veterans, and military families to speak out about their experiences in a comfortable and safe environment. We provide free GI rights counseling, veterans benefit advocacy, and PTSD counseling for soldiers and veterans. Coffee Strong is located 300 meters from the Madigan Gate of Fort Lewis at 15109 Union Ave. SW Ste B.

For more information please contact:

Seth Manzel
Executive Director
GI Voice, DBA COFFEE STRONG
253-228-8912

http://www.coffeestrong.org

Former soldier Josh Bruder, now openly gay, was stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, and said his time there was difficult.

From the Seattle Times

By Janet I. Tu

Published: October 12, 2010