The Mark of War

A film about the enduring legacy of war.

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Historian Says The U.S. Is 'Losing Hearts And Minds In Afghanistan'

NPR's Steve Inskeep speaks with Aaron O'Connell about his book Our Latest Longest War. O'Connell, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, argues the U.S. is making the same mistakes it made in Vietnam.

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"The Mark of War" documentary film completion and tour - "The Mark of War"is a documentary film about the enduring legacy of war, blending archive footage, with the words of Vietnam Veterans. - http://kck.st/2nSYdhT

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The VA overpaid tens of thousands of veterans, and now it says they have to give the money back

Every month since June 2009, Tad Steckler has received a disability benefits check from the Department of Veterans Affairs. Steckler retired from the Army at age 40 as a master sergeant with a Soldier’s Medal for heroism, and he’d built a new life on the foundation of his checks. The money covered rent…

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In the current political climate it is nice to see or hear a quote that we can all agree on from an important public figure .  The newly confirmed Secretary of Veterans Affairs, David Shulkin, just gave an interview with NPR in which he discussed the high rate of suicides amongst Veterans.  

On the high rate of suicide among military veterans

There is no doubt that suicide is my number one clinical priority. I work on this, I think about this every day. ... I can tell you that nobody is doing more for behavioral health care in this country than the VA. We have extremely comprehensive systems. I have one thousand professionals who do nothing but suicide prevention every single day.

The problem is that we're responsible for the 22 million veterans in this country. And of the 20 vets who take their life every day through suicide, just six are getting care in the VA health care system.

We have to work with groups, with families and others, to identify the 14 that aren't getting care, that are out there right now [and] that we're very, very concerned about. One of the realities of our ability to address the suicide issue is that VA can't do this alone. We need help from community partners, we need help from scientists, we need help from technology companies.

The Mark of War documentary film is a tool connecting people to the experiences of soldiers 50 years ago and of those today. Help support our project right now.  Please watch this trailer and filmmaker interview with Director Ricardo Ainslie (https://vimeo.com/bernsteindocumentary/tmow) and consider finding us via your social media accounts or through friends so that you can stay abreast of how to see the film and become involved.

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#64: The Vietnam Tapes of Michael A. Baronowski from Radio Diaries

Listen to Radio Diaries episodes free, on demand. In 1966, a young Marine took a reel-to-reel tape recorder with him into the Vietnam War. For two months, Michael A. Baronowski made tapes of his friends, of life in foxholes, of combat. And he sent those audio letters home to his family in Norristown, Pennsylvania. And then he was killed in action. Michael's tapes survived and were used to produce this story as part of the public radio series "Lost and Found Sound," created by the Kitchen Sisters and Jay Allison. The story was produced by Christina Egloff and Jay Allison. *** Thanks to Jay Allison for writing a truly inspiring foreword to our new DIY Handbook. The handbook is a guide to producing great radio stories with chapters on interviewing, writing, and editing. Go to Transom.org to read Jay's intro and get your own copy. Listen to over 65,000+ radio shows, podcasts and live radio stations for free on your iPhone, iPad, Android and PC. Discover the best of news, entertainment, comedy, sports and talk radio on demand with Stitcher Radio.

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To Treat PTSD, Veterans Have A Vast Array Of Ineffective Solutions

A new report by the Institute of Medicine rates the different treatments used to treat post-traumatic stress disorder, also recommending areas for further research.

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For Veterans, Trauma Of War Can Persist In Struggles With Sexual Intimacy

What happens to sexual relationships after service members return from combat? Former Marine Chuck Rotenberry and his wife, Liz, open up about their struggles with sex and his PTSD.

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Veterans Say Trained Dogs Help With PTSD, But The VA Won't Pay

Service dogs help veterans with physical disabilities, and there's increased interest in using dogs for symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, too. A study is underway to see whether that helps.

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In 'The Evil Hours,' A Journalist Shares His Struggle With PTSD

While embedded with troops in Iraq, David Morris almost died when a Humvee he was riding in ran over a roadside bomb. His book explores the history and science of post-traumatic stress disorder.

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Vet Manages PTSD With Salsa Dancing

Chris Fahey returned from war haunted by trauma but he found an unlikely therapy: salsa dancing. With that therapy he also found a new family.

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Behind Bars, Vets With PTSD Face A New War Zone, With Little Support

"For my PTSD issues, jail is the least therapeutic atmosphere you could ever imagine," says Iraq veteran David Carlson. "You come in one way and you leave three times worse."

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War Studies Suggest A Concussion Leaves The Brain Vulnerable To PTSD

Troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are far more likely to develop post-traumatic stress disorder if they have suffered a concussion. The reason may be a change in the brain's fear circuits.

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A Daughter Explores Her Father's PTSD, From Vietnam Until Today

NPR's Kara Frame traces her father's PTSD, and those of his Army comrades, back to a terrible battle in Vietnam. In a short documentary film, she also explores the impact it's had on their families.

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A Purple Heart Warrior Takes Aim At Military Inequality In 'Shoot Like A Girl'

Maj. Mary Jennings Hegar is part of a lawsuit that argues excluding women from combat is unconstitutional. She says the lawsuit isn't about women's rights – it's about military effectiveness.

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The Fighter

The Marine Corps taught Sam Siatta how to shoot. The war in Afghanistan taught him how to kill. Nobody taught him how to come home.

An Important read

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Sam Siatta’s experience is shared by so many of our veterans, no matter the war. During the Vietnam War people were often plucked out of the jungle and on a flight home within a day or two, arriving back home with gunfire still ringing in their ears.  We expected them to fall back into everyday life, while almost no one in their midst had any idea what they’d been through over the preceding 12 months of deployment. It’s no wonder so many of them faltered and stumbled. Some for a few months, some for the rest of their lives. As a Marine veteran who served in Afghanistan, what Siatta’s story reveals is that years after the Vietnam War, we haven’t solved the puzzle of how to help our combat veterans re-enter society.

[themarkofwar]

The Fighter

The Marine Corps taught Sam Siatta how to shoot. The war in Afghanistan taught him how to kill. Nobody taught him how to come home.

An Important read