Category Archives: Uncategorized

Road to Nowhere: Returning veterans face the worst job market of their lives.

By Ken Olsen (Copyright 2012, All Rights Reserved) Kai Jorgensen was laid off just before Thanksgiving 2011, the third time the recession has cost him his job since he left the Marine Corps in May 2009. He wasn’t prepared for such … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Heart Apart: Interactive book gives children, military parents safe way to share feelings about the difficulty of deployment

 By Ken Olsen (Copyright 2012, All Rights Reserved) Melissa Seligman knew she had to help her children find their emotional voices. Her daughter’s depression spiked to near self-destructive levels when her husband deployed. Her son’s anxiety was gut wrenching. “We … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Hardest Year: Military Children Endure the Stress of Parent’s Deployment

By Ken Olsen (Copyright 2012, All Rights Reserved) Jack Crider hit a wall during his father’s third deployment. It wasn’t just his father’s absence, or the prospect of him dying in Iraq. It was the unexpected move, from Virginia to … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Richard Christian Jr., champion of Vietnam veterans in battle for Agent Orange and PTSD claims, to be buried at Arlington

By Ken Olsen (Copyright 2012 All Rights Reserved) Richard S. Christian, Jr., who endured withering hostility from the Reagan Administration for his meticulous and tireless work on behalf of Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange, died of cancer at a … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Post-Traumatic Stress and a Traumatic Brain Injury strain a marriage

By Ken Olsen (Copyright 2011, All Rights Reserved) Some days, Tammara Rosenleaf would give anything not to be a combat veteran’s wife. She loves her husband. He is kind, generous and unflappable – the perfect contrast to her stronger, more … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

When doing everything right isn’t enough: A Marine’s suicide shows that even the unlikeliest veteran can fall through the cracks.

By Ken Olsen (Copyright 2011, All Rights Reserved)  Of all the questions raised by Clay Hunt’s suicide, perhaps the most perplexing is this: why did a 28-year-old former Marine who was receiving VA health care, taking medications for post-traumatic stress … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The War Within: The battle against post-traumatic stress

By Ken Olsen (Copyright 2011, All Rights Reserved) Melissa Seligman started shaking when her husband described the aftermath of a suicide bombing he witnessed during his first deployment to Iraq. She had heard that same flat, detached tone from her father, when … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Brown Water Update: VA updates list of Vietnam Navy ships exposed to Agent Orange

By Ken Olsen (Copyright 2011/ All Rights Reserved)  The VA has finally posted an expanded list of U.S. Navy ships exposed to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. The so-called Brown Water ships list comes a year after U.S. Sen. … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The War Within: Special Report on Post Traumatic Stress featured on WERE 1490 AM

More than 300,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans – nearly 20 percent of returning troops – have PTS or depression and the number is rising. Their experiences, and they way they  resonate with Vietnam veterans, are part of a special report … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Brown Water Bungle: Paperwork error excluded hundreds of Vietnam Navy veterans from receiving Agent Orange benefits

By Ken Olsen (Copyright 2011/All Rights Reserved) Hundreds of Vietnam Navy veterans whose Agent Orange claims were denied because the VA failed to obtain key military records will receive benefits as a result of a review requested by U.S. Sen. … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment