`Miracle' Marine dies; badly burned in 2005 Iraq blast

By The Associated PressFri May 2, 8:37 AM ET

A Marine sergeant who became a symbol of resilience as he strove to recover from a roadside bomb blast in Iraq that blanketed 97 percent of his body with burns has died, the Defense Department said. He was 22.

Sgt. Merlin German died April 11 at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, where he was continuing treatment for the injuries he suffered in combat on Feb. 22, 2005, the Pentagon said Thursday.

The former turret gunner was dubbed the "Miracle Man" for his determination in facing his wounds, which cost the former saxophone player his fingers and rippled his face with scars. He endured more than 40 surgeries, spent 17 months in a hospital and had to learn to walk again.

Meanwhile, he started a charity, Merlin's Miracles, to aid child burn victims and considered college and a career.

"Sometimes I do think I can't do it," he told The Associated Press last year. "Then I think: Why not? I can do whatever I want. ... Nobody has ever been 97 percent dead and survived, and lived to walk."

Born in New York City, German moved to its suburbs as a teenager. He enlisted in the Marine Corps in September 2003, according to his charity's Web site. He was medically retired four years later, the Defense Department said.

German had been stationed at Camp Pendleton, Calif. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced that the state Capitol's flags would be flown at half-staff in German's honor, saying the sergeant's "courage and unfailing loyalty serve as an inspiration to Americans everywhere."

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On the Net:

Merlin's Miracles: http://www.merlinsmiracles.com

ALL .... Well, it seems that EXXON OIL company just reported their last 'quarter' (Three Months) "NET" profits. A WHOPPING 10.9 BILLION ("B")!!!

If THAT wasn't BAD enough, listen to THIS dear citizens and EXPLAIN this to DUMB OLD GRUMPY TALLPOCKETS if anyone would be so kind as to put him out of his 'misery' .......

Based on those 'paltry' reported profits (it seems the 'analysts' were EXPECTING Exxon to do BETTER!!??), Exxon's STOCK immediately DROPPED by about 3.3%!! .... ?????? ....

"SOMEBODY, HELP ME, PLEASE!" .... WINK? ....

I LUV our STOCK MARKET .... Two companies MERGE into a virtual MONOPOLY .... THOUSANDS of prior employees get PERMANENTLY LAID OFF .... STOCK prices for said MONOPOLISTIC MERGED COMPANY with little, if any COMPETITION, left towards them, Go UP! .... WAY UP! .... ??

Sing along with old, GRUMPY TallPockets dear citizens to that famous old tune from FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, initially voiced by Zero Mostel:

"IF I were a RICH man ..... "

SMILE?? .... ~SIGH~

Later all ....

I need to go back to my SPEEDWAY local GAS station .... Last time I was there, GAS was $3.69 a GALLON .... the sweetie behind the counter, when TallPockets asked her how MUCH SHE was PAID by said Exxon owners, told me, "$7.15 an HOUR".

TallPockets kiddingly told her, "EASY sweetie, you might be OVERPAID some?"

It took a few seconds, but said SWEETIE got TallPocket's 'sarcasm' and just gave me a BIG SMILE.

I then told said sweetie, "GOTTA' Laugh or you'll CRY, right?"

TallPockets has left the Speedway Station .... errr, left the building ....

(I hear an ELVIS PRESLEY song comin' on!!!) WINK.

Audit: Vets with brain injury still not getting proper care

By HOPE YEN, Associated Press WriterThu May 1, 3:05 PM ET

Many Iraq war veterans with traumatic brain injury are not getting adequate health care and job assistance for their long-term recovery despite years of government pledges to do so, Veterans Affairs Department investigators say.

"Significant needs remain unmet," according to the report released Thursday by the VA's inspector general. It is the first to examine the Bush administration's long-term efforts in supporting veterans with traumatic brain injury, a leading problem among soldiers struck by roadside bombs that often causes lasting emotional and behavioral difficulties.

The study tracked a group of 52 patients who received VA treatment after sustaining brain injury during a seven-month period in 2004. An initial review by the IG in 2006 found gaps in follow-up care and family counseling 16 months after the injury and urged the VA to improve long-term case management.

The VA pledged to coordinate the necessary follow-up care with the Pentagon, but the latest audit concludes that efforts are still falling short for roughly one in four patients.

It found that 10 of the 41 veterans who agreed to be interviewed said they weren't getting needed help for health care, vocational rehabilitation, family support or housing. At least four patients specifically cited trouble in getting primary or specialty eye care, while others reported gaps with family counseling for problems such as depression and anger.

"This is very troubling," said Michael O'Rourke, assistant director for veterans health policy at Veterans of Foreign Wars. "The fact of the matter is from the very beginning VA and Defense went in with too little, too short (on resources), because they weren't expecting this to be a prolonged conflict of war.

"I've seen a lot of effort to correct problems that exist. But constant vigilance is required," he said. "Veterans deserve to be treated for problems they may or may not know of."

The report included a VA response in which the department acknowledged problems with case management but stated that with recent improvements it now had "systems in place to ensure that all veterans with TBI are being followed as their clinical needs require."

For example, the VA pointed to plans announced last week to start calling 570,000 recent combat veterans to make sure they know what services are available to them.

In the audit, investigators praised the new measures as "positive steps" but questioned whether the VA's latest promise to keep watch over veterans would prove to be a reality. They said that "at least 8 of 49 veterans we contacted had significant unmet needs and no evidence of VA case management in the previous year."

"We continue to be concerned that all veterans discharged after inpatient rehabilitation for TBI receive case management, unless this has been explicitly denied by the patient," investigators stated, adding that they will continue monitoring the VA to ensure Iraq war veterans are receiving the care they need.

Other findings based on the sample group:

_Eighteen of the 41 interviewed veterans with brain injury, or 44 percent, said anger was "a problem" for them.

_Twenty-one veterans, or 51 percent, reported receiving adequate counseling and support for their behavioral or emotional problems.

The report comes amid renewed scrutiny of the Bush administration's efforts in treating veterans with traumatic brain injury, which in its mild form is known as a concussion, as well as post-traumatic stress disorder in light of a prolonged Iraq war. About 19 percent — or an estimated 320,000 — of U.S. combat troops who fought in Iraq or Afghanistan may have suffered head injuries, according to a recent RAND Corp. study.

Earlier this year, the Government Accountability Office found that thousands of Iraq war veterans who could have suffered traumatic brain injury may be getting unnecessary or inadequate health care because VA officials have yet to determine whether their initial screening tests are reliable.

The VA also has faced complaints that a backlog in claims and bureaucratic hurdles have prevented some recent veterans from getting proper mental and physical care. Last week, Sens. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, and Patty Murray, D-Wash., accused the VA's top mental health official of trying to cover up the number of veterans' suicides and said he should resign.

"While VA has made progress since the last investigation, the inspector general continues to find that too many veterans with TBI and their loved ones are not receiving all the assistance and support they need," said Akaka, who chairs the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. "This does not appear to be due to a lack of funding, but rather reflects a failure to give these veterans and their loved ones the priority attention they are due."

Active-duty troops who sustain traumatic brain injury are treated for rehabilitation at one of the VA's four specialized medical centers located in Tampa, Fla., Richmond, Va., Minneapolis and Palo Alto, Calif.

"We are now in the sixth year of this war and it is clear that the VA is still struggling to meet the needs of our veterans today — it will take more than just promises to get it right," said Murray, a member of the Veterans Affairs Committee.

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On the Net:

Veterans Affairs Department: http://www.va.gov/

VA inspector general: http://www.va.gov/oig/contacts/hotline.asp

Gates calls bad barracks conditions at Fort Bragg appalling

By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press Writer2 hours, 26 minutes ago

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, after watching a YouTube video showing poor barracks conditions at the Army's Fort Bragg in North Carolina, said Thursday that what he saw was "appalling" and that all commanders must ensure that their troops have decent living quarters.

"Soldiers should never have to live in such squalor," Gates said during a speech to a packed auditorium of senior enlisted soldiers.

The nearly 10-minute video, put together by the father of an 82nd Airborne paratrooper, showed mold, peeling paint and broken plumbing fixtures in the Korean War-era barracks. The video triggered a worldwide inspection of Army barracks when it surfaced last week.

Gates' comments were the first he's made about the problems, and he said that if local resources are not available for the soldiers, then troops must alert their commanders.

Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said he does not believe that Gates had any particular person in mind when he mentioned that commanders needed to be responsible.

"He knows that the Army is aggressively looking into this matter and is confident that they will deal with it accordingly," said Morrell. "But, in general terms, he believes in accountability up the chain of command."

Gates watched the video on the plane en route to Mexico City on Tuesday.

"The conditions were appalling," Gates said Thursday.

The soldier's father, Ed Frawley, said he was disgusted by the conditions that greeted his son and the rest of his 82nd Airborne unit that returned last month from a 15-month tour of duty in Afghanistan.

Army leaders this week said improvements were coming, but some of the problems couldn't be fixed quickly. By Wednesday, the barracks had new paint, and water fountains were fixed, but work crews still labored on the plumbing.

Gates warned in his speech Thursday that, "current needs must not be sacrificed to future capabilities, whether the need is proper treatment of wounded warriors" or getting heavily armored vehicles and more surveillance capabilities to the battlefront.

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On the Net:

Defense Department: http://www.defenselink.mil