Updated information on Veteran Benefits, featured Military Bloggers, the You Served Podcast and various other news and information relevant to Veterans.
Twenty three-year-old Spc. Rose Lee Myers has a lot in common with many young soldiers deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, but has gone through one experience that is not so common.
The intelligence analyst, deployed to Contingency Operating Base Taji, Iraq with Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment, 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) and Sweetwater, Tenn., native, said she has been trained well and loves the service.
This is Meyers’ first deployment overseas, but she has fought in a battle before. Meyers won a personal battle with cancer.
She grew up in Sweetwater attending school and helping with the Family botanical nursery. Her father, Hugh is a retired Soldier, and met and married her mother, Myung-ja while stationed in Korea, Meyers said.
Meyers joined the Tennessee Army National Guard in June 2005 as a member of the Military Intelligence Company, 278th ACR out of Nashville, Tenn., and attended the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, Calif.
Midway through the 63-week language course, she began hemorrhaging and was taken to the emergency room, where she was told her blood count was one-third what it should be and needed a transfusion immediately.
In June 2007 she was diagnosed with cancer of the uterus and was told it had spread to her lungs. “The doctors told me that only two percent of women ever had this type of cancer and the cause was unknown,” Meyers said.
Meyers was declared free of the disease after six months of chemotherapy and required to receive only biannual checkups. In January 2008 she attended the Military Intelligence School at Ft. Huachuca, Ariz. and has worked for the 278th ACR ever since.
“Meyers is a very dedicated soldier,” said Master Sgt. Joel Gibbons, intelligence section noncommissioned officer-in-charge of with the 278th ACR. “She is very knowledgeable in her work and is one of our best analysts. I wouldn’t trade her for any other.”
The battle with cancer was scary, she said. “It made me thankful for every new day” Meyers said. “I feel like faith in God and friends got me through it.” Meyers offered advice for people facing similar battles, explain that it always gets worse before it gets better. She said she has worked hard to stay in the Tennessee Army National Guard. “I just kept fighting because I wanted to stay in,” she said.
Spc. Rose Lee Myers, an intelligence analyst with Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment, 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) and a Sweetwater, Tenn., native, stands in front of the regimental mural at Contingency Operating Base Taji, Iraq. Meyers was diagnosed with cancer in June 2007, but battled through and is now free of the disease.
The folks over at TacticalPants.com have done an extensive amount of research over a long period of time to put together an un-biased view of the many popular tactical pants on the market. If you are a military contractor, first responder or someone who likes the look, feel, and features of tactical pants then I suggest you check out their guide at http://tacticalpants.com/tactical-pants-guide.
I spent some time looking through this report and I was impressed by the level of detail and research they put into it. It costs you nothing and is a great resource before you buy.
Legislation that would expand tax incentives to encourage businesses to hire recently discharged veterans was unveiled by Senators Max Baucus and Charles Grassley of the Senate Finance Committee. In a joint statement, the two senators stated that their bill would require the Defense Department to “educate” separating Servicemembers on how tax credits could be used by potential employers who hire them. Also, people leaving the military would receive discharge paperwork showing that, for 180 days from separation, a business that hires them could get the tax credit. To read this article in full, please go to:http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/05/military_legislation_hireveterans_052410w/
In the nearly ten years that our country has been at war, our military has obviously been at the forefront of the news of how this war is affecting them. From time to time, the families of these troops are covered as well, but not nearly as much as they should in my opinion. A few years ago, I put up a video on my YouTube page that was released by the Army to honor our military families. It saddens me that this campaign was a one shot deal. It continues to get views, though, and I’m happy for that (over 113,000 views so far).
We all know that not all Soldiers are cut for the military. What seems to be overlooked, but should be taken just as seriously, is that not all spouses are cut out for the military either.
I remember when I first made the decision to join the Army and signed the papers. Emily and I were engaged at the time and separated by geography. She was still in Japan and I was in Texas. Her dad hadn’t PCS’d back to the states yet. I called her on a short phone card to let her know I had joined the Army and to say she wasn’t happy would be an understatement!
It’s not an easy life to live. Frequently, spouses are required to raise kids alone, handle difficult moves, deal with school issues, and take care of the family’s finances while the troop is deployed. It’s a LOT of stress to put on anyone, especially young and newly married couples.
Freedom isn’t free. I am very aware that there are many who have paid a higher price for our cherished freedoms, but right now, I’m feeling that the price that my family and I are paying is pretty damn high.
I think after this deployment is over I’m done paying the price. Someone else’s turn. We will have done our time.
It’s important to note – and a good learning point -that she has found ways to help pass the time during the deployment. She is reading books, reading scriptures, taking a stained glass class, and will be going to see that ass-monkey, Paul McCartney, in concert. Yeah, I said ass-monkey.
It’s important that spouses find ways to fill the time that is created by a loved one’s deployment.
The Dallas News today started covering these stories as well that focus on the impacts of families of deployed troops.
It’s the story of Aimee Ybarra, a mother of two grade-school children, whose husband came home after his fifth combat tour and told her he wanted to leave their 15-year marriage because he had gotten used to being gone. It’s the story of Lisa Bernreuther, who’s steeling herself for her husband’s sixth deployment; he’s only been home from his last tour since April. She keeps his Army boots by the door, she says, “because sometimes I forget I even have a husband.”
And it’s the story of Gwendolyn Roberts, a bright, outgoing sixth-grader and “Daddy’s girl.” When her father left for war for the third time in five years, the spark went out of her and she tumbled into severe depression.
It is no longer proper to compare the impact of these wars with the deployments of WWII. It’s a completely different time for wars that have outlived any previous combat action taken on by this country. While I’m glad that the Dallas News is covering this issue, I’m a little saddened that their focus is on all the negative aspects, ignoring those families that find way to positively deal with the separation. They are going to focus on:
• Repeated combat tours to Iraq and Afghanistan have split up marriages and forced kids to grow up without one or both parents for chunks of their childhood.
• Troops return home from combat tours with severe injuries and psychological disorders, thrusting spouses and other family members into new roles as long-term caregivers.
• Suicides in the military have risen to record levels, and the divorce rate has climbed steadily since the U.S. went to war in 2001.
I truly believe (but may be wrong) that deployments are really what you make of them. If you go into with a positive attitude, it’ll be a better experience. It might not be easier, but by finding ways to keep busy, focused on the marriage and the deployed troop, the year or so will go by faster than you know.
Try to find ways to make it interesting. Think of ideas for theme care packages to your loved one. It’s a lot of fun looking for things that fit that theme. When I was in Iraq, I got a bunch of those. A USA themed care package with red, white and blue items and candies. For St. Patrick’s day, a bunch of green stuff. A movie care package with microwaveable popcorn – that I never got to eat because we didn’t have a microwave where i was – and Jujubes. Introduce your service member to a new television series and send a different season each month. I became a huge fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer while deployed, a show I never before had interest in. From there, I became an Angel fan. Send your loved one a recording of various neighborhood people sending greetings to him/her. If you’re at Wal-Mart ask the cashier if she’ll say something. Go to the mayor’s office. A local police officer. Your local radio show host. etc. Obviously, if you have any kids, have the kids send a greeting too. Then, send it to them in email or on an inexpensive MP3 player along with some songs that will remind you of your loved one and the deployment.
Deployments are difficult, but they don’t have to be impossible. Remember that happiness is a choice.
The State Attorney General’s office was awarded $1.25 million to consumers of Britlee and Millennium, with $1 million going to the 615 Soldiers who did business at the Governor’s Square Mall operation in Ft. Campbell, KY. Hundreds of Ft. Campbell families did business with Britlee and ended up in debt. Britlee began operating from a kiosk in Governor’s Square Mall in November 2004 under the names The Military Zone and Laptoyz Computers and Electronics. Through the settlement, Britlee must stop all collections involving any affected Soldier accounts, dismiss all pending collection suits and clear all affected credit bureau records for the Soldiers. To read this article in full, please go to;http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/05/ap_lending_suit_052010/
Summer is here!
The kids are out of school.
Demands on your schedule have not decreased.
They have only shifted.
Got Stress?
To say that being a wife and mother is stressful is an understatement. Add on top of that the unique stresses that military families face and it is very easy to go into stress overload.
The majority of us do not have a surplus of hours in our day to unwind and relax. On those busy peace-busting days there are a few things you can do to help yourself unwind a little.
Stand up straight! Managing a hectic and stressful lifestyle can cause us to slump. Standing straight and tall takes awareness and energy that is often shifted to other things. Stop a moment, roll your shoulders back, become aware of your posture and open your shoulders and chest. This step will help you with the next tip.
Take a drink of air! When our bodies are stressed we tend to breathe shallower. Stop what you are doing for a moment. Take a deep breath through your nose and expand your lower belly as you do this. Breathe in as deeply and as slowly as possible. Now, exhale more quickly and loudly. Repeat this several times. Be careful not to hyperventilate by breathing too quickly inward and outward. Take your time.
Engage your children in a comedy break! Kids love to tell jokes to their parents. Laughter is a great stress buster. Even if the punch line isn’t too funny for an adult just watching your child tell the joke and laugh will be enough to lighten your own mood.
Enjoy a whiff of your favorite scent. Whether it is perfume, body spray, fruit or essential oils most of us tend to have a scent that we love to smell. Citrus scents are wonderful in the summer time to revitalize and rejuvenate us. Cinnamon and spice scents in the fall and winter remind us of the holidays.
This next tip plays off of the last one. Take a soft hand towel, wet it down in clean water with just a few drops of your favorite scent, and wring out. Place in a microwave for 2 minutes, test to ensure it’s comfortably warm but not too hot. Place on the back of your neck to help ease away tension. Repeat if necessary.
If you have loose ends that are nagging you to be done (phone calls to return, checks to write, etc.), take one minute and do just one. It does not have to be the highest one on the priority list. Sometimes it takes tackling the quickest ones first before we feel the motivation to take on the bigger chores. One finished loose end can make a huge difference in your stress level.
My friend Colleen, who has been featured here at You Served and on You Served Spouse radio, let me know last week that she needed some support. Her boss threw down the gauntlet and challenged her and another military spouse to a little friendly competition. Below are instructions on how you can enter the contest and help these two ladies out!
We all know that military spouses play to win!
Our Executive Director thinks he can get more members on Ning than the two Outreach Specialists can during June. Please help us show him what two Military Spouses can do – Colleen and Kristina have a combination of 40 years as Military spouses.
A recent change to Department of Defense (DoD) policy authorizes relatives of deceased Servicemembers round-trip travel and transportation allowances to a memorial event that occurs at a location other than the burial site. As part of the Army Family Covenant, commanders also are required to inform family members about any memorial event that is conducted by the unit in a combat theater. Authorized allowances include travel to and from the memorial service location, plus two days of per diem at the memorial site. Family members eligible for the special allowance include surviving spouse; deceased member’s children, regardless of age; parents; brothers and sisters and any other person including a former stepparent, who has stood in “loco parentis” to the deceased member. To read this article in full and to view a list of casualty assistance centers, please go to:http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/05/army_berieved_family_052210w/
I was fortunate to guest co-host last week’s podcast (CJ was traveling to spend time with his family and Troy had a family commitment also, so it was just the Redshirt and myself) and I wanted to talk about the guests a little and point you towards their websites and projects.
I have never spoken to a more gracious, poised and sweet young woman as Taryn Davis. She was widowed at the age of 21 and she is a strong advocate for her group, The American Widow Project. She and American widows everywhere were honored at the Memorial Day Concert in Washington, DC. Please take the time to listen to the interview and hear what her group does. It is an important message and the group does amazing things to help each other. Also, take the time to read the stories of our nation’s widows who struggle each day without their beloved husbands and partners. Make sure to have a box of kleenex nearby.
The other guest was Donald Overton, of Veterans of Modern Warfare. He has an impressive list of credentials, but more importantly, his group is structured to help veterans from Desert Shield/Desert Storm onward. I have met and worked with the local Vietnam Veterans of America group and I know how tight-knit they are. The VMW was mentored by the VVA as a group and they have some great ideas to help veterans from the more recent conflicts. I was very impressed with their idea of a chaplaincy program and Mr. Overton explains their goals in the interview. This is another good listen and if you served in the Gulf Wars, please consider joining this vet’s organization and maybe starting a local chapter to help organize and advocate for each other!
I want to thank our guests and thank Marcus for his patience. It was a great experience and I truly enjoyed speaking with both Taryn Davis and Donald Overton.
American commanders are now reconsidering the pace of a major troop pullout from Iraq this summer due to the increase in violence in the wake of Iraq’s inconclusive elections. The threat has prompted military officials to look at keeping as many troops on the ground, for as long as possible. More than two months after parliamentary elections, the Iraqis have still not formed a new government, and militants exploiting the void have carried out attacks. A security agreement between the two nations requires American troops to be out of Iraq by the end of 2011. The violence, fueled by Iraq’s political instability, will likely postpone the start of what the top U.S. commander in Iraq has called the withdrawal “waterfall” sending home large numbers of troops in a very swift period. To read this article in full, please go to: http://www.military.com/news/article/us-may-slow-pace-of-iraq-troop-pullout.html?esr
You Served's Claire talks about the life of a military spouse - the hardships, the joys, and everything in between. Join the discussion in our new Spouse and Family section!
Spc. Rose Lee Myers, an intelligence analyst with Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment, 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) and a Sweetwater, Tenn., native, stands in front of the regimental mural at Contingency Operating Base Taji, Iraq. Meyers was diagnosed with cancer in June 2007, but battled through and is now free of the disease.
