Returning from combat to find their jobs are gone

Troops returning home often have a litany of problems on their plate - one of the most prominent being joblessness. Though employers are forbidden from penalizing service members for performing their military duties, that doesn’t mean soldiers don’t end up losing their jobs or benefits.

So who’s holding back on their obligations to troops coming home?

Government agencies are among the most frequent offenders, accounting for about a third of the more than 15,000 complaints filed with federal authorities since the end of September 2001, records show. Others named in the cases include some of the biggest names in American business, such as Wal-Mart and United Parcel Service.

Find out more about the crisis, with a particular focus on the large veteran community in California, in reporter Alexandra Zavis’ story here.

Photos: Tomas Ovalle / Los Angeles Times

A loss of limb, but not of spirit

Marine Staff Sgt. Mark Zambon, severely wounded in Afghanistan, lost both of his legs to a bomb, an event that may have changed his life, but has failed to define him, or limit his actions.

Two years have passed since that day in Helmand province when Zambon became a victim of a buried bomb. In describing the incident, he’s matter-of-fact.

“I got blown up,” he said.

Since then, Zambon has climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, burying the dog tags of two deceased Marines at the peak. He’s served as a navigator in the 5,000-mile Dakar Rally off-road race in South America. And he’s taken a lead role in the Heroes Project in Los Angeles, which aids wounded soldiers in discovering that they can still take command of their lives post-injury.

Read more on Zambon’s endurance in reporter Tony Perry’s story.

Photos: Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times

War photography, stretching from 1887 to now

Collected by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, WAR/PHOTOGRAPHY takes a look at more than 150 photos from wars following the advent of photography, from the horrors found on the field to the jubilant safe returns home.

The exhibit will be hosted by the Annenberg Space for Photography starting Saturday, March 23 through June 2 with free admission.

The colorful house opposing the Westboro Baptists

The Westboro Baptist Church has become synonymous with hate-filled and derogatory language, with publicity-grabbing stunts protesting everything from gay marriages, Catholicism to military funerals - making them an open target for activist Aaron Jackson.

Jackson, looking at the area surrounding the church, was shocked to discover that there were houses for sale right across the street, prompting him to create an “Equality House,” which will  serve in direct contrast to the church’s message, and house a new anti-bullying initiative.

From veteran Mike McKessor, who painted the house:

“Every neighbor that I encountered was so happy, and everybody was smiling when they go by,” McKessor said, with a chuckle. “It was on a busy street, and everybody slowed down and took pictures. I’m not exaggerating. Dang near every car stopped and said, ‘Good job! Good job!’ … I’ve never had people so happy for painting a house.”

Read more about the story behind the house on Nation Now.

Photo: Planting Peace

Seismic activity in North Korea: Detected yesterday, the activity has been confirmed by North and South Korean media to be indicative of a nuclear test, the rogue nation’s third since obtaining nuclear capability.

North Korea claims that the device was more powerful than its previous two, though that has yet to be independently confirmed. The test has been soundly condemned by neighboring countries, from Japan, Russia and even China.

Said the White House in a statement following the test:

Far from achieving its stated goal of becoming a strong and prosperous nation, North Korea has instead increasingly isolated and impoverished its people through its ill-advised pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery.

For more info on the test, and its implications, click here.

(Photo via Yonhap)

Remembering forgotten heroism: Two Protestant ministers, a Catholic priest and a rabbi became national heroes for helping save the lives of soldiers amid a torpedoed troop ship in 1943, a story that has since faded with the passage of time.

70 years after one of World War II’s most celebrated episodes, the story has faded, kept alive these days mainly by veterans groups, history buffs and family members of the 672 men who died in the sinking of the ill-fated Dorchester.

Relive, and rekindle the retelling of their selfless acts, here.

(Photo via Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)

When a Belgian malinois named Cora returned from a deployment as a bomb-detecting dog in Iraq, there wasn’t yet a name for the condition that left her startled by loud noises, growling often and acting aggressively toward other dogs. Now, it’s known as canine PTSD, and military dog specialists are learning how to effectively treat it. 

Walter Burghardt Jr., chief of behavioral medicine and military working-dog studies at [Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio], estimates that at least 10% of the hundreds of dogs sent to Iraq and Afghanistan to protect U.S. troops have developed canine PTSD.

Successful treatment can include conditioning a dog to sources of stress, retraining and the use of anti-anxiety medication. Burghart estimates that about half of military dogs with canine PTSD and related problems are retired, but many return to military work or related fields. 

Photo: Cora with Marine Cpl. Drew Daniel Adams. Credit: Tony Perry / Los Angeles Times

Little-known fact: The Marines are working to protect the Agassiz’s desert tortoise, a species vulnerable to extinction. The base in Twentynine Palms, Calif., includes five acres dedicated to a Desert Tortoise Head-Start Facility, where 500 hatchlings are being cared and protected from predators (namely ravens, which feed on juvenile tortoises whose shells are still soft).

More than 90% of Marines who deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan came to Twentynine Palms for several weeks of grueling training known as Mojave Viper. And every one of them received a video lecture about the tortoise’s threatened status under the federal Endangered Species Act. Troops were warned to halt all training and notify the range master the moment a tortoise is spotted.

Marines are also ordered to make the base less hospitable to ravens by picking up food litter and making sure trash cans have lids that are “raven-proof.” Anti-raven pamphlets titled “Invasion of the Tortoise Snatchers” are handed out.

More tortoise photos for your viewing pleasure here.

Photo: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times

Editor Davan Maharaj and National editor Roger Smith will be discussing this story, including the reasons why The Times decided to publish these photos, at 11 a.m. today (that’s in about five minutes). Take a look at the story, and join us for the chat.

latimes:

EXCLUSIVE: Photos show U.S. troops posing with body parts of Afghan bombers: An American soldier says he released the photos to the Los Angeles Times to draw attention to the safety risk of a breakdown in leadership and discipline. The Army has started a criminal investigation.

Photo: A soldier from the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division with the body of an Afghan insurgent killed while trying to plant a roadside bomb. The photo is one of 18 provided to The Times of U.S. soldiers posing with corpses.

test reblogged from latimes

EXCLUSIVE: Photos show U.S. troops posing with body parts of Afghan bombers: An American soldier says he released the photos to the Los Angeles Times to draw attention to the safety risk of a breakdown in leadership and discipline. The Army has started a criminal investigation.

The photos have emerged at a particularly sensitive moment for U.S.-Afghan relations. In January, a video appeared on the Internet showing four U.S. Marines urinating on Afghan corpses. In February, the inadvertent burning of copies of the Koran at a U.S. base triggered riots that left 30 dead and led to the deaths of six Americans. In March, a U.S. Army sergeant went on a nighttime shooting rampage in two Afghan villages, killing 17.

The soldier who provided The Times with a series of 18 photos of soldiers posing with corpses did so on condition of anonymity. He served in Afghanistan with the 82nd Airborne’s 4th Brigade Combat Team from Ft. Bragg, N.C. He said the photos point to a breakdown in leadership and discipline that he believed compromised the safety of the troops.

[Updated at 10:55 a.m.: Editor Davan Maharaj and National editor Roger Smith will be discussing this story, including the reasons why The Times decided to publish these photos, at 11 a.m. today in a live chat.]

Photo: A soldier from the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division with the body of an Afghan insurgent killed while trying to plant a roadside bomb. The photo is one of 18 provided to The Times of U.S. soldiers posing with corpses.

A fog of drugs and war: More than 110,000 active-duty Army troops last year took antidepressants, sedatives and other prescription medications. Some see a link to aberrant behavior.

Photo: Patrick Burke with his wife, Elise, and their son, Jackson. In a drunk driving and auto theft case last year, the Air Force pilot was found not guilty “by reason of lack of mental responsibility” — a result of the prescription drugs he’d taken. Credit: Burke Family Photo

Court helps ex-warriors fix their lives: Some military veterans have collided with the criminal justice system. There are now more than 90 courts across the U.S. tailored to veterans who are willing to work to get back on track.

The results [of Orange County’s Combat Veterans Court] so far are striking: 21 graduates, none of whom have had any new convictions or arrests.

Photo: Shaughn Whittington, 27, works on a vehicle during his auto mechanics class at Golden West College in Huntington Beach. He is a participant in Orange County’s Combat Veterans Court program. Credit: Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times

Denied combat roles, Army women battle men in cage fighting: “We can be as tough as the guys,” says one who made it to a championship round of a tournament at Ft. Hood, Texas.

The Army still bars women from fighting in combat units. But some women are trying to break that barrier far from the front lines — by battling male soldiers in chain-link cages against a backdrop of strobe lights, thumping music and swirling smoke.

The slugfests resemble ultimate fighting, a staple of pay-per-view television, right down to the black wire cages and throat-constricting holds with names like “the guillotine” and “the rear naked choke.”

Photo: Staff Sgt. Jackelyn Walker takes blows to the face as she fights Pfc. Gregory Langarica in the bantamweight championship of the finals. Credit: José M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune

Soldier held in Afghan killings was from troubled U.S. base: Dozens of recent cases of killings, suicides and assaults have been linked to combat troops from sprawling Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state.

The largest military base on the West Coast, with more than 60,000 military and civilian personnel, Lewis-McChord is one of the main infantry engines for Iraq and Afghanistan. Lately, the base has earned a reputation for a series of horrific crimes emanating from there, including those by a “kill team” of Stryker brigade soldiers accused of killing Afghan civilians for sport, a father accused of waterboarding his child and a soldier accused of dousing his wife’s legs with lighter fluid and setting her on fire.

Photo: A TV in a barber shop near Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state shows Brig. Gen. Carsten Jacobson, a spokesman for the mission in Afghanistan, after a soldier from the base was accused of shooting 16 Afghan civilians to death. Credit: Ted S. Warren / Associated Press

A woman on a mission: Defense cuts cost Laura Herzog her job, but her work with grieving military families was too important to stop. She launched the nonprofit group Honoring Our Fallen to aid families of deceased service members

Photo: Mary Hargrove, left, gets support from Laura Herzog as she joins relatives and Marine war buddies watching the release of balloons inscribed in memory of her son, Lance Cpl. Justin Swanson, 21, of Anaheim, during a second anniversary memorial at Westminster Memorial Park. Credit: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times