The Rev. Daniel J. Sparks, Senior Editor
Traditional Anglican priest and U.S. Army chaplain.

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Guardsman running race to put military suicides in spotlight

18 June 2009 at 2128 MDT » Comments (0)

Col. John Mosher, director of operations for the Maine Army National Guard, compares thoughts of suicide to a looming mountain.
“When you get to the top of that mountain, you get a new view on life,” he said. “But when you’re at the bottom, it looks insurmountable.”
To highlight suicide awareness among military members, Mosher is planning [...]


Army Takes New Approach to Suicide Prevention

16 June 2009 at 1910 MDT » Comments (0)

BAGHDAD, Iraq (Army News Service) – As the number of Soldiers committing suicide continues to rise, the Army’s suicide prevention campaign shifts its focus to junior leaders in an effort to arm them with the tools they need to help their Soldiers before a problem reaches a tragic end.
A recent Army study shows that 60 [...]


Love Is a Battlefield

13 June 2009 at 1639 MDT » Comments (0)

Staff Sgt. Shaun McBride would rather be in a war zone than at home. He likes the adrenaline, he says, even the “fear someone can shoot you.” He hates the petty responsibilities of home life, the bills and family issues.
He’s clocked 43 months in Afghanistan and Iraq. His first wife of three years sent him [...]


Army sees jump in reported suicides in May

12 June 2009 at 1432 MDT » Comments (0)

WASHINGTON – The Army said Thursday that were 17 reported suicides among active and reserve soldiers in May, more than twice as many as in the previous month.
Of those, one was confirmed and 16 remained under investigation, the Army said.
In April, there were eight reported suicides.
So far this year, there have been 85 reported suicides, [...]


Let’s take a closer look at Federal Law PL 103-160 (Don’t Ask-Don’t Tell)

11 June 2009 at 2240 MDT » Comments (0)

Federal Law PL 103-160 (10 U.S.C. § 654) is the U.S. Code that prohibits anyone who “demonstrate(s) a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts” from serving in the armed forces of the United States
As the law notes:

- There is no constitutional right to serve in the armed forces.
- The primary purpose of the [...]


Military Marriages Off the Rocks

11 June 2009 at 2224 MDT » Comments (0)

Military marriages are weathering five years of stressful war deployments, as judged by the Pentagon’s statistics on divorce.
When two simultaneous wars in Iraq and Afghanistan required a flood of repeated overseas duty for the Army, Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy, the active duty divorce rate stood at about 3.5 percent. Today, five years later, [...]


For troubled vets, a hard road to healing

7 June 2009 at 1422 MDT » Comments (0)

Two weeks ago, the Army took the extraordinary step of briefly suspending operations at Kentucky’s Fort Campbell so officials could focus on the mental-health needs of soldiers there after 11 confirmed soldier suicides this year.
Earlier in May, a communications specialist near the end of his third tour of duty in Iraq allegedly gunned down five [...]


Warriors take to water

7 June 2009 at 1421 MDT » Comments (0)

United States Army E-6 Jason Letterman became wheelchair-bound when a roadside bomb blew away his legs in 2008. It happened in Farisiyah, Iraq, while the 34-year-old from Marshfield, Mo., served a third tour.
But a week ago on a bright, sunny day, Staff Sgt. Letterman sat along the Smallwood State Park’s marina bulkheads, pointing a fishing [...]