PBS documentary following two rural soldiers gets Emmy nomination

The story of Dominic and Cole, best friends who join the National Guard after graduating from their rural Northern Michigan high school, became the PBS documentary that The Washington Post called "hauntingly beautiful and deeply felt." Where Soldiers Come From is now also an Emmy nominee for Outstanding Continuing Coverage of a New Story, Long Form. For the documentary, director Heather Courtney returned to her own hometown to gain extraordinary access to Dominic and Cole to show how two men from a small town grew and changed, almost overnight, to become men, looking for bombs on the roadsides of Afghanistan. And how they came home again, victims of traumatic brain injury and post traumatic stress, eventually disillusioned about their choices and their mission.

The National Priorities Project reports that, in 2004, 44 percent of military recruits came from rural areas. In contrast, only 14 percent came from major cities. Regionally, the Pentagon reports that most enlistees come from the South (40 percent) and the West (24 percent).

Where Soldiers Come From won the 2012 Independent Spirit Truer Than Fiction Award. The 33rd annual News and Documentary Emmy Award winners will be announced at a gala event at Frederick P. Rose Hall, located in the Time-Warner Center, on Monday, Oct. 1, in New York City.

One rural community has high rate of soldiers dealing with effects of war

A disproportionate amount of veterans come from rural America, and in trying to "understand the impact of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars on the American fabric," McClatchy Newspapers reviewed Department of Veterans Affairs documents to find a small town to chronicle. Reporter Chris Adams chose London, Ky., where almost 200 service members are now veterans collecting disability payments for war injuries. The area has one of the highest rates of disability collected for post traumatic stress disorder, one of the most prevalent ailments associ:ted with the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. (Photo by Chris Adams: Zola Hamlin held a photo of her grandson, Staff Sgt. Christopher Hamlin, at her home just outside London. He was killed by a roadside bomb in Baghdad in May 2007.)

Adams visited London and talked with veterans, preachers, shopkeepers and family members to report about the impact both wars have had on this community. "War and the consequences of war run deep here. At one church, five members are overseas now. At the veterans' halls, the talk by former Iraq and Afghanistan war vets is just beginning. American flags fly up and down Main Street. Patriotism is at the surface," Adams writes.

Three Londoners were killed in action, a higher number than most small towns, Adams reports. Corbin-native and Marine Matt Jackson was killed and his father, Timothy, told Adams many people don't know how the decade-long wars affect them. "I can tell you that until my son got killed, I didn't have a clue how it affects us," he said.

Many London-area service members are enlisted in the Kentucky National Guard. The town's unit is currently on its second tour of duty and their return date is uncertain. This leaves some, like Sarah Doggette, who's husband is in the unit, to raise family alone. Their 4-year-old son thinks his dad is at the London Armory - not 6,500 miles away in Iraq. Doggette coordinates the family readiness group for deployed soldiers from London and told Adams communication between families and soldiers is constant and has improved since the unit's first deployment, something she said helps family members cope. The unit's 124 members are now helping in cleanup and shutdown, including sweeping roads for improvised explosive devices.

London-area soldiers returning from war are also dealing with its heavy toll. Since 2003, 175 soldiers in the London area are on Veteran Affairs' disability rolls, with a total of 917 ailments ranging from mild to severe. Psychologist Cynthia Dunn has helped veterans deal with PTSD, which can last the rest of their lives. She told Adams only a tenth of the veterans she meets weekly are of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, but that's likely to change as more soldiers return with the end of both wars and are pushed to attend by family members - "the first line of intervention." (Read more)

National Guard members with rural backgrounds help farmers in Afghanistan

As American forces mark their ninth straught Independence Day in Afghanistan, here's a feel-good story for the Fourth, by Jim Warren of the Lexington Herald-Leader: "About 60 Kentucky National Guard members returned home Friday, after spending the last year fighting the war in Afghanistan with bee hives instead of bullets, and soybeans instead of shells."

Guard members from about eight states "showed Afghan farmers how to prevent soil erosion and irrigate more efficiently; helped veterinary students sharpen their skills; and empowered Afghan women to start their own agribusiness ventures," Warren reports. "Guard members from across Kentucky were selected for the team because they had skills in areas related to agriculture, such as biology, entomology or veterinary science." (Army photo: Lt. Col. Ruth Graves of Franklin worked with the Kentucky Agribusiness Development Team to demonstrate how to hook up an automatic seeder to a tractor at Al Biruni University in Kapisa province.)

The Kentuckians implemented an idea from their counterparts in Nebraska, "a women's empowerment project that called for distributing hundreds of bee hives to Afghan farm wives" and showing them "how to manage the bees and increase the number of hives as the bee populations grew. The women then collected honey from the hives for sale at local markets and bazaars." They also introduced soybeans as a protein source. Another team is now in Afghanistan, "and a third will deploy there early next year," Warren reports.

Resources to localize Afghanistan troop coverage

President Obama is expected to announce a new plan to send around 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan during a national television address tonight. While large-scale troop counts and war strategies can be difficult to localize, Al Tompkins of the Poynter Institute has provided some excellent resources for local journalists in his Morning Meeting. More than 850 Americans have died in or around Afghanistan since the start of the war.

ICasualties.org also has an interactive map that breaks down the number of wounded and killed by state. Here is tyhe iCasualties site, which is updated daily to include the number of deaths, wounded and missing or captured. The Washington Post's ongoing "Faces of the Fallen" page honors fallen soldiers with a picture, biographical information and details of their death. PBS also has a brief history of Afghanistan and timeline of American involvement in the country. (Read more)

Visiting Afghans say agriculture is a key to U.S. efforts to stabilize their war-wracked nation

Six veterinarians from Afghanistan, on a visit to Colorado, say that if the U.S. wants to stabilize their country, giving the most agrarian Afghans agricultural options beyond the illicit drug trade is essential. The veterinarians were brought to the U.S. as part of the nonmilitary effort in Afghanistan, Bruce Finley of The Denver Post reports. (Post photo by R.J. Sangosti)

One told Finley, "If we keep people busy in agriculture, that will be good for security. We have a lot of land that is not used for drugs. We have no water to irrigate that land. If our agriculture is supported by the United States — if we can have a good irrigation system — this could be good land and a lot of people could get jobs." Retired Colorado State University professors escorted the six to farms, feedlots, research stations and clinics. U.S. officials aim to "improve the livestock and crop production," Finley reports, to increase income for farmers who otherwise grow opium poppies.

The veterinarians are already leading projects in their country with U.S. support, including an emerging cashmere goat industry. After the veterinarians trained 150,000 farmers to cut and comb the fibers from goats, production increased to 6 metric tons last year and is expected to top 50 tons this year. Despite the turmoil in his nation, one visitor told Finley he has no plans to leave: "I couldn't leave and go to another country. I love it because I was born there." (Read more)

Contract workers, 'veterans in all but name,' suffer same injuries and come mainly from rural areas

Injuries from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are altering the lives of contract workers as well as soldiers, and the contract workers seem to come disproprtionately from rural areas, as soldiers do. "Contract workers from the U.S. have been mostly men, primarily middle-aged, many of them military veterans drawn by money, patriotism or both, according to interviews and public records," T. Christian Miller of ProPublica writes for The Los Angeles Times. "They are police officers, truck drivers, firefighters, mechanics and craftsmen, mostly from rural corners of America, especially the South."

But contract workers don't qualify for the same medical care as injured military personnel. Troops are guaranteed treatment at Veterans Administration facilities, but contract workers only qualify for worker's compensation insurance paid by the federal government under the Defense Base Act, Miller reports. "These guys are like the Vietnam vets of this generation," Lee Frederiksen, a psychologist who worked for Mission Critical Psychological Services, a Chicago-based firm that provides counseling for war zone workers, tells Miller. "The normal support that you would get if you were injured in the line of duty as a police officer or if you were injured in the military . . . just doesn't exist." That puts more pressure on health services in rural areas.

Nearly 1,600 civilian workers, whom Miller calls "military veterans in all but name," have died in Iraq and Afghanistan with thousands more injured. Reggie Lane, a contract worker from Central Point, Ore., was injured in Iraq when insurgents attacked his fuel truck with rocket-propelled grenades. His mental state has gradually deteriorated since he returned home, leaving him unable to speak, and American International Group Inc. estimates his care will cost as much as $8.9 million for the rest of his life, for which the federal government will reimburse his employer.

Herbert J. Lanese, former chief executive of DynCorp International, one of the largest employers of civilian workers in Iraq and Afghanistan, tells Miller: "These are people who have given their lives in the service of our country. They are the unappreciated patriots of our country at this point in time." (Read more)

Lack of sleep is new enemy of returning soldiers

As soldiers come home from tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, the physical injuries they face are sometimes less challemnging than the mental exhaustion caused by lack of sleep. Veterans' health is a rural concern because troops come disproportionately from rural areas.

About 36 percent of Army troops who have been back for a year complain of feeling tired during the day, and another 34 percent say they difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep, Jia-Rui Chong writes for the Los Angeles Times. Researchers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center found that sleeping/waking problems were the most commonly cited health issues returning soldiers were facing.

Soldiers returning to the U.S. must confront the challenges of redefining a routine and fitting back into civilian life. Mitch Hood, 25, battles nightmares and 18-hour days since he's returned, supporting himself on energy drinks and caffeine pills. Bill Rider, a Vietnam veteran, is all too familiar with the signs of exhaustion, having suffered from the same trauma and fatigue after returning from duty 40 years ago. He helped found a combat support group in 2001 and insists that, "Sleep deprivation ... is an ongoing discussion," particularly for victims of trauma and veterans, he told Chong.

Many veterans seek help from painkillers and sleeping pills, but the risk of prescribing medication for soldiers suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is high. "Up to 60 percent struggle daily with substance abuse," Dr. Tasha Souter, medical director of the Trauma Recovery Program at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System, told Chong. Click here to read more.

Research helps explain vets' mental-health issues

Military training intended to help soldiers to react quickly in combat makes them more prone to various emotional and psychological issues upon return to civilian life, according to research at the University of Arkansas. Rural areas should take note because military enlistment is disproportionately rural.

"What we learned talking to soldiers and mental health professionals affirms the findings of the Department of Defense Health Board Task Force on Mental Health, particularly regarding the stigma attached to psychological problems and the shortcomings in available treatment," says sociologist and lead researcher Lori Holyfield, an assistant professor in UA's Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice. Her research team analyzed oral histories of Iraq War veterans and mental-health professionals who were active in the field or work in Veterans Administration facilities and soldier, as well as professional accounts from military blogs, documentary films and news coverage.

The analysis used what sociologists have learned about emotions and "edgework," which is what they call voluntary, risk-taking behavior through negotiating between danger and safety in life-and-death situations. Edgework consist of four stages: preparation involving confidence building, performance marked by suppression of emotions, completion allowing emotional release, and maintenance that redefines emotions. Soldiers interviewed for the Veterans Oral History Project consistently reported feelings of hyper-arousal. Despite the suppression of many emotions, the constant threat can produce extended states of rage or anger.

During the completion stage, anger often resurfaces, and when soldiers return home, they must learn to control their emotions and reconcile their feelings and actions. According to the researchers, "the ability to get a perspective on one's self is blocked" because emotions have been continually repressed. They found that soldiers returning to civilian life often redefine their emotions in hyper-masculine ways, including toughness or self-sacrifice. High rates of post-traumatic stress disorder coupled with increasing rates of suicide, substance abuse and alcoholism place mental-health problems for returning veterans at crisis levels. Yet, the number of mental health professionals is declining, which has encouraged the Veterans Administration to work on increasing its mental health staff. Read more.

Wars putting special stress on military families

Add to the list of homefront troubles from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, where the military members are disproportionately rural, some things that really hit home: divorce and domestic disputes.

"The strains and separations of no-end-in-sight wars are taking an ever-growing toll on military families despite the armed services' earnest efforts to help," reports David Crary of The Associated Press. "Divorce lawyers see it in the breakup of youthful marriages as long, multiple deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan fuel alienation and mistrust. Domestic violence experts see it in the scuffles that often precede a soldier's departure or sour a briefly joyous homecoming."

Crary writes, "A Pentagon-funded study last year concluded that children in some Army families were markedly more vulnerable to abuse and neglect by their mothers when their fathers were deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. In Iraq, the latest survey by Army mental health experts showed that more than 15 percent of married soldiers deployed there were planning a divorce, with the rates for soldiers at the late stages of deployment triple those of recent arrivals." Army wife Jessica Leonard told Crary, "Infidelity is huge on both sides — a wife is lonely, she looks for attention and finds it easier to cheat. It does make even the most sound marriages second-guess."

Crary has several chilling examples of violence brought home. The Army told him that its domestic violence rates are no worse than for civilian families, but Johns Hopkins nursing professor Jackie Campbell, who served on a Defense Department domestic-violence task force, told him, "They have no clue what the rate of domestic violence is — they only know what's reported to the system, and that's always lower than the actual rate." And other critics say there is a lack of comprehensive, updated data that reflects the impact of war-zone deployments and tracks cases involving veterans, reservists and National Guard members," he writes. "The Miles Foundation, which provides domestic-violence assistance to military wives, says its caseload has more than quadrupled during the Iraq and Afghan conflicts."

In some ways, the domestic burdens are greater than in previous wars because of "the deployment pattern — two, three, sometimes four overseas stints of 12 or 15 months," Crary writes. "In the past, that kind of schedule was virtually unheard of." Rene Robichaux, social work programs manager for the U.S. Army Medical Command, told him, "There's nothing that has prepared many of our families for the length of these deployments. It's hard to communicate to a family member how stressful the environment is, not just the risk of injury or death, but the austere circumstances, the climate, the living conditions." (Read more)

May 13 conference to focus on needs of rural vets

With the war in Iraq in its sixth year and a new generation of veterans needing care, Geisinger Health System of Danville, Pa., will host a conference May 13 with military and civilian experts to increase understanding and meet the unique challenges faced by rural soldiers. The goal of the conference, "Combat Stress Injuries/Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Implications for Rural Veterans and Their Families," is to encourage regional health care workers to work together to triage vulnerable rural soldiers to the Department of Veterans Affairs and other agencies. (Encarta map)

Today, rural soldiers returning from a deployment — and eager to get home — often find themselves miles away from the closest government facility. As a result, many postpone needed behavioral care. The conference will focus on making sure rural soldiers receive timely care from the appropriate source. Attendees will include doctors, nurses, social workers, mental health counselors and veterans. Florida State University Traumatology Institute Director Charles Figley, Ph.D., will be the keynote speaker. Retired U.S. Army officer and former Wilkes-Barre television news anchor Keith Martin will be the moderator.

Geisinger Health System says it is one of the nation’s largest integrated health services organizations and serves more than 2 million residents of central and northeastern Pennsylvania.

Bone up on foreign policy in media call tomorrow

Foreign policy may seem foreign to some rural journalists, but it shouldn't, with our military relying heavily on rural recruits and a shaky economy that is often affected, even at the farm and small-town level, by events overseas.

The Council on Foreign Relations is making a special effort to bring foreign-policy issues to rural voters during this year's race for president. Tomorrow, it is hosting a listen-only media call with the foreign-policy advisers to the Clinton, Obama and McCain campaigns, moderated by Jim Hoagland of The Washington Post.

The call will take place from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Eastern time. The call-in number is 1-866-710-0179 and the passcode is C2008. The representatives will be Susan Rice for Obama, Mara Rudman for Clinton and Randy Scheunemann for McCain.