Veterans' health costs could top $900 billion - A new study estimates that health costs for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans could top $900 billion, and San Diego Congressman Bob Filner wants to set up a trust fund to make sure the bill will be paid. Filner warned that the U.S. faces a huge bill for veterans' health care, and his concerns were buttressed by a recent study by Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz of Columbia University and Linda Bilmes of Harvard University. They say the number of veterans, their injury rates and the cost of treating them have increased far more than expected in the last couple of years. Filner is chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, which has scheduled a hearing on the issue today. Stiglitz and Bilmes said that about 600,000 of the more than 2.1 million service members who've been deployed since 2001 have already received treatment by the Department of Veterans Affairs. The 600,000 figure is far higher than the numbers most often given publicly by defense officials. The veterans agency did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Books Help Teens Understand & Cope with War - Statistics show military children sought mental health care 2 million times in 2008. That is double the number compared to 2003. There is no doubt the war on terrorism is having a great impact on teenagers. Deanne Sherman and her daughter co-wrote two books to help teens and parents involved in the war. Deanne's daughter has a PHD in clinical psychology and Deanne is an educator trying to help families. The first book, 'My Story', is a collection of four blogs by teens who write about life before, during and after a military parent deploys. While many teens cope okay, some actually live in fear, are depressed, have higher blootwod pressure and heart rates. The second book 'Finding my Way,' outlines the signs of post-traumatic stress disorder, and how a teen can cope with a parent with the condition. Teens have to find a healthy release and not keep it bottled up inside. Sherman says, "For the kids there are all kinds of coping tools: finding someone to share their feelings with and finding a peaceful place or a centering where they can meditate and be calm and find a centering for themselves." Visit www.seedsofhopebooks.com for more information. 1st Marines Division to execute Exercise Steel Knight - Marines and sailors from San Diego County and throughout southern California will take part in the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force training exercise 'Steel Knight - 2010' Oct. 1 at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, 29 Palms. The exercise is scheduled through Oct. 15, 2010. Steel Knight is an annual exercise designed to help Marines and sailors of the 1st Marine Division maintain their core competencies and proficiency in the use of combined arms in a live-fire exercise environment. Live fire exercises, like Steel Knight, ensure the 1st Marine Division remains trained, ready, relevant and responsive to emergent requirements anywhere on the globe and is ready to rapidly respond to conventional and irregular warfare contingencies. Participating units include: Marines and sailors from the 5th and 11th Marine Regiments, 1st Tank Battalion, 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion, 3rd Combat Engineer Battalion, 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion and Combat Logistics Regiment 1 Steel Knight will conclude with a four-stage, division level, live-fire combined arms exercise beginning Oct. 11. Hidden Wounds: Husband not the same man after war - Crystal has come to an understanding: Dany won't ever be the man she married 10 years ago, but she's not going anywhere. They take their vows seriously. For now, the next deployment glares at the Cavalier family from the future. They feel certain that one day, Dany will leave, maybe this time for Afghanistan. He's been in the Army 12 years, and he plans to make it to 20. "It's like we're always going to get deployed, and it's just a way of life," Crystal said. "We only have eight or nine years left. ... That's our light at the end of the tunnel." Crystal is still trying to adjust to the man her husband is now. His emotional numbness makes it hard for her to tell if he's being serious or a smart aleck. She and Dany have little rules to make sure fights don't escalate. They try to have a cooling-off period. And they always say "I love you" no matter how mad they are. But she can't help wondering how her marriage might be different if it hadn't been shaped by a war on the other side of the world. "He's not the same person I married." she said. "I'm not the same person either." Survivors of capsized boat put on other US ship - Survivors of a ship that capsized off the coast of Somalia during a U.S. rescue effort have been moved to a second U.S. ship while officials determine where to take them. The 62 survivors were transferred from the USS Winston S. Churchill warship Wednesday morning to the amphibious docking ship USS Pearl Harbor, Lt. John Fage, a spokesman for the 5th Fleet in Bahrain, said. Fage had earlier reported the number to be 61, and later corrected the figure. The survivors were among more than 80 Somalis and Ethiopians aboard a boat that developed engine trouble Monday and was adrift in the Gulf of Aden. Earlier this month, Marine commandos from Camp Pendleton stormed a pirate-held cargo ship off the Somali coast, taking nine prisoners without firing a shot. It was the first time the international task force has launched a boarding raid.
