Fired 'Candy Man' Tomah VA chief of staff to start own practice
WTMJ Exclusive
Michelle Richards
Feb 3, 2016
TOMAH - The wife of a veteran who died from an overdose at the Tomah VA was shocked to learn the former chief of staff, whom veterans nicknamed "Candy Man," may soon be prescribing drugs to others.
Dr. David Houlihan was fired last fall after an investigation into over-prescribing painkillers at the VA Medical Center.
WTMJ has learned Houlihan is soliciting new patients in LaCrosse while also being considered for a job at a practice in Minnesota.
"I am shocked," Heather Simcakoski told WTMJ. Simcakoski's husband, Jason, died from an overdose in 2014. "I am just shocked to know he would be able to open a practice."
Houlihan has not been charged. Calls to his practice were redirected to another practice in Minnesota.
read more here
Sunday, February 7, 2016
UK Veteran Sleeps In Car, Syrian Refugees Get Housing?
Awesome update to this story
Kind-hearted former soldier offers war hero home after he was left living in car for 6 MONTHS
War veteran homeless and sleeping in car
Coventry Telegraph
By Mike Lockley
7 FEB 2016
Richard Storer, from Solihull , tormented by the horrors he witnessed during a 21-year army career, burrows deep into a sleeping bag on the back seat of his battered VW Golf each night.
Occasionally, if he is lucky, he is able to doss down on a friend’s sofa but that is the exception to the rule.
The 41-year-old, wrapped tight against winter’s bite, has become a familiar sight in Lea Village, on the outskirts of Chelmsley Wood.
The ex-corporal, invalided out of the Army with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder last June, says his country has forgotten him.
Kind-hearted former soldier offers war hero home after he was left living in car for 6 MONTHS
War veteran homeless and sleeping in car
Coventry Telegraph
By Mike Lockley
7 FEB 2016
The father of three, who joined the Irish Guards at the tender age of 16, has served in Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Kosova, twice in Iraq – and three times in Afghanistan.
A veteran of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq has been living in his car for six weeks after being made homeless.Veteran of two wars Richard Storer who says he is homeless and being forced to sleep in his car
Richard Storer, from Solihull , tormented by the horrors he witnessed during a 21-year army career, burrows deep into a sleeping bag on the back seat of his battered VW Golf each night.
Occasionally, if he is lucky, he is able to doss down on a friend’s sofa but that is the exception to the rule.
The 41-year-old, wrapped tight against winter’s bite, has become a familiar sight in Lea Village, on the outskirts of Chelmsley Wood.
The ex-corporal, invalided out of the Army with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder last June, says his country has forgotten him.
“I don’t expect special treatment,” he said. “I don’t expect special treatment because I fought for this country, I just want what’s right.
“But I recently saw a programme about Syrian refugees, and it said 80 per cent of those shown had been given homes.
read more here
Give Disabled Veterans Power To Change
Give Disabled Veterans Power To Change
Orlando Rocks 2015
Orlando Rocks 2014
Orlando Rocks 2013
The truth only has power when it is known. Support the facts and give them the ability to fight for their lives.
http://www.combatptsdwoundedtimes.org/ Covers the real news and government reports to arm veterans with information they need to know. Congress has jurisdiction over how our veterans are treated yet have failed for decades. National news used to consider what was happening to our veterans as important yet somehow managed to forget that awesome responsibility replacing their stories with politicians using them for votes.
Veteran Suicides, The Stories of Their Lives Lost
Reporting on Veteran Suicides Easier Than Living With The Stories
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
February 7, 2016
The reporters at San Diego Union Tribune did a fabulous job reporting on suicides. You really should read their stories and of those from the families left behind.
This report is on the simple fact it is hard to cover these stories for reporters but even harder if you have a personal connection to them. Families talk about their suffering, not for someone to feel sorry for them, but more for the sake they don't want others to know that level of pain they wished someone had stopped them from feeling.
Going on 34 years of doing this I remember what that felt like. First I wanted to understand my husband. He's a Vietnam veteran. After growing up surrounded by veterans, I needed to know why he as so different and experiencing what my Dad called "shell shock." After all these years, he's living a good quality of life and we proved that no one is stuck suffering. Marriages don't have to end.
I started to research it to understand him, then to help save him and his friends. Along the years I understood myself as well. What I didn't understand was I couldn't save everyone. I couldn't save my husband's nephew, who was also a Vietnam veteran.
I knew it all! I knew what he needed to know and how to explain it so that he wouldn't think it was his fault anymore than what happened to him after service was his fault alone. The trouble is, I didn't know how to get him to listen. He committed suicide and ever since then, every time I read about another suicide, it is like a dagger to my heart and I run through all the "what if" questions that never seem to be answered.
Back then, no one was talking about veterans surviving combat only to lose their lives by their own hands years afterwards. I hoped someday they would stop suffering in silence and families would no longer feel shame for something that was not their fault.
Now they are talking and to me, these families are heroes. Reporters finding value in telling their stories are vital in all of this. With that said, there is still a lot of misinformation out there that never really seems to get corrected.
First is the number "22 a day" when that number is wrong. It freaks me out to hear it repeated by a charity taking care of the families as much as it nauseates me to read a politician using that number. They should know better. As long as reporters do not learn the facts ahead of time, veterans will go on questioning the other information in the report. If they can't get that number right, what else are they getting wrong?
The CDC reports over 40,000 Americans commit suicide every year. Every state has reported veteran suicides double the civilian population rate. That means there are over 26,000 a year ending the lives that survived military service.
Reporters do not remind folks that the vast majority of these veterans are over the age of 50 any more than they cover the simple fact that those are the veterans all the new charities won't care about.
Are all veterans equal? Our generation thought so but that was only after Vietnam veterans decided to fight for all generations despite how they were treated by older veterans.
Reporting on suicides is hard but telling the truth is harder when the majority are taking the easy way out repeating a number that is just easy to remember.
None of this is easy for the veterans and nothing is easy on the families they leave behind. PTSD does not have to win or defeat survivors of combat.
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
February 7, 2016
The reporters at San Diego Union Tribune did a fabulous job reporting on suicides. You really should read their stories and of those from the families left behind.
This report is on the simple fact it is hard to cover these stories for reporters but even harder if you have a personal connection to them. Families talk about their suffering, not for someone to feel sorry for them, but more for the sake they don't want others to know that level of pain they wished someone had stopped them from feeling.
Going on 34 years of doing this I remember what that felt like. First I wanted to understand my husband. He's a Vietnam veteran. After growing up surrounded by veterans, I needed to know why he as so different and experiencing what my Dad called "shell shock." After all these years, he's living a good quality of life and we proved that no one is stuck suffering. Marriages don't have to end.
I started to research it to understand him, then to help save him and his friends. Along the years I understood myself as well. What I didn't understand was I couldn't save everyone. I couldn't save my husband's nephew, who was also a Vietnam veteran.
I knew it all! I knew what he needed to know and how to explain it so that he wouldn't think it was his fault anymore than what happened to him after service was his fault alone. The trouble is, I didn't know how to get him to listen. He committed suicide and ever since then, every time I read about another suicide, it is like a dagger to my heart and I run through all the "what if" questions that never seem to be answered.
Back then, no one was talking about veterans surviving combat only to lose their lives by their own hands years afterwards. I hoped someday they would stop suffering in silence and families would no longer feel shame for something that was not their fault.
Now they are talking and to me, these families are heroes. Reporters finding value in telling their stories are vital in all of this. With that said, there is still a lot of misinformation out there that never really seems to get corrected.
First is the number "22 a day" when that number is wrong. It freaks me out to hear it repeated by a charity taking care of the families as much as it nauseates me to read a politician using that number. They should know better. As long as reporters do not learn the facts ahead of time, veterans will go on questioning the other information in the report. If they can't get that number right, what else are they getting wrong?
The CDC reports over 40,000 Americans commit suicide every year. Every state has reported veteran suicides double the civilian population rate. That means there are over 26,000 a year ending the lives that survived military service.
Reporters do not remind folks that the vast majority of these veterans are over the age of 50 any more than they cover the simple fact that those are the veterans all the new charities won't care about.
Are all veterans equal? Our generation thought so but that was only after Vietnam veterans decided to fight for all generations despite how they were treated by older veterans.
Reporting on suicides is hard but telling the truth is harder when the majority are taking the easy way out repeating a number that is just easy to remember.
None of this is easy for the veterans and nothing is easy on the families they leave behind. PTSD does not have to win or defeat survivors of combat.
SUICIDES: TOUGH BUT NECESSARY REPORTING
The San Diego Union-Tribune
By Jeanette Steele
Feb. 5, 2016
For journalists, writing about suicide is walking a knife’s edge.
On one hand, it’s a major issue that deserves attention.
“We have an ethical commitment to tell the truth about a public health problem,” said Bruce Shapiro, executive director of the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma at Columbia University.
If you don’t report on suicides, he said, “You might as well not cover the dangers of smoking.”
On the other hand, he and other experts said news coverage that makes suicide seem inevitable, or like a legitimate solution, could lead to more people taking their lives.
News stories also should not disclose information that might prompt people in despair to copycat the event, such as writing about a particular train platform where people have jumped to their deaths.
For this project about younger U.S. military veterans, perhaps the biggest issue is whether the life challenges they face are presented as hopeless and unsolvable.
But the hurdles can certainly be overcome, according to those who specialize in the topic.
“There’s no need to suffer, there’s no need to end a life by suicide. It’s a health problem that has solutions,” said Kim Ruocco, a spokeswoman for Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, or TAPS, a nonprofit group that helps military families deal with grief.
“You can show that, yes, we have some cracks in our system that need to be repaired, but there are lots of places where you can get hope,” said Ruocco, whose late husband, a Marine Corps officer, died by suicide in 2005.
read more here
Veteran Suicide Triple Crisis Counting Congress
Coffman: The twin crisis of veterans' mental health and suicide
Denver Post
By Mike Coffman
Guest Commentary
POSTED:02/06/2016
In April 1991, I returned home from serving as a light armored infantry officer with the U.S. Marine Corps in the first Gulf War. The unit was the first battalion to engage Iraqi forces inside of Kuwait. We did so for three days prior to the main ground attack on Feb. 24, 1991.
For us, the stress of being on the front lines waiting for combat turned out to be worse than the actual combat phase itself because the Iraqi army had been severely degraded in a punishing bombing campaign that preceded the ground attack.
While preparing to go home after the war ended, I attended an out-briefing by Navy psychologists about some of the psychological challenges that we would likely face. What I remember most was his warning that we had become members of a highly interdependent ground combat team that had been together for months and that after we were separated and alone for the first time, we were likely to experience depression.
Many troops used to the stresses of combat and the interdependent bonds of their fellow soldiers have a difficult time adjusting to civilian life and come home feeling isolated and alone.
In fact, many find themselves needing help that too often just isn't there.
It is absolutely vital that we as a nation address the twin crisis of veteran suicide and mental health issues.
Today, thousands of servicemen and women and recent military veterans have seen combat. Many have seen their buddies killed or witnessed death up close. Many have also been wounded and had to endure extended and frequently painful and difficult recoveries. These are types of events that can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other types of mental illness.
read more here
I left this comment.
Denver Post
By Mike Coffman
Guest Commentary
POSTED:02/06/2016
In April 1991, I returned home from serving as a light armored infantry officer with the U.S. Marine Corps in the first Gulf War. The unit was the first battalion to engage Iraqi forces inside of Kuwait. We did so for three days prior to the main ground attack on Feb. 24, 1991.
 |
| Mike Coffman Denver Post |
For us, the stress of being on the front lines waiting for combat turned out to be worse than the actual combat phase itself because the Iraqi army had been severely degraded in a punishing bombing campaign that preceded the ground attack.
While preparing to go home after the war ended, I attended an out-briefing by Navy psychologists about some of the psychological challenges that we would likely face. What I remember most was his warning that we had become members of a highly interdependent ground combat team that had been together for months and that after we were separated and alone for the first time, we were likely to experience depression.
Many troops used to the stresses of combat and the interdependent bonds of their fellow soldiers have a difficult time adjusting to civilian life and come home feeling isolated and alone.
In fact, many find themselves needing help that too often just isn't there.
It is absolutely vital that we as a nation address the twin crisis of veteran suicide and mental health issues.
Today, thousands of servicemen and women and recent military veterans have seen combat. Many have seen their buddies killed or witnessed death up close. Many have also been wounded and had to endure extended and frequently painful and difficult recoveries. These are types of events that can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other types of mental illness.
read more here
I left this comment.
While I applaud you talking about all this, it is troubling to see the "22 a day" used when it is not true. Sorry, but you are on the Committee and should know better. The CDC reports there are more than 40,000 suicides in America. At the same time, states are reporting veterans are committing suicide double the civilian population rate. That means there are over 26,000 veterans ending their lives after risking them for the sake of others. The VA study was an average from 21 states with limited data.Looks more like there is a triple crisis for veterans when members of Congress haven't even taken the time to find out what is true and what is false.
Gulf War veterans have been forgotten about but so have Vietnam veterans. They are the majority of the suicide demographic yet no one is talking about that fact. They are not talking about families like mine even though Vietnam veterans are the ones who came home and fought for all the research done on PTSD. Had Congress asked any of us, we could have helped these young veterans everyone is talking about.
By the way, all the Bills Congress passed did not work. OEF and OIF veteran suicides are triple their peer rate after they had been trained to be "resilient" even though researchers knew it would make the problem worse. All the Bills coming out of Congress are repeats of "doing something" instead of doing the right thing.
Saturday, February 6, 2016
PTSD 90 Year Old WWII Veteran Forced From Home By VA?
Veterans Administration forces 90-year-old chaplain from home
Portland Tribune
Written by Molalla Pioneer
Friday, 05 February 2016
“This move will be very difficult for him, because his health is tenuous,” said Baker’s daughter, Kathryn Thomas Barram. Baker suffers from Post-Tramautic Stress Disorder stemming from his service in the Air Corps during World War II, said Barram.
Last month, the Veterans Administration notified Baker’s family that it was pulling its contract with Molalla Manor.
Baker was ordered to move within six weeks.
Armed with more than 200 pages of testimony supporting the chaplain, his physicians and family appealed to the VA to reconsider its decision. The VA denied the formal appeal, but extended the relocation date by 12 days to Feb. 12, 2016.
"This is a shame - not ethical treatment of a family and a patient," wrote Baker's physician, Ray E. Smucker, M.D. in his letter to the VA. "Is this the care the VA expects for their patients? I would understand if his care was at risk. His care at Molalla Manor has been great over the years."
read more here
Portland Tribune
Written by Molalla Pioneer
Friday, 05 February 2016
Baker was also a prolific writer. He wrote eighteen (18) books addressing depression, pain, forgiveness and many other issues.
The Veterans Administration has ordered a 90-year-old chaplain, who once preached before President Gerald Ford, to move from his home of five years. Don Baker will be forced to relocate from the Molalla Manor Care Center, to the nearest VA sanctioned facility in Woodburn, 15 miles away.COURTESY OF BAKER FAMILY - Don and Martha Baker in 2011
“This move will be very difficult for him, because his health is tenuous,” said Baker’s daughter, Kathryn Thomas Barram. Baker suffers from Post-Tramautic Stress Disorder stemming from his service in the Air Corps during World War II, said Barram.
Last month, the Veterans Administration notified Baker’s family that it was pulling its contract with Molalla Manor.
Baker was ordered to move within six weeks.
Armed with more than 200 pages of testimony supporting the chaplain, his physicians and family appealed to the VA to reconsider its decision. The VA denied the formal appeal, but extended the relocation date by 12 days to Feb. 12, 2016.
"This is a shame - not ethical treatment of a family and a patient," wrote Baker's physician, Ray E. Smucker, M.D. in his letter to the VA. "Is this the care the VA expects for their patients? I would understand if his care was at risk. His care at Molalla Manor has been great over the years."
read more here
Remains of SPC Brian Orolin Identified
Remains Identified as Missing Army Veteran Brian Orolin
NBC News
by RACHAEL TROST
FEB 4 2016
Remains found in Harris County, Texas have been positively identified as those of missing Army veteran Brian Orolin, who disappeared in November 2014.
According to officials with the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences, the remains were discovered the day after Christmas 2015 and took several weeks to identify.
The cause and manner of death are still pending.
Donna Orolin, Brian's wife, confirmed the news late Wednesday on the 'Help Find Brian Orolin' Facebook page.
"The search for missing Army Veteran, SPC Brian Orolin, has come to an end," she posted. "I would appreciate your continued prayers for my 2 young daughters and I, as we begin our journey to mourn from his loss and for my 2 girls to grow up without their Dad. We would appreciate your respect for our privacy at this time."
read more here
From 2015
Family Searching For Missing Texas Afghanistan Veteran
NBC News
by RACHAEL TROST
FEB 4 2016
Remains found in Harris County, Texas have been positively identified as those of missing Army veteran Brian Orolin, who disappeared in November 2014.
The cause and manner of death are still pending.
Donna Orolin, Brian's wife, confirmed the news late Wednesday on the 'Help Find Brian Orolin' Facebook page.
"The search for missing Army Veteran, SPC Brian Orolin, has come to an end," she posted. "I would appreciate your continued prayers for my 2 young daughters and I, as we begin our journey to mourn from his loss and for my 2 girls to grow up without their Dad. We would appreciate your respect for our privacy at this time."
read more here
From 2015
Family Searching For Missing Texas Afghanistan Veteran
BOHICA Suicide Prevention Bill
I'm going to keep this short but far from sweet. There is yet another suicide prevention bill out of congress. Yep, those guys who did such marvelous work on all the others they decided to just do more of them. As if that makes sense to anyone.
"According to Brown's office, an average of 18 to 22 veterans take their lives each day — a statistic that has largely remained unchanged for more than a decade."
If he's quoting those numbers while writing a bill for female veteran suicide prevention, we're all screwed! This one is out of Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown on the Veterans Affairs Committee. If he doesn't know where those numbers came from or what the real ones are, pretty much sums up lack of attention to all the hearings they've held IN THE LAST DECADE!
"According to Brown's office, an average of 18 to 22 veterans take their lives each day — a statistic that has largely remained unchanged for more than a decade."
If he's quoting those numbers while writing a bill for female veteran suicide prevention, we're all screwed! This one is out of Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown on the Veterans Affairs Committee. If he doesn't know where those numbers came from or what the real ones are, pretty much sums up lack of attention to all the hearings they've held IN THE LAST DECADE!
Wounded Warriors United Worried About Name?
Small veterans group concerned they may get shut down
KAKE ABC News
By: Gloria Balding
Feb 04, 2016
MANHATTAN, Kan. (KAKE) — A small non-profit group helping servicemen and women in Kansas fears they may be shut down.
Tom Tavtigian returned home a broken man after being wounded in combat.
He founded the group Wounded Warriors United as a way to help veterans like himself who were struggling.
"While I was still stationed at Fort Riley in the warrior transition unit, where all the wounded guys go, I started to take a few guys out here and there and the response was pretty good. So, I started a non-profit." explains Tavtigian.
Wounded Warriors United focuses on taking veterans on hunting and fishing trips. Tavtigian hopes to expand.
"What we are doing next year is the guys that need the grab bars, or need to widen their doors for their wheelchairs, we are going to do it for them," says Tavtigian.
Tavtigian is concerned that Wounded Warrior Project could come after him for using the term 'wounded warriors." because they have done it before. A search of federal court records show the Wounded Warrior Project has sued three non-profits for trademark infringement in the past. In one complaint WWP noted that "defendant's infringement of WWP's trademark rights has caused defendant monetary harm." It is wording like this from such a large non-profit that concerns Tavtigian.
This all leaves me wondering how much money I'd have right now if I was ever in any of this for the money? Good Lord!
I was using the term "wounded warriors" long before this group became a famous name. The truth is I was simply tired of using wounded Soldier, Marine, Airmen and Sailor. The Native Americans used it long before I did. But it goes to show that just because someone makes something famous, it isn't as if they invented it or can claim ownership of it against all others.
This is from my site December 2005
From my book 2002
KAKE ABC News
By: Gloria Balding
Feb 04, 2016
MANHATTAN, Kan. (KAKE) — A small non-profit group helping servicemen and women in Kansas fears they may be shut down.
He founded the group Wounded Warriors United as a way to help veterans like himself who were struggling.
"While I was still stationed at Fort Riley in the warrior transition unit, where all the wounded guys go, I started to take a few guys out here and there and the response was pretty good. So, I started a non-profit." explains Tavtigian.
Wounded Warriors United focuses on taking veterans on hunting and fishing trips. Tavtigian hopes to expand.
"What we are doing next year is the guys that need the grab bars, or need to widen their doors for their wheelchairs, we are going to do it for them," says Tavtigian.
Tavtigian is concerned that Wounded Warrior Project could come after him for using the term 'wounded warriors." because they have done it before. A search of federal court records show the Wounded Warrior Project has sued three non-profits for trademark infringement in the past. In one complaint WWP noted that "defendant's infringement of WWP's trademark rights has caused defendant monetary harm." It is wording like this from such a large non-profit that concerns Tavtigian.
WWP does not make money solely from donations or investments. According to tax filings they have made more than 3 million dollars since 2009 by renting their mailing list.
read more here
This all leaves me wondering how much money I'd have right now if I was ever in any of this for the money? Good Lord!
I was using the term "wounded warriors" long before this group became a famous name. The truth is I was simply tired of using wounded Soldier, Marine, Airmen and Sailor. The Native Americans used it long before I did. But it goes to show that just because someone makes something famous, it isn't as if they invented it or can claim ownership of it against all others.
This is from my site December 2005
This one really sums up what this is all about. It is from January 2006. Long before I ever heard of this famous group but far too many years after I knew what it was like living with a Wounded Warrior.When they are warriors no more, who will hear their cries? When they are warriors no more, who will help them find peace?Who will lift their voice to be heard above their whispers and suffering silence?
The men and women of our military should never have to go to war, but they do.
They should never have to heal wounds, but they do. They should never have to watch a comrade die, but they do. They should never have to worry about a place to call home when they are warriors no more, but they do. On any given night in America, thousands of those who answered the call of this nation, walk the streets because they are homeless.
Our nation has forgotten them when their duty is done and we as a people refuse to see them. The people who run the New England Shelter For Homeless Veterans in Boston, MA refuse to let them remain alone. They are there when the rest of us forget them. They are there to give them a bed to sleep in, a meal to feed them, comfort and support when we have all forgotten them. There are homeless veterans in this nation with half a million at one time or another become homeless during any given year and over a quarter of a million of them are homeless every night. Men who made a choice to protect and serve this nation, walk the streets while we still remain safe in our beds. As bad as that is that one veteran would be homeless, there are also women who served and are homeless. Even more, there are women veterans of this nation with children and no place to call home.
Check out your state and see how many there are in your state alone. Go to The National homeless veterans site. Check out the shelter's site in Boston MA. If you are not moved to help them, then may God have mercy on this nation that asked so much of them yet was willing to do so little for them in return.
'Marlboro Man' in Iraq War Photo Suffers from PTSD So whatever happened to Lance Cpl. Blake Miller -- the U.S. Marine pictured as a kind of war-weary "Marlboro Man" in one of the most widely published iconic images of the Iraq war? The 2004 photograph by Luis Sinco of the Los Angeles Times showing Miller, face dirty under a helmet, a cigarette dangling from his lips, went around the world and back again, hitting front pages everywhere. Now Miller, of Jonancy, Ky., is a civilian "and is having trouble adjusting to civilian life," CBS News reports.From New York Times
Why is it so hard for other veterans to accept that PTSD is real? Is it because somewhere deep inside they see the possibility of it existing within themselves? I must have heard it a thousand times in the last twenty years. Veterans attacking other veterans because of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. They will claim PTSD is not real and label those with it as frauds. No about of scientific evidence, no amount of clinical studies and no amount of suicides resulting from PTSD will ever be enough to penetrate their brains. They are the kind of people who live in a state of disgust toward anyone, civilian or military, living with what they fear the most. It could have been them.
When you look at the pictures of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, among the carved names, there are many more names which Vietnam claimed the lives of. Forty years after the official start of America's entry into the conflict in 1964, Vietnam is still taking lives from PTSD and suicides as well as Agent Orange. Yet this is the timeline of death.
http://thewall-usa.com/stats/
This is the list of the years the troops died in Vietnam. Look at the years and then remember the attitude of those who failed to see the futility of staying the course.
1957 1
1958 0
1959 2
1960 5
1961 16
1962 53
1963 118
1964 206
1965 1863
1966 6,144
1697 11,153
1968 16,589
1969 11,614
1970 6,083
1971 2,357
1972 640
1973 168 The last two Marines were killed in April of this year.
Numbers were added after as follows
1974 178
1975 160 The last two Marines died in Vietnam in April.
1976 77
1977 96
1978 447
1979 148
1980-1995 66
The total is 58,178
The Wall is finding more names added to it. One count put the figure at 58,249, although I do not know the exact numbers as of today. Within the reflection of the Wall there are faces to each name of the lives lost. There are also many more who paid with their lives who will never be known. Men like my husband's nephew who took his own life because of PTSD are not there.
Too many are gone and the connection to Vietnam were never made in the minds of the families these men left behind. Yet to some veterans these of the fallen are not to be honored for the price they paid to serve the nation in Vietnam.
The faces of the homeless veterans are a reminder of the suffering in silence and isolation. Are they too unworthy of honor because Vietnam so changed their state of being they are unable to stop the invasion of their mind and remove the traumatic results?
This Wall should be a reminder to the nation that the price paid for war by those sent to fight it, do not end when the pieces of paper are signed and they get to go home. It does not end for the families when their son or daughter, husband or wife, parent or child, are no longer there to be held. It does not end for the veterans with wounds of their body or unseen wounds of the mind or for the families of those left wondering when the war will ever end for them.
In 2002 when I finished my book the sub title was, His War/My Battle for this very reason. He is the one who put his life on the line, as all others did, by choice of volunteering as my husband did, or by draft as so many others did. The war has yet to be finished for him. This is the battle he fights on a daily basis to try to keep up with his medication and treatment. Vietnam became my battle when I had to fight for him because he couldn't fight for himself.
War reaches out to total strangers years after. I didn't know him when he was in Vietnam. We didn't meet until ten years after he returned home. Yet my life changed because of Vietnam when I lost my best friend because of it. 500,000 other families are just like mine. The truly sickening part is that the number is even higher because too many other families never knew what was wrong with their family member, were never diagnosed and never had their claim approved to be recorded within the VA system.
Today there is a chance to stop the procession of suffering in silence for this new generation of veterans and wounded warriors. The chance is for the rest of us to stand up and tell the others who want to dismiss PTSD to either start supporting other wounded warriors or shut up and get out of their way. The time for needlessly adding to the death count of Vietnam is over. This new generation needs to see an example of what true support really means. Until we take a stand for the dignity of all veterans, too many of them will end up never really being supported or honored for their sacrifices.
How can anyone stand and say they support the troops when any of them have to go without treatment from the Veterans Administration because the funding is not there? How can anyone claim it when any veteran has to go homeless? Can it be claimed if any veteran has to spend their days drinking and doing drugs to kill off the effects of war because they have been so stigmatized by the term mental illness they would rather be labeled an alcoholic or drugged up? How pathetic is that? Are there some who actually are alcoholics or drug addicts? Sure, but for the most part these people are self medicating because they cannot turn to the VA for legal medication and treatment.
Congressman Murtha put the figure of veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan at 50,000 already. How many of them are we willing to let slip through the cracks in the system designed to help them heal and cope with their service to this nation? How many are we willing to let go homeless because they served in the military? Is any of this proving they are supported? What made us think that supported ended when they were no longer doing our bidding?
The time to take the steps to insure we prove what we say was yesterday when the funding was not put into place for the veterans we already had. Tomorrow will be too late for too many. How many names are you willing to look at when they erect a monument to the fallen of Iraq and Afghanistan? How many names are you willing to acknowledge still paying the price for Vietnam? If you care nothing about being part of the solution to their problems, then shut up and get out of the way. The rest of us are willing to prove what we say when we say we honor them. Isn't it time you did the same thing?
http://thewall-usa.com/
Kathie Costos
Nam_guardianangel@yahoo.com
www.Namguardianangel.org
http://namguardianangel.blogspot.com
http://journals.aol.com/namguardianangel/media
http://hometown.aol.com/namguardianangel/KathieCostosindex.html
http://hometown.aol.com/namguardianangel/fortheloveofjackindex.html
The Wounded Warrior Project’s roots are more humble. Its founder, John Melia, was a Marine veteran who had been injured in a helicopter crash off the coast of Somalia in 1992. When wounded troops began returning from Iraq in 2003, Mr. Melia remembered how he had arrived in a stateside hospital with only his thin hospital gown, and began visiting military hospitals to distribute backpacks stuffed with socks, CD players, toothpaste and other items.
As the backpack project grew, Mr. Melia hired a few employees, including Mr. Nardizzi, a lawyer who had never served in the military but was an executive for a small nonprofit, the United Spinal Association, which served disabled veterans.
They began raising millions of dollars and broadening their services to include adaptive sports for disabled veterans, employment and benefits help, and retreats to teach veterans to cope with post-traumatic stress disorder.
By 2009, the group had grown to about 50 employees and $21 million in revenue. But by then, Mr. Melia and Mr. Nardizzi were fighting over the charity’s future, with Mr. Nardizzi pushing for more aggressive expansion than Mr. Melia, former employees said.
In January 2009, Mr. Melia resigned.
I've been doing this for so long now that lost count on how many different websites I've had over the years, but emails, well they're very important to me, so I save a lot of them.
This is from 2004 about the book I wrote in 2002.
This one is about another charity using "Wounded Minds" but I leave them alone even though my first video on PTSD was "Wounded Minds." This email is from 2006.
WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC
4899 BELFORT RD STE 300, JACKSONVILLE, FL 32256-6033 | TAX-EXEMPT SINCE AUG. 2005
From my book 2002
500,000 Vietnam Veterans continue to pay because of Post Traumatic Stress and have been joined by veterans of all the other actions that followed. Hundreds of thousands continue to pay with wounds and broken bodies as well as wounded spirits. I pray that if President Bush is re-elected he learns this lesson as well. War is something that should always be the last attempt to have peace. The peace of a nation is paid by the turmoil of those who defend it.
Bronze Star for Valor Honors Two Fallen Airmen
Two airmen killed in Afghanistan receive Bronze Stars with Valor
Air Force Times
By Oriana Pawlyk
February 5, 2016
Staff Sgt. Louis M. Bonacasa and Tech Sgt. Joseph G. Lemm, both with the 105th Security Forces Squadron at Stewart Air National Guard Base, New York, have been honored with the nation's fourth highest military decoration for valor “for saving the lives of other airmen at the cost of their own,” the Guard said.
Lemm, 45, and Bonacasa, 31, and four other airmen were killed when a suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden motorcycle into a joint patrol with Afghan security forces on Dec. 21, 2015, outside of Bargram Air Field.
read more here
Air Force Times
By Oriana Pawlyk
February 5, 2016
Bonacasa, left, and Lemm, right, have been posthumously honored with the Bronze Star with Valor (Photo: Air Force photos)Two airmen killed in Afghanistan in December have been posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal with “V,” the Air National Guard announced Thursday.
Staff Sgt. Louis M. Bonacasa and Tech Sgt. Joseph G. Lemm, both with the 105th Security Forces Squadron at Stewart Air National Guard Base, New York, have been honored with the nation's fourth highest military decoration for valor “for saving the lives of other airmen at the cost of their own,” the Guard said.
Lemm, 45, and Bonacasa, 31, and four other airmen were killed when a suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden motorcycle into a joint patrol with Afghan security forces on Dec. 21, 2015, outside of Bargram Air Field.
read more here
VA Says "Veterans suicide must be a top priority"
VA: Veterans suicide must be a top priority
Military Times
By Patricia Kime
February 4, 2016
VA Under Secretary for Health Dr. David Shulkin said Tuesday that suicide reduction is one of his top priorities, and he called on experts to help the department establish prevention initiatives aimed at getting veterans into treatment.
“This is really one of our top priority issues for VA,” Shulkin said. “Seeing the number of suicides that occur every day is simply not acceptable.”
The VA hosted a Veterans Suicide Summit in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday to jump-start the effort, drawing behavioral health providers, veterans service organizations, Defense Department personnel and veterans who have attempted suicide, as well as parents of troops who have died.
Military Times
By Patricia Kime
February 4, 2016
“In recent years, the suicide rate has risen steadily for the general population, but not veterans in the VA system. For veterans in our care, rates have remained stable, maybe even declined slightly, which tells us that treatment works," McDonald said.
Susan Selke, mother of Marine veteran Clay Hunt who committed suicide due to PTSD, testifies as Jean Somers, whose son Daniel took his own life, listens at a Capitol Hill hearing in 2014. Selke and Summers spoke at a Washington conference on the issue of veterans suicides on Feb. 3, 2016.The Veterans Affairs Department is ratcheting up efforts to address the high rate of suicide among veterans, bringing in mental health experts, advocates and affected families to formulate an “action plan” in the coming months to reduce these preventable deaths.
(Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)
VA Under Secretary for Health Dr. David Shulkin said Tuesday that suicide reduction is one of his top priorities, and he called on experts to help the department establish prevention initiatives aimed at getting veterans into treatment.
“This is really one of our top priority issues for VA,” Shulkin said. “Seeing the number of suicides that occur every day is simply not acceptable.”
The VA hosted a Veterans Suicide Summit in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday to jump-start the effort, drawing behavioral health providers, veterans service organizations, Defense Department personnel and veterans who have attempted suicide, as well as parents of troops who have died.
The VA estimated in 2012 that 22 veterans die each day by suicide, but the number is an extrapolation derived from 1999-2011 data from 21 states, and both the VA and advocacy groups say it should be interpreted with caution.
read more here
Hampton VA Nurse Convicted of Raping Veteran
Hampton VA nurse convicted of sexually assaulting patient previously raped
The Virginian-Pilot
By Scott Daugherty
17 hrs ago
Juan M. Lopez, 52, of Virginia Beach is set for sentencing May 19 in U.S. District Court in Newport News. He faces the possibility of life in prison. A federal jury returned the guilty verdicts Friday on the fourth day of trial. Stephen Plott, Lopez’s attorney, maintained his client’s innocence and said he was disappointed in the jury’s verdict. read more here
The Virginian-Pilot
By Scott Daugherty
17 hrs ago
According to a news release drafted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Lopez was a nurse in the hospital’s emergency department on Sept. 20, 2014, when a woman sought treatment for a leg injury. The woman had post-traumatic stress disorder related to a prior rape and two traumatic brain injuries, the release said.NEWPORT NEWS
A former nurse at the Hampton VA Medical Center was convicted Friday on charges of aggravated sexual assault and making a false statement to a federal agent.Juan M. Lopez, 52, of Virginia Beach is set for sentencing May 19.
He faces the possibility of life in prison. Courtesy Photo
Juan M. Lopez, 52, of Virginia Beach is set for sentencing May 19 in U.S. District Court in Newport News. He faces the possibility of life in prison. A federal jury returned the guilty verdicts Friday on the fourth day of trial. Stephen Plott, Lopez’s attorney, maintained his client’s innocence and said he was disappointed in the jury’s verdict. read more here
Hawaii Marine Osprey Crash Caught on Video
Billows of Dust, a Sudden 'Pop' and an Osprey Falls from the Sky
Military.com
Hope Hodge Seck
January 29, 2016
The moments before landing are eerily calm.
Caught on shaky hand-held video, two MV-22B Ospreys appear over a ridge of hills. The first Osprey turns in toward a small landing zone near a chain link fence, its rotors facing skyward for a vertical descent. As it comes within meters of touchdown, a choking cloud of brown dust billows up from the ground, completely obscuring the aircraft from view. The dust cloud grows even larger and more expansive, and the Osprey appears once again, ascending briefly. It hovers for mere seconds above the brownout, and a tongue of flame appears to shoot from its left nacelle.
Then, its rotors still spinning, the aircraft simply drops out of the sky, crumpling on impact as the right rotor tears free and chews the dirt.
The circumstances of this May 17, 2015, crash, which claimed the lives of two Marines and injured the other 20 troops on board at Marine Corps Training Area Bellows, Hawaii, are laid out through the accounts of eyewitnesses in a 2,200-page command investigation obtained by Military.com. The investigation recommends disciplinary or administrative action for the pilots and some aircrew of the aircraft and for Lt. Col. Andreas Lavato, the squadron commander for Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 161, to which the Osprey was attached, and Col. Vance Cryer, commander of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which housed the squadron.
read more here
Military.com
Hope Hodge Seck
January 29, 2016
A screen grab of a video showing the May 17, 2015, crash involving an MV-22 Osprey at Marine Corps Training Area Bellows, Hawaii. The accident claimed the lives of two Marines and injured 20 other troops on board. (Defense Department video)
Caught on shaky hand-held video, two MV-22B Ospreys appear over a ridge of hills. The first Osprey turns in toward a small landing zone near a chain link fence, its rotors facing skyward for a vertical descent. As it comes within meters of touchdown, a choking cloud of brown dust billows up from the ground, completely obscuring the aircraft from view. The dust cloud grows even larger and more expansive, and the Osprey appears once again, ascending briefly. It hovers for mere seconds above the brownout, and a tongue of flame appears to shoot from its left nacelle.
Then, its rotors still spinning, the aircraft simply drops out of the sky, crumpling on impact as the right rotor tears free and chews the dirt.
The circumstances of this May 17, 2015, crash, which claimed the lives of two Marines and injured the other 20 troops on board at Marine Corps Training Area Bellows, Hawaii, are laid out through the accounts of eyewitnesses in a 2,200-page command investigation obtained by Military.com. The investigation recommends disciplinary or administrative action for the pilots and some aircrew of the aircraft and for Lt. Col. Andreas Lavato, the squadron commander for Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 161, to which the Osprey was attached, and Col. Vance Cryer, commander of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which housed the squadron.
read more here
Veteran Suicide Families Left Out of Battle At Home
This is one of those morning when I had to walk away from the computer soon after turning it on. After over 30 years there are too many times when I wonder why I even bother to make a difference when nothing changes.
The answer is simple. I know what trying did for my own family and my own veteran. We've been together since 1982. What you're going to read in the following report from San Diego Union Tribune proved to me that after all these years what worked has been forgotten about and what failed has been repeated.
There are many stories in this report but Erin Murzyn's story of not knowing what was going on with her husband shows for all the talk about what the VA is doing, which does work in a lot of cases, few reporters have covered what they should have been doing all along.
These reports are hard to get through but nothing will change if folks keep seeking out what is easy for them. Like the talk of 22 a day committing suicide is an easy number to remember even though it is a false number, none of this should be easy on any of us until we make it easier for them to survive being back home after war.
Families have always been on the front lines of this homeland war zone but few have been armed with the weapons they need to save the lives of those they love.
Families like ours are more like the militia during the Revolutionary War. We armed ourselves and trained ourselves how to fight for all we hold dear.
We had to lose battles before we figured out how to win others. We had to decide what was important enough to fight for. Adapt to what wasn't worth fighting over, improvise our lives since none of it is normal in the civilian families and then, after finding what was normal for us, we overcame.
If you are new to all this seek out older families to help you learn what it took decades for us to figure out. We'll help you get to where we are the easy way.
If you work for the VA, fight to have family support groups pick up again in your area. Make sure they understand the basics of PTSD as much as they find someone to talk to. I know a lot of you and I know you want to change this system but you have rules to follow. If you can't do it within the VA then help out a support group outside the VA. You care enough to do this job for their sake but these families can't wait for Congress to figure out what we learned over the last 40 years.
The answers have already been found so why are we still looking at the questions?
The answer is simple. I know what trying did for my own family and my own veteran. We've been together since 1982. What you're going to read in the following report from San Diego Union Tribune proved to me that after all these years what worked has been forgotten about and what failed has been repeated.
There are many stories in this report but Erin Murzyn's story of not knowing what was going on with her husband shows for all the talk about what the VA is doing, which does work in a lot of cases, few reporters have covered what they should have been doing all along.
These reports are hard to get through but nothing will change if folks keep seeking out what is easy for them. Like the talk of 22 a day committing suicide is an easy number to remember even though it is a false number, none of this should be easy on any of us until we make it easier for them to survive being back home after war.
RUSSELL MURZYN, 44, RETIRED MARINE CORPS
San Diego Union Tribune
By Jeanette Steele
Feb. 5, 2016
Murzyn retired in April 2013, after 20 years that included serving as a drill instructor and two back-to-back deployments to Iraq at the height of the war.
Just before retiring, the gregarious Marine from Minnesota quietly sought out a civilian psychologist. The diagnosis in the first session: PTSD.
Before that, he was afraid to seek care in military medicine because of the stigma attached, said Murzyn’s widow, Erin. He never told her. She only discovered it later, after reading his medical records.
Erin Murzyn said she thinks health care privacy rules shut out family members to a dangerous degree.
No one at the VA told her the details of husband’s conditions or when he stopped seeking therapy.
“If I had known, I would have made sure he was making his appointments. I would have gone to some of his appointments with him,” his wife said.
“Very regularly, I get this feeling of, ‘Thank God he didn’t decide that Nathan (their son) and I needed to go with him.’ I think that’s a very unfair position to put family members in.”
It might have helped if Russell Murzyn had a smoother path from military health care to the VA, his widow said. Why couldn’t his first mental and physical exams at the VA have been prescheduled, she asks?
“Had this process been different than it is today, I truly believe my husband would have been better prepared and more aware of his mental fragility,” Erin Murzyn said. “Maybe he would have been in treatment way before the feelings of identity crisis, worthlessness and anxiety overcame him.”
read more of his story here
WHAT MIGHT HAVE SAVED THESE VETERANS?
The San Diego Union-Tribune
By Jeanette Steele
Feb. 5, 2016
They said the VA, and other health institutions, don’t do enough to include spouses and parents when there are signs a troubled veteran is giving up on treatment or is in despair.At least 27 veterans under age 45 died by suicide in San Diego County between 2014 and the first half of 2015.
For them, there was no retirement, no second career, no time spent watching their children grow.
The majority suffered from depression or post-traumatic stress disorder after serving in a combat zone since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Their experience defies academic research, which says troops who deploy are not more likely to die by suicide.
San Diego provides a rare window on post-9/11 veterans and the issue of of suicide, perhaps one not available anywhere else in the nation.
With nearly 28,000 post-9/11 veterans, the county is the nation’s largest hub of Iraq and Afghanistan war-era veterans.
This special project relies on death information from the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office, one of the few — if not the only one in the United States — to regularly track veteran and military status in its data. Having the names of these men and women led to family members and friends who shared gripping, tragic and complex stories of the veterans’ lives.
These interviews revealed dissatisfaction with care provided by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, both in San Diego and other regions.
read more here
Families have always been on the front lines of this homeland war zone but few have been armed with the weapons they need to save the lives of those they love.
Families like ours are more like the militia during the Revolutionary War. We armed ourselves and trained ourselves how to fight for all we hold dear.
We had to lose battles before we figured out how to win others. We had to decide what was important enough to fight for. Adapt to what wasn't worth fighting over, improvise our lives since none of it is normal in the civilian families and then, after finding what was normal for us, we overcame.
If you are new to all this seek out older families to help you learn what it took decades for us to figure out. We'll help you get to where we are the easy way.
If you work for the VA, fight to have family support groups pick up again in your area. Make sure they understand the basics of PTSD as much as they find someone to talk to. I know a lot of you and I know you want to change this system but you have rules to follow. If you can't do it within the VA then help out a support group outside the VA. You care enough to do this job for their sake but these families can't wait for Congress to figure out what we learned over the last 40 years.
The answers have already been found so why are we still looking at the questions?
Friday, February 5, 2016
Seven Ontario First Responders Committed Suicide This Year
UPDATE
8 deaths so far in 2016: Canada’s first responder PTSD crisis
Global News
By Tania Kohut National Online Journalist
February 4, 2016
Following Toronto officer's death, attention turns to better PTSD assessment
City News
BY NEWS STAFF
POSTED FEB 5, 2016
“It feels like almost every day we’re hearing about another first responder, another military member, another communications officer or corrections officer dying by suicide,” Erin Alvarez, the wife of a paramedic, says in a video released by Tema.
“PTSD has become a household name.”
read more here
This one is from me. I created it years ago for National Guardsmen but it turned out the IFOC was using it for police officers and firefighters. While it is about what is going on here in the US, please, watch it and I hope that it helps you! You have PTSD for a reason and that reason IS YOUR JOB!
The folks you help everyday can end up with PTSD but you put your lives on the line everyday, so please understand YOU ARE NOT WEAK anymore than you are stuck suffering. Get help and heal so you can keep taking care of others. Canadians need you as much as we need our heroes!
8 deaths so far in 2016: Canada’s first responder PTSD crisis
Global News
By Tania Kohut National Online Journalist
February 4, 2016
Toronto Police Const. Darius Garda’s body was pulled from Lake Ontario Thursday, the third death of an Ontario first responder over five days.
Toronto cop Darius Garda remembered as ‘genuine’, ‘empathetic’
Const. Garda was pulled from Lake Ontario on Thursday. He was 29.
Toronto Star
By: Alex Ballingall News
Published on Fri Feb 05 2016
One day after the body of Const. Darius Garda was pulled from the cold lake near Polson Pier, the young cop’s family was cloistered in grief in their Scarborough home.
“Me and my wife are just not able to handle this,” Garda’s father, Keras, said Friday when contacted by the Star. “It’s something we are not able to handle.”
The 29-year-old Toronto police officer was believed to have suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Friends and colleagues at 51 Division described him as a capable and good-natured crime analyst who was caring, sensitive and always quick to flash a smile.
“He’s the kind of person who, throughout his life — even though he was actually kind of a small person — he always stood up for people who were being treated unfairly,” one friend told the Star.
read more here
Following Toronto officer's death, attention turns to better PTSD assessment
City News
BY NEWS STAFF
POSTED FEB 5, 2016
Seven first responders in Ontario have committed suicide this year, according to a PTSD advocacy group, and there have been four more deaths across the country.Tema Conter Memorial Trust is working to have post-traumatic stress disorder recognized as a work-related illness, while also providing support those suffering from PTSD and their families.
“It feels like almost every day we’re hearing about another first responder, another military member, another communications officer or corrections officer dying by suicide,” Erin Alvarez, the wife of a paramedic, says in a video released by Tema.
“PTSD has become a household name.”
read more here
This one is from me. I created it years ago for National Guardsmen but it turned out the IFOC was using it for police officers and firefighters. While it is about what is going on here in the US, please, watch it and I hope that it helps you! You have PTSD for a reason and that reason IS YOUR JOB!
The folks you help everyday can end up with PTSD but you put your lives on the line everyday, so please understand YOU ARE NOT WEAK anymore than you are stuck suffering. Get help and heal so you can keep taking care of others. Canadians need you as much as we need our heroes!
Central Florida Veterans Events Part 2
From Cathy Haynes
February list #2 of veteran, military and patriotic events in Central FL.
*Event list #1 was sent on Jan 28. If you did not receive it, ask for a re-send. (Address below)
*This is a list of unique events in Central Florida – events that have been shared with me.
*Send me your events – people cannot attend an event if they don’t know about it!
*Please share this information and events with your friends and interested others and attend. Post where appropriate.
NEX Event - THIS FRIDAY, February 5 - Sweetheart Shopping event where NEX associates can assist you in finding that perfect gift for your special someone. Offering personalized shoppers throughout the day, complimentary gift wrapping on purchases from 10-4, product demos and food & beverage tastings. (Eligible persons are all branches of active duty military, reservists, guardsmen, retirees, 100% service-connected disabled veterans and their dependents – I.D. IS checked.) Located west of Orlando Int’l Airport, about 1 mile south of the Beachline Expy/528 on Tradeport Dr. Competitive pricing and programs. The big white building on the west side of Tradeport - 7151 Earhart Dr., Orlando, 32827. www. mynavyexchange .com 407-857-3550
Orlando Solar Bears Recognition – Multiple dates. Military persons are needed for Orlando Solar Bear recognition at home hockey games! If you know of a veteran to nominate or if you want to nominate yourself (don’t be shy!) send in contact information. This includes veterans, active military, reservists and national guards. Time is always sectioned out at home games and needs to be filled. The chosen willing veteran should wear something that represents their proud service branch (uniform or shirt and ballcap, etc.) and will receive 4 tickets and free parking in the Geico garage. Wheelchair seating available upon request. Discount for add’l tickets. Don’t delay – Available FEBRUARY home games are Sat 6, Fri 12, Sat 13, Sun 14, Wed 17, Thurs 18, Sat 20, Fri 26, Sat 27, Mon 29. MARCH home games: Thurs 17, Sat 19, Sun 20, Wed 23, Wed 30; APRIL home games: Tues 5, Thurs 7. You MUST be chosen and receive contact back from the Solar Bear office before you attend the games in order to be recognized and receive the tickets. Info: Taylor Bartz, Community Relations Coordinator at 407.951.8200 x124, tbartz @orlando solarbearshockey .com
Four Chaplains Commemorative Ceremony – Sun. Feb 7 – Presented by the Orlando Young Marines at 11am, Azalea Park United Methodist Church, 50 Willow Dr., Orlando, 32807. Come support good kids with your attendance! Free and open to the public. Info from one of the adult leaders: SgtMaj John Gionet, USMC (ret.) sgtmajgna @earthlink .net
On Feb. 3, 1943, four chaplains from several religions and denominations assisted military personnel and civilians before their ship, USAT Dorchester, sank in the freezing Atlantic Ocean after it was torpedoed. The chaplains gave up their life jackets and helped other persons onto life boats. They joined arms, prayed and sang hymns before they died together.
(NOTE: This group of Young Marines, Orlando Devil Dogs unit, received the prestigious NATIONAL Unit of the Year for 2013-2014. The Young Marines is a youth education and service program for boys and girls, ages 8-18 through the completion of high school. The organization promotes the mental, moral, and physical development of its members. The program focuses on character building, leadership, and promotes a healthy, drug-free lifestyle. )
Villagers for Veterans – Wed. Feb 10 – Fundraising event that will provide a track-chair for Marine Cpl. Justin Gaertner. He lost both legs above the knees and has a severely damaged left arm from an IED blast in Afghanistan during his third deployment. The track-chair is an all-terrain device that will allow him greater mobility outdoors and independence. While this 6:30pm musical event at the Lake Miona Rec Center in The Villages in Sumter Co., is Sold Out, (320 tickets) additional donations towards the track-chair would still be very welcomed. Contact Marie B. at 516-220-5068 villagersforveterans @gmail .com
Attention all Veterans Service Organizations:
Veterans Resource Fair – Wed. Feb 17 - The UCF Veterans Academic Resource Center (VARC) hosts this event to provide awareness of service organizations. 11am to 2pm located in the Cape Florida Ballroom (Room 316) Student Union on the UCF Campus. Each participant will be provided a 6 foot table and two chairs at no cost. It is requested that if your group participates to please donate an item that could be won as a door prize. The closest parking garage is Garage H, there is $5 daily rate and less than 5 minute walk to the Student Union. Free parking can be access in Garage F (Behind the CFE Arena), but is a 10 minute walk to the Student Union through the CFE Arena and walking past Memory Mall area. Over 1300 veterans are UCF students but the same day, downstairs, is the UCF Major’s Fair. Spillover traffic is expected. Great opportunity to share awareness, gain members and volunteers! Contact joshua.johnson @ucf. edu no later than 5pm Fri Feb 12.
Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) Daytona Beach Chapter 1048 – Wed. Feb 17 – Join others in the general membership meeting, 6:30 pm at VFW Post 3282 located at 5810 South Williamson Blvd. Port Orange, 32128. There are meetings every third Wednesday. All veterans are welcomed as we honor all Veterans and are very active in our community, teaming up with many other Veteran Service Organization's, supporter's, promoting and honoring our Veterans. Join now by bringing your DD214 (discharge papers) or we can help you to get your papers. Info: vva1048 .com Rod Phillips (USA Airborne), 386.690.9553 cobra101st @gmail .com
Retiree Appreciation Day – IMPORTANT ADDITIONAL INFO – Sat. Feb 20 – There will be the opportunity to update ID cards/DEERS during this event. It's RARE that this service is available on a weekend date!
Military retirees can enjoy a variety of speakers from the Department of the Army, Veterans Affairs, MOAA (Military Officers Association of America) and others. Special guest will be Army SMA Raymond Chandler III (ret.) Information provided by Tricare, Exchanges from the Army, Air Force and Navy, etc. All service branch retirees and their families are invited. 9am – 3pm at The Venue at UCF (University of Central Florida) at 12777 Gemini Blvd N., Orlando, 32816 located behind the CFE Arena. Free parking. Sponsored by Fort Stewart. Retirement Services Office 912-767-5013.
Veterans Legal Stand Down - Sat., Feb. 20 – Sponsored by Barry University School of Law, Open to veterans who are newly discharged, unemployed, disabled, or have any questions regarding legal issues. Attorneys will be present to provide free legal advice. Walk-ins welcome. Appointments are strongly encouraged. FREE! 11am – 4pm, 6441 E. Colonial Drive, Orlando, 32807. Social Security Disability, family law, wills, housing issues, employment law, taxes, expungements, and more. Also in association with Mission United, Legal Aid Society and CareerSource, offering Resume Assistance workshops, Veterans Employment Services, and Veterans Service office. Appointments: 407-841-8310 x3167. Info: Jay Mobley 407-841-8310 JMobley @legalaidocba .org
Walk for Veterans – Sat. Feb 20 – Join American Legion Post 117, the Space Coast Paratroopers, and the City of Palm Bay in the First Inaugural Veterans Walk. Walk for Those that Marched For Us! The walk will cover a 1.5 mile route starting and ending at American Legion Post 117, 189 Veterans Drive, Palm Bay, 32909. The walk begins at 10 AM. Advance registration (prior to 12 February) is $15; forms are available at Post 117. Registration on the day of the event; starting at 9 AM at Post 117 is $20. Registration Fees include a Walk T - shirt for each participant. (If you have procrastinated about in a New Year’s resolution to be healthier this year, this is a way to catch up!)
Seminole County Homeless Veterans Stand Down - Sat March 12 – Volunteers and Vendor opportunities (requires registrationnow) 9am – 1pm at Florida Department of Health in Seminole County, 400 W. Airport Blvd., Sanford, 32773. “The term Stand Down was first used during the Viet Nam War; we would come out of the jungle after searching for the enemy for weeks, we would lick our wounds, clean our weapons and get ready to go back. Today the term Stand Down is used when we bring our homeless (and precociously housed) veterans to a central location to reconnect them with the VA and other homeless service providers. Not only providers, but we will provide showers, clothing, hot meals, legal assistance, medical, dental screening, etc . It is manned and serviced by volunteers. Last year, contrary to news reports, we had a 50% increase from the year before. Feel free to contact us directly at Seminolestanddown @gmail .com.”
The Central Florida Veterans Mental Health Council (CFVMHC) is recruiting new members. The CFVMHC represents an opportunity to have a real impact in mental health service delivery and help your fellow Veteran. The Council meets twice monthly for about an hour at the Baldwin Campus (call-in line is available). More information or to complete an application, visit the Council's website at cfvmhc .org
Caring and sharing,
Cathy Haynes
Member/supporter of numerous veteran and military organizations in Central FL
407-239-8468
chaynes11629 @ yahoo .com
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