Hundreds Join Together for PTSD Service Dogs

Hundreds attend event to fund service dogs for veterans with PTSD
WHSV ABC 3 news
Jared Kline
July 23, 2016

HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) — Hundreds came out to show their strength and endurance by tackling a multi-mile race for a good cause.

The Fine Earth Adventure Race Walk for Warriors kicked off around 8 a.m. Saturday, July 23. Teams were entered into groups, ranging from "walkers" all the way to SWAT. Participants had to overcome various obstacles, varying in difficulty.

Also in the lineup were members of WHSV, competing under the title "TV3 Weekend Warriors."

The race raised money to provide military veterans suffering from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with K9 companions.
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Vietnam Veteran Rides To Washington Honoring Lives Lost on USS Frank E Evans

Vietnam veteran cycles to Washington D.C. to get names added to wall
WDBJ 7 News
By Noell Saunders
Jul 22, 2016

SALEM, Va. (WDBJ7) A 74-year old Vietnam War veteran is riding his bicycle all the way from Texas to Washington D.C.

Del Francis is on a mission to get his 74 comrades' names added to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Francis almost died on a warship 47 years ago after an Australian aircraft carrier cut it in half. The ship sank and all 74 sailors perished that day.

After writing numerous petitions and letters, Francis decided to do something different.
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How can any nation claim the slogan "grateful"

Is It Too Late For Older Veterans?
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
July 23, 2016

It seems as if we have gone backwards by 40 years on older veterans.  When Vietnam veterans came home, no one wanted them around.  After all they did to begin research on PTSD, no one wants to even talk about the simple fact they are the majority of the veterans committing suicide.  How do we accept that? How can any nation claim the slogan "grateful" and allow this to go on?

So many are talking about the latest suicide report from the Department of Veterans Affairs putting the number of veterans committing suicide at 20 but too few are talking about this part.

There is continued evidence of high burden of suicide among middle-aged and older adult Veterans. In 2014, approximately 65% of all Veterans who died from suicide were aged 50 years or older

The last troops came home from Vietnam in 1975.

On May 15, 1975 American Marines stormed the beaches of a remote island in the Gulf of Thailand called Koh Tang to perform a rescue mission. However, due to intelligence failures and other factors, 41 American servicemembers died that day or were missing in what would be regarded as the last battle of the Vietnam War. At least three Marines were left behind to be executed by communist Khmer Rouge forces.

Gulf War veterans came home in 1991 and they are not part of the conversation. Troops were sent to Afghanistan in 2001 and into Iraq in 2003 but they are the only ones most seem to care about.  Why?

A "grateful nation" remains grateful to all generations and does not forget them because there is not enough time to care about all of them.  It does not accept false reports insinuating the only veterans we need to worry about are the ones who just came home.  It does not dismiss the suffering of previous generations nor does it remain unconcerned for those who will face the same battle-borne price in the next generation.

A grateful nation honors all of them so that no war will begin without true necessity for the preservation of our freedom.  It demands the best we can offer those we send and the best we can do for them when they come home.

We have failed four generations by forgetting them.

WWII veteran are among those still suffering with PTSD. Korean War veterans still suffer.  Vietnam veterans still suffer.  Gulf War veterans still suffer.  All of them are among the highest rate of suicides but most OEF and OIF veterans do not know that.  They simply assume it is all about them. When they discover the truth, they grieve and they wonder.

They wonder what will happen to them when they are older and forgotten about.  They wonder why all these decades of veterans fighting for other veterans has produced the same deadly outcome. Then they wonder how we can drop almost 7 million veterans since 1999 and arrive at the same number reported by the VA on them taking their own lives.

The Forgotten Warrior Project looks like the same veterans were forgotten about all over again.  There should be no reason left to wonder why younger veterans worry about what will happen when they are older and America has forgotten them as well.

It is never too late for veterans to heal.  The question remains, "Are we up to the challenge of helping them or write them off as it is too late" to care about them?  

Officer Matthew Gerald Laid to Rest

Slain Baton Rouge Police Officer and Veteran Mourned at Funeral
ABC News
By EMILY SHAPIRO
Jul 22, 2016

Matthew Gerald, one of the law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Sunday, was mourned today at his funeral by family, friends and colleagues.

A Louisiana State Trooper makes his way to a funeral services for police office

Gerald, 41, a husband and father, was an Army and Marine veteran who completed three tours of duty in Iraq. He had been serving the Baton Rouge Police Department for less than a year when he was fatally shot.
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Veteran Fighting Cancer Does Not Fight Alone Thanks to Other Veterans

Local Veteran Battling Cancer Surrounded by Love
KCEN
Tiffany Pelt
July 22, 2016

"We just couldn't hear about someone like Bill and not get involved," said John Hoskin, Texas State President of U.S. Veterans MC. "We have that innate sense to support each other. It's engrained in us in the military to take care of your fellow soldier."

Valley Mills - "It's very expensive to die." Veteran Bill Cote says these words through a raspy voice. He is not crying or upset. As a man who was only given six months to a year to live, he is just being honest.

"They caught the cancer too late," he said. "When they took the tumor out they found a bunch more."

Bill, 62, was diagnosed with Thymoma back in December. It's a rare cancer that wrapped itself around his larynx, left lung and all around his chest. It is now stage four and traveling through his lymph nodes.

The cancer wages war on the veteran's body. He gets weak easily, and is no longer able to do much of anything. But on Thursdays, Bill doesn't seem to mind.

"It's something I look forward to every week. Thursdays are on my mind. Up until then it never mattered what day it was," he said with a smile.

On Thursdays, Bill hears the hum of motorcycles pull up to his home. His fellow Patriot Guard Rider, Barry Dahlquist, is always there. Sometimes other Patriot Guard riders join Barry for the visit. And sometimes veterans who are complete strangers show up at his door. They all arrive with warm smile ready to run errands, clean the house, mow the lawn or what ever needs to be done.

"It's a mindset that only veterans recognize," said Bill. "It's a strong community. They look out for each other. You don't have to know someone to care for them."
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Marine "Flew in out of nowhere" to Save Senior Chief Hospital Corpsman

My brother’s keeper: ‘First Team’ Marine saves drowning sailor
MARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER TWENTYNINE PALMS, CA, UNITED STATES
Story by Cpl. Medina Ayala-Lo
07.21.2016

“He flew in out of nowhere and put his life at risk by going into this rip current to swim us both to safety,” Duron said of Yakin. “Throughout his rescue, he reassured me and pulled us both out of the situation.”

Photo By Cpl. Medina Ayala-Lo | Lance Cpl. Troy Yakin, landing support specialist, 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment,

MARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif.—Standing well above 6 foot tall, with a clean haircut, fresh shave and an air of confidence, Lance Cpl. Troy Yakin is what many would consider a typical Marine. But even the most typical of Marines have a thread of heroism woven within. Whether at home or on the battlefield, answering the call of duty is less of a cognitive thought than it is an instinct.

“Do I think I’m a hero? No,” Yakin said. “I didn’t think twice about it. I didn’t think he was dying, I just thought I was helping somebody out.”

On the morning of June 29, 2016, Yakin, a landing support specialist with 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, and two Marines from his unit were visiting Del Mar Beach aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif. In the days leading up to that morning, they had been conducting a joint inspection for 11th Marine Regiment. With their tasks completed earlier than expected, Yakin and his co-workers decided to go to the beach.

“When we were at the beach everybody was having a good time,” Yakin said. “People were surfing, body boarding, all that fun stuff. There was a swimmer who had wandered out too far so the life guard went to get him. It was around that time that someone started screaming for help.”

The person in need was Senior Chief Hospital Corpsman Ralph Duron, senior enlisted leader, 21 Area Branch Clinic, Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton. Like his fellow beach-goers, Duron was enjoying his time in the ocean. The nearly 9-foot waves crashing above didn’t faze him until he was unexpectedly thrown from his board.
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Pentagon Does Not Know How Many Military Families Go Hungry?

Pentagon Doesn't Track How Many Military Families Go Hungry: Report
Military.com
by Amy Bushatz
Jul 21, 2016

Whether a military family qualifies for food stamps depends strongly on where they are stationed, since individual states set some of their own income guidelines. For example, at both Camp Pendleton, California, and Fort Hood, Texas, troops need a minimum household size of six to qualify, even though income between those locations varies widely thanks to the Basic Allowance for Housing rates.

Authorized patrons at the Fort McCoy Commissary check out their grocery items. (Photo by Geneve N. Mankel)

Defense Department officials have incomplete information on how many military families are using food assistance programs because the department doesn't completely track the data or work with other departments to do so, a new report from the Government Accountability Office finds.

While some data exist on how many service members use programs such as food stamps, known as SNAP, or the Women and Infant Children (WIC) program, which are both controlled by the Department of Agriculture, the Pentagon only loosely tracks the programs it administers, the report says.

Additionally, no single office at the DoD is in charge of food assistance tracking, it says.

"The Department of Defense has some data on service members' use of food assistance programs it administers, but it does not know the extent that service members use such programs," the report summary says. "Also no office within DOD is monitoring food assistance needs, such as through survey data."

Little to no information was found by auditors on service members' use of the myriad of other food assistance programs such as local food banks and free and reduced lunches for children in non-DoD schools. That's a problem military officials must tackle before they are able to accurately understand how hunger impacts troops and their families, the report says.
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Purple Heart For PTSD Veterans Debate Surfaces Again

For the last 34 years, over half my life, this has been my life. It is a place of my choosing since I did not go into the military. I was born into it. My Dad was a Korean War veteran and when I fell in love with a Vietnam veteran, I married into it. Felt natural to me back then since it was all I knew growing up with my uncles, all WWII veterans. What was not so familiar was the term "shell shock" older veteran used to explain what war does to some. It was known to have changed lives forever in one way or another. In our case it was the worst way for a while but after all these years, we are still together.

When I hear some say that veterans with PTSD do not deserve a Purple Heart, I can only conclude they simply do not even understand what the term actually means.

Post=After, Trauma=Wound, Stress=State of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances and Disorder=Out of order. 

In other words, things happened while your life was on the line and you got wounded to the point where your mind and body were stressed out and then everything got jumbled up.

Here's the thing though they don't tell you. After it, wounds heal and stress eases up with help and then things can be put back into some kind of order. Just like with everything else, not the same order they were in before, but differently. Just like you are not the cause of what war did to you and was out of your control, what you do afterwards is in your control.

It is a wound caused by an outside force that penetrated your skin and you can still feel the heat while your body was pushed to the limits of humanity. You can still smell the same things you had to suffer with back then, like diesel fuel. You can still hear the same sounds like machine guns, cannons and helicopters along with screams and dying breathes.

You can still remember every decision you ever made and still argue between what you knew in that millisecond of time and what you know now.

The trick is understanding that it is a wound and left untreated it spreads out to every other part of your life like and infection destroying whatever it comes into contact with until you fight back with everything your body needs to defeat it.

“Real men despise battle, but will never run from it.” ― George Washington

There should be no stigma attached to this at all and there will not be as soon as all of you understand exactly what it is and finally accept the fact that you would not have it IF YOU DID NOT PUT YOUR LIFE ON THE LINE BEING WILLING TO DIE FOR SOMEONE ELSE.

Civilians get PTSD but it is a totally different type and the only reason they know what it is, is because veterans came back and fought for all the research. Keep fighting!

I’ve treated veterans with PTSD. It’s time to make them eligible for the Purple Heart.
Washington Post
By Nathaniel P. Morris
July 22, 2016

According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, PTSD afflicts up to one in five veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan in a given year, and as many as one in three veterans from earlier conflicts like Vietnam during their lifetime. As of 2013, roughly 400,000 veterans affiliated with the VA carried this diagnosis.

Over the last decade, a controversial question has surrounded the Purple Heart: do veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder deserve it?

The Pentagon currently does not award Purple Hearts to veterans suffering from PTSD. Supporters of this policy argue physical wounds have always determined eligibility for the Purple Heart. Some believe the science regarding PTSD is too primitive; indeed symptoms can be difficult to diagnose, and objective tests remain elusive. There are concerns that some veterans might attempt to fake the diagnosis.

But critics say that denying Purple Hearts to these veterans reinforces the stigmatization of mental illness—in other words, that conditions of the mind are less real than conditions of the body. As a physician who has worked with veterans suffering from PTSD, I can tell you the manifestations of this condition are very real. Symptoms can include flashbacks, paralyzing anxiety, hypervigilance, and self-harm.
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WWII Veteran Banged Up During Ride to VA

90-year-old Veteran injured in Medicaid funded wheelchair van ride
I-Team: Transport company has troubling past
ABC Action News
Adam Walser
July 21, 2016

“His arm was bloodied and he had a lump on his head from a blow to the head,” said Schaer. “My father's on blood thinners, so I know a blow to the head like that could kill him.”

NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. - Blood, a bump on the head and dehydration were the result of a wheel chair van ride Vernon Johnson recently took home from his doctor's appointment.

Your tax dollars paid for that ride, but the company that gave it has had other trouble in the past.

In 90 years Jacobson has had plenty of close calls , starting with D-Day.

As a young Coast Guardsman, he drove troops to shore on a barge.

But it’s his latest close call that had the potential to do the most damage.

“The wheels must have left the ground,” he said, describing the wild ride.
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Judge Ordered Commanding Officer of Idaho National Guard Out of Court?

Veteran asked to leave courtroom for wearing Army uniform
Idaho State Journal
By Debbie Bryce For the Journal
July 21, 2016

POCATELLO — Lt. Col. Fred Flynn, a disabled veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, was asked to leave a courtroom by a judge at the Bannock County Courthouse earlier this month because he was wearing his Army uniform.

Flynn retired from the Army in 1998 but was recalled after that to serve three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. He served for a total of 24 years, most recently as the commanding officer of the Army National Guard in Pocatello.

Flynn complied with the order to leave the courtroom, but he said he felt humiliated and disappointed that the judge would ask him to leave because he was wearing his Army uniform.

“I had to leave a courtroom that is based on the very Constitution that I served to protect,” Flynn said.

Sixth District Judge David C. Nye said he ordered that Flynn leave the courtroom during the jury trial of another military veteran because Nye felt Flynn’s uniform could influence the jury.
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