Friday, August 19, 2016

IAVA Commander-in-Chief Forum

Whenever there is an election we're pretty much forgotten about. Candidates never seem to have any plans, or even understand what military, veterans and families, go through. Sure there are a lot of issues they have to pay attention to but we're all pretty tired of hearing how much they value us without ever seeing any proof of it. The IAVA is trying to do something about that.
IAVA Commander-in-Chief Forum
Joint Candidate Event to Highlight National Security, Military and Veterans Issues
Live in Primetime on NBC and MSNBC on Wednesday, September 7, 2016

AUGUST 18, 2016 – Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) will host both major party presidential nominees, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, for a live televised primetime forum to focus exclusively on issues the next president will have to confront as Commander-in-Chief.

The event will take place in New York City and will be simulcast on NBC and MSNBC in primetime on the evening of September 7, 2016.

The candidates will appear back to back during the one-hour event. They will take questions on national security, military affairs and veterans issues from NBC News and an audience comprised mainly of military veterans and active service members.

“IAVA is proud to lead this historic event for our veterans community and all Americans,” said Paul Rieckhoff, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of IAVA. “On the cusp of the 15th Anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, New York is a fitting stage to give voice to American veterans and service members that are all too often shut out of our political debate. IAVA members world-wide, 93% of whom say they’ll be voting in November, and many deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan right now, are ready to hear from the candidates and hold them accountable. IAVA is honored to join with NBC on this significant event that will ensure that America’s next Commander-in-Chief, at least for one night, addresses our nation’s moral obligation to support and empower its 22 million veterans, our servicemembers and our military families.”
learn more about IAVA here

They tried ranking politicians before but it did not do much good considering the rest of the population does not have a clue about any of the Bills politicians write. This time, we may get some answers. Hopefully they actually paid attention all along.

Among the questions I'd love to have answered are these.

What will the candidates do about housing civilians on military property?
Thirty-four other U.S. military installations have already brought in nonmilitary residents, and there have been no major security issues, said Mack Quinney, project director for the housing company.
And if they plan on ending this practice or leaving it the way it is?
In 2001, Fort Hood became the first U.S. military installation to hand over housing to a private operator when it entered into a deal with the Australia-based Lendlease Group to form the Fort Hood Family Housing company.

The deal has facilitated the building of hundreds of new homes on Fort Hood, where soldiers have complained about the quality of the housing stock, by allowing them to be financed with private construction bonds, Fort Hood and Lendlease officials said.

Do they plan on actually doing something about the rules and funding of the VA that Congress is in fact in charge of? 
When there is a backlog of claims, do they have any plans to make sure contractors hire to process the claims are not just trained to do it properly, but have enough staff to fulfill the commitment this country made to those who are willing to lay down their lives for the sake of her?
When private-contracted out doctors are evaluating claims, are there any plans to hold them accountable when they fail to put qualified practitioners in the positions or rate claims wrongly?

Do they have any plans to hold contractors accountable for failed programs, like suicide prevention, when clearly they do not work?  

Do they plan on hold any member of Congress publicly accountable for writing and funding Bills they pass when it has been tired and failed before.  Just look at the list of "suicide prevention" Bills coming out of congress in the last decade and you'll see what I mean.

Do they have any plans to hold veterans charities accountable?

Do they have any plans for holding the Joint Chiefs accountable for the rise in military suicides at the same time there has been a sharp reduction of enlisted personnel?

Do they have any plans for holding defense contractors accountable for the billions they receive for programs that do not work and do very little to prevent healing from traumas troops face?

What about ISIS, Iraq, Afghanistan, NATO, the rest of the world including humanitarian missions? Will anyone be held accountable for the mess we're in?

What do they plan on doing about Defense Contractors outnumbering military personnel?

Data compiled by the Congressional Research Service shows that private contractors outnumber U.S. troops in Afghanistan by more than a three to one margin.
The latest numbers covering just the first few months of this year show that there are still around 29,000 contractors in Afghanistan — well over three times the 9.000 troops.


The thing is, there are hundreds of questions all of us have, but unless these politicians are asked, we won't know if they even considered any of it or how much thought they gave to any of us.

Thursday, August 18, 2016

Vietnam Veteran Helped Others, Now Needs Help From Others in Ohio

Partially paralyzed veteran in need of handicapped van
WCMH 4 News
By Rick Reitzel
Published: August 17, 2016

GAHANNA, OH (WCMH) — A Vietnam War Army veteran has fallen on hard times. Partially paralyzed and in pain, and now confined to a wheelchair without a vehicle, Stephen Karales, 70, has kept a good attitude.

Karales is a giver – volunteering 15,000 hours in the benefits office at the local VA and homeless shelter with the YWCA, until illness left him partially paralyzed.

It took a tremendous effort for Karales to stand up and move to a wheelchair wheeled up to the passenger side of Steve Guenther’s SUV.

Karales came to the Gahanna Legion and VFW Post on Johnstown Road with several other veterans who pitched in to help.

A year ago the former combat medic said he was on a mission spending all of his waking-hours helping other veterans. Then he contracted a strange virus which left him in a coma for 11 days and permanently paralyzed from the waist down.
read more here

Contractors Serving Side-By-Side-By-Side of US Troops in Afghanistan?

29,000 contractors versus 9,000 U.S. troops remain in Afghanistan
Digital Journal
BY KEN HANLY
August 18, 2016

Kabul - Data compiled by the Congressional Research Service shows that private contractors outnumber U.S. troops in Afghanistan by more than a three to one margin.

A detailed 12-page report called "Department of Defense Contractor and Troop Levels in Iraq and Afghanistan: 2007-2016" can be found at the Congressional Research Service website.

During the 2007-2016 period, the U.S. Defense Department spent more than $220 billion on contractors in both Iraq and Afghanistan for a large variety of services and support.

Even as early as the middle of 2011, when there were still many U.S. troops in Afghanistan, they were outnumbered by private contractors. The number of private contractors peaked in 2012 at more than 117,000 while there were around 88,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Almost 23 percent of contractors worked as supplementary security personnel. A whopping 70 percent were actually foreign nationals that received money from U.S. companies and agencies.
read more here

Korean War Veteran Gets Dying Wish, A Uniform To Be Buried In

Marine gets his dying wish: A uniform to be buried in
Providence Journal
By Carol Kozma
Journal Staff Writer
Posted Aug. 17, 2016

Normand Dupras, of Swansea, had served in the Korean War. At 86, and now suffering from dementia, it was his dying wish a few years back that he could be buried in the uniform, he said.
DIGHTON, Mass. — Normand Dupras sat at the Dighton Nursing Center, amazed to hear from his granddaughter, Dona Silva, that a group of people was there to see him.

“We’ve got a surprise for you," Silva told him Wednesday.

That’s when Glenn Dusablon, of the Veterans Memorial Museum, in Woonsocket, presented Dupras with a full Marine Corps dress uniform, including the white hat, belt and gloves.

“I love this," Dupras said, looking over each item.

Dupras, of Swansea, Massachusetts, a former reserve police officer in that town, served in the Korean War. At 86, and now suffering from dementia, it was his dying wish a few years back to be buried in the uniform, he said.

Asked what happened to his former uniform, Dupras said he did not know, but believes it was taken at a hospital.
read more here

VA Pilot Program Considers PTSD Service Dogs,,,,,Finally

VA provides service dog benefits to Veterans with mental health disorders 
08/18/2016

WASHINGTON – The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced today that it is piloting a protocol to implement veterinary health benefits for mobility service dogs approved for Veterans with a chronic impairment that substantially limits mobility associated with mental health disorders.

“We take our responsibility for the care and safety of Veterans very seriously,” said VA Under Secretary for Health, Dr. David J. Shulkin. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is committed to providing appropriate, safe and effective, compassionate care to all Veterans. Implementing the veterinary health benefit for mobility service dogs approved for Veterans with a chronic impairment that substantially limits mobility associated with mental health disorders may prove to be significantly beneficial for some Veterans. The Service Dog Benefits Pilot will evaluate this premise.”

VA has been providing veterinary benefits to Veterans diagnosed as having visual, hearing or substantial mobility impairments and whose rehabilitation and restorative care is clinically determined to be optimized through the assistance of a guide dog or service dog. With this pilot, this benefit is being provided to Veterans with a chronic impairment that substantially limits mobility associated with a mental health disorder for whom the service dog has been identified as the optimal way for the Veteran to manage the mobility impairment and live independently.

Service dogs are distinguished from pets and comfort animals because they are specially trained to perform tasks or work for a specific individual with a disability who cannot perform the task or accomplish the work independently. To be eligible for the veterinary health benefit, the service dog must be trained by an organization accredited by Assistance Dogs International in accordance with VA regulations.

Currently, 652 Veterans with approved guide or service dogs receive the veterinary service benefit. This Pilot is anticipated to provide the veterinary service benefit to up to 100 additional Veterans with a chronic impairment that substantially limits mobility associated with a mental health disorder.

The VA veterinary service benefit includes comprehensive wellness and sick care (annual visits for preventive care, maintenance care, immunizations, dental cleanings, screenings, etc.), urgent/emergent care, prescription medications, and care for illnesses or disorders when treatment enables the dog to perform its duties in service to the Veteran.

Additional information about VA’s service dog program can be found at http://www.prosthetics.va.gov/ServiceAndGuideDogs.asp

Low Turn Out For PTSD Town Hall?

Big information at PTSD event, but a small crowd
Cleveland Daily Banner
By LARRY C. BOWERS Banner Staff Writer
August 17, 2016

The speakers also stressed that PTSD is not a recent malady, but was documented 3,000 years before Christ by horrific experiences in war. Smith said there were 159,000 who suffered out of World War I, and 500,000 from World War II. In the second World War the problem was called “shell shocked.”

In spite of the sparse gathering at Tuesday evening’s Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Townhall Meeting at Keith Street Ministries, the array of speakers delivered a wealth of information.

GUEST SPEAKERS WAIT their turn at the podium Tuesday evening at Keith Street Ministries. The speakers at the PTSD townhall meeting included, from left, Bradley County Veterans Officer Larry McDaris, B. Yvonne Hubbard of the Veterans Center in Chattanooga, Centerstone Military Service’s Executive Director Kent Crossley, veteran LaWanda Jenkins and retired Lt. Gen. Hugh Smith.
BANNER PHOTO, LARRY C. BOWERS
The group was led by Tennessee State Council President Barry Rice of the Vietnam Veterans of America, Bradley County Veterans Officer Larry McDaris, retired Lt. Gen. Hugh Smith of Clarksville, Centerstone Military Services Executive Director Kent Crossley, veteran LaWanda Jenkins, and B. Yvonne Hubbard of the Veterans Center in Chattanooga.

Rice, a PTSD survivor, served as the meeting’s moderator. He spoke of his battles with the affliction following combat in Vietnam.

Other than the speakers, there were a few local veteran officials, members of the Edward G. Sharpe Chapter 596 of Vietnam Veterans which organized the meeting, and family members.

Chapter President James Dean said he didn’t understand the low turnout.

“We placed fliers throughout the community, including the Bradley County Justice Center and Cleveland Police Department,” he said.
read more here

North Carolina Iraq Veteran and Children Murdered

Family: Murdered mom was Iraq War Vet
WITN News
By Dave Jordan
August 17, 2016


Family members of the Greenville mom found murdered Tuesday say she was an Iraq War Veteran.

Garlette Howard and her children Mayana, Brianna and Ayanna were discovered in their West Pointe Townhome by Greenville police who went there for a welfare check.

Dibon Toone, father of at least two of the children, is charged with Howard's murder and police say charges in the other deaths are forthcoming.
read more here

Careful John McCain, Your Lousy Record is Showing

John McCain's op ed seems to show that either he does not remember all his years in the Senate along with all the years on Armed Services Committee. If he remembered any of it, then he would not have written such a ridiculous article touting his actions.
McCain: New Suicide prevention initiative for veterans can be model for nationwide effort By: Sen. John McCain August 17, 2016

Recently, the Department of Veterans Affairs released a sobering reminder of an epidemic that plagues our veterans: the suicide rate among military veterans has increased nearly 32 percent since 2001. Our youngest veterans (ages 18-29) have been hit the hardest and are nearly twice as likely to take their own lives than any other age group. The rate of suicide among veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is approximately 50 percent higher than the rate among the general public, and on average, we lose more than 20 military veterans to suicide each day.read more here

Let's think about that for a second.

Take a look at how long he has been in Washington.
John was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from the First District of Arizona on an agenda of limited government and strong foreign policy. After two terms in the House, John was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986, succeeding legendary Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater.

John McCain actually blocked a bill calling it overreach adding it was not needed in Arizona.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
This was going on at the same time McCain was blocking the bill.
In September of 2013 this report came out "Veterans committing suicide at twice the rate of civilians" and Arizona was in the news. "The rate of suicide among military veterans in Arizona is more than double the civilian rate Advocates say veterans need more than benefits when returning from war. The average veteran suicide rate in Arizona from 2005 through 2011 is almost 43 deaths per 100,000 people. That’s according to data compiled by News21, a national reporting project based out of Arizona State University. And the rate should increase as more veterans return home."
But he would should have known better considering he was on the Armed Services Committee in charge of the "prevention" training troops received while still in the military. In 2006 when Congress was working on addressing suicides, there were 99 the entire year.  The numbers went up even while the number of enlisted went down. Does McCain have to explain any of that? Does he have to explain why Congress spends billions on prevention while suicides increase and so does spending?

You can read more on his actual record here. It gets worse.
"These numbers are unacceptable. That’s why in 2014, I worked to help veterans at risk of suicide due to combat-related psychological trauma by championing legislation named in the honor of Clay Hunt. That bill was signed into law in 2015."

Does McCain have to explain that the Clay Hunt bill was a repeat of the Joshua Omvig Suicide Prevention Act?
"Arizona will be the first state in the country to organize this level of collaboration and training so that the VA and the community are working together to combat suicide among veterans."
Again, does he have to explain how the numbers in Arizona went up instead of down? How many more years does he get to fail veterans while they are dying for him to get educated?
For far too long, our sons and daughters who selflessly served the nation in wartime have ended their lives prematurely after they returned home. Through the combined and coordinated suicide prevention efforts of VA hospitals, veterans, and mental health providers, Arizona – and hopefully other states across the country – can work together to bring an end to the tragedy of veteran suicides.
Yes, for far too long and it is because politicians just like him want to get away with pretending they had nothing to do with the outcomes yet everything to do with trying? At least most in the Veterans Community are fully aware of McCains record and it has been disgraceful.
The Disabled Veterans of America gives him a 20 percent rating, compared with an 80 percent rating for Sen. Obama. The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans for America gives Sen. McCain a D and Sen. Obama a B+. The Vietnam Veterans of America say Sen. McCain has voted against them on 15 issues.
One of the most vocal and fastest-growing veterans groups to oppose the McCain campaign is VoteVets.org. Formed in 2006, the organization claims a membership of roughly 100,000, with a political action committee devoted to electing congressional candidates who oppose the handling of the Iraq war.
Especially galling to VoteVets.org is Sen. McCain's opposition to the new, bipartisan GI Bill that increases education benefits for Iraq and Afghanistan vets. Sen. Obama voted for the bill when it passed 75-22 in May; Sen. McCain was on the campaign trail and did not vote. 

The military trains them then releases them.  They are no longer accountable for veteran suicides nor have they been held accountable for suicides committed while in the military. Veteran suicides went up, just as the number of living veterans went down, but it seems as if Congress does not see all the damage they did.  

How gave them the right to not be held accountable when they are in charge of all of it?

Man Charged With Homicide of PTSD Veteran Also Abandoned Service Dog

Montana man charged in homicide case involving missing veteran
The Great Falls Tribune
By: Andrea Fisher
August 17, 2016

The report says Craft also admitted to pawning the rifle he used, selling Petzack’s truck and abandoning the veteran’s service dog somewhere on the way to Valier.
A Great Falls, Montana, man has been charged with deliberate homicide in connection to a veteran reported missing earlier this year.

A $1 million arrest warrant was issued for Brandon Lee Craft on Wednesday morning. He is accused of killing 28-year-old Adam Petzack, who was reported missing by his mother.

Police say Craft is currently in custody in Washington state.

Court documents say Petzack was a veteran on full disability because of a traumatic brain injury and post traumatic stress disorder.

According to court records, detectives with the Great Falls Police Department were investigating Craft for suspicious financial activity involving Petzack’s VA benefits. Documents indicate Petzack lived in a rental unit on Craft’s property in Great Falls.
read more here

PTSD Veteran Tried to Commit Suicide By Cop With Air Gun

Huntington Man Sentenced After Triggering Police Action Shooting
WBIW News
Updated August 17, 2016

Peek had admitted in court he was trying "to commit suicide by cop." The U.S. Army veteran told the court he hoped to get treatment for his wounds and for PTSD.
(HUNTINGBURG) - A Huntingburg man who triggered a standoff in February and was wounded in an officer-involved shooting was sentenced last week in Dubois Circuit Court.

In an open plea deal, 27-year-old Zachary Peek pleaded guilty to a Level 5 felony count of intimidation with a deadly weapon. On Friday, Judge Nathan Verkamp sentenced Peek to three years to be served at the Dubois County Security Center. But the court noted Peek can apply to be admitted into an in-patient post traumatic stress disorder program at the Marion, Ill., Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

Police later learned the gun was an air gun pistol with a long barrel.
read more here

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

VA Not Paying for Transplant Donated by Non-Veteran?

VA denies veteran's perfect kidney match
11 Alive News
Andy Pierrotti

Jamie McBride is program manager for the VA transplant system in San Antonio, Texas. After five years working at the VA, he’s blowing the whistle about a broken system.
Photo: Pierrotti, Andy
It doesn’t take long for Tamara Nelson to get emotional watching home video of the day her husband, Charles, received a life-saving kidney transplant this past June.

Their son, Coty, agreed to donate to save his father’s life. “Watching my son is what makes me cry the most,” said Nelson in July.

It’s a surgery that almost didn’t happen. Nelson is an Army veteran. He went through basic training in Fort Benning, Georgia and now lives outside Austin, Texas.

While in the service, Nelson got sick, which infected his kidneys. “He was so sick I didn’t think he was going to make it to transplant,” said Nelson.

This past June, Charles says the VA approved the transplant. So, he and his son prepared for surgery. Two days before the operation, they got unexpected news.

The VA told them it could not pay for the transplant because their son is not a veteran himself.

“That’s just idiotic. Now you’re making it harder on me, limiting the people I can use. It was just unbelievable is what it was,” said veteran.
read more here

Firefighters Raising Alarm of PTSD

Firefighters Raise Alarm About Risk Of PTSD In The Ranks
New research indicates PTSD might be as common among firefighters as military veterans.
Houston Public Media
CARRIE FEIBEL
POSTED ON AUGUST 17, 2016

Three Houston firefighters have killed themselves in the past five years, according to White.

Dave Fehling | Houston Public Media
Volunteer firefighters training at Texas A and M’s Disaster City in College Station
Firefighters from the U.S. and Canada are in Las Vegas this week for the biennial convention of the International Association of Firefighters. One of the main topics of the conference this year is post-traumatic stress disorder.

“We know that it’s increasingly on the rise,” said Alvin White Jr., the union president of the Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association and a conference attendee.

White says it’s not clear what’s contributing to the increase – it could be simply that more firefighters are willing to seek treatment. The 9-11 attacks also helped to de-stigmatize the disorder among first responders.

“Before that we tried to deal with it ourselves,” White said. “We’d self-medicate ourselves with alcohol and try to take care of it that way, because it was a sign of weakness.”

A report released Tuesday from the International Association of Firefighters summarizes the most recent research on PTSD. Estimated rates among firefighters range 9 to 20 percent, which is comparable to the rate in the military.
read more here


New Member of Idaho National Guard, Left NFL?

Special note to reader. Thanks for pointing out wrong state. Goes to show what happens when brain and fingers are having a communication problem.
Super Bowl champion training as a Black Hawk mechanic at Fort Eustis
The Virginian-Pilot
By Brock Vergakis
Published: August 16, 2016

"I'm proud to sign my longest term deal of all time, 8 yrs and have enlisted in the Army National Guard," Daryn Colledge
U.S. Army Spc. Daryn Colledge, 168th Aviation Regiment UH-60 (Black Hawk) helicopter repair student, sits next to a retired Special Forces Black Hawk at Fort Eustis, Va., July 28, 2016. Colledge retired from the National Football League after nine seasons and a Super Bowl Championship, and enlisted in the Army National Guard in March 2016 out of Idaho.
DEREK SEIFERT/U.S. AIR FORCE PHOTO
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (Tribune News Service) — Daryn Colledge's time as an NFL player and Super Bowl champion allowed him to frequently travel and meet the troops defending this country, men and women he long admired.

Now he's one of them in Hampton Roads.

Colledge, a 34-year-old former offensive lineman for the Green Bay Packers, Arizona Cardinals and Miami Dolphins, joined the Idaho National Guard in March. He's stationed at Fort Eustis while he trains to be a Black Hawk helicopter mechanic with the 168th Aviation Regiment.

Colledge declined an interview request, but appeared in an internal Army news story at Fort Eustis earlier this month.

He likely didn't need the extra paycheck. During his nine seasons in the NFL, Colledge made more than $24.5 million, according to spotrac.com, a site that tracks professional athletes' pay.
read more here

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

First responder PTSD similar to combat vets

Finally someone has taken the different types of PTSD seriously! It is what experts I learned from over three decades ago figured out. Combat PTSD is different from others but so is the type first responders have.  Risking your life as a career is a lot different than surviving trauma once in a lifetime.


First responder PTSD similar to combat vets: Report
TORONTO SUN
BY KEVIN CONNOR
FIRST POSTED: TUESDAY, AUGUST 16, 2016
A study of a group of Canadian firefighters showed rates of PTSD of more than 17%.

A separate study of 402 professional firefighters from Germany found that the PTSD rate was at 18%.

While no such study has been done in Toronto, the TPFFA believes the rates of PTSD would be similar.

TORONTO - Toronto’s first responders are experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder at rates comparable to combat veterans, new research shows.

Pulling a child from a car wreck or responding to a house fire with multiple victims is the same as seeing action on a battle ground, a report released Tuesday at the International Association of Fire Fighters conference says.

The report — PTSD and Cancer: Growing Number of Fire Fighters at Risk — says understanding the effects of the hazards is critical to keep first responders safe and on the job.

“Neither of these hidden hazards (PTSD and cancer from exposure to burning toxins) is adequately addressed in current protocols for treatment and remediation,” the study says.
read more here

Veteran Lives to Tell What Drove Him to Suicide to Save Others

Why veterans die by suicide, and how to stop it
Military Times
By Kristofer Goldsmith
Special to Military Times
August 16, 2016

A veteran joins others to place flags representing veterans and service
members who had died by suicide in 2014 on the National Mall in Washington.
(Photo: Charles Dharapak/AP)
Try to picture a veteran who has recently chosen to take his own life, and you’ll probably think of someone like me: a 20-to-30-something man who served in Iraq or Afghanistan. That’s a result of countless hours spent by advocates to raise awareness about the issue.

In 2014, as a volunteer for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, I spent most of my free time advocating for the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Act. I spent the summer traveling the country telling Clay’s story to everyone who would listen in hopes of building a movement that would get Congress to finally take decisive action to address the suicide crisis in the veteran community.

I had never met Clay when he was alive, but thanks to my experience with IAVA, I now know Clay’s parents, Susan and Richard Selke. We don’t talk regularly or see each other much since the Clay Hunt bill was signed into law in early 2015, but I feel like I’ve got a unique sort of bond with them. It’s a bond that I’ve felt with lots of parents who have lost their son or daughter to suicide.

That bond exists because they see in me what they lost, and I see in them what I almost did to my own parents.

On a personal level, answering, “Why’d you try to kill yourself?” is incredibly frustrating. There was a lot going on at the time of my suicide attempt. I had been suffering from severe bouts of depression, frightening panic attacks, and paralyzing migraines — what I now understand to be the effects of severe post-traumatic stress disorder.

What made things worse before my suicide attempt is that when I asked for help, I was treated with suspicion by my Army doctors and later chastised by my company commander for taking the antidepressants that I had been prescribed.

Despite an otherwise stellar career, I felt like I had failed as a soldier and as a man. My personal relationships were a mess. My unit went downrange without me so that I could get some emergency surgery, and I spent the next month restricted to my quarters. In that time, I quit going to therapy, and I stayed home in a dark room watching the 2007 presidential primary debates, where my buddies in Iraq seemed to have been forgotten, and I was drinking myself to sleep most nights.
read more here

The two caring strangers saw me fall, thank you

Strange thing happened on the way home from work today. It was raining but I had to stop for gas.  Walking out of the store, I slipped and fell.  In less than a second, there was a man offering me his arm and a woman grabbed my other arm to help me up.  I was grateful for the help and knowing that two total strangers wanted to help. Both wanted to make sure I was ok, and I was other than a couple of broken nails and my knee hurts.  My pride sure took a beating and I even said that as I rubbed my behind walking away.

I pumped the gas thinking about how easy it is to accept help at times, while other times, needing it, we just do not even ask. Sometimes help shows up and other times, no matter what we do or how hard we try to get help, it just never seems to come.

Sitting here, I am thinking about all the folks around Orlando panhandling with their signs, just looking for whatever help folks want to give them.  Sometimes the sign will have "homeless veteran" needs help.  What do I do? Most of the time I judge them, wondering if they really were a veteran or not, instead of thinking what I can give them. By the time I decide, the light changes and traffic moves on. I leave them behind never knowing anything about them.

Did they ask for help and no one helped or did they hold in the fact they were in need of anything until it was too late they ended up on the streets?

So many questions flooding my head right now.  It seems as if the difference is, folks will respond when they see "it" with their own eyes.

We know there are far too many veterans hurting, needing help to make it from one day to the next, but either they do not ask for help, or no one wants to help them.  Wouldn't it be great if what they needed were as visible as a person falling to the ground? What if we could just see it and they did not have to say a word?

What would it be like if they understood "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall" and knew it did not have to happen? To be needing help and willing to ask for it, believing that it will come, can seem like a never ending cycle of suffering. Yet hope is what keeps us getting up in the morning. Hope that we will make a difference by touching someone else with acts of kindness and yes, even returning that feeling by letting them help us.

The two caring strangers saw me fall. They rushed to help.  It is something that runs on on impulses fueled by compassion.  It happened here in Orlando when the Pulse shooting happened and it was all over the news.  Folks knew people needed help and they showed up, doing whatever they could to make things better.  But I think it was also something more.  They wanted to make sure the survivors understood there were more folks doing good than one bad man acting out of hating.

Knowing people are more apt to love than harm should provide us with comfort but imagine if we were all willing to not just offer help when we could, but be able to accept it when we needed it?

If you need help, let them help you get up so that you can turn around and help someone else who has taken a fall.

Monday, August 15, 2016

Law Firm Targeting British Troops Closed Down

Defeat of Iraq War vultures: Victory for the Mail as legal firm that spent taxpayer millions hounding our troops closes down
Daily Mail
By LARISA BROWN DEFENCE
CORRESPONDENT FOR THE DAILY MAIL
PUBLISHED:14 August 2016

After being stripped of public money Public Interest Lawyers will close Hundreds of soldiers will now escape a taxpayer-funded witch-hunt Nearly 200 compensation claims made by suspected Iraqi insurgents These will now be thrown out and other potential claims will be scrapped
A British soldier escapes his Warrior armoured vehicle after it was petrol-bombed in Basra during the Iraq War (file photo)
A legal firm that spent a decade hounding British troops is to shut down.

After being stripped of public money Public Interest Lawyers will close at the end of this month.

Hundreds of service personnel will now escape being dragged into a taxpayer-funded witch-hunt.

Nearly 200 compensation claims made by suspected Iraqi insurgents will be thrown out and more than 1,000 potential claims scrapped. Phil Shiner, who ran PIL, may now face charges because the National Crime Agency is investigating the law firm.

The development is a victory for the Daily Mail, which has exposed the tactics of the ambulance-chasing solicitors. These include using touts to drum up business in Iraq in breach of legal rules.
read more here

More Than $500 Million Into Researching Gulf War Veterans, No Answers

Still sick 25 years after the Gulf War, a vet seeks answers — and the Minneapolis VA may have them.
Star Tribune
By Jeremy Olson
AUGUST 14, 2016

More than $500 million in research hasn’t found causes or cures for the illness, which the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs classifies as “unexplained illness” or “chronic multisymptom illness.”
Chad Donovan of Rochester is fighting for the Department of Veterans Affairs to acknowledge his pain and other symptoms as related to Gulf War Illness.

It’s been 25 years, and Chad Donovan still wonders which toxic hazard in the Gulf War might have caused the fatigue, stomach problems and rashes he has suffered ever since.

Maybe it was the nerve gas pills, which his unit took in Saudi Arabia while standing in formation so nobody refused.

Maybe one of the “false alarms” after a missile attack really did signal the presence of chemical weapons.

Maybe the mushroom-cloud detonation of unused Iraqi ordnance whooshed toxins into the air.

And then there were the sand fleas, pesticides, burning oil wells, dust storms and uranium-depleted bullets that made the Gulf War one of the most toxic conflicts in history.

Today, researchers at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center are leading a wave of studies to solve the mystery of Gulf War Illness, a cluster of unexplained symptoms reported by 25 to 65 percent of the 700,000 soldiers deployed to the Gulf in 1990 and 1991. They have identified genetic markers that could improve tests and treatment, one of the most significant advances in years, and started a clinical trial on a promising prescription drug.
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Dr. Ed Tick: Healing PTSD New-Song

Decades later, a Troy veteran of Vietnam heals
Reconciliation tours of Vietnam aid veterans who served in war

Albany Times Union
By J.p. Lawrence
August 14, 2016

Vietnam veteran Dan New of Troy met with Viet Cong veteran Tam Tien, as part of a reconciliation tour led by psychotherapist Ed Tick and his organization Soldier's Heart. 


IMAGE 1 OF 8 Vietnam veteran Dan New of Troy met with Viet Cong veteran Tam Tien, as part of a reconciliation tour led by psychotherapist Ed Tick and his organization Soldier's Heart. (Photo: Ed Tick).
Troy
The heat of the night enveloped Dan New as he got off the plane. The 68-year-old man was back in the city he had known as Saigon. New marveled at how much had changed in what was now known as Ho Chi Minh City.

Waiting for him at the airport was another veteran of the war that ended 40 years ago. That man, Tran Dinh Song, had served in the South Vietnamese Air Force.

Over the next two weeks, New and Song would learn more about each other's story. In the years after coming home from Vietnam, New had sealed an intense feeling of guilt within him. In the years after his country lost to Communist forces, Song of South Vietnam had spent three years in a re-education camp. In December, the two men's winding paths after the war intersected in Ho Chi Minh City.

Song, 67, was New's guide in a two-week reconciliation tour of a dozen American veterans and researchers arranged by the Soldier's Heart, a Troy-based organization that helps veterans heal the psychological wounds of war.
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PTSD and Conditions of the Heart

GUEST POST

The Link Between Psychiatric Conditions and Cardiac Conditions
Your VA Claim

Anne Linscott


The Relationship Between Mind and Heart


Psychiatric conditions like PTSD, depression, anxiety, etc. alter the body’s nervous system and can negatively affect the heart. Also, psychiatric conditions can cause a person to make poor lifestyle choices such as poor diet, lack of exercise, or substance abuse. These poor lifestyle choices can also have a big impact on the heart. Why is it so important to understand the relationship between the mind and the heart? Both heart disease and psychiatric conditions are two of the most common disabilities suffered by veterans of multiple eras. For example, 175,220 Vietnam veterans have service connected coronary heart disease and over 350,000 Vietnam veterans have PTSD. And those numbers are just the veterans that have their conditions service connected.


Psychiatric conditions can not only make an existing heart condition worse, they can actually increase the risk of developing a heart condition. According to the American Psychological Association, people diagnosed with depression are more than twice as likely to develop coronary artery disease or suffer from a heart attack. On the reverse side, people with heart conditions are three times as likely to be depressed. This isn’t entirely surprising when you look at the impact heart conditions can have on someone’s life. For example, someone who suffers a heart attack can then have feelings of guilt about any habits they had that might have lead up to the heart attack. That person might also have feelings of self-doubt due because they worry about their ability to fulfill family/and or work related roles.


And the Medical Evidence Shows…


Dr. Viola Vaccarino, chair of the department of epidemiology at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in Atlanta stated, “repeated emotional triggers during everyday life in persons with PTSD could affect the heart by causing frequent increases in blood pressure, heart rate, and heartbeat rhythm abnormalities that in susceptible individuals could lead to a heart attack.” Dr. Vaccarino led a study of Vietnam veterans diagnosed with PTSD, nuclear imagining scans of the veterans’ hearts showed that the veterans with PTSD had almost twice as much reduction in blood flow to their hearts as those veterans without PTSD. This was true even after taking into considerations the traditional cardiovascular risk factors such as age, past heart disease, obesity, alcohol use, etc.


Dr. Vaccarino’s findings are supported by other medical studies and research that drew similar conclusions. A study published by the American Journal of Public Health in April of 2015 found that of 8,000 veterans participating, those with PTSD had a nearly 50% greater risk of developing heart failure compared with veterans that did not have PTSD. Also, veterans with PTSD that also had combat service were about 5 times more likely to develop heart failure than those veterans who had not seen combat. This study, along with other research, confirms what many experts believe; that PTSD, like other forms of chronic stress and anxiety, can cause damage to the heart over time.


In fact, Dr. Paula Schnurr with the VA’s National Center for PTSD even stated, “There’s now a large body of evidence that unequivocally links trauma exposure to poor physical health.”

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