Memphis VA Erased Claims of Veterans?

FOX13 Investigates: Claims of Memphis veterans being erased from VA system
FOX 13 News
by: Marius Payton
Nov 24, 2016

Waiting over a year just to see a doctor. FOX13 Investigates, obtained a secret wait list from a whistleblower who works at the Memphis VA hospital.

This list shows ridiculous wait times for dozens of vets to get the care they need and some may never get it at all. Some of these veterans are suffering from mental health issues and need help.

Of the 47 people on the list, the longest wait is 403 days, the shortest 206. We've all heard the phrase "Support Our Troops". Well, a whistleblower who wishes to remain anonymous tells FOX13 there are hundreds of veterans in need of support and the VA hospital here in Memphis is treating them more like villains instead of the heroes that they truly are.

"We were told not to add any more people to the electronic wait list.” When we asked what happens to the people who are on the existing list, the whistleblower responded emotionally. “They were still on the consultation list and then the consultations were discontinued.”

FOX13 obtained this internal email telling the staff, "Once a veteran is placed on the EWL, or electronic wait list, the consult should be discontinued."
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Iraq Veteran Received Gift of Love

Iraq war veteran receives gift that evokes memories of fallen comrade and snowboarding buddy
The Gazette
By: Debbie Kelley
November 24, 2016

"For a mom, I can't describe the feeling - it was such a wonderful tribute to my son. He loved snowboarding," she said in a phone interview from her home in upstate New York.

A heart-wrenching story has turned heartwarming, and a local Iraq war veteran says he couldn't be more grateful for everyone who had a hand in the unexpected about-face.

Jason McDonald holds the snowboard Burton made for him to replace the stolen one he had as a tribute to his buddy and comrade Chris Simpson who was killed in Iraq Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2016, at his Colorado Springs home.

(The Gazette, Christian Murdock)

"It feels like a big void has been refilled," said Jason McDonald, a civilian contractor who works at Fort Carson's down-range training area.

McDonald claims he was wrongfully evicted from his Colorado Springs apartment in May, and in the process, his military commendation medals, uniforms, breathing machine and other valuables went missing.

The 36-year-old medically retired Army staff sergeant was deployed five times to Iraq and receives treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury.
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Bonus Betrayal of National Guard Soldiers Again?

Soldier Who Led Suit On Bonuses Now Asks Lawmakers To Slow Down
CBS Los Angeles
November 23, 2016

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Sgt. 1st Class Bryan Strother has been a spokesman of sorts for many of the California National Guard members told to pay back thousands of dollars in enlistment bonuses they got a decade ago.

“I’m worried about future good faith in the military and its contracts,” Strother said.

He filed a class-action lawsuit and was part of the push to bring attention to the issue.

Now that there are three proposed bills in Congress to solve the problem, Strother is saying slow down.

He feels politicians are rushing to be first to pass a bill without listening to all concerns.

“There are all kinds of soldiers that could fall through the cracks, soldiers that have not even been paid their bonuses,” Strother said.

He points to Bruce Himelright, a veteran who served in Iraq and was awarded a Bronze Star for bravery.

According to the lawsuit, he was only given half his promised bonus, then was told he’ll never get the other half.
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And then read how this is not the first time soldiers were betrayed.

Bonus Army War in Washington
As many as 20,000 former soldiers and their families had converged on Washington in the summer of 1932, the height of the Great Depression, to support Texas Congressman Wright Patman’s bill to advance the bonus payment promised to World War I veterans. Congress had authorized the plan in 1924, intending to compensate the veterans for wages lost while serving in the military during the war. But payment was to be deferred until 1945. Just one year earlier, in 1931, Congress overrode a presidential veto on a bill to provide, as loans, half the amount due to the men. When the nation’s economy worsened, the half-bonus loans were not enough, and the unemployed veterans now sought the balance in cash. Known as Bonus Marchers, they came in desperation from all across the nation, hopping freight trains, driving dilapidated jalopies or hitchhiking, intent on pressuring Congress to pass the legislation. The administration vehemently opposed the measure, believing it inflationary and impractical given the $2 billion annual budget deficit.

A Fake Marine Live On TV News Camera--With Wife

Stolen Valor: Busting A Fake Marine Live On TV News Camera. He claimed to have the Navy Cross, on top of everything else.

Happy Thanksgiving Sailors, You Get Life Lock After Data Hacked

Names, Data of more than 134,000 Sailors Compromised
Stars and Stripes
by Erik Slavin
Nov 24, 2016

The names and social security numbers of 134,386 sailors were accessed by "unknown individuals" from a contractor's laptop computer, the Navy announced Wednesday.

U.S. Navy sailors stand on the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower on Nov. 22. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

The Navy said it was notified by Hewlett Packard Enterprise Services on Oct.27 that one of its employees supporting a Navy contract had a laptop compromised, according to a service statement.

There is no evidence for now that the personal data has been misused, according to the preliminary results of an ongoing Naval Criminal Investigative Service investigation.

"The Navy takes this incident extremely seriously -- this is a matter of trust for our sailors," Chief of Naval Personnel Vice Adm. Robert Burke said, according to a Navy statement. "We are in the early stages of investigating and are working quickly to identify and take care of those affected by this breach."
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125,000 OEF OIF Veterans Abandoned by DOD with PTSD

The New York Times reported on how many service members were kicked out the military instead of being treated and compensated for the battle they would have to fight for the rest of their lives.

Since 2001, more than 300,000 people, about 13 percent of all troops, have been forced out of the military with less-than-honorable discharges.

Sounds really lousy until you discover that the number of those kicked out had been increasing since 1990. KPPC News reported it happened to 615,000 up until March of 2016. In 2014, a Vietnam veteran had waiting 43 years for justice. In 2015, Vietnam Veterans of America went to court seeking justice for veterans abandoned by the military. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel ordered reviews of these reprehensible actions.

Larry Barnett was among those kicked out. He had two tours in Iraq between 2003 and 2005. His life was spared by two Deputies. But there are so many more of their stories. Far too many, we will never hear about. Some ended up taking their own lives. Some ended up living on the streets with no help at all.

When I wrote Residual War, Something Worth Living For, these were the folks I was thinking about. In 2013, the Army had kicked out 11,000. One of them was Tom Faith. He was found living in the woods in Florida after attempting suicide twice. One of the forgotten veterans, sent away by his family after they thought they had no other choice. Every soldier found themselves facing the same outcome, until a General decided to do something about it. He established a unit at Fort Christmas, where proven heroes could remain in the Army until they could retire with dignity after years of dedicated service to this country. All of them had been diagnosed with PTSD.

While they were helped to heal, the homeless veterans in the clandestine shelter, were used and abused as part of a drug research program to develop a medication to stop them from feeling everything.

Over the years, too many of their stories had gone unnoticed by most, so I had to try something different. I told the truth within the fictional accounts based on real suffering and real peer support that goes on all the time. There are good Generals and bad ones. There are good Chaplains and bad ones. There are good stories as well as horrible endings. In this case, there is all of the above.

Read the story below and remember, he was willing to die for the sake of those he served with, yet betrayed by the same military leaders who sent him there.

Why some who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan can’t get VA medical care
WSAV News 3
JoAnn Merrigan, Reporter
Published: November 23, 2016

Unfortunately, Goldsmith says those worries are well founded. “Those with bad discharges are most likely to die by suicide after fighting the system for so long to get care. And after being denied over and over, they just give up,” he told me.

Since 9-11, tens of thousands of soldiers and marines have seen combat. Now it’s estimated at least 125,000 of them are not eligible to receive any benefits from the Veterans Administration (VA) because they received dishonorable discharges.

“Most people live under the assumption that every veteran is able to get healthcare at the VA. And the truth is that these veterans with less than honorable discharges are prohibited from getting any access,” says Kristofer Goldsmith, a vet who fought in Iraq who now advocates for other veterans.

One of those trying to get healthcare is Michael Coleman. I talked with Michael and his mom Jo awhile back. Michael was in bad shape and had just attempted suicide. He says he was diagnosed with PTSD but drummed out of the Army back in 2004 after serving in Iraq in 2003. “They gave me a bad conduct discharge and released me from the Army,” he told me. “I have tried going to the VA and telling them I have PTSD but they say until my discharge is upgraded, they can’t do anything for me.”

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(Cross posted on Residual War)

Veterans Join Forces to Care for Homeless Veterans

Did you thank a veteran? These vets are returning the favor to poor, homeless
Modesto Bee
BY JEFF JARDINE
November 23, 2016

Earlier this month, on Veterans Day, scores of people approached scores of veterans and thanked them for their service. But if they think serving the nation and the public ended the day these vets mustered out of the military, think again.

Terrence van Doorn, left, with Team R2 and George Retana with Operation Rescue sort clothes to be given to the homeless Wednesday afternoon at Graceada Park in Modesto. Joan Barnett Lee

Late Wednesday afternoon, two groups created and led by veterans and sharing a common goal – to serve the community and the disenfranchised – pooled their resources to feed the homeless at Graceada Park. They also distributed coats and blankets and other clothing items to help those without shelter to endure the colder weather as winter approaches.

Terrence van Doorn and George Retana both served in the Marines in Iraq. They saw veterans who were homeless. They encountered veterans who brought the wars home with them emotionally and mentally. They met veterans who felt most unappreciated. They decided to do something about it, and one great way to make veterans feel more valued, they said, is to get them engaged in helping others.

After leaving the military, van Doorn, 33, wanted to begin a career in law enforcement. But he struggled to shake the post-traumatic stress disorder cobwebs that developed from fighting in Fallujah, where friend and comrade Michael Anderson Jr. was killed. I wrote about van Doorn in 2009. He’d passed the written and physical tests with hopes of becoming a deputy sheriff. But he couldn’t pass the psychological exam due to his PTSD.

He got the help he needed and tried to hire on at the Department of Corrections, which also rejected him. He continued to get counseling and, in 2006, the Ceres Police Department hired him and put him through the academy.
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Pioneering Fort Hood study on PTSD, Old is "new again!"

They called it "pioneering" but in the same article it is pointed out that CPT goes back to the 80's. CPT does work, when done the right way, like making sure there is closure and soldiers find a way to make peace with themselves instead of battling within themselves. When done the wrong way, they get frustrated and give up. The best research on PTSD started 40 years ago, but what failed has been repeated and what worked has been forgotten about.

Pioneering Fort Hood study on PTSD treatment finds some healed
San Antonio Express
By J.p. Lawrence
November 23, 2016

CPT examines how someone thinks about a traumatic event and how that affects their emotions, said Patricia Resick, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke University who developed CPT in 1988. CPT, along with prolonged exposure therapy, are the two primary “talk” therapy methods used to treat PTSD.

Staff Sgt. Martin L. Morris waits to be awarded the Purple Heart at Fort Hood, Tuesday, December 19, 2006. Nicole Fruge/ San Antonio Express-News

There was a time when Sean Brack would encounter a sticky floor and be transported back to war. He would peel his foot up from the floor of a movie theater, and it would remind him of standing in a pool of blood, and walking through that blood to get to a wounded friend.

The flashbacks happened in 2010, when Brack thought of killing himself. After three tours to Iraq, Brack, a sergeant first class, had problems sleeping, isolated himself, and was on his way to becoming an alcoholic, he recalled. He was due to deploy to Afghanistan with the 504th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade from Fort Hood.

Then, Brack, 47, entered part of what would become a series of studies at Fort Hood on a type of therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder, called cognitive processing therapy.

Studies have been done on CPT’s effectiveness on civilians and veterans, but a paper published Wednesday in JAMA Psychiatry included results of the largest study on the treatment’s effectiveness on active duty soldiers to date.

Over the course of 12 sessions at Fort Hood, nearly half of active duty soldiers in one-on-one therapy and 40 percent in group therapy recovered from PTSD, the study found.
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Fort Hood Soldier's Family Wants Missing Warrior Alert

Family of Fort Hood soldier who went missing wants "warrior alert" law
KCEN
Jim Hice
November 22, 2016

FORT HOOD - The family of a Fort Hood soldier who was missing for more than three weeks before he was found dead on post wants a version of the Amber Alert law, called a "Warrior Alert," when soldiers go missing.

Dakota Stump's mother, Patrice Wise, started an online petition on November 14th entitled "Dakota's Law."

Its aim is to "change Standard Operating Procedures on how Law Enforcement and Military handle situations when our Veterans and Active Duty Members go missing."

"I have no ulterior motive except to stop another soldier or family from having to go through what I'm probably going to have to go through for the rest of my life," Wise said.

Stump went missing October 10, 2016. Soldiers conducting land-navigation training found his body 24 days later next to his flipped over vehicle near building 43028 on Fort Hood.

Law enforcement officials believe that Stump's car veered off the road into the parallel wooded area and then rolled over multiple times.

Stump's family maintains that law enforcement and the military assumed he was AWOL.
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Stolen Valor--Real Wounded Marine Committed Suicide

UPDATE
Former Marine steals dead combat veteran's valor
WFAA
Tanya Eiserer
November 25, 2016

Casey Owens will always be a hero to his sister.

“There is the saying that all gave some, but some gave all,” says Lezleigh Owens Kleibrink of Trophy Club. “That was Casey.”

The Marine lost both legs when his Humvee hit an anti-tank mine in Iraq in 2004. For his bravery, he received the Purple Heart.

“Casey wasn't perfect but he stepped up,” she said. “That's what makes him a hero to me."

What really hurts her is knowing that a fellow Marine stole her late Casey's story of valor. It was Casey's fellow battle buddies who discovered Brandon Blackstone's web of deception.

“It took my breath away that someone would do something like that,” she says.

Blackstone recently pled guilty to felony counts related to the deception. He will be sentenced in February. He faces up to 21 years behind bars for his crimes.

For years, Blackstone had gone around the country talking about how he had been injured when a Humvee ran over a land mine. He claimed to have suffered a traumatic brain injury. He claimed he suffered leg and ankle injuries. He claimed he earned a Purple Heart.
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Marine admits lying about combat injury in Iraq to get free house, VA benefits
The Dallas Morning News
By Kevin Krause
Published: November 22, 2016

“These were supposed to be your brothers, and you steal valor from one of your brothers?” said Kleibrink, who lives in Trophy Club. “My mom and I just feel so sad for this guy. For someone to do this, you are not a Marine.”

Lezleigh Kleibrink, with a photo of her late brother, Casey Owens, called Blackstone's deception "a slap in the face."

(David Woo/Staff Photographer)

They were two Marines from Texas in western Iraq, taking part in some of the worst fighting in the early stages of the insurgency.

Both left the battlefield early — and ended up with Purple Hearts. But one didn’t earn it.

Casey Owens was critically injured and lost his legs when his Humvee hit an anti-tank mine. He committed suicide in 2014 after a decade of suffering from numerous surgeries, brain injury and severe pain.

Brandon Blackstone went home after about a month, his military records show. His medic said he got appendicitis and did not return. The Arlington man ended up in a Dallas federal courtroom last month, where he pleaded guilty to two felonies for claiming he was “blown up” in a Humvee in Iraq in order to profit personally.

Blackstone said in an online biography that he had been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder after returning from Germany.

(Channel 4 News)

Owens’ Marine buddies say they believe Blackstone took key details of Owens’ combat injury and made them his own so he could bilk the government and charities out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
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