Ret. Army Captain Court Filled With Duty and Loyalty

Former officer's courtroom is filled with a sense of duty, loyalty
Houston Chronicle
By Lisa Falkenberg
December 3, 2016

Davis, who struggled to cope back home in Houston after 22 years in the military, was the poster child for Carter's cause.

"That sense of loss was devastating for him," Carter told me in an interview in September. "For a time, he lived as an angry, miserable son of a bitch. But now, he is one of the most beautiful, inspiring individuals you'll ever meet."

First Sgt. Arthur Davis displays his uniform on Friday. Davis was out of the Marines for one year when he was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He pleaded guilty and went to veterans court. Photo: Michael Ciaglo, Staff / © 2016 Houston Chronicle

State District Judge Marc Carter remembers sizing up the man before him in late 2009: a grim-faced, middle-aged guy with a U.S. Marine's bearing and politeness, but with eyes closed off to the world, skeptical of everyone and everything.

Carter, a retired Army captain, would explain to retired 1st Sgt. Arthur Davis that his court was different, that veterans got a fair shake here. That everything he might need - drug treatment, psychological therapy, housing assistance, employment assistance, a second chance - was available. He just had to want them.

Davis wasn't sold. He was new to the criminal justice system, and the only good thing he'd seen was another judge step down and thank him for his service - right after sentencing him to probation for an aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Carter knew Davis needed more than a handshake. He needed the program that the Republican judge had pioneered in Harris County for veterans facing criminal charges.
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UK PTSD Veterans Charity Caught Selling Anti-Muslim T-Shirts

Brit Afghan war vet confronts military fundraisers selling 'anti-Muslim T-shirts'
Daily Star UK
By Tess Willorns
Published 3rd December 2016

"I've lost friends along the way, and friends have been seriously injured along the way so it's close to my heart." Colin Eastway

Colin Eastway, 36, captured the moment he confronted the fundraisers raising cash for the 1st Knight Military Charity.

It is currently being investigated by fundraising watchdogs after staff were filmed selling merchandise with the words "pork-eating, beer drinking, womanising infidels" and badges referring to suicide bombers in their Blackpool-based shop.

Paratrooper Colin, who served in the army for 10 years and completed three tours of Afghanistan, drove for more than two hours from his Liverpool home after he heard the charity was fund-raising at Victoria Shopping Centre in Harrogate, Yorks.

Colin filmed himself questioning the two supporters – only one of which has official charity ID – and repeatedly asked them how much they were being paid and what percentage of donations were actually going to the Armed Forces.

1st Knight, which raises money for wounded soldiers and those with Post-Traumatic Stress disorder (PTSD), has admitted selling the offensive merchandise and has sacked one of its trustees.

The charity said the trustee had mistakenly ordered the stock due to having dyslexia.
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Skydiving Veterans Shatter 4 World Records

Military veterans smash skydiving world records in the Himalayas
FOX News
By Allison Barrie
Published December 02, 2016

The team smashed not just one world record – but four world records.

A team of brave U.S. military veterans headed into the Himalayas armed with skill, one helicopter and a whole lot of state-of-the-art gear last month – and left the mountains with four skydiving world records.

Military Free Fall, or MFF, is a way for forces to insert military personnel, gear and even canines. Military parachutists jump from a fixed wing aircraft or a helicopter at high altitudes, then then use a parachute to travel through the air to land at a pre-determined location.

This expedition aimed to push the limits for military free fall and make the seemingly impossible possible. The team headed deep into the Everest region of the Himalayas to attempt landings on some of the highest mountains in the world.

Putting that in context, the highest airport in the United States is at Leadville, Colorado, at 9,334 feet elevation. The first series of expedition jumps were at Syangboche, Nepal, at about 12,400 feet.

Former Navy SEAL Fred Williams handpicked his team for the extreme, unique environment. His goal was to assemble the most experienced team possible - from parachutists and Sherpa guides through to oxygen experts, emergency medicine and a helicopter pilot.
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Forgotten History of Veteran Suicides

History Professor Forgot Most Important Lesson of All
Combat PTSD Wounded Time
Kathie Costos
December 3, 2016


I was just reading an article on veteran suicides on The Blade, Veteran-suicide epidemic has many causes. This was at the bottom of the article.

The suicide rate in the United States, and particularly among veterans, must remain a national priority. Addressing it requires recognizing and capitalizing on the successes of an organization that is often only criticized. More than this, it requires that we all take a clear-eyed view of the challenges that exist throughout U.S. culture that have contributed to the problem. Recognizing these problems, and acting on them, will likely save more lives than a bunch of push-ups.
David Kieran is assistant professor of history at Washington and Jefferson College in Washington, Pa.

He is right on that, and other parts of the article, however, it is far more worse than this History professor has managed to research. 

For starters, veterans have been committing suicide all along, for generations, not just a decade or so. What we are seeing now has been allowed to happen so that the rest of us can delude ourselves into thinking we just did something to let veterans know we give a crap. Truth is, we made the problems they, along with families just like mine, fight on a daily basis worse. Easy stuff to do has made our lives end more tragically.

Here are some facts no one wants to face.

Start with these numbers from the VA on the numbers they came up with for veterans committing suicide going back to 1999.

Now add in two other numbers. In 1999 the US Census had the number of veterans as this, 

Census 2000 counted 208.1 million civilians 18 and older in the United States.1 Within this population, approximately 26.4 million or 12.7 percent were veterans.

For 2016, there were 21,369,602. Meaning there are 5 million less veterans, yet we are still at the same number of reported suicides as there was back in 1999. After all is said and done, we managed to make it worse.

The largest percentage of veterans, are in fact, over the age of 50. They also represent the highest percentage of veterans committing suicide in the nation. You may be ok with that, ok with them not even mattering enough to mention, but I'm not. I'm not ok with any of this bullshit going on all over the country. It is reprehensible.

Without talking about military suicides taking place at consistent levels of over one a day, at the same time the number of enlisted has dropped by the thousands, the new generation of veterans received the same training, yet their suicide numbers have also skyrocketed past the civilian peer rate. That is something else we have no excuse to ignore, but we do.

With all this in mind, consider the folks you know running around the country just slamming the VA, when every report has stated veterans are less likely to commit suicide while they are going to the VA for help. Instead of #fightingforveterans to have the VA working properly, the members of Congress have let it be destroyed from within and now they are talking about privatizing it. Why? Why should they be allowed to consistently fail our veterans? Why have we allowed this to go on without demanding they be held accountable for all the bills they write to get their names in the public spotlight while pretending they have actually done some basic research to know what they are doing? Any clue as to why we let it happen?

Ok, bad enough? Not even close. For the simple facts we have less veterans living yet the same number committing suicide, those numbers are only part of the truth. The plain, simple, ugly truth of what we allowed to happen. These are the number of veteran in crisis calling the suicide prevention hotline and the numbers that could have been added to what we got wrong.

Since its launch in 2007, the Veterans Crisis Line has answered more than 2.5 million calls and initiated the dispatch of emergency services to callers in crisis nearly 66,000 times. The Veterans Crisis Line anonymous online chat service, added in 2009, has engaged in nearly 308,000 chats. In November 2011, the Veterans Crisis Line introduced a text-messaging service to provide another way for Veterans to connect with confidential, round-the-clock support, and since then has responded to more than 60,000 texts.

So, are you angry enough to #fightforveterans yet or are you going to drop and do some push-ups so you can sleep at night thinking you just did something that will matter to anyone else but yourself?

cross posted on Combat PTSD Wounded Times

Vietnam Veterans of America Take Stand for OEF and OIF Veterans

National Veterans Group appeals for pardons for those with bad discharges
WSAV News 3
By JoAnn Merrigan
Published: December 2, 2016

"Ignorance is no excuse for leaving behind these vets. Americans have a responsibility to learn about the sacrifices that veterans have made through their service and they have a responsibility to ensure that those who are the Guardians of freedom are protected from being forgotten. It’s time we all stand together, forget the partisan arguments and support our veterans.”
Kristofer Goldsmith

The effort to get tens of thousands of Afghanistan and Iraq veterans with less than honorable discharges medical and mental health services from the VA is going national. This week, Vietnam Veterans of America sent letters to President Obama and President Elect Trump calling for all of the vets to be pardoned.

“The founding principles of Vietnam Veterans of America is that never again will one generation of veterans leave behind another,” says Kristofer Goldsmith who is an Iraq veteran who now works for Vietnam Veterans of America. “These Vietnam vets came together and formed this organization not just for themselves but for my generation.”

The letter makes a powerful appeal to President Obama to help those who those who served in war despite how they may have separated from the military. It says that “over the last 15 years of continuous warfare, our country has failed to respond to reports of veterans being inappropriately discharged.” Vietnam Veterans of America is asking people to watch the online documentary Charlie Foxtrot which documents the problems of some who have the less than honorable discharges.
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Veteran Died With Maggot Infested Wound at Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs

Four resign from Talihina veterans center after resident found with maggots in wound
Tulsa World
Barbara Hoberock
December 2, 2016

A veteran who later died had been found with maggots in a wound

OKLAHOMA CITY — Four staff members at the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs Talihina facility have resigned after a resident who later died was found with maggots in a wound, the agency said.

Executive Director Myles Deering said the maggots were discovered while the patient was alive but were not the cause of his death. He said the man came into the center with an infection.

“He did not succumb as a result of the parasites,” Deering said Tuesday. “He succumbed as a result of the sepsis.” Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening complication of an infection.

A physician’s assistant and three nurses, including the director of nursing, resigned in the wake of the investigation, said Shane Faulkner, a spokesman for the agency.

“All four chose to resign before the termination process began,” Faulkner said.
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Did General Mattis Leave Green Berets to Die in Afghanistan?

Trump's Defense Pick Accused of Delaying Aid to Wounded Soldiers
NBC News
by KEN DILANIAN
DEC 2 2016

A former Army Special Forces officer is accusing retired Marine General James Mattis, President-elect Donald Trump's pick to be defense secretary, of "leaving my men to die" after they were hit by friendly fire in Afghanistan in 2001.

Mattis has not commented publicly on the incident, which was chronicled in a 2011 New York Times bestselling book, "The Only Thing Worth Dying For," by Eric Blehm. The book portrays Mattis as stubbornly unwilling to help the Green Berets.

His actions, which were not formally investigated at the time, are now likely to get far more scrutiny during the retired general's Senate confirmation process.

Trump's transition team did not respond to request for comment from NBC News. Nor did Mattis, whose 2013 retirement from the military means he would need a waiver from Congress to serve as the civilian Pentagon chief.

Mattis is a highly decorated former wartime commander who became famous for leading the 1st Marine Division's lightning fast movement into Baghdad during the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.
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Florida Veteran's Home Set on Fire

Veteran's home set on fire, vandalized, investigators find anti-Trump graffiti racial slurs on walls
Home ransacked, children's beds set on fire
ABC News
Michael Paluska
Nov 29, 2016

PLANT CITY, Fla. - The State Fire Marshall is investigating a suspicious fire at a Plant City home that started early Tuesday morning.

Naval veteran Matthew Smith said he got the call just after 3 a.m. from his neighbor that fire trucks were across the street.

“Your heart kind of just sinks in your chest,” Smith said. “Definitely blessed to have not been here. It was pretty bad.”

Smith said the family was staying with their grandparents when he got the call. His 8-year-old daughter’s bed was set on fire along with his 18-month-old son’s crib. Every single room in the remainder of the home also suffered fire damage.

“The place was ransacked. Clothes from my room, all the way to the back, just made it everywhere.

Papers, important documents thrown everywhere, just torn up. The Christmas tree set up yesterday was knocked down and had been lit on fire. Every piece of furniture was pretty much burned through.”

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Female Iraq Veteran With PTSD Takes On TSA "Piggish Behavior"

Decorated Army veteran now marching in high heels, alleges retaliation at TSA
The Washington Post
By MANUEL ROIG-FRANZIA
Published: December 1, 2016

Bermudez's troubles have been exacerbated by health problems, including post-traumatic stress disorder, which she says is related to her military service in Iraq. Although her protest has quite literally made her case highly visible, she is far from the only woman who alleges that her life has been upended by working at TSA.

Alyssa Bermudez protests in front of the Transportation Security Administration headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post

For Alyssa Bermudez, high heels, a dress and makeup are her new uniform as much as the one she wore in the sands of Iraq. They represent her evolution from Bronze Star soldier to professional woman.

She wears her new uniform — and carries a protest sign instead of a rifle — in her new role as whistleblower, marching on the streets outside the Transportation Security Administration headquarters in Arlington, Va.

Bermudez says she was driven to protest by the allegedly piggish behavior of men with whom she worked at the Transportation Security Administration headquarters across the street. These men ogled her, she claims, snickered about her being in a "harem" because she's pretty, and retaliated against her when she complained, ultimately stripping her of employment five days before her probationary period ended.

"TSA has a saying: If you see something, say something," Bermudez, 33, says one afternoon. "Little did I know that when I said something, I would be fighting the agency. It's a very daunting task."
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Army Thinks They Did Nothing Wrong on Discharges?

Senators, Military Specialists Say Army Report On Dismissed Soldiers Is Troubling
NPR
Heard on Morning Edition
Daniel Zwerdling
December 1, 2016

The Army's report states that only 3,327 of the more than 22,000 soldiers who had been kicked out met that legal test. As a result, investigators ignored the rest of the soldiers — roughly 19,000 of them — who had mental health problems or brain injuries.

U.S. Secretary of the Army Eric Fanning ordered a review after an NPR

investigation found thousands of soldiers diagnosed with mental health

problems or brain injuries were dismissed for misconduct. But the new

Army report concluded that it treated the soldiers fairly.

Alex Wong/Getty Images

An Army review concludes that commanders did nothing wrong when they kicked out more than 22,000 soldiers for misconduct after they came back from Iraq or Afghanistan – even though all of those troops had been diagnosed with mental health problems or brain injuries.

The Army's report, ordered by Secretary Eric Fanning, seeks to reassure members of Congress that it's treating wounded soldiers fairly. But senators and military specialists say the report troubles them.

"I don't think the Army understands the scope of this problem," says Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. "And I don't think they've conveyed the seriousness to get it right."

The Army's report is "unbelievable," says psychiatrist Judith Broder. "It's just bizarre." Broder was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal by President Obama for organizing the Soldiers Project, a network of hundreds of psychotherapists and others who help troops and their families.
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