Vietnam Veteran's Medal of Honor Ceremony On Hold

Vietnam veteran's Medal of Honor on hold during presidential transition
Army Times
By: Meghann Myers
January 15, 2017

Jim McCloughan is in line for the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest award for valor, for his actions as a medic during the Battle of Nui Yon Hill in Vietnam.
Photo Credit: Courtesy photo via the Detroit Free Press

When President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act two days before Christmas, he also signed off on a provision buried down in the weeds to allow a Michigan man to receive the Medal of Honor five decades after the actions for which he earned it.

After years of wait-and-see and a push from his local congressional representatives, former Spc. Jim McCloughan, 70, was authorized to receive the military's highest award for his actions as a medic in Vietnam -- but now that the executive branch is knee-deep in a transition from the Obama to Trump administrations, the award is again on hold.

In May 1969, McCloughan was a 23-year-old private first class medic with Company C, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment during the Battle of Nui Yon Hill, a gruesome two-day battle that left dozens killed, wounded or missing in action.

McCloughan survived with some grenade shrapnel and a bullet wound in his arm, but managed to save 10 people, he told the Detroit Free Press last year.

He also earned two Purple Hearts, two Bronze Stars with V device, the Vietnam Service Medal with three battle stars, and the Republic of Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with palms and one oak leaf, among others, according to a December release from the office of Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., who lead the charge to push through the award for McCloughan.
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The Power to Heal Combat PTSD is In You Too!

Power to Heal is Already Within You
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
January 15, 2017

Did you know you have the power to heal PTSD within you? How could you know that when the only outcome folks want to talk about is how many veterans they believe are committing suicide? Seems that raising awareness should have started with changing your life instead of leaving you as you were on your worst day.

The only way to have PTSD is surviving a traumatic event. Let's think about that for a second. It did not start within you but happened to you. You survived it. Any shame in that?

There are different levels as well as different causes. Civilians can get PTSD and the only way psychologists understood that was after combat veterans were studied. There is a difference between the type of PTSD veterans have, other occupational causes with law enforcement come close and so does the type firefighters get hit with.

A civilian can have their life changed with one event. For veterans it was a series of events topped off with the threat of more during each deployment. For law enforcement and firefighters the threat is on a daily basis for year after year. To choose any of these occupations requires many qualities. Courage, dedication and an abundance of love to be willing to sacrifice your own life for the sake of someone else. Any shame in that?

What you were willing to do was based on love and faith that you had it within you to endure whatever came with the job. Still, being resilient enough to do your job, did not make you impervious to the pain you would carry within you. None of it was just about you in the moments you were risking your life. The pain you carried away from it was yours but it was also the pain caused to others. Any shame in that?

That ability to love others do deeply also came with the strength to grieve just as deeply. When you were last on the list of people to take care of, to help live, it turned into much more than moments. You became unworthy to yourself to help yourself. That's how much you loved. Any shame in that?

Maybe it is time to think about things differently. Everything you needed within you to do all that was required of you came with everything you need to recover from all of it. What you have convinced yourself is weakness within you, is actually what is strength and all you have to do is channel into that power.

There are many leaders trying to get you to understand that. Military Officers, current as well as retired, have a message for you. They have PTSD too and are unashamed to admit it. You matter more to them than they pride does. They know what you are going through and have come to terms with how to defeat it and win the battle for the brothers and sisters they led. It is what they did for love.

Maj. General David Blackledge

"It's part of our profession...nobody wants to admit that they've got a weakness in this area." He went on to say, "I have dealt with it. I'm dealing with it now...We need to be able to talk about it."

Maj. Gen. Tony Cucolo and Command Sgt. Maj. Jesse Andrews

Fort Stewart, Georgia - War changes a person. It's a truth Maj. Gen. Tony Cucolo knows all too well from his 29 years of service - and counting - in the U.S. Army.And it's a truth he tries to share with each new man and woman arriving at Fort Stewart to serve in the 3rd Infantry Division he guides."Command Sgt. Maj. Jesse Andrews and I try to speak to each newcomers' group," said the commanding general of the 3rd ID. "We get all ranks - from private to colonel - and in part, we try to impress upon them ... it is a point of moral courage to step forward and say you need help."

General Carter Ham

So he sought screening for post-traumatic stress and got counseling from a chaplain. That helped him "get realigned," he says."You need somebody to assure you that it's not abnormal," Ham says. "It's not abnormal to have difficulty sleeping. It's not abnormal to be jumpy at loud sounds. It's not abnormal to find yourself with mood swings at seemingly trivial matters. More than anything else, just to be able to say that out loud." 

“Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” That is what Jesus said to the Centurion after he humbled himself in front of his men to a member of the people they held contempt for. Remember, this was during a time when Roman soldiers were treating the people of region as if they should be wiped off the face of the earth. For a Centurion to seek out Jesus and then ask him for this tremendous favor took an abundance of courage fueled by love.

The Faith of the Centurion
5 When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. 6 “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.”

7 Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”

8 The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. 11 I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment.
Matthew 8:5-13

Saving the life was so important that he pushed his pride aside for the sake of someone else. There is a lot of that going on in this country right now. Medal of Honor heroes talking about their own pain while wearing the highest honor around their necks because they care about others.

The number of officers coming forward, pushing aside their own pride for your sake, it simply astonishing. All they want to do is let you know you have nothing to be ashamed of and follow their example by healing to live a better life after combat.

Adm. William McRaven (Ret.), former commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command and longtime Navy SEAL

But in its telling, McRaven was forced to stop in his tracks and take a long pause before he could complete his story. For 10 seconds, the audience sat in silence as he struggled through his own emotions to find his voice. It drove home yet another lesson: No one – not the top warrior nor the highest star admiral - is immune to war’s toll.

Isn't it time for you to use that power within you and around you to heal? You learned how to be a soldier and now it is time to learn how to be a healing veteran.

Combat PTSD Veteran Wins Battle For All Others With Service Dogs

St. Augustine veteran wins battle with major airline; immediate changes ordered
Florida Times Union
Julia Jenae
January 12, 2017

Veteran Sgt. Kevin Crowell and Bella are pictured. (First Coast News)

A St. Augustine combat veteran’s fight with an airline that forced him off a plane due to his service dog is bringing about change across the country, according to Times-Union news partner First Coast News.

The U.S. Department of Transportation released a consent order Monday, finding American Airlines violated the Aircraft Carrier Access Act by failing to properly train employees on disabled passengers with service animals. The order requires American Airlines to implement new training for all gate agents and reservation agents within 30 days.

Sgt. Kevin Crowell, a disabled combat veteran, filed his formal complaint against the carrier in 2014. Crowell was traveling to Key West with his wife along with his service dog, Bella.

According to the complaint, a flight attendant told him pets were not allowed in the bulkhead (front of plane), referring to his registered service animal. Despite having reserved an airline ticket online as a passenger with a service animal, an error in proper coding created a dispute on the flight. Crowell was asked to deboard the plane, an action his complaint said aggravated his post-traumatic stress disorder.
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Army Father and Son Part of Fort Hood's Historical Record

Fathers, sons commanding same major Army unit rare, but it happens
Killeen Daily Herald
David A Bryant
Herald Staff Writer
January 14, 2017

Lt. Gen. Paul “Butch” Funk proudly said last week he was “pretty sure” that when his son, Maj. Gen. Paul E. Funk II, takes over as III Corps and Fort Hood commander, it would be the first time in corps history that a father and son had commanded the unit. He is correct, the Army verified Friday.

J. Parker Roberts, 1ST INF. DIV.
Funk
Retired Lt. Gen. Paul E. Funk, left, and retired Lt. Gen. Walter F. Ulmer Jr., right, pose with framed artwork gifted to the pair by the 1st Inf. Div. and Maj. Gen. Paul E. Funk II, 1st Inf. Div. and Fort Riley, Ks., commanding general, center, Sept. 12, 2013, at Riley’s Conference Center.

But the Funks won’t be the first father and son team to command the same corps-level unit in the Army’s history — although it is rare enough to require a lot of research, according to Pentagon spokeswoman Army Lt. Col. Jennifer Johnson.

“There may be others out there, but we don’t normally track this type of data,” she said.

One of the most well known sets of names to command the same corps are Gen. Creighton W. Abrams and his son, Gen. John N. Abrams, both of whom commanded V Corps in Germany.

Another father-son team was Lt. Gens. William Caldwell III and William Caldwell IV, both of which commanded Army North/Fifth Army and Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio.
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The 85 Year-Old Marathon Runner Beating Competition Half His Age

The 85 Year-Old Marathon Runner Beating Competition Half His Age
Vice Sports
January 12, 2017

Published on Jan 12, 2017
Ed Whitlock is a once-in-a-generation athlete. He won't get the same coverage as a LeBron James, but he's been competitively running marathons at a high level for over 60 years. What exactly is the secret to shattering records for every age bracket out there? According to Ed, it's running laps through a cemetery.

Since November, 12 soldiers assigned to Fort Hood have died

US Army soldier based at Fort Hood is found dead - making him the TWELFTH GI from the Texas base to die in the last two months as investigators probe bizarre cluster of suicides, accidents and fatal fights at the base
Daily Mail
By Ariel Zilber For Dailymail.com
14 January 2017

Army investigates death of Sgt. Alex Mathew Dean Taylor, 23
Taylor, an aviation operations specialist, was found dead at his post in Fort Hood
Since November, 12 soldiers assigned to Fort Hood have died
Three were killed in a suicide bomb attack at Bagram air base in Afghanistan
Others died in accidents and from gunshot wounds

The United States Army launched an investigation on Friday into the mysterious death of a soldier who was found unresponsive at his post on the Fort Hood base – the latest in a string of nearly a dozen deaths of soldiers serving in the massive Texas encampment.

Sgt. Alex Mathew Dean Taylor, 23, a soldier assigned to the 15th Military Intelligence Battalion, was found dead while on duty, according to Stars and Stripes.

Taylor had enlisted as an aviation operations specialist.

The army released no information about the circumstances of Taylor's death.
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UPSATE
FROM FOX NEWS

Army, local police probe recent mystery deaths of 11 Fort Hood soldiers
January 15, 2017
The Army and local police are investigating the deaths of 11 Fort Hood soldiers who have died on and off the large Texas base in the past three months under mysterious circumstances, according to reports.

The most recent death involved Sgt. Alex Taylor, 23, of Texas City, Texas, who was found Wednesday unresponsive at his job at Fort Hood.

The Army’s Criminal Investigations Command is probing Taylor’s death, Stars and Stripes reported Friday.

“At this point in the investigative process we do not suspect foul play, but have not completely ruled it out while we conduct a complete and thorough death investigation,” Criminal Investigations spokesman Christopher Grey told the paper.

Fort Hood said Taylor’s awards and decorations include the Army Commendation Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Aviation Badge and Air Assault Badge, among others. He was part of the 15th Military Intelligence Battalition and enlisted as an aviation operations.

Taylor is at least the 11th Fort Hood soldier to have died in the U.S. since Oct. 12.

Yet at the bottom of the article it has,

Three soldiers from Fort Hood died November 12 in a suicide bomb attack at Bagram air base in Afghanistan: Staff Sgt. John Perry, 30; Private First Class Tyler Iubelt, 20; and Sgt. 1st Class Allan Brown, 46. Brown died of injuries suffered in the attack at Walter Reade National Medical Center in Bethesda Dec. 6, the Houston Chronicle reported Friday.

The Army said Sgt. Douglas Riney, who was assigned to Fort Hood, died in Afghanistan Oct. 20 in a firefight with the enemy.

In other words, there is nothing to investigate on those deaths. So is this attention getting headline totally misleading? Weren't the facts as they really are worthy of the attention?

Combat PTSD? They Have Salsa For That

Houston Salsa Congress attracts veterans seeking stress relief
Focus on the dance helps alleviate some PTSD symptoms
Houston Cronicle
By Katherine Blunt
January 14, 2017

"You have to know how to lock into a moment and be OK with everything going on around you," Chris Fahey

Photo: Yi-Chin Lee, Staff
Houston Salsa Congress workshop participant Harrison Bohanan follows instructor
Franklin Liranzo's dance moves to warm up before a class Saturday in Houston.

Shoulders as loose as his hips, Franklin Liranzo twisted and shimmied to percussive Latin music at the head of a crowded dance floor.

A high twirl of his finger had 50 dancers spinning in place. A downward flick brought them slinking to the ground.

"I hope you're warm," he exclaimed as the dancers caught their breath.

Liranzo, a skilled dancer and former U.S. Marine, led the group through a warm-up Saturday at the Houston Salsa Congress, a four-day series of workshops and performances at the Westin Hotel in Memorial City. He is one of many veterans who uses salsa and the intense focus its requires to alleviate some of the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

The congress, expected to attract more than 2,000 dancers, instructors and spectators, is an annual event run by Houston Salsa Dancers, a nonprofit organization that uses the proceeds to provide scholarships for underprivileged Houston teens. It features salsa enthusiasts of every skill level from around the world.
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Iraq Veteran With PTSD Healed By Amputee Kitten

How an amputee cat helped a San Diego veteran heal herself
San Diego Union Tribune
Karla Peterson
January 14, 2016

The story of Sophia the Bionic Cat is a tech-geek’s fantasy and a survival saga. It is an inspirational pep talk and a made-for-TV movie just waiting to happen.

It is also a children’s book, which local author Karolyn Smith will be reading at 2 p.m. Saturday at the downtown San Diego Central Library. But more than anything, it is a love story. Combat-scarred veteran meets an abandoned disabled kitten on Facebook and life-changing magic ensues.

“I was in such a bad place. I remember thinking, ‘How am I going to get out of this?’” Smith said, remembering the day she happened upon the tiny calico kitten and her slightly bigger companion kitty on the San Diego Humane Society’s Facebook page.

“And then I saw that face, and I just felt something. And when you don’t usually feel much and you finally feel something, you kind of have to act on that.”
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Body of Missing Veteran Lance James Recovered From Lake

Body of Missing Former Marine from South Jersey Found in Clementon Lake
NBC 10 News
By Brian X. McCrone
January 13, 2017

Lance James disappeared in early December. He went missing after leaving a Camden County bar. His body was found Friday, Jan. 13, 2017, authorities said.

A former Marine who disappeared Dec. 2 after a confrontation at a local bar in Camden County was found in a nearby lake, authorities said Saturday.

Lance James, 29, disappeared on Dec. 2 following an altercation at Hide-A-Way Tavern in Clementon. Family and friends searched with the help of state police the week before Christmas, but his body was not found in three nearby lakes and a wooded area.

The Camden County Prosecutor's Office announced that James's body was found Friday during a search of Bottom Lake. The prosecutor's office said the cause of death was not yet determined, but there were no signs of trauma.

The bar, Hide-A-Way, was less than a mile from James' apartment.
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Miami Dade Veterans Court Helping Veterans Bypass Bars

New veterans court opens in Miami Dade
Miami Herald
David Ovalle
January 13, 2017

“This program will help a lot of other veterans, I was just one of the first,” said Lovette, who is now sober and studying engineering at Miami Dade College.

Presentation of the colors by a joint honor guard from Southenn Command during opening ceremony for Miami's new veteran court at the Miami Dade criminal court on Friday, January 13, 2017
Robert Koltun

Former U.S. Army soldier Elliot Lovette can trace his mental breakdowns — years of flashbacks, panic attacks and hallucinations — to the day a roadside bomb in 2004 ripped apart his Humvee during a patrol in Iraq.

Struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder and drugs eventually landed him in a Miami jail, charged with fighting a police officer during a breakdown in October 2015.

But Lovette got back on track when he entered a fledgling program designed to help Miami-Dade’s large veteran population, hooking them up with specialized treatment, substance abuse rehab and even mentoring from fellow former members of the military.

Earlier this month, Miami-Dade prosecutors officially dropped the charges against the 35-year-old after he completed the yearlong program.

On Friday, Lovette celebrated the occasion on a grander stage, joined by judges, lawyers, mental-health professionals and the head of Miami’s Veterans Affairs healthcare office as they officially marked the formal creation of a Miami-Dade veterans court.
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Connecting Warriors and Healers Nothing New

Great idea but far from new. That is why the Nam Knights did it back in 1989.

In the summer of 1989 a small group of Harley-riding combat vets of the Viet Nam War, who were also police officers, banded together to form the Nam Knights.

The Club was founded in New Jersey by Jack Quigley, now retired Undersheriff of The Bergen County Sheriff's Department. Jack served as a platoon sergeant with the 11th Motor Transport Battalion, First Marine Division.

As Jack has said: "The club was formed to recapture the brotherhood its founding members shared while serving in Southeast Asia, and to help other veterans of all wars who are unable to physically or financially help themselves."

Armor Down looks to connect "warriors" and "healers" through The Honor Brigade
Pentagram
By Hannah Troyer Editor
January 13, 2017

Hannah Troyer
At an Armor Down event January 10, a display for meditation and a moment of mindfulness featuring the battlefield cross was available for attendees to use

Memorial Day may not be for months, but Armor Down Founder and Iraq War Army veteran, Ben King, is hard at work to grow his organization and its purpose. King, along with 100 other people, gathered at the Mazza Gallerie in Washington, D.C. Jan 10 to create a new connection – a new community of what he calls “warriors and healers.”

The group came together to watch a screening of “Thank You for Your Service,” a gut-wrenching documentary by Tom Donahue that discusses the failed military mental health policies and their consequences. The documentary follows four Iraq War veterans as they face a new war within themselves and figure out ways to heal.

The mental health crisis facing the military is nothing new, but King believes there is a new way to approach it. By uniting the “warrior” community – active duty military members, first responders, veterans and their family members with the “healer” community – yoga therapists, mindfulness practitioners and friends, King believes a new conversation and form of healing can begin.

“We know warriors recognize the value of honoring the fallen and then there is the healer community and this mindfulness community, and we know they value honoring the fallen,” King said. “So, we figured why not create a conversation around honoring the fallen that both of these communities can totally get behind and feel authentic about. We just needed something to start the conversation and Tom Donahue’s film came up on my radar, and we started there.”
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Quiet Hero Shielded Stranger During Fort Lauderdale Shooting

Airport shooting survivor shielded stranger from gunfire
USA TODAY NETWORK
January 13, 2017

NAPLES, Fla. — Tony Bartosiewicz called his children to let them know he was alive shortly after gunshots were fired at the baggage claim area of Terminal 2 at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport last week.

Tony Bartosiewicz, left, with his grandchild and daughter, Jenny Miller. Bartosiewicz was in the baggage claim area of Terminal 2 at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport when gunshots rang out. The man used his body to shield a Annika Dean, a Broward County teacher.
(Photo: Submitted Photo)

What he didn’t tell them was that during the shooting, he used his body to shield a woman he didn’t know.

Annika Dean, the Broward County woman Bartosiewicz shielded, sent his son a message on Facebook to say how grateful she was for what Bartosiewicz did.

Jenny Miller, Bartosiewicz’s daughter, tried to call her dad to ask him whether it was true, but he didn’t return her calls. Bartosiewicz, of Rochester, N.Y., had flown into the Fort Lauderdale airport to take a cruise with his wife, Jennifer Cleeton. The couple wanted to go home but decided to get on the ship Friday evening.

“We didn’t find out until my niece texted him to ask, ‘Papa, did you land on someone and save their life?’”

Miller, who lives in Denver, said. “He wrote back, ‘Yes I did.’”
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Canada: Beyond Trauma Documentary on PTSD

Yes, there are more civilians with PTSD than veterans, but there are also more civilians than veterans. Percentages are a different story. Plus you would also have to consider the difference between "civilian PTSD" which comes with surviving trauma, and occupational PTSD, which comes from putting your life on the line on a daily basis, topping off all the other causes that can include you in the group.

Illuminating Canadian documentary puts spotlight on PTSD
MONTREAL GAZETTE
BILL BROWNSTEIN
Published on: January 13, 2017

Nary a day goes by without hearing a story about someone suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and its tragic consequences. Too often, the public hears the story of a traumatized soldier returning home and unable to come to terms with the horrors witnessed in war thousands of miles away.

Just last week, Canadian veteran, retired corporal Lionel Desmond, 33, still shaken by a tour in Afghanistan, is alleged to have shot and killed himself, his wife, their 10-year-old daughter and his mother at their family home in Nova Scotia.

On that note, the timing of the world broadcast première of PTSD: Beyond Trauma, Thursday at 8 p.m. on CBC’s Nature of Things, couldn’t be more auspicious. The sad reality, however, is that PTSD has been around for far too long and is becoming ever more prevalent.

Among this documentary’s fascinating findings are that PTSD affects more civilians than soldiers. The doc also notes the disorder affects twice as many women as men. Written and directed by award-winning filmmaker Patrick Reed (also the producer of Shake Hands With the Devil: The Journey of Roméo Dallaire), PTSD: Beyond Trauma makes for disturbing yet most compelling viewing.

One of the subjects Reed came into contact with while filming last year was Steve O’Brien. As it turns out, the soldier was based at the same New Brunswick outpost as Desmond, but didn’t know him personally. Ironically, while O’Brien had done several tours overseas, his PTSD is actually the result of dealing with an air crash in the Arctic that left seven people dead, including a young child whom he had uncovered.
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Fort Hood Soldier Found Dead

Fort Hood Officials ID Soldier Found Dead At His Place Of Duty
Patch.com
By Tony Cantu (Patch Staff)
January 12, 2017

FORT HOOD, TX — Officials at Fort Hood on Thursday released the name of a soldier found unresponsive on Wednesday.

Sgt. Alex Matthew Dean Taylor, 23, of Texas City, Texas, was found dead at his place of duty on Jan. 11. He entered active duty military service in March 2012 as an aviation operations specialist, according to Fort Hood officials in a press release. He was later assigned to the 15th Military Intelligence Battalion at Fort Hood in July 2016.

The soldier's decorations include the Army Commendation Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon, Aviation Badge, Air Assault Badge and Army Service Ribbon.
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Shame Missing on Veterans Committing Suicide

Veterans continue to kill themselves. There is a lot of shame in that but not in them. It is ours to carry!

It is time to stop the bullshit, stop talking, stop writing, stop walking, pushing up, fundraising and getting publicity for what you want to do because we are only making matters worse for the veterans and families we claim we want to help. For Heaven's Sake! They still think having PTSD is something to be ashamed of!

Shame on Congress!
In 1999, when no one was talking about veterans committing suicide other than veterans and families, this chart shows there were 20 a day taking their own lives. There were over 5 million more veterans in the country. Thus, while the number of reported suicides has remained consistent, the number of veterans has been greatly reduced.

Why? For over a decade of bills being written, and funded, the result has been a higher percentage of veterans have been taking their own lives, not less. In 2007 the Joshua Omvig Suicide Prevention Act was signed into law. Ever since then, there has been an endless series of politicians writing the same bills, repeating what has failed.

Shame on Veterans Groups!
In 1978 the DAV produced a study on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The title was The Forgotten Warrior Project. This is the pamphlet they were handing out. I got a copy of it in 1993 and received a lot of comfort knowing it was not just happening to my family.

I love all these groups and belong to some of them, as I have for most of my life. Yet, as the DAV, VFW and American Legion groups complain about the lack of younger veterans joining, they have done far too little to remember what it was like when they came home. Seems there is far too much unawareness on PTSD. 

Why? Families are still searching for support and information, yet, these groups sit back and let regular folks make claims to the press about what they are doing. They allow the press to keep making the public believe that the suicides are happening only to younger veterans, while the majority of veterans committing suicide are over the age of 50. They allow Congress to continue to write bills that do not work and waste precious time instead of taking the time to know what they are dealing with before they rush to do anything that makes them feel good but leaves veterans behind. Put together groups and open it up to non-members. Prove they do matter that much to you and then maybe you'll get them to join. As long as that is not your goal and you prove you do care, any help you give them will be appreciated and will actually make a difference.

Shame on Reporters!

Why? You continue to give publicity to people doing pushups while veterans get pushed away from families and friends because they have been living under the assumption there is no hope for them. You jump on what is easy to report on, like repeating a number in a report without reading the report itself, thus perpetuating a headline as if it was correct instead of discovering what the facts really were.

Have any of you actually tried to figure out how taking a walk, doing pushups or having a group run benefits anyone other than the participants? It doesn't help veterans stay alive after surviving combat. I still wonder if any of you take this seriously enough to have noticed that fact? They did everything humanly possible to survive combat but lost hope here? How about you actually go out and interview folks about what worked for them? How about you spend some time in support groups, hearing their stories with open minds and then doing your own research about what they were talking about?

Shame on All of Us! 

 Why? If you are a family member and you decided that you were going to become the answer to save other families from going through the same anguish, great. Not so much if you only have experience in that anguish but have taken no time at all to understand what you are dealing with. If you do not want to invest the time and wait until you actually understand it, don't make it worse for the people you want to help. You are qualified to start a support group for others just like you and that is very much needed. Otherwise, remember, you are heartbreakingly an expert on what failed. Think about what would have helped you help your veteran and then learn all you can about it. It is only by becoming aware of all that comes with PTSD, the different causes, levels and types, that you will be able to begin to put together a team to respond appropriately.

You will encounter veterans in crisis and you need to know what to do, how to talk to them, and above all, who you can call to get them help as soon as possible. You need to know the difference between calling the Crisis Line, 911 and if you should ask for police or the fire department to respond, or when all you need to do is listen.   

You also need to know that once you lose a veteran you were trying to help, no matter how much you knew ahead of time, you do not recover from it.

No matter how many veterans I help, the one I lost over a decade ago is a loss I have never gotten over. My husband's nephew committed suicide because for all I knew, all the research, I did not figure out how to get him to listen. 

 

Camp Lejeune Marine Families Finally Getting Some Justice

VA News Release
VA's Rule Establishes a Presumption of Service Connection for Diseases Associated with Exposure to Contaminants in the Water Supply at Camp Lejeune
01/13/2017

VA’s Rule Establishes a Presumption of Service Connection for Diseases Associated with Exposure to Contaminants in the Water Supply at Camp Lejeune

VA to provide disability benefits for related diseases

WASHINGTON – The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has published regulations to establish presumptions for the service connection of eight diseases associated with exposure to contaminants in the water supply at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

The presumption of service connection applies to active duty, reserve and National Guard members who served at Camp Lejeune for a minimum of 30 days (cumulative) between August 1, 1953 and December 31, 1987, and are diagnosed with any of the following conditions:

• adult leukemia

• aplastic anemia and other myelodysplastic syndromes

• bladder cancer

• kidney cancer

• liver cancer

• multiple myeloma

• non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma

• Parkinson’s disease

“We have a responsibility to take care of those who have served our Nation and have been exposed to harm as a result of that service,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert A. McDonald. “Establishing a presumption for service at Camp Lejeune will make it easier for those Veterans to receive the care and benefits they earned.”

Environmental health experts in VA’s Technical Workgroup conducted comprehensive reviews of scientific evidence, which included analysis and research done by the Department of Health and Human Service’s Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), the Environmental Protection Agency, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the National Toxicology Program, and the National Academies of Science.

Veterans with 30 or more cumulative days of active duty service, at Camp Lejeune during the contamination period are already eligible for certain medical benefits, following passage of the Honoring America’s Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012.

In the early 1980s, volatile organic compounds, trichloroethylene (TCE), a metal degreaser, and perchloroethylene (PCE), a dry cleaning agent, as well as benzene and vinyl chloride, were discovered in two on-base water supply systems at Camp Lejeune. The contaminated wells supplying the water systems were shut down in February 1985.

The area included in this presumption is all of Camp Lejeune and MCAS New River, including satellite camps and housing areas.

The rule will be effective either 60 days after publication in the Federal Register, or following conclusion of the 60-day Congressional Review, whichever is later.

Texas National Guard Soldier Saves Blind Man

Texas Guard Soldier saves life of blind man struck by car
Texas Army National Guard
By Sgt. Elizabeth Pena
January 12, 2017

TYLER, Texas -- Disaster can strike at any time. Citizen-Soldiers of the Texas Army National Guard are taught to always be prepared.

Texas Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Aaron Dias, recruiting and retention officer for the Recruiting and Retention Battalion, Region II, Team VII in Tyler, was driving back from the Military Entrance Processing Station in Shreveport, Louisiana, to his armory in Tyler with his recruit when disaster struck.

"The sun was starting to set," said Dias."It was to that point where you run into the sun it kind of casts a glare on you."

Hiwatha Hudson, a legally blind 55-year-old man, had just stepped off to cross the street with his cane.
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U.S. soldier committed suicide at Kuwait's Camp Arifjan

Reports: U.S. soldier committed suicide at Kuwait's Camp Arifjan 
Military Times 
By: Staff 
January 12, 2017 

A soldier assigned to U.S. Army Central died in a noncombat-related incident at approximately 8:30 a.m. on Thursday in Kuwait, according to an official Army statement.

Multiple regional media outlets have cited a report from Kuwait's Interior Ministry claiming the soldier died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. read more here

New Hampshire Veteran Overwhelmed by Community

After article, contractors step up to help disabled Raymond veteran with home addition
Union Leader
By JASON SCHREIBER
Correspondent
January 11, 2017

Beauregard was unable to find a contractor willing to commit to the project, which has to be approved by the VA, but he’s been flooded with responses since the story was published.

Veteran Mike Beauregard uses his electric wheelchair in his Raymond home.  

(Jason Schreiber/Correspondent)

Disabled vet has VA cash, but no contractor for accessibility addition

RAYMOND — Disabled Army veteran Mike Beauregard is more optimistic than ever that he’ll be able to find the right contractor to get the home addition he needs as he struggles with multiple sclerosis.

“I have a feeling it’s going to happen,” he said Wednesday as he continued to return phone calls and reply to emails about the project he’s been trying to get done for years.

The 51-year-old Beauregard has been overwhelmed by the response to a story published Jan. 5 in the New Hampshire Union Leader in which he detailed the trouble he’s had trying to hire a contractor to build a handicapped-accessible first-floor master bedroom and bathroom through a $73,768 grant from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ specially adapted housing program.
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Combat PTSD Wounded Times Broke 3 Million Hits!

To the National News, this should be a lesson to all of you. With no advertising, no budget, no paycheck, or publicity beyond word of mouth, this site dedicated to veterans has managed to break 3 million hits!

There was a time when most of the stories on this site were on the National News stations but someone decided that reporting on politicians running for the Office of Commander-in-Chief was worth two years of non-stop coverage. That Tweets warranted mass-frenzied breaking news and Facebook shares dictated what was shared. 

Well it seems that reporters, all over the country still valued good reporting and cared enough to cover the veterans readers discover here everyday. Within the over 27,000 posts on this site are examples of reporters doing their jobs and being held accountable when they fail our veterans.

Readers get the truth and not some haphazardly shoved words strung together to repeat what someone claimed, but actually did the work to find out what the truth is.

Isn't it time National News reporters actually returned to being reporters and not social media stalkers?

TO READERS

THANK YOU FOR LETTING ME KNOW ALL THIS WORK DOES MATTER TO YOU.