Civilians Guide to Understanding Veterans

Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
April 30, 2017

There is now, and always has been, a huge disconnect between the civilian world and the military. All too often a civilian friend will complain about how I focus on Combat PTSD but hardly ever mention what civilians are going through.

The thing is, they miss the fact that had it not been for Vietnam veterans coming home and fighting for the research, there would be nothing available for civilians. Everything civilians benefit from, with mental health professionals, crisis intervention, medication and therapy, is there because of them.

Now we know that civilians can get hit once by a traumatic event, changing their lives but they do no seem too interested in the fact that service members face them willingly for a living.

Groups hit by PTSD because of their professions are misunderstood by the public, but they understand one another better. Police officers, firefighters, emergency responders, and even those who take care of them, are more understood than ever before because of what Vietnam veterans did. 

We turned our backs on them when they came home. They turned around and fought for each other, then changed the world. Every other generation came home with the same wounds of war but little was done to treat them.

My husband's uncle was on a ship during WWII. It sunk and when the survivors were pulled from the ocean, he was given a choice of spending the rest of his life in a mental hospital or living on a farm, he picked the farm. That was all they had when the term to describe this wound was called "shell shock."

There were a lot of movies about this going back to the end of WWII. Most of the time the scripts were written by those with a personal connection to this world or based on accounts from those who fought the battles. Hollywood has tried and tried again to show that war does not leave those who survive it.

The movie about Chris Kyle did more to educate the American public about combat PTSD than any other flick.

American Sniper 

Civilian friends were coming over to me and saying they finally understood what I dedicated my life's work to. Actually, they didn't know it came with me since I was an Army daughter and then an Army wife. I am part of the huge military family because of what others did for this country. I am still a civilian because I paid no price personally.

The fact is, with all the talk in the civilian world about how some folks are "raising awareness" on veterans killing themselves after the enemy didn't manage to, the civilian world knows hardly nothing about any of this. How can you? How can you when all you hear is a number instead of knowing their names? How can you know anything if all you read is an arbitrary obituary count?

Veteran families are connected to each other but you are our neighbors. We live and work right next to you everyday yet few bother to ask a single question. Most of the people I work with know what I do and some know why I do it, yet instead of asking me before they donate or share the posts of these stunt pullers using the number "22" or "20" they feel as if they are offering support because they care. When they do ask what I think, they change their minds on what they will support charity wise because they do in fact appreciate those who paid the price for the freedoms they enjoy.

If you know a veteran, talk to them. Show an interest and learn from them what they need. It isn't enough to show up at parades or shoot off fireworks on the 4th of July.

If you read about problems with the VA, know that your politician has more to do with the problems because they have jurisdiction over it. They have failed to deliver the best care possible since the Revolutionary War. Educate yourself and then demand accountability from them and then demand an apology for failing these men and woman putting their lives on the line for your sake.

Our families are a small percentage of the population with less than 10% having served and less than 1% serving today. We are proud of our veterans and gain strength from each other but we need the support of the public based on facts and not some feel good story they read in the newspaper that leaves us feeling like we just don't matter enough.

Our veterans are dying and the truth is, most of the ones taking their own lives survived combat decades ago. They just couldn't survive being left to carry the burden of everyone else's freedom while they were left trapped behind the wall of pain.

Today is the escort for the Traveling Vietnam War Memorial into Wickham Park. It is the 30th Anniversary of the reunion. If you go or line the streets, know that these are the men and women who didn't just pay the price during a war you heard about on the news. They pay the price everyday.

PTSD scandal blighting Britain’s Armed Forces

"Cpl Shane Sweeney, who once guarded the Queen, has detailed the shocking death toll to expose the full horror of the PTSD scandal blighting Britain’s Armed Forces."

He attempted suicide five times after surviving combat.


Soldier exposes PTSD scandal wrecking thousands of lives amid fears stress killed SIX comrades in same regiment
The Mirror
BY PATRICK HILL
29 APR 2017

War veteran Shane Sweeney attempted suicide five times due to his own PTSD

(Photo: Collect)

A war veteran today tells how he fears post-traumatic stress disorder claimed the lives of up to SIX men in his regiment.

Cpl Shane Sweeney detailed the shocking death toll to expose the full horror of the PTSD scandal blighting Britain’s Armed Forces.

Shane, 41, who has himself nearly committed suicide five times, bravely spoke out in support of the Sunday People’s Save Our Soldiers campaign.

The soldier - who once guarded the Queen - said: “It’s a huge problem.

“It was a really close regiment and we all looked out for and after each other, but sometimes people slip through the net.

“I believe our experience is just the tip of the iceberg. There are a lot of people suffering.”

Shane’s friends who have tragically lost their lives since suffering from PTSD all served with him on the front line as part of the Royal Regiment of Wales.

They served in conflicts including Iraq and Afghanistan.

The death toll include Platoon Sgt Spencer Beynon, who died aged 43 in June last year, Sgt Major Glenn Ormiston, who died aged 41 in May 2011, and Damien Brown, who died aged 33 in June 2008.
read more here

Combat Wounded Marine Couldn't Fight for Himself, Now Fighting for Others

Decorated Broomfield veteran says ‘medicinal psychosis’ sparked ordeal
FOX 31 Denver
BY DAVE YOUNG
APRIL 27, 2017

BROOMFIELD, Colo. -- For the first time, Cory Hixson, a decorated Marine who disappeared from Broomfield, is speaking out about his ordeal.

"I just hope the VA starts listening to their vets,” he said in an interview Thursday with his wife Shala by his side.

"It weighs on veterans and the VA. ... That's our last resort where we need help."

Hixson's case sparked focus on the treatment of veterans coming home from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"They're just giving you medications that just ain't right because they're not listening," Hixson said.

He said at the time of the incident in March, Veterans Affairs staff had changed some of the many prescriptions he was taking for post-traumatic stress disorder.

“I went into a medicinal psychosis I wasn't even thinking straight,” he said of the night he disappeared with no shoes or coat in 20-degree weather, landing in jail 60 miles away after allegedly stealing a sweater and some food near Erie.
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Florida Veterans Relief Fund Relieved Veterans of Donations

Scammers create fake veterans charity to get donations
FOX 13 News
By: Crystal Clark
POSTED:APR 28 2017

WESLEY CHAPEL (FOX 13) - Two men are accused of collecting donations for veterans from Pasco County residents and businesses and pocketing the proceeds.

A quick-thinking business owner is the reason they're behind bars, but their scheme - and others like it - could have a long-lasting impact.

Veterans in the area, meanwhile, are disgusted knowing scammers are targeting people who support them. The scammers’ lies are hurting real veterans charities. Jason Parzy, 37, thought he'd walk away with $300 cash as he entered the Cash For Gold store in Wesley Chapel, according to investigators.

But instead, he left in handcuffs.

Parzy and 42-year-old Billy Joe Fielder are accused of soliciting donations for a bogus charity they called the Florida Veterans Relief Fund.
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Florida Woman Faked Blindness to Get VA Benefits

Florida woman admits faking blindness to get veterans benefits 
By WMBB Staff 
Published: April 28, 2017 

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WMBB) – A 60-year-old Florida woman was sentenced to nine months in prison and ordered to pay nearly $400,000 dollars in restitution after she pleaded guilty to faking blindness in order to receive veterans benefits.  

Federal prosecutors wrote in a news release that Veronica Dale Hahn lied for years about blindness that she said was connected to her service in the military. 

However, while she was supposedly suffering she managed to get driver’s licenses with no vision restrictions in three states and work as a case manager and transition counselor at several state correctional facilities, the news release states. read more here

Michael Mantenuto Was So Much More Than the Actor from Miracle

Green Beret, Hockey Star, Activist and Dad: Michael Mantenuto Was So Much More Than the Actor from Miracle
PEOPLE
BY MICHAEL MILLER
April 27, 2017

Mantenuto enlisted in 2010, two years after making his final film, Surfer Dude. He attended special forces training in 2013, and went on to become a communications sergeant. He was assigned to 1st Special Forces Group, where he was stationed as a communications sergeant until his death.

Many fans recognize Michael Mantenuto from his role in Disney’s Miracle, but those who knew him best will remember him more for his work offscreen as a father, soldier, hockey star and community activists.

“He was so much more than just a Miracle actor,” Teena, a friend of the actor who asked that her last name remain anonymous, tells PEOPLE. After a short career in show business, Mantenuto joined the Army. He was a Special Forces sergeant stationed at Fort Lewis, Washington at the time of his death. He was 35.

The actor was found on Monday afternoon after sustaining a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the King County medical examiner’s office in Seattle, Washington, tells PEOPLE. His death has officially been ruled a suicide. He’s survived by his wife, Kati, and two children: daughter Ava and son Leo.

He deployed in Operation Inherent Resolve, the military’s operational name for the fight against ISIS, according to Bockholt. “He was a decorated service member,” Buckholt says. His awards and decorations include the following: Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, National Defense Service Member, Global War on Terror Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, and Good Conduct Medal with two knots.

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Veteran Suicide Topic Not For Amateurs or Inept Reporters

Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
April 29, 2017

"On average, 22 American veterans commit suicide every day. In 2014, more than 7,400 veterans took their own life. That’s about 18 percent of all suicides in America, however, veterans make up less than nine percent of the country’s population."

Yep that crap again, only this time it came from a reporter pushing another charity that claims to have the answers. "We give them their greatest weapon back-themselves on BayNet by Joy Shrum. So who messed up? The charity or the reporter? Should it matter? After all, when you read the rest of the article, it sounds like the reporter really cared about such a lengthy word count. The problem is, the reason for the story didn't seem to count enough to get it right.

Warfighter Advance is a local non-profit organization that is trying to steer away from the belief that post- traumatic stress (PTS) can only be treated through medical intervention. The program was developed by Mary Vieten, PhD, ABPP, CDR Medical Service Corps, USN (Ret) back in 2003. Dr. Vieten is a nationally recognized expert of post-traumatic stress and has worked with a range of military organizations. The idea behind Warfighter Advance is to address the needs of veterans or active duty service members who have been formally diagnosed, or are self-reporting, with PTS, anxiety, depression or substance abuse resulting from deployment-related trauma. 

Maybe this is working for some veterans, but the truth is, anything that makes them feel as if someone gives a damn works to help them a little. Even the stupid push-ups helps for a a few seconds when they do it and then walk away feeling as if they just contributed to something great than themselves. Yet at the end of the day, when they are alone with their thoughts, that warm and fuzzy feeling cannot overcome the sense of dread when they know they have to close their eyes and the nightly trip back into combat begins.

The reports from the VA make it clear that those being treated by the VA, in other words, medically, are less likely to commit suicide. Experts have been saying for the last 40 years that the mind-body and spiritual wounds need to be treated equally. So why eliminate anything from what has been proven to work?

The article mentions that, "It could be combat-related stress but a large number of veteran suicides are among those who spent little or no time fighting in recent wars." but fails to mention the fact that these "non deployed" received the exact same training as those who have gone into combat, not just once but many times. 

If Resilience training didn't even work for the ones who did not go, how the hell did they expect it to work on the others? Any clue? Do reporters have any clue? Doubtful since they also fail to mention that the number has remained a steady average of a little over one a day even though the number of enlisted members has gone down by the thousands.

That really should have been an important thing to mention but why take the time to learn about any of that to actually change anything when they can get away with a number that isn't real or even close to it?

The "22 a day" came from the VA Suicide Report of 2012 that held data from just 21 states. 

Further, this report contains information from the first 21 states to contribute data for this project and does not include some states, such as California and Texas, with larger Veteran populations. Information from these states has been received and will be included in future reports. 

The report also had this on page 18.

Estimates that the number of suicides among Veterans each day has increased, are based on information provided by 21 states and may not be generalizable to the larger Veteran population. 

And that was followed by this graph.

According to the followup report, putting the number at "20 a day" was from data collected up until 2014 and was released in 2016.

These are the key findings of that report. Key findings from this year’s report include:

In 2014, an average of 20 Veterans died by suicide each day. Six of the 20 were users of VHA services.

In 2014, Veterans accounted for 18 percent of all deaths by suicide among U.S. adults and constituted 8.5 percent of the U.S. adult population (ages 18+). In 2010, Veterans accounted for 20.2 percent of all deaths by suicide and represented 9.7 percent of the U.S. adult population.

The burden of suicide resulting from firearm injuries remains high. In 2014, about 67 percent of all Veteran deaths by suicide were the result of firearm injuries.

There is continued evidence of a high burden of suicide among middle-aged and older Veterans.

In 2014, about 65 percent of all Veterans who died by suicide were age 50 or older.

After adjusting for differences in age and gender, risk for suicide was 21 percent higher among Veterans when compared with U.S. civilian adults. (2014)

After adjusting for differences in age, risk for suicide was 18 percent higher among male Veterans when compared with U.S. civilian adult males. (2014)

After adjusting for differences in age, risk for suicide was 2.4 times higher among female Veterans when compared with U.S. civilian adult females. (2014)

In 2014, rates of suicide were highest among younger Veterans (ages 18–29) and lowest among older Veterans (ages 60+). Furthermore, rates of suicide among Veterans age 70 and older were lower than rates of suicide among civilians in the same age group.

Do these veterans really matter or not? Do we keep just accepting this miserable outcome of all these groups and "efforts" gaining the attention of inept reporting and stunts or do we demand accountability? 

Not caring about how it got this bad with hundreds of thousands of groups "doing something" is the biggest part of the problem. The thing about the chart proves nothing really changed but the worst thing is that there are now over 5 million less veterans in the country depending on us to get this right. Check the numbers for 1999 from the US Census and then check the numbers from 2015 and then ask yourself if you think veterans deserve better than what they've been getting from the rest of us.

Military Chaplain 100 Years of Serving

Military Chaplains Turn 100 Years Old as 'Attacks' on Service Rise
CBN News
04-27-2017

"Chaplains serve as a constant reminder to our troops that God is present with them, especially in a combat environment." Douglas Carver

This month marks the 100th anniversary of the United States' entry into World War I. It's also the 100th anniversary of when U.S. military chaplains made their mark in the U.S. Armed Services, according to Douglas Carver, former U.S. Army chief of chaplains.

Less than 150 chaplains served in the Army and National Guard when America entered the war against Germany.

That number grew to more than 2,300 by the end of WWI in 1918, and Carver says that rise secured the role of chaplains in today's Armed Services.

He calls chaplaincy the "ministry of presence."

"Chaplains serve as a constant reminder to our troops that God is present with them, especially in a combat environment," Carver, the executive director of chaplaincy for the North American Mission Board, wrote to Baptist Press.
read more here

Army Ranger Soldiers Deaths Possible Friendly Fire

Army Ranger from Kettering dies in Afghanistan anti-ISIS raid Pentagon says
Military investigates possible friendly fire
WCPO Staff
Apr 28, 2017

An Army Ranger from Ohio died in Afghanistan Thursday, the Pentagon said in a news release.

Sgt. Cameron H. Thomas, 23, of Kettering, was killed "supporting Operation Freedom's Sentinel" in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan, according to a release from U.S. Army Special Operations Command.

Thomas and one other soldier, Joshua P. Rodgers, 22, of Bloomington, Ill., were killed as the result of "small arms fire while engaged in dismounted operations," the Pentagon said in a release. Both soldiers were stationed in Fort Benning, Georgia. A third soldier was wounded.
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Homeless Veteran Sits in Jail Because No Room At State Hospital?

Homeless veteran in jail, no space at state psychiatric facility
ABC 12 News
By Terry Camp
Apr 27, 2017

SAGINAW (WJRT) - (04/27/17) - A homeless veteran has been found incompetent to stand trial after he was accused of carjacking a woman and smashing that car into a police car.

He remains in jail and his attorney says that's wrong, but he would like him to be put into a state psychiatric facility, but there are no beds available - a problem that a state official says is getting worse.

Willie Hill is an Army veteran who has a long criminal history. His last run-in with police was in October, when he drove the car he stole from a woman right into a Michigan State Police car. The trooper and Hill were not injured. A judge ordered a forensic exam for Hill.

“The forensic center did a psychological interview and found him to be incompetent to stand trial at this time,” said Jim Piazza, Hill’s attorney.

That means Hill should be sent to one of the state's five psychiatric hospitals for treatment.

“They have to make him competent within 15 months or the case is dismissed,” Piazza said.

A month after Hill was ruled incompetent to stand trial, he remains in the Saginaw County Jail because the state has no available space at its psychiatric centers.
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