Florida Disabled Vietnam Veteran and Family Need Help Now

Disabled veteran, family say movers ‘showed up' with no notice to evict them from St. Cloud home

WTFV 9 NEWS

A veteran’s advocate stopped by the home  and has put Malave, who is a Vietnam veteran with severe nerve damage, into a program to help find his family a new home.

ST. CLOUD, Fla. - For four years, Robert Malave says he has rented his home in St. Cloud without a problem.

That changed Thursday when movers and a realtor showed up, tore the locks off and started throwing his family’s belongings on the front lawn, Malave said.

“They savagely came in here, like we were being robbed, just throwing stuff,” Malave’s daughter Stephanie said.

The property had recently gone into foreclosure and the new owner was trying to evict the family without the 30-day notice required by Florida law, Malave said.

His wife rushed home from work when she heard what was happening and had to be taken to the hospital after she collapsed from the stress, Malave said.

“All I was thinking about was them, my daughters and my granddaughter, and now my wife is lying in the hospital,” he said, crying. “I don’t even know how she’s doing right now.”

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Agent Orange List May Grow by 14 More Diseases

The VA ties 14 diseases to Agent Orange. It will decide whether to add more by Nov. 1

The News Tribune
BY TOM PHILPOTT
Military Update
AUGUST 03, 2017

VA Secretary David J. Shulkin will decide “on or before” Nov. 1 whether to add to the list of medical conditions the Department of Veteran Affairs presumes are associated to Agent Orange or other herbicides sprayed during the Vietnam War, a department spokesman said Tuesday in response to our inquiry.

Any ailments Shulkin might add to VA’s list of 14 “presumptive diseases” linked to herbicide exposure would make many more thousands of Vietnam War veterans eligible for VA disability compensation and health care.

Ailments under review as possible adds to the presumptive diseases list include bladder cancer, hypothyroidism and Parkinson-like symptoms without diagnosis of that particular disease. But hypertension (high blood pressure) and stroke also might be embraced, or ignored, as part of the current review.

The process was sparked by the Institute of Medicine’s 10th and final review of medical literature on health effects of herbicide exposure in Vietnam. The 1,100-page report concluded in March 2016 that recent scientific research strengthened the association between herbicide exposure and bladder cancer, hypothyroidism and Parkinson-like symptoms. Specifically, the institute, or IOM, found “limited or suggestive” evidence of an association to herbicide versus its previous finding of “inadequate or insufficient” evidence of an association.

The IOM report also reaffirmed from earlier reviews “limited or suggestive evidence” of an association between herbicide sprayed in Vietnam and hypertension and strokes. That same level of evidence was used in 2010 by then-VA Secretary Eric Shinseki to add ischemic heart disease and Parkinson’s disease to the Agent Orange presumptive list. Shinseki had stronger evidence, an IOM finding of “positive association” to herbicide for chronic lymphocytic leukemia, which he also added to the list that year.
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Florida Veterans At 1.55 Million

Senate OKs seven new VA medical facilities for Florida

Miami Herald

Daniel Chang

August 2, 2017

Florida’s veteran population ranks third in the nation, with an estimated 1.55 million vets in 2015, including 715,000 who were enrolled in the VA Healthcare System, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Florida veterans will have more medical centers at which to receive mental health and outpatient services after the U.S. Senate late Tuesday unanimously approved legislation authorizing seven new major VA medical facilities in the state.

The new Florida VA facilities will be in Daytona Beach, Jacksonville, Ocala, Tampa, Lakeland and two in Gainesville, according to a written statement from U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, who co-sponsored legislation authorizing the new facilities.

“We have a duty to care for the brave men and women who have served in our nation’s military,” Nelson said. “Getting these seven new VA clinics opened here in Florida will make it easier for some of our veterans to access the care that they need.”

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Texas Veteran of WWII and Korea Receive Awards At Age 90!

90-year-old WWII, Korean War veteran awarded 8 medals during ceremony in San Antonio

News 4 San Antonio 
by SBG San Antonio 
August 2nd 2017

WWII, Korean War veteran Petty Officer Raul de la Garza awarded eight medals during ceremony in San Antonio (SBG San Antonio)

SAN ANTONIO — A 90-year-old man who served in World War II and the Korean War was honored during a ceremony in San Antonio Wednesday. 

Petty Officer De La Garza was awarded eight awards during the ceremony: the Navy Combat Action Ribbon, the China Service Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with Three Bronze Service Stars, the Navy Occupation Service Medal with an Asia clasp, the World War II Victory Medal, the Honorable Service Lapel Button for World War II, and the Navy Honorable Discharge Button. 
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Body of Missing Air Force Veteran Found in Adirondacks

Missing Webster hiker found dead in the Adirondacks
By Spectrum News Staff
August 2, 2017

Baker also served in the Air Force for 26 years, where he was discharged under the title Master Sargent. That experience allowed him to connect with other veterans in the program.

Skip Baker of Webster disappeared during a solo hike in the Adirondack mountain range on Sunday

A search and rescue team found his body on Monday in the East Branch of the Ausable River.

The 50-year-old joined the "EquiCenter's" therapeutic equestrian program five years ago.

It helps those with disabilities, at-risk youth and veterans like Baker reach their therapeutic goals.

Operations Consultant, Dr. Susan Taylor Brown, says that she grew fond of Baker.

"I was one of the first people who knew him. He was a very shy, no nonsense, quiet person," said Brown.

And like most veterans who are introduced to the program, they start in therapeutic riding.

"It was more comfortable for him to be around horses than people," said Brown.

According to Brown, Baker had a special connection with one horse in particular: Harley.

"Harley is an Irish draft and Skips' Irish also, they shared a bond," said Brown.

After getting more comfortable there, Baker took on additional roles and skills from goal setting to even volunteering.
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Iowa Veterans Charities Still Waiting For Donations After Fireworks Sales?

Following the Money: Where are the donations from fireworks to veterans?

KWWL 7 News

Elizabeth Amanieh

August 1, 2017

"These people are our heroes, why are they homeless?" said an Iowa Fireworks Company employee. "They deserve our respect, our admiration, they deserve our help..."

Iowa fireworks sales have come and gone. But some are questioning one company that advertised they would be donating a portion of the money they made to veterans. 

Iowa Fireworks Company, who operated a number of tents across the state, advertised with the slogan, "Buy Local, Help Nonprofits. Celebrate Freedom."

One of their tents selling fireworks was stationed along LaPorte Rd. in Waterloo. During their sales, the tent advertised they would be donating a portion of the money they made to veterans. 

In an interview with KWWL, an employee for Iowa Fireworks Company who was working the tent, explained where a portion of the sales profit would go.

"These people are our heroes, why are they homeless?" said an Iowa Fireworks Company employee. "They deserve our respect, our admiration, they deserve our help. And that's what we're here to do so a portion of the proceeds from this tent is going to be donated directly to the Americans for Independent Living who manage the Waterloo transitional veterans homes. "

After firework tent sales were over on July 8th, the tent closed down, and left. 24 days later, and neither Americans for Independent Living nor the Black Hawk County VA received a single penny in donations from Iowa Fireworks Company, which led KWWL to follow the money. 
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Arizona Homeless Shelter Caring For Veterans Losing Funding--Write Congress!

Homeless shelter that helps veterans losing thousands in funding

ABC 15 News Arizona 
Sonu Wasu 
Aug 1, 2017

Limbs described it as "rock bottom" and said the staff at CASS helped save his life.

PHOENIX - State lawmakers and veterans groups are rallying around a Phoenix homeless shelter that provides services for homeless veterans in need.

It's a fight for those who fought for the country.

State Representative Mark Cardenas (D-AZ), a veteran himself, said he knows many vets who have received shelter and services at Central Arizona Shelter Services, also known as CASS.

"These are people that have put their lives on the line for you, gave up their best years for the community, and gave up their best years for the country," said Cardenas.

Mark Holleran, the CEO for CASS said the most frustrating part was not knowing why they were losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding from the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs. The shelter had received the $550,000 in funding for more than the last decade.

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Veteran Died of Fatal Overdose, While in VA Lockdown?

Widow wants to know how Marine got drugs before fatal overdose in VA lockdown

Boston Herald

Jack Encarnacao, Chris Villani 

Monday, July 31, 2017

The widow of a Marine who fatally overdosed on fentanyl while on lockdown supervision at the Department of Veterans Affairs psychiatric campus in Brockton is demanding to know how he got the drugs, while the VA has simply attributed his death to the nation’s larger opioid scourge.

‘WHAT HAPPENED?’ Jamie Lee Hasted, right, is seeking answers from the Veterans Administration after her husband, Hank Brandon Lee, left, died in March of a fentanyl overdose.

“Since he has passed, the VA has told us nothing,” Jamie Lee Hasted told the Herald in an emotional interview about her late husband, Hank Brandon Lee. “Answers, the bottom line is answers. ... Did he take it willingly, not willingly, mixed up in the medicine? You have video cameras, where is the video? What happened? Let me try to get some type of closure.”

Lee, a Marine lance corporal and mortarman who served in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, died at age 35 of acute fentanyl intoxication March 4 after he was rushed to Good Samaritan Hospital in Brockton, according to his death certificate.

The day he died, Lee was found unresponsive by a nursing assistant and medication nurse in the day room of the inpatient psych ward. He “appeared to be sleeping sitting up in chair with head tilted to right, color ashen” when found, and didn’t answer when they called him, according to VA records reviewed by the Herald. First responders found him “unresponsive, pulseless,” according to fire department records.

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Empty Envelope Delivered to Veterans Charity By Fraud

Empty promise: Local veterans charity thought big gift was coming
KGW NBC News
Kyle Iboshi
Published on July 31, 2017

LIFT FOR THE 22 HAD NEVER RECEIVED SUCH A LARGE DONATION IN ITS TWO YEARS OF EXISTENCE. THE FUNDS WOULD ALLOW THE NONPROFIT TO PAY FOR THE 350 VETS WHO WERE WAITING FOR GYM MEMBERSHIPS.

PORTLAND, Ore. — It was a donation that would change everything. A Gresham man promised to contribute $425,000 to a nonprofit organization that provides gym memberships to veterans. The Beaverton-based charity, Lift For The 22, celebrated the announcement with a check presentation streamed live on its Facebook page.

“This is going to take us to the next level,” said Lift For The 22 co-founder Dennis Wright as he received an envelope from Garyn Bowen. The 22-year-old Bowen said he was a wealthy business owner who wanted to help the program by providing cash, connections and access to his corporate jet.

In reality, the envelope was empty. Bowen never delivered the money.

“I figured the guy must be doing something right to donate that kind of money,” said Robert Sanders, who met Bowen at the gym. “It was all made up. It was all a lie.”
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Homeless Veteran Lucky to Still Be Alive After Being Beaten by Baseball Bats

Homeless veteran speaks out after being hit with baseball bats

ABC 7 NEWS

Deborah Kendrick

July 31, 2017

COLUMBIA, Mo. - One man is in police custody and another is at large after police say the men beat a homeless veteran over the weekend.  

Hankel Jones was charged over the weekend with armed criminal action and robbery in reference to this assault. 

Charles "Chuck" Harris told ABC 17 News he was beaten with baseball bats, which caused his right arm to break, bruised his face and left him unconscious for an hour. 

Harris told ABC 17 News he refused to buy Jones more alcohol. That's when Harris said Jones and another man beat him. 

"I wouldn't buy him more alcohol anymore, so they (men) doubled-teamed me against that wall," Harris said. 

He told ABC 17 News he's lucky to be alive. Harris lives in a campsite on North 8th Street, right next to Jones' residence. Harris said he and Jones always had a good relationship but stated Jones has mental issues that cause him to act irrationally.

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