Multiple deaths after FIU bridge collapse

FIU pedestrian bridge collapses days after installation; police say multiple deaths, cars trapped
Miami Herald
BY ANDRES VIGLUCCI, MONIQUE O. MADAN AND DANIEL CHANG
March 15, 2018

A pedestrian bridge under construction collapsed Thursday, just days after crews had dropped an elevated 950-ton span in place in a project that was intended to give Florida International University students a safe route across the busy roadway.

The bridge gave way suddenly while the traffic light for motorists on Tamiami Trail was red, so that the concrete span fell on top of a row of stopped vehicles.

A woman stopped at the light who was heading westbound said the structure fell without warning. The woman, who asked that her name not be used, said it was immediately clear to her that several people were dead.
read more here

Neighbor and Cab Driver helped Vietnam Veteran...no one else would

What’s being done to help emaciated veteran found lying in waste
WTVR News
Shelby Brown
March 14, 2018

MECKLENBURG COUNTY, Va. -- A Mecklenburg County man said he was not prepared for what he saw the day he approached a neighbor's home.

Chris Thomas called it a sad story that he just cannot get out of his head.

In October, Thomas stumbled upon a Vietnam veteran who was living in squalor when he went to feed the veteran’s dogs that he initially encountered roaming the streets.

Thomas said a worker at a nearby convenience store told him the dogs belonged to the veteran, who was thought to have been sick and in the hospital.

Later that day, when Thomas and his wife showed up to feed the veteran's dogs, he said he found the man lying in his own waste, unable to move from his sofa.
read more here

Lt. Col. Adam L. Collier found dead

Marine Battalion Commander Found Dead in Home

Military.com
By Hope Hodge Seck
14 Mar 2018

Officials have ruled a suicide after the commanding officer of a Marine Forces Reserve unit was discovered dead earlier this month.

FILE -- Lt. Col. Adam Collier, Commander of Troops, forms the company for the 3D Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company Change of Command, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, CA. April 2, 2016.
(Photo credit: David Biber -- ESGR)

The Marine Corps was notified of the death of Lt. Col. Adam L. Collier, commanding officer of 4th Reconnaissance Battalion, on March 11, officials with MarForRes told Military.com. The battalion, which falls under the 4th Marine Division, is based in San Antonio, Texas.

He deployed three times: to Iraq and Kuwait in 2004; to Iraq from 2009 to 2010; and to Afghanistan in 2011.read more here

US Women:Trailblazers long before their time

Today there is not going to be a lot of posts going up for a very good reason. A friend asked me to do a video on women trailblazers. I thought, OK, should be easy, since I tracked all this stuff for a long time. Plus, hey, I'm originally from New England, and growing up, we were actually taught history.

Needless to say, it turns out I am shocked by how much I forgot, and even more so by what I never knew.

This is a forgot...

Sybil Ludington became famous for her ride to warn the Patriot militia of the British coming, similar to that of Paul Revere, but Sybil was only 16 years old.

On the night of April 26, 1777, Colonel Henry Ludington, father of 12, veteran of the French-Indian War, and commander of the militia in Duchess County, New York, (just across the state line from Danbury, Connecticut) received a messenger to his house. The British had entered Danbury and found some American military stores, stolen some, destroyed others and drank the whiskey. Drunk, they began ransacking the town, burning and looting.

Col. Ludington's militia, some 400 men, was on furlough. Whether the colonel asked his oldest daughter or the 16-year-old bravely volunteered is unknown, but around 9 p.m., she set off in the rain to warn the men. discover more here

This is a never knew,

Cathay Williams (1844 – 1892), a.k.a. William Cathay, was the first known African American woman to enlist in the United States Army, and the only black woman documented to serve in the US army in the 19th century.

Born a slave in Independence, Missouri in 1844, Cathay worked as a house servant on a nearby plantation on the outskirts of Jefferson City. discover more here

The thing that keeps getting to me is that women have been fighting for this country all along. So why are they still treated as if they do not belong in the military?

Why is it that members of the military still act as if it was only the males responsible for our freedom?

Anyway, back to work on the video. Just wanted to share some of those thoughts. The more I work on this video, the more proud I am of being a woman in this country. Maybe if more young women would spend time learning about how we arrived at this place, in this time, they'd be even more encouraged to do whatever it is they want to do, no matter what people say.

Chicago Homeless Air Force Veteran feels love from community

Police Lieutenant Honored For Helping Rebuild Homeless Vet’s Newsstand
CBS Chicago
March 13, 2018

CHICAGO (CBS) — A Chicago police lieutenant was honored Tuesday for helping change the life of a homeless veteran.

The Chicago Police Memorial Foundation named Lt. John Garrido its officer of the month, saying he embodies the oath to serve and protect.

Garrido, a 27-year veteran of the force, was honored for working to help Anthony Johnson, who operates a newsstand at the intersection of Foster, Milwaukee, and Central avenues in Jefferson Park.

The lieutenant saw that the newsstand was run down, and inquired about its operator. That’s when he learned it was run by a homeless Air Force veteran.

Garrido created a Facebook page to reach out to the community to help build a new stand, complete with murals showcasing the neighborhood and the veteran turned newspaper salesman.
read more here

Veterans Living With PTSD React to Pathway Shooting

Yountville Shooting Leaves An Impact On Veterans Living With PTSD
CBS San Francisco
March 12, 2018

SAN JOSE (KPIX 5) – A U.S. veteran killed three staff members at a veterans’ facility in Napa County, raising the question: are veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder getting the help they need when they come home?

The triple homicide happened in Yountville in Napa County on Friday. But on Monday, 100 miles away on the other side of the San Francisco Bay Area, a group session was held for veterans with PTSD in San Jose.

Counselors at the veterans housing facility in San Jose gave extra attention to veteran’s feelings and their fears because the Yountville shootings happened in a very similar setting.

“Our first priority is to make sure that you’re okay,” a counselor asked a room full of veterans. “How many of you were affected this weekend?”

“Did anybody get triggered just by watching it and just by the fear that was going on?” a counselor asked the veterans in San Jose.

One veteran answered: “Yes. I fell into another depression. It triggered me going back 40 years and I have been crying since that time.”

We sat down with U.S. veteran Thomas MacGowan, a Vietnam vet with PTSD, who agreed to talk about his feelings.

“I was scared that it was going to happen here,” MacGowan said. “I felt safe in a sense, but my immediate reaction was: do I want to run or do I want to stay and fight? How’s everybody else doing around here?”
read more here

Asheville Veterans: Is this your car in a book?

When you go to the VA and let a valet park your car, the last thing you think about is, he is going to take pictures of your personal property and put them into a book. Well, that is exactly what happened.

What gave him the right as a VA employee to take thousands of pictures of the inside of your vehicles? Read the story because it shows how he "had to work fast" to not be caught by other employees. AND HE IS ACTUALLY PROUD HE DID IT?

This one has paperwork and a gun on the seat!

The car’s the scar: photographs of US veterans’ interior lives
The Guardian
Sean O'Hagan
March 10, 2018

Casteel worked as a valet parker at the hospital for seven years, during which time he took thousands of photographs of the car interiors using a small camera, working fast so as not to be detected by his fellow workers.

ML Casteel’s images of the clutter in ex-servicemen’s vehicles offer a powerful metaphor for the enduring psychological impact of warfare

‘The car is an enduring symbol of America’: an image from American Interiors by ML Casteel. “When I was growing up in south-west Virginia, it was ingrained in me to thank a veteran if I met one,” says Matthew Casteel, a 37-year-old photographer who works under the name ML Casteel. “That was the norm back then, the understanding that they had made a huge sacrifice for the country. Somewhere along the way, that has changed. Their plight has gotten lost in the bureaucracy of government.”

Casteel’s new book, American Interiors, is a compelling indictment of the way in which US war veterans, the wounded and the war-weary, are often treated on their return to the homeland that demanded that sacrifice of them. What is audacious about Casteel’s approach is that there are no portraits of veterans in the book. Instead, while working as a valet parker at a veteran’s hospital in Asheville, North Carolina, where he now lives, he began surreptitiously shooting the interiors of their cars. The result is a grimly powerful, extended metaphor for the neglect and decay that makes their daily lives at home a dogged extension of their lives at war.
read more here

Reporter took easy way out on Pathway report

Vets seek a path out of the darkness on The Sacramento Bee, Editor’s note: This column was originally published on Feb. 24, 2013 and it is by Foon Rhee, Associated Editor.

"There were a record 349 suicides last year in the active-duty military, many more than were killed fighting in Afghanistan. But the specter of suicide doesn’t end once service members come home. It gets worse."

Really? If this was published in 2013, then the 349 suicides would be about 2012. Where did he get those numbers from? 

This is from the DOD Suicide Report

That equals 525.

Maybe he needed to add to the reports of what happened at Pathway House? Maybe he should have done some checking first, before reposting it.

That is the part that gets to me the most. When you have something as serious as veterans committing suicide and struggling to heal, it should never be something easy to report on.

Vietnam veteran committed suicide in Police parkinglot

Veteran who took own life identified 
Sheridan Press 
March 12, 2018 

"While officers tried talking to Underhill, he took his life with a gunshot to the head..."

SHERIDAN — A local veteran died by suicide Saturday morning in the Sheridan Police Department parking lot after officers attempted talking to him.

According to SPD officials, Mark Underhill, 66, was believed to be a patient of the Sheridan Veterans Affairs Medical Center. 

Underhill called 911 and spoke with dispatchers. 

Underhill made his plans known and told dispatchers he was in the parking lot in front of the police station. 
read more here

Don't settle for suffering. Take your life back from PTSD

From my other site PTSD Patrol
"Yesterday, my buddy Jonnie Rodriguez had something he wanted to share. His simple, powerful message of healing. 

When he thinks about what his life was like, when he had no hope of getting out of the hell he was in, and what his life is like now, he gets angry. Angry that others are settling for being defined by PTSD instead of taking control as a survivor."


The road ahead is yours! Stay in neutral, getting numb, feeling sorry for yourself, or get on the road paved by others who have gone before you.

It is a lot of work, but hey, training was hard work too. Your job is/was hard work. But as with any road trip, you can get help to get to where you want to go.

Think about every road has been laid out by someone looking at a forest and figured out how to connect one place to another. Same thing with healing PTSD. It took someone seeking a better way to get through what was keeping them out of where they wanted to go.

Albert Wong "ashamed to ask for help"

We taught them to not trust anyone!
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
March 11, 2018

The Sacramento Bee has an update on Albert Wong, "Friends of Yountville shooter describe his military life, civilian struggles" and this part should stand out more than anything else. 

It explains what has been going on after the so-called "resilience" training every member of the military has been told will make them "resilient" and make them mentally tough.

"He had nobody to turn to. He was ashamed to ask for help. He didn’t know his family," Saenz said.

He said Wong had trouble getting reimbursed through the GI bill program for classes he took. Saenz said Wong told him he suffered post traumatic stress disorder and was homeless after being put out of the VA program.

“He was trying to put his feet on the ground and it was hard for him,” Saenz said. “I'm disappointed he didn’t ask for help. None of this should have happened. He should have taken help.”

When these young men and women are told this training will make them mentally tough, they are hearing if they end up with PTSD, they are too weak minded and couldn't take it. They hear that if they suffer, it is their fault. No, that is not what is actually said to them, but that is the message they receive.

After all, while the press has a habit of simply reporting what the military tells them, they are not really listening to what else is said by those same people. 

The mentally weak message has been delivered over and over again by Generals trying to cover up the fact this program is pure bullshit!

In 2012, it was Major General Dana Pittard slamming the soldiers for committing suicide.

“I have now come to the conclusion that suicide is an absolutely selfish act,” he wrote on his official blog recently. “I am personally fed up with soldiers who are choosing to take their own lives so that others can clean up their mess. Be an adult, act like an adult, and deal with your real-life problems like the rest of us.”

And in 2013 it was General Ray Odierno,

"First, inherently what we do is stressful. Why do I think some people are able to deal with stress differently than others? There are a lot of different factors. Some of it is just personal make-up. Intestinal fortitude. Mental toughness that ensures that people are able to deal with stressful situations."

And then he blamed the families.

"But it also has to do with where you come from. I came from a loving family, one who gave lots of positive reinforcement, who built up psychologically who I was, who I am, what I might want to do. It built confidence in myself, and I believe that enables you to better deal with stress. It enables you to cope more easily than maybe some other people."

For some reason, Wong managed to ask for help after his life fell apart. Did he refuse to do what he was supposed to do? Was he drinking? Doing drugs? Whatever the reason behind him being kicked out of the program, the fact is, he still had the wrong idea of asking for help. The rest of us have the wrong idea of what help actually looks like.

Running around the country, screaming about how many you think killed themselves, proves to those struggling to stay alive, you really don't give a crap. 

No good came out of the training they received in the military and no good has come out of "raising awareness" but the key here is, veterans are fully aware of both of these. Still wonder why they don't trust anyone? We taught them to not trust anyone!

Pathway House Victims Include Pregnant Newlywed

UPDATE

The Pathway Home permanently closing Yountville space after fatal shooting

“As we continued to evaluate our short-term and long-term future, it just became more and more clear that would not go back into our facility at the Veterans Home,” he said Sunday. “That also would have an impact on our certification as a nonprofit, because the the facility has to have specific criteria to hold this treatment facility. (Furthermore), people can imagine the emotional and psychological impacts of losing our three friends and colleagues; to this day it weighs heavy on us as a board and as a staff.  

“We feel the best way we can move forward now is to support other nonprofits, either private nonprofits or federal and state VA organizations, who are providing similar services. We can shift our focus to supporting those efforts and advocating for veterans in other communities.”

read more here

Veterans home workers remembered as devoted caregivers
Associated Press
Frank Baker
March 10, 2018

"Jennifer and her colleagues died doing the work they were so passionate about — helping those in critical need," her husband, T.J. Shushereba said in a statement. "Jennifer was adored by all who knew her and will always be remembered for her unconditional love and incredibly giving heart."

After a work conference, Maura Turner was looking forward to a girls' weekend with her close friend, Christine Loeber, a social worker and executive director of The Pathway Home that treats veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Christine Loeber, a victim of the veterans home shooting on Friday, March 9, 2018 in Yountville, Calif, as seen in September 2012. Loeber was executive director of the Pathway Home, a treatment program for veterans from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. TOM TURNER/AP

Turner went to Loeber's home in Yountville, California, on Friday and found the door locked. Soon after, she heard about a shooting and apparent hostage situation at the nearby veterans home where Pathway is located. And then came the devastating realization her friend was among the three women being held.

She called her husband, Tom Turner, in Dedham, Massachusetts.

"We heard the guy was a former patient and so I thought that was a positive," he said in a telephone interview Saturday with The Associated Press. "I figured he had to like her."

This undated photo provided by Muir Wood Adolescent and Family Services shows The Pathway Home Clinical Director, Dr. Jennifer Golick, a victim of the veterans home shooting on Friday, March 9, 2018, in Yountville, Calif. Dr. Golick was killed by a former patient at The Pathway Home, a treatment program for veterans from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. MUIR WOOD ADOLESCENT AND FAMILY SERVICES VIA AP

Friends and co-workers remembered Jennifer Gonzales Shushereba, 32, as a "brilliant" psychologist who was committed to both her family and her job treating veterans with post-traumatic stress.

Gonzales Shushereba was seven months pregnant. She was married a year ago and was supposed to travel to Washington, D.C., with her husband this weekend to celebrate their anniversary, family friend Vasiti Ritova said.
read more here

Nevada veterans have one of the highest suicide rates, still

VA Secretary visits Southern North Las Vegas, takes on veteran suicide
KTNV News
Darcy Spears
March 9, 2018

Access to mental health treatment critical

Las Vegas (KTNV) - Veterans Affairs' Secretary David Shulkin came to visit our VA hospital in North Las Vegas today taking on the staggering problem of suicide.

Contact 13 looks into how many Nevada veterans have taken their own lives and how the VA hopes to prevent that in the future.

Suicide among former military members is much higher than the general population on average 20 veterans take their own lives every day. That adds up to over 7000 a year.

While state and VA leaders say those national numbers are not acceptable, what's happening here in Nevada tells an even darker story.

Nevada veterans have one of the highest suicide rates, 59.8, in the country compared to the national rate of 38.4.
read more here

Who was Albert Wong?

Who was Albert Wong? Here is what we know so far about Yountville shooter
Sacramento Bee
Ed Fletcher
March 10, 2018

Albert Wong, left, pictured in one of his Facebook photos before his page was removed Friday. Facebook

The gunman in Friday's deadly hostage standoff at the Veterans Home of California-Yountville has been identified by the Napa County Sheriff's Office as Albert Wong, 36, of Sacramento.

The Bee is continuing to investigate Wong and his Sacramento ties. Here is what we know so far:

Wong was an infantryman in the US Army and served in Afghanistan from April 2011 to March 2012, according to information provided by the Army.

During his service he was awarded an Army Commendation Medal, an Army Good Conduct Medal and campaign stars for fighting global terrorism and for marksmanship.

read more here

Marine's 6 year old daughter sexually assaulted by Colonel?

Mother of sexually abused child: The military is failing victims
Army Times
By: Karen Jowers
March 9, 2018

"The investigators did not investigate Wilson’s past, she said, adding that the Marine Corps didn’t follow through to address previous reports of a sexual nature against Wilson. If they had, she said, 'Wilson would never have been able to take our child’s innocence from her.'"

Adrian Perry testifies before the personnel panel of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee during Thursday's hearing on domestic violence and child abuse in the military. (SASC video screen shot)

Marine wife whose 6-year-old daughter was sexually abused by a Marine Corps colonel told lawmakers the military is failing victims.

“Had my husband and I stayed silent, our case would never have been brought,” said Adrian Perry, who testified before the Senate Armed Services personnel subcommittee hearing Thursday examining child abuse and intimate partner violence in the military.

Witnesses testified about problems with investigations, cumbersome processes, lack of proper resources for victims, and communication issues between military and civilian authorities.
read more here

Congress funded deadly PTSD program

Blame Congress for Deaths at Pathway House

Combat PTSD Wounded Times

Kathie Costos

March 10, 2018

Last night, the trigger was pulled at Pathway House. Three women, who dedicated their lives to help veterans recover from PTSD, were dead. A veteran, who dedicated part of his life to the Army, is dead and will be remembered as a murderer. 

Afghanistan veteran Albert Wong, will not be remembered for his service. He will not be remembered for seeking help for PTSD. No one will remember that he had not just been trained to use weapons, he was also trained, in what he was told, would make him "resilient" against what combat could do to him. How do I know? Because every member of the military has been told the same thing.

May 29, 2009 post was titled "Comprehensive Soldier Fitness will make it worse" along with this predication,

"If you promote this program the way Battlemind was promoted, count on the numbers of suicides and attempted suicides to go up instead of down. It's just one more deadly mistake after another and just as dangerous as sending them into Iraq without the armor needed to protect them."

In this case, as with most of the deadly outcomes, I'm sick to my stomach knowing I was right. All the people in charge of this clusterfuck have been wrong all along.

By 2012 I knew I had to figure out why this was still going on. Why was it still being funded? Why was it being pushed on every member of the military? 

I tracked down reports on who was benefitting from it and laid it all out in The Warrior SAW, Suicides After War and the money was in the billions.

This so-called "resilience" training was not a proven program before the military bought it. It was a research project created to try to figure out how to give school aged children a better sense of self-worth. Yes, you read that right!

By 2013 RAND Corp, along with a lot of others, figured out that it was not working and offered warnings of their own.

In 2014 NBC News reported this 

Military Uses Unproven Mental Health Programs, Report FindsNBC NewsBY MAGGIE FOX
Veterans of the Iraq and Afghan wars, as well as other service members and their families, have high rates of depression, anxiety and other disorders, yet the U.S. military isn’t using tested screening methods to help prevent them, a team of experts said Thursday. 

And despite extensive research, the panel of experts couldn’t find any proven Department of Defense programs to prevent domestic abuse. Programs to battle sexual assault — another documented problem — aren’t being assessed to see if they actually work, the Institute of Medicine panel reported. 

“A fundamental finding of the committee is that, with some notable exceptions, few of DOD’s prevention interventions are theory- or evidence-based,” wrote Kenneth E. Warner, a public health expert at the University of Michigan who headed the panel. 

One obvious example of an unproven and controversial approach is the Comprehensive Soldier and Family Fitness program, which includes a mandatory online training program developed with the American Psychological Association, the report finds.

Last night, I was trying to get updates on the Pathway House shooting, but the 24-7 national news stations were too busy on political topics. It seems they have also been too busy reporting on politicians than doing any investigations into the outcomes of what they do.

Three women are dead, a veteran survived risking his life in Afghanistan, but ended up committing suicide after killing the women who tried to help him. 

Where are the conspiracy researchers on this? Where are the investigative reporters on this? Where are the Congressional hearings on this? What excuses do the Joint Chiefs offer when military suicides are still averaging 500 a year?

Is anyone being held accountable for any of this? 

Three hostages at Pathway House Killed in California

The veteran, Albert Wong, valued life so much, he joined the military. So what made him kill the people who were trying to help him save his own?

This story just may finally be the one that starts investigations into the "resilience" training that has been going on since 2009. 

Veterans are facing off with police officers more and more along with a high rate of suicides, murder-suicides and questionable deaths. Veterans Courts and charities are all over the country. Those are the results after every member of the military has had this training, including the one who just killed three.

Gunman, three hostages found dead at Yountville veterans facility: 'These brave women' killed
LA Times
Victoria Kim and Joseph Serna
March 10, 2018

The Napa County Sheriff-Coroner's office identified the shooter as 36-year-old Albert Wong of Sacramento, who formerly was housed at the Pathway Home, a residential program within the Yountville facility.

Fernando Juarez, 36, of Napa, embraces his sister Vanessa Flores, 22, at the Veterans Home of California in Yountville. Flores, a caregiver at the facility, exchanged texts with family while sheltering in place. (Ben Margot / AP)

Authorities identified the victims as the home's executive director, Christine Loeber, 48, therapist Jen Golick, 42, and Jennifer Gonzales, 29, a psychologist with the San Francisco Department of Veterans Affairs Healthcare System.

"These brave women were accomplished professionals who dedicated their careers to serving our nation's veterans," a representative of the Pathway Home said in a statement.

A gunman and three hostages were found dead Friday evening at a Northern California veterans home, concluding a standoff that lasted for about eight hours, officials said.

Shortly before 6 p.m., officers entered the room at the Yountville Veterans Home where the gunman had been holding the hostages. According to the California Highway Patrol, three women and a man — believed to be the gunman — were found dead.

"This is a tragic piece of news, one that we were really hoping we wouldn't have to come before the public to give," said Chris Childs, assistant chief of the CHP's Golden Gate Division.

read more here

From Sacramento Bee

Department of Defense records show the gunman found dead with the three mental health workers he killed at California veterans home had a decorated U.S. Army career.The records obtained Friday said 36-year-old Albert Wong was awarded four medals, including an Afghanistan campaign medal with two campaign stars.Records showed Wong served as in the infantry during three years of active service in the U.S. Army ending August 2013.He was also awarded an Expert Marksmanship Badge with Rifle.Wong served one year in Afghanistan.

Connecticut Police lose weapons if they seek help for PTSD? Seriously?

Police Seek Exemption From Gun Law For Mental Health Treatment
CT News Junkie
by Christine Stuart
Mar 8, 2018

The bill the officers are supporting would carve out an exemption for law enforcement and allow them to get their service weapon back even if they sought mental health treatment. At the moment, no matter who you are in Connecticut, if you voluntarily check yourself into an in-patient mental health facility you get your firearms taken away for six months.

HARTFORD, CT — Four. That’s the number of police officers in Connecticut who have taken their own lives over the past seven months.

And that’s only the number a group of law enforcement officers at the state Capitol Tuesday to testify knew about. There’s no data on police suicide collected by the state. The Federal Bureau of Investigations collections information about deaths in the line of duty, but not suicide.

James Rascati, a clinical Instructor in Psychiatry at Yale University, said he’s personally dealt with the suicides of seven officers over the past 15 years.

“It’s one of the most devastating events any law enforcement agency can experience,” Rascati said.

Ron Mercado, an officer from Bridgeport, said his department still struggles daily with the recent suicide of one of its officers on Dec. 4.

“It’s difficult to focus when you’re still thinking to yourself whether you could have gotten him some more help,” Mercado said. “It doesn’t get any easier.”

One of the barriers to treatment the officers are looking to the General Assembly this year to resolve was adopted as part of the landmark 2013 legislation banning assault weapons and large capacity magazines post-Sandy Hook.
read more here

Gunfire and hostages at Napa County Veterans home

UPDATE
News reports say he is a young, recent veteran and was removed from a PTSD program.

Not a good thing for 1,000 veterans in the home.

update

YOUNTVILLE, CALIF. (AP) — The Latest on an armed man at a veterans home in Northern California(all times local):

1:30 p.m.

Jan Thornton of Vallejo is among hundreds of relatives worried about their loved ones at a Northern California veterans home that was locked down after reports of an active shooter.

Thornton says her 96-year-old father — a WWII fighter pilot — is inside a hospital wing at the home in Yountville, north of San Francisco.

Reminder, this is a State run veterans home...not The Department of Veterans Affairs.

Police descend on Napa County veterans home after gunfire, hostage report
Mercury News
By ROBERT SALONGA
March 9, 2018

Reports suggest that gunman is former resident of veterans home and may be suffering from PTSD-type issues

YOUNTVILLE — The Yountville Veterans Home in Napa County was placed on lockdown Friday morning after reports a gunman opened fire near the facility’s main dining hall and took hostages, authorities said.

“The safety of our residents, workers and the community is our top priority,” the state Department of Veterans Affairs said in a Twitter post. “We have activated our emergency response protocol and are cooperating with law enforcement.”

A Napa fire official and the California Highway Patrol affirmed that an armed man took at least two hostages at the veterans home and described the incident as an “active shooter situation.” The Napa County Sheriff’s Office reported that shots had been fired, but there were no immediate reports of any casualties.
read more here

Gold Star Mom searches for stolen truck

Fallen soldier's mom searches for missing truck with distinct license plates
KOMO News
March 8, 2018

On top of the distinct license plates, she said her maroon 2003 Chevy Silverado HD 2500 Duramax diesel truck had no tail gate, a blue nylon web net on the back, tinted windows, a tool box, and a fallen soldiers symbol on the rear passenger side window.

MARYSVILLE, Wash. -- The mother of a fallen soldier is on a desperate search to find her missing truck that was stolen from her Marysville home.

"This was him at 4 years old wearing his dad’s flak vest and helmet. ‘Cause he wanted to be in the military all his whole life," Donna Woods said while looking at photos of her son Jake.

Vivid memories, photos, and a few keepsakes are all Woods has of him.

In 2009, she lost Jake to suicide just a couple of years after he joined the U.S. Army, she said. He was stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

"He went to Afghanistan, they made him a gunner, and he came home from Afghanistan, bought himself a fancy sports car and then 6 weeks later killed himself," Woods said.
read more here