What Good Have You Done To Prevent Suicides?

Veteran Suicides Lower Before Facebook?
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
October 27, 2015

I had some rare down time this afternoon and did some basic Facebook checking on the "experts" on PTSD.  Few seem to really know what they are talking about, leading me to honestly understand when young veterans say they are suffering from information overload.

A couple of weeks ago I had my car in the shop for service. The tech wanted to know what the sign on my car was all about and I told him it is a news site for veterans.  "I'm a vet" he told me and naturally, we had plenty to talk about.  When we were done talking he wasn't happy.  He wanted to know where all the information was because he hadn't heard any of it before.  Then I told him it was because he was looking in the wrong places.

That's the trouble with something that could be so beneficial is being used by mis-guides with huge followings taking veterans right off a cliff.

When 9-11 hit, there wasn't and army of Facebook users splashing the headlines all over the place.  It didn't start until 2004 when Mark Zuckerberg decided to start it. By 2004 I had already been working on PTSD for 22 years. (plus living with it)

Mark Zuckerberg, 23, founded Facebook while studying psychology at Harvard University.

Which means he was about a year old when I was going to the library reading clinical books using a dictionary to understand what the hell I was reading. It was termed in the 70's long before most of the "experts" were even born. (Yes, the library, I'm old and didn't have a computer in the 80's.)


So lesson one is PTSD existed long before Facebook and even longer than 2001.

Lesson two is really simple as well.

PTSD Forgotten Warrior Project Forgotten About was about a study commissioned by the DAV on Vietnam veterans coming home with the same wounds, seen and unseen, as their parents and grandparents and all the other generations before them.

"In its efforts to help these veterans, the million member Disabled American Veterans (DAV) funded the Forgotten Warrior Project research on Vietnam Veterans by John P. Wilson, Ph.D. at Cleveland State University. That research resulted in formation of the DAV Vietnam Veterans Outreach Program to provide counseling to these veterans in 1978. With 70 outreach offices across the United States, this DAV program served as a model for the Veterans Administration (VA) Operation Outreach program for Vietnam era veterans, which was established approximately a year later."

What was learned from what Vietnam veterans were talking about is directly responsible for how civilians are treated after trauma, police officers and firefighters are better understood because of the nature of their jobs and how everything that was available for the post 9-11 veterans needed. The trouble is that Congress failed to learn from the decades of research.

It is really bad when reporters get history wrong but even worse when politicians do it. They seem to love to just take the easiest way out of a lot of things.

One is the "22 a day" but it is so much harder for them to state the fact that number is false or mention that veterans commit suicide double the civilian population rate after all these years and this money spent, under their "leadership" it has gotten worse.

Lesson three is just because it is repeated, it doesn't change history.

It is also apparently hard for them to end the false claim that Afghanistan is the longest war in American history.

Doesn't the "end of combat operations" still mean a war is over?

President Obama read these lines May 27, 2014 in the Rose Garden

And today, I’d like to update the American people on the way forward in Afghanistan and how, this year, we will bring America’s longest war to a responsible end.

This was the headline on TIME back on December 28, 2014
U.S. Ends Its War in Afghanistan

The U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan ended its combat mission Sunday, marking the formal—if not real—end to the longest war in American history.

But the math just doesn't work with this.

“For more than 13 years, ever since nearly 3,000 innocent lives were taken from us on 9/11, our nation has been at war in Afghanistan,” President Obama said in a statement. “Now, thanks to the extraordinary sacrifices of our men and women in uniform, our combat mission in Afghanistan is ending, and the longest war in American history is coming to a responsible conclusion.”

The problem is if reporters start counting dates with boots on the ground and then off them to declare a war over, then that would make Vietnam the longest war in history. After all when you read the facts on The Wall they have a lot of facts the press does not seem able to learn.

The Department of Defense acknowledges this death

The first American soldier killed in the Vietnam War was Air Force T-Sgt. Richard B. Fitzgibbon Jr. He is listed by the U.S. Department of Defense as having a casualty date of June 8, 1956.

And this one

First battlefield fatality was Specialist 4 James T. Davis who was killed on December 22, 1961.

Just as they recognized this death as the "last"

The last American soldier killed in the Vietnam War was Kelton Rena Turner, an 18-year old Marine. He was killed in action on May 15, 1975, two weeks after the evacuation of Saigon, in what became known as the Mayaguez incident.

It is recognized as the last battle of the Vietnam War

Others list Gary L. Hall, Joseph N. Hargrove and Danny G. Marshall as the last to die in Vietnam. These three US Marines Corps veterans were mistakenly left behind on Koh Tang Island during the Mayaguez incident. They were last seen together but unfortunately to date, their fate is unknown. They are located on panel 1W, lines 130 - 131.

The last pilot casualty in the country of Vietnam occurred during the Embassy evacuation in Saigon, William C. Nystal and Michael J. Shea both died on the helicopter on April 30, 1975 approaching the USS Hancock in the China Sea (both are located at 1W, 124). The last pilot killed in the Vietnam war was Air Force helicopter pilot Second Lieutenant Richard Vandegeer who was killed on Koh Tang Island, Cambodia. This occurred during the Mayaguez incident when his helicopter crashed on May 15, 1975. It is considered the last combat action of the Vietnam War.

And then there is the Encyclopedia Britannica adding 2 more years.

Vietnam War, Tet Offensive [Credit: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.] (1954–75), a protracted conflict that pitted the communist government of North Vietnam and its allies in South Vietnam, known as the Viet Cong, against the government of South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States. Called the “American War” in Vietnam (or, in full, the “War Against the Americans to Save the Nation”), the war was also part of a larger regional conflict (see Indochina wars) and a manifestation of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies.

The trouble is, wars never really do end for those we send and those we send never seem important enough to get a story straight.

Lesson four is get it right before you type. Once you put something up reporters may use it and spread it as if it is the truth. That's how we ended up with everyone thinking the "22 a day" is true and it only involves veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan. The real story is that after everything has been posted and reposted the percentage is the key and it isn't pretty. Veterans outnumber civilian suicides 2 to 1 and most are over the age of 50. Younger veterans are triple their peer rate. It is even worse for female veterans at 6 times the female rate and 12 times higher than young peer rate.

It is time the post-awareness posters grew up out of pubescent-know-it-alls and actually started to learn something before they decide to start a road show of incompetent misdirection. They may have great intentions but fail to understand they can do more harm than good.

When Facebook started suicides tied to military service were lower than they are now.

Suicides, Mental Health Woes Soar Since Start of Iraq War, Study Finds By CARRIE GANNABC NEWS MEDICAL UNIT March 8, 2012

The study, an analysis of data from the Army Behavioral Health Integrated Data Environment, shows a striking 80 percent increase in suicides among Army personnel between 2004 and 2008. The rise parallels increasing rates of depression, anxiety and other mental health conditions in soldiers, the study said.

By 2008, they surpassed civilian suicides

From 1977 to 2003, suicide rates in the Army closely matched the rates of suicide in the civilian population, and were even on a downward trend. But after 2004, the rates began to climb fast, outpacing the rates in civilians by 2008.

By 2012 military suicides broke all records with the report that came out in 2013.

According to AFMES data as of 31 March 2013, there were 319 suicides among Active component Service members and 203 among Reserve component Services members (Reserve [n = 73]; National Guard [n = 130].

2012 Reported Suicide Attempts

As of 31 March 2013, there were 869 submitted suicide attempt DoDSERs among Active duty Service members for all services in calendar year 2012. Active duty includes members of the Active component and members of the Reserve components who were in a Title 10 status at the time of the event. Since Service members could have had more than one suicide attempt during the year, he number of unique Service members and the number of DoDSERs differ. The DoDSERs described suicide attempts for 841 unique Service members: 815 with one DoDSER, 24 with two, and 2 with three. The distribution of suicide attempt DoDSERs across the services was as follows: Air Force – 26.4%, Army – 42.0%, Marine Corps –19.4%, and Navy – 12.2%. All DoDSERs were included in the tables, figures, and summary text.

The final lesson is, just because you read it on Facebook doesn't mean it is true but it could be deadly.

PTSD Afghanistan Veteran Fights to Keep Job As Brevard County Judge

There is nothing about having PTSD that anyone should be ashamed of other than the way this country treats veterans with it. Judge John Murphy is an example of that considering he has it from serving in Afghanistan but still managed to clam down soon after a fight with a lawyer.

Brevard judge appeals suspension after courtroom scuffle
FLORIDA TODAY
October 27, 2015

Brevard County Judge John Murphy is trying to keep his job after his Oct. 6 suspension that was issued in response to an altercation between the judge and a public defender last year.

Court documents state that Murphy has been issued a 30 percent disability by the Department of Veteran Affairs due to post-traumatic stress disorder resulting from his combat deployment to Afghanistan.
read more here

Tensions between Brevard County Judge John C. Murphy and assistant public defender Andrew Weinstock resulted in a challenge - and apparent fight just outside a courtroom in Viera on Monday morning. Posted June 2, 2014

Whistleblower Got Justice For Soldiers and Herself

Army settles Womack whistleblower case with former employee
FayObserver
By Amanda Dolasinski Staff writer
October 27, 2015

"The Army should have focused on correcting the problems she identified, rather than retaliating against her," Lerner said in a news release. "However, in the end, the Army did the right thing by settling her claim. Ms. Gilbert's case underscores why whistleblower protections are vital."

An infection preventionist for Womack Army Medical Center who claimed the hospital retaliated against her after she went to a higher authority to report serious infection control issues has received a favorable settlement, according to a decision from federal officials.

The Army has settled a claim of reprisal with Teresa Gilbert, a former civilian employee at the hospital, after more than a year of legal wrangling. Gilbert will receive a monetary settlement and all negative information about her employment records will be removed, according to the Office of Special Counsel, which mediated the case.

A spokeswoman for Womack confirmed the settlement was signed last month.

"There has been no finding or admission of wrongdoing by either Womack Army Medical Center or any personnel," according to a statement from Womack. "Army Medicine takes seriously all concerns regarding patient safety, and the issues raised were thoroughly investigated and appropriately acted upon."

Womack said it promotes an environment for employees to report patient safety concerns.
read more here

Marine Recruiting Center Not Part of Shooting

Officials identify gunman in Davenport, Bettendorf active shooter incident, offer motive
KWQC Staff
UPDATE: 10/27/15

A witness tells TV-6 that he was in the Marine recruiting center when he heard shots fired at a nearby law office. He says he heard screaming and then heard the gunman try to reload his gun. A Marine recruiter told everyone to run. As the witness was running, he said he heard more gunfire. Kimberly Rd. was closed, but has since reopened to traffic.

Officials in Bettendorf have released the identity of the suspect involved in the active shooting incidents in Davenport and Bettendorf on Monday, as 40-year-old Robert L. Mayes II, of Coal Valley, Ill. Mayes died at the scene as a result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

Officials go on to say that the locations where the shootings happened were related to an ongoing domestic issue with Mayes and his estranged wife. The motive for going to both locations was that he was looking for his wife at the Davenport location where she is employed and another male at the Bettendorf location where he is employed.
read more here

Fort Carson Soldiers Treated Other Than Honorable

Fort Carson soldiers facing other than honorable discharges struggling
The Associated Press
October 25, 2015

Jerrald Jensen breaks down in the garage of his Central City, Colo., home on Sept. 1 while talking about his struggles since he was discharged from the Army two years ago. He is still toothless from a roadside bomb that blew off parts of his face in 2007.
(Photo: Christian Murdock/The Gazette via AP)

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Two of three Fort Carson soldiers who faced other-than-honorable discharges over the past few years say they still struggle, despite getting federal benefits to help cover medical costs, because the discharge also affects pensions and other benefits earned for service.

Joe Moore, a Maryland lawyer who argues veterans claims cases, said the agency can't change a soldier's military discharge status, but it can go ahead and award benefits.

"(The) VA doesn't like to re-characterize discharges," he said.

Jerrald Jensen and Kash Alvaro said they still struggle despite getting federal benefits to help cover medical costs. Sgt. Paul Sasse, whose case was also reviewed, moved to Washington state and declined to talk.

U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Aurora, says he is concerned that the Army improperly punished troops suffering from war wounds and is considering legislation that would force the Army to review past discharges for misconduct to determine if the behavior was triggered by their wounds.

"No doubt, there is a disconnect about the nature of the discharge and the ramifications relative to veterans benefits..." Coffman told the Colorado Springs Gazette.
read more here

What Does Senator Joe Donnelly Have to Say About Suicides Now?

Who Is Really Accountable on Suicides Now?
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
October 26, 2015


We've all been made all too well aware of what is going on regarding suicides tied to military service and none of it is good. Everyone is doing a hell of a lot talking but no one seems to be doing much answering. Oh, I'm sorry I forgot the press hasn't figured out they are supposed to be asking questions otherwise they are part of the problem.

Has anyone asked Senator Joe Donnelly about suicides going up? Has anyone asked any member of the House or Senate?

On Saturday the Evansville Courier and Press released this stunning piece of information out of Joe Donnelly's state.

Four veterans from one unit have killed self
Ronald Zeller was the first. He died on March 18, 2011.
Then William Waller, July 5, 2013;
Justin Williams, Nov. 3, 2013; and
April James on May 24, 2015.

Sgt. April James with a group of Iraqi children on her second deployment.

Justin's mother, Carolyn Williams, remembers well the day the 163rd came home. The entire family lined the streets with thousands of other Evansville residents to cheer the soldiers' return. Officials hosted a parade along the Lloyd Expressway — a hero's welcome.

April was supposed to attend a grave side service for Justin on Memorial Day 2015.

She never made it.

The night before the service, she shot herself.

The following day the paper followed up with this report Soldiers have few places to turn for help
Evansville Courier and Press
Jessie Higgins
October 25, 2015

Veterans from the Indiana Army National Guard's 163rd battalion are no longer surprised when one of their own commits suicide.

It happens far too often.

"It was kind of devastating to begin with," said Michael Barrentine, a veteran from the 163rd's 2007-08 Iraq deployment. "Then the second one happened, and the third and the fourth. Now it's kind of just — numb."

To date, four veterans from Barrentine's deployment have killed themselves after long struggles with PTSD.

The issue is not contained to that particular unit. Each day, across the country, about 22 veterans commit suicide, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

"They're still dying," said John Williams, the father of one of the 163rd veterans who committed suicide in 2013. "There's got to be something we can do. We have got to step up. If we don't step up and do something, there will be others."

The VA launched a suicide prevention program in 2007, with a 24-hour suicide hotline, peer support groups and one-on-one therapy, said Beth Lamb, a spokeswoman for the VA. In Evansville, the Vet Center — which is also affiliated with the VA — provides counseling for combat veterans. The Vet Center declined to comment on this story.

But even with those services, veterans and their families fear there is not enough support for veterans in Evansville.
read more here

The thing is, first, it isn't 22 a day and no, the VA released the suicide report clearly stating it was an average taken from 21 states incomplete data.

If this prevalence estimate is assumed to be constant across all U.S. states, an estimated 22 Veterans will have died from suicide each day in the calendar year 2010.

They also leave out this

Specifically, more than 69% of all Veteran suicides were among those aged 50 years and older

Yet in state after state more and more folks were popping up claiming to have the answers as long as they got a donation check and no one was asking any questions. Basic facts were left out most of the time while information overload used up valuable time veterans could have used on actually gaining awareness they needed to know instead of just finding the same old worn down false information spread by others with minions jumping on their instant experts every Tweet and Facebook selfie screaming "look at what I did for the veterans today" while lying their ass off about what the results really are.

The state of Indiana sued founders of fake nonprofits. "Starting in June 2011, the four people created the nonprofits in Indiana and at least five other states and started soliciting money, according to the suit" reported by the Indy Star. Not that unusual considering how many folks are out there raising money and not much else to show for all they have taken from the public to "raise awareness" about nothing more than themselves.

Indiana veterans returning home face dearth of services reported by the Gazette on September 2, 2015

A 2014 report by the Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs found the state was deficient in 21 ways — both large and small — that hamper the delivery of services.

The report found that in 2013 the state spent $3.67 per veteran. Meanwhile, Texas spent $18.69, Missouri spent $15.97 and Alabama spent $29.40.

"Where is the governor's priority on taking care of veterans?" Bauerle said. "They wipe their hands of it and say 'Well, it's for the federal government to do' instead of being progressive and forward thinking."

Yet another Indiana National Guardsman ended his torment in May of 2015

Family of Tri-State veteran who committed suicide has one final wish reported by 14 News adding in "The family says the military does not help with funeral costs when someone dies by suicide."

23-year-old Robert Moroney was the strong, silent type, with one thing on his mind. “He always said he was going to be a soldier,” said his mother, Gina Hayes.

His pictures now line the dining room table as the family prepares for something they never thought would happen. Robert's family says what he witnessed during combat drastically changed him. "He was walking away, she was crying, and she blew up. She had a bomb strapped to her. Her father put it there."

Robert committed suicide last week, and his family wants other veterans to know they aren't alone.

Sen. Joe Donnelly keeps writing bills on suicides but as more and more ink dries up, more and more death certificates are written. Jacob Sexton Military Suicide Prevention Act made news in Indiana when FOX 59 reported on it along with a grand picture of a Donnelly and the parents of Jacob Sexton standing by his side. It was the first bill Donnelly introduced but it was not the first one the Senate Armed Services Committee came up with or a even the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.

Donnelly on Military and Veteran Suicides: This Has To Stop
Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Washington, D.C. — Senator Joe Donnelly conducted a conference call with members of the Indiana media today to discuss military and veteran suicide prevention efforts. Last year, more combat troops committed suicide (349) than were killed in combat in Afghanistan (229), and 43% of Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines who took their own life did not seek treatment beforehand. The Reserve and National Guard force has also seen a rise in suicides.

“This has to stop,” said Donnelly. “Our fighting men and women bear an incredible burden on our behalf. I’m focused on doing everything I can to ensure that every servicemember and veteran has the resources they need and knows where to go if they need help.”

Did anyone ask him what he has to say about all this time and all of this getting worse?

No, because no one has ever asked members of the House or the Senate to explain to families why all this time of them "addressing" suicides, spending money and raising awareness, the troops know less than before, families know less than before and more commit suicide because they still don't know how to heal or find the help they need.

It isn't as if Donnelly was new to all of this. The Washington Post reported on the Sexton Bill as well as Clay Hunt Bill.

Donnelly, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said working on suicide prevention in the military was one of the most important things he could do. He took the issue up after joining the Senate in January 2013 following six years in the House of Representatives.

“I just wanted to make sure we were doing everything to prevent this scourge, because when it does happen it is such a heartbreak for families and everyone affected,” he said in an interview with Checkpoint. “I thought maybe I could have some impact on bringing those numbers down.”

The cost of the annual assessments is estimated by the Congressional Budget Office to be about $10 million annually.

The Joshua Omvig Suicide Prevention Act was signed into law in 2007 by President Bush. When it was being debated, this is what was reported.

Since March 2003, 80 individuals, who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan, have committed suicide. Our young men and women serving our country have kept us safe for so long; it is now our turn to protect them.

Yet the Congressional Budge Office had no cost estimates for a reason, they were already being done for the most part.

S. 479 would require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to develop and implement a comprehensive program to reduce the incidence of suicide among veterans. This bill would require that the program have specific components, including training for all staff who interact with veterans, a suicide prevention counselor at each medical facility, outreach and education for veterans and their families, and a national campaign aimed at reducing the stigma of mental illness among veterans.

According to VA, most of those requirements are already in place or will be implemented before the end of the year. For example, training seminars have recently begun for all employees and peer-support groups are a regular facet of veterans’ rehabilitation centers.

Annual screenings for suicide risk factors such as depression and alcohol abuse are routinely performed by primary care physicians. Two medical centers are focused on research and education about suicide and its prevention. In addition, VA works with other medical providers in the community to reach veterans who may not use the VA health care system. VA also plans to hire suicide-prevention professionals at each of its hospitals. The bill would authorize VA to create a toll-free hotline staffed by mental health personnel, and the agency plans to have such a hotline in operation by the end of August 2007. CBO estimates, therefore, that implementing this bill would have little, if any, cost because VA already has or soon will implement all the specific requirements of the bill. Enacting the bill would not affect direct spending or receipts.

S. 479 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments. On March 19, 2007, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for H.R. 327, the Joshua Omvig Veterans Suicide Prevention Act, as ordered reported by the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs on March 15, 2007. The two versions of the legislation are similar, and their estimated costs are identical.

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Michelle S. Patterson. This estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

Yet this bill ended up being signed after Army Suicides Highest in 26 Years as The Washington Post reported on August 2007.

WASHINGTON -- Army soldiers committed suicide last year at the highest rate in 26 years, and more than a quarter did so while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a new military report.

The report, obtained by The Associated Press ahead of its scheduled release Thursday, found there were 99 confirmed suicides among active duty soldiers during 2006, up from 88 the previous year and the highest number since the 102 suicides in 1991 at the time of the Persian Gulf War.

Pretty much blowing the claim made by members of our Congress. That number was hit during the first quarter of 2015.

In the first quarter of 2015, there were 57 suicides among service members in the active component, 15 suicides among service members in the reserve component and 27 suicides among service members in the National Guard.

This was reported out of Hawaii

"All soldiers are required to go through an hour and a half of annual training gearing up for suicide prevention," said Brent Oto, who heads the Army's suicide prevention program.

Yet families still think it is their fault. Just stunning how doing more ended up costing more lives!

Michael Ware Found Healing PTSD in Writing Only the Dead

Michael Ware, war correspondent, relives his Iraq War hell in Only the Dead
The Sydney Morning Herald
Karl Quinn
National Film Editor
October 26, 2015

"One night in Brooklyn I woke and heard somebody screaming blue murder, and suddenly realised it was me." Michael Ware

Only the Dead documents the experiences of Australian war correspondent Michael Ware in the Iraq War, which he covered for almost seven years. Photo: Transmission

As Baghdad bureau chief for CNN, Michael Ware was living a life almost unimaginable to a working-class boy from the suburbs of Brisbane, or to the lawyer he later became before finding his way into journalism.

"I had a private army of 50 people," he says over a few drinks in the bar of the Cinema Nova, where his documentary Only the Dead will screen from Thursday. "I had checkpoints set up at either end of the street because we always knew the car bomb was coming – what we wanted was stand-off, so that when it did come it wouldn't be able to get too close."

"I turned to all sorts of things to try to find some kind of relief. I just wanted the pain to stop, anything that would give me some pause from the demons that surrounded me constantly."

For years, he couldn't sleep, and even when he could it was no better. "One night in Brooklyn I woke and heard somebody screaming blue murder, and suddenly realised it was me." While wrestling with his demons, he had torn his shoulder. "For a period of time there, you had to be very careful how you woke me," he says.

He did the equivalent of seven tours of duty in Iraq – first as a print correspondent for Time, then as the man trying to help American audiences make sense of the war on television every night. He finally left in 2009, but only began to emerge from the darkness in 2012, when he penned a piece for Newsweek after two former colleagues were killed.

A month later, he wrote a piece on post traumatic stress disorder. "It begins: 'I should be dead; I wish I was'," he recalls. It was a major turning point, he says now. In writing it, he rediscovered his will to stay alive.
read more here

Army Abandoned 24,611 Soldiers for Discipline Issues in 2012 and 2013

Blame the Soldiers For What Is Done to Them? 
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
October 25, 2015

Bad leadership or bad recruits? Your guess must be the same as mine or you wouldn't be reading Wounded Times. My guess is they are doing what they always did. Blame the soldiers for what is done to them instead of admitting what they are not doing for them. Simple as that? Hardly. It is even worse.

Associate Press reporter Lolita Baldor did fabulous work on what was being done to our troops back in 2014.

Misconduct forcing more soldiers out of Army

Yet Congress has not fixed any of this. "Ex-troops with highest suicide risk often don't qualify for mental care" LA Times reporter Alan Zarembo wrote on April 1, 2015 showing that Congress already knew what was going on.

Those with dishonorable discharges are not eligible unless they can prove they were insane at the time of their crimes. Former troops with other types of less-than-honorable discharges must apply for veteran status, but fewer than 10% do.

Of those, fewer than a quarter succeed, according to a 2007 study by a congressional commission.

More than 140,000 troops have left the military since 2000 with less-than-honorable discharges, according to the Pentagon.

Of those suicides, 403 were among ex-service members whose discharges were "not honorable" — for a wide range of misconduct, from repeatedly disrespecting officers to felony convictions. An additional 380 occurred among veterans with "uncharacterized" discharges, the designation used for troops who leave in fewer than 180 days for a variety of nondisciplinary reasons.

And now the latest reports paints an even more frightening situation.

"The Army parted with 24,611 soldiers for discipline issues in 2012 and 2013."

Army cleaning up its ranks: Service backs dismissals based on misconduct, but critics remain
The Gazette
By: Tom Roeder
Updated: October 25, 2015

The Army has cracked down on misconduct in recent years, sending the number of troops dismissed for misdeeds skyward while piling up punishment paperwork at a rate not seen since the 1990s - the last time the Army saw deep cuts in its ranks.

Army insiders say the service is cleaning up its act after years of lax discipline in wartime. Critics say the service has found a convenient tool to deal with Pentagon belt-tightening by using peacetime to cut soldiers who were good enough for war.

Retired Army Capt. Donald Hamilton found himself on both sides of that equation when he was a personnel officer in Fort Carson's 10th Special Forces Group.

He recalled an October 2012 meeting when personnel officers from across the post were told discipline would be the top tool for shedding soldiers.

The Army shed 57,835 soldiers from 2010 to 2014. Over that time, 57,060 soldiers were kicked out for discipline issues. The Army says the similarity of the numbers is a coincidence.
read more here

So when you read about the number of suicides within the Army itself, factor those numbers in because while suicides went up the number of soldier serving went down.

First Quarter of 2015

Today, the Department of Defense released the Quarterly Suicide Report (QSR) for the first quarter of calendar year 2015.

The report summarizes confirmed suicide counts for all services and components during the months of January there were 57 suicides among service members in the active component, 15 suicides among service members in the reserve component and 27 suicides among service members in the National Guard.

A closer review of the data for Q1 2014 and Q1 2015 reveals that while there were decreases in the number of suicides in the Marine Corps, the Navy, and the Air Force, there was an increase in the number of suicides in the Army.

Second Quarter of 2015

Today, the Department of Defense released the Quarterly Suicide Report (QSR) for the second quarter of calendar year 2015.

The report summarizes confirmed suicide counts for all services and components during the months of April through July of 2015, and also includes total suicide counts for 2014, 2013 and 2012.

In the second quarter of 2015, there were 71 suicides among service members in the active component, 20 suicides among service members in the reserve component and 27 suicides among service members in the National Guard.

Veterans Screwed By Congress Since 1779

Veterans Victims of Weak Congress
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
October 25, 2015


History repeated!

"Revolutionary War veterans, like Martin, found themselves victims of a weak government unable to pay them and of conflicts between American republican ideals and the military institutions veterans represented."

Military Times reported on the VA Choice Act in September of 2015 and pretty much the trouble was summed up by Senator Isakson.

Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., said 7.5 million more medical appointments have been made under the VA Choice program this year than last.

“A lot of people have said VA Choice is a cop-out," Isakson said. "But you just don’t provide health care to 6.5 million veterans by snapping your fingers. We don’t have the money in the federal government to provide all the health care to veterans if we wanted to. We have to empower the private sector through programs that work."

The trouble is none of this was new and they should have actually planned for the 22 million veterans they forget about all the time showing they had no intensions of caring for when they can't even take care of the "6.5 million" veterans. Then again, maybe veterans are right and Congress wanted the VA to be broken so they could sell off care to private sector health care providers they always complain about.

Department Veterans Affairs Data

Isakson said VA Choice needs “time to work,” but added that the program, which last year received $10 billion in funding intended to last through 2017, along with health care provided at VA facilities, has “a long way to go” to reach the goal of providing seamless, quality care to veterans.

Yes, you read that right. $10 Billion going into the private sector for a couple of years.

The trouble is that members of the House and Senate seem to forget that have been in charge all along. Revolutionary War Veteran Entitlements

Revolutionary War veterans, like Martin, found themselves victims of a weak government unable to pay them and of conflicts between American republican ideals and the military institutions veterans represented.

The first veterans pension movement began during the war, when officers lobbied Congress in 1779 for half pay for life.

Public outcry charged officers with attempting to establish a military aristocracy on the backs of the civilian population.

After the war, officers responded to the failures of government support by forming a hereditary veterans organization called The Society of Cincinnatus, an allusion to an ancient Roman general who gave up his military power to save the republic. The society provided some mutual support, but only officers could join, leaving enlisted soldiers like Martin to fend for themselves.

Veterans have been fighting wars and then fighting the government for what they need afterwards since the beginning of this nation and hearing the same reply.

“Scarcely a day passes without some striking evidence of the delays and perplexities springing merely from the want of precedents. ”
Representative James Madison to Edmund Randolph, May 31, 1789

The Congress of the United States established by the new Constitution met for the first time at New York City’s Federal Hall on March 4, 1789. It is arguably the most important Congress in U.S. history. To this new legislature fell the responsibility of passing all the legislation needed to implement the new system, solving the difficult political questions left by the Constitutional Convention, setting up the rules and procedures of the House and Senate, and establishing the roles of its officers such as Speaker of the House and President of the Senate.

In 1932 veterans protested when the promises made to them were not kept.

As World War I drew to a close in 1918, millions of American veterans returned home to the promise of a cash bonus — compensation for their overseas service.

There was a catch, though: The money would not be paid out until 1945.

Then, the Great Depression struck. Millions of Americans were left hungry and homeless. Veterans of the war were desperate for relief.

So in 1932, a group of veterans in Portland, Ore., led by a man named Walter Waters, decided to go to Washington to lobby for early payment of their promised bonus.

You can read even more of the real history of what was not done for our veterans on Encyclopedia.com United States Department of Veterans Affairs


WCSH 6 News AUGUSTA, Maine-- Maine hospitals say they've been having trouble getting paid by the Veterans Administration., and the debt is in the millions of dollars.

The VA says often the problems are the result of veterans seeking services which are not pre-approved by the VA, creating long delays as hospitals try to work their way through the complex federal system to seek payment. Last year, Congress and the VA created a new system called "Choice", for veterans living in rural areas more distant from VA facilities. But Jim Doherty of the VA at Togus says that system is funded separately from regular VA medical programs, and the process for using it is still fairly new.

USA Today reported back in March of 2014

Federal law requires that such emergency expenses be covered by the federal government even if the injury or illness is not related to the veteran's service-connected disability.

But when GAO looked at a sample of 128 of these claims brought by non-VA hospitals in 2012 seeking reimbursement and that were later denied by the VA, investigators discovered mistakes in half of them, the report says.

In November of 2014, AZ Central reported on one of their veterans having to deal with unpaid medical bills

In New York this was reported by WKTV News on May 29, 2015

After returning to the U.S., Ready says he was employed as a computer network analyst, but due to company downsizing, lost his job, so when he went to the emergency room at Oneida Healthcare on Dec. 29th of 2013, he says he told hospital staff he had no insurance after being informed he needed an emergency appendectomy and he said he would need to go to the Syracuse VA Hospital.

Ready says Oneida Healthcare staff told him the surgery would be covered because it was an emergency situation, but he says the VA has not paid any of the bills, now 18 months later.

Tampa VA has this on their site
Emergency Care in Non-VA Facilities

In 2001, the U.S. Congress provided VA with authorization (called the Mill Bill) to pay for emergency care in non-VA facilities for veterans enrolled in the VA health care system. The benefit will pay for emergency care rendered for non-service-connected conditions for enrolled veterans who have no other source of payment for the care. However, VA will only pay to the point of medical stability. There are very strict guidelines concerning these types of claims. Veterans and their non-VA providers should be aware that these claims must be filed with the VA within 90 days from the last day of the emergent care.

Do I need to get approval before going to the emergency room?
No. If you are an eligible veteran, and a VA facility is not feasibly available when you believe your health or life is in immediate danger, report directly to the closest emergency room. If hospitalization is required, you, your representative or the treating facility should contact the nearest VA within 24 hours to arrange a transfer to VA care by calling the VA Transfer Center at (813) 972-7614.

As you can see, there have been too many times that Congress has listened to veterans, claimed to be fixing the problems while veterans are forced to see history repeated. Maybe it is time for yet one more massive protest of veterans seeking relief from this endless battle they have fight after they fight battles Congress sent them into in the first place!

Family Searching for Veteran Army Ranger and Wisconsin Police Officer

UPDATE

Missing Army Veteran Bruce Windorski Found Alive

from NBC News

Wisconsin man who battled Islamic State in Syria missing
Journal Sentinel
Karen Herzog
October 24, 2015

A former Army Ranger and police officer from Wisconsin who joined the war against Islamic State in Syria for several months earlier this year has been missing for the past week, according to his wife.

Jerrit Okimosh Courtney Windorski of Gillett and her husband, Bruce, are shown on their wedding anniversary in May. Bruce Windorski, who had joined the fight against the Islamic State in Syria earlier this year, has been missing for a week, according to his wife.

"He never talked about going back overseas, but he probably wouldn't have talked to me about it because he wanted to protect me," said Courtney Windorski of Gillett, who reported her husband, Bruce, missing last Sunday when he failed to return from what he told her would be an overnight with other veterans who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Bruce Windorski, 40, was featured in a Sept. 5 Wall Street Journal article about American veterans who have voluntarily gone on their own to fight Islamic State.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation estimates that fewer than 100 Americans have done what Bruce Windorski did in January, when he left his home north of Green Bay without telling his wife and two children what he was doing.

After arriving in Syria, he kept in touch with them whenever possible. He returned home Easter weekend in April.

Bruce Windorski had fantasized for years about visiting Kirkuk, Iraq, where his older brother, Phil, died in 2009 when his Army helicopter was shot down, according to The Wall Street Journal article.

In January, he caught a flight to Iraq with plans to visit the area where his brother died, which didn't work out. He instead took up arms as a westerner alongside the People's Defense Units, or YPG, battling the Islamic State in Syria.
read more here

Americans Volunteer to Fight ISIS in Syria
9/4/2015
Two American military veterans decided to fight with a Kurdish militia against ISIS in Syria. They captured their harrowing journey on video, and say the Kurds need more support from the U.S. to succeed. Photo: Bruce Windorski