Wednesday, April 4, 2018

Kevin Williams fought in war, in the ring but lost battle within

Suicide tragedy of Iraq war hero: Soldier struggled with PTSD after his time in the army
Daily Star UK
Ross Kanluk
April 4, 2018
“Returning to civilian life was a big shock. The skills I learnt, especially being in the infantry, were all combat-based, but civilian life doesn’t have any combat.”

SPORTY: Kevin had been a keen boxer before joining the Royal Green Jackets

Kevin Williams was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after a comrade was killed.

He was then discharged after failing a drugs test when he was 22.

Keen boxer Kevin, who joined the Royal Green Jackets at 16, found it difficult to adapt to civilian life and ended up homeless.

In a documentary recorded before his death aged 29, he said: “Not long after coming back from Iraq I just felt sad all the time.

“I lost a friend out there and I didn’t really grieve till I got back.
read more here

Tuesday, April 3, 2018

Veteran sues after flag folding at Travis Air Force Base

Air Force veteran sues after being thrown out of flag-folding ceremony
Air Force Times
By: Stephen Losey
4 hours ago

Oscar Rodriguez, the retired senior master sergeant whose ejection during a flag-folding ceremony at Travis Air Force Base in California sparked a nationwide uproar, is suing the Air Force for alleged civil rights violations.

In April 2016, Rodriguez was thrown out of a retirement ceremony for his friend Master Sgt. Charles Roberson when he stood — at Roberson’s request — to deliver an unauthorized speech during a flag-folding ceremony that mentioned God.

Roberson is also a plaintiff to the lawsuit, which was filed on their behalf by the religious freedom organization First Liberty Institute. Rodriguez is alleging violations of his rights under the First, Fourth and Fifth Amendments of the Constitution.
The IG said that Rodriguez had been told multiple times that he could not deliver his speech because the ceremony was an official on-base retirement, and his speech was not the one spelled out in Air Force regulations. He was told he could attend the ceremony quietly as a guest but not as a participant.

Oscar Rodriguez, the retired senior master sergeant whose ejection during a flag-folding ceremony at Travis Air Force Base in California sparked a nationwide uproar, is suing the Air Force for alleged civil rights violations.
read more here

76 Year Old Vietnam Veteran Suicide at City Hall

Police report details suicide by veteran, 76, in Boynton City Hall lot
Palm Beach Post
By Alexandra Seltzer Staff Writer
April 2, 2018

BOYNTON BEACH
A 76-year-old Vietnam War veteran ended his life last week in a Boynton Beach public parking lot shared by City Hall and the police department.

City police said John Troyan of suburban Boynton Beach died from a single-gunshot wound to his head Tuesday, March 27.

Police video shows Troyan driving into the parking lot at 100 E. Boynton Beach Blvd. in a grey Dodge Caravan at about 10:50 a.m. Police said Troyan shot himself with a silver Smith and Wesson revolver in the driver’s seat of the car at about 11:15 a.m.

Troyan wore a camouflage ball cap with “Vietnam Veteran” imprinted along the front and side, according to the police report.
read more here

MWC (Military Working Cat) Muffins

April Fools' Day pranks include ‘military working cats,’ Marine ‘drill sergeants’
STARS AND STRIPES
By SETH ROBSON
Published: April 3, 2018

U.S. Forces Japan celebrated April Fools' Day by tweeting a photo of a cat named Muffins tactical patches and the sort of camouflage harness you might expect to see on a military working dog. SCREENSHOT FROM FACEBOOK

Military working cats were in the news along with a slew of other unbelievable stories on April 1.

U.S. Forces Japan celebrated April Fools' Day by tweeting a photo of “MWC (Military Working Cat) Muffins” wearing tactical patches and the sort of camouflage harness you might expect to see on a military working dog.

The image shows Muffins alerting on a suspect during a tracking exercise, according to USFJ’s post.
read more here

Monday, April 2, 2018

Homeless veterans suicide rate 5 times higher than other veterans

Addressing Veteran Homelessness to Prevent Veteran Suicides
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is shifting its focus from ending veteran homelessness to preventing veteran suicides. With supporting data, this Open Forum argues that VA homelessness services also help address veteran suicides.

Analysis of a nationally representative survey of U.S. veterans in 2015 shows that veterans with a history of homelessness attempted suicide in the previous two years at a rate 5.0 times higher compared with veterans without a history of homelessness (6.9% versus 1.2%), and their rates of two-week suicidal ideation were 2.5 times higher (19.8% versus 7.4%).

Because the majority of veterans who die by suicide are not engaged in VA care, VA services for the homeless that include outreach efforts to engage new veterans may be reaching some of these veterans. 
Thus continued federal support for VA homelessness services not only may help address homelessness but also may help prevent suicide of veterans.
Linked from Yale News

Is this the kind of guy you'd kick out of the Army?

CT army veteran gets discharge upgrade
CT Post
By Peggy McCarthy, Conn. Health I-Team Writer
April 2, 2018

Connecticut veterans’ leader and decorated soldier Stephen Kennedy has won his eight-year battle to have his Army discharge status upgraded to honorable.

Kennedy, 31, of Fairfield, president of the Connecticut branch of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, will continue his federal class action lawsuit on behalf of Army veterans nationwide who received less than honorable discharges for behavior later attributed to post-traumatic stress disorder.

Kennedy said his Army service “was really central to my identity. I was really proud of that. To have them say it was less than honorable, to have that kind of stamp on it…has been a cloud over the memory of my service.”

“It’s hard not to really take that to heart,” he said, adding that the upgrade “really feels great.”
Kennedy served in Iraq for 13 months. In the Army, he was given leadership positions, fast-tracked to become a sergeant and honored with several awards including the Combat Infantry Badge, Army Commendation Medal and Army Achievement Medal. His discharge status was based on his going Absent Without Leave for his wedding and honeymoon, a behavior he later said was uncharacteristic for him and based on PTSD, which had resulted from his military service. He had become suicidal and self-destructive, cutting himself and drinking and smoking heavily. read more here

My vote...hell no!

Sunday, April 1, 2018

Medal of Honor recipient Michael Novosel

Medal of Honor recipient Michael Novosel saved more than 5,000 in Vietnam ― including his son
Vietnam Magazine
By: Doug Sterner
March 30, 2018
A month before the father was to return home, the son’s helicopter came under fire, and Novosel Jr. made an emergency landing. Novosel Sr., with wounded aboard his helicopter, dropped down to pick up his son and the grounded dustoff crew. One week later, Novosel Sr. and his helicopter were grounded. He recognized the pilot coming to the rescue him—it was his son. “I’ll never hear the last of this,” Novosel recalled saying.

“Dustoff.” In 1963 that was the call sign for helicopter pilots who pioneered emergency medical evacuations during the Vietnam War. About 3,000 pilots and crewmen flew unarmed air ambulances, often into heavy fire, to medevac more than 100,000 severely wounded men, and 33 percent became casualties themselves.

Michael “Mike” J. Novosel, a native of Etna, Pennsylvania, took a circuitous route to the cockpit of a UH-1H Huey medevac copter. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps (a predecessor to the U.S. Air Force) in February 1941 to become a pilot but was a quarter-inch shy of the 5-foot, 4-inch requirement for the aviation cadet program and found himself in a pay clerk’s job.

In his 1999 Dustoff: The Memoir of an Army Aviator, Novosel recounted his effort to beat the height requirement. He had read that people are tallest in the morning before they stand and the body compresses, so on the day of the measurement Novosel’s buddies transported him to the medical facility on a makeshift stretcher. He still came up short, but a compassionate medical officer “stretched” his height on paper.

After earning his wings in December 1942, Novosel became a B-24 pilot training aerial gunners in World War II. He placed a pillow behind him in the pilot seat so his feet could reach the rudder pedals. He later flew B-29s on four combat missions in the Pacific. During the Japanese surrender ceremony on Sept. 2, 1945, he was one of 500 pilots to fly in formation over Tokyo Bay.
read more here

Protectors and Defenders Deported?

As many as 11,800 military families face deportation issues, group says
Military Times
By: Tara Copp
April 1, 2018
“It used to be veterans we’d see more frequently. We’re now seeing an uptick in active-duty people.” Nancy Kuznetsov
As many as 11,800 currently serving in the U.S. military are dealing with a spouse or family member who is facing deportation, a national immigration advocacy group announced Friday.
Esperanza Perez and her husband, Miguel Perez, parents of war veteran Miguel Perez Jr., stand with a handful of military veterans during a news conference Feb. 27 at the Lincoln Methodist Church in Chicago. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials confirmed March 26 that Miguel Perez had been deported to Mexico because of a 2008 drug-trafficking conviction.
(Abel Uribe/Chicago Tribune via AP)

No previous estimate, official or unofficial, has been available on just how many of the 1 million married military members currently on active duty, National Guard or Reserve status may be dealing with the stress of having a spouse, dependent or parent deported.

It’s also not a number that can be easily checked, or verified, because neither DoD, the Department of Homeland Security nor U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement tracks military status in immigration proceedings.

American Families United, a non-profit immigration advocacy group, calculated the estimate using 2011 U.S. Census statistics, which found that 6.3 percent of the 129 million married Americans are married to foreign-born spouses. The Pew Research Center found that one in four of those foreign-born spouses are in the country illegally. About 75 percent of that population comes from countries like Mexico, where if they entered illegally, they have a harder time obtaining legal status, as opposed to a person from Europe who might have overstayed a visa, said American Families United President Randall Emery.
read more here

Marty Nance Oregon Air National Guardsman's body found

Family searches for answers after missing Oregon Natl. Guardsman found dead
KATU 2 News
Keaton Thomas
April 1, 2018
Veber says her brother's body was found in the river near Waverly Country Club on Wednesday night by fisherman. Deputies do not suspect foul play was involved.
PORTLAND, Ore. -- The body of Marty Nance, an Oregon Air National Guardsman reported missing back in January, was found Wednesday in the Willamette River, but family members are still hoping for answers in his disappearance and death.

Lisa Veber, Nance's sister, says a chaplain with the Clackamas County Sheriff's office told her about the discovery Thursday night.
If he had problems, Veber said, "Marty was a fixer, Marty was a doer."

That being said, Veber understands it's possible her brother may have committed suicide.
read more here

PTSD Patrol Empowerment Zone-Redemption

Getting the demon out
PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
April 1, 2018
You have this great vehicle and take pride in it. You make sure it is clean. You even go to have the body detailed, so it sparkles in the sunlight. If you do not take care of the parts that power it, then it will sit there and rust. The tires will go flat and you'll cover it, ashamed of what you let happen to it.

What about the vehicle the carries everything that powers you?

That wonderful spirit inside of you needs detail work too. After all, that spirit is what caused you to want to be of service to others. It is what enabled you to train to do it. Endure all the hardships that came with that job. It gave you the courage to rush toward what you knew could end your life. It is also what can help you heal your life.

How is it that you can find it so easy to believe that you were meant to do your job saving lives, yet do not believe you are worthy of saving your own? PTSD is fueled by the acid of doubt. It eats away at everything that is good within you.

The devil is in that detail. The demons are in control of every negative thought you have and they enjoy causing you pain.

You went to bed one night filled with hope long ago. So long ago, you cannot remember what it felt like. The sense of being wrong believing in the power within you became stronger. Now, you are not sure of who you are anymore.

It is time to see the miracle of redemption and the see that everything you need to heal is within your body. Time to work on that.
read more here