Veteran's foot found use syringe at Hampton Inn?

Veteran claims he stepped on syringe at Jacksonville Beach hotel

New4Jax
By Elizabeth Campbell - Reporter
June 21, 2019

JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. - A military veteran said his recent visit to Jacksonville Beach ended with a trip to the hospital after he stepped on a needle from a used syringe under his hotel bed.

James Ryals, who was visiting from Colorado, said it happened shortly after he checked into his hotel room Monday night at the Hampton Inn in Jacksonville Beach.

"My foot went under the edge of the bed skirt and I felt something prick my toe," James Ryals said.

He said he found a second syringe, which was empty, under the bed, but he said the one he stepped on was not.

"The one that was in my foot had about half of a “CC” of some kind of substance," Ryals said. "It was a turquoise-ish color."

So what was supposed to be a vacation for Ryals' family instead turned into a visit to the emergency room and a pile of medical bills.

"The emergency room visit itself was a little over $5000 and then the two prescriptions, which still have not been filled, are to prevent AIDS and one of them is $2000 and one is almost $2,500," he said.

He said the doctor’s biggest concern was diseases like AIDS, HIV and Hepatitis.
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One accident 7 Patriots killed in New Hampshire... mind boggling!

‘We all feel it’: Motorcyclists mourn death of 7 in crash

Associated Press
By Michael Casey and David Sharp
Posted Jun 22, 2019

RANDOLPH (AP) -- Investigators pleaded Saturday for members of the public to come forward with information that could help them determine why a pickup truck hauling a trailer collided with a group of 10 motorcycles on a rural highway, killing seven bikers.

The crash in remote northern New Hampshire involved members of Marine JarHeads MC, a motorcycle club that includes Marines and their spouses, authorities said. The tragedy sent shockwaves through New England’s communities of motorcyclists and military veterans, which often overlap.

“When something like this happens, we all feel it,” said Cat Wilson, who organizes a motorcycle charity event in Massachusetts and is a friend of some of the crash victims. “There is no tighter community than our biker community.”

Authorities identified the pickup driver as Volodoymyr Zhukovskyy, 23, an employee of a Springfield, Massachusetts, company called Westfield Transport.

Zhukovskyy survived the accident and has not been charged, authorities said, but they didn’t release details on his condition or his whereabouts. A phone listing for him couldn’t be found.
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Vets Mourn After Crash Kills 7 Marine JarHeads MC Bikers

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MICHAEL CASEY and PATRICK WHITTLE
June 23, 2019

Randolph, N.H. (AP) -- Motorcyclists and military veterans mourned Sunday as authorities sought help in determining why a pickup truck collided with a group of bikers on a rural highway, killing seven of them.

The crash in remote northern New Hampshire involved members of Marine JarHeads MC, a motorcycle club that includes Marines and their spouses. Authorities said they might begin identifying victims by name as soon as Sunday.

The tragedy left the close-knit motorcycle community in shock, with many remembering their own close calls on the road.

"Seven people. C'mon. It's senseless," said Bill Brown, a 73-year-old Vietnam War veteran and motorcyclist, who visited the accident scene on Saturday to put down flags. "Somebody made a mistake, and it turned out to be pretty deadly."

A pickup truck towing a flatbed trailer collided with the group of 10 motorcycles around 6:30 p.m. Friday on U.S. 2, a two-lane highway in the tiny North Woods community of Randolph. The pickup truck caught fire, and witnesses described a "devastating" scene as bystanders tried to help the injured amid shattered motorcycles.

This weekend's long-planned "Blessing of the Bikes" ceremony an hour to the north of the accident was expected to be especially emotional this year. Meanwhile, members of the motorcycle community had already begun organizing help for the victims' families, said Cat Wilson, who organizes a motorcycle charity event in Massachusetts and is a friend of some of the crash victims.
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On a personal note:This is what all of us fear the most

We know the dangers that can come from a bike breaking down, which did happen and one of our members was killed after a saddle bag dropped off another bike.

We also know the dangers that come on the road with other drivers.

My husband and I have been with the Nam Knights MC in Orlando for ten years. They are veterans and members of law enforcement, firefighters and patriotic folks serving others who served.

It is family! Wives are usually on the back of the bikes, or on their own. We have lost members because some other driver in a car decided their time was more valuable than our lives.

We love! We love riding together and working toward helping others. I used to ride on the back of my husband's Harley until my back was so messed up, I have to meet them where they are going.

To have a pack of ten bikes hit and know that 7 did not survive, is mind boggling!


Please go to this GoFundMe and donate what you can!

Jarheads MC - Victims and Families support

On Friday, June 21st 2019 Jarheads MC was riding to a charity event at the local American Legion in Gorham, New Hampshire Post #82. Our pack was struck by an oncoming vehicle and we lost 5 patch holders and 2 supporters, and many others are injured. 

Our club and the families are going to need help and we cannot do it alone. I am pleading with you all, please do what you can, and 100% of the funds raised will go where it is needed to help ease some of the financial burden left behind after this tragic event. Jarheads MC has always been about helping veterans and their families. 

Please help us now and give what you can. Everything you can do is appreciated. We are strong enough to get through this, but we ask for and need your support.

Names and conditions of all will not be shared at this time as we are still being impacted by news as it arrives. We will be in New Hampshire the rest of the weekend supporting our friends and families.

*Jarheads Motorcycle Club is a club consisting of active duty or honorably discharged Marines and FMF Corpsmen. We ride and serve veterans and veteran families in our committees, with chapters in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine.

Jarheads Motorcycle Club charity ride turned deadly for 7 in New Hampshire

update  Trucker charged with 7 counts of negligent homicide in crash that killed motorcyclists

USA Today
John Bacon
6/24/ 2019

A truck driver was charged Monday with seven counts of negligent homicide in a gruesome collision with a group of motorcyclists on a remote New Hampshire highway.

Volodymyr Zhukovskyy, 23, was arrested at his home in West Springfield, Massachusetts, early Monday by the Massachusetts State Police Fugitive Apprehension Unit, the New Hampshire attorney general's office said in a statement.

"Mr. Zhukovskyy was taken into custody on a fugitive from justice charge," the statement said. He was expected to make his first court appearance later Monday.
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update Victims of New Hampshire Marine JarHeads motorcycle crash ID’d as bikers bid goodbye

Authorities identified the dead as
Michael Ferazzi, 62, of Contoocook, New Hampshire
Albert Mazza, 49, of Lee, New Hampshire
Desma Oakes, 42, of Concord, New Hampshire
Aaron Perry, 45, of Farmington, New Hampshire
Daniel Pereira, 58, of Riverside, Rhode Island
Joanne and Edward Corr, both 58, of Lakeville, Massachusetts. read more here

Pickup Truck In New Hampshire Collides With Marine Motorcycle Group; 7 Killed

NPR
Bobby Allyn
June 22, 2019

The group was on a charity ride connected to an American Legion in Gorham, N.H., according to an online fundraiser set up for the families of the victims.

"Jarheads MC has always been about helping veterans and their families and sadly, today we are in need of that same support," wrote Doug Hayward, a member of the Jarheads Motorcycle Club.

This photo provided by Miranda Thompson shows the scene where several motorcycles and a pickup truck collided on a rural, two-lane highway on Friday. Miranda Thompson/AP

A pickup truck in rural New Hampshire struck and killed seven people on motorcycles Friday night. The crash ignited a small fire in a nearby wooded area and left a wreckage of damaged vehicles and the bodies of victims strewn across the highway.

State police said a Dodge pickup truck hit the motorcycles around 6:30 p.m. Friday along U.S. 2 in Randolph.

Authorities are still investigating what caused the deadly collision. Police have not released the names of the victims or the pickup driver, who witnesses said survived the incident.

"It's tragic," New Hampshire State Police Capt. Chris Vetter told reporters Friday night. "Our concern right now is with the victims, the victims' families and anybody else who was adversely affected by this accident," he said.

Police said two other motorcyclists were injured and one person was airlifted to a local hospital after the crash on the two-lane highway.

Some of the riders were members of the Jarheads Motorcycle Club, which comprises active and veteran Marines. They were on their way to a bike gathering in northern New Hampshire, said Charlie St. Clair, executive director of the Laconia Motorcycle Week Association, a large motorcycle gathering that ended last weekend.
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Veterans Expedited TSA Screening?

This bill would make airport security easier and ‘less intrusive’ for disabled vets

Military Times
By: Natalie Gross
June 20, 2019

Qualifying disabled veterans would get TSA PreCheck for free.
(Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images)

The bipartisan legislation would grant TSA PreCheck privileges to veterans who are blind or paralyzed, as well as veteran amputees.

The service allows members to enter an expedited airport security line and pass through without removing shoes, laptops, liquids, belts and light jackets. It typically costs $85, but qualifying veterans would get it for free — a benefit already extended to active-duty service members and those in the National Guard and Reserves.

“Millions of veterans have sacrificed a great deal in service to our nation and returned home with service-connected disabilities," Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., said in a news release. “For those of us who rely on prosthetics and wheelchairs for mobility, air travel and passing through airport security can be a challenge.”

Duckworth, a former Army lieutenant colonel and Iraq veteran, is herself a double amputee. She co-sponsored the Veterans Expedited TSA Screening Safe Travel Act with Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind, and said the measure would make the airport experience “a little easier and less intrusive."
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'Please don't hurt him. He just needs help'

A frantic call, a final standoff: 'Please don't hurt him. He just needs help'

Arizona Republic
Bree Burkitt
June 19, 2019

Balladares’ mouth opened and he began to spew out a slurry of grievances — the VA couldn’t help him, all his friends were dead, no one cared about him, his country abandoned him.

Tida Garcia lives with a ghost.

Moises Balladares has been dead for almost two years. Avondale police shot him just feet outside the front door of his house — the house where Garcia still lives.

The blood is gone, and so is the small memorial of miniature American flags and patriotic-colored roses that marked the spot where he died on the night of July 25, 2017.

Tida Garcia talks about the shooting of her fiancé, Moises Balladares, a veteran, in her home in Avondale on April 4, 2019. PATRICK BREEN/THE REPUBLIC

But he's still there.

Balladares is present in nearly every part of the house, from the enlarged photos that guard the front door to his Purple Heart medal safely stored in a new shadowbox (after he destroyed the last one on that volatile night). It's in the paint colors and the furniture he chose during his last few good days.

In a sense, it's still his home — his home he tenderly prepared for Garcia and her children before he left them.

"He just always had these little signs he was going to leave us," Garcia said. "But he's always going to be here with me."
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His country abandoned him...

Moises Balladares served this country and paid a price physically and mentally. His family paid too. In a way, so did the police officers who responded that deadly night. 

Ballandares went to the VA for his disabilities and asked for help that was not enough to actually help him heal.

What good did "suicide awareness" do for him? They claim that is the point of raising millions per year in every state but cannot claim to change the veteran's state of mind.

I got into arguments with these groups too many times. In the end, when they can no longer dismiss the facts, their response is "its just a number" and then add in "it is easy to remember" which proves they have no clue. 

What makes them deserve all the funds, publicity and support when the results are so appalling? That is one of the questions I ask when someone says they support one of these groups. It finally dawns on them that making veterans aware of the fact they are killing themselves, is insane. 

Making veterans aware of what PTSD is, what it really is, and then letting them know they can heal to live a happier life is preventing suicides. 

One requires no more work than planning a stunt and getting reporters to show up so they can share it on social media. The other requires an investment of research before standing by their side and giving them the help they need.

Please stop hurting them and start helping them!

POTUS renewed John McCain's choice for veterans healthcare

POTUS takes credit for McCain's biggest mistake?

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
June 21, 2019

While POTUS takes credit for the Veterans Choice Act, he ended up taking credit for one of the biggest mistakes John McCain made. Yes, it was something that Senator McCain pushed for a long time. He managed to pull off pushing to get veterans into the private hell all of the other elected members said was so bad for citizens back when he was running for the presidency.

McCain sells out our vets
The Nation

“We should give them freedom to choose to carry their VA dollars to a provider that gives them the timely care at high quality and in the best location,” McCain has said. AFGE sees it as a backdoor attempt to undermine, or even destroy, the VA. According to Phillip Longman, a senior fellow at the New America Foundation and an expert on the VA, such ideas aren’t always inappropriate (disclosure: in 2006 I worked at NAF, where I provided research assistance to Longman and others). Private services, he says, can in some cases be essential to veterans in underserved communities. “But his idea shows just how uninformed [McCain] is about veterans and the VA. Veterans who are already in the system don’t want to get out,” Longman says. “Every veteran who moves from the VA system into the private system will find it more dangerous and more costly.” And there are additional concerns. AFGE points to incidents like the ones in Hayward and Rice Lake, Wisconsin. Last summer veterans facilities in those cities outsourced the operation of their clinics to a private firm, Corporate Health and Wellness. Within a few months the company, citing major financial losses, jumped ship, leaving veterans in search of care locked out for weeks.

Then followed thru with this.

Veterans' Access to Care through Choice, Accountability, and Transparency Act of 2014

Most advocates make the point that our veterans pre-paid for their care when they became wounded and disabled serving the nation. Treating them... subjecting them to the same system the rest of us deal with is heartless neglect of those who made us a promise, delivered on it, and then they were betrayed when it came time to care for them.

So now you know how far back this goes and how sickening it is that members of Congress just said, veterans did not deserve their own care, this is what POTUS claimed...even though as you just read, John McCain started it all and Obama signed the first bill to do it.

The Hill reported this

President Trump at his 2020 campaign kickoff rally on Tuesday took credit for passing a veteran's health care bill that was signed into law by former President Obama. "We passed VA Choice," he said, referring to a bill that allows veterans to seek health options outside the Veterans Affairs-run system. "You go out now, you get a doctor, you fix yourself up, the doctor sends us the bill, we pay for it. And you know what? It doesn't matter because the life and the veteran is more important, but we also happen to save a lot of money doing that.""They've been trying to get that passed also for about 44 years," he added.

But he had the same speech last year too.

Donald Trump: GOP just passed veteran's Choice after 44-year wait. Actually, it's 4 years old

By Jon Greenberg on Tuesday, October 2nd, 2018 at 3:02 p.m.

President Donald Trump has been barnstorming for Republicans in the midterms. On Oct. 1 he landed in Johnson City, Tenn., to help U.S. Senate candidate Marsha Blackburn, covering familiar ground about the improving economy.

He touted securing $716 billion for the military, and he gave Republicans credit for giving veterans a new health care option.

read more here

Sen. Martha McSally bought uniform for Ret. Air Force Colonel

Sen. Martha McSally buys retired Air Force colonel a new uniform so he can swear son into Navy

Arizona Republic
Jeannette Hinkle
June 20, 2019

Luse said he hopes to one day thank McSally in person for her gift. He might get the chance at Arturo’s swearing-in, which likely will happen in Phoenix this August. McSally told The Republic she’ll attend if her schedule allows.

Retired Air Force Col. Charlie Luse, a Casa Grande resident, needed a new uniform for his son's swearing-in to the Navy. Sen. Martha McSally bought him one. Jeannette Hinkle, Arizona Republic

A button had popped off retired Air Force Col. Charlie Luse’s dress uniform.

The material was outdated, a shade lighter than the uniforms of today. The shoes he needed were long gone.

Luse, 85, never thought its condition would matter, until a Navy recruiter knocked on his son Arturo Luse’s door.

When Luse learned Arturo, 19, had decided to enlist, he filled out a form requesting to conduct his son’s swearing-in ceremony and was approved. But Luse couldn’t read the oath in civilian clothes. He needed a new uniform.

Luse posted on the neighborhood-based social network Nextdoor from his home in Casa Grande, hoping a fellow Air Force officer could lend or sell him the Class A dress uniform he needed.

Seamstresses responded, offering to alter his old uniform, but Luse told them, jokingly, that the uniform had shrunk beyond alteration. He’d gained some weight since retiring from the Air Force in 1982.

Then Luse opened his email inbox to a message informing him that Sen. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., had seen an article about his predicament in the Casa Grande Dispatch and wanted to buy the fellow retired Air Force colonel a new uniform.

McSally, a retired Air Force combat pilot, told The Arizona Republic she was happy to dip into the money she sets aside for good causes to buy the uniform, which cost about $450. The connection between service members transcends period or place of service, she added.

“It’s difficult to describe, but we know it on a deep and personal level,” McSally said.

Luse said he was thankful for McSally’s gesture as a member of what he calls the greatest fraternity in the world.

“We're both retired colonels. We're both pilots. We both went to the Air War College. We both had very similar Air Force careers, except she's in politics and I'm not,” said Luse, whose Air Force career stretched from 1956 to 1982 and took him everywhere from Greece to Thailand, where, as an officer, he scheduled bombings during the Vietnam War.
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Veteran behind Blue Water case sees its resolution after 13 years

A bittersweet victory: Veteran behind Blue Water case sees its resolution after 13 years

STARS AND STRIPES
By NIKKI WENTLING
Published: June 20, 2019

The name “Procopio” now represents a major victory for tens of thousands of Vietnam War veterans thanks to the case, Procopio v. Wilkie.

WASHINGTON – Alfred Procopio Jr. said he learned perseverance from his parents, who “never took no for an answer.”

“He was very tenacious,” Procopio said of his father. “He didn’t give up. My mother, she was a fighter, too. I was raised that way — to stand up for what you believe.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., signs the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2019, during a ceremony on Capitol Hill in Washington on Tuesday, June 18, 2019. At right looking on are Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., the chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and the committee's Ranking Member Rep. Phil Roe, R-Tenn.CARLOS BONGIOANNI/STARS AND STRIPES

It’s that spirit that kept Procopio pursuing his case, through years of rejection, to prove to the federal government that his chronic illnesses were caused by exposure to Agent Orange during his service in the Vietnam War. Procopio, a so-called Blue Water Navy veteran, worked aboard the USS Intrepid, an aircraft carrier that went into the territorial seas off the coast of Vietnam.

Blue Water veterans — who served on open sea ships off the shore of Vietnam but did not step foot on land — have been blocked for decades from the same Department of Veterans Affairs benefits afforded those who served in Vietnam or its inland waterways. The government argued there wasn’t enough evidence that poisonous herbicides contaminated the water used on their ships.

That changed in January, when Procopio won his case.

The Department of Justice decided in May to not challenge the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in favor of Blue Water veterans. Congress approved legislation last week clarifying that those veterans are eligible for VA disability benefits. Lawmakers sent the bill to the White House on Tuesday, where it’s awaiting President Donald Trump’s signature.

The name “Procopio” now represents a major victory for tens of thousands of Vietnam War veterans thanks to the case, Procopio v. Wilkie.

The man himself is happy about the court decision but unsure whether he’ll be around long enough to witness much of its payoff. He was 61 when this process began. Next month, he’ll be 74.

“They appealed it so many times, I thought, ‘How long are they going to deny it? Until we’re all gone?’” Procopio said. “There were a lot of guys who I served with who were older than me, and I know they’re not around.”
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"More than 50,000 organizations that provide suicide prevention services for veterans"

Following blind leaders leaves too many lost

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
June 20, 2019

When you have over a decade of claiming you are paying attention to something, but it gets worse, no matter what you do, that should give you a clue to open you eyes. Somehow, common sense dictates a serious look to find what you got wrong.

Common sense left Washington a long time ago.

Members of Congress are yet again trying to blame guns for veterans committing suicide. Guess they did not see a few facts. 

Taking guns away from veterans, especially if their jobs depend on using them, keeps them away from the VA and prevents them from seeking help from anyone.

They tried that back in 2007 with the Joshua Omvig Suicide Prevention Act. If it worked, would his family have to give their heartbreaking account in 2014...seven years later?

Voices: The heartbreak of veterans' suicides

"...Seven years ago, the script was almost exactly the same during a series of hearings I covered about veterans who were killing themselves after combat."

Randall Omvig testifies about his son Joshua's suicide during an appearance before the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington in 2007. Omvig's wife, Ellen, is at right. (Photo: File photo by Dennis Cook, AP)

The following year, President Bush signed into law a bill named after Omvig. It called for better screening of veterans returning from combat, better education, more mental health professionals for the Department of Veterans Affairs, more research, a new suicide hotline.

"This bill has Josh's name on it, but it represents so many men and women before and after Josh who were unable to live with the physical, mental and psychological effects of their service," his father, Randall Omvig, said at the time.

In late 2006, Army reservist Joshua Omvig went home for Thanksgiving a week after he returned from Iraq. While home, he pulled out a gun in front of his mother and shot himself.

Kelly Kennedy reported that for USA Today. There is a battle that veterans are losing. It is yet one more price they have paid after serving this country. It has been as it was since they risked their lives to obtain the freedom the rest of the citizens of this country enjoy. 

They tried everything they could think of TO GET THE PEOPLE IN CHARGE TO ACTUALLY THINK OF WHAT IS RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM!

THEY SUCK AT THEIR JOBS

Leaders keep saying they do not know why the percentage of veterans committing suicide goes up after spending has also gone up. Admittedly, I am far from a genius but I do have common sense and that is the thing that is missing most in Washington.

Yet again, the VA and Congress miss the point as to why veterans commit suicide.

Notice how "first responders" were mentioned? They really think that taking away weapons will prevent suicides? It prevents veterans from seeking help, especially if their jobs are tied to the use of guns AS FIRST REPONDERS!

Notice there are no plans in place to rid the veterans community of ineffective "efforts" to change the outcome, or, hold any of the 50,000 organizations accountable, they want to blame the means instead of the reason.

Federal suicide prevention efforts in coming months will include increased focus on veterans’ access to firearms, Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie said during a Capitol Hill appearance Wednesday.

“It is key,” he said during a Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing on his department’s recent efforts to address the problem. “Seventy percent of veterans who (die by suicide) do so with firearms. We’re dealing with a population that has a special familiarity with firearms. So we’re working on ways to build time and space … between thoughts and impulsive acts.”

The comments came just two days after the first formal meeting of a new presidential task force on preventing veterans suicide, part of a year-long effort to re-energize government’s approach to the problem.

That was from this article

Veterans suicide prevention efforts will include more discussions on firearm safety
Military Times
By: Leo Shane III
June 19, 2019

The comments came just two days after the first formal meeting of a new presidential task force on preventing veterans suicide, part of a year-long effort to re-energize government’s approach to the problem.

The group, which includes eight cabinet officials and the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, named as its executive director Barbara Van Dahlen, founder of the mental health advocacy organization Give an Hour. Wilkie said the work ahead will help establish a strategic plan to coordinate federal, state and community efforts on prevention.

And he also said that work will include discussions of firearms. The topic has long been a problematic political debate on Capitol Hill, with critics calling any discussion of limiting unstable veterans’ access to weapons a violation of their constitutional rights.

But Wilkie said his department has already partnered with several firms to provide gun locks to veterans, and is looking at additional education for veterans on firearms storage and safety issues.

That will include gun safety instruction for veterans caregivers, and more information for veterans families about resources on firearms storage and services.
read more here

Considering that guns have been tied to veterans committing suicide since the first "prevention" bill these folks came up with back in 2007, you'd think they would have figured out by now that is not the solution. 

“Of the 20 veterans who commit suicide every day in this country, roughly 14 of them don’t receive treatment from the VA,” said Warner. “This legislation will target that group by providing grant funding to private organizations with a proven track record of strong mental health and suicide prevention efforts among veterans. It’s my hope that broad coordination between the VA, state veterans affairs departments, first responders, and local leaders, will allow us to support more at-risk veterans and make a meaningful impact on reducing veteran suicide rates in this country.”

In Fiscal Year 2010, the VA requested $62 million for suicide prevention outreach. In Fiscal Year 2020, that number nearly quadrupled to $222 million. Despite the sharp increase in funding, the rate of veterans suicides has remained roughly unchanged at 20 per day. Only six of those 20 veterans are receiving healthcare services at the VA. This points to a significant need to empower the VA to work through community partners to expand outreach. At the same time, national data indicates there are more than 50,000 organizations that provide suicide prevention services for veterans, yet they are hard for veterans to find, access, apply for and use.

That was reported in the following article, and yes, you read those numbers correctly. 

Boozman-Warner bill aims to expand outreach, create measurement tool to improve effectiveness in fight against veteran suicideAugusta Free PressJun. 19, 2019
U.S. Sens. John Boozman (R-AR) and Mark Warner (D-VA) introduced legislation to improve coordination of veteran mental health and suicide prevention services and to better measure the effectiveness of these programs in order to reduce the alarming number of veteran suicides.
The IMPROVE (Incorporating Measurements and Providing Resources for Outreach to Veterans Everywhere) Wellbeing for Veterans Act creates a new grant program to enable the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to conduct additional outreach through veteran-serving non-profits in addition to state and local organizations.
“Congress has provided significant resources to the VA to decrease veteran suicides, yet the number of veterans who take their own lives everyday remains unchanged,” Boozman said. “We all share the goal of saving the lives of veterans. We must have better coordination of existing programs; a common tool to measure the effectiveness of our programs; and better information sharing, data collection and continual feedback in order to identify what services are having the most impact. Creating a framework for these necessary pieces is essential to empowering organizations to work together in the fight against veteran suicide.”

read more here

Taking away one means of doing it, is not the answer. The means can change, but unless we remove the reason, they will still seek death over one more day unless we give them a reason to stay! More female veterans attempt suicide, but since they use less lethal means, many survive the first time they tried it.

Take away the means and they just find another way...forced to find another way because the leaders have been blind to the better way!

We had more veterans living in this country when the VA reported 20 a day...back in 1999! During a time when there was not billions being handed out like prizes with absolutely no judges to weigh the merit of the "effort" they were paid to deliver on. Somehow we managed to save more lives than spend more on creating crap!

“Voices of Service” send message to troops and veterans with PTSD...RISE!

Caps anthem singer Caleb Green’s military quartet was a hit on ‘America’s Got Talent’

The Washington Post
By Scott Allen 
June 19 at 4:00 PM

Caleb Green, a regular singer of the “Star-Spangled Banner” before Capitals home games for years and a well known face to D.C. sports fans, burst on the national scene this week with a stirring performance on NBC’s “America’s Got Talent.”

Green’s a cappella quartet, “Voices of Service,” which is composed of veterans and active duty service members, delighted the studio audience and all four celebrity judges with its rendition of Katy Perry’s 2016 hit “Rise” on Tuesday’s episode of the popular talent show competition, now in its 14th season.

“The song, your voices, your ability, I can’t thank you enough for all of it,” judge Gabrielle Union said after the group received an extended standing ovation. “Thank you.”
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Voices of Service: Military Members Cover Rise by Katy Perry - America's Got Talent 2019

America's Got Talent Published on Jun 18, 2019 Wow! The singing quartet of veterans and active duty service members perform “Rise” by Katy Perry like you’ve never heard it before.