Retired Navy SEAL Veterans for Responsible Leadership

....Dan Barkhuff spent part of his plebe year at the U.S. Naval Academy learning the history of the Code of Conduct. “It’s something we all had drummed into our heads,” he told me recently. Barkhuff, a member of the class of 2001, had entered the Academy the way that all military members begin their service, by swearing an oath to the Constitution and vowing to protect it from enemies “foreign and domestic.” Plebes also internalized the Academy’s Honor Concept, which begins, “Midshipmen are persons of integrity: They stand for that which is right.”

During Plebe Summer—seven gruelling weeks of drills and instruction that precede the first academic year—Barkhuff and his classmates were drilled in P.O.W. case studies, particularly from the Vietnam War, the first major conflict since the creation of the Code of Conduct. They learned about James Stockdale, the Navy fighter pilot who became the highest-ranking naval officer in captivity. During his seven and a half years as a prisoner, Stockdale famously resisted. To avoid being co-opted for propaganda, he beat himself severely in the face, with a stool. Stockdale, having studied philosophy, believed that physical torture was nothing compared to what he cited Epictetus, a former slave, as calling the “greater harm” of “destroying the trustworthy, self-respecting, well-behaved man within you.”

The plebes learned about the tap code that Stockdale and the other P.O.W.s had used to secretly communicate. On the second or third day of Plebe Summer, the midshipmen were bused from the Naval Academy campus, in Annapolis, Maryland, to Washington, D.C., to tour the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Barkhuff told me, “The message is clear: ‘This is what you are here to prevent; this is what you are now sworn to prevent.’ ”

When Trump took office, Barkhuff decided to give him a chance, hoping that the President “would rise to the level of the office.” But, Barkhuff told me, Trump was “worse than I thought he would be—and I thought he was going to be terrible.” Barkhuff often expressed his dismay on Facebook, where his posts were seen only by his relatives and Navy pals. When he discovered that other veterans shared his concerns, he created a page—Veterans for Responsible Leadership—where like-minded members could vent.

Service members are trained to remain apolitical when in uniform, but veterans are free to espouse their views. The V.F.R.L. members chatted online about diversity in the military (“transgender people should obviously be allowed to serve”), athletes kneeling during the national anthem to protest racial injustice (kneeling “is NOT disrespectful to our troops”), and the President’s divisiveness (“Trump wins only by creating controversy and firing up people. . . . It’s dictatorship 101”). Most of the members were Navy vets, yet V.F.R.L. hoped to recruit from all branches and ranks. Glenn Schatz, one of the V.F.R.L. leaders and a former nuclear-submarine officer, told me that the Trump Administration’s assault on established norms called veterans back to service. “Once you’re out of uniform it’s your obligation to speak up when you see the Constitution being violated,” he said. read more here

106 members of the House want to toss out veterans votes!

UPDATE

HOW MANY VETERANS IN THESE STATES?

Georgia 616,527

Michigan 520,129

Wisconsin, 315,574

Pennsylvania 710,375

QUESTIONS FOR VETERANS

You risked your lives to defend this country and now these 106 members of congress's are trying to take away your votes!

Are they calling their own election illigetimate too?

How does this make you feel?

What are you going to do about it?

106 who say your votes should not matter!

Buzzfeed

All 50 states have officially certified the results of the 2020 presidential election as of this week, reaffirming what has been known for over a month now: Joe Biden will be the next president of the United States.

And yet, on Thursday, 106 Republican members of Congress signed an amicus brief asking the Supreme Court to allow the state of Texas to file a lawsuit that seeks to invalidate the election results in the states of Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, all of which President Donald Trump lost.

Rep. Bradley Byrne of Alabama’s 1st Congressional District

Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama’s 5th Congressional District

Rep. Gary Palmer of Alabama’s 6th Congressional District

Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona’s 5th Congressional District

Rep. Debbie Lesko of Arizona’s 8th Congressional District

Rep. Rick Crawford of Arkansas’s 1st Congressional District

Rep. Bruce Westerman of Arkansas’s 4th Congressional District

Rep. Doug LaMalfa of California’s 1st Congressional District

Rep. Tom McClintock of California’s 4th Congressional District

Rep. Ken Calvert of California’s 42nd Congressional District

Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado’s 4th Congressional District

Rep. Doug Lamborn of Colorado’s 5th Congressional District

Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida’s 1st Congressional District

Rep. Neal P. Dunn of Florida’s 2nd Congressional District

Rep. Ted S. Yoho of Florida’s 3rd Congressional District

Rep. John Rutherford of Florida’s 4th Congressional District

Rep. Michael Waltz of Florida’s 6th Congressional District

Rep. Daniel Webster of Florida’s 11th Congressional District

Rep. Gus Bilirakis of Florida’s 12th Congressional District

Rep. Ross Spano of Florida’s 15th Congressional District

Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida’s 25th Congressional District

Rep. Earl L. “Buddy” Carter of Georgia’s 1st Congressional District

Rep. Drew Ferguson of Georgia’s 3rd Congressional District

Rep. Austin Scott of Georgia’s 8th Congressional District

Rep. Rick W. Allen of Georgia’s 12th Congressional District

Rep. Russ Fulcher of Idaho’s 1st Congressional District

Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho’s 2nd Congressional District

Rep. Mike Bost of Illinois’s 12th Congressional District

Rep. Darin LaHood of Illinois’s 18th Congressional District

Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana’s 3rd Congressional District

Rep. James R. Baird of Indiana’s 4th Congressional District

Rep. Trey Hollingsworth of Indiana’s 9th Congressional District

Rep. Steve King of Iowa’s 4th Congressional District

Rep. Roger Marshall of Kansas’s 1st Congressional District

Rep. Ron Estes of Kansas’s 4th Congressional District

Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana’s 1st Congressional District

Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana’s 3rd Congressional District

Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana’s 4th Congressional District

Rep. Ralph Abraham of Louisiana’s 5th Congressional District

Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland’s 1st Congressional District

Rep. Jack Bergman of Michigan’s 1st Congressional District

Rep. Bill Huizenga of Michigan’s 2nd Congressional District

Rep. John Moolenaar of Michigan’s 4th Congressional District

Rep. Tim Walberg of Michigan’s 7th Congressional District

Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District

Rep. Trent Kelly of Mississippi’s 1st Congressional District

Rep. Michael Guest of Mississippi’s 3rd Congressional District

Rep. Ann Wagner of Missouri’s 2nd Congressional District

Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer of Missouri’s 3rd Congressional District

#50 - Rep. Vicky Hartzler of Missouri’s 4th Congressional District

Rep. Sam Graves of Missouri’s 6th Congressional District

Rep. Jason Smith of Missouri’s 8th Congressional District

Rep. Greg Gianforte of Montana’s at-large congressional district

Rep. Adrian Smith of Nebraska’s 3rd Congressional District

Rep. Lee Zeldin of New York’s 1st Congressional District

Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York’s 21st Congressional District

Rep. Gregory Murphy of North Carolina’s 3rd Congressional District

Rep. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina’s 5th Congressional District

Rep. Dan Bishop of North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District

Rep. David Rouzer of North Carolina’s 7th Congressional District

Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina’s 8th Congressional District

Rep. Ted Budd of North Carolina’s 13th Congressional District

Rep. Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska’s 1st Congressional District

Rep. Brad Wenstrup of Ohio’s 2nd Congressional District

Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio’s 4th Congressional District

Rep. Robert E. Latta of Ohio’s 5th Congressional District

Rep. Bill Johnson of Ohio’s 6th Congressional District

Rep. Bob Gibbs of Ohio’s 7th Congressional District

Rep. Kevin Hern of Oklahoma’s 1st Congressional District

Rep. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma’s 2nd Congressional District

Rep. Dan Meuser of Pennsylvania’s 9th Congressional District

Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania’s 10th Congressional District

Rep. Fred Keller of Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District

Rep. John Joyce of Pennsylvania’s 13th Congressional District

Rep. Guy Reschenthaler of Pennsylvania’s 14th Congressional District

Rep. Glenn Thompson of Pennsylvania’s 15th Congressional District

Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania’s 16th Congressional District

Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee’s 2nd Congressional District

Rep. Chuck Fleischmann of Tennessee's 3rd Congressional District

Rep. John Rose of Tennessee’s 6th Congressional District

Rep. Mark Green of Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District

Rep. David Kustoff of Tennessee’s 8th Congressional District

Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas’s 1st Congressional District

Rep. Dan Crenshaw of Texas’s 2nd Congressional District

Rep. Lance Gooden of Texas’s 5th Congressional District

Rep. Ron Wright of Texas’s 6th Congressional District

Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas’s 8th Congressional District

Rep. Mike Conaway of Texas’s 11th Congressional District

Rep. Randy Weber of Texas’s 14th Congressional District

Rep. Bill Flores of Texas’s 17th Congressional District

Rep. Kenny Marchant of Texas’s 24th Congressional District

Rep. Roger Williams of Texas’s 25th Congressional District

Rep. Michael C. Burgess of Texas’s 26th Congressional District

Rep. Michael Cloud of Texas’s 27th Congressional District

Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina’s 2nd Congressional District

Rep. Jeff Duncan of South Carolina’s 3rd Congressional District

Rep. William Timmons of South Carolina’s 4th Congressional District

Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina’s 5th Congressional District

Rep. Tom Rice of South Carolina’s 7th Congressional District

#100 - Rep. Rob Wittman of Virginia’s 1st Congressional District

Rep. Ben Cline of Virginia’s 6th Congressional District

Rep. Dan Newhouse of Washington’s 4th Congressional District

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington’s 5th Congressional District

Rep. Alex X. Mooney of West Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District

Rep. Carol D. Miller of West Virginia’s 3rd Congressional District

#106 - Rep. Tom Tiffany of Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District

PTSD did not defeat you yet...don't let it now

PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
December 8, 2020

There seems to be some confusion on spiritual healing. It is not a matter of going to church or thinking that you are supposed to be "sinless" or perfect.

If you read the Bible at all, you'll know that it is full of a people who screwed up in their lives and yet God used them to make miracles happen.

The fact that you survived something that could have killed you, is a miracle in itself, but too many think it is punishment for something you did wrong...and God sent it to you. How do you pray or talk to God if you think He did it to you? You can't but you can turn to Him once you understand that is not the way it happened.

Every heartache, every doubt you ever had, was something that Jesus knew all too well. He also knew what it was like to be betrayed by those you trusted. To do the right thing and then have people turn away from you, as much as He understood what it was like to feel abandoned by God.

Even as the Son of God, He still asked for help from other people. What makes you so different that you think you shouldn't ask for help too, especially if PTSD hit you because of your job?

It doesn't matter if you screwed up in your life, you can start making a miracle in your own life so you can turn around and begin one in the life of someone else.

Ephesians 6:10-18 New International Version
The Armor of God

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

So if you think you cannot talk to someone here on earth, then talk to Him.  He doesn't want to hear words you read out a book or just repeat something that is not from your heart. He can actually hear what is in your heart, so speak to Him from there and tell Him you are turning to Him for help.

read more here

I Am Broken Too

Copied from my other site, PTSD Patrol because after all these years on Wounded Times, it shows why I gave up working exclusively with veterans and their families.....it never meant anything to people I know.....

PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
December 6, 2020

I am so pissed off right now my head is ready to explode! This is not going to be one of those cheery post with a chair dancing song, I picked I Am Broken Too by Killswich Engage for this reason.

I was on Facebook and a veteran friend of mine I've known for decades, posted about "22 veterans committing suicide today" and I flipped out! After 38 years of posting, tracking, treating veterans spiritually, educating and advocating, it meant nothing! Over 500 videos on YouTube, 3 books and way too many posts to count on Wounded Times along with my older sites and I had to read something like this from someone I know? WTF!

If you need help, veteran, family member or anyone dealing with PTSD, I know what it is like to feel lost and alone. I know what PTSD does as a survivor of over 10 events. What it was like for my veteran husband and what it was like for the veterans whose lives I saved! Above all, I know what it is like to need help and NOT FIND IT! So yes, I've been broken, beaten down and still willing to do the best I can everyday because this is something that is in my DNA after all these years.

If you need help, email me woundedtimes@aol.com or call me 407-754-7526. Read the posts on PTSD Patrol and Wounded Times.

You carry this weight trying to cover your mistakes

To make it seem like nothing could ever break you

But I see right through, 'cause I am broken too

In all the same places as you

And if you needed proof, I'll reopen my wounds

Reopen my wounds, yeah

I see myself in you (in you)

I know you can make it through

If you needed proof, I'll reopen my wounds

In all the right places for you

So now you see the truth that you are broken too

I'll reopen my wounds for you

I keep making the same mistakes, just to feel alive again

It's the only way to break on through

So stop numbing all the pain

'Cause it just won't go away (won't go away)

If you only knew how much I needed you

And if you needed proof, I'll reopen my wounds (my wounds)

In all the right places for you

I can see the truth 'cause I am broken too

I am broken too (broken just like you)

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Adam Dutkiewicz / Jesse Leach / Joel Stroetzel / Justin Foley / Mike D'Antonio

I Am Broken Too lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd. 

How can music help you heal PTSD?

PTSD Patrol

Kathie Costos

November 29, 2020

Oh, give me the beat boys, and free my soul
I want to get lost in your rock and roll and drift away
Beginning to think that I'm wastin' time
I don't understand the things I do
The world outside looks so unkind
So I'm countin' on you to carry me through
If you haven't guessed by now, the feature video on PTSD Patrol is Dobie Gray Drift Away.

Hopefully by now, with all the music being shared, you've noticed how you mood does change, even if it is just for a little while. This is why music therapy works on PTSD. It takes your mind away from your problems and helps to teach your body to calm down again.

This is one of the best songs to explain that.

Remember, it is your life...get in and drive it. #BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife from #PTSD

go to PTSD Patrol for the rest of this

PTSD does not mean you are broken....

Wounded Times and PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
November 27, 2020

Today I noticed that Wounded Times is still getting about 1,000 hits a day after months of not posting on it. That tells me the need to find this work, is still there. While I have been focusing on everyone with PTSD since June, I keep getting reminders that our veterans are not getting what they need to heal. One more reminder came Tuesday when I received a phone call from someone working with veterans. 

As we were talking, the sadness took over because he was having a hard time facing the fact that his work was hard to find too. So much nonsense out there getting in the way of what works, and what can change lives, more and more people are giving up. We're not! We are not giving up because as heartbreaking as it is to know how much suffering there is out there, the feeling we get when lives are changed, is so worth whatever price we have to pay with our own emotions.

I know first hand that life can change for the better. My husband knows that. All the veterans I've worked with over all these years, know that. I just wish everyone knew that.

So today, the daily video on PTSD Patrol is featuring Jon Bon Jovi Unbroken. If you are a veteran, you are not broken and you are not the problem. If you are a person trying to heal PTSD, you are not broken either. No one is really broken, a little dented, OK, but not broken.

I was born to be of service

Basic training felt like home

I had honor, I found purpose

Sir, yes, sir, that's what I know

They sent us to a place

I'd never heard of weeks before

When you're 19, it ain't hard to sleep

In the desert on God's floor

Close your eyes, stop counting sheep

You ain't in prison anymore

We were taught to shoot our rifles

Men and women side by side

Thought we'd be met as liberators

In a thousand-year-old fight

I got this painful ringing in my ear

From an IED last night

But no lead-lined Humvee war machine

Could save my sergeant's life

Three more soldiers, six civilians

Need these words to come out right

God of mercy, God of light

Save your children from this life

Hear these words, this humble plea

For I have seen the suffering

And with this prayer I'm hoping

That we can be unbroken

It's eighteen months now I've been back now

With this medal on my chest

But there are things I can't remember

And there are things I won't forget

I lie awake at night

With dreams the devil shouldn't see

I wanna scream but I can't breathe

And, Christ, I'm sweating through these sheets

Where's my brothers? Where's my country?

Where's my how-things-used-to-be?

God of mercy, God of light

Save your children from this life

Hear these words, this humble plea

For I have seen the suffering

And with this prayer I'm hoping

That we can be unbroken

My service dog's done more for me

Than the medication would

There ain't no angel that's coming to save me

But even if they could

Today twenty-two will die from suicide

Just like yesterday, they're gone

I live my life for each tomorrow

So their memories will live on

Once we were boys and we were strangers

Now we're brothers and we're men

Someday you'll ask me "Was it worth it

To be of service in the end?"

Well, the blessing and the curse is

Yeah, I'll do it all again

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Jon Bon Jovi

Unbroken lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group 

Wounded Times filmed the original push up fundraiser

Wounded Times

Kathie Costos

July 29, 2020

As stated when I stopped publishing daily on Wounded Times, it would be updated at will.

This is why, after 38 years, I was forced to give up trying to help veterans! Dealing with this #FUBAR is BS!

In 2012, the Veterans’ Administration (VA) released a Suicide Data Report that found an average of 22 veterans die by suicide everyday. The 22KILL initiative started in 2013, at first just as a social media movement to raise awareness, and later became an official 501(c)3 nonprofit organization in July of 2015.

Charity Navigator 

Keep in mind that I have done all this work for no financial support. I was actually losing money for the last several years and I didn't care. The goal was to help them heal and give them hope. Groups like that one, robbed them of that.

Aside from the investigations this site did, not just proving the number itself was fictitious, it did not help veterans learn why they should stay alive. 

Countless articles and videos later, veterans were having a harder time finding people like me. I was ready to deal with the hatred I found when I addressed this online. So were a lot of other people.

Task and Purpose writer Carl Forsling took a good look at this group back in August of 2016.

Likewise, awareness doesn’t do much. You can know a problem exists. That doesn’t mean you are any closer to solving the problem. There are a lot of diseases and societal issues with different color ribbons and special days for awareness, but not a lot of solutions. Veterans dying by suicide has been all over the news since the Department of Veterans Affairs scandal broke in April 2014.

Some might say that awareness of veteran suicide might help prevent more suicides. How? How many hashtags and social media posts identify warning signs to look for in friends and coworkers? How many identify resources for veterans in distress to seek help? How many explain that the latest report found of the 20 veterans a day who died by suicide in 2014, 65% of them were 50 years of age or older?

In fact, the 22 Pushups Challenge may have actually hindered solving the problem of veteran suicide. If people think they’ve done their part to help by just posting to social media and don’t follow up with actually doing something to help veterans, then an opportunity to achieve real change has been squandered. Awareness is nice, but action is essential. 

 

So now I'm going to give you best reason of all. No matter how many other videos I did on PTSD and suicide, this was the top one. 

It went up in 2012 and has been viewed 68,557 times as of right now, 12:14 July 29, 2020. It went up on September 15, 2012.

In June of 2020, after a "friend" and I recorded a radio show, all he wanted to talk about was groups using raising awareness that veterans were killing themselves and the stupid number. That was the beginning of the end for me.

By July, I had given up my work with Point Man and my tax exempt. I closed my bank account and turned in the keys to my post office box.

After surviving traumatic events over 10 times as a civilian, along with my research on PTSD, I decided that it would be better for everyone if I focused on everyone dealing with PTSD. With over 8 million Americans struggling, the pandemic, recession, protests and financial struggles, it is going to get worse for everyone.

The truth is, since I was ahead of everyone on veterans with PTSD, what it was doing to families like mine, ahead of the rise in suicides before anyone was putting any of it together, ahead on the necessity to address the mind-body and spirit, along with everything else, getting ahead on this one, was just one more in a series of foresight.  

PTSD Hero After War

Wounded Times

Kathie Costos

June 17, 2020

Hero After War

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is nothing to be ashamed of. It is because you put your life on the line and felt it more than others that you suffer today. The good news is, you can change again and heal to live a better life. I am uploading some of my older videos and pray they help you too!