Saving Sergeant Nickel

Saving Sergeant Nickel
They survived Iraq and Afghanistan. Now the challenge is keeping traumatized vets out of jail.
Pacific Standard
March 18, 2013
By Kristina Shevory

George Nickel was on the last can of a case of beer when it dawned on him that his dachshund was missing. He’d been drinking a lot since coming back from the military hospital to his home in Boise, Idaho. That was understandable. His tour in Iraq as a U.S. Army combat engineer had ended with a roadside bomb attack that killed the rest of the crew on his armored vehicle and landed him in the hospital for 11 months.

To top it off, his wife, an army sergeant, was away in Texas awaiting her own deployment to Iraq. Nickel insisted to his friends that he was fine, but he knew he wasn’t. By that July night in 2009, he hadn’t slept in three days.

He had to go find his dog, he decided. Through the slurry of his thoughts, his army experience kicked in. Nickel suited up like he had for all those patrols in Falluja and Ramadi. He slipped on his tactical vest, holstered his pistol, and slung on his AR-15 rifle.

Nickel climbed the stairs to the apartment above his, shot two bullets into the lock, and kicked in the door. No one was inside. Across the hall, he heard a woman screaming.

Vietnam taught us how often soldiers traumatized by conflict overseas can wind up in trouble with the law back home. As of 1988, almost half of all male Vietnam War combat veterans with PTSD had been arrested or jailed at least once, according to a study by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
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Justice Department fights for fire National Guardsman

Justice Dept. goes to bat in vet’s USERRA suit
Army Times
By Karen Jowers
Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Jan 9, 2013

The Justice Department has filed suit against the sheriff in Jerome County, Idaho, charging violations of the reemployment rights of an Army National Guard soldier who re-injured his knee on a weekend training drill.

Mervin Jones first injured the knee in Iraq in 2004, according to the lawsuit, filed in federal court in Boise, Idaho. The complaint alleges that the sheriff’s office fired Jones on April 10, 2009, two weeks after a second knee surgery required after he re-injured his knee during a weekend training drill in 2008.

Under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, employers must accommodate service members injured in the line of duty. Troops recuperating from injuries are allowed up to two years to be reemployed.

Jones, a medically retired sergeant, initially filed a complaint with the Labor Department, which referred it to Justice after an investigation.
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Marine dies in Idaho apartment; gas suspected

Marine dies in Idaho apartment; gas suspected
The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Nov 12, 2012

BOISE, Idaho — An 18-year-old Marine has died in a Meridian apartment, and authorities suspect carbon monoxide poisoning.

The Meridian Police Department said in a statement Sunday that the man’s girlfriend found him unresponsive Saturday on the bedroom floor.
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Idaho example of mental health crisis and suicides

Suicide hotline returns to Idaho after 5-year absence
By The Associated Press
November 05, 2012

BOISE -- Five years ago, Idaho became the only state without a certified, statewide suicide prevention hotline.

Residents in crisis still had a number to call, but the voice on the other end was 400 miles away in Portland. That meant it wasn't someone familiar with the isolation that comes with living in a rural region where mental health services are few and far-flung, said Idaho Suicide Prevention Hotline Director John Reusser.

Over the next few years, the economy worsened. Soldiers, troubled by the stresses of war, came home. And Idaho's suicide rate -- consistently among the highest in the nation -- climbed.

"We consistently hover between fourth and sixth in the country for rates of completed suicides," said John Reusser, director of the new, soon-to-open Idaho Suicide Prevention Hotline. "I know the national hotline was better than nothing, in terms of a resource for people to call, but I don't think it's as effective as a hotline that's dedicated to the state of Idaho."

The last statewide hotline closed in the spring of 2007 as funding dropped. At the time, Idaho's suicide rate was nearly 15 completed suicides per 100,000 people, compared to the national average of 11 per 100,000 people, according to the Suicide Prevention Action Network of Idaho. By 2009, the number of Idaho suicides had climbed to nearly 20 per 100,000 residents, compared to the national average of 12.

"When the last hotline shut down, there really wasn't the sort of broad-based support and momentum to have one here. We're kind of a frontier state, and we have a big ethic of self-reliance here, encouraging people to rely on their community supports," he said. "Idaho is 49th in the nation for mental health funding. And ironically, a hotline is one of those things that allows people to get more help for themselves."
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Idaho PTSD veteran helps law enforcement understand

Anxiety and stress disorders from war combats
By Jennifer Auh
CREATED AUG. 9, 2011

The wounds of war are not always visible. On Tuesday, a special ceremony honored veterans in a different and special way. It featured information about how post traumatic stress disorder could get dangerous for troops when they return home.

Former Soldier George Nickel almost lost his life from post traumatic stress disorder or PTSD. A video presentation featured the Iraqi War veteran.
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Anxiety and stress disorders from war combats

Father of captured Idaho National Guard Private asks for son's freedom

Father of captured U.S. soldier asks for son's freedom
By Laura Zuckerman
SALMON, Idaho | Sat May 7, 2011 12:00am EDT
(Reuters) - The father of a U.S. soldier who was captured in Afghanistan two years ago on Friday posted an online appeal asking the government of Pakistan and its armed forces to help free his son.

"Our family is counting on your professional integrity and honor to secure the safe return of our son and we thank you," Robert Bergdahl says about his son, Idaho National Guard Private Bowe Bergdahl, in a video posted on YouTube.

Bowe Bergdahl, of Hailey, Idaho, was a member of the 1st Battalion of the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment in Afghanistan when he went missing June 30, 2009, and was declared captured by the Taliban three days later by the U.S. military. The Army specialist was 23 at the time.

The branch of the Taliban suspected to be holding Bowe Bergdahl operates on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border and may be based in tribal lands in Pakistan, according to 2009 statements by the U.S. Department of Defense.
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Father of captured U.S. soldier asks for son's freedom

Captured soldier identified by DoD

Captured soldier identified by DoD

Staff report
Posted : Sunday Jul 19, 2009 10:13:20 EDT

The Defense Department on Sunday identified the soldier who has been listed as missing/captured in Afghanistan.

Pfc. Bowe R. Bergdahl, 23, of Ketchum, Idaho, was declared Duty Status Whereabouts Unknown on July 1. His status was changed to missing/captured July 3.

Bergdahl is a member of 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, of Fort Richardson, Alaska.
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Captured soldier identified by DoD


Family of captured soldier asks for privacy

By John Miller - The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Jul 19, 2009 15:28:25 EDT

HAILEY, Idaho — A soldier from Idaho who disappeared from his base in Afghanistan has been captured, the Pentagon confirmed Sunday, a day after he was seen in a Taliban video posted online.

The Defense Department released the name of Pfc. Bowe R. Bergdahl, 23, who was serving with an Alaska-based infantry regiment. The private was serving at a base near the border with Pakistan in an area known to be a Taliban stronghold.
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Family of captured soldier asks for privacy

Convicted man may go free because of VA Fraud?

David Hinkson may get a new trial because Elven Joe Swisher had been lying about his record in the military along with taking from the real disabled veterans. The man is 71 years old! How long did he get away with being a fake? Did he serve and what did he really do? So many questions this leaves to be answered but above all, I want to know why he did it.

My father was a Korean War vet. It took him years to have his claim approved and finally he received 100% disability. My husband had his claim tied up for 6 years before it was finally approved. My father-in-law, well he's another story. He served in WWII, was wounded, had a Purple Heart and Bronze Star. He never filed a claim for anything. When he died, we were on our own to pay for the funeral. His attitude contributed to my husband's reluctance to file a claim for years. Even though he knew Vietnam was eating him up inside, he didn't want to file a claim until experts told him that he needed to be treated by the VA. So many others in this country finally reach out to the VA with legitimate claims, get trapped in an overloaded system, are considered fake until proven truthful, have to read about yet more case of someone that did not earn anything but received everything. None of this makes sense at all.

Idaho man gets prison for stealing vet benefits

Associated Press - January 6, 2009 7:14 PM ET

BOISE, Idaho (AP) - The star witness in a botched 2005 Idaho attempted murder prosecution will spend 12 months and one day in federal prison after defrauding the government of nearly $100,000 in veterans benefits.
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Idahoans do a year of roadside bomb patrol

Idahoans do a year of roadside bomb patrol

By Heath Druzin - Idaho Statesman
Posted : Saturday Jan 19, 2008 14:41:02 EST

BOISE, Idaho — When Staff Sgt. Ian Freeman pulled up to a lonely, sand-blown roadway in one of the most volatile regions of Iraq, he knew it might be his last mission.

A 6-foot-deep blast hole on the side of the road told him bombs were likely ahead. But ribbons of sand covering the highway made it nearly impossible to spot the telltale signs of planted explosives. Like most days in Iraq, it was a prayer day.

“I remember, just clear as day, just sitting there and thinking, ‘God, take care of my family — I mean, I know I’m dead — and just take care of my family, let them know I love ‘em,’” he said. “And (my fellow soldier) gave his little prayer, too, and we just said, ‘Let’s go.”’

Freeman motored ahead in a Cougar — a 13-ton truck that sits 4 feet off the ground on a V-shaped hull built to deflect blasts — and made it through that day unscathed.

He wasn’t as lucky on several other missions. He’s still recovering from a series of bomb blasts that sent shock waves through his brain and ended his tour six months early.

Freeman’s experience illustrates the deadly work that more than 100 Idaho citizen-soldiers of the 321st Engineer Battalion, an all-Army Reserve battalion in Boise, did for a year while hunting roadside bombs, the biggest killer of U.S. soldiers in Iraq.

When the Army reservists arrived at the insurgent stronghold of Anbar Province in October 2006, they had one of the most dangerous jobs in one of the most dangerous spots in Iraq.
go here for the rest
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/01/ap_idahoroadsidebomb_080119/

Idaho Police Academy slogan "Don't suffer from PTSD, go out and cause it,"

Idaho police academy 'mortified' by gung-ho PTSD slogan


The Associated Press

BOISE, Idaho — Idaho law enforcement leaders say they were "mortified" when a group of state police academy graduates chose a slogan that many felt was just too gung-ho.


The slogan, "Don't suffer from PTSD, go out and cause it," was emblazoned on the Dec. 14 graduation programs for 43 officers who completed the Idaho Police Officer Standards and Training Academy's latest course.

PTSD, short for post-traumatic stress disorder, typically afflicts people who have endured civilian violence, military combat and other extremely dislocating experiences.

"That's not something we encourage or condone," Jeff Black, director of the police training academy in Meridian, told the Spokesman-Review newspaper this week. "It shouldn't have been there. It was inappropriate."
go here for the rest
http://www.theolympian.com/northwest/story/309436.html


I'd really like to know what twisted POS came up with this one. It's Christmas so that is all I have to say on this one today.