The War Within, batteling PTSD

If the title sounds familiar, it should. PBS had it! Also reminder, as more and more publicity comes out for our Afghanistan and Iraq veterans, Vietnam veterans are not only responsible for all the research, openness to #BreakTheSilence they are also still suffering but no one is paying attention to the fact that the majority of known veterans committing suicide, are in fact, over the age of 50!

War Within was filmed in 1990
Special | 29m 1s
Documentary consisting of powerful interviews with veterans who returned from Vietnam physically intact but emotionally scarred. Veterans pay tribute to their friends who died in war and fellow soldiers who helped them in wartime battles and continue to help them in battles with PTSD.
Aired: 11/11/10
Rating: NR

Local Marine veteran takes part in documentary series about PTSD

King 5 News
Author: Su Ring, Helen Smith
February 7, 2019

Former Marine Scott Whistler was featured in a Facebook Watch series about veterans dealing with the aftermath of their military service.

SEATTLE — According to the VA, between eleven to twenty percent of veterans who served in Iraq or Afghanistan live with post-traumatic stress and other mental health issues, whether they've seen active combat or not. A new Facebook Watch series "The War Within" profiles three veterans living with PTSD in the aftermath of their Military service. One of those veterans is Scott Whisler, a former US Marine living in Tacoma, Washington. Whisler was diagnosed with PTSD after his deployment to Afghanistan.

However, Whisler was able to find an opportunity for leadership and connection through a running and fitness club Team Red, White and Blue. Whisler joins New Day Northwest to talk about his participation in the documentary and his life after coming home.
read more here

Fallen Milwaukee Officer was also Iraq Veteran

Slain Milwaukee Police Officer was Iraq veteran

WSAU News
by Michael Leischner
Thursday, February 07, 2019

Matthew Rittner is the 3rd Officer killed while on duty in less than 12 months.

MILWAUKEE, WI (WSAU) -- The Milwaukee Police Officer killed while executing a search warrant on Wednesday was also a combat Veteran.

Matthew Rittner, 35, served two tours in Iraq before joining the Milwaukee Police force as a tactical officer where he would serve for 17 years.

Rittner enlisted in the Marines shortly after graduating high school and reportedly survived multiple IED (Improvised Explosive Device) attacks and a four-hour firefight.

Rittner leaves behind a wife, whom he married in a ceremony at Miller Park, and a child. A suspect, 26-year-old Jordan Fricke, is in custody. Formal charges against him are pending.
read more here

Hawaii National Guard Veteran running for President

Iraq War veteran joins crowded democratic field for president

FOX 8 News

HONOLULU, Hawaii – Rep. Tulsi Gabbard officially launched her 2020 presidential campaign in Hawaii on Saturday, drawing on her service in the National Guard as guiding her longshot bid for the White House.

“It is this principle of service above self that is at the heart of every soldier, at the heart of every service member, and it is in this spirit that today I announce my candidacy for President of the United States of America,” Gabbard said at an event in Honolulu, Hawaii.

“I will bring this soldier’s principles to the White House, restoring the values of dignity, honor and respect to the presidency and above all else, love for our people and love for our country,” Gabbard said. “I ask you to join me, join me in putting this spirit, this spirit of service above self at the forefront and to stand up against the forces of greed and corruption.”

She added, “The road ahead will not be easy. The battles will be tough. The obstacles great, but I know when we stand united by our love for our people and for our country, there is no obstacle we cannot overcome. There is no battle we cannot win.”

Gabbard served in Iraq and Kuwait in a Hawaii National Guard field medical unit.
read more here

UK Study, Gulf War Syndrome being passed onto children

Veterans with debilitating Gulf War Syndrome may have passed it on to children

Mirror UK
By Grace Macaskill
JAN 2019

The American study, funded by the US Veterans Affairs department, will step up the pressure. Dr Michael Falvo, lead researcher at the War Related Illness and Injury Study Center, said the findings were the “first direct biological evidence”

EXCLUSIVE: Stricken families say they want the Ministry of Defence to recognise the condition as the British Legion says it believes 30,000 may be suffering

Medical research has revealed troops who served in Iraq are more likely to have damage to DNA (Image: PA)

British forces veterans suffering Gulf War Syndrome may have given it to their children.

New medical research has revealed troops who served in Iraq are more likely to have damage to DNA that could be passed on during reproduction.

Experts in the US – where the illness is recognised – claim to have found the first proof of a biological link to debilitating symptoms suffered by servicemen involved in the 1990-1991 conflict.

Almost 75 per cent of the 53,000 UK soldiers there were given an anthrax vaccine. Many were also exposed to depleted uranium in some weapons.

Thousands reported a raft of disorders on their return home, including extreme fatigue, dizziness, strange rashes, nerve pain and memory loss – and the British Legion believes 30,000 may be suffering from the syndrome.

And more and more affected families are reporting that their children have developed terrifying symptoms of conditions that can be passed on genetically.

Now they are demanding the Ministry of Defence acts on the latest research and recognises Gulf War Syndrome.
read more here

Iraq veteran wants the court to hear him now

Combat veteran files lawsuit for loss of hearing due to defective military ear plugs

KHOU 11 News
Author: Josh Marshall
January 22, 2019

The lawsuit, filed in the Western District of Texas, Waco Division says 3M received the exclusive contract to supply earplugs to the military between 2003 and 2012. The lawsuit alleges that 3M also failed to warn users of the defects and didn’t provide proper instructions for their use.

In 2018, the company agreed to pay $9.1 million to the U.S. Government after the government accused it of manufacturing earplugs that were too short for proper insertion into users’ ears.

HOUSTON — A Texas combat veteran wants damages for what he says a government contractor took from him: his hearing.

Retired Army Sergeant Scott Rowe deployed to Iraq from 2003 to 2004 as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. During his deployment, Rowe says he was issued dual-ended Combat Arms™ earplugs by the U.S. military.

read more here

Ex-POW Ron Young speaker at Boy Scout dinner

Former POW to speak at Boy Scout dinner; AmeriServ CEO to be honored

The Tribune Democrat
Mark Pesto
January 20, 2019

The keynote speaker at the 49th annual Harry E. Mangle Memorial Dinner in Johnstown will be a military veteran who flew Apache helicopters in Iraq, survived a stint as a prisoner of war and once appeared on the reality TV show “The Amazing Race.”

That veteran, Ron Young, has a story that will resonate with those who attend the dinner, which is hosted by the Laurel Highland Council of the Boy Scouts of America, Erik Tomalis, chief development officer for the Laurel Highlands Council, said Friday.

“He’s a lifelong Boy Scout,” Tomalis said. “He loves the mission, he loves the military and he loves giving back, so we’re very honored that he’ll be coming in to share his story. I think (Young’s story) connects well with Johnstown … and connects to our Scouting story.”

Young, a Georgia native and Eagle Scout, was deployed with the Army National Guard twice, conducted search-and-rescue flights in the Gulf of Mexico and is currently flying a helicopter for the air medical service provider Air Methods, according to a biography provided by Tomalis.

In March 2003, during the American invasion of Iraq, Young and another pilot were taken prisoner after their helicopter was shot down, according to contemporary news reports. They were held captive with five other American prisoners until they were rescued about three weeks later.

As a speaker, Young “credits the leadership and training he received in the military for his survival,” according to his biography.
read more here 

Also a story about Ron Young from 2013 
Iraqi war POWs still cope with aftereffects 10 years later

Veterans in other news

Iraq Vet Jailed For Angry Voicemails Will Remain Locked Up

KPBS News

Starting just after Thanksgiving, Eric Benson began leaving voicemails on the work line for his private psychiatrist, demanding medication and treatment for his anxiety. The psychiatrist terminated Benson from his practice.

Food Stamp Programs to Remain Available Through February for Troops, Vets

Military.com

In 2016, a total of more than 44 million low-income Americans received SNAP benefits, according to the Agriculture Department.The number of active-duty military households currently participating in SNAP has been difficult to track, but the most recent estimate by the Government Accounting Office in 2016 put the number at about 23,000.

‘Things are slipping’ as Coast Guard families brace for missed paychecks

Stars and Stripes 

“I have two teenagers and an 8-year-old. All I care about is just getting them fed and having gas to get to work so I can keep that paycheck,” said Murdock, 34. “It’s hard, because they know. The kids know about what’s going on. They ask for things and I have to tell them it’s too tight right now.”Petty Officer 1st Class Ron Murdock is one of roughly 41,000 Coast Guard members bracing for the partial government shutdown to continue through the weekend and to deny them paychecks on Tuesday.

PTSD Patrol: It came on a pink scooter

Pink scooter fuel by love

PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
December 30, 2018

Every once in a while, I am inspired beyond what words I can add to a topic. In one of those moods, where words just did not come, I searched some of my older videos. It came on a pink scooter. 

I was thinking about a lot of miracles that still happen and remembered the story of a homeless veteran. It is one of those stories that you think cannot be true. But it is. I know because I was at his funeral.

Thursday, March 25, 2010


Vietnam Vet Andrew Elmer Wright found a home as a homeless vet
A simple casket with an American flag for Vietnam Veteran Andrew Elmer Wright.

A simple bouquet of flowers was placed with a simple photo a church member snapped.

By all accounts, Andrew was a simple man with simple needs but what was evident today is that Andrew was anything but a "simple" man.

A few days ago I received an email from Chaplain Lyle Schmeiser, DAV Chapter 16, asking for people to attend a funeral for a homeless Vietnam veteran. After posting about funerals for the forgotten for many years across the country, I felt compelled to attend.

As I drove to the Carey Hand Colonial Funeral Home, I imagined an empty room knowing how few people would show up for a funeral like this. All the other homeless veteran stories flooded my thoughts and this, I thought, would be just one more of them.

When I arrived, I discovered the funeral home was paying for the funeral. Pastor Joel Reif, of First United Church of Christ asked them if they could help out to bury this veteran and they did. They put together a beautiful service with Honor Guard and a 21 gun salute by the VFW post.

I asked a man there what he knew about Andrew and his eyes filled. He smiled and then told me how Andrew wouldn't drink the water from the tap. He'd send this man for bottled water, always insisting on paying for it. When the water was on sale, he'd buy Andrew an extra case of water but Andrew was upset because the man didn't use the extra money for gas.

Then Pastor Joel filled in more of Andrew's life. Andrew got back from Vietnam, got married and had children. His wife passed away and Andrew remarried. For some reason the marriage didn't work out. Soon the state came to take his children away. Andrew did all he could to get his children back, but after years of trying, he gave up and lost hope.

read more here 

29 Year old veteran starving while VA delayed treatment

SPECIAL REPORT: VETERAN BATTLES VA FOR 9 YEARS

KEZI ABC 9 News
Chynna Greene
December 13, 2018

29 year-old veteran, Brandon Donovan has dropped around 50 pounds since 2009. He's still waiting on the VA to help save his life. He has a rare condition that makes it extremely painful to eat.

"How the pain is, is like swallowing cement and it's hardening in your stomach," said Brandon.

Brandon told KEZI 9 News Anchor Bryan Anderson, the pain first started during his deployment in Iraq. Then, it's been appointment after appointment, procedure after procedure with no answers. Brandon and his wife Jennifer, started digging through his VA medical notes. They found the first suspicion of a rare condition in 2014.

They found mention in 2014 of a rare condition called "Mals," also known as "Celiac Artery Compression Syndrome." Four years later, Mals suspicion comes up again.
read more here

Florida veterans showing up for others

Florida Veterans in the News

David Smith riding new wave of veteran-advocates in the Florida Legislature

Orlando Rising
Scott Powers
12/05/2018

Republican state Rep. David Smith will be heading to Tallahassee with a broad platform of ambitions covering education, the economy and the environment, but the retired U.S. Marine Corps colonel gets particularly excited about prospects he sees to improve the lot for Florida’s military veterans.

Smith was elected Nov. 6 to succeed Jason Brodeur in representing House District 28 in east Seminole County. Riding in with him in this class are state Reps. Anthony Sabatini of Howie-in-the-Hills, Elizabeth Fetterhoff of Deland, Tommy Gregory of Sarasota, and Spencer Roach of North Fort Myers, all military veterans, joining returning lawmakers such as Paul Renner of Palm Coast.

They have restarted a veterans’ caucus in the Florida House, Smith said.

“I think there is going to be new excitement to address issues for veterans,” Smith said. “The one thing I’m committed to is systemic solutions. I don’t want band-aid solutions or give-away programs. They don’t work and they’re insulting to veterans.”

Specifically, Smith is looking at creating a state contracting set-aside preference for veteran-owned businesses, much as currently exists for women- and minority-owned businesses. There are plenty of models out there, including a federal program, state programs in Texas, California, and North Carolina, and a patchwork of local programs.

Smith said that the University of Central Florida’s contracts for construction of its downtown campus features a 10 percent set-aside for veterans’ businesses. Smith’s willing to start much smaller at the state, perhaps 1 percent, and work toward 3 percent.

He has filed no bills yet, saying he’s taking his time. Like other state representatives, he’s also waiting for his committee assignments.

“That’s one of the things I campaigned on,” Smith. “One of the differences I have even with Gov. [Rick] Scott is I think Florida is not as veteran-friendly as it could be as relates to veterans’ businesses. I want to be an advocate for those veterans in the Legislature.”
read more here

Meet the Palmetto resident who was inducted into Florida Veterans Hall of Fame

Bradenton Herald
BY JAMES A. JONES JR.
December 7, 2018

MANATEE
Carl Hunsinger of Palmetto, chairman of the Manatee County Veterans Council, was among 20 vets inducted into the Florida Veterans Hall of Fame this week in Tallahassee.

Carl Hunsinger has been inducted into the Florida Veterans Hall of Fame. He is shown above with Lee Washington, Manatee County veterans service officer, Gov. Rick Scott, and the Florida Cabinet. Hunsinger is retired from 30 years service in the U.S. Air Force, and is a tireless advocate for the Manatee County veterans community, provided photo

Hunsinger, 63, a retired U.S. Air Force chief master sergeant and veteran of 26 months of combat service in Iraq and Kuwait, was the only Manatee County resident among the 20 inductees honored by Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Cabinet.

“I was surprised when I got the call that I had been selected about 9 a.m. one morning around Thanksgiving,” Hunsinger said. “I said, ‘What?’ ”

In 2004, he led a team of 160 enlisted airmen providing gun truck security in Mosul, Iraq.

Hunsinger was in Mosul when one of the American dining facilities was bombed, killing 24 and wounding 70 others.
read more here

There has been a lot of great reporting on PTSD over the years. Veterans coming forward, sharing their stories, pieces of their lives to help other veterans falling apart. There has been great reporters taking the time to listen and get it all down so that the stories can be shared with the world.

This is one of them. It was reported back in 2006 and the Boston Globe still has the links working. If you want to know how change the outcome, learn what contributed to all the suffering in the first place. Then help them heal!

The war after the war

Boston Globe
By Thomas Farragher, Globe Staff
October 29, 2006

The squad mates paused for a snapshot before their patrol on the night of the roadside bomb attack in Baghdad. From left to right: Jeremy Regnier, Dustin Jolly, and Andy Wilson.

They were an Army of Three — fun-loving, young, courageous, afraid. And when the bomb went off outside Baghdad, killing New Hampshire's Jeremy Regnier, the survivors of the squad found their lives upended. What they suffer has a name — post-traumatic stress — but a label can't describe it. This is a story of a death and its descendants.

It was circled on his calendar, a day he'd looked forward to for months. But as Andy Wilson stood on the wind-swept airfield and the chartered plane glided out of a leaden Texas sky, he was anything but upbeat.

An unsettling cocktail of emotions swirled inside. The balloons and marching bands, the confetti and welcome-home banners were not for him, though they could have been. Should have been.

As a noncommissioned officer, Wilson had sworn to stick by the men he led in combat, no matter what. And to bring them all home.

But after that night in Baghdad when the bomb went off and his friend and comrade slumped against his shoulder, Wilson's war was over.

He left Iraq on leave in late 2004, his mind and spirit broken, and never returned. Doctor's orders. "It gnaws at me," he said.

Three months later, as the troops he served with stepped off the plane at Fort Hood after a year at war, the emotional torque of it all bore down on him again.

The grapevine had carried the whispers from the war zone: Wilson's lost it. Wilson's a coward. And when some of the returning officers refused his outstretched hand or grabbed it limply with looks of disappointment or disdain, he knew who the whisperers were.

But for now, it didn't matter.

As the troops lined up to return their weapons, their gas masks and the other gadgetry of warfare, Wilson searched the crowd for a single face.

Dustin Jolly was the only other soldier who really knew what happened that night in October 2004 when Jeremy Regnier, the cocksure gunner from Littleton, N.H., died.

Like Wilson, Jolly had felt the blast and seen the unspeakable injury -- and knew how easily that memory reel could unspool.

But unlike Wilson, who sought help and went home, he had bottled up his demons and gone back out on patrol.

And so as Jolly -- near the front of the line -- stepped into view, the reunion sequence was anything but certain. Wilson held his breath.

"I saw him," Wilson said, "and once he gave me that dumb-ass Jolly look, I knew he was OK."

The men hugged and smiled and shook hands. They made promises to drink beer and catch up.

"It made me feel good," Wilson said. "It made me feel proud. It made me still feel loved, I guess."

In the months to come, what the two men shared, the darkness and the love, would come to mean everything.

The war after the war had begun.
read more here

It is a condition with an off-putting, antiseptic name -- post-traumatic stress disorder. It is as old as warfare and as new as yesterday's casualty list. Yet, remarkably little is known of why it afflicts some and exempts others, why its symptoms can be so insidious and so adamant. 

Wilson only knew what he felt -- possessed, immobilized, ashamed. He had left Iraq early, and he believed his superiors now considered him damaged goods. The soldier who ran when others stayed. The commander who swapped places with Regnier minutes before the bomb tore him apart.

"I take nothing away from anybody who has lost limbs -- nothing at all because they deserve more than just a Purple Heart," Wilson would later explain. "Maybe they should come up with something for us crazy guys. I don't know. But we have wounds that we're going to carry with us for the rest of our lives. I sit alone in my house sometimes and I cry like a big baby because of what happened."

read more from Nothing's Wrong With You 

 PART ONE: The war after the war

 PHOTO GALLERY: "Welcome to Hell"

 PART TWO: 'Nothing's wrong with you'

 PHOTO GALLERY: "I should have died."

 PART THREE: A 'select club' struggles on

 AUDIO SLIDESHOW: Isolation, withdrawl, and hope

 PHOTO GALLERY: "A penny for your thoughts"

 PART FOUR: 'I need to blaze my own trail'

 AUDIO SLIDESHOW: In uniform, a sense of family

 PHOTO GALLERY: "The consolation prize"

Fatal crash killed Iraq veteran, son and father

10-year-old boy, teacher, Iraq vet killed in 'very tragic' crash

LMT Online
HTV National Desk
November 30, 2018

Three members of the same family were killed in a single-vehicle crash on a rural Ohio road Wednesday night.

Investigators said an SUV careened off a road in Brown County and slammed into a tree, without leaving a skid mark. Everyone inside the vehicle was killed.

“It was the last thing on my mind that anything like that would ever happen,” said Rob Moler, who is related to all of the victims.

His father, Robert Moler, 83, was killed in the crash. He was a teacher and basketball coach at Bethel Tate High School. He retired after nearly a half-century at the school.

“Anywhere he went, they always knew dad,” Rob Moler said.

Also killed was Robert’s great-grandson, 10-year-old Cameron Moler. He was a student at Kilgore School in Mt. Lookout.

Cameron’s father, Nick Moler, was driving. He had been in the National Guard and served a tour in Iraq.

“Even one is terrible, but when you have three members of the same family, it’s very tragic,” said Ohio State Police Patrol Sgt. Shannon Utter.
read more here

Man convicted of selling fentanyl to veteran with PTSD

Kalamazoo man convicted of selling fentanyl to veteran with PTSD, causing his death

FOX 17 News
BY BOB BRENZING
NOVEMBER 29, 2018

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – A Kalamazoo man has been convicted in federal court for distributing the drug fentanyl to a veteran with PTSD, causing his death.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office announce that Deondray Abrams, 26, was convicted by a jury Wednesday evening after a two-day trial in the death of Brandon Demko. Abrams is scheduled to be sentenced on April 8 and faces life imprisonment due to prior convictions.

The U.S. Attorney says that Abrams sold fentanyl as heroin to Demko on March 21, 2017. Demko used the drug thinking it was heroin and lost consciousness. Responding officers from Kalamazoo DPS and Life EMS were not able to revive Demko and he died.

Demko was a Marine Corps veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan and suffered from severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
go here for more

Indiana changing the conversation from suicide to actually preventing them

Vets helping vets

CNHI News Indiana
By Haley Cawthon
2 hrs ago

Tackling mental health issues, one conversation at a time

“I served in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War, during the Cold War and then during Desert Shield and Desert Storm, so there’s that connection with my fellow veterans in terms of deployments, missions and that sort of thing. In the Army they have this thing called your battle buddy, in the Navy it’s your shipmate, in the Air Force it’s your wingman — it’s the concept of leaving nobody behind and we are all in this together.” Ken Gardner

In a divisive time in the United States, almost all politicians and civilians can find common ground when it comes to supporting the troops. Yet, veterans are still dying daily due to a lack of mental health services.

In 2016, 6,079 veterans died by suicide across the country, according to data released by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Seventy of those deaths occurred in Indiana, and more than half of those veterans were 55 or older.

As bleak as those statistics are, there is somewhat of a hidden silver lining: Indiana’s veteran suicide rate of 16.7 percent is significantly lower than the national rate of 30.1 percent, and even the Midwestern region suicide rate of 28 percent.

So while there is still room for improvement, the Hoosier state appears to be leaps and bounds ahead of the nation. What sets us apart?

Recognizing the signs

Part of the solution to improving veterans’ mental health lies within another persons’ ability to notice the veteran is struggling before a crisis occurs, said Brandi Christiansen, a Navy veteran and executive director of Mental Health America of North Central Indiana. If no one intervenes, a veteran struggling with mental illness can become dangerous to themselves or others.

“We are waiting too long. We are waiting too long to have difficult conversations, we’re waiting too long to get help and identify those warning signs and symptoms,” Christiansen said. “I think we have become complacent as a society.”

According to the VA, about 11 to 20 out of every 100 Operation Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom veterans have post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). About 12 out of every 100 Gulf War veterans and 15 out of every 100 Vietnam veterans also suffer from PTSD.
read more here

Combat to chainsaws, veterans fighting fires

Veterans find community, hard work in rare firefighting crew

Associated Press
November 24, 2018

Of the 25 positions on the crew, 17 are filled by veterans, McGirr said. There are three additional openings, and McGirr said he wants to recruit female veterans, too.

SALEM, Ore. - After being in firefights in Afghanistan and Iraq, members of one of America's newest elite wildfire crews are tasked with fighting fires in rugged country back home.

On the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's only hotshot crew focused on recruiting veterans, members have traded assault rifles and other weapons of war for chainsaws and shovels. But, like in the military, they have camaraderie, structure, and chain of command. And the occasional adrenaline rush.

Crew superintendent Michael McGirr said he and other managers took then-President Barack Obama's initiative to hire veterans to heart."We felt it was important for them to transition back home," McGirr said.

"Being in a firefight is way different than being in a wildland fire, but both are mentally taxing," said Chris Schott, who served two tours in Afghanistan with the Army's 7th Special Forces Group. "In a wildland fire, no one's shooting at you, but conditions can go favorable to unfavorable very quickly."

The Lakeview Veterans Interagency Hotshot Crew, based in Klamath Falls, Oregon, received its hotshot certification after rigorous training and testing, the Bureau of Land Management announced last week. It's now among 112 elite U.S. wildland firefighting teams and the only targeting veterans for recruitment, the agency said.
read more here

Netflix on a big venture: a docuseries celebrating Medal of Honor recipients.

Bringing Medal of Honor Heroics to Life

Department of Defense
BY KATIE LANGE
NOV. 13, 2018

This was Netflix’s first partnership with the DOD. We’re glad they decided to aim high for it! You can find the docuseries, aptly titled Medal of Honor, currently streaming on Netflix.

The Defense Department often partners with filmmakers to create accurate military portrayals, which is why we recently collaborated with streaming giant Netflix on a big venture: a docuseries celebrating Medal of Honor recipients.

The series highlights the lives and experiences of eight men who earned the honor since World War II. So naturally, several current and former service members were asked to offer their expertise behind the scenes and on camera.

“[The DOD] sent several active-duty soldiers to be background in an episode, but they also sent Humvees and other vehicles, which are valuable assets to have for authenticity,” said Marine Corps veteran Mike Dowling, who now works in the entertainment industry and did a lot of advising on choreography, tactics and weapons for the show.

Many of those soldiers were from the New York Army National Guard. One of the show’s highlighted recipients, Army Master Sgt. Vito Bertoldo, was a member of the 42nd Infantry Division during World War II, which is now part of the NYARNG. So, it made sense for them to be part of it.

For an episode on Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Richard Etchberger, the Air Force reviewed the script, offered historical Vietnam footage to filmmakers and had historians consult on the reenactment scenes.

The other recipients highlighted are World War II soldiers Army Sgt. Sylvester Antolak and Army Sgt. Edward Carter, Korean War troops Army Cpl. Hiroshi Miyamura and Marine Corps Cpl. Joseph Vittori, and more recent recipients Army Spc. Ty Carter and Army Staff Sgt. Clint Romesha, who fought in Afghanistan.
read more here

Remember the uncounted who could not count on us

There is a question each of us should be answering today. It is the day after the one day of the year we are supposed to honor our veterans. Cannot think of a better day to try to get an answer.

For over a decade the DOD has been talking about how they are making sure that the troops know what PTSD is and are supported to seek help.

Since 2012 an average of 500 a year kill themselves instead of knowing what is making them suffer and getting help to heal it.

The DOD says that most of them were not deployed, yet apparently their programs are not even good enough to prevent the suicides of non-deployed servicemembers. They expected to have us overlook the fact it was not good enough for them, then it would not work on those they sent? 

There as so many questions we will never get answers for as long as people are willing to settle for slogans instead of standing up for what they need from us!

Over 2 million have been discharged without honor and most should have been helped to heal.

Thomas Burke was one of them. He tried to kill himself and ended up with a "less than honorable discharge.

Dillan Tabares was one of them and he was shot by police.

By 2016, OEF and OIF were 300,000 with that less than honorable discharge since 2001.

Peter McRoberts was one of 2 million discharged from Vietnam and his widow fought for 40 years to clear his name.

 Do you want to leave them in the dark, or

light the way for them to heal?

When you wonder why so many are still committing suicide, remember the uncounted who could not count on us keeping the promise made to care for the wounded.

Do you want to keep supporting a slogan that could keep killing them or actually support one that could help them #TakeBackYourLife because the first one will cost you money and their lives. The second one will cost you just your time and save their lives.

They got the number wrong on the last report. They use 22 and mention the rise from 2015 to 2016 of younger veterans. What they did not mention is that the percentages have gone up since "awareness" started.
Military Suicides: Stories of Loss and Hope

After 8 Years in National Guard Iraq Veteran Dies

Heartbroken family searching for answers after veteran’s suspected overdose death

The Citizen's Voice
BY BOB KALINOWSKI
PUBLISHED: NOVEMBER 6, 2018

The Citizens’ Voice interviewed Houck the day his unit, Bravo Battery of the 109th Field Artillery, left for Iraq in September 2008 for a yearlong deployment. His twin sons, then 9-months-old, were in a stroller by his side for the departure.

A local family is mourning the death of an Iraq war veteran from a suspected drug overdose.

Stephen Houck, who served eight years in a local Pennsylvania Army National Guard unit, was found dead inside his Wilkes-Barre apartment on Thursday. He was 32.

Funeral services with military honors will be held today at the Kielty-Moran Funeral Home in Plymouth following a viewing 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

“I was so proud of him. I told him how proud of him I was,” Houck’s mother Gloria Blizzard said Monday about her son’s military service.

Houck, a Larksville native, is suspected of taking a lethal dose of the synthetic opioid fentanyl and heroin, she said.

Blizzard, 70, of Noxen Twp., reached out to The Citizens’ Voice to notify the paper about the military funeral and a police investigation into her son’s death.
read more here