Head of Charity For Military Families Under Investigation Committed Suicide

Just to give you some perspective here, what I do costs me a lot of time and little bit of money. While I do this and more stuff 7 days a week with at least 40 hours a week, I lose money every year. I had to go back to work for a paycheck at the same time I work from home because this is my passion and my vocation.

I used to be jealous of folks who were able to do the the work and still figured out how to find financial support to do it. How can they spend time that kind of time doing the work they promised to do and then raise such huge funds at the same time? Simple because most of the time they hire firms to do it and they get a huge chunk of the money people donate so even less goes to the purpose of the money donated.

The part that makes me want to toss my cookies on a regular basis is when they feel as if they deserve hundreds of thousands of dollars because they are worth it! Bullshit! Either they are in it to take care of the troops and veterans or they are in it for themselves. I've known too many great people that work harder than even I do and they are happy just breaking even. The cause is what matters to them not getting rich.

Can someone please tell me why anyone would actually deserve a six or seven figure income to get veterans to help each other when that is what they do on their own for free all the time?

Are folks really that nuts they just don't see it or are their hearts tugged to do something so that anything sounds good to them?

Rant over,,,,sorry, but when I read this article, it just made me sick to my stomach!

Maine charity founder who committed suicide faced FBI fraud investigation
Portland Press
BY SCOTT DOLAN STAFF WRITER
March 18, 2015

Marcel Badeau of Gorham-based Operation Tribute is suspected of siphoning off large sums donated to buy holiday gifts for children in military families.

Margo and Marc Badeau, seen working at their Gorham business in 2007, are now identified in court records as the targets of an investigation by multiple federal agencies.
Press Herald file photo/Jack Milton

The founder of a Maine charity that provided holiday gifts to the children of military families was under investigation for fraud when he committed suicide last month.

The investigation focused on whether Marcel “Marc” Badeau, chairman of the Gorham-based nonprofit Operation Tribute, siphoned off hundreds of thousands of dollars that he told donors would be spent on gifts for children.

Badeau and his wife, Margherita Badeau, are identified in court records unsealed Wednesday as the targets of an investigation by multiple federal agencies that started in July.

The accusations depicting Marcel Badeau as an ex-con scam artist stand in stark contrast to his public image as a selfless man, tirelessly devoting his time to support the children of military service men and women in New England, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Wednesday’s revelation surprised many people who supported Badeau, including Gov. Paul LePage and first lady Ann LePage, who both issued statements after his death Feb. 27.

In honor of the charitable group’s recognition of the sacrifices made by military families, LePage declared December 2012 Operation Tribute Month. The organization was also named Maine’s Outstanding Non-profit in 2011.

The court filings indicate the Badeaus used donated money for personal needs, including more than $230,000 in cash, $138,000 in mortgage payments, more than $25,000 for personal cars, nearly $24,000 for one of their children’s college tuition, and more than $7,000 at New Hampshire state liquor stores.
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Senator Says VA Needs to Halt Discrimination

Sen. Shaheen urges Veterans Affairs to halt “discriminatory policy” 
Metro Weekly
By Justin Snow
March 9, 2015

“No one who has served our country in uniform should be denied the benefits they’ve earned because of whom they love or where they live,” Shaheen said in a statement. “The VA should immediately halt enforcing this discriminatory policy until the Supreme Court or Congress acts to end it.”

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen is urging the Department of Veterans Affairs to suspend a policy in which the department recoups benefits awarded to same-sex couples until the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled on marriage equality later this year.

The letter comes after the American Military Partner Association (AMPA) drew attention to an incident involving a veteran who was forced to repay the federal government for benefits she received but was later declared ineligible for after moving to a state that did not recognize her marriage to another woman.

The New Hampshire Democrat wrote in a March 9 letter to Veteran Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald that a moratorium on collection efforts should be enacted until the Supreme Court issues a decision on the constitutionality of same-sex marriage bans, which is expected in June.

“I am hopeful that this issue will soon be addressed through either the legislative or judicial process,” Shaheen wrote, who has introduced legislation to legislation that would correct areas of federal law that continue to prevent the extension of benefits. “In the interim, I urge the Department to make every effort to mitigate the impact of this plainly discriminatory policy.”

Shaheen specifically mentions the case of Melissa Perkins-Fercha, an Iraq War veteran who received a 50 percent disability rating from the VA. Although the VA said she could not list her legally married wife and child as dependents because she lives in Texas, which does not recognize her marriage performed in Washington state, the VA failed to remove her wife and daughter from their system. That error resulted in Perkins-Fercha being compensated at the higher rate disabled veterans with dependents are entitled to, only for the VA to then remove her dependents and inform Perkins-Fercha that her disability compensation will be withheld until the compensation based on dependents is paid back.

“No one who has served our country in uniform should be denied the benefits they’ve earned because of whom they love or where they live,” Shaheen said in a statement. “The VA should immediately halt enforcing this discriminatory policy until the Supreme Court or Congress acts to end it.”
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VA Wants Money Back From Texas Iraq Veteran

Maine Veterans Services Director "veterans with PTSD were really just “lost” or “depressed.”

Maine Voices: The Veterans’ Services director is failing at his job
Peter Ogden needs to work with younger veterans to implement recommended changes or step aside
Portland Press Herald
BY ADRIAN COLE
SPECIAL TO THE TELEGRAM
January 18, 2015

Of the 132,000 veterans who live in Maine, about 60,000 come from the most recent wars. It is these veterans who are falling through the cracks, a state report says. Amelia Kunhardt/Staff Photographer

TOPSHAM — The director of Maine’s Bureau of Veterans’ Services, Peter Ogden, is failing in his charge to support all veterans. While his efforts to help care for aging veterans and memorializing those who have passed are commendable, he has shown a consistent disrespect and lack of concern for anyone who served in Iraq or Afghanistan.

I attended a meeting in December in Brunswick with state legislators, where Ogden laid out his agenda for the coming year.

He referred to the roughly 60,000 Maine veterans of America’s most recent wars as “kids” so many times that I lost count. This was only part of the insult, though, as his policy stance and inaction as a leader, revealed during the course of the meeting, proved more egregious than his insults.

For example, the report stated that returning veterans today are reluctant to seek help or take advantage of benefits for fear of being a burden on the system. But when Ogden was asked about the problems faced by this generation of veterans, he said, “Well, I think the kids today are saying, ‘You owe it to me, give it to me.’ If you push a red button and nothing happens, I think that’s the problem. I can tell a World War II guy, ‘Your claim, it will take a year to do your claim,’ he will be happy. If I tell a young kid today, (he’ll say) ‘Uh, I mean, why can’t that happen?’ ”

The report advised his office on many ways in which to reach out to veterans, centering mainly on information technology-based solutions. Ogden stated, “The young kids today come back and we don’t communicate the way they do. I don’t tweet, I don’t Twitter, I don’t do Facebook. I can barely answer my emails.” After citing staffing issues as an excuse as to why his office has failed to implement any of these recommendations, he then indicated that he would not be doing so any time soon.

At one point during Ogden’s talk, he gave a textbook definition of post-traumatic stress disorder and then told the room that veterans with PTSD were really just “lost” or “depressed.”

Adrian Cole of Topsham is a former Army captain who served two tours of duty in Iraq as an artillery officer with the 101st Airborne Division. He serves as the adjutant for the Bath Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7738.
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Maine Sheriff Tries to Prevent Veterans From Serving Jail Time for PTSD

Oakland Army veteran’s nightmare began with sexual abuse in the military
Roxane Montgomery is trying to get her life together with help from local police, including Kennebec County Sheriff Randy Liberty.
Central Maine
BY AMY CALDER STAFF WRITER
December 4, 2014

Speaking at her parents’ home in Oakland recently, Army veteran Roxane Marie Montgomery speaks about being raped by two fellow servicemen while serving in the Persian Gulf War. She says that attack and the military’s response led to a downward spiral that involves alcohol addiction and arrests.
Staff photo by David Leaming

The pain runs deep for Army veteran Roxane Marie Montgomery.

The Oakland woman has been out of the military 19 years, but the trauma from being raped by two soldiers remains.

“I’m working at it,” she said. “It’s hard.”

Montgomery, 47, now lives day to day, plagued by an acute alcohol problem that she says was precipitated by the sexual trauma she experienced while serving in the armed forces.

She has been arrested many times for alcohol-related incidents, including driving under the influence, violating conditions of release and misuse of 911. She has been in and out of rehabilitation, sees a psychiatrist regularly and gets support from VA Healthcare Systems-Togus.

So far, nothing has worked. She does well for a while, then falls off the wagon.

Everyone who has been trying to help her — officials from the Oakland Police Department, the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office and the district attorney’s office — say she is intelligent, accomplished, personable and has great potential, but she can’t seem to move past her demons.

FRIENDS WHO COUNT
Kennebec County Sheriff Randall Liberty, who at the Kennebec County jail opened the only veterans block in a Maine jail, knows Montgomery and her situation well. He suffered military-related post traumatic stress disorder himself and was the focus of “A Matter of Duty,” an MPBN television documentary about post-traumatic stress disorder that also featured Montgomery.

Liberty said many veterans suffering from PTSD self-medicate with alcohol or opiates, have problems with anger management, become disorderly, get involved in domestic violence and commit burglaries and robberies.

Liberty and others who try to work with veterans — including courts, police, crisis workers and others — have a heightened awareness of their problems, share information and try to find alternatives when one approach does not work.

About 140,000 veterans were incarcerated in state and federal prisons as of 2004, the last year for which data was available in a 2012 report, “Healing a Broken System,” by the New York-based Drug Policy Alliance. The report said a national survey of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans found that 9 percent of respondents reported being arrested since returning from service, with the arrests more strongly linked to substance abuse and mental health conditions such as PTSD.
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Troublesome grey area in service dog law

Misuse, misunderstanding create troublesome grey area in service dog law
Bangor Daily News
By Abigail Curtis, BDN Staff
Posted Nov. 30, 2014

Ashley L. Conti | BDN Judi Bayly tells her service dog, Kira, a 7-year-old Irish setter, to look at her during lunch at the Olive Garden in Bangor on Tuesday. "The dog gives you the independence to go and do," Bayly said. "Kira's ready to go whenever I am. She's there. She watches over me."

BELFAST, Maine — Judi Bayly’s service dog, Kira, goes everywhere her owner goes. She has to — the calm Irish setter is crucial to the well-being and freedom of Bayly, who has multiple sclerosis and diabetes.

Kira has been on Caribbean cruises, shopping trips to Wal-Mart, to lunches out at restaurants, to appointments at medical offices and many other places. She is trained to pay attention to small signs that indicate Bayly’s blood sugar levels are going out of control, and also to nudge open doors and help her owner navigate tricky, small spaces, including public restrooms.

“Without having Kira to get around, I don’t,” said Bayly, who is living in Hampden right now. “I would just have to stay home.”

That’s why Bayly, 62, gets her hackles up when she hears of people abusing the Americans with Disabilities Act, the law that allows trained service dogs to accompany disabled people in all areas where members of the public can go.

“To be in a store or a business where somebody brings a pet dog that has not been trained for public access, it causes a disruption for the working dog,” she said. “I have literally had a dog jump out of a shopping cart, run five aisles over and bite my dog. My dog got bitten by a fake service dog.”

Bayly and other disability rights advocates would like more people to better understand the law, which makes it a federal crime to both use a fake service animal and to discriminate against a disabled person who is using a real one. More information would help smooth relationships between disabled people and business owners, according to Kathy Hecht of Searsport, a University of Maine at Machias instructor who teaches service dog training and uses a service dog herself.

“As somebody using a service dog, you do have rights protected under the law, but you also have huge responsibilities,” Hecht said. “A lot of people say, ‘I have a disability, and therefore, you have to put up with my dog. But nobody has to put up with a dog that is causing problems.”
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“If it’s happening here, it’s happening all over the country” to Veterans

Togus VA system probed over allegations of shortcuts, omissions
An October memo by a federal watchdog agency outlines allegations that, if proven, would link Maine for the first time to issues similar to those at veterans hospitals nationwide.
BY MICHAEL SHEPHERD
STAFF WRITER
November 22, 2014

TOGUS — Allegations that officials at the VA Maine Healthcare System took shortcuts and withheld information from patient files in an effort to meet national benchmarks have prompted a federal probe of services there.

While it’s not clear what impact that has on the nearly 10,000 veterans who receive treatment statewide for issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, a veterans benefits lawyer said if the claim that information was omitted from patient files is true, it would be “absolutely huge.”

GAMING THE SYSTEM?

Omissions in patient files may be the most serious allegation that drew the inspector general’s office in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to the Togus campus for an inspection of mental health services last month.

In the short term, those alleged omissions would mean that veterans may have gone without care. Long term, incomplete records could leave veterans unable to prove they’re eligible for benefits providing needed counseling. Lilly, though, said he told the inspector general’s office he had not seen evidence of “an instruction to omit things” as a strategy at Togus, and he has no proof that claims were affected.

Still, Joseph Moore, a lawyer at Bergmann and Moore, a Maryland firm handling veterans’ benefits appeals claims, said if substantiated, that claim “is absolutely huge” and would mean that “administrators got treatment providers to lie, to the obvious and direct detriment of the veterans they were treating.”

Even so, Moore and others cautioned that issues alleged at Togus are similar to VA problems nationwide, including a shortage of health professionals that the federal department’s new secretary, Robert McDonald, wants to fix.

“If it’s happening here, it’s happening all over the country,” said John Wallace, of Limestone, an Army veteran and the president of Vietnam Veterans of America in Maine.
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Vietnam Veterans Get "Welcome Home" in Maine

Gov. LePage, First Lady, Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans, 50 years Later
Maine NPR
By JENNIFER MITCHELL
October 4, 2014

Veteran of both the Korean and Vietnam conflicts, Ret. Staff Sgt. Donald Smith. One of the veterans welcomed home Saturday, Smith has been nominated for the Congressional Medal of Honor by Rep. Mike Michaud.
Credit Jennifer Mitchell

Governor Paul LePage and First Lady Ann LePage were among those paying tribute to Maine's Vietnam Veterans Saturday afternoon at a welcome-home ceremony in Bangor at Cole Land Transportation Museum.

"What we have learned is that it's not the soldier that starts the war," said LePage after the ceremony, "I was in college from 1967 to 1971 and I saw what was going on stateside while these people were giving their lives. Their return home was never what it should have been."

Veterans from the Vietnam War era received a handshake from Governor LePage and a hug from First Lady Ann LePage.

One of them was 82 year old Donald Smith of Bristol, a Congressional Medal of Honor nominee, who served in both Korea and Vietnam. Smith says veterans' affairs and public awareness of veterans' issues have come a long way since the 1960's, but more work is needed.

"Being in a combat area is awful hard on a person, " explains Smith. "You lose all the freedom you had in civilian life and your life is on the line."

Returning to an unsympathetic public in the late 1960's made an already difficult situation worse. "It was almost like suicide coming back." he says.
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Vietnam veteran battle with VA for cancer care over 10 years

U.S. Rep. David Jolly intercedes on behalf of Vietnam Vet suffering from cancer
St. Petersburgs Blog
By Janelle Irwin
August 11, 2014

David Davis will probably die.

The 60-year old Vietnam veteran was diagnosed with stage 4 melanoma in March after battling with the VA since 2003 over several sores, bumps and rashes.

“If I would have had a choice the first time of getting outside referrals that would be paid for, then I could have gone to Boston Cancer Center and we wouldn’t be sitting here now,” Davis said to reporters during a press conference with Congressman David Jolly. “It would have been stage 1 melanoma and I wouldn’t be having 14 tumors.”

Davis is worried about his five children who don’t want their dad to die. He’s worried about his wife. But most of all, he’s worried about all of the young soldiers now who could wind up in a situation like his if the system isn’t changed.

“What if it was your dad or your son? How would you feel?” Davis asked.

In 2003 while living in Maine, Davis asked his local VA center for a referral to see a doctor outside the government-run healthcare system. He was turned down. So he went to a private doctor on his own dime where he had a lump removed that turned out to be squamous cell carcinoma, one of three kinds of skin cancer and the second most aggressive.

In 2008 after moving to St. Petersburg he had more skin issues. Again, he asked to go outside the system, again he was turned down and again he paid to go to a private doctor. It was cancer, but the VA refused to speak with the doctor who made the diagnosis.
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Travis Mills ignores how much he gives while prasing others

After reading about Travis Mills all this time it is easy to figure out this guy has a tiny little ego. He is always so ready to praise what others do for him while he is clueless on how much he gives. He is an example of what we look like isn't who we are. That after surviving the loss of all four limbs, he can still stand up for what he believes in. He isn't letting anything stop him. If you read Wounded Times, you've seen every news report on him and there are plenty. Too bad the military doesn't have an award for being an inspiration to others.

Quadruple Amputee veteran beats odds and motivates other veterans
WCSH
Samantha Edwards
July 15, 2014

BANGOR, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- Staff Sergeant Travis Mills was serving in Afghanistan when an IED exploded causing him to lose all four of his limbs. Two years later and Mills is using his story to motivate other veterans. Travis approaches his story with a sense of humor.

Travis is not shy and has made a lot of friends along the way to help make his dream a reality; The Travis Mills' Project. It is a non-profit organization, aimed at benefiting and assisting wounded and injured veterans and their families.

Travis said, "For the veterans I think guys go home and it is not the same. When they went home from world war two and they had 30 or 40 guys from the same town. Now, you go home and you have maybe two or three because the war is not as big anymore."

The Travis Mills home will be unveiled in Manchester Maine in August. Travis describes it as a place for veterans to visit with their families to help reintegrate.

"Become more family oriented as well as bring guys out and talk about what they are going through and things like that. So that way there are less suicide rates, less ptsd. For me, family is what got me through," explained Mills.
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85 Year old Takes on Appalachian Trail and PTSD

Local hiker tackling Appalachian Trail on mission to help veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder
News-Leader
Wes Johnson
Mar. 15, 2014

When Springfield hiker Robert Crampton takes his first steps on the Appalachian Trail on Monday, he’ll be walking with several purposes.

Crampton, 84, hopes to finish the 2,180-mile trek from Georgia to Maine within six months — a hike he had to abandon once before when family issues arose.

But more importantly, Crampton will be hiking with a group of military veterans who are on a “Warrior Hike” to help them overcome the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder. They’ll breathe fresh air, experience the vastness of nature and discover welcoming arms at various towns along the way.

When he returns next fall, Crampton plans to use his experience on the Appalachian Trail — the AT — to develop a hiking program for veterans back home in Springfield. He believes that getting veterans away from the TV, away from bad habits, away from the pressures of horrific wartime memories by embracing hiking will help them “walk off their war.”

“When you’re on a trail out in nature you have to go internally into yourself, where you’ll find the truth,” said Crampton. “You listen to your heart and not take in what somebody on the outside says about you. It’s the power of positive thinking, having a positive attitude and learning to have faith in yourself. Then you will be free.”
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Sheriff Randall Liberty Combat PTSD Advocate

Kennebec County sheriff addresses PTSD and treatment of veterans
Randy Liberty, who created a veterans block at his jail, started the presentation with an MPBN documentary on veterans and PTSD in which he, as a returning veteran struggling with PTSD, is the focus.
Kennebec Journal
By Susan McMillan
Staff Writer
February 10, 2014

AUGUSTA — Military culture values toughness, stoicism and self-sufficiency.

When Kennebec County Sheriff Randall Liberty was an Army drill sergeant, it was his job to ensure that new soldiers developed those traits. Sometimes that involved yelling at homesick teenagers.

After dealing with his own post-traumatic stress and seeing the effects of combat trauma on people in the criminal justice system, Liberty has come to appreciate that the coping mechanisms that help troops get through war can become harmful once back at home.

“It serves us well in combat — ‘follow me and away we go,’” Liberty said. “You can’t think about it or feel too much. But when you get out, it all comes back.”

In a discussion Sunday at the Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine, Liberty talked about the treatment that helped him and what he’s doing to try to help other veterans.

The event included a screening of “A Matter of Duty: The Continuing War Against PTSD,” the Maine Public Broadcasting Network documentary about the veterans block Liberty has created at the Kennebec County jail and the Veterans Treatment Court overseen by Justice Nancy Mills in Kennebec County Superior Court.
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US military on their feet in foreign footwear

This is from a press release.

"U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has begun the process of evaluating domestically manufactured athletic footwear sources for possible procurement, U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King announced today. That action, known as a “Sources Sought,” is the result of language added to the FY14 National Defense Authorization Act Joint Explanatory Statement, which was included at the request of Senators Collins and King."

"Congress passed the Berry Amendment in 1941 to ensure that American soldiers trained and operated, to the greatest extent possible, with American-made uniforms and equipment. Servicemen and women are provided with dress uniforms, combat uniforms, and physical training (PT) uniforms. These items are standardized "uniform" items determined by the DoD, and for decades, the apparel and footwear for each of these uniforms was American-made as required by law.

However, in 2002 the Army, followed by the Air Force in 2008, altered its acquisition process such that it no longer directly procured American-made athletic footwear for issue to incoming recruits. Instead, military recruits are given an "allowance" and are required to "purchase" athletic footwear thus, in the opinion of DoD, exempting athletic footwear from domestic sourcing requirements because such individual purchases fall below the simplified acquisition threshold."

Almost half of veterans do not qualify for VA healthcare

Glad someone is addressing this.

FROM THE STATE HOUSE
Nearly half of Maine veterans don’t qualify for health care through VA
Morning Sentinel
Rep. Ann Dorney and Rep. Stanley Short
December 30, 2013

Not having access to health care is problem our returning veterans shouldn’t encounter, but we’ve heard stories that cause us great concern.

A young veteran of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq begins struggling with school and work months after his return to Maine because of post-traumatic stress, but lacks insurance for counseling from a local provider. A Desert Storm veteran will lose MaineCare coverage next month and worries how he will move ahead without the security of health care coverage.

When the Legislature convenes next month, Maine will have another opportunity to expand health care to our friends and neighbors, including 25,000 individuals who currently have MaineCare and will lose it on Jan. 1 because we have not accepted the federal dollars to expand eligibility. In addition, 45,000 Mainers, including nearly 3,000 veterans, would gain access to coverage if we choose to expand eligibility.

Contrary to popular belief, not all veterans qualify for comprehensive health care through the Department of Veterans Affairs. Many elements, including duty status, income and service-related disabilities, go into determining eligibility for VA services.

Even veterans who qualify for services face barriers to care. In our large and rural state, many veterans live far away from the closest VA facility or have difficulty with transportation. Some work low-wage jobs and struggle with homelessness. Others are unaware they are eligible. And some are daunted by a complex process.
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After son's suicide, Mom sends ashes from Massachusetts to Japan

Mom uses social media to scatter military son's ashes
By Associated Press
Published: Dec 22, 2013

This Dec. 17, 2013, photo shows an urn containing the ashes of C.J. Twomey on a shelf at his parent's home in Auburn, Maine. C.J.'s mother, Hallie Twomey, is asking people to help scatter his ashes throughout the world so he can become part of the world he never got to see.
(AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

AUBURN, Maine (AP) - For 3 ½ years, a black stone urn of C.J. Twomey's ashes has sat on a shelf in his parents' Maine home, not far from the door he walked out of one beautiful April day shortly before shooting himself.

Now, his mother is using social media to enlist the help of strangers to scatter his ashes from Massachusetts to Japan in the hope that her adventure-loving son can become part of the world he left behind.

"I don't want him to have to sit in an urn for my benefit for whatever rest of time that we have," Hallie Twomey said. "I wanted to give him something. I'm trying to give him a journey."

It started with a simple request on Facebook to help C.J. - who was only 20 when he died - "see the mountains that he never got to climb, see the vast oceans that he would have loved, see tropical beaches and lands far and away."

The post was shared by nearly 100 of her friends, and soon even strangers started offering to scatter C.J.'s ashes in their hometowns, on family vacations or just somewhere beautiful. She started a separate Facebook page called "Scattering C.J.," which now has more than 1,000 likes.

The pictures and videos on Facebook tell the story of where C.J. has been. A man scatters C.J's ashes on a beach in Massachusetts. One sprinkles them in the forest in Jamaica, and another off a rocky cliff in Hawaii.
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No Judge in Maine's Veterans Court, really, no judge

Maine Veterans' Court Ready to Go - But no Judge
Maine Public Broadcasting Network
Reported By: Tom Porter
11/01/2013

It's been about 18 months now since the state Legislature passed a law allowing special courts to be set up specifically to help veterans. In return for pleading guilty, veterans in the court system are put in touch with treatment programs, peer mentors and other services to help them get their lives back on track. So far, the only Veterans Court set up is in Kennebec County. The special court is ready to go, but as Tom Porter reports, there's one big glitch.

The program was set up in Kennebec County, in part to meet the needs of younger vets, many of them suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, after serving in Iraq or Afghanistan. A year-and-half after lawmakers OK'd veterans' courts, the Kennebec County program is still the only one in the state.

"We're really hoping to be able to do a Veterans Court in our area," says Sgt. Victoria Langelier, a programs director at the Androscoggin County jail in Auburn. Most of the pieces are in place for Androscoggin County to have its own vets court, she says - but one key ingredient is missing: They can't find a judge.

Langelier says the position is a demanding one, and it's unfunded.

"From what I understand it's all pro bono - it's not a paid spot," she says. "And it is quite a lengthy procedure to get the veterans in and out of the court, make sure that everything is going the way it should be, to make sure they're following up in all of their support systems that they're getting through Togus and through their counselors."

Since Veterans Courts were established in May 2012, Langelier says 129 vets have passed through the Androscoggin County Jail system. Only two of them were able to be referred to the specialty Veterans Court in Kennebec County.
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Military families at Bangor event praise law use of marijuana to treat PTSD

Veterans, caregivers at Bangor event praise law allowing use of marijuana to treat PTSD
Bangor Daily News
Nick McCrea
BDN Staff
October 1, 2013

BANGOR, Maine — Former U.S. Marine Sgt. Ryan Begin returned from war in Iraq without his right elbow. A roadside bomb destroyed it in 2004. Begin’s scars weren’t all visible when he returned home.

“You can’t trust anyone,” said Begin, who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder in the wake of his service. “Any situation, all you can see is the danger.”

Even routine events like driving under an overpass or hearing a loud bang can cause a person with PTSD to shut down or react aggressively, he said.

Marijuana eases Begin’s stress, which is why the Montville resident said Maine is taking the right steps by allowing veterans and others suffering from PTSD to take advantage of the drug.

Begin and Cpl. Bryan King, a retired Marine and medical marijuana patient from Fairfield, stood alongside representatives of the Medical Marijuana Caregivers of Maine and the American Civil Liberties Union Tuesday during a press conference celebrating a change in state law that will allow doctors to prescribe medical marijuana to patients suffering from PTSD.

The law, stemming from a bill proposed by Rep. Elizabeth Dickerson, D-Rockland, goes into effect on Oct. 9. The update also will allow physicians to prescribe marijuana to patients with inflammatory bowel disease and a few other illnesses. It will take effect without Gov. Paul LePage’s signature.
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United for Care to Petition for Medical Marijuana Amendment in Florida

Fort Drum soldier gets intervention at Massachusetts church

Soldier seeks spiritual guidance at Boxford church
WHDH.com
Reported by: Jonathan Hall
September 19, 2013

BOXFORD, Mass. (WHDH) -- Boxford police say a soldier on his way home to Maine from Fort Drum in New York, got off the highway and approached a church Tuesday morning looking for a bathroom and spiritual support. “He saw a church was having a difficult time and wanted to speak with someone about his problems,” said Lt. Jim Riter, Boxford police dept.

As parents were picking their toddlers up from a preschool at the church, someone let the man in to use the restroom. He then asked to speak with a minister, who was in a different building.

“He was wrestling with both psychological and spiritual issues. He was sick, he needed medical help,” said Rev. Laura Gronberg, 2nd Congregational Church of Boxford.

When the soldier said he had a gun in his car, the minister dialed 911. The man accepted and got into an ambulance for a mental health evaluation.

However, police say the soldier changed his mind, bolted and ended up in a garage where he startled a homeowner and then ran off again. Police say he reemerged on Kendall Road where they found him and took him into custody without a struggle.
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Firefighters to help salute Maine military personnel on deployment to Afghanistan

Firefighters to help salute Maine military personnel on deployment to Afghanistan
Portland Daily Sun
Written by David Carkhuff
Published Date Thursday, 08 August 2013

This Saturday at 9:25 a.m., Portland Mayor Michael Brennan and Maine Gov. Paul LePage will join the Portland and South Portland fire departments and other community groups to participate in a send-off ceremony for the soldiers of the 133rd Engineer Battalion and 1035th Survey and Design Team of the Maine Army National Guard as they depart Maine for a deployment to Afghanistan.

The two fire departments will raise the American Flag at the entrance of the Portland Exposition Building in honor of the men and women of the 133rd and 1035th and their service. A ladder truck from each department will hold the flag aloft as members of the 133rd and 1035th and their families pass underneath and enter the building.

The departments' color guard will stand at attention during the ceremony.

"We have a feeling of pride that the 133rd and 1035th have chosen us to be part of their send-off. It is an honor for all of us to be able to recognize these Mainers and their dedication and service to our nation. We hope that the 133rd and 1035th return home safely and soon," said Portland Fire Chief Jerome LaMoria.
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Mother And Son From Unity Gearing Up To Deploy To Afghanistan Together

Mother And Son From Unity Gearing Up To Deploy To Afghanistan Together
WABI News
by Morgan Sturdivant
July 27th 2013

Unity - A member of the Maine Army National Guard, Specialist Parker is getting ready to deploy to Afghanistan.

With patriotism being an important part of life for many in Unity, they're honoring him, and his family, with Blue Star Service banners to proudly hang on their home while he's away.

His mother couldn't be prouder. Maybe that's because she's going to be serving right along side of him.

"I'll be getting to take my mother with me," said Parker.

"We're both going together, which is such a source of pride for me, you can't even begin to imagine," said Holly Parker, specialist with the Maine Army National Guard.

Serving in the same unit and deploying at the same time is a part of her life she says she'll never forget.

"I've always had that burning desire to serve my country, and to know that I can answer this call is just a source of pride, and to have my son want to do that as well, and to be able to go, and to have him side by side serving with me, it's just an amazing opportunity," said Holly Parker.
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Fastest man on two wheels from Florida died after 300 mph crash in Maine

Off Topic

Florida motorcyclist dies after crashing at nearly 300 mph
Orlando Sentinel
By Dave Sherwood
July 14, 2013

BOWDOINHAM, Maine , July 14 (Reuters) - A Florida motorcyclist known as the "fastest man on two wheels," died Sunday after crashing at just under 300 miles per hour while trying to break his own record for the fastest speed on a conventional motorcycle in a time trial in Limestone, Maine.

Trial officials at The Maine Event, an annual speed trial held by the Loring Timing Association, said emergency responders were already on their way before racer Bill Warner came to a stop, nearly 1,000 feet from where his bike, a modified, turbo-charged Suzuki Hayabusa, crashed suddenly.
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