Stupidity Feeds Stigma of PTSD

Replace Stupidity with Spectacular 
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
October 23, 2016

For over three decades I have heard all kinds of things, had my heart broken more times than I can calculate, but then there are moments, when I am in awe of how spectacular these veterans truly are. 

Parade Magazine published an article written by Paula Spencer Scott this month, "Feeling Awe May Be the Secret to Health and Happiness." Stacy Bare, an Iraq veteran said he was suffering from PTSD and wondered "What does it mean to be at home, a veteran anyway?" He went to the Druid Arch in Utah and was struck by "awe" beginning a change within him.

“Awe is the feeling of being in the presence of something vast or beyond human scale, that transcends our current understanding of things,” says psychologist Dacher Keltner, who heads the University of California, Berkeley’s Social Interaction Lab.

That keeps getting missed in this messed up, convoluted dialog on PTSD and suicides connected to military service. It isn't that they were not able to "handle it" but handled it the whole time when the men and women in their unit are deployed with them. Why? Because their lives matter and they are willing to die for one another.

That comes from a strong emotional core. The very worthy part of them that caused such devotion is also the part of them that grieves from losing so many they cared for.

The "awe" moment for them is when they realize they are not stuck suffering, do not have anything to be ashamed of and they can heal. We just allow other conversations to permeate the news they hear.


When Donald Trump said “When you talk about the mental health problems - when people come back from war and combat, and they see things that maybe a lot of the folks in this room have seen many times over, and you’re strong and you can handle it. But a lot of people can’t handle it." he showed he doesn't get it. The problem is, far too many are just like him.

There are Medal of Honor Recipients openly talking about their own battles with PTSD so that others may overcome the rumor of weakness or claims of lacking intestinal fortitude. There are Special Forces veterans talking about what they also experience coming home along with Generals speaking openly, hoping to lead by example.

Folks can do all the talking they want about the "problem" of suicides to make others aware, and get noticed by the press, but they never seem to mention their talk is doing no good at all. It is feeding the stigma.

If they want to do pushups or other publicity stunts, who does that actually serve? Is it the suffering veterans forced to remain in the shadows? Is it the families left behind wondering what they did wrong and blaming themselves? Or is it the people wanting attention for themselves?

Stupidity feeds the stigma of PTSD and leaves them trapped in an endless cycle of suffering and search for what will bring them out of the darkness within their souls. What may be an easy number to remember, they were more than an abstract number to their families.

Isn't it time to actually focus on what is possible and good instead of simply focusing on all this talk of anguish? It is obvious that none of the popular "efforts" managed to change anything other than spread the heartache. How about we talk more about the "awe" moments that begin the healing and replace despair with encouragement?

Chopper Saved Lives, Then Navy SEAL Fought For Him

Navy SEAL wins battle to keep warrior dog as therapy companion
OC Register
Keith Sharron
Oct. 21, 2016

After almost a decade in the Navy, he said he needed help. His body was breaking down, and so was his mind. He was having nightmares, suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

You can’t keep your gun.

Grenades, knives, bombs, other tools of war – you can’t keep those either. When you leave the military, no matter who you are or what you sacrificed, your boots are yours but your tools belong to the government.

And it is that seemingly reasonable rule that caused Trevor Maroshek so much pain.

What if your weapon, the one you trained with for years, the one that never left your side, the one that saved your life, what if your weapon curled up next to you at the end of a long day?

What if your weapon was your dog?

And one of those Taliban fighters had a detonator, which they later found was connected to a 600-pound cache of explosives that was buried under the building at the east end of town. The same one the Americans had used to house the villagers.

Chopper had saved them all.

“He got a steak that night,” Maroshek said.
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Fallen Air Force Sgt. John Chapman Possible Medal of Honor

Air Force Seeks Medal Of Honor For CT Native Who Died In Afghanistan, NY Times Reports
Hartford Courant
Kristin Stoller
August 27, 2016

Valerie Chapman holds a photograph of her husband, Air Force

Tech Sgt. John Chapman. Chapman was killed on March 4, 2002

during Operation Anaconda in Afghanistan. (Tracy Wilcox / Hartford Courant)

The secretary of the Air Force is pushing to award a Medal of Honor to the first Connecticut native to die in the war in Afghanistan, based on new evidence 14 years after his death, the New York Times reported.

Sgt. John Chapman, 36, a standout athlete and 1983 graduate of Windsor Locks High School, was killed in combat after military action began in Afghanistan following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

He died on March 4, 2002, while attempting to retrieve the body of a Navy SEAL who had fallen from a helicopter during an attack by al Qaida and Taliban fighters, according to previous Courant reports.

But new evidence unearthed by the Air Force about Chapman's final hours suggests that a senior chief petty officer may have been incorrect when he declared Chapman dead during the attack, the New York Times reported.

Instead, the Air Force said, Chapman lived for an hour after his teammates had retreated, fighting enemy troops alone, according to the newspaper report. New technology used in an examination of videos from aircraft flying overhead indicate that Chapman killed two Al Qaida fighters before "dying in an attempt to protect arriving reinforcements," the newspaper reported.
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Navy SEAL Order To Pay $6.6 Million Over Book?

Navy SEAL to pay $6.6 million to settle case over Osama bin Laden book
Associated Press
By Lolita C. Baldor
Published: August 19, 2016

WASHINGTON — The former Navy SEAL who wrote a book about his role in the raid that killed Osama bin Laden will pay the government more than $6.6 million for violating non-disclosure agreements and publishing without getting the document cleared by the Defense Department, according to federal court documents.

Matt Bissonnette, who wrote "No Easy Day" under the pseudonym Mark Owen, will give the U.S. government all profits and royalties from the book or movie rights. The proceeds already total more than $6.6 million. He will have four years to pay the bulk of that.

The payments were outlined in settlement documents filed in U.S. District Court in Virginia.

According to the settlement, Bissonnette also has 30 days to pay $100,000 from the proceeds of presentations he gave using slides that were not approved by the department.
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Chris Kyle Defeats Ventura From Grave

Jesse Ventura's $1.8M award tossed out in 'American Sniper' case
Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
By Randy Furst
Published: June 13, 2016

MINNEAPOLIS — The U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals Monday overturned a jury’s decision to award $1.8 million to former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura in a 2014 defamation case.

A three-judge panel threw out the $1.35 million awarded to Ventura for “unjust enrichment,” saying Minnesota law did not allow a payout in this type of case; and it reversed the $500,000 award for defamation, remanding the case to the district court for a new defamation trial.

The decision was a major victory for the estate of former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, who wrote the bestselling memoir that Ventura said defamed him. It was also a victory for news organizations, many of whom filed a brief in support of Kyle’s estate, urging that the verdict be thrown out.

It was a serious blow to Ventura, the former professional wrestler, who served as governor from 1999 to 2003.
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Navy SEAL's Brain Studied To Help Others

A Navy SEAL's last act of service: A search for the truth about brain disease and the military
The Virginian-Pilot
By Corinne Reilly
Special to The Virginian-Pilot
May 28, 2016

On the afternoon of March 12, 2014, Jennifer Collins checked her phone and found a message from her husband, Dave Collins, a retired Navy SEAL. He’d texted to say that she should pick up their son from kindergarten, and then this: “So sorry baby. I love you all.”

Hours later, two police officers showed up at their house in Virginia Beach with news that Dave, 45, had shot himself in his truck a few miles away. Although Jennifer had held out hope for any other explanation, she also knew the moment she read it what the text meant. For months, she’d watched Dave disintegrate into a man she hardly knew. She’d tried everything, but nothing had alleviated his severe insomnia, intense anxiety and worsening cognitive problems.

“I was so frustrated that I couldn’t find the answers he needed,” she remembers.

It was out of that frustration, she says, that the idea came to donate his brain to research. She was still answering a detective’s questions in her living room that night when she blurted it out: Tell the medical examiner to do whatever is needed to preserve Dave’s brain. She hoped the decision might help others struggling with what everyone believed explained Dave’s afflictions – traumatic brain injury and PTSD, the most common wounds of the post-9/11 wars.

“That’s what he’d been diagnosed with,” Jennifer says. “I had no reason to think there was anything else to find.”

In June, three months after Dave died, a letter came from the doctor who examined his brain. It left Jennifer stunned.

What had caused Dave’s unraveling was chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the degenerative brain disease best known for affecting former professional football players. Associated with repeated head trauma, CTE causes neurological decay, has no known treatment and can be diagnosed only at autopsy. It is linked to memory loss, personality changes, depression, impulsivity, dementia and suicide.
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Retired Navy SEAL Gets New Teammate, PTSD Service Dog

Service dog, retired Navy SEAL a partnership a year in the making
WWMT 3 News
by Kate Tillotson
May 19th 2016

BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) - Sometimes a dog is more than just a companion for wounded warriors.

In this case, it's a partnership a year in the making, between a retired Navy SEAL and his canine. For nearly a decade, Lieutenant Jason Redman has struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder. He was shot at least eight times in a firefight in Fallujah.

While he's not in active combat anymore, Lt. Redman now has a new mission.

He travels extensively--even with his PTSD--with an organization for wounded warriors that he runs out of Virginia Beach.
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Navy SEAL Trainee Deaths Led to Review of Procedures

Navy Reviews What Procedures Might Need to Be Improved After Three Deaths of SEAL Trainees
ABC News
By Luis Martinez
May 13, 2016

“In the wake of the recent suicide we have acknowledged opportunities to improve out-process and recovery procedures for students who disenrolled -- specifically improving accountability for sleep-deprived Sailors,” Capt. Jay Hennessey,

The Navy is reviewing procedures for keeping track of trainees who do not make it through the grueling course to become SEALs in the wake of three deaths involving sailors who participated in the last four training classes, military officials said.

Two of the deaths involved trainees who had recently not made it through BUDS -- Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL -- training that selects the sailors who will join the elite special operations unit.

In April, Seaman Daniel DelBianco, 23, committed suicide after he did not make it through "hell week," the intense week-long climax to BUDS during which prospective SEALs endure extreme sleep deprivation and tough physical conditions to see if they can carry out their military training under exhausting conditions. Trainees who successfully complete the BUDS course must then pass an additional six-month course to actually qualify to become SEALs.

In November, Petty Officer 2nd Class Caplen Weare died in a car accident while driving intoxicated, the accident occurred three days after he had voluntarily dropped out of the BUDS course, officials said.
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Stolen Valor Airborne, Navy Seal, Pilot Colonel with the CIA?

STOLEN VALOR ALERT ! WALMART IN MARGATE FLORIDA

The Militaria Collecting Channel
Newest stolen valor in Margate, Florida! 

In a Walmart! Guy says he is a Colonel, CIA, Airborne, and a Navy SEAL! He has over 20 ribbons and random pins. This video was first posted by Jonathan Borrero on Facebook, this is a republication and is not being stolen. 

Thank you for viewing and let's find this man!!!

The guys also has a CIA Badge! Proves you can buy just about anything you want without having to actually pay for it!

Navy Seal Killed in Iraq

American killed in Iraq after ISIS broke through Peshmerga lines
CNN
By Barbara Starr and Jeremy Diamond
May 3, 2016

(CNN)An American service member was killed in Iraq as a result of enemy fire about thirty kilometers north of Mosul, Pentagon officials confirmed Tuesday.

The service member was a Navy SEAL, a U.S. defense official told CNN, though the SEAL's rank is still unclear.

The person was an adviser to Kurdish Peshmerga forces that are fighting ISIS and was killed during an ISIS assault "on a Peshmerga position approximately three to five kilometers behind the forward line of troops," Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said Tuesday in a statement.

The Pentagon will provide additional information on the service member's identity after next of kin have been notified.
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CSM: No Troops Died Looking for Bergdahl

Command sergeant major: No troops died searching for Bergdahl
Stars and Stripes
By Nancy Montgomery
Published: March 31, 2016

Although the podcast concluded that no one was killed in the search, it did discuss two men seriously harmed on missions in the first couple of weeks after Bergdahl disappeared. Navy SEAL Jimmy Hatch lost a leg in a gunfight on a mission to find Bergdahl. Army Sgt. 1st Class Mark Allen was shot in the head on a different mission; he lost part of his brain, was paralyzed and rendered mute.

Command Sgt. Maj. Ken Wolf had a message for the families of troops killed in Afghanistan after Bowe Bergdahl walked off his post.

“Their sons did not die looking for Pfc. Bergdahl,” Wolf said on Thursday’s “Serial” podcast, the 11th and final episode of the season.

The podcast investigating the Bergdahl case from seemingly all conceivable angles over the past few months, debunked the persistent rumor that six soldiers from his battalion had been killed during the 45-day, all-out search for Bergdahl. They were all killed in August and September, after the exhausting search effectively had been called off and the mission had changed to secure upcoming Afghanistan elections, according to court testimony.
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Navy SEAL Rear Adm. Brian Losey Forced to Retire?

Navy SEAL admiral’s rare, public punishment
Withdrawal of SEAL leader’s promotion is unusual step after prestigious career
The San Diego Union Tribune
By Jeanette Steele
March 25, 2016

Rear Adm. Brian Losey, commander of Naval Special Warfare Command, speaks at the La Posta Assaults and Tactical Weapons Training Complex in Campo on Sept. 25, 2014. MC1 Marc Rockwell-Pate

The career death of Rear Adm. Brian Losey, the Navy SEAL leader being forced to retire after his promotion was blocked in the Senate, marks the most public punishment ever at the top rank of the elite SEALs, who are known for running below the radar with their combat missions and internal business.

Even more tension between Congress and the SEALs may be looming. Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, said this week that he will oppose the nomination of Losey’s replacement, Rear Adm. Tim Szymanski.

Hunter told The San Diego Union-Tribune that he has concerns about the incoming SEAL commander’s past performance on contracting, training and acquisitions. He didn’t elaborate on the alleged problems.

Szymanski couldn’t be reached for comment Friday.
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Navy SEALS Lacking Rifles?

Navy SEALs tell congressman there is a combat rifle shortage
Associated Press
By Richard Lardner
Published: March 7, 2016

Army Gen. Joseph Votel, the top officer at U.S. Special Operations Command in Tampa, Florida, and Losey's superior, told Hunter last week that he is aware of the congressman's concerns. "We're certainly running that down," Votel said during testimony before the House Armed Services Committee.

Navy SEALs demonstrate winter warfare capabilities in this Dec. 2014 photo.
U.S. NAVY

WASHINGTON — The tip of the spear may be losing its edge.

Navy SEAL teams don't have enough combat rifles to go around, even as these highly trained forces are relied on more than ever to carry out counterterrorism operations and other secretive missions, according to SEALs who have confided in Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif.

After SEALs return from a deployment, their rifles are given to other commandos who are shipping out, said Hunter, a former Marine who served three combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. This weapons carousel undercuts the "train like you fight" ethos of the U.S. special operations forces, they said.

Hunter said he's been contacted by several SEALs, but he declined to provide further information about the weapons they use in order to protect their identities.
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Navy SEAL Medal of Honor Ceremony

Medal of Honor Cermeony President Obama presented the Medal of Honor to Navy Senior Chief Special Warfare Operator Edward Byers for his actions during a hostage rescue mission in Afghanistan.
FEBRUARY 29, 2016
From NPR

The president also summarized some of Byers' career, noting that he had been on 11 overseas deployments and nine combat tours.

SHAME ON US! Navy SEAL's Buy Own Helmets!

Lacking basic gear, special operators stuck buying their own equipment 
Stars and Stripes 
By Travis J. Tritten 
Published: February 25, 2016

In a 2007 file photo, a U.S. Special Operations Forces member
prepares his gear for an evening mission in western Iraq.
ELI J. MEDELLIN/U.S. NAVY

WASHINGTON – Sean Matson, who recently left active-duty as a Navy SEAL, said the military measured his head four times – each time before deployment – with plans to provide him a more advanced ballistic helmet.

But the new helmet never materialized. During a deployment in Africa, Matson and six of his fellow SEALs each shelled out about $900 for updated helmets that held the lights, communications devices and batteries needed for their missions.

“There was never a clear solution to it, so guys were going out spending $800-$900 on their own ballistic helmet,” said Matson, who is now CEO of the military supply company Matbock.

Elite troops such as the SEALs are more and more forced to dip into their own pockets to purchase basic military gear such as helmets, global positioning devices and medical supplies, according to Matson and others involved in the military’s unofficial civilian-side supply network who came to Capitol Hill on Thursday.
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Navy SEAL Chief Petty Officer Edward C. Byers Jr To Receive Medal of Honor

53 minutes ago 
Navy SEAL to get Medal of Honor tells his story 
Stars and Stripes 

Navy SEAL Chief Petty Officer Edward C. Byers Jr., is set to receive the Medal of Honor on Monday, Feb. 29, 2016. 

The Navy has released a video of the special warfare operator talking about what it means to be part of the SEAL community. read more here 


From US Navy Youtube
Feb 26, 2016 On a cold December night in the mountains of Afghanistan, Chief Special Warfare Operator (SEAL) Edward C. Byers Jr. and a team of SEALs embarked on a dangerous mission to rescue an American hostage held by the Taliban. 

Byers went above and beyond the call of duty that evening, saving the life of the hostage, and earning the Medal of Honor. In this video, Byers shares the story of that evening, as well as his reaction to finding out he earned the Medal of Honor. 
(U.S. Navy video/RELEASED.)

MOH Edward Byers Added to Navy SEAL Museum

Navy SEAL Museum to honor Medal of Honor recipient
TC Palm
February 9, 2016

Five Naval Special Warfare Operators are honored by the installation. The names of Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Robert Joseph "Bob" Kerrey, Lieutenant Thomas R. Norris, Petty Officer Second Class Michael E. Thornton, Lieutenant Michael P. Murphy (posthumously) and Petty Officer Second Class Michael A. Monsoor (posthumously) are engraved at the base of the memorial.

FORT PIERCE — The Navy SEAL Museum has announced the addition of a sixth name to its Medal of Honor statue. Senior Chief Special Warfare Operator, Edward Byers, U.S. Navy, will be added to the installation as a recipient of the Medal of Honor for his courageous conduct while serving as part of the team that rescued an American hostage from Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan Dec. 8-9, 2012.

The Medal of Honor is the highest military honor in the United States. It is awarded by the President in the name of the U.S. Congress for personal acts of valor determined to be above and beyond the call of duty. Three distinctions of the honor are made, one for each the Army, Navy and Air Force; the Marine Corps and Coast Guard are recipients of the Navy's medal.

On Nov. 9, 2013, a Medal of Honor statue was dedicated to the Navy SEAL Museum through a generous gift from former presidential candidate H. Ross Perot. The statue depicts the actions of Medal of Honor recipient, Michael Thornton, carrying wounded Medal of Honor recipient, Tom Norris, off the battlefield.
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YouTube Video Navy SEAL Museum

Navy SEAL Receiving Medal of Honor Was a Corpsman

SEAL Who Rescued Doctor in Afghanistan to Receive Medal Of Honor
Military.com
by Hope Hodge Seck
Feb 02, 2016

Byers, a native of Toledo, Ohio, began his 17-year Navy career as a hospital corpsman, serving with 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

A Navy SEAL who was part of a courageous hostage rescue in Afghanistan in 2012 will receive the military's top award for heroism later this month, the White House announced today.

Senior Chief Special Warfare Operator Edward Byers will be awarded the Medal of Honor on Feb. 29. He will be the 11th living service member to receive the award for actions in Afghanistan.

Byers, 36, was a member of the team that conducted a heroic raid Dec. 8 and 9, 2012 to rescue Dr. Dilip Joseph, an American who had been kidnapped in Afghanistan by the Taliban days before. Joseph was in the country as the medical director for Morning Star Development, a nonprofit organization training Afghan healthcare workers.

While Dilip was recovered safely from his captors, the operation proved costly. Petty Officer 1st Class Nicolas Checque, 28, a member of the Navy's elite SEAL Team 6, was shot and killed during the raid.
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Is Navy Trying to Blame Navy SEAL's Death on Certification?

What is this story really all about? How does Marston's certification question change the fact he was unconscious as this investigation found?

Navy SEAL Who Died in Parachute Incident Was Unconscious
Associated Press
Jan 25, 2016

Marston lived in Virginia Beach and was a member of SEAL Team 6. He died during the accident on Jan. 10, 2015, in Deland, Florida.

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. -- An investigation has concluded that a Navy SEAL who died in a parachute training accident in Florida last year became unconscious after exiting the plane.

The investigation also found that Petty Officer 1st Class William Blake Marston was unable to open his main chute, The Virginian-Pilot reported. It also determined that Marston shouldn't have been on the plane to begin with because of a discrepancy over whether he was up to date with a required certification.
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Navy SEAL's 3.1-Mile Swim For SEAL Families

Tampa Bay Frogman Swim benefits Navy SEAL Foundation
Tampa Bay Times
Terry Tomalin
Times Outdoors/Fitness Editor
January 15, 2016

"Nothing can prepare you for that. But that is where he wanted to be. That is what he wanted to do."
Ginny Feeks.

Patrick Feeks, a U.S. Navy SEAL killed in Afghanistan, will be honored

by several family members at this year's Tampa Bay Frogman Swim.

(Courtesy of Thomas Feeks)

When most 8-year-old boys played Army in the woods, Patrick Feeks dreamed of being a Navy SEAL. He never wanted to be anything else.

"He was very focused and determined from an early age," said father Thomas Feeks, a retired Navy officer. "He was passionate. … Nothing could stand in his way."

The first time he tried to enlist, the Navy told him that he had failed his eye test. So Feeks shopped until he could find a doctor to correct his vision.

"He tried again and made it," his father recalled. "He sailed through boot camp and then went to (Basic Underwater Demolition)."

Assigned to SEAL Team 3 out of Coronado, Calif., Feeks completed several tours in Iraq before he was deployed to Afghanistan. On Aug. 16, 2012, Feeks was aboard a U.S. military helicopter that crashed during a firefight with insurgents in a remote area of southern Afghanistan. He was 28.

The 3.1-mile swim, one of the largest events of its kind in the world, benefits the Navy SEAL Foundation, a charity that helps the families of SEALS wounded or killed in action.
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