Orange is The New Black Needed New Villains,,,They Picked Veterans?

'Orange is the New Black' criticized for portrayal of veterans
Associated Press
July 15, 2016

VFW national commander John A. Biedrzycki Jr. said the show's writers and producers chose to offend all veterans because they needed new villains.

Leading veterans' groups are disturbed by the way veterans hired as prison guards are portrayed in the new season of the Netflix series, "Orange is the New Black."

The veterans' groups say they take issue with the way the new guards disparage the inmates throughout season four of the drama that takes place in a women's prison and the way they talk about their combat experiences.

The Veterans of Foreign Wars called the show "offensive." Iraq And Afghanistan Veterans Of America said it will further stigmatize veterans, and Disabled American Veterans said the show is out of the touch with the reality of the veteran experience.

Netflix didn't respond to multiple messages left Thursday and Friday seeking comment.

In one scene in the finale, a guard tells another guard about innocent people he killed in Afghanistan.

After spending so much time chasing bad guys, he said, "you get so mad, tired and bored" that you "just grab a farm kid" and make him juggle live grenades until one blows up.
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There's a feud within the veterans community

Every member of the House is up for re-election. If they support privatizing the VA that means they did not care about the job they were elected to do. The House has had jurisdiction over the VA and how veterans are taken care of since 1946. 

If it is a mess, it is their fault and all the others before them. If veterans suffer, it is their fault because it looks like all they wanted to do was hand over our veterans to the same for profit groups the rest of us have to deal with. Oh, by the way, the same ones operating under the Affordable Healthcare Act they all say does not work. Yet one more thing they'd rather kill than fix.

Make them do their jobs or elect others to do it and earn their paychecks instead of passing on the suffering to our veterans!

There's a feud within the veterans community, and it's starting to get ugly
Military Times
Leo Shane III
July 3, 2016

Officials from Concerned Veterans for America, the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars pose with then-House Speaker John Boehner during an April 2014 meeting with lawmakers on VA reform proposals. (Photo: Courtesy of the office of the Speaker of the House)

A controversial veterans advocacy group is gaining clout in Congress but appears to be losing credibility with fellow veterans lobbyists.

The group is called Concerned Veterans for America, and its ties to conservative causes and funders have drawn criticism since its founding five years ago. For the most part, CVA's leaders have managed to balance those attacks by establishing public working relationships with several major veterans organizations.

But in recent weeks, even those arrangements have deteriorated.

The most recent divorce came in June, when the American Legion, whose leaders just a few months ago were working closely with CVA on efforts to reform the Veterans Affairs Department, sent a letter to lawmakers in which they characterized CVA's leaders as politically motivated “mouthpieces whose focus is to leverage the military veterans community to achieve selfish gains.”
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Memorial Day tribute was held at VFW Post 4287

A Memorial Day tribute was held at VFW Post 4287 in Orlando.  Some Gave All panels offered a stark reminder of what this day is supposed to be all about.

Published on May 30, 2016
Today at the VFW Post 4287 in Orlando, there was a Memorial Day service. One of the special guest was a Korean War veteran about to celebrate his 95 birthday. What no one expected was that he can tap!

Vietnam War Veterans Remember April 30, 1975 And Each Other

Massachusetts Veterans Celebrate Loyalty Day and the 50th Anniversary of the Vietnam War
DVIDS
Story by Staff Sgt. Timothy Koster
April 27, 2016

“The United States was in a mess over the Vietnam War and the image of the average Soldier coming back, whenever that person came back, at the American people saw them as baby killers, they were spit upon, and they were very disrespected,” said Keith Jackson, Massachusetts VFW state judge advocate and master of ceremonies for the event.

FORT DEVENS, Massachusetts – William Vicini, Senior Vice Commander of the Massachusetts Disabled American Veterans organization, receives a service pin from Fort Devens Garrison Commander, Lt. Col. Charlette K. Woodard, during the Loyalty Day program and 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, here, April 24, 2016. Loyalty Day is a special day for Americans to reaffirm their loyalty to the United States and to recognize the heritage of American freedom.

FORT DEVENS, Massachusetts – Vietnam veterans from several posts of the Massachusetts Veterans of Foreign War and the Disabled American Veterans organizations, along with members of the Fort Devens community and other veteran organizations, joined together for a combined celebration of Loyalty Day and the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War, here, April 24, 2016.

The Vietnam War concluded on April 30, 1975 and Loyalty day is a special day, typically observed annually on May 1 – signifying the day after the conclusion of the war – for Americans to reaffirm their loyalty to the United States and to recognize the heritage of American Freedom.

When younger Americans think about the Vietnam War, some see images from movies like Full Metal Jacket, Good Morning Vietnam, or Apocalypse Now, while others only see the black and white images printed in their text books from a time long, long ago.

Unlike other wars of the 20th century in which America has fought, such as World War II and the Korean War, which have a quickly dwindling veteran population, those who fought against the communist armies in the jungles of Vietnam are still quite numerous – and extremely proud of their service, despite the hardships they faced when they came home.
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Thirteen Years After Iraq Invasion, Fallen Remembered in Colorado

Iraq War Vets Honored At Civic Center Park On 13th Anniversary Of Invasion
CBS News
March 20, 2016

“Each one of the chairs here represents a person who died serving,” Brittany Bartges with VFW Post 1 said.

DENVER (CBS4) – Sunday marks the 13th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq where thousands of U.S. service members were killed. Several veterans groups gathered to honor those from Colorado who served.

Kevin Sonka’s son David was killed fighting overseas in 2013. He was from Colorado and loved the outdoors — and his military work dog Flex.

“He and his dog were killed together,” Sonka said.

Today Sonka runs the Rocky Mountain Dawgs Project in his son’s honor. It’s just one of multiple organizations that honored those killed in the Iraq War at Civic Center Park Sunday.

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"Wounded Warrior Project must provide real answers"

Can't Get No Satisfaction With Wrong Questions
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
March 11, 2016

"Wounded Warrior Project must provide real answers" from the Florida Times Union Editorial Board seems to have a lot out on the questions that do in fact need to be answered but doesn't seem as if they know what to ask.

Ok, so Nardizzi and Giordanon are out while the Board of Directors thought it was unnecessary to explain how they let all this happen. It isn't as if it was a one time thing that blindsided them. 

The Board of Directors, just like Congress, have been put into seats to insure things are done right.  Seems to be a lot of avoidance issues on that end and veterans suffered. Oh, did I forget to mention that members of Congress have heard complaints about this group too but managed to have them testify in Washington as if everything was always fine and dandy.

CBS report said WWP was the "largest veterans charity" but they should have said it was the largest money raiser since compared to other charities like the DAV 1.3 million, the VFW with 1.4 million and the American Legion with 2.4 million, they are pretty small.

"According to the board's statement, participation in Wounded Warrior Project programs for injured veterans, their caregivers and family members rose from 1,850 to 144,000 from 2010 to 2015."

The really crazy thing is since news broke from CBS last month, it seems their membership went way up. Wiki still has the numbers up.

As of June 1, 2015, WWP serves 71,866 registered Alumni and 11,494 registered members, defined as family or caregivers of a registered Alumnus.

DAV A Legacy of Service, Hope for the Future

DAV is a nonprofit charity that provides a lifetime of support for veterans of all generations and their families, helping more than 1 million veterans in positive, life-changing ways each year. The organization provides more than 700,000 rides for veterans attending medical appointments and assists veterans with more than 300,000 benefit claims annually. In 2015, DAV helped attain more than $4 billion in new and retroactive benefits to care for themselves and for veterans, their families and survivors.

DAV is also a leader in connecting veterans with meaningful employment, hosting job fairs and providing resources to ensure they have the opportunity to participate in the American Dream their sacrifices have made possible.

With almost 1,300 chapters and nearly 1.3 million members across the country, DAV empowers our nation’s heroes and their families by helping to provide the resources they need and ensuring our nation keep the promises made to them.

So, no they are not the largest in terms of taking care of veterans. Isn't that what we really care about?

Readers of Wounded Times know I am a lifetime member of the DAV Auxiliary and spend a lot of time with the VFW, as well as the simple fact they are all about all generations of veterans and unlike what's been going on in this country lately, they do in fact care about all our veterans. This all goes to show that all the corporations donating millions to WWP should have known what was going on but didn't bother to look. They also didn't bother to think about the other groups treating veterans as equally worthy of their donations.

Ok, so now we also have all the colleges and other charities donors have no clue about since they don't really read press releases.

Wounded Times does and here are just a few of them.

UCLA Operation Mend receives $15.7 million for mental health program for wounded warriors WWP and Warrior Care Network partners will commit a total $100 million over three years to fund the initiative, including $7.5 million each that the medical centers will contribute through their own fundraising efforts.

Rush University Medical Center's veterans program is set to receive $15 million from the Wounded Warrior Project, securing a spot as the Midwest's only hospital to receive such a grant.

OSU named Wounded Warrior Project grant subcontract recipient $250,000.

Dignity Receives $65,000 Grant from Wounded Warrior Project

And there are more but you get the idea.


The really crazy thing is, when news came out a few years ago, it didn't seem to bother any of the folks hot under the collar now.

According to the Beast's report, the Wounded Warrior Project said it was serving more than 56,000 veterans; however, less than two thirds of those registered have interacted at all with the organization so far this year.

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Orlando Rocked Big Time for Master Sgt. Joe Deslauriers

Master Sgt. Joe Deslauriers Today at the VFW Post 4287 in Orlando, Semper Fidelis America Orlando Rocks for Air Force Master Sgt. Joe Deslauriers. This is the 4th Annual event for Orlando Rocks begun by one woman with a passion and vision for our veterans, Mary Louise. You can see the others on the link but for now, these are the pictures from yesterday. The videos will be up late today. As you can see it was yet another fabulous event, including Medal of Honor Vietnam Veteran Melvin Morris and a General along with his aide getting locked up for good reasons.

Brigadier Gen. Francisco A. Espaillat

Medal of Honor, Vietnam Veteran Melvin Morris

Mary Louise

Susan Porter

John Murphy Semper Fidelis

Peter Alden

UPDATE First video with more to come.


Peter Alden kept everyone dancing and having a lot of fun,,,,too much fun for a lot of ladies.