VETERANS MULTI-PURPOSE CENTER WISHES TO RECONIZE A WIFE OF A VIETNAM VETERAN

I am delighted that I will finally get to meet my friends on the 10th!

ON THIS VETERANS DAY 2012 THE VETERANS MULTI-PURPOSE CENTER WISHES TO RECONIZE A WIFE OF A VIETNAM VETERAN AND THE WOMAN BEHIND A TON OF WORK BEING DONE FOR VETERANS HERE IN FLORIDA. WE ARE PROUD TO ATTEST TO THE GREAT WORK OF OUR GOOD FRIEND KATHY COSTOS.

She is the creator of "The Wounded Times Blog" and the author of the book "For the Love of Jack" She is located here in Florida and her story is printed on her web site but, there is much more to this woman and her dedication to all veterans. At a time when our nations economy is suffering, we need to realize non-profit organizations suffer as well.

We must do what we can to strengthen these organizations who provide the much needed help. No, the Wounded Times Blog is not a large nationally known organization with expensive adds pleading for money on the television. No, this is one person behind the effort to help educate veterans and their families what PTSD is and how to live with it.

This is from someone who knows better than most, the anguish and despair this combat related disorder can cause. As a non-profit organization ourselves, we know all to well the struggle involved in funding the work we all do. However, we can't let this effort by Kathie Costos go un-noticed and un-funded.

Please go to the web site Wounded Times Blog We challenge all veterans and veterans organizations to MAKE A DONATION and let her know you support the work she is doing, WE HAVE!

My work ripped off for Wounded Warrior Project fundraiser!

My work ripped off for Wounded Warrior Project fundraiser!
by Chaplain Kathie
Wounded Times Blog
October 21, 2012


The first thing to point out is that I DO NOT SUPPORT WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT! To see something I did tied to fundraiser for them makes me sick to my stomach.

This morning I was working on a report and needed data on amputees. (If you read this blog, you know I link to everything I find that belongs to someone else.) I figured I'd start out with a graphic report, so I went into images.

At the top I saw these two pictures.

This is where both pictures linked to. Xcellimark a "Performance-Driven Digital Agency"

Yahoo Daily News 2012-06-08: Help Donate $10,000 to the Wounded Warrior Project by voting for Orlando Interactive Digital Agency Xcellimark in the Social Madness Contest sponsored by the Orlando Business Journal. Orlando, Florida (PRWEB) June 07, 2012 With employee family members currently serving in the Armed Forces and retired military within the group, Orlando Interactive Digital Agency Xcellimark is very supportive of the troops. That is why Xcellimark is hoping..

This is where they outright stole my work from! I was using the video camera and not taking pictures.


This video and post were for the Orlando DAV! I belong to that Chapter in the Auxiliary. I spent the time talking to these veterans, shooting the footage, editing it and putting it up on the web because I BELIEVE IN WHAT THE DAV IS DOING! The link goes to the post I put up which shows the video and not pictures so someone deliberately went to great lengths to turn video footage into a jpeg.

If anyone donated to this group thinking it was for me, for the DAV or Point Man Ministries, get your money back!

Click on the link they have and you end up with this.

Your Vote Helps Donate $10,000 to Wounded Warriors – Vote Xcellimark
PRWeb – Thu, Jun 7, 2012

Help Donate $10,000 to the Wounded Warrior Project by voting for Orlando Interactive Digital Agency Xcellimark in the Social Madness Contest sponsored by the Orlando Business Journal.
Orlando, Florida (PRWEB) June 07, 2012

With employee family members currently serving in the Armed Forces and retired military within the group, Orlando Interactive Digital Agency Xcellimark is very supportive of the troops. That is why Xcellimark is hoping to have $10,000 donated to the Wounded Warrior Project by winning the Social Madness Contest sponsored by the Orlando Business Journal.

The contest started on June 1st and will run throughout September 19th. The first round is called “Open Phase” in which all businesses can compete within their local market (i.e. – Orlando, Jacksonville, Tampa, Miami, etc.). Each local market is split into three (3) categories: small companies (less than 100 employees), medium companies (100-499 employees), and large companies (500 or more employees). After June 18th, the top eight (8) companies will go on to the regional round and continue competing with the other top eight (8) companies from other local markets within the region.

In addition to bragging rights and increased online exposure, there is more up for grabs. After a couple more rounds of competition, the top three companies in the nation will be able to designate $10,000 to a charity of their choice.

"If we’re fortunate to win, our choice of charity is the Wounded Warrior Project (WWP). WWP is a 501(3)(C) non profit organization that serves military service members who incurred service-connected wounds, injuries, or illnesses on or after September 11, 2001 and their families,” said Scott Lambert, President of Xcellimark.

Voting helps troops who put their lives on the line every day for America’s freedom. To vote for Xcellimark, click on the following link and vote for Xcellimark under the Small Business tab: http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/exclusives/socialmadness About the Wounded Warrior Project

The Wounded Warrior Project is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing programs and services to severely injured service members during the time between active duty and transition to civilian life. About Xcellimark

Xcellimark focuses on increasing its clients’ revenues and profits by improving their online image and performance, increasing online leads and closure rates, and improving branding through custom website design, search marketing, social media, email marketing and campaign optimization. For more information on how Xcellimark can help you improve your bottom line, contact Scott Lambert at 407-678-3062 ext. 210 or visit http://www.xcellimark.com.
Scott Lambert
Xcellimark
407-678-3062 210
Email Information

Wounded Times breaks 750,000 page views

What can I say when I hear people tell me I need to stop focusing on veterans? After all, that's what they have said for the last 5 years. They told me no one would pay attention to a blog like this. Now I can tell them that in those 5 years "no one paid attention" 750,000 page views proves they were paying attention to something.

Oh, by the way, they also told me I needed to have a "professional website" to go with this blog. I had one and didn't have nearly as many visitors, so they were wrong on that one too.

THANK YOU READERS OF WOUNDED TIMES BLOG!

Point Man of Winter Park is a 501c3

When tomorrow comes

When tomorrow comes
by Chaplain Kathie
Wounded Times Blog
August 5, 2012

There are some things I'll never know.

I don't know what it is like to go to sleep every night worried about where your husband is as you look at the empty side of the bed. Or what it is like to get the feeling the pit of your stomach while you're watching your kid's play that he's going through something terrible. I don't know what it is like to be young, wondering if you can stand to be alone while he's deployed or if this is the last time you are willing to do it.

I don't know because I am not young anymore. My daughter is about the age I was when war became a part of my life even though the man I fell in love with had been home from Vietnam for over ten years.

By the time I figured out that his past was a part of him, it was too late. I loved him too much to walk away without a fight. There were times I was sure he loved me. There were times when I didn't think he did. Times when I was sure if I loved him enough, I could make all his pain go away and he'd be happy. But other times I was sure I just couldn't find the right way to reach him.

Marilyn McCoo sang the words I was feeling in If I Could Reach You

But if I could reach you some way

if I knew the magic it would take to love you good enough on the outside and make you feel it on the inside maybe I could make you stay

I decided to fight. To learn as much as I could about what had such a hold on him. That's when I discovered the other part of Vietnam no one talked about. The battle afterwards.

What can you learn from someone old enough to be your Mom? You can know what to expect when tomorrow comes and you are where I was 30 years ago.

You can't love it away. You can love him enough to learn how to help him.

You can't just wait for him to get over it the way he did before. It will get worse and the strain on your relationship will make it harder to stay. You'll blame him, then you'll blame yourself but your kids will keep thinking it is all their fault.

Here's one of the first videos I made to help families understand what Combat PTSD is and what they can do about it. The first thing to ask yourself is, what made you fall in love with them in the first place. The second thing is to understand everything you loved about them is still there. You can help them find themselves again.

We've made it through the worst times and I knew I "found the magic it would take" to make him feel loved when we went food shopping one day, he took my hand. He looked like a man at peace with himself. He thanked me.

The Sound Of Silence
Simon and Garfunkel

Hello darkness, my old friend
I've come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence

In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
'Neath the halo of a street lamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence

And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dared
Disturb the sound of silence

"Fools", said I, "You do not know
Silence like a cancer grows
Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you"
But my words, like silent raindrops fell
And echoed
In the wells of silence

And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
And the sign said, "The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls"
And whispered in the sounds of silence

The Boxer Lyrics
Simon And Garfunkel
I am just a poor boy
Though my story's seldom told
I have squandered my resistance
For a pocket full of mumbles such are promises
All lies and jests
Still a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest

When I left my home and my family
I was no more than a boy
In the company of strangers
In the quiet of the railway station running scared
Laying low, seeking out the poorer quarters
Where the ragged people go
Looking for the places only they would know

Lie la lie ...
Asking only workman's wages
I come looking for a job
But I get no offers,
Just a come-on from the whores on Seventh Avenue
I do declare, there were times when I was so lonesome
I took some comfort there

Lie la lie ...
Then I'm laying out my winter clothes
And wishing I was gone
Going home
Where the New York City winters aren't bleeding me
Bleeding me, going home

In the clearing stands a boxer
And a fighter by his trade
And he carries the reminders
Of ev'ry glove that layed him down
Or cut him till he cried out
In his anger and his shame
"I am leaving, I am leaving"
But the fighter still remains

There are more songs on this video to help you feel the words used. May it help you to understand what you can do today when tomorrow comes and you know he won't get over it without help.

Point Man of Winter Park is a 501c3

Wounded Times is now part of Point Man International Ministries

Many of Wounded Times Blog readers are aware that for the last couple of years I have been working with Point Man International Ministries.

It has been a blessing to be included in this group considering that I am not a veteran. My husband is a Vietnam veteran. It is because of him that I have spent the last 30 years trying to make a difference in the lives of our veterans and their families. It is because of this work Dana Morgan, President of Point Man encouraged me to be a part of this group that began working on the spiritual connection to combat and PTSD in 1984.

We can talk all we want about helping our veteran but as you've read on this blog in the last five years, we are far from really doing it. This battle is far from over. Point Man International Ministries DBA Point Man of Winter Park is now tax exempt with the State of Florida, CH36936. I obtained the IRS tax exempt last year but since I was still attending classes at Valencia College for Digital Media, it didn't make much sense to do the paperwork for Florida since I was not spending much money and didn't have time to seek donations. This step was taken a couple of months ago and as of this morning, the determination letter arrived in my mail box.

This is why the header image has suddenly changed.

What difference does this make to my readers?

None. I'll still be posting on everything I've been doing for the last 5 years. I will not seek government funding to allow me to be able to post what is really going on. I will not endorse any politician or political position that is not for veterans. If a politician does something for veterans or against them you will know it. I could have taken the easy way out years ago and just did what was popular but that wouldn't have helped anyone.

What does change?

I have the ability to seek donations to cover the expenses of traveling, public speaking, consultations and filming events. Up until now it has all been out of pocket and right now my pockets are empty. There is no way I can afford to find a location to hold meetings locally without financial support to be able to at least supply coffee and donuts while having a place to talk. I need donations to buy materials for veterans to understand how to heal from a spiritual basis. I also need local groups to help me with networking so that I have Yoga instructors to send them to along with any other group offering help to our veterans.

This is not about to be anything that needs huge donations to operate. As a matter of fact, while spiritual healing is priceless, it is not expensive. I just cannot afford to do it on my own anymore.

If you can make a donation, please do in any amount possible. If you want a copy of my book, you can donate to receive a pdf of it. Hard copies of it are not available yet since it does cost money to print them. Just make sure when you want a copy, put "book" in the subject on the Pay Pal donation.

You can also mail donations to
Point Man of Winter Park
PO Box 196992
Winter Springs FL 32719-6992

An Anniversary of Anguish

In August of 2007 one of the first post I put up on this blog was Why Isn't the Press on a Suicide Watch? because of a report written by Greg Mitchell. The link must have been broken since then but the truth of his report shows that the link between service and suicide has not been broken.

Why Isn't the Press on a Suicide Watch?
You'd never know that at least 3% of all American deaths in Iraq are due to self-inflicted wounds. And that doesn't include the many vets who have killed themselves after returning home.
By Greg Mitchell
NEW YORK (August 13, 2007) -- Would it surprise you to learn that according to official Pentagon figures, at least 118 U.S. military personnel in Iraq have committed suicide since April 2003? That number does not include many unconfirmed reports, or those who served in the war and then killed themselves at home (a sizable, if uncharted, number).

While troops who have died in "hostile action" -- and those gravely injured and rehabbing at Walter Reed and other hospitals -- have gained much wider media attention in recent years, the suicides (about 3% of our overall Iraq death toll) remain in the shadows.

I did what I usually do with a suicide report. I made it personal. We can look at a number and then move on but a name, a story about the person or the voice of a family left behind to grieve makes that "number" matter.

There is a very long list on that post and that's why I am so depressed today.

Wounded Times Blog is 5 years old this month and I am still having to post about military suicides along side of claims the DOD and the VA are doing something about all of this. They also claim what they are doing will work. Nothing has worked.

So I sit here reading more emails and comments from families after they had to bury their sons and daughters, wondering why they came home from combat but didn't want to live anymore. Wondering what they could have done. Wondering why no one told them about what they are painfully discovering now.

This is not an anniversary to celebrate. It is one of anguish because of how little has been actually achieved.

Pick your battles, fight for veterans

Pick your battles, fight for veterans
by Chaplain Kathie
Wounded Times Blog
July 25, 2012

My Mom always said that I wanted to change the world. She was right. When I was younger it seemed as if I took on everything. She told me that I needed to pick my battles to give it all I had or I'd lose more than I won. She was right again but it took me years to learn that lesson.

For almost 30 years, my passion has been veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder because even tough I grew up surrounded by veterans, Combat PTSD became personal to me. I fell in love with a Vietnam veteran. To this day, I'm still in love, but not just with him. I adore all our veterans because of what I've learned from them.

Since 1993 I've been posting on one blog or another, in chats and chains plus too many websites I started but never managed to catch on. This one did and will be 5 years old next month. This is the count as of 9:00 am today.

Not bad considering what this blog is all about. The reason this blog is what it is, is because people are tired of politics getting into everything. No politician is all bad and none of them are all good. This blog was started because a Marine set me straight and snapped me out of the trap I fell into when political ideas meant more than veterans did.

Most of my friends are Republicans but I have Democrat friends as well. When it comes to politics, none of them agree but when it comes to veterans standing by the side of other veterans political differences vanish. Much like troops deployed into combat will risk their lives without ever once thinking about how the soldier they are next to voted in the last election, veterans support each other when it matters and overlook differences when it really doesn't.

What else I discovered in all these years of research and tracking reports is that people, the general public, get confused between the military and defense contractors. Republicans elect people they think will support the military when the truth is most of their politicians support contractors first and troops afterwards. Elected Democrats support the troops first and contractors afterwards. This has been made clear by their bills and votes on the bills. Neither party has done what is needed to take care of all the men and women in the military anymore than they have taken care of all veterans.

Politicians on both sides have done great things for veterans but the problem is not all of them have all the time. That is why fighting for veterans will never be over.

It is also why I am an Independent and ignore political emails from both sides unless they are so outrageous I can't remain silent.

One thing I can't be silent about is the VA and how Romney would get rid of it.

Normally I wouldn't be concerned but considering how many in congress have said it in the past he would be supported in doing it. They have managed to get the general public looking at the deficit while they are the ones that caused it just as they have us thinking about unemployment when they cut the jobs instead of doing something to give jobs back to us in the USA instead of overseas. They very well may be able to pull off selling the VA to private for profit companies.

It is up to us to pay attention to what is really going on since reporters got lazy a long time ago and you won't even hear them ask about this. It is up to us when we get political emails to find out if the claim made is true or not before we hit the forward button. I'm not talking about looking it up on another blog or opinion piece. We're smarter than that. I expect my readers to look up what I say as well in case I made a mistake. This is all too important to allow lies to live and truth to be buried.

It would be wonderful if politicians could manage to do what the troops do everyday. Put each other first and politics second.

Obama's Promise to Exempt Veteran's Benefits Is Bad News for Pentagon
By U.S. News Staff
July 24, 2012

President Barack Obama's Monday announcement that he will protect military veterans' retirement and health care benefits drew applause from a VFW audience, but it likely drew a few grimaces among Pentagon and industry leaders.

That's because exempting veterans' benefits from $500 billion in cuts to planned national defense spending over the next decade would shrink the places in the defense budget where cuts could be made. That would mean whatever reductions are enacted will be deeper than if the vets' benefits also were cut under a complicated process known as sequestration.

During a much-anticipated speech Monday before a Veterans of Foreign Wars audience in Reno, Nev., Obama touted a "promise I made four years ago: Upholding America's sacred trust with our veterans."
read more here

Combat PTSD – You Are Not Alone

Combat PTSD – You Are Not Alone
by SHELLY on JULY 17, 2012

When military personnel return home after serving a tour overseas, they come back changed. If they’ve witnessed horrors associated with war, such as their comrades dying before their eyes or innocent children caught in the cross fires, they come home with troubled minds and disturbing memories that don’t go away. A large proportion develops PTSD – post traumatic stress disorder. In fact, at least 20% of veterans (around 200,000 veterans) who were deployed in the last six years suffer from PTSD. The actual number is undoubtedly higher since still, in this day of age, there is stigma associated with any mental health issue.

Luckily awareness surrounding PTSD is increasing within the ranks of the U.S. Military and society in general. “Know absolutely that your chain of command and your leadership in the military at our highest levels recognize this issue and want to encourage our soldiers to seek out that mental health assistance,” said Brigadier General Gary S. Patton in the CNN article “Generals share their experience with PTSD” (2009). Patton and General Carter Ham, who both served in Iraq, shared with CNN about their personal struggles with PTSD as well as some of the more harrowing moments they witnessed on the battlefield.

For Patton, it was medevacing one of his unit’s soldiers who had been shot and then watching him die. For Ham, he said December 21, 2004 was the “worst day of [his] life” because he witnessed the mess tent blown up by a suicide bomber resulting in the loss of 22 lives.

Back on American soil, Patton and Ham experienced symptoms, such as disturbing flashbacks, trouble sleeping and avoiding talking about some of the more traumatic events. Other symptoms include emotional numbness, nightmares, anxiety, no longer having interest in past activities, feelings of guilt or shame, irritability, anger, resorting to substances to numb the pain and even suicidal thoughts.

Rather than prolonging the destructive nature of PTSD, it’s important to get help! “We need all our soldiers and leaders to approach mental health like we do physical health,” Patton told CNN. He added that just as you would get help for a broken arm, you should get help for PTSD and other mental health problems.

And remember it is not a sign of weakness. Perhaps Chaplain Kathie says it best in her blog Wounded Times (a blog “dedicated to defeating combat PTSD”):

“Well, you are not now nor have you ever been weak. When you were deployed and lives were on the line, what did you do? Did you call in sick? Did you catch a flight back home? Or did you stay to help the men and women you served with? Did you notice the pain you had inside when someone else was in danger?

You did not allow yourself to feel the pain you carried until everyone was out of danger, until you were back home, until you couldn’t trap in behind the wall any longer. How much tougher can you get than to be able to carry that kind of pain and still do it all?”

Check out the following links to find out more about Combat PTSD and how you or a loved one can seek help:

http://woundedtimes.blogspot.ca http://www.criminaljusticeschoolinfo.com/ptsd.html#resources http://www.mentalhealth.va.gov/ http://www.veteranscrisisline.net/

Florida DAVA Member of Year from Orlando Chapter

Florida Disable American Veterans Auxiliary Member of the Year from Orlando Chapter
by
Chaplain Kathie

How do I write this objectively when the member of the year is me?
The DAV-DAVA Florida convention is usually a great event. This year I showed up with my camera, set it up, filmed a great group of ladies singing and got ready to film the top award for the Auxiliary. My hands started to shake when it dawned on me they were talking about me.

As you can see in this video, I was in shock. When I got up to accept the award, I was asked if I had anything to say. If you read this blog often, you know I am hardly ever short on something to say. The only thing I could say was thank you.

Thank you to all the members of the Disabled American Veterans and the Auxiliary. You inspire me everyday!

Orlando based Wounded Times breaks half million hits

Orlando based Wounded Times breaks half million hits!
by Chaplain Kathie

In August of 2007 I was operating another blog when I received an email from a Marine. He was a loyal reader of my other blog (now used for just archive purposes) telling me that he went into the blog to read about PTSD. His issue was that I was doing political posts with my own crap, to put it nicely. My response to him is something I will always be ashamed of. I defended my right to speak my own mind on my own blog since I worked "so hard" for them and knew a lot. The email went on and on about my feelings. He sent me back an email asking me a very simple question. "Are you doing this for yourself or us?"

I cried!

Totally ashamed of myself, finally acknowledging the simple fact the men and women serving this one country are able to set their politics aside, but I couldn't do it sitting in the comfort of my office. I had not understood the reach of the blog any more than I thought about how my words would hurt someone else on the other side of the political wall. I was only thinking of myself and what I wanted to say. I am not an expert on politics but wow, was I full myself!

I sent the Marine another email and told him that as of that day, I would create another blog that was in fact for them. I thanked him for setting me straight and opening my eyes. That is how this blog was born.

My promise to him was that if I posted anything politically it would be because a politician did something wrong toward veterans, like saying they supported them while voting against them, while not caring what political party they were a member of. I would post if they did something good with the same attitude. Everyday I try to keep that in mind whenever I put my two cents into a post though not always perfectly.

I started studying PTSD in 1982 when I met my husband. (Yes, I'm that old.) I was 23 years old, which means over half my life has been dedicated toward getting people to understand what PTSD is, especially Combat PTSD, which needs to have a whole different approach toward treating it than other causes.

In 2001, I was enough of a expert with connections to know that the attacks on this country would send PTSD through the roof in Vietnam Veterans. After a year of trying to have a book on living with PTSD published, For the Love of Jack, His War/My Battle, I decided to self-publish it in 2002 knowing how bad it was about to get. I figured after living with it for all those years, making mistakes and learning from them in my own life, it could help the newer families learn faster without all the heartaches.

By 2005, I understood that no matter how much I wrote about Combat PTSD, the younger veterans didn't want to read it. They wanted to be entertained. I taught myself how to make videos. Wounded Minds was the first one and this is the third version of it.



The first one was good enough to get this email when it was up on YouTube.

Katherine ~
I saw your PTSD presentation online and want to share it with our Sailors returning from Iraq/Afghanistan.
Thanks for providing this much needed information,
Ralph
YNCS Ralph Hensley

As you know now, in 2007, this blog was born with 25 years of experience to back it up.

I still wanted to know more so I could do more. In 2008 I became a Chaplain and spent the next two years taking as much training as possible on Crisis Intervention because it worked. The Chaplain training helped me to understand the best way to approach the spiritual connection to Combat PTSD. People walk away from traumatic events either thinking God was watching over them and that's why they survived or He abandoned them and they were paying for what they did wrong in their lives.

In 2010 I was no longer satisfied with the videos I was producing. I wanted to be able to do better but I also wanted to film the veterans I spent so much of my time with. The media didn't bother to cover the events I was attending and I thought the general public needed to see what so many veterans along with ordinary citizens were doing. I did what I usually do, went to school.

At Valencia College in the Digital Media world I was able to learn how to shoot and edit to tell stories veterans wanted to hear. Hard to believe two years has already come and gone and Monday I have my final exams. I'll have five certificates in Digital Media if I pass both of them. As you can see from the sidebar under "My Video" section, you can see I've been busy filming and love every minute of it.

Last year I agreed to become an Out Post and Home Front leader of Point Man International Ministries. I was totally shocked Dana Morgan wanted me to do it since I am not a veteran but knowing how important the work they do is, I said yes. So now when I go out and film, I have on my leather vest with the big Point Man Ministries patch on the back. Many conversations have started with total strangers because of the reputation Point Man has.

In all these years there have been many heartaches, especially when a family contacts me after someone they love committed suicide . I understand how they feel because my husband's nephew committed suicide because of his service in Vietnam. There have been a lot of joys when I have saved lives and when I see a family living together again. I have met so many remarkable people I would have not met otherwise and have seen a different part of this country few are aware of.

Now, my readers have given me the best gift possible. Faith enough in what I do that this blog has passed over half a million hits. You have no idea what all of you have just done for me! From the bottom of my heart, you have blessed me more than I could have imagined. All these years people have told me to give up and cover something else so that I'd expand my reach. I never thought a blog like this would reach as far as it has. 553,921 hits for 14,762 posts.

According to the Blog figures, this is as of right now, the top countries are

United States 379,705

France 34,073

Germany 21,533

United Kingdom 15,796

Canada 8,437

Bulgaria 5,958

Russia 5,019

Romania 2,762

Australia 2,694

Netherlands 2,231

This proves the rest of the world is watching how we treat our veterans as much as it shows people like you care too. Thank you for your visits and keeping me going so I can do what I do best everyday!

Thank you for another year of encouragement

I can understand being too busy, especially this time of year. My neighbors are putting up their decorations and lighting their homes, spending hours of their days on making displays. They do a great job. Shoppers are finally getting to the malls with their lists in hand searching for the bargain on what they think will make someone else happy. Christmas cards are starting to arrive in mailboxes from friends we hear from once a year but think about off and on during the year. It is almost as if these are all reminders of people we care about.

For me, this semester at college has been, to put it bluntly, kicking my ass. I can't believe the hours it takes to deliver projects and study for just two classes! I have been so focused that yesterday I had to call my Godchild to wish her happy birthday because I forgot it was already December. Humiliating for me but she got a kick out of it knowing her "Godmother" is usually out of her mind.

While most people don't take the time to think about what is going on in the military or with our veterans, some people take the time everyday to keep informed.

In four years this blog has had over 400,000 pageviews. For a blog like this covering just the military and veterans, that proves people do care about what is going on and they don't get the coverage from major media outlets. Some of the best reporting going on in this country is done at the local levels with small newspapers and TV stations caring enough to devote some time to these men and women. I am doing my best to be a reminder of people we care about. If you are reading this, then you must be doing it because you care about them as much as I do.


One more indication of this is when Stars and Stripes did a fantastic report from FORWARD OPERATING BASE PASAB back in August I posted the link to it with a powerful image. I was stunned by the pictures in the report but this one stood out.

For Those I Love I Will Sacrifice

Pfc. Kyle Hockenberry, of 4th Squadron, 4th Cavalry Infantry Regiment, 1st Heavy Combat Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, who was injured in an improvised explosive device attack near Haji Ramuddin, is treated by flight medic Cpl. Amanda Mosher while being transported by medevac helicopter to the Role 3 hospital at Kandahar Air Field in Afghanistan on June 15, 2011. Laura Rauch/Stars and Stripes

Since this post went up, over 28,000 people have read it. A month after the post went up, Time Magazine did a follow up for what happened to Kyle Hockenberry "No Idle Boast: A Soldier's Tattoo Becomes Truth" and you can read more about it at the above link. Why? What caused so much attention?

We've seen thousands of reports since the troops were sent into Afghanistan ten years ago. On this blog we've tracked stories of veterans giving back as well as getting into trouble, suffering and overcoming, stories about heroes and the homeless. I believe this post reflected the fact that while most of us just get on with our own lives, we know there are many risking their lives everyday willingly. They do it for each other.

To the readers of Wounded Times, I want to thank you for your encouragement. It has been a struggle to stay up on all that is going on while in college. If I didn't have you reading what I post, there would be no reason for me to do it. I believe that the public cares about this topic but no one is reminding them of people they care about but don't think about. If you know someone not paying attention, send them the link to the story Stars and Stripes did and remind them during this Christmas season there are loving sacrifices being made everyday by the men and women serving this country.

Facebook users care about troops sacrifices and love

For those I love I will sacrifice is a post that has me stunned right now.

Sometime yesterday, someone on Facebook managed to do what I have not been able to do in the four years this blog has been up. They sent this post out and the hits kept coming.

Usually I am thrilled with 1,000 hits a day on this blog. Last night the blog was getting that many in an hour.

I have no clue what Facebook user managed to do this but I want to offer my heartfelt appreciation!

Above this post about combat medics in Afghanistan on Forward Operating Base PASAB. One of the photos taken was of a young soldier, Pfc. Kyle Hockenberry, wounded by an IED. What made him stand out from the other outstanding pictures in this Stars and Stripes article was his tattoo. On his right side he has the words, For those I love I will sacrifice.

To me, there could not have been a more clear message. That is exactly what they are like. I've been doing this for almost 30 years now and I can tell you that they are brave beyond measure but they are also more loving than they get credit for. You can't do what they do every day if they did not love so deeply. Imagine being willing to die for the sake of someone else by choice and not by circumstance. That requires love.

Anyway, click the link above and you'll know what else I had to say about this. The blessing went beyond this post. My video documentaries also received more views and these videos are my passion. They are about people the media pretty much ignore. The National Vietnam War Museum is getting more attention. First Church of Christ, the church that took in a homeless Vietnam veteran out of love is getting more attention. Pastor Joel took in Staff Sgt. Andrew Wright and his son managed to find him after searching for all his life for him. He found him while serving in Iraq in the Marines. Homes for Our Troops is getting more attention and the outstanding veterans in the video are being paid attention to.

This act of love out of a Facebook user will end up helping more than they ever dreamed of and much more than I prayed for.

If you are the one who spread the word about this post, please contact me so that I can know who my guardian angel is.

When you can see our troubles are the same

In the words of Cheers, I'm always glad you came.

editorial by
Chaplain Kathie

Where Everybody Knows Your Name by Gary Portnoy and Judy Hart Angelo - Cheers Lyrics
Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got.
Taking a break from all your worries, sure would help a lot.

Wouldn't you like to get away?

Sometimes you want to go

Where everybody knows your name,
and they're always glad you came.
You wanna be where you can see,
our troubles are all the same
You wanna be where everybody knows
Your name.

Where Everybody Knows Your Name

This is a place where you can see our troubles are all the same, or at least, pretty close to it. This blog is here for a lot of reasons but the biggest one is broadcast media. I was so tired of complaining they are not paying attention to anyone serving and even less when it comes to veterans. I was tired of reading a story out of the other side of the country and then finding another one right here with no one connecting the two together. I always thought there should be one place where all of these news reports, mostly done by local reporters in tiny newsrooms, so that secrets would end.

When it comes to PTSD, if you believe you are the only one with it, you feel alone but if you find some place where others are going through it too, the world is not so lonely for you. You can find the good, bad and the ugly but most of all I try to give you hope.

Now, frankly, I have not been very good at promoting this blog. I could excuse this by pointing out there are only so many hours in the day, so the more I spent away from posting, the less that gets covered. If I did that, I wouldn't be totally honest. I've never been good at self-promoting and I don't enjoy it at all. It has taken many weeks of thinking about doing this to get up the gumption to do it now.

I don't get paid to do this. I was so lousy at asking for donation that I lost my tax exempt because I couldn't even afford to renew it. There is something I do need from you and it won't cost you a dime. It will only cost you the time to subscribe and forward an email. That's all I want back from you.

When you subscribe you get a daily email with all the posts done that day. This blog moves fast so it is hard to keep up with it. With the alert, you have the link right there. If you think a story is important, pass it on with the link back and this way, reporters will know what you think it's important. This site is all about YOU! Let them know these stories do matter to you. You are also letting me know what kind of stories matter to you by the number of hits the post gets.

Wounded Times will be 4 years old in August. Help me get to 1,000 subscribers by then. Email me at namguardianangel@aol.com and let me know what's on your mind or leave a comment on a post so that I know what you want to find here.

Wounded TImes Blog honored Top 50 Blogs for Army Wives

Bravery from the Home Front: Top 50 Blogs for Army Wives (or Spouses)
With a war still going on, more and more are answering the call to fight for their country. There are literally thousands of troops stationed all over overseas, and being a military spouse can be very difficult. However, with the invention of the internet, it is now easier than ever to not only send letters, pictures and videos, it is easier than ever to meet those who have been where you are going.

If you have a husband or wife who is in the army, there is no need to feel all alone. Below, we have gathered the top 50 blogs for army wives and/or spouses. They are authored by wives, spouses, those serving overseas and even those who made it back home and have loads of help for how to adjust back to civilian life.

Bravery from the Home Front

Wounded Times receives endorsement from Vietnam and All Veterans of Brevard

A few months ago I was contacted by Bill Vagianos, Vietnam and All Veterans of Brevard, offering support for the work I do. I was stunned because up until now, I often traveled wondering how anyone had any clue who I was. I asked Bill if God sent him to me because his email came at a time when I was really depressed. (You know, one of those times in my life when I was wondering if what I was doing was worth it or not. One more time when bills were more than we had coming in. ) Then he told me that he had been reading my blog when I posted how hard it was to do this work while my family was suffering financially for it. I worked since I was 14 and had never been without a paycheck until January of 2008.

This is my work, my job, my ministry and what I was called to do when I fell in love with my Vietnam vet husband along with every other Vietnam vet. Since then, my arms expanded to reach out to the newer veterans, police officers, firefighters and survivors of trauma. Most of what I do is kept private. What you see on this blog is only part of what I do everyday. If I post 10 articles, there were about 60 more I had to read. Then the videos on the blog take more time. I do this because I remember being alone, or at least feeling alone because in the beginning, I just didn't know how many others there were living with PTSD.

This is the email I received from Bill today as an endorsement. He had great compassion for me since I told him that I was not really good at advertising what I do, so instead of just saying I have his support, he wrote this.

Chaplain Kathie,

Thank you for the powerfully inspiring presentation you made at the General Membership meeting of the Vietnam and All Veterans of Brevard (VVB) last evening. You provided enlightenment and hope for many of the members in attendance, myself included.

I began following Wounded Times about 18 months ago and remain in awe of your prolific writing and depth of knowledge regarding PTSD and many other veteran issues of concern. It is profoundly clear that your blogs are well-researched and reality-based.

And you message is clear that you are committed to bring a sense of normalcy to our fellow veterans, active troops, police officers, firefighters and other trauma survivors.

As you stated, we Vietnam veterans manifested PTSD as a legitimate diagnosis, having it recognized by the American Psychiatric Association as a disability related to combat and forcing the VA to treat the disorder.

Your unique and seemingly tireless approach to eradicating the sense of aloneness sufferers of PTSD experience through assemblage of compelling stories about people experiencing trauma, suffering the after affects of trauma, and trauma survivors reaching out to help others is powerfully healing. As you described, “Quiet heroes have been turning their own pain into missions of support to others”.

I realize that the cost of your commitment to your calling, training, licensing fees, insurance, computers, Internet, website fees, phone charges and travel expenses to name a few, have been absorbed by you and the financial burden on your family is huge. I am also aware that you recently lost your income.

The VVB is happy to financially support your supreme efforts and just cause in service to our past and present veterans and first responders. Please accept our donation.

In Service to America,

Bill Vagianos, President
Vietnam and All Veterans of Brevard

There is an old, yellowing copy of a pamphlet I was handed by a Vet Center councilor,
(This is the paper I was holding last night.)

The first page is the introduction and sums up what was going on in 1978 but was kept America's dirty little secret.

"Most Vietnam veterans have adjusted well to life back in the United States, following their wartime experiences. That's a tribute to these veterans who faced a difficult homecoming to say the least.

However, a very large number of veterans haven't made it all the way home from the war in Southeast Asia. By conservative estimates, at least half a million Vietnam veterans still lead lives plagued by serious war-related readjustment problems. Such problems crop up in a number of ways, varying from veteran to veteran. Flashbacks to combat, feelings of alienation or anger, depression, loneliness and an inability to get close to others, sometimes drug or alcohol problems, perhaps even suicidal feelings. The litany goes on."

This pamphlet hangs on my office wall just above my desk to remind me of why I do what I do when things get too stressful, I get too depressed over the lack of attention PTSD gets, when I get one more email about a veteran on the brink of suicide or from a family member after it's too late to save them. I leave it hanging there to remind me when I cannot find the will to go on as my own financial stresses take turns for the worst and I begin to wonder if this is worth it when I know I could go back to working for paychecks. I used to do accounting and was very good at it and paid well for doing it. The last job I had ended January 2008 and that was the last paycheck I could depend on. I worked for a church as head of Christian Education. It's what led me to become a Chaplain. For any suffering I go through doing what I do, I know veterans are paying the price a lot higher than any price I pay helping them.

I started doing outreach work in 1982 and have been doing it for over half my life. In 2004 we moved from Massachusetts to Florida so that I could work part-time and devote more time to this work. The need increased and the numbers I was seeing coming in terrified me. I knew the suffering all too well after living through the worst of it with my own husband.

Years ago I realized there were many stories about traumatic events but scattered around the world. This was before Afghanistan and Iraq. I began to put stories together on an AOL blog. This lead to the blog now called Screaming In An Empty Room. I began Wounded Times because I had blended too many political posts with posts about veterans and this became a problem when veterans were looking for posts about them, so I limit the political posts on Wounded Times unless it has a direct bearing on our veterans. With whatever time I had between working and helping veterans, I tracked the stories around the country and internationally for one simple reason. PTSD is a human wound that strikes after traumatic events. It was important to have as many stories as possible all in one place to bring a sense of "normal" to our veterans, troops, police officers, firefighters and survivors.

Until Vietnam veterans made headway addressing PTSD, having it recognized as a disability related to combat and forcing the treatment of it by the VA, there was not much done on mental health following traumatic events. What they managed to do was bring Post Traumatic Stress Disorder into the awareness of the mental health community. What we see today in the response to traumatic events is directly due to their efforts. This also caused the reporters to cover stories of after trauma as well as the event itself.

Realizing the only way to eradicate the stigma associated with feeling alone, my mission became to focus on compiling stories of humans suffering after trauma as well as reaching out to help others. Quiet heroes have been turning their own pain into missions of support to others.

Wounded Times focuses on trauma with a spotlight on the military/veterans. There are stories about the VA and the DOD along with civilian life. I post about traumatic events effecting police officers, emergency responders, firefighters and survivors to also bring in the fact that our troops and veterans, while a minority of our population, are still humans. The difference is their traumatic exposures happened a lot more often than what we face in our lifetimes.

The need to have these reports all in one place is key to the mission of Wounded Times. I also do editorials to add in over 25 years of knowledge to say what is not being said. As a Chaplain, I try to address the need for spiritual healing since this is a common condition of people after trauma. The majority either believe God judged them or abandoned them following traumatic events after combat. This also happens with many others. Understanding what PTSD is enables the survivor to reconnect to their faith and know that God did not do this to them.

Wounded Times is about healing and understanding PTSD. This is why I produce videos on PTSD. In 2005 I understood that no matter how much I wrote, I could not break through to the people needing the information fast enough. I now have over 25 videos. These videos are now available on Wounded Times, Nam Guardian Angel PTSD Shield and Great Americans. If there is a need to have a DVD for service groups or individuals, I ask for a donation to help cover the cost of what I do. These videos are used all over the country by mental health providers, service groups and veterans groups. If anyone cannot afford to donate, they are not turned away.

I travel with these videos doing presentations to bring understanding of this complicated wound to any group wanting to understand as simply as possible believing once they understand, they will be able to provide the support to those suffering from it as well as their families.

I have been trained to respond to traumatic events because heading off PTSD is vital. I can also explain to the survivors what they may face so that they will seek treatment as soon as possible should the event set off the need for mental health care. Believing the sooner PTSD is addressed, the better the recovery, understanding what it is will assist the survivors in watching for signs they may need help as well as to watch for signs in others to assist them in getting help. The prevalence of PTSD we see today would not be so great had the information been available to them.

So far, training, fees for licensing and insurance have been out of pocket. I spend an average of 70 hours a week working on the blog, videos and reaching out with veterans thru emails. This has caused a huge financial burden on my family. Aside from lost income when I work outside of this, we have had to cover those expenses along with computers, Internet and website fees, phone charges and travel expenses. This is why your support of my work is so important. I cannot maintain Wounded Times without your help and I cannot continue my ministry to others without financial support.

I have set up a Charter of the International Fellowship of Chaplains so that donations are tax deductible. Your support will help me to continue to reach veterans and everyone else wounded by PTSD across the nation and internationally. It will also allow me to pay for advertising so that others needing help will not have to find Wounded Times or my videos accidentally. I have received too many emails from veterans on the brink and families when it was too late to help because they could not find my site sooner. Your support will help save lives and prevent families from having to feel lost.

Thank you for your support and believing in the work I do.

Chaplain Kathie

Senior IFOC Chaplain
Kathie Costos DiCesare

web site
www.namguardianangel.com
blog
www.woundedtimes.blogspot.com
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington

Certifications and Training

IFOC Certified, ordained, licensed and insured senior chaplain
Trauma Grief and Loss
Critical Incidents Stress
Critical Incidents Stress Management
Critical Incidents Stress Debriefing
Crisis Intervention and Peer Support
Military Cultural Competence
DEEP, Disaster and Extreme Event Preparedness

Administrator of Christian Education 2 years
Veterans outreach and trauma specialist, over 25 years
Producer of PTSD educational videos
Female veterans
Hardest Times You Could Imagine
Sisters After War
The Voice, Women at War
Women at War
Combat Veterans
Wounded Minds
Hero After War
When War Comes Home Part one and two
Wounded and Waiting
Veterans Day Memories of Vietnam
Veterans Everyday
PTSD, It’s All About Soul
PTSD Final Battle of War
PTSD Not God’s Judgment
Nam Nights of PTSD Still
Lean on Me
Death Because They Served
Homeless Veterans Everyday
Coming Out of the Dark

National Guards
PTSD I Grieve

Civilians
PTSD After Trauma
IFOC Chaplain Army Of Love
Point Man Ministries
Veterans Outreach, Home Free



There you have it. Now back to work for me.

Wounded Times Blog is one year old today

For God and Country

Wounded Times blog is one year old today.

I've learned a lot since this first video.

Veterans and PTSD
6 min - Feb 25, 2006 -

Two and a half years later, these were added to the first one dealing with trauma.

Women At War08:02
From:NamGuardianAngelViews: 8,880

The Voice Women At War09:49
From:NamGuardianAngelViews: 729

Hero After War08:27
From:NamGuardianAngelViews: 3,138

Nam Nights Of PTSD Still08:33
From:NamGuardianAngelViews: 1,643

When War Comes Home Part One04:33
From:NamGuardianAngelViews: 213

When War Comes Home Part Two07:10
From:NamGuardianAngelViews: 1,075

A Homeless Veteran's Day04:00
From:NamGuardianAngelViews: 599

Wounded And Waiting Part One08:00
From:NamGuardianAngelViews: 624

Wounded And Waiting Part Two07:27
From:NamGuardianAngelViews: 224

Coming Out Of The Dark Of PTSD04:25
From:NamGuardianAngelViews: 635

PTSD After Trauma04:44
From:NamGuardianAngelViews: 764

Point Man Int. Ministries Is There04:41
From:NamGuardianAngelViews: 195

IFOC Chaplain Army Of Love07:14
From:NamGuardianAngelViews: 214

PTSD Not God's Judgment06:00
From:NamGuardianAngelViews: 1,069

These are also on Google video but the site no longer has any hit counts. These two videos are only on Google video because they are too long for YouTube.

Death Because They Served PTSD Suicides

Wounded Minds PTSD and Veterans

After posting since 2005 on what became Screaming In An Empty Room, I started this blog attempting to keep politics out of it. I do submit to temptation when it comes between the people who really do support the troops and the veterans and those who only claim they do. When I get too tempted, I have to slap my hand trying to click on the link to post it here instead of on the other blog. Considering this blog began to respond to requests from veterans and the troops who were tired of having to wade through posts that had political rants in it. They're tired of politics and I can't say that I blame them. They have a job to do and no matter what, no matter what they think about what's behind all of this, they still do their duty to the Constitution and for their country. My heart belongs to all of them as well as those who came before them.

In the over 15 years I've been doing this work online, starting and abandoning blogs and message boards, I lost count how many posts I've done. There are over 9,700 posts on the Screaming In An Empty Room blog. As I post this, this blog has received 43,500 hits, has 1,077 Post Traumatic Stress Disorder posts, 527 PTSD, 93 Post Combat Stress, 200 suicides, 22 attempted suicides. With at least 10 hours a day I've spent over 3,650 hours on this blog alone. Between reading reports and posting, what you see here is only part of what I've read. I have to decide what to post and avoid articles with no meat or have been done to death on other blogs. Occasionally I toss in some that I just find very interesting or funny but most of them deal with some type of trauma. I do put in a lot about police officers and firefighters as well the events they are involved in. We need to remember that their jobs put them into very traumatic situations as well.

These are the camps and forts that have been focused on.

Camp Algonquin (1)
Camp Anaconda (1)
Camp Bucca (2)
Camp Buehring (1)
Camp Casey (5)
Camp Cobra (1)
Camp Curtis Guild (1)
Camp Diamondback (1)
Camp Falluhah (1)
Camp Foster (1)
Camp Harper Iraq (2)
Camp Lejeune (12)
Camp Lemonier (1)
Camp Liberty (2)
Camp Mirage (1)
Camp Pendleton (20)
Camp Shelby (3)
Camp Speicher (1)
Camp Stryker (1)

Fort Belvoir (1)
Fort Benning (8)
Fort Bliss (19)
Fort Bragg (28)
Fort Campbell (15)
Fort Carson (31)
Fort Craig (1)
Fort Detrick (2)
Fort Devens (1)
Fort Dix (2)
Fort Douglas (1)
Fort Drum (25)
Fort Drum Blizzard (2)
Fort Harrison (1)
Fort Hood (27)
Fort Huachuca (2)
Fort Irwin (2)
Fort Jackson (2)
Fort Knox (11)
Fort Lauderdale (1)
Fort Lawn (1)
Fort Leonard Wood (4)
Fort Levenworth (4)
Fort Lewis (8)
Fort Logan (1)
Fort McCoy (1)
Fort McPherson (1)
Fort Meade (1)
Fort Polk (2)
Fort Riley (7)
Fort Sill (1)
Fort Stewart (8)
Fort Thomas (1)
Fort Wainwright (4)
Fort Wayne (1)

When I post about our veterans and troops, I say a prayer that one day we will put taking care of them at the front of the list when it comes to funding and planing on what our government spends. I pray God watch over them and their families. I pray the homeless are taken care of and I pray even more deeply that those wounded with PTSD are not only helped but finally healed.

Today I'm asking for your prayers for me. There is no price I can put on what I get back from the veterans and their families but this work has become expensive. When I lost my job the beginning of the year, I had a choice to make. I was torn between trying to find a full time job or doing this work. I knew I couldn't do both with the same level, so I decided to do this exclusively. I became a Chaplain, which in itself is expensive between traveling and training. Financially my family is suffering for my choice. I keep praying for the money to come to continue to do this without the extra stress of paying the bills there never seems to be enough for. I'm asking you to take a minute and pray that God grant me the financial support I need to keep doing this and that He continue to guide me in the work I do, especially creating the videos.

The only video I did not want to do was the one He was pulling me to do. It's the PTSD Not God's Judgment video. I fought against doing it. I finally gave in and did it. Since then I've discovered exactly why He wanted me to do it. It has been helping people I had no idea it would touch. Too many people, regular people like you and me, struggle with our connection to God. We think that when we suffer, it comes from God judging us and condemning us. This video shows, that is not the case. It's also one of the very few videos I will watch after they have been put together. I need to be reminded of His love as much as others do.

Thank you for your support of this site and the work I do. I hope during the next year to continue to provide all the information I can find about PTSD and links to very good work being done by reporters across the nation as well as the other nations. I pray that by the next anniversary of this blog, there will be more reports of treatments being discovered and less reports of suicides and attempted suicides. Too many have suffered needlessly.



Senior Chaplain Kathie Costos

Namguardianangel@aol.com

www.Namguardianangel.org

www.Woundedtimes.blogspot.com"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington