Combat Wounded Veteran Meets Pilot Who Saved Him

Vietnam vet reunites with helicopter pilot who helped save his life
Daily Progress
David A. Maurer
August 8, 2015

“The sky was blue, clouds, just beautiful,” DeFazio said as he thought back to March 30, 1968, and the Vietnam War. “My thought was that I was never going to live to see the sunset.”

The rising sun was getting a foothold on the horizon when Michael F. DeFazio found himself lying in the dirt of a dry rice paddy with a bullet hole in his chest, and an exit wound in his back.

More than a year of intensive training to become a U.S. Army Special Forces medic informed the young Green Beret that his prognosis wasn’t good. If not for the courageous actions of a helicopter medevac crew, his name might well be etched into the reflective, black granite wall in Washington.

Through the efforts of Charlottesville resident Bill Fields, DeFazio and helicopter pilot Robert W. Barrett, who flew the medevac mission that saved DeFazio’s life, recently were reunited at the Vietnam Ex-perience Museum in Ruckersville.
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Homeless Veteran Stabbed To Death Was Army Medic

Man Arrested In Fatal Stabbing Of Homeless War Veteran In Richmond 
CBS San Francisco Bay
July 8, 2015

Lakota Brightman served in the U.S. Army as a field medic and had been homeless for more than a year before his death, Quanah Brightman said.

RICHMOND (CBS SF) — Police on Tuesday arrested a Richmond man in the stabbing death of an Afghanistan war veteran in Richmond last Friday, a police sergeant said. Mark Nelson, 50, was arrested around 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Sea Horse Motel, located at 909 Cutting Blvd., on a warrant for the killing of 45-year-old Richmond resident Lakota Brightman, Richmond police Sgt. Nicole Abetkov said.

An officer reviewing video surveillance footage of the stabbing recognized Nelson from prior interactions with him, according to police. read more here

Tiny Captain Makes 12 Mile Hike With Help From Friends

I checked for the earliest video of this since it is just so wonderful!

EFMB - Giving it your all Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Found this on Facebook today. Some folks are saying...well, she barely made it and needed encouragement

Posted by Lloyd A Mason on Tuesday, April 28, 2015 CPT Sarah Cudd from Public Health Command, Fort Knox is only 1 of the 46 candidates who earned the EFMB yesterday at Fort Dix, NJ..27 April 2015. This is her last few seconds of the 12 Mile Foot March. The Foot March is the last event of the Expert Field Medical Badge (EFMB), and must be completed within 3 hours. If you want it, you have to go get it. Watch this video. This EFMB candidate wanted it, and she got it. It took heart, guts, determination, falling down and getting up, and a little motivation from the crowd to get across the finish line. Check this out.

Iraq Veteran and Wife Saved Shooting Victim in Idaho

Iraq War vet helps save Hauser shooting victim's life 
KXLY News
Author: Alex LeFriec , Multimedia Journalist Published
On: Apr 13 2015


HAUSER, Idaho - A shooting in Hauser, Idaho left the community shaken, but neighbors are thankful they were able to help save a man's life.

Around 9:30 Sunday night, Kootenai County Sheriff's deputies were called to the Westside Mobile Home Park for a reported shooting.

When they arrived, they found 40-year-old Jeremy Stutheit shot in the abdomen.

"At that time, I saw a car speed out, heard it squeal its tries, and then I hard some wailing and moaning," said a neighbor, who wanted to remain anonymous.

That neighbor and her husband, an Iraq War veteran with medic training, immediately began life saving measures on Stutheit. That care probably saved his life.
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Tampa Fake Veteran Gets Lesson At MacDill Air Force Base

Veteran tells panhandler to "take off my uniform!" after discovering he's a fake
ABC Action News
Bill Logan
Mar 30, 2015

It's a story of stolen valor: A panhandler purporting to be a combat veteran asking for money from passing motorists.

All until a Tampa man started asking questions and not getting the kind of answers he liked.

"Show me your veterans ID card,” asked a worked-up Garrett Goodwin on a video he uploaded to his Facebook page Sunday.

"I don't have one, sir," replied the still-unidentified and nowhere-to-be-found man wearing an Army uniform and a high-visibility vest while panhandling at the corner of Dale Mabry and Gandy Boulevard in South Tampa.

"Then take off my uniform!" replied Garrett, who served as an Army combat medic from 1994 through 2003.
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Mar 29, 2015
Veteran Garrett Goodwin confronts a fake Veteran outside Macdill AFB. The fake claimed he was former Special Forces and his missions so secret that the VA doesn't even acknowledge he exists.

The fake was soliciting money from people using his fake Veteran status.

Chief of Chaplains Convicted of Murderer?

A veteran murdered his wife claiming PTSD made him do it. In prison, he had a "come to Jesus" moment and started to minister to other prisoners. After prison, he became a Chaplain with the Maine VA. Now he wants to be Chief of Chaplains?

Kneejerk reaction, "Oh hell no" but as I read the story, it isn't that easy to figure out.

Jackson VA eyes convicted killer for chaplain job
The Clarion-Ledger
Emily Le Coz
March 7, 2015

A top candidate for chief chaplain at the G.V. "Sonny" Montgomery Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Jackson is a felon who shot and killed his estranged wife in 1986.

James Luoma serves as chief chaplain at VA Maine Healthcare Systems-Togus, but is interviewing for an open position in Jackson, according to Marti Reynolds, who served as chaplain for the Jackson VA from 1990 until last May.

Jackson VA spokeswoman Susan Varcie would not confirm this, saying only that the hospital is interviewing for a new chief of chaplain but hasn't yet selected anyone to fill the spot, which pays between $82,642 and $107,434.

Reached by phone Thursday, Luoma also would not comment.

A former police officer and decorated Vietnam medic, Luoma was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder three years before fatally shooting his wife, Sherry, in his Englewood, Ohio, home on July 31, 1986, according to online court records and archives from the Dayton (Ohio) Daily News.

The couple had been separated, and Sherry had filed for divorce prior to the shooting, records show.

Luoma was charged with murder and pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity.

"At trial, Luoma argued that the shooting was an accident — that he had been cleaning the gun and did not realize it was loaded when he pulled the trigger," court records stated. "Alternatively, Luoma argued that he was insane at the time of the shooting, as a result of PTSD."
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Start with the cons of this.

Veterans with PTSD are already stigmatized by new reports of a few veterans losing control and committing crimes. The fact is veterans are more likely to harm themselves than someone else. This could feed the notion of veterans are dangerous. After all, this is a position as Chief of Chaplains at the Jackson VA. It isn't as if he is just seeking a job in prison ministries.

The pro side of this is that no one is beyond redemption. He did his time in jail and paid the price. That can be very hopeful for other veterans.

I am torn on this one. As the article points out, St. Paul wasn't always a Christian. He spent many of his days tracking down Christians to turn them in so they would be killed. His "come to Jesus" moment came on a road to Damascus. After that, he reached out to the Gentiles and let them know what God was really all about and sent His Son to pay for their sins. That forgiveness and mercy were available to everyone who sought it.

Saul’s Conversion 9 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.

As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.

He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

“Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.

“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied.

“Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

Gulf War Veteran Medic WIth PTSD Lost Control

Darrell Nealey enlisted and served as a combat medic. Then he was all about saving lives. How his story ended just goes to show that when they come home far too many are no longer valuable enough to the rest of us that we take care of them for a change.

Mother: Driver in fatal Bellevue chase, crash was war veteran with PTSD 
Darrell Nealey, 46, lost control of vehicle, died at scene of crash
WLWT News
Feb 05, 2015

BELLEVUE, Ky. —The man who crashed and died after speeding away from police in Bellevue, Kentucky, had a criminal history, but also a past that reveals him in a different light. Darrell Nealey, 46, died Tuesday evening while trying to get away from police in a stolen car.

Nealey lost control and crashed, police said. He died at the scene. The car was reportedly stolen from Russell Springs, Kentucky, in January.

Nealey enlisted in the Army and went to the Gulf War, where he served as a medic.

His mother has a certificate that shows he trained cadets at West Point. The certificate commends Nealey, saying in part, “Assisting cadets to learn the first aid skills needed to survive on the battlefield.”

Pope said since her son returned from war, he has suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.
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WWII 101st Airborne Medics Treated Friend and Foe in Normandy Church

Ken Moore, 101st Airborne Medic, D-Day (Unedited)
TimGrayMedia
WorldWarIIFoundation

Published on Jan 1, 2015 Two American 101st Airborne (Screaming Eagles) medics caught in a church in Normandy, France during the opening hours of D-Day. Outside a savage battle raged all around them. The church changed hands several times with American and German forces over-running the village of Angoville-au-Plain. Inside the small church the wounded were both Allied and Axis uniforms and civilian clothing. The American medics, Robert Wright and Kenneth Moore of the 2nd battalion, 501st PIR, treated all who were brought into the 12th century Norman church, no matter whether they were friend or foe. Airing on American Public Television in 2014.

Veterans Service Officer Slept with Weapon in Iraq

Veterans Service Officer Kathy Marshik slept with her weapon
Morrison County Record
By Jim Wright, Correspondent
December 29, 2014

In June, the Morrison County Veterans Service (MCVS) Office got new leadership, after the retirement of 27-year director Paul Froncak. And the new leader has been around.

“I slept with my weapon,” Kathy Marshik said while recalling her time in Kuwait and Iraq. She carried that M-16 all the time, she said, during her 15-month deployment with the 142nd Engineer Company, out of Camp Ripley, during the heat of the 2003-2004 occupation of Iraq.

In the meantime, she was 5,000 miles away from her daughters, Sierra and Brianna, ages 6 and 2 then.

“My husband, Glen, was in shock when I told him I was deploying in a few days; and five days later I was gone,” Marshik said, “The worst day of my life was leaving them.”

She was a construction engineer supervisor during her time at bases near Udairi, Kuwait and Balad, Iraq. She was never directly fired upon, but her base was constantly being mortared, she said. Her other military occupation skills were maintenance parts specialist and combat medic.
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15 years as a combat flight medic, lost life to PTSD

A Redmond veteran's biggest battle is over
Family grieves loss of husband, father to suicide
KTVZ News
Kandra Kent
December 8, 2014

REDMOND, Ore.
It's a tough time of the year for military families who can't be with their loved ones. But for some families, it's what happens after they do come home that can have devastating consequences.

"This was our last family portrait," Redmond resident Erryn Fulton said recently, holding up a photo of smiling faces dressed in old-time outfits. "(My husband) was really looking forward to those Christmas dinners, where everyone hugged around the tree and ate stuffing and ham."

It's a holiday wish that won't come true, at least not with the whole family.

This Christmas will be tough.

"I loved him and I miss him so much," Fulton said tearfully. "I'm just trying to figure out what normal is, and how my kids are going to go on, because we'd planned this whole life together."

Shawn Fulton, 39, was a husband, a father of six, a Redmond resident, and an Army veteran. He survived multiple tours overseas; his last deployment was to Iraq.

He spent a total of 15 years as a combat flight medic, but what he couldn't survive was coming home.

"The war on his body and the war in his mind never left Iraq," Fulton said.

Shawn Fulton committed suicide three months ago, the end of his longest battle yet.

Erryn Fulton said after her husband was medically discharged in 2009, each day for him was a struggle with physical pain, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
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Iraq veteran searched for help then faced off with police

Man arrested for alleged bizarre behavior has PTSD, mother says
LA Times
By TONY PERRY
December 6, 2014

A 33-year-old man whose alleged erratic, combative behavior led to his arrest in Rancho Santa Fe is an Army veteran of Iraq suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health issues, his mother told a San Diego television station.

"He's really not a criminal," Andrea Roper told KUSI-TV. "He's sick .... He needs help."

Roper said her son has sought treatment at the Veterans Affairs hospital and Naval Medical Center San Diego. But he has stopped going to therapy appointments and taking his medication, she said.

Harrington enlisted in the Army in 2001 at age 19, was trained as a medic, and served several tours in Iraq, his mother said. For five years he has sought care at the VA and has been hospitalized in the mental ward, she said.
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Wounded Green Beret Meets Miracle Maker Who Saved His Life

US Veteran Reunites With the Soldier Who Saved His Life
ABC News
By SARAH KUNIN
GOOD MORNING AMERICA
Nov 11, 2014

"There was a higher power definitely that day that was looking out for us,” said Wanner, also a father of three.

Sean Clifton, left, and Mark Wanner served together in combat in Afghanistan.

Courtesy Sean Clifton and Mark Wanner

The friendship between U.S. Army Master Sgt. Sean Clifton and Sgt. First Class Mark Wanner is one born on the battlefield.

The pair, both members of the Green Berets, the elite division of the U.S. Army Special Forces, were with their troops in Afghanistan on May 31, 2009, when their lives would change forever.

"We targeted a Taliban commander,” Wanner recalled to ABC News’ Michael Strahan, who brought the two soldiers together this month in New York City to share their story.

“We knew that he was there that day and we rolled out and we ran into a hornet's nest, really,” Wanner, of South Dakota, said. “I round the corner. That's when Sean kicked the door and a guy point blank just took his AK and shot right up Sean.”

“And he's like, ‘Help. Help me.’ I'm like seeing his eyes are, like, just big…and then he collapsed down,” Wanner said.

Clifton was gravely wounded in the attack. He recalls thinking of his wife and three kids as he waited for help.

As Clifton lay bleeding and close to his last breath, Wanner, a medic, took charge. He dove through bullets to treat his friend’s wounds and convinced a medevac pilot to defy orders and land the helicopter inside the firefight.

It was then that Wanner and the medics discovered a miracle. A hidden bullet was lodged beneath Clifton’s armor, just millimeters away from what would have been a fatal shot.
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Could some of the wounded survive instead of die?

Are U.S. Soldiers Dying From Survivable Wounds?
Despite Advances in Care, the Military Failed to Save Some Troops in Iraq and Afghanistan From 'Potentially Survivable' Wounds
Wall Street Journal
By MICHAEL M. PHILLIPS
Sept. 19, 2014

In an unassuming building in suburban Washington, a team of military medical specialists spent six months poring over autopsies of 4,016 men and women who had died on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan.

They read reports from the morgue at Dover Air Force Base, where bodies arrived in flag-draped coffins. They examined toxicology reports. They winced at gruesome photos of bullet wounds and shredded limbs. In each case, the doctors pieced together the evidence to determine the exact cause of death.

Their conclusion would roil U.S. military medicine: Nearly a quarter of Americans killed in action over 10 years—almost 1,000 men and women—died of wounds they could potentially have survived. In nine out of 10 cases, troops bled to death from wounds that might have been stanched. In 8%, soldiers succumbed to airway damage that better care might have controlled. "Obviously one death or one bad outcome is too many, but there are a lot of them," said one of the researchers, John Holcomb, a former commander of the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research.

The findings appeared in the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery in 2012 to almost no public attention. But in military medical circles, they have fueled a behind-the-scenes controversy that rages to this day over whether American men and women are dying needlessly—and whether the Pentagon is doing enough to keep them alive.

Indeed, a new internal report concluded that the military still hasn't fully adopted battlefield aid techniques that could have kept many wounded men alive in Afghanistan. Some of those techniques have been used to great effect—often with little extra cost—by elite commando units, such as the Army Rangers, for more than a decade, say active-duty and retired military trauma specialists.
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Combat Medic-Afghanistan Veteran Gets Care from Home Depot Volunteers

Watch: Hundreds of volunteers renovate wounded veteran's damaged home
NJ.Com
By Justin Zaremba
September 12, 2014

HAMBURG — For George Alakpa, Sept. 11s have served as bookends to a harsh chapter in his life.

It was the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 that inspired him, a Nigerian immigrant, to join the U.S. Army. It was while serving as a medic in Afghanistan that he was severely injured and suffered a traumatic spinal cord injury when a roadside bomb exploded.

After returning from Afghanistan nearly two years ago, Alakpa, who also suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, hit a new low when he nearly lost his home in Hamburg. The sum of these events — including his isolation at the time — caused him to contemplate suicide, he said.
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Massachusetts National Guards Medical Unit Heading to Afghanistan

Family and friends of 182d Medical Company gather for send-off
Boston Globe
By Jennifer Smith
GLOBE CORRESPONDENT
SEPTEMBER 07, 2014

WENDY MAEDA/GLOBE STAFF Sergeant Justin George said goodbye to his daughter, Teagan, 15 months, and wife, Colby, following a deployment ceremony near the Old North Bridge Saturday.

The medical company is the oldest Medical Corps Unit in the United States Army, dating back to the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia in 1885.

CONCORD — In a few weeks, they will be binding wounds on the battlefields of Afghanistan and performing emergency surgeries in combat medical facilities. On a scorching Saturday morning, they gathered in uniform at the Old North Bridge in Concord to say goodbye to family and friends.

The 182d Medical Company, also known as the Witchdoctors, prepared for their deployment to Afghanistan with a ceremony in Minute Man National Park.

For half of these men and women, it will be their first tour overseas, Major General Scott Rice said.

Eighteen service members and their well-wishers assembled under the two trees near the Old North Bridge. They enjoyed the shade in a day otherwise so hot and humid that volunteers handed out camouflage-patterned “official bandanas” to wipe away the sweat.

Neat rows of chairs were filled with loved ones saying goodbye to the soldiers before their training in Fort Hood, Texas, and later deployment to Afghanistan.
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Vietnam Veteran Medic "selflessness extended beyond battlefield"

Veteran killed in Revere fire
Man, 64, was medic in Vietnam, friend says
Boston Globe
By Zachary T. Sampson
GLOBE CORRESPONDENT
AUGUST 10, 2014

REVERE — Arthur Fitzmeyer had already checked in with his roommate, George, and settled into bed Saturday night when he smelled the smoke.

He jumped up and began to yell for his friend but got no answer. Soon, he could barely breathe as acrid smoke filled the room.

“I just kept calling on his name, and then the smoke just drove me out,” Fitzmeyer said Sunday afternoon, his eyes damp with tears.

George Maddox, 64, had taken Fitzmeyer in a decade ago after Fitzmeyer’s wife died. And Maddox had stayed with him through a difficult recovery from a brain aneurysm about five years after that.

Neighbors knew the two veterans, Georgie and Artie, were always together, both well-mannered and affable.

But as the fire roared, Fitzmeyer could not find Maddox.

Authorities said a 64-year-old man died in the fire Saturday night at 190 Campbell Ave., but they did not identify him. Fitzmeyer and neighbors said it was Maddox, a medic in the Vietnam War whose selflessness extended well beyond the battlefront.

When Fitzmeyer’s wife died, he said, he planned to move to a homeless shelter for veterans, but Maddox intervened.

“George said the hell with you, you’re coming with me,” Fitzmeyer said.

Maddox was a medic in Vietnam and received multiple medals for his service, according to his roommate.

“He’s seen more carnage in one day than a person would see in a lifetime,” Fitzmeyer said.

About five years ago, when Fitzmeyer had a brain aneurysm and doctors operated, Maddox was there to help with the healing.

“He taught me how to pronounce my words and read and everything,” Fitzmeyer said.
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Fierce love of combat PTSD in veterans

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
July 19, 2014

U.S. flight medic, Sgt. Billy Raines from CCO., 1-214 AVN Medevac task force Destiny, treats a wounded Afghan Army soldier NBC News

Page by Jonathon M. Seidl - The Fear I Have Never Lost: Meet the Brave U.S. Army Medics in Afghanistan. U.S. Army flight medic SGT Jaime Adame, top, cares for seriously wounded Marine. The Blaze

Flight medic Sgt. Cole Reece checks the vital signs of a wounded Afghan boy before transporting him to the hospital at Kandahar Air Field on Oct. 10, 2010. Huffington Post

Pfc. Kevin Macari, who lost his leg to a landmine explosion in the Arghandab District of Kandahar, Afghanistan, looks at a photo of his fiancée while being evacuated in a U.S. Army medevac helicopter, Sept. 28, 2010. Macari asked photojournalist Louie Palu to hold his hand during the helicopter ride. “It was a hard day,” said Palu. NBC

Iraq, Qubah, soldiers shielding wounded comrade from debris U.S. soldiers shield a wounded comrade Qubah, Iraq, March 24, 2007 -- U.S. soldiers shield a wounded comrade from debris kicked up by a rescue helicopter descending on Qubah. Fighting between U.S. forces and insurgents erupted in the village at dawn, when U.S. troops stormed the city and began house-to-house searches for guerilla fighters. Two U.S. troops were wounded in the clashes. Sixteen suspected insurgents were killed.

Part of this coordination is dependent on the location of the field hospital, these teams transport via vehicles or airlift or both. Equestrian Outreach Veterans Day

According to King James Bible online there are 53 times "fierce" appears in the Bible. The word is used to describe anger and wrath. Merriam Webster defines fierce as, ": very violent : eager to fight or kill : having or showing a lot of strong emotion : very strong or intense" and it is the last definition used we seem to have a hard time of understanding when it comes to our military of today and veterans after their combat has ended.

It is a fierce love that causes them to put their lives on the line for the sake of someone else. When we forget that, it is impossible to remind them of the one thing that will heal them.

Forget what the DOD said about resilience. They never really understood what the term meant in the first place. Resilience is something every single member of the military had from the start. It was in them when they joined while knowing signing up could cost them their lives. It was already in them the day they deployed. Part of them that allowed them to push past all the pain they were carrying inside of their bodies because their buddies were in danger. Driving them on until they returned and the same resilience that allowed them to bury that pain for days, weeks, months and often years. It was not something the DOD could train them to have because it was already there.

When the DOD told them they could train to be "resilient" and "mentally tough" to them it meant if they or anyone else ended up with PTSD, they were weak and it was their fault. Who the hell wants to admit they need help after getting that message? They were already tough and battle tested.

Many Medal of Honor heroes have talked openly about their own issues with PTSD and even attempted suicide. Dakota Meyer tried to kill himself because he didn't want to become a burden to this family. When extraordinary heroes earn the Medal of Honor, it was not hate that compelled them to put other lives ahead of their own. It was the love they had within them for others.

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

It is that same unselfish fierce depth of their love that causes them to feel so much pain but no one explained that to them. No one told them that it was because they were so strong, they fell so hard.

They need to remember why they joined, why they fought and who they really fought for because in the end, they did if for each other.

Veteran works to get homeless off streets because he was one of them

Former homeless veteran now helps others who struggle with the same issues he did
WKOW ABC News
By Gordon Severson
Posted: Jul 14, 2014

MADISON (WKOW)-- After years of conflict, the situations in the Middle East are starting to wind down as thousands of service men and women are sent back home. Veteran support specialists say an increasing number of vets returning home find themselves homeless and unemployed.

"They're coming back to not having a job and they're hitting homelessness much quicker than ever before," Veteran Affairs Homeless Program Coordinator Marybeth Urbin says. "We're seeing current vets and also vets from the Vietnam era. Both need a lot of help."

The problems veterans face are difficult for many to understand. Often times these vets are neglected by family members and friends who can't relate to the stresses and fears of military service. That's where workers like Matt Heldman come in.

"I was homeless for six years and unemployed for ten," Heldman explains. "Now I'm helping vets that have been homeless and I understand them. I get them."

Heldman has experienced these struggles firsthand. He served as an Air Force medic for four years. His unit was trained to provide medical aid to soldiers on the front lines. The training was brutal, as personnel simulated real life scenarios in order to prep Heldman and his unit for battle.

Once his service was complete Heldman returned home to his family, but just as he was starting to get used to civilian life, he was put on standby for Desert Storm.

"It was so nerve-wracking. I literally shook the whole week I was waiting to be sent out. At the last minute they decided they didn't need another unit so we stayed home," Heldman says.

For years, Heldman suppressed his emotions and fears until it blew up inside him, costing him his house, his family, his entire way of life.

"I have medication. I have tools that I've learned to help cope with all of that, but I still struggle with it. It's still an ongoing issue."
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Iraq Veteran Gets Special Graduation Ceremony

Army vet, after missing graduation because of mysterious illness, gets special ceremony Friday
Sedeño completed his master's degree in secondary education
Lubbock Avalanche Journal
By Karen Michael
A-J MEDIA
Posted: June 13, 2014

With Texas Tech President Duane Nellis, Jeremy Sedeño and Tech Regent John D. Steinmetz beaming for cameras, the degree transfer was quickly completed.

An Army veteran who earned two Bronze Stars while serving two tours of duty in Iraq was honored in a small graduation ceremony at Texas Tech on Friday afternoon after being too sick to attend graduation in May.

Jeremy Sedeño returned to Lubbock after serving in the U.S. Army as a medic to finish his education at Texas Tech.

He worked to complete his master’s degree in secondary education after obtaining a bachelor’s degree in history.

About a week and a half before his graduation, he became ill with flu and was admitted to the hospital, where doctors found nodules on both sides of his lungs. Four days before graduation, he had a lung biopsy, with doctors going into his body through his back and ribs to take a piece of his infected lung.

In the time since graduation, Sedeño has traveled to the Mayo Clinic to find out what is wrong with him, but he still has no conclusive answers. Some doctors have speculated he could have come into contact with something toxic during his service in Iraq.
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Suicide claimed life of son before Mother's Day

Veteran’s suicide reveals toll of hidden scars
Associated Press
By LAURA LANE
Saturday, May 10, 2014

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) - Jacob Hutchinson wore the physical wounds of war. Jagged scars from an improvised explosive device that nearly tore off his lower legs. Precision-cut lines from more than 20 surgeries to repair the damage.

But it was the emotional toll from serving as a combat medic in Afghanistan that likely caused the 24-year-old National Guard veteran and Purple Heart recipient to kill himself on April 22 inside the Bloomington house a military organization had donated to him.

“Those wounds that he had were easy to see on the outside,” Sela Gonlubol told The Herald-Times (http://bit.ly/1fUTLJa ). “But his personality was larger than life, and that made the wounds on the inside harder to see.”

Her last contact with Hutchinson was a text message asking if he still planned to visit her on Mother’s Day. “Yes, ma’am,” he replied.

Hutchinson graduated early from high school, enrolled in community college classes in Cedar Rapids, then joined the National Guard in 2008. He was the first in his family to enter military service. His mother said he found his place. “He had a purpose, a passion in his life,” she said.

When members of his National Guard unit were scheduled for a stint in Afghanistan in 2010, Hutchinson was sent to San Antonio for medical training before being deployed. Military photographs taken at Fort Irwin near Barstow, California, in September 2010 show Hutchinson on his cot reading a book and also sitting on the floor with another soldier, looking at pictures on a cellphone as they awaited departure.

On May 21, 2011, the National Guard released another photo of Hutchinson. He was in a hospital bed in Germany, just three days after the explosion, receiving the Purple Heart medal that’s awarded on behalf of the president of the United States to soldiers injured or killed in the line of duty.

Four soldiers from the Iowa-based National Guard unit were injured when the 120-pound bomb blew up. Hutchinson had been scheduled to return home just nine days later.
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