Travis Mills, finalist for Congressional Medal of Honor Society’s Citizen Honor Award

Travis Mills of Maine a finalist for national award honoring courage and sacrifice

Press Herald
STAFF REPORT
March 7, 2019

Mills, a combat-wounded veteran and quadruple amputee, established a foundation and opened a retreat center for veterans in Maine.

Travis Mills has been selected as a finalist for the Congressional Medal of Honor Society’s Citizen Honor Award, according to 1st District U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree of Maine.

Pingree in a statement Thursday said that Mills was one of 20 finalists for the award. Four citizens will be selected to receive the citizens’ honor from living Medal of Honor recipients.

Retired Army Staff Sgt. Travis Mills. Photo by Elise Klysa

“To be selected as a finalist for this national award is a great honor in itself and a fitting one for a veteran who has inspired so many,” Pingree said. 

“Travis Mills’ hard-fought physical recovery after being critically injured by an IED in Afghanistan demonstrates a resilience and inner strength we can learn from.”
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Iraq veteran shown lots of love....and horsepower!

Central Florida veterans gave wounded veteran extra horsepower!

Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
March 10, 2019

Today at the Horsepower Ranch, several veterans groups got onto their motorcycles...(horses would take too long) and helped Patrick Wickens, who lost his leg in Iraq...but has not lost his love of riding...a motorcycle, gain a huge smile!

Marine veteran inspiring fundraising for Gary Sinise Foundation

The Entrepreneur Who Died 3 Times, Became Homeless And Outran His Destiny

FORBES
Dan Murray-Serter
Contributor
Entrepreneurs
March 3, 2019

"So, what next?" I asked the ex-marine. "I will break the current Guinness’ Book of World Records for the 'fastest marathon completed while carrying a 100 pound pack' in less than 6 1.5 hours. To do so I need to complete 1,100 Miles with 100lbs on my back but aim to raise $1,000,000. Proceeds will go to the Gary Sinise Foundation later this year", he replies determinedly.

Giving Arnie A Run For His MoneyTSHANE JOHNSON

For most, the lowest point in your life would arguably be when you had a near fatal accident robbing you of your career, dreams and use of your legs. In TShane's case, when your life has had many flavors of lows, there's a wide array to pick from.

"There I was, freezing in 20 degree weather at a bus stop, homeless, and watching other homeless people fighting over a six pack of beer". That was the turning point for TShane Johnson, an entrepreneur who'd hit rock bottom.

After realizing he was only one or two decisions away from being in that exact spot - the only thing keeping him from it was the good fortune that he didn't drink.

A far cry from that bus stop, TShane now spends his time running across America raising money for veterans, sharing his inspiring story of determination to prove nothing is impossible.

A Marine With A Stolen Dream

Before he was an entrepreneur, TShane joined the Marine Corps in 1998. "It was my lifelong ambition to become a bodybuilder like Arnold Schwarzenegger" he tells me. So even as a Marine, he did regular personal training sessions and spent extra hours in the gym building up the specific physique required to compete. Given his lifestyle, he was in peak mental and physical shape when his whole life changed.
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Wounded Marine fought to stay alive...then stay in

SC veteran suffered severe hand wound in Iraq combat. He fought back.

Post and Courier
Bo Petersen
March 3, 2019

Bowen underwent more surgeries — it would eventually total more than 15. Medical staff would tell him after that while he was under general anesthesia they sometimes struggled to hold him down as he thrashed and yelled, “incoming.”

He stayed on the roof firing his machine gun for one mortar round too long. That’s how Dustin Bowen thinks of it.

The 22-year-old Marine lance corporal was under heavy attack in Ramadi, Iraq, in 2006, at a time when the city was ground zero for some of the fiercest combat in the second Iraq war. He remembers the blast. A fellow Marine told him he was blown off the roof and sat on the ground like he didn’t know how to get up.

He was pulled to cover and kept fighting until the unit could be reinforced, kept fighting despite some pain in his leg and his shoulder and the screaming agony in his hand.

For the next 10 years the agony in the hand wouldn’t ever go away.

They did field surgery on the hand, braced and wrapped it, knew it wasn’t fixed. Command “persuaded” him, he said wryly, not to evacuate. He took a thumb tack, snipped off the pin with a wire clipper. He embedded the pin in his numb shooting finger and lightly wrapped it before each sortie. It was the only way he could tell whether he was pulling the trigger.
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Is your VA closing too?

Large-scale closures of VA facilities could be coming sooner than expected. Here’s why.

Military Times
By: Leo Shane III
February 27, 2019

WASHINGTON — Veterans Affairs’ version of a base closing round could start years ahead of schedule, department officials told Congress on Wednesday.

Veterans wait for their rides following treatment at the Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Medical Center in Seattle in March 2015. VA officials on Wednesday said an asset review set for 2022 could be moved up, to better gauge where medical facilities are needed. (Elaine Thompson/AP)

Under the VA Mission Act signed into law last year, the president is authorized to appoint an Asset and Infrastructure Review Commission for the department in 2022. To inform the group’s work, VA officials were given three years to perform regional market assessments across the country to determine areas where there were medical facility shortages, gluts and other challenges.

On Wednesday, VA Secretary Robert Wilkie said those assessments were delayed slightly late last year but could still be finished in the next 12 months. If so, that could create a problematic gap between collecting that information and starting evaluations in 2022.

“We’ll come back to you this summer and give you an assessment of where things are,” he said. “If we can, to meet the expectations of this committee and the changing need of veterans, we’re going to come to Congress and ask to move that timeline up.”

The idea of a base-closing-style round for VA has been controversial for many advocates, including lawmakers who could see major hospitals in their districts closed due to dwindling patient numbers.
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West Palm Beach VA Doctor Shot by Double Amputee

UPDATE

'Heroic' doctor subdues gunman at veterans hospital, authorities say

The gunman was identified as 59-year-old Larry Ray Bon.
ABC NEWS
By Morgan Winsor
February 28, 2019

A doctor is being hailed a hero for stopping a patient who opened fire in the emergency room of a veterans hospital in South Florida on Wednesday night.

The patient, a double-amputee, came to the West Palm Beach VA Medical Center in Riviera Beach for treatment but became combative with staff members and was taken to the emergency room. He pulled out a small handgun from his electric wheelchair and started firing as he was about to undergo a mental health evaluation around 6:20 p.m. local time.

The doctor was shot in the neck, and another hospital employee was grazed by a bullet, according to Justin Fleck, assistant special agent in charge at the FBI's Miami field office.

The wounded doctor, whom Fleck called "very brave," was able to jump on the patient in between fired rounds and disarm him before more shots were fired.

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Doctor shot at VA hospital in West Palm Beach, Florida

STARS AND STRIPES
By NIKKI WENTLING
Published: February 27, 2019

WASHINGTON – An employee was shot Wednesday evening at the Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in West Palm Beach, Fla., the VA confirmed.

An emergency room doctor was shot in the neck by a double amputee in a wheelchair, according to local news station CBS12. A hospital tech was in the restroom with the shooter and saw him loading a weapon, the report said. When the tech went to seek help, the shooter came out of the restroom firing.

The VA Sunshine Healthcare Network confirmed in a statement that one VA employee was shot at about 6:20 p.m. The employee was taken to another hospital and was in stable condition Wednesday night.
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WWI veteran finally received Purple Heart

Troubled hero gets his heart: After 100-year wait, WWI veteran awarded posthumous Purple Heart

Livingston County News
By MATT LEADER
FEBRUARY 24, 2019

Martin Jacobson survived the suffocating clouds of mustard gas that blistered soldiers’ skin and lungs alike; he survived the German bullet that tore through his leg as he sought refuge in a corpse-filled foxhole; and he survived the exploding artillery shell that sent 16 pieces of burning hot shrapnel to lodge in his 24-year-old body.

Jacobson survived the horrors of World War I; made it back home; got married; started a family. But the trauma of his service stayed with him and, more than a decade after his medical discharge, it caught up with him in an upstairs bedroom of his Painted Post home.

The afternoon of Jan. 22, 1929, Jacobson put a shotgun to his chest and pulled the trigger. He was 34s year old and left behind a wife, Leona, and a 15-month-old daughter, Barbara Louise.

Jacobson left no note, but his poor physical and mental condition almost certainly led to his suicide.
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Triple Amputee Brian Kolfage TSA Full Pat Down? Seriously?

Purple Heart triple-amputee veteran Brian Kolfage subjected to full pat down at Tucson International Airport

Daily Mail
Stephanie Haney
February 10, 2019

Florida Purple Heart veteran Brian Kolfage, 37, was subjected to an 'invasive' pat down by TSA agents
A concerned fellow traveler filmed the incident on Saturday in Tuscon, Arizona
'They groped and searched under his hips and buttocks, his groin and his half arm searching for what?'
YouTube users James Hoft said in the video caption
According to his website, Kolfage was severely wounded in a 2004 rocket attack at an Iraq air base, losing both legs and one arm and now has prosthetics
Kolfage, from Florida, was in the Tuscon area for a rally about building a border wall through crowdfunding
Kolfage raised more than $20 million through GoFundMe since December to support his effort, but fell short of his $1 billion goal triggering refunds to patrons
Now those who donated have the option to forward their support to a non-profit

The Florida triple-amputee veteran who garnered more than $20 million online to help build a wall along the southern US border was filmed being thoroughly searched by Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents in Tuscon, Arizona.

A concerned fellow traveler filmed Purple Heart recipient Brian Kolfage, 37, being subjected to an 'invasive TSA pat down' on Saturday morning at Tuscon International Airport, following a 'We Build The Wall' rally in Sahuarita, which took place on Friday.

'They groped and searched under his hips and buttocks, his groin and his half arm searching for what?' YouTube user 'james hoft' wrote in the caption with the video, uploaded on Saturday.

'Brian is an Afghanistan War veteran. They also swabbed his prosthetic legs and wheelchair for explosives.'
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Triple Amputee wants to host Oscars

Local Army veteran hopes to host the Oscars

#AdamForTheOscars read story here

It is not OK for the VA to behave this way!

Veteran caregiver program cut by 80 percent this year in Tennessee

Nashville Tennessean
Yihyun Jeong
Dec. 21, 2018

The cuts are happening at VA medical centers across the country at a time when the program is supposed to be growing. Congress approved a major expansion with the Mission Act in May. But the VA missed its deadline in October to implement new technology.

The VA cut Master Sergeant Timothy Goad and his wife, Sarah Goad, from its caregiver program this year, citing that she was doing her "spousal duty." (Photo: Goad Family)

Master Sgt. Timothy Goad was on patrol in Iraq in an armored vehicle when it was struck by an IED blast in 2005.

The incident left him with a traumatic brain injury, 60 percent hearing loss and a vision disorder that makes his eyes unable to align properly.

Then just two months later, while on another patrol — 27 hours in — the Humvee in front of him was blown up by another improvised explosive device.

When Goad ran up to help, he found one soldier with a hand nearly taken off and another with a gaping wound to the abdomen.

There was a giant hole where the door had been and nothing else.

Goad went back to base where he had to tell the soldier’s twin brother he had died.

"He has survivor's guilt," his wife Sarah Goad said in an interview with USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee. "This is something major that he's had to deal with, wondering why he's still here."
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And yet, on the same day this was reported by Military.com

VA Suspends All Discharges from Caregiver Program

Military.com
By Patricia Kime
21 Dec 2018

A VA Office of Inspector General investigation into the program uncovered poor management oversight that resulted in the Veterans Health Administration paying $4.8 million to caregivers of veterans who weren't eligible for the program.

The Department of Veterans Affairs on Friday announced it would temporarily stop discharging veterans from a program that provides compensation and benefits to family members who take care of them.

In a release announcing the suspension of discharges from the Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers program, the VA said it was halting dismissals because of "continued concerns expressed by veterans, caregivers and advocates about inconsistent application of eligibility requirements by VA medical centers" of the program.
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Veterans kept their promise when they served their time with their lives on the line. Why would the VA think it was OK to behave this way because the veteran ended up disabled in the process of serving their end of the deal?

Someone robbed from future home of amputee veteran

Thieves steal materials from disabled veteran's future home

KIRO 7 News 
By: Shelby Miller 
Nov 28, 2018 

“I lost both of my limbs, obviously. Both of my ear drums blew out, my left eardrum was 100 percent, my right eardrum was 25 percent. The blast threw me back,” he said. “It gave me a traumatic brain injury because I hit my head so hard and it also gave me two bulging discs in my lower spine,” said Sawyer. Since then, the retired army veteran has overcome the unthinkable. Now, he has to deal with even more. 

Thieves in Maytown, Thurston County, stole more than $5,000 worth of building materials from the construction site of a disabled veteran’s future home. 

“When you feel like you’re not really worthy of a home in the first place and then you come out here and you find somebody’s broken into a box and stolen a bunch of materials, you know, from your project that have been donated for free - that just makes me feel even worse,” said Sgt. Jereme Sawyer.

The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office said the theft happened at 4022 150th Ave. SW.

Those who’d like to help can donate to Homes For Our Troops. Anyone with information is asked to call the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office at 360-704-2740. read more here

New firefighter has a leg to stand on...really!

Disabled veteran graduates fire academy

NBC News
November 19, 2018

(KING) An injured veteran in Washington continued his tradition of serving others with an important graduation ceremony Saturday.

Retired Air Force Tech Sgt. Daniel Fye was serving his fourth tour of duty in Afghanistan in 2011, when he stepped on an IED.

He lost his left leg below the knee, and fought for months of surgery to keep his right leg.

Within two years, he was able to walk without any help.

Today, he's achieved his lifelong dream of becoming a firefighter, after graduating with honors from the South Sound Fire Academy.
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Double amputee faces charges, but who else should too?

Understand that this is a double amputee, who was not diagnosed with PTSD, or treated for it. If a double amputee does not understand PTSD enough to know that trauma is the cause of it, then what the hell as the military been doing all these years on the "education" end of the deal?

Army combat veteran says shooting incident 'was never about the Xbox'

Knoxville News Sentinel
Hayes Hickman
Nov. 11, 2018

"I want people to know," Jones said, "if they need help, get help."

Casey Jones (Photo: submitted)

After reaching for a handgun in a moment of crisis, Army combat veteran Casey Jones says he decided instead to empty the pistol's clip into his bedroom ceiling in a desperate bid to save himself from his demons.

Jones, 30, fired every round from a second loaded weapon into the surrounding walls after that. One of those bullets went through a window and lodged behind the shutter of his North Knox County neighbors' home across the street. Thankfully, no one was hurt.

"In my mind, I was trying to get rid of those rounds before one ended up in my head," Jones told the USA TODAY NETWORK-Tennessee. "But I never wanted to hurt anyone."

The episode led to his arrest in the early hours of Wednesday. The Purple Heart recipient now faces four felony counts of reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon.

According to arrest warrants, Jones and his wife told responding sheriff's deputies he snapped while playing video games on his Xbox.

"But that wasn't the reason for it — it was never about the Xbox," he said. "It was just one of those nights."

'Whatever it takes to make this right'

Jones has never formally been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, although he reluctantly is beginning to recognize his struggles. Wednesday's incident wasn't the first time Jones has put a gun to his head, he confessed.

He hopes, however, that this time was the turning point.

Jones, not his wife, called E-911 that night. And in the days after his release from jail, he contacted a counselor through the local Veterans Affairs office.
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Ret. Army Sergeant Major without legs competes with Marines

Army Ranger who lost both legs in Afghanistan inspires runners at Marine Corps Marathon

WJLA 7 News
Victoria Sanchez
October 26, 2018

“When you lose something that you’ve always been with, you feel like, ‘Alright, maybe I’m a little bit less. Maybe I’m not as important.’ I found out by making other people feel better and engaging with other people, it kind of took the place of my legs, you know?” said King.

Cedric King (Victoria Sanchez ABC7)

WASHINGTON (ABC7) — The Marine Corps Marathon will host 30,000 people from 64 counties Sunday morning. One of those participants is already inspiring others before the race starts.

Cedric King always has time to talk. Even when the former Army Sergeant Major is gearing up for this weekend’s 10K at the Marine Corps Marathon.

“What’s going on, man? You’ll be out there?” said King to a man walking near the U.S. Marine Corps Memorial.

“Absolutely.”

“Alright. Good deal, man.”
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Veteran with PTSD overcome by flyover during Invictus and comforted

Tears of a hero: The heartwarming moment Invictus competitors comfort a veteran whose PTSD was triggered by a helicopter flying overhead

Daily Mail Australia

Mark Brook

October 23, 2018

• A heartwarming moment at the 2018 Invictus Games in Sydney has left spectators in tears
• Paul Guest, who suffers from PTSD became visibly upset during his wheelchair tennis match on Monday 
• The 54-year-old Navy serviceman was frightened by a helicopter flying overhead and became upset 
• Guest, who was comforted by his Dutch teammate Edwin Vermetten, was injured serving in Northern Ireland

Paul Guest (left) was so overcome with emotion he was unable to play and needed to be comforted by Dutch teammate Edwin Vermetten (right), who realised he was suffering

The touching moment an Invictus Games competitor comforted a fellow veteran suffering from PTSD has left spectators in tears.

British mine warfare specialist Paul Guest was visibly shaken when a helicopter flew by during his wheelchair tennis doubles match at Sydney Olympic Park on Monday.

The 54-year-old, who was injured serving during The Troubles in Northern Ireland, was so overcome with emotion he was unable to play and needed to be comforted by Dutch teammate Edwin Vermetten, who realised he was suffering.

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Wounded Iraq Veteran Death Video Shot By Laughing Deputies

Sheriff’s deputies laughed at and filmed Army veteran as he died in a jail cell
Military Times
By: Kyle Rempfer
1 hour ago

The veteran, 31-year-old Bryan Perry, served in the Iraq War, was honorably discharged and received a Purple Heart, his lawyer told local media outlets. Perry’s family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Clackamas County.

An Oregon county sheriff’s office has condemned the actions of three of its deputies who filmed and laughed at an Army veteran as he died of a drug overdose in a padded jail cell.

The veteran, 31-year-old Bryan Perry, served in the Iraq War, was honorably discharged and received a Purple Heart, his lawyer told local media outlets. Perry’s family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Clackamas County.

Two videos were filmed on the deputies’ cell phones in November 2016. In them, viewers can hear the jailers laughing at a man as he flails around in agony.

“We should go show this to his girlfriend and be like, ‘You love this?’ ” one of the deputies said on the recording.

Perry and his girlfriend were arrested together. Prior to the girlfriend being escorted to a separate holding tank for women, she yelled, “I love you, Bryan.”
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The Oregonian
Published on Oct 4, 2018
Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts released video that shows employees making callous comments, now the subject of a federal lawsuit, about an inmate suffering symptoms of drug use. The sheriff condemned the laughter and comments as "inappropriate" and said they "do not conform to our professional standards."

Kirstie Ennis Continues to Inspire Through Challenges

Veteran and amputee inspires with each death-defying climb
USA Today
Sheeka Sanahori, Militarykind Oct. 3, 2018

"The main thing that saved me, saved me from myself, really was my dad telling me, 'You've got to be shittin' me. The enemy couldn't kill you, and you're going to do it for them?'"

Kirstie Ennis is on a mission to become the first female amputee to climb the highest peaks on every continent. She's well on her way to accomplishing her latest mission.

"It reminds you of your resiliency, it reminds you of your independence, it's a fight," Ennis said. "Quite literally an uphill battle and I love it."

Ennis is used to tough battles. She joined the U.S. Marine Corp when she was 17, following in the footsteps of both of her parents.

She was deployed to Afghanistan twice. During her second deployment, a helicopter crash changed her life.

"I lost my entire jaw, my teeth, especially on the right side. And then I just screamed. I screamed mostly out of shock, not pain," she said. "One of the Army medics that we picked up got in my face and told me not to close my eyes again because I wouldn't open them and then everything went black."

Ennis raises money for non-profits from her climbs and from modeling. She was the first amputee to pose for a fundraiser calendar for the nonprofit organization called Pin-ups for Vets, which raises money to help hospitalized veterans and deployed troops.
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