Chairman Takano Congress is doing too much of the wrong things on suicide prevention

Congress is not doing enough to prevent suicides tied to military

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
September 2, 2019

Chairman Takano,
Your video is far from what is necessary to prevent suicides among citizens who served in the military and are currently serving. The rates prove that. They have gone up since the "suicide awareness" efforts began over a decade ago.

How much time do you think Congress should get before before the families show up in Washington or at your offices in your districts?

Suicide Prevention actually means they are being prevented...not simply passing bills that pretend to be any different from the ones that have already been written and funded by all other sessions of Congress before your Chairmanship.

What is not clear is why there has been so little effort in finding out what all of you have gotten wrong before it is all repeated.

What is not clear is why no one has been held accountable for any of it. Not the military when their suicide rates are at an all time high. Not the VA when more veterans are doing their own suicide awareness by committing suicide on VA property. No one, including members of Congress have ever apologized to the families left behind by for this complete total catastrophe.

There are people at the VA who do know what works and why it works, but Congress will not listen to them. There are people in the military who do know what works and why it works, but again, no one listens to them.

Why? Because what works does not cost as much as the drugs being given. It does not cost as much as paying for private mental healthcare providers who do not even begin to understand military culture. Oh, not that their track record was any better in the civilian community they used to serve, since according to the CDC civilian suicides have gone up every year too.

Stop doing too much of the wrong things and calling it suicide prevention, since results prove you wrong. Given the fact that we have had enough evidence of the rise, we also know about the calls to the Suicide Prevention Hotline going up, more calls to 911 and veterans facing off with police officers. It is futile to continue with all that is being redone now, to have results like these.

So please, stop what you are doing long enough to actually listen to different voices. Listen to those who have been out there doing the work that does actually prevent suicides, prevents families from falling apart, prevents veterans from becoming homeless and above all, from losing hope.

Veterans already know how to die. They need to be made aware of reasons to live!

CHAIRMAN TAKANO: VA SHOULD MARK NATIONAL SUICIDE PREVENTION AWARENESS MONTH WITH A NATION-WIDE STAND-DOWN WASHINGTON, DC –

Today, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Mark Takano (D-Calif.) released the following Video Statement to mark the beginning of National Suicide Prevention Awareness month and reiterate his Call For A VA Wide Stand-Down to address the crisis of veteran suicide.
VA stand down
Full text of the Video Statement below:

I am Congressman Mark Takano, Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.

Today marks the beginning of National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month-- and with 20 veterans, servicemembers, reservists, and members of the National Guard dying by suicide a day, it’s clear we have a national public health crisis on our hands.

In April, following 3 suicides on VA property in 5 days, I directed this Committee to work in a bipartisan manner to address the national crisis of veteran suicide and made it this Committee’s top priority.

We acted immediately and since then have held hearings, and passed 5 bills to address this crisis.

And yet, with each suicide, it becomes more clear our country is not doing enough. We need new solutions. That’s why I’ve called on VA to institute an immediate nation-wide stand-down to address this crisis.

Over the next 15 days, I’m asking VA to:

(1) Ensure all VA staff are fully trained
(2) Assess facility infrastructure
And
(3) Identify gaps in policies, procedures, and resources
We cannot keep delaying action. Americans must know that key policies are already in place, that VA will enforce them, and trust that senior VA leadership will be held accountable.

Until VA has a top suicide prevention official in place to implement these programs, veterans can’t have confidence in VA’s ability to care for them in a crisis. While Americans should take this month to have real conversations about suicide across this country, I’m asking VA to do more than talk. I’m asking them to back up their policies with clear, concise actions.

If you or a veteran you know is in crisis, you can call the Veterans Crisis Line at 1(800) 273-8255 and press 1, or text 838-255.

We must do more to “be there” for our veterans in crisis.
###
Press Contact
Jenni Geurink (202-225-9756)

Miguel R. Salazar

What do you want to leave behind when you die?

What do you want to leave behind?

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
September 1, 2019

With all the talk about veterans committing suicide, there doesn't seem to be enough time to talk about reasons to not do it. 

Doing whatever I can to get to the day when the stigma of PTSD is dead and more of you are still alive. Lately I find myself losing hope that one day it will happen. 

I search the internet for hours, looking for that one glimmer of hope from the people in charge to finally come to the conclusion that what they are doing has done more harm than good.

I end up finding more stories about more veterans committing suicide in state after state and what they leave behind is a burden no family should ever have to carry. Especially a family who prayed for you to return to them and be safe.

What do you want to leave behind when you die?

"What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others." Pericles

Most of the time, survivors of attempted suicide say they did not want to be a burden to their families anymore. They were tired of seeing them so sad.

When all they heard about were other veterans giving up, they lost hope to find another way out of the misery they had been living with.

The thing is, when they lived to fight another day, they discovered that nothing was a hopeless as they thought it was.

What happens after you decide to leave, is something that you should think about.

Your body is found by someone. Most of the time it is a family member or friend. That image will never go away and you have changed them for the rest of their lives. The "burden" you thought you were going to spare them of, has just been put on them for a lifetime. The questions never end because you are not there to answer them.

Your body could be found by a Police Officer, firefighter or EMT. Again, that image never leaves them. Most of the time, that person, who would have done everything possible to save your life, including sacrificing their own, happen to also be a veteran. Yet again, your death just changed them for a lifetime as well.

People who knew you, or read about your death, will think about the thoughts they had about you before, and then wonder, if you gave up, maybe they should too.

If you doubt that one, suicide is actually contagious. Ask a survivor.

What if your attempt fails and you end up paralyzed, or your brain stops functioning? What you thought was a bad quality of life was bad enough, you just made it worse.

Flip that all around and then wonder what it would be like if you fought like hell to heal the same way you fought like hell to fight the enemy in combat. You are looking for an end to your misery in the wrong place.

The place you need to look at is within. All the qualities you had are still there. You just need help to heal PTSD and then you will stop being a burden to your family and start being a blessing to them.

When you give up on yourself, you just told all the people who care about you that you gave up on them too.

"What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others." Pericles

You wanted to stay alive back then...so why give up now?

#BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife

If veterans are "Still Reluctant To Seek Help" time to change help you are offering

Can we finally drop the BS of "suicide awareness" so we can start raising "healing awareness?"

Every time I read about the rate of suicides going up after all the "awareness" efforts stated, I have to decide between crying, screaming or hitting something. For the last 37 years I have known what to do for two reasons. The first is that other people became experts on PTSD long before I heard the term. The second reason is that learning all I can about it was a matter of life or death because it involved my family.

All these years later, what people are settling for makes me sick to my stomach! Suicide is a serious thing and requires serious efforts to be support, not avoided because it is harder than pulling stunts and showing off. Saving lives is personal involvement and a full knowledge of everything involved in it.

Are you willing to make a difference for them, or are you in this for yourself? Take a good, hard, honest look at yourself. If you really care about them, contact me so you will know what has to be done. 407-754-7526 or email woundedtimes@aol.com

All calls are confidential, so you can ask any question you want. Maybe then we can prevent more headlines like this one.

Veterans And Active-Duty Service Members Make Up 20% Of All Suicides In Colorado, But They’re Still Reluctant To Seek Help

Colorado Public Radio
By Hayley Sanchez
August 30, 2019

Nearly 200 Colorado veterans kill themselves every year, according to the report. The number of veteran suicides in the state has been increasing since 2004. It went from 44 suicides per 100,000 that year to 52 by 2017.

David Zalubowski/Associated Press The exterior of the Veterans Affairs Department hospital is shown in east Denver.

Colorado’s suicide rate is already one of the highest in the country, and research shows veterans are even more likely to die by suicide than non-veterans in the state.

“The deaths by suicide from 2004 to 2017 in Colorado, there were about 13,000 of them, which is a mind-boggling statistic. Nearly 2,600 of them were veterans or active duty service members,” said Karam Ahmad, a policy analyst with the institute, who also wrote the report for Colorado Health Institute.

“Suicide is a major public health problem nationally. Here in Colorado, it’s a major public health problem. We ranked 10th worst in the country,” Ahmad said.
read it here

POTUS drained swamp of intelligent life

Veterans are paying attention 

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
August 24, 2019

The President drained the swamp, like he said he would. He did not warn us he meant he would drain it of intelligent life!

Most of us are turning off the TV whenever President Trump makes another stump speech, or attempts to hit and run the country with Tweets. The problem with that is, if we are not paying attention, we're going to wake up one day and discover that there are no longer any more veterans in the country. They will be called something else to avoid any connection to the sickening way they have been treated since the Revolutionary War.

If you do not know the history of betraying they have endured, begin with the mutiny in Pennsylvania.

So far, we have heard that President Trump thought it was a good idea to take away "unemployable" from older veterans. He had been advised that since they are too old to work, they should not depend on what "permanent and total" compensation they budgeted their lives with. 

This message sent veterans into panic mode. It meant thousands a month from their disability awards, loss of covered medical care for them and their families, loss of property tax benefits...and the list goes on.

Never an apology for what veterans were needlessly subjected to, he just moved on. Now we read from the White House that everything is wonderful for veterans in his eyes.

QUOTE

"My administration is committed to taking care of every warrior that returns home as a veteran." 

Does that mean the veterans already here will not be taken care of? It may seem like a silly question, but given what we have already seen, it is a fair question.

At least that is what the headline is from the White House. Like every other administration, it all depends on what they know and who they have advising them.

WASHINGTON — They were called the “Mar-a-Lago Crowd” by people inside the government. A damning exposé dubbed them the “shadow rulers of the VA.”

In the early days of the Trump administration, a trio of businessmen — one of whom was a member of the president’s private Mar-a-Lago club — worked behind the scenes to shape policy at the Department of Veterans Affairs, the $200-billion federal agency that provides healthcare to nearly 9 million vets. As ProPublica and other news organizations documented, Marvel Entertainment Chairman Ike Perlmutter, a doctor in West Palm Beach named Bruce Moskowitz, and a D.C. lawyer named Marc Sherman formed a triumvirate of outside advisers, vetting VA personnel decisions, corresponding with the agency’s leader, and proposing their own ideas for reforming the VA. Rolling Stone

Add to that the latest on "suicide prevention efforts" that have been slammed by experts, but praised by FOX along with using the ear worm of "22 a day" committing suicide, instead of actually reporting facts on that one too!

But even the VA isn’t sure about the drug, named Spravato. Its medical advisory panel voted in June to classify the drug, known in its generic form as esketamine, as “non-formulary,” meaning it was not included on a list of VA-approved medications that are covered by the agency’s pharmacy benefits. The Center for Public Integrity was the first to report on the June vote. McClatchy

There is a list of things claimed, but apparently, the White House must not be aware of closely we do pay attention to what is going on. No President can possibly know everything that goes into making a country work right. He/she, has to depend on experts in their fields to intelligently advise, instead of just agreeing. If you have not been a long time reader, there is not one single President or party that has not been subjected to accountability. I have done it on various sites since I got online in 1993.

Last year it was reported that many disabled veterans had to pay income taxes for their student loans to be forgiven.

Disabled no longer face big tax hit when student loans are forgiven The bad news is that the change, part of a massive overhaul of the tax code spelled out by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, is not retroactive.

Borrowers whose student loans are forgiven on or after Jan. 1, 2018, due to “total and permanent disability” no longer have to pay federal income taxes on those forgiven loans."

We know we cannot trust politicians. They do one thing after saying they were going to do something the opposite way. We cannot trust reporters to make sure what they say has been verified or not. We sure as hell cannot trust them to actually look into the archives to discover what the historical record has to reveal. We have to do those jobs for them! After all, considering that this is our lives on the line, it is all too personal to us.

PROVIDING THE SUPPORT OUR HEROES DESERVE: President Trump will continue to ensure our veterans receive quality healthcare and have access to the resources they need to succeed.

This Administration is working tirelessly to ensure that veterans receive the highest quality of care and support possible.

The President signed the VA MISSION Act, providing more healthcare options for veterans by consolidating existing programs and expanding access to care in veterans’ own communities.

President Trump is also committed to ending the tragedy of veterans’ suicide, securing $8.6 billion in funding for VA mental health services.

President Trump’s PREVENTS Initiative executive order established a task force to help better understand and prevent suicide.

Since the President’s election, veteran unemployment was reduced to the lowest level ever recorded.

Seriously? With the results we have been living with? Instead of waiting in line at the VA for an appointment, they have to wait in line for private doctors to be taking new patients. Then they have to wait for a referral once they finally find one. Top that off with a lot of doctors do not want to accept VA payments since they take too long to pay.

Spending up for privatizing efforts.(I blame both on this one including all the members of congress who were no longer ashamed of how they failed our veterans.)

Trump said he passed a private-sector health care program, Veterans Choice, after failed attempts by past presidents for the last “45 years.” That’s not true. The Choice program, which allows veterans to see doctors outside the government-run VA system at taxpayer expense, was first passed in 2014 under President Barack Obama.

The part that gets me is, as much as members of Congress belonging to the Republican Party complain about how lousy civilian healthcare is, they think it is a good thing to subject veterans to it! Thank them for this one even though Obama signed it. He should have known better because before he took over the oval chair, he was on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.



The Veteran Unemployment Rate Dropped To Lowest Level In 20 Years In 2017

A fascinating report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics has more on this.


Military suicides reached an all-time high in 2018, Pentagon says

Increase in homeless veterans. You can find this by a simple Google search in your state.

More veterans committing suicide in public, and at VA facilities. They are also facing off with police officers more often.

If there is any wonder as to why 68% of Americans disapprove of the "job" he is doing, ask a disabled veteran who has had to suffer after doing their jobs because politicians don't do theirs.


UPDATE Add this to all of that.

Internal VA emails critical of unofficial Trump 'advisors'
CNN
By: Zachary Cohen
Posted: Aug 25, 2019

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Career officials at the Department of Veterans Affairs expressed deep frustrations over having to entertain "ridiculous" policy recommendations from a trio of influential Mar-a-Lago club members during President Donald Trump's time in office, according to documents released by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics.

A series of internal emails spanning from November 2017 to June 2018, show that VA officials wrote to senior staffers with concerns about how this group of three, known within the department as "the Mar-a-Lago crowd," was given the authority to influence policy despite having no government experience or expertise in veterans issues.
read it here

They lived, but we let them die

They lived

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
August 20, 2019

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13 King James Version (KJV)

Everyday the reports are written. "This one" is doing this stunt to make people aware veterans are committing suicide. "That one" claims the number to be 22, another one says it is 20, and someone else says, "one is too many."

"This one" takes a walk. "That one" runs, another one does "22 push ups" instead of doing the work to lead the way on how they can want to live.

Then, we have charity after charity, holding events like this one.

"The tournament, it's in memory of Patrick Werne who was a local Veteran," Kyle Jean, Section 1776 operations manager said. "He was battling with his PTSD. He lost the battle last year in early July so this fishing tournament is in memory of him and to raise awareness for the 22 Veterans a day that commit suicide." WWMT News

What are they raising awareness of? That veterans are killing themselves? Without mentioning that the number currently used was changed years ago?

They did not seem to even understand how many more are missing from the report, or the fact that all the talk about suicides, did not prevent the suicide of the veteran they are now having events for. This has been going on for over a decade!

Awareness events like that did nothing to come close to what veterans have been doing in VA parking lots.

"Nearly 30 veterans have taken their own lives on VA medical campuses in the last two years, a figure that has prompted lawmakers to request more monitoring of parking lots and public areas for signs of individuals in distress." Military Times

Then there is the fact among the known suicides, older veterans are the majority, as well as the ignored.

"The VA National Suicide Data Report for 2005 to 2016, which came out in September 2018, highlights an alarming rise in suicides among veterans age 18 to 34 — 45 per 100,000 veterans. Younger veterans have the highest rate of suicide among veterans, but those 55 and older still represent the largest number of suicides." NPR

To understand why all this awareness has not worked in the last decade, we have the more current Department of Defense reports on members committing suicide.

The Air Force is reporting a rise from last year's count, which was the highest on record.

"If airman suicides continue at their current pace, this year’s deaths by suicide in the service would far eclipse last year’s. In 2018, 60 active duty airmen, 17 Air National Guard and three Air Force reservists died by suicide for a total of 80 airmen, according to the Defense Suicide Prevention Office." Stars and Stripes

While over 47,000 American's committed suicide, it shows the lack of growth on the prevention side for civilians to stay alive. We also need to consider that 1.3 million attempted suicide. If suicide awareness worked, don't you think the civilian numbers would have gone down? 

The simple fact is, the rate of veterans committing suicide, is even higher. Female veterans committing suicide are 250% times higher than civilian women, just as there are more military males than civilians unaware that suicide is not their only way out of the misery they live with.

When there are more first responders committing suicide than ever before, added into all of this, we keep missing the most important factor of all. Every single one of them lived for the sake of others. None of them found a way to live for themselves. They lived, but we let them die.

Col. Derek O'Malley on right path to helping Airmen heal

'Heartbroken' Air Force commander shocked and in disbelief as base suffers its third suicide this year

Business Insider
Ryan Pickrell
August 17, 2019

The Air Force is taking a hard look at itself as service suicides skyrocket. As of August 1, 78 airmen had taken their own lives since the start of the year. That is a 56 percent increase over the toll from the same time last year.

The US Air Force has seen 78 suicides so far this year, 28 more than this time last year. U.S. Air Force photo illustration by Staff Sgt. J.D. Strong II

A "heartbroken" Air Force commander expressed shock and disbelief after a South Carolina base suffered its third suicide in as many months.

"Here we are again. I can't believe it," Col. Derek O'Malley, the commander of the 20th Fighter Wing at Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina, said in a video on Facebook Wednesday. "We lost another airman yesterday."

"I wake up every day, my command team, we wake up every day to try to make this place a better place. There's so much we try to do, so much more we need to do. But none of that matters right now because we lost another one of our own."

US Air Force 2nd Lt. Christopher J. Rhoton, who served in the 20th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, was found dead in an apparent suicide Tuesday, Maj. Allen Dailey with the Sumter County Sheriff's Office told WIS, a local media outlet.
read more here

Starting on the right path is what you just did.

Col. O'Malley, I grieve for you and everyone else in the military, as much as I grieve for our veterans.

I have watched and waited for someone to step up and speak loud enough to be heard. What has been done, has not worked. You just did exactly that.

Please reconsider "resilience" training, since that is part of the increase in suicides. It prevents them from seeking help because they think it is their fault for being weak instead of being taught what PTSD is and why they have it.

Telling them they can train their brains to become mentally tough, and all they hear is they are mentally weak if they end up with PTSD. Simple as that.

What has been said has done more harm than good. Just as all the suicide awareness has removed hope from their minds. You just gave them back hope.

For over 3 decades I have seen far more than my share of suffering, but I have also seen how magnificent it is when they open their eyes to all they can become, even with PTSD.

They need to see what is strong within them instead of being told what is wrong with them.

They need to know that it is the strength of their emotional core that allowed them to become a service member, but also caused them to feel all they experienced more than others.

For civilians, over 7 million of us, it is the "one" event that can cause PTSD. For service members, it is the "one too many" that inflicts pain beyond comprehension. 

So, thank you for doing the video and speaking out. You showed you care about those you serve with and that is the beginning of healing.

#BreakTheSilence

and

#TakeBackYourLife

Ear worm of "22 a day" needs cleansing

This story is BS!
While it is true that the number of veterans committing suicide is under reported, it is not true that it is "22 a day" along with a lot of other BS that has been spawned from veterans left to suffer and families left not knowing why it happened.

Veteran Suicide Higher than Reported – Help is Available
Communal News
Dana Matthews
August 12, 2019

Every day, 22 veterans take their own lives. That's a suicide every 65 minutes.

If a veteran intentionally crashes a car or dies of a drug overdose and leaves no note, that death may not be counted as suicide.

A survey by the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America showed that 30% of service members have considered taking their own life.

The suicide rate among service members is an epidemic. Leon Panetta, the former Secretary of Defense agreed six years ago. Unfortunately, data regarding the veteran suicide rate is incomplete. For example, veterans who commit “suicide by cop” are not included in the tally. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has made an appeal for more uniform reporting of suicide data.
read it here

Just starting with the "22 a day" a few years behind the latest study by the VA made me feel like I was in the Twilight Zone. Apparently the "author" decided that the rest of the reasons the numbers are wrong do not matter...or did not bother to research enough to discover what was missed.

Then when you factor in that all the awareness being raised about a lie obscures the fact that none of it is giving veterans hope back...oh well, the list goes on and so do the body counts.

YEP BS post of the day!

Airmen who commit suicide are 'chickensh*t' according to uninformed Commander

Air Force commander apologizes for calling airmen who commit suicide 'chickensh*t'

Task and Purpose
Jared Keller
August 05, 2019

Col. Michael A. Miller, commander of the 2nd Bomb Wing at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, speaks to airmen following a 1.2 mile run on Friday, Aug. 2, 2019 (U.S. Air Force photo)

The commander of one of the Air Force's two B-52 Stratofortress wings issued an apology to airmen on Monday after referring to airmen who take their own lives as "chickenshit" during an event stand down event he ordered to focus on suicide prevention within his unit.

Col. Michael A. Miller, commander of the 2nd Bomb Wing at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, reportedly commented that "killing yourself is a chickenshit way to go" during a 1.2 mile "resiliency day" run with personnel on Friday.

"Let me say that my choice of words was poor," Miller said in a statement on Monday. 'I referenced the act of suicide in a manner that was insensitive and inappropriate."

However, that one sentence doesn't capture the context or intent of the message I was trying to relay," he continued. "Battling through pain to ask for help is one of the most courageous things we can do. Asking for help is hard, so we need to build that sense of family where it is acceptable to ask for help from each other." Miller's comments, first described by airmen in social media the popular Air Force amn/nco/snco Facebook page, came days after Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein ordered all units to take a day before Sept. 15 to focus on suicide prevention.
read it here

Funny thing about words. If he did not think it, he would not have said it. Seems more like he made the choice to remain uniformed in uniform.

Military suicides not worth reporters effort?

Military suicides increased in 2018

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
August 6, 2019

ACTIVE DUTY 325
AIR FORCE 60
ARMY 139
MARINE CORPS 58
NAVY 68

RESERVES 216

541

THOSE ARE THE NUMBERS FROM THE DOD REGARDING SUICIDES IN 2018

THIS IS WHAT THE REPORTERS DECIDED SHOULD BE THE NUMBER THEY LET EVERYONE KNOW....AND FORGETTING ABOUT NATIONAL GUARD AND RESERVISTS

Military suicides reached an all-time high in 2018, Pentagon says
The Washington Examiner
by Russ Read
August 05, 2019

Military suicides reached their highest recorded level last year, the Pentagon reports, highlighting a crisis affecting both civilians and veterans.

In 2018, 325 military service members committed suicide, according to the Pentagon's Defense Suicide Prevention Office, surpassing the previous record of 321 in 2012.

"I feel like this is a drastically underpublicized and addressed issue in the military," one former military member, identified as docgosu, wrote in response to the report on Reddit's veterans' board. "I dealt with behavior health issues in the Navy and the chain of command had no respect for it even while working in the medical field as a Hospital Corpsman."
read it here

Marine Old Breed Rugby offering support for PTSD the old fashion way

How a St. Charles veteran uses rugby to help fellow Marines

Daily Herald
Bob Susnjara
August 1, 2019

Okicich is among five Old Breed Rugby members who are available 24 hours a day for veterans suffering from depression or who just need to talk. Contact information is on the home page of Old Breed Rugby's website.

Retired Marine Marc Okicich of St. Charles, running with ball, helps other veterans through endeavors such as the Old Breed Rugby Club. The nonprofit honors the memories of fallen Marines while offering a support network to veterans in need. Courtesy of Old Breed Rugby Club

When St. Charles resident Marc Okicich gathers with other retired Marines to play rugby, it's more than just a fun day on the field.

Okicich is a member of the nationwide Old Breed Rugby Club, which since 2005 has honored the memories of fallen Marines while offering a support network to veterans in need.

Part of Old Breed Rugby's mission is to raise money for the permanent endowment of a memorial fund named for Marine Lt. Col. Kevin Shea, who was killed in Iraq in September 2004. The fund is administered by the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation.

Okicich is among five Old Breed Rugby members who are available 24 hours a day for veterans suffering from depression or who just need to talk. Contact information is on the home page of Old Breed Rugby's website, www.oldbreedrugby.org.

"We've found we've become a support network for some of the guys that came back that were struggling with some post-traumatic stress issues," said Okicich, who played rugby with Shea at Camp Pendleton in California in the early 1990s.

Okicich, 49, remembers one instance when he woke from a nightmare at 2:30 a.m. and noticed a missed call from a few minutes earlier. He returned the call and reached a veteran who "was struggling with some demons."
read it here

Purdue University program taking a bite on suicides into poisoned apple

Battlemind is the poisoned apple

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
July 31, 2019

Purdue University is planning a conference on suicides tied to military life. The problem is, the seem to think that a program that failed miserably is a good place to start!

I have been slamming this Battlemind BS since 2008

Battlemind started almost a year ago and has done, nothing! Since then soldiers are still being discharge under "pre-existing" conditions, TBI is still getting confused with PTSD, they are still committing suicides and yes, homicides, and still being told they have to wait to have their wounded minds tended to. For all the "steps" taken to address the problem, it looks like they are still in training shoes learning to take baby steps, when they need a great pair of rocket roller blades! Give me a break!

This is a great example as to why this program should have been left to rot...

This comment was left on my blog for a post I did on 1st Sgt. Jeff McCkinney. Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The tragic story of 1st Sgt. Jeff McKinney": Hello. I read your article about the 1st Sgt. that recently committed suicide. I wanted to tell you my story. My husband was in the 278th TN National Guard and he committed suicide on May 16, 2008. Here is my story:http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/video/blog/2008/11/military_sees_rise_in_troop_su.htmlSincerely,Tracy Eiswert

Please, help me spread the word about veteran suicides! Send this link to everyone you know. P.S. The VA has denied all my appeals for a 100% rating................

This is what I wrote afterwards. 

Well, I watched the video in horror. At first as I listened to Tracy, I started to cry because she said, "no one told her" about PTSD. That's been the problem since Vietnam. People like me are hard to find. Let's face it, there is nothing glamorous or Google worthy when it comes to PTSD or trauma for that matter. Most of the people that need to know about all of this, need to know it well in advance of it coming into their family, but considering two thirds of the American people do not know what PTSD means, they are not about to go looking for information on it. I know what I know because my life depended on it when I met my husband 26 years ago.

Tracy's story was just one more reminder I didn't need that no matter how many hours I spend doing this, no matter how many videos, Power Points or posts I do, it does no good if people like Tracy have no idea what's available to help. Most of the emails I get come in the middle of the night from a veteran or a spouse after finding me by accident, either by a post or because of one of my videos. Yet if they were searching for sexy videos or comedies, they'd find what they were looking for right away. No matter what you Google, you can find it, but what you can't find is the miracle you're looking for when a life is on the line.

Let's face it, when it comes to PTSD, the government, as others have put it in the past, suck at what they do.

Watching the video on PBS I am even more convinced that Battle Mind is not only bad, it's dangerous. There is a Chaplain talking to a bunch of soldiers talking about getting angry, nightmares and flashbacks. His advice, based on Battle Mind, is to wait 90 days. Imagine that? After all, all the experts I've read over the last 26 years all seem to agree that if the symptoms of PTSD do not begin to fade in 30 days, they need to seek help. It appears the VA is 60 days too late along with everything else. (Is there any wonder why they won't hire me to work for them anymore?)

James Peak is also in this video. He denies that the rise in suicides is tied to combat. Isn't that remarkable considering that the news accounts of some of these suicidal veterans all have one thing in common. They all experienced combat and ended up with flashbacks, nightmares, along with all the other symptoms of PTSD but when Peak tries to tie it into nothing more than relationship problems and financial ones setting off depression, it's easy to hide it. Simply because PTSD ends up setting off depression and relationship problems and financial problems as well.

Battle Mind does not work and gives bogus advice. If it worked you'd see the number of attempted suicides and successful ones go down instead of up every year. Peak also denied that the redeployments increased the risk even though the report was released by the Army a couple of years ago, stating categorically that the risk of PTSD increased by 50% for each redeployment. At least there is a VA psychiatrist in this video saying that it has increased the risk.

As bad as we are treating the regular military, we are even worse at treating the National Guards men and women. They come home and are expected to just get back to normal life when there is nothing normal about life in combat for any of them.

The question is, how can people like me be paid attention to by the people in charge? It's impossible. Letters sent to congress go unanswered or they answer with a form letter. Even service organizations that are sent my videos ignore them. It's all backed up by research, news reports and living with it everyday plus doing the outreach work and listening to them very carefully. Some service organizations are using them and they are helping, which is a good thing, but how many accidental finds are out there searching for help right now?

The other point is that the local communities aren't paying attention either. If they think they have budget problems now, wait until they see family after family have to bury another National Guards man or woman because they didn't get the help they needed. Wait until yet another church holds a funeral for one that took their own life because the church refused to get involved in a family falling apart and a combat veteran suffered.

Service groups across the country are falling all over themselves trying to increase membership to stay active and pay their bills, but do they think of getting active when it comes to what the new generation of veterans need? Hell no! That would be too beneficial to their communities. I know. I've tried to get them to pay attention and have been ignored. It's not that I don't know people with the power to change all of this, they just won't listen.

Go to the link below and watch the video on what happened to Tracy's husband and know that everyday there are 18 more of them. We are losing over 6,000 a year to suicide and that number is expect to go up because the VA yet again is late but the veterans, well they were expected to show up on time to be sent into combat or they had to go to jail. Nice. Isn't it?

There are a lot of posts up on this program along with Comprehensive Soldier Fitness...another loser sold to every member of the military. On that one, I predicted in 2009 that suicides would increase..and they did. 

Both programs ended up with producing more suicides because they only became aware of bullshit instead of hearing the truth about what PTSD is and how they can heal.

If you are wondering how it is that I figured all this out way back then, but they are still living in denial, so am I. They are supposed to be the experts. All I do is pay attention like it really matters!

‘What IF We Ended Military and Veterans Suicide?’

Purdue University
Jeanne Norberg
July 29, 2019

The term “battlemind” initially was used by military to talk about the inner strength needed to face adversity, fear and hardship during combat. The application of the term then was broadened to take in psychological resiliency both during and after deployment.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The nation is grappling with service members and veterans who find it hard to cope with coming home. It affects their families and communities as well.

To address this challenge, the Military and Family Research Institute at Purdue University is hosting the 10th annual summit of "Battlemind to Home" on campus Oct. 8. Registration is open now, and early-bird pricing runs through Aug. 7. The “What IF We Ended Military and Veterans Suicide?” event is part of Purdue’s Ideas Festival, the centerpiece of the university’s Giant Leaps sesquicentennial campaign, which is a series of events that connect world-renowned speakers and Purdue expertise in a conversation on the most critical problems facing the world. One of the Ideas Festival’s themes is health, longevity and quality of life.

Legal, mental health and community leaders at the Battlemind summit will learn and share strategies to ease the transition from the battlefront to the home front for military personnel, veterans and their families. Previously held in Indianapolis attracting 340 attendees, this year the conference will take place 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Purdue Memorial Union's ballrooms. It is expected to draw participants from more than 100 organizations in Indiana and nearby states.

The opening addresses will be delivered by Conrad Washington, the deputy director of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ Center for Faith and Opportunity Initiative, who will talk about available programs and resources. In the afternoon Oz Sanchez, a former Marine and Navy Seal will address the conference. Injured in car-motorcycle accident, Sanchez is now a five-time world champion in the sport of handcycling under the Paralympic umbrella. The emcee will be Indiana Supreme Court Justice Steven David, whose 28 years of active duty and reserve military service included two post 9-11 deployments and three commands.
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Hi Matthew,
I was reading about the upcoming Battlemind event and cringed. First, I applaud the spiritual aspect of helping them heal, however, modeling anything after the failure of Battlemind is a losing battle.

After extensive research on Battlemind, when it was introduced, I came to the conclusion it would do more harm than good. It turned out, I was right as evidence has shown.

That was followed by an equally repulsive attempt called “Comprehensive Soldier Fitness” which was also slammed by me in 2009. It also looks like I was right on that one too.

I have been doing this work for 37 years as if my life depended on it. That is because it does. I am married to a Vietnam veteran with PTSD.

Please, reexamine the “cure” before it is too late to discover it was a poisoned apple.

Number of veterans committing suicide depends on who counted

When it comes to the number of veterans committing suicide, this shows it depends on who counted. Hint: It is a lot higher than any number you think you know unless you read Wounded Times and will not be shocked by the following article.

Paul Muschick: Military suicides hitting Pennsylvania where you may not expect it

THE MORNING CALL
By PAUL MUSCHICK
JUL 26, 2019

Not all National Guard members meet the legal definition of a “veteran.” When it comes to suicide, though, that distinction doesn’t matter. The bottom line is that people who served their country are ending their lives, and that has to stop.

Earl (left) and Joe Granville served together in Bosnia and Iraq with the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. Joe Granville took his own life in 2010. (CONTRIBUTED/EARL GRANVILLE)

The men and women who enlist in the Pennsylvania National Guard are the best of the best. They’re in shape. They’re smart. They’re motivated.

They’re also committing suicide too often.

In the past four years, 26 Guard members have taken their own lives. Assumptions about why that is happening — that they went to war overseas and came back suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or were unable to adjust to civilian life — aren’t always accurate.

Slightly more than half of them never deployed.
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Airman received award for going above and beyond to help others heal PTSD

Air Force Honors New Milford Airman For Anti-Suicide Work Among Vets, Responders

Daily Voice
Jerry DeMarco
07/23/2019

Through his "no-matter-what attitude and generosity,” the Air Force citation says, Connors was “responsible for saving the lives of an untold number of returning Warriors and [helping ease the effect on] their families.”

U.S. Air Force Technical Sgt. James P. Connors of New Milford (center). Photo Credit: COURTESY: USAF Tech Sgt. James P. Connors

U.S. Air Force Technical Sgt. James P. Connors of New Milford has dedicated himself to combating suicide among the military and first responders -- from police to firefighters.

For that reason, the force recently awarded the retired Teaneck firefighter its Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal.

Connors distinguished himself through “leadership, ceaseless efforts and dedication” to the Save a Warrior program, which aims to reduce suicide among returning veterans, active service members and first responders with post-traumatic stress, the Air Force said in awarding him an Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal.

Connors completed seven tours over the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Afghanistan.

He then became a “lead shepherd,” supporting and mentoring 400 of his fellow servicemen and servicewomen, many of whom had drug or emotional problems.

According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, PTSD has killed more military members and first responders than the 9/11 attacks and the Afghanistan and Iraq wars combined -- nearly 7,500 a year. Nearly a half-million reportedly have sought treatment for it.
read it here