Montana Veteran Files VA Appeal Over Unqualified Doctor Evaluation

Mont. case could have implications for thousands of vets 
Great Falls Tribune
Eric Newhouse
May 15, 2015

But since the Montana Board of Psychologists concluded that the RBANS test wasn't sufficient to measure neurological impairment because of a TBI and that Bateen wasn't qualified to make neurological diagnoses, Del Negro argues that all vets diagnosed by Bateen ought to have their cases re-evaluated.

Gatlin studies for his classes at his home office.
Gatlin and his wife have been fighting the VA for last
two years while Gatlin has been a grad student, and
struggling to find a balance between school and his case.
(Photo: TRIBUNE PHOTO/ABBY REDFERN)

WASHINGTON – Echoing a state licensing board, a VA appeals board here has ordered the Fort Harrison VA Hospital to provide a full neurological examination for a University of Montana graduate student with a traumatic brain injury.

It's a decision that could have implications for thousands of vets with TBI across the state and around the country — but the VA flatly says that won't happen.

The case involves Charles Gatlin, a Ranger-qualified former Army captain who suffered a brain injury after a large truck bomb knocked him unconscious near Kirkuk, Iraq, in 2006.

The Army put Gatlin through a three-day battery of neuropsychological tests in 2006, 2007 and 2009 and concluded he had suffered significant attention problems, processing speed deficits and persistent frontal lobe dysfunction.

After three years, the final test concluded that the injuries had stabilized and appeared to be permanent.

Retired from the Army with a 70 percent TBI disability rating, Gatlin and his wife, Ariana Del Negro, returned to Montana.

At the Fort Harrison VA hospital, staff psychologist Robert Bateen ran Gatlin through a short screening exam, concluded that his cognitive deficits were not significant and dropped his TBI disability rating to 10 percent, although he also added a 30 percent rating for post-traumatic stress disorder.

Gatlin appealed that ruling to the VA Board of Appeals two years ago, but also filed a complaint with the Montana Board of Psychologists, the state board in Helena that licenses psychologists, arguing that the screening assessment wasn't adequate to measure his cognitive ability; that Bateen wasn't qualified to make the assessment because he wasn't a neuropsychologist; and that Bateen incorrectly characterized the results of that test.
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Why Are We Denying Purple Hearts to Veterans With PTSD?

Why Are We Denying Purple Hearts to Veterans With PTSD?
Huffington Post
Gene Beresin
Posted: 03/03/2015

I have seen Arthur for psychiatric care for over 20 years. He suffers from severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following his two tours of duty in Vietnam.

Arthur attended the University of Massachusetts, and graduated in 1969. Although he was drafted upon losing his student waiver, he chose instead to enlist as a volunteer. Soon he was training to deactivate bombs and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in the field.

Although he proved to be quite talented, and ultimately succeeded in saving countless lives, he also experienced failure. No one can detect and suppress every device in the jungle.

Each and every death he witnessed felt like a terrible personal failure. He still dreams of the horrifying scenes he lived through in the war.

To this day, Arthur suffers from PTSD and profound survivor's guilt. While better in many ways, he qualified for total disability based on his diagnosis, and sees me on a regular basis.

Arthur received two Purple Hearts for physical wounds incurred in 1970 and 1971, but was denied Purple Hearts for his traumatic brain injury and PTSD because they were not considered obvious physical wounds at the time.

I appreciate the profound impact PTSD has had on his life--his daily flashbacks, impaired sleep, obsessions over what he could have done to save more lives, extreme vigilance to protect the ones he loves. Not a day goes by that he doesn't question himself.

It defies me that he has not earned Purple Hearts for these long-lasting effects of PTSD--awards to stand beside the two Bronze Star Medals for Valor he received.
read more here

My comment

Great job on the question and calling attention to this subject back up again.

Until people understand that there are different types of PTSD and combat PTSD is different, they will never see it as anything other than an illness. Civilians get PTSD from a long list of traumatic events in their lives but as with different levels, their treatment needs to be based on the cause. The cause of Combat PTSD is military service and it is complicated by the deep connection servicemen and women have to others they serve with. This carries into their lives as veterans.

What we know about PTSD in the civilian world was knowledge gained by veterans coming home from Vietnam and fighting for the research to be done. Strange how they are the last to receive the benefits they obtained for everyone else.

I've read the best experts over the last 30+ years and they point out the differences few others even think about. When folks get that this PTSD is caused by combat, they would have no problem with the Purple Heart any more than they would have issues with TBI caused by service as well. It isn't an illness that was caused by them but something inflicted upon them. There is so much that is done wrong because people still don't know what they should have known years ago. Veterans want healing more than anything else but they can't get it while there is still so many mistakes being made disguised as "doing something" when what works is ignored.

Iraq Marine Veteran Alan Kissinger Needs Help to Prove TBI and PTSD

Eyewitness News Investigates: A Marine's Pain 
Tri State Homepage
February 19, 2015

Putting yourself at the abyss to serve country, then years recovering from a war injury. What do you have to show for it?

The Purple Heart given to those soldiers who've suffered wounds in combat. It's estimated 1.8 million such honors have been awarded. But there's no number of those servicemen and women who were lost in the process. Eyewitness News found one, still waiting and coping with war's wake.

"I just want to feel like I have meaning again," said Alan Kissinger. "I feel worthless"

Alan Kissinger is a marine.

"I've put on dress blues," said Kissinger. "I've fought for our country. I've watched my friends die."

He's never forgotten.

"Been smiled at by death," said Kissinger, "but I smiled back."

He is a father.

"My daugher was born while I was in Iraq," said Kissinger. "I didn't meet her until she was 6-months-old."

Then came Fallujah, Iraq on June 25, 2007.

"We heard a loud pop," said Kissinger, "a flash, and our truck filled up with smoke, and we got hit by a roadside bomb."

The roadside bomb, in the new millennium know as the improvised explosive device, the I.E.D. Alan Kissinger spent three years in a military barracks for wounded veterans, recovering from the physical wounds. But his soul is still healing, and that is not going well.
read more here

Afghanistan Veteran Marine Gets Back Dog

Why a Capitol Police Officer gave her beloved dog to a U.S. Marine 
CBS 6 News
BY WEB STAFF
FEBRUARY 12, 2015

RICHMOND, Va. – Spike is a member of the K-9 patrol with the Virginia Capitol Police. Sweet as he is though, Spike, is also a heartbreaker.

He didn’t mean to be – he just got caught in a love triangle. At the State Capitol in Richmond on Wednesday Spike was reunited with U.S. Marine Jared Heine.

They hadn’t seen each other in three years. “Right when he got next to me he knew it was me,” said Heine. “He pushed up against me. It was like we didn’t skip a beat.”

They were a team in Afghanistan where Spike’s job was to sniff out bombs – risking his life every day to keep Heine and his buddies alive.

“He did a great job at it,” Heine told me.

“He was like my brother, my kid. He slept with me every day like we were inseparable.”

But after a series of traumatic brain injuries, Jared was sent home to Louisiana — where he’s been struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder.
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Idaho National Guard LT Accused of 10 Year Fraud

This person was a Lieutenant in the Idaho National Guard. Think about that for a second. This person also stands charged with fabricating wounds he did not receive while serving in Iraq. He did a lot more damage than just taking money, if all this is true. If all this is true, then the men under his command, really wounded and trying to get benefits for real wounds just suffered the ultimate betrayal.

Feds: Snoqualmie coach lied his way into Purple Heart
Former Idaho National Guard member accused of stealing $250,000 in government benefits SEATTLEPI.COM
BY LEVI PULKKINEN STAFF
January 29, 2015

Wright hired his sister, Karen Bevens, as his caretaker; Bevens, a 43-year-old Duvall resident, now faces a single fraud count.

A Snoqualmie man accused of duping the Army into awarding him a Purple Heart now faces fraud charges.

Federal prosecutors claim Darryl Lee Wright managed to steal $250,000 in government benefits during the past 10 years. Wright, 46, is alleged to fraudulently put himself forward as a wounded Iraq veteran to gain some of the money.

A federal grand jury returned a nine count indictment against Wright in November. The allegations were unsealed Wednesday; Wright is alleged to have defrauded the Veterans Affairs Department, the Army and the U.S. Commerce Department, among other federal agencies.

At the height of the fraud, Wright and his sister were receiving $10,341 a month in undeserved government benefits, according to the indictment. They did so while Wright worked, coached basketball and ran for public office.

According to the indictment, Wright claimed to have suffered traumatic brain injury during an Aug. 30, 2005, rocket attack while he was serving in Iraq as a lieutenant with the Idaho National Guard.

Wright ultimately received a Combat Action Badge – a decoration reserved for soldiers who’ve been under fire – and a Purple Heart signifying a battle wound.
read more here

Think about the stories we've read over the years about claims not being approved and wounded suffering for their service. Here's a reminder in case you forgot.
Some from Idaho killed in Iraq 2005

• Army Sgt. Kelly S. Morris, 24, of Boise, was killed by small-arms fire March 30, 2005, while patrolling in east Baghdad.
• Army Sgt. John B. Ogburn III, 45, of Fruitland, died May 22, 2005, in a Humvee accident near Kirkuk, Iraq.
• Army Staff Sgt. Virgil R. Case, 37, of Mountain Home, died June 1, 2005, in Kirkuk, Iraq, of non-combat-related injuries.
• Army Spc.Carrie French, 19, of Caldwell, died June 5, 2005, in Kirkuk when her vehicle hit a roadside bomb.
• Marine Lance Cpl. Dustin V. Birch, 22, of St. Anthony, was one of five Marines killed in a roadside bombing June 9, 2005, in Haqlaniyah, Iraq.
• Army Sgt. Ivan Vargas Alarcon, 23, of Jerome, died Nov. 17, 2005, in Tal-Afar, Iraq, when the Humvee he was riding in flipped during combat operations.

The Denver Post has a reminder of some of what people have forgotten. Here are just a few of the images they collected of war in Iraq.

A U.S. soldier carries an Iraqi girl away from the scene of three explosions September 30, 2004 in Baghdad, Iraq. Three separate explosions near a U.S. military convoy which was passing the opening ceremony for a sewage station killed at least 35 people and wounded more than 100 others in southern Baghdad according to Iraqi police. (Photo by Wathiq Khuzaie/Getty Images)

Although wounded, Staff Sgt. Shannon Kay, of 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, fires on an enemy position after being attacked with a car bomb, Saturday, Dec. 11, 2004, in Mosul, Iraq. (AP Photo/Army Times, M. Scott Mahaskey, via USA Today)

U.S. Army Sergeant 1st Class Troy Hawkins of the 1st Cavalry, Task Force 1-9, falls to the ground after being wounded during a firefight while on patrol with an Iraqi Army unit February 16, 2005 in the Haifa Street neighborhood of Baghdad, Iraq. After being tended to by a medic he continued to fight in the narrow streets. The U.S. Army was handing control of the volatile area over to the Iraqi military as they continued to decrease their involvement in the city. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Marine Makes Hard Choice, Amputate Leg

Barely able to walk, injured Marine decides to have leg amputated 
The Wilson Daily Times, N.C. (Tribune News Service)
By Lisa Boykin Batts
Published: January 26, 2015

The consensus among Duncan’s medical team now is the infection did more damage than the body can heal.

In this Sept. 14, 2013 file photo, U.S. Marine Corps Pfc. Duncan Mathis, right, is greeted by his mother, Theresa Mathis, as he finishes the Run for the Fallen 5K/Half-Marathon at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C. Mathis was wounded in action during a deployment to Afghanistan, falling 75 feet and breaking his legs, ankles and right arm. BRITTAIN CROLLEY/U.S. AIR FORCE PHOTO

(Tribune News Service) — Lance Cpl. Duncan Mathis said it was an easy decision to amputate the lower portion of his left leg.

"I don’t have a doubt in my mind,” the Beddingfield High School graduate said. "I want to live my life as a 21-year-old.”

In recent months, it was getting harder and harder for Duncan to do the things he wanted to do and to live an active lifestyle. He was in tremendous pain and had decreasing mobility. In June, he was able to run in a brace, said his mother, Theresa. 

By November, he was barely walking. Duncan’s problems stem from a May 2013 incident in Afghanistan.

He fell 75 feet down an unmarked well while on a nighttime mission with his unit. He fractured both legs and ankles as well as his shoulder and arm. He also suffered a traumatic brain injury.
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TBI and PTSD War Wounds Do Heal, No Cure For Stupidity

Sometimes I really wonder where reporters find these people! Wounds of war that never heal on the Washington Post, by Amy Ellis Nutt, is about TBI. Really bad title considering it ended up attacking PTSD veterans.

This gives us an idea of how many have TBI since the numbers went way up since 2005.

And this is what the article had to say.

Once World War I ended, blast injuries were not the leading cause of combat injury until the American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. The Vietnam War, however, did produce the first diagnosed cases of post-traumatic stress disorder, which Koliatsos believes has helped to stigmatize IED survivors who return home but have enormous difficulties adjusting."

“We thought it was hysteria in World War I and then came PTSD in Vietnam,” he said, so we continued to think of these [hidden] injuries only as psychological.”

In saying IED survivors were stigmatized, Koliatsos just managed to slam PTSD veterans. That is the wound that will never heal. PTSD is nothing to be ashamed of. TBI is nothing to be ashamed of. Isn't it time for "experts" to stop feeding the stigma? PTSD and TBI do heal. They are not cured. Unfortunately there is no cure for stupidity.

Disabled Iraq Veteran Evicted Over Service Dog "Pet Fee"

Army vet, service dog evicted over unpaid 'pet fee' 
KENS 5
Dillon Collier
January 15, 2015

"Section 504 of the Fair Housing Act states service animals are not pets. It goes on to outline how housing providers cannot enforce pet policies on residents who use service animals."

Checkers is David Palasek's service dog. (Photo: Jason Gonzales)

David Palasek, who served tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan for the Army and the Army National Guard, was evicted Dec. 22.

BANDERA, Texas -- A disabled Army veteran and his service dog were evicted from a Bandera mobile home last month, following a months-long dispute over an unpaid "pet fee."

David Palasek, whose seven years of military service included tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan for the Army and the Army National Guard, was evicted Dec. 22.

He refused to pay the pet fee, citing the Fair Housing Act, which protects people who use service dogs from being discriminated against.

"If it's happening to me, it's going to happen to other people," said Palasek, who suffered a traumatic brain injury and injuries to his neck, spine, knee and shoulder in a Humvee accident and separate IED attack in Iraq. Palasek is also a cancer surviver, beating testicular cancer in recent years.

Doctors told Palasek his gunner's harness contributed to the disease, which he received treatments for at hospitals at Lackland Air Force Base and later Fort Sam Houston. Paperwork from the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs indicates Palasek is 90 percent disabled.
read more here

Ret. General Peter Chiarelli Thinks Veterans Only Claim PTSD

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
January 12, 2015

The more I read news reports, the more I think about how Ray Bradbury had it right in the movie Something Wicked This Way Comes. I was reading a story on a "new treatment for PTSD" sceptically as usual about how reporters like to pull off a word placement game to hook in readers, then slam them with the facts afterwards.

‘Brain zapping’: Veterans say experimental PTSD treatment has changed their lives on the Washington Post by Richard Leiby published today when I came upon this facinating claim by Ret. General Peter Chiarelli.

The story glossed over all the claims, especially this one, “One hundred percent responded with very visible change,” then went on to say it is used to treat kids with Asperger's syndrome and Autism. They are pushing the VA to buy into it to treat veterans with PTSD.

In the spring, Jin and others with the center made the rounds in Washington, briefing officials at the Pentagon and Veterans Administration and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on their PTSD findings. They urged a pilot program to give vets immediate access to the treatment, which they said could be simply implemented with a couple of MRT machines, which cost about $50,000 each.

But the VA needs controlled clinical trials. So, striving to gain credibility, the center launched a double-blind trial in October for 48 vets who reported PTSD symptoms, and it expects to launch one for 400 autistic patients early this year — both at the University of California at San Diego.

First they need the money to pay for the machines to see if it will work after they give veterans access to it? What? Study on Autistic patients to prove it will work on veterans? What?

At this point I pretty much was done reading until I came across this stunner.

“You can’t prove it one way or another,” says Chiarelli, who was a top commander in Iraq. “I’m here to tell you that 50 percent who say they have PTS — or some percentage of people — do not have PTS.”

What the hell is that supposed to mean? He seems to be still be claiming that there are too many fakers out there claiming to have PTSD but doesn't seem to have an explanation as to why he is now running "One Mind"

Challenge #1: Lack of PTS and TBI diagnostics and treatments
Did you know over 60% percent of the most seriously wounded soldiers from our recent wars suffer from TBI and post-traumatic stress (PTS)? And in a given year, more than 2.5 million Americans experience traumatic brain injury (TBI)?

Despite these startling numbers, the diagnosis and treatment of brain disease remains an inexact science, ruled by subjectivity and opinion. In fact, the current “test” for PTS consists of answering 20 questions asked by a mental health professional.

To make matters worse, there is not only far less large-scale research on brain illness and injury than other major diseases, but also the majority of research that is being conducted, the data and results are not being shared with other brain illness and injury researchers.

Shallow, antiquated diagnostics mixed with small-scaled, siloed research has resulted in no progress in developing treatments and cures for brain disease. The very fact that not much has changed in diagnostics and treatment for PTS and TBI since WWII is proof that we still have a long way to go.

How can he acknowledge research done going back to WWII and then deny the fact that most with PTSD DO NOT SEEK HELP OR COMPENSATION? Why doesn't he seem to understand that there has never been more grassroot efforts to get the word out about PTSD to veterans? Can he even explain why so many veterans going back to a time in our history when the damage done by combat was being reported with absolutely no treatment or compensation whatsoever? What about during the Civil War when they were being shot as cowards?

Ok, back that bus up for a second. PTSD has been studied since WWI but also showed up in ancient writings on war within the Bible and stories on fighters like Achilies
Deuteronomy 20:1-9 New International Version (NIV) Going to War

20 When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, do not be afraid of them, because the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, will be with you. 2 When you are about to go into battle, the priest shall come forward and address the army. 3 He shall say: “Hear, Israel: Today you are going into battle against your enemies. Do not be fainthearted or afraid; do not panic or be terrified by them. 4 For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.”

5 The officers shall say to the army: “Has anyone built a new house and not yet begun to live in it? Let him go home, or he may die in battle and someone else may begin to live in it. 6 Has anyone planted a vineyard and not begun to enjoy it? Let him go home, or he may die in battle and someone else enjoy it. 7 Has anyone become pledged to a woman and not married her? Let him go home, or he may die in battle and someone else marry her.” 8 Then the officers shall add, “Is anyone afraid or fainthearted? Let him go home so that his fellow soldiers will not become disheartened too.” 9 When the officers have finished speaking to the army, they shall appoint commanders over it.

“But no man's a hero to himself.”
― Ray Bradbury, Something Wicked This Way Comes

Ok, here is the rest of what Chiarelli had to say,

On several occasions, Jin has met with Peter Chiarelli, a blunt-spoken retired general who once led efforts to reduce the Army’s alarming suicide rate. Now he is chief executive of One Mind, a nonprofit dedicated in part to finding ways to treat what Chiarelli calls post-traumatic stress. (To avoid the stigma attached to mental illness, the group does not use the word “disorder” in referring to PTSD.)

He and Jin say the condition, to be better treated, must be better diagnosed. They are highly critical of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ current self-reporting method, a 20-item questionnaire that asks vets to recount, for example, how much were they bothered — on a scale of 1 to 5 — in the past month by “repeated, disturbing, and unwanted memories of the stressful experience.”

“You can’t prove it one way or another,” says Chiarelli, who was a top commander in Iraq. “I’m here to tell you that 50 percent who say they have PTS — or some percentage of people — do not have PTS.”

As disability certifications for PTSD have become easier to obtain in recent years — VA eased documentation requirements in 2010 — and the number of claimants has soared, the agency has been grappling with false benefit claims. While the total number of vets who suffer from the disorder is uncertain — many avoid reporting it — PTSD has clearly climbed in the aftermath of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The disorder is the third-most-common service-connected disability in the past 13 years, VA says. Nearly 250,000 recent veterans have received a disability designation of that sort.

What the article does not address is a stunning number of Vietnam veterans sought help for PTSD in those years simply because they were finally convinced that help was available for them.

“He knew what the wind was doing to them, where it was taking them, to all the secret places that were never so secret again in life.”

― Ray Bradbury, Something Wicked This Way Comes

In the past 18 months, 148,000 Vietnam veterans have gone to VA centers reporting symptoms of PTSD "30 years after the war," said Brig. Gen. Michael S. Tucker, deputy commanding general of the North Atlantic Regional Medical Command and Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He recently visited El Paso.

That report came out in October of 2007. The other report coming out in 2007 that was also important is there veterans committing suicide was considered an epidemic and even back then this was reported,

It found that veterans were more than twice as likely to commit suicide in 2005 than non-vets. (Veterans committed suicide at the rate of between 18.7 to 20.8 per 100,000, compared to other Americans, who did so at the rate of 8.9 per 100,000.)

As you can see, with all the money spent and bills congress already passed, nothing has changed. The rate is still double the civilian rate.

The other thing that far too many fail to acknowledge is that civilians have PTSD and TBI too however, even though veterans are only 7% of that population they account for double the rate of civilians committing suicide. Yes, that is a very important fact omitted from people trying to push an agenda. The other factor is that the majority veterans committing suicide are 50 and over.

“Acting without knowing takes you right off the cliff.” ― Ray Bradbury, Something Wicked This Way Comes

On TBI this is from the CDC

In 2010, about 2.5 million emergency department (ED) visits, hospitalizations, or deaths were associated with TBI—either alone or in combination with other injuries—in the United States.

The 2.5 million is gathered from emergency room visits and not diagnoses. This is a good article on TBI and concussions
This is from the Brain Trauma Foundation

Every year, approximately 52,000 deaths occur from traumatic brain injury.

An estimated 1.5 million head injuries occur every year in the United States emergency rooms. a

An estimated 1.6 million to 3.8 million sports-related TBIs occur each year.

At least 5.3 million Americans, 2% of the U.S. population, currently live with disabilities resulting from TBI.

Notice how they separated sports away from the other figure?

I am one of them. I had TBI before they called it that way, way back in the days when they were not sure what else a head injury could do. After I got out of the hospital at the ripe age of 4, soon my parents figured out my brain wasn't the same. I developed a speech impediment and spelling issues. (If you read Wounded Times often, I'm sure you noticed that) I also had memory problems. I had to learn how to push things I didn't need to remember anymore out of my head. I still have to do it but somehow manage to remember things these folks can't.

There you have the essence of what has actually been going on. I don't know about where Chiarelli sits but it stinks to high heaven from here!

“So in sum, what are we? We are the creatures that know and know too much. That leaves us with such a burden again we have a choice, to laugh or cry. No other animal does either. We do, depending on the season and the need.”

― Ray Bradbury, Something Wicked This Way Comes

VA Dr. Timothy Fjordbak Remembered For What He Did For Veterans

Look at all the reporters and cameras! Wouldn't it have been wonderful if they paid this much attention to a VA psychologist who could tell the difference between PTSD and TBI? Wouldn't it have been wonderful if they actually spent some time on all the people working for the VA throughout the entire nation doing the best they can for veterans? Guess it is just a lot easier for them to pay attention when it is too late. Lord only knows what possessed the veteran to shoot him or what he went through.

Doctor killed at El Paso VA remembered as being committed to veterans' mental wellbeing
El Paso Times
By Aaron Martinez
POSTED: 01/07/2015

El Paso FBI Special Agent in Charge Douglas Lindquist, center, speaks during a news conference Wednesday. (photos by VICTOR CALZADA — EL PASO TIMES)

The doctor shot and killed Tuesday at the El Paso Veterans Affairs Health Care System clinic was described as a great psychologist who was committed to helping veterans.

Timothy Fjordbak, 63, left a successful private psychology practice after the terrorist attacks in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania on Sept. 11, 2001, to focus on helping returning soldiers, said FBI Special Agent in Charge Douglas Lindquist.

Fjordbak was a mental and behavioral health psychologist at the VA clinic.

He had 33 years experience as a psychologist and was licensed to practice in Florida, Georgia and New Mexico, according to medical records.

He earned a doctoral degree of psychology from the University of Denver. Fjordbak had a practice in Macon, Ga., where he specialized in neuropsychology, clinical neuropsychology and clinical psychology, according to medical records.

Fjordbak left a lasting impact on his patients, said Michael Rushton, a U.S. Air Force veteran who was treated by Fjordbak in late November.

"His main thing was that he could differentiate between symptoms of PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and traumatic brain injury," said Rushton, who suffered a severe traumatic brain injury about a year ago and was also being treated for PTSD. "It was a five-hour appointment and it was a very comprehensive series of tests. He was amazing and an excellent guy."
read more here

Iraq veteran with PTSD and TBI missing in Dallas

Authorities searching for missing Dallas-area Iraq Veteran with PTSD, TBI 
KETK News
December 30, 2014 - 4:54pm

JOHNSON COUNTY, TEXAS (KETK) — Johnson County officials are asking for the public's help locating a missing Iraq veteran suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury.

Joseph Jennings, 33, was last seen at around 7 p.m. in the 14000 block of County Road 511 Venus, Texas, wearing a dark blue jackets, overalls, black duty boots and an Iraqi Freedom ball cap. He is described as 5 feet 9 inches tall, weighs 220 pounds and has hazel eyes with brown hair.

Authorities stated the veteran was depressed at the time of his disappearance. The Johnson County Sheriff's Office is asking for everyone to be on the lookout for this veteran who served our country. If you know the whereabouts of Jennings, please contact 911 or the Johnson County Sheriff's Office at (817) 556-6060. Venus is located about 30 miles southwest of Dallas.
check here for updates

Pat "Grandpa" Featherby, Iraq War veteran from Wichita passed away

Pat Featherby, Iraq War veteran from Wichita, dies at 44 
THE WICHITA EAGLE
BY FRED MANN
 12/23/2014

“All you have is each other. Without each other, we would not have made it. There is no question in my mind.”

Spc. Pat Featherby died Dec. 19 at age 44. TRAVIS HEYING FILE PHOTO

Pat Featherby was a bouncer and concert promoter in Wichita when he saw a report on television about American soldiers being ambushed and killed in Iraq. He decided to do something about that.

He signed up for duty with the Kansas Army National Guard at age 35, earning the nickname “Grampa” in basic training.

In the Guard’s 714th Security Force, Spc. Featherby reunited with a childhood buddy, Sgt. Jerry Young. They traveled together to Iraq, roomed together and rode in the same escort convoys in northern Iraq, Young leading the way in the scout vehicle.

Both suffered multiple traumatic brain injuries from roadside bombs.

They talked each other through the war, and after they returned home they talked each other through their lives as they dealt with severe symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and a host of other medical, financial and social issues.

Mr. Featherby died Dec. 19 of what his family said were service-related injuries. He was 44.
read more here

PTSD on trial and the story upside down

It is really odd how people can read the same article but come away with different points of view. Take this one about an Iraq veteran facing charges for shooting a police officer.

This is the headline Iraq war vet indicted for shooting Athens police officer But twisting the story around, pulling the bottom of the article to the top, it raises important points that could very well be missed if you stopped reading after the beginning.

Defense attorney Edward Tolley noted in one of the motions that Marcantonio was involved in numerous fire fights during his deployment in Iraq, and in 2006 he suffered a severe brain injury when an armored vehicle he was in was struck by an artillery shell. He suffers from PTSD, Tolley noted. Tolley said that if granted bond, Veteran Affairs has offered to accept Marcantonio with an ankle monitor while he is provided with in-patient mental health services. The attorney also argued that Marcantonio was honorably discharged from the Marines and had no prior criminal record. The lance corporal was awarded the Purple Heart and other medals and commendations for his service in Iraq.

Now read what the beginning of the article had.

James Michael Marcantonio, 28, is a decorated combat veteran of the Iraq war who suffers from post traumatic stress syndrome that possibly triggered the altercation in which the officer was shot, according to court filings by his defense attorney. On Nov. 25, grand jurors filed an indictment in Clarke County Superior Court charging the former U.S. Marine with aggravated assault against a police officer, aggravated battery, attempted removal of a firearm from a public official, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime and felony obstruction of a law enforcement officer. The injured officer was one of two who responded on Aug. 31 to Fairways at Jennings Mill apartments on a woman’s report that Marcantonio was banging on her door and trying to get inside, according to police.

By the time you read that part, you knew that he was a dealing with PTSD and the VA offered to help.

Staff Sgt. Adam Jacks Gunnery Sergeant Amputee Finishes Water Survival Training

Marine staff sergeant becomes first amputee to graduate from grueling swim school
DVIDS
Major Eve Baker
December 5, 2014

Maj. Eve Baker
On Nov. 25, Staff Sgt. Adam Jacks became the first amputee to graduate from the Marine Combat Instructor of Water Survival course. Over the three-week course the students swim 59 miles, complete timed drills and swims, and learn rescue techniques. They are now certified as MCIWS instructors and Red Cross lifeguards.

QUANTICO, Va. - The Marine Combat Instructor of Water Survival course is a grueling training evolution that requires Marines to swim a total of 59 miles over three weeks. The course that graduated on Nov. 25 started with nine participants, but only six were able to complete the challenge. One of those six had the deck stacked against him from the beginning but overcame adversity and graduated with his classmates.

Staff Sgt. Adam Jacks, company gunnery sergeant for Headquarters and Service Company at The Basic School, is a motivated, extremely fit, infantry Marine who said he quickly volunteered to attend the course when approached by the chief instructor trainer, Gunnery Sgt. Joseph Marshall. The fact that Jacks’s right leg was amputated at the mid-thigh in 2011 did not faze either Marine.

Jacks, a native of Newark, Ohio, was serving in Afghanistan with 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, located in Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, when he stepped on a pressure plate on April 3, 2011, and was hit by an improvised explosive device blast. Among other injuries, Jacks suffered a traumatic brain injury and lost 2/3 of his right leg.
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Guide to U.S. Military Casualty Statistics OEF and OIF Plus PTSD

Document: Guide to U.S. Military Casualty Statistics
Published: December 1, 2014
(Linked from USNI News)

Rs 22452

So much for the DOD saying that most of the soldiers with PTSD had not been deployed. Look at these numbers.

2000-2014 None Deployed 36,321 while deployed was 128,496.

Take a good long look at the rest of the numbers.

Then remember that less than half of the troops/veterans with PTSD seek help.  Now you have a better idea of what the numbers really are for those we sent.

Film tells how horseback riding helped vet with PTSD

Medicine Horse Center plans 'Riding My Way Back'
Film tells how horseback riding helped vet with PTSD
Cortez Journal
For The Mancos Times Article
October 28, 2014

Medicine Horse Center plans to screen "Riding My Way Back," the new award-winning, short documentary about the powerful healing of therapeutic riding for a veteran with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury.

The documentary will be screened at The Durango Elks Lodge, 901 E. Second Ave., Durango, on Friday, Nov. 7.

Tickets are available for $15, and free for veterans. Tickets will be available at the door or can be purchased in advance by contacting Lynne Howarth, of Medicine Horse Center at (970)-533-7403. Proceeds of ticket sales go toward veterans services with Medicine Horse Center.

"Riding My Way Back" chronicles a soldier's journey back from the brink of suicide.

In 2010, Staff Sgt. Aaron Heliker returned from multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan with a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
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Army Major Finds Family Expanded to About 300

Wounded Army veteran receives mortgage-free home
Tampa Tribune
BY ELAINE SPEER
Special Correspondent
Published: October 8, 2014

Army Maj. Robert Kilmartin, who suffers from combat-related traumatic brain injury and post traumatic stress disorder, and his family check out the pool at their new home in Riverview recently given them by Building Homes for Heroes. From left are Maddox; wife, Cristina; Shaylee, Devin, Taylor and the major.
ELAINE SPEER

RIVERVIEW – When Building Homes for Heroes gifts a house to a wounded veteran and his family, it does so in patriotic style.

On Sept. 27, U.S. Army Maj. Robert Kilmartin, his wife, Christina, and their four children were welcomed to their new home with all the celebration and pageantry fit for a combat-wounded soldier.

Full-sized American flags lined the parade route on Balm Riverview Road leading to the Kilmartin’s new home. The procession included Hillsborough County Sherrif’s Office motorcycle deputies, Riverview High School JROTC cadets, AVAST (Amputee Veterans of America Support Team) Color Guard, Alexander Keith Memorial Pipe Band from Dunedin, Patriot Guard of Vietnam Veterans and Hillsborough County Fire Rescue vehicles.

Approximately 300 supporters, including volunteers, veterans and active service personnel; members of local Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops; and dignitaries from the military and state government crammed the Kilmartin’s new front yard and driveway to welcome the family home.

The patriotic festivities even included a fly-over of two vintage T-6 airplanes from the Kissimmee Air Museum.
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Film on Equine PTSD Therapy Wins Award

Screening of Award-Winning Film "Riding My Way Back"
Atlantic Highlands Herald
Written by MC Park System
Published: 07 October 2014

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — The Monmouth County Park System and its partner Special People United to Ride (SPUR) is pleased to announce that the Sunnyside Equestrian Center, 628 Middletown-Lincroft Road, Middletown, will host a screening of the award-winning film “Riding My Way Back” on Sunday, November 9 at 3 p.m. This short new documentary tells the powerful story of how therapeutic riding helped a veteran with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury begin to heal. A suggested donation of $5 can be given at the door.

The film chronicles one soldier’s journey back from the brink of suicide. In 2010, Staff Sergeant Aaron Heliker returned from multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan with a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). At his most desperate and isolated, on 42 medications and suicidal, Aaron is introduced to the unlikeliest of saviors: a horse named Fred. Through caring for Fred, Aaron begins the difficult process of reconnecting to the world around him and healing the invisible wounds of war that nearly defeated him.
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Son's Suicide Made Her a Gold Star Mom

Military families cope with suicides

In December, 2008, LaDart married his girlfriend, with whom he would later have a son.

Deemed by the Army to be fit for service, LaDart began helicopter mechanic training at Fort Eustis in Virginia. His problems continued to the point that he was disciplined and demoted. He then referred himself to military behavioral health providers, who once again diagnosed him with PTSD and ADHD and started a treatment program. The Army then sent him to Germany as a tactical vehicle driver.

Things continued to deteriorate, though. LaDart threatened a superior. He expressed thoughts of killing himself and others and told his commander that he tried suicide before, Army records say. But under what the Army calls "intense care," LaDart's mental health improved. He was promoted to specialist and won the Soldier of the Month competition.

"Absent PTSD symptoms, he was returned to duty," Army records show.

Things started looking up for LaDart. He was assigned to Ft. Belvoir in Virginia in September 2011. In April 2012, he completed the Army Warrior Leadership Course, "an important developmental career step," according to the Army. But a few weeks later, his life cratered again.

A domestic dispute with his wife led to his removal from the home. A protective order was issued against him and the Army considered more discipline. His commander requested a mental health evaluation. Medical officials at the fort's hospital reviewed LaDart's recent mental evaluation and determined he was not a threat to himself or others. He kept his next mental health appointment on May 29, 2012, made no mention of suicide and talked about the future.

On June 4, LaDart arrived at work "without any outward display of distress," Army records say. "He returned to his family quarters during lunch and had a phone conversation with his wife in Louisiana. Tragically, David hanged himself in the garage without leaving a suicide note."

He was 25.

The news arrived in Florida at 3 p.m.

Debbie McLean was driving home from work when she got the call from her son's mother-in-law that LaDart killed himself.

"I had a mental breakdown in my vehicle," she says. "I am surprised I didn't walk into traffic."

McLean says she knew her son was having difficulty and was separated from his wife. But she didn't know of the PTSD diagnosis or the suicidal thoughts.

"I knew nothing," she says."I just knew he was dead."

The suicide sent McLean into a downward spiral. "I went into my own hole," she says. "It was like someone took away my whole world. Everything I believed in."

Adding to her misery, her son was placed in a casket in a sergeant's uniform, but before being transported to Louisiana, the Army realized he had been promoted in error and ordered his uniform changed, shocking the family during the viewing.

It was all more than McLean could handle. Depressed, she was prescribed Zoloft, Xanax and sleeping medications. At one point, she was involuntarily committed under the state's Baker Act.

McLean says she wasn't suicidal, but "I have thoughts of wanting to be with my son. A longing to be with my son. What mother who loves her son would not?"

From David Isaiah LaDart Healing of the Wounded Spirit

During that time I had suffered a TBI and PTSD due to a head injury, I received care in WTU Wurzburg, Germany for which I was declared 80% disabled, the Army Chief of Staff, General Ray Odierno, told my mother, Debbie McLean, Jan 3, 2014, that I should have been Med Boarded, Hospitalized and sent on for my VA benefits and SSD benefits, to go on to live life, as best as possible, not be told that I could sign and be put back 0% and go back to Full Duty!!! Me being the gung ho Soldier I was, wanting to go back to war! There was a mistake!

How can a Soldier, or anyone suffering PTSD/TBI expect that they can make a decision such as this, that may affect your life, your families life, I want to know how do they expect someone in a mental state make these type of decisions?????

UPDATE

Debbie sent a copy of the letter she read during the ceremony,

Debbie May McLean
From the Mouth of An Amazing Daughter In Law!
Titled:I love you more.

My husband and I met in December 2007 while he was on R&R from Iraq. I wanted nothing to do with him at first because in my mind what soldier comes home for R&R looking to meet his soul mate? He spotted me out of a room full of people, and since his sister knew me she insisted on introducing us. Thankfully she did because the man that I initially shot down became my first love, future husband and father to my child.

When he returned to Iraq we talked every chance we could. He got home in late June 2008 and his sister and I drove to his parent’s lake house in Georgia to spend 4th of July together. I was already smitten but after 4 amazing days together I was in love. It’s important to know that I had never spoken those words in any other relationship, even when they were said to me. He told me that he was going to make me fall in love with him, and he did.

It was fast. He was stationed in Georgia for a short time before going to Virginia for school. He came to Louisiana a few times and I went to Virginia twice. We were head over heels in love. We got engaged in September. He decided to sell his motorcycle so I rode with him. Once it was sold he drove me to the mall. He walked me straight into a jewelry store and said “I love you more than anything and I want to you to be my wife. Pick one.”

Dave started suffering from PTSD a few months after he returned home from Iraq. He battled nightmares that were so realistic I woke up in chokeholds. He hated crowds and loud noises. He was angry and quick tempered. We sought help together and separately and in August of 2010 we welcomed a beautiful little boy into the world. My husband was on cloud 9.

The therapy and medication combination seemed to be helping, he was coping and we were a happy family. We PCS’ed to Virginia in September of 2011. He was in a different MOS and because he couldn’t fly on his medication his flight doctor decided to prescribe him something different. For months I asked how it was working and he assured me that he was fine. In early May of 2012 while my husband was away at WLC I stumbled upon an article online about Taryn Davis and the American Widow Project. The article left me with chills and an uneasy feeling in my stomach. I couldn’t fathom the pain that she and so many others went through in the wake of losing their husbands. I tried to imagine what I would do if it ever happened to me but I couldn’t.

I couldn’t picture my life without my best friend. The man I fell asleep next to every night and woke up next to every morning. The same man who shared a bowl of cereal with our son while they watched cartoons together. The man who could pick me up over his head even after I ate too many donuts. The strongest man I knew. The man who told me a hundred times a day how much he loved me. The man who promised we would spend the rest of our lives together. But on June 4, 2012 spending the rest of OUR lives together was no longer a reality, because he ended his. We were on the phone when he did it.

I hung up and called the police in Virginia and 6 hours later I was staring at 2 men in uniform standing in front of me reciting the most feared of all words when you are a military spouse “On behalf of the Secretary of Defense, we regret to inform you…” At 24 years old I was a widow and a single mother.

I used to lay with my head on my husband’s chest, listening to his heart beat because I never knew when I might not have the chance to hear it again. It still didn’t prepare me for the day that I wouldn’t. I am now one of the women I read about in the article just weeks before my husband died. I am a military widow, and as much as I hate the circumstances that have brought us together I am absolutely certain that I couldn’t find myself amongst a stronger, more compassionate group of women. from the Mouth of an Amazing Daughter In Law!
American Gold Star Mother, Debbie McLean

Veterans Not Aware PTSD Service Dogs Not Covered by VA?

"VA says no service dogs benefits warranted for PTSD sufferers" came out in 2012.

The Department of Veterans Affairs will pay service-dog benefits to veterans with vision, hearing or mobility-related injuries but not to veterans suffering only with post-traumatic-stress-disorder and other mental health disabilities.

A 67-page, final draft of rules concerning veterans in need of service dogs was published today in the Federal Register and will become final in 30 days. In justifying its decision, the VA cited “nationally established” and “widely accepted” training protocols for sight, hearing and mobility-assistance dogs and the lack of similar training protocols for mental health service dogs.

In addition, because there is little clinical research on mental health service dogs, the “VA has not yet been able to determine that these dogs provide medical benefit to veterans with mental illness.”

So why was this veteran shocked because he didn't know about this?

Local veteran with PTSD finds peace with his service dog, but learns VA won’t cover cost
Q13FOX
BY Q13 FOX NEWS STAFF AND TINA PATEL
OCTOBER 1, 2014

Local veteran with PTSD finds peace with his service dog, but learns VA won’t cover cost

SEATTLE — A local veteran diagnosed with crippling Post Traumatic Stress Disorder has finally found some relief — but it didn’t come in the form of a pill.

Instead, he found peace with a service dog.

But as Tina Patel reports, he was shocked to learn his VA benefits wouldn’t cover the cost.

Veterans have been fighting to have the VA approve of service dogs for PTSD for years. In 2010 there was a bill presented and passed to have a pilot study done.

Franken's Service Dog for Vets Bill Passes Senate
The Senate passed Sen. Al Franken's first piece of legislation, a bill aimed at providing service dogs to more disabled veterans.

The Service Dogs for Veterans Act would create a pilot program within the Veterans Administration. The VA would partner with non-profit groups which train service dogs.

The bill was incorporated into the Defense Authorization bill for fiscal year 2010 and passed as part of the larger bill.

But as you can see above, it did little good.