Wednesday, April 24, 2019

Video of Afghanistan veteran being stabbed to death regarded as "trophy"

Fugitive captured in fatal stabbing of Cherry Hill war veteran


Philly.com
by Robert Moran
April 23, 2019

A 26-year-old man wanted in the fatal stabbing in Chinatown of a 28-year-old Afghanistan War veteran from Cherry Hill was captured by authorities Tuesday morning in Southwest Philadelphia.

Victor Yan has been accused of killing Brett Berdini, who was attacked by a group in the 1000 block of Race Street shortly before 2 a.m. last Oct. 14.

The attack, including the stabbing, was recorded on a camera phone by one of the assailants and shared among the attackers and others for their amusement, said Anthony Voci Jr., chief of the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office homicide unit.

“We have a generation that is apparently obsessed with recording just about everything, and that includes violent crimes,” Voci said.

Voci said the defendants regarded the video as a “trophy.”
read more here

Tuesday, April 23, 2019

Afghanistan veteran and wife on motorcycle killed by vulture

Army Veteran, Wife Killed in Crash With Vulture: Kansas Patrol


By The Associated Press
April 22, 2019

MEDICINE LODGE, Kan.—Authorities say a vulture caused a crash that killed an Army veteran and his wife as they rode a motorcycle in southern Kansas.

The Kansas Highway Patrol says the bird came out of a ditch Saturday afternoon, April 20, and struck 42-year-old Brandon Husband, of Fowler, in the head on a rural road near Medicine Lodge, about 75 miles southwest of Wichita. 

The motorcycle then went off the road, struck a barbed wire fence and overturned. The patrol says neither Husband nor his wife, 43-year-old Jennifer Lynn Husband , was wearing a helmet.

Brandon Husband’s obituary says he served one tour in Kosovo, three in Afghanistan and was part of an Iraqi soldier training mission on the Iraq-Jordan border.

The Husbands leave behind four children.
read more here

Police officer found dead at headquarters

Montebello police officer dies after being shot with his own gun at police headquarters


Los Angeles Times
By RICHARD WINTON
APR 22, 2019

A Montebello police officer who had been on the force less than a year died of a gunshot wound Sunday after discharging his weapon inside police headquarters, authorities said.

Officer Kenneth Utsinger, 41, was pronounced dead at the police station at 1600 W. Beverly Blvd. at 5:24 a.m. Sunday, according to Sarah Ardalani, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County coroner’s office.

While the call for assistance came in as a suicide, an autopsy is still pending for Utsinger, who lived in Downey, according to the coroner’s office.

A source familiar with the investigation but not authorized to discuss it said Utsinger’s body was found inside the police station’s locker room.
read more here


PTSD Patrol 2 years of giving the keys to hope

PTSD PATROL 2nd anniversary


Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
April 23, 2019


Getting road hogs with high beams off the road, was behind the creation of PTSD Patrol two years ago. It is one of the reasons why this post is not going up on PTSD Patrol. Doom and gloom needs to be left off there.

A group of us like minded workers of the harvest were tired of other people taking the attention away from healing so they could keep talking about failing.

That is exactly what raising awareness that veterans are committing suicide is doing. Talking about what failed for more veterans than they can even imagine.

The proof was right before their eyes, but they did not bother to even look. They did not bother to read the report they found so important they began countless fundraisers after snagging a headline.

The report they claimed was so important stated clearly that it was limited data from just 21 states...worse than not even half, because the states that were not counted, were among the largest veteran populations.

California and Illinois passed legislation to track veterans committing suicide long after the report was issued. Arizona will start to do it. 

The followup report with "20 veterans a day" was almost as useless. While the VA stated it involved all 50 states, including statistics from the CDC, the CDC reported that it did not have total numbers from states like Texas and Florida. 

As for the VA itself, less than half of the veterans in this country have sought benefits from the VA. The VA and states do not count veterans without "honorable discharges" as veterans, leaving them out of reports.

Now that you have a better idea of what is not known, add in these parts;
➣The majority of known veterans committing suicide are over the age of 50.
➣The known number of veterans committing suicide was 20 a day back in 1999 with 5 million more veterans alive at the time.
➣The percentage of known suicides has risen, in the veterans population as well as those currently serving this country.
According to the Department of Defense there were 504 service members who committed suicide in 2017. As of the 3rd quarter of 2018, there were 375. The total report should have been released the beginning of April, but as of this morning, it has not been released.

Recent news reports have revealed an increase to a ten year high.

Raising awareness about a subject they know very little about, has become a business. People making a great living off veterans no longer wanting to live. Worse is, they seem to find it acceptable to be profitable while "having fun" at the same time.

Road hogs with their high beams on endanger those behind them by clogging up the way for others to pass them by. They blind those coming the opposite way. Collisions occur because they want all eyes on them instead of on what will get other drivers on the right road to be glad they survived what caused PTSD in the first place.

This is my 37th year on this road. I had to learn how to read the road maps to know the way out, just as I had to learn the rules of the road. Along the way I encountered those who were prepared to lead and those who just getting in the way.

All of this matters because it is my life. It is all personal to me and that is how I started out. I needed to know for the sake of my family. Once I learned, I knew there were even more just as lost as I was. That is why I share the knowledge gained the hard way.

Much like a moped is different from a Harley, that is the difference between raising suicide awareness and actually doing the work to prevent them from happening in the first place.

Lives can be changed when we, not only offer hope, but give them the keys to use it!

#BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife

Monday, April 22, 2019

First Responders workshops for the stress of coping with danger

Workshops help first responders deal with stress


The Republic
By Mark Webber
4/20/19

Two upcoming workshops for local first responders will help them deal with the stress of coping with danger, chaos and tragedy which are part of their professions.
Mike Kutsko

Rates of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression among police and firefighters have been found to be as much as five times higher than the civilian population, said Columbus Deputy Fire Chief Mike Kutsko.

Workshops on Monday and Tuesday at Columbus City Hall are designed to help the first responders, and also their families, Kutsko said.

Until recently, most first-responders would never admit they have a problem. Good mental health is a prerequisite to working in police or fire operations, so there is fear of losing promotions – or worse – if someone admits feeling depressed or traumatized, Kutsko said.

"There is a big stigma with mental health," Kutsko said. "There’s a fear that others will look on you as if you are weak."
read more here

Protesters in Paris shouted "Kill yourselves!" at police officers

Outrage after some French protesters urge police suicides



By The Associated Press PARIS
Apr 21, 2019

Police unions held silent protests Friday after two officers killed themselves last week. Unions say police ranks have seen 28 suicides so far this year, compared to 68 over all of 2018.
Police advance on protestors during a yellow vest demonstration in Paris, Saturday, April 20, 2019. French yellow vest protesters are marching anew to remind the government that rebuilding the fire-ravaged Notre Dame Cathedral isn't the only problem the nation needs to solve. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
With French police suicides on the rise, Paris authorities are investigating yellow vest protesters who encouraged police to kill themselves.

Radical protesters have clashed with police nearly every weekend for five months on the margins of largely peaceful yellow vest demonstrations demanding more help for France's beleaguered workers, retirees and students.

On Saturday, Associated Press reporters heard some protesters in Paris shouting "Kill yourselves!" at police firing tear gas and rubber projectiles and charging the crowd to contain the violence at the 23rd weekend of yellow vest demonstrations.

Police unions denounced the protesters' call as an unacceptable insult to the officers who have killed themselves and their suffering families. Interior Minister Christophe Castaner called it a "disgrace" and pledged his support for police and their loved ones, who have been under extra strain as the yellow vest protests have sometimes turned quite violent.
read more here

Who or what killed Michael Hermon

Gulf War veteran who was arrested in Berkeley died after fight at Santa Rita Jail


Berkeleyside
By Emilie Raguso
April 5, 2019
Hermon also struggled with PTSD from his time in the military, she said: “We all struggle with our demons, and I know that Michael had his.”
Michael Hermon. Photo: Kat Alexander

According to Hermon’s Facebook page, he was a combat engineer in the U.S. Army working in explosive ordnance disposal. These soldiers are described online as “the Army’s preeminent tactical and technical explosives experts.” He served during Operation Desert Storm, according to his family.
A 47-year-old Gulf War veteran with a PhD in philosophy, who was arrested in Berkeley in February, died one month later after a brief altercation in jail, according to the Alameda County sheriff’s office.

Sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Ray Kelly told Berkeleyside that Michael Hermon was punched once in the nose during the fight March 13. When he didn’t stop bleeding, Hermon was taken to Stanford Health Care – ValleyCare in Livermore. At some point, Hermon stopped breathing and was placed on life support. He later died.

Hermon was due to be transferred out of jail to a diversion program for veterans, Kelly said. But the transfer had not happened yet due to lack of space. Kelly said Hermon’s cause of death has not been determined, but that authorities will look closely at his medical history, as well as any medical procedures that took place in the hospital, as part of the autopsy report: “It was a very unusual situation and a very unfortunate one for this family,” he told Berkeleyside. “It’s just a very bizarre series of events.”

Meanwhile, friends told Berkeleyside they are struggling to make sense of Hermon’s death.
read more here

Vietnam Veterans of America giving back to others for Easter

Veterans giving back to veterans


FOX 2 News
April 21, 2019

Detroit, (FOX 2) - Members and volunteers of Vietnam Veterans of America were spreading some springtime cheer this past Easter weekend.
 The day started with delivering care packages to patients at the VA Medical Center in Detroit.

"It's our way of giving back, to tell them thank you and we appreciate them," said Vietnam Veteran of America member, Paul Palazzolo.

The organization does this twice a year. Members and volunteers say back scratchers are always the most popular item.
read more here

Sunday, April 21, 2019

Do you know the worth of your vehicle?

Are you worthy?

Wounded Times and PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
April 21, 2019

(cross post today)

Today is Easter. The day of a life rising from the dead. A life given, so that others may live and be made worthy by faith in Jesus.

The night before, the people who heard the voice of Jesus must have been wondering why they thought He was telling the truth, when His life ended the way it did. They must have been crushed.

Yet the truth was known by a cave left empty and all He said was once again believed.

"Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile."
Albert Einstein

He died for others, but He also lived for others. He did not just come to die and rise, but to lift us up and know, that we were loved. God knew we were here and in need of help, as much as we were in need of hope.

Jesus did what He was sent to do. Did you? So many times we think maybe we were wrong about what we were sent here to do. We appear to be failures to others, yet, no matter what others think, we rise and do it all over again.

If you are struggling between what other say you should do, and what you know you need to do, I have something that may help encourage you to stay true to what you were created for.

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."
Jeremiah 29:11-13 New International Version (NIV)
I made the choice to follow where I was being led. I knew it would not be easy, but I did not know it would be so damn hard.

When I was training to be a Chaplain with the IFOC, David Vorce said that Satan was busy when we run up into road blocks. I just never thought those road blocks would be laid by people who were supposed to be "friends" of mine.

While I left the IFOC, I have not left the mission that I was prepared to do. I focused on first responders and veterans. I still do. After 37 years, it is in my DNA, so there is no getting away from it.

A few years ago, someone I thought was a friend, stood up during a large gathering after one of the members had committed suicide. She made this announcement. "22 veterans a day are committing suicide and I'm gonna do something about it."

It was almost as if she just woke up one day and decided that she suddenly had the power to do what I had been doing for over 3 decades. You know, like I had done nothing. Sick to my stomach, I could not even listen to the rest of what she had to say.

What I did hear, was an impassioned plea from one of the other members. "Please stop talking about it. It hurts my heart." She was a friend of the member who took his own life.

Well that caused the woman to become enraged and she snapped back at the grieving friend.

I drove home in tears. I couldn't figure out why that "friend" had not just dismissed my work, but pretended I was not even worthy of her learning anything from me.

The next day, I called the President of Point Man, Dana Morgan, and told him what happened. My heart was being ripped out, my ego was so beaten down that I doubted all the work I had done, but the worst thing was, my soul was so crushed, I was not sure if I was supposed to keep doing it or not.

It was hard enough to fight this battle, mostly alone, but it had been one betrayal too many for me.

Dana said he would ask the other leaders of Point Man to pray that I find the answer.

The next morning I felt a little better but, still unsure, I asked my boss at work if she would have her prayer group help me find the answer.

As I was talking about my own pain, I cried. When she started to ask me questions about veterans, I stopped crying. When I explained to her how they can go from being willing to die for the sake of others, to not wanting to be here anymore, that soul crushing feeling started to lift.

By the time I got home, the weight was gone.

I called Dana and told him that I had my answer. Thinking about myself, caused me great emotional pain. Doubt caused by someone else left me believing I was wrong to even try. Doing what I had done for so many years, filled me with peace. I knew that whatever would come, would be OK, because as long as I knew what God wanted of me, I could deal with it.

"Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called." Ephesians 4:1
Dana asked me if I told my boss yet. I told him I would in the morning.

When she came in, I started to explain what happened, but she started laughing. The look of puzzlement must have been clear because she responded. "You don't get it. As soon as you started talking yesterday, I started praying."

I got my answer. No matter what comes, I know I am doing what I am supposed to do. While it would be so much easier to receive more help than I am getting, it does not stop me from doing it.

Maybe the lack of help I receive is so that I can share this extra burden with those who are going through the same type of thing.

It is really hard to see so many others beating their own chest and getting attention for a bunch or words that mean absolutely nothing.  They are all about themselves and not the cause they claim to be invested in.

When the end result is a worse situation for those they claim to want to help, it is then others figure out that they came to this "ministry" unarmed and their foolish ways were discovered.

Well, a few days after that encounter with the woman who almost made me give up, a younger veteran was struggling. He needed my help. I gave it and he started to heal.

Another veteran needed help. A wife of a veteran needed help. A wife of a firefighter needed help. More and more needed help and I was able to be there because people were praying for me and the mission I was put into position to do.

I am doing what I can with what help I have been given. Sure, I get upset knowing I could be doing so much more if I did receive help but that is not the reality I live with. 

We understand that it is hard to go without help, so we understand those seeking it from us. I know the worth of my vehicle even though others think it is a worn out antique.

We know what it is like to find the courage to ask for help, as well as, what it is like to not often find it for ourselves. We know what hardships and struggles are, what doubt feels like and above all, we know what would comfort us, what words would help us find relief.

That is the lesson I have a hard time remembering during times such as this, but I've been on this road to long now, that I can also remember what it was like when someone did show up to help me out, offer comforting words, or let me know I was there when they needed someone the most.

Know that whatever you do, you are doing if for the right reasons and the price you pay, helps you do it far better than if you had it all handed to you on a silver platter.



Any crown I've ever worn
I lay it down
Any praise I've ever gained
I give it all to You
For there's nothing in this world
That can compare
For You alone are worthy
You alone are worthy
You are near to all who call
Upon Your name
Ever giving, ever loving
You remain the same
For You open up Your hands
And satisfy
I give You all the glory
Give You all the glory
You are worthy oh Lord
Of all honor
You are worthy to receive
All praise
In Your presence I live
And with all I have to give
I will worship You
Honor You
Glorify Your holy name
I will worship You
Honor You
Glorify Your holy name
Songwriters: Darlene Joyce Zschech You Are Worthy lyrics © Music Services, Inc

New Hampshire Airman's death under investigation in Qatar

NH Airman dies overseas in non-combat incident


WMUR
Cherise Leclerc
April 20, 2019

The Department of Defense says Staff Sgt. Albert J. Miller, of Richmond, has died overseas.

Miller died on April 19th at the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar in a non-combat related incident.

He was assigned to the 736th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware and was supporting Operation Freedom’s Sentinel.

Miller was 24 years old.

An investigation into the cause of his death is ongoing
go here for updates