Mom Befriends Wife of PTSD Vet Charged With Murder

Mom Befriends Wife of PTSD Vet Charged With Murder

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: November 25, 2009
HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. (AP) -- When the envelope arrived, Windy Horner was talking with her husband, Nick -- Windy on a cell phone, Nick in the Blair County jail.

Windy did not recognize the return address. She feared hate mail; her husband is charged with killing two men and robbing a sandwich shop, and she blames his actions on post-traumatic stress disorder from his service in Iraq, but others do not agree.

''Just because horner went to iraq,'' read one reader comment on a newspaper Web site, ''doesnt mean he shouldnt get what he deserves!!!!!!!''

Now, she wondered: Should she open the envelope? Go ahead, Nick said.

The note was from a complete stranger, a woman named Laurie Claar. It was written on a card decorated with a rainbow and flowers, bearing the message, ''Caring Thoughts Are With You.''

''I'm not sure what to say to you all except I understand and you all are in my prayers,'' Claar wrote. ''And I don't think bad of Nick as he needs help to deal with PTSD.''

Her words reached a young couple sorely in need of encouragement.

On April 26, Laurie Claar sat in the darkness next to her son's grave, cradling a doll she dressed in the clothes he had worn as a newborn. She was waiting for the clock to strike 11:04 p.m.

Exactly 25 years before, Matthew Claar had been born.

''I just had to be there at that time,'' Claar said tearfully. It comforted her, she said, to remember a time when she could still protect her son.

More than seven months before his mother's vigil, fueled by guilt and PTSD, the Marine Corps veteran had pulled the trigger on the 9mm pistol in his mouth.

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Mom Befriends Wife of PTSD Vet Charged With Murder

Veterans' Chief goes from Hall of Fame to accused of hurting veterans

Arizona indicts former veteran's chiefPublished: Nov. 20, 2009 at 11:09 AM


PHOENIX, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- The former head of Arizona's Department of Veterans' Services has been indicted on felony charges of fraud, misuse of public money and conflict of interest.

The indictment of Patrick Chorpenning Sr., a disabled Vietnam veteran, comes less than three weeks after he was inducted into the state Veterans Hall of Fame, The Arizona Republic reported Friday.

Chorpenning, who led the department from 1999 to 2007, is accused of enriching his friends and family at the same time as he was cutting benefits to the veterans he was hired to serve.
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Arizona indicts former veterans chief

Pastor gives helping hand to homeless veteran

WILLIAM COLGIN/SUN HERALD Vietnam veteran, Early Johnson, is no longer homeless after being given an apartment by Pastor Lee Adams who sought out Johnson after reading about his situation in a Sun Herald story on Sunday.

Pastor gives helping hand to homeless veteran
Reverend provides apartment
By MICHAEL NEWSOM - mmnewsom@sunherald.com
GULFPORT — Navy veteran Early Johnson moved into a clean, spacious apartment Thursday in a quiet neighborhood near downtown.

For many South Mississippians, that wouldn’t be very noteworthy, but until he had unpacked his precious few belongings there, Johnson was one of an estimated 131,000 U.S. veterans who are homeless on any given night, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Thanks to the generosity of the Rev. Lee Adams, pastor of Little Rock Missionary Baptist Church in Gulfport, the veteran of the Vietnam era now has a home. Adams had kept an apartment that he was letting a young couple use until they found a place to live. The couple moved out in August, and at the time, Adams felt he needed to keep the apartment, but he said he really wasn’t sure why.

Adams said it all became clear Sunday night when he read in the Sun Herald about Johnson’s life as a homeless veteran and dialysis patient, who is disabled and on waiting lists for public housing and not able to find a place of his own on the money he makes working part time at the Biloxi VA. It was Johnson’s quote that he was able to survive on the streets by putting his trust in God, whom he said took care of him, which spurred the reverend into action.
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http://www.sunherald.com/278/story/1757425.html?storylink=omni_popular

Finally justice may come:Senators seek review of military's personality-disorder discharges

One of my rants (among many)has been about this. It has broken the spirits of too many when they were kicked out instead of helped up to heal.

Senators seek review of military's personality-disorder discharges

David Goldstein, Mcclatchy Newspapers – Tue Oct 20, 5:22 pm ET
WASHINGTON -- In the Senate , Barack Obama fought for better mental-health care for troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan .

Now that he's president, some of his former colleagues want him to pick up the gauntlet once more and make sure troops are getting the benefits they deserve.

"In 2007, we were partners in the fight against the military's misuse of personality disorder discharges," four senators -- Democrat Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas and Republicans Charles Grassley of Iowa , Kit Bond of Missouri and Sam Brownback of Kansas -- wrote in a letter this week asking Obama for a report to Congress on the current use of the discharges. "Today we urge you to renew your commitment to address this critical issue facing thousands of returning service members."

Because the military views personality disorders as a pre-existing condition, many service members returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with mental health problems have been unable to receive health benefits. There have been questions, however, about how scrupulous the military has been in making sure that the personality disorder discharges were proper.
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Senators seek review of military's personality-disorder discharges

'Military doesn't care about people with mental issues'

'Military doesn't care about people with mental issues'
By Nisa Islam Muhammad Staff Writer
Last updated: Nov 23, 2009

(FinalCall.com) - Vernelda Taylor-Harris is fighting mad about the tragedies at Ft. Hood, the tragedy that happened in early November with Major Nidal Hassan who is accused of killing 13 people and the tragedy with her daughter, PFC Sophia Taylor, while stationed at Ft. Hood.

“My daughter was diagnosed with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) while she was deployed in Iraq. She broke down and was medivaced to Ft. Hood for treatment. They did not treat her at all. In fact they just threw her under the bus. The military has no compassion for people with PTSD,” she told The Final Call.
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http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/National_News_2/article_6586.shtml