Toledo Vietnam veterans work to serve others

Veterans Day Memories of Vietnam

Posted to Great Americans by NamGuardianAngel on September 12, 2009

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Vietnam veterans seem to always be showing up in the news like in this following report. They show up to do motorcycle rides for charities ranging from helping kids feel special on Christmas to helping disabled Iraq and Afghanistan veterans feel appreciated. They show up on Veterans day just as much as they show up in Washington and around the nation to honor the fallen on Memorial Day. Vietnam veterans show up, no matter what the need is or who is in need, but these acts of kindness did not always make the news. What they did wrong did. Mostly because we didn't know what Post Traumatic Stress Disorder was, so when they self-medicated or drank too much, we blamed them.

By the time Vietnam veterans were coming home, the availability of reporters was staggering. They seemed to be everywhere. Vietnam combat came into our living rooms every night and it was in our newspapers everyday. Before Vietnam, when veterans came home, they came home to become well kept secrets families held when Dad was drinking too much or was a nasty person not to be messed with. They came home just like their fathers did. After the parades and parties, they faded into their own private hell. Vietnam veterans would not let the rest of their lives become suffering in silence.

They fought for the healing available today. They pushed the government to invest in the research the rest of the population are assisted with today. The findings from investigations into PTSD ended up resulting in crisis responders showing up right after traumatic events, police officers, firefighters and emergency responders having someone to turn to and when survivors are shattered by loss. They pushed for the VA to compensate for this invisible wound they carried inside of their skin but touched every part of their lives.

The Vietnam veterans are still showing up to help. They show up to help others heal in whatever way they can. They show up to make a difference as they take leadership positions in all the service organizations as well as in businesses. They show up when one of their brothers needs someone to care and they show up when one of them is still sleeping in the woods or on the streets. They show up when they are at the other end of the phone looking for clothing to be donated to give the homeless veterans something warmer and cleaner to wear.

It is a joy to post a report like the following because when it comes to them, the next time you need help or some stranger to care, the chances are, it's a Vietnam veteran showing up.

Toledo Vietnam veterans work to serve others
Written by Chris Schmidbauer sports@toledofreepress.com
With the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, it is easy to forget the true meaning of Christmas. Often times we become so consumed with shopping, baking holiday treats, and planning family parties, that we often overlook the true meaning of the yuletide season.

Gene Shurtz sees the holidays in a different light these days. The 66 year old, who was a 1st Lieutenant in the Army, spent his Christmas 30 years ago stationed in Vietnam.

“Well the saying always goes ‘you don’t realize what you have until it’s gone,’” Shurtz said. “When you are isolated like that in deployment overseas, you spent a whole year, if you weren’t evacuated or injured in battle, away from your family and friends. It is very difficult.”

Shurtz is also the chapter president of the Vietnam Veterans of Greater Toledo, and he and his fellow veterans are working to make this Christmas a little brighter for service men and women and their families.

“We wanted to do some social functions, and we are trying to achieve some fellowship with some social functions,” Shurtz said. “The idea is to connect veterans with each other, and a Christmas party is a nice way to do that.”

The Christmas party will be held Monday December 21 at the Hooters restaurant on Monroe Street, but the party designed to bring some extra holiday cheer is just on part to the group’s mission.

The greater Toledo chapter is an arm of the Vietnam Veterans of America (V.V.A), whose mission has been not to forsake a group of veterans the way Vietnam veterans were.
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Toledo Vietnam veterans work to serve others

Multiple Deployments Raises Risk of PTSD by Three Times

When the last straw broke the camels back, the owner thought the camel was doing just fine although his tongue must have been hanging out and his knees must have been buckling under all the weight. He didn't notice simply because he didn't want to. This is what's been happening to our military and while some want to say they are just not tough enough, others want to say they should have known what they were getting into and others just want to hide their heads in the sand, these men and women, no matter how well trained and determined to do their duty, have had the weight added to them for far too long.

Maybe they could have been able to take even more if the rest of us had bothered to show up and help them carry their load, but we didn't. Maybe they could have come home and felt they were appreciated when it came to what they needed from us, but they didn't. We just kept asking more and more of them and their families, repeating the same mistakes over and over again when addressing the emotional toll they paid and now we're upset because some people are calling for the return of the draft. What can we expect when none of us wanted to go in their place at the same time we complained they needed help when they got back because they went in our place?

New VA Study: Multiple Deployments Raises Risk of PTSD by Three Times
Written by Patrik Jonsson
Sunday, 20 December 2009 10:02
Pentagon plays catch-up as toll of repeat combat duty rises

A Department of Veterans Affairs study reports a three-fold increase in depression and post-traumatic stress after repeat combat duty, raising questions about the Pentagon’s ability to keep soldiers with combat-related psychological problems away from the front.

December 17, 2009 (Christian Science Monitor) - Emotional pain, depression, and angst among US soldiers seeing multiple deployments in war zones are much more common than the Pentagon has reported, a new Department of Veterans Affairs survey says.

Soldiers facing multiple deployments, moreover, are at least three times more likely to anonymously report problems of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than are those with a single deployment, according to the study published Thursday in the American Journal of Public Health.

Coming as 30,000 more troops are being sent to Afghanistan, the findings in a study of nearly 3,000 New Jersey National Guardsmen are likely to spur additional debate over military and societal response to America’s heavy dependence on volunteer soldiers for repeated deployments in two wars.

The findings also raise questions about the military’s ability – and willingness – to properly screen soldiers for combat-related problems that could limit their effectiveness in war zones, writes Anna Kline, lead author of the VA study.
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Multiple Deployments Raises Risk of PTSD by Three Times

Soldier on leave from Afghanistan killed in Baltimore while shopping

Soldier out shopping murdered in Baltimore

By Ben Nuckols - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Dec 21, 2009 15:10:33 EST

BALTIMORE — Baltimore police say an active-duty soldier was shot to death Sunday in the city while on the way home from grocery shopping with his wife.

Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi says 22-year-old Clifford Williams was on leave from service in Afghanistan.
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Soldier out shopping murdered in Baltimore

Veterans in law school finding a new way to fight

Finding A New Way To Fight



Ryan Cleckner and Brian Gregorio stand up for veterans at Quinnipiac law school


By ROBIN DeMERELL


Combat veteran Ryan Cleckner limped into a local veterans hospital after returning home from service as an airborne sniper and team leader in the U.S. Army’s 1st Ranger Battalion. He had severe hip and back pain and needed a cane to walk. The hospital’s doctors sent Cleckner on his way with a handful of ibuprofen – hardly the treatment he expected as a wounded veteran who served four years for his country.

After six years of fighting the system – lost medical records and misplaced disability claims – Cleckner had all but lost hope. Since Cleckner doesn’t shy away from a challenge, he decided to change the system – not just for himself, but for all veterans.

This past fall, the 30-year-old North Haven resident enrolled at Quinnipiac School of Law “so that I may learn how to fight the system in a way that can actually make a difference. I wanted to help veterans fight the [Department of Veterans Affairs] to get the care they deserve and help raise awareness for post-traumatic stress disorder issues,” he said. “I decided the best way to do this was to become a lawyer.”

Once Cleckner arrived at the Hamden law school he saw that there was no organization on campus for veterans. So he and fellow law-school student Brian Gregorio started their own Veterans’ Advocacy Group.
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http://www.ctlawtribune.com/getarticle.aspx?ID=35868

Veterans and Shelter Animals Meet With Pets2Vets

Veterans and Shelter Animals Meet With Pets2Vets
Pets2Vets program started by Air Force vet matches veterans with shelter animals
By LINDA LOMBARDI For The Associated Press
WASHINGTON December 21, 2009 (AP)

Dave Sharpe was troubled by thoughts he couldn't share after he returned from serving in Iraq. "I found myself waking up in the middle of the night, punching holes in walls, kicking and beating the refrigerator door," he said.

Then one day, the former Air Force senior airman went with a friend to a local pit bull rescue and took home a puppy, Cheyenne. Next time he found himself kicking something, "I saw this puppy, cocking her head, looking up at me, like, what are you doing?"

Finally, Sharpe had someone he could open up to. "I froze, I put down my drink, I picked her up and laid with her in my bed," he said. "I cried and I told her the whole story. I didn't feel judged."

The experience inspired Sharpe, of Arlington, Va., to start Pets2Vets, a group that pairs veterans with homeless pets by arranging adoptions of shelter animals. It has made two or three matches a week since its start in October.

One of the goals of Pets2Vets is to raise awareness about post-traumatic stress disorder. Sharpe says that while a few groups provide veterans with service dogs, many PTSD and traumatic brain injury patients don't qualify for these programs. Even when they do, because of the stigma still attached to psychological problems, they may hesitate to apply.
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http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=9392828