Coming Home: Canandaigua VA Expanding to Stop Suicides
By: Kevin Doran
Updated: May 21, 2012
America we have a crisis on our hands. Thousands of men and women who have served our country are killing themselves each year. These aren't just people coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan. Older veterans are committing suicide at an alarming rate. And an army of local responders is leading the nation's fight to save their lives and get them help.
When a United States Veteran anywhere in the world calls the VA's Crisis Line it rings here in Canandaigua. A highly trained Responder like Peter Grant is ready to help. "We listen intently in terms of what that veteran is communicating to us. Not only in their words but in their tone. um They may be crying, they may be in a crisis situation."
Peter served in the Air Force during the Vietnam War. "Every day it's an honor to serve our veterans. And I keep that in mind when they call."
Doctor Caitlin Thompson is an Assistant Professor at the University of Rochester and Coordinator of the VA's Veterans Crisis Line. There's no other place like this in the country. It's the heart of the government's response to an alarming number of Veteran's killing themselves.
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Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Iraq War veteran, Fitchburg native filmed at Devens powwow
Iraq War veteran, Fitchburg native filmed at Devens powwow
By Mary E. Arata
Posted:05/21/2012
DEVENS - "Oh Lord, Creator of Mother Earth and the Universe, I have opened my eyes to another day," said Johnny "Paleface" Sarmiento of Granby, age 95 who served in World War II, the Korean and Vietnam Wars. Sarmiento's prayer opened the 2-day, inter-tribal powwow on Devens last weekend.
"Please help me by taking away all that is negative," said Sarmiento. "Take away my impatience, intolerance, resentment, denials, anxiety and any other things that are negative within me."
Such spiritual cleansing has become a life journey for Tim Durrin of Great Barrington. Durrin is a Fitchburg native who also has many relatives in Lunenburg. Durrin and his family participated in the gathering to honor his ancestor's Micmac tribal roots.
A 2003 graduate of Montachusett Technical High School, Durrin enlisted in the Army and served in the 101st Airborne Division, 372nd Transportation Company. From 2004 to 2005, Durrin served in Iraq.
Among other atrocities, Durrin lost two fellow soldiers to suicide, and a third unit member who was killed by a roadside bomb. "Every day we were being attacked," said Durrin.
"Don't make me cry," said Durrin's aunt, Chere "Morningsun" Piermarini of Fitchburg. "He's been through a lot in his young life. But we all dream and live."
Durrin returned stateside and began self-medicating to try, in vain, of dealing with his post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Following a stint in rehabilitation, Durrin turned both to meditation and back to his Native American roots.
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By Mary E. Arata
Posted:05/21/2012
Iraqi War veteran Tim Durrin of Great Barrington, center, shakes a tail feather at the inter-tribal powwow on Devens over the weekend. (Nashoba Publishing/Mary Arata)
DEVENS - "Oh Lord, Creator of Mother Earth and the Universe, I have opened my eyes to another day," said Johnny "Paleface" Sarmiento of Granby, age 95 who served in World War II, the Korean and Vietnam Wars. Sarmiento's prayer opened the 2-day, inter-tribal powwow on Devens last weekend.
"Please help me by taking away all that is negative," said Sarmiento. "Take away my impatience, intolerance, resentment, denials, anxiety and any other things that are negative within me."
Such spiritual cleansing has become a life journey for Tim Durrin of Great Barrington. Durrin is a Fitchburg native who also has many relatives in Lunenburg. Durrin and his family participated in the gathering to honor his ancestor's Micmac tribal roots.
A 2003 graduate of Montachusett Technical High School, Durrin enlisted in the Army and served in the 101st Airborne Division, 372nd Transportation Company. From 2004 to 2005, Durrin served in Iraq.
Among other atrocities, Durrin lost two fellow soldiers to suicide, and a third unit member who was killed by a roadside bomb. "Every day we were being attacked," said Durrin.
"Don't make me cry," said Durrin's aunt, Chere "Morningsun" Piermarini of Fitchburg. "He's been through a lot in his young life. But we all dream and live."
Durrin returned stateside and began self-medicating to try, in vain, of dealing with his post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Following a stint in rehabilitation, Durrin turned both to meditation and back to his Native American roots.
read more here
Life after the battlefield not easy for Iraq veteran Wright
Life after the battlefield not easy for veteran Wright
By GREG WELTER
Staff Writer
Posted:05/21/2012
CHICO — As Nick Wright was pulled through the twists and turns of losing his mother at 15, a failed marriage, war, a severe brain injury and the ravages of post-traumatic stress disorder, he never lost touch with his sense of honor.
Wright joined the Marines at 18, and went on to volunteer for three frontline tours in Iraq.
With three children by his first wife while still in the service, Wright has had two more since getting remarried nearly three years ago. He is a devoted father and has made his family the center of his universe.
Struggling to regain his footing, Wright's moral compass keeps him looking inward for the answers to his emotional problems from PTSD. "I blame no one but myself for what has happened," he says.
Now the decorated combat soldier from Chico is adding his voice to "American Homecomings." The experience is likely to expose the scars he desperately wants to keep from the outside world, but it's one he's willing to endure if it helps other veterans.
Wright, 29, left the battlefield five years ago with a traumatic brain injury and plenty of emotional baggage. Several months later he was back home.
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By GREG WELTER
Staff Writer
Posted:05/21/2012
CHICO — As Nick Wright was pulled through the twists and turns of losing his mother at 15, a failed marriage, war, a severe brain injury and the ravages of post-traumatic stress disorder, he never lost touch with his sense of honor.
Wright joined the Marines at 18, and went on to volunteer for three frontline tours in Iraq.
With three children by his first wife while still in the service, Wright has had two more since getting remarried nearly three years ago. He is a devoted father and has made his family the center of his universe.
Struggling to regain his footing, Wright's moral compass keeps him looking inward for the answers to his emotional problems from PTSD. "I blame no one but myself for what has happened," he says.
Now the decorated combat soldier from Chico is adding his voice to "American Homecomings." The experience is likely to expose the scars he desperately wants to keep from the outside world, but it's one he's willing to endure if it helps other veterans.
Wright, 29, left the battlefield five years ago with a traumatic brain injury and plenty of emotional baggage. Several months later he was back home.
read more here
Jury convicts man for WWII veteran's death on Veterans Day
Man guilty in mugging death of WW II veteran
Jury convicts John McKinney, of Huntington Beach, of second-degree murder in the 2003 Veteran's Day attack that killed Cecil “Lucky” Warren.
By VIK JOLLY
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
SANTA ANA – An Orange County jury Monday found a 30-year-old man guilty of killing a 77-year-old Army veteran who was mugged and later slipped into a coma.
The jury of 11 women and one man deliberated about two days before finding John Kirk McKinney of Huntington Beach guilty of second-degree murder. He now faces a 15 years to life in state prison at his June 15 sentencing by Superior Court Judge Thomas Goethals.
Prosecutors had charged McKinney with one felony count of special circumstances murder in the commission of a robbery in the 2003 Veteran's Day attack that killed Cecil "Lucky" Warren.
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Jury convicts John McKinney, of Huntington Beach, of second-degree murder in the 2003 Veteran's Day attack that killed Cecil “Lucky” Warren.
By VIK JOLLY
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
SANTA ANA – An Orange County jury Monday found a 30-year-old man guilty of killing a 77-year-old Army veteran who was mugged and later slipped into a coma.
The jury of 11 women and one man deliberated about two days before finding John Kirk McKinney of Huntington Beach guilty of second-degree murder. He now faces a 15 years to life in state prison at his June 15 sentencing by Superior Court Judge Thomas Goethals.
Prosecutors had charged McKinney with one felony count of special circumstances murder in the commission of a robbery in the 2003 Veteran's Day attack that killed Cecil "Lucky" Warren.
read more here
Iraq veteran Ocampo faces death penalty for "thrill" killings
Death penalty sought for Iraq war vet in California killings
Dan Whitcomb
Reuters
May 21, 2012
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California prosecutors will seek the death penalty against an Iraq war veteran charged with six murders, including the serial "thrill" killings of four homeless men in Orange County, a top prosecutor said on Monday.
Itzcoatl Ocampo, a 24-year-old former U.S. Marine, is scheduled to stand trial in September on six counts of first degree murder with special circumstances, including the brutal stabbing deaths of four transients beginning in late December.
Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said he chose to seek the death penalty against Ocampo after consulting a special committee in his office that considers "the nature of the crime, the vulnerability of the victim, the defendant's criminal record and other factors."
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Dan Whitcomb
Reuters
May 21, 2012
Former U.S. Marine Itzcoatl Ocampo, 23, an Iraq war veteran, has his arraignment postponed on charges of first degree murder in Santa Ana
(POOL New Reuters, REUTERS February 6, 2012)
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California prosecutors will seek the death penalty against an Iraq war veteran charged with six murders, including the serial "thrill" killings of four homeless men in Orange County, a top prosecutor said on Monday.
Itzcoatl Ocampo, a 24-year-old former U.S. Marine, is scheduled to stand trial in September on six counts of first degree murder with special circumstances, including the brutal stabbing deaths of four transients beginning in late December.
Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said he chose to seek the death penalty against Ocampo after consulting a special committee in his office that considers "the nature of the crime, the vulnerability of the victim, the defendant's criminal record and other factors."
read more here
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