Monday, July 2, 2012

Triple Amputee Marine wrestles gator on "Gator Boys"

Want an emotional lift this Monday morning? This will do it! Great video!
'Gator Boys': Severely Injured Marine, Corporal Todd Love, Wrestles An Alligator
(VIDEO)
Posted: 07/02/2012

On "Gator Boys" (Sun., 9 p.m. EST on Animal Planet) Sunday night Paul Bedard and Jimmy Riffle helped make a wounded veteran's dream come true.

Todd Love, Corporal USMC, lost both his legs and his left arm in an IED explosion in Afghanistan in October 2010.

Despite the severity of his injuries, Todd had not given up on his dream of wrestling an alligator, and so the "Gator Boys" obliged. He also got to touch an 11-feet-long alligator on the nose.
read more here

Camp Lejeune Marines told conserve energy or pay for it

Some Marine families may have to pay electric bills
By AMANDA WILCOX
The Daily News, Jacksonville, N.C.
Published: July 1, 2012

Thursday’s town hall meeting on Camp Lejeune left some military families worried about utility bills for the first time in their adult lives.

On-base housing residents will now be held responsible for their energy consumption and will be receiving electric bills within the next year as part of a new residential energy conservation program being implemented by Headquarters Marine Corps and Marine Corps Installation Command at all Marine installations.

“A lot of families have never had to pay electricity bills,” said Dixie Johnson, marketing manager with Atlantic Marine Corps Community Housing. “If they’ve always lived on a military installation they’ve never had to worry about that ... and it’s a concern for them.”

Navy Capt. Craig Fulton came to the town hall meeting from Headquarters Marine Corps to talk to Lejeune residents about the new changes. He said the Department of Defense is implementing the conservation program because research has found that military families on base use far more electricity than their civilian counterparts.

As a result, the DoD will start sending out bills in October to families who use more energy on average than their neighbors and reward those who use less.

“You could, the word is could, be charged for the utilities that you use,” Camp Lejeune Base Sgt. Maj. Ernest Hoopii said. “If you’re below the average usage of a house of a particular size, then you’ll make money... but if you go over that threshold, you’re going to be charged.”
read more here

20 Navy and Marine members help feed homeless during Navy Week

Boston Navy Week 2012
Compiled by Anush Elbakyan, Boston.com correspondent Ships berthed at Pier 4 at Charlestown Navy Yard, from left: USCGC Juniper, HNOMS Thor Heyerdahl, and HDMS Esbern Snare.


On day off, they continue to serve
By Matt Rocheleau
Globe Correspondent
Boston Globe
July 2, 2012

About 20 Navy and Marine members volunteered to help dish out meals to some 300 homeless men in a cafeteria at the Pine Street Inn shelter in the South End on Sunday afternoon. Before the meal, five Navy sailors from the Northeast Navy Band put on a musical performance.
(click links for more)

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Fort Bragg soldier who shot commander dies

Fort Bragg soldier who shot commander dies
By GREG BARNES
The Fayettville (N.C.) Observer
Published: July 1, 2012


Lt. Col. Roy L. Tisdale, commander of the 525th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 525th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade at Fort Bragg, N.C., was fatally shot by a member of his battalion around 3:30 p.m., June 28. COURTESY OF THE U.S. ARMY

The soldier who fatally shot his superior officer during a safety briefing on Fort Bragg and then turned the gun on himself has died.

Col. Kevin Arata, a Fort Bragg spokesman, identified the soldier as Spc. Ricky G. Elder, 27, of Hutchinson, Kan. Elder died Saturday at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center, a nursing supervisor said.

Elder is accused of fatally shooting his battalion commander, Lt. Col. Roy L. Tisdale, during a safety briefing Thursday.

A third soldier, 22-year-old Spc. Michael E. Latham, was treated for minor wounds at Womack Army Medical Center and released.
read more here

Combat PTSD is nothing to fear

When I read the title of this article it bothered me.

Growing number of veterans endure mental problems
By JENNA MINK
Daily News
Published: July 1, 2012

Bowling Green, Ky. — One Bowling Green veteran remembers too well the deep depression and mental breakdown that haunted him after years of combat. Decades after serving in the military, the man still does not want his name connected to his condition.

“That’s one of the main problems in combat,” he said. “It’s what it does to you mentally.”

A growing number of veterans are reporting mental problems, such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. They are just a few issues veterans encounter when they return home.
read more here


"Enduring mental problems" makes it sound like they are the subject of a Criminal Minds episode with an "unsub" blowing people away instead of pointing out the simple fact that less than half of the veterans with PTSD seek help.

Yesterday I was talking to a group of veterans and one of them wanted to warn me about phony PTSD veterans just looking for a free ride. I told him he was listening to the wrong people because while it is true there are some trying to take advantage of the compensation, the likelihood of this happening is very low especially when you know they are more apt to avoid the VA than they are willing to reach out for any kind of help from them.

We read reports of veterans committing crimes simply because the majority of them do not commit crimes but are not considered newsworthy. There are actually more veterans seeking to kill themselves than commit crimes. We don't talk about that though. It is heartbreaking enough to know that out of the 8% of this country 18 veterans a day take their own lives and out of the less than 1% serving today they are averaging 1 a day. Should we actually face the fact that many more attempt suicide each day, the number of veterans committing any crime at all would seem insignificant but if a person is accused of committing a crime and happens to be in this minority, well then, it makes the headlines.

Don't get me wrong. This article is well worth the read but the title misleads. More veterans have PTSD for several reasons. Repeated deployments increase the risk and we know too many have done multiple tours. The other factor is there are now more combat veterans with more knowledge than every before and more seeking help to heal.