Air Force veteran and his 2 sons die while hiking Missouri trail
Published January 14, 2013
FoxNews.com
An Air Force veteran and two of his five children died over the weekend after apparently getting lost while hiking on a desolate Missouri hiking trail amid unexpected low temperatures, officials said Monday.
36-year-old David Decareaux and his 8- and 10-year-old sons were found Sunday, a day after they ventured out with their 4-month-old yellow Labrador retriever on the Ozark Trail, about 110 miles southwest of St. Louis, Reynolds County Sheriff Tom Volner said.
Decareaux died at the scene, and the boys were declared dead at a hospital after hours of efforts to revive them failed, the sheriff said. Volner said authorities believe the three died of exposure to the elements, though autopsies were planned.
The dog was found near the victims and survived.
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Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Iraq Veteran says "You're discouraged from seeking help" still
Iraq War Veteran On Mental Health Care: You're Discouraged From Seeking Help
(VIDEO)
The Huffington Post
By Lindsay Wilkes-Edrington
Posted: 01/14/2013
Military suicides reached a record high last year, prompting some members of Congress to demand more needs to be done to ensure active-duty troops and veterans don't fall through the cracks. But as one Iraq war veteran told HuffPost Live, it can be difficult for veterans to obtain the mental health care they need.
Speaking to HuffPost Live host Alyona Minkovski, Curtis Sirmans said he waited until he left the military to receive mental health treatment so that he could avoid the stigma associated with doing so.
read more here
(VIDEO)
The Huffington Post
By Lindsay Wilkes-Edrington
Posted: 01/14/2013
Military suicides reached a record high last year, prompting some members of Congress to demand more needs to be done to ensure active-duty troops and veterans don't fall through the cracks. But as one Iraq war veteran told HuffPost Live, it can be difficult for veterans to obtain the mental health care they need.
Speaking to HuffPost Live host Alyona Minkovski, Curtis Sirmans said he waited until he left the military to receive mental health treatment so that he could avoid the stigma associated with doing so.
read more here
Wal-Mart hiring recently discharged veterans
Wal-Mart Plans to Hire Any Veteran Who Wants a Job
New York Times
By JAMES DAO
Published: January 14, 2013
Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest retailer, will announce Tuesday a plan to hire every veteran who wants a job, provided that the veterans have left the military in the previous year and did not receive a dishonorable discharge.
The announcement, to be made in a speech in New York by William S. Simon, the president and chief executive of Wal-Mart U.S., represents among the largest hiring commitments for veterans in history.
Company officials said they believe the program, which will officially begin on Memorial Day — May 27 this year — will lead to the hiring of more than 100,000 people in the next five years, the length of the commitment.
“Let’s be clear: Hiring a veteran can be one of the best decisions any of us can make,” Mr. Simon will say in his keynote speech to the National Retail Federation, according to prepared text. “These are leaders with discipline, training and a passion for service.”
In a statement, the first lady, Michelle Obama, who has led a campaign by the White House to encourage businesses to hire veterans, called the Wal-Mart plan “historic,” adding that she planned to urge other corporations to follow suit.
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New York Times
By JAMES DAO
Published: January 14, 2013
Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest retailer, will announce Tuesday a plan to hire every veteran who wants a job, provided that the veterans have left the military in the previous year and did not receive a dishonorable discharge.
The announcement, to be made in a speech in New York by William S. Simon, the president and chief executive of Wal-Mart U.S., represents among the largest hiring commitments for veterans in history.
Company officials said they believe the program, which will officially begin on Memorial Day — May 27 this year — will lead to the hiring of more than 100,000 people in the next five years, the length of the commitment.
“Let’s be clear: Hiring a veteran can be one of the best decisions any of us can make,” Mr. Simon will say in his keynote speech to the National Retail Federation, according to prepared text. “These are leaders with discipline, training and a passion for service.”
In a statement, the first lady, Michelle Obama, who has led a campaign by the White House to encourage businesses to hire veterans, called the Wal-Mart plan “historic,” adding that she planned to urge other corporations to follow suit.
read more here
Transgendered ex-Marine given discharge after 1980s desertion
Transgendered ex-Marine given discharge after 1980s desertion
Los Angeles Times
January 14, 2013
A Marine from Maine who deserted three decades ago and later underwent sex change treatment will receive a general discharge under honorable conditions, according to the Marine's hometown newspaper.
The Marine, then known as Donald Tremblay, deserted in 1981 after graduating from boot camp in San Diego and being assigned to the base at Twentynine Palms, according to the Sun Journal newspaper.
Later, Tremblay underwent sex change treatment and changed his name to Elizabeth Tremblay, the newspaper reported. Now 57, Tremblay was arrested at home in the community of Poland in September on a fugitive warrant.
Tremblay was kept for several days in Androscoggin County jail, the newspaper reported.
On Monday, Tremblay was notified that the Marine Corps will issue a general discharge under honorable conditions, a common decision in decades-old desertion cases that do not involve violence or other criminality.
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Los Angeles Times
January 14, 2013
A Marine from Maine who deserted three decades ago and later underwent sex change treatment will receive a general discharge under honorable conditions, according to the Marine's hometown newspaper.
The Marine, then known as Donald Tremblay, deserted in 1981 after graduating from boot camp in San Diego and being assigned to the base at Twentynine Palms, according to the Sun Journal newspaper.
Later, Tremblay underwent sex change treatment and changed his name to Elizabeth Tremblay, the newspaper reported. Now 57, Tremblay was arrested at home in the community of Poland in September on a fugitive warrant.
Tremblay was kept for several days in Androscoggin County jail, the newspaper reported.
On Monday, Tremblay was notified that the Marine Corps will issue a general discharge under honorable conditions, a common decision in decades-old desertion cases that do not involve violence or other criminality.
read more here
Media dereliction of military duty
By Kathie Costos
Wounded Times Blog
January 15, 2013
After I posted about the military suicides at an all time high minutes after it was released by Associated Press, I got a call from a reporter. She wasn't asking me what I thought was going on. She didn't want to know what could be done to prevent them. Had no interest in what was behind all of this after vast sums of money had been spent in the last 40 years. You know, the questions that should have been asked considering I've been doing this for 30 years and spend 365 days a year tracking all of these stories plus working with families and veterans to heal or the fact I am working on my second book The Warrior SAW, Suicides After War because of all the false information out there and the suffering of families blaming themselves after someone they loved took their own lives. No, she didn't want to know any of that. She wanted to know how I got these stories so fast.
I told her, first, I know what I'm covering. I know the subjects of all these reports well. Seven days a week, 365 days a year, 12 hour days and haunting dreams keeping me awake at night have produced over 17,000 posts in 5 years on this blog alone. I lost count on the emails I receive and phone calls I take from military families and people I talk to filming events with heartbreaking stories they need to tell someone praying for relief, a kind word, an understanding ear they know will not judge them and more often than not, a hug. Other than that, I'm dedicated to this work because I remember what it was like when all of this was going on and the media was even less interested in these stories than they are now.
When the Washington Post's The Fold put up two video reports, I was among the first to post two breaking news stories. The first piece of news was that 22 veterans a day are committing suicide, up from the 18 the VA had been reporting. I felt for sure this would be all over the news sites. I was wrong. Last night during a conference call with Point Man leaders, I broke that piece of news to sunken hearts along with the latest military suicides at 349. The Fold also did a report on a Navy SEAL Robert Guzzo's suicide and his family when "After Veterans Day, he went to "be with the angels."
Still this reporter was doing what so many others do. I asked her how she compiled a story, what she knew about the military and PTSD. She said she searched Google when she was assigned stories. At that point, I lost my patience and hung up the phone. It happens all the time when someone has to write a "story" on something they don't know anything about.
The worst was when a reporter from the New Yorker, William Finnegan wanted to know about Staff Sgt. Travis Twiggs. I picked up the story and so did my friend Lily Casura at Healing Combat Trauma. Lily has the heart and soul to do this work and did a fantastic job finding more about Travis. Finnegan called her after I told him he should. For days he picked our brains to learn about PTSD and suicide. When it came time to publish his story, later picked up by the UK, he forgot where he got all the information from and said his editor removed reference to our work.
The worst thing about all of this is that while I do have more reports than most sites, I am only one person. Sure I get a lot of hits on a daily basis but the "real media" sites get a hell of a lot more. It makes me sick to know that all these stories are out there but few reporters care about them enough to make the general public aware. Can't imagine how far we could have come if they had cared enough to do the same thing I'm doing.
They have money to advertise their sites and they have money to pay reporters. I can't even get enough in donations to be able to support the work I do for our veterans so advertising is out of the question. That is why I get angry. If they were doing their jobs, I wouldn't have to search day and night to make sure these stories were told to as many people willing to read them.
The next time a reporter feels the need to speed up getting their story out, they better have a check book ready to make a donation for my time. If they had been doing their jobs, I'd spend a lot less time helping grieving families.
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