Family of slain veteran still wants to see someone held accountable
Police shooting of Stanley Gibson to be examined in revamped process
Las Vegas Sun
By Conor Shine
Jackie Valley
Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013
In the 14 months since Stanley Gibson was shot and killed by Metro Police officers, Gibson’s family has struggled with unanswered questions.
What was Gibson, a 43-year-old Gulf War veteran allegedly suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, doing out of the house that fateful December night when police approached him, his older brother Rudy asks. Why did a plan to remove Gibson from his vehicle with beanbag rounds and pepper spray end with him being shot seven times by police officer Jesus Arevalo? And why were police in such a hurry to end the standoff with the unarmed Gibson, whose vehicle was boxed in between two patrol cars?
“Why not give him another half an hour? The car wasn’t going to fly anywhere,” Rudy Gibson said.
“I’ve been running that in my mind over and over and over again. It doesn’t make any sense. … This never should have happened.”
The family’s quest for understanding has yielded lots of closed doors but few answers.
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Gulf War veteran Stanley Gibson's widow seeks justice
Monday, February 25, 2013
Navy answer to PTSD, numb them!
Got PTSD? Take a pill. When that doesn't work, they drink. They do drugs. They do anything possible to numb what they do not want to feel. Numbing is not healing yet, the Navy decided that it is "better than nothing" so they pay money to do it. Yep, it isn't free. Someone is making money on this one and not healing them will keep feeding pockets of drug companies, research groups with huge grants and in the end, morticians handling the funerals of at 22 veterans a day that should have livesd!
PTSD TREATMENT SHOWING PROMISE
Naval Medical Center San Diego’s clinical trial reducing sufferers’ symptoms with injections that numb nerves in the patients’ necks
By Nathan Max
FEB. 24, 2013
James Hardy has suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder for more than a decade.
A retired Navy intelligence officer who deployed 10 times over a 28-year career, including seven deployments into combat zones, Hardy, 53, first suffered what he described as a nervous breakdown in 2000. Six years later, he started drinking heavily, became distant from his wife and three children, suffered anxiety issues and was aggressive and confrontational.
That was before he participated in a clinical trial for an experimental PTSD treatment at Naval Medical Center San Diego. Hardy is one of about 30 patients receiving Stellate Ganglion Block injections in his neck, and he said the shots have worked.
As part of the study, Hardy received three injections that led to relief from his symptoms ranging from one day to three weeks, he said. The procedure is meant to numb nerves in the neck that can cause physical arousal and therefore allow patients to feel more calm and decrease the symptoms of PTSD.
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Why isn't Congress holding anyone accountable for Military Suicides?
I was just reading the Military Times Forum PTSD and Suicide Thread because of this.
Confining them is not healing them. Giving them medications do not healing them, they numb them. There are too many experts in this country stomping their feet and screaming at the top of their lungs the facts prove what they are doing does not work! When suicides go up and calls to the Suicide Prevention Hotline go up, that proves the "prevention" programs the DOD put in place are doing more harm than good.
There I said it. When there is a government spending, there is someone on the other end making money. Congress gives out millions a year to fund programs in the military and in the civilian world that are supposed to be saving lives and helping these veterans heal. What all the money did was push programs that didn't have a chance in hell of working but were well funded.
Congress has the responsibility of controlling the money of this country and they also have a duty to make sure the money is well spent.
So where are the hearings? Where are the sworn testimonies given by the people who are supposed to be taking care of the troops and veterans? Who has been held accountable? Who has been fined? What contract has been canceled? Who has been fired? Who has been demoted?
The biggest question is, if the American people really do support the troops and love our veterans, then why in the hell aren't they demanding Congress takes action?
This past weekend I lost a friend to suicide. She was a combat medic with the Army. She was "treated" by the Army for PTSD. Their treatment consisted of restricting her to base, having her check in daily with her supervisor, and meds. Then as soon as her time was up; she got out. She tried to get follow up treatment through the VA and had a rough time.Response after response had the same message. The leadership has failed.
It all seems so senseless to me. When are they going to figure it out and get these people the help they really need.
Confining them is not healing them. Giving them medications do not healing them, they numb them. There are too many experts in this country stomping their feet and screaming at the top of their lungs the facts prove what they are doing does not work! When suicides go up and calls to the Suicide Prevention Hotline go up, that proves the "prevention" programs the DOD put in place are doing more harm than good.
Your friend was failed on many levels. Unfortunately there are many stories like hers. A buddy of mine ended up taking hostages at the hospital on Ft Stewart before they finally took him seriously. Yes, he got prison time, but hes also finally getting the help he needs. Whats funny, is the a key witness for the defense was a doc that was a hostage. The doc vowed to get him the help he needs.Why is all of this still going on? Because Congress does not understand it, has not taken the time to learn, Congressional Aids have failed their bosses and too many people are making way too much money for doing the damage.
Your friend needed help and the "military family" failed again. It will continue to fail because its not pretty so commanders wont talk about it, and the VA will just push it aside.
There I said it. When there is a government spending, there is someone on the other end making money. Congress gives out millions a year to fund programs in the military and in the civilian world that are supposed to be saving lives and helping these veterans heal. What all the money did was push programs that didn't have a chance in hell of working but were well funded.
Congress has the responsibility of controlling the money of this country and they also have a duty to make sure the money is well spent.
So where are the hearings? Where are the sworn testimonies given by the people who are supposed to be taking care of the troops and veterans? Who has been held accountable? Who has been fined? What contract has been canceled? Who has been fired? Who has been demoted?
The biggest question is, if the American people really do support the troops and love our veterans, then why in the hell aren't they demanding Congress takes action?
Sunday, February 24, 2013
UK PTSD veteran says "the only thing that changed was me"
UK PTSD veteran says "the only thing that changed was me"
by Kathie Costos
Wounded Times Blog
February 24, 2013
I was sent this video from the UK and very glad the producer did. It is really good.
There is not much that was missed in this video. Listening to Jake Wood talk about what war was like and how different things were back home was probably the most powerful part of all of this.
He served two tours in Iraq and then went to Afghanistan. It was after that third tour he knew "things weren't right upstairs" and he knew it was PTSD. Pretty much if you look at our National Guardsmen and Reservist returning to their civilian jobs in between tours of duty, you'll understand what it is like for them as well.
"After the first tour I realized the only thing that changed was me."
"It may sound strange but for me it was a very moral existence. If you take away the reasons the soldiers are there,,,,,,once they're on the ground they're not thinking about politics,,,,,,they are concentrating on the job they are doing and looking out for the man next to them."
"You have to be very unselfish as a soldier, as equal to the buddy buddy system." Then he went on to explain that he did not see that in banking, his other job. When mistakes are made in the office, no one is going to die but in war, mistakes costs lives.
Jake talks about going back into combat. "It made a lot more sense.
There, everyone is watching out for everyone else and they knew what they needed to do. Back home everyone is looking out for themselves. That is perhaps one of the biggest reasons you see so many joining groups when they come home. They know everyone else is "likeminded" and not out for themselves.
Jake talked about treatment and cognitive therapy, but I was saddened to hear that the way they are doing it is not walking them back through the whole thing. If they do not see everything, what they were thinking and what their intent was, then they will not be able to make peace with it. That is how they heal. It is not by medication, that only numb, but by telling themselves the truth about what they had forgotten about.
The worst memories are frozen and block out everything else that happened so if that memory is of "evil" nature, they cannot see past it to whatever good was happening around them or by them.
This is a really good video to watch if you want to try to make some sense out of the way so many think and what they are dealing with.
by Kathie Costos
Wounded Times Blog
February 24, 2013
I was sent this video from the UK and very glad the producer did. It is really good.
There is not much that was missed in this video. Listening to Jake Wood talk about what war was like and how different things were back home was probably the most powerful part of all of this.
He served two tours in Iraq and then went to Afghanistan. It was after that third tour he knew "things weren't right upstairs" and he knew it was PTSD. Pretty much if you look at our National Guardsmen and Reservist returning to their civilian jobs in between tours of duty, you'll understand what it is like for them as well.
"After the first tour I realized the only thing that changed was me."
"It may sound strange but for me it was a very moral existence. If you take away the reasons the soldiers are there,,,,,,once they're on the ground they're not thinking about politics,,,,,,they are concentrating on the job they are doing and looking out for the man next to them."
"You have to be very unselfish as a soldier, as equal to the buddy buddy system." Then he went on to explain that he did not see that in banking, his other job. When mistakes are made in the office, no one is going to die but in war, mistakes costs lives.
Jake talks about going back into combat. "It made a lot more sense.
There, everyone is watching out for everyone else and they knew what they needed to do. Back home everyone is looking out for themselves. That is perhaps one of the biggest reasons you see so many joining groups when they come home. They know everyone else is "likeminded" and not out for themselves.
Jake talked about treatment and cognitive therapy, but I was saddened to hear that the way they are doing it is not walking them back through the whole thing. If they do not see everything, what they were thinking and what their intent was, then they will not be able to make peace with it. That is how they heal. It is not by medication, that only numb, but by telling themselves the truth about what they had forgotten about.
The worst memories are frozen and block out everything else that happened so if that memory is of "evil" nature, they cannot see past it to whatever good was happening around them or by them.
This is a really good video to watch if you want to try to make some sense out of the way so many think and what they are dealing with.
Jake Wood - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
London Real
Episodes
FEBRUARY 24, 2013
Posted by BRIAN in EPISODES
Territorial Army soldier Jake Wood describes his distinct and brutally taxing tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, how he is haunted by his part in the killing of a Taliban, his suicidal tendencies that ultimately led him to seek treatment for PTSD, why he released his “helmet-cam” footage to dispute one of his critics, and how after his military service he just cherishes the simple things in life.
Spc. Willie Stewart, combat wounded, hailed as hero
Wounded warrior hailed as a hero
Fayetteville Observer
By Drew Brooks
Staff writer
Army Spc. Willie Stewart wants a cigarette, but he can't find the words.
Instead, the Fayetteville native turns toward his father and taps on his arm.
"Do you need a drink?" James Wilburn guesses.
A shake of Stewart's head and the guesses continue until, a minute later, Wilburn is lighting a cigarette in his son's mouth.
Less than a year ago, it would have been absurd to think Wilburn, who suffered a heart attack in early 2012, would be the one nursing his son.
But Stewart's 6-foot, 5-inch frame is now folded into a wheelchair at a rehabilitation center in Raleigh.
His body is a shadow of its once muscular, 250-pound self, the right half paralyzed, the left half still responding to months of slow, tedious rehabilitation.
The top of Stewart's skull has been replaced by a titanium plate. His memory is unreliable. His sight is gone, never to return. His speech is coming back, but at a pace that frustrates him. Stewart knows what he wants to say, but he can't get his body to respond.
read more here
Fayetteville Observer
By Drew Brooks
Staff writer
Army Spc. Willie Stewart wants a cigarette, but he can't find the words.
Instead, the Fayetteville native turns toward his father and taps on his arm.
"Do you need a drink?" James Wilburn guesses.
A shake of Stewart's head and the guesses continue until, a minute later, Wilburn is lighting a cigarette in his son's mouth.
Less than a year ago, it would have been absurd to think Wilburn, who suffered a heart attack in early 2012, would be the one nursing his son.
But Stewart's 6-foot, 5-inch frame is now folded into a wheelchair at a rehabilitation center in Raleigh.
His body is a shadow of its once muscular, 250-pound self, the right half paralyzed, the left half still responding to months of slow, tedious rehabilitation.
The top of Stewart's skull has been replaced by a titanium plate. His memory is unreliable. His sight is gone, never to return. His speech is coming back, but at a pace that frustrates him. Stewart knows what he wants to say, but he can't get his body to respond.
read more here
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