Older Vets Make Up Most Of Unemployed, New VA Report Shows
Hartford Courant
By LISA CHEDEKEL
Conn. Health I-Team Writer
December 12, 2014
Veterans ages 18 to 54 had similar, or slightly lower, rates of unemployment than their civilian counterparts from 2000-2013, but older veterans were more likely than their peers to be unemployed, according to a new report by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
The report also shows that the majority of veterans who were unemployed – 60 percent – were 45 and older, and that nearly a third were veterans who served after 2001.
The unemployment rate for that latest generation of veterans fell to 5.7 percent in November – down from 9.9 percent a year ago.
The newest women veterans face a higher unemployment rate than men: 8.1 percent, compared to 5.3 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The unemployment rate for the U.S. as a whole was 5.8 percent in November.
read more here
Sunday, December 14, 2014
Saturday, December 13, 2014
National Guards Keepers of the Dream for 378 Years
You show up when your neighbors are facing fires, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes and snowstorms. You show up even though your family is going through the same thing and need you there too.
You show up no matter what you had planned for the day when fellow citizens decide they will take the opportunity of a protest to turn into looting and vandalizing their own neighborhoods.
You show up when someone in your community needs help and much of those efforts are for the poor, needy, forgotten and the elderly.
You also show up on regular jobs working in offices, for hospitals, driving ambulances, riding on firetrucks and in police cruisers. You show up as teachers and even some preachers. You show up in college classrooms as students and in your kids schools as members of the PTA.
You also show up and get shipped out to foreign lands away from those jobs and from your own families.
The thing is, no matter how many times we ignore how much you do for us, you still do it and that, that a lot of us are eternally grateful for.
Terrible Love Winner of the Audience Award at the 2014 Austin Film Festival
This is just to let you know you do matter to a lot of people and we care about what is happening to you over there as much as we care about what happens to you here.
You show up no matter what you had planned for the day when fellow citizens decide they will take the opportunity of a protest to turn into looting and vandalizing their own neighborhoods.
You show up when someone in your community needs help and much of those efforts are for the poor, needy, forgotten and the elderly.
You also show up on regular jobs working in offices, for hospitals, driving ambulances, riding on firetrucks and in police cruisers. You show up as teachers and even some preachers. You show up in college classrooms as students and in your kids schools as members of the PTA.
You also show up and get shipped out to foreign lands away from those jobs and from your own families.
The thing is, no matter how many times we ignore how much you do for us, you still do it and that, that a lot of us are eternally grateful for.
We recognize December 13th as the birthday of the National Guard.
On this date in 1636, the first militia regiments in North America were organized in Massachusetts. Based upon an order of the Massachusetts Bay Colony's General Court, the colony's militia was organized into three permanent regiments to better defend the colony.
Today, the descendants of these first regiments - the 181st Infantry, the 182nd Infantry, the 101st Field Artillery, and the 101st Engineer Battalion of the Massachusetts Army National Guard – share the distinction of being the oldest units in the U.S. military.
December 13, 1636, thus marks the beginning of the organized militia, and the birth of the National Guard's oldest organized units is symbolic of the founding of all the state, territory, and District of Columbia militias that collectively make up today's National Guard.
NATIONAL GUARDS THE KEEPERS OF THE DREAM. This is a message to anyone who ever believed they could be something great when they grow up. It’s an invitation to the future deliverers of promise and agents of change. To all who want to better themselves and the world around them by taking a path with purpose and being a part of something bigger. Join the heroes who have taken the vow to rebuild the broken and defend the good. Welcome to the greatest cause of your lifetime. Your own.
Terrible Love is in the Austin Film Festival
"A bittersweet autopsy of mental illness and lost love, Terrible Love tells the story of Rufus, a wounded veteran returning home from Iraq with post-traumatic stress disorder, and his devoted wife Amy. They promised themselves never to leave each other, but that promise is put to the ultimate test when Rufus’ PTSD becomes violent. Terrible Love dives head first into the heart-breaking effects of PTSD, the relationships it hurts, and the lives it threatens."
Terrible Love Winner of the Audience Award at the 2014 Austin Film Festival
This is just to let you know you do matter to a lot of people and we care about what is happening to you over there as much as we care about what happens to you here.
Amputee Afghanistan Veteran Skateboards Again!
How Sergeant Stubbs learned to skateboard again:
Inspirational video shows Afghanistan veteran's painstaking determination to get back on his board after losing both legs in front line explosion
Ian Parkinson, 24, from Arizona, lost both legs when he stepped on an IED
He was on patrol near Kandahar in June 2011 when the device exploded
Ian, who calls himself Sergeant Stubbs, lost both legs at the knee
He has had 24 major operations and spent two years in rehabilitation
In March 2012 he stepped back on his skateboard for the first time
Using his 'stubbies' - prosthetics - Ian is re-learning to skateboard again
Ian said without his friends and family he couldn't have made it through
He credits his wife and high school sweetheart Ashley as being his 'rock'
Daily Mail
By LIZZIE PARRY FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 13 December 2014
His is a tale of triumph over adversity.
Growing up there were just two things that were certain in Ian Parkinson's mind - the army and skateboarding.
For as long as he can remember, the now 24-year-old from Arizona, wanted to be a soldier.
He admired the uniform, looked up to veterans, and watched and read anything he could about the military. The only other thing captivating his young imagination was skateboarding.
But as a teenager, Ian could never imagine how both would change his life.
In June 2011, while serving with the US Army in Afghanistan, Ian lost both his legs after stepping on to an IED.
read more here
Inspirational video shows Afghanistan veteran's painstaking determination to get back on his board after losing both legs in front line explosion
Ian Parkinson, 24, from Arizona, lost both legs when he stepped on an IED
He was on patrol near Kandahar in June 2011 when the device exploded
Ian, who calls himself Sergeant Stubbs, lost both legs at the knee
He has had 24 major operations and spent two years in rehabilitation
In March 2012 he stepped back on his skateboard for the first time
Ian said without his friends and family he couldn't have made it through
He credits his wife and high school sweetheart Ashley as being his 'rock'
Daily Mail
By LIZZIE PARRY FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 13 December 2014
His is a tale of triumph over adversity.
Growing up there were just two things that were certain in Ian Parkinson's mind - the army and skateboarding.
For as long as he can remember, the now 24-year-old from Arizona, wanted to be a soldier.
He admired the uniform, looked up to veterans, and watched and read anything he could about the military. The only other thing captivating his young imagination was skateboarding.
But as a teenager, Ian could never imagine how both would change his life.
In June 2011, while serving with the US Army in Afghanistan, Ian lost both his legs after stepping on to an IED.
read more here
We were young too and we still need help scream from Vietnam family veterans
Ok, I am officially pissed off again. Do they have a clue that PTSD and combat wounds didn't just start? Everytime I read about young "caregivers" thinking they are the only ones needing help, it is infuriating because my generation followed in the footsteps of older veterans and their families. We just took those steps and managed to walk miles more to get this country to do the right thing for all of us and whatever generation coming behind us would face.
Military caregiver: We're young, and we need help
AZ Central
Melissa Comeau, AZ
December 12, 2014
Wife of a veteran: Soldiers returning from war today often require care for decades. Yet many programs don't support them or their caregivers. Here's how you can help us.
read more here
My Comment
The pictures all over Facebook are of young veterans but our's are in photo albums unless someone knows how to use a scanner. They are in books at the library because they are part of history that apparently has been forgotten by this generation. Pictures like this one.
Veterans came back from Vietnam but older veterans didn't want anything to do with them. When they decided to fight for what was right, they included the older veterans because they knew they waited longer for the same wounds to be taken care of. They used the power of their numbers and their voices even though the American public wanted nothing to do with them.
This generation doesn't even know where the term "new normal" came from and my generation started it because we were pissed off watching talk shows about trivial problems when what we were going through was kept secret. We were conditioned to feel ashamed by our parents telling us to suck it up and get over it. After all that was what they did.
They did it and they suffered for it instead of healing and finding peace. They committed suicide and drank too much. They got divorced at higher percentages than their civilian peers. They swapped war stories at the local bar. So did we but we were not willing to settle for bitter tears and we opened our mouths.
We did it without the internet at first but then in the 90's we managed to learn how to join forces across the nation and make things happen faster.
We ended up left out of what this internet generation thinks they are the only ones going through any of this. So how is it the generation that fought for all generations is yet again last on the list to get what we waited longer for and fought harder for?
We want this generation to have it better than we did but that doesn't mean we should be shoved out of their way.
We were there when troops were sent off to war in the 90's and when they were sent into Afghanistan and Iraq. Our generation sent our own kids. We knew that while things were not perfect for them when they came home, they were a hell of a lot better than what our generation came home to. We were there to offer support, help and educate them so they wouldn't have to learn all of this the hard way.
I've been doing this for over 30 years and I am no longer young. None of the leaders are young and we are far from foolish yet this generation fails time after time to listen to those who have been here longer and had to learn the hard way.
So how is it this generation so technological savvy is so misinformed?
I read Facebook posts and pop into this group or that one after someone wants me to support their group yet have found too few deserving it. Why? Because they cannot even answer basic questions.
They don't understand PTSD or why some have it and they sure as hell have no clue what works yet they get the attention as "experts" pushing others into information overload.
It happens when news reports come out and they just post what was reported without understanding basic history enough to know it is a load of crap just like the latest suicide prevention bill coming on the tail of others that failed.
We know better because we've been doing it longer and as for learning, we researched as if our lives depended on it simply because they did. No one was fighting for us back then and no one is remembering us now.
WE ARE VETERAN FAMILY VETERANS
Military caregiver: We're young, and we need help
AZ Central
Melissa Comeau, AZ
December 12, 2014
Wife of a veteran: Soldiers returning from war today often require care for decades. Yet many programs don't support them or their caregivers. Here's how you can help us.
read more here
My Comment
We were young too. I was only 23 when we met. My husband was young when he enlisted at 17 and turned 19 in Vietnam. PTSD took control of our lives and we had nowhere to turn. We didn't have Facebook or online support groups. We didn't even have the internet. While everything available for the younger veterans today became possible because of older veterans and our families, we're left out of what younger ones think should only be for them.
We were caregivers longer but no one ever thinks of us. Most of the backlog claims are from 50 and older veterans. Most of the veterans committing suicide are over 50.
I am glad your generation has been getting plenty of attention because that is what our generation fought for.
The question is, when does your generation remember we've been waiting even longer?
The pictures all over Facebook are of young veterans but our's are in photo albums unless someone knows how to use a scanner. They are in books at the library because they are part of history that apparently has been forgotten by this generation. Pictures like this one.
Veterans came back from Vietnam but older veterans didn't want anything to do with them. When they decided to fight for what was right, they included the older veterans because they knew they waited longer for the same wounds to be taken care of. They used the power of their numbers and their voices even though the American public wanted nothing to do with them.
This generation doesn't even know where the term "new normal" came from and my generation started it because we were pissed off watching talk shows about trivial problems when what we were going through was kept secret. We were conditioned to feel ashamed by our parents telling us to suck it up and get over it. After all that was what they did.
They did it and they suffered for it instead of healing and finding peace. They committed suicide and drank too much. They got divorced at higher percentages than their civilian peers. They swapped war stories at the local bar. So did we but we were not willing to settle for bitter tears and we opened our mouths.
We did it without the internet at first but then in the 90's we managed to learn how to join forces across the nation and make things happen faster.
We ended up left out of what this internet generation thinks they are the only ones going through any of this. So how is it the generation that fought for all generations is yet again last on the list to get what we waited longer for and fought harder for?
We want this generation to have it better than we did but that doesn't mean we should be shoved out of their way.
We were there when troops were sent off to war in the 90's and when they were sent into Afghanistan and Iraq. Our generation sent our own kids. We knew that while things were not perfect for them when they came home, they were a hell of a lot better than what our generation came home to. We were there to offer support, help and educate them so they wouldn't have to learn all of this the hard way.
I've been doing this for over 30 years and I am no longer young. None of the leaders are young and we are far from foolish yet this generation fails time after time to listen to those who have been here longer and had to learn the hard way.
So how is it this generation so technological savvy is so misinformed?
I read Facebook posts and pop into this group or that one after someone wants me to support their group yet have found too few deserving it. Why? Because they cannot even answer basic questions.
They don't understand PTSD or why some have it and they sure as hell have no clue what works yet they get the attention as "experts" pushing others into information overload.
It happens when news reports come out and they just post what was reported without understanding basic history enough to know it is a load of crap just like the latest suicide prevention bill coming on the tail of others that failed.
We know better because we've been doing it longer and as for learning, we researched as if our lives depended on it simply because they did. No one was fighting for us back then and no one is remembering us now.
WE ARE VETERAN FAMILY VETERANS
Police need help finding missing Iraq Veteran with PTSD from Libertyville
Police search for missing vet from Libertyville
FOX 32 News
By Tisha Lewis, Reporter
Posted: Dec 12, 2014
CHICAGO (FOX 32 News)
A desperate search is underway for a suburban man and Iraq war veteran.
Police are very concerned about 30-year-old Daniel Nerstrom. Nerstrom's car is not with him and his handgun is missing. He's believed to have left his Libertyville home on foot.
Police say he's not a danger to anyone else, but he might be to himself.
"Just come home, I need you Dan. I will come to you," said Kim Nerstrom, Daniel's mother.
Fighting through tears, Nerstrom's mother made an emotional plea for her son's safe return. It's been 11 days since the army veteran was last seen. Police said Nerstrom walked out of his Libertyville home shortly after sunset on Monday, December 1st.
"We need our boy home," said Kim.
"We just need to get some word that he's ok and we'll go from there," said Douglas Nerstrom, Daniel's father.
Nerstrom's parents said the Iraqi war veteran was battling post traumatic stress disorder and sought help on several occasions.
"He's always gone to the VA and it just seemed like it never got any better, if anything it was on the slow decline," said Douglas.
read more here
FOX 32 News
By Tisha Lewis, Reporter
Posted: Dec 12, 2014
A desperate search is underway for a suburban man and Iraq war veteran.
Police are very concerned about 30-year-old Daniel Nerstrom. Nerstrom's car is not with him and his handgun is missing. He's believed to have left his Libertyville home on foot.
Police say he's not a danger to anyone else, but he might be to himself.
"Just come home, I need you Dan. I will come to you," said Kim Nerstrom, Daniel's mother.
Fighting through tears, Nerstrom's mother made an emotional plea for her son's safe return. It's been 11 days since the army veteran was last seen. Police said Nerstrom walked out of his Libertyville home shortly after sunset on Monday, December 1st.
"We need our boy home," said Kim.
"We just need to get some word that he's ok and we'll go from there," said Douglas Nerstrom, Daniel's father.
Nerstrom's parents said the Iraqi war veteran was battling post traumatic stress disorder and sought help on several occasions.
"He's always gone to the VA and it just seemed like it never got any better, if anything it was on the slow decline," said Douglas.
read more here
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