Schultz, Moore of the Same Attacking Chris Kyle

“It humanized the struggle of soldiers returning from combat with post-traumatic stress disorder. It also serves as a harsh reminder that soldiers were sent to war under false pretense — at least, that’s how I took it."

MSNBC’s Ed Schultz Was ‘Disturbed’ By ‘American Sniper’ [VIDEO]


No, Mr. Schultz, it isn't conservatives upset by idiots. I am not a conservative. I am not a Democrat. Unlike some people you think you know, most Americans do not hold political titles above all else. Most of us know how we obtained the freedoms we have as well as how it has been retained ever since.

If you really do love freedom, great but it comes with a price. A price that isn't pretty. It isn't as easy as sitting in a chair and talking about it. It is doing what I have never done and that is being willing to die for everyone else as well as willing to kill to save lives.

I work with veterans when they fight their battles stateside and most of the time they have to hear a lot of things they don't agree with. People forget they were willing to die for rights of fools to prove what they are all by themselves. Guess its one more reason why I would rather hang around with them than anyone else.

Michael Moore backtracks and insists his comments calling snipers cowards was NOT about American Sniper Chris Kyle
The documentary filmmaker caused controversy on Sunday by tweeting that snipers are cowards
Moore's tweets corresponded with the wide release of the film American Sniper, which raked in a record $103.5million this weekend
However, he later said the comments were not directed at the movie or real-life Chris Kyle who was the inspiration
He went on to praise Bradley Cooper's acting, while calling out director Clint Eastwood's 'confused' portrayal of the Iraq War
Daily Mail UK
By ASHLEY COLLMAN FOR DAILYMAIL.COM and MIA DE GRAAF FOR DAILYMAIL.COM and JENNIFER NEWTON FOR MAILONLINE
19 January 2015

Michael Moore claims he didn't mean to offend the memory of Chris Kyle when he wrote a series of tweets yesterday calling snipers 'cowards'.

The Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker wrote a lengthy Facebook post today clarifying his statements, saying they were not intended as a criticism of the movie American Sniper, based on Kyle's bestselling memoir.

The Navy SEAL became the deadliest sniper in U.S. military history for shooting dead at least 160 during tours of duty in the Middle East, but was tragically killed just four years after he was discharged by a fellow soldier who was allegedly struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder.
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Seriously? Does he really think anyone is confused as to what he tweeted?

TBI and PTSD War Wounds Do Heal, No Cure For Stupidity

Sometimes I really wonder where reporters find these people! Wounds of war that never heal on the Washington Post, by Amy Ellis Nutt, is about TBI. Really bad title considering it ended up attacking PTSD veterans.

This gives us an idea of how many have TBI since the numbers went way up since 2005.

And this is what the article had to say.

Once World War I ended, blast injuries were not the leading cause of combat injury until the American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. The Vietnam War, however, did produce the first diagnosed cases of post-traumatic stress disorder, which Koliatsos believes has helped to stigmatize IED survivors who return home but have enormous difficulties adjusting."

“We thought it was hysteria in World War I and then came PTSD in Vietnam,” he said, so we continued to think of these [hidden] injuries only as psychological.”

In saying IED survivors were stigmatized, Koliatsos just managed to slam PTSD veterans. That is the wound that will never heal. PTSD is nothing to be ashamed of. TBI is nothing to be ashamed of. Isn't it time for "experts" to stop feeding the stigma? PTSD and TBI do heal. They are not cured. Unfortunately there is no cure for stupidity.

Combat Wounded Staff Sgt. Tavera Retired From Army

Wounded vet given several standing ovations in retirement sendoff 
Tampa Bay Times
Rich Shopes Times
Staff Writer
Friday, January 16, 2015

Retired Army Lt. Gen. Susan Lawrence gave a tribute Friday to Staff Sgt. Joel Tavera, here with his parents, Maritza and Jose Tavera. Joel Tavera was badly injured in a rocket attack. Rich Shopes, Times

TAMPA — Joel Tavera was five months into his deployment in Iraq when a rocket ripped into the vehicle he was riding in, killing everyone except Tavera and another soldier.

Burns covered 60 percent of Tavera's body. Exploding shrapnel and the blast's concussion left him with severe brain trauma that took his sight. His right leg was amputated below the knee. He lost several fingers. Doctors weren't sure he'd survive the trip to a hospital in San Antonio.

"Against all odds he recovered from injuries that most people wouldn't have survived from," said Dr. Steven Scott, who specializes in traumatic brain injuries at the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital in Tampa.

Enduring more than 75 surgeries, Tavera, 27, became an inspiration to other wounded vets, as well as doctors, nurses and just about anyone he encountered.

"He's one of the most positive people you'll ever meet," said Taylor Urruela, a former Army sergeant who lost his right leg to an improvised explosive device in 2006. "And it comes through right away, as soon as you meet him."

On Friday, Staff Sgt. Tavera officially retired from the Army. The Army, in turn, wasn't about to let Tavera go quietly. Top brass organized a send off at Haley replete with commendations, letters of proclamation, including one from President Obama, and more than a few heartfelt tributes.
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Chris Kyle American Sniper Movie Breaks Record Opening

'American Sniper' Breaks Box Office Records After Oscar Nominations 
NBC News
January 19, 2015

NEW YORK — Oscar-nominated "American Sniper" led North American box office charts over the weekend with a record-smashing $90.2 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates.

The film, which broke the record for a January weekend as well as for any drama opening ever, was directed by Clint Eastwood and stars Bradley Cooper.

"American Sniper" virtually doubled industry expectations after widely expanding to some 3,500 screens from just a handful of theaters the day after scoring six Oscar nominations, including best picture and best actor for Cooper, who plays a Navy Seal sharpshooter.
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Story of Texan Chris Kyle, ‘American Sniper,’ works best as a portrait of PTSD (B+) Dallas News
By CHRIS VOGNAR
Culture Critic
December 24, 2014

Twenty-two years ago, Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven served up an eloquent encapsulation of what it means to take a life: “It’s a hell of a thing, killing a man. You take away all he’s got, and all he’s ever gonna have.”

The late Chris Kyle, the hero of Eastwood’s new movie American Sniper, might have an appropriate answer: Try killing 160.

That’s how many official kills were credited to the sharpshooting Texan, the most in American military history. As played by Bradley Cooper, Kyle absorbed his role, embraced his duty, but turned into a husk of a man once each of his four tours in Iraq was finished. Though it never uses the term “PTSD,” American Sniper, at its best, is a devastating portrait of post-traumatic stress disorder.

The movie is strongest when Kyle is home, as his wife, Taya (Sienna Miller, also strong), wonders whether the man who was her husband might re-enter the land of the living. Cooper turns Kyle’s emotional vacancy into a vivid presence. He wears it in the hollow eyes, and the clenched jaw, and the monosyllabic shutdown when anyone expresses concern.
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'American Sniper': What Happened in Real Life After the Movie Fades to Black
ABC News
By MEGHAN KENEALLY
Jan 20, 2015

His funeral was held at the Cowboy's Stadium to allow for crowds and his wife Taya gave an emotional eulogy on stage.

"When you think you cannot do something, think again. Chris always said the body will do whatever the mind tells it to. I am counting on that now," she said. "I stand before you a broken woman but I am now and always will be the wife of a man who was a warrior both on and off the battlefield."

The film showed clips of the ceremony and Kyle's flag-draped coffin, but some of the most moving moments came when it showed how hundreds of people lined the sides of the interstate to salute the procession as the coffin was moved from the stadium to the Texas State Cemetery about 200 miles away.
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After Suicide Marine's Wife Guest for State of the Union

While this is yet one more heartbreaking story of a widow left behind, it is even more so knowing all the other bills before this repeated "effort" failed. Had Congress taken the time to review what was done, failed and repeated, maybe, just maybe Justin Eldridge would be healing, instead of leaving a grieving widow.

Widow continues Marine veteran’s fight
Publication: The Day
By Deborah Straszheim
Published January 19. 2015

Joanna and Justin Eldridge are shown at a Marine Corps ball in Connecticut. Joanna Eldridge will be Sen. Richard Blumenthal's guest at Tuesday's State of the Union address in Washington. Justin Eldridge, who suffered from PTSD and took his own life in 2013 in Waterford, served in Afghanistan.
Photo courtesy of Joanna Eldridge

The widow of a U.S. Marine who took his own life after a battle with post-traumatic stress disorder, will travel to Washington, D.C., as Sen. Richard Blumenthal's guest at Tuesday's State of the Union address.

Joanna Eldridge had four young children and was caring for her 31-year-old husband, Justin Eldridge, at the time of his death in Waterford. He also had a traumatic brain injury that initially went undiagnosed. "Justin Eldridge is one of thousands of veterans who have lost their battle to invisible wounds of war," Blumenthal said in a news release issued last week. "Even as we lose another 22 veterans each day to suicide, we must not forget the spouses, children and community they leave behind."

Blumenthal is pushing for passage of the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act, a bill aimed at improving mental health care and suicide prevention programs for servicemen and women.

The bill, which passed the House of Representatives last week, would evaluate suicide prevention programs at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, improve coordination among veterans organizations and the VA and provide loan repayments for psychiatrists and mental health workers at the VA. The legislation would also boost community outreach and support services.
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