Montana VA Mental Health Center Shut Doors

By October of 2014, 46 veterans in Montana committed suicide. That was just in Montana and just the ones reported so the public could read about them. 9 months, 46 suicides

Within the report was the story of Brandon Slack. His story reflected what was going on all across this country, after all the speeches and bills being signed, after all the claims, and after all the elected officials got angry for the cameras.

Brandon Slack, 29, came from a long line of public service. Many of his family members served in the U.S. Marine Corps, including his mother Kate Slack. For Brandon, being a Marine was not just a career, it was in his blood.

"My son Brandon was one of those larger-than-life type personalities," said Slack. "Brandon did two tours in Iraq. He was every bit of what a Marine should be."

After his first deployment to Fallujah, Brandon began taking medication for PTSD when he came home.

"Something was desperately wrong, his temper was startling," said Slack. "I came into the house one day, he was on the phone with somebody and I didn't even recognize who this person was."

Despite the noticeable change in her son's behavior, Brandon would be deployed for a second tour, this time in Ramadi.

Brandon survived, but suffered the invisible wounds of PTSD from the two combat tours.

After trying for years to find her son help through the Veterans Affairs Hospital and through many other avenues including therapy, he ultimately lost his battle. Brandon committed suicide in October of 2013.

So here they go again, complaining in anger over something the got angry about a very long time ago.

VA Montana temporarily closing mental health center at Fort Harrison
Independent Record
ERIC KILLELEA
February 10, 2015

Tester urges VA to fill state director's job, reconsider third-party vendors

MISSOULA -- U.S. Sen. Jon Tester this week expressed concern over the lack of a permanent VA Montana director, and said morale and staffing co… Read more

Tester calls protracted search for VA director 'unacceptable'

BILLINGS -- The selection process for naming someone to lead Montana’s VA Health Care system is taking “far, far too long,” U.S. Sen. Jon Test… Read more

VA Montana is temporarily closing its acute care mental health unit on the Fort Harrison campus because of “chronic workforce shortages,” said U.S. Sens. Jon Tester and Steve Daines in press releases on Tuesday.

Tester said he raised concerns about the closure during a phone call with VA Montana interim director John Ginnity last week.

Ginnity said on Tuesday that a “perfect storm” recently occurred when two mental health providers retired, and one provider resigned for a position elsewhere. He said the eight-bed, 24/7 acute care unit has been underused compared with the 16-bed residential rehabilitation unit for post-traumatic stress disorder or substance abuse.

“Only about 35 percent of the acute unit is utilized and 65 percent is unused,” Ginnity said. “Most veterans seek inpatient mental health treatment at the hospitals in their local communities.”
read more here

In 2007 2 Wisconsin clinics shut down.

Two recently opened Minneapolis VA clinics in western Wisconsin were abruptly shut down this week by the company under contract to run them. Kentucky-based Corporate Health and Wellness says it lost hundreds of thousands of dollars opening the clinics. It blames the closings on a lack of additional funding from the VA.

St. Paul, Minn. — The two clinics that sit idle now opened to much fanfare this summer and fall. The VA said, and local veterans agreed, the facilities in Hayward and in Rice Lake would make it much easier for area vets to get basic health care. No longer would they have to travel long distances to VA facilities in places like Duluth-Superior or the Twin Cities.

But without warning, the clinics closed this week.

VA spokesman Ralph Heussner says the locked doors are an unexpected disappointment.

"It's an inconvenience and we apologize for that," says Heussner. "The reason we set the clinics in those communities is to provide service so the veterans would not have to travel long distances."

Heussner says the VA is looking into several primary care options for more than 900 veterans who've been using the Hayward and Rice Lake clinics.

29 Patients at Marion VA died because of substandard and questionable care That happened in 2008 when the national news didn't care. But what the hell, they didn't care to remind anyone that back then the VA budget was $3 billions short.

VA was losing Care Coordinators

How we treat our veterans is how this nation is measured. If we do not care for the men and women retaining our freedom, that what have we become?

Now here's a flashback to 2012 and Montana VA

In Montana, where veterans wait an average of five weeks to begin counseling, an eight-bed wing of a mental health facility at Fort Harrison has been vacant for nine months because of a lack of psychiatrists, the VA says. The Rocky Mountain VA region needs to fill nearly one of four psychiatrist positions.

The vacancies occur at a time when the number of veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder is increasing by about 10,000 every three months, what experts say is the cumulative effect of a decade of war, VA data show.

The VA has about a 20% shortfall in psychiatrists at hospitals throughout the Northwest, Deep South and Southern California, according to department data.

ANYONE BOTHER TO ASK TESTER TO EXPLAIN ANY OF THIS?

Eddie Ray Routh PTSD Claims Unravel

Prosecutors cast doubt on Routh's PTSD claim
WFAA 8 News
Jason Whitely
February 10, 2015

DALLAS — On the eve of opening statements, Erath County prosecutors revealed part of their strategy to debunk the defense's claim that Eddie Ray Routh murdered two men — including famed Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle — because he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.

"I think the state has a very strong case," said Demarcus Ward, an attorney and former Dallas County prosecutor who examined documents for News 8.

The prosecution's case appears to be stronger based on more than a dozen documents released by the district clerk late Tuesday.

In a brief filed with the court on Tuesday that detailed other offenses, prosecutors said Routh "lied about shooting a child in Iraq, pulling dead bodies out of the water, or piled up dead bodies in Haiti or [having] seen multiple dead babies."

The filing goes on to claim that Routh told a friend "he was making false claims to [the VA] to get benefits."

On multiple occasions, prosecutors outlined that Routh smoked marijuana and used methamphetamine for at least a decade beginning in 2003 — before his military service.
read more here

Body of Colorado Missing Veteran Found

Arkansas River body ID'd as missing Navy veteran 
Joel J. Brown Brown vanished New Year's Eve
The Denver Channel
Wayne Harrison
February 10, 2015

PUEBLO, Colo. - A man found dead in the Arkansas River in Pueblo on Monday has been identified as a local man missing since New Year's Eve.

Pueblo County's Coroner identified the body Tuesday as that of Joel J. Brown, 32.

Brown's body was found just east of the Fourth Street Bridge. Brown was listed as a missing person after he disappeared on Dec. 31 after arriving at the Prime Time Sports Emporium in the 100 block of W. 7th Street. 

The police department said Brown was a U.S. Navy veteran who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. read more here

Family Raising Money to Bury National Guardsman

Family raises money to bury veteran who died in crash 
The Detroit News
Ursula Watson and Tom Greenwood
February 10, 2015

Mount Clemens — Family members of a National Guard veteran who served in Iraq and Kuwait are raising money for his funeral after he was killed in a rollover crash that police say was caused by his friend driving drunk.

Eddie Griffin III, 28, of Warren died Friday in the crash on Interstate 94 in Harrison Township. 

Christopher Sereck Buckerfield, 27, was charged Monday in Clinton Township’s 41B District Court with operating a vehicle while intoxicated, causing death and possession of marijuana.

Police say Buckerfield of Clinton Township was westbound on I-94 in his red 2008 Suzuki SX4 when he lost control of the vehicle, causing it to roll near Shook Road about 11:20 p.m. Responding deputies found Buckerfield and his passenger, Griffin, in the badly damaged vehicle. Griffin, 28, died at the scene.

“I forgive Chris (Buckerfield),” said Griffin’s sister, Candace Griffin, 35. “I don’t see him doing it on purpose. “Any ill will is not going to bring my brother back,” she said. “It just hurts because I miss him.”

Buckerfield was transported to McLaren Hospital for treatment. He was released Saturday and taken to the Macomb County Jail. read more here

Media Drives PTSD Stigma into Feeding Frenzie

We better get ready for more attacks on veterans as the members of the press try to get as much attention as possible with the killing of Chris Kyle starting. Headlines like this from NBC Bill Briggs makes PTSD veterans look like hopeless cases and wives like me shaking our heads since we live with you guys.

"Among hundreds of thousands of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans living with PTSD, some openly worry that a weighty trial built on an insanity defense will reignite PTSD's social stigma."

Well, stop right there. What about Gulf War veterans? What about Vietnam veterans? What about Korean War veterans? How about the remaining WWII veterans? Reporters do remember them. Don't they? After all, had it not been for all those other generations of veterans taking the lead, people would still be using the term "shell shock" instead of PTSD. Oh, by the way, that term, unlike the limited ability of the press to actually do some research, started in the 70's.

The VA is treating all those generations as well as the Afghanistan and Iraq veterans but the press likes to leave that part out. After all, then they'd actually have to actually do some work instead of just trolling Facebook for someone posting about what they think.

The facts on this are obvious to the rest of us living with PTSD connected to military service and that my friends, includes the families, just like mine.

According to them we don't stay married. We'll we've been married 30 years and managed to get through all these years, most of which were the worst years before the Internet got families like mine connected.

According to them, we're all supposed to be afraid of a famous trial fueling the stigma of PTSD. Well, since PTSD has been in the news for decades and reporters still haven't even come close to understanding it or doing much to remove the stigma, we were all sold out.

They want people to believe that PTSD is everything it is not while covering up what it is. You can read the rest of the article here if you feel the need.

Chris Kyle Trial: Vets Fear Insanity Defense Will Grow PTSD Stigma
NBC News
BY BILL BRIGGS
February 10, 2015

The trial of the man accused of killing Chris Kyle opens this week with a legal question wrapped in Hollywood irony.

Will post-traumatic stress syndrome become the legal defense for murdering the "American Sniper" — a man who helped other veterans battle the same affliction?

Attorneys for defendant Eddie Ray Routh, an Iraq War veteran, have asked prospective jurors whether they would consider an insanity defense. Moments after the 2013 shootings of Kyle and a friend, Routh's family told police that Routh was diagnosed with PTSD and stayed at a mental hospital.
read more here

Pretty much its the same crap we've heard all along just like the bullshit of this suicide bill being any different than what was already done or that program is new and improved. Its all bullshit!

Ok, so now for what they just don't have time to tell you. This is what veterans and families go through.

You grieve because there is a lot of good inside of you. Evil people don't grieve. You have PTSD because your life was on the line and the strength of your emotional core is much deeper than others. You feel good more than they do but that also means you feel pain more. You know, the kind of pain that fuels courage. That pull on everything inside of you to rush out into the middle of the street to save a kid and the balls to do it. To rush into enemy fire to recover the body of someone from your unit even though you knew he wasn't alive.
Vietnam veterans know exactly what you're going through and so do their families. Ask us and we'll clue you in on what reporters don't care about and all the internet instant experts don't have a clue about.

You are not supposed to forget about where you were, what you did, what you went through, what was done to you but you are supposed to think about it all in a different way so that you don't feel as if people are telling you for forget your buddies as if they didn't matter.

You can remember and find peace with those memories.

Sammy Davis, Vietnam Medal of Honor veteran tells it like it is.
As for the rest, don't expect the civilian population to understand a damn thing about any of this. They can't understand what only 7% understand because they lived it.