Community Honors Flag Removal Order By Supporting Veteran

Community supports veteran forced to take down flag pole 
WBIR News
Leslie Ackerson
February 15, 2015

(WBIR) The American flag is a symbol of pride, patriotism and freedom. For 24-year Air Force Veteran Delia Foster, it was a symbol she wanted to proudly display in her front yard.

However, she said her homeowner's association is making her take down the flag pole where she flew the stars and stripes.

The association told Foster she could fly a flag from her porch, but not from the pole in her yard.

Family, friends and even strangers gathered Saturday afternoon in support to watch the flag fly for one last time.

All eyes were fixed on a familiar American symbol as it was carefully taken down.

"That was emotional for me that definitely was," said Delia Foster.

It was the last time Delia foster's flag would fly high above her home.

"What a lot of people don't realize is, military we are all family. We've met each other or not we are all family." said Kirk Kinamon.

A military man himself, Kinamon showed up after seeing something about the event on Facebook.

He brought a flag of his own, and ended up giving it to Foster to put on her front porch.
read more here

Black Hawk Helicopter Pilot Remains Found After 45 Years

Army finds Belmont veteran’s remains 45 years after disappearance
WSOC TV News
February 14, 2015

45 years after he disappeared during the Vietnam War.

Junior Price’s family told Channel 9 the Army found his remains a mile away from where his helicopter crashed.

Junior Price was 21 when he went to Vietnam. In 1970, he disappeared after his Black Hawk helicopter was shot down over Cambodia.

The news about his brother comes with mixed emotions for Dennis Price.

“They called us Monday, February 9, his birthday, and they told us it was 100 percent positive match that it was his remains,” Dennis Price said.

Dennis Price said the Army compared his brother’s DNA with his own and they matched perfectly. Junior’s remains had been buried along with two others.
read more here

Williams SEAL Team 6 Story Falls Apart

Go to the link and watch the video. Slow it down and see how often Williams has his eyes shut or looking away. Never noticed that before, but then again, no one noticed any reason to doubt him, other than the people who were really there and tried to get everyone else to listen.

Did Brian Williams embed with SEAL Team 6?
CNN
By Peter Bergen, CNN National Security Analyst
February 15, 2015

"Also, why SEAL Team 6 would want to thank Williams after the bin Laden raid is inexplicable as he had nothing to do with any element of it."

(CNN)Embattled NBC News anchor Brian Williams may have some more explaining to do.

On May 3, 2011, just two days after the daring U.S. Navy SEAL Team 6 raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, Williams said on his NBC News show, "Now, people might be hearing about SEAL Team 6. I happen to have the great honor of flying into Baghdad with them at the start of the war."

With this statement Williams asserted that he was embedded with one of the most covert units in the U.S. military and flew with the SEALs into Iraq in March 2003 as the war there began.

When asked about this claim, a Special Operations Command spokesman Ken McGraw told CNN:

"We do not embed journalists with that unit or any other unit that conducts counterterrorism missions. Bottom line -- no."

Could Williams have simply hitched a ride into Iraq with SEAL Team 6 outside of the formal embedding process? This seems quite unlikely. A SEAL officer told CNN, "That early in the conflict, there were only missions taking place, not bouncing between outstations."
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Soldier Audiotaped Encounters with Fort Carson Doctors

Fort Carson hospital reforms enacted after investigation into care of mental health patient
The Gazette
By Tom Roeder
Published: February 15, 2015

The sergeant said his medical care was influenced by the Army's desire for a discharge, including records that described him as a "31-year-old patient pending chapter (discharge) for misconduct."

The Army has come under fire for giving disciplinary discharges for minor misconduct to soldiers suffering from war-caused mental illness. Those other than honorable discharges, which can leave soldiers without their VA medical benefits, were documented in a 2013 Gazette investigation that earned a 2014 Pulitzer Prize. 

A mental health patient's audiotaped encounters with Fort Carson doctors led to a sweeping investigation of Evans Army Community Hospital and a series of reforms in patient care, documents obtained by The Gazette show.

The Army found that some workers in the hospital's behavioral health department were demeaning, patronizing, foul-mouthed and told the soldier that a mass shooting at Fort Hood, Texas, would make commanders pay attention to his claims of mental illness because they would see him as likely to snap.

The 775-page report cleared the hospital of allegations that psychiatrists and therapists worked to push mentally ill soldiers out of the Army on conduct-related discharges but found they did feel pressure from commanders to clear the way for discharges.

A social worker and a major working as a physician were disciplined after the report. Fort Carson said the major "was removed from his leadership position."

"This incident does not speak to the core values or the common practices of the Fort Carson behavioral health staff," said Col. Dennis LeMaster, the hospital's commander.

The investigation began in May when a staff sergeant presented commanders with recordings made during mental health visits. It concluded in August when Army Surgeon General Lt. Gen. Patricia Horoho ordered the hospital to retrain its behavioral health staff.

"The Evans Army Community Hospital commander will conduct a phased behavioral health stand-down to address issues of professionalism in the workplace; dignity and respect during patient encounters; the use of profanity during patient encounters; how to balance demands from the chain of command with providing objective, patient-centered care and proper boundaries when discussing benefits with patients," Horoho ordered.
read more here

It is almost as if they took a trip back in time.

This doesn't seem like the same issue reported on Army Times.

WTU problems aren't systemic News outlets in Dallas reported in November that hundreds of soldiers had suffered a pattern of "disrespect, harassment and belittlement of soldiers" at WTUs at Fort Bliss, Fort Hood, and Fort Sam Houston in Texas.This comes on the heels of another incident at a medical facility (not a WTU) at Fort Carson, Colorado, that had led to discipline against a physician and a social worker for actions dating to early 2014.

Lt. Gen. Patricia Horoho, the Army surgeon general, affirmed that while even one case of abuse isn't tolerable, most of the complaints turned out not to be medical care-related and about 24 cases of harassment have been dealt with. And she said the reports documented issues that the Army already uncovered itself.

"They weren't concerns that an outside source came to us and said do you realize you have these problems," Horoho said at a round-table update on her command for members of the media at the Pentagon on Friday. "We have eight different avenues (for) our warriors and their family members to have their voices heard. When those concerns come up, each of them is looked at and then we take appropriate action."

But it wasn't just happening at Fort Carson

Hundreds of Wounded Warriors, including at Fort Bliss, were reportedly harassed and abused by staff between 2009 and 2013.

It has top military officials talking. There were allegations of "disrespect, harassment and belittlement of soldiers" at a place where they should have been getting help -- the Warrior Transition Unit at Fort Bliss.

"Was there in fact cause for concern at the WTU at Fort Bliss?" El Paso Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-El Paso) asked Col. Chris Toner, the head of the Army's Transitional Command, last week at a congressional hearing in Washington.

And it was far from new

Critics: Fort Carson policy targeted troubled, wounded soldiers
Stars and Stripes
By Bill Murphy Jr.
Published: November 15, 2011

FORT CARSON, Colo. — Army Cpl. Joshua Smith saw the orange glow against the South Carolina night sky long before he reached his sister’s apartment complex. The fire in the back buildings was intense. People stood in shock, watching the blaze.

Smith leapt from his rental car and vaulted a five-foot brick wall, yelling at onlookers to call for help. He grabbed an exercise weight someone had left in the yard, threw it through a sliding glass door and burst into the burning building. He shepherded a mother and her 16-month-old daughter to safety, then turned his attention to the other apartments, kicking down doors, running room to room, making sure no one else was trapped. By the time he emerged, firefighters had arrived. The local TV news hailed the 22-year-old infantryman — home on leave after a tour in Iraq before transferring to Fort Carson, Colo. — whose quick action saved lives.

“It was easy,” Smith said later. “Nobody was shooting at me.”

Sixteen months later, in November 2010, the acting commander at Fort Carson, Brig. Gen. James H. Doty, pinned the Soldier’s Medal, the Army’s highest award for noncombat heroism, to Smith’s chest. It was the young soldier’s second valor medal in three years in the military, after an Army Commendation Medal with valor device that he’d been awarded for his combat service.

For all his heroics, however, Smith’s life was falling apart.

‘This pattern ... is so clear'

With soldiers coming home broken in record numbers, the Army has pledged to take care of their physical and mental wounds. The quick-separation policy at Fort Carson stands in direct conflict with that pledge.

The Army touts a zero-tolerance policy for drug use, but commanders have considerable discretion regarding how much punishment soldiers receive and whether they ultimately are retained or discharged.

Moreover, defense lawyers and veterans advocates point to many cases in which soldiers who tested positive for use of drugs once, or occasionally even twice or more — but who were not facing a possible medical discharge — have been retained on active duty.

Just last month, the vice chief of staff of the Army, Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, talked about the link between PTSD and traumatic brain injury on the one hand, and substance abuse and suicide on the other.

We're all asking why it is getting worse instead of better

It Won't Get Better If We Forget
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
February 15, 2015

Yesterday I asked "Are National Reporters Really Stupid, Lazy or Just Lying?" because I am righteously frustrated. As the years go by, more and more veterans are dying instead of healing. 

We're all asking why it is getting worse instead of better? After all, the years of accumulating coffins came with billions of "efforts" to prevent them from being filled. When it comes to a choice between hurting a reporter's feelings and telling the truth for families, families win. Their pain is a lot worse than a reporter having to answer to readers for sucking at their job.

I have to admit that I feel a twinge of guilt getting ready to do it again. So just to clarify from where I sit, I don't envy reporters.

I get to to take all the time I want to dedicate to a post without having to worry about word count or time limits. I have no concerns about advertisers pulling their ads over what Wounded Times supplies. I don't have to worry about wanting to put something out that will gain me a raise since I don't get paid. I don't have to wonder about if what I do will win any awards since the only thing I want to do is be able to save more lives. The only way to do that is to tell the pure ugly truth so that someone will actually do something to make things better instead of sitting back as they get worse.

The only people I owe anything to are veterans and their families, just like mine. Over 30 years of living with the failures and learning from the successes have gotten me to this point. I've seen the worst of what PTSD does but I've also seen the magnificence of what has succeeded. I can tell you that no veteran is frozen in this moment. PTSD is change and you can all change again for the better if you have the right guidance and support.

Peer support works best but it won't work if your peers know as little as you do or they know the wrong information. If their heads were filled with the same nonsense of PTSD coming from being mentally weak instead of the strength of your emotions, then they'll make you feel worse. Yet, if they understand PTSD, know what it is doing to you as well as why, then you get better because they understand instead of standing in as judging you.

We've heard a lot of garbage over the years about families being clued in yet I keep talking to family members when it is too late to save someone they love because no one even told them the basics we learned decades ago.

We've all heard stories about what the government is doing within the military to "prevent suicides" yet then we read how younger veterans are committing suicide triple their peer rates and the suicides among all veterans is double the civilian rate across the country.

If we don't tell the truth about what failed, then we'll just keep repeating all the same recycling of what has already failed them. Here is a good article from USA Today about what happens when some veterans show up looking for help to stay alive.

Whistle-blowers: VA still endangering suicidal vets
USA TODAY
Dennis Wagner
February 13, 2015

PHOENIX — During the past eight months, roughly 1,000 military veterans with mental health problems have shown up in the emergency room at Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center in Phoenix, sometimes intoxicated and potentially suicidal.

They were seeking treatment after closing time at the VA mental-health clinic and, according to hospital officials, most of them received suicide evaluations.

How those after-hours patients are handled has emerged as a new controversy at the scandal-plagued hospital. Two whistle-blowers claim patients and staff are being endangered. VA administrators insist they are doing what they can to ensure safety and security.

There is no dispute that, while awaiting care, some of the at-risk veterans simply decide to leave the ER and are able to walk out without evaluation or treatment.

One medical-center employee, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisal, said staff concerns about the so-called "elopements" peaked during a Jan. 23 meeting of VA social workers.

The employee, who filed a complaint with the VA Office of Special Counsel and secured whistle-blower status, said Chief of Social Work David Jacobson acknowledged during the meeting several instances where troubled veterans fled the hospital, saying, "We have been really lucky that nothing bad has happened in these instances ... It was sheer luck that nothing (tragic) happened."

Dr. Darren Deering, chief of staff, said the VA hospital is doing its best for troubled vets, but faces challenges when patients choose to leave before a mental-health evaluation can be completed.

"When we're in the process of trying to petition someone (for involuntary commitment)," Deering said, "we can't tie them down. We can't prevent the person from getting up and bolting."

Deering noted that employees might be charged criminally if they detain or confine veterans without following legal procedures. "If patients are determined to elope, they're almost impossible to stop without violating their rights," he added.
read more here

In the same article there was this part

About 22 U.S. veterans commit suicide each day, according to VA data. That's roughly 100,000 since the 9/11 terrorist attacks — more than 14 times the total of American troops killed in action during the same period in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The devastating numbers prompted Congress to recently pass the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act. It calls for the VA to issue annual reports and hire more psychiatrists in veterans hospitals. The bill was signed into law Thursday by President Barack Obama.

In Phoenix, suicide-prevention services first emerged as a major issue in late 2013 when Dr. Katherine Mitchell complained of overwhelmed and untrained staff. Mitchell had been the hospital's ER supervisor and, after that, was medical director for transition services to veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan.

What they didn't tell you was that it had all been done before.

Washington, D.C. – On Wednesday, July 14, 2010, Chairman Harry Mitchell (D-AZ) conducted a hearing of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee to examine the progress of suicide prevention outreach efforts at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The Subcommittee evaluated the current state of VA’s ability to educate the public of VA services concerning suicide prevention and discussed the effectiveness of the media campaign to encourage veterans to seek help at the VA.

Public Law 110-110, The Joshua Omvig Veterans Suicide Prevention Act, required VA to develop a pilot program encouraging veterans battling suicide to seek help at the VA. As a result, VA advertised its suicide hotline using Washington, D.C. metro area buses and metro subway trains, in addition to creating a Public Service Announcement for network television use.

“As you know, many of our newest generation of veterans, as well as those who served previously, bear wounds that cannot be seen and are hard to diagnose,” said Chairman Mitchell. “Proactively bringing the VA to them, as opposed to waiting for veterans to find the VA, is a critical part of delivering the care they have earned in exchange for their brave service. No veteran should feel they are alone,” said Chairman Mitchell.

They sure didn't want to remind you of this either.

Holt and Runyan previously worked together to secure $20 million in veteran suicide prevention funding in the 2012 and 2013 fiscal year Veterans Affairs budgets. Earlier this year, Holt and Runyan led a letter to the U.S. House Committee on Appropriations urging that the funding be continued in fiscal year 2014. Their letter, which was cosigned by 99 members of Congress, is attached.

“Over the past few years, Congress has finally started to take seriously the crisis of military suicide,” Holt said. “This continued funding sends a clear message to our soldiers and veterans: Your country is committed to helping you with the strains of your service, and we will do everything possible to keep you safe.”

That was in 2013 along with this, “Saying, ‘Call this number if you feel suicidal’ is not enough,” U.S. Rep. Rush Holt said. “We need outreach.” Holt (D-12th Dist.) called on the U.S. House Appropriations Committee to continue setting aside $40 million for military and veteran suicide prevention efforts"

The thing is, veterans were calling and turning to the VA. This happened in 2013 to a Vietnam veteran.

By the next day, I was creeping close to the edge: I could not shake the nightmares and the flashbacks to the jungle and cradling that young man. Dying seemed preferable to living, which is what suicide is all about. I finally called the VA to explain my situation and to make an appointment with the mental health clinic. The conversation went like this:

Me: I feel very suicidal and would like to make an appointment to see a doctor.

VA: I’m sorry, we can’t make an appointment for you.

Me: I have a very serious case of PTSD. I have been seeing doctors for 40 years. All I need is an appointment.

VA: Our policy has changed. Before you can get an appointment you must come in and be evaluated for suicide.

Me: How do I do that?

VA: Go to Building 61 and tell them that you are suicidal. Someone will see you and decide if you can get an appointment.

Me: OK. I will go out there now.

VA: I’m sorry, you can’t go now. It’s Friday, too late in the day, and they usually leave early. You’ll never get there in time.

Me: You don’t get it. I’m suicidal now. I need to see someone.

VA: You’ll just have to put that off until Monday.

Me: So I can’t kill myself until Monday?

VA: If you wait until Monday, maybe we can help. Just don’t show up between noon and one. Everyone is at lunch.

The original problem with veterans committing suicide began while they were in the military and not much has changed there either.

2014 military suicides stay high for 5th year straight
USA TODAY
Gregg Zoroya
January 13, 2015

The total number of suicides among U.S. active-duty servicemembers last year was virtually unchanged from 2013, remaining at historically high numbers for a fifth year, according to preliminary Pentagon statistics provided to USA TODAY.

The Army reported a decline in soldier suicides for the second straight year: 135 in 2014 vs. 146 in 2013. But increases in suicides among sailors and airmen last year raised total suicides among active-duty personnel to 288, up from 286 of 2013.
read more here

What they didn't tell you here was that in 2012, the DOD had not spent funds they already had for suicide prevention.

Congressman Jim McDermott (WA-7) and Congressman Leonard Boswell (IA-3) urged leaders of the U.S. House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee this week, to work with them in getting the Pentagon to use all of its unspent suicide prevention funds to reach more service members as soon as possible, and to go even further with higher funding next year.

In July, the McDermott-Boswell amendment that would increase critical funding for suicide prevention for active duty military by $10 million passed with strong support in the House Defense Appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2013.

“The Pentagon hasn’t spent the money that it has for suicide prevention for this year – and that money wasn’t nearly enough money to reach all the soldiers who need help. Now we are hearing about bureaucratic technicalities at the Pentagon that are preventing them from acting. This is unconscionable,” said Congressman McDermott. “The Pentagon is funded to help soldiers and needs to do much more on the epidemic of suicides. As we commemorate National Suicide Prevention Week, we are calling on the Pentagon to move much faster.”

Congressman Boswell added, “We lose a soldier to suicide every day, a record pace that is driving the number of military suicides to all-time highs. As I said on the House floor in July, this is a national epidemic that requires immediate Congressional action to provide the necessary resources to prevent these tragedies from happening. With this year’s defense appropriations legislation at a standstill, and only days remaining in the legislative calendar, we urge leaders to act on freeing up the existing funds for soldier suicide prevention and outreach.”

They didn't tell you that back in 2010 McClatchy reported this,

The military has nearly 900 suicide prevention programs across 400 military installations worldwide, but in a report released Tuesday, the task force describes the Defense Department's approach as a safety net riddled with holes.

I couldn't post any of this had reporters not been given a little time to interview folks and gather some information. Yet, if they had the resources to do their jobs, tell the whole ugly truth, I wouldn't have to do this and could go off and live my life like everyone else watching TV. I wouldn't have my heart sunken into my chest on a daily basis with flashbacks of when I was living with the worst of what PTSD does and remembering all that pain. I wouldn't have to hear one more Mom cry on the phone about her son or daughter being buried. I wouldn't have to take a frantic call from another veteran wondering what is wrong with him when the only thing wrong with him is people didn't do what they said they were doing and left him alone.