Veterans Get Pennies From Philanthropist's Dollars

Where are the donations? Philanthropists short change veterans’ organizations
Boston Globe
Mady J. Schuman
February 20, 2016

Americans donated $358.4 billion in 2014. But military and veteran organizations received less than two-tenths of one percent of these philanthropic dollars. Simply stated, veterans are not on the radar. The philanthropic community needs a wake-up call that veterans deserve more than platitudes.

JOHN MOORE/GETTY IMAGES/FILE 2014

Veteran Lloyd Epps tested his prosthetic leg at the VA hospital in Manhattan.

For most of the presidential campaign thus far, veterans’ issues have been an afterthought.

Candidates of all stripes have been using veterans as props to score points, but little attention has been paid to the real hardships veterans endure on a daily basis. And precious little time has been spent discussing policy prescriptions that would help the men and women who have fought for our country overseas.

However, over the last few weeks, veterans’ issues have been thrust back into the national spotlight thanks to a well-publicized event in which Donald Trump — under the guise of philanthropy — held a fundraiser. His stated goal was to bring in big bucks for the charities and other organizations that help vets. Instead, the event was a media circus designed to advance the needs of his campaign.

At the same time, veterans groups nationwide have come under scrutiny as one of the largest, richest, and most recognized brands in the space — the Wounded Warrior Project — has been put under the media microscope and its financial and fundraising practices called into question.
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FOX25 Investigates Soldier's Car Lease, Bank Gives Car

Bank decides to relieve car lease for active duty soldier after FOX25 story 
FOX 25 WFXT 
by: Kerry Kavanaugh 
Feb 20, 2016 

PEABODY, Mass. — A Peabody soldier was called to active duty and at first a bank wouldn't give her any relief on her car lease. 

After FOX25 brought the situation to the bank's attention, not only did they forgive the lease, Chase Bank is allowing the soldier to keep the car.

"She's been paying the lease for three years...they should give back to our soldiers a little something," Roxanne Katz, the soldier's mother.

Roxanne Katz said as long as she can remember, her daughter has wanted to serve her country. When she got the call for basic training, the Peabody soldier, Kristina Katz, had just two weeks to get her affairs in order. She tried to terminate the car lease on her Mazda 6, which she would no longer be able to drive or afford. She still had a year left on the 48 month lease, but her family said at first, Chase Bank wasn't budging.

"They sent her a letter saying that they denied the early termination," said Roxanne Katz.

She has since shipped out to her basic training and her family was still trying to get her some relief. FOX25 Investigates learned relief on car leases falls under the Service Members Civil Relief Act.
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PTSD Service Dog Was Too "Small" in Texas?

Veteran with service dog asked to leave local business 
My East Texas 
By Nikki Diaz 
Published 02/19 2016

TYLER, Texas (KETK)
An Army veteran with PTSD is voicing his concerns after he and his service dog were asked to leave a local business.

Veteran Gary Hamilton says he was diagnosed with PTSD in 2008.

He claims, per his psychiatrist recommendation and with help through army administration in Fort Knox, Kentucky, he received a service dog in 2012.

On February 10th, Hamilton says he was asked to leave Healthline Medical in Tyler because of his dog.

"An employee there come up to me and said we're not allowed to have dogs in here and I pointed out to her that, which he had his vest on, and I said, 'He's a service dog and here's the service he provides for me' and she says, 'Well, that doesn't apply to us here because we have respiratory equipment and we have oxygen in here.'"
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Amputee Soldier Returns To Active Duty

Prosthetic maker helps injured veteran return to service
Post Bulletin
Brett Boese
February 20, 2016

"It's no longer enough to fill the pant leg for a lower extremity amputee. We must give them the tools and training to achieve their highest level of activity, while being constantly aware of comfort and safety."
Brandon Sampson

Limb Lab opened its downtown Rochester location in 2014 with a modest staff of four to fill its unique 3,000-square-foot facility, which routinely draws curious looks on Broadway due to expansive windows that reveal manikins with prosthetic limbs.

Contributed photo
Dan Metzdorf lost his right leg in a roadside blast that killed three of his fellow soldiers during a 2004 tour in Iraq. Metzdorf refused to give up his dream of serving in the military and successfully petitioned to return to his unit.

Arizona's Dan Metzdorf suffered life-threatening injuries in a roadside blast that killed three soldiers during a 2004 tour in Iraq. His right leg was amputated to stop the bleeding and save his life.

After being outfitted with an $50,000 prosthetic leg at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., the paratrooper of the 82nd Airborne Division refused to give up his childhood dream of serving in the military. He created a stir throughout the ranks after petitioning to return to active duty, garnering support from many high-ranking officers through a dedicated campaign. Still, it took three official requests before he was allowed to return to his unit, Bravo Company.

That decision by the U.S. Army ultimately allowed Metzdorf to become the first above-the-knee amputee to stay on active duty, where he eventually joined the Golden Knights elite airborne unit.
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Judge Orders Iraq Veteran to Put Flowers on Grave?

We know most veterans do not get what they need to heal from where they sent and we also know that many self-medicate to get numb. In the following case an Iraq veteran was found guilty of DUI and a woman died. The veteran made a choice to drink and drive. She also made a choice to risk her life in the military. Will she get help in jail to heal? Even if she does what good will it do if she is forced to go to the grave of the woman she killed?

Judge Refuses to Alter Veteran's Sentence in Fatal Crash 
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 
HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. 

Feb 20, 2016

A judge in central Pennsylvania refused to modify the sentence he imposed in a fatal crash, including provisions that the defendant carry the victim's picture and place flowers on her grave. 

Jennifer Sloan, 34, of Cresson, an Iraq war veteran who said she turned to alcohol due to post-traumatic stress disorder, was sentenced in Blair County in December to 2 1/2 to five years in prison in the April 2013 death of 58-year-old Connie Naylor, of Dysart. read more here