Tom Young Committed Suicide After Waiting for Help

"There is no voice mail today, I can assure you of that. That's unacceptable. That was done by a contractor," said Dr. David J. Shulkin, Undersecretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Pretty much sums up why veterans like Tom Young turned to the VA for help to live only to be left waiting.

It happened to Tom Young when he called and when they called him back the next day, it was too late to listen to him.

SUBURBAN VETERAN FELL THROUGH VA CRACKS FOUR TIMES BEFORE SUICIDE
ABC 7 News Chicago
By Chuck Goudie and Christine Tressel
Thursday, March 03, 2016

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A staple of the American military is to "leave no man behind" on a foreign battlefield.

Army veteran Tom Young was left behind by the VA, according to his family. They say Young asked the Veterans Administration for help on four occasions, but only received phone calls back after he was dead.

This is a story that we begin at the end. July 23rd, 2015. Tom Young is struck and killed by a Metra train headed to the northwest suburbs.

"He took his life," says Will Young, Tom's brother. "And, uh, the day after, we got a call from the VA that, um, a bed was available and then about 20 minutes later, we got a call from the suicide hotline returning his call."

The 30-year old had apparently called the VA'S suicide hotline, leaving a message that he needed help. Someone from the hotline called him back a day later, after he had put himself in the path of the Metra train.
read more here

Michigan Lawmakers Start Own Charity Instead of Doing Their Jobs?

As you can tell, my head exploded when I read that elected officials would rather start their own charity than actually do something to help all veterans, but why would they do something like remember the others?

Lawmakers start nonprofit to help struggling veterans
WLNS Web Staff
Published: March 2, 2016

LANSING, Mich. (AP) – Two lawmakers have announced a new nonprofit to help struggling veterans after the state’s Auditor General released a scathing audit unearthing problems at a state-run veterans’ nursing home in Grand Rapids.

Republican Rep. Tom Barrett and Democratic Sen. David Knezek announced the nonprofit Wednesday at a press conference.
read more here

Seriously? This may sound like a good thing to do until you consider this.

"We have thousands of veterans who have gone and fought in Iraq and Afghanistan and are now coming home," said Barrett, an Army veteran and National Guard reservist who served two tours in Iraq. "I've heard numbers as high as one in three combat veterans could be suffering from PTSD." Rep. Tom Barrett,
Detroit Free Press

Pretty much shows how little he knows about PTSD, all generations and the total lack of oversight on all the other PTSD Service Dog charities already out there.

Aside from National charities, here are just a few from Michigan.

Stiggy's Dogs
Service Dog in Training
Dogs in Honor
Pets for Vets

The truth is, service dogs are great, for some veterans, but not all of them and none of them are the answer to everything our veterans are going through.

Recently there was an Afghanistan veteran with a PTSD service dog, but he didn't get what he needed and took his own life. There have been many more like him. Far too many.

Service dogs are great for some veterans but not all veterans like dogs. Some are allergic to them. Some live with people who do not like dogs.

The worst thing in all of this is these two elected officials should actually be working on doing something for all of Michigan's veterans. That means the veterans they just don't want to remember suffered the same wounds and waited a hell of a lot longer for help. Top that off with the fact they are also the majority of the veterans committing suicide in this country everyday while legislators repeat the lie of "22 a day" forgetting about the other 50 or so that are not even mentioned.

VA Suicide Report has a lot of information in it however most,including legislators, missed the part about limited data from only 21 states leaving us with a clue as to what they actually do know is a lot less than what they guess at.

According to the Department of Veterans Affairs Population Map Michigan has 658,469 veterans. WWII veterans 34,769 forgotten about. Korean War veterans, 59,711 veterans forgotten about. Vietnam Veterans, 237,675 forgotten about. Gulf War veterans, 155,754 forgotten about.

Maybe they should actually focus on this problem before they start their own charity.

As a result, Michigan ranks among the bottom five states for federal spending per veteran. Veterans' benefits can include health care, monthly disability checks, life insurance, home loans and education through the GI bill. Benefits at the state and local levels include vocational training and the Michigan Veterans Trust Fund.

Only 22 percent of Michigan's estimated 660,800 veterans used their health benefits from the U.S. Veterans Administration in 2013 — the most recent year for which data is available. Roughly 13 percent of Michigan veterans received disability checks, according to federal data.
Detroit Free Press

US Census Michigan Veterans

Now top all that off with the fact the uproar started over the report on nursing homes and you get the idea.

Camp Pendleton Marines Pass Leash of Sirius

FAMILY OF MARINE KILLED IN AFGHANISTAN GETS HIS WAR DOG
ACK.org
By: Liz Donovan
March 2, 2016

On February 26, the Marines Corps held a “passing of the leash” ceremony at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and in a formal procession on February 27, the Rancho Cucamonga Police Department escorted the Ashley family and Sirius from the airport to their home.

On July 19, 2012, at only 23 years old, Marine Joshua Ashley was killed by an IED blast while serving in Afghanistan. His beloved war dog, a German Shepherd named Sirius, was with him. Sirius survived the explosion.

This year, Sirius was retired, and Ashley’s family was given the chance to offer him a permanent home in Rancho Cucamonga, California.

Ashley’s mother, Tammie Ashley, recalls the last conversation she had with her son, during which he asked her to keep Sirius until he was finished serving.
read more here

Vietnam Veteran Shocked to Hear He's Dead

Veteran Declared Dead, but Alive 
MyArklamiss.com 
By Caitlin O'Neal 
Published 03/02 2016

"February the fourth, the VA sent out a letter stating that I had died, which came as a great shock to me. After that, it's been a struggle to try to get the VA to recognize I'm not quite dead yet. And that my VA benefits need to be reinstated," explains Willingham.

FARMERVILLE, La.-- John Willingham, a Vietnam Veteran has been receiving benefits from Veterans' Affair's, including supplemental pay for his wife. Early last month, Willingham contacted the disabled American Veterans, his legal representative to the VA to inform them that his wife had passed away.

"She was an invalid the last two, two and a half years of her life. That I needed to stop the pay, the supplemental pay," says John Willingham, Veteran. read more here

Palm Bay Standoff Leaves Veteran-Ex-Police Officer Dead

Armed man, 39, shot and killed by Palm Bay officer 
WFTV News 
Updated: Mar 1, 2016

His girlfriend, who asked not to be identified, told Channel 9 the man is a former law enforcement officer and used to be in the military.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating after a Palm Bay police officer shot and killed a man.

Police say a man inside the home was threatening to shoot three people doing construction at a nearby home on Mariposa Drive. 

When police arrived, they say the 39-year-old man refused to come out of the home and a standoff began.

A neighbor told Eyewitness News the man was upset that the construction crew was working and making noise.
read more here