VA Suicide Quoted By Those Who Didn't Bother To Read It!

Veteran Suicides Are Not Just Number to Use!
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
March 14, 2016
Another veteran is walking to "raise awareness" about veterans committing suicide. Seems like a nice story but it is pure bullshit! I called the reporter and asked him how he could do a story without doing basic research first. He was pretty stunned with the question. Seems that is the biggest problem of all.  

Reporters are not doing their jobs so folks can keep repeating a number as serious as the number of veterans committing suicide that is totally false. Ok, it is a flat out lie!

Whenever anyone uses "22 a day" please remember what the VA had to say about their own report.

Limitations of Existing Data
Currently available data include information on suicide mortality among the population of residents in 21 states. Veteran status in each of these areas is determined by a single question asking about history of U.S. military service. Information about history of military service is routinely obtained from family members and collected by funeral home staff and has not been validated using information from the DoD or VA. Further, Veteran status was not collected by each state during each year of the project period.

And then there was this.

However, misclassification was considerably higher among validated Veterans with 11% of true Veterans classified as non-Veterans on the death certificate. Only 2% of true non-Veterans were misclassified as Veterans on the death certificate. The ability of death certificates to fully capture female Veterans was particularly low; only 67% of true female Veterans were identified. Younger or unmarried Veterans and those with lower levels of education were also more likely to be missed on the death certificate. This decreased sensitivity in specific subgroups can affect both suicide surveillance and research efforts that utilize Veteran status on the death certificate. From a surveillance standpoint, the rate of Veteran suicides will be underestimated in these groups.

But why read that report when all they have to do is say they care and get some press coverage?

Most want to just mention Iraq and Afghanistan veterans but the truth is most of them are actually over the age of 50.

"The majority of Veteran suicides are among those age 50 years and older.

Male Veterans who die by suicide are older than non-Veteran males who die by suicide.

The age distribution of Veteran and non-Veterans women who have died from suicide are similar.

While I am not giving the veteran even more exposure on his mission, or any of the others out there I'm not sorry for hurting someone's feelings over any of this. I am more sorry when I have to talk to a parent, wife, husband of the forgotten about and those who have not just survived combat, but several attempts, before they actually had some help to heal.

I am sorry and sickened when some of these awareness raisers use terms like "it's just a number" or "it's and easy number to remember" when I ask then to explain why they keep using it.  I am really sorry when I discover them getting all the attention when they have not even cared enough to do the basic research to find out what the truth is.

THESE ARE LIVES THAT ARE NOT HEALING AND DEATHS THAT SHOULD NOT HAPPEN! SEEMS LIKE IT SHOULD BE IMPORTANT ENOUGH TO ACTUALLY LEARN ABOUT IT AT LEAST AS MUCH AS HOW TO FILL OUT AN IRS FORM FOR A TAX EXEMPT!!!!  

The question isn't if they care or not. I bet they really do. The question is, "How much do they really care if they didn't even bother to take the time to discover what the truth really is or even read the damn report they keep quoting because it is an easy number for them to remember?"

The reporter said "well he's a 501 c 3" and I said so was I and all the groups I belong to.  Anyone can fill out paper work but doing the work is a totally different thing.

As I was laying out some facts for the reporter, he wanted me to email him the links. I told him to to his job and find them since they are all available online.

Wounded Warrior flap is as heartbreaking as stolen valor

Wounded Warrior flap is as heartbreaking as stolen valor
The Dallas Morning News
Jim Mitchell
Published: March 11, 2016

To me, the betrayed trust of donors is every bit as bad as stolen valor, people who fraudulently claim heroic military accomplishments. Most of us give to charities because we have a heart and want to do our bit to help, no matter how large or small. And what we want to know is that we’re making a difference and not supporting individual lifestyles or marketing juggernauts.

The Wounded Warrior Project fired CEO Steve Nardizzi (above) and its chief financial officer but contends that media reports of problems with accounting procedures and controls are inaccurate. (2009 File Photo/The Associated Press)

I’ve never served in the military. My father, uncle, cousin and grandfather served. So did various members of my wife’s family.

You don’t need a military record to be outraged by the accusations of financial misdeeds at the Wounded Warrior Project. The more I learn about the Wounded Warrior Project controversy, the madder I get. Badly injured servicemen and women seem to have been used as fundraising props.

The charity’s board of directors this week fired chief executive officer Steven Nardizzi and chief operating officer Al Giordano after an independent review found serious problems with internal policies, procedures and controls. These were the guys on whose watch the project seemed to lose its bearings. They took the fall.

However, the investigation findings make it sound as though the problems were traceable to lax accounting. Deeper allegations from CBS and The New York Times indicate that money was wasted on lavish parties (and other things) to bolster the lifestyles of top charity leaders. That’s not an accounting mishap; that’s a cultural mindset.
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Incarcerated Veterans Fight For Help From VA

Advocates Say Imprisoned Veterans Should Have Access to VA 
Military.com
by Bryant Jordan
Mar 11, 2016

Members of the Incarcerated Vietnam Veterans of America (IVVA), Chapter 1065, at the Correctional Training Facility (CTF) salute before folding the U.S. flag.
(Photo: Inside CDCR)

Two veterans' service organizations are backing Senate legislation requiring prison officials to give the Veterans Affairs Department reasonable access to a prisoner who has served in the military.

John Rowan, president of the Vietnam Veterans Association, on Tuesday informed Sens. Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Dick Durbin, a Democrat from New York and fellow panel member, of the organization's support for the bill, while Paralyzed Veterans of America on Thursday notified the lawmakers of its support. 

"Because of its long history with veterans and criminal justice issues, [Vietnam Veterans of America] has always believed that VA access to incarcerated veterans is especially needed by those transitioning from incarceration to life beyond prison walls, Rowan wrote in the letter, a copy of which was provided to Military.com.

Carl Blake, associate executive director for Government Relations for PVA, said the group offers its full support to the bill.

"A veteran utilizing resources such as mental health care, substance abuse treatment and education benefits significantly increases the likelihood of successful re-entry into society, he told the Senators in a letter.
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Army Nurse Served in Vietnam To Help Bring The Boys Home

Veteran profile: She enlisted during Vietnam War to help bring ‘the boys’ home
The Daily Courier
By Sue Tone
March 13, 2016

Like many Army nurses and combat veterans, Good said she didn’t talk about the fatalities, the wounded, the suffering. She tucked it away and went on to the next patient. But one can only tuck away so much.

Photo by Matt Hinshaw.

Sue Good is a veteran U.S. Army nurse who served in the Vietnam War.

Sue Good worked hard to keep “her boys” alive, never giving up on any of them without a fight. A nurse during the final years of the Vietnam War, she worked at the 95th Evacuation Hospital in Da Nang in 1971-72. She’s still dealing with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) 44 years later, although with help, its effects have lessened.

“I know what our boys are going through,” the 69-year-old Prescott resident said, folding her hands on her chest. “It breaks my heart.”

Good’s father served in the Army and Air Force – her brother served in the military, too – and the family moved a lot during her childhood. After a couple of years of community college, and aware of what was going on in Vietnam, she decided to join the Army as a nurse.

“My whole reason was to support the men when I saw them coming home,” she said. “My goal was to do anything in my power to bring them home. It was an eye-opener when I got over there.”

The base was “rocketed” nearly every night and Good feels it was just luck none fell on her. It was the first time she realized “somebody would be very happy to see me dead.”
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Florida Deputy John Robert Kotfila, Jr. Killed By Wrong Way Driver

Florida deputy killed after being hit by wrong way driver
FOX News
March 13, 2016

A Florida sheriff’s deputy was killed after his car collided head-on with another vehicle early Saturday, authorities said.

Deputy John Kotfila, Jr. (center) pictured with his father John Kotfila, Sr.

and his brother Michael Kotfila.(Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office)

John Robert Kotfila, Jr., 30, was a deputy at the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. He had just left a hospital where he had been working on an investigation when his vehicle collided with the vehicle of a driver who was heading the wrong way on the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway.

Erik Thomas McBeth, 31, of Hudson, was identified as the other driver in the accident and died at Tampa General Hospital, The Tampa Tribune reported. He was heading west on an elevated highway that was dedicated to eastbound traffic at the time and slammed into Kotflia’s 2013 Dodge Charger at around 2:45 a.m. in Tampa.
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