THE UNREMEMBERED
Suicide toll reveals how system failed Canada's soldiers and veterans
TORONTO/MONTREAL/CALGARY — The Globe and Mail
RENATA D’ALIESIO, LES PERREAUX AND ALLAN MAKI
Published Friday, Nov. 04, 2016
Since then, The Globe’s continuing investigation uncovered the suicide count has climbed to at least 70. There is no word yet of any government or military plans to remember these fallen.
Canadian army soldiers board a CH-47 Chinook helicopter as they leave forward fire base Zangabad in Panjwai district in Kandahar province, southern Afghanistan, June 18, 2011.
(Baz Ratner/Reuters)
This article is part of The Unremembered, a Globe and Mail investigation into soldiers and veterans who died by suicide after deployment during the Afghanistan mission.
They were sons of bankers, miners and infanteers. They were strongmen and endurance runners. They were husbands and fathers who took their children camping and taught them how to play shinny on backyard rinks.
All 31 were dedicated Canadian soldiers and airmen who served on the perilous Afghanistan mission. They all came home. All ended their lives.
Most were haunted by the things they saw and did in Afghanistan, their families told The Globe and Mail. Many asked the military for help, but in several cases, their medical assessments and treatment were delayed, even as their post-traumatic stress, depression and sleeplessness worsened.
The families of the 31 fallen spoke to The Globe as part of a collaborative effort to commemorate military members and veterans lost to suicide after serving on the Afghanistan mission, Canada’s longest military operation. Many are speaking publicly about their loss for the first time. And for many of the military members, this is the first public recognition of their sacrifice.
Together, their stories paint a disturbing picture of delayed care, ineffective medical treatment and insufficient mental-health support. The 31 accounts are the most comprehensive public record of Canada’s Afghanistan war veterans lost to suicide – unwitting monuments to a system that is failing too many vulnerable soldiers and veterans.
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Veterans hooked on heroin struggle to find help
KRDO ABC 13 News
By: Bart Bedsole
Posted: Nov 03, 2016
A top VA pain management expert, Dr. Julie Franklin, recently testified to the House Committee On Veterans Affairs that almost 60% of veterans returning from the Middle East have some form of chronic pain requiring treatment.
A KRDO Newschannel 13 investigation found that 63,880 veterans were treated in 2015 for an opioid use disorder.
A KRDO Newschannel 13 investigation revealed that a large number of heroin addicts in America are veterans.
Not only has the VA health care system struggled to help them, but it may also be responsible for inadvertently creating the addictions in the first place.
Ross Armentor is recovering heroin addict who has been sober for three years this month.
Shortly after serving in Iraq in 2003, he was prescribed the powerful painkiller Percocet, which contains the opioid oxycontin.
He was suffering from a torm hamstring at the time.
Within a few months, he was addicted.
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DOD confirms two soldiers assigned to Fort Carson died in Afghanistan
KKTV News 11
November 4, 2016
FORT CARSON, Colo. (KKTV) The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) confirmed Friday two soldiers working with Operation Freedom's Sentinel in Afghanistan who were killed were assigned to Fort Carson.
They have been identified as Capt. Andrew Byers, 30, of Rolesville, N.C. and Sgt. 1st Class Ryan Gloyer, 34, from Greeville, Penn.
The DOD says the soldiers were assigned to Company B, 2nd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) of Fort Carson.
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Local service dog rides in ambulance to help her owner cope with PTSD
ABC 13 News
Lisa Guyton
November 2,016
TOLEDO (13abc Action News) - You've no doubt seen service dogs providing all kinds of help to people around the community. But Star is probably the first of her kind in our region She rides around in a ProMedica ambulance, helping her owner as he battles Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD.
Star is a one-year-old Golden Retriever, Labrador mix. She's only been on the job for a few weeks but she has already had a big impact on the man she was trained to help.
Louis Belluomini is a ProMedica paramedic. Before this career, he was in the Army for nine years. He served in both Iraq and Afghanistan, "I think the majority of veterans have PTSD to some extent."
Louis says he was diagnosed with PTSD after his first tour. Medicine is what helped him at first, now it's Star, "She's woken me up from nightmares sometimes two and three times a night. She senses when something is off, when it's not right."
Louis says one of the other important things Star does is protect his personal perimeter, "As members of the military we are trained to watch our back and our partner's back. By having her I don't have to ever worry that someone is behind me because she is always watching behind me."
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Miami Dolphins, Bank of America Repair Veteran’s Home
NBC Miami
November 3, 2016
In honor of Veterans Day, the Miami Dolphins partnered with Bank of America in giving the home of a U.S. Army veteran a major makeover.
Joe Riddick, 65, is a U.S. Army veteran who's served in Vietnam, and parts of the Gulf War.
"I did it for the country you know, because I love this country of America," Riddick said. "I'm glad to do it, and I would do it again."
Riddick and his wife Shonda now live in Opa-Locka but his home isn't a symbol of a heros welcome. The home is in need of several repairs.
That's why the Miami Dolphins and Bank of America is partnering to give Reddick's home a makeover.
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