Vietnam Veteran With PTSD Proves He's Still Serving Others

Vietnam veteran spends time helping stranded drivers for free
FOX 5 News Atlanta
By: Katie Beasley
POSTED:NOV 16 2016

Walt spent two combat tours in Vietnam, and says one way he keeps his PTSD in check, is by helping others. "I've had a good life. I was very lucky to survive all the stuff that happened to be there. I survived it all, I went on to marry and have five great kids. Life has been good to me, and I figured, here's a way I can give back also."

ATLANTA - Being stuck on the side of the road with car trouble can make for a really awful day. Around Atlanta, we have H.E.R.O. trucks. The Highway Emergency Response Operators help stranded drivers but there's one man who's been helping drivers all around the country, for nearly forty years.

Walt Brinker is a H.E.R.O. too, only he operates out of his own car. As a hobby, he helps provide roadside assistance, free of charge. The 72-year old from North Carolina has stopped to help well over 2,000 vehicles. Now, he's put his hands on knowledge into a book, to help more drivers out there.
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Iraq Veteran: Combat Wounded to Combat Medic

Veteran Injured In Iraq Became Medic, Nurse
News Channel 5 Nashville
Steve Hayslip
Nov 17, 2016

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - For Veterans Day, we met with and honored one veteran who nearly paid the ultimate price.

TriStar Southern Hills nurse Justin Laferty was injured in Iraq nearly 13 years ago when his Humvee flipped.

A medic saved his life, which also changed his life. Laferty became an Army medic to thank the medic who was there for him.
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Combat Medic Veteran and Family, No Longer Homeless or Lacking

Once homeless, veteran's new house now fully furnished
FOX 2 News
Amy Lange
November 17, 2016

WATERFORD, Mich. (WJBK) - Joel Trombley was a combat medic with the Michigan Army National Guard. He served in Iraq but fell on hard times once he was medically discharged.

"We were blessed with a pretty amazing group of people coming in and making our house a home," he says.

It's all part of Bank of America's Detroit Day of Giving, partnering with Humble Design to make this happen for the veteran and his family.

"Today we donated $20,000 to the Humble Design organization," says Rita Oldani, Bank of America. "Today is our day of give; we are giving $720,000 out through the entire community throughout metro Detroit."
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Family Asks For Prayers After Specialist Winston Hencely Wounded in Afghanistan

Georgia soldier critically injured in Afghanistan
FOX 5 News Atlanta
November 15, 2016

ATLANTA - The family of a U.S. Army soldier from Georgia, who was critically injured in Afghanistan, is asking for prayers.

Family members tell FOX 5 News Specialist Winston Hencely was injured by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan. He is on life support and listed in critical condition. His sister, Ivey, said he has shown some progress by moving his fingers and toes, but has extensive shrapnel damage to his head, chest and the left side of his body.

The 20-year-old was one of a few soldiers injured in the attack, which left many dead, the family said.

While his relatives are trying to have him moved back to Georgia, they’re asking the public for prayers.

In May 2014, Spec. Hencely graduated from Effingham County HS in Springfield, Georgia.
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Women Veterans Complicated Road "After Fire"

‘AFTER FIRE’ AND WOMEN VETERANS’ COMPLICATED ROAD TO HEALING TRAUMA
NEWSWEEK
BY LUCY WESTCOTT
11/16/16

“The culture of the military is about sucking it up. It’s not about you, it’s about the mission. It’s about life and death. They have to be ready for a life or death situation, and they have to put their unit, their team, ahead of themselves,” says Huckabee.

Veteran Laly Cholak is seen on Capitol Hill in a still from the new documentary "After Fire."

AFTER FIRE/BRITTANY HUCKABEE

Like everyone who deals with trauma, women veterans who return to the U.S. after serving in the military have their own ways of healing.

For some, it’s small bottles of refrigerated wine, talking with friends and family or keeping their experiences locked inside. For others, like Valerie Sullivan, the focus of the new documentary After Fire, it’s spending six hard months training for a bodybuilding competition. After Fire, directed by Brittany Huckabee, follows women veterans based in San Antonio who survived military sexual trauma. All are actively involved in helping veterans, whether it’s fellow MST survivors or lobbying with older male veterans on Capitol Hill.

Women are the fastest-growing group of military veterans, and one in every five new military recruits is a woman. Yet 4.3 percent of active-duty women say they experienced unwanted sexual contact in 2014. That number is likely higher due to fears about reporting incidents and the retaliation that so often follows; a December 2014 report found that the estimated number of rape and violent sexual assaults experienced by women in the military was higher than previously thought. Around 90 percent of female vets don’t use Veterans Affairs Department health care, according to the film.
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