Fort Hood Officials ID Soldier Found Dead At His Place Of Duty
Patch.com
By Tony Cantu (Patch Staff)
January 12, 2017
FORT HOOD, TX — Officials at Fort Hood on Thursday released the name of a soldier found unresponsive on Wednesday.
Sgt. Alex Matthew Dean Taylor, 23, of Texas City, Texas, was found dead at his place of duty on Jan. 11. He entered active duty military service in March 2012 as an aviation operations specialist, according to Fort Hood officials in a press release. He was later assigned to the 15th Military Intelligence Battalion at Fort Hood in July 2016.
The soldier's decorations include the Army Commendation Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon, Aviation Badge, Air Assault Badge and Army Service Ribbon.
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Veterans continue to kill themselves. There is a lot of shame in that but not in them. It is ours to carry!
It is time to stop the bullshit, stop talking, stop writing, stop walking, pushing up, fundraising and getting publicity for what you want to do because we are only making matters worse for the veterans and families we claim we want to help. For Heaven's Sake! They still think having PTSD is something to be ashamed of!
Shame on Congress!
In 1999, when no one was talking about veterans committing suicide other than veterans and families, this chart shows there were 20 a day taking their own lives. There were over 5 million more veterans in the country. Thus, while the number of reported suicides has remained consistent, the number of veterans has been greatly reduced.
Why? For over a decade of bills being written, and funded, the result has been a higher percentage of veterans have been taking their own lives, not less. In 2007 the Joshua Omvig Suicide Prevention Act was signed into law. Ever since then, there has been an endless series of politicians writing the same bills, repeating what has failed.
Shame on Veterans Groups!
In 1978 the DAV produced a study on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The title was The Forgotten Warrior Project. This is the pamphlet they were handing out. I got a copy of it in 1993 and received a lot of comfort knowing it was not just happening to my family.
I love all these groups and belong to some of them, as I have for most of my life. Yet, as the DAV, VFW and American Legion groups complain about the lack of younger veterans joining, they have done far too little to remember what it was like when they came home. Seems there is far too much unawareness on PTSD.
Why? Families are still searching for support and information, yet, these groups sit back and let regular folks make claims to the press about what they are doing. They allow the press to keep making the public believe that the suicides are happening only to younger veterans, while the majority of veterans committing suicide are over the age of 50. They allow Congress to continue to write bills that do not work and waste precious time instead of taking the time to know what they are dealing with before they rush to do anything that makes them feel good but leaves veterans behind. Put together groups and open it up to non-members. Prove they do matter that much to you and then maybe you'll get them to join. As long as that is not your goal and you prove you do care, any help you give them will be appreciated and will actually make a difference.
Shame on Reporters!
Why? You continue to give publicity to people doing pushups while veterans get pushed away from families and friends because they have been living under the assumption there is no hope for them. You jump on what is easy to report on, like repeating a number in a report without reading the report itself, thus perpetuating a headline as if it was correct instead of discovering what the facts really were.
Have any of you actually tried to figure out how taking a walk, doing pushups or having a group run benefits anyone other than the participants? It doesn't help veterans stay alive after surviving combat. I still wonder if any of you take this seriously enough to have noticed that fact? They did everything humanly possible to survive combat but lost hope here? How about you actually go out and interview folks about what worked for them? How about you spend some time in support groups, hearing their stories with open minds and then doing your own research about what they were talking about?
Shame on All of Us!
Why? If you are a family member and you decided that you were going to become the answer to save other families from going through the same anguish, great. Not so much if you only have experience in that anguish but have taken no time at all to understand what you are dealing with. If you do not want to invest the time and wait until you actually understand it, don't make it worse for the people you want to help. You are qualified to start a support group for others just like you and that is very much needed. Otherwise, remember, you are heartbreakingly an expert on what failed. Think about what would have helped you help your veteran and then learn all you can about it. It is only by becoming aware of all that comes with PTSD, the different causes, levels and types, that you will be able to begin to put together a team to respond appropriately.
You will encounter veterans in crisis and you need to know what to do, how to talk to them, and above all, who you can call to get them help as soon as possible. You need to know the difference between calling the Crisis Line, 911 and if you should ask for police or the fire department to respond, or when all you need to do is listen.
You also need to know that once you lose a veteran you were trying to help, no matter how much you knew ahead of time, you do not recover from it.
No matter how many veterans I help, the one I lost over a decade ago is a loss I have never gotten over. My husband's nephew committed suicide because for all I knew, all the research, I did not figure out how to get him to listen.
VA News Release
VA's Rule Establishes a Presumption of Service Connection for Diseases Associated with Exposure to Contaminants in the Water Supply at Camp Lejeune
01/13/2017
VA’s Rule Establishes a Presumption of Service Connection for Diseases Associated with Exposure to Contaminants in the Water Supply at Camp Lejeune
VA to provide disability benefits for related diseases
WASHINGTON – The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has published regulations to establish presumptions for the service connection of eight diseases associated with exposure to contaminants in the water supply at Camp Lejeune, N.C.
The presumption of service connection applies to active duty, reserve and National Guard members who served at Camp Lejeune for a minimum of 30 days (cumulative) between August 1, 1953 and December 31, 1987, and are diagnosed with any of the following conditions:
• adult leukemia
• aplastic anemia and other myelodysplastic syndromes
• bladder cancer
• kidney cancer
• liver cancer
• multiple myeloma
• non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
• Parkinson’s disease
“We have a responsibility to take care of those who have served our Nation and have been exposed to harm as a result of that service,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert A. McDonald. “Establishing a presumption for service at Camp Lejeune will make it easier for those Veterans to receive the care and benefits they earned.”
Environmental health experts in VA’s Technical Workgroup conducted comprehensive reviews of scientific evidence, which included analysis and research done by the Department of Health and Human Service’s Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), the Environmental Protection Agency, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the National Toxicology Program, and the National Academies of Science.
Veterans with 30 or more cumulative days of active duty service, at Camp Lejeune during the contamination period are already eligible for certain medical benefits, following passage of the Honoring America’s Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012.
In the early 1980s, volatile organic compounds, trichloroethylene (TCE), a metal degreaser, and perchloroethylene (PCE), a dry cleaning agent, as well as benzene and vinyl chloride, were discovered in two on-base water supply systems at Camp Lejeune. The contaminated wells supplying the water systems were shut down in February 1985.
The area included in this presumption is all of Camp Lejeune and MCAS New River, including satellite camps and housing areas.
The rule will be effective either 60 days after publication in the Federal Register, or following conclusion of the 60-day Congressional Review, whichever is later.
Texas Guard Soldier saves life of blind man struck by car
Texas Army National Guard
By Sgt. Elizabeth Pena
January 12, 2017
TYLER, Texas -- Disaster can strike at any time. Citizen-Soldiers of the Texas Army National Guard are taught to always be prepared.
Texas Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Aaron Dias, recruiting and retention officer for the Recruiting and Retention Battalion, Region II, Team VII in Tyler, was driving back from the Military Entrance Processing Station in Shreveport, Louisiana, to his armory in Tyler with his recruit when disaster struck.
"The sun was starting to set," said Dias."It was to that point where you run into the sun it kind of casts a glare on you."
Hiwatha Hudson, a legally blind 55-year-old man, had just stepped off to cross the street with his cane.
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Reports: U.S. soldier committed suicide at Kuwait's Camp Arifjan
Military Times
By: Staff
January 12, 2017
A soldier assigned to U.S. Army Central died in a noncombat-related incident at approximately 8:30 a.m. on Thursday in Kuwait, according to an official Army statement.
Multiple regional media outlets have cited a report from Kuwait's Interior Ministry claiming the soldier died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
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