Reminder: Veterans with anything other than an "honorable" discharge, would not have been counted in any of the suicide reports. Good thing to think about reading this article from Connecticut.
If signed by Malloy, Connecticut would be first state to open up benefits to bad paper vets
The Day
Julia Bergman
May 11, 2018
About 800 people would be impacted by the legislation, according to the fiscal note attached to the bill. But it's not known how many of them would actually take advantage of the benefits. The legislation would result in "costs to multiple agencies and revenue loss to the General Fund, Special Transportation Fund, and municipalities," the fiscal note says.
Connecticut would be the first state to open up access to veterans' benefits to former service members discharged under less than honorable conditions, if Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signs a bill that's headed to his desk.
Both the state House and Senate unanimously passed Senate Bill 284, which would expand access to state veteran benefits to former service members diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, a traumatic brain injury or who experienced sexual trauma during their service, as long as they received a discharge other than bad conduct or dishonorable. The 2018 legislative session ended Wednesday at midnight.
Asked whether the governor intends to sign the bill, spokesman David Bednarz said by email "the Governor and his staff will review the final language that was included in the adopted bill when it is transmitted to his office."
There are five types of military discharges. An "other than honorable discharge" is the most severe form of administrative discharge, usually given after a pattern of misconduct. This kind of discharge, commonly referred to as a bad paper discharge, usually makes a veteran ineligible for state and federal veterans' benefits. In Connecticut, that means being denied local property tax exemptions and tuition waivers for universities and community and technical colleges in the state, for example.
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This headline is misleading. This mental health clinic for veterans and families is, "All post-9/11 veterans and their families are eligible for treatment, regardless of insurance or the ability to pay."
It is great for them, but not for the majority of the veterans needing help and waiting the longest to get it. 65% of the known veteran suicides are over the age of 50, yet these veterans are ignored by groups popping up all over the country.
This is a great idea and worthy effort by Steven Cohen to try to take care of these veterans, but who is taking care of the majority of those in need the longest?
A billionaire is opening a new mental health center in Colorado to treat veterans and their families
The Denver Post
John Ingold
May 11, 2018
“It’s the family that’s the primary support system for the veteran,” said Gillian Kaag, who holds a doctorate in psychology and is the Denver clinic’s director.
About half of U.S. military veterans who served in Iraq or Afghanistan don’t receive the mental health treatment they need, and the vast Veterans Health Administration system often doesn’t offer care for veterans’ families or for many veterans who were not honorably discharged.
So, on Monday, a new clinic funded by one of the nation’s wealthiest men and linked with the University of Colorado will officially open in Greenwood Village to help meet the need.
“I think we’ll be able to get folks in and get them the help they need when they’re motivated to seek it,” said Anthony Hassan, the CEO of the Cohen Veterans Network.
The Cohen Veterans Network is the charitable project of Steven A. Cohen, a former hedge fund titan who, with an estimated net worth of $11 billion, is ranked by Forbes as the 133rd-richest person in the world. In 2016 — at the urging of his son, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran — Cohen pledged $275 million to build a network of veterans clinics across the country.
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Ron Mosbaugh: Vietnam flashback offers chance to make peace
Joplin Globe
Ron Mosbaugh
May 11, 2018
"Although this flashback was traumatic and disturbing for me to relive, I believe there is a reason this memory has stayed with me. In a strange way, I think it is helping me to better understand what happened so long ago. It is giving me another chance to make my peace with myself, with my life and with my God." Ron Mosbaugh
It’s strange how a memory can be lost for 50 years and suddenly, out of nowhere, a flashback can appear and you’re back in Vietnam. I have been writing stories on Vietnam for more than three years, and I thought there was nothing else I could write that would add to those stories.
After all, one battle or one patrol in Vietnam was not much different than another. More than anything, I didn’t want to be redundant in my writing. I think, however, that flashbacks are topic worth covering.
I have always had flashbacks and nightmares from my time in Vietnam. Most of these have been repeats from previous events, but this recent flashback was from an entirely different trauma. It is strange that I haven’t thought about it since 1967.
The sad story is I don’t live in Vietnam, but Vietnam will always live in me.
Before I recount this flashback, let me give you some of my background. I suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, which is a mental health condition characterized by witnessing and experiencing traumatic events — in my case from the Vietnam War. Common symptoms include nightmares, severe anxiety, flashbacks and uncontrollable thoughts. My PTSD was caused by combat exposure, but many of my symptoms occurred later in life.
This particular flashback involved a battle with the Viet Cong in Nui Dat Son, near Hill 55. It was a fierce battle, and we sustained several casualties. I especially remember treating a young African-American Marine. We were in a rice paddy, and the water was covering the lower half of his body. He was in pain because of a gunshot wound in his upper left leg, and he was yelling in agony. It was difficult for me to locate his exact wound location because of the low light conditions, his dark skin and the muddy rice paddy water that covered and camouflaged his wound.
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Just 15 weeks in, see how KC's tiny-house veteran village is changing lives
Kansas City Star
Rick Montgomery
May 10, 2018
It's been about 15 weeks since the first group of vets moved into the village's 13 houses. The privately funded experiment conceived by local veterans has captured the world's attention, garnering coverage from CNN and Time.
Though they were strangers before they moved in, the residents' military camaraderie is apparent right away: Lots of cussing, rising early, attending classes. Already, a resident known as "the Mayor" has cooked meals for others.
As rain slashed sideways and tornado sirens blared, Army veteran Larry Johnson worried recently that his new tiny house, just 240 square feet, might fly away.
When he stepped out into the next morning's calm, all was fine in the upstart Veterans Community Project in south Kansas City.
One of his 12 neighbors in the community, which provides transitional shelter and other aid to homeless veterans, shouted out to Johnson: "Hey, you still on the ground!"
Grounding is what the veterans village is all about.
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Air Force veteran with ties to Hampton Roads dies alone in Texas, push is on to find her family
KPAX 8 News
TODD CORILLO
Posted: May 10, 2018
DENTON, Texas -- A Texas university is trying to find any family members or friends of an Air Force veteran with ties to Hampton Roads who died on their campus last year.
Margaret Rosa King, 67, was found unresponsive near her car on the campus of University of North Texas on September 14, 2017.
She was taken to Texas Presbyterian Hospital in Denton, Texas where she was pronounced dead. Authorities with the Tarrant County medical examiner's office later classified her death as natural as a result of heart disease.
Unfortunately, neither the University nor the medical examiner's office have been able to locate or identify any next of kin.
King began working for UNT Facilities as a custodian in June of 2016, but she has a long list of degrees, several of which were earned in Hampton Roads. On her employment application, she indicated that after retiring from civil service, she enjoyed taking classes as a hobby.
She served in the Air Force from May of 1971 through September of 1974. King's time in Hampton Roads was spent earning an associate's degree in business from Tidewater Community College and a master's degree in gerontology from Norfolk State University.
Additionally, UNT says King had a bachelor's degree in business from Saint Leo University in Florida, an associate's degree in accounting and information technology from Tarrant County Community College, a master's degree in information science from UNT, and a master's degree in computer education from UNT.
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