POW-MIA chair will have honor guard for University of Nebraska games

POW/MIA Chair installed at Memorial Stadium
KPTM
by Jennifer Schmidt
Sunday, September 2nd 2018

LINCOLN, Neb. (FOX 42 KPTM) — The University of Nebraska at Lincoln has dedicated a chair in the stadium to POW and MIA soldiers.

The university says it's their way of commemorating the 100 year anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I.

They say each game this season, a veteran of U.S. military service will stand next to the unoccupied chair to honor the more than 800 Nebraskans lost in combat, but whose fate remains "unknown."
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For Generals healing troops is a labor of love

Here are two Generals who stepped up to make sure the men and women they commanded would get the one message they needed to hear! PTSD is not a sign of weakness!

General Carter Ham way back in 2008 started to share his story and kept on talking about it to save lives! 

I was thankful for General Carter Ham and still am!

I am thankful for all of the men and women serving this country and those who served coming forward to talk about PTSD. All these years later after the first studies were done, there are now so many that soon no one will ever wonder again what PTSD is. 

There are literally hundreds of their stories on this blog but the most magnificent thing about all of them is that they were willing to talk about it no matter how much others wanted to stigmatize them. Their courage is a testament of the human spirit.

When commanding officers are willing to say they have PTSD because of their service, it sets an example for all others to follow. Because of General Ham, his willingness to face this wound without any kind of shame will allow all others to come forward to seek the help they need to heal.

Thankful story two belongs to General Carter Ham. As you read his story think of all the others coming forward and know we all owe them a debt of gratitude.

In 2008, another General stepped up. Major Gen. David Blackledge  "I have dealt with it. I'm dealing with it now. We need to be able to talk about it."

Special Forces, the toughest of the tough, were proving that PTSD is not a sign of weakness but not getting help was deadly. This came out in 2014.

Earlier this month, Socom commander Adm. William McRaven told a Tampa intelligence symposium that commandos are committing suicide at a record pace this year. Though he offered no figures, he was repeating a concern he first raised in February at a Congressional hearing on his budget. 

“The last two years have been the highest rate of suicides we have had in the special operations community and this year I am afraid we are on the path to break that,” McRaven, whose headquarters is at MacDill Air Force Base, said at the GEOINT 2013* Symposium in Tampa earlier this month.

In August Brig. Gen. Donald C. Bolduc stepped up.

Bolduc, who recently retired from Army active duty status as the commanding general of U.S. Special Operations Command-Africa, will address U.S. security challenges, best practices in leadership and experience with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Medal of Honor heroes were talking about having to battle PTSD after proving their courage in combat.

So when, exactly, do the men and women in the military get the message all of these people have been sending them all these years? 

The BS of 22 Pushup Challenge

Will reporters ever get a clue on 22?
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
September 3, 2018

Yet again, the ear worm of "22" has penetrated another community. This time in Indiana. It was reported on WTHI 10 News.

22 PUSH UP CHALLENGE LOOKS TO BRING AWARENESS TO AN IMPORTANT ISSUE

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - 22 people...over 22 days are pushing out a message. A message of suicide awareness among veterans. It's the third year of the 22 Push Up Challenge.The Hamilton Center brings together groups of 22 people to do 22 push-ups.The challenge is a message for veterans and active military members to be aware of their resources...and it's more than just pushups."Sometimes it's about being silly but sometimes it's about bringing a message. and if one person hears that message and we stop one person from taking that step into hopelessness or suicide then we're doing what we're supposed to do," William Little, from the Hamilton Center said.

The "third year" of the challenge? Yep!

How many times does the truth have to be told before this BS stops? It is happening all over the country with good intentions have replaced good information.

I ran up against it with one of my buddy's when we were doing videos for PTSD Patrol.

My friend Dave Matthews, otherwise known as Sgt. Dave, sat down at the Lake Baldwin Vietnam Memorial and did a couple of videos. In this one, we talked about the facts and how "22" number is not helping anyone.Then Dave became unable to control himself, dropped down and did, you guessed it, 22 push-ups. I called him an idiot!

Then he challenged me to come up with something else for the "22 a day" groups to do that would be positive and helpful. This is the start of the list and go to Combat PTSD Wounded Times for more you can do.

Dave is one of my good buddies and is totally dedicated to other veterans. I've known him for a very long time. He is far from stupid. Trust me on that one. So how is it that even after we talked about how no one knows the number of veterans who lost their battle, did he still stay trapped in the "easy to remember" number of 22?

He said that is the number everyone knows. What he could not explain is how that number, how raising awareness on a false number is helping anyone. It isn't.

The only number families know is the one who is no longer here.

The veterans I have worked with over the last three decades have been pissed off that they reached the point where they almost took their lives because no one told them the things I said before.

You know, like getting them to understand what PTSD is and why they have it, but beyond that, what they can do to live a better quality of life. 

If you go to PTSD Patrol, I have put up some of my older videos on PTSD going back to 2006. If you really want to do something to prevent suicides, then stop talking about something that is not true, just because "everyone knows" it. Much like when folks thought the world was flat...turns out it was not. Now I know how the informed people felt back then when they were called liars too!

The second thing they all wanted to do was to help other veterans heal too! This site has far too many reports on veterans taking their own lives who did not find what they needed to heal because of all the people putting the ear worm of suicide into their brains.

Veterans digging history and healing PTSD...seriously!

U.S. veterans use archaeology to dig through trauma in Israel
NBC News
by Paul Goldman and Francis Whittaker
Sep.02.2018

"Because of their separation from the military culture, a lot of them are really isolated."

The site in Beit She'arim, Israel, run by American Veterans Archaeological Recovery program.Paul Goldman / NBC News

BEIT SHE'ARIM, Israel — Like many veterans, Nichol Fuentes has struggled with some aspects of life since leaving the Marines in 2013.

Fuentes, 38, a retired sergeant, suffered recurring ankle injuries while in Iraq and while stationed in Japan. She has also been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.

But the New Jersey mother of three and wife of an active-duty Marine has been invigorated by an unexpected field: archaeology.

“It’s almost like therapy,” she told NBC News amid the dust and stones of an excavation site at Beit She’arim, a World Heritage site and national park in northern Israel. “It’s helped me a lot. It’s given me something to focus on and a purpose."

Fuentes said that a dig she recently took part in helped her recapture the sense of “camaraderie” she had lost since leaving the military.
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More than 10,000 visit "Wall That Heals" in Wisconsin

More than 10,000 visit 'The Wall That Heals' in Crivitz
WBAY 2 News
By Cearron Bagenda
Sep 01, 2018

CRIVITZ, Wis. (WBAY) - More than 10,000 visitors have come to 'The Wall That Heals' in Crivitz since Thursday. Visitors are getting closure and paying their respects to those who made the ultimate sacrifice during the Vietnam War.

'The Wall That Heals' display at the Crivitz Community Veterans Park

'The Wall That Heals' is a three-quarter scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. The wall displays more than 58,000 names of those who gave their lives during the Vietnam War, and 1,500 names of unaccounted service members.

"I mean we've had people from all over the United States, it's a moment of healing, just to be able to touch that name of a friend or a relative. My classmate is on that wall and I’m able to walk up and say goodbye," said John Deschane, Crivitz Village President.
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