OEF OIF Marine Veteran Finally Feels Like One

New state law opens up benefits to an estimated 800 veterans
The Day
by Julia Bergman Day staff writer
October 4, 2018

Hartford — Thomas Burke has been out of the Marine Corps for 10 years but said it wasn't until this week that he felt like a veteran.

Burke, a former infantryman who deployed to both Afghanistan and Iraq, received an other-than-honorable discharge for smoking marijuana months after returning from a deployment in Afghanistan, during which he had to clean up the remains of a group of Afghan children who'd been blown up by a rocket-propelled grenade that they were bringing to his military base.

"I can't explain the feelings I have today, after 10 years of service from returning home, I finally feel like a veteran because Connecticut stood up and told me that I'm a veteran," Burke said Thursday.

A new state law that went into effect Monday allows veterans discharged under "other-than-honorable" circumstances, who have post-traumatic stress disorder, a traumatic brain injury or sexual trauma resulting from their military service, to access state veteran benefits.

State officials and veterans touted the new law at a news conference Thursday morning in Hartford. Several of them said that the law, the first of its kind, makes Connecticut a leader in the nation.
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Rosengren Trauma Clinic at UCF RESTORES has opened

UCF RESTORES opens PTSD clinic in Brevard County
Orlando Sentinel
Naseem S. Miller
September 5, 2018

Since its launch, RESTORES trauma clinic has treated more than 450 veterans and active-duty personnel, victims of military and civilian sexual trauma, first responders from 20 states and survivors of mass shootings, including Pulse nightclub, according to a news release.

UCF RESTORES PTSD Clinic unveils new name and plaque on Sept. 7, 2018. Center director Deborah Beidel (left) and Jim and Julia Rosengren.

UCF Foundation / Courtesy photo

The Rosengren Trauma Clinic at UCF RESTORES has opened a new clinic at UCF’s regional campus in Cocoa.

This marks RESTORES’ second trauma clinic since it was established on UCF’s main campus in 2011 to treat veterans with PTSD.

“Brevard County has the fourth-largest veteran population in the state of Florida. We’ve had patients from Brevard travel to us in Orlando for treatment, but we know that’s not possible for everyone,” said Deborah Beidel, founder and director of UCF RESTORES and a Pegasus Professor of psychology, in a news release.

Beidel estimated that the new center could treat up to 100 patients in its first year. All treatments are free.
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Wounded Iraq Veteran Death Video Shot By Laughing Deputies

Sheriff’s deputies laughed at and filmed Army veteran as he died in a jail cell
Military Times
By: Kyle Rempfer
1 hour ago

The veteran, 31-year-old Bryan Perry, served in the Iraq War, was honorably discharged and received a Purple Heart, his lawyer told local media outlets. Perry’s family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Clackamas County.

An Oregon county sheriff’s office has condemned the actions of three of its deputies who filmed and laughed at an Army veteran as he died of a drug overdose in a padded jail cell.

The veteran, 31-year-old Bryan Perry, served in the Iraq War, was honorably discharged and received a Purple Heart, his lawyer told local media outlets. Perry’s family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Clackamas County.

Two videos were filmed on the deputies’ cell phones in November 2016. In them, viewers can hear the jailers laughing at a man as he flails around in agony.

“We should go show this to his girlfriend and be like, ‘You love this?’ ” one of the deputies said on the recording.

Perry and his girlfriend were arrested together. Prior to the girlfriend being escorted to a separate holding tank for women, she yelled, “I love you, Bryan.”
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The Oregonian
Published on Oct 4, 2018
Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts released video that shows employees making callous comments, now the subject of a federal lawsuit, about an inmate suffering symptoms of drug use. The sheriff condemned the laughter and comments as "inappropriate" and said they "do not conform to our professional standards."

What Happened to the GOP?

I have friends on both sides and love them dearly. Right now, I am wondering what the hell happened to the GOP that they no longer care about voting for people under indictment!

This is what he is charge with doing, among other things.

"Prosecutors say the couple concealed many of the expenses in federal records, sometimes as donations to charities for veterans." 

Indictment of Marine veteran incumbent roils California congressional race
Associated Press
By JULIE WATSON
Published: October 5, 2018

Even with the 47-page indictment detailing alleged misuse of hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign funds, Hunter is the favorite. Republicans hold a nearly 15-point registration edge in the district, where many military veterans identify with Hunter's service as a Marine in Iraq.

U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., listens to testimony during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on Sept. 7, 2017.
CARLOS BONGIOANNI/STARS AND STRIPES

RAMONA, Calif. — In Southern California's most Republican congressional district a GOP incumbent running against a first-time Democratic candidate should be a slam dunk for re-election.

Not this year.

Rep. Duncan Hunter is under indictment as he seeks a sixth term. He has spent as much on legal fees as his re-election campaign while splitting time between meeting voters and fighting corruption charges.

It's become a bare-knuckles affair with Hunter's campaign running an ad saying his San Diego-born opponent, Ammar Campa-Najjar, changed his name to "hide his family's ties to terrorism" and now wants to "infiltrate" Congress. Campa-Najjar responded by saying Hunter has lost his grip on reality.

Hunter is one of two indicted Republican congressmen seeking re-election. The other is New York Rep. Chris Collins, accused of insider trading.
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Veterans who committed suicide remembered by name at National Mall

Veterans group places thousands of flags on National Mall to draw attention to suicide crisis
STARS AND STRIPES
By NIKKI WENTLING
Published: October 3, 2018

WASHINGTON — Thousands of American flags filled a grassy expanse on the National Mall on Wednesday morning, each of them representing a veteran or a servicemember who died by suicide in 2018 so far.

Maj. Sandra Lee Altamirano of the Army Reserve said she took military leave to help place the 5,520 U.S. flags. She recently lost three friends to suicide, two of whom were veterans.

A couple of years ago, after serving three deployments in Iraq, she contemplated suicide herself.

“Each of these flags is a name, a person. Three of them are my friends, and one could’ve been me,” said Altamirano, now a suicide prevention liaison in the Reserve. “I hope this helps people see how vast of an issue this is. It’s overwhelming. It’s a crisis.”

The flags were placed on the Mall by Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans for America, an advocacy group trying to draw awareness to the issue of veteran suicide.

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