Most obvious answer to stop suicides still being missed

Want to save lives? Get the message right first

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
July 29, 2019

If you visit this site often, I am sure it has been showing my frustration more and more. Glad that I am not doing a podcast, because holding back words I should not use in public, is getting harder and harder.

I am sick and tired of hearing another head of yet another department make the same mistake of miscommunication out of ignorance.

Another New York Officer committed suicide. He was the fifth since June. This is the message from NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill.

“You may not know this, and it may be hard to imagine, but you are not out there all by yourself,” he said. “More people than you know, who wear the same uniform as you do, share the same doubts and fears and struggles that you do. Seeking help is strength. Talking about your problems is strength. Acknowledging you need a place to turn is strength. There is no shame here ― only a promise to provide you with the help and support you need and deserve.”

In a tweet, the NYPD Sergeants Benevolent Association called the officer’s death “terrible news,” asking for prayers for his friends, family and colleagues.
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The part that they need to hear is that while there are others suffering, they are also still serving. They are still risking their lives to save strangers because lives matter. That includes those they serve with and are willing to die for too.

If they understand what PTSD is, then there is no stigma. If they understand what their job is, then there is no reason to deny they need help. If there is no reason to deny they need help, they will stop killing themselves and start helping each other heal.

 After 37 years, I would like to finally be able to retire. Considering how the most obvious answer to this heartbreaking outcome keeps getting missed, I doubt I ever will be able to.

Number of veterans committing suicide depends on who counted

When it comes to the number of veterans committing suicide, this shows it depends on who counted. Hint: It is a lot higher than any number you think you know unless you read Wounded Times and will not be shocked by the following article.

Paul Muschick: Military suicides hitting Pennsylvania where you may not expect it

THE MORNING CALL
By PAUL MUSCHICK
JUL 26, 2019

Not all National Guard members meet the legal definition of a “veteran.” When it comes to suicide, though, that distinction doesn’t matter. The bottom line is that people who served their country are ending their lives, and that has to stop.

Earl (left) and Joe Granville served together in Bosnia and Iraq with the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. Joe Granville took his own life in 2010. (CONTRIBUTED/EARL GRANVILLE)

The men and women who enlist in the Pennsylvania National Guard are the best of the best. They’re in shape. They’re smart. They’re motivated.

They’re also committing suicide too often.

In the past four years, 26 Guard members have taken their own lives. Assumptions about why that is happening — that they went to war overseas and came back suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or were unable to adjust to civilian life — aren’t always accurate.

Slightly more than half of them never deployed.
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Military Private Housing in Wake of Scandal Review---Bad

update Army IG finds widespread concerns with privatized housing and lack of oversight

More Army, Navy Families Unhappy with Private Housing in Wake of Scandal

Military.com
By Patricia Kime
28 Jul 2019

Fort Bragg was at the bottom of the list with an overall rating of 58.9, or "very poor." The North Carolina base housing is managed by Corvias. Fort Meade, Maryland, also managed by Corvias, and Fort Carson, Colorado, managed by Balfour Beatty, were the only two installations to receive "poor" ratings.

Sgt. Andrew McNeil (left), a public affairs mass communication noncommissioned officer, discusses his housing concerns and conditions with Maj. Tabitha Hernandez, commander, 22nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment, Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, XVIII Airborne Corps, during the unit’s command housing visits at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, on April 5, 2019. Bragg came in last on a survey of Army housing, with an overall rating of 58.9, or "very poor." (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Gregory T. Summers)

Satisfaction with privatized military housing has declined since last year for both the Army and Navy, according to surveys released by the services Thursday.

But while soldiers and families living in base housing can view the survey results and see where their installations fall on the spectrum, the results of the Navy survey don't contain specifics for each base and provide only a general look at the overall state of Navy housing.

After a scandal earlier this year as reports came to light of vermin, mold and lead contamination in U.S. military housing managed by private companies, the services launched a series of inspections and fixes, including resident surveys, to determine the extent of the issues and how to address them.
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4 shot at McConnell Air Force Base

Officials: Airman killed, 3 injured in Wichita shooting

Associated Press
July 27, 2019

A crew chief with the 931st Aircraft Maintenance Squadron marshals a KC-46A Pegasus on the flightline at McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., Feb. 21. (Airman 1st Class Alexi Myrick/Air Force)

WICHITA, Kan. — Authorities in south-central Kansas say a 20-year-old McConnell Air Force Base airman has been killed and three others injured in an east Wichita shooting.

The shooting occurred around 2 a.m. Saturday at an apartment where a party was being held. Police say arriving officers found the wounded 20-year-old unresponsive and performed CPR, but he died at the scene.

Two other men, ages 21 and 22, were taken to a hospital with injuries not believed to be life-threatening. A 19-year-old woman had already been taken by a private vehicle to hospital with serious injuries. Police say she is expected to survive.
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Vietnam veteran needed a lift and got it from an angel

Lyft Driver an 'angel' for giving veteran with PTSD 2-hour ride home from hospital

ABC 15 News
by Connor Ingalls
July 26th 2019

"I went from depression and suicidal thoughts and tears," said Rickrode, "to feeling honor and integrity again."

Lyft ride uplifts vet (WDPE)

SURFSIDE BEACH, S.C. (WPDE) — Honor, integrity, and valor. Those words mean a lot to Michael Rickrode.

The Surfside Beach resident learned their meaning as a kid growing up in a military household.

"We didn't have dinner at 5 o'clock in our house," said Rickrode. "We had it at 17-hundred. 17 and a split and you were running...I did a lot of running growing up."

To Rickrode, turning 18 was simply an opportunity to begin serving our country, which he did for nine years in the United States Navy-- but it took quite a toll on him.
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