What happened to Marine Matthew Kraft, still missing after going on hike?

A year after Marine disappears on High Sierra hike, family still unsure what happened

Orange County Register
Erika I. Ritchie
PUBLISHED: February 24, 2020

...But a special kind of Marine needs no words, symbols or proclamations to describe their love for the Corps. Their love is found in late nights at the office, their stoicism in harsh conditions, genuine concern for subordinates and an obstinate adherence to what is right, regardless of the situation. These Marines live on through their influence and deeds, setting the example for the rest to come. Matt was one of these Marines.”

Marine Matthew Kraft is seen here hiking with his mother, Roxanne Kraft, in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia. (Courtesy of the Kraft family)

Every night, Greg Kraft turns on an electric candle that sits in the window of his family’s Connecticut home.

“I turn it on and I say, ‘God Bless Matt,’ ” Kraft said Friday, Feb. 21, his voice choked with emotion. “In the morning I turn it off and say ‘God Bless Matt.’ “

The candle, in the upstairs middle dormer of his Williamsburg Cape Cod-style home, is lighted so his son, Capt. Matthew Kraft, can find his way back.

Matthew Kraft, a platoon leader with the 1st Battalion/7th Marines at Twentynine Palms, part of the 1st Marine Division based at Camp Pendleton, disappeared after taking leave from the Marine Corps for a two-week backcountry ski trip along the High Sierra Route starting Feb. 24, 2019.

He had planned the rugged trek for his pre-deployment leave, before his unit was to depart for Afghanistan.

That’s when I came to grips with it,” said Greg Kraft. “It’s also the day (March 15) the Marine Corps calls the date of death.”

An official statement, released by the Marine Corps on April 11, said Matthew Kraft died after being “overcome by severe winter storms.”

Kraft was posthumously promoted from 1st Lt. to the rank of Captain.
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Rep. Chris Pappas wants answers on why providers are not being paid for taking care of veterans

As VA works through backlog, NH providers waiting for $134M

New Hampshire Union Leader
By Josie Albertson-Grove
Feb 23, 2020

Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH) has been working on the issue as chair of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. The committee held a hearing on the reimbursement issue on Feb. 12, and Pappas met with Forrest and local providers in Manchester last Thursday.

Manchester Veterans Affairs Medical Center
New Hampshire Union Leader file photo

MANCHESTER — The VA still owes New Hampshire health care providers an estimated $134 million, as the administration digs out from a backlog of claims.

Kevin Forrest, interim director of the Department of Veterans Affairs Manchester Medical Center, said the delayed payments dated back to a contractor who used to administer the VA Community Care Network program.

The network lets veterans use their VA insurance to pay for treatment outside VA hospitals — from other hospitals and small providers like home health aides, therapists and acupuncturists.

Providers complained of widespread delays and errors in payments last year, and the VA brought in a new contractor to process those claims. But the administration is still working through the nationwide payment backlog.

In the two years since Kathy Twombly’s Laconia acupuncture business has been part of the network, she said the VA has at times left her waiting for as much as $10,000. To make matters worse, the VA has switched contractors three times in two years, she said, meaning the way she files claims keeps changing.
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Female veteran with PTSD from sexual assault rejected 11 times for service dog!

Service dog helps military sexual assault survivor

News 5
By: Alexandra Koehn
February 23, 2020

"I received 11 rejection letters from programs across the country because my PTSD came from military sexual assault and not from combat. With every one of those rejection letters, it felt more and more crushing." Stefanie Marvin-Miller

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WTVF) — A military sexual assault survivor said a service dog has helped her heal from post traumatic stress disorder.

Stefanie Marvin-Miller was the first female in her family to serve our country, but that service led to a dark time in her life.

"In January of 2016, I was the victim of a violent sexual assault by another service member," Marvin-Miller said, "Military sexual assault, PTSD is very intense. It’s very real, and it’s valid. It’s a real problem."

Dealing with the impact of the traumatic event has been hard.

"It was a very difficult thing to do, and to speak up for, and say that happened," Marvin-Miller said, "For me specifically, it will be disassociating, so going back into a memory, and not feeling like I’m in the present anymore, or connected to the present."

She decided to apply for a service dog that would be capable of getting her to a safe place during an episode.

"I received 11 rejection letters from programs across the country because my PTSD came from military sexual assault and not from combat," Marvin-Miller said, "With every one of those rejection letters, it felt more and more crushing."
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Director of Ulster County Veteran Services Agency does not how many veterans commit suicide?

The headline

Suicide rate for New York veterans ages 18 to 34 has 'more than doubled,' study finds

The punchline

Cozzupoli said that 22 vets die by suicide every day. “That’s a known stat,” he added.

Who is he?

The recently appointed Director of Ulster County Veteran Services Agency, Mark Cozzupoli, said that addressing veteran suicide is a top priority for him.

He should know better...and if he does not THEN HE SHOULD HAVE PROVEN THEY ACTUALLY MEAN SOMETHING BY LEARNING WHAT THE TRUTH ACTUALLY IS!

This is the report from the Department of Veterans Affairs back in 2012 when they had limited data from just 21 states....and the report from 2018 but if bothered to read them, he would have also seen that the number of veterans living has dropped down by over 5 million since the VA started to put their data together! He would have also seen the number of military suicides has remained at an average of 500 a year since 2012.

National Guard Soldier did not live to see his son born, but now all can see his love!

Soldier dad added to family pictures, overlooks infant son born after his death

KWTX News
February 21, 2020

PERHAM, Minn. (KVLY/Gray News) - Charles Nord never got to meet his infant son Jack, but in a new family photograph, the late Minnesota National Guard soldier is there overlooking his young family.

In pictures by photographer Sarah Jean, the chief warrant officer is superimposed, proudly looking over this wife Kaley’s shoulder at his newborn son, Jack Charles Nord, and his toddler daughter, Lydia.

Little Jack was born February 11, about two months after his father died in a Dec. 5 Black Hawk helicopter crash near St. Cloud.

The images of Charles Nord were added to a pair of pictures from a recent family photo shoot. Jean had done photo sessions with the family before.
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