Founder of Veteran Outreach Program Dealing With Loss Of His Own

Veteran Suicide Hits Home for Founder of Veteran Outreach Program

NBC 2 News
By: Chris DiMaria
Mar 13, 2020

"It broke me down. It broke me down bad. Because I was thinking to myself, if I can't even help my own cousin, how can I help my fellow veterans? I felt like a failure, I felt angry, because why didn't he reach out to me?" Lezama wondered.

MUSKOGEE, Okla. — A Green Country veteran, hoping to save the lives of his fellow vets, was hit by tragedy when he learned his cousin had taken his own life.

Victor Lezama spent 10 years in the Army and 10 years in the Marines, doing two tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now, his image is to help fellow veterans get back on their feet, by opening The Barracks in Muskogee.

Just before The Barracks were set to open, Lezama's cousin, Gil Ortiz, took his own life. Ortiz was a service member of 17 years, and was a husband and father of three.

"This is a man who was there when my daughter passed away. Our wives were pregnant together," Lezama recalled. "I'm reading through these text messages seeing if there's any kind of clue. A reach out for help or something because he knew what we were doing."
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Victor Lezama, I do not know if you will ever read this or not but I have to try. Wanting to help veterans is a wonderful thing. The problem is, too many want to help, but do not know how to do it. I've been doing this since 1982, so when I say what has to be said, please consider that this is directed to everyone wanting to make a difference.

Stop doing what you are doing until you are honestly prepared to do it. 

Make sure you have all the knowledge you need, before you even decide to do this work. 

Make sure that you have the resources set up in case you get over your head and need to send the veteran for more help than you can give.

Make sure you have your own resources for when you are overwhelmed and need to talk to someone to help you, especially when you lose someone you know.

You also have to face that fact that you will not be able to save all of them. That is something I know all too well when we lost my husband's nephew. I never could find the right words he needed to hear before he would listen to anything else I had to say to him. 

Your cousin knew you were there and it was up to him to ask you for help. It is something that you will never totally let go of, but let that motivate you to keeping on with the work you do so that others willing to seek help will find it.

No matter how many times I read something like this, and the dagger hits my heart all over again emotionally, I do not regret trying to save as many as possible. There is nothing like turning a life around and seeing joy come back into their lives again. If I can help you in anyway, please call 407-754-7526 or email woundedtimes@aol.com. You can also find Point Man International Ministries to help you in your area.

Sterling, Cincinnati-based company paying $1.85 million under VA False Claims Act

Outpatient Clinics Agrees to Pay $1.85 Million to Resolve False Claims Act Allegations Concerning Veterans’ Wait Times

Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, March 12, 2020

The Justice Department announced today that Sterling Medical Associates Inc. (Sterling) will pay $1.85 million to resolve allegations under the False Claims Act that it failed to schedule veterans’ medical appointments timely at two outpatient clinics in Minnesota, resulting in the submission of false claims to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Sterling is a Cincinnati-based company that provides various services in the healthcare industry, including staffing, departmental operation, and outpatient clinic operation.

“We expect companies doing business with the government to comply with their contractual obligations, particularly when they relate to the health of our veterans,” said Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division. “The Department is committed to ensuring that our veterans receive the timely medical care that they need and deserve.”

VA maintains community-based outpatient clinics across the country, including clinics in Minnesota. VA awarded Sterling a contract to operate its clinics in Hibbing and Ely, Minnesota, in March 2013. The contract incorporated VA requirements that routine appointments be scheduled within 14 calendar days of the veteran’s requested appointment date. Today’s settlement resolves allegations that, between July 2013 and April 2014, Sterling did not schedule patient appointments at the Hibbing clinic in compliance with these requirements and changed veterans’ requested appointment dates to make appointment wait times appear shorter.

“Today’s settlement exhibits the importance we place on the health and welfare of our veterans,” said U.S. Attorney Erica H. MacDonald for the District of Minnesota. “The women and men who have bravely served our country deserve to receive timely care without exception.”

“We are pleased with the settlement and the willingness of the company to recognize the importance of timely scheduling medical appointments when veterans seek the healthcare treatment they earned,” said Gregg Hirstein, Special Agent in Charge, VA Office of Inspector General.

This matter was investigated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota, the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch, and the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.

The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice. Learn more about the history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years.

Nebraska VA using Skype to help families stay connected during COVID-19

Nebraska Department of Veterans' Affairs launches ‘virtual visits’ to keep veterans’ home members and families connected

The North Plate Telegraph
March 11, 2020

Members will have access to computers, tablets and other devices loaded with video messaging software, such as Skype and FaceTime. Teammates will be available to assist members and their families in connecting.

The Nebraska Department of Veterans’ Affairs is launching a virtual visitor system to keep veterans’ home members and their families connected while the facilities are limiting entry, according to a press release. Access to the four state veterans’ homes is currently limited to NDVA teammates and medical professionals only as a precaution against COVID-19 exposure.

“Protecting our members’ health and safety is our top priority,” said NDVA Director John Hilgert in a press release. “However, we also want to protect the bond they have with their loved ones and ensure they can remain connected. Through our virtual visitor system, we’re striking a balance between the two.”
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skype

Iraq veteran PTSD survivor proud to cry because it helped him heal

This Iraq War Vet Cheated Death 3 Times. He's Proud to Cry About It.

Men's Health
BY LAUREN LARSON
MAR 12, 2020

FitOps, which counts zero suicides among its alumni, cracked Somers open like that first grenade did. For most of his life, he had been motivated by men around him—his cartel-wealthy veteran uncle, or his hardcore first sergeant. In telling his story, and seeing how other people were affected and moved to tell theirs, Somers found his own strong sense of purpose.

Somers after joining FitOps, which helped him discover a new way to cope with PTSD and his harsh upbringing.
BENEDICT EVANS

FROM ABOVE, YOU WOULD have seen two battered Humvees streaking down a rutted freeway, one behind the other in the center lane, surrounded by miles of Iraq’s parched terrain. As they approached an overpass, one moved into the far-left lane and the other moved far right. Afterward, the trucks weaved back into the same lane.

It was July 2003, and trucks were getting blown up every day in Iraq—insurgents often dropped grenades from overpasses. Bobby Somers, a 23-year-old specialist in the U. S. Army, sat behind the wheel of the second beat-up Humvee, fondly code-named Bertha. Clad in tan fatigues, he had one hand on the wheel, the other on a machine gun pointed out the window. A tiny earbud snaked into his left ear, pumping 50 Cent’s Get Rich or Die Tryin’ album from a CD player tucked beneath his seat. Somers had driven thousands of miles like this without incident, and he felt invincible.

After both attacks, Somers was offered a medical discharge, but he stayed. “I remember when I got back into that truck, I was crying,” he says. “I didn’t want to drive out the gate. But I was more scared to let people know I was scared.”

Which brings us to another time Somers nearly died, years after he’d finished his tour, while at his home in Texas. He went into his bathroom, put a gun in his mouth, and almost pulled the trigger. Fate had intervened twice to save Somers’s life. Now he would need a different kind of help.
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Soldiers given housing rights after deplorable living conditions

DoD adds key provisions to tenant bill of rights

Army News Service
By Devon Suits
March 12, 2020

The tenant bill of rights included inputs from close to 200,000 households. Within the original provisions, Soldiers are given the right to reside in a house and community that meets health and environmental standards.

The Military Housing Privatization Initiative Tenant Bill of Rights was signed by DoD senior leaders on Feb. 25, ensuring that service members and their families receive fair treatment. The bill of rights may soon include three more key provisions to help rebuild trust about privatized housing, officials told the House Appropriations Committee. Sentinel file photo

WASHINGTON — The tenant bill of rights, signed by Department of Defense senior leaders last week, may soon include three more key provisions to help rebuild trust about privatized housing, officials said March 3.

The document has 15 provisions to ensure service members and their families receive fair treatment under the Military Housing Privatization Initiative. It was signed Feb. 25 by Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy and the other service secretaries.

The three additional provisions propose to provide military tenants a dispute resolution process, the right to withhold rent until a dispute is resolved, and access to a building’s maintenance history before the move-in date, officials told the House Committee on Appropriations’ Military Subcommittee.

“Since early last year, the DoD has been working to address the concerns of our military families,” said Pete Potochney, the acting assistant secretary of defense for sustainment, in written testimony to the Capitol Hill hearing.

“We recognize and acknowledge that our oversight of the program had not been up to the standards established at the outset,” which includes leadership engagement, he added.
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