Reporter took easy way out on Pathway report

Vets seek a path out of the darkness on The Sacramento Bee, Editor’s note: This column was originally published on Feb. 24, 2013 and it is by Foon Rhee, Associated Editor.

"There were a record 349 suicides last year in the active-duty military, many more than were killed fighting in Afghanistan. But the specter of suicide doesn’t end once service members come home. It gets worse."

Really? If this was published in 2013, then the 349 suicides would be about 2012. Where did he get those numbers from? 

This is from the DOD Suicide Report

That equals 525.

Maybe he needed to add to the reports of what happened at Pathway House? Maybe he should have done some checking first, before reposting it.

That is the part that gets to me the most. When you have something as serious as veterans committing suicide and struggling to heal, it should never be something easy to report on.

Vietnam veteran committed suicide in Police parkinglot

Veteran who took own life identified 
Sheridan Press 
March 12, 2018 

"While officers tried talking to Underhill, he took his life with a gunshot to the head..."

SHERIDAN — A local veteran died by suicide Saturday morning in the Sheridan Police Department parking lot after officers attempted talking to him.

According to SPD officials, Mark Underhill, 66, was believed to be a patient of the Sheridan Veterans Affairs Medical Center. 

Underhill called 911 and spoke with dispatchers. 

Underhill made his plans known and told dispatchers he was in the parking lot in front of the police station. 
read more here

Don't settle for suffering. Take your life back from PTSD

From my other site PTSD Patrol
"Yesterday, my buddy Jonnie Rodriguez had something he wanted to share. His simple, powerful message of healing. 

When he thinks about what his life was like, when he had no hope of getting out of the hell he was in, and what his life is like now, he gets angry. Angry that others are settling for being defined by PTSD instead of taking control as a survivor."


The road ahead is yours! Stay in neutral, getting numb, feeling sorry for yourself, or get on the road paved by others who have gone before you.

It is a lot of work, but hey, training was hard work too. Your job is/was hard work. But as with any road trip, you can get help to get to where you want to go.

Think about every road has been laid out by someone looking at a forest and figured out how to connect one place to another. Same thing with healing PTSD. It took someone seeking a better way to get through what was keeping them out of where they wanted to go.

Albert Wong "ashamed to ask for help"

We taught them to not trust anyone!
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
March 11, 2018

The Sacramento Bee has an update on Albert Wong, "Friends of Yountville shooter describe his military life, civilian struggles" and this part should stand out more than anything else. 

It explains what has been going on after the so-called "resilience" training every member of the military has been told will make them "resilient" and make them mentally tough.

"He had nobody to turn to. He was ashamed to ask for help. He didn’t know his family," Saenz said.

He said Wong had trouble getting reimbursed through the GI bill program for classes he took. Saenz said Wong told him he suffered post traumatic stress disorder and was homeless after being put out of the VA program.

“He was trying to put his feet on the ground and it was hard for him,” Saenz said. “I'm disappointed he didn’t ask for help. None of this should have happened. He should have taken help.”

When these young men and women are told this training will make them mentally tough, they are hearing if they end up with PTSD, they are too weak minded and couldn't take it. They hear that if they suffer, it is their fault. No, that is not what is actually said to them, but that is the message they receive.

After all, while the press has a habit of simply reporting what the military tells them, they are not really listening to what else is said by those same people. 

The mentally weak message has been delivered over and over again by Generals trying to cover up the fact this program is pure bullshit!

In 2012, it was Major General Dana Pittard slamming the soldiers for committing suicide.

“I have now come to the conclusion that suicide is an absolutely selfish act,” he wrote on his official blog recently. “I am personally fed up with soldiers who are choosing to take their own lives so that others can clean up their mess. Be an adult, act like an adult, and deal with your real-life problems like the rest of us.”

And in 2013 it was General Ray Odierno,

"First, inherently what we do is stressful. Why do I think some people are able to deal with stress differently than others? There are a lot of different factors. Some of it is just personal make-up. Intestinal fortitude. Mental toughness that ensures that people are able to deal with stressful situations."

And then he blamed the families.

"But it also has to do with where you come from. I came from a loving family, one who gave lots of positive reinforcement, who built up psychologically who I was, who I am, what I might want to do. It built confidence in myself, and I believe that enables you to better deal with stress. It enables you to cope more easily than maybe some other people."

For some reason, Wong managed to ask for help after his life fell apart. Did he refuse to do what he was supposed to do? Was he drinking? Doing drugs? Whatever the reason behind him being kicked out of the program, the fact is, he still had the wrong idea of asking for help. The rest of us have the wrong idea of what help actually looks like.

Running around the country, screaming about how many you think killed themselves, proves to those struggling to stay alive, you really don't give a crap. 

No good came out of the training they received in the military and no good has come out of "raising awareness" but the key here is, veterans are fully aware of both of these. Still wonder why they don't trust anyone? We taught them to not trust anyone!

Pathway House Victims Include Pregnant Newlywed

UPDATE

The Pathway Home permanently closing Yountville space after fatal shooting

“As we continued to evaluate our short-term and long-term future, it just became more and more clear that would not go back into our facility at the Veterans Home,” he said Sunday. “That also would have an impact on our certification as a nonprofit, because the the facility has to have specific criteria to hold this treatment facility. (Furthermore), people can imagine the emotional and psychological impacts of losing our three friends and colleagues; to this day it weighs heavy on us as a board and as a staff.  

“We feel the best way we can move forward now is to support other nonprofits, either private nonprofits or federal and state VA organizations, who are providing similar services. We can shift our focus to supporting those efforts and advocating for veterans in other communities.”

read more here

Veterans home workers remembered as devoted caregivers
Associated Press
Frank Baker
March 10, 2018

"Jennifer and her colleagues died doing the work they were so passionate about — helping those in critical need," her husband, T.J. Shushereba said in a statement. "Jennifer was adored by all who knew her and will always be remembered for her unconditional love and incredibly giving heart."

After a work conference, Maura Turner was looking forward to a girls' weekend with her close friend, Christine Loeber, a social worker and executive director of The Pathway Home that treats veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Christine Loeber, a victim of the veterans home shooting on Friday, March 9, 2018 in Yountville, Calif, as seen in September 2012. Loeber was executive director of the Pathway Home, a treatment program for veterans from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. TOM TURNER/AP

Turner went to Loeber's home in Yountville, California, on Friday and found the door locked. Soon after, she heard about a shooting and apparent hostage situation at the nearby veterans home where Pathway is located. And then came the devastating realization her friend was among the three women being held.

She called her husband, Tom Turner, in Dedham, Massachusetts.

"We heard the guy was a former patient and so I thought that was a positive," he said in a telephone interview Saturday with The Associated Press. "I figured he had to like her."

This undated photo provided by Muir Wood Adolescent and Family Services shows The Pathway Home Clinical Director, Dr. Jennifer Golick, a victim of the veterans home shooting on Friday, March 9, 2018, in Yountville, Calif. Dr. Golick was killed by a former patient at The Pathway Home, a treatment program for veterans from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. MUIR WOOD ADOLESCENT AND FAMILY SERVICES VIA AP

Friends and co-workers remembered Jennifer Gonzales Shushereba, 32, as a "brilliant" psychologist who was committed to both her family and her job treating veterans with post-traumatic stress.

Gonzales Shushereba was seven months pregnant. She was married a year ago and was supposed to travel to Washington, D.C., with her husband this weekend to celebrate their anniversary, family friend Vasiti Ritova said.
read more here

Nevada veterans have one of the highest suicide rates, still

VA Secretary visits Southern North Las Vegas, takes on veteran suicide
KTNV News
Darcy Spears
March 9, 2018

Access to mental health treatment critical

Las Vegas (KTNV) - Veterans Affairs' Secretary David Shulkin came to visit our VA hospital in North Las Vegas today taking on the staggering problem of suicide.

Contact 13 looks into how many Nevada veterans have taken their own lives and how the VA hopes to prevent that in the future.

Suicide among former military members is much higher than the general population on average 20 veterans take their own lives every day. That adds up to over 7000 a year.

While state and VA leaders say those national numbers are not acceptable, what's happening here in Nevada tells an even darker story.

Nevada veterans have one of the highest suicide rates, 59.8, in the country compared to the national rate of 38.4.
read more here

Who was Albert Wong?

Who was Albert Wong? Here is what we know so far about Yountville shooter
Sacramento Bee
Ed Fletcher
March 10, 2018

Albert Wong, left, pictured in one of his Facebook photos before his page was removed Friday. Facebook

The gunman in Friday's deadly hostage standoff at the Veterans Home of California-Yountville has been identified by the Napa County Sheriff's Office as Albert Wong, 36, of Sacramento.

The Bee is continuing to investigate Wong and his Sacramento ties. Here is what we know so far:

Wong was an infantryman in the US Army and served in Afghanistan from April 2011 to March 2012, according to information provided by the Army.

During his service he was awarded an Army Commendation Medal, an Army Good Conduct Medal and campaign stars for fighting global terrorism and for marksmanship.

read more here

Marine's 6 year old daughter sexually assaulted by Colonel?

Mother of sexually abused child: The military is failing victims
Army Times
By: Karen Jowers
March 9, 2018

"The investigators did not investigate Wilson’s past, she said, adding that the Marine Corps didn’t follow through to address previous reports of a sexual nature against Wilson. If they had, she said, 'Wilson would never have been able to take our child’s innocence from her.'"

Adrian Perry testifies before the personnel panel of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee during Thursday's hearing on domestic violence and child abuse in the military. (SASC video screen shot)

Marine wife whose 6-year-old daughter was sexually abused by a Marine Corps colonel told lawmakers the military is failing victims.

“Had my husband and I stayed silent, our case would never have been brought,” said Adrian Perry, who testified before the Senate Armed Services personnel subcommittee hearing Thursday examining child abuse and intimate partner violence in the military.

Witnesses testified about problems with investigations, cumbersome processes, lack of proper resources for victims, and communication issues between military and civilian authorities.
read more here