Sergeant defends gold in men’s skeet
By Gary Mihoces
USA Today
Posted : Tuesday Jul 31, 2012
LONDON – Army Sgt. Vince Hancock became the first American man to defend an Olympic gold medal in skeet shooting by winning the event Tuesday afternoon at the Royal Artillery Barracks.
Hancock, of Eatonton, Ga., shot a 148 to hold a two-clay advantage over silver medalist Anders Golding of Denmark. Nasser Al-Attiya of Qatar won the bronze with a 144 after winning a shoot off over Russia’s Valeriy Shomin.
With Hancock's result Tuesday and Kim Rhode’s on Monday, the United States swept the skeet gold medals.
read more here
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Vietnam veteran and Mom in hospital after attack
Elderly Woman, Vietnam Vet Son Beaten In Cobbs Creek Invasion
July 31, 2012
By Nicole Brewer
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — An open heart led an elderly woman to open her door, which in turn opened her up to a brutal attack.
“Shocking, very shocking. Couldn’t understand it, don’t understand it,” said neighbor Robert Rivers.
To make matter worse, police say 87-year-old Yvonne Gaines knew the suspect, possibly an old next door neighbor, who neighbors believe asked to use her bathroom, around 3:30 Tuesday morning.
“This is a neighborhood, people trust each other. They help each other,” explained State Representative James Roebuck.
read more here
July 31, 2012
By Nicole Brewer
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — An open heart led an elderly woman to open her door, which in turn opened her up to a brutal attack.
“Shocking, very shocking. Couldn’t understand it, don’t understand it,” said neighbor Robert Rivers.
To make matter worse, police say 87-year-old Yvonne Gaines knew the suspect, possibly an old next door neighbor, who neighbors believe asked to use her bathroom, around 3:30 Tuesday morning.
“This is a neighborhood, people trust each other. They help each other,” explained State Representative James Roebuck.
read more here
Battlefield Home
Nadia McCaffrey sent me the link to this film. I am very glad she did. The second title of this blog is Battle Stations Home because if you read this blog, you know the battles are too often much harder back here than there.
Battlefield Home
The Backstory....
Battlefield: Home is a feature-length documentary about the transition home by our troops and families after combat is over.
Each personal story unfolds the challenges that warriors, families and survivors often face in their attempt to "return to normal," amidst the systemic breakdowns faced by each service member. Whether faced by the challenge of medical, judicial or economics, "Battlefield: Home" shares their stories of survival when the war is over.
With a skeleton crew, and the desire to help, we traveled across the United States to hear these stories and give our Veteran and their families a voice.
Our warriors and families recognize that the war is not always the one fought overseas, sometimes the war is at home.
We are now looking for assistance in completing this most important story. Talented friends have contributed their time and skills to assist, but we are still lacking some essentials.
The film will be released on-line so that it will reach those who can help. The focus and goal of this film is to increase awareness, and help support those who have supported us a nation.
This is a film of strength, courage, honesty, heartbreak, and hope...it is the story of us.
'One percent of our population serves in the military, one percent defends this nation, is it too much to ask that we take care of that one percent?'
Thank you.
Anita Holsapple, MS - Director/Producer/Creator (USMC BRAT) read more here
Fort Hood Sgt. died after high speed chase
KWTX
HARKER HEIGHTS
July 30, 2012
A man who died when his truck crashed into a tree as he attempted to elude Harker Heights Police early Saturday morning was identified Monday as Fort Hood Sgt. Timothy Stephens, 28, of McMinnville, Ore.
Stephens died after a chase that started just after 2 a.m. Saturday when Harker Heights Police attempted to pull over a speeding and swerving truck in the 300 block of Indian Trail Drive.
At first the driver appeared to be stopping, but then the truck sped up and headed onto Clore Road, police said.
read more here
Death of Fort Hood soldier under investigation after fourth deployment
KWTX
July 31, 2012
FORT HOOD
An investigation was underway Monday into the circumstances surrounding the shooting death of Fort Hood Sgt. Clinton Truman Kunze, 29, of Moody, who was a veteran of four deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Kunze died of a gunshot wound on Thursday at Fort Hood, but no further details were provided.
read more here
Marine from Palm Bay Florida killed in Afghanistan
Brevard County Marine killed in action
July 31, 2012
By Arelis R. Hernández
Orlando Sentinel
A Central Florida Marine was killed Sunday during combat operations in Afghanistan, according to the Department of Defense.
Gunnery Sgt. Jonathan W. Gifford, 34, of Palm Bay was killed in the Badghis province of the country where his Marine battalion was stationed.
read more here
July 31, 2012
By Arelis R. Hernández
Orlando Sentinel
A Central Florida Marine was killed Sunday during combat operations in Afghanistan, according to the Department of Defense.
Gunnery Sgt. Jonathan W. Gifford, 34, of Palm Bay was killed in the Badghis province of the country where his Marine battalion was stationed.
read more here
PTSD families still last to know when their battle begins
On June 24, 2012 I had to ask Why did we let Trever Gould die? because after all these years, it was a matter of why they are still committing suicide.
Trever's Mom was asking the same question. She left this comment on the post I did.
I tried to comfort her, let her know that it was not her fault and then she left this comment.
But if this story has any lessons it is the fact that when combat veterans survive combat but cannot survive being back home, the families blame themselves. That's a fact.
Trever's sister Brittney DeBlieck sent me another email about a petition they have to try to prevent other families from suffering the same way.
Families are the last to know how much they are hurting but they are also the last to know what they need to in order to avoid losing them after war. So why did we let Trever Gould die? Because families have been the last ones given the weapons to fight for the warriors.
Trever's Mom was asking the same question. She left this comment on the post I did.
Hello I am Sheri Johnson Trever Gould's mother. A person does not know how hard they can ache until they lose a child. It hurts even more knowing my son did not get the help he need when he asked for it. He always acted strong around me because he was trained that way and thought he was my protector. We need to help our soldiers that come home and even the ones that are deployed. They need to be heard we need to be heard. I would give anything to hold my son one more time and tell him how much I love him, but I can't do this anymore and I want to change things so other parents and spouses can hold their loved ones every day.
I tried to comfort her, let her know that it was not her fault and then she left this comment.
I do blame myself and feel I failed him. My son should be sitting here right now with his family not in a urn. I feel I should of forced him to go get help, but I thought he was dealing with things he acted so tough. When I seen those papers and it was in black and white that he did ask for help and I did not know it. It makes me ache even more. I pray that things change so other parents do not need to feel this pain I feel. I do know now there are others out there that want the same thing and together we can make a change. This is my sons memorial site on Facebook I am working on getting the word out there and making a difference.
Trevor Gould Memorial
I am sorry you and your husband lost a nephew to PTSD also and that your husband suffers from it also.
Sheri Johnson
But if this story has any lessons it is the fact that when combat veterans survive combat but cannot survive being back home, the families blame themselves. That's a fact.
Trever's sister Brittney DeBlieck sent me another email about a petition they have to try to prevent other families from suffering the same way.
Trever Gould
by Brittney DeBlieck
(edited email)
On June 21, 2012, our brother, our mom’s one and only son, and a wonderful uncle took his own life. There would be no more family get-togethers, no more holidays, no more parties for him, and no more of us being able to see his great smile. He held the weight of the world on his shoulders and it became too much. Iraq changed him and the military changed him. We didn’t understand how much it had changed him until it was too late.
A week before he took his life our mom tried real hard to help and get him the help that he needed. Unfortunately, justice failed him. But what from what we know now, it would have been hard to save him. We didn’t understand what had been going through his mind and how much he was truly hurting.
We were very shocked and didn’t understand. The day after he was gone, we tried going through his military paperwork he had in his room and what we found was even more shocking. While being stationed in Texas with the U.S. Regular Army he had threatened to attempt suicide multiple times. However, no one was ever told us this, no one told our mom and the military did not follow-up with his condition. We found paperwork stating that he had threatened suicide. However, on the same paperwork it stated he was not suicidal even with him stating he was. He didn’t receive help he needed. We were never aware of this and wished we knew we did, because maybe it would have been possible to help save Trever’s life. We know that he had asked for help, but are unaware how much he really got.
While he was stationed in Texas he wanted to be home with his family and we recently were told by one of his close friends who was stationed with him, that if a soldier said they needed help that they wouldn’t be able to go home. This doesn’t make sense. While give them the choice of either being able to go home and not get the help versus having to stay at the base to get the help. A soldier is going to want to go home to be with his family not many others would want to choose to stay. They have been away from their families for so long, and want to be with them again. He like many soldiers had trouble getting back into the civilian life and never got the full chance to be able too. Many soldiers like Trever, have trouble getting jobs, being able to sleep right, enjoy life, and be the person they used to be. He would keep to himself more.
Since we lost Trever we have learned so much more about him now than we did before. We really didn’t know how much he was truly hurting inside and how much Iraq changed him. My brother wanted others to believe he was strong and didn’t want to be seen as weak and was too proud to ask for help. He didn’t want to be seen as broken. After coming home he never went to anyone to get help. He wanted to be seen as a strong soldier like many of them do. We have learned our soldiers are not getting the help they need and deserve. My brother was suffering inside from many troubles. When my brother came home from Iraq he was different but tried to not let a lot people know. Very few people knew he had troubles. Unfortunately, with him passing we have truly learned how much our soldiers are truly affected. It is just so sad that it takes something like my brothers story to make us realize what we need to change. We miss Trever very deeply and in his honor, our mom and our family and friends hope to help others and save other soldiers by getting my brother’s story out and show how much soldiers need the help and give them a chance at life and show them they are truly loved and cared about.
We didn’t tell Trever as much as we should have how much he was truly loved and I feel like I failed him as a big sister and have helped him like he should have. There are so many of the “what if’s”. What if we were there with him, what if we could have gotten him the help he deserved, what if we knew how much he was truly hurting inside could have we helped save his life. That will probably never change, but we want to get something changed so this does not happen to others.
Our soldiers are changed in the military and the Purple Star Veterans and Families Organization couldn’t have said it any better. They explain, “Military training does a thorough job of conforming and compressing the hearts and minds of young adults entering the armed forces...Because Veterans are trained to be self-reliant and to “complete the mission” at all cost, it is unacceptable for many of them to ask for help or to receive assistance when offered. Historically, this has been a major barrier to receiving care and continues to be the case with present day Veterans”Veterans Families.org.
We wish to help other soldier’s who helped protect and serve for our country, especially the regular Army. We believe they deserve to have more help given to them. This needs to be stopped. More military related suicides are occurring more than ever. Many like Trever, are proud and do not want to admit they need the help. And when we spoke to a VSO we were told it is the soldier’s responsibility to get the help. This is wrong. Many soldiers’ feel they need to be strong and do not want to accept they need help. However, if we can show them and help them get the help they need, maybe we may be able to help save a soldier’s life that helps to defend and protect our lives. We do not want this to happen to other parent’s or significant others, to have them lose their loved one from taking their own life. They have the right to know if their soldier is thinking about hurting themselves and are hurting inside. By family members knowing of their soldier’s condition, they have a chance to help and possibly save their loved one.
Families are the last to know how much they are hurting but they are also the last to know what they need to in order to avoid losing them after war. So why did we let Trever Gould die? Because families have been the last ones given the weapons to fight for the warriors.
Girls laughed at Vietnam Veteran they slashed with knife
UPDATE
Girls Plead Not Guilty to Attacking Vietnam Vet on 6 Train
What’s so funny?! Girl gang ‘laughed’ at Vietnam vet stab
By HELEN FREUND, ANTONIO ANTENUCCI and DAN MANGAN
Last Updated: 2:14 AM, July 31, 2012
The wolf pack of drunken girls who slashed a Vietnam vet on the subway after he told them to pipe down were “all laughing” when they attacked him, the man recalled yesterday.
“I’m born and raised in New York City, and I’ve never seen anything like it,” said stabbing victim Ralph Carnegary, 63, who already suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder from his Vietnam War service.
“They were so young, I would have never thought it would escalate like this,” he said of the seven girls busted in Sunday’s brutal attack.
“I just kept backing away from [the one with the knife], and she kept slashing at me, and then I grabbed the knife out of her hand,” Carnegary said.
“They were all laughing, they thought it was funny.” Read more
Military suicides up, Pentagon pushes program that failed them
Military suicides up, Pentagon pushes program that failed them
by Chaplain Kathie
Wounded Times Blog
July 31, 2012
OH MY GOD! They are never going to get it. They will never understand that their "Resiliency" program is the biggest reason there is such an increase in suicides as well as attempted suicides. The second is sending them back over and over again.
Go the top of Wounded Times Blog and type in the search box "resiliency" and read how bad this program is. Then type in "military suicides" to read some of their stories.
Don't expect congress to do anything about any of this since they've been having hearings all these years, listening to the same stories of families suffering but never doing anything about it that works. They pass bills that spend money on programs that have proven to be failures while ignoring programs that actually do work. Most of them cost very little money.
They spend money on research, then never use what the research provided. Most of the studies being done and paid for today were done in the last 40 years over and over again. What did they learn from them? Mental health professionals learned a lot but they do not work for the government. They used the research so they could help the people they treat. Too bad none of it is good enough for congress.
by Chaplain Kathie
Wounded Times Blog
July 31, 2012
OH MY GOD! They are never going to get it. They will never understand that their "Resiliency" program is the biggest reason there is such an increase in suicides as well as attempted suicides. The second is sending them back over and over again.
Go the top of Wounded Times Blog and type in the search box "resiliency" and read how bad this program is. Then type in "military suicides" to read some of their stories.
Don't expect congress to do anything about any of this since they've been having hearings all these years, listening to the same stories of families suffering but never doing anything about it that works. They pass bills that spend money on programs that have proven to be failures while ignoring programs that actually do work. Most of them cost very little money.
They spend money on research, then never use what the research provided. Most of the studies being done and paid for today were done in the last 40 years over and over again. What did they learn from them? Mental health professionals learned a lot but they do not work for the government. They used the research so they could help the people they treat. Too bad none of it is good enough for congress.
Pentagon Report: Active Duty Military Suicides on the Rise
Written
by Nicole Porter
Last updated on July 30, 2012
Earlier this summer the Pentagon released some startling statistics. The suicide rate with active military members sky rocketed and this year, we could have the most cases since the beginning of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The government says it's stepped up efforts to tackle this battle. It's safe to assume most of these thoughts come from post-traumatic stress disorder.
PTSD is a problem that veterans have been facing for years now. Before, it often went undiagnosed. Now, they are working to make sure that all veterans who come back from war are told where they can get any kind of help they would need.
As of June, there were 154 suicides among active duty troops. That was about one a day. There was only 130 during that same time period last year. There was 124 deaths in Afghanistan from January to July. That means there was about 30 more suicide deaths than war deaths in the first part of this year.
The VA acknowledges that the troops coming back now are battling a different type of PTSD. A lot of it is newer and fresh on their minds. That's why they have special liaisons at the hospital just for these vets and they have plenty of options for different kinds of treatment for PTSD.
read more here
Oklahoma top Veterans Affairs officials out after investigations
Top veterans affairs officials out amid neglect, abuse investigations
By SHANNON MUCHMORE
World Staff Writer
Published: 7/31/2012
Nearly three months after an 85-year-old veteran died after being scalded in a whirlpool bath at the Claremore Veterans Center, the executive director of the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs has retired and the administrator of the center abruptly resigned.
A veterans affairs official said executive director Martha Spears retired Friday, citing her husband's ongoing medical issues. Claremore Veterans Center administrator Cynthia Adams did not give a reason for her resignation, said Larry Jordan, administrative programs officer at the Department of Veterans Affairs' Claremore division.
Neither Adams nor Spears could be reached for comment.
The War Veterans Commission, which appoints the department's executive director and administers veterans programs in the state, has set an emergency meeting Tuesday in Oklahoma City.
Family members of the man who died, Jay Minter, as well as family of others who have been at the Claremore facility say this is not the first instance of neglect or abuse at the center. A state legislator has created an interim study to review the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Minter's widow, Frances, said she wants people to know about what happened to her husband, whose death was first reported by The Journal Record.
"I'm hoping that through the death of my husband there will be some changes to the system and this never happens again to anybody," she said in an interview with the Tulsa World.
read more here
By SHANNON MUCHMORE
World Staff Writer
Published: 7/31/2012
Frances Minter displays photos of her and her husband, Jay, who died in May after being scalded in a whirlpool bath at the Claremore Veterans Center. CORY YOUNG / Tulsa World
Nearly three months after an 85-year-old veteran died after being scalded in a whirlpool bath at the Claremore Veterans Center, the executive director of the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs has retired and the administrator of the center abruptly resigned.
A veterans affairs official said executive director Martha Spears retired Friday, citing her husband's ongoing medical issues. Claremore Veterans Center administrator Cynthia Adams did not give a reason for her resignation, said Larry Jordan, administrative programs officer at the Department of Veterans Affairs' Claremore division.
Neither Adams nor Spears could be reached for comment.
The War Veterans Commission, which appoints the department's executive director and administers veterans programs in the state, has set an emergency meeting Tuesday in Oklahoma City.
Family members of the man who died, Jay Minter, as well as family of others who have been at the Claremore facility say this is not the first instance of neglect or abuse at the center. A state legislator has created an interim study to review the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Minter's widow, Frances, said she wants people to know about what happened to her husband, whose death was first reported by The Journal Record.
"I'm hoping that through the death of my husband there will be some changes to the system and this never happens again to anybody," she said in an interview with the Tulsa World.
read more here
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