Cocoa bank robber learns don't mess with a Marine

Ex-Marine Fights Off Armed Florida Bank Robber
Brevard Times

COCOA, Florida -- At approximately 1:05 p.m. today, Cocoa Police received a call of an armed robbery at the Wells Fargo bank on US-1 in Cocoa, Florida. Police quickly arrived on scene and were directed by witnesses to where the suspect may have fled. Police set up a perimeter and quickly located the suspect.

According to witnesses' accounts to police, the suspect, 43-year-old Edward Sotelo entered the bank wearing a construction-type hard hat with tape on the front and back, and a surgical mask.

Sotelo allegedly approached the teller window, pointed the gun at the teller and demanded money.

Police say thats when a customer of the bank, at the next window, saw what was happening and began fighting the bank robber. The bank customer is a former Marine and a former member of law enforcement.
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Donley Steps Down as Secretary of Air Force

Donley Steps Down as Secretary of Air Force
Air Force News
by Desiree N. Palacios
Jun 23, 2013

JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md.-- Five years to the day from when he entered the position, the longest-serving secretary of the Air Force stepped down during a farewell ceremony here June 21.

Donley was confirmed as the 22nd secretary of the Air Force Oct. 2, 2008. He served as the acting secretary since June 21 of that year, as well as for seven months in 1993, making him the longest-serving secretary in the Air Force's history.

"America is stronger because Mike Donley chose to serve. You leave us now focused on the continued delivery of airpower for America," Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III said. "The Air Force remains ready to provide Global Vigilance, Global Reach, and Global Power for America because of your leadership and your clear, consistent commitment to our core values of integrity, service and excellence. We've all been privileged to know you, and honored to follow you."
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Fort Hood Pilot said "I don't know how to live in this world" before suicide

Who's Left Behind When a Soldier Commits Suicide?
Becca Morrison's husband came home from Iraq and killed himself. She's "still here, and still fighting."
Dallas Observer
By ANNA MERLAN
Thursday, Jun 20 2013

The day after her husband's funeral, a week or so after she found him, Rebecca Morrison somehow managed to get dressed and get in the car. She was exhausted, wrung out of tears.

She could barely move or speak. All that week her family and friends had to feed her, bathe her, walk her to the bathroom, sleep beside her. Every few seconds she had flashbacks to the scene in their house. Each time, she screamed.

"I miss Iraq," Ian would tell Becca. "I miss the regimen of it. I don't know how to live in this world."

Becca flew to New York to talk about equine therapy with soldiers there, and keeps a horse of her own.

Now she and her mom had to get back from Killeen, where Ian's funeral had been held, to Dallas, where Becca's parents lived. Becca, 25 at the time, had been given a lot of medication to help her through: Xanax, Ambien, an antidepressant, things she didn't usually take. Between the meds and the grief, she could barely speak. She slumped in her seat. Her mom, Pam, drove and worried.

The following Monday, Ian showed up at the Thomas Moore Clinic at Fort Hood and waited for more than three hours, she says. Finally, someone told him that because he flew helicopters, they couldn't see him there. He'd have to see his flight surgeon instead. He was sent away empty-handed, Becca says. (Officials at Fort Hood did not respond to multiple interview requests.)

When he finally did see the flight surgeon that afternoon, Becca says, Ian came home complaining that the man was brusque and cold. He prescribed him Ambien, grounded him from flying helicopters — a huge blow to a pilot — and told him to come back in a week. Ian also tried the next day to enroll in a sleep study on the base and was told there'd be no openings for a month.

Two days later, Ian saw a second flight surgeon. This one quickly diagnosed him with major depression, then gave him prescriptions for antidepressants and anti-anxiety meds.

Recognizing the seriousness of that diagnosis, Becca urged Ian to go to the R and R clinic on the base, their equivalent of an emergency room. He did, talking to her on the phone the whole way there. But he soon left after being told that the wait was more than two hours. He drove home instead, where he waved to the couple's neighbor, parked the car in the garage and went inside. He left his shoes lined up neatly by the door.

The couple had been texting back and forth all day; in late afternoon, heading into her evening classes and still worried, Becca suggested Ian call a 24-hour military crisis hotline called Military OneSource. He promised that he would. About 45 minutes later, he texted her to say that he was still on hold. At 7 p.m. or so, while she was leading a group therapy session and couldn't pick up the phone, he called. He didn't leave a message.

Becca got home a few hours later. She walked into their bedroom and found his body surrounded by blood, a handgun lying nearby.
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"I don't know how to live in this world." The truth is, after all these years, most do not. How can that be when every month is seems the military is issuing another press release on how they "get it" and are taking steps to reduce suicides? It looks as if members of Congress have figured out the right way to play the game of appearing to care. Senator Joe Donnelly added insult to injury with his latest attempt.

Jacob Sexton Military Suicide Prevention Act This is based on what is in Donnelly's heart but he is wrong. It may have the opposite results. He mentioned that most do not express their feelings before committing suicide. Why? Why don't they talk about it? Because they feel they cannot or it really won't matter if they do. With all these years of "training" to prevent suicide, don't you think it is time they change what they have been doing?

This is my comment.

"Fit to serve" will prevent them from admitting they need help. I know it sounds good but you have to remember some of these men and women cheat on tests so they can stay in. They do not want to leave where they always wanted to be. Remember, they wanted to join and most never thought of doing anything else. They need to know why they have PTSD and understand it is not their fault. They are not weak but have strong ability to care. The DOD and VA have to undo damage done first.

Donnely mentioned that many of them had not been deployed but did not discuss the fact that training is very traumatic and they hear about the amputations along with deaths from IED. If those who served in combat do not feel comfortable talking, how do they expect those who have not been deployed to talk? They got the message that if they trained right, their brains would be tough enough. In other words that message translated into if they have problems, it is their fault and they are mentally weak. If they thought this "training" would encourage communication, it prevented it instead.

In 2007 then Representative Donnelly thought it was a good idea to privatize TBI treatment.

Pretty much this is all part of why Wounded Times is tracking all these reports. It happened in my own family when no one was really doing much about it. I almost lost my husband but we did lose his nephew. That all happened before all the spending on "prevention" started. In all these years, I have learned what works simply because I paid attention to the experts. I can spot trouble a mile away after over 30 years and everything they claim they are doing are not producing the stated goal.

It is going to get a lot worse and families will have to bury more and suffer for what this nation failed to do.

Veterans' uphill road back struggle with suicide

The "military" does not say "about 22 veterans a day" but a limited study from the VA did. As for the "military" they had to be forced to account for their numbers. Even with that, too many reporters missed the larger tragedy of attempted suicides. Guess they don't count because they are still here. Right? Isn't that what we are supposed to believe?

Veterans' uphill road back, struggle with suicide
The Associated Press
By STEVEN R. HURST
Published: June 25, 2013

WASHINGTON -- Five years ago, Joe Miller, then an Army Ranger captain with three Iraq tours under his belt, sat inside his home near Fort Bragg holding a cocked Beretta 40mm, and prepared to kill himself.

He didn't pull the trigger. So Miller's name wasn't added to the list of active-duty U.S. military men and women who have committed suicide. That tally reached 350 last year, a record pace of nearly one a day. That's more than the 295 American troops who were killed in Afghanistan in the same year.

"I didn't see any hope for me at the time. Everything kind of fell apart," Miller said.

"Helplessness, worthlessness. I had been having really serious panic attacks. I had been hospitalized for a while." He said he pulled back at the last minute when he recalled how he had battled the enemy in Iraq, and decided he would fight his own depression and post-traumatic stress.

The U.S. military and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) acknowledge the grave difficulties facing active-duty and former members of the armed services who have been caught up in the more-than decade-long American involvement in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The system struggles to prevent suicides among troops and veterans because potential victims often don't seek counseling given the stigma still associated by many with mental illnesses or the deeply personal nature - a failed romantic relationship, for example - of a problem that often precedes suicide. Experts also cite illicit drug use, alcohol and financial woes.

The number of suicides is nearly double that of a decade ago when the United States was just a year into the Afghan war and hadn't yet invaded Iraq. While the pace is down slightly this year, it remains worryingly high.

The military says about 22 veterans kill themselves every day and a beefed up and more responsive VA could help. But how to tackle the spiking suicide number among active-duty troops, which is tracking a similar growth in suicide numbers in the general population, remains in question. The big increase in suicides among the baby boomer population especially - linked by many to the recent recession - actually began a decade before the 2008 financial meltdown.
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PTSD and TBI gain $760 million for what?

And what exactly has billions spent every year already produced?

Army Initiates Collaborative Effort on TBI, PTSD
Army News Service
By David Vergun
WASHINGTON, June 24, 2013

Over the last 12 years, many soldiers have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan with wounds, some visible and some not, a leader in Army Medicine said here June 22.

Army Brig. Gen. (Dr.) John M. Cho, Army Medical Command deputy chief of staff for operations, addresses the issues of post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury during an awareness event on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., "The invisible wounds -- post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury -- are just as damaging as the visible ones. They impact the families as well as the soldiers," said Brig. Gen. (Dr.) John M. Cho, deputy chief of staff for operations with Army Medical Command.

An Iraq War veteran himself, Cho spoke outside the U.S. Capitol as part of National Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Day. This year's theme was "Visible Honor for Invisible Wounds."

Post-traumatic stress disorder, known as PTSD, and traumatic brain injury, or TBI, are not just military-specific issues, Cho said. "They deserve a national discussion."

A big part of that discussion, he said, needs to focus on reducing the stigma associated with mental health issues.

Besides a national discussion, Cho said, agencies both inside and outside the military need to come together to learn more about identifying and treating PTSD and TBI, as well as preventing it in the first place.

Cho said a PTSD diagnosis is particularly challenging, as "you can't simply get a lab test or take an X-ray to find it." As part of its collaborative effort, the Army is participating in a $60 million research study for TBI, sponsored by the National Football League, General Electric and athletic apparel manufacturer Under Armour, he said.

Also, $700 million has been allocated toward both PTSD and TBI as the result of a White House executive order for a renewed effort in collaboration with the Veterans Affairs Department and other organizations.
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Sorry but not feeling any better about this than all the other stuff they have been pushing all these years. Read THE WARRIOR SAW, SUICIDES AFTER WAR and understand exactly what the troops have been dealing with that has resulted in more suicides and less healing.

Twinkie coming back, over 8,000 veterans not

Start the countdown! Twinkies return to shelves July 15
CNN Money
By Chris Isidore
June 24, 2013

Good news Twinkies fans, your beloved snack is due back on shelves on July 15.

The announcement was made by Daren Metropoulos, principal of Metropoulos and Co., one of the two companies that bought the rights to Twinkies and other snack brands from the bankrupt Hostess Brands earlier this year.

Click above if you really want to read more. I hope you don't.

June is PTSD Awareness Month. You'd think that the fact we are losing more veterans to suicide would at least be among the top stories of the major news sources. You'd think that way if you really thought the major news sources cared. They don't.

At least 22 veterans commit suicide every year. Then there are the number of attempted suicides. Here on Wounded Times you read their stories everyday. Yet when we mention these facts to the average person they are in shock they didn't hear of it before.

So what exactly is June supposed to be raising awareness of? Is it what military brass wants us to know? Is it what politicians want us to think they are doing? What exactly is the point? When we see all the suffering grow and spread every year, we are more aware of the fact that the big news stations just don't care.

Veteran's standoff with SWAT ends peacefully

Headland shooting suspect likely suffered from PTSD
Dothan Eagle
June 21, 2013

Headland Police Chief Mark Jones said a 27-year-old man likely suffered from post traumatic stress disorder from former military service when he fired an AK-47 toward police officers on Thursday.

(name removed)

No one was injured in the shooting.

Jones outlined some of the details Friday of the shooting that brought more than 40 law enforcement officers to Headland, including three different SWAT teams.

“He was at home by himself. I think he’s got some psychological issues. I think he’s former military, and might be suffering from PTSD,” Jones said. “I think it was just in his mind somebody else was there.”
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Military Wives and PTSD take center stage on America's Got Talent

Singing Military Spouses Belt Out a Breathtaking Song to Help Soldiers With PTSD (VIDEO)
The Stir
by Nicole Fabian-Weber
June 21, 2013

Last night on America's Got Talent, the show was blessed with a very special group of women with a very special talent: The American Military Spouse's Choir. The 35-woman group sang "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" on the show, and although their performance will, without question, send chills throughout your body, it's their stories and their mission that resonates most. The group regularly performs, using their music as a form of therapy for soldiers suffering from traumatic brain injury or PTSD. These women are an inspiration like no other, and their heartbreaking stories -- and their amazing sisterhood -- will no doubt stay with you forever.
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Veterans' advocate renews calls for special court in Yolo County

Veterans' advocate renews calls for special court in Yolo County
Daily Democrat
By DON FRANCES
Created:06/23/2013

It was a California case that led Duncan MacVicar to take up the cause of creating special criminal courts for military veterans.

In 2006, MacVicar took an interest in the case of Sargent Binkley, on trial for using an unloaded gun to rob a pharmacy in Mountain View. Although of different generations, both men are West Point graduates and Army veterans, and both have suffered from post traumatic stress disorder. Binkley, who was robbing the pharmacy for its pain pills, also had a painkiller addiction. He faced a mandatory sentence of 12 years in prison if convicted.

Binkley was convicted but avoided jail time due to the jury finding him legally insane at the time of the crime. He received mental health treatment instead.

The ruling "was like winning the lottery," MacVicar said in an interview with The Democrat. Too often, he said, men and women of the Armed Forces come home from service overseas with damaged bodies and minds - and wind up on the wrong side of the law as a result.

Newly inspired, MacVicar co-founded a nonprofit, California Veterans Legal Task Force, and began working on establishing special courts that provide the justice many believe veterans deserve. His work puts him in contact with judges and court administrators in counties around California, including in Yolo.

Although similar efforts had been underway already, "For me, personally, it was absolutely because of Sargent Binkley that I got into this," MacVicar said.
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Defining The Deep Pain PTSD Doesn't Capture

It is ridiculous how some researchers think testing rats and killing them to study their brains will even come close to what PTSD does to humans. After all is said and done, they have no way of knowing what other emotions and memories will be altered. Above that, they ignore the human spirit. Some researchers have failed to begin to understand the complexities of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. They lump all PTSD cases together. Great researchers understood a long time ago, PTSD varies from different causes, number of exposures and length of time they were in fear of dying. There is also the factor of doing a job. First responders, law enforcement, fire figting and combat.

Defining The Deep Pain PTSD Doesn't Capture
WBUR
By Martha Bebinger
June 24, 2013

BOSTON — An estimated 22 veterans kill themselves in the U.S. each day. And suicide among men and women on active duty hit a record high last year — 349. As veterans and researchers try to figure out why, there’s growing interest in a condition known as “moral injury,” or wounds to a veteran’s spirit or soul from events that “transgress deeply held moral beliefs and expectations.”

The concept has helped former Marine Corps Capt. Tyler Boudreau understand years of pain that medication and therapy for PTSD didn’t address. He tells his story, somewhat reluctantly, from the living room of his blue clapboard home in Northampton, Mass.

‘This Is What Occupation Looks Like’

Boudreau arrived in Iraq in the March of 2004 at the age of 33 shortly before four American contractors were killed in Fallujah. His unit moved into position for a planned assault on the city.

“We were always getting shelled, constant rocket and mortar attacks,” Boudreau explained. “An IED, the roadside bomb, blew up right next to my vehicle and I was involved in some firefight that was pretty, you know, pretty intense.”

The constant shelling wore on Boudreau. But the daily duties of war, what he did to Iraqis, also took a toll on him.

“It’s like this accumulation of presence and searching and patrolling and detaining people who, maybe they’re guilty, maybe they’re not,” Boudreau said, his voice building. “Bringing them back and putting them in locked rooms or in cages or putting bags over their heads and flex cuffs on the hands and all of these things that we do, day after day after day. This is what occupation looks like. Searching this house, searching that house, patrolling through the neighborhoods, questioning people.”

Boudreau has thought a lot about one evening when, as darkness fell, dozens of Marines pulled up to a farm house, ordered the family outside, swept their home and found nothing.
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Wounded Times Blog • a few seconds ago This was understood back in 1984 when Point Man International Ministries began working with Vietnam Veterans. Bill Landreth, a Seattle police officer didn't want to keep arresting Vietnam veterans. He started Point Man and Chuck Dean, noted author and Vietnam veteran, took the idea further. Today Point Man is still taking care of the spiritual wound, or as Shay put it, the "moral injury" because that is exactly what this is. I am Coordinator for the State of Florida among other things because this works.

Jonathan Shay was not the first psychiatrist to talk about the connection between veterans and type of PTSD they suffer with but he is fact among the best.

Combat used to be hand-to-hand, face to face and it was brutal. While they did not have term for it back in Biblical times, it has been recored throughout the Bible. All one need do is read Psalms to discover how deeply they were changed by what they had to do.

Now there is not just the violence of bullets but the bombs planted in roads that causes a psychological wound as much as a physical one. These weapons have more than the purpose of killing, more than maiming, they are designed to cause fear that with every step there could be another one.

Soldiers see opponents die, but they also see civilians die along with their friends. They see them maimed. Then they take all that pain upon themselves. These people are unique because they were willing to die for the sake of someone else but they forget that when PTSD has invaded their soul. They believe they have become an evil creature failing to understand that had they been evil, they would not feel so much pain.

There is so much they do not understand but if they learn from people like Jonathan Shay and Point Man, they are much closer to the day when they are living better lives and healing from where they were sent.