This Suicide Prevention Month, Show Veterans They Matter

All of this is fine and sounds really good but regular folks don't buy it anymore. We're tired of hearing about how much the troops and veterans matter when clearly, they just don't matter enough.

They didn't matter to the DOD when they were discharged under personality disorders and left with nothing. They didn't mater when they were committing suicide at higher rates after the DOD pushed the program doing the most damage to them. On one hand you have the DOD telling they are worth billions a year of special training to make them "resilient" and then on the other hand you have General Gen. Raymond Odierno coming out and saying exactly how he feels about the troops he commands. They are not from supportive families like his and they lack intestinal fortitude. On one hand they say they care but they didn't stop this program.

The VA has the same problem because they say they care but they don't stand up for the veterans coming home and telling them what the DOD just put them through with this programming.

So as good as this piece is, it just does not add up to facts. Many people care, but they just don't care enough.

It Matters: This Suicide Prevention Month, Show Veterans They Matter
Huffington Post
Dr. Janet Kemp
National Director for Suicide Prevention and Community Engagement, Department of Veterans Affairs
Posted: 09/30/2013

Family matters. Friendship matters. Support matters. Every Veteran matters.

For each of us, life is given meaning by a variety of different things that matter: family, friends, relationships, job or interests. And though these things may differ for each of us, they are also what connect us to each other and provide purpose and inspiration each day.

Sometimes, stress, trauma or everyday demands may lead us to forget the things that matter. For Veterans the added stressors of readjustment and combat experience add to the problem. For some Veterans there are added complications such as PTSD or Brain Injuries. Sometimes, something as simple as talking to a Veteran can help them open the door and rediscover what matters most in their life. Whether the Veteran you know has just returned home, or they served years ago, you can be there to support them and help them remember what matters. You can provide that bridge from hopelessness and despair to treatment and hope for the future.

September is Suicide Prevention Month and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of Defense (DoD) have chosen the theme It Matters to encourage Veterans and their loved ones to focus on the things that give life meaning--the things that matter most to them. For each of us, that represents something different. For me, it's spending time with my father, a World War II Veteran, and honoring him by dedicating myself to the VA services that support Veterans in crisis. For others, it may be spending time with their family and friends, playing a round of golf, creating a delicious meal or participating in community events. During this Suicide Prevention Month, I encourage each of you to reach out to a Veteran you know and show them They Matter.

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VA’s opiate overload feeds veterans’ addictions, overdose deaths

VA’s opiate overload feeds veterans’ addictions, overdose deaths
Aaron Glantz
CENTER FOR INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING
September 30, 2013

Before dawn, a government van picked up paratrooper Jeffrey Waggoner for the five-hour drive to a Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in southern Oregon. His orders: detox from a brutal addiction to painkillers.

He had only the clothes on his back, his watch, an MP3 player and a two-page pain contract the Army made him sign, a promise to get clean.

But instead of keeping Waggoner away from his vice, medical records show the VA hospital in Roseburg kept him so doped up that he could barely stay awake. Then, inexplicably, the VA released him for the weekend with a cocktail of 19 prescription medications, including 12 tablets of highly addictive oxycodone.

Three hours later, Waggoner, 32, was dead of a drug overdose, slumped in a heap in front of his room at the Sleep Inn motel.

“As a parent, you’d want to know how this happened to your child,” said his father, Greg Waggoner. “You send your child to a hospital to get well, not to die.”

Jeffrey Waggoner’s end and easy access to the narcotics that killed him have become tragically common, The Center for Investigative Reporting has found.
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Reminder of the Walter Reed story that broke hearts around the country

And This Was Called Care? The Walter Reed Story
New York Times
By MICHAEL WINERIP
Published: September 30, 2013

As this week’s Retro Report video explains, the biggest scandal in recent times involving the care of wounded American troops was actually worsened because medicine on the battlefront had made such remarkable advances.

Compared with service members who served in Vietnam, troops sustaining combat wounds in Iraq and Afghanistan had roughly twice the chance of surviving. That meant many were airlifted back to this country with such severe injuries they needed the most sophisticated medical and rehabilitative care the country had to offer.

But once they became outpatients, thousands of service members entered a system that had not kept up with the times, that was understaffed, poorly organized and generally second rate.

The story broke in The Washington Post in the winter of 2007, with a series about Walter Reed Army Medical Center. While the most obvious shortcomings were the physical conditions of the hospital housing for the soldiers — peeling paint, crumbling walls, mold and rats — the more damning problem was an understaffed medical system overseen by a dysfunctional bureaucracy.
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Maj. Gen. Charles M. Gurganus and Maj. Gen. Gregg A. Sturdevant fired!

Two Marine generals fired for security lapses in Afghanistan
Washington Post
By Rajiv Chandrasekaran
September 30, 2013

The commandant of the Marine Corps on Monday took the extraordinary step of firing two generals for not adequately protecting a giant base in southern Afghanistan that Taliban fighters stormed last year, resulting in the deaths of two Marines and the destruction of a half a dozen U.S. fighter jets.

It is the first time since the Vietnam War that a general, let alone two, has been sacked for negligence after a successful enemy attack. But the assault also was unprecedented: Fifteen insurgents entered a NATO airfield and destroyed almost an entire squadron of Marine AV-8B Harrier jets, the largest single loss of allied materiel in the almost 12-year Afghan war.

The commandant, Gen. James F. Amos, said the two generals did not deploy enough troops to guard the base and take other measures to prepare for a ground attack by the Taliban. The two, Maj. Gen. Charles M. Gurganus, the top Marine commander in southern Afghanistan at the time, and Maj. Gen. Gregg A. Sturdevant, the senior Marine aviation officer in the area, “failed to exercise the level of judgment expected of commanders of their rank,” Amos said.
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Last day of Suicide Awareness Month

Last day of Suicide Awareness Month
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
September 30, 2013

Army Gen. Raymond T. Odierno recently told The Huffington Post something that was known a long time ago. The military thinks that the soldiers simply lacked training and they could teach them a lesson in being resilient. They came up with Comprehensive Soldier Fitness after they failed with a program called Battlemind.

CSF was based on a research project to address self confidence in school aged kids, not troops heading into combat. They thought it was the answer to preventing suicides and PTSD.

The Huffington Post did a fabulous job trying to bring attention to these tragic ends of soldiers lives all month. What they missed was the cause of most of the damage being done. The military told the soldiers they could train to become resilient. What the soldiers heard was that if they ended up with PTSD it was their fault for not training right and being mentally weak.

David Wood wrote in his article Army Chief Ray Odierno Warns Military Suicides 'Not Going To End' After War Is Over

The Army's chief of staff, Odierno is charged with recruiting, training and equipping the 1.1 million active-duty, reserve and National Guard soldiers. He's also responsible for the health and well-being of Army troops and their families.

In the article Odierno said something that confirms the soldiers deepest held belief and is more responsible for them not seeking help.

"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."

"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."

Odierno blamed the troops and their families when it was obvious years ago this program was to blame. They pushed it no matter what the deadly results were.

Last year was the deadliest year for suicides on record. Years after this attempted began and after the withdrawal of many forces leaving less in combat and less in military while adding to the veterans population. More suicides and less serving didn't seem to inform the military they lacked the intelligence come to the obvious conclusion that this programming was behind it. So they pushed it harder and pushed soldiers over the edge.

They were coming home and apologizing for grieving. They said "I didn't train right" and that they "were not supposed to show weakness" so they didn't feel worthy of much at all.

We saw reports out of Oklahoma and Arizona that veteran suicides rates were double the civilian population. We also were fully aware of the fact that veterans are only 7% of the US population but across the country there are at least 22 suicides a day. The last report out of the VA on attempted suicides was that there were 1,000 veterans attempting suicide every month.

While most of the press has taken little interest in all of this, the truth has been out there for years.

I made this video in 2007. There was hope back then that awareness would save their lives. Last year, that hope slipped away. Now as the month of awareness comes to an end, we have lost many more lives but the DOD doesn't seem to think this deserves serious attention. Had they understood how this hits so many, they would have released the Suicide Event Report for 2012 and the suicide monthly report for August by now.

Suicides are at an all time high. During and after Vietnam, it was easy to hide the true count of those who sacrificed their lives, one way of the other, but now there is a way to track them across the country. Their deaths should never be ignored. These over 100 names were taken from news reports. PTSD was at the root of most of them.

More assistance on PTSD offered after another suicide

Assistance available for those with PTSD
The Scribe
By Nick Beadleston
Published: Monday, September 30, 2013

The Colorado Springs Police Department responded to a report of a shooting in the 4700 block of Rusina Road on Sept. 13. Officers arrived to find a 27-year-old male dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Barbara Miller, a spokeswoman with CSPD, later confirmed the individual to be Eric Diederich.

Diederich was a grad student, attending UCCS in pursuit of a criminal justice degree. He was also a veteran, having served with the Army’s 7-10 Cavalry Troop in Afghanistan.

According to a 2012 Department of Defense report, data collected from 2010 indicates approximately 22 veterans commit suicide every day.

Many that return home have varying degrees of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which “can occur after someone goes through a traumatic event like combat, assault, or disaster,” according to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs.

Susan Diederich, mother of Eric Diederich, stated that her family was unaware if her son was suffering from PTSD. “We have a lot of questions and no answers.”

UCCS is home to more than 700 veterans, as well as many additional active duty military members and students relying on family GI benefits.

Phillip Morris, director of the Office of Veteran and Military Student Affairs, said his office is working to promote awareness of PTSD and a cohesive veteran culture on campus.
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Murder-suicide leaves Fayetteville police searching for answers

Murder-suicide leaves Fayetteville police searching for answers
WRAL News
September 28, 2013


FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — A former Fort Bragg soldier and father of two who police say fatally shot two of his neighbors and their dog Saturday night before turning the gun on himself suffered from severe post-traumatic stress disorder, his wife said Sunday.

"I feel that it was just eating him alive," Danica Thomas, told WRAL News. "I am truly and deeply sorry for the families that suffer because of this."

Lt. Todd Joyce of the Fayetteville Police Department said police responded to 7905 Gaza Court in the Farmington subdivision in Fayetteville around 8:15 p.m.

Saturday after Thomas called 911 asking for help because her husband, Allen Thomas, was in their front yard firing a handgun.

While responding to the call, police were notified about a nearby shooting at 6713 Potters Court, where they found Ann Awaldt, 68, dead and her husband, Todd Awaldt, 48, seriously injured.

He was taken to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center, where he later died.

About a half-mile away at Christina Street and Hoke Loop Road, investigators later found Allen Thomas, 29, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

"It is a random act," Joyce said. "Detectives believe the suspect did not know the victims."
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Combat wounded Afghanistan veteran gets new home and hope in Florida

Disabled Army veteran gets donated house in Parkland
Sun Sentinel
By Lisa J. Huriash
September 28, 2013

A wounded Army veteran who once camped in the mountains of Afghanistan will soon sleep in a $450,000 house in Parkland that will allow him to grab food from the pantry and take a shower without sitting on the floor.

Army Staff Sgt. Brian Mast lost both his legs above the knee and his left index finger to a bomb. But the Michigan man found new hope and a new home thanks to a charity and donations meant for wounded warriors.

Mast's journey to South Florida began when he was a kid on Christmas vacation in Fort Lauderdale. After high school, he enrolled in the Army and was assigned to the 841st Combat Engineer Battalion in Fort Lauderdale.

Years later, Mast was working as a bomb tech clearing the way for soldiers to move into a village near Kandahar, Afghanistan.

"I didn't find anything," Mast, now 33, recalls of his search for explosives in September 2010. "I stood up and I took one or two steps more and found what I had looked for.
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Wounded Afghanistan veteran gets new home and hope

Wounded veteran given new home in Kansas
KSN.com
By Justin Kraemer
Updated: Sunday, September 29, 2013

ANDALE, Kansas — Sgt. James “Matt” Amos used prosthetic legs and a cane to walk awestruck through his new home in Andale, built by local volunteers and a charity based out of Massachusetts for the wounded veteran.

“I really don’t think you can put into words,” said Amos. “It’s just amazing, the support of the community.”

Amos was wounded in action in Afghanistan in June 2011. The Marine lost both of his legs and shattered his pelvis.

He’s spent the last two years in California recovering through a dozen surgeries. Both Matt and his wife, Audrie are 1999 graduates of Andale High School and decided to return to Kansas when Homes for Our Troops contacted the family about building them a home.

Dozens of volunteers who hadn’t seen the Amos’ in a decade helped build the home. Cargill Beef donated $100,000.

“Folks in these communities genuinely love these men and women who have been wounded and they want to take care of them,” said Larry Gill with Homes for Our Troops.
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VFW Post 4287 shows seniors still love to dance

One of the most active VFW Posts in Central Florida had a fundraiser last night to fight cancer. I don't know if I had more fun being there or doing the edits today. Aside from being a great group of people, they have supported my ministry for a couple of years now and have been a true blessing.

VFW Post 4287 Ladies Auxiliary Cancer Fundraiser was held Saturday September 28 and seniors proved that you are never too old to have a great time. A 93 year young lady danced to YMCA and the Twist. So did a Vietnam Veteran survivor of Hamburger Hill. Great time with Carlo Lovasco providing the music.

Look for part two.

These are some of the other great moments. When you see what was done at the end keep in mind that every time this groups has an event, this is how they end it.