Vietnam Medal of Honor fallen Marine being added to memorial

Marine's name to be added to California Vietnam Veterans Memorial
LA Now
By Tony Perry
November 23, 2013

An oversight left over from the Vietnam War is set to be corrected Saturday at a ceremony in Capitol Park in Sacramento.

The name of Marine Pfc. Ralph Henry Johnson will be added to the California Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
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U.S. Navy Destroyer To Be Named For Pfc. Ralph H. Johnson
Posted: Feb 15, 2012
By Department Of Veterans Affairs

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced earlier today that a new Arleigh Burker class guided-missile destroyer will be named the USS Ralph Johnson in recognition of the Charleston native’s sacrifices while serving with the U.S. Marines in Vietnam.

Pfc. Ralph H. Johnson was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously for throwing himself on a grenade after shouting a warning to his fellow Marines. His actions saved the life of platoon leader Lt. Clebe McClary who resides in Pawley’s Island and prevented the enemy from penetrating his sector of the patrol’s perimeter in the Quan Duc Valley in Vietnam. The Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center proudly bear his name.

Veterans Charities Helping All Generations

Veterans Charities Helping All Generations
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
November 24, 2013

There are many groups I belong to but my heart is devoted to Point Man International Ministries for several reasons. The first is Point Man has been leading the way on healing veterans as well as their families for almost 30 years.

"Since 1984, when Seattle Police Officer and Vietnam Veteran Bill Landreth noticed he was arresting the same people each night, he discovered most were Vietnam vets like himself that just never seemed to have quite made it home. He began to meet with them in coffee shops and on a regular basis for fellowship and prayer. Soon, Point Man Ministries was conceived and became a staple of the Seattle area. Bills untimely death soon after put the future of Point Man in jeopardy.

However, Chuck Dean, publisher of a Veterans self help newspaper, Reveille, had a vision for the ministry and developed it into a system of small groups across the USA for the purpose of mutual support and fellowship. These groups are known as Outposts. Worldwide there are hundreds of Outposts and Homefront groups serving the families of veterans.

PMIM is run by veterans from all conflicts, nationalities and backgrounds. Although, the primary focus of Point Man has always been to offer spiritual healing from PTSD, Point Man today is involved in group meetings, publishing, hospital visits, conferences, supplying speakers for churches and veteran groups, welcome home projects and community support.

Just about any where there are Vets there is a Point Man presence. All services offered by Point Man are free of charge."

Point Man
"It isn't about who got a parade! When I came home from Vietnam, my cousin, a WWII Vet invited me to a VFW meeting and I was all but ignored because I was not in a "real" war and so how could I have any kind of problem? All these guys stuck to each other like glue and pretty much ignored the "new" Vets. And you all remember how it felt. I see the same "new guys" 35 years later with the same baloney coming out of their mouths. How in the world can you say you support the troops and then ignore them when they get home?

Seems to me that no matter how many are killed, the survivors have an obligation to each other and to our posterity to insure the "new guys" don't go through the same stuff our dads, grandfathers and ourselves had to endure...

So to all you "NEW GUYS", Welcome Home. Thank you for a job well done. Your sacrifice is deeply appreciated here. We support you regardless of when or where you served; we understand what you've been through and what you're dealing with now. Continue through the site and get connected! Dana Morgan (President of PMIM)"

If you faced the horrors of war and wondered where God was, He was right there within the men and women who cared. He was in you. He is there now in the people of Point Man Ministries, waiting for you to remember you are loved.

We take care of the spiritual healing of all veterans and their families but what we don't do is raise funds. It seems as if every conversation we get into turns into being about helping and less about financial support for us. It doesn't cost a lot of money to show compassion, offer advice, lend an ear, say a prayer or comfort someone. It is offered for free.

Veterans and family members have the option of calling me, emailing or if they are local, meet face to face. While I have traveled to many states doing presentations, I am a lot more comfortable behind the camera covering veterans events right here in Central Florida. I am Florida State Coordinator and always looking for people to start Out Post for Veterans and Home Fronts for family members. If you are interested in leading a small group, please call me at 407-754-7526.

These events are wonderful but covering them has me talking to veterans from all generations and the one thing they all have in common is the issue of some charities taking care of all veterans while others do not. Point Man is for all generations and so is Vietnam Veterans of America
"Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another." Congressional Charter 1986

These are some the charities taking care of all veterans, no matter what war, no matter where they are, they are treated equally the way it should be. These are some of the other major groups.

American Legion

The U.S. Congress charters The American Legion. September 16, 1919

Disabled American Veterans

92 YEARS OF SERVICE We are dedicated to a single purpose: Empowering veterans to lead high-quality lives with respect and dignity. Congressional Charter June 17, 1932

Veterans of Foreign Wars

The VFW traces its roots back to 1899 when veterans of the Spanish-American War (1898) and the Philippine Insurrection (1899-1902) founded local organizations to secure rights and benefits for their service: Many arrived home wounded or sick. There was no medical care or veterans' pension for them,and they were left to care for themselves.
Congressional Charter 1936

Here is a list of other Congressional Charter Veterans Charities

If you are planning on donating to a charity make sure you know what they are doing with your money and if they take care of all generations or not. It is up to you where your heart leads you but as we enter into the "season of giving" remember these charities need help all year long because veterans are veterans 365 days a year, not just one.

Purple Heart Homes and volunteers renovate Vietnam Veteran's home

Vietnam veteran’s Canton home renovation nears completion
Foothills Media Group
Published: Friday, November 22, 2013
CANTON

Joe Recupero, like so many Vietnam veterans, was never really welcomed home after he served his tour of duty. That will all change for him on Saturday, Dec. 14 – when Purple Heart Homes and the community of Canton will welcome Recupero back to his newly renovated handicap accessible, safe barrier free home.

For several weeks volunteers from Travelers, church groups and work crews from Manchester have been helping Purple Heart Homes build an addition onto Recupero’s home including a handicap accessible bathroom and bedroom, a ramp out the front door and moved his driveway so he can gain easy entrance to his home at 7 Forest Lane in Canton.

Purple Heart Homes Regional Director Vicki Thomas and Project Manager Marlene Figueroa are holding a Canton community-wide meeting on Nov. 20 at 6 p.m. at the Canton Community Center Multi-Purpose room located at 40 Dwyer Ave.

At this meeting interested members of the community who want to learn how they can help plan and be a part of the welcome home ceremony are encouraged to attend. This will also be an opportunity to learn more about Purple Heart Homes and other upcoming projects in the area.
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Vietnam Veteran gets home makeover from Home Depot and army of volunteers

Gloversville vet gets life-changing addition to home
WNYT News
Subrina Dhammi
Posted at: 11/21/2013

GLOVERSVILLE - There's something going on in Gloversville Thursday that is changing the life of a veteran who lives there.

A lot of kind people are building something that will allow Charles Hart to leave his home on his home for the first time, in a very long time.

Some pieces of wood, saws and nails outside, and a veteran, moved to tears inside.

“I can't describe it, I'm getting my freedom back,” says this Vietnam Veteran.

Charles Hart is getting something today that will change his life.

Volunteers from Home Depot are building a ramp on the outside of his Gloversville home that will allow the double amputee to leave his home for the first time, on his own, in a very long time.

“It's hard to keep from crying about it, you have no idea what it's like to be stuck here,” says Hart.

Charles served in Vietnam back in the early 1970's.
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VA To Resume PTSD Service Dog Study

VA To Resume PTSD Service Dog Study
Forbes
Rebecca Ruiz, Contributor
November 22, 2013

The Department of Veterans Affairs plans to restart a study evaluating the use of service dogs to assist veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.

The study was suspended in August 2012, for the second time, when VA alleged that a vendor violated its contract and endangered the health of its dogs. At the time, according to my reporting for The Atlantic, VA had paired 17 veterans with service dogs. The goal of the study, which was mandated by Congress in 2009, was to serve as many as 200 veterans.

VA expected to resume the study in less than a year, following an investigation and changes to the study design.

In early November of this year, the agency indicated it was ready to revive the study when it published a request for market research from service dog organizations. Gina Jackson, a national VA spokeswoman, confirmed to me that the study will be restarted, with the first new dog pairings scheduled to take place as soon as May 2014.

The appeal, otherwise known as a “request for information,” indicates that VA is prepared to make significant changes to the study.

The contract for service dog providers, for instance, will be five years instead of three. One of the new stipulations requires dogs to meet standards set by Assistance Dogs International or the American Kennel Club. There are now strict rules prohibiting the non-profit provider from requesting financial support or donations from a veteran, a concern that had been raised in the study’s previous iteration.

The study will also include emotional support dogs in addition to service dogs. The former may have a therapeutic effect, but is not covered by the American Disabilities Act, which guarantees the right of a service dog owner to bring his or her animal into private or public facilities.

Veterans who use PTSD-trained service dogs say the animals help them manage the condition by performing tasks like waking a veteran from a nightmare or creating a buffer in large crowds or public places.
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The 'Easy' Cure for PTSD? The Cruelty of Shallow Religious Answers

The 'Easy' Cure for PTSD? The Cruelty of Shallow Religious Answers
Huffington Post
Rita Nakashima Brock, Ph. D.
Director, The Soul Repair Center
Posted: 11/22/2013

Got PTSD? If you have enough faith, if you truly believe, televangelist Kenneth Copeland asserts you can get over it, right now! The Bible tells you so.

In an interview broadcast on Veterans Day, Copeland asserted that the biblical God assures the Israelites preparing for battle that they will be "guiltless before the Lord and before the nation" (Numbers 32:22). Copeland insisted, "Any of you suffering from PTSD... [you] get rid of that right now.

You don't take drugs to get rid of it. It doesn't take psychology. That promise right there will get rid of it." Evangelical David Barton chimed in, saying, "You're on an elevated platform up here. You're a hero... When you do it God's way, not only are you guiltless for having [participated in war]... you're esteemed."

So... are you feeling better yet? No? You're not the only one.

When Bill Gibson, a VA psychologist, related the Copeland-Barton interview to members of a combat PTSD group he facilitates, he received stunned silence. Finally, one Iraqi war vet said, "I wish it was that easy -- do people think I want to feel this way?" And a Vietnam War veteran added, "The only person who would say something like that is someone who has never been in the kinds of situations we've been in."

Barton and Copeland insult all veterans with PTSD. PTSD is not the result of a "faith deficit disorder," as Allen Clark asserts on his website CombatFaith.com. PTSD is real, and it is in the brain.

Almost 4,000 years ago, Egyptian writers described PTSD symptoms, and in Achilles in Vietnam, psychiatrist Jonathan Shay finds in Homer's Iliad a profound understanding of PTSD symptoms -- and the toll they exact from its sufferers.
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I was furious when I read about what these people had to say. OMG! Preachers blame veterans for PTSD on Veterans' Day

20 When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city. 21 They devoted the city to the Lord and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it—men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys. Joshua 6

but that was just a small part of what Sunday School songs leave out when talking about the battle of Jericho. They slaughtered everyone in Jericho. Old men, women and children. That was what war was like back then and for Joshua, there were many, many more. It was not until the Psalms of David that it became clear the price these ancient war fighters paid.

They were in war all the time. Few soldiers escaped the retirement of the grave.

The people spouting off about lack of faith having anything to do with PTSD are false preachers that Chris warned about. The fact they grieve so much is testament to the magnificence of their soul.

To survive the worst humans can do and still be able to shed a tear, reach out a hand to comfort anyone is beyond reason. To grieve so much that they end up with PTSD proves God was there with them all the time. If they see the wonder of their souls/spirits and the power they have within them to love, to give so much of themselves that they were willing to die for someone else, they heal.

Leaders, or false preachers, push them away from the healing power already within them and that is the worst sin of all.

They had to train hard to stop being a civilian and they learned it well. Then no one got them to understand training to adapt afterwards was going to be a harder thing to train for. It takes work to heal and they can come out on the other side better than they were before but they are still trying to go back to the way they were before. They need to make peace with it and that, that is one of the hardest things for them to do.

So far too many are not finding what they need to heal and it is all right there inside of them just as PTSD is but they need help to get it reconnected again.

THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE

I saw it today and it is stunning. Glad they showed how tough she is as well as human, afraid but doesn't give up or in on what she believes. I was also interested in the part she has to deal with the memories of the first game. Amazing! Better than the first.


Katniss proved a woman without a bodybuilder body could be strong and endure but didn't have to stay so strong she couldn't cry. She showed that love isn't perfect and trust isn't always easy. That just because she made it out of the games the first time didn't mean what happened during the game left her.

Documentary looks at Native American traditions and PTSD

Healing PTSD is about as basic and natural as it can be but above all, close to free. It is as old as when the first war and has been recorded in the pages of the Bible but while you won't find the term we use today, you can see it in the writings of those who struggled with it.

Native Americans have also been dealing with PTSD for generations with sweat lodges, helping to find peace and honor with all living things on this earth. Much of what is done connects the veteran with what is already inside of them. Much like my job, I just help them find what is already there and has been there all along in their souls.

“Guilt and shame are the biggest things guys bring back with them,” Telonidis said. Often, veterans with PTSD have one particular image that is frightening and they relive it over and over. Sometimes it’s the death of a colleague or friend or a memory of killing an enemy.

The medicine man instructs the veteran to bring the spirits of the people in those memories with them into the sweat lodge. Then, he tells the veterans to have the conversation the veteran has been wanting to have with them all these years. Veterans are encouraged to talk to those people and tell them how they feel, and to ask forgiveness if they feel they need to."

The stories veterans tell me are all different but they have one thing in common. Their stories all involve forgiveness. Either forgiving someone else or forgiving themselves. Once that has been achieved, they begin to really heal no longer burden with guilt or hatred.

As long as they take care of their spiritual needs along with their minds and bodies, they heal and live better lives. As for what works, that all depends on what they already believe.

Documentary looks at Native American traditions and PTSD
Elko Daily Free Press
By Elaine Bassier
November 22, 2013

ELKO — Native American traditions may be the key to helping modern-day veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Taki Telonidis, the producer for the Western Folklife Center’s media office in Salt Lake City, has been working on a documentary called “Healing the Warrior’s Heart” that explores the ways some Native American tribes treat their veterans when they return from war.

Telonidis said around two million Americans have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some come home fine, others have life-changing injuries and “many are coming home with invisible drama,” or PTSD.

Some tribes refer to PTSD as a wounding of the soul, Telonidis said. Part of the veteran’s spirit is still on the battlefield, and he said the tribes have traditions that can heal his or her heart.

“What they’re trying to do is bring their spirit home,” Telonidis said.

He said a lot of Native Americans have lost their connection to the warrior spirituality, but he is seeing a revitalization of that idea. The traditional healing methods are not only working for some Native American soldiers — Telonidis has seen the method work for other veterans suffering from PTSD.

Telonidis is studying two specific locations for his film: the George Wallen Veteran Affairs Center in Salt Lake and the Blackfeet reservation in Montana and Canada.
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Gay Army couple says chaplain barred them from marriage retreat

Are military chaplains chaplains first or soldiers first? That is a simple question that has to be answered once and for all, and I do mean all. Not all Christians agree on anything and that needs to be clarified. Some have problems with gay people while others have no problem at all.. Who gets to decided which denomination wins? Who gets to decide which doctrine is "worthy" and which is not? Here is a pretty good list of churches and gay people.

But the military as part of the government these men and women vow to defend says this, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." In other words anything dealing with the freewill choice to believe or not shall not be taken out of their hands. It is their right to not join a church or group just as it is their right to decide on their own what they believe. The war on faith happens when one group tries to control everyone else but then screams their rights are being taken away from them. Nice little trick.

Gay Army couple says chaplain barred them from marriage retreat
Military Times
By Joe Gould
Staff writer
November 21, 2013

A same-sex couple at Fort Irwin, Calif., says they have been denied participation in an Army marriage enrichment program because of their sexual orientation, even though they are legally married.

Shakera Leigh Halford said her wife, a soldier at the post, approached a chaplain at Fort Irwin about participating in a “Strong Bonds” retreat at the base but was told the couple is “ineligible” because of their sexual orientation.

“I’m very sad and disappointed,” Halford said in a statement. “To know there are valuable resources available to soldiers and their families to help us through the challenges of military life, and then be told that we aren’t eligible because of our sexual orientation ... it hurts. It really hurts. We’re at a pretty secluded base and there aren’t many other resources out there for us, so what are we supposed to do?”

The retreat is one of the many services run by the Army’s Chaplain Corps. The Southern Baptist Convention, which provides the largest share of active-duty military chaplains, has barred members from taking part in weddings, counseling sessions and couples retreats for same-sex couples. Similar restrictions apply to Roman Catholic chaplains.
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Soldiers' Angels charging volunteers to volunteer

Charity gets backlash over fees charged to volunteers
Army Times
By Karen Jowers
Staff writer
November 23, 2013

A charity formed in 2003 to send care packages to deployed troops is in turmoil as many of its volunteers protest a new policy forcing them to donate money each month in order to participate.

Soldiers’ Angels on Nov. 1 began requiring volunteers to donate $1 a month, preferably by credit card, in order to receive access to lists of troops, including chaplains, who have requested packages, cards and letters.

“I don’t see why we have to pay to volunteer since we pay for all the stuff that we put into the packages, and the postage to send those packages to the troops,” said Cyndi Fisher, who has been sending packages on behalf of the charity since 2006.

“When we signed up originally, we had to be verified, and most of us have been doing this for years,” Fisher said.

Soldiers’ Angels’ Chief Executive Officer Ann Davidson referred questions about the new policty to Amy Palmer, a volunteer for the group.
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