Central Florida Lost a Hero to Heroes

UPDATE

The Legacy Tribute Event to honor the Founder of Operation Safety 91, Edward Ganster, will be held at Henry Chapel on the Campus of 1st Baptist Orlando on Friday, July 18th, 2014, at 1:00PM. There is an open invitation to the Responders of Central Florida who have been touched by his life and work to attend this Memorial, to pay him the tribute he always paid them.

There will be no Reception following the Event. In lieu of flowers, Operation Safety 91 would gratefully receive donations for Psalm 91 cards  to expand and continue our mission, and to continue Ed's Legacy . If you wish to donate, click here.

A hero to heroes passed away in Central Florida. Ed Ganster died on July 3th, a day before we celebrate average men and women rising above average and giving this nation everything they had to give.

If you are a veteran, in the military, police officer, firefighter or EMT, Ed Ganster is a name you know all too well. Ed and his wife Mary became heroes to the heroes honoring the men and women putting their lives on the line everyday. Each year they honored all of Florida's finest with a fabulous luncheon but that was not all.

OPERATION SAFETY 91's Founder, Edward Ganster, is celebrating his 4th of July in Heaven! Ed passed to the next life yesterday 7/3/2014 after a 34 day hospitalization in which he proved his faith in Jesus and his courage. God touched the lives of literally countless men and women Responders across America and beyond through the life and efforts of this one man.

Ed founded OPERATION SAFETY 91, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, more than six years ago, and planned and hosted six outstanding Annual Tribute Events in Orlando to honor Central Florida Responders: Firefighters, EMS, Law Enforcement, Corrections, and Military. Under his leadership and thanks to the generosity of the friends of OS91, to date approximately 673,000 Psalm 91 cards have been made and shipped to Responders in 44 States and 8 foreign countries free of charge.

Operation Safety 91 4th Annual Tribute to First Responders from Avalon Productions 2 years ago

This is a highlight reel of an event held at the Rosen Centre Hotel in Orlando, Florida to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the 911 attacks.

Operation Safety 91 4th Annual Tribute to First Responders from Avalon Productions on Vimeo.

Oregon VA taking donations for suicide prevention?

WTF! Now they want donations? For what? Suicide Prevention? Any idea how much money has been spent on what they have already been doing thanks to Congress funding what did not work? Read my book THE WARRIOR SAW, SUICIDES AFTER WAR, and know what they don't want you to remember. Everything in it comes from the press and government reports.

ODVA now accepting online donations for four funds benefiting Oregon veterans
Corvallis Gazette Times
July 2, 2014

SALEM - The Oregon Department of Veterans' Affairs (ODVA) is now accepting online donations to support four funds aimed at improving programs and supporting efforts that benefit Oregon veterans.

One of the funds, the Veteran Suicide Awareness and Prevention Fund, was established in 2013 when the Oregon Legislature passed SB 762 creating a public information campaign to raise awareness and prevent suicide by veterans in Oregon. Part of the awareness effort partnered ODVA with the Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles and the Oregon Charitable Checkoff Commission to raise money for this effort.

Federal U.S. efforts have also turned to raising awareness about suicides by veterans. In 2007, a law required the Department of Veterans Affairs to increase its suicide prevention efforts by educating the public about suicide risk factors, providing additional mental health resources for veterans and tracking veteran suicides in each state.

In Oregon, between 2008 and 2012, suicide rates among veterans were significantly higher compared to non-veterans. According to the Suicide Among Oregon Veterans report published by the Oregon Health Authority in May 2014, more than 150 Oregon veterans or service members took their lives in 2012. Nationally, it is estimated that there are 22 veteran suicides per day, nearly one every 65 minutes.
read more here

Veteran died waiting for ambulance AT THE VA!

UPDATE
Veteran's family sues Albuquerque VA in cafeteria death case
Wrongful death suit filed Wednesday
KOAT News
Kristen Swanson
Jul 30, 2014

UPDATES

Albuquerque VA Hospital reviews 911 policy after vet death

He was a Vietnam veteran, Jim Napoleon Garcia.

Veteran dies 500 yards from VA hospital emergency room
ASSOCIATED PRESS
By Russell Contreras
JULY 04, 2014

Lorenzo Calbert, 65, a US Army veteran of the Vietnam War, said it was sad a fellow veteran died so close to where he could have received help.

‘‘There’s no reason for it,’’ he said. ‘‘They have so many workers. They could have put him on the gurney and run faster than that ambulance.’’

ALBUQUERQUE — A veteran who collapsed in an Albuquerque Veterans Affairs hospital cafeteria — 500 yards from the emergency room — died after waiting 30 minutes for an ambulance, officials confirmed Thursday.

It took half an hour for the ambulance to be dispatched and take the man from one building to the other, which is about a five-minute walk, officials at the hospital said.

Kirtland Air Force Medical Group personnel performed CPR until the ambulance arrived, VA spokeswoman Sonja Brown said.

Staff followed policy in calling 911 when the man collapsed Monday, she said. ‘‘Our policy is under expedited review,’’ Brown said. That policy is a local one, she said.
read more here

Navy Reservists Deployed to Afghanistan Getting Chief Anchors

Nine Navy Reservists Deployed to Afghanistan Selected to Receive Chief Anchors
Story Number: NNS140703-01
Release Date: 7/3/2014
By Lt. Cmdr. Jennifer Cragg
International Security Assistance Force Headquarters Public Affairs

KABUL, Afghanistan (NNS) -- For nine First Class Petty Officers serving in Afghanistan, the news that they will be promoted to Chief Petty Officer this September is a dream come true and reward for years of hard work.

Chief (Sel) Logistics Specialist Douglas Cowles, a Navy Reservist, assigned to International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) represents one of the nine selectees. Cowles reflected on what the chief anchors mean to him.

"Over the next two and a half months I will gain an understanding of what the chief anchors mean," said Cowles, who already knew the anchors signified "greater responsibility."

NAVCENT Forward Headquarters Command Master Chief (AW) Tim Rixson, who is finishing his twilight tour in the Navy, looks forward to participating in CPO 365 Phase 2.

"I have been a chief for the past 14 years and the chief selection process has always been a proud moment either here or anywhere in the world," said Rixson.

Senior Chief Personnel Specialist (SW/AW) Raina Hockenberry, assigned to ISAF's J1 Deputy Advisor Team for the Ministry of Interior and Navy Element senior enlisted leader, is honored to participate in CPO 365 Phase 2 while forward deployed.

"I remember many Chiefs who have guided me along the way and to be able to play that role for newly selected Chiefs is an honor," said Hockenberry. "To be able to conduct Phase 2 while forward deployed is just another example of Navy Chiefs getting it done. The best part is getting to share our process with the other branches and nations."

Hockenberry, who mentors and advises enlisted Sailors stationed at ISAF HQ, is impressed by their versatility and dedication to the mission.

"Our Sailors are amazing. We take them away from the ships, squadrons and Naval Operation Support Centers and ask them to be a sand Sailor," said Hockenberry. "They not only do it, but they do it so well. I have spoken with many of our counterparts in the Army, Air Force and Marines and the Navy is the only branch that devotes an entire training phase to prepare our Sailors for the position of a Chief Petty Officer or Non-Commissioned Officer."
read more here

I filmed this a couple of years ago and will give you some idea of what this is all about.

7 new Navy Chief Petty Officers were pinned today in Orlando at the Reserve Center with a couple of really funny moments.

Florida Veteran meets with VA official he was accused of threatening

Veteran meets with VA official he was accused of threatening
Tribune Staff
By Howard Altman
Published: July 2, 2014

Five days after armed agents showed up at his house investigating whether he made a threat against a top local Veterans Administration official, St. Petersburg veteran Michael Henry met with that official Wednesday morning to discuss his care.

The meeting with Suzanne Klinker, director of the C.W. Bill Young VA Medical Center, came after agents from the VA's Office of Inspector General visited Henry on Friday to determine if he had threatened Klinker. No charges were ultimately filed, according to a spokesman for that office.

The visit by the agents, and the meeting with Klinker, were both prompted by Henry's complaints about the level of care he is receiving at the hospital.

Friday afternoon, Henry called the VA crisis line to complain that he was experiencing a delay in care.

About 90 minutes later, two agents and two St. Petersburg police officers arrived at his house. A police report states that the agents were investigating Henry because he threatened the VA over the phone, telling an employee with the agency “that he knew where Director Suzanne Klinker lived, gave her address, and also said the name of her son who lives at the residence.”

The U.S. Attorney's Office declined to press charges, according to the inspector general's office.

After Wednesday's meeting with Klinker, scheduled Monday after the Tribune contacted the Young center with questions about the threat allegations, Henry apologized to Klinker.

“I said I was sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable or made you feel weird,” Henry said he told Klinker. “I sincerely apologize for doing that. I didn't mean anything by it; I just want my health care and to be treated properly.”
read more here

Call for Amnesty on PTSD Bad Paper Discharges

Studies indicate that more than 100,000 veterans have been discharged from the military since 2001 with highly prejudicial service characterizations of "Under Other Than Honorable Conditions" (OTH), typically for "commission of a serious offense" or a "pattern of misconduct" while in uniform.

The Case for "Amnesty" for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans with PTSD and "Bad Paper" Discharges
JURIST
Guest Columnist Raymond J. Toney of the Law Offices of Raymond J. Toney discusses the case for Amnesty for soldiers with PTSD who received other than honorable discharges...
2 July 2014

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan saw the participation of more than two million American service members.

Over 6,500 died and more than 50,000 were wounded [PDF]. Those statistics do not include the tens of thousands more who suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a disorder characterized by behavior changes, sometimes extreme. Common manifestations of the condition include aggression, impulsivity, hyper-vigilance and substance abuse.

The VA estimates that up to 18 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans suffer from PTSD. The American Journal of Public Health reported findings that 39 percent of returning veterans abuse alcohol. Many, undoubtedly, if not most, are self-medicating, a recipe for disaster. Alcohol abuse is strongly correlated with criminal conduct.

read more here

Fireworks too much like "bombs bursting in air"

For some veterans, fireworks too much like "bombs bursting in air"
KPAX News
by Jacqueline Quynh
8 hours 34 minutes ago

It's seems ironic, that those who may have fought the hardest to keep our country safe and free, may have a hard time celebrating this holiday. But loud noise could potentially trigger flashbacks.

Even if you have never seen combat, if you've ever heard fireworks before, you can imagine it sounds a lot like gun fire. And that sound will be hard to escape this 4th of July weekend, and that's why some veterans who have seen combat have a hard time coping this week.

"It sounded kind of like being back on the airport in Mosul Iraq and having incoming fire," said Brian Becker an army combat veteran with the Missoula Vet Center, who's served tours in Iraq. He remembers one year when a firework display he was enjoying with family turned out to be too much.

"I remember specifically just sitting down kind of putting my head in my hands and just kind of waiting it out," said Becker.
read more here


Veterans and the Rockets Red Glare

Veterans and the Rockets Red Glare

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
July 3, 2014

The 4th of July is tomorrow and tonight many will head out to see fireworks but many more will avoid them. Veterans don't have to see fireworks to remember but since men were willing to risk their lives for this nation, it has been a cause of celebrating what Americans have without honestly thinking about the price paid by them.

Thought to be invented by the Chinese 2,000 years ago, fireworks have been a tradition of America's Fourth of July celebrations since the country's inception, with the founding fathers themselves seeing fireworks fit to mark the birth of their nation.

In a July 3, 1776 letter to his wife, John Adams declared that the signing of the Declaration of Independence should be a "great anniversary Festival" and "solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more."

It was not the last time average citizens would rise above their own needs for the sake of the country.

The Star Spangled Banner On September 14, 1814, U.S. soldiers at Baltimore’s Fort McHenry raised a huge American flag to celebrate a crucial victory over British forces during the War of 1812. The sight of those “broad stripes and bright stars” inspired Francis Scott Key to write a song that eventually became the United States national anthem. Key’s words gave new significance to a national symbol and started a tradition through which generations of Americans have invested the flag with their own meanings and memories.

The Star Spangled Banner will be played as always as the fireworks explode in the air but few will think of why or what price was paid.

The Star-Spangled Banner
O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hail’d at the twilight’s last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight
O’er the ramparts we watch’d were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there,
O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep
Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream,
’Tis the star-spangled banner - O long may it wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore,
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion
A home and a Country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash’d out their foul footstep’s pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave,
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O thus be it ever when freemen shall stand
Between their lov’d home and the war’s desolation!
Blest with vict’ry and peace may the heav’n rescued land
Praise the power that hath made and preserv’d us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto - “In God is our trust,”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

As we've seen throughout our history, there sadly may never be a last time citizens will be asked to pay any price to retain this nation of ours.

Think of them tonight and tomorrow and why we have reason to celebrate what they did for us. Understand that for them, they will remember those who did not come home again. They will remember friends long gone. They will remember the terror they survived as real rockets and bombs exploded while they were far from home. Then think of the veterans with the war still fresh inside of them everyday. If you are not a veteran, thank one today for what we celebrate tomorrow. If you have Combat PTSD, this video was done for you.
Hero After War
When it comes to the wound of war that leaves a scar on the soul, Vietnam veterans have been there fighting to make sure it is treated and helping to heal all generations of veterans. Brothers taking care of brothers and sisters like no one else can understand.

EPA: Fort Carson dumped 143,000 pounds of chemicals into Colorado waterways

News 5 Investigates: 143,000 pounds of chemicals from Fort Carson found in Colorado waterways
KOAA News
Eric Ross
July 2, 2014

Data obtained from the Environmental Protection Agency shows nearly 850,000 pounds of toxic chemicals ended up in Colorado rivers and streams in 2012.

News 5 uncovers one of the largest offenders is Fort Carson. Digging deeper, we learned the military post has a history of violations. Some violations were verbal or written warnings, while others resulted in hefty fines.

According to the EPA, 143,000 pounds of toxic chemicals from Fort Carson made their way into Clover Ditch which runs into Fountain Creek.

"We don't want any toxins in our water," El Paso County Commissioner Dennis Hisey said.

We brought our findings to Hisey, who just so happens to serve on the board for the Fountain Creek Watershed Flood Control and Greenway District.

"Regardless of whether it's in our stream or in our drinking cup, what we need to be concerned about is what's in the cup," Hisey said.
read more here

Shinseki was blamed for what the congress failed to do

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
July 3, 2014

"The hospital in Marion, Ill., initially drew scrutiny over deaths connected to a single surgeon, but two federal reports found fault with five other doctors" after 29 VA patients died because of questionable or "substandard" care between 2006 and 2007. It was the same year the President of Vietnam Veterans of America, John Rowan, issued a statement, "The annual exercise of debating the merits of the President's proposed budget is flawed," and the VA budget was $3 Billion short of what was needed. It was around the same time the Dole Shalala Commission heard from Undersecretary of Veterans Affairs that "veterans suffering from mental health issues such as traumatic brain injury (TBI), and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). He said that VA expects to treat about 5,771,000 patients in 2009. Kussman also said that in April 2006, over 250,000 “unique” patients were waiting more than 30 days to receive their treatment but that as of January 2001, that figure has been reduced to just over 69,000." 

The director of the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs Ricardo Randle said, “Since 2006, the number of claims has grown 15 percent. The amount of time it takes to make decisions on disability claims is two to three years. On an average, it takes four years to get an appeals decision.”

In Colorado "Hospital cutbacks spark outrage among veterans. The planned Aurora medical center would treat 500,000 in the Rocky Mountain region."

By July, the Department of Veterans Affairs had 621,000 veterans with "Backlog" claims. In New York alone there were 10,700 with 27% of the veterans waiting longer than six months. But at the same time all of this was going on, members of the House of Representatives were blocking bills to help veterans. Why? Because they wanted to pass drilling legislation.

The Republicans’ unsuccessful attempt to derail the veterans bill comes after President Bush threatened to veto the legislation over excessive spending on veterans and our troops and after Senate Republicans blocked the National Defense Authorization Act in the Senate over the same issue.

A few years later in 2012, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki talked about the need to take more action in this report from David Wood for the Huffington Post.

This new generation is posing an additional challenge for the VA: the 50,000 wounded from Iraq and Afghanistan. Along with those bearing the common wounds of war are the more severely injured, including roughly 15,000 who would have died on the battlefield in past wars, who are now being saved because of advanced and speedy medical intervention. Many of them are double or triple amputees or severely burned patients who will require intensive and lifelong care.

The younger generation of vets is also more diverse: The proportion of women veterans will double from about 6 percent of veterans in 2000 to 14.5 percent by 2035, the VA projects, requiring new expertise in dealing with women's health and sexual trauma issues.

More than 2.5 million young Americans have served in the past decade of wars, and apart from the normal flow of troops retiring from active duty into the veteran population, the military ranks will be thinned by about 88,000 additional military personnel because of projected budget cuts over the next decade. All this will put new demands on the VA.

Shinseki was blamed for what the congress failed to do for far too many years. Members of Congress were not really interested in fixing what was wrong.

The reports were all out there but no one did anything to fix what was wrong. It wasn't about one political side over another since we saw all this damage being done with Democrats in control of the House as well as what happened the majority of the time with Republicans in control. Now it seems that more heads are rolling with the news the VA Medical Inspector is retiring over "scathing report" on what went wrong since 2002.

The chief medical inspector for the Department of Veterans Affairs has retired, following a report that his office downplayed whistleblower complaints outlining serious problems at VA facilities across the country, acting VA Secretary Sloan Gibson said Wednesday.

Dr. John R. Pierce had served as medical inspector since 2004 and was deputy medical inspector for two years before that.

So when exactly do members of Congress admit they were also to blame for what happened?