Drumming for PTSD Therapy

Drums Aren’t Just for Music: They’re Therapy, Too
The Daily Beast
Dale Eisinger
July 21, 2014

A growing body of research shows that drumming has a positive effect on Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, depression, PTSD, and more.

YouTube user MrFasthands65 has posted more than 1,000 videos of himself drumming on top of popular songs. “Fun is learning something and doing it well in your own mind,” Lou, as he’s known on the web, writes. “Perfection or striving for it is work and ruining your fun. As I aged I realized no one can be perfect, for there will always be some self-proclaimed critic to tell you you're not.”

But Lou isn’t just drumming for psychological fulfillment. He plays the drums to help combat a very rare neurological condition known as chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, or CIDP. This autoimmune disorder, which affects about seven in 10,000 people, causes numbness and pain in the limbs and imbalance walking. Lou has found that drumming relieves him of these symptoms. And he’s not alone.

Above all though, the benefits of drumming seem to mostly be psychological and emotional. The Wahlbangers Drum Circle Organization, a group based in Northern California, has been using drumming as an effective treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder in veterans. In 2008, Science Direct Journal published a study titled Drumming Through Trauma: Music Therapy With Post-Traumatic Soldiers. It showed that “a reduction in PTSD symptoms was observed following drumming, especially increased sense of openness, togetherness, belonging, sharing, closeness, connectedness and intimacy, as well as achieving a non-intimidating access to traumatic memories, facilitating an outlet for rage and regaining a sense of self-control."
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Veterans Charity claims 68% PTSD healed in a week?

Local veteran puts on Gala for Warrior Camp
New Hampshire.com
By MEGHAN PIERCE
Union Leader Correspondent
July 20, 2014

Warrior Camp alum Jennifer Pacanowski of Allentown, Pennsylvania, reads poetry she wrote to express her challenges with PTSD at the 1st annual Warrior Camp Gala in Jaffrey Saturday. Meghan Pierce

JAFFREY — Saturday night’s Warrior Camp Gala at the Shattuck Golf Club raised about $10,000 to support the treatment of active military members and veterans who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Warrior Camp founder Eva J. Usadi of New York City told gala attendees the intensive one-week program was created to save lives. Every day one active military member commits suicide, she said, and the suicide rate is even higher in the veteran population in which 22 veterans commit suicide a day.

Warrior Camp is held a few times a year at Touchstone Farm in Temple. But Usadi is hoping to raise funds to build a full-time facility for Warrior Camp in New York eventually.

There are three components to Warrior Camp, Usadi said: equine assisted psychotherapy, yoga and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy.

PTSD is a physical and biological reaction to trauma that cannot be properly treated through talk therapy and medication, Usadi said.

Because of their approach, Usadi said 68 percent of the participants who arrive at Warrior Camp with chronic PTSD no longer meet that diagnosis by the end of the week.

Graduates of the camp have urged Usadi to add a fourth component to the program: community.

“They train together. They live together and they go to war together in very tightly knit units and some of the people have said we have created that feeling again that nobody has had since they had been discharged,” Usadi said.
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Sgt. Eddie Ryan caught 175-pound blue shark from his wheelchair

Wounded Marine lives his dream on shark hunt
Oneida Dispatch
By Paula Ann Mitchell
July 20, 2014

The fearsome 7-foot ocean beast was no match for the 240-pound stouthearted Marine.

After a spirited battle on June 19, Sgt. Eddie Ryan gave a final tug and reeled in a 175-pound blue shark 30 miles out on the Atlantic.

“I lived my dream,” he said afterward, looking over the long-snouted, slender fish that lay across the 54-foot boat “La Bella Donna.”

Catching a shark is hard enough for able-bodied seafarers, but for someone like Ryan, the challenge is compounded.

The Marine sniper suffered brain injury in April of 2005 after being shot by friendly fire while serving in Iraq during his third tour of duty.

Since that day nine years ago, Ryan has shown heart as he slowly recuperates at the home of his parents, Chris and Angie.

The family moved from Ellenville to Lake George a few years ago, but the Ryans have managed to keep in touch with their supporters in Ulster County.

Word got out in recent months that Ryan was obsessed with the idea of shark hunting, and it just so happened that the right people got wind of it.
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Iowa congressman on VA committee not there half the time

The Gazette fact checked a claim made by the GOP against a Democratic Representative out of Iowa. 

The claim made stated that Representative Bruce Braley missed 74 percent of the hearings. The article went on to point out that Braley is also on a Veterans Affairs Subcommittee. It turned out when they put both duties together, he wasn't there half the time.

We've all seen the VA committees and subcommittee meetings with more empty chairs than interested politicians but with the way things are going most of us think more aren't there half the time and when they are there, the questions they ask seem more like for getting attention for just showing up.

Which veterans do we care about and which are forgotten?

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
July 20, 2014

Bill McClellan of the Saint Louis Dispatch has a good article on Who should go to the front of the line? at the VA. He raises a lot of good points focused on combat veterans wounded during their service and the veterans using the system for their general healthcare needs. McClellan wrote, "I do not know what a reasonable waiting time should be for a person who needs cataract surgery, but I fear that in our zeal to save the VA system, we will continue to ignore the most necessary reform. Who has priority?"

Part of the problem according to McClellan is "It was not intended to be socialized medical care for all veterans. It’s great if we have enough money to provide care for aging veterans with limited income, but we ought not lose sight of the primary mission."

While all of this sounds like a reasonable argument to have it avoids far too many other factors.

There has been a "fix" known as "fee basis" for veterans to get care outside of a VA hospital or clinic when they do not have enough staff or empty appointments slots to get veterans in.

What is Non-VA Care: Non-VA Care is medical care provided to eligible Veterans outside of VA when VA facilities are not available. All VA medical centers can use this program when needed. The use of the Non-VA Care program is governed by federal laws containing eligibility criteria and other policies specifying when and why it can be used. A pre-authorization for treatment in the community is required for Non-VA Care -- unless the medical event is an emergency. Emergency events may be reimbursed on behalf of the Veteran in certain cases. See the Emergency Non-VA Care brochure for information.

Unavailability of VA Medical Facilities or Services: Non-VA Care is used when VA medical facilities are not “feasibly available.” The local VA medical facility has criteria to determine whether Non-VA Care may be used. If a Veteran is eligible for certain medical care, the VA hospital or clinic should provide it as the first option. If they can’t -- due to a lack of available specialists, long wait times, or extraordinary distances from the Veteran’s home -- the VA may consider authorizing VA payment for Non-VA medical care in the Veteran’s community. Non-VA Care is not an entitlement program or a permanent treatment option.

While the latest bill in the congress has been cheered over allowing veterans to seek care outside of the VA, it has been done for a long time. The American Legion addressed this back in 2012.VA Fee Basis: Examining Solutions to a Flawed System, September 14, 2012

Title 38, United States Code (U.S.C.) Section 1703a states when VA facilities are not “capable of furnishing economical hospital care or medical services because of geographical inaccessibility or are not capable of furnishing the care or services required, the Secretary may contract with non-Department facilities in order to furnish medical care.”

It went on to point out,

In the last four years, non-VA purchased care has doubled from $2.2 billion in FY 2007 to $4.5 billion in FY 2011 along with a corresponding increase of 615,768 veterans served in FY 2007 to 970,727 veterans served in FY 2011 (2). VA program leadership has stated the reasons for growth of non-VA usage are: the increase of unique veterans seeking VHA care; economic conditions; waiting times because of more veterans enrolling in the system; and growth of number of CBOCs and emergency medical needs in rural areas (2). During our System Worth Saving site visits, Directors and VA hospital finance staff have told us the fee-care is between 15-25 percent of their medical center budgets and continues to grow. The facilities struggle with what services they can provide in-house and whether they should hire a full-time specialist to balance the number of veterans requesting the specialty services or contract out this care.

When a perfect system processes and determines claims on time, putting service connected veterans to the head of the line would work however this is far from a perfect system. Thousands of claims tied to combat are in the backlog. Without a compensation rating of the disability, they are considered "non-service" connected until the claim has been approved. What happens to those veterans? Do they get pushed to the back of the line on top of facing a true disability connected to their service and being billed for their care?

Until a veteran has the rating from the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) there is no compensation and no free care unless they meet the income threshold proving the lack of means to pay for care.

It happened to us back in the 90's. We had private health insurance but once the VA doctors determined the need for medical care was connected to service in Vietnam, they would no longer cover that condition being treated. The VA had not approved my husband's claim but did not turn him away to make room for someone else. He had great doctors. As we fought for his claim to be approved the VA instructed the IRS to send our tax refund to them to cover the cost of his care. That went on for six years until his claim was finally approved. We received a refund for most of the money they took but the damage done to us financially and emotionally was beyond what we received back. It was torture back then just as it is now for thousands of families of veterans wounded in war.

There is nothing happening today in the news that was not happening decades ago when the press was not interested. (You can read about what happened to us in FOR THE LOVE OF JACK, HIS WAR MY BATTLE.)

Veterans like my husband with a medical need caused by his service would have been disregarded and he would have to go to the back of the line until the VBA approved his claim on top of everything else.

Veterans without a disability rating from the VA also include combat veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan receiving 5 years of free care after discharge. Do they go to the back of the line as well?

This is not a perfect system and is a lot more complicated than what most people think they know. The trouble remains in congress as it always has. It is not about one party over another since we've seen the same issues making headlines for decades as reporters pretend it is all new and politicians use the Sgt. Schultz excuse of "knowing nothing" was happening. No one has been held accountable for what they have failed to do.

Boston Red Sox Run to Home Base in Combat PTSD fight

Thousands run for veterans at Fenway
Annual event raises millions
Boston Globe
By Oliver Ortega
GLOBE CORRESPONDENT
JULY 20, 2014

THOUSANDS RUN FOR VETS AT FENWAY

More than 2,000 people participated in this year’s Run to Home Base outside Fenway Park on Saturday.

Hosting the event at the home of Boston’s beloved Red Sox helps elevate an issue affecting many in the military, said retired Army Brigadier General Jack Hammond, the executive director of the Home Base foundation.

Along with Massachusetts General Hospital, the Red Sox Foundation funds and oversees the clinic.

Tommy Lee Kidman always wore a smile. His two daughters, Gracie and Madeline were the “light of his eyes,” friends say, and he had an artistic side — he drew, wrote, played the guitar.

But Afghanistan changed him. On the front lines, the Army medic saw death and desolation, fellow soldiers whose wounds he could not heal. The memories tormented him on sleepless nights and led to fits of rage back in the US.

In the end, it proved to be too much. He committed suicide last summer, a year after coming home.

With his friend Kidman as inspiration, Major Craig Meling of Dorchester laced up his best pair of sneakers Saturday morning and joined about 2,600 people running at Fenway Park to raise money for military members suffering from mental trauma and brain injuries — what some call the “invisible wounds” of war.

Now in its fifth year, Run to Home Base has raised more than $11 million for a clinic at Massachusetts General Hospital that serves hundreds of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans and their families, helping them grapple with the mental illnesses that took the life of Kidman and other soldiers. This year’s run alone raised just under $2 million, said Lee A. Chelminiak, a spokeswoman.
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In Afghanistan, troops join Boston runners
Boston Globe
By Oliver Ortega
GLOBE CORRESPONDENT
JULY 20, 2014

Members of the Army’s 10th Mountain Division held their own run in Afghanistan on Friday in support of Saturday’s Run to Home Base event in Boston. The effort was spearheaded by Captain Lukasz Willenberg, the division’s chaplain and an avid runner. Gear and winners’ medals were provided by the Corvias Foundation charity group.

“We thought it would be a great event to bring military and civilian folks together under the banner of Run To The Home Base and ‘Boston Strong,’ ” said Willenberg, who also ran.

About 1,100 soldiers and civilians at the base trekked back and forth on a road that stretched a mile and a half inside Bagram Airfield, the largest US military base in Afghanistan.
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Standoff with Police Ends Peacefully

Man reportedly barricades himself with guns; standoff ends without arrest
[UPDATED]
Fergus Falls
Saturday, July 19, 2014

A man reportedly barricaded himself inside a rural Ottertail garage with guns Friday night, and after a standoff, police determined there was no threat at the home.

The Otter Tail County Sheriffs Office temporarily set a perimeter around the house, according to a press release from the Sheriff’s Office.

Officers arrived at the home on Long Lake Road just before 9 p.m. after receiving a call from a woman that a family member had locked himself in the garage. She said he suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and that there were guns in the garage.
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Medals of Honor to modern veterans more often but wait is longer

Obama awards more Medals of Honor to modern veterans — but it takes longer, too
Washington Post
By Dan Lamothe
July 19 2014

When President Obama drapes the Medal of Honor around the neck of Army Staff Sgt. Ryan J. Pitts on Monday, it will symbolize all of the heroism and sacrifice that occurred in a ferocious battle in Afghanistan. But it will represent something else, too: a dramatic rise in the amount of time it takes for troops to be honored with the nation’s highest award for combat valor.

Pitts, of Nashua, N.H., will receive the award six years and eight days after holding off an enemy assault on his platoon’s hillside observation post in Afghanistan’s Nuristan province. He did so even though he was wounded badly enough that a fellow soldier had to put a tourniquet on his leg to control the bleeding, Army officials say.

The amount of time between his actions and his ceremony at the White House will be the second longest for any service member awarded the Medal of Honor for actions after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. It is surpassed only by Army Sgt. Kyle White, who received the medal May 13, more than 61 / 2 years after he braved enemy fire numerous times in a Nov. 7, 2007, battle in Nuristan after he was briefly knocked unconscious by a rocket-propelled grenade blast.

Army officials are still smarting from the way the Medal of Honor case for Capt. William D. Swenson was botched. The infantry officer received the award Oct. 15 for braving enemy fire repeatedly in eastern Afghanistan’s Ganjgal Valley on Sept. 8, 2009, to pull a fellow soldier who had sustained a gunshot from a kill zone, and then search for four service members who had been killed.

Swenson received the Medal of Honor more than four years after the battle — and only after his digital nomination packet went missing in Afghanistan. He was first recommended for the award by a battalion commander in December 2009, but it was subsequently recommended for a downgrade by Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, according to the findings of a Defense Department inspector general investigation. The package never received additional processing.

Swenson’s case was submitted for review again in July 2011, as the military prepared to award a Medal of Honor to another service member in the battle, Marine Sgt. Dakota Meyer. Swenson refused to accept his award until the Army investigated what happened, and he received a public apology from Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel last year.
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Medal of Honor for Kyle Carpenter

Presentation of Medal of Honor to Sergeant Kyle J. White

Medal of Honor Capt. William Swenson Rejoins Army

Stolen truck, stolen pain, stolen suffering from fake veteran?

Man who claimed to be a homeless veteran speaks out
WPTV News
Brian Entin
Jul 18, 2014


WEST PALM BEACH, FLA. - John Vigil claimed to be a homeless veteran and is out of jail and not wanting to answer most questions.

A spokesman with the U.S. Air Force said Friday that they have no record of Vigil serving in the Air Force.

"Yes, I was in the military. (Reporter) How come the military has no record of you ever being in the military? Because that is classified," Vigil said.

In May, dressed in uniform, Vigil said he was a veteran of the U.S. Air Force and was homeless.

He said he suffered from PTSD and was living out of a Penske truck with his animals.

"This is what is left of my existence," Vigil said.

Patty Steenbuck, a Lantana resident who heard his story, took him in because she felt bad for him.

Police charged Vigil with battery and say Steenbuck had multiple injuries.

"(Reporter) Did you hit her? No.," Vigil said.

Vigil insists we don't know the entire story, but he would not elaborate.

He is denying that the Penske rental truck was stolen out of Colorado.
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PTSD Service Dog Kicked Out of VA

War Veteran Says VA Police Officer Kicked Out His Service Dog
KUTV News
July 19, 2014

(KUTV) Mike Humphries is a medically retired war veteran who said he was "betrayed" by a veterans administration police officer in Salt Lake on Friday when the officer separated him from his service dog.

Employees say Donovan, Humphries' dog growled at a client in the Disabled American Veterans' office at the VA campus.

Humphries served in the first Gulf War and in the most recent war in Iraq, serving multiple tours as a Marine. In the last six months, his received a new battle buddy named Donovan, a 90 lbs. German Shepherd.

Mike says Donovan is not a pet. Donovan is a service dog, which has been carefully trained to look after Mike who suffers from PTSD and other health issues as a result of trauma from combat. "His first and foremost duty is to take care of me," explained Humphries. He added that when he is stressed or anxious, Donovan will calm him. When he perceives a threat to Mike, he sometimes growls as a cue to him.

On Friday, as the two boarded an elevator, a woman with a small dog suddenly entered, startling Mike - who said he is "hyper vigilant" like most other war vets who have PTSD. The dog sensed his sudden anxiety and growled.
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Fierce love of combat PTSD in veterans

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
July 19, 2014

U.S. flight medic, Sgt. Billy Raines from CCO., 1-214 AVN Medevac task force Destiny, treats a wounded Afghan Army soldier NBC News

Page by Jonathon M. Seidl - The Fear I Have Never Lost: Meet the Brave U.S. Army Medics in Afghanistan. U.S. Army flight medic SGT Jaime Adame, top, cares for seriously wounded Marine. The Blaze

Flight medic Sgt. Cole Reece checks the vital signs of a wounded Afghan boy before transporting him to the hospital at Kandahar Air Field on Oct. 10, 2010. Huffington Post

Pfc. Kevin Macari, who lost his leg to a landmine explosion in the Arghandab District of Kandahar, Afghanistan, looks at a photo of his fiancée while being evacuated in a U.S. Army medevac helicopter, Sept. 28, 2010. Macari asked photojournalist Louie Palu to hold his hand during the helicopter ride. “It was a hard day,” said Palu. NBC

Iraq, Qubah, soldiers shielding wounded comrade from debris U.S. soldiers shield a wounded comrade Qubah, Iraq, March 24, 2007 -- U.S. soldiers shield a wounded comrade from debris kicked up by a rescue helicopter descending on Qubah. Fighting between U.S. forces and insurgents erupted in the village at dawn, when U.S. troops stormed the city and began house-to-house searches for guerilla fighters. Two U.S. troops were wounded in the clashes. Sixteen suspected insurgents were killed.

Part of this coordination is dependent on the location of the field hospital, these teams transport via vehicles or airlift or both. Equestrian Outreach Veterans Day

According to King James Bible online there are 53 times "fierce" appears in the Bible. The word is used to describe anger and wrath. Merriam Webster defines fierce as, ": very violent : eager to fight or kill : having or showing a lot of strong emotion : very strong or intense" and it is the last definition used we seem to have a hard time of understanding when it comes to our military of today and veterans after their combat has ended.

It is a fierce love that causes them to put their lives on the line for the sake of someone else. When we forget that, it is impossible to remind them of the one thing that will heal them.

Forget what the DOD said about resilience. They never really understood what the term meant in the first place. Resilience is something every single member of the military had from the start. It was in them when they joined while knowing signing up could cost them their lives. It was already in them the day they deployed. Part of them that allowed them to push past all the pain they were carrying inside of their bodies because their buddies were in danger. Driving them on until they returned and the same resilience that allowed them to bury that pain for days, weeks, months and often years. It was not something the DOD could train them to have because it was already there.

When the DOD told them they could train to be "resilient" and "mentally tough" to them it meant if they or anyone else ended up with PTSD, they were weak and it was their fault. Who the hell wants to admit they need help after getting that message? They were already tough and battle tested.

Many Medal of Honor heroes have talked openly about their own issues with PTSD and even attempted suicide. Dakota Meyer tried to kill himself because he didn't want to become a burden to this family. When extraordinary heroes earn the Medal of Honor, it was not hate that compelled them to put other lives ahead of their own. It was the love they had within them for others.

Pfc. Kyle Hockenberry, of 4th Squadron, 4th Cavalry Infantry Regiment, 1st Heavy Combat Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, who was injured in an improvised explosive device attack near Haji Ramuddin, is treated by flight medic Cpl. Amanda Mosher while being transported by medevac helicopter to the Role 3 hospital at Kandahar Air Field in Afghanistan on June 15, 2011. Laura Rauch/Stars and Stripes

It is that same unselfish fierce depth of their love that causes them to feel so much pain but no one explained that to them. No one told them that it was because they were so strong, they fell so hard.

They need to remember why they joined, why they fought and who they really fought for because in the end, they did if for each other.

Veteran left VA hospital, texted his good-byes before being killed by police

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
July 19, 2014

A Kentucky National Guardsman served two tours in Iraq. Justin Neil Davis was only 24. His last tour ended when he was 22 in 2012. Davis knew he was having problems. He had been in the VA rehab for 30 days but as it turned out, it didn't make that much of a difference.

Davis was one of the countless stories of veterans seeking help instead of denying they need it. That is the saddest part of all. They wanted to live, hoped to heal, reached out for help and tried the best they could to recover from combat. They are also the greatest example of how the government failed them.

A sad update to Veteran killed by police had just been to the Memphis VA

Germantown Police describe scene that led up to vet's shooting death

Members of GPD’s Crisis Intervention Team got to the park at 9:50 p.m. but, despite their attempt to talk with Davis over a loudspeaker and by cellphone, he threatened to shoot at them and “made statements about killing himself.” He asked them to turn off their bright lights.

Then Davis pointed the barrel of the rifle out the passenger side window toward police. Three officers opened fire, hitting Davis multiple times.

When the ambulance got to the park at 10:05 p.m., he was dead.

Davis, a veteran of the Kentucky National Guard, had served two tours in Iraq, the most recent ending in 2012, according to guard records.

Before his fatal encounter with police, Davis struggled with alcohol abuse and was released from a 30-day rehabilitation program in September, according to divorce papers filed by his wife in October. His father, a Navy veteran, died in February. By March, Davis was without a job.

Vallandinghan said Davis had an appointment at the Memphis VA Medical Center at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday to have an MRI on his back, and that while he was there, told VA staff he was having suicidal thoughts.

After leaving, Vallandinghan said, he texted friends and family to say goodbye.

Three police officers are now dealing with the fact they had to kill a veteran who risked his young life and was failed by the VA. VA employees are wondering what else they could have or should have done differently. His family and friends are wondering what they should have done differently. Other veterans are wondering if this happened to Davis after he sought help to survive, what are their chances?

We have to talk about horrible outcomes if we are ever going to fix what has not worked. These are not just testimonials of current events but reflect what veterans have been facing for decades. It is only because the media was not interested in telling the stories of older veterans facing the same fates that the general public had no clue. Just because you are not aware there is a problem doesn't mean it wasn't shattering lives before you read about it in your local newspaper.
July 11 another veteran,

"Anthony Reardon, 44, of South Hampton, who allegedly stole and crashed police cruisers during a June 3 incident outside his home, appeared in Seabrook District Court on Thursday to finalize an agreement that would allow him to receive outside treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder instead of sitting in a jail cell and awaiting his indictment on numerous charges."

On July 4, 2014 41 Action News out of Kansas reported

Veteran Icarus Randolph was killed by police after family members called police to say he was suicidal. When police officers arrived he must have felt threatened and went after them with a knife in his hand. The taser did little good and according to police reports, that is when they opened fire killing him.

June 12 "An Iraq War combat veteran who held Northampton police on an armed standoff inside his girlfriend's borough home will serve four years of probation under a plea agreement that takes into account his post-traumatic stress disorder.

Scott P. Wines Jr., 29, served six tours in Iraq as a Marine and is now attending outpatient counseling twice a week to cope with what he experienced overseas, said defense attorney Rory Driscole.

June 8th it happened in Denver.

A police officer shot and killed a suicidal military veteran after the man aimed a rifle at the officer in the driveway of his home, according to police.

"He pointed the rifle," said Lt. Gary Millspaugh of the Aurora Police Department. "He was shot in the upper torso."

The man, whose identity has not been released, was rushed to an Aurora hospital Friday after the 4:04 p.m. incident and was later pronounced dead.

The officer who was involved in the shooting was not injured during the confrontation, police said.

A psychologist called 911 and said he had just received a call from a patient who was potentially suicidal, Millspaugh said.

It happened in May in Kansas City when Issac Sims was turned away from the VA after seeking help.

Issac Sims’ family said he spent every day last week coming to the VA hospital, but was told on Friday that he had to wait a month to be admitted for his PTSD. Sims, 26, was an Iraq war veteran.

May 14 it was a standoff in North Carolina Standoff with Soldier but he survived and was taken to get help.

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — An unidentified male soldier surrendered to Fayetteville police late Tuesday following a 90-minute standoff in the parking lot of a Walmart on Skibo Road.

Officers responding to the west Fayetteville store at about 10:30 p.m. found the man inside a car. According to authorities, he was threatening to harm himself.

Police cleared the parking lot, and customers were kept inside the store as a precaution.

"Cops told us to get in our cars, get back inside the building, because we were in the firing range," Robert Casey, a witness, told WRAL News.

The active duty soldier, who was believed to have a weapon, surrendered at about midnight, and he was taken to a local hospital for an evaluation. His name has not been released and it was unclear if he would face charges.

May 6 it was happening in Albuquerque to Armand Martin during a standoff with SWAT.

The family of Armand Martin says he was a colonel in the Air Force, but in the 27 years of his military career, they say he never saw combat until this weekend.

Albuquerque police said Martin fired shots from inside this house in Ventana Ranch on Saturday, but that officers did not return fire. Instead, they said crisis negotiators tried talking to him for several hours.

APD Deputy Chief Erica Garcia said Martin had been treated at the VA hospital for significant mental health related issues.

Army sexual assault prosecutor accused of doing it

Army reprimands former sexual assault prosecutor
Stars and Stripes
By Chris Carroll
Published: July 18, 2014

WASHINGTON — The Army’s former lead special victims prosecutor was relieved of his duties last month after an investigation into a claim by a fellow Army sexual assault prosecutor that he had groped her during Washington-area legal conference on sexual crimes.

Lt. Col. Jay Morse has received a general letter of reprimand in connection with the case, normally a career-ending administrative action, but is not being criminally charged, an Army official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said.

Morse, the former head of the Army’s Trial Counsel Assistance Program who supervised nearly two dozen other prosecutors who focused on sexual crimes, has maintained he is innocent of the allegations but has told the Army he will soon retire.

The Washington Post was first to report the Morse reprimand. Stars and Stripes reported the allegations in March after Morse was suspended after a fellow prosecutor said he’d tried to kiss her and grab her buttocks against her will.

The sexual assault was alleged to have taken place on March 3, 2011, in a hotel room.
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Florida Front Beach Inn refuses Veteran with PTSD Service Dog

Army vet denied a hotel room because he had a service dog
First Coast News
Mike Lyons
July 17, 2014

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. -- Karl Fleming was just looking to do something fun at the request of his family, but it turned into a distressing situation when he and his service dog were turned away from a hotel.

Army veteran Fleming attended K9s for Warriors camp in Ponte Vedra Beach. He graduated with his service dog 'Kuchar' last year and moved on, ready to face the world. But Wednesday night he had a setback.

Fleming has a traumatic brain injury as a result of a rocket propelled grenade while he was serving in Afghanistan in 2011. He went to Panama City Beach with his dog, which he depends on, along with his parents and his roommate. He went looking for a hotel room at the Front Beach Inn.

Fleming said he was yelled at by the front desk clerk and told she had no vacancies when the sign out front read vacancy. Fleming said she later told police they had rooms.

''You have to produce papers sir! Get out of my lobby!" the receptionist can be heard saying in a loud voice toward his roommate who was recording the incident on his cell phone.

"I mean it was humiliating, for them to yell at me like that," said Fleming by phone from Panama City Beach. "She did not know her facts, she would not listen to me. The cops really didn't know the laws either. I am still so much on edge because of it because I have an anxiety disorder."
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