Homeless veterans facing eviction from group home
Florida business challenging others to help
Ministry needs $180,000 to buy the home
WPTV News
Jeff Skrzypek
Jul 28, 2014
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- - The clock is ticking on several homeless veterans in Vero Beach, who will be kicked to the curb and out of the group home they have been staying in unless enough money is raised to buy the house.
Breath of Heaven Ministries, which runs the group home to help veterans, has until Thursday to raise $180,000 or they have to move out of the home.
After hearing about the situation, West Palm Beach tow truck company owner Kenneth Duvall, is pledging money and hopes other small businesses follow his lead.
"Veterans deserve it. They are why my small business is successful," said Kenneth Duvall, owner of Duvall Towing.
Pledging $1,000 to help, Duvall hopes others follow his lead and help pitch in to save the home before the owners sell it.
"There's a couple million people between Palm Beach County to Vero (Beach) and I figured if 1-in-10,000 of those people would give a thousand dollars, it would be $200,000 and it would be done," said Duvall.
Time is running out on the veterans who are counting on the home to get them back on their feet.
read more here
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Congress has no clue what they are funding in the VA
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
July 29, 2014
Year after year, decade after decade within the veterans community (military-veterans-families) we have a much different discussion than what the rest of the country is talking about. This is not a promising deal to fix the VA. It is yet one more round of toss, slap and grab.
We've been reading about all of this for decades followed by promises of fixing the problems with tossing money around. Soon afterwards we're faced with reports of veterans left to wait and fight for benefits they earned, feeling as if they got slapped and then some yahoos elected to go to Washington to take care of VA can't even bother to show up for hearings for the committees they get to put on their list of things they've done to grab up some veterans votes.
They make speeches about how much they care but never seem to match that care with the what they do.
We need to cut a lot of the bull out of the reports starting with the simple fact that if a veteran had not been to the VA before, they do not get to go to the head of the line. Even in the civilian world, doctors have an obligation to the patients they already have. They will not cancel appointments to fit in someone new or stay late to fit someone in. I have been going to my doctor's office for 10 years and I know if I have an emergency, they will fit me in. Had I not been known to them, I could go to the emergency room at a local hospital or to one of the hundreds of emergency clinics. My obligation is to make sure I take care of my health by having a relationship with doctors I trust.
Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan have 5 years of free care at the VA. They do not enroll and get a primary care doctor or even get testing done until they have problems. When they do, they expect to just get in and be seen right away. What about the veterans already there? Are they just expected to give up the appointments they had for months? Do veterans think doctors, nurses and staff will simply pop up when they decide to be seen? They need to enroll in the VA as soon as they get out even if they don't think they need it. Otherwise, staff will not be hired to meet the increase in need.
There has never been enough staff to take care of all the veterans in this country and Congress has had the same debates year after year for decades. We've seen it all before and most of the rush to address crisis after crisis happens the same year there is an election. What about the rest of the time when Congress was supposed to be doing their jobs so we wouldn't have to face repeats of the same things reported about decades before when we also got promises.
President Obama added to the number of veterans going to the VA by making it easier for Vietnam veterans to file claims for PTSD and Agent Orange. Congress did not increase funding enough to cover the numbers of employees to care for these veterans finally being able to seek the care they needed and tried to get before. There was already a backlog of claims and wait times for OEF and OIF veterans but the majority of those waiting were and still are Vietnam veterans. Congress didn't care because they got to talk to reporters about the newer generation of veterans. No one was really interested in the fact Vietnam veterans waited longer, were the majority of the claims waiting to be approved or that they were also the majority of the suicides.
We faced all of this while reporters simply dismissed the most obvious fact of all. Vietnam veterans were home by 1975, not 1973 the way most reporters think.
Now you know the other fact. Afghanistan is not the longest war. Actually when you think about it the way the Veterans Community does, Vietnam is not the longest war either. The longest war is the fight veterans have with the congress to get the care they need when they need it and not when members of congress get around to noticing.
There is nothing in this new funding for the VA that has not been done before. That also includes the fact that while Congress funds PTSD programs, 57% of the suicides happened after they went to the VA for help. How about Congress start to learn about what they are paying for first before they turn around and make things worse?
Kathie Costos
July 29, 2014
Year after year, decade after decade within the veterans community (military-veterans-families) we have a much different discussion than what the rest of the country is talking about. This is not a promising deal to fix the VA. It is yet one more round of toss, slap and grab.
We've been reading about all of this for decades followed by promises of fixing the problems with tossing money around. Soon afterwards we're faced with reports of veterans left to wait and fight for benefits they earned, feeling as if they got slapped and then some yahoos elected to go to Washington to take care of VA can't even bother to show up for hearings for the committees they get to put on their list of things they've done to grab up some veterans votes.
They make speeches about how much they care but never seem to match that care with the what they do.
We need to cut a lot of the bull out of the reports starting with the simple fact that if a veteran had not been to the VA before, they do not get to go to the head of the line. Even in the civilian world, doctors have an obligation to the patients they already have. They will not cancel appointments to fit in someone new or stay late to fit someone in. I have been going to my doctor's office for 10 years and I know if I have an emergency, they will fit me in. Had I not been known to them, I could go to the emergency room at a local hospital or to one of the hundreds of emergency clinics. My obligation is to make sure I take care of my health by having a relationship with doctors I trust.
Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan have 5 years of free care at the VA. They do not enroll and get a primary care doctor or even get testing done until they have problems. When they do, they expect to just get in and be seen right away. What about the veterans already there? Are they just expected to give up the appointments they had for months? Do veterans think doctors, nurses and staff will simply pop up when they decide to be seen? They need to enroll in the VA as soon as they get out even if they don't think they need it. Otherwise, staff will not be hired to meet the increase in need.
There has never been enough staff to take care of all the veterans in this country and Congress has had the same debates year after year for decades. We've seen it all before and most of the rush to address crisis after crisis happens the same year there is an election. What about the rest of the time when Congress was supposed to be doing their jobs so we wouldn't have to face repeats of the same things reported about decades before when we also got promises.
President Obama added to the number of veterans going to the VA by making it easier for Vietnam veterans to file claims for PTSD and Agent Orange. Congress did not increase funding enough to cover the numbers of employees to care for these veterans finally being able to seek the care they needed and tried to get before. There was already a backlog of claims and wait times for OEF and OIF veterans but the majority of those waiting were and still are Vietnam veterans. Congress didn't care because they got to talk to reporters about the newer generation of veterans. No one was really interested in the fact Vietnam veterans waited longer, were the majority of the claims waiting to be approved or that they were also the majority of the suicides.
We faced all of this while reporters simply dismissed the most obvious fact of all. Vietnam veterans were home by 1975, not 1973 the way most reporters think.
The First and the Last on the Vietnam Memorial Wall
The first American soldier killed in the Vietnam War was Air Force T-Sgt. Richard B. Fitzgibbon Jr. He is listed by the U.S. Department of Defense as having a casualty date of June 8, 1956. His name was added to the Wall on Memorial Day 1999.
First battlefield fatality was Specialist 4 James T. Davis who was killed on December 22, 1961.
The last American soldier killed in the Vietnam War was Kelton Rena Turner, an 18-year old Marine. He was killed in action on May 15, 1975, two weeks after the evacuation of Saigon, in what became known as the Mayaguez incident.
Others list Gary L. Hall, Joseph N. Hargrove and Danny G. Marshall as the last to die in Vietnam. These three US Marines Corps veterans were mistakenly left behind on Koh Tang Island during the Mayaguez incident. They were last seen together but unfortunately to date, their fate is unknown. They are located on panel 1W, lines 130 - 131.
The last pilot casualty in the country of Vietnam occured during the Embassy evacuation in Saigon, William C. Nystal and Michael J. Shea both died on the helicopter on April 30, 1975 approaching the USS Hancock in the China Sea (both are located at 1W, 124). The last pilot killed in the Vietnam war was Air Force helicopter pilot Second Lieutenant Richard Vandegeer who was killed on Koh Tang Island, Cambodia. This occured during the Mayaguez incident when his helicopter crashed on May 15, 1975. It is concidered the last combat action of the Vietnam War.
Now you know the other fact. Afghanistan is not the longest war. Actually when you think about it the way the Veterans Community does, Vietnam is not the longest war either. The longest war is the fight veterans have with the congress to get the care they need when they need it and not when members of congress get around to noticing.
There is nothing in this new funding for the VA that has not been done before. That also includes the fact that while Congress funds PTSD programs, 57% of the suicides happened after they went to the VA for help. How about Congress start to learn about what they are paying for first before they turn around and make things worse?
Monday, July 28, 2014
Military Times Names Servicemembers of the Year
Army Times Soldier of the Year
3rd Battalion
75th Ranger Regiment
Fort Benning, GA
Marine of the Year
Headquarters and Support Battalion, Marine Corps Installations East
Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune
Camp Lejeune, North Carolina
Sailor of the Year
USS Abraham Lincoln Newport News, VA
Airman of the Year
725th Air Mobility Squadron Rota, Spain
Coast Guardsman of the Year
Coast Guard Sector North Carolina Wilmington, NC
Click links to read their stories
Fort Stewart soldier killed on Florida beach, daughter in critical condition
Man killed in beach plane crash was veteran, family man
Bay 9 News
July 28, 2014
VENICE
The man killed Sunday on a beach near Venice was a seasoned U.S. soldier who survived two tours of duty in Iraq.
Sgt. 1st Class Ommy Irizarry, 36, and his daughter, 9-year-old Oceana, were hit while walking on the beach. Ommy was killed, and Oceana was badly injured. She remains in critical condition at All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg.
Originally from Puerto Rico, Irizarry lived with his family on base at Fort Stewart in southeast Georgia. The family was vacationing in Florida.
read more here
Sad update
Bay 9 News
July 28, 2014
Sgt. 1st Class Ommy Irizarry, 36, and his daughter, 9-year-old Oceana, were hit while walking on the beach. Ommy was killed, and Oceana was badly injured.
VENICE
The man killed Sunday on a beach near Venice was a seasoned U.S. soldier who survived two tours of duty in Iraq.
Sgt. 1st Class Ommy Irizarry, 36, and his daughter, 9-year-old Oceana, were hit while walking on the beach. Ommy was killed, and Oceana was badly injured. She remains in critical condition at All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg.
Originally from Puerto Rico, Irizarry lived with his family on base at Fort Stewart in southeast Georgia. The family was vacationing in Florida.
read more here
Sad update
Humor Helps Wounded Green Beret
Humor helps wounded Green Beret cope
Lewiston Tribune, Idaho
By Elaine Williams
Published: July 27, 2014
Laughter comes easily to U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Cody Ensley, less than a year after he nearly lost his life in Afghanistan when an improvised explosive device detonated.
Words are still a struggle, something that can be frustrating for the Green Beret who was fluent in Spanish and had mastered a smattering of an Arabic dialect used in the region where he was deployed.
Sitting close to his wife at the home of friends, Ensley, 26, a 2006 Lewiston High School graduate, answered questions, often with single words, during his first visit to Idaho since the attack.
"He knows what he wants to say, but that speech center is so damaged, he just can't get it out," said his wife, Ashley Ensley. "We play charades a lot."
The Ensleys planned to see his family, catch up with friends and attend a fundraiser at Canter's Inn in Lewiston. The trip is a celebration of how far Ensley has come.
read more here
Lewiston Tribune, Idaho
By Elaine Williams
Published: July 27, 2014
Staff Sgt. Cody Ensley is awarded the Purple Heart, for wounds he received while performing his duties in Afghanistan, by Vice Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. John F. Campbell at San Antonio Military Medical Center on Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio Jan. 3, 2014.
PETER J. BERARDIU.S. ARMY
Laughter comes easily to U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Cody Ensley, less than a year after he nearly lost his life in Afghanistan when an improvised explosive device detonated.
Words are still a struggle, something that can be frustrating for the Green Beret who was fluent in Spanish and had mastered a smattering of an Arabic dialect used in the region where he was deployed.
Sitting close to his wife at the home of friends, Ensley, 26, a 2006 Lewiston High School graduate, answered questions, often with single words, during his first visit to Idaho since the attack.
"He knows what he wants to say, but that speech center is so damaged, he just can't get it out," said his wife, Ashley Ensley. "We play charades a lot."
The Ensleys planned to see his family, catch up with friends and attend a fundraiser at Canter's Inn in Lewiston. The trip is a celebration of how far Ensley has come.
read more here
Push is on to treat first responders for PTSD in Canada
Growing movement to treat PTSD in responders
The Canadian Press
Steve Lambert
July 27, 2014
WINNIPEG - Alex Forrest clearly remembers what happened to a fellow firefighter who was traumatized by the deaths of two captains in a house fire.
It was two months after the Winnipeg blaze in 2007 that killed Tom Nichols and Harold Lessard, and Forrest knew his colleague was having a hard time coping.
"I checked up on him and he had killed himself in a garage, and he was holding the pamphlet from the memorial," Forrest, head of the Winnipeg firefighters union, recalled last week.
"Many of the firefighters are still suffering the effects of that fire."
Forrest is one of many emergency responders across the country, including police officers and ambulance crews, who are fighting for better treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.
He says the condition has been around a long time — he remembers early in his career 25 years ago when one firefighter committed suicide — but people are more willing to talk about the issue now.
There have been high-profile cases in recent weeks, including that of Ken Barker, a retired RCMP corporal and dog handler who took his own life. His family told the Winnipeg Free Press that Barker had struggled with PTSD after seeing many horrific crimes over the years, including the 2008 beheading of Tim McLean on a Greyhound bus.
read more here
The Canadian Press
Steve Lambert
July 27, 2014
WINNIPEG - Alex Forrest clearly remembers what happened to a fellow firefighter who was traumatized by the deaths of two captains in a house fire.
It was two months after the Winnipeg blaze in 2007 that killed Tom Nichols and Harold Lessard, and Forrest knew his colleague was having a hard time coping.
"I checked up on him and he had killed himself in a garage, and he was holding the pamphlet from the memorial," Forrest, head of the Winnipeg firefighters union, recalled last week.
"Many of the firefighters are still suffering the effects of that fire."
Forrest is one of many emergency responders across the country, including police officers and ambulance crews, who are fighting for better treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.
He says the condition has been around a long time — he remembers early in his career 25 years ago when one firefighter committed suicide — but people are more willing to talk about the issue now.
There have been high-profile cases in recent weeks, including that of Ken Barker, a retired RCMP corporal and dog handler who took his own life. His family told the Winnipeg Free Press that Barker had struggled with PTSD after seeing many horrific crimes over the years, including the 2008 beheading of Tim McLean on a Greyhound bus.
read more here
Fort Campbell Soldier from Florida Killed in Training Accident at Fort Polk
Fort Campbell soldier dies in training accident
The Leaf-Chronicle
July 27, 2014
FORT POLK, La. – A 101st Airborne soldier died during training on Thursday during what was termed "a routine vehicle movement to a training area" at the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) at Fort Polk, Louisiana..
According to a spokesman for the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) at Fort Campbell, Sgt. Tyler A. Zody, 20, died as a result of an accident involving one vehicle that also injured three soldiers.
The incident is under investigation.
Zody was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team "Rakkasans" at Fort Campbell as a senior sniper.
"Tyler was a dedicated and talented young NCO," said Lt. Col. Marc Cloutier, Commander of the 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment. "The Leader Battalion family will miss him dearly."
A native of Flemming Island, Florida, Zody was born Aug. 21, 1993. After he enlisted in the U.S. Army in July 2011, Zody completed basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia, as an infantryman. After graduating from training, he was assigned as a grenadier in Company A, 1st Bn, 187th Inf. Rgt in December of the same year.
read more here
The Leaf-Chronicle
July 27, 2014
FORT POLK, La. – A 101st Airborne soldier died during training on Thursday during what was termed "a routine vehicle movement to a training area" at the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) at Fort Polk, Louisiana..
According to a spokesman for the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) at Fort Campbell, Sgt. Tyler A. Zody, 20, died as a result of an accident involving one vehicle that also injured three soldiers.
The incident is under investigation.
Zody was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team "Rakkasans" at Fort Campbell as a senior sniper.
"Tyler was a dedicated and talented young NCO," said Lt. Col. Marc Cloutier, Commander of the 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment. "The Leader Battalion family will miss him dearly."
A native of Flemming Island, Florida, Zody was born Aug. 21, 1993. After he enlisted in the U.S. Army in July 2011, Zody completed basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia, as an infantryman. After graduating from training, he was assigned as a grenadier in Company A, 1st Bn, 187th Inf. Rgt in December of the same year.
read more here
Veterans get attention again during "election-year firestorm"
How many more years do they plan on putting veterans first right before an election cycle? How many times do we have to face crisis after crisis only to see it all repeated again and again?
National News APNewsBreak: Tentative deal reached on VA reform
Associated Press
By MATTHEW DALY
July 28, 2014
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The chairmen of the House and Senate Veterans Affairs committees have reached a tentative agreement on a plan to fix a veterans' health program scandalized by long patient wait times and falsified records covering up delays. Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., scheduled a news conference Monday to talk about a compromise plan to improve veterans' care.
Miller chairs the House veterans panel, while Sanders chairs the Senate panel. A spokesman for Sanders said Sunday the men have reached a tentative agreement. The deal requires a vote by a conference committee of House and Senate negotiators, and votes in the full House and Senate.
Miller and Sanders said in a joint statement that they "made significant progress" over the weekend toward agreement on legislation to reform the Veterans Affairs Department, which has been rocked by reports of patients dying while awaiting VA treatment and mounting evidence that workers falsified or omitted appointment schedules to mask frequent, long delays.
The resulting election-year firestorm forced VA Secretary Eric Shinseki to resign in late May. The plan set to be announced Monday is intended to "make VA more accountable and to help the department recruit more doctors, nurses and other health care professionals," Miller and Sanders said. Few details of the agreement were released, but the bill is expected to authorize billions in emergency spending to lease 27 new clinics, hire more doctors and nurses and make it easier for veterans who can't get prompt appointments with VA doctors to get outside care.
Louis Celli, legislative director for the American Legion, the nation's largest veterans group, said the deal would provide crucial help to veterans who have been waiting months or even years for VA health care. "There is an emergency need to get veterans off the waiting lists. That's what this is all about," Celli said Sunday.
read more here
Double Amputee Iraq Veteran Getting New Home
Injured Army veteran from Greenfield gets big gift
KY3 News
Drew Douglas
Jul 27, 2014
GREENFIELD, Mo.
You might remember Sgt. Derrick Hurt, who lost both of his legs as a result of injuries he suffered in Iraq in 2003. We've followed Hurt's story since he came home from Iraq in 2003. We last checked in on him in 2012 as he was getting used to new prosthetic legs.
Hurt had another important day on Sunday.
He's come a long way since first learning to walk on prosthetic legs at Walter Reed Medical Center more than a decade ago.
"I can run, I can snow ski, scuba dive,," Hurt said.
He can't wear his legs all the time, however.
"You know you get sore spots on your legs and can't put them on, so you're in your chair," he said.
read more here
KY3 News
Drew Douglas
Jul 27, 2014
GREENFIELD, Mo.
You might remember Sgt. Derrick Hurt, who lost both of his legs as a result of injuries he suffered in Iraq in 2003. We've followed Hurt's story since he came home from Iraq in 2003. We last checked in on him in 2012 as he was getting used to new prosthetic legs.
Hurt had another important day on Sunday.
He's come a long way since first learning to walk on prosthetic legs at Walter Reed Medical Center more than a decade ago.
"I can run, I can snow ski, scuba dive,," Hurt said.
He can't wear his legs all the time, however.
"You know you get sore spots on your legs and can't put them on, so you're in your chair," he said.
read more here
Sunday, July 27, 2014
Seattle firefighters charged with harassing disabled, homeless veteran
Firefighters charged with harassing homeless man paid $25K on leave
KIROTV
By Casey McNerthney, KIRO 7 STAFF
July 25, 2014
The two Seattle firefighters charged with harassing a homeless man in Pioneer Square have been paid more than $25,000 each while on paid administrative leave, and they're still getting paid.
Robert Howell and Scott Bullene were each charged with one count of malicious harassment.
Howell and Bullene, were walking through Occidental Park after a Seattle Sounders game when they kicked and screamed at a homeless the man, witnesses told police. Both were off duty.
Also charged is Mia Jarvinen, said to be Bullene’s girlfriend. Investigators said she was with Howell and Bullene.
Police said the attack occurred after the firefighters found the homeless man was sleeping at the Seattle Fallen Firefighters Memorial. All three were intoxicated, police said.
KIROTV
By Casey McNerthney, KIRO 7 STAFF
July 25, 2014
The two Seattle firefighters charged with harassing a homeless man in Pioneer Square have been paid more than $25,000 each while on paid administrative leave, and they're still getting paid.
Robert Howell and Scott Bullene were each charged with one count of malicious harassment.
Howell and Bullene, were walking through Occidental Park after a Seattle Sounders game when they kicked and screamed at a homeless the man, witnesses told police. Both were off duty.
Also charged is Mia Jarvinen, said to be Bullene’s girlfriend. Investigators said she was with Howell and Bullene.
Police said the attack occurred after the firefighters found the homeless man was sleeping at the Seattle Fallen Firefighters Memorial. All three were intoxicated, police said.
Witness Ashton Cruz said the first man they went after was 'Sarge,' a disabled veteran, who hobbled on one leg and a walking stick.
Seattle police have said the veteran stabbed Bullene in self-defense.
Based on the police reports and witness interviews, “we have reason to believe the harassment was because of the victim’s status of being homeless,” Criminal Division Chief Craig Sims previously told KIRO 7.
read more here
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