Jonathan Shay continues "missionary work" for PTSD Veterans in Town Hall

Dozens gather to join forces in battle against PTSD
UpNorthLive
by Meghan Morelli
Posted: 08.28.2014

GRAND TRAVERSE CO. -- Post-traumatic stress disorder impacts 5.2 million adults every year. On Thursday, 7 and 4 News held a Your Voice, Your Future Town Hall on PTSD at Milliken Auditorium in Traverse City.

A panel of experts discussed the causes, symptoms, effects, and treatments of PTSD.

“It’s a widespread thing especially with a lot of the troops coming home nowadays and it’s something that more people need to be educated on,” said veteran, David Graves.

One of the experts was Doctor Jonathan Shay, a former staff psychiatrist at the Department of Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic, Boston, where his only patients were combat veterans with severe psychological injuries.

Dr. Jonathan Shay
For 20 years Jonathan Shay was a staff psychiatrist at the Department of Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic, Boston, where his only patients were combat veterans with severe psychological injuries. He retired from clinical work in May, 2008 to devote himself full time to preventive psychiatry in military organizations—what he calls his "missionary work." He is the author of Achilles in Vietnam: Combating Trauma and the Undoing of Character (1994) and of Odysseus in America: Combat Trauma and the Trials of Homecoming (2002). He has been a MacArthur Fellow since January. He has written and lectured on a variety of topics relating to veterans for decades and held a variety of positions with US military institutions.

Linda Fletcher was also on the panel. She is a retired Army Nurse (Lieutenant Colonel) with a Masters in Trauma Nursing who has been involved in an independent study of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) for the last eight years.

Jacquelyn Kaschel, MLitt, CEIP-MH, PNH1 was another expert in attendance. She is the Executive Director of PEACE Ranch. PEACE Ranch is a center for experiential growth & learning where rescued, rehabilitated horses and licensed professionals help people dealing with a broad range of challenges including Addiction & Recovery, Behavioral & Emotional Issues, Marriage & Family Issues, Grief & Loss, PTSD & Trauma related issues.

Doctor Neil was the final panel expert at the event. He is a licensed clinical psychologist, has been in private practice for over 20 years. He has specialized in treating trauma for more than half of his career. Dr. O’Donnell uses Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and body based approaches to help those suffering from PTSD.
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Death of Fort Bragg Soldier Under Investigation

Fort Bragg soldier found dead on post
WRAL.com
August 28, 2014

FORT BRAGG, N.C. — An 82nd Airborne paratrooper was found dead on post Saturday from a gunshot wound, the military announced Wednesday.

Sgt. Adam Gilliam, 28, of Morristown, Tenn., was a cavalry scout in B Troop, 1st Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team.

Military officials did not say whether the gunshot wound was self-inflicted or not.
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People raise thousands "Get Wet for a Vet"

"Get Wet for a Vet" raises $15K for homeless veterans
WSBT-TV Report
Aug 27, 2014

Veterans sleeping on the street down 40 percent

Number Of Homeless Vets Sleeping On Street Drops Nearly 40 Percent In 4 Years
The Huffington Post
By Robbie Couch
Posted: 08/27/2014

Thousands of homeless veterans have found stable housing in recent years, thanks to federal, state and local initiatives combating the crisis.

According to a press release issued Tuesday by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) and Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), data collected from the annual Point-in-Time Count showed there were 49,933 homeless veterans in the U.S. in January, reflecting a 33 percent decline since 2010. The data also revealed a nearly 40 percent drop in the number of veterans sleeping on the street.

The decline continues a downward trend: Last November, the VA announced a 24 percent reduction in veteran homelessness over the previous three years.
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Marine Justin Kuhel has 850 more miles to go

Man walks across U.S. for veteran causes
Albuquerque Journal
Charles D. Brunt
Journal Staff Writer
August 28, 2014

Marine veteran Justin Kuhel, who has completed nearly 2,000 miles of his 2,700-mile journey from Camp Lejeune, N.C., to Camp Pendleton, Calif., chats with 98-year-old Bataan Death March survivor Ralph Rodriguez on Wednesday at the New Mexico Veterans’ Memorial. Rodriguez was among about 75 people who welcomed Kuhel to Albuquerque.
(Marla Brose/Albuquerque Journal)

Only 850 miles and about $50,000 to go before Marine veteran Justin Kuhel, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, reaches his goal of walking across America to raise $100,000 for two charities that help veterans.

“I decided a couple of weeks ago that if I don’t reach my ($100,000) goal, I’ll just turn around and walk back until I make it,” Kuhel said Wednesday as he prepared to continue his March Across America.

After visiting with a group of supporters at Tramway and Central – which included a local chapter of the Blue Star Mothers, the New Mexico Patriot Guard Riders and a vintage six-wheel-drive military vehicle known as a Gama Goat – the 26-year-old veteran marched briskly down Central en route to the New Mexico Veterans’ Memorial.

Passers-by along Central and Louisiana cheered and honked as Kuhel passed by. He smiled and waved, occasionally handing out pamphlets explaining what he was up to.

Accompanied by a city police escort and a small parade of supporters, the Clintonville, Ohio, native said he left Camp Lejeune, N.C., on May 23 and plans to arrive at Camp Pendleton, Calif., in late September or early October. That’s 2,753 miles, give or take.

When he started at Central and Tramway about noon Wednesday, he had walked 1,923 miles.

“I walk about 23 miles a day,” he said. “The (support van) picks me up at the end of the day, takes me wherever we’re staying, then drops me right back where I left off the next morning.”
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Soldier killed in Afghanistan on Third Tour

Family remembers soldier killed in Afghanistan
TBO.com staff
Published: August 27, 2014

Army Sgt. 1st Class Matthew I. Leggett, 39, died during combat in Kabul on Aug. 20.

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Army Sgt. 1st Class Matthew I. Leggett, 39, died during combat in Kabul on Aug. 20.

The family of an Army paratrooper who was killed in action in Afghanistan last week has released a statement.

The Department of Defense said Army Sgt. 1st Class Matthew I. Leggett died during combat in Kabul on Aug. 20. The 39-year-old was assigned to the headquarters battalion of the 18th Airborne Corps.

Leggett enlisted in the Army in May 1995 and had been based at Fort Bragg since 2012. He served three combat tours and was the recipient of numerous awards and decorations, including a Bronze Star Medal with one oak leaf cluster and a Purple Heart for wounds sustained in combat.

His mother, Thea Marie Kurtz, is from Ruskin.
Here is the family's statement:

“LET'S GET IT ON” was Matthew's favorite saying when he was on motorcycle rides with his brother Ben or participating in online racing forums. Matthew (Matt) was born in Wabasha, Minnesota on October 13, 1974 to Thea Kurz, of Port Edwards, Wisconsin and Thomas Leggett of Nekoosa, Wisconsin. He has two brothers, Roderick and Benjamin, as well as two nieces and a nephew. He was raised with his brothers in Pepin, Wisconsin. He spent his early childhood and early teenage summers fishing and paddling around the Mississippi river on various watercrafts.

Matt completed two previous combat tours in Iraq and was on his third combat tour in Afghanistan. He was set to retire from the United States Army in the summer of 2015. read more here

Fake PTSD Claims in New York Beyond Police Department

The case of police officers faking PTSD for financial gain goes far beyond them. Wonder if they ever thought about it or thought about what this would do to veterans? Somehow I doubt they thought about anyone else.

With Esposito's plea, 87 people have admitted guilt. They must pay $100,000 or more in restitution, and most are expected to complete community service, probation or both. A few have gotten time behind bars.

Prosecutors dropped charges last week against eight defendants, saying that information obtained after their indictments had "led to the determination that these cases cannot be proven beyond a reasonable doubt."

Ex-officer admits helping others feign psych problems in massive NYC disability-fraud case
Associated Press
Published August 27, 2014

NEW YORK – An accused ringleader of a sprawling disabilities fraud scheme admitted Wednesday he helped coach retired police officers and others to fake mental-health problems to get Social Security benefits.

Joseph Esposito pleaded guilty to grand larceny in a scam that prosecutors say spanned a quarter-century, involved more than 120 people and netted tens of millions of dollars. The retired officer is the top defendant, at least thus far, to admit guilt in what Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. has called a massive case of "gaming the system," sometimes through invoking the trauma of Sept. 11.

Esposito's lawyer, Brian J. Griffin, said his client "acknowledged that in his role as a disability consultant, his actions crossed both an ethical and legal line.

"For that he has taken responsibility," Griffin added.

If Esposito, 65, keeps a promise to cooperate with prosecutors, he'll be sentenced to 1 ½ to 4 ½ years in prison and $734,000 in restitution.
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Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for America’s Veterans Act

I can tell you right now that hearts around the country are breaking for this Mom, but not for the reason you may think.

"Other mothers need to speak up like I’ve spoken up. My son wasn’t the first one to die — another mother should’ve opened her mouth. Maybe then my son would still be here.”

The problem is, many, far too many other Moms and Dads and all others grieving after suicides tied to military, even though she was not aware of them.

It hasn't just been the last few years, or the last decade. It has been decades since the first Moms, Dads, Wives and Husbands tried to do everything possible to prevent another family from suffering the way they did.

It was happening all over the country before the internet and even before I got into all of this over 30 years ago. We shared our pain, our fears and struggles, but we also shared what worked. We saved more than we lost but we lost too many along the way.

Now with the internet linking people together from around the world, we seem further away than we were in the 70's and 80's. The problem is the pain is discussed far more often than healing is.

More and more families are in fact talking about how they managed to stay together and help their veterans heal. Far from perfect but we learned by doing and living the lives of Combat PTSD Families.

This story made me cry because all of this pain should not be replacing smiles, hugs, joys and futures.

Losing more lives after combat does not make sense to any of us.

Veterans Suicide Prevention Act Honors Legacy of Thousands
Times San Diego
POSTED BY EDITOR
By Bryan Kim
AUGUST 27, 2014

Soldiers wounded in Iraq on a flight to Germany. Air Force photo

“When my son came home he was diagnosed with severe PTSD and TBI…they put him on more than 24 medications at one time. Now, somebody with severe PTSD — there’s no possible way for them to take control of medicating themselves…my son was 90 percent disabled,” she said. I was on the phone with Janine Lutz, CEO of the Lance Corporal Janos V. Lutz Live to Tell Foundation. “I think ‘we the people’ have to fight for those who fought for us. The families need to get involved. Other mothers need to speak up like I’ve spoken up. My son wasn’t the first one to die — another mother should’ve opened her mouth. Maybe then my son would still be here.”

Her son Johnny lost his battle with combat-related PTSD, or post traumatic stress disorder, in January of 2013. In spite of the fact that she and thousands of others have spoken up, 22 veterans continue to die by suicide every single day. Janine has dedicated time and energy to the project of honoring them through her online PTSD Memorial Wall — hundreds of photos of veterans who’ve lost their lives in their struggle to cope with their mental anguish. Young men and women from all branches smile in their uniforms, snapshots from a better time. Families from all over America have sent her photographs and loving eulogies. Seeing them all together is a monumental and humbling experience.

Our Congress has but three working weeks left in session, but that is plenty of time to pass the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for America’s Veterans Act (HR 5059). Clay Hunt was a Marine scout sniper who was discharged honorably in April 2009 after serving in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

Initially given a disability rating of only 30% despite what he described as severe PTSD, he filed an appeal and fought our government for two years to get the benefits — including greater access to mental health care — he earned with his service. He was upgraded to 100 percent in April 2011, but it was too little, too late: he’d taken his life 5 weeks before the decision was made.
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How many more bills do we need written for the dead when many more lived to share what congress ignores?

Massachusetts Air National Guard Pilot Missing After Crash

UPDATE FROM STARS AND STRIPES

Pilot in F-15 crash was decorated combat vet
Had served as fighter squadron commander at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa

Air Force Lt. Col. Morris Fontenot, the former commander of the 67th Fighter Squadron at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, looks on at Komatsu Air Base, Japan, on Dec. 7, 2013. Fontenot was killed after the F-15 he was piloting crashed in Virginia on Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2014.
AMBER E. N. JACOBS/U.S. AIR FORCE

By Chris Carroll
Published: August 29, 2014

WASHINGTON — The Massachusetts Air National Guard has identified the decorated combat veteran killed Wednesday when the F-15C fighter he was flying slammed into a remote, heavily forested part of western Virginia.

"On behalf of the family of our fallen pilot and with a sense of profound sadness, I am sad to share that Lt. Col. Morris "Moose" Fontenot Jr., was killed tragically in Wednesday's F-15 crash," said Col. James Keefe, commander of the 104th Fighter Wing, based in Westfield, Mass. "We all continue to keep the Fontenot family in our thoughts and prayers during this very difficult time."

Fontenot served full-time as the unit’s wing inspector general, overseeing the Air Force’s inspection procedures, and as an F-15 instructor pilot with more than 17 years’ experience flying the jets, wing officials said.
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Authorities comb mountains for missing pilot after Guard F-15 crash
Stars and Stripes
By Chris Carroll
Published: August 27, 2014

WASHINGTON — Military and civilian authorities searched a thickly forested, mountainous swath of western Virginia on Wednesday in hopes of finding a missing Massachusetts Air National Guard pilot whose F-15C went down en route to a maintenance depot.

The pilot’s commander said he could not confirm a report that a witness had seen the pilot eject and a parachute open.

“It’s a traumatic event for everyone here, and we’re thinking about the family and keeping our thoughts and prayers with them,” said Col. James Keefe, commander of the 104th Fighter Wing based in Westfield, Mass. “Hopefully we’ll get a good outcome.”
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UK:Captain Died Because Helicopter Not Suited for Mission

British soldier died in helicopter crash in Afghanistan because aircraft was not suitable for the mission
Captain Ben Babington-Browne was killed in helicopter crash in Afghanistan
The aircraft lost visibility in a dustbowl then drifted into fence and crashed
Capt Babington-Browne was trapped when helicopter burst into flames
Inquest heard the aircraft was not the correct helicopter for the mission
Daily Mail
By COREY CHARLTON FOR MAILONLINE
26 August 2014

Captain Ben Babington-Browne was said to be a 'rising star' within the British army

A helicopter which crashed on take-off in Afghanistan, killing a British soldier and two Canadian troops, was not suitable for the mission, an inquest has heard.

Captain Ben Babington-Browne, 27, was a passenger on the Canadian Griffon CH-146, which was being used as a 'taxi' from forward operating base (FOB) Mescal.

The inquest was told that as the aircraft, carrying six people, tried to take off on July 6 2009, a dust bowl was whipped up by the rotor blades, cutting visibility.

At a height of less than 10ft, the helicopter then drifted and its rotors collided with a perimeter fence in a corner of the FOB before it crashed and burst into flames.

Capt Babington-Browne, from 22 Engineer Regiment, Royal Engineers, had been strapped in but seated on the floor of the aircraft on take-off, with his legs dangling out.

Royal Navy Lieutenant Commander William Robley, of the UK Defence Helicopter Flying School, told the inquest that Capt Babington-Browne, of Maidstone, Kent, became trapped.
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VA Training for "Grouchy" Veterans Using Oscar the Grouch?

VA training slides for interacting with veterans
Philly.com
Tricia L. Nadolny
Inquirer Staff Writer
POSTED ON TUE, AUG 26, 2014

Go here to look at the rest of the pictures

The beleaguered Department of Veterans Affairs depicted dissatisfied veterans as Oscar the Grouch in a recent internal training guide, and some vets and VA staffers said Tuesday that they feel trashed.

The cranky Sesame Street character who lives in a garbage can was used in reference to veterans who will attend town-hall events Wednesday in Philadelphia.

"There is no time or place to make light of the current crisis that the VA is in," said Joe Davis, a national spokesman for the VFW. "And especially to insult the VA's primary customer."

The 18-page slide show on how to help veterans with their claims, presented to VA employees Friday and obtained by The Inquirer, also says veterans might be demanding and unrealistic and tells VA staffers to apologize for the "perception" of the agency.

The spokeswoman from the Philadelphia VA benefits office - which will host the town halls Wednesday at noon and 6:30 p.m. - said in a statement that the agency regretted any misunderstanding caused by the slide show.
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Vietnam Veteran Faces Eviction After 13 Years

Vietnam veteran Robert Nelson faces eviction, delays at veteran housing complex Liberty Village
Long Island News 12
August 26, 2014

RONKONKOMA - A Vietnam veteran from Ronkonkoma is facing eviction from his apartment and delays in the opening of a veterans housing complex.

Robert Nelson worked as an Army chemist in the late 1960s. He says exposure to chemicals left him with a variety of medical problems including diabetes and high blood pressure.

For 13 years, Nelson has rented a one-bedroom unit at the Nob Hill Condominium complex in Ronkonkoma. The board of managers sent him a letter this year, telling him his lease would not be renewed because of noise complaints from his neighbors.
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Supportive Services for Veteran Families

SW-WRAP Awarded $3.4M for Veteran Administration Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) Program
Sweetwater NOW
by News Desk
August 26, 2014

GREEN RIVER – SW-WRAP, receives $1.4M for the renewal of its Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) Program by the U.S. Veterans Administration which has covered 48% of Wyoming since October 2013.

SW-WRAP also has received a second award in the amount of $2M for the remainder of Wyoming and an expansion into areas of Nebraska and South Dakota.

SW-WRAP’s Founder and CEO, Cathie Hughes, has been active in procuring funding to assist vulnerable populations to become self-sustaining throughout Wyoming since 2007. During the past several years she has recognized the need, and been vigorously involved in, identifying solutions to address veteran homelessness in Wyoming. In 2010, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) reported that 13 percent of impoverished individual Veterans become homeless at some point during the year.

In 2009, the American Community Survey estimated that 1,356,610 Veterans lived in poverty. Additional statistics have shown that 23% of Wyoming’s homeless population are veterans.

In March 2014 Hughes applied for the renewal of the current SSVF Program project, which she initially procured in October 2013, plus an additional SSVF Project. She received notice of the multiple awards in August. SW-WRAP is the only Wyoming entity to receive the award for 2014-2015.
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Two recycling plant workers killed by mortar rounds

Mortar round explodes at recycling plant, killing 2
The Associated Press
By SARA BURNETT and JOHN O'CONNOR
Published: August 25, 2014

GRANITE CITY, Ill. — A mortar round exploded Monday at a suburban St. Louis metal recycling plant that does business with the military, killing two people.

The explosion at Totall Metal Recycling in Granite City occurred about 6:25 a.m., police said. Totall Metal Recycling, which employs about 160 people, according to its website, does business with the military and it's not unusual for it to have items such as "military engines and ammunition casings," police chief Rich Miller said.

Bomb technicians were sweeping the site for other possible explosives Monday afternoon.

The victims, whom responders could not initially get to because of the fear of further explosions, were not immediately identified. A third person was injured and taken to a St. Louis hospital, police said, but a condition was not available.

"This corporation recycles everything you can think of, from plastics to cardboard to metals, and some of their contracts involve getting materials from the military," Miller said at a briefing for reporters near the plant Monday afternoon.
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