POW-MIA Day, watchfires for the lost

Trucksville church group will light watch fires for veterans
National POW/MIA Recognition Day is Sept. 19
Times Leader
By Joe Sylvester
September 01. 2014

Ed Zimmerman, seen here, will be guest speaker at a National POW/MIA Recognition Day event in Trucksville on Sept. 19.

In war, watch fires were lit on hilltops and at the mouths of rivers after a battle, so those separated from their units could find their way back.

On Sept. 19, the “Remembering Our Veterans Memorial” group from Back Mountain Harvest Assembly of God Church, Carverton Road, Trucksville, will light a watch fire to spiritually guide home, remember and honor all the POW/MIA from America’s wars and conflicts, said John Tasco, who represents the group.

The lighting of the watch fire will take place on the church grounds at about 5:30 p.m. on that day, which is National POW/MIA Recognition Day. The ceremony will begin at 6:30 p.m. The ceremony will move into the church sanctuary if there is inclement weather.

“This year we will be featuring Ed Zimmerman as our guest speaker,” Tasco said.

Zimmerman, of Bear Creek Township, a Marine Corps and Vietnam veteran, traveled to Khe Sanh, Vietnam with a Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, or JPAC, search team earlier this year to search for the remains of two Marines who were killed during the 77-day siege at Khe Sanh in early 1968. Zimmerman, who fought in the battle, will speak about his trip in June to Khe Sanh, where he helped locate the spot where the remains of the two Marines may be found.
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Also St. Charles Missouri
Second Annual Watchfire to be held on Sept. 19 at the Veterans Memorial


New Jersey
24th Annual POW/MIA Watchfire

Date/Time - 09/20/2014, 7:00 pm
Location Beachside on Heiring Ave, Heiring Ave, Seaside Heights, NJ,
SAL Detachment of NJ – 12 hour vigil. 7pm -7am. Beachside at Heiring Ave., Seaside Heights, NJ.

Vietnam Veteran Found Not Guilty Over Drone Protest

Vietnam veteran turns to activism for redemption
Buffalo News
By Phil Fairbanks
News Staff Reporter
on September 1, 2014

Russell Brown, a Buffalo resident and Vietnam veteran, was arrested in Central New York in April 2013 while protesting the use of drones.
Robert Kirkham/Buffalo News

In a suburban courtroom outside Syracuse, before a jury of six men and women, Russell Brown talked about his days as a Marine in Vietnam.

He talked about the fighting and killing – he was in Quang Tri Province, a bloody battleground in the late 1960s – and how a lot of innocent Vietnamese died there.

He also talked about why, 45 years later, his experiences during that war led him to an anti-drone protest and the decision to lie down in front of an Air National Guard base in Central New York and cover himself with paint the color of blood.

It was the “most peaceful experience” since his return from the war in 1968, he told he jury.

“When I was in Vietnam, I didn’t say anything,” the 67-year-old Buffalo resident said. “I never spoke out.”

Brown, who represented himself during the two-day trial in Dewitt Town Court, portrayed his protest as an act of redemption, a way for him to ease some of his guilt and regret about the war.

The jury, after just two hours of deliberation, found him not guilty.
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Camp Lejeune Marines and Sailors Rescued after crash near Djibouti

Camp Lejeune helicopter crashes in waters near Africa
By WCTI Staff
Sep 01 2014
GULF OF ADEN

A Camp Lejeune helicopter carrying 25 people crashed Monday in the Gulf of Aden, but all aboard were rescued, the Navy said

The 17 Marines and eight Navy sailors were recovered and were on board the USS Mesa Verde, and some who sustained minor injuries were treated on the ship.

The CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter --assigned to the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit at Camp Lejeune-- crashed at about 2 p.m GMT (10 a.m. EST) Monday as it attempted to land on the ship, which has a big landing deck on the back, according to the Navy.

The Navy said the crash was not the result of hostile activity, but the aircraft was transferring troops back to the ship from training in nearby Djibouti in Africa.
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Psychiatrist blames pre-existing trauma on military suicides

Again they are linking pre-existing trauma to military suicides.

Once this rumor got started too many jumped on it. The DOD has mental health testing they do before troops are trained. They have been doing it for generations. They have also been looking for something else to blame for generations.

Here's a good question to start with.

If the DOD really believed that, then why would they have spent billions a year fighting something they didn't cause?

They wouldn't. They'd just push more out before they got in.

They wouldn't hand them a machine gun and deploy them off with thousands if they were already mentally ill.

This video only infuses the thought that it is their fault. No clue who these people are but it has been watched over 1,900 times and it just went up yesterday.

Published on Sep 1, 2014


More Military Suicides Than Combat Deaths. US Soldiers and Suicide - PTSD and Psychiatric Drugs

Psychiatrist Dr. Colin Ross discusses the issue of military men committing suicide. Is this really due to post traumatic stress disorder after combat is there a connection between the over drugging of your solider on psych drugs and suicide?

Suicide Prevention Takes Honesty, Not Slogans

This is what the DOD thinks will work,

Suicide Prevention Takes Courage, Communication, Official Says
Department of Defense
By Amaani Lyle
DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, Sept. 1, 2014 – The Veterans Affairs Department has named September National Suicide Prevention Month, but the Defense Department continues its year-round, comprehensive, multi-pronged approach to address the issue of suicide in the military, a Pentagon official said Aug. 21.

Army Lt. Gen. Michael S. Linnington, military deputy to the Undersecretary of Defense for personnel and readiness, said DoD will broaden suicide prevention programs and resources to increase awareness, prevention and understanding across the force.

Leadership focus
“Suicide prevention is about taking care of each other and that’s a responsibility leaders have to focus on year-round, daily, weekly, monthly … not just in the month of September,” Linnington said.

According to the Department of Defense Suicide Event Report, the 2012 suicide rate [expressed as a number per 100,000 service members] for the active component was 22.7 and for the reserve components was 24.2.

Across the services in 2012, 155 soldiers committed suicide, as did a total of 57 airmen, 59 sailors and 47 Marines.

DoD will focus on total force fitness programs to build mental, physical and spiritual resilience in service members and their families with a focus on training and education for leaders and teams across the military to proactively recognize suicide signs and encourage communication.

Access to medical care
Additionally, DoD will continue to direct efforts to enhance medical care, the general said. The department, he said, “has spent a tremendous amount of leader attention and resources on improving access to care, the quality of care and the ability of service members to seek care in an anonymous nature if that’s what they choose to do.”

Linnington stressed the importance of leaders understanding the array of medical and resilience resources and their entry points.

Help for service members
Military Crisis Line and Military OneSource, he noted, are among the many resources that demonstrate the partnership between DoD and the VA, and give service members an anonymous ability to call-in or engage in online chats to access immediate help.

Newer peer-to-peer networks such as Vets4Warriors have also emerged as valuable resources, he said. In many instances, however, the first people service members can go to for help can be members of the military family, the general said.

“Having walked in our shoes … I think it’s clear that service members are comfortable around those that serve with them and have shared experiences,” he said.

No stigma
There should be no stigma attached to seeking help, Linnington said.

“Getting help when you need it is not only a sign of strength, but it works,” he said. “Having the confidence to seek help when you need it is important.”

Linnington also championed positive, energetic, command climates at all levels.

Leadership support
“If leaders support the rehabilitation and resilience of their service members, then … that opens the door for service members to go out and seek help,” he said.

The general debunked the notion that seeking help could negatively impact a military career.

“One suicide is one too many and leaders throughout the military will do whatever it takes to prevent suicide,” he said.

This is what the troops, veterans and families say,

It doesn't work.

They don't know what PTSD is, why they have it or gain any hope of healing.

Too many they know have been bounced out of the service tied to medications they have been given to "treat" PTSD.

Too many lessons learned have been the wrong ones.

The worst message they received is that PTSD is a mental weakness. After all, that is what "resilience training" has told them for years. If they train to be resilient, then they'd be able to fight off PTSD.

Resilience Training, or Comprehensive Soldier Fitness does not work but they keep pushing it while more lives are lost to suicide in the military and long after they came home.

The DOD claims they are training families but families tell a different story. They have no clue what PTSD is or what they can do to help.

“One suicide is one too many and leaders throughout the military will do whatever it takes to prevent suicide,”

The DOD says those words but they have used the same words for over a decade. History has proven the DOD wrong. The first suicide should have been too many. It shouldn't have taken thousands more to learn their weapon to fight it has backfired.