Army Ranger-Iraq Veteran "Cancer Patient" Used Medical Journal Picture For Donations

Iraq war veteran 'faked terminal bone cancer and set up online fundraiser where he used X-ray photo taken from medical journal'
Retired Army Ranger Kevin Fish, from California, started GoFundMe page asking for $4,000 in donations towards one final trip home
Posted 'MRI' image allegedly showing his body ravaged by bone cancer
Local news station uncovered that the image came from 2007 medical journal
Fish had no medical records to prove he's been fighting cancer for two years
Daily Mail
By SNEJANA FARBEROV FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 25 November 2014

An Iraq War veteran started an online fundraiser earlier this month hoping to raise $4,000 for what was described as his final trip home before he succumbs of cancer.

But a California news station has uncovered that Kevin Fish, of Joshua Tree, had used a picture of an X-ray showing a patient suffering from bone cancer taken from a medical journal and presented it as his own on his GoFundMe account.

When confronted by a reporter from KESQ Monday, the retired Army Ranger insisted that the image used on the online fundraiser was taken with his cell phone during a medical examination, and that he was told by his doctor that it was his MRI showing cancer ravaging his body.

According to Fish, a native of Houma, Louisiana, he was diagnosed with terminal bone cancer in 2012, but during the Monday interview he was unable to produce any medical files proving that he has been battling the deadly disease for the past two years.

When pressed on that issue, Fish said that he does not keep his medical records at home.

On November 16, the veteran launched a GoFundMe account asking for $4,000 in donations so he could travel to his hometown in Louisiana to visit his family one last time.
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Mother blames PTSD, VA for Marine son's suicide

Curtis Fike: Mother blames PTSD, VA for Marine son's suicide
Jody Merrill speaks out about hidden cost of war
WCPO Cincinnati
Carol Williams

Twenty-two veterans a day commit suicide. That's what the government reports. CNN says the suicide rate may be even higher.

Either way, it's a shocking and sad statistic on this Veterans Day, when we honor and celebrate those who have served our country.

A Tri-State mother shares her story, hoping to spare another family from her pain.

HAMILTON, Ohio – Growing up, her son was a "boy's boy," Jody Merrill remembers.

"I used to say, 'We could have a drought all summer, but he could find that mud puddle,' " Jody said.

Jody says her son, Curt Fike, was an All-American kid. He grew up in Hamilton, played football for Badin High School and loved hunting and fishing.

"As sweet as he was good-lookin, I'll tell ya," Jody said, picking out one of her favorite pictures of Curt.

Right after graduation and 9/11, Curt enlisted in the Marines. He went off to boot camp in 2002.

He was idealistic, his mother said.

"Oh, yeah: 'I'm gonna save the world. Go fight the bad guys,' " Jody said.

Jody says Curt was so proud of being a Marine, but his third deployment to Iraq took a lot out of him.

"Fire on the base. Saw two of his staff sergeants burn in front of him. He was actually knocked unconscious."

When Sgt. Curtis Fike came home for good in 2006, he was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

It wasn't until he died that Jody learned he also had a traumatic brain injury.
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Linked from Facebook 22TooMany

Another Mom Grieves for Lost Son

Add this to the stories about what is going on at Fort Hood.

Suicide watch: Returning military members need support, mother warns
KENS 5
Joe Conger
November 24, 2014

SAN ANTONIO -- Doris Dodgen of Universal City says her family bleeds red white and blue. The military was her husband's passion and most of her children, too.

"A lot of pride. A lot of dedication and devotion. And a lot of patriotism. They love our country," said Dodgen.

But Brenton, Doris remembers, had a particular fondness.

"Ever since he was so young, probably age 2, he started wearing camouflage," she said.

Brenton would realize that dream. The future lieutenant was deployed overseas in the Middle East as a signal officer in Operations Enduring Freedom and Spartan Shield.

"He took it very, very seriously," his mother added.

But back stateside, something changed.

"He did come back a little different, yes. And he wouldn't talk much this time around," said Dodgen.

But he did talk on Facebook, posting a brief note one late October evening. And before Doris could reach Killeen, Texas, her son was gone.

"And I can tell you at that point in time in my life, a huge part of me died," Dodgen said.

The Department of Defense noted a self-inflicted gunshot wound was the manner of death.

Within the Army, researchers in 2011 began surveying active duty soldiers' physical and psychological health, both on and off the battlefield. The idea is to identify risk-factors for those who may attempt to harm themselves.

And veterans are being targeted, too. Close to 200,000 veterans this year will make appointments at San Antonio's Audie Murphy VA, for help with mental issues, including suicide.
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No Excuse For Fort Hood Mistreatment of Soldiers With PTSD

The news was stunning to many. NBC 5 and Dallas Morning News teamed up to investigate reports of wounded soldiers being mistreated at Fort Hood, Fort Sam Houston and Fort Bliss.

The soldiers returned home injured, both physically and mentally, and were once again under attack as they were ridiculed, harassed and threatened by commanders assigned to help the recover.

It was one thing to know what was going on and quite another to read how many more were being treated like this.

"Howard said the WTU medical staff tried to help but the unit’s non-medical commanders treated him more like a drunk and a troublemaker who needed to be punished, not a soldier suffering from PTSD who needed compassion."

It was so bad a psychiatrist quit.

Dr. Stephen M. Stahl, a psychiatrist who worked closely with the transition program at Fort Hood, left disillusioned with the Army’s understanding of PTSD. The sense was the disorder wasn’t real or that it was a weakness, he said.

While the general public hears that the military is doing this and that to help PTSD soldiers, the "this" is above and "that" that is a sin. But hey, why have a story like this hit the 24-7 news stations on a national level? Why let the American public know what is actually going on in this country and why they are seeing more and more veterans suffering right in their own communities?

Here are just a few of the stories tied to Fort Hood this year.

Specialist Gage Schellin Age 22 Investigation into Specialist Gage Schellin’s death continues at Fort Hood, where he was stationed. He had joined the Army two years earlier and returned in the spring from an 8-month deployment in Afghanistan.

Spc. Adrian Orlando Maganacasanova age 28 FORT HOOD — Officials released the name of a soldier found unresponsive Friday in his Killeen residence. Spc. Adrian Orlando Maganacasanova, 28, whose home of record is listed as Palmdale, Calif., entered active-duty service in February 2008 as a petroleum supply specialist. He was assigned to 615th Aviation Support Battalion, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, at Fort Hood since February 2011.

Omar J. Gonzalez Only five months after a senior neuropsychologist in charge of Fort Hood’s outpatient psychiatry clinic revealed to WND a crisis in psychological testing and treatment at the U.S. Army post, a decorated war veteran who sought therapy at the installation is now in federal custody for jumping the White House fence and bursting through the executive mansion doors. On Sept. 19, Omar J. Gonzalez, a 42-year-old Army veteran who had deployed to Iraq three times and was injured by a homemade bomb, jumped over the north fence, sprinted across the lawn and was stopped only after he entered the White House doors.

Sgt. Triston James Johnson, 23, Houston, entered active duty service in October 2009 as a combat engineer, according to a news release from the post. He had been assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, since November 2012. Johnson deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn from April 2010 to March 2011.

Sgt. Kameron Alexander Womack, 24, of St. Louis, Mo., entered active-duty service in August 2008, as a combat engineer. He was assigned to 8th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, since June 2014.

Sgt. Gene Robert Brandes Jr., a 28-year-old native of Oak Ridge, was found unresponsive in his barracks room at Fort Hood, Texas on May 27. Sgt. Brandes has served in the military for nearly 8 years, entering in August of 2006 as a PATRIOT Launching Station enhanced operator/maintainer, according to a press release issued by the public affairs office. He was assigned to 4th Battalion, 5th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 69th Air Defense Artillery Brigade in Fort Hood since April 2014.

Staff Sgt. Heidi Lynn Ruh 32 Fort Hood soldier has died of injuries suffered last week in a noncombat-related incident in Kosovo. Fort Hood officials on Tuesday announced the death of Staff Sgt. Heidi Lynn Ruh of Barrington, Illinois. She died at Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo following an incident May 9. No other details were available Tuesday. The matter is under investigation by the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command. Ruh joined the military in January 2003 as a biomedical equipment specialist and was assigned to the 1st Medical Brigade at Fort Hood. She was attached to Kosovo Force's Multinational Battle Group-East.

Chief Warrant Officer Deric M. Rasmussen, 33, of Oceanside, California, died May 11, in Mazar E Sharif, Afghanistan, as the result of a non-combat incident. He was assigned to the Company C, 1st Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, Fort Hood,

Shooting at Fort Hood Spc. Ivan A. Lopez, 34, the alleged shooter, also wounded 16 other military personnel. Investigators are still piecing together a motive for his deadly spree.

Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Ferguson, 39, threw his body against the entryway of a door and became a human shield during the shooting. Sgt. Timothy Owens, 37, and Staff Sgt. Carlos Lazaney-Rodriguez, 38, were also killed in the violent incident.

Now, we can keep settling for the national press to zero in on what they want to focus on, or we can let them know what we expect out of them. If we do nothing, if we say nothing, if we demand nothing, then nothing will change for the men and women we claim to support.

If you are still wondering why suicides are so high go to the links and watch the videos. If you're still wondering why someone doesn't do something, then you failed to pay attention to what they already did. They told us one thing while shafting soldiers and that, that should have caused all of us to scream so loudly no one could ignore us.

Vietnam Veteran Marine Happily Lectured By Son

W.Va. veteran with cancer gets wish to see son lecture at Pitt
Ex-Marine visits math class at Pitt
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
By Amy McConnell Schaarsmith
November 25, 2014

“Dad, being a Vietnam veteran, didn’t quite get the recognition those guys deserved,” said Mr. Wheeler, 46. “I thought we could shine a little light on what he’d done for us.” 

Robin Rombach/Post-Gazette
Jeffrey Raymond Wheeler sits Monday in the back of a mathematics class taught by his son Jeffrey Paul Wheeler at the University of Pittsburgh.

The speeches, the handshakes, the red-white-and-blue cake -- it was all a surprise, and a lot more public acclamation than retired U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Jeffrey Raymond Wheeler, a Vietnam War veteran with terminal lung cancer, was used to receiving for his service in Da Nang in the mid-1960s.

Sitting up as straight as he could in his wheelchair, Mr. Wheeler, a 68-year-old former coal miner from Wheeling, W.Va., listened quietly to words of praise from a veterans services spokesman for the University of Pittsburgh. He shook hands with his many well-wishers, accepting their thanks and thanked them in return for attending the reception.

Mr. Wheeler’s cancer has left him weakened, making the wheelchair necessary. But when it was time to face the cameras, he stood and to a spot in front of the Marine Corps and United States flags, and spoke from his heart. Why, he was asked, was one of his final wishes to see his elder son, Pitt mathematics lecturer Jeffrey Paul Wheeler, teach a class?

“He’s special in my life, like my other son,” he said, as his wife, Ruth Ann, stood nearby. “God blessed me, blessed both of us, with two wonderful sons.”
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