Town Hall to address veteran PTSD, suicide
KNOX News
News Sentinel staff
Dec 1, 2014
They fought overseas on behalf of their country.
Now, back home, there’s another battle to take on: suicide and PTSD.
On Tuesday, the Tennessee State Council of the Vietnam Veterans of America will sponsor a “PTSD and Suicide Prevention Town Hall Meeting” for all veterans, active-duty military members and their families.
From 6-9 p.m. at Washington Pike United Methodist Church, representatives from various agencies will summarize the history of PTSD and its causes; talk about symptoms and treatment options; share resources for those with PTSD, including VA benefits; and answer questions.
Actress/model Jennifer O’Neill will speak about the Hillenglade Horses Healing Heroes programs, and veterans who have PTSD but “fought and are winning their battles” will offer testimonials, said Barry Rice, president of the council.
Rice said statistics show 22 veterans a day — 8,030 year — complete suicide, which doesn’t take into account the number who attempt it. More than 70 percent, he said, were 50 or older. But the number of male veterans younger than 30 who commit suicide has jumped 44 percent, he said.
read more here
Monday, December 1, 2014
Guide to U.S. Military Casualty Statistics OEF and OIF Plus PTSD
Document: Guide to U.S. Military Casualty Statistics
Published: December 1, 2014
(Linked from USNI News)
So much for the DOD saying that most of the soldiers with PTSD had not been deployed. Look at these numbers.
2000-2014 None Deployed 36,321 while deployed was 128,496.
Take a good long look at the rest of the numbers.
Then remember that less than half of the troops/veterans with PTSD seek help. Now you have a better idea of what the numbers really are for those we sent.
Published: December 1, 2014
(Linked from USNI News)
So much for the DOD saying that most of the soldiers with PTSD had not been deployed. Look at these numbers.
2000-2014 None Deployed 36,321 while deployed was 128,496.
Take a good long look at the rest of the numbers.
Then remember that less than half of the troops/veterans with PTSD seek help. Now you have a better idea of what the numbers really are for those we sent.
Vietnam Veteran Chuck Hagel Did Right Thing for PTSD Veterans
Vietnam-era soldiers eligible for discharge upgrades
Army Times
By Jim Tice
Staff writer
December 1, 2014
Vietnam-era soldiers who faced punitive discharges because they suffered from post-traumatic stress are to be given liberal consideration to requests for discharge upgrades.
Secretary of the Army John McHugh issued this directive to the Army Review Boards Agency, the service's highest level of administrative review for personnel actions.
McHugh's Nov. 3 directive was prompted by an earlier order from Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel which acknowledged that thousands of soldiers may have been kicked out of service because of behavior problems related to post-traumatic stress.
Upgraded discharges for soldiers who received a less than honorable discharge could lead to the award of previously denied benefits, such as disability pay, separation pay and GI Bill eligibility.
The ARBA is comprised of several boards for considering the claims of soldiers and former soldiers who appeal the filing of unfavorable information in their personnel records.
PTSD was not recognized as a potential behavior altering medical condition until 1980, which means that disability claims and discharge upgrades based on claims of the condition routinely were denied by government agencies, to include the Army review boards.
Hagel's September instruction to the services followed by several months a federal court class action suit filed by a group veterans and the Vietnam Veterans of America that claims the military systematically denied discharge upgrade applications based on claims of PTSD.
The suit estimated that about one-third of the 250,000 other-than-honorable discharges issued to Vietnam era veterans may have been PTSD-related.
read more here
Army Times
By Jim Tice
Staff writer
December 1, 2014
The secretary of the Army has ordered liberal consideration be given to Vietnam-era soldiers who received downgraded discharges even though they may have been suffering from post-traumatic stress.
(Photo: Sgt. 1st Class James K.F. Dung/Army)
Vietnam-era soldiers who faced punitive discharges because they suffered from post-traumatic stress are to be given liberal consideration to requests for discharge upgrades.
Secretary of the Army John McHugh issued this directive to the Army Review Boards Agency, the service's highest level of administrative review for personnel actions.
McHugh's Nov. 3 directive was prompted by an earlier order from Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel which acknowledged that thousands of soldiers may have been kicked out of service because of behavior problems related to post-traumatic stress.
Upgraded discharges for soldiers who received a less than honorable discharge could lead to the award of previously denied benefits, such as disability pay, separation pay and GI Bill eligibility.
The ARBA is comprised of several boards for considering the claims of soldiers and former soldiers who appeal the filing of unfavorable information in their personnel records.
PTSD was not recognized as a potential behavior altering medical condition until 1980, which means that disability claims and discharge upgrades based on claims of the condition routinely were denied by government agencies, to include the Army review boards.
Hagel's September instruction to the services followed by several months a federal court class action suit filed by a group veterans and the Vietnam Veterans of America that claims the military systematically denied discharge upgrade applications based on claims of PTSD.
The suit estimated that about one-third of the 250,000 other-than-honorable discharges issued to Vietnam era veterans may have been PTSD-related.
read more here
Iraq Veteran Heading to Congress Goes to VA
It really seems like this is the guy we've been waiting for. Two tours of Iraq and speaks his own mind about the lack of support politicians gave the troops and then, wow, he actually goes to the VA for medical care. He knows what it is like!
D.C. rookie Seth Moulton takes a veteran’s approach
Sets up role in Congress
Boston Globe
By Cat Zakrzewski
GLOBE CORRESPONDENT
DECEMBER 01, 2014
DREW ANGERER FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE
Representative-elect Seth Moulton took a run on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
WASHINGTON — Seth Moulton wants to ensure that Congress has a vigorous debate over authorizing troops in Iraq and Syria. He is looking for a full team of staffers and vowing to help fix the bureaucratic morass at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
But first, the Democrat has to find his office.
Moulton, sitting unnoticed in gym shorts and sneakers at a French cafe near the Capitol one recent day, reflected on the whirlwind of activity since he won election in November — from selecting office space to his efforts to land a spot on one of the House’s more coveted committees, on Armed Services.
One of the first things he hopes to do, Moulton said, is add pressure on the Republican-led Congress to vote before any combat troops are sent to Iraq.
“I saw some of the consequences of failed leadership in Washington,” said Moulton, a former Marine who served four tours in Iraq. “I think the politicians didn’t know what they were doing when they got us into Iraq, and then they didn’t have our backs when we were there.”
Moulton, 36, said he hopes to play a role in reforming VA health care, which came under fire earlier this year due to a backlog in disability claims.
He currently receives his medical care through the VA, and he said he plans to continue to do so even after he is sworn in to the 114th Congress. Even though he trusts his own primary care physician, he said the bureaucracy was flawed.
“I know what it’s like to wait in line two hours just to have your blood drawn,” he said. “People who should have been fired a long time ago are still on the job.”
read more here
Leo Parent still fighting for veterans, even on vacation
Leo Parent still fighting for veterans
The Recorder
By DIANE BRONCACCIO
Recorder Staff
Monday, December 1, 2014
SHELBURNE FALLS — Ask Leo Parent Jr. when he plans to retire, and he’ll tell you he retired two years ago.
But sitting in the Shelburne town offices, as he has done for years, on an early Tuesday morning, he doesn’t seem to have stopped doing for veterans and widows what he’s been doing for the last 30 years.
Since 1984, Parent, a Vietnam War-era Army veteran, has been helping military veterans in 24 towns by counseling them, steering them through the maze of paperwork required to sign up for Veterans Affairs benefits and sometimes even driving a very distressed veteran to the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Leeds.
When asked how many veterans he’s helped, Parent shrugs. “I was trying to think about that,” he said. “Just say hundreds. It may be thousands.”
They include veterans from every war since World War I. One of those World War I veterans, Homer Gamelin of Turners Falls, called Parent in 1984, to see if he was interested in taking over as the region’s veterans agent, when the agent at that time was retiring.
“There was never a day that I didn’t want to go to work,” he says. “I love helping people.”
The Recorder
By DIANE BRONCACCIO
Recorder Staff
Monday, December 1, 2014
SHELBURNE FALLS — Ask Leo Parent Jr. when he plans to retire, and he’ll tell you he retired two years ago.
But sitting in the Shelburne town offices, as he has done for years, on an early Tuesday morning, he doesn’t seem to have stopped doing for veterans and widows what he’s been doing for the last 30 years.
Since 1984, Parent, a Vietnam War-era Army veteran, has been helping military veterans in 24 towns by counseling them, steering them through the maze of paperwork required to sign up for Veterans Affairs benefits and sometimes even driving a very distressed veteran to the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Leeds.
When asked how many veterans he’s helped, Parent shrugs. “I was trying to think about that,” he said. “Just say hundreds. It may be thousands.”
They include veterans from every war since World War I. One of those World War I veterans, Homer Gamelin of Turners Falls, called Parent in 1984, to see if he was interested in taking over as the region’s veterans agent, when the agent at that time was retiring.
“There was never a day that I didn’t want to go to work,” he says. “I love helping people.”
Parent has sometimes met with a distraught veteran and his wife on an emergency basis, arranged for the veteran to see a VA doctor, and even driven him there, if need be. Parent said his wife of 37 years, Susan, has been very understanding of the middle-of-the-night and emergency weekend calls.
“She never complains about the house phone calls,” he said. Parent said he could never have done what he has done without her support.
Leo Parent’s father, a World War II veteran, died several years ago, but Parent keeps the “Jr.” in his name to honor his father.
Besides his direct work with veterans, Parent is proud of his role in bringing dramatic tributes to veterans from area towns. The best known is perhaps the profusion of American flags on the slope in front of the Carnegie Library a few years ago — one flag for every American veteran killed or wounded in Iraq.
For the past 15 years, Parent and his wife have been vacationing in Yauco, Puerto Rico. While there, Parent files VA forms for veterans living in that U.S. territory. “There’s no VA guys over there,” he said. “I love doing that.”
read more here
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