Soldier's struggle with PTSD inspired new song

EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE: The Song of a Soldier
WWAY TV
Submitted by Daniel Seamans
12/03/2014

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder can affect anyone. In the military, the Department of Veterans Affairs reports upwards of 20% of Veterans suffer from it. A local band wrote a song about a soldier who lives that life.

In part two of a special Extraordinary Person of the Week, the Song of a Soldier and how that music is helping those in need.

"He used to be so confident, now, he's grown weak from the pain," David Fair sings.

The song was born the day musician David Fair met now retired Lieutenant Colonel Cody Roberson while on touring with a former band in Texas.

David and his bandmate, Madonna Nash, singing duet: "As he walks into the local bar, drowned his pain and broken heart, until he can't find his way back home."

"Cody's story inspired me and we wrote it," Fair told Daniel Seamans.

Cody's story is one of a decorated soldier who battles life after many years of service in the military. One who suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD.

Nash and Fair's new song, 'Welcome home', is a tale of a troubled journey so emotional that the song itself had challenges.
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Andrew Eskola, Iraq Veteran or Guardian Angel?

Iraq war veteran’s military skills help save Brainerd man’s life
Brainerd Dispatch
By Forum News Service
Dec 3, 2014

“A lot of times we take these young vets for granted,” said Bingham, “but they truly have a lot of skills to offer. It would have been like trying to plug a hole in a water pump without that tourniquet.”

Frank Bingham, 61, of Brainerd discovered the hard way just how helpful strangers can be.

Bingham was on his way home via medical transport from Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis following treatment for a heart issue a couple of weeks ago. The van driver had to first make a stop to drop off another patient at Black Bear Casino Resort and then headed over to the Junction Oasis to gas up.

Bingham headed to the restroom but found the two stalls were occupied. As he waited, he took off his Harley Davidson jacket and discovered “blood running out of my arm like a waterfall,” he recalled.

“I started feeling faint so I dived for one of the urinals and held on for dear life,” he said.

A young man came out of one of the stalls and immediately came to Bingham’s aid. As it turned out, the young man was Andrew Eskola, the store manager, who told Bingham he’d learned Combat Life Saving (CLS) skills while serving in Iraq and Kuwait.

Eskola joined the Guards after graduating from Esko High School in 2007 and deployed with the Red Bulls to Kuwait and Iraq in 2011-2012. He was honorably discharged in December 2013 after seven years of service.

Thankfully, what he learned there stuck with him.
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Fort Benning Soldier attacked and trigger finger removed?

Update: Sheriff investigating claim soldier's trigger finger cut off
Ledger Enquirer
BY CHUCK WILLIAMS
December 2, 2014

As Russell County authorities investigated an active-duty soldier’s claim that two masked men forced their way into his home Tuesday morning and cut off a portion of his trigger finger, social media reports exaggerated the incident, Sheriff Heath Taylor said.

There were multiple social media posts that there were two incidents of soldiers having a finger amputated. Taylor said those reports were inaccurate.

“We don’t have an attack on our soldiers in this area losing their fingers.” Taylor said during an afternoon media briefing. “We have a soldier who has lost part of a finger, and we don’t know why that has occurred.”

The soldier, who lived on Shadow Ridge Lane near Seale, reported that two men forced their way into his home after he opened the door about 8 a.m., Taylor said. It was after the man’s children left for school and his wife left for work.

The details provided to deputies by the soldier were incomplete, Taylor said.
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VA Approved More Than 15,000 Caregivers

Veterans Health Administration Overwhelmed by Caregiver Applications
Delays in applications due to outdated IT system
Free Beacon
BY: Ellison Barber
December 3, 2014

The Department of Veterans Affairs continues to struggle to meet the demands of applications for a program intended to assist family members caring for wounded veterans, according to testimony at a House Veterans Affairs subcommittee on Wednesday.

“The number of applications we’re getting every month is 500. We had anticipated that the number of applications would eventually reach a plateau, but that hasn’t happened,” said Dr. Maureen McCarthy, the deputy chief of patient care services at the Veterans Health Administration (VHA).

The VHA’s Family Caregiver Program began in May of 2011, a year after the president signed it into law. Officials initially estimated that 4,000 eligible caregivers would enroll in the program within the first three years. By May of 2014, more than 15,000 caregivers were approved for the program—nearly quadruple the original estimate.

The Government Accountability Office released a report in September 2014 evaluating the program and found that in addition to “significantly underestimat[ing]” the demand for services, the program was hamstrung by an outdated information technology (IT) system.
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New Members Appointed to VA Advisory Committee on Minority Veterans

New Members Appointed to VA Advisory Committee on Minority Veterans
12/03/2014 03:18 PM EST

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has announced the appointment of five new members to the Advisory Committee on Minority Veterans. The committee was chartered on November 2, 1994, and advises the Secretary of Veterans Affairs on the needs of the nation’s 4.7 million minority Veterans with respect to compensation, health care, rehabilitation, outreach and other benefits and programs administered by the VA. The Committee assesses the needs of Veterans who are minority group members and recommends program improvements designed to meet their needs. The committee members are appointed to two or three-year terms. Minority Veterans comprise nearly 21 percent of the total Veteran population in the United States and its territories.

The new committee members are:
Patricia Jackson-Kelley: Lt. Col. (US Army-Ret) of Los Angeles, California; Served as one of the first full time Women Veteran Program Coordinators at the Los Angeles VAMC. Currently serves as a member of the LA County Veterans Advisory Council; Board Member of Military Women in Need Organization and LA County Council Commander of the American Legion.

Librado Rivas: Command Sgt. Maj. (USA-Ret) of Manassas, Virginia; State Commander of the DC Chapter, American GI Forum of the United States; National Liaison Officer in Washington, DC, for the National Office of the American GI Forum, and Director of the Army Lean Six Sigma.

Rebecca Stone: Staff Sgt. (USA-Ret) of Columbia, Maryland; served in Operation Iraqi Freedom and was medically retired under the Wounded Warrior Program through Warrior Transition Units. She is a certified suicide negotiator/first responder. She was also the recipient of the National Association of Female Executives (NAFE) Women of Excellence Award.

Cornell Wilson, Jr.: Maj. Gen. (USMC-Ret) of Charlotte, North Carolina; currently serves as Military Advisor to the Governor of North Carolina, where he also advises state agencies and Veteran’s organizations on the needs of Veterans.

Anthony Woods: Army Veteran of University Park, Maryland; currently serves as the Senior Manager at Cisco System’s Consulting Services and consults with the Department of Defense and the Army on IT transformations. Mr. Woods also volunteers with organizations such as Got Your 6 and Hiring Our Heroes.

The new members join current members:

Marvin Trujillo, Jr., Committee Chairman, Marine Corps Veteran

Richard de Moya, Lt. Col. (USA-Ret)

Elisandro (Alex) Diaz, Navy Veteran

Many-Bears Grinder, Col. (USA-Ret)

Harold Hunt, Army Veteran

Sheila Mitchell, Air Force Veteran

Teresita Smith, Sgt. First Class (USA-Ret)

In addition to working closely with the Advisory Committee on Minority Veterans, VA is improving its services for Veterans who are minority group members:

Establishing the Office of Health Equity Research and Promotion, which assesses health equity and health disparities within the health care system to ensure adequate policies are in place to reduce disparities in vulnerable minority Veteran populations.

Funding projects focused on Pacific Rim Veterans, including Spinal Cord Injury outreach and treatment in Hilo, Kona, Maui, Molakai, and Kauai; leveraging telehealth technology to provide clinic based tele-mental health care on the island of Kauai.

Conducting a 3-year project through VA’s Office of Rural Health to establish a collaborative National Native Telehealth Training and Consultative Service which aids in the replication of tele-mental health clinics for use by rural Native American Veterans.

Gary Sinise's holiday message for the troops

Gary Sinise's holiday message for the troops
FOX News
December 3, 2014
video embed not working so go to this link Gary Sinise's holiday message for the troops

Orlando Fastsigns giving discounts for Toys for Tots donations

Drop off your Toys for Tots donations and receive $5 off your next purchase of $25 or more! 

Contribute to your local Toys for Tots campaign by dropping off your unwrapped toy at FASTSIGNS® Orlando, FL - Central.

All donations must be received no later than 12/16/14.

Capt. William H. DuBois killed in F-16 Crash

Department of Defense
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Release No: NR-599-14
December 02, 2014

DoD Identifies Air Force Casualty
The Department of Defense announced today the death of an Airman who was supporting Operation Inherent Resolve.

Capt. William H. DuBois, 30, of New Castle, Colorado, died Dec. 1 when his F-16 aircraft crashed near a coalition air base in the Middle East. He was assigned to the 77th Fighter Squadron, Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina.

US Air Force pilot killed when F-16 crashes in Middle East
FOX News
December 1, 2014

The U.S. military is investigating the death of an Air Force pilot following the crash of an F-16 plane returning to its base in the Middle East Sunday night.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) issued a statement Monday saying the pilot was killed when the F-16 Fighting Falcon crashed in a non-combat-related incident. The aircraft was returning to its base shortly after takeoff, the statement said.

While CENTCOM said the crash did not happen in Iraq or Syria, there were no further details on the exact location of the base. First-responders were still on the scene Monday.

The pilot has not been named, but it’s standard U.S. military policy to defer identification until 24 hours after next-of-kin notification.
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Marine Held After Rushing Wife to Hospital on $100,000 Bond

This is the latest headline about the Marine involved,

Man remains in custody in shooting involving officer
Jacksonville Daily News
Adelina Colbert
December 1, 2014

A Camp Lejeune Marine remains in the county jail for allegedly trying to hit a police officer with his car during a high speed chase that ended in an officer-involved shooting last week.

Brandon Ryan Henry, 21, of Foy Lockamy Road, was charged by the Jacksonville Police Department on Nov. 26 with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, assault with a deadly weapon against a government official, fleeing or eluding arrest with motor vehicle, felony failure to stop at a stop sign or flashing red light, reckless driving to endanger and reckless driving with wanton disregard.

He is being held at the Onslow County jail under a $100,000 secured bond.

According to 1st Lt. Adam Flores, spokesman with the 2nd Marine Division on Camp Lejeune, Henry, a lance corporal, is a rifleman with 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, who enlisted in the Marine Corps in August 2012. Henry is listed as being a native of Leeds, Alabama, according to Marine Corps records.
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Yet this is more of the story the Jacksonville Daily News didn't think was important enough to add in

WIFE: Marine husband rushing me to hospital when shot by officer during chase
WITN News
By: Carly Swain, Rachael Cardin, and Clayton Bauman
Nov 28, 2014

The wife of a Marine who is accused of leading police on a chase and attempting to run down an officer says her husband was rushing her to the hospital.

Brandon Henry is facing several charges, including assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, assault with a deadly weapon against a government official, and fleeing or eluding arrest.
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Afghanistan Veteran From Florida Died at UC Berkley

UC Berkeley senior Paul Hanson dies at age 26
Daily Californian
BY SUHAUNA HUSSAIN
STAFF
December 2, 2014

His brother said Hanson’s death came as a shock to friends and family, because he was physically and academically successful. Still, he acknowledged that his service in the Marine Corps may have impacted Hanson mentally. He noted that his brother struggled with insomnia and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Paul Hanson, a UC Berkeley senior and student-veteran, died last week at the age of 26.

Friends and family remember Hanson for his strong work ethic and unwavering kindness. He served in the Marine Corps for almost five years before transferring to UC Berkeley from community college in 2013.

“I was just proud to have him be my brother and my friend,” said his brother James Hanson. “Me and my brother — we look up to Paul even though he’s the younger brother, because he’s so gifted.”

Hanson majored in political economy on campus after transferring from De Anza College. He had his sights set on obtaining a law degree — earlier this year, he was accepted to the UC Berkeley School of Law and University of Virginia’s law school. Prior to his death, he was in the midst of completing interviews for a number of other prestigious institutions. He eventually hoped to work for the U.S. Department of State.

Joseph Bohling, a Portland State University assistant professor who wrote recommendations for Hanson’s law school applications, said Hanson was the type of student every instructor hoped to have in their classes, remarking that he was constantly curious and went far beyond the course material.

“He pursued his studies with an endless enthusiasm, optimism, and generosity,” Bohling wrote in an email. “Paul dreamed big.”

UC Berkeley sophomore Michelaina Johnson, a friend of Hanson’s and former Daily Californian staff writer, remembered how dedicated he was to his passions, manifested in the long hours he devoted to studying and working for the American Red Cross, JusticeCorps and an international studies honor society.

Originally from Florida, Hanson joined the Marine Corps for four and half years shortly after he turned 18. He served in Afghanistan for a nine-month tour of duty before he was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps, winning the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal for his service.

“Underneath all that muscle and all those protein shakes, he was really sweet,” said UC Berkeley senior Stacie Vu, who laughingly recalled he was still a “sucker for anything Nutella-related.”
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