Families touched by military suicide thankful for new federal lawIn 2008 it was another National Guardsman's family getting attention after he committed suicide. Spc. Chris Dana of the Montana National Guards got the attention of then Senator Obama. We had hope back then but as suicides went up, hope left a bitter taste from tears across the country.
FOX 59
BY DAN SPEHLER
DECEMBER 19, 2014
INDIANAPOLIS (Dec. 19, 2014) – It’s a problem that’s affected far too many of our Hoosier Heroes and their families, but now there’s a new federal law aimed at preventing military suicide.
Sen. Joe Donnelly’s office said they were anticipating President Obama would sign the Jacob Sexton Military Suicide Prevention Act into law by the end of the day. The new law requires annual mental health assessments for our military- including guardsmen and reservists.
Sexton’s parents, from Farmland, joined Donnelly Friday at the Indiana War Memorial to discuss the new law.
A few years ago, Sexton took his own life while home on leave.
“My son’s name on this bill will help other soldiers and that’s very important to me,” said Jacob’s mother, Barb Sexton. “I’m very proud this is going into law and I truly know this will help other families that are dealing with PTSD.”
Gregg Keesling’s family dealt with the same pain- when his son Chance took his own life in Iraq.
“I’m convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt this bill, if it had been in place, my son would be alive today,” said Keesling. “And when you lose a child all you have is hoping the death can help save other people.”
read more here
Saturday, December 20, 2014
Another family faced pain of suicide with hope of bill redo
Another family hopeful others will be spared the pain of losing a service member to suicide. How many more families will have to push a member of congress to do something before they do something right? These rules in this bill have already been done and the Joint Vice Chiefs of Staff admitted years ago they do not do post deployment screenings. No one did anything to enforce the bills that were already done so this will be more of the same.
Troop suicide rates declined and so did the number of enlisted
Fort Campbell Courier
by Amaani Lyle, Defense Media Activity
December 18, 2014
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Defense Department released the quarterly suicide report for April through June of 2014, and the numbers, officials said, indicate a drop from first-quarter statistics for all services and components.
The second-quarter report showed 70 suicides among active duty service members, 14 suicides among Reserve component service members and 20 suicides among National Guardsmen.
In an off-camera briefing, Pentagon spokesman Army Col. Steve Warren reported comparison first quarter statistics of 74 active duty members, 24 Reservists and 22 National Guardsmen.
read more here
Have you ever noticed they don't seem too willing to mention the fact there are also less serving when they talk about the number of suicides?
Well in this case, they actually did.
"Garrick noted that DOD and VA recognize the need to help transitioning service members, as some 250,000 separate or medically retire from the military each year."
This is why we are not impressed by suicides going down by a few all too slowly.
Friday, December 19, 2014
Picking Political Sides Left Military Crushed in the Middle
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
December 19, 2014
There are many things we should argue about politically because that is how things change. There are somethings that we should never argue about. One of them serves this country everyday and the other served her yesterday.
It seems as if everyone has a strong opinion about how things got so bad for our troops and veterans. The truth is, both sides did it. Both sides continue to feed the myth of everyone in this country picking their side but the truth is most of us are just average folks. I am a full time American.
Republicans think I am a Democrat and Democrats think I am Republican. No one wants to claim me and that is a good thing.
The issues facing the troops range from not getting enough pay to provide for their families, unsure future for their careers, to being mistreated for claiming benefits they were promised if they needed them. The veterans face the same things they have faced for decades. Sorry but not much has changed.
Both sides of politicians got us to believe it was the other side's fault but again, truth is stranger than their fiction. Everyone complain about how sequestration hurt the military when Republicans controlled the House and Democrats controlled the Senate and both sides refused to work together. Strange thing is, no one was paying attention to the troops risking their lives in other parts of the world, working together as a team, putting their lives on the line ready to die for each other and those folks couldn't manage to even talk to each other to at least support them.
When I was young, I wanted to change to world. I had an opinion on every topic. I lost every argument and never managed to change a single mind on any of them. My Mom, a very wise woman told me it was time for me to pick just one battle, learn everything I could about it and give it all I had. It was not until I received an email from a Marine serving in Iraq that I finally, really understood what she meant. Back then I was politically twisted. I was so involved in supporting my own political views, I settled for what I was being told. The Marine asked me if I was doing what I did for them or myself. The answer made me cry. I wasn't serving them no matter how hard I tried to convince myself I was. That's when Wounded Times started 7 years ago.
The truth is all of this falls back on Congress and both sides put a pox on both sides of the House. Troubles in the military started long ago and kept going just as they did for veterans. Media and online posers like me had the ability to research and understand basic history but they must have not thought it was all that important or they would have known the truth in our history. The truth is we always sucked at taking care of the most unselfish among us.
"Odd how that seems to work all the time. They give all they have and ask for little in return, so that is exactly what Congress gives them."
While there are thousands of postings right now on Bradley Stone and the people he killed, other stories far more pressing have fallen into the abyss. Bradley Stone cleared by Veterans Affairs doctor one week before murders, suicide was the headline on the Washington Times. "A Department of Veterans Affairs psychiatrist cleared former Marine Bradley Stone of suicidal or homicidal tendencies just a week before he went on a killing spree, slaying six others and then taking his own life."
The headline we needed to pay attention to was on the Dallas Morning News because it involved a lot more lost lives but no one seemed to care. INJURED HEROES, BROKEN PROMISES about PTSD wounded soldiers in the Warrior Transition Units being treated, well, like crap. They were told to get over it and suck it up for 7 years. This after hearing from the DOD they got it. Understood it and were addressing the problems apparently with the wrong address and stamping them with return to sender families.
Things were so bad that the Army actually had to issue orders to stop abusing them.
Who is to blame? Congress obviously for starters but suggest you pick up a mirror because no matter which letter you voted for, if you didn't pay attention to what was going on, you may as well have picked up a shovel to dig their graves and made yourself useful.
Kathie Costos
December 19, 2014
It seems as if everyone has a strong opinion about how things got so bad for our troops and veterans. The truth is, both sides did it. Both sides continue to feed the myth of everyone in this country picking their side but the truth is most of us are just average folks. I am a full time American.
Republicans think I am a Democrat and Democrats think I am Republican. No one wants to claim me and that is a good thing.
The issues facing the troops range from not getting enough pay to provide for their families, unsure future for their careers, to being mistreated for claiming benefits they were promised if they needed them. The veterans face the same things they have faced for decades. Sorry but not much has changed.
Both sides of politicians got us to believe it was the other side's fault but again, truth is stranger than their fiction. Everyone complain about how sequestration hurt the military when Republicans controlled the House and Democrats controlled the Senate and both sides refused to work together. Strange thing is, no one was paying attention to the troops risking their lives in other parts of the world, working together as a team, putting their lives on the line ready to die for each other and those folks couldn't manage to even talk to each other to at least support them.
When I was young, I wanted to change to world. I had an opinion on every topic. I lost every argument and never managed to change a single mind on any of them. My Mom, a very wise woman told me it was time for me to pick just one battle, learn everything I could about it and give it all I had. It was not until I received an email from a Marine serving in Iraq that I finally, really understood what she meant. Back then I was politically twisted. I was so involved in supporting my own political views, I settled for what I was being told. The Marine asked me if I was doing what I did for them or myself. The answer made me cry. I wasn't serving them no matter how hard I tried to convince myself I was. That's when Wounded Times started 7 years ago.
The truth is all of this falls back on Congress and both sides put a pox on both sides of the House. Troubles in the military started long ago and kept going just as they did for veterans. Media and online posers like me had the ability to research and understand basic history but they must have not thought it was all that important or they would have known the truth in our history. The truth is we always sucked at taking care of the most unselfish among us.
"Odd how that seems to work all the time. They give all they have and ask for little in return, so that is exactly what Congress gives them."
Kathie Costos
"Congress meets tomorrow morning. Let us all pray: Oh Lord, give us strength to bear that which is about to be inflicted upon us. Be merciful with them, oh Lord, for they know not what they're doing. Amen."
Will Rogers
While there are thousands of postings right now on Bradley Stone and the people he killed, other stories far more pressing have fallen into the abyss. Bradley Stone cleared by Veterans Affairs doctor one week before murders, suicide was the headline on the Washington Times. "A Department of Veterans Affairs psychiatrist cleared former Marine Bradley Stone of suicidal or homicidal tendencies just a week before he went on a killing spree, slaying six others and then taking his own life."
The headline we needed to pay attention to was on the Dallas Morning News because it involved a lot more lost lives but no one seemed to care. INJURED HEROES, BROKEN PROMISES about PTSD wounded soldiers in the Warrior Transition Units being treated, well, like crap. They were told to get over it and suck it up for 7 years. This after hearing from the DOD they got it. Understood it and were addressing the problems apparently with the wrong address and stamping them with return to sender families.
"As far back as 2008, the House committee received similar complaints from soldiers, Thornberry said. At that time, the committee required improvements from the Army." Rep. Mac Thornberry, the new chairman of the House Armed Services Committee
Things were so bad that the Army actually had to issue orders to stop abusing them.
The training order required all WTU leaders to attend a day of training. The order highlighted the need to treat all soldiers and family members “with dignity and respect.” It includes the warning: “There is zero tolerance for hazing, abuse, or discrimination in our Army.” Col. Chris Toner, head of the Warrior Transition Command
Who is to blame? Congress obviously for starters but suggest you pick up a mirror because no matter which letter you voted for, if you didn't pay attention to what was going on, you may as well have picked up a shovel to dig their graves and made yourself useful.
Fort Hood Soldier From Virginia Found Dead
DVIDS
December 18, 2014
FORT HOOD, Texas - Fort Hood officials have released the name of a Soldier who was found unresponsive at his off-post residence in Killeen, Texas, Dec. 16.
He was pronounced deceased by Bell County Justice of the Peace Bill Cooke. Sgt. 1st Class Keith Robert Tucker, 37, whose home of record is listed as Portsmouth, Virginia, entered the military in October 1995 as an infantryman. He arrived at Fort Hood in January 2012 and was assigned to 3rd Squadron, 3rd Cavalry Regiment, Fort Hood, since December 2014.
Tucker deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom from October 2005 to September 2006 and from October 2007 to October 2008. read more here
“You served a country, but you don’t mean anything to her.”
Veterans exposed to viruses, claim V.A. avoided responsibility
MSNBC
By Ronan Farrow and Rich Gardella
12/18/14
John Renegar Jr., wearing a careworn baseball cap emblazed with “101st Airborne”, surveyed his small living room in Smyrna Tennessee and shrugged. “It just makes you think you don’t mean nothin’ to anybody, you know,” the 66 year old Vietnam vet said. “You served a country, but you don’t mean anything to her.”
Renegar is referring to his treatment by the Department of Veteran Affairs. He’s one of thousands of veterans to receive a bombshell of a letter in 2009 – warning them that they may have been exposed to life-threatening infections as a result of misconfigured or unclean colonoscopy equipment. He’s also one of a smaller group to subsequently test positive for a serious infection – in his case, chronic hepatitis that will leave him at risk for life-threatening liver damage for the rest of his life.
But Renegar was just as shaken by his treatment after the infection – with the V.A. ignoring his concerns, denying his claims, and eventually fighting him in court.
Documents obtained by NBC News show he is not alone – in fact, the agency has quietly rejected most of the medical malpractice claims associated with the botched colonoscopies.
Reneger said he believes he contracted his case of hepatitis during a colonoscopy at the V.A.’s Alvin C. York Medical Center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee on Oct. 30, 2003. “You know you’ve lived a clean life and hadn’t done any kind of drugs or … been running around on my wife or anything,” he said. “… I don’t know of anywhere else I could have got it.” He was among 6,387 patients deemed at risk after procedures at that facility between April 23, 2003 and Dec. 1, 2008
read more here
VA says 3 positive HIV tests from follow-ups
MSNBC
By Ronan Farrow and Rich Gardella
12/18/14
Inside the V.A.: Colonoscopy claims denied
Five years ago, V.A. hospitals potentially exposed thousands of veterans to potential infections like HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis. Ronan Farrow Daily and the NBC News Investigative Unit report that, for some, that was just the beginning of the nightmare.
John Renegar Jr., wearing a careworn baseball cap emblazed with “101st Airborne”, surveyed his small living room in Smyrna Tennessee and shrugged. “It just makes you think you don’t mean nothin’ to anybody, you know,” the 66 year old Vietnam vet said. “You served a country, but you don’t mean anything to her.”
Renegar is referring to his treatment by the Department of Veteran Affairs. He’s one of thousands of veterans to receive a bombshell of a letter in 2009 – warning them that they may have been exposed to life-threatening infections as a result of misconfigured or unclean colonoscopy equipment. He’s also one of a smaller group to subsequently test positive for a serious infection – in his case, chronic hepatitis that will leave him at risk for life-threatening liver damage for the rest of his life.
But Renegar was just as shaken by his treatment after the infection – with the V.A. ignoring his concerns, denying his claims, and eventually fighting him in court.
Documents obtained by NBC News show he is not alone – in fact, the agency has quietly rejected most of the medical malpractice claims associated with the botched colonoscopies.
Reneger said he believes he contracted his case of hepatitis during a colonoscopy at the V.A.’s Alvin C. York Medical Center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee on Oct. 30, 2003. “You know you’ve lived a clean life and hadn’t done any kind of drugs or … been running around on my wife or anything,” he said. “… I don’t know of anywhere else I could have got it.” He was among 6,387 patients deemed at risk after procedures at that facility between April 23, 2003 and Dec. 1, 2008
read more here
VA says 3 positive HIV tests from follow-ups
Nearly 11,000 could have been exposed to HIV as 5th case is linked
5th HIV Case Linked To VA Equipment
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- A fifth patient has tested positive for HIV, and seven more have tested positive for hepatitis after being exposed to contaminated medical equipment at three Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals, the agency said Friday.
That brings the total who have tested positive for hepatitis to 33.
They are among thousands tested because they were treated with endoscopic equipment that wasn't properly sterilized between patients and exposed them to the body fluids of others. The equipment is often used in colonoscopies and ear, nose and throat procedures.
Nearly 11,000 former sailors, soldiers, airmen and Marines could have been exposed at the hospitals in Miami, Murfreesboro, Tenn., and Augusta, Ga.
5th HIV Case Linked To VA Equipment
Related Stories:
April 24, 2009: VA Reports 4th HIV Case
March 26, 2009: 10 VA Patients Have Viral Infections
March 11, 2009: VA Denies Hepatitis Results
January 8, 2009: Valve Problem Cited In Colonoscopy Issue
January 8, 2009: VA Volunteer Calls Hospital Tools Dirty
Stolen Valor: Man Can't Prove Super Secret Special Forces Team
He claims PTSD and faced off with police while armed yet he survived.
Military service claim by man in standoff still unproven
Herald Washington
By Diana Hefley, Herald Writer
December 18, 2014
EVERETT — A Snohomish man could face jail time if he can't convince a Snohomish County judge that he has delved into the accuracy of his claimed military experiences as part of his court-ordered mental health treatment.
Superior Court Judge Michael Downes said Wednesday that he hasn't received sufficient records documenting that Tyler Gaffney is getting to the bottom of whether he has been truthful about his military service in the U.S. Army.
Downes in January sentenced Gaffney to six months in jail for a Sept. 29, 2013, incident that involved a standoff with Snohomish County sheriff's deputies. Gaffney assaulted his father and threatened to blow up and shoot police.
He confronted deputies, armed with a Airsoft gun that resembled a M-4, an assault rifle widely used by the U.S. military. Deputies used less-than-lethal ammunition to subdue him.
Gaffney later told detectives that he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder because of his combat experiences. He claimed that “he was a member of a super-secret Special Forces team,” who served in clandestine combat missions and had been awarded medals for his bravery.
The detectives, who both served in the military, reported that many of Gaffney's combat stories followed the plots of popular war movies. Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Paul Stern raised concerns about “stolen valor.”
read more here
Georgia National Guard Soldiers home in time for Christmas
Georgia National Guard soldiers return from Afghanistan deployment in time for holidays
Associated Press
By Russ Bynum
Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014
Sandbothe was among 61 citizen-soldiers of the Georgia National Guard coming back from a 10-month deployment exactly a week before Christmas. Another 60 members – the 1st Battalion, 169th General Support Aviation Battalion – were headed home to Alabama, which shares the unit’s B Company with Georgia. read more here
Associated Press
By Russ Bynum
Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014
RUSS BYNUM/ASSOCIATED PRESS Staff Sgt. Christopher Reynolds of the Georgia National Guard hugs his wife, Colleen Reynolds, at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, after returning from Afghanistan.
The Georgia National Guard said this is the first holiday season since 9/11 that none of its units will be deployed, though about 40 individual soldiers remain overseas assisting units from other states. Georgia began sending its citizen-soldiers to Afghanistan in November 2001.SAVANNAH, Ga. — Chief Warrant Officer 4 Duane Sandbothe returned from a deployment to Afghanistan on Thursday with plans to keep his holiday homecoming a secret from his 8-year-old son for a full week. “He’s supposed to ask Santa Claus to get me home for Christmas,” said Sandbothe, 41, of Savannah, after his parents and other family members greeted him at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah. They plan to help him lay low until he can surprise his son.
Sandbothe was among 61 citizen-soldiers of the Georgia National Guard coming back from a 10-month deployment exactly a week before Christmas. Another 60 members – the 1st Battalion, 169th General Support Aviation Battalion – were headed home to Alabama, which shares the unit’s B Company with Georgia. read more here
Thursday, December 18, 2014
Now Congress Thinks Military Suicides Are Caused by Money Problems?
Landmark Military Suicide Prevention Study Approved by CongressOMG! Congress spends more money on
suicide prevention with "financial planners"
Financial Planning
Ann Marshi
December 17, 2014
The $1 million cost of the study "is like pocket change in terms of the Department of Defense's budget," she says. "When are the servicemembers going to get the help they deserve?"Tucked into the $1.1 trillion spending package just approved by Congress is a little-noticed provision for a study into connections between financial stress and the military suicide epidemic – legislation advocates believe represents a vital step forward in achieving more effective financial planning interventions for soldiers and veterans.
Prompted by a Financial Planning investigation, the measure sponsored by Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.) directs the Pentagon to analyze financial stress as a main precipitating factor to military suicide; other leading factors are mental illness and post-traumatic stress disorder, marital problems and substance abuse. "This may be exactly what's needed to jumpstart attention to this issue," says former U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Stephen Xenakis, an M.D. who spoke out in support of the bill.
"It may trigger more attention to get people to start recognizing that they need to take care of this issue for their soldiers and veterans." read more here
Eielson Air Force Chaplain Next Catholic Bishop
Air Force Chaplain Chosen to Become Catholic Bishop
Alaska Dispatch News, Anchorage
by Dermot Cole
Dec 17, 2014
FAIRBANKS -- When the command post at Eielson Air Force Base summons an Air Force chaplain, it's almost always a crisis that requires immediate attention.
After the phone rang at 6:15 a.m. that Saturday morning in November, the Rev. Chad Zielinski, 50, thought it was not an emergency, but a big mistake.
In this case, the caller, perhaps not fully aware of the time zone, identified himself as Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, the ambassador from the Vatican who represents Pope Francis in Washington, D.C. "Our Holy Father, Pope Francis, has appointed you Bishop of Fairbanks," Vigano told Zielinski.
Zielinski, a chaplain for 12 years and a Catholic priest for 18 years, asked Vigano who he was three or four times, thinking that the Apostolic Nuncio had the wrong Zielinski.
"I was so tired and could not think straight," Zielinski said, reconstructing the Nov. 8 conversation in a letter to those who worship with him at Our Lady of Snows Catholic Community at Eielson.
read more here
Alaska Dispatch News, Anchorage
by Dermot Cole
Dec 17, 2014
 |
| U.S. Air Force Maj. Chad Zielinski, 354th Fighter Wing Catholic chaplain, preaches during Sunday Mass at Fort Wainwright, Alaska, June 29, 2014. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Joseph Swafford) |
After the phone rang at 6:15 a.m. that Saturday morning in November, the Rev. Chad Zielinski, 50, thought it was not an emergency, but a big mistake.
In this case, the caller, perhaps not fully aware of the time zone, identified himself as Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, the ambassador from the Vatican who represents Pope Francis in Washington, D.C. "Our Holy Father, Pope Francis, has appointed you Bishop of Fairbanks," Vigano told Zielinski.
Zielinski, a chaplain for 12 years and a Catholic priest for 18 years, asked Vigano who he was three or four times, thinking that the Apostolic Nuncio had the wrong Zielinski.
"I was so tired and could not think straight," Zielinski said, reconstructing the Nov. 8 conversation in a letter to those who worship with him at Our Lady of Snows Catholic Community at Eielson.
read more here
Soldier Fed Hungry Woman and Sat with Her a While
Family looking for soldier who bought hungry Petersburg woman a hot meal
NBC 12 Virginia
By Ashley Monfort
Updated: Dec 17, 2014
PETERSBURG, VA (WWBT)
An effort is underway to find a soldier who bought a hungry woman a hot meal in Petersburg. Another customer posted a photo of the soldier sitting down with the stranger at the Hardee's off of Route 460 in Petersburg on Tuesday.
NBC12 tracked down the woman and now her family wants to thank the man who gave her a hot meal.
A motel off of Route 460 in Petersburg is where Roxie Delphine Edwards calls home, and a hot meal isn't always easy to come by. She says she goes hungry some days.
Edwards lives near a Hardee's restaurant where the manager says she usually just asks for a drink. On Tuesday she says she walked in the rain and asked a soldier for help. "I asked him if he could buy me something to eat and he said yeah," Edwards said.
read more here
NBC 12 Virginia
By Ashley Monfort
Updated: Dec 17, 2014
PETERSBURG, VA (WWBT)
An effort is underway to find a soldier who bought a hungry woman a hot meal in Petersburg. Another customer posted a photo of the soldier sitting down with the stranger at the Hardee's off of Route 460 in Petersburg on Tuesday.
NBC12 tracked down the woman and now her family wants to thank the man who gave her a hot meal.
A motel off of Route 460 in Petersburg is where Roxie Delphine Edwards calls home, and a hot meal isn't always easy to come by. She says she goes hungry some days.
Edwards lives near a Hardee's restaurant where the manager says she usually just asks for a drink. On Tuesday she says she walked in the rain and asked a soldier for help. "I asked him if he could buy me something to eat and he said yeah," Edwards said.
read more here
Abuse of PTSD Civil War Soldiers Repeated in the Army Now
If you think things haven't changed much since then, you're right. Considering what was reported about Warrior Transition Units telling PTSD soldiers to "suck it up" and "man up" the attitude is still the same after all these years.
Did Civil War Soldiers Have PTSD?
One hundred and fifty years later, historians are discovering some of the earliest known cases of post-traumatic stress disorder
Smithsonian Magazine
By Tony Horwitz
January 2015
The wounded soldiers above were photographed at a hospital in Fredericksburg, Virginia, between 1861 and 1865. (Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs division)This veil is now lifting, in dramatic fashion, amid growing awareness of conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder. A year ago, the National Museum of Civil War Medicine mounted its first exhibit on mental health, including displays on PTSD and suicide in the 1860s. Historians and clinicians are sifting through diaries, letters, hospital and pension files and putting Billy Yank and Johnny Reb on the couch as never before. Genealogists have joined in, rediscovering forgotten ancestors and visiting their graves in asylum cemeteries.In the summer of 1862, John Hildt lost a limb. Then he lost his mind.
The 25-year-old corporal from Michigan saw combat for the first time at the Seven Days Battle in Virginia, where he was shot in the right arm. Doctors amputated his shattered limb close to the shoulder, causing a severe hemorrhage. Hildt survived his physical wound but was transferred to the Government Hospital for the Insane in Washington D.C., suffering from “acute mania.”
Hildt, a laborer who’d risen quickly in the ranks, had no prior history of mental illness, and his siblings wrote to the asylum expressing surprise that “his mind could not be restored to its original state.” But months and then years passed, without improvement. Hildt remained withdrawn, apathetic, and at times so “excited and disturbed” that he hit other patients at the asylum. He finally died there in 1911—casualty of a war he’d volunteered to fight a half-century before.
The Civil War killed and injured over a million Americans, roughly a third of all those who served. This grim tally, however, doesn’t include the conflict’s psychic wounds. Military and medical officials in the 1860s had little grasp of how war can scar minds as well as bodies. Mental ills were also a source of shame, especially for soldiers bred on Victorian notions of manliness and courage.
For the most part, the stories of veterans like Hildt have languished in archives and asylum files for over a century, neglected by both historians and descendants.
“We’ve tended to see soldiers in the 1860s as stoic and heroic—monuments to duty, honor and sacrifice,” says Lesley Gordon, editor of Civil War History, a leading academic journal that recently devoted a special issue to wartime trauma. “It’s taken a long time to recognize all the soldiers who came home broken by war, just as men and women do today.”
Counting these casualties and diagnosing their afflictions, however, present considerable challenges. The Civil War occurred in an era when modern psychiatric terms and understanding didn’t yet exist. Men who exhibited what today would be termed war-related anxieties were thought to have character flaws or underlying physical problems. For instance, constricted breath and palpitations—a condition called “soldier’s heart” or “irritable heart”—was blamed on exertion or knapsack straps drawn too tightly across soldiers’ chests. In asylum records, one frequently listed “cause” of mental breakdown is “masturbation.” read more here
Warning: Tissues Required for These Hearttugging Videos
Dec 8, 2010
After receiving an email of the awe inspiring poem A Soldiers Christmas, written by Michael Marks, I felt compelled to create a video montage (using the song "I Believe" by Era) that would complement Mr. Marks words. I hope it touches you as much as it did me.
HAL
Marine Veteran
Semper Fi
And for those who are carried back home, Delta Honor Guard
Kiss Raises Funds for Fisher House Orlando and Veterans Spirits
Join 1059 SUNNY FM for the grand opening celebration on Tuesday, January 6th at the new Rock and Brews Oviedo location! Tickets are available now for a public meet and greet event with Simmons and Stanley from 2-4 p.m.
The meet and greet, hosted by Stanley and Simmons, is open to the public. Tickets to the meet and greet are $200 per person and include two adult beverages per person or unlimited soft drinks, a sampling of Rock and Brews cuisine, and a photo opportunity with Stanley and Simmons.
A percentage of proceeds, not less than $10,000, will benefit the Orlando VA Medical Center’s new Fisher House in Lake Nona located just steps from the Orlando VAMC’s newest hospital. The Fisher House is designed for Veterans and their families to stay at during hospitalization at no cost or restriction on the length of the visit.
Click here to purchase your tickets to hang with Gene, Paul and 1059 SUNNY FM’s Domino!
The meet and greet, hosted by Stanley and Simmons, is open to the public. Tickets to the meet and greet are $200 per person and include two adult beverages per person or unlimited soft drinks, a sampling of Rock and Brews cuisine, and a photo opportunity with Stanley and Simmons.
A percentage of proceeds, not less than $10,000, will benefit the Orlando VA Medical Center’s new Fisher House in Lake Nona located just steps from the Orlando VAMC’s newest hospital. The Fisher House is designed for Veterans and their families to stay at during hospitalization at no cost or restriction on the length of the visit.
Click here to purchase your tickets to hang with Gene, Paul and 1059 SUNNY FM’s Domino!
Still Time To Sign Up For Fisher House News/Talk Holiday Show Morning Mouth
THE MOUTH, DECEMBER 15TH, 2014 –– Fisher House Foundation and news/talk radio partner again this holiday season to bring attention to wounded warriors, veterans and military families. Fisher House is offering a three-hour, highly-produced public affairs show for air between Christmas and New Year's Day. "Zachary's Gift" tells the inspiring story of Fisher House founder Zachary Fisher through heroes served by the foundation's growing network of no-cost comfort homes built on the grounds of VA and military base hospitals. The show is free; no contract, no barter. Stations may air it multiple times. Affiliates include KABC Los Angeles, WLS Chicago, WPHT Philadelphia, KSFO San Francisco, WRKO Boston, WMAL Washington, WSB Atlanta, KTRH and KPRC Houston, KTAR Phoenix, KOA Denver, WTAM Cleveland, KFBK Sacramento, WTIC Hartford, KQTH Tucson, KSL Salt Lake City, KARN Little Rock, KRMG Tulsa and many others. "Many stations are using 'Zachary's Gift' to fill a local three-hour show on Christmas or New Year's Day," said executive producer Marshall Adams. The show's host is Mark Watkins, a radio newsroom vet who recently retired from the anchor booth at WBAP and KLIF Dallas. Jeff Davis is the show's promo voice. Jonathan Shaffer from WSM Nashville is leading production and imaging. Westwod One is handling affiliate relations pro-bono. To sign up, send a note with your planned air times to Stuart Greenblatt at sgreenblatt@westwoodone.com. Marshall Adams can answer questions about content at (412) 856-3400 or radio@fisherhouse.org.
Warrior Transition Unit Leaders Had to Be Ordered to Treat Wounded Better?
UPDATE FROM DALLAS MORNING NEWS
Army orders new training for Warrior Transition Units
The answer is yes. We've known about it, screamed about it, cried about it and members of Congress didn't listen.
Army had to issue orders at every Warrior Transition Unit to treat wounded with "dignity and respect." Top that off with they think that a day of training leaders will make enough of a difference to stop the widespread abuse of our wounded. Do they really think a day is enough to undo all this?
It was created 7 years ago. Think about that. For the last 7 years when we were told a totally different story about the care the wounded were getting and how serious the leaders were on addressing PTSD, this was happening. It took NBC news and the Dallas Morning News 6 months to uncover what we've all been talking about and now, finally, something may be done.
If you want to know why there are so many suicides, this is a huge part of the reason.
I am very thankful for NBC and Dallas Morning News for uncovering this wide spread abuse of our wounded soldiers.
The best part is now members of Congress are paying attention to this too. Gee do you think they should have done some investigating on their own if they really cared about saving soldiers and veterans? Do you think they should have been paying attention to what all of us knew instead of passing bills to prevent suicides when the answer was already known to most of us?
It all starts with the bullshit of what the DOD has been doing to the soldiers instead of what they claimed they were doing for them!
Injured Heroes, Broken Promises: Army Orders New Training at Warrior Transition Units
NBC 5 report prompts Congressional action on harassment in the Army
By Scott Friedman
December 17, 2014
The training was to be specifically focused on how to treat soldiers with dignity and respect.
“So harassment and abuse is unacceptable in our force.” said Army Warrior Transition Commander, Col. Chris Toner, in an interview last month.
“The message is you can't mistreat these soldiers. The message is you will treat them with dignity and respect,” said Toner.
The investigation showed soldiers with post-traumatic stress describe WTU army leaders cursing at them and telling to get over it.
Spc. Michael Howard said he was told to “man up” while in recovery at a WTU. Other soldiers complained of being ordered to drive to early-morning military formations while being prescribed sedating medications during their treatment.
“On one occasion, I fell asleep at a stoplight with my vehicle in drive,” said Sgt. Zach Filip.
Now Thornberry and Cornyn are calling on the Army to do more to address the allegations uncovered.
"I think it's very concerning,” said Thornberry, the new Chairman-Elect of the House Armed Services Committee.
He said as far back as 2008 the committee saw similar concerns from soldiers and demanded improvement from the Army.
Army orders new training for Warrior Transition Units
Sen. John Cornyn, in a strongly worded letter to Secretary of the Army John McHugh, said he found “highly disturbing” complaints about verbal abuse, disrespect and unfair treatment within the Army’s Warrior Transition Units, or WTUs.
The complaints were gathered from interviews with current and former soldiers, as well as hundreds of military records obtained by The News and NBC5 through the Freedom of Information Act.
“These news reports indicate a need for increased congressional oversight. Moreover, they raise a number of serious policy questions,” Cornyn wrote in the letter dated Monday.
“The purpose of these WTUs is to help soldiers heal and recover from physical and psychological wounds of war and then either return to their units or transition to civilian life,” he wrote. “Yet, the environment described in the recent news reports ... falls far short of that standard.”
Cornyn’s points
In his letter, Cornyn raised several questions:
Has there been a hostile climate within the WTUs?
Within the WTUs, do key personnel understand post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, and recognize it as a legitimate medical condition?
Does the organizational structure of the WTUs result in friction between military requirements and medical needs of soldiers?
Has the Army implemented recommendations from the Department of Defense Inspector General to improve training of the WTU leaders?
Are pharmaceuticals being overused as a treatment for wounded soldiers with PTSD or other psychological ailments?
The answer is yes. We've known about it, screamed about it, cried about it and members of Congress didn't listen.
Army had to issue orders at every Warrior Transition Unit to treat wounded with "dignity and respect." Top that off with they think that a day of training leaders will make enough of a difference to stop the widespread abuse of our wounded. Do they really think a day is enough to undo all this?
The best part is now members of Congress are paying attention to this too. Gee do you think they should have done some investigating on their own if they really cared about saving soldiers and veterans? Do you think they should have been paying attention to what all of us knew instead of passing bills to prevent suicides when the answer was already known to most of us?
It all starts with the bullshit of what the DOD has been doing to the soldiers instead of what they claimed they were doing for them!
Army officials order new training to address complaints made by injured soldiers highlighted in an NBC 5 Investigates report. NBC 5 Dallas By Scott Friedman Dec 17, 2014Army Takes Action on Warrior Transition Units
Injured Heroes, Broken Promises: Army Orders New Training at Warrior Transition Units
NBC 5 report prompts Congressional action on harassment in the Army
By Scott Friedman
December 17, 2014
The training was to be specifically focused on how to treat soldiers with dignity and respect.
“So harassment and abuse is unacceptable in our force.” said Army Warrior Transition Commander, Col. Chris Toner, in an interview last month.
“The message is you can't mistreat these soldiers. The message is you will treat them with dignity and respect,” said Toner.
The investigation showed soldiers with post-traumatic stress describe WTU army leaders cursing at them and telling to get over it.
Spc. Michael Howard said he was told to “man up” while in recovery at a WTU. Other soldiers complained of being ordered to drive to early-morning military formations while being prescribed sedating medications during their treatment.
“On one occasion, I fell asleep at a stoplight with my vehicle in drive,” said Sgt. Zach Filip.
Now Thornberry and Cornyn are calling on the Army to do more to address the allegations uncovered.
"I think it's very concerning,” said Thornberry, the new Chairman-Elect of the House Armed Services Committee.
He said as far back as 2008 the committee saw similar concerns from soldiers and demanded improvement from the Army.
Changes can’t come soon enough for Robin Howard, whose husband Michael Howard was at the WTU at Fort Hood until he retired earlier this year. Michael said commanders left him feeling verbally abused and threatened while receiving treatment for post-traumatic stress and a degenerative brain condition.They've been getting complaints going back to 2008, yet when suicides went up, they didn't bother to figure out why.
“These are real humans they've mistreated,” said Robin Howard.
The Howard’s hope Army leaders will take the new training that’s been ordered to heart.
“I'm hoping that it's more than lip service. I'm hoping they are going to make these changes. The soldiers need this,” said Robin Howard.
The new Army training orders specifically tells commanders care plans for the injured should be, “tailored to the soldier and family.” read more here
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Well meaning push for bill pushes PTSD facts out
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
December 17, 2014
Veterans and families are tired of waiting and wondering when reporters will talk about what we see on this side of the issues.
Sometimes I don't know if I will ever find the right words for people to finally get it. The troops do. The veterans do. The trouble is, well meaning folks online don't. They are trying. They are searching. They are reaching out and many are praying for answers. Trust me. If we keep settling for better than nothing the troops and veterans will be able to depend on the same old nothing they've been getting all along.
I've had a lot of discussions over the years but while the veterans community, at least most of us in it, totally understand where the failures began leading us to where we are, too many others believe whatever they are told.
I think the IAVA is great and means well by pushing the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention Bill.
They mean well however there is nothing new in this bill that hasn't been done before.
It isn't as if no one knew it has been happening. They just didn't know what to do about saving lives so they tried anything and everything.
But even that turned out to be wrong considering a lawsuit filed by Veterans For Common Sense produced documents showing the VA knew they had 1,000 veterans attempted suicides every month
This is why veterans cannot wait for another bill to do the same as every other bill has done. They cannot wait for someone to wake up to the fact that these struggles begin in the military and so far, the toxic leadership has done a great job feeding the stigma between their "resilience training" the abuse of soldiers in Warrior Transition Units, and then all of this topped off with bad conduct discharges by the thousands a year in each branch. The Army discharged 11,000 in 2013 alone.
The reporters told us that the DOD is doing pre and post deployment screenings however the Joint Vice Chiefs of Staff told the Senate Armed Services Committee they were not doing post deployment screenings.
Reporters told us that the majority of the suicides were committed by soldiers that had never been deployed yet they never asked how they expect resilience training to work on multiple deployed troops if it didn't even work on the non-deployed.
Reporters told us that the number of suicides went down but reporters didn't bother to also mention the fact that so did the number of enlisted personnel.
Reporters told us that families were being trained and taught about PTSD, but families say they didn't have a clue and no one told them anything.
Reporters told us that Comprehensive Soldier Fitness costs about $125 million but didn't bother to mention the fact that was just a down payment for a research project designed to give school aged kids a better sense of self-worth and experts said it didn't fit with military culture topping off the fact resilience cannot be taught.
There are a lot of things the general public is led to believe but the reality we live with everyday is much different.
Problems in the VA are not new and they have been going on for decades. I know because my Dad was a 100% followed by my husband. So I've been exposed to the issues all my life.
The VA has been accused of being a pill-mill and rightly so for the most part even though pills only numb and do not heal. Peer support groups work best for veterans and for the families but they are not supported across the country. It all still depends on where a veteran lives how much they are helped or harmed.
Healing PTSD requires a three level approach treating the mind-body-spirit of the veteran and this has been known for 40 years.
The families are on the front lines and knowledge or lack of it contributes to the outcomes.
There is so much reporters are not telling the citizens so when things happen like the murders in Pennsylvania, they jump to the conclusion veterans with PTSD are dangerous without ever thinking about how few reports they read like that but how many they read about a veteran harming themselves instead.
They are not reminded of the simple fact that there are over 7 million people in this country living with PTSD but not many of them are dangerous to anyone but themselves in the general population.
There are many things that can be done and have been done proven to work yet when we are willing to settle for anything, these other things are ignored, history is repeated while veterans wait for a different outcome.
There were less suicides when less was being done and that, that is the thing reporters should have been telling folks all along because frankly, it is what we live with year after year.
One more thing we're tired of is when this generation of veterans gets pushed up so they get more benefits than older veterans do. Either we take care of all veterans now equally or when this generation takes over as the "old guys" they'll be pushed back too. I doubt they'd like it very much.
Kathie Costos
December 17, 2014
Veterans and families are tired of waiting and wondering when reporters will talk about what we see on this side of the issues.
Sometimes I don't know if I will ever find the right words for people to finally get it. The troops do. The veterans do. The trouble is, well meaning folks online don't. They are trying. They are searching. They are reaching out and many are praying for answers. Trust me. If we keep settling for better than nothing the troops and veterans will be able to depend on the same old nothing they've been getting all along.
I've had a lot of discussions over the years but while the veterans community, at least most of us in it, totally understand where the failures began leading us to where we are, too many others believe whatever they are told.
I think the IAVA is great and means well by pushing the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention Bill.
Shown Here:
Introduced in House (07/10/2014)
Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act or the Clay Hunt SAV Act - Requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Secretary of Defense (DOD), at least annually, to each arrange for an independent third party evaluation of, respectively, the VA and DOD mental health care and suicide prevention programs.
Requires a board reviewing the discharge or dismissal of a former member of the Armed Forces whose application for relief is based at least in part on post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury related to military operations or sexual trauma, to:
(1) review the medical evidence from the VA or a civilian health provider that is presented by the former member; and
(2) review the case, with a presumption of administrative irregularity, and place the burden on the VA or DOD to prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that no error or injustice occurred.
Directs the VA Secretary to publish an Internet website that serves as a centralized source to provide veterans with regularly updated information regarding all of the VA's mental health care services.
Requires the VA Secretary and the DOD Secretary to enter into certain strategic relationships to facilitate: the mental health referrals of members of the reserve components who have a service-connected disability and are being discharged or released from the Armed Forces,
timely behavioral health services for such members,
communication when such members are at risk for behavioral health reasons, and
the transfer of documentation for line-of-duty and fitness-for-duty determinations.
Requires the VA Secretary to carry out a three-year pilot program to repay the education loans relating to psychiatric medicine that are incurred by individuals who: are eligible to practice psychiatric medicine in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) or are enrolled in the final year of a residency program leading to a specialty qualification in psychiatric medicine,
demonstrate a commitment to a long-term career as a psychiatrist in the VHA, and
agree to a period of obligated service with the VHA in the field of psychiatric medicine.
Directs the VA Secretary to carry out a program, as part of the Yellow Ribbon G.I. Education Enhancement Program, under which the VA Secretary and an institution of higher education (IHE) agree to cover the full cost of charges not covered by post-9/11 educational assistance that are incurred by veterans who: (1) are pursuing an advanced degree in mental health at the IHE, and (2) intend to seek employment as a mental health professional in the VA. Allows the VA Secretary to cover up to 64% of those charges, if the school covers the remainder.
Requires the DOD Secretary to submit to Congress a zero-based review of the staffing requirements for individual State National Guard Commands with respect to Directors of Psychological Health.
Directs the VA Secretary to establish a pilot program at not less than five Veterans Integrated Service Networks (VISNs) to assist veterans transitioning from active duty and to improve the access of veterans to mental health services. Requires the pilot program at each VISN to include: (1) a community oriented veteran peer support network, and (2) a community outreach team for each medical center in such VISN.
They mean well however there is nothing new in this bill that hasn't been done before.
It isn't as if no one knew it has been happening. They just didn't know what to do about saving lives so they tried anything and everything.
Suicides Seen Among Vets Treated By VA
CBS News March 20, 2008
According to the experts, two age groups stood out between 2000 and 2007. First, ages 20-24 - those likely to have served during the Iraq-Afghan wars. Suicide attempts rose from 11 to 47.
And for vets ages 55 to 59, suicide attempts jumped from 19 to 117.
In both age groups, the attempted suicides grew at a rate much faster than the VA patient population as a whole.
In addition, this VA study, also obtained exclusively by CBS News, reveals the increasing number of veterans who recently received VA services ... and still succeeded in committing suicide: rising from 1,403 suicides in 2001 to 1,784 in 2005 - figures the VA has never made public.
But even that turned out to be wrong considering a lawsuit filed by Veterans For Common Sense produced documents showing the VA knew they had 1,000 veterans attempted suicides every month
But in this e-mail to his top media adviser, written two months ago, Katz appears to be saying something very different, stating: "Our suicide prevention coordinators are identifying about 1,000 suicide attempts per month among veterans we see in our medical facilities."
Katz's e-mail was written shortly after the VA provided CBS News data showing there were only 790 attempted suicides in all 2007 - a fraction of Katz's estimate.
"This 12,000 attempted suicides per year shows clearly, without a doubt, that there is an epidemic of suicide among veterans," said Paul Sullivan of Veterans for Common Sense.
This is why veterans cannot wait for another bill to do the same as every other bill has done. They cannot wait for someone to wake up to the fact that these struggles begin in the military and so far, the toxic leadership has done a great job feeding the stigma between their "resilience training" the abuse of soldiers in Warrior Transition Units, and then all of this topped off with bad conduct discharges by the thousands a year in each branch. The Army discharged 11,000 in 2013 alone.
The reporters told us that the DOD is doing pre and post deployment screenings however the Joint Vice Chiefs of Staff told the Senate Armed Services Committee they were not doing post deployment screenings.
Reporters told us that the majority of the suicides were committed by soldiers that had never been deployed yet they never asked how they expect resilience training to work on multiple deployed troops if it didn't even work on the non-deployed.
Reporters told us that the number of suicides went down but reporters didn't bother to also mention the fact that so did the number of enlisted personnel.
Reporters told us that families were being trained and taught about PTSD, but families say they didn't have a clue and no one told them anything.
Reporters told us that Comprehensive Soldier Fitness costs about $125 million but didn't bother to mention the fact that was just a down payment for a research project designed to give school aged kids a better sense of self-worth and experts said it didn't fit with military culture topping off the fact resilience cannot be taught.
There are a lot of things the general public is led to believe but the reality we live with everyday is much different.
Problems in the VA are not new and they have been going on for decades. I know because my Dad was a 100% followed by my husband. So I've been exposed to the issues all my life.
The VA has been accused of being a pill-mill and rightly so for the most part even though pills only numb and do not heal. Peer support groups work best for veterans and for the families but they are not supported across the country. It all still depends on where a veteran lives how much they are helped or harmed.
Healing PTSD requires a three level approach treating the mind-body-spirit of the veteran and this has been known for 40 years.
The families are on the front lines and knowledge or lack of it contributes to the outcomes.
There is so much reporters are not telling the citizens so when things happen like the murders in Pennsylvania, they jump to the conclusion veterans with PTSD are dangerous without ever thinking about how few reports they read like that but how many they read about a veteran harming themselves instead.
They are not reminded of the simple fact that there are over 7 million people in this country living with PTSD but not many of them are dangerous to anyone but themselves in the general population.
There are many things that can be done and have been done proven to work yet when we are willing to settle for anything, these other things are ignored, history is repeated while veterans wait for a different outcome.
There were less suicides when less was being done and that, that is the thing reporters should have been telling folks all along because frankly, it is what we live with year after year.
One more thing we're tired of is when this generation of veterans gets pushed up so they get more benefits than older veterans do. Either we take care of all veterans now equally or when this generation takes over as the "old guys" they'll be pushed back too. I doubt they'd like it very much.
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