Do you care twice as many veterans commit suicide than civilians do?

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
December 30, 2014

It looks like Wounded Times will finish off another year of the "does not play well with others" list again.

If you are among the people writing about how awful it is the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention Bill was blocked, then you really need to get clued in once and for all. And I do mean all, as if veterans who listened to the speeches, the promises, hung onto hope and waited for the relief that never came.

Since 2007, Wounded Times has tracked all the bills out of Congress but we've also tracked the heartbreaking results. Each and everyday emails come in with site after site simply repeating the same old crap the national press has been spewing out without one single simple question being asked. If anything they've done before didn't work, why do it again? Do they care at all?

We're closing out yet another year of families devastated by someone they love surviving military service, usually after several tours of duty, and still having to visit graves instead of sharing lives. I don't know about you, but I am damn sick and tired of it. Tired of excuses. Tired of this group and that group pretending they have the answers and know it all, when the results prove they are not even close. Tired of members of Congress doing whatever they can to get the veterans to vote for them but never once living up to the honor of earning it.

Above all, tired of others playing political games, putting raising funds over saving lives and getting their name in the newspaper while we count the names of the veterans in the obituary sections of the same publication. They are only 7% of the population but commit suicide at double the rate of civilians.

These were some of the reports from 2007 Suicide Epidemic Among Veterans

Dr. Steve Rathbun is the acting head of the Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department at the University of Georgia. CBS News asked him to run a detailed analysis of the raw numbers that we obtained from state authorities for 2004 and 2005. It found that veterans were more than twice as likely to commit suicide in 2005 than non-vets.

New study reflects much larger percentage of veterans than previous studies, National Institute Mental of Health June 12, 2007 • Science Update

Male veterans in the general U.S. population are twice as likely as their civilian peers to die by suicide, a large study shows. Results of the research by Mark S. Kaplan, DrPH, and colleagues from Portland State University and Oregon Health & Science University were published online June 11 in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health and will appear in the July issue.

To date, most studies on suicide among veterans have relied on data from those getting health care from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) system. However, 75 percent of veterans do not get their health care through the VA. This study included 320,890 men age 18 and older in the general population, 104,026 of them veterans, whom researchers followed for 12 years.

Veteran Suicides Twice as High as Civilian Rates by Jeff Hargarten, Forrest Burnson, Bonnie Campo and Chase Cook, News21, Published Aug. 24, 2013

A 2007 law required the Department of Veterans Affairs to increase its suicide prevention efforts. In response to the Joshua Omvig Veteran Suicide Prevention Act — named for an Iraq war veteran who committed suicide in 2005 — the department’s efforts include educating the public about suicide risk factors, providing additional mental health resources for veterans and tracking veteran suicides in each state. The VA’s mental health care staff and budget have grown by nearly 40 percent over the last six years and more veterans are seeking mental health treatment. The law mandated that the VA design a comprehensive program to reduce veteran suicides. Provisions included training VA staff in suicide-prevention techniques, factoring mental health concerns in overall veteran health assessments, providing referrals at veterans’ request to treatment programs and designating suicide-prevention counselors at VA medical centers. It also required the VA to work with the other federal departments on researching the “best practices” for preventing suicides.

And this was the result of Congress writing bills after holding countless hearings on how to prevent them.

Veteran suicide rate double that of general population MISSOULA COUNTY, Will Wadley, KECI Weekend Anchor, Feb 27 2013

According to a new report released this month by the United States Veterans Affairs Office, in a country with one of the highest suicide rates in the world, Veterans are about twice as likely to take their own life as civilians. Montana has the highest per capita percentage of veterans in the country. Montana's also notable for having the highest suicide rate in the country. For veterans these, are statistics specialists at the Montana V.A. Center are painfully aware of, and are working hard to change.

Veterans and suicide: A national issue with local consequences Kirsti Marohn and David Unze, St. Cloud Times, August 25, 2014

Veterans also are dying from suicides at a higher rate than the general population, according to the Times analysis. The average rate of veteran suicides in Minnesota during that six-year period was 30 per 100,000 people, almost double the suicide rate of the overall population of 15.4 per 100,000.

Convoluted Claims Contributed to Suicides Tied to Military

Oregon

Rate of suicide among Oregon military veterans outpaces civilian rates Oregon Live, By Mike Francis, July 11, 2014
Military veterans made up 8.7 percent of Oregon's population between 2008 and 2012, but they accounted for 23 percent of the state's suicides during that period, according to a recent state report.
The self-inflicted deaths were committed most often by males, but the dead covered all age groups, including veterans of long-ended wars. In fact, the largest segment of suicide victims were men over the age of 55, according to statistics analyzed and reported from the Oregon Violent Death Reporting System by the Oregon Health Authority's Public Health Division.

Arizona

Arizona Veterans Suicide Rate Double That Of Civilians KJZZ, Anthony Cave, September 03, 2013 The rate of suicide among military veterans in Arizona is more than double the civilian rate. Advocates say veterans need more than benefits when returning from war.The average veteran suicide rate in Arizona from 2005 through 2011 is almost 43 deaths per 100,000 people. That’s according to data compiled by News21, a national reporting project based out of Arizona State University. And the rate should increase as more veterans return home.

The Department of Veterans’ Affairs gives disability and college education benefits to veterans, but Thomas O’Donnell said a support system is lacking. He works with student veterans at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. The school specializes in suicide research.

Oklahoma

Suicide rate for Oklahoma veterans, active-duty military sees incline
The Norman Transcript, By Chase Cook, Oklahoma Watch, August 28, 2013
NORMAN — Oklahoma veterans and active-duty military personnel are killing themselves at twice the rate of civilians, despite increased efforts to address the problem.

The 2011 suicide rate for soldiers was about 44 per 100,000 population, according to an Oklahoma Watch analysis of Oklahoma State Department of Health data. This rate includes active-duty military as well as veterans from the post-9/11 wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Gulf War, Vietnam, Korea and World War II. The civilian rate for people over the age of 18 was about 22 per 100,000.

In 2011, 141 of the state’s 684 suicides were veterans, according to state health department records

Utah

In our opinion: New bill tackles laudable effort of curbing veteran suicide Deseret News editorial Published: Wednesday, April 30 2014 Of the 18 Utah military personnel on active duty who died in 2013, at least 13 of them were the victims of suicide. Among military veterans living in Utah, the suicide rate is double that of the general population. The numbers are sobering. They speak to a growing need for programs on both local and national levels to better assist returning military combatants and their families.

Florida

Military, veteran suicides account for nearly one in every four in Florida ... but the numbers don't explain why, Rate is one of the nation's highest, Florida Times Union, By Clifford Davis, Apr 26, 2014
STATE NUMBERS STAGGERING

In Florida, the numbers are staggering.

Although veterans make up only 8 percent of the state’s population, they accounted for more than 25 percent of its suicides, according to the report.

Between 1999 and 2011, 31,885 suicides were reported in the state, according to the Florida Department of Health. That would mean more than 8,000 Florida veterans took their lives during those 13 years, according to the VA.

The numbers put Florida among states with the highest percentage of veteran suicides — but the numbers don't explain why.

“We’re still trying to figure that out,” said Caitlin Thompson, the deputy director of Suicide Prevention at the VA.

By now I am sure you now know a lot more than you've read before. Maybe now you'll care enough to make sure the next time you get an email about the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention Bill being held up you'll understand why Clay and all the others deserved so much more from all of us.

Denver Soldier Finds Home Best Medicine After Afghanistan

Home is the best medicine: Greeley soldier hurt in August home for Christmas 
Greeley Tribune
Dan England
December 29, 2014

For The Tribune/Tara Moriarty |

Carey Duvall lifts weights with his right prosthesis. 

Duvall was hurt in an attack in August during a mission 

in Afghanistan and spent the Christmas holiday with 

his parents in Greeley.

Carey Duvall had a good time back home. He got to stay at his parents’ place in Greeley, go see family in Denver and spent some time with friends, including a buddy who wanted him to be in a short movie.

The buddy told him he wouldn’t trust anyone else with the lines, but Duvall, 25, knew better. “He just wants me to play the one-armed apocalyptic survivor,” Duvall said.

Indeed, Duvall did play that part in the movie. As it turns out, Duvall said with a laugh, he was perfect for it. In late August, Duvall was leading his U.S. Army convoy on a routine mission in Afghanistan, on a deployment that seemed so benign he never discussed the possibility of getting hurt with his fiancée.

There was an explosion. The blast was powerful enough to toss his vehicle, basically a heavily armored semi-tractor, 25 feet off the road.

His platoon acted quickly enough to save most of his arm, but the attack broke several bones in his right leg, wrist and pelvis. The worst came to his right hand: He lost four fingers and about half of the rest. He was, of course, right-handed.

Duvall doesn’t mind talking about it. He read an article in “Time” magazine that stated telling the story helps ease the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, one of the most common aliments of a solider.

It helps his brain, he said, to relive it. This is exactly the kind of way Duvall, who got a degree in history from the University of Colorado, approaches life: He researches it. “He’s basically a nerd,” said his fiancée, Tara Moriarty.
read more here

Veteran profiled in "Songwriting With Soldiers" death under investigation

Troubled veteran in soldier song story found dead 
Houston Chronicle
December 29, 2014

GUILDERLAND, N.Y. (AP) — A New York man featured in an Associated Press account of veterans coping with trauma through songwriting was found dead on Sunday, the same day the story was published.

Guilderland police Capt. Curtis Cox said Monday the cause of Adan Olid's death was under investigation and he had no other information about the circumstances, including when the 29-year-old former Marine died. Foul play isn't suspected.

An autopsy was being done Monday, but the cause of death might not be known until toxicology results are available, Cox said.

In November interviews with the AP, Olid spoke eloquently about the feelings he carried after close calls and seeing friends dying during three tours in Iraq. He told of overcoming despair to confront the "ghost-like feeling" of post-traumatic stress disorder after contemplating suicide at the rail of the Golden Gate Bridge and deciding not to jump.

The AP story published Sunday was about "Songwriting With Soldiers" retreats, in which military veterans work with musicians to turn anecdotes and raw feelings into lyrics and melody. The story included a vignette of Olid working with program founder Darden Smith and veteran recording artist Marshall Crenshaw to craft a song titled "I Couldn't See the Sun Shine."

read more here

“Songwriting With Soldiers” Retreats Repairing Pain With Song

More veterans killed by police this year but some survived

Keep in mind as you read these, there are many more but these are just some of the ones on Wounded Times.  There are more being killed but more are surviving.  The horrible fact is, it all depends on where they live and how well the officers are trained. Even with the best training, if we had actually taken care of veterans with PTSD and helped them heal, police officers wouldn't have to face off with them and families wouldn't have to grieve for them.

Police shootings from 2013 as more and more police officers have to decide to shoot or not.

In August of 2014 the family of Brian Beaird settled a lawsuit.

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — The Los Angeles City Council agreed Wednesday to pay $5 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the family of a disabled veteran who was fatally shot by Los Angeles police after a pursuit. The family of 51-year-old Brian Beaird filed a wrongful death lawsuit in May, seeking $20 million in damages. Beaird was shot and killed by Los Angeles police last Dec. 13 at the end of an hour-long car chase that was broadcast on TV.

January 2014 Gulf War Veteran with PTSD, Parminder Singh Shergill, killed by police in California

SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY (CBS13) – The San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office has found that two Lodi police officers who shot and killed a mentally ill man were justified in their actions, and will not face criminal charges.

Police Corporal Scott Bratton and Officer Adam Lockie responded to a 911 call on January 25 made by Parminder Singh Shergill’s sister-in-law where she tells a 911 dispatcher that Shergill is a paranoid schizophrenic who is “going crazy” and was attacking her mother-in-law inside the house.

The officers shot Shergill after, they say, he charged at them while outside and carrying a knife in his hand. However, Shergill’s family disputes the police’s account and filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in April accusing the officers of using excessive force.

February 2014

David Linley Chicago, Iraq veteran,

But his final firefight was on his suburban street 30 miles (48 km) southwest of Chicago, and the enemy was local police. When it ended, he'd traded 17 years in uniform for 16 years behind bars. The trouble is, Linley has never gotten that treatment. "I've seen a psychiatrist about every six months for 30 minutes, which is absolutely useless," he says. "I have received no treatment for PTSD at all--nothing." Linley says he sought an antidepressant in anticipation of a VA-sponsored prison PTSD-counseling group. Such counseling depresses Linley, so he wanted to get on an antidepressant for the sessions. He took Celexa, prescribed by a corrections psychiatrist, for about a year, awaiting the counseling. But the VA never came, prison officials say, because there weren't enough veterans seeking such help there. Linley says he stopped being "doped up" on the medicine, which made him "foggy and nauseous," once it became clear the VA wasn't coming.

Esteban Nandin, 25 year old Iraq veteran with PTSD, shot by police in California but survived

Jedadiah Zillmer, Afghanistan veteran, shot and killed by police in Washington

"The Spokesman-Review said Zillmer left the Army in September 2012. A relative told the newspaper that family members suspected he might be suffering from post-traumatic stress but no diagnosis had been made.

Zillmer was shot in the foot during combat in Afghanistan in 2011 and lost part of a toe, the newspaper said.

He was among a group of soldiers who were denied disability benefits from the Army and sued, the newspaper said. A federal judge upheld the Army’s decision in September."

Bobby Canipe, 70, of Lincolnton, "for an expired tag. Deputies said Canipe got out of his truck and grabbed a walking cane out of the bed of his pickup. The deputy thought the cane was a weapon."

Derick Morgan, 30, a vet suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, whipped out a gun in front of his wife and pointed it at his head, threatening to shoot himself.

John Edward Chesney, Vietnam veteran 62, was shot after about an hour-long standoff with police in the 900 block of Broadway. He had a replica.

March
Brian McLeod, 25, Army Fort Lewis veteran, killed by Deputy Sheriff

April
Homeless veteran James Boyd

May
Jerome Christmas PTSD, shot and killed by Shreveport Police

Issac Sims "survived until he returned home. Slivers of glass from broken windows lie beneath walls pocked with bullet holes. In a corner of the garage, a faint stain on the concrete floor has turned the color of rust, time darkening the blood that emptied from his body. Sims was killed here May 25, Memorial Day weekend, a year after his discharge from the Army and thousands of miles from Iraq. He endured two tours there only to die at age 26 in his parents’ home on Kansas City’s decaying east side. The fatal shots were fired not by insurgents but by police. The distinction may have eluded his damaged mind."

An unidentified male soldier surrendered to Fayetteville police late Tuesday following a 90-minute standoff in the parking lot of a Walmart on Skibo Road.

Officers responding to the west Fayetteville store at about 10:30 p.m. found the man inside a car. According to authorities, he was threatening to harm himself.
Jonathan Russ was arrested outside his Phenix City home on Maggy Court in the Silver Leaf subdivision. Police initially went to the home for a welfare check on a child. Russ answered the door with a gun and wouldn't let the officer inside, Phenix City Police Lt. Jason Whitten tells News 3.

June

Denver A police officer shot and killed a suicidal military veteran after the man aimed a rifle at the officer in the driveway of his home, according to police.

July
Icarus Randolph
"We were failed, they failed," Ida Allen, sister of the man killed said. "The city failed us." Police say Icarus Randolph charged at an officer with a knife after they were called to the scene by family for a report of a suicidal person. His family says Randolph's mother made a call for law enforcement to check on his mental wellness, saying he suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder after serving in the Iraq war as a Marine."

Justin Neil Davis, 24, shot and killed by police in Germantown,

McNeal Vallandinghan, who attended Houston High School with Davis and also served in the military, said Davis had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and took medications for PTSD and to help him sleep.

Vallandinghan said he was the last one to talk to Davis before the police arrived at Cameron Brown Park around 9:45 p.m. Tuesday and found Davis in his car with a rifle. He said Davis told him he had been at the VA about 6:30 p.m. to have an MRI on his back, and that while he was there, told a VA employee he was having suicidal thoughts before he left.

Scott P. Wines Jr., 29, served six tours in Iraq as a Marine and is now attending outpatient counseling twice a week to cope with what he experienced overseas, said defense attorney Rory Driscole.

August
Jacinto Zavala, 21,"veteran suffering from post traumatic stress disorder was shot by police early Wednesday morning shortly after allegedly telling a 911 dispatcher that "they are going to have a shoot-out."

James Michael Marcantonio, 28, is a decorated combat veteran of the Iraq war who suffers from post traumatic stress syndrome that possibly triggered the altercation in which the officer was shot, according to court filings by his defense attorney.

September
The wife of Jeffrey Johnson, the 33-year-old father and veteran killed during an officer-involved shooting last Friday, says he was dealing with post traumatic stress disorder.

William Smith served in the Army from 2003-2007. He said his son was not the same when he returned from his second tour. Following several years of difficulty where the younger Smith struggled with PTSD, several criminal arrests and the use of illegal street drugs, former US Army Sergeant William Smith was shot and killed by a New Mexico state policeman on Friday.

October
Anthony Eric Chavez, 24 subdued by a stun gun



In November police officers in Las Vegas were going over their policy

Officers had ordered the driver to exit the vehicle, and when he failed to comply, they devised a plan to flush him out. One officer would fire a beanbag round to shatter the car’s rear window. Another would then shoot a canister of pepper spray.

A witness filmed the standoff in the parking lot of an apartment complex in the early hours of Dec. 12, 2011. The video shows the plan mutate into a killing. The beanbag round was fired. Less than a second later, before the pepper spray could be shot, a third officer blasted seven rounds from his assault rifle into the Cadillac.

The car’s wheels stopped, the smoke dissipated. Four bullets had hit the driver. He was unarmed. Stanley Gibson, a 43-year-old Army veteran, served in the Persian Gulf War two decades earlier and remained besieged by post-traumatic stress disorder. He carried home memories of picking up charred corpses along the so-called Highway of Death, where U.S. forces bombed Iraqi troops retreating from Kuwait near the war’s end in 1991.

Nathan Boyd

called a Veterans Crisis Hotline and told a dispatcher that he had weapons and wanted to commit suicide by forcing law enforcement officers to shoot him.

Boyd’s call went to a New York call center, and soon afterward Tulsa police began searching for the 46-year-old U.S. Army veteran. At around 9:15 p.m., crisis and patrol officers finally tracked his pickup truck to a QuikTrip convenience store at 21st Street and 129th East Avenue.

About 10 minutes later, Officer Demita Kinard said, Boyd exited the pickup with a weapon in hand that was later identified as a pellet gun. That’s when 19-year police department veteran Gregory Douglass fired once, striking Boyd in the neck.

Donald Wendt

Bradenton Police SWAT Officer Jason Nuttall — a 15-year veteran — shot Donald Wendt, 50, who was employed as a firefighter for the Bradenton Fire Department.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the shooting.

Bradenton Police Chief Michael Radzilowski said Wendt served two tours of military duty in Afghanistan and may have been suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

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. Jacksonville police say Henry was driving a vehicle that was first being chased by Camp Lejeune police.

December
Nicholas McGehee, 28

The deputy had responded to a 4 a.m. call, expecting to help 28-year-old Nicholas McGehee with a lacerated foot at a home near the intersection of Aberdeen Lane and Merion Drive. A Utah Highway Patrol trooper went with the deputy to assist, said Tooele County Sheriff Frank Park.

But through a window of the home, the officers saw a man holding a shotgun, the sheriff said.

"As they approached the house, [they could see] there was evidently more going on than the medical," Park said.

At some point, McGehee’s wife came out of the house. While the trooper helped her to his car for safety, McGehee came out holding a handgun, Park said.

Donald Wendt's Mom wanted to know when this would end. A lot of families are asking the same question. How do so many survive combat only to die on our streets and in their homes? How many times to police officers have to struggle with all of this? Any idea how many police officers are veterans too? This isn't easy for them either. None of this is easy

Fort Riley Soldier Died at Gun Range

Soldier identified apparent suicide at Ogden gun range 
By The Mercury
December 22, 2014

Police have identified the man who died at an Ogden shooting range Saturday as a Fort Riley soldier, and they believe his death was a suicide.


Pfc. Milton Barrera, 20, died of gunshot wound to the head Saturday afternoon at Ogden’s Best Gun Range, according to a report from the Riley County Police Department.

Police said they do not believe his death was accidental. read more here

Veterans Service Officer Slept with Weapon in Iraq

Veterans Service Officer Kathy Marshik slept with her weapon
Morrison County Record
By Jim Wright, Correspondent
December 29, 2014

In June, the Morrison County Veterans Service (MCVS) Office got new leadership, after the retirement of 27-year director Paul Froncak. And the new leader has been around.

“I slept with my weapon,” Kathy Marshik said while recalling her time in Kuwait and Iraq. She carried that M-16 all the time, she said, during her 15-month deployment with the 142nd Engineer Company, out of Camp Ripley, during the heat of the 2003-2004 occupation of Iraq.

In the meantime, she was 5,000 miles away from her daughters, Sierra and Brianna, ages 6 and 2 then.

“My husband, Glen, was in shock when I told him I was deploying in a few days; and five days later I was gone,” Marshik said, “The worst day of my life was leaving them.”

She was a construction engineer supervisor during her time at bases near Udairi, Kuwait and Balad, Iraq. She was never directly fired upon, but her base was constantly being mortared, she said. Her other military occupation skills were maintenance parts specialist and combat medic.
read more here

Marine Shocks Great-Grandma for Christmas

VIDEO: NJ MARINE SURPRISES GREAT-GRANDMOTHER FOR CHRISTMAS
ABC 6 News
December 28, 2014

DELANCO, N.J. (WPVI) -- A marine from Delanco, New Jersey gave his 94-year-old grandmother the surprise of her life when he came home for Christmas.

The McFadden's knew their marine son would be home for the holidays but his great-grandmother Dee-Dee didn't.
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Veteran Reduced to Tears After 50 Fight to Have VA Honor Claim

If you remember all the reports of veterans waiting too long for claims to be approved, most of the focus was on OEF and OIF veterans, but here's yet one more reminder, they are not the first group of veterans to be forced to fight.

After 50 years, injured veteran is still fighting
Tulsa World
BY MICHAEL OVERALL
World Staff Writer
December 29, 2014

After 50 years, the VA admitted that his injury was caused by a training accident. And the VA agreed to provide medical treatment.

Bell pulled over on the side of the road, put his hands over his face, and for the next several minutes, sobbed uncontrollably.

David Bell, of Tulsa, talks about his ordeal with Veteran's Affairs while visiting friends at Dan Howard's business at Richard Lloyd Jones Jr. Airport on Dec. 4, 2014. Bell was injured during a training accident at Ft. Sill back in 1964 and spent the next 50 years trying to get treatment from the Department of Veterans affairs.
JOHN CLANTON/Tulsa World

A 105-mm Howitzer weighs 4,980 pounds, supported by two long arms that stretch out in a V-shape behind the canon. Each arm — or "trail," as the Army prefers to call it — is as heavy as a rodeo bull, enough to snap a human spine like a twig.

It takes four men, grunting and grimacing from the exertion, to lift each trail and reposition the weapon.

On a spring day in 1964, three soldiers lost their grip.

"Everybody was cutting up and playing around," as David Bell remembers the incident. "And the other guys just dropped it."

He was a young private fresh out of boot camp and learning his way around a Howitzer at Fort Sill, 80 miles southwest of Oklahoma City.

The trail landed across his legs and lower back, trapping him underneath. His spine began to burn, as if his vertebrae had turned into hot coals under his skin. The other soldiers quickly lifted the weight off of him, and Bell walked away from the accident. But for the past 50 years — literally every waking moment since it happened, he says — he has been in pain.

Some days are better than others. And on the best days, he can almost — almost — forget that his back hurts. But other days — the majority of days — he can hardly think about anything else.

The back pain, however, isn't what bothers him the most.

"No," he says, fists clenched and jaw trembling with anger. "You know what really hurts? What really hurts me deep down?

The first letter is dated Aug. 2, 1965.

"I will certainly be glad to help you in every way I can," it says. Signed: Page Belcher, member of Congress.

It came in reply to a July 22 request from Bell, asking for the Tulsa congressman's help with his first appeal to the Veterans Administration. Since then, Bell has accumulated a stack of similar letters several inches thick.

April 25, 1979. Signed: Congressman James Jones.
April 3, 1980. Signed: Sen. David Boren.
Dec. 19, 2008. Signed: Sen. James Inhofe.
Feb. 20, 2013. Signed: U.S. Rep. Jim Bridenstine.

Bell has correspondence from every U.S. representative and senator elected in Oklahoma over the last five decades, plus eight separate White House administrations. And for him, every letter is just another broken promise.

"They all say, 'We want to help.' But nobody ever does anything."

read more here

Clock ticking on Ohio Veterans

WEDNESDAY IS DEADLINE FOR IRAQ WAR VETERANS TO CLAIM STATE BONUSES
Review Capital Bureau
By MARC KOVAC
Published: December 29, 2014

COLUMBUS -- The state has paid out more than $68 million to veterans of recent and ongoing military conflicts, thanks to voter-approved bonuses OK'd five years ago.

A total of 84,464 military men and women have received the payments to date, according to the latest tally by the Ohio Department of Veterans Services. The total includes more than 24,000 Ohioans who served during conflicts in Iraq.

In November 2009, voters signed off on a constitutional amendment allowing the state to borrow up to $200 million to pay cash bonuses to Ohio military men and women who served at least 90 days of active duty in the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan and Iraq in current conflicts in those areas, plus those involved in Operation Desert Storm in the early 1990s.

Eligible veterans are being paid $100 for each month, up to $1,000, for time served in those areas or $50 a month, up to $500, for those serving in other locations at the time. Families of veterans who died in action are eligible for a $5,000 death benefit.

Similar cash bonuses were approved by voters and paid to veterans of other wars and conflicts, dating back to the Civil War, though the deadline for those payments has long since passed.

Persian Gulf War-era veterans had to apply for bonuses by the end of last year. Veterans who served during the most recent Iraqi conflict (between March 19, 2003, and Dec. 31, 2011) have until Wednesday to apply, while there has been no deadline set yet for those who have served during conflicts in Afghanistan.
read more here

Soldier in custody after firing gun at Lewis-McChord

Soldier fires shots in air at Lewis McChord
Associated Press
December 28, 2014

A soldier at JBLM is in custody after firing several shots into the air from a parking lot on base.

Soldier is in custody after shots were fired at JBLM early Sunday morning.

(Photo: Doug Dillon, KING 5 News)

JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. - A soldier assigned to Joint Base Lewis-McChord fired several shots into the air from a parking lot early Sunday.

Law enforcement at the base cordoned off the area after the incident at about 4:30 a.m. Law enforcement agencies from Pierce County assisted.

The public affairs office says the soldier was taken into custody at about 5:45 a.m.

No injuries were reported.
read more here