PTSD Army Veteran Talks About How Support Helps Healing

Army veteran gives advice to people with PTSD
KBTV FOX 4 News
by Jessica Crawford
January 5 2015

BEAUMONT

Baca says a support system helps veterans with PTSD achieve peace.

In 2010, Elvin Baca served as a specialist in the Army. During his one year tour, he lost two friends and suffered many injuries to his body.

It wasn't until he got home, however, that he realized his body wasn't the only thing that was scarred.

"You're fighting your mind a lot," says Baca. "You're telling yourself, you're not there anymore.

Nothing's going to happen." Baca is coping with post traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. The disorder is something many veterans may struggle with as they return home from the war in Afghanistan this year.
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Epiphany Veterans Have Something To Give Back Again

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
January 4, 2015

I haven't been to church for a long time but this morning I felt I had to go. It always seemed as if there was one more thing to do, before I knew it, it was too late to get ready for church. I try to justify my absence by what I always tell veterans about not needing to go to church to be connected to God and forgiven. After all, Christ prayed more outside than in a temple, so it really doesn't matter where we are when we talk to God.

When Christ taught the people gathered together how to pray it was one to the One and they were to call Him Father. Most of the time this works for a lot of people like me, but lately, I've been feeling as if there was something missing. Doing what I do gets draining at times. As a matter of fact, sometimes it is downright soul sucking. I needed to go and take care of myself so I had something to give back again.

When the Greek part of the service was being read, as usual I needed something else to occupy my mind since I don't understand Greek. I tried to remember when the last time was I wrote about how beautiful the Bible really is and how powerful the stories are. Not only couldn't I remember when it was but I couldn't remember when I felt connected enough to write about what I preach about.

Anyway, sitting in church it didn't dawn on me that in a few days Greeks celebrate the Epiphany.

Christian Orthodox Epiphany
Epiphany, Christian Orthodox
January 6 (Gregorian calendar) or January 19 (Julian calendar)
Epiphany is a celebration by the Eastern Orthodox Christian churches of the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan and the manifestation of his divinity when a dove descended on him. For Orthodox Christians around the world it is called Blessing of the Waters Day . In honor of the baptism of Christ, the church's baptismal water is blessed, and small bottles of the holy water are given to parishioners to take home.

The Priest talked about how that one day the Holy Trinity First appeared together. The Son baptised by John, with the voice of God being heard and the manifestation of the Holy Spirit as a Dove.

This didn't happen in a building with walls and collection plates. No one was dressed up. As a matter of fact, John had on camel fur and leather with long hair and a scrungy beard. He would have put reality TV folks to shame considering his diet existed of locust and honey. Did I mention John was homeless and lived in caves?

We tend to forget that Christ was homeless most of His life and that was no accident. It was no accident that He lives His life, preached of God's love and ended up nailed to the Cross as payment for the sins of the world.

The Priest today talked about how we make New Year Resolutions to be better than we were last year. I thought about that for a while. Then I thought how it would be better for lives to be made better than they were last year.

So many veterans are suffering because they believe they cannot be forgiven yet there is nothing they cannot be forgiven for. It isn't up to us to judge if they should feel the way they do or not but it is our job to help them see they can have that huge burden lifted off their shoulders if we take the time to help them carry it until they are free of it.

Some cannot forgive what others did and that destroys how they feel about other people. It is our job to help them find a way to forgive so the pain in their eyes is replaced by that which is still good within them.

It is by what is good inside of them they grieve. It fills them up so much so that they don't have room to feel love or to believe they are worthy of being loved.

The majority of veterans I talk to believe in God but won't go to church anymore. They don't have to. The flip side is, once they are healed, most want to find a church where they feel they belong to refuel.

The only reason a veteran commits suicide is they lose hope that tomorrow will be any better than this day is. It is our fault we made them feel like that because we complicated their lives with too much nonsense.

If they felt they were called to serve in the military, then be assured God doesn't make mistakes. He put them on this earth to be the guardians. Everything they need to fulfill their calling is already within their souls. Their courage to do what they need to do coupled with compassion to care enough to do it. Everything they need to heal is also within them but we've failed at showing them how to reconnect to everything that made them, them.

When I see the pain leave their eyes and they find peace with all they had to endure, there is no greater gift. PTSD cannot be cured but it can be healed. They are not trapped as they are this moment but are free to heal enough to change again.

If you are a veteran Point Man International Ministries has a special Bible for you.

Contact me by email woundedtimes@aol.com or go to the site and find an Outpost in your area. Let this be the year of your own Epiphany and let next year be the year of you helping other veterans heal as well.

Missing Veteran from Texas Located in Indiana

Missing Texas vet located in Indiana 
WFAA
January 4, 2015

A missing North Texas veteran diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury has been found.

The Johnson County Sheriff's Department said 33-year-old Joseph Jennings' wife told them she talked with him on Saturday night.

She said he is now in Indiana.
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Florida Lawmakers Taking on Fake Service Dogs

The point of a service dog is to make life easier for disabled people to be more able to do things. With PTSD service dogs, their jobs are numerous but the most important thing they accomplish is to get the veteran back out in public. They are there to calm down anxiety but in far too many cases, the veteran ends up with anxiety caused by people because of the dog.

With proper training, there should be no issue of allowing them in just about anywhere. You can tell by how they act as well as react. All too often a fake service dog with a vest and a piece of paper has not been trained. You can also tell by how they act and react but in the case of the fakes, it is usually too late to know the difference. It should be illegal to take advantage of people in need just because you want to do it.

I always bring up my dog. He isn't a service dog and he hasn't been trained. I wouldn't want to take him anywhere other than for a walk or to the vets. I have an obligation to my dog as well as other people. I couldn't imagine what would happen if I took this 80 lbs of walking muscle into a restaurant.

He's a mutt-rescue-Rottweiler-Hound-Rhodesian Ridgeback

"A large and muscular dog, the Rhodesian Ridgeback was not only developed as hunter but also as a family protector.

The breed can be light wheaten to red wheaten and are sleek and glossy in appearance.

Originally bred to hunt lions the breed is also known as the African Lion Hound."

"Rules exist for a reason and when it comes to Service Dogs and Service Dog law, too many people have come to view them more as “guidelines.” Whether it’s someone who wishes they could take their dog everywhere or someone who has chosen to break the law by presenting their pet as a fake Service Dog, both actions cause damage and harm to the Service Dog and disabled community."

The Hidden Complications of Fake Service Dogs

Florida taking on fake service dogs
HB 71: Service Animals
GENERAL BILL by Smith
Service Animals; Requires public accommodation to permit use of service animal by individual with disability; provides conditions for public accommodation to exclude or remove service animal; revises penalties for certain persons or entities who interfere with use of service animal; provides penalty for knowing and willful misrepresentation with respect to use or training of service animal.

A person who knowingly and willfully misrepresents herself or himself, through conduct or verbal or written notice, as using a service animal and being qualified to use a service animal or as a trainer of a service animal commits a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083 and must perform 30 hours of community service for an organization that serves individuals with disabilities, or for another entity or organization at the discretion of the court, to be completed in not more than 6 months. Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2015.

Marine on leave for sister's wedding killed in car crash

Susquehanna crash victim was Marine, father of two 
The Times Tribune
BRENDAN GIBBONS, STAFF WRITER
Published: January 3, 2015

PHOTO COURTESY KARIN DORMAN Susquehanna County native Andrew Stevens with his sons Logan, top, and Hunter, and wife, Katy. Andrew Stevens was killed Friday in a crash in Springville Township.

A 27-year-old Susquehanna County native killed Friday when a water tanker truck smashed into his SUV was an active-duty Marine and father of two boys, a family member said.

Staff Sgt. Andrew Stevens was home for his sister’s wedding, his mother-in-law Karin Dorman said. Sgt. Stevens and his wife, Katy, 26, and their sons, 2-year-old Logan and 5-year-old Hunter, were staying at Mrs. Dorman’s.

After driving away from his parents’ home in Springville Twp. around 4:20 p.m., Sgt. Stevens stopped his 2013 Dodge Durango at Routes 3004 and 29, the main intersection in Springville, state police said.

Behind him, Arlan Elmer Elvis Taft’s truck barrelled downhill. Unable to stop, the Tioga man’s tanker crashed into Sgt. Steven’s Durango. A four-vehicle pile-up ensued as the SUV was crushed between Mr. Taft’s truck and a Kenworth tractor-trailer, which in turn hit another Kenworth rig.

A fire started after the crash, and flames engulfed Sgt. Stevens’ SUV, Mrs. Dorman said. Mr. Stevens died at the scene, state police said. The other three drivers were not injured.

The fire left the Durango’s vehicle identification number illegible, along with any other clue to identify Mr. Stevens, Mrs. Dorman said.

“The vehicle was unrecognizable,” she said. “It totally just went in flames.”

Troopers had to identify Sgt. Stevens by his father’s hunting rifle, she said. He had just picked it up before the crash. A deer with an injured leg frequented Mrs. Dorman’s property, and Sgt. Stevens wanted to put it out of its misery, then call a game officer, she said.
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Dying Marine Veteran Gets Last Wish to Hug a Tank

Marines honor veteran's dying wish to hug a tank
Marines Corps Times
By Derrick Perkins, Staff Writer
January 3, 2015

Kenneth White, a Marine veteran from Las Vegas, got his dying wish in December. Marines
aboard Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif., let him hug a tank.
(Photo: Lance Cpl. Medina Ayala-Lo/Marine Corps)

An ailing Kenneth White had a final, dying wish: He wanted to hug a tank.

The nearly 80-year-old former tanker, suffering from stage five kidney disease among myriad other health issues, spent 17 years in the Corps with the 4th Tank Battalion. During that time, he served on three different types of tanks — Shermans, Pershings and M48 Pattons — and never lost his love of armor.

So when tankers with the 1st Tank Battalion aboard Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, California, heard of his last request, they were more than happy to oblige. Getting a request to hug a tank is unusual, but White's sentiments are not, said Sgt. William Milline, a tank crewman who was among the Marines to greet the elderly man and his wife, Carol White.

"From even the schoolhouse to your last day with the tank, it feels as though that's a part of you now," he said, describing what tankers call "The Beast." "It becomes your house, it becomes your weapon; something to ride on, something you're going to have that bond with for the rest of your life."

Despite needing a walker and being weighed down by an oxygen tank, White picked up steam as he approached the first M1A1 Abrams, said Gunnery Sgt. Paul Acevedo, who led the tour. It wasn't long before he was swapping stories with his present-day peers.

"One tanker to the next, the stories really don't change ­­— just the times, the era," Acevedo said.
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Reports on families of crime victims reflection of veterans' families

In each of these articles what comes after violent events for families are told.

Collateral Damage: Advocates Aim To Save Children From Impact Of Violence
Collateral Damage: Families Struggle To Care For Victims Of Violence

Lloyd Fox • Baltimore Sun-TNS / Alice Oaks holds the Christmas ornament that will be hung on the tree at the Survivors Against Violence Everywhere (SAVE) holiday gathering in remembrance of her two sons that were both killed. SAVE holds an annual event for those that are impacted by the loss of a family member or friends from violence.

Collateral Damage: Relatives Of Murder Victims Struggle With Grief

All of what they are going through is what families of veterans go through when they face the outcomes of inept attempts to avert them.

Families struggle with health issues after homicide,

Scientists at Johns Hopkins and other institutions have found that grief can cause biological changes.

The immediate grief after a death can weaken the heart and increase the risk of heart attacks. The lingering anger associated with this grief can also cause heart problems, a Harvard University study found. Other research connects intense grief to high levels of stress hormones, a weakened immune system and trouble sleeping.

Relatives interviewed in Jeanna M. Mastrocinque’s York College study attributed illnesses such as cancer, heart attacks and death to their grief. Many complained of feeling physically sick, and some lost so much weight that they dropped three or four clothes sizes. One described it this way: “I think this has changed me on a molecular level.”

Mastrocinque’s study recommended that primary care physicians pay more attention to the health status of the relatives of the murdered, given all the problems they reported.

“Homicide is one of the leading causes of death for many age groups,” said Mastrocinque, an assistant professor of criminal justice. “I don’t think people think about how much homicide ripples through communities.”

Michelle Randolph considered herself fairly healthy before her only child, Wesley Lewis, 19, was found murdered in August 2010. After his death, the Baltimore woman couldn’t control her blood pressure and suffered from panic attacks and depression.

They also suffer after family members come home from combat where they risked their lives to save others yet fell so hard that they ended up being killed by police officers.

The next time you read about a veteran and police officers facing off, remember, after the headline comes the reality of the event for the families and the officers. Remember, as with the above reports, families often suffer in silence and people walk away from them when they need support the most.

The next time you read about a veteran, remember one more key detail in all of this. They were willing to die for the sake of someone else and shouldn't have died because we managed to pay more attention to the "crime" in the headline instead of the people assuring us they were doing everything possible to help them come home.

Police officer-in-training arrested

Waters served 3 tours and has PTSD. The woman he is in a relationship with went to court to try to get the charges dropped. The video on this article has a lot more information than the print report.

Police officer-in-training arrested for strangling woman
WCTI 12 News
Kyle Horan
Jan 02 2015
JACKSONVILLE, ONSLOW COUNTY -

NewsChannel12 talked with the victim in this case on Friday. She says she's not seriously injured and that Waters suffers from PTSD. Warrants state Waters does own a PTSD dog. The victim indicated she wanted the charges dropped. There's no word yet if that has happened.

A police officer-in-training, who is also a Marine Reservist, is arrested for allegedly strangling a woman in Jacksonville.

According to warrants, Cody Lloyd Waters, 26, is accused of strangling a woman with both of his hands, hitting the woman in her head and face, and then pushing her to the ground. It happened at an apartment on Western Boulevard in Jacksonville.

Waters is a Lance Corporal in Marine Corps Reserves and was training to be a police officer for Kinston Public Safety. According to Kinston Public Safety Director Bill Johnson, Waters had worked for the police department just one day before being arrested for felony assault.
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Christopher Thomas, OEF OIF Veteran Killed In Avalanche

Gazette Premium Content Rugged, outdoor experiences brought peace to soldier who died in avalanche, friends say 
The Gazette
By Maria St. Louis-Sanchez
Published: January 3, 2015

A Colorado Springs man who died in an avalanche Wednesday was a soldier and experienced outdoorsman who knew the risks and dangers of life and chose to take them anyway, friends said.

Whether serving three combat tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan or climbing mountains, friends of Christopher Thomas said the 39-year-old embraced challenges. "He was extremely experienced and prepared," said Joy Burton, a family friend who knew Thomas through Living Earth Church in Denver, a church centered around neo-paganism.

"He purposely sought out challenges and experiences in the wilderness. I think it helped him with his last tour overseas."
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Man Facing Charges After Fort Campbell Soldier Shot

Ft. Campbell soldier shot on New Year’s remains critical 
Leaf Chronicle
Tavia D. Green
January 2, 2015

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – A Fort Campbell soldier who was shot by the father of her child on New Year’s Day remains in critical but stable condition at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Clarksville Police report the victim, 22-year-old Chelcee Sine-Garza, was shot by Malcolm R. Turner multiple times at her Cranklen Circle home around 12:50 p.m. following an argument, according to a Clarksville Police report.

When Clarksville Police arrived, they found Sine-Garza laying on the ground bleeding. She was covered in blood and had several gunshot wounds to her body, but was alert and able to talk, according to the report.

Sine-Garza told police Turner came to the house with his wife in a blue car. They had an argument, and he shot her. She told the police Turner lived in Colorado and the car had a Georgia plate.
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