California Judge Rules God Can Be Invited To Military Funerals

Honor Guard will invite God to the funeral on request
Times Standard
By Warren Tindall
POSTED: 06/20/15

Should God be invited to a veteran’s funeral? This is a question that is ricocheting around the local veterans’ community. Since the end of World War II, many veterans’ organizations have assumed the duty of providing military honors at veterans’ funerals and memorials. The climax of the ceremony is the ritual folding of the ceremonial flag in 13 folds and the presentation to family of the departed veteran. It has been a tradition to recite a poem written by an Air Corps chaplain during World War II describing each fold of the flag as the flag is folded. Thus, “The first fold of our flag is a symbol of life, the second fold is a symbol of our belief in the eternal life,” etc.

In Riverside National Cemetery, a protest was lodged concerning this practice. The poem was deemed “politically incorrect” because of its reference to God. In response, and apparently in agreement, the Veterans Administration banned the practice at veteran’s funerals. Many veterans throughout the country vehemently objected. Predictably the conservative talk show hosts had a field day. Even some congressmen became involved.

Eventually, the Houston Veterans of Foreign Wars took the question to federal court. The judge noted that the first paragraph of the Military Funeral Honors Law of 2000 begins with two words, “upon request.” According to the law, the judge ruled the requesting families have the option to decide what elements they wish for their veteran’s ceremony. 

Thus the judge declared the “13 folds” poem may be allowed, but only “at the request” of the veteran’s family. Since that time, our Mad River Community Veterans Honor Guard has always given the families a choice. Many families are adamant that it should be included. In all the years since that ruling, only two families have declined.
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The first fold of our flag is a symbol of life.
The second fold is a symbol of our belief in the eternal life.
The third fold is made in honor and remembrance of the veteran departing our ranks who gave a portion of life for the defense of our country to attain a peace throughout the world.
The fourth fold represents our weaker nature, for as American citizens trusting in God, it is to Him we turn in times of peace as well as in times of war for His divine guidance.
The fifth fold is a tribute to our country, for in the words of Stephen Decatur, "Our country, in dealing with other countries, may she always be right; but it is still our country, right or wrong."
The sixth fold is for where our hearts lie. It is with our heart that we pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
The seventh fold is a tribute to our Armed Forces, for it is through the Armed Forces that we protect our country and our flag against all her enemies, whether they be found within or without the boundaries of our republic.
The eighth fold is a tribute to the one who entered in to the valley of the shadow of death, that we might see the light of day, and to honor mother, for whom it flies on Mother's Day.
The ninth fold is a tribute to womanhood; for it has been through their faith, love, loyalty and devotion that the character of the men and women who have made this country great have been molded.
The tenth fold is a tribute to father, for he, too, has given his sons and daughters for the defense of our country since they were first born.
The eleventh fold, in the eyes of a Hebrew citizen, represents the lower portion of the seal of King David and King Solomon, and glorifies, in their eyes, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
The twelfth fold, in the eyes of a Christian citizen, represents an emblem of eternity and glorifies, in their eyes, God the Father, the Son, and Holy Ghost.
When the flag is completely folded, the stars are uppermost, reminding us of our national motto, "In God we Trust."

VA Wait List Grows Again Congress Moans Again, Not Much Else

Wait Lists Grow as Many More Veterans Seek Care and Funding Falls Far Short 
New York Times
By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr.
JUNE 20, 2015

According to internal department budget documents obtained by The New York Times, physician workloads — as measured by an internal metric known as “relative value units” — grew by 21 percent at hospitals and clinics in the region that includes Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina; by 20 percent in the Southern California and southern Nevada regions; and by 18 percent in North Carolina and Virginia.

One year after outrage about long waiting lists for health care shook the Department of Veterans Affairs, the agency is facing a new crisis: The number of veterans on waiting lists of one month or more is now 50 percent higher than it was during the height of last year’s problems, department officials say.

The department is also facing a nearly $3 billion budget shortfall, which could affect care for many veterans.

The agency is considering furloughs, hiring freezes and other significant moves to reduce the gap. A proposal to address a shortage of funds for one drug — a new, more effective but more costly hepatitis C treatment — by possibly rationing new treatments among veterans and excluding certain patients who have advanced terminal diseases or suffer from a “persistent vegetative state or advanced dementia” is stirring bitter debate inside the department.

Agency officials expect to petition Congress this week to allow them to shift money into programs running short of cash. But that may place them at odds with Republican lawmakers who object to removing funds from a new program intended to allow certain veterans on waiting lists and in rural areas to choose taxpayer-paid care from private doctors outside the department’s health system.
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Maj. Gen. Dana Pittard Reprimanded After 3 Year Investigation

Just a reminder of who this General is, back in 2012, the year with the highest suicide record, Major General Dana Pittard lambasted soldiers at Fort Bliss,

“I have now come to the conclusion that suicide is an absolutely selfish act,” he wrote on his official blog recently. “I am personally fed up with soldiers who are choosing to take their own lives so that others can clean up their mess. Be an adult, act like an adult, and deal with your real-life problems like the rest of us.”

That was his answer to preventing suicides.

Looks like he made more bad choices as well.

Report: Pentagon Reprimands Army General after 3-Year Investigation
Military.com
UPI
Jun 22, 2015

Following a lengthy investigation by the U.S. Department of Defense, a key Army commander who was responsible for training Iraqis to fight the Islamic State was reprimanded earlier this year by the Pentagon for misconduct and will result in his retirement, the Washington Post reported Sunday.

According to Defense documents obtained by the Post through the Freedom of Information Act, Maj. Gen. Dana J.H. Pittard was the subject of a three-year probe that concluded he engaged in misconduct by steering a defense contract to a firm operated by two former West Point classmates.

As the U.S. Army's deputy commander for operations in the Middle East, Gen. Pittard managed the Pentagon-led training of Iraqi forces to combat Islamic State militants.

The formal reprimand could result in a loss of rank for the two-star general -- something the Army review board will ultimately determine before Gen. Pittard's retirement this year, the Post report said.

Until April, he was stationed in Kuwait but a Pentagon spokesperson said his returning to the United States was not related to the misconduct investigation. read more here

Story Behind PTSD Movie About Military Dog Max

The heart-wrenching story behind four-legged flick ‘Max’ 
New York Post
By Lindsay Putnam
June 21, 2015

“We can put up walls when it comes to our own species dying, but there’s something about dogs that causes people to lose their cynicism and drop their defenses.”

Sheldon Lettich got his first Belgian Malinois by accident.

The LA-based screenwriter had just put down a pet when he and his wife went to the pound to look for a new companion. “We like big dogs,” Lettich, 64, says. “We wanted something like a German shepherd.”

As luck would have it, the shelter had a litter of what looked like four German shepherd puppies. Lettich and his wife took two, and named the pair Tina and Charlie. But as the pups grew, Lettich realized they didn’t look like other German shepherds in the neighborhood. Months later, he found out why.

In the film, Max — who suffers from PTSD following the death of his handler, Kyle Wincott (Robbie Amell, best known as Firestorm on “The Flash”) — moves to Texas to live with the Wincott family and adapt to “civilian” life. Kyle’s younger brother, Justin (Josh Wiggins), is put in charge of the unruly canine.
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Max Official Trailer #1 (2015) - War Dog Drama HD
MOVIECLIPS Trailers

Yale Law School Wins Case For Vietnam Veterans Honor

Vets Clinic Wins Case over Bad Discharges for Vietnam Veterans with PTSD
Yale Law School
June 22, 2015

“I can hold my head up now,” said Kevin Marret, another veteran whose discharge status was recently upgraded. “Before, I felt ashamed. This is long overdue for myself and for the other veterans who need it.”

Vietnam combat veterans who brought a class action lawsuit in federal court have won: the Pentagon has agreed to upgrade each man’s “other-than-honorable” discharge status. These men are among the estimated 80,000 Vietnam veterans who developed Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) during their military service and subsequently received an “other-than-honorable” discharge.

“This is a tremendous victory,” said Virginia McCalmont ’15, an intern in the Veterans Legal Services Clinic at Yale Law School, which represents the veterans along with Jenner and Block LLP. “However, tens of thousands of other veterans are in the same situation and still need help. The Department of Defense should inform all former servicemembers who received bad discharges that it is now taking applications that raise PTSD seriously.”
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Albany VFW Post Alcohol Free And Support Priceless

Local vet offers alcohol-free VFW
CBS 6 News
May 25, 2015

“You know, we'll get WiFi in here, we'll put some small food items out,” Porter said. “And then a coffee selection, some teas, you know, to have them have a place where they can relax and enjoy the company of fellow veterans."

Monday, May 25 2015

ALBANY -- While Memorial Day is a day to remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice one local veteran is working to help those who came home from serving and are now struggling. 

“When I think there's usually no boxes,” former Marine Robert “BAR” Porter said. “People say, ‘Think outside the box,’ and I go, 'There's a box?'"

Porter got the keys to 481 Washington Avenue in Albany late last week when he took over as an officer at VFW Post 1019. He says the taps here have been dry for five years and he wants to keep it that way.

“The veterans community, the military community, is a very alcohol-related environment,” Porter said. VFW posts typically serve as a place for vets to get together, have a drink and swap war stories. But Porter says when VFW Post 1019 didn't renew its liquor license because the insurance was too expensive with the dwindling membership he thought that was just as well.
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This Old House Home To Disabled Iraq Veteran and Family

Veteran’s new home stars on ‘This Old House’
Boston Globe
By Cristela Guerra
GLOBE STAFF
JUNE 23, 2015

‘The thing about Matt, and one of the things I fell in love with, is he doesn’t make his disability the focus. You forget he’s injured.’ --CAT DEWITT, speaking of her husband, Iraq war veteran Matt DeWitt

Local nonprofit Homes for Our Troops builds spaces for injured veterans, one at a time

MICHELE MCDONALD FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE

The DeWitts outside their Hopkinton, N.H., home.

The foundation was set. One by one, sturdy wooden walls were raised to form wide hallways. Nails were hammered into place. Triangular trusses flew overhead, creating supports for a roof.

But what made this structure special were the extras: over 40 major adaptations including keyless entry, sliding windows, accessible storage, touchless faucets, and raised garden beds. What made this structure significant were touches like a digital wall panel for setting water temperature, allowing a father with no forearms to give his sons a bath. It’s all Army Staff Sergeant Matthew DeWitt wanted: to bathe his children without scalding them in the tub.

The house in Hopkinton, N.H., is the work of a local nonprofit organization called Homes for Our Troops, which has built 190 specially adapted homes for veterans across the United States. DeWitt, 38, a veteran of the Iraq war, and his family moved into theirs last November. Last month, the PBS series “This Old House” featured DeWitt in a special three-part veterans episode.

DeWitt came home from Iraq in 2003. While recovering from his injuries at Walter Reed Medical Center, he was offered a mortgage-free house by Homes for Our Troops, then a newly formed organization, based in Taunton. He said no.

He had faced down death on a dirt road in Khalidiyah as a cavalry scout: “the eyes and ears of the commander,” he said on the show. He remembered the explosion caused by a rocket-propelled grenade, and being thrown back on top of a turret. The nerve pain, the tangy metallic taste of blood inside his mouth. He remembered hearing doctors talk about “amputating them” at the field hospital outside Baghdad. He remembered going ballistic on the table before he was sedated. He remembered looking down a day later and his body shutting down completely.
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Remembering Fallen Fathers Cleaning Vietnam Memorial Wall

A wash to honor fathers' sacrifice: Families gather for a cleaning of the wall 
Stars and Stripes
By Heath Druzin
Published: June 20, 2015

WASHINGTON — For years, Patty Lee didn’t speak about her father; her mother never discussed him with her six children.

But Sgt. 1st Class Delbert C. Totty hadn’t done anything wrong. The unspoken truth was that he was killed in action in Vietnam when Lee was 12 years old.

“We all grew up in silence,” Lee said of a generation of children whose fathers died in a war many wanted to forget. “We didn’t talk about Vietnam, we didn’t talk about our fathers.”

It’s difficult to fathom in this age of solemn homages to troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan and warm welcomes when they come home safely, but for the children of Vietnam veterans, the fate of their fathers was often a dark secret.

Lee, now 60, didn’t have a chance to grieve for 25 years until 1992, when a new group, Sons and Daughters in Touch, organized a gathering at the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C., for children of troops lost in the war. For many like Lee it was the first time they met others with similar stories — the first time they didn’t feel alone.
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A wash that helps close wounds of war at the Vietnam Memorial Wall
Stars and Stripes
Published on Jun 20, 2015
In honor of Father’s Day, children, grandchildren, friends and families of U.S. troops who died as a result of their involvement in the Vietnam War, met early Saturday, June 20, 2015, to help wash the Wall in Washington, D.C., that honors some 58,000 fallen Vietnam veterans.
By Carlos Bongioanni/Stars and Stripes

VA Outsourced and Rationed Care for 180,000 Veterans with HepC

VA to outsource care for 180,000 vets with hepatitis C
The Arizona Republic
Dennis Wagner
June 21, 2015

A VA clinician who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation stressed that department leaders "haven't told anybody how it works. They've sent out a solution with no way to implement it."

The Department of Veterans Affairs is moving to outsource care nationwide for up to 180,000 veterans who have hepatitis C, a serious blood and liver condition treated with expensive new drugs that are costing the government billions of dollars.

The VA has spent weeks developing a dramatic and controversial transition as patient loads have surged and funding has run out. Those efforts were not disclosed until records were released this week to The Arizona Republic.

Instructions on how to carry out the program show that the sickest veterans generally will get top priority for treatment. However, patients who have less than a year to live or who suffer "severe irreversible cognitive impairment" will not be eligible for treatment.

That provision, and the mass shifting of patients, drew immediate criticism from veterans advocates.

Tom Berger, executive director of a health council established by Vietnam Veterans of America, ripped the VA for launching a "faulty plan" and blasted the idea of medical teams deciding which patients will be denied antiviral remedies.

"They've set up what I would call, in Sarah Palin's words, 'death panels.' ... Maybe rationalization panels is a better term," Berger said.
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Trauma Is When Life As You Know It Ends

Life As I Knew It Ended
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
June 21, 2015

When something bad happens in our lives, I doubt anyone remembers all of the way it happened especially if it happens when we're young. I know the life I had known ended and the life I ended up with actually began.

I was looking through my baby book for a picture and found this entry.

"Had 10 stitches on chin. Fractured left side of skull when she fell off a slide at the drive in movie, hospitalized. Brainwave negative. Shingles on waste lasted 5 weeks." That all happened between February and October.

I was told I was 4 when the worst happened. I guess my parents were no longer able to remember it either. Actually telling me life changed when I was 4 really did begin then.

Too many things happened that year.

In February, my Mom was driving near the hospital when someone stopped short. She slammed on the brakes and I slammed into the dashboard. Covered in blood, she rushed me into the emergency room and 10 stitches later, we went home. My chin healed but the scar never went away. I never told her but I was afraid every time she drove after that but it wasn't even her fault.

In July, I learned that there were many other dangers in the world that left deeper scars than can be seen.

My Mom filled the paper bag with fresh popcorn while I put on my pajamas. It was movie night! My brothers and I jumped into the station wagon. Mom was in the front seat getting a kick out of us begging her to let us have some popcorn. Nothing like the smell of home cooked popcorn. I don't remember what movie we were going to watch at the drive-in. We never got to see it. Before it started, life as I knew it ended.

While the cartoons were playing at the drive-in, my brothers and I went to the snack stand for drinks to go with the popcorn. On the way back, I saw the slide in the big kids park and wanted to slide down. They didn't notice me sneak away. I didn't think about being alone for the first time on top of that huge slide. After all, why be afraid when I went down it a hundred times on my brother Nick's lap?

I climbed to the top, sat my bottom down and that's when I knew I just made a huge mistake. I was too afraid to slide down it. With a line behind me of other kids waiting, I knew I couldn't walk back down. My fingers were frozen on the bars. The kid behind me was yelling at me to move. I guess he got tired of waiting and gave me a shove. I went over the side.

By then my brother Nick was looking for me. He found me passed out on the ground. My parents told me he carried me back to the car thinking I was dead most of the way. Then I opened my eyes just before we reached the car.

My Dad drove as fast as he could to the hospital. I don't remember what my brother Warren was doing or my Mom. I can remember is Nick held me in the back of the station wagon and telling him he was holding me too tight.

The next thing I remember was the doctor telling my parents to take me home and I'd be fine. I was lucky I didn't die from the fall but lucky again I didn't die during the night. It turned out the doctor didn't read the x-ray right. The next morning my parents rushed me to the children's hospital where they were told I had a fractured skull and a concussion. Letting me sleep after that kind of head trauma was the worst thing they could have done but they didn't know it. I woke up with my left eye swollen shut and wasn't talking right.

I was in the hospital for 4 days. After the swelling went down, I remember doctors and nurses coming into the children's ward wondering what was wrong with me because I looked fine to them. They couldn't see anything wrong with me until someone explained to them what happened.

A month later, according to the baby book, they did a brain scan that came out negative. All I know is that must have been done because I still couldn't talk right. The doctor told my parents to have me see a speech therapist. A month after school started I had shingles.

Life as I knew it ended again. My parents were fighting more and my Dad was drinking more. He became a violent alcoholic. Someone how I think he ended up blaming Nick because the abuse was mostly centered on him.

It was so bad that one night as my parents were shouting at eachother I was in bed, banging my head against the wall to crack it open again so they would go back to the way they were before the accident.

Folks saw the scar on my chin and knew something happened to me. They never saw the scars inside of me.

I had to learn how to talk right again, so I was reluctant to talk at all to anyone outside of my family. They talked everything to death. In other words, when something happened we all talked about it until I was done needing to. They gave lousy advice but I knew I was loved and talking about it helped. Years later after seeing family counselors I began to understand talk therapy works to bring people out of the dangers they survived into a normal place of relative safety.

I started to write my thoughts more than talk about them because as I got older I grew more self conscious about saying things especially if it was emotional and my words got jumbled up when I talked too fast.

When I turned 13, my Dad was destroying the living room in a rage without noticing me on the couch. As I got up, he had thrown a chair and it hit me. I fell to the floor and that was the last time he drank. My Mom made him leave and he stayed in an apartment for a long time while going to AA and we went to Alanon.

He moved back home but the damage had been done. After that, he had heart attacks and a couple of strokes. What I later learned was that my Dad changed a lot while in the Army. He was a Korean War veteran. By the time Nick was about 2, he was stationed in Japan and my Mom took Nick there for a year. My other brother Warren was born at Fort Dix. Dad was out of the Army when I was born. Something happened to him while he was in the service because he was 100% disabled.

Now it is obvious he must have had PTSD and I think the rest of my family suffered as well.

I made one bad decision after another jumping at what made me feel better about living. I drank at an early age, smoked cigarettes and pot. I also became a jock, as if that made sense, but it made me feel good being in control of something only I did. My high school English teacher told me I should become a writer but my parents wouldn't support that and told me I had to go to college to get a "real job" and make a living for myself.

I hated the thought. I got a good job right out of high school at the same time I was taking college classes in business. I quit two colleges but kept the job.

One night on my way home from work, I was hit in the rear by a car with failing brakes in the passing line on the highway. I threw my arms over my face as the spin sent the car into the guardrail. I thought I was going to die and my Mom would be pissed off if she couldn't have an open casket. Dumb thinking I know but that was all I could think about.

I got out of the car and pushed it from the passing lane to the breakdown lane after I knew the people in the other car were ok. I couldn't stop laughing. The EMTs got me to the hospital and I am sure they did a drug test considering my reaction to the whole thing. I am sure that I was more shocked about being alive than the accident happening. I didn't even know what hospital I was taken to when the nurse handed me the phone to talk to my Mom. The nurse had to tell her I was telling the truth. My Dad made me drive his car after we drove to see what happened to my Mom's car. Yep, I totaled it.

Driving down the same highway I almost died on was the best thing my Dad could have done because I doubt I would have gotten behind the wheel again if I waited to long.

The next time I shocked people by living was when my ex-husband came home from work one night and decided I needed to die. He started an argument, then hit me. My brothers made sure I knew how to fight and after years of swimming, I was strong enough to fight back for my life. He had me on the floor with his hands on my throat when our landlady banged on the door screaming she called the police.

The divorce papers were filed for the next day with our family lawyer.

My ex stalked me for about a year. Time and time again, we called the police but there was nothing they could do since they never caught him near me. Even the neighbors saying they saw him was not enough to stop him. Going to court over and over again did nothing. When we got divorced, the judge made me cover his health insurance and he got to keep the money I gave him to start his own business.

He finally stopped when I went after him with a 2x4 telling him next time he wouldn't be so lucky to drive away in his car.

By the time I met my current husband, I thought I had been rid of my ex until we got engaged and he walked over to Jack to introduce himself. "You're marrying my wife" he said as he reached out his hand to shake Jack's. Then I knew he must have been stalking us without being seen.

Jack and I have been married for over 30 years. He's a Vietnam veteran with PTSD and I keep saying that everything I have done in all these years is because of him and how wonderful he really is. Now I as look back on my life more I am sure the only reason why I understood what was happening to him was because of what happened to me.

I had a call from a young man who had been given my card from a friend. He wanted to know if I would help him since he was not a veteran. I told him I would simply because I knew how much he needed someone to talk to.

He told me that no one understood what was happening to him and too many people in his life walked away from him. I told him that happens all the time simply because most people just don't understand PTSD. While I have never been diagnosed with it I knew exactly what he was talking about. Then I told him the story of trying to explain it to a group a few years ago.

When I talk to non-military folks, I remind them of things they had been through that were very traumatic. Most of the people in this group started to recount things that happened in their own lives but one guy sitting in the back of the room had his arms folder around his chest giving a look of disbelief. I looked him right in the eyes and asked him if he was born or not. "What" he asked with a scowl. Then I told him that his life changed in a that one second of time.

One minute life is good and we are all being well taken care of feeling safe in the only home we've ever known with our Moms. We're there for 9 months until like a flash, we're being evicted! Tossed into the hands of a total stranger. We cry and shake while someone cleans us up in those first few seconds of life alone. That was not just our introduction into the world, it all began with that first traumatic event that changed us.

If all of us looked back on times that were traumatic in our own lives, then we'd be a lot closer to not just understanding PTSD, but healing it. Closer to less suffering and more healing but not many want to take the time to do it. So much easier to just judge someone and what scars they carry on their body instead of what they carry inside their souls.

I studied trauma and crisis intervention years after I faced most of mine so that I could understand my husband. I ended up understanding myself more.

The life I knew ended with each event I could not control but I was in control over what I did afterwards. The scar on my chin had me walking with my head down for years until I started to look upwards and forward. The problem I had talking once prohibited me from public speaking to the point where a speech I wrote in high school had to be read by a classmate for a national contest and won first prize but no one outside the class knew I wrote it. Now I talk all the time.

My faith in God has been tested more times than I can even remember but today it is strong to be able to talk about His love and the power our souls have to overcome anything. My belief in love was shattered but after spending over half my life with my husband and still holding hands, I believe that love can be stronger than anything else.

What happens to us is not all there is. Just because life as we know it ends with trauma, that doesn't mean the next chapter in the book of us can't be even better than the last. Don't close the book on your life. Heal and put the rest of your life back into your own hands. You are not trauma's victim. You are a survivor!

You can read the rest of what happened in For the Love of Jack, His War My Battle