Wounded L.I. Veteran Commemorates Harrowing Anniversary On July 4, Plows Ahead
CBS New York
Carolyn Gusoff
July 3, 2015
July 4, 2005, as America celebrated independence, Cila — on a mission in Baghdad — lost a part of his own.
RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) — This Fourth of July weekend holds special meeting for a Long Island veteran, who was observing the tenth anniversary of injuries that nearly killed him in Iraq.
As CBS2’s Carolyn Gusoff reported Friday, Sam Cila has a canine friend who has helped him through his inspirational recovery.
For Cila, Independence Day is personal.
“It was a day that did change things for me a lot for me,” he said.
Motivated by the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Cila left his Long Island family — placing himself in harm’s way….
“He said: ‘Hey, I’m going to do something about it. I’m going to join the military,” said his wife, Anna Cila.
And thus, Sam Cila joined the fight against terrorism.
“Why not me?” he said. “If it’s good enough – if someone else’s son should do it, then so should I,” he said.
But on July 4, 2005, as America celebrated independence, Cila — on a mission in Baghdad — lost a part of his own.
“The enemy unleashed a bomb, and took off most of my left arm, my bicep, my tricep,” he said.
According to the Congressional Research Service, more than 1,500 members of the military have lost limbs in amputations since Sept. 11, 2001.
Sharon Williams is dead, killed by ex-boyfriend. Iraq veteran Arthur Guise is dead after pulling the trigger on her and then himself. It didn't happen in the privacy of a home. It happened on the deck of a pub with lots of strangers left in shock. It left two families in shock.
Guise was fighting the battle after war with PTSD and was seeking help to heal. So why wasn't he helped enough to prevent this? That is the question we should always get answers to but we never seem to get them.
PTSD veterans are mostly non-violent. Pretty much they are more of a danger to themselves than to anyone else. So why are more and more seeking help at the same time more and more are committing suicide?
Did Guise end up on one of the medications that does more harm than good? Did he see a VA doctor? Did he get the help he needed at the same time he did all he could to be proactive to heal? Was he told everything he needed to know? Does responsibility end with Guise or does everyone else involved in this tragedy deserve to know the rest of the story?
'He saw a lot in Iraq. It changed him': Father of shooter in York County murder-suicide
Pennlive
By Julianne Mattera
July 03, 2015
Flapjack's Pub reopened for customers to come visit, but did not serve food, after last night's murder-suicide that took place on the deck of the pub in Dillsburg on Friday, July 3 2015.
Emily Kask, PennLive
The man who authorities said committed suicide after he shot a woman at a York County bar last night likely suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder following military tours in Iraq, according to his father.
Lenard Guise of Mount Holly Springs said Arthur Guise, his son, did two tours in Iraq during his time in the Army.
"I think that affected him," Guise said. "He was going to some counseling to help. He saw a lot in Iraq. It changed him."
County Coroner Pam Gay said Arthur Guise, 31, shot and killed Sharon Williams, 33, of Mount Holly Springs before shooting and killing himself at Flapjacks Pub, on Route 15, just outside Dillsburg.
"He came onto the deck and walked right up to her — she was sitting at a table on the deck — and just walked up right behind her and shot her three times," said Osterhoudt, whose wife manages the bar, which is owned by Osterhoudt's father-in-law.
Osterhoudt said the man then "put the gun to his head and shot himself." read more here
UPDATE
'It was all quick. No hesitation': Bartender recalls York County murder-suicide
PennLive
By Julianne Mattera
July 03, 2015
Scotty Osterhoudt barely slept last night after seeing a patron shoot his ex-girlfriend before killing himself on the deck of his family's York County pub.
Osterhoudt, a bartender at Flapjack's Pub just outside of Dillsburg, turned around from making a drink Thursday night after hearing a "pop go off" outside the bar. Through a window, he saw Arthur Guise take one last shot at Sharon Williams, his ex-girlfriend, and then turn the gun on himself.
"It was all quick. No hesitation," said Osterhoudt, who heard at least four or five shots. "... He was just dead set on what he wanted to do."
When he came to the door to the deck, there was "just chaos" and "blood everywhere," Osterhoudt said.
read more here
This shows the difference love, respect and appreciation can make. A 20 year old had been sent to Iraq. An IED blew up leaving him with a visible price tag for the Independence bought by those who risked their lives to retain it. He came home and was shown disrespect back then but as you'll see, nothing ended for this veteran and his family.
Disfigured veteran deals with disrespect at home
USA TODAY
Gregg Zoroya and Alan Gomez
April 25, 2013
BELTSVILLE, MD. — Six years have passed since a roadside bomb set Ronny "Tony" Porta on fire in Iraq when he was 20, and he's still trying to find his way home.
Each reflection in the mirror bears witness to why that is not easy.
Marine Cpl. Ronny Porta was severely burned in May 2007 in Al Asad, Iraq, when his Humvee hit an improvised explosive device. Two other Marines died in the attack. (Photo: Jack Gruber, USA TODAY)
Every stranger who points or stares, every teenager who mocks with the word "monster" or couple that whisper behind his back that the disfigurement is the price for invading a country, tells Porta he hasn't quite left the battlefield behind.
"This is home for me," says Porta, 26, who grew up in suburban-Washington Beltsville after his family emigrated from Peru. "But sometimes, it's kind of hard saying, 'I am home.'"
Two months ago, a man approached Porta in a Home Depot. He stood studying the burns on Porta's face and asked if a car accident was to blame. Porta, wearing a Marine Corps sweatshirt, said, no, it was an IED explosion in Iraq.
What really stuck with Porta and angers him still were the words the man said next: "Was it worth it?" Is it so difficult, Porta asks, to see that those who volunteer in defense of the nation know it can carry a price? "Freedom is not free," he says, echoing an age-old American refrain. read more here
Disfigured by war, veteran now says 'I found my place'
USA TODAY
Gregg Zoroya
July 3, 2015
LOVETTSVILLE, Va. — Ronny "Tony" Porta was searching for a place where people could see past the disfigurement left by war, where cruel mutterings about his appearance or unfeeling questions about whether such wounds were "worth it" did not exist.
More than two years later, Porta says, "I found my place."
Porta, 28, a medically retired Marine corporal, stumbled upon this northernmost Virginia village in the windy, rolling countryside 55 miles from the nation's capital nearly two years ago. His head, face and much of his body were horribly scarred by a fiery roadside bomb attack in Iraq in 2007 that killed two other Marines. He lost his right arm and was left with only a few gnarled fingers on his left hand.
But in Lovettsville, Porta has been embraced without reservation.
The pinnacle of acceptance comes this Fourth of July weekend as Porta, his wife, son and mother settle into a state-of-the-art "smart" home built by grateful donors on a hill just outside the town limits. "I found the place where I want to spend the rest of my life," he said Wednesday as he watched the finishing touches put to his new home.
A town procession of a color guard, motorcycle escort and local dignitaries formally delivered Porta and his family to the doorstep of his new house Friday from another he's rented in Lovettsville since 2013. "It's become obviously a major event," said Mike Chapman, sheriff of surrounding Loudoun County, who plans to ride his motorcycle. "Everybody jumped on board." read more here
VA Hospital That Once Treated Civil War Veterans Could Close
Associated Press
By KEVIN BURBACH
Jul 3, 2015
This photo taken April 13, 2015, shows exterior of the grand rotunda entry to the historic Black Hills VA in Hot Springs, S.D. The 108-year-old veteran’s hospital built of thick blocks of pink sandstone and topped with red, tiled roofs in a Spanish mission-style overlooks the tiny town of Hot Springs, a scenic escape that’s become a haven known for healing veterans over the last century.
(AP Photo/Kristina Barker) The Associated Press
HOT SPRINGS, S.D.
Perched atop a bluff in the remote Black Hills, a veterans hospital built of thick blocks of pink sandstone and topped with red-tiled roofs in a Spanish mission style overlooks the tiny town of Hot Springs, South Dakota, and has provided recovering soldiers a bucolic haven for more than a century.
Wounded warriors from Civil War battles at Antietam and Gettysburg came to the Battle Mountain Sanitarium for brief, intensive treatments for musculoskeletal and respiratory conditions. Physicians believed the dry air and warm, fabled mineral springs helped mend broken soldiers. Today, veterans from the Vietnam to Iraq wars suffering from ailments such as post-traumatic stress disorder and drug and alcohol abuse recuperate at this quiet retreat.
But this long tradition could soon end. Officials with the Department of Veterans Affairs have proposed shuttering the campus and relocating some of its services 60 miles north to Rapid City, the second largest city in the state, leaving only an outpatient clinic in Hot Springs, which the state calls "The Veterans Town."
One of the key issues driving a wedge between the VA and the veterans fighting to keep the hospital open is its remote location. Does the isolation and serenity of Hot Springs help heal patients or hold them back?
"We have not seen any evidence that proves serene environment versus a more city-like environment changes the outcome of the patients," said Jo-Ann Ginsburg, the acting director for the VA in the Black Hills.
But many of the region's veterans argue that the tranquil environment in a town of 3,500 people is just as crucial to healing today as at the beginning of the 20th century and cannot be replicated outside Hot Springs. read more here
If I used their title, you'd never read it and you'd miss how the flag is respected instead of just being thrown away.
U.S. Flags Retired In Vernon Ceremony
EGP News
By Nancy Martinez,
EGP Staff Writer
Members of Boy Scouts of America Troop 419 held a special
flag retirement ceremony June 25 at Vernon Fire Station 1.
(EGP photo by Nancy Martinez)
There were hundreds of them: U.S. flags battered by years of exposure to sun and pollution, a far cry from the vibrant red, white and blue of their “Old Glory” days.
Last week, the Vernon Chamber of Commerce hosted a ceremony to retire faded and torn flags they had collected from area businesses and the homes of individuals that were in danger of being discarded in trash bins, a disrespectful end to the best-known symbol of U.S. independence, the red, white and blue American flag.
This Saturday, people all across the country will display the flag as part of their Fourth of July celebration. Many will have no clue that there’s an etiquette that goes with flying and caring for Old Glory and for disposing of the flag when it falls into disrepair.
Boy Scout Troop 419 led last Thursday’s flag ceremony at Vernon Fire Station 1. The troop is located in Vernon but none of its members actually live in the city. Some of the younger Cub Scouts attend Vernon Elementary; most live in the bordering cities of Cudahy, Maywood and Huntington Park. They meet at the Vernon Fire Station. read more here
Bragg soldier charged with going armed to the terror of the public
Fayetteville Observer
By Nichole Manna Staff writer
July 3, 2015
A Fort Bragg soldier with an AR-15 assault-type rifle wearing a military ballistic panel carrier and carrying multiple rifle ammunition magazines caused a busy Cross Creek Mall to lock down Thursday night.
Bryan Scott Wolfinger, 25, was charged early this morning with going armed to the terror of the public.
He told police he was preparing to have photographs taken with military equipment when 911 calls sent Fayetteville police to the mall.
Wolfinger was processed at the Cumberland County Detention Center and was released to his company commander and provost marshal at Fort Bragg.
The incident happened on the eve of a patriotic three-day holiday weekend for many in an area that is home to the nation's largest military installation, Fort Bragg. There was no estimate on the number of people in the mall when it was locked down, according to mall officials and the police. read more here
July 4 Celebrations Canceled at UK Bases Due to 'Threat Assessments'
Stars and Stripes
July 3, 2015
A C-130 Hercules from the Air Force Reserve Command's 440th Airlift
Wing at General Mitchell Air Reserve Station, Wis., sits on the ramp
during a 4th of July (2007) fireworks display. (U.S. Air Force archive photo/Joe Oliva)
The U.S. Air Force has canceled 4th of July events in Britain due to “local threat assessments,” it was announced Thursday.
A statement on the website of Royal Air Force Mildenhall said RAFs Lakenheath and Mildenhall called off celebrations set for Friday and Saturday at Royal Air Force Feltwell.
“The decision was made due to the most current local threat assessments. The base continually surveys the security environment alongside host nation counterparts and must take appropriate measures based on those assessments,” the statement said.
The statement quoted Col. David Eaglin, 48th Fighter Wing vice commander, as saying the decision was taken in the interest of safety. read more here
When the news came out that the Congress was acknowledging how much caregivers go through taking care of our veterans, most of us were happy until we read that they were not talking about all of us. They were talking about the post 9-11 families as if we never did anything.
Stunned wasn't the word. Shocked wasn't the word either considering that is how it has been for us since the Internet generation started coming home with the same things our generation went through but they got the attention. Slapped in the face is the best way to explain what this all did to us when this happened.
H.R.2342 - Wounded Warrior Project Family Caregiver Act of 2009
Yep, those guys again.
Wounded Warrior Project Family Caregiver Act of 2009 - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, as part of authorized Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) home health care services for veterans, to furnish to a family member or other designated individual advanced instruction and training and certification as a family caregiver for a veteran who incurred serious wounds on active duty during, or in training for, Operations Enduring Freedom or Iraqi Freedom and is determined to be in need of personal care services.
We woke up to husbands having nightmares and babies needing our attention. We went to work making sure our kids got to and from school while we punched the clock and dealt with frantic phone calls from our husbands when they were falling apart. We made the excuses for why they couldn't go to work and borrowed money when they lost yet another job. We fought with family members telling us to get divorced when they didn't come to a family event yet again.
We trained ourselves to adapt to our new normal life as a veteran's wife with medical physical and psychological wounds needing to be tended to while fighting the VA and everyone else. None of this is new but it appears the rest of the country has forgotten all about us.
The motto of Vietnam Veterans of America is "Never again will one generation of veterans, abandon another". But this is more than a motto, it is a way of life
Durbin seeks to expand VA Caregivers Program
Daily Republican
By RICK HAYES
Staff Writer
Posted Jul. 1, 2015
Through the Family Caregiver Program, the VA cost per veteran per year is about $36,000. This includes the stipend, which averages between $600 and $2,250 a month, based on the level of care and the geographic location and services provided to the caregiver.
MARION — U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) is seeking to expand a program to assist caregivers of veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan to include veterans of all wars.
The Caregiver Program created through language Durbin included in the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2009 provides home health training, peer support and financial stipends to caregivers of severely injured veterans.
More than 21,000 veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan participate in the program today, including 425 in Illinois. While the eligibility for the original Caregiver Program is limited to post 9/11 veterans, Durbin's new bill would expand the program to allow severely injured veterans from all wars to apply.
"What the bill says is that when we have a spouse or member of the family who is willing to sacrifice to help the returning veteran, we're going to help that caregiver," Durbin said Tuesday at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1301 in Marion.
"We have come to believe we can do more, that limiting it to just veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan is not enough. Veterans from other periods of service need caregivers as well," he added.
Durbin said the program contains three valuable components: allowing the caregiver at home to have the necessary medical training to understand the challenges of the veteran and be able to respond to each situation; to provide respite care — where an independent agency can give the caregiver a break from the day-to-day care of the veteran; and to provide financial assistance to the caregivers. read more here
If you are among the over 400,000 veterans right here in Central Florida, you may be heading off to Red Hot and Boom to celebrate Independence Day. According to predictions they are expecting at least 150,000, like they had in 2014. It is a fun time with great music and fireworks.
Red Hot and Boom 2014
But it isn't fun for all, especially when you are part of the reason we still have independence.
What you do not have a choice on is what your neighbors do. It is still illegal to send bombs bursting in air on your street and any other street in Florida.
There is a push on all over the internet for veterans to put up signs about being a veteran and asking folks to be respectful of that. Nice thought and can be helpful however the majority of veterans don't want their neighbors to know and they want to retain their privacy. So what do you do?
The same thing other veterans have done for decades. They improvised, adapted and overcame others having too much fun to remember the price you paid. (Yes Gunny, your voice is reverberating in my head)
Improvise
If you live alone.
Change what you normally do at night for several days, since they will be blowing stuff up for about a week. If you can, get some headphones and plug them into your TV or stereo to block out some of the noise. If you are comfortable doing it, go out and watch some of your neighbors acting like little kids. You may get some laughs. Otherwise, stay near your home and don't drive since you don't know what you'll be driving near, usually the smell of gunpowder and some yahoo blowing up enough fireworks to light up an entire neighborhood. That can trigger a flashback and you will be in an unfamiliar area.
If you live with family members, try playing games to take your mind off what is going on and remind yourself that you are safe. When you start to think about being in combat, shut it down and replace the thought. If you have prepared yourself for the inevitable noise, it makes it a bit easier to do.
Hero After War is a video that was up on Youtube years ago and has been uploaded again. (yes it is mine)
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is nothing to be ashamed of. It is because you put your life on the line and felt it more than others that you suffer today. The good news is, you can change again and heal to live a better life.
If it helps, then show it to your family so they will understand what you are seeing and thinking about.
Adapt
Don't expect your neighbors to fully understand that you are different from them. How could they? Veterans are only about 7% of the US population. Combat veterans are even less than that. There are almost 17 million combat veterans from WWII to Desert Storm scattered all over the US according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Living War Veterans 16,962,000
Living Veterans (Periods of War and Peace) 23,234,000
Your neighbors don't mean you any harm and have no clue about the real fireworks you saw intended to kill and not for entertainment. They are celebrating freedom without really thinking about what came with it.
Don't watch war movies especially if your house is being filled with the smell of gunpowder. Try cooking something that reminds you of happier times to replace the fumes. The smell of homemade chocolate chip cookies can remind you of when you were young.
Overcome
If you among the younger generation then talk to the 3,403,000 Vietnam Veterans Deployed to Southeast Asia to find out how they did it all these years. Contrary to popular reports dismissing the majority of veterans in this country, they have been through everything you are going through right now. They just did it all before the internet and Facebook. Before reporters decided that they would jump on the bandwagon of covering what has been going on all this time yet pretending they just discovered something new.
When it comes to PTSD, these veterans didn't invent it, since all other generations came home with same wounds, but they started everything to be in place for all generations.
Try to do what they did and that is to spend time with other veterans. You will discover that while you no longer feel you fit in with civilians, you fit perfectly with them. You will gain support and be understood. You will find strength in their numbers.
UPDATE July 4, 2015 a link to the following story from New York was sent this morning and shows exactly what I was saying.
Sign designed to help veterans with PTSD on the 4th of July is not welcomed by all veterans
WSYR News
July 2, 2015
We don't want to be looked at as broken people,” said Earl Fontenot, a veteran who believes the signs cast a negative shadow on the military. “If that's something they want to do they should go door to door.”
Fontenot is Chief of Staff at Clear Path for Veterans, an organization helping service men and women adjust to civilian life.
“We can't expect our community to mold for our needs, we need to mold back into the community successfully and I don't think the signs are helping that,” said Fontenot. read more here
UPDATE from Kansas City
'About twilight, I'm back in the house hunkered down;' Vietnam veteran prepares for Fourth of July
KSHB News
Every year, Ebert has to mentally prepare for the Fourth of July. During the day, he's usually grilling out, undisturbed by fireworks.
"But at night, the starbursts and the bigger fireworks going off, that bothered me," Ebert said.
"Along about twilight, I'm back in the house hunkered down."
Dr. George Dent, a psychologist with the Department of Veteran Affairs, works with thousands of veterans who also have PTSD.
"For a person who has encountered a boom or a flash with risk to their life, it's (fireworks) not just a boom, it's not just a flash," Dent said. "It's a signal that they may be on the verge of death."
Soldiers' families awarded $134.2M in Afghanistan grenade attack
By The Associated Press
July 2, 2015
Khadr pleaded guilty to throwing a grenade that killed Christopher Speer and wounded Layne Morris in 2002. He spent 10 years at Guantanamo Bay, the U.S. naval base in Cuba, and was transferred to Canada in 2012.
SALT LAKE CITY — A federal judge in Utah has awarded $134.2 million to an American soldier wounded in Afghanistan and the widow of another soldier killed there in a lawsuit filed against a Canadian man who pleaded guilty in a grenade attack involving the two soldiers when he was 15.
The plaintiffs acknowledge there is little chance they will collect any of the money.
“It's really more of a statement case, I think, than a desire to collect this,” lawyer Laura Tanner, who represents the plaintiffs, said Thursday She said the judgment sends a message that the United States has a civil system in place to hold terrorists responsible.
Still, lawyers are seeking a Canadian law firm to help collect the money from 28-year-old Omar Khadr, who was released from a Canadian prison last month, Tanner said. read more here
