Tax Dollars Paid $68 Million for Independent VA Audit Instead of on Veterans?

McDonald rejects VA’s failing grade audit
Agency head requests bigger budget, says problems largely fixed
The Washington Times
By Anjali Shastry
Wednesday, October 7, 2015

VA Secretary Robert McDonald disputed an audit’s conclusions that his department needs a “systemwide reworking,” saying Wednesday that he’s already fixed many of the problems and what he really needs is a bigger budget and more flexibility to move that money around.

The $68 million independent audit, released last month, said the Department of Veterans Affairs could become a world-class health system if it had better leadership, cut through a bloated bureaucracy and figured out its facilities budget.

But Mr. McDonald, who took over as top leader last year after his predecessor was ousted, said more money would help solve most of the remaining issues.

“The only way forward, if we really want to serve veterans, is for Congress to provide VA with sufficient resources to meet the requirements Congress has set,” Mr. McDonald told the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.
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Veterans don't blame the VA, they blame Congress and their history of underfunding the VA as more veterans waited.


As promised, here are a few things left out of the report,

2001

VA said that limiting new enrollments would save the system $142 million this fiscal year. The department said the remainder of the $400 million budget shortfall would be covered by unspecified "management efficiencies."

2002

On Monday, Principi visited the Topeka and Leavenworth VA hospitals, which together make up the consolidated VA Eastern Kansas Health Care System. Members of the Kansas congressional delegation have put increasing pressure on Principi since a budget shortfall of about $9 million was announced. The shortfall is expected to result in job cuts and the loss of some services in Topeka.

The GAO said that VA officials knew in October 2004 that there would be a major shortage.

In all, the bungling by the VA's budget office led to a shortfall of more than $3 billion since 2005, the General Accountability Office found in a report released Wednesday, and those mistakes disrupted health care to 700,000 veterans in Washington state and more than 5 million nationwide. "Unrealistic assumptions, errors in estimation, and insufficient data were key factors in VA's budget formulation process that contributed to the requests for additional funding," the GAO said in its report.

2005

VA Announces $1 Billion Shortfall; Senator Murray Demands Immediate Action
Jun 23 2005
(WASHINGTON, DC) -- In the wake of a Bush Administration announcement that the Veterans Administration has a $1 billion shortfall, Senator Patty Murray today expressed her disappointment and swiftly moved to introduce emergency legislation to fix the problem.

Murray, who has attempted to add funding for veterans care to the budget process three times this year, today once again introduced an emergency supplemental appropriations bill that would allow the VA to meet its obligations to veterans.

The administration announcement comes after repeated assurances that the VA had more than enough money to make it through the fiscal year. During the debate on the FY2006 Budget and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations bill, Nicholson and other Republican leaders claimed that the VA did not face a crisis.

In April, VA Secretary Jim Nicholson wrote a letter in which he declared, "I can assure you that VA does not need emergency supplemental funds in FY 2005 to continue to provide the timely, quality service that is always our goal." Under question by Senator Murray two weeks ago in the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, Nicholson once again repeated his claim that the VA had the money it needs.

2007
Minneapolis VA Clinics were shut down in 2007 soon after they were opened. They were contracted out.

Two recently opened Minneapolis VA clinics in western Wisconsin were abruptly shut down this week by the company under contract to run them. Kentucky-based Corporate Health and Wellness says it lost hundreds of thousands of dollars opening the clinics. It blames the closings on a lack of additional funding from the VA.

2008

St. Louis, reported in 2008 29 Patients at Marion VA died because of substandard and questionable care

The VA investigation found that at least nine deaths between October 2006 and March last year were "directly attributable" to substandard care at the Marion hospital, which serves veterans from southern Illinois, southwestern Indiana and western Kentucky.

Kussman declined to identify those cases by patient or doctor, though Rep. Jerry Costello, an Illinois Democrat, said those nine deaths were linked to two surgeons he did not name.

Of an additional 34 cases the VA investigated, 10 patients who died received questionable care that complicated their health, Kussman said. Investigators could not determine whether the care actually caused the deaths.

Vietnam Veterans of America: President Bush's VA Budget is $3 Billion Short

Shalala: Veterans benefits system is broken

This is the conclusion of Donna Shalala, former secretary of the U.S. Department Health and Human Services during the Clinton administration. President George W. Bush commissioned Shalala, Bob Dole and several other experts to evaluate the care of wounded veterans after the Washington Post exposed dire conditions at Walter Reed Hospital: deteriorating, rat- and roach-infested housing for family members, neglectful staff, and a mind-numbing bureaucracy.

Alabama State Veterans Director Says Veterans Wait 4 Years for VA Claim Appeal

“Since 2006, the number of claims has grown 15 percent. The amount of time it takes to make decisions on disability claims is two to three year. On an average, it takes four years to get an appeals decision.”

VA: $94 billion for 2009 and still $3.3 billion short

“While we are spending more than in previous years, we are still not meeting many of the health care and benefits needs of our veterans,” Murray said.

Last month’s passage of a new GI Bill will add $100 billion in education benefits for veterans over the next 10 years, the Congressional Budget Office said.

Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain and his Democratic opponent Sen. Barack Obama clashed over the bill last month. McCain opposed it, saying its increased education benefits might encourage troops to leave the military.

Veterans Groups Appalled at White House Veto Threats

A coalition representing millions of America's veterans today expressed outrage at a White House claim that Congress is overspending on veterans programs and has threatened to veto any of the remaining 11 spending bills that exceed the President's request unless Congress finds $2.9 billion in offsets elsewhere in the federal budget.

Under the fiscal year 2009 Military Construction-VA Appropriations bill, the Department of Veterans Affairs would receive $47.7 billion, which is $4.6 billion above the 2008 funding level and $2.9 billion more than the President requested.

In each and every case, Congress held hearings and made promises only to have them repeat over and over again. Just think that those reports are only a few of the ones available online if reporters bothered to look. Do you think that $68 million audit was worth the money spent?

WWII Veteran Still On Mission

At 91, pilot, hero, still on mission
The Journal Gazette
Brian Francisco
Washington editor
October 8, 2015

“For many, many years I spoke every night in my dreams to the 16 guys who I flew with who were killed in World War II, half of my squadron,” he said. Yellen flew 19 combat missions over Japan.

Jerry Yellin stepped off a shuttle bus just before dawn Wednesday and headed toward an airliner when he was intercepted by a teenage girl.

“Thank you for your service,” she told Yellin, giving him a red, white and blue ornament with ribbons displaying the words “brave hero.”

Most if not all of the 86 military veterans boarding Tuesday’s Honor Flight received the trinkets from members of a Whitley County 4-H club. Yellin’s presenter likely did not know it at the time, but her gratitude was directed at the day’s celebrity.

Yellin, 91, was a P-51 fighter pilot who flew the final combat mission of World War II. His wingman on Aug. 14, 1945, Phil Schlamberg, disappeared in the attack over mainland Japan and is considered the last American killed in the war.

Wednesday’s trip was Yellin’s first Honor Flight to visit memorials in Washington, D.C., although the resident of Fairfield, Iowa, had seen them before. The group departed from the Air National Guard’s 122nd Fighter Wing and Fort Wayne International Airport, which began its life as a military air base during WWII.

While in Washington for the day, Yellin was scheduled to place a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

“That, to me, is an honor beyond anything that I’ve ever been involved with,” he said in an interview at the 122nd Fighter Wing along Ferguson Road.

Yellin is the author of four books; a spokesman for Spirit of ’45, an organization that celebrates the WWII generation; and an advocate for aiding veterans who suffer post traumatic stress disorder. He said he battled PTSD for 30 years after serving in the Pacific Theater.

“I thought about suicide, and I stopped flying fighter planes because I knew if I continued to fly, I was going to die, by chance or by choice,” said Yellen, who had been a captain in the Army Air Corps. “I hardly could ever go up in a building, a 10-story, 12-story building, without standing by a window and thinking about jumping.
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Score One For A Good Guy- Army Holds Off on Discharging Martland

Army Delays Discharge of Soldier Who Confronted Accused Afghan Rapist 
Military.com
by Richard Sisk
Oct 06, 2015

"It was not until the Army was forced to shed tens of thousands of soldiers that it opened the QMP process to a population to which it would not otherwise have applied. This is the unfortunate by-product of indiscriminate cuts to our military." Rep. Mac Thornberry

The U.S. Army on Tuesday delayed the discharge of Special Forces Sgt. 1st Class Charles Martland who has admitted to roughing up an Afghan police commander accused of sexually abusing a boy.

The action followed a phone call on Martland's behalf from Rep. Mac Thornberry, a Republican from Texas and chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, to Army Secretary John McHugh.

The service later issued a statement saying, "Out of respect for Chairman Thornberry's continued strong support for our military, and his personal appeal, Secretary McHugh has agreed to postpone Sgt. First Class Martland's discharge from the Army for 60 days to allow him to file an appeal with the Army Board for the Correction of Military Records."

The New York Times reported last month that in 2011 Martland and Special Forces Capt. Dan Quinn physically confronted an Afghan commander accused of sexually abusing a boy. Quinn has since left the Army and Martland has said he is being forced to retire for intervening.
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Vietnam Veteran Takes HonorAir Flight to Washington DC

First Vietnam veterans to take HonorAir Knoxville flight eager to visit memorials in their honor
WATE ABC News
By Laura Halm
Published: October 6, 2015

MARYVILLE (WATE) – Tickets are purchased and excitement is building for more than 125 East Tennessee veterans.

Wednesday is flight day for Honor Air, but this plane ride to Washington, D.C. is a first for Vietnam veterans. Two of the veterans who will make the flight say they are anxiously waiting to see the memorials built in their honor.

Vietnam veteran Tommy Terry said he is only packing two items: a hat and a camera. “I’m not taking that much. So it won’t take long,” said Tommy Terry.

Tommy Terry said he has waited a long time for the chance to go to Washington, D.C. “When we came back from Vietnam, we were not treated well,” he said. “But this is one of the greatest things.”
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Veteran's Therapy Dog Also Groom's Best "Man"

Wounded Veteran's Therapy Dog Serves as Best Man at Wedding 
ABC News
By Will Ganss
Oct 5, 2015

This past weekend, Gabe had his paws full with an entirely new slew of responsibilities, serving as the best man in Lansford’s wedding to longtime girlfriend, Carol Balmes.

U.S. Army veteran Justin Lansford tied the knot with longtime girlfriend

Carol Balmes with his canine companion, Gabe, at his side.

It's been quite a journey for U.S. Army veteran Justin Lansford and his canine companion, Gabe. In 2012, Lansford lost his left leg in an IED explosion in Afghanistan.

"I was a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division and we were in eastern Afghanistan in early 2012," he told Lara Spencer in 2014. "We struck an IED and it flipped my truck completely. I had bilaterally severed femurs which resulted in the amputation of my left leg."
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Family of PTSD Veteran Can Sue After Police Shooting

Judge allows lawsuit against Maine officer who killed veteran to go forward
Bangor Daily News
By Judy Harrison, BDN Staff
Posted Oct. 06, 2015

PORTLAND, Maine — A federal judge has ruled that an excessive force lawsuit over the death of a troubled Army veteran may go forward but only against the officer, not the police chief or the town of Farmington.

The parents of a veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder who was shot and killed nearly four years ago in front of the Farmington police station filed a wrongful death and civil rights lawsuit in 2013 against the town, Police Chief Jack Peck, and Ryan Rosie, the officer who shot and killed Justin Michael Crowley-Smilek on Nov. 19, 2011.

The Maine attorney general’s office in May 2012 found that Rosie was justified in shooting Crowley-Smilek, 26, of Farmington. The report said that Rosie took cover behind a police cruiser after Crowley-Smilek ignored demands that he take his hands out of his pockets. Rosie fired after the veteran took a butcher knife out of his pocket and charged at the officer.

The lawsuit, filed in November 2013 in federal court in Portland by Hunter Tzovarras, the Bangor attorney representing Crowley-Smilek’s parents, claimed that the veteran went to the Farmington police station the day he was killed to ask for help “regarding mental health services.”
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Jennifer Aniston to Play Soldier's Mom in New Movie

Jack Huston and Jennifer Aniston Join War Pic ‘The Yellow Birds’
Deadline Hollywood
by Anita Busch
October 6, 2015

EXCLUSIVE: Jack Huston is stepping into the role previously eyed by Benedict Cumberbatch in war drama The Yellow Birds opposite Tye Sheridan and Alden Ehrenreich. Jennifer Aniston also is joining the film directed by the project’s new director, Alexandre Moors. Based on the novel by Iraq War vet Kevin Powers, the film marks the second project to go before the cameras for Mark Canton and Courtney Solomon’s Cinelou Films.

It was first announced for sale at Cannes with Cumberbatch, Sheridan and Will Poulter starring and David Lowery directing. Lowery adapted the book with Powers for the screen.

Financed by Cinelou, the story follows two young soldiers who become friends in boot camp and the elder (the 21-year-old Ehrenreich) promises to take care of his buddy (Sheridan), but it becomes increasingly difficult in wartime. Huston plays Staff Sgt. Sterling. Aniston plays the younger boy’s mother.
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On the Ground
‘The Yellow Birds,’ by Kevin Powers
New York Times
By BENJAMIN PERCY
OCT. 4, 2012

Joao Silva for The New York Times

At the age of 17, Kevin Powers enlisted in the Army and eventually served as a machine-gunner in Iraq, where the sky is “vast and catacombed with clouds,” where soldiers stay awake on fear and amphetamines and Tabasco sauce daubed into their eyes, where rifles bristle from rooftops and bullets sound like “small rips in the air.” Now he has channeled his experience into “The Yellow Birds,” a first novel as compact and powerful as a footlocker full of ammo.

In the northern city of Al Tafar, 21-year-old Pvt. John Bartle and his platoon engage in a bloody campaign to control the city. Before his deployment Bartle promised the mother of 18-year-old Pvt. Daniel Murphy he would take care of her son, bring him back alive. It is a promise that, as Powers reveals from the earliest pages, he will not keep. But in the meantime they suffer through basic training together, followed by Iraqi street fights that leave rooftops covered in brass casings and doorsteps splashed with blood — all under the command of the growly, battle-­scarred Sergeant Sterling, who punches them in the face one moment and claps them on the back the next, ordering them to combat both the insurgents and the mental stress that threaten to send them home in a box with a flag draped over the top.
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'Profiteering' off Veteran Insurance Payouts News To VA?

VA Unaware of Prudential 'Profiteering' off Veteran Insurance Payouts 
Military.com
by Bryant Jordan
Oct 05, 2015

The Veterans Affairs Department was not aware that Prudential Insurance encouraged its counselors to keep casualty pay-out monies in-house as a way to boost company profits, or that its agents were schooled to try to change the minds of surviving family members who sought a traditional lump-sum payment.

Prudential's practices came to light last week with the court-ordered release of internal company documents to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, which joined in a class-action lawsuit against Prudential in 2010. Prudential is under contract to handle Sevicemember Group Life Insurance and Veterans Group Life Insurance policies.

Among the documents was one detailing a plan to increase company profitability by retaining control of money that would normally be awarded to survivors in a lump sum. Another revealed the company trained personnel on how to deal with survivors who insisted on a lump-sum payout rather than leaving the money with Prudential in "Alliance Accounts" that provided the beneficiary with a fraction of the interest that Prudential would gain from it.

VFW National Commander John A. Biedrzycki Jr. last week called for an independent investigation of the VA and the Alliance Accounts, saying the department turned a blind eye to Prudential's profiteering off beneficiaries.
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Camp Pendleton Marine Found Dead At Shooting Range

Marine found dead with gunshot wound at Camp Pendleton 
CBS News
October 5, 2015

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- A Marine has been found dead with a gunshot wound to the head at a shooting range at Camp Pendleton Marine Base, the Associated Press reports.

Officials at the military base say the Marine was taking part in a training exercise in which live ammunition was used Monday morning.

The circumstances of the fatal gunshot are under investigation. read more here

Grounded Pilot Sues VA After 10 Years Medicated For What He Did Not Have

Former Navy Pilot Sues US Government over Bipolar Diagnosis
Associated Press
by Bill Draper
Oct 06, 2015

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A former Navy pilot has filed a $35 million lawsuit against the federal government alleging that a Veterans Affairs doctor misdiagnosed him with a mental illness that caused him to lose his ability to fly commercial airplanes and be wrongly treated for the disorder for a decade.

William Royster, 53, of Kansas City, said in the lawsuit filed Friday that a doctor at the local VA medical center diagnosed him with bipolar disorder in April 2004 and said he could not work in any capacity. The doctor also said the condition was permanent, he contends.

After he had been treated and medicated for more than 10 years for the disorder, Royster said a different psychiatrist at the medical center told him last November that he was not bipolar.

"From the review of the records, he (Mr. Royster) never had any manic symptoms and he never met the criteria for the diagnosis of bipolar disorder. ... Thus in my professional opinion, I do not believe that Mr. Royster has a diagnosis of bipolar disorder," Dr. Shreeja Kumar wrote on Nov. 18.

Royster was flying a fighter jet on a training mission associated with Desert Storm on June 4, 1996, when he was shot down, the lawsuit says. He was injured when he ejected from the jet and honorably discharged from the Navy that November.
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“Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.”

Faith of the Centurion
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
October 6, 2015

Yesterday I asked for prayers when I posted What Does A Chaplain Do When Soul Is Crushed because I just didn't know what to do anymore. After 33 years I was ready to quit. There just didn't seem to be anymore reasons to even try to do this work especially when everything I knew was being drowned out by all the groups popping up all over the country. I just got to a point where I gave everything I had left to give and there just wasn't anything left to keep this emotional weight off my soul.

Too many gone and counting far too many years witnessing it feeling helpless to get anyone to hear me anymore.

Well, I asked for prayers from readers as well as members of Point Man International Ministry leaders. Every Monday night we have a conference call and it replenishes us but with getting up at 4:30, I had to stop participating in that call. I asked Dana for prayers from the group. I asked for prayers from friends that if God wanted me to give up, I just needed to know for sure or if He wanted me to keep fighting, I needed the strength to do it. I got the usual speech from my buddy Gunny about not giving up on veterans because they were not giving up on me and bless him for all the support he has given more more times than the can even remember.

If anyone tells you that prayers are no longer answered, share this with them.

I was getting ready to go home from work, waiting until a few minutes before the end of my day, to talk to a coworker. I was sure I'd cry. She is a Christian and I thought she belonged to a prayer group, so asked her if they would pray for me to find out what I am supposed to do.

Sure enough, she listened to what I needed instead of offering a blanket prayer, good prayers are always as specific as they can be. She said she understood and gave me words of encouragement so that if the answer came back to stop, I would find peace knowing that all these years helped a lot of people and I should find comfort in that.

Then she told me about a friend of hers in the military. He used to attend church with her but has become an atheist. I was explaining how something like that can happen when the tears dried up. I told her that they see so much horror and evil that they miss what is miraculous at the same moment. That they grieve so much because the strength of their soul, preparing them to be able to put their lives on the line, knowing they could die for someone else, opens them up to the pain they carry. That grieving is coming from a place of love, not evil. That compassion lives no matter what they face. That the man/woman standing by their side is willing to die for them. That they are there to save and should the enemy drop their weapons, they would simply take them in and not obliterate them where they stand. That PTSD comes into that place where all that is good lives and tries to infect it.

I told my friend that Point Man has Combat Veteran Bibles I could send him and then reminded her about the Roman Centurion telling her that it is a good reminder of what can happen when someone believes just enough to ask.

Matthew 8:5-13 New International Version (NIV)

The Faith of the Centurion

5 When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. 6 “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.”

7 Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”

8 The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. 11 I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment.

It was while I talking about the Centurion that the weight crushing my soul left and I knew I had my answer. I am not supposed to give up. When I was talking about my own suffering, focusing on what I was lacking, it hurt, yet when I was talking about the members of the military and our veterans, it didn't hurt anymore.

What they need is already in them. There is no magic to what I do and it isn't financially expensive as much as it is emotionally but the rewards far outweigh the tiny price I pay. I actually smiled when I told my friend what those I help want to do as soon as they start to heal. They want to help other veterans. That's how amazing all of them are and that, that you cannot put a price on. It is all proof of God's Love and the Compassion Christ came to teach all of us.

If veterans are to heal, the spirit has to be at the center of any endeavor and it shouldn't matter if they go to church or not. That is not my job. My job is to help them and their families heal the same way mine did.

I know what trauma does as much as I know what it can do to a person from a lifetime of facing it just as a civilian. I also know what God can do to heal us and bring us peace to live as a survivor. Everything I needed to heal was already inside of me, just as it is within them. They just need help finding it and seeing it differently.

So I'll keep fighting the good fight and doing my best everyday as I search for another way to do it so that I won't let my voice be drowned out by the chattering instant experts unable to explain anything about "raising awareness" when they are not even aware of what the facts are.

Simply put, if their goal is to educate veterans about the problem, as most appear to be doing, they forget the veterans already know why they are suffering. What they don't know is how to heal. 

Frankly, no one should be making any money off telling them they are in pain. If they are trying to educate the public, again, enough money has already been spent to make matters worse for all of them, so that is a useless effort.

I was feeling like the Centurion, unworthy to ask for help but clinging onto just enough hope to ask and my prayers were answered. Yours can be answered too! Just have enough hope and courage to ask.

Memories Of Vietnam Come Home To Manchester

Memories Of Vietnam Come Home To Manchester With The Wall That Heals
Hartford Courant
Jesse Leavenworth
October 6, 2015

After the start of the Iraq War in 2003, Simmons said he was determined to protect service members from the scorn heaped on veterans of his era.

MANCHESTER — On that indelible winter's day, Ann Marie Krajewski rushed to answer the doorbell with all the innocent enthusiasm of a 5-year-old.

Uniformed men stood outside, and her parents told her to go play, the now 52-year-old Ann Marie Grottke recalled Monday. Moments later, "I could hear my father burst out crying," Grottke said. "I never heard my father cry before."

U.S. Army Spec. 4 Donald Joseph Krajewski, Ann Marie's 19-year-old brother, was killed in Vietnam on Feb. 28, 1969. His remains were returned home on what would have been his 20th birthday, March 13.

Along with other men from Manchester, Krajewski's name is inscribed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., and on the replica that is scheduled to arrive in town Wednesday.

The Wall That Heals, a 250-foot-long traveling monument, is designed to bring the names home, allowing "the souls enshrined on the Memorial to exist once more among family and friends in the peace and comfort of familiar surroundings," according to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund.

The keynote speaker for the opening ceremony is former U.S. Congressman Rob Simmons, a U.S. Army veteran who served 19 months in Vietnam and earned two Bronze Stars. Simmons also was a CIA operations officer in Vietnam and elsewhere in Southeast Asia.
read more here

Central Florida Veterans Events

From Cathy Haynes

October - Veteran, military and patriotic events in Central Florida

                                                                                                                                                                            

Sorry, folks, I’ve been totally consumed with caring for a senior family member with medical issues.  I’ve had/needed/wanted to attend to her and set all other things aside.  It will take me more time to catch up on emails, phone calls, sleep and life in general.

*This is a list of unique events in Central Florida.  A list of group meetings and miscellaneous information will be provided in a separate list due to the amount of information received.

*Send me your events – people cannot attend an event if they don’t know about it!

*Please share this information and events with your friends and interested others and attend.  Post where appropriate.

*Every effort is made to put a space into email addresses and websites to avoid Spam flags.  If you use ‘Copy and Paste’ to make contact or get additional information, please keep this in mind. 

Tues. Oct 6 – MAJOR Veteran Job Hiring event - held at the Citrus Bowl on October 6, 2015 from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. The Orlando VA Medical Center, in partnership with Orlando Jobs, and sponsored by Orlando Health, Job Path, SunTrust and other veterans advocate organizations.  The following will be at the event:

·       Free Transportation is being provided by LYNX – Please provide Veteran with COLORED copy of the attached flyer.

·       Interview clothing.

·       Resume preparation.  

·       Bonding will be provided for those Veterans with criminal backgrounds if necessary.

·       VJO will be there to assist Veterans with questions.

·       Showers will be available if needed.

·       IDignity will be there to provide IDs if necessary.

·       A HVRP representative will be there to process Veterans who are homeless for employment resources (i.e. certifications, clothing, tools and employment)

Flyer available upon request (required for the free bus transportation) from ellamay.artis @ va.gov, chaynes11629 @ yahoo.comand others.

POINT OF CONTACT:  Ellamay "Annie" Artis, CESP - Veteran Community Employment Coordinator,  (c)l 407-307-9101 ellamay.artis @ va.gov

Home at Last Project Golf Tournament – Thurs. Oct 8 - Windermere Charities Central Florida (WCCF) Foundation is having a fund raising golf tournament at Marriott Orlando World Center Resort's Hawk's Landing Golf Course.  Proceeds will help the Home at Last Project build a house for disabled Marine SSgt Sergeant Brandon Wittwer, wife Kassandra and children Kaydence, Karter and Kylee.   Brandon enlisted in the Marine Corps in 2002. During his deployment to Iraq in 2006 as a Scout Sniper Team Leader, his unit was ambushed. Despite severe head, neck, and back pain as a result of an RPG explosion, he continued to assist injured Marines in his unit. Following rehab and time with his family, SSgt. Wittwer redeployed in 2013. During a training exercise while deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, SSgt. Wittwer suffered further spinal injuries. Over time his mobility is expected to be limited to the use of a wheelchair. 

Come and enjoy a great day of golf, and help provide support for our heroes. The event will include a 4 - person scramble, breakfast buffet, beverage cart, and a special lunch following the golf tournament. Featured events for the day include Silent and Live auctions, and on course events including a Hole-in-One contest.  The donation is $175 per player - $650 per foursome. 

Registration begins at 0700, shotgun at 0830.  Donations and sponsorships welcomed!  Info:  Windermere Charities Central Florida (WCCF) Foundation    wccfcharities.org    407.361.8827

October 13 – Happy Birthday United States Navy!  Established October 13, 1775!  Thank a sailor, past or present, for his/her service!

FAVOB – Florida Association of Veteran Owned Businesses – Tues. Oct 13 - THIS IS A "FREE" EVENT!!! Come join us for drinks, fellowship and networking at the Orlando Improv Comedy Club!  5:30 PM to 7:30 PM at Orlando Improv Comedy Club, 9101 International Dr., Orlando, 32819 You don't have to be a Vet to Support the Veteran Business Community!   Our last event had roughly 100 Business Professionals in attendance. Please come and show your support for our Military Veterans who are currently in business or own their own business within the communities in which we all live and work in. Please tell your friends and colleagues about this worthy event and let’s see if we can reach 150 participants!  50/50 Drawing so bring some cash! Winner receives half of the Pot! Please RSVP at:   www. meetup.com/ Florida-Association-of-Veteran-Owned-Businesses /events/ 225421721/ so we can get an accurate accounting of the number of people who plan on attending.   Jrice@  supportingstrategies.com

2nd Infantry Division Association of Florida – Fri and Sat. Oct 16-18 – Annual gathering in Titusville for all veterans of the Second Indianhead Division.  Special hotel rates and fun.  Contact Mike Davino at 919-498-1910  2ida.mail@ charter.net 

Young Marines Military Ball – Sat. Oct 17 - Sponsorships/donations welcomed for this fine group of young men and women, ages up to high school.  You don’t see or hear about them in wrong-doings for a reason.  6pm to 9:30pm at Elks Lodge # 1079, 12 North Primrose DR., Orlando, 32803.  Adults and Young Marines 11 and older $25, YM's 5 to 10 years old will be $12.50, Info:  John Gionet at 407-963-9388 sgtmajgna@ earthlink.net or Sally Osteen at 321-297-2579 osteen9195@ aol.com

Greeters needed!  Honor Flight Welcome Home – Orlando Int’l Airport –After a day spent in Washington DC, veterans of WWII and Korea return home thru Orlando Int’l Airport.  The hub of the nation-wide organization will take veterans on a single day trip to our nation’s capital where they visit the WWII, Korea, and Vietnam War Memorials, Marine Corps Iwo Jima and the Air Force Monuments, and witness the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery. 

Sat Oct 17 –-25 vets   Southwest Airlines #915 from BWI; Arriving MCO at 10pm.

Fri Oct 23 – 25 vets - Southwest Airlines #407 from BWI; Arriving MCO at 8.35pm.

Sat Oct 24 – Central FL hub –Information obtained from Facebook – 50 vets - Southwest Airlines #915 from BWI; Arriving MCO at 10pm. 

Wed Oct 28 – 35 vets - Southwest Airlines #915 from BWI; Arriving MCO at 10pm.

THESE ARE THE LAST FLIGHTS FOR 2015 - THERE WILL BE NO MORE FLIGHTS UNTIL SPRING 2016.  Senior veterans and unpredictable winter conditions don’t always mix well…. Come welcome all these former warriors home!  “Welcome Home” receptions at the airports make a difference!  Bring your flags, banners and signs! Terminal A, Airside 2 (hotel area in front of Starbucks.) Before leaving home, check online to see if the flight is on time because there may be delays due to weather, mechanical or medical issues. 

Free parking has been arranged at an off airport property – FastPark and Relax – who has been very generous to Honor Flights with free parking and shuttles to the airport (tips welcomed by drivers!) - Contact Cathy Haynes for those details NLT 7pm  - chaynes11629@  yahoo.com   407-239-8468.

New:  Vouchers are available for airport garage parking from a GOAA rep. in the terminal for this event – maximum of 3 hours –BUT you have to take a paper/card upon entering the airport garage.  The vouchers will NOT work if you use the E-Pass/SunPass transponders – we cannot credit back the charge.  For the Early Birds - you can wave these veterans off in the morning no later than 5am – same location as listed above.  They process thru Security early and quickly.  Wave them off for a wonderful day!

Military Order of the Purple Heart – Wed. Oct 21 - the Military Order of the Purple Heart which has history back to George Washington and the American Revolution.  Join Orlando Chapter 400 at 7pm, Orlando Elks Lodge, 12 N. Primrose Dr., Orlando, 32803.   Contact mmichles@  att.net   407-382-9737

Halloween Party Military and Family Friendly – Sat. Oct 31 - There will be a Haunted House, treats, snacks and games for the children.  Free.  Children must be accompanied by an adult.  3pm – 5pm at American Legion Family at Post 286 Pine Castle, 529 E. Fairlane Ave., Orlando, 32809 (north of Sand Lake Road on Orange Ave. in south Orlando.)  The American Legion Post 286 Pine Castle Department of Florida members, the Legionnaires, American Legion Auxiliary and the Sons of The American Legion, make up what is known as The Legion Post 286 Family.  “Working Together as ONE”,  all three organizations place high importance on preserving our American traditions and values, improving the quality of life for our nation's children, caring for veterans and their families, and perhaps most importantly, teaching the fundamentals of good citizenship and  better places in which to live.   

Children and Youth Committee embraces all activities for improvement of conditions of life in the community where the American Legion Family is located. It has been a major activity of The American Legion and Auxiliary since 1926, and has resulted in the completion of a vast number of projects to make American communities.  This is a very pro-active and involved Post!  407-859-1460

ON THE HORIZON

Nov 7 – 4th Annual Ruck Sack March sponsored by Camaraderie Foundation to benefit warriors, past and present, and their families who seek counseling for PTS issues. 3, 6 or 12 mile challenge at Lake Nona. You can participate as a Walker/Runner or compete for prizes as a Warrior, in which you must carry at least 35 lb. in your ruck sack or backpack.  Registration and Sponsorships available at www. rucksackmarch2015.kintera. org

Nov 14 – Orlando Veterans’ Day Parade – Florida’s largest. Volunteer opportunities available. 

Nov 14 – Marine Corps Foundation organizing the 240th Marine Corps Birthday Ball in Orlando.  You don’t have to have served in the USMC to attend.  Sponsorships welcomed.  Info: Jan Baka at jan.baka@ ecs-federal.com   407-745-3029  www. centralfloridamarines.org 

Marine Corp’s 2015 Toys for Tots Drive - Sun, Nov 15 – Mayfair Country Club is the site.  Registration-8am.  Tee Time-9am.  All toys and donations will go to the USMC T4T’s.  Registration form will be available at Mayfair Country Club Pro Shop or you can print form from Mayfair’s facebook page.  The format is a 4 person scramble with a shotgun start. Submit your name as a single; or build your own team. Event cost is $35.25 per player and $12 for the luncheon that includes gratuity. Payment is due by Oct 31st. Make the check out to John Craft and mail this form, with the check, to John Craft, 315 Silver Pine Drive; Lake Mary FL 32746, or drop this registration at the Mayfair Country Club Pro Shop. Bring a picture of yourself or a loved one in military uniform, and we will post it on our “Military Wall of Fame”. Loyalty Card members will pay their seasonal price and the $12.00 for lunch by Oct 31st. All players must donate a toy or gift certificate to be eligible to play. The toy or gift card will be collected at the registration table while checking in. The number of players will be held to 100. Please bring an item to be sold in our Silent Auction. Silent auction proceeds will be used to purchase additional toys   Questions call John Craft at 407-417-3156, usnflorida @ bellsouth.net

Nov 19 – UCF Football Military Appreciation game.  UCF versus East Carolina.  Thurs. night 7:30pm

Operation Holiday Cheer – There are about 600+ warriors from Central Florida who are currently deployed and will likely remain abroad over the holidays – many are in less than friendly areas.  The Sunshine Chapter of Association of the United States Army (AUSA) as well as some other groups will be gathering items to send.  Be thinking about the men and women who are serving our country and stock up on various items on sale – please be mindful of the various regulations and restrictions of some items.  Donations of monies would be welcomed, too, as it helps to defray the shipping costs.  Further information will be forthcoming.

Jan 7-10, 2016 - SVA's 8th Annual National Conference - in Orlando. The largest conference for America's Student Veterans.

Caring and sharing,

Cathy Haynes

Member/supporter of numerous veteran and military organizations in Central FL

407-239-8468

chaynes11629@  yahoo.com

And don't forget the Orlando Nam Knights BIKEtoberfest party Oct 17th- OFFICIAL FUNCTION Orlando Nam Knights Eternal Chapter Memorial/Biketoberest Party will be Saturday, October 17th.

What Does A Chaplain Do When Soul Is Crushed?

UPDATE
My answer came the following day If anyone tells you that prayers are no longer answered, share this with them.

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
October 5, 2015

I became a Chaplain 7 years ago because I knew how faith got me through a lifetime filled with traumatic event after many others and I knew what kind of pain that causes a soul. The unspeakable grief surviving leaves behind never really goes away but we adjust and change, mostly for the better depending on how we see all of it and that was my mission.

To get the grieving to look at all of it through different views because there is always more going on around us than we remember. Pure, unclouded by ego and pride, we can see ourselves the way that God sees us, undiluted by what we hear others say and lousy advice, we can experience the miraculous healing as survivors beyond our own ability.

I paid a high price for all that knowledge and wanted to pass it on freely to spare others going through the same thing. It is from that suffering that I was able to understand what combat did to my husband and from him, what it did to the veterans I worked with over the years. My own pain helped me help families. My research helped me explain to mental health professionals what it looked like beyond the clinical books most of us had to read before the internet brought us instant answers to everything we wanted to know.

I am standing on ice with bare feet and stuck. I've been stuck for so long now that it is hard for me to know how to get out of this hearing the ice crack under my feet. There are few standing by me, ready to help when I need it but for the most part, there has been a crowd of folks using what I have to give and never thinking twice about who gave it to them.

Lately I've been seeing more and more of what I started being forgotten as more and more groups claim they invented all of it. Too bad for them that folks can look it all up discovering there were others out there I learned from since I've only been doing this a little over 3 decades by they started 4 and 5 decades ago. I just had more staying power but I was not the first. I was only one of the first to put the information up in the form of videos.

I had these videos up on YouTube before. I posted this in 2009 Give healing PTSD as a Christmas Gift this year. The videos had to be pulled because back then the music was being blocked since I didn't have the same kind of account I have now but this gives you some idea of the kind of attention these videos had.

When War Comes Home PTSD
views 2418

Veterans and PTSD version 1
All time views:14,283

Wounded Minds Veterans and PTSD version 2
1567

Wounded Minds PTSD and Veterans version 3
7777
Here is part of it,
PTSD After Trauma on Google
1709

End The Silence of PTSD on Youtube
Views: 2,919

Hero After War Combat Vets and PTSD on Google
Google 3697
Views: 1,772 on Youtube

Coming Out of The Dark of PTSD on Google
889

Coming Out Of The Dark-PTSD and Veterans on Youtube
Views: 4,304

Death Because They Served PTSD Suicides
1442

I put up up a couple of videos so you could see what was done 9 years ago. The part that gets me is that Wounded Minds was used by someone in the Navy showing it to Sailors coming back from Iraq because there was nothing else "out there" like it. Well, there is a book titled "Wounded Minds" 01 July 2013 and a charity Operation Wounded Minds with email going to Woundedminds.org.

Coming Out of The Dark is also another issue since there is a walk that is taking in thousands called 'Out of the Darkness'walkers raise awareness for suicide prevention.

If you thought your support or donations or even your prayers were given to me, they were not. I haven't had a single donation in over a year and frankly, it makes it even harder to do my ministry day in and day out knowing that while I was ahead of all these new groups, they have the support I used to have.

Sometimes I wonder why I didn't just give up back in 1999 when our battle with the VA was over and my husband's claim was approved. Then I remember the simple fact that if it all happened to us, it was happening to more veteran families as well. I wanted to make life a little easier and prayed to make a difference enough so that things would change but nothing has changed.

Too many families suffering after all these years of instant experts gathered followings into the abyss without anyone watching where they were going.

So why aren't more healing instead of suffering in the soul crushing silence? It isn't that they are willing to be silent. It is just that no one hears them anymore. No one can hear their cries for help and when they do gather up the courage to cling to that last glimmer of hope to reach out, they discover the place they turn to has nothing to give them at the same time they ask for a check for their time. Ya, nice little gimmick they have going.

I refused to play that game a long time ago and to this day, I refuse to play nice so that someone decides I am worthy of their abysmal approval. No thanks! If I valued their opinion, I would join their group but since they have proven the warning true, their deeds speak much louder than their words of being all about "raising awareness" while it turns out to be nothing more than code for raising their cash flow.

So, with all that said, I am asking for your prayers tonight. I cannot see the light anymore after 33 years. I cannot find a reason to even try anymore. I've searched my soul for so long now that I can't even remember what it looks like. I don't know how to do anything else since I have tried everything leaving me with very little support but a huge line of people looking for what I can do for them. I can't compete with all the crap out there about raising awareness when they clearly are not aware of what is real vs what is false.

So what does a Chaplain do when her soul is crushed? She asks for prayers.

I cannot keep going on like this, so please just pray that God grant me whatever I need to do whatever it is I am supposed to do.

UT Dallas Gets More Millions for PTSD Study?

With all this "study" work going on do you think they will finally learn?

UT Dallas awarded $6.4 million grant to study PTSD treatment
Project will explore vagus nerve stimulation as a treatment for PTSD
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT DALLAS

A federal agency has awarded a four-year grant that could result in funding of up to $6.4 million to the Texas Biomedical Device Center at UT Dallas to study a potential new therapy for individuals who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) grant began Sept. 15 and will continue for four years. The project will explore a PTSD treatment that uses targeted plasticity therapy. Targeted plasticity therapy uses vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) during exposure therapy to reduce the fear response.

VNS is an FDA-approved method for treating various illnesses, such as depression and epilepsy. It involves sending a mild electric pulse through the vagus nerve, which is in the neck, and relays information about the state of the body to the brain.

UT Dallas researchers already have demonstrated the safety and potential efficacy of targeted plasticity therapy as potential treatments for stroke patients and individuals suffering from tinnitus, which is constant ringing in the ears. Those treatments are in trial and review.
read more here

OK and what about this money?

The Center for BrainHealth at The University of Texas at Dallas was awarded a $3 million grant from the Department of Defense in 2011 to further investigate the effectiveness of a paired treatment for PTSD. This no-cost, non-drug treatment combined Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) and repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS).