USF President Got Call From VA Over Treatment of Florida Veteran

VA Secretary requests meeting with USF President over former student with PTSD 
WFLA News
By Mary McGuire
Published: December 29, 2015

“Veterans involved in a VTC program experience significant improvement in PTSD, depression, substance abuse, emotional well-being, relationships with others, recovery status, social connectedness, family functioning, and sleep.” Robert A. McDonald

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)– U.S. Army Green Beret Clay Allred’s fight to be reinstated as a student at the University of South Florida is now gaining the attention of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs in Washington, D.C.

Allred was disqualified for enrollment at the University after a violent episode in 2014, triggered by Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Earlier this month, his house arrest order was terminated, but he still has not been granted entry to the University to complete the 17 credits he needs to get his degree.

Now, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert A. McDonald is urging the University to reconsider, requesting a sit-down meeting with University President Dr. Judy Genshaft to discuss the ways the VA and the University can work together to educate veterans who have completed veteran’s treatment court programs.
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Afghanistan Veteran Uses Music to Help PTSD

Jacksonville veteran uses music to cope with life after war
First Coast News
Keitha Nelson
December 28, 2015

"I attempted suicide three times by overdose. Fortunately, I was trained so well that I can't even kill me." Paul Mikeal

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Paul Mikeal was a trained machine gunner, a kill team leader and he's a Purple Heart recipient.

Paul Mikeal serving in the U.S. Army in Afghanistan (Photo: Paul Mikeal)

His wounds are both physical and mental.The Army veteran's story is sadly a familiar one; returning home from war unable to leave the past behind.

Mikeal's problems are deeper and darker than many can imagine. He served two tours in Afghanistan with the Army -- from 2008-2009 and again in 2011.

"I ran at bullets for a living and found those people who were sending them my way and returned the favor," said Mikeal.

"That was the reality," said Mikeal. "I wanted to die, I didn't want to be here. I wished that I would have died in Afghanistan so I didn't have to face what I was facing now."

He watched four close friends die during that time and says he too wanted to die after returning home in 2013.

Medically released, he says he had to deal with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), addiction problems and divorce all at once as he tried to adapt to life as a civilian.
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Veteran With PTSD Needed Care, Ended Up Buried Under House

Mystery continues to surround Dayton body 
Cincinnati.com
Scott Wartman
December 29, 2015

Reis suffered various disabilities, including diabetes, post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, police said. Russell isn't a professional caregiver.

Steven Reis (Photo: Provided)

Determining a cause of death for a body buried under a house for nine months has proven difficult.

What killed Air Force veteran Steven Reis, 55, remains a mystery almost four months after his badly decomposed body was found underneath the basement floor of a home in the 100 block of Sixth Avenue in Dayton.

Reis' caretaker, Christy Russell, remains in Campbell County Jail on $2,500 bond charged with credit card fraud for using Reis' credit/debit card to steal between $24,000 and $30,000 in his veterans benefits. She pleaded not guilty in December. A hearing in that case is scheduled for Jan. 11.
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Vietnam Veteran Finally Gets Proper Welcome Home from Vietnam

Vietnam Veteran Receives Welcome Home He Never Had
Time Warner Cable News
By Michael Howard
Sunday, December 27, 2015

A Vietnam veteran finally got the welcome home he deserves at the Albany International Airport on Sunday evening. Reporter Michael Howard was there when Dan New arrived in the Capital Region.

COLONIE, N.Y. -- It was an emotional return back to the U.S. for Dan New after going on what's called a "reconciliation journey" to Vietnam.

The 68-year-old holds back tears when he thinks of his past, that includes serving in the Vietnam War, from April of 1967 to April of 1968, after being drafted into the Army at age 19.

Since then, the Wynantskill resident says he's battled his own war, struggling with PTSD and addiction. That's until he found a group called Soldier's Heart in Troy, that specializes in restoring the relationship between soldiers and society.

"In my mind I had always carried the memories of what I experienced when I was there," said New.

He, along with 15 others from the organization, including four Vietnam veterans and one Iraq War veteran, went on a three week trip to Vietnam, a place New hasn't returned to in more than 40 years. He experienced the culture and what were once war sites, many now unrecognizable. At one spot, all that was left was a soldier's uniform.

"It was that of an American soldier. I have a piece of it in my luggage right now," said New.
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Homeless veterans find purpose in selling art

Given a chance: homeless veterans find purpose in selling art
The Daily Courier
Max Efrein
December 29, 2015

Navy Veteran Richard Findlay talks about his woodwork with Bessamac Cunningham Saturday afternoon, Nov. 28, during the Holiday Sale Arts and Crafts off Iron Springs Road in Prescott.

It wasn't big, but the Holiday Sale Arts and Craft show off of Iron Springs Road on Saturday, Nov. 28, went beyond artists simply making a buck. It helped reinforce constructive behavior among a population of creative minds who don't often have the means to show off their talents at such organized events.

Among the nearly 20 vendors were veterans, many of whom are homeless and were provided space at the craft show for free.

Along with her partner, homeless Air Force veteran Rachele Kelley was selling jewelry she personally crafted, something she has been doing for about 25 years.

She recently took shelter in the Prescott Veterans Affairs Domiciliary to help overcome some mental challenges and figure out a way to support herself going forward.

The Domiciliary is a residential treatment program for up to 120 veterans who have mental health and vocational goals that can be addressed during a short-term stay, up to 120 days, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
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Homeless Veteran Going Home to Family After Someone Cared About Him

Good Samaritan helps homeless veteran find family
Wiley Wright expected to head home after 30 years
KSAT News
By Pilar Arias - Reporter
Posted: 5:27 PM, December 28, 2015

A homeless man living under a bridge on the city’s northwest side is about to see his family for the first time in more than 30 years.

“I’ve been homeless ever since my grandfather died in (19)75,” Wiley James Wright Jr. said.

Wright has gone without talking to his family for nearly half his life. Thanks to a good Samaritan who only wants to be known as Amanda, that’s about to change.

“We’re our brother’s keeper. Like, this is what we’re supposed to do,” Amanda said. “I just thought if he would let me help him, I should try.”

Amanda gave Wiley money the first time she noticed him panhandling at a gas station off Culebra Road and Westwood Loop but she couldn’t get him off her mind.

When she returned to meet him, she learned he was living under a bridge at a nearby park. After learning the 61-year-old Army veteran’s story, she decided to help him reconnect with loved ones.

Wright’s now waiting for his younger sister to pick him up. She’s driving to San Antonio from Moultrie, Georgia.
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Vietnam Veterans Receive Silver Stars for Actions in Vietnam

Chelsea man receives Silver Star for valor under fire
Ron Brodeur served as a gunner/crew chief in the Green Hornets in Vietnam, but was just recently honored for his bravery.
Central Maine.com
BY BETTY ADAMS STAFF WRITER
December 28, 2015

CHELSEA — The helicopter mission to extract or “exfil” an Army Green Beret Special Forces unit on a clandestine mission in Cambodia took place on Feb. 20, 1969.

Vietnam veteran Ron Brodeur, 70, of Chelsea was recently awarded the Silver Star during a ceremony at the Pentagon for his actions on Feb. 20, 1969 as a member the Air Force’s 20th Special Operations Squadron, known as the Green Hornets. Photo by Jeff Pouland

But Ron Brodeur, now 70, recites every detail as if it were yesterday.

Less than two weeks ago, Brodeur and his fellow gunner/crew chief aboard that mission received long delayed Silver Stars for their valor under fire on that day 46 years ago.

Brodeur and Eric Roberts II, who lives near Houston, Texas, were at the Pentagon to receive the military award Dec. 17. There the two Green Hornets, members of the 20th Special Operations Squadron, reminisced about that particular mission and hundreds of others during their time in the Air Force in Vietnam.

“Our job was reconnaissance,” Brodeur said on Saturday as he sat in the sun room of his Chelsea home. “We put Army Green Berets into the jungle in Cambodia, and when they got into trouble, they were exfilled or taken out.”

The Air Force crews flew UH-1 F/P helicopters, which Brodeur frequently referred to as airplanes. Eight helicopters were kept at the forward operations base.

“We lost quite a few airplanes and crew members while we were there,” Brodeur said.
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Texas Ranger Finally Gets Bronze Star Medal After Vietnam War

Medal pinned on Texas Ranger's chest 45 years after he left Vietnam jungle
'This is for the soldiers,' Texas Ranger says of Army medal
Houston Chronicle
By Dane Schiller
December 27, 2015

Photo: Courtesy Of Joe Haralson
This photograph was taken in Vietnam in 1970 of Army soldiers Nicholas Clay Jasper, of Arkansas (left) and Joe Haralson, now a Texas Ranger based in Texas City, who was recently presented with a Bronze Star Medal for his service. The men went on reconnaissance missions together, and their friendship lasted after the war. Haralson is quick to note that he is just one of many who faced similar circumstances in combat.

By the summer of 1971, Joe Haralson had returned from the jungles of Vietnam, married his high school sweetheart and started his career as a Texas state trooper.

An envelope arrived in the mail from the U.S. government. It was larger than the one that came two years earlier telling him he'd been drafted into the Army.

This one held a citation stating he had earned the Bronze Star Medal for his actions in combat. There was no medal enclosed or a follow-up ceremony. That was fine with Haralson, who didn't feel the Army owed him a thing, as he'd returned home alive and unharmed - unlike so many others.

That would be the last he'd hear from the Army, until recently, when a general walked in on a meeting of Texas Rangers.
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Deployed During Insurgency, Iraq Veterans Double Likelihood for PTSD

Study: Iraq War insurgency led to rise in PTSD rates
UPI
By Brooks Hays
Dec. 29, 2015

"Assessment of the nature of combat may be useful in research and in clinical settings," researchers wrote in their study.

A bomb-sniffing dog from the U.S. Air Force is led by a soldier with the U.S. Army 25th Infantry Division. The pair are seen searching for IEDs during a raid in Iraq in 2006. Photo by U.S. Air Force

BOSTON, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- A new study suggests the insurgency phase of the Iraq War caused an uptick in instances of post traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.

The research was conducted by scientists at the National Center for PTSD, a collaborative effort between the VA Boston Healthcare System and the Boston University School of Medicine.

When they used these phases to analyze the mental health diagnoses of Iraq War veterans, they found men deployed during the insurgency phase were more than twice as likely to have developed PTSD. The same correlation was not found among women.
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Canada's Joint Personnel Support Unit Not Equipped to Help Soldiers

Military support unit not properly equipped to help soldiers: review
The Globe and Mail
RENATA D’ALIESIO AND STEVEN CHASE
Published Monday, Dec. 28, 2015

Created in 2008, the JPSU was designed to assist wounded soldiers at a time when casualties from the Afghanistan war were mounting. The unit’s 24 personnel-support centres and eight satellite offices, located at bases and wings across the country, offer programs and administrative support to those deemed unable to fulfill their regular duties for at least six months.

Sergeant Paul Martin, who was diagnosed with PTSD after returning from Afghanistan, was transferred to the JPSU. He was facing a medical discharge from the military when he took his own life in 2011.

A military review has identified serious flaws with a support unit intended to aid ill and wounded troops, concluding that it has too few staff and resources to properly help vulnerable soldiers return to work or adapt to civilian life.

The review of the nearly eight-year-old Joint Personnel Support Unit (JPSU) was ordered by General Jonathan Vance two weeks after he assumed the role of Chief of the Defence Staff in mid-July. The Globe and Mail obtained a draft copy of the review team’s findings and the more than 50 recommendations made for overhauling the JPSU.

The internal probe underscores long-standing problems with the support unit, many of which have been raised in previous investigations. Yet, little significant action has been taken over the years to address the JPSU’s shortcomings, even after several soldiers in the support unit took their own lives.

Gen. Vance is pledging to fix the JPSU. He has ordered a deep examination of the review team’s recommendations and a renewal of the unit’s mandate, design, resources and policies.

“The JPSU needs an absolutely thorough review from top to bottom,” Gen. Vance told The Globe and Mail after considering the recommendations. “I have to make sure the JPSU concept accounts for the requirements of the individual and more closely customizes their care.”

Sgt. Martin is one of at least 59 soldiers and veterans who have killed themselves after serving in the Afghanistan war – a number that came to light as result of The Globe’s investigation. The inquiry into Sgt. Martin’s suicide led to four recommendations aimed at improving the JPSU, boosting mental-health services and improving how the military deals with traumatic incidents. All were rejected by military brass, The Globe investigation revealed.
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