Call to Save Veteran Almost Cost Him His Life

Veteran suffering from PTSD to sue Gilbert Police for alleged excessive use of force 
KTAR News 
Cooper Rummell 
March 28, 2016

Attorney’s also claim in the document that Cardenas was Tased later on in the evening while he was strapped to a gurney at a local hospital. His heart stopped but doctors were able to revive him.

PHOENIX — A Phoenix-area veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder plans to sue the Gilbert Police Department for alleged excessive use of force.

Attorneys for Kyle Cardenas filed a $20 million notice of claim against the Town of Gilbert regarding an incident that took place on Sept. 12, 2015.

According to the document, Cardenas was suffering from PTSD-induced delusions while staying at his parent’s house. His mother called the VA Crisis Hotline and requested a crisis team be sent to the home. Gilbert Police officers were sent instead.
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Maine Legislators Try To Get Veterans Benefits They Earned

Let’s keep this positive momentum going for Maine’s veterans 
Bangor Daily News
By Robert Saucier and John Schneck, Special to the BDN
Posted March 27, 2016

Rep. John Schneck, D-BangorD-Bangor, is a Vietnam War-era
veteran who served in the U.S. Navy

Of the estimated 140,000 veterans in Maine, a staggering 76,500 are not enrolled with the federal Department of Veterans Affairs.

As lawmakers and members of the Legislature’s Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee, we see the challenges that Maine’s service members often face when they return home to civilian life. As fellow veterans, we are committed to policies that help our fellow servicemen and servicewomen make that transition successfully. The Legislature will soon consider four measures resulting from the work of a special commission that took a hard look at how Maine is delivering services to our veterans. 

Rep. Robert Saucier
D-Presque Isle, is a veteran of the
U.S. Air Force who also served for
24 years in the Maine Army National
Guard, including as commander of
C Battery in Fort Kent and of
Headquarters Battery in Caribou. 

The slate of bills addresses investment in the Maine Bureau of Veterans’ Services as well as homelessness, transportation and higher education. The Commission to Strengthen and Align Services Provided to Maine’s Veterans brought together legislators of both parties, state officials and representatives of veterans of different ages and genders with the common goal of improving the lives of Maine veterans. It was created by legislation from Rep. Jared Golden, D-Lewiston, a Marine Corps veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan who has seen firsthand the needs of this generation. It’s clear that many of Maine’s veterans are falling through the cracks. The state Bureau of Veterans’ Services serves as a clearinghouse of available resources but lacks the resources it needs to keep up with the evolving needs of veterans. read more here

Veteran, Harry Potter and Lego Healing PTSD?

Legos help ease Iraq veteran's post-traumatic stress
Military Times
Patricia Kime
March 26, 2016

Hogwarts Castle - Brickipedia - Wikia

"And there's a fun element, too. When something is fun, we tend to engage in it more often, and the therapeutic values get bigger and bigger the more you do something," Hawkins said.

Retired Army medic Robin Krauth found relief from post-traumatic stress in a way the 43-year-old never imagined, and it involved her computer and a massive pile of Lego bricks.

In therapy for PTSD symptoms such as debilitating nightmares and crippling anxiety, Krauth was able to achieve a sense of calm in counseling. That peaceful feeling proved elusive at home — until she received a casual gift from her husband, a 1,228-brick Hogwarts Castle Lego set.

“I was excited because I am a huge Harry Potter fan. But as I was building it, I also realized my concentration was up and my anxiety down. I was calm, peaceful,” Krauth said.

With that first set, Krauth had stumbled onto a recreational therapy activity that worked for her, improved her mental state, boosted her confidence and provided a gateway to the world of other adult Lego fans.

"I was surprised — I really didn't play Legos as a child. But when I'm doing it now, I'm focused. All the other fears fall away," she said.
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US Marine Standing Tall Inspires Prince Harry

Standing tall, the 'incredible' amputee marine who inspires Prince Harry 
The Telegraph 
By Gordon Rayner 
27 Mar 2016 

US marine Kirstie Ennis was sent messages by Prince Harry as she fought back from a life-threatening infection following the amputation of her leg.

Prince Harry has saluted the “absolutely incredible” courage of his friend Kirstie Ennis after the US marine fought back from a life-threatening infection following the amputation of her leg.

Miss Ennis, 25, shared pictures on social media showing her standing on her new prosthetic limb in the spring sunshine and posing for modelling shots as she said she was “so thankful for the world around me”.

The Prince boosted her recovery by sending her messages in hospital and is now hoping she will be well enough to compete in the Invictus Games in Florida in May, the Paralympic-style event he launched two years ago.
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Professor Turned Into The Nanny For 4 Month Old

Watch: Professor Holds Former Marine’s Fussy Baby During Class
The Blaze
Carly Hoilman
Mar. 26, 2016

“Taking care of others in a time of need, and even in not a time of need, just loving and caring about others — that God’s purpose,” Dr. Darryn Willoughby

Full-time wife, mother and college student Katy Humphrey found herself in a predicament last week when the babysitter she hired backed out last minute. Humphrey, a former Marine, was counting on the sitter to watch her 4-month-old daughter, Millie, while she attended class at Baylor University.

Knowing that missing class was not an option, Humphrey quickly began brainstorming solutions.

“I had the Marine reaction, since I was in Marine Corps — I have to pull through somehow,” she told KWTX-TV.

So she placed her baby girl in a carseat and headed to class.

“I was thinking, ‘well I hope I can balance both,’” Humphrey said.

She didn’t however, think of what she’d do if Millie got fussy. And that’s exactly what happened.

But instead of getting frustrated at the student who decided to bring a wailing infant to class, the professor, Dr. Darryn Willoughby, went over to Humphrey and offered to help comfort Millie.

“Within the first five minutes Millie got fussy,” Willoughby, the Associate Professor of Health, Human Performance, and Recreation and the Director of Exercise and Biochemical Nutrition Laboratory at Baylor, told KWTX-TV. “So I just went over, picked her up, carried her back, and went right back to lecturing without missing a beat.”
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Stand Down Offered Veterans New Outlook With Glasses

Yesterday at the Cocoa National Guard Armory there was a Veterans Stand Down where veterans could receive the usual clothing, food and other services but this one also had Chiropractors and eye exams topped off with receiving glasses. Just amazing watching veterans have a small machine check their eyes so they could see better then end up walking out with glasses. If they could not provide the glasses on the spot, Dr. Bressette would make them for cost and the charity, Through the Eyes of Children, would cover it.

Bill Vagianos Ph.D 
Veterans Memorial Center

David A. Bressette LDO
Through The Eyes of Children

R. Norman Moody

The Patriot Project

Easter The Day God Proved The People Wrong

Why Ask God Why?
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
March 27, 2016


For the majority of the Christian World, today is all about remembering when God actually proved them wrong.

Jesus's Tomb

The night before this day, they went to sleep with a lot of questions. They wondered how the Man they thought was the Son of God ended up suffering such a horrible death. They would have run what Jesus said a thousand times in their mind trying to make sense out of what they thought was the end of the story. How could they have believed Him? Why did God let it happen?

They had no way of knowing what would happen on the day the tomb would be found empty even though Jesus told them it would happen that way. As if that was not a strong enough piece of information to give, there was also the fact that it happened when everyone thought that Lazarus was gone forever too. It was even foretold hundreds years before it happened to Jesus, but they still did not believe the end was not really the end, but the beginning of an awakening.

Isaiah 53 7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.

8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished.

9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.

11 After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.

It is easy to think they were happily shocked by the empty tomb. No one knows if any of them asked "why not" when they received word that Jesus lived again.

When something bad happens human nature takes over and we always want to know why it happened. Did we do something wrong? Did we deserve it? Could we have prevented it? Did God do it to us to punish us? How about, why did God spare us from it being a lot worse?

I am Greek Orthodox and we are known as Easter people because we celebrate the new beginning and rejoice over the fact that Jesus was willing to die for us but defeated death along with all our sins He carried on His shoulders. We will celebrate Pascha on May 1 this year.

Let this day be a new beginning for you.  A day when the person you were yesterday is let go of and take on a new life, free of sins and torment.  Free from asking "why" and you begin to ask "why not" for the future.

When you see a homeless person, remember Jesus was homeless too and depended on the kindness of strangers for food and shelter.

Do not look for miracles that did not happen for you, like hitting the lottery last night when someone else did, but look for the miracles that happen every day in great as well as small ways in your own life.

If you are grieving, then grieve knowing what is behind it.  Is it for the loss you suffered or is it because you believe you deserved it?  God does not send bad stuff into our lives but He does give us what we need to get through it.  Stop and think rationally about what you could have done differently and then actually think about if it would have really been possible to do it with what you knew at the time and within what your human abilities would have allowed you to do.

Veterans have a habit of thinking they could have done things that even a comic book super hero could not have done. Stopped a bullet? Jump in front of a buddy before the RPG was fired? Drive over a bomb before it went off? Spot a sniper before he pulled the trigger? Tell a buddy to duck?

So many things you may want to believe could have happened when it actually could not have been possible for you because no matter how much you love, no matter how courageous you were, you are in fact still just human like the rest of us.  Yet as a human, even you can defeat the death of all the good inside of you.

Remember that you were willing to die for the sake of someone else and that required the purest form of love.  Even in your grief, a part of you is still willing to sacrifice for those you lost.  That is from love.  Use that love to defeat what is haunting you and keeping you from rejoicing when you defeated death and survived combat.

Don't keep wondering "why" it happened and start asking what you can do with the rest of your life for others. Time to roll the stone away and defeat PTSD.  It does not have to win the rest of your life.  Yesterday cannot be changed, but today can start to change at this very second.

Dummy Decided To Take Afghanistan Veteran's Motorcycle While He Was On It?

Combat veteran attacked while on motorcycle by chase suspect fights back
ABC 15 News
Vivian Padilla
Mar 24, 2016

MESA, AZ - While waiting at a stoplight, a veteran's combat skills were put to the test when a wanted man, who led police on a chase , approached him from behind and tried to steal his motorcycle.

Brandon Jenkins was on his bike on Southern Avenue and San Jose when Joshua Michael Monigold, who was driving a white pick-up truck , ran out of the truck and tried to push Jenkins off of his motorcycle just as he was about to take off.

Jenkins, a combat veteran, fought back. He wasn't going to let his bike, which he purchased with money earned during his time in the military, get stolen.

"One minute this dude is trying to rip me off my bike and I'm trying to fight him," Jenkins said. "And then I see two cops pull up and draw their firearms."
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Staff Sgt. Louis Cardin Made Sure Others Made It Into Bunker

Marine Killed in Iraq 'Made Sure Everybody Got in the Bunker'
Military.com
by Hope Hodge Seck
Mar 26, 2016

The remains of Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Louis F. Cardin of Temecula, Calif., arrive at Dover Air Force Base, Del., on March 21. (Air Force/Zachary Cacicia)

The commandant of the Marine Corps paid tribute to a staff sergeant killed by Islamic State rocket fire in Iraq last week, shedding new light on the circumstances surrounding the loss.

Staff Sgt. Louis Cardin, 27, a member of Battalion Landing Team 2/6, 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, was killed by indirect fire March 19 at a new artillery outpost near Makhmour, Iraq, shortly after he and a small element of Marines had detached from the MEU in order to support the small post.

Speaking at a Marine Corps Association awards dinner near Washington, D.C. Thursday night, Gen. Robert Neller said three other Marines wounded in that same rocket attack were due to arrive back in the United States that evening, headed for Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.

Reflecting on Cardin's loss, Neller did not prevaricate about a fight that US officials still refuse to describe as a combat operation.

"The loss of a Marine is sad, but I thought about it: He was leading his Marines in combat," Neller said. "They were in indirect fire and he made sure everybody got in the bunker, and he just didn't make it in time. Is that sad? That's sad. But if you're going to go, you want to go in the fight.
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Only The Dead See End Of War--Michael Ware's Darkest Moment

Operation Iraqi Truth: New Documentary Reveals
Why War Is Hell
Michael Ware spent seven harrowing years covering the Iraq War – and he has the scars to prove it
Rolling Stone
By Reeves Wiedeman
March 25, 2016

By 2009, however, another IED attack debilitated Ware's senses of smell and taste – "I get too salty, too sweet, and that's about it" – and he soon realized he had to get out. He moved to Brooklyn, but found himself unable to walk to the corner store, much less work on the book he had a contract to write. He took assignments from CNN that sent him back to conflict zones. Eventually, he went on leave from CNN, citing post-traumatic stress disorder, and never went back. "That's when I started watching the tapes," Ware says.
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Only the Dead See the End of War
HBO

His footage captures the violence, fear and confusion that defined the Iraq War, as well as his self-described “darkest moment” of the war, which haunted him long after he left the country.

Directed by two-time Oscar winner Bill Guttentag in collaboration with Australian journalist Michael Ware, Only the Dead See the End of War examines the Iraq War and its moral consequences through the story of the rise and fall of jihadi terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the founder of Al Qaeda in Iraq and the progenitor of ISIS. A harrowing and graphic account from both sides of the war zone, as well as an illuminating window into the origins of a modern terrorist organization, the film is told through visceral hand-held video footage culled from hundreds of hours that Ware shot while reporting over the course of the war. This unique, on-the-ground view is combined with eye-opening narration for a frank, unsparing look at the Iraq War unlike any before.

Arriving in Baghdad in 2003 as a novice reporter, Michael Ware was initially on a three-week assignment to cover the invasion of Iraq. He left seven years later, having gained unprecedented access to the Iraqi insurgency and American troops, as well as a myriad of demons -- the after-effects of witnessing seemingly endless, horrific violence.
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Only The Dead