“First Lieutenant Lopes, What are you doing on my flight?"
Saturday, April 30, 2016
Attention Passenger Lopez, Your Pilot Is Your Dad
US soldier receives surprise from father onboard flight
Army Veteran Shot and Killed Delivering Pizza
Police seek shooter who killed Army veteran
Click2Houston
By Brandon Walker - Reporter
Posted:April 29, 2016
HOUSTON - Crime Stoppers and the Houston Police Department's Homicide Division held a press conference Friday morning to ask the public's help in identifying the suspect who shot and killed a Domino's Pizza delivery driver, who was also an Army veteran.
Paul Hillick Jr. was shot and killed on March 17, less than a mile from Domino's.
Police said Hillick had just completed his pizza delivery route around 11 p.m. and was driving west on Court Road, between Manor Park and South Post Oak, when he was shot multiple times through his front driver side window.
Hillick's vehicle struck a mailbox, then came to a stop. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
read more here
Click2Houston
By Brandon Walker - Reporter
Posted:April 29, 2016
HOUSTON - Crime Stoppers and the Houston Police Department's Homicide Division held a press conference Friday morning to ask the public's help in identifying the suspect who shot and killed a Domino's Pizza delivery driver, who was also an Army veteran.
Police said Hillick had just completed his pizza delivery route around 11 p.m. and was driving west on Court Road, between Manor Park and South Post Oak, when he was shot multiple times through his front driver side window.
Hillick's vehicle struck a mailbox, then came to a stop. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
read more here
Mom Says "Marines Broke My Son" and Gets Him Help
Get Marty: Veteran’s Mother Pleads For Help For Her Son
CBS Pittsburg
By Marty Griffin
April 28, 2016
SEWICKLEY (KDKA) — The mother of a U.S. Marine Corps veteran in an emergency situation reached out to KDKA’s Get Marty.
“The Marines broke my son. Now I’d like them to fix him,” says Maureen Valenzi.
Ian Valenzi served two tours of combat duty in Afghanistan. The Sewickley native returned home with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and a heroin addiction.
“I was in trouble. I was in a bad place. I could have hurt myself,” says Ian.
Ian tried to get help at the VA and became extremely frustrated. He sat in the waiting area for 14 hours.
“I had enough,” Ian said.
CBS Pittsburg
By Marty Griffin
April 28, 2016
“The Marines broke my son. Now I’d like them to fix him,” says Maureen Valenzi.
“The Marines broke my son. Now I’d like them to fix him,” says Maureen Valenzi.
Ian Valenzi served two tours of combat duty in Afghanistan. The Sewickley native returned home with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and a heroin addiction.
“I was in trouble. I was in a bad place. I could have hurt myself,” says Ian.
Ian tried to get help at the VA and became extremely frustrated. He sat in the waiting area for 14 hours.
“I had enough,” Ian said.
KDKA’S Marty Griffin reached out to the director of the VA who got Ian immediate help.
In fact, Ian is now in a specialized treatment program at the VA. He will be there four and a half months.
“They saved my life. If I didn’t come here, I may have been dead,” says Ian.
read more here
Senator John McCain Wants Veterans To Go Away--From VA?
You could hear the echo inside the brain of John McCain when he came up with his latest attempt to send veterans away from the care and services this nation was supposed to deliver to veterans within the VA. After all is said and not done to fix the VA, McCain's answer has always been the same. Complain about it not working then do every possible to prove he's right so he can just kill it off.
Has it ever dawned on this man that as a career politician he is responsible for all the decades of leaving veterans to suffer? Bet it has but he, like all the others, won't admit it. He'd have to be pretty damn stupid to not know that.
As usual McCain has a plan to take care of veterans, or so he says, however veterans noticed what he isn't saying. Sending veterans into the for profit healthcare has been his plan all along. He used to be ashamed of saying that.
This is from 2008 when McCain ran for the Presidency and continued to run away from his record of failing veterans.
Veterans could go anywhere for health care under McCain bill
The Republic
William V Theobald
April 27, 2016
WASHINGTON — Arizona Sen. John McCain proposed legislation Wednesday to expand and make permanent a program allowing veterans to go anywhere for health care.
McCain’s bill, borne of frustration over the slow pace of improvements in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' system, would remove the current restriction that veterans must wait more than 30 days or live more than 40 miles from a VA facility in order to go outside the VA system for care.
His bill also would:
Here's a message for John McCain and all other politicians out there!
Has it ever dawned on this man that as a career politician he is responsible for all the decades of leaving veterans to suffer? Bet it has but he, like all the others, won't admit it. He'd have to be pretty damn stupid to not know that.
As usual McCain has a plan to take care of veterans, or so he says, however veterans noticed what he isn't saying. Sending veterans into the for profit healthcare has been his plan all along. He used to be ashamed of saying that.
This is from 2008 when McCain ran for the Presidency and continued to run away from his record of failing veterans.
Yesterday, Sen. John McCain promoted his veterans private health care “plastic card” in a speech to the American Legion. Though he insisted the “card is not intended to either replace the VA or privatize veterans’ health care,” veterans groups aren’t buying it. AMVETS, Disabled American Veterans, Paralyzed Veterans of America, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars all argue McCain’s scheme may undermine the VA.You can also read the bills for veterans McCain voted against on the above link. Just more in a series of efforts to kill off the VA instead of fixing what veterans have suffered with and all too well knowingly recorded within the brains of all veterans and families as we wait for someone with a brain to fix the VA because they care about veterans instead of trying to kill it because they only care about themselves.
Today ThinkProgress spoke to Paul Rieckhoff, Executive Director and Founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, at the Democratic National Convention. When we asked him what he thought of McCain’s private health card plan, Rieckhoff slammed McCain for blocking funding for the VA:
Basically every major veterans group is opposed to it so far, so I think that pretty much says it all. We’ve got to come up with a comprehensive solution to VA health care, and that starts with VA funding. Sen. McCain has consistently voted against expansion of VA funding. So if he says the VA’s not working, it’s in part because he hasn’t funded it properly. … A lot of vets groups are going to push back against the card because it may be on the path toward privatization. So we’ve got to really make the VA as strong as it can be, and that should be our priority.
Veterans could go anywhere for health care under McCain bill
The Republic
William V Theobald
April 27, 2016
WASHINGTON — Arizona Sen. John McCain proposed legislation Wednesday to expand and make permanent a program allowing veterans to go anywhere for health care.
McCain’s bill, borne of frustration over the slow pace of improvements in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' system, would remove the current restriction that veterans must wait more than 30 days or live more than 40 miles from a VA facility in order to go outside the VA system for care.
His bill also would:
Allow veterans to go to walk-in clinics for minor illnesses. The VA would be required to contract with a national chain of clinics to provide the service.
Expand operating hours of VA clinics and pharmacies.
Expand telemedicine to allow VA health-care providers in one state to treat veterans in other states.
read more here
Here's a message for John McCain and all other politicians out there!
Oh you're so condescending
Your goal is never ending
We don't want nothin', not a thing from you
Your life is trite and jaded
Boring and confiscated
If that's your best, your best won't do (Twisted Sister)
Friday, April 29, 2016
After Click of Gun Trigger, Firefighter Started to Heal PTSD
How 1 firefighter beat PTSD
Fire Chief
Rick Markley, FR1 Editor-in-chief
April 29, 2016
Firefighter Scott Geiselhart, a 20-year veteran, was at his wit's end when he put his most reliable revolver to his head. He was alone, angry, isolated from friends and family, a heavy drug user and tormented by nightmares.
When he pulled the trigger, there was only a "click." That was two years ago and to this day he has no idea why the gun didn't fire. That was one of two times he was ready to take his own life.
The second time came shortly after he learned that he had post-traumatic stress disorder. He burst in on his estranged family, manic with the news that the years of abuse he'd doled out wasn't because he was crazy — there was a reason.
When they recoiled, he retreated to his auto repair business and phoned a police officer he knew to ask that he explain his condition to his family. The officer said he was coming over to take him to the hospital, then jail.
Geiselhart got out his acetylene tanks and an automatic rifle. He wasn't going anywhere. As he waited, he made three phone calls. The first was to a suicide help line; after 12 tries there was no answer. He called another hotline that offered him an appointment 10 days later; he didn't think he'd live that long.
His third and last call was to the Share the Load program, where he talked to someone who got it.
read more here
Fire Chief
Rick Markley, FR1 Editor-in-chief
April 29, 2016
"I haven't been angry in over 20 months," he said. "It's a pretty amazing feeling. It's like being a year and a half old and seeing everything for the first time."
When he pulled the trigger, there was only a "click." That was two years ago and to this day he has no idea why the gun didn't fire. That was one of two times he was ready to take his own life.
The second time came shortly after he learned that he had post-traumatic stress disorder. He burst in on his estranged family, manic with the news that the years of abuse he'd doled out wasn't because he was crazy — there was a reason.
When they recoiled, he retreated to his auto repair business and phoned a police officer he knew to ask that he explain his condition to his family. The officer said he was coming over to take him to the hospital, then jail.
Geiselhart got out his acetylene tanks and an automatic rifle. He wasn't going anywhere. As he waited, he made three phone calls. The first was to a suicide help line; after 12 tries there was no answer. He called another hotline that offered him an appointment 10 days later; he didn't think he'd live that long.
His third and last call was to the Share the Load program, where he talked to someone who got it.
read more here
Dangers, toils, and snares of PTSD
Living A Life of Joy and Peace
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
April 29, 2016
"Thro' many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come;'Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home" written in the song Amazing Grace followed by "A life of joy and peace."
That is what you can have living as veteran no matter which country you risked your life in because the cause you risked it for was to save the lives of those you were with.
The dangers, you knew far too many. The toils, you were willing to endure again for the sake of those you serve with. More often than not, veterans speak of the cause of their pain originating during combat yet it was not until they were all back home they allowed themselves to feel it. When asked how they just pushed past all of it, they said others were counting on them to be there for them. That is why the most dangerous times come after combat to the survivors of it. That is the snare you are trapped by and it has a name. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, more often called simply PTSD.
Grace can lead you closer to really being home than drifting away from those you love. "With the message that forgiveness and redemption are possible regardless of sins committed and that the soul can be delivered from despair through the mercy of God, "Amazing Grace" is one of the most recognizable songs in the English-speaking world."
"He promised good to me" and that is a righteous promise. Jeremiah 29:11
If you were called to be among the number of men and women putting their very lives on the line for the sake of someone else, then you need to understand what that means. If you were tugged to join the few serving the many, then the desire was put into you along with all you needed to do it. The physical strength and endurance. The courage to react and compassion to take action. Everything you needed to do your "job" was already there. The part that has been kept secret from you is what you need to recover from doing those "jobs" is also within you. He planned for the price you would pay for what you did for others.
There are many different causes of PTSD and levels but there are also different types of it. The one we need to focus on now is the one that began all the research into what trauma does to survivors. In this case, you are dealing with something rare because you rare.
If you served in the military you are less than 10 percent of the population of the US yet "Here are some facts (based on the U.S. population):
The term PTSD began when Vietnam veterans came home and fought for the research and that led to a greater understanding of humans surviving everything else.
It is human nature to ask why you lived when others did not. It is yet another snare when you think you should not have survived. When suffering begins to take over the life you have, then you begin to think that surviving is punishment instead of anything else and very far from being blessed by the grace of more days to spend with family, friends and doing what you love to do. Far removed from "a life of joy and peace" you begin to believe that it is all impossible for you but it is possible because it is all within you.
Start with what this week means to Orthodox Christians. This is our Holy Week. Today marks the time when Jesus was taken down from the Cross and He said,
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
April 29, 2016
"Thro' many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come;'Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home" written in the song Amazing Grace followed by "A life of joy and peace."
That is what you can have living as veteran no matter which country you risked your life in because the cause you risked it for was to save the lives of those you were with.
The dangers, you knew far too many. The toils, you were willing to endure again for the sake of those you serve with. More often than not, veterans speak of the cause of their pain originating during combat yet it was not until they were all back home they allowed themselves to feel it. When asked how they just pushed past all of it, they said others were counting on them to be there for them. That is why the most dangerous times come after combat to the survivors of it. That is the snare you are trapped by and it has a name. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, more often called simply PTSD.
Grace can lead you closer to really being home than drifting away from those you love. "With the message that forgiveness and redemption are possible regardless of sins committed and that the soul can be delivered from despair through the mercy of God, "Amazing Grace" is one of the most recognizable songs in the English-speaking world."
Amazing grace! (how sweet the sound)
That sav'd a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,Was blind, but now I see.'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,And grace my fears reliev'd;How precious did that grace appearThe hour I first believ'd!Thro' many dangers, toils, and snares,I have already come;'Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,And grace will lead me home.The Lord has promis'd good to me,His word my hope secures;He will my shield and portion beAs long as life endures.Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail,And mortal life shall cease;I shall possess, within the veil,A life of joy and peace.The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,The sun forbear to shine;But God, who call'd me here below,Will be forever mine.
John Newton, Olney Hymns, 1779
"He promised good to me" and that is a righteous promise. Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
If you were called to be among the number of men and women putting their very lives on the line for the sake of someone else, then you need to understand what that means. If you were tugged to join the few serving the many, then the desire was put into you along with all you needed to do it. The physical strength and endurance. The courage to react and compassion to take action. Everything you needed to do your "job" was already there. The part that has been kept secret from you is what you need to recover from doing those "jobs" is also within you. He planned for the price you would pay for what you did for others.
There are many different causes of PTSD and levels but there are also different types of it. The one we need to focus on now is the one that began all the research into what trauma does to survivors. In this case, you are dealing with something rare because you rare.
If you served in the military you are less than 10 percent of the population of the US yet "Here are some facts (based on the U.S. population):
- About 7 or 8 out of every 100 people (or 7-8% of the population) will have PTSD at some point in their lives.
- About 8 million adults have PTSD during a given year. This is only a small portion of those who have gone through a trauma.
- About 10 of every 100 (or 10%) of women develop PTSD sometime in their lives compared with about 4 of every 100 (or 4%) of men. Learn more about women, trauma and PTSD.
The term PTSD began when Vietnam veterans came home and fought for the research and that led to a greater understanding of humans surviving everything else.
It is human nature to ask why you lived when others did not. It is yet another snare when you think you should not have survived. When suffering begins to take over the life you have, then you begin to think that surviving is punishment instead of anything else and very far from being blessed by the grace of more days to spend with family, friends and doing what you love to do. Far removed from "a life of joy and peace" you begin to believe that it is all impossible for you but it is possible because it is all within you.
Start with what this week means to Orthodox Christians. This is our Holy Week. Today marks the time when Jesus was taken down from the Cross and He said,
“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Luke 23:34
There is nothing you cannot be forgiven for if Jesus forgave the people who nailed Him to the Cross and you also need to know that it is also written there is no greater love than for a man to lay down his life for the sake of his friends but should have added being willing to lay down their lives for the sake of strangers. That is what you were willing to do and there was no evil in that.
There is no cure for PTSD but there is limitless healing. You can never go back to the way you were before but no human can go back to the person they were yesterday. The power PTSD had over you a second ago no longer has the same power in this moment and the next is within your power. Your future is in your hands and grace can lead you home to live a better quality of life beginning with this moment.
Healing PTSD requires understanding what it is so you can get the rumors out of the way. It also requires involving the whole you, mind, body and spirit, since all of you was involved in combat itself. You need psychological help, physical help to teach your body to calm down and react differently as much as you need help spiritually to help your spirit use the power you were given to heal.
Time to kick the snares out of your way and live a life of joy and peace. That is what you really need to be made aware of with all the talk about "raising awareness" from others.
Time to kick the snares out of your way and live a life of joy and peace. That is what you really need to be made aware of with all the talk about "raising awareness" from others.
Thursday, April 28, 2016
Time For VA to Honor Camp Lejeune Contamination Victims
Veterans groups sue VA for identities of Camp Lejeune water 'experts'
Military Times
Patricia Kime
April 27, 2016
The organizations — The Few, The Proud, The Forgotten and Vietnam Veterans of America — filed suit Tuesday for documents related to disability claims and the Veterans Affairs Department's use of subject-matter experts to weigh in on them. The water was tainted by organic solvents and other cancer-causing chemicals from 1953 through 1987.
read more here
Military Times
Patricia Kime
April 27, 2016
Nearly a million people, including troops, family members and civilian employees, may have been exposed to volatile organic compounds and other chemicals such as benzene and vinyl chloride in the drinking water at the coastal Marine Corps base, from 1953 until at least 1987, when the water treatment facilities supplying the contaminated water were closed.Two veterans groups are suing the VA in the case of illnesses caused by exposure to contaminated drinking water at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
The organizations — The Few, The Proud, The Forgotten and Vietnam Veterans of America — filed suit Tuesday for documents related to disability claims and the Veterans Affairs Department's use of subject-matter experts to weigh in on them. The water was tainted by organic solvents and other cancer-causing chemicals from 1953 through 1987.
read more here
Veteran "Webbie" Needs Lung Transplant, VA Said "No" Medicaid Said "Yes"
Family of veteran struggles to get him transplant
Veteran awarded with purple heart in desperate need of lung transplant
Rochester First
By Solina Lewi
s Published 04/27 2016
"Just so happens he got the raw end of the deal, he got cancer-free but there were repercussions from that," said his sister, Rachel Hafner.
read more here
Veteran awarded with purple heart in desperate need of lung transplant
Rochester First
By Solina Lewi
s Published 04/27 2016
"I would have expected a lot more for a soldier who was injured numerous times, I mean he was blown-up, awarded a purple heart and still would have went back," said Rachel.Jonathan Webster, also known as "Webbie" by his military buddies, has been in a a medically-induced coma after a rare reaction to chemotherapy caused both of his lungs to collapse.
"Just so happens he got the raw end of the deal, he got cancer-free but there were repercussions from that," said his sister, Rachel Hafner.
read more here
Vietnam War Veterans Remember April 30, 1975 And Each Other
Massachusetts Veterans Celebrate Loyalty Day and the 50th Anniversary of the Vietnam War
DVIDS
Story by Staff Sgt. Timothy Koster
April 27, 2016
The Vietnam War concluded on April 30, 1975 and Loyalty day is a special day, typically observed annually on May 1 – signifying the day after the conclusion of the war – for Americans to reaffirm their loyalty to the United States and to recognize the heritage of American Freedom.
When younger Americans think about the Vietnam War, some see images from movies like Full Metal Jacket, Good Morning Vietnam, or Apocalypse Now, while others only see the black and white images printed in their text books from a time long, long ago.
Unlike other wars of the 20th century in which America has fought, such as World War II and the Korean War, which have a quickly dwindling veteran population, those who fought against the communist armies in the jungles of Vietnam are still quite numerous – and extremely proud of their service, despite the hardships they faced when they came home.
read more here
DVIDS
Story by Staff Sgt. Timothy Koster
April 27, 2016
“The United States was in a mess over the Vietnam War and the image of the average Soldier coming back, whenever that person came back, at the American people saw them as baby killers, they were spit upon, and they were very disrespected,” said Keith Jackson, Massachusetts VFW state judge advocate and master of ceremonies for the event.
FORT DEVENS, Massachusetts – William Vicini, Senior Vice Commander of the Massachusetts Disabled American Veterans organization, receives a service pin from Fort Devens Garrison Commander, Lt. Col. Charlette K. Woodard, during the Loyalty Day program and 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, here, April 24, 2016. Loyalty Day is a special day for Americans to reaffirm their loyalty to the United States and to recognize the heritage of American freedom.FORT DEVENS, Massachusetts – Vietnam veterans from several posts of the Massachusetts Veterans of Foreign War and the Disabled American Veterans organizations, along with members of the Fort Devens community and other veteran organizations, joined together for a combined celebration of Loyalty Day and the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War, here, April 24, 2016.
The Vietnam War concluded on April 30, 1975 and Loyalty day is a special day, typically observed annually on May 1 – signifying the day after the conclusion of the war – for Americans to reaffirm their loyalty to the United States and to recognize the heritage of American Freedom.
When younger Americans think about the Vietnam War, some see images from movies like Full Metal Jacket, Good Morning Vietnam, or Apocalypse Now, while others only see the black and white images printed in their text books from a time long, long ago.
Unlike other wars of the 20th century in which America has fought, such as World War II and the Korean War, which have a quickly dwindling veteran population, those who fought against the communist armies in the jungles of Vietnam are still quite numerous – and extremely proud of their service, despite the hardships they faced when they came home.
read more here
Strange Bus Trip With Vietnam Veteran and War Protestor
A Vietnam veteran and a 1960s radical met on a bus headed for Khe Sanh
The Washington Post
By Daniel Malloy
April 28, 2016
DA NANG, Vietnam -- A half-century ago, they were on opposite sides of a nation divided over a distant war.
Suel Jones fought with the Marines in the jungles near the Demilitarized Zone separating North and South Vietnam. Later, he broke up an antiwar protest in Texas with his fists.
Mark Rudd was a Columbia University campus radical turned domestic militant with the Weathermen, battling those he called warmongers by any means necessary.
Last month they sat on adjacent bus seats in Da Nang traffic, having formed an unlikely but powerful bond. Jones spoke of rejecting his former self, forging a new path.
“What you’re describing is word for word my situation,” Rudd replied.
The men had joined a two-week tour of Vietnam sponsored by the antiwar nonprofit Veterans for Peace -- part of a group of a dozen veterans, protesters and others who were just curious about what the country looks like today. The group leaned left (Bernie Sanders would have won a bus straw poll), but individually, the travelers approached Vietnam from strikingly different perspectives.
read more here
The Washington Post
By Daniel Malloy
April 28, 2016
Suel Jones fought with the Marines in the jungles near the Demilitarized Zone separating North and South Vietnam. Later, he broke up an antiwar protest in Texas with his fists.
Mark Rudd was a Columbia University campus radical turned domestic militant with the Weathermen, battling those he called warmongers by any means necessary.
Last month they sat on adjacent bus seats in Da Nang traffic, having formed an unlikely but powerful bond. Jones spoke of rejecting his former self, forging a new path.
“What you’re describing is word for word my situation,” Rudd replied.
The men had joined a two-week tour of Vietnam sponsored by the antiwar nonprofit Veterans for Peace -- part of a group of a dozen veterans, protesters and others who were just curious about what the country looks like today. The group leaned left (Bernie Sanders would have won a bus straw poll), but individually, the travelers approached Vietnam from strikingly different perspectives.
read more here
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