Vandals Deface Vietnam War Memorial In Venice CBS Los Angeles
May 27, 2016
“It’s a desecration. I mean it’s very simple. There’s no sort of other way around it. It isn’t graffiti,” Francisco said.
VENICE (CBSLA.com) — Vandals defaced a memorial to Vietnam war veterans in Venice – an awful sight on this Memorial Day weekend.
Stewart Oscars welled up as he looked at the vandalized mural located on Pacific Avenue near Sunset Court. It was covered in graffiti from end to end.
“This knocked me out. So sickening. Just sadness…think of all these people. They’re gone,” Oscars said. “I remember the Vietnam war and how friends went to war, and bodies came back. Somehow, it has to be taught that this is not a good idea. This is actually stupid.”
The memorial was dedicated to service members who were listed as missing in action during the Vietnam War.
George Francisco is the Vice President of the Venice Chamber of Commerce. He also runs a nonprofit called Veterans Foundation Incorporated.
read more here
Fueled By Compassion to Do More Than Care Wounded Times Kathie Costos May 29, 2016 Sunday morning before Memorial Day got me thinking about all the things no one seems to have much time to talk about. Why do veterans commit suicide? After all, considering the numbers have not gone down, it seems like a logical question to ask. You'd think that finding the answer after all these years and billions failing to keep veterans alive, it would have been figured out by now, but no one seems to want to talk about that. How does a man or women decide life matters so much they are willing to die to save someone else turn into someone not able to find a single reason to live one more day?
When they asked for help during combat, they knew it was the right thing to do to save lives. So why is it so hard for them to know it is the right thing to do because their life is on the line because of it? They grieve. They get confused between witnessing evil and thinking they have become it. They question why they survived when others did not. Then when things fall apart, they wonder what all of it was for, what they are worth now that their "brothers" are not counting on them as they did in combat. What was all of it for? They lose hope that tomorrow will be any better than the last day was. After reading about a veteran surviving combat and attempted suicide this morning, it got me thinking about all the conversations I've had over the years when veterans were twisting things around, forgetting how much good they did and what they did it for. They see such horrible things. Things that civilians see in a movie but their movie is played over and over again streaming from their memories. They can hear the sounds, smell the pungent aroma of death and destruction and feel everything reawakened within them. One veteran really stands out in my mind right now. He kept asking where God was when kids were being killed. He saw so many horrible things in combat that he blamed God for all of it. "A loving God would not just sit back and let all that happen." Actually God didn't. The veteran was there to help along side of his brothers because they cared. Evil people do not grieve for someone else. Evil people do not risk their lives for the sake of someone else. The courage they had was fed by love and compassion. That came from the same soul that gave them the courage to do more than just care. The bad memories become so powerful they block out all the good that happened and all the moments when compassion surrounded the veteran. He forget when his buddy shoved him to the ground so he would not be hit by a bullet. He forgot when he got a letter from his girlfriend saying she found someone else and his unit comforted him. Of the times when he and others risked their lives to save the wounded and grieved for those who perished. For all the talk about raising awareness, it is reprehensible to repeat a number as if their lives didn't matter enough to do more than read a headline. To ignore what they need to know has been deadlier than combat itself. State after state put the number of committing suicide is double the civilian rate. The Center for Disease Control said there were over 42,773 Americans committing suicide in 2014. That means there are actually over 26,000 veterans committed suicide. Really disturbing when you acknowledge the fact veterans, unlike civilians, put their own lives on the line, were prepared to endure any hardship, did everything possible to survive, then come home and take their own lives. Even more disturbing is the other fact no one talks about. The vast majority of those veterans were over the age of 50. They are the largest population of veterans in this country and the largest percentage of suicides. That study found US Suicide Rate Increases 24 Percent Over 15 Years.
Suicide rates for middle-aged women between the ages of 45 to 64 increased greatly, rising from 6 suicides per 100,000 women in 1999 to 9.8 per 100,000 -- a 63 percent increase. For men, suicide rates were highest for those over 75, with approximately 38 suicides reported for every 100,000 men in 2014, according to the report.
However, middle-aged men between the ages of 45 to 64 saw the greatest rise in suicide rates among males. That age group saw a 43 percent increase, from 20.8 suicides per 100,000 men in 1999 to 29.7 suicides per 100,000 men in 2014, according to the study.
So how does that happen? While they found reason to live during combat, it was usually about those they were with and not about themselves. The birth of the pain begins but they do not allow themselves to feel it. They push all of it to the back of their mind so they can do their jobs. Others depend on them. It is not until they return home and everyone is safe, they feel all of it. Some get really busy working on their transition to living with civilians again while no longer being one of them. The title of veteran stays with them the rest of their lives. They go to college, get jobs, start families and for a while, they are able to ignore the pain they just don't have time to feel. If they have mild PTSD, that is easy to do for a while but life happens and other bad stuff happens. PTSD gets worse. It gets worse into middle age when life changes yet again. Kids are on their own, retirement changes their lives, health issues, loss of family members and friends, all major life changes that are traumatic even for civilians carry more seriousness for a veteran especially when he/she has lost the ability to ignore what they carried home with them. Curing PTSD is impossible. Healing PTSD is possible with the right information and the knowledge they need to have to know why they have PTSD and they can stop blaming themselves for it. Believing it is any type of mental illness or because they are weak is the only reality they know because no one told them it hit them because they have such a strong emotional core, they felt it all more. PTSD is not a wound caused by what is within but what entered into it. It is caused by traumatic experiences and not what is considered part of normal human life. Combat is not normal. No traumatic experience is. Human reaction to surviving it is normal. No one is ever the same as they were the second before but just as trauma changed them, they can change again and, most of the time, end up being a better person with the proper help to see things differently. It was all based on a courageous love they were willing to die for.
John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Gee, wonder what Trump thinks when disabled veterans get tax breaks?
Trump’s War on Disabled Veteran Vendors POLITICO
By M. Scott Mahaskey
05/26/16
In the 1990s, Trump had a real problem with a protected class of New York street vendors. We paid a visit to some of them today.
The fight went back to an 19th-century law that gave every veteran in New York the right to “hawk, peddle and vend any goods, wares or merchandise” throughout the state. Designed to create economic opportunities for Civil War veterans, the law has been amended a number of times at various state and city levels.
Former Marine Dan Rossi, a disabled veteran and long-time city street vendor, waits for customers outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 17. Rossi once held about 500 permits to vend throughout the city and ran a successful food cart manufacturing business. But in the early 90s, a new law restricted individuals from holding no more than one permit, and Rossi eventually lost his business. Today, Rossi operates just one cart and blames the Fifth Avenue Association for destroying his quality of life.
M. Scott Mahaskey/POLITICO
They are as much a part of the New York City landscape as the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building and Times Square. But the presence of street vendors along New York City’s posh Fifth Avenue corridor gave Donald Trump heartburn in the early 1990s. Back then, he, along with other local business leaders, urged city and state officials to restrict vendor access to Fifth Avenue, including the space in front of Trump Tower. One target of his lobbying efforts included a special class of business operators: disabled veteran street vendors.
“While disabled veterans should be given every opportunity to earn a living, is it fair to do so to the detriment of the city as a whole or its tax paying citizens and businesses?” Trump wrote in a 1991 letter obtained by the New York Daily News. “Do we allow Fifth Ave., one of the world’s finest and most luxurious shopping districts, to be turned into an outdoor flea market, clogging and seriously downgrading the area?” read more here
Benefits like this just from New York.
E-ZPass for Disabled Veterans
The New York State Thruway Authority offers free, unlimited travel anywhere on the Thruway to certain, qualifying disabled Veterans.
Property tax exemptions
Municipalities have the option to grant an alternative exemption. This provides a property tax exemption of 15 percent of assessed value for veterans who served during wartime, and an additional 10 percent exemption for those who served in a combat zone.
You can find even more on that link to what veterans do receive, which according to Trump, would also qualify "to the detriment of the city" since it is all lost revenue New York honors veterans with.
Suicide Attempt: A Soldier's Story ABC News 25
By Jillian Corder, Reporter
Friday, May 27th 2016
"There's no way that God allowed me to live through this if there is a God - which I know there is - that he would not want me to be helping other people when he saved me through that," Matthew Richard
After struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder , or PTSD, for years, Matthew Richard attempted to take his own life in March. (Source: Jillian Corder/KPLC)
SULPHUR, LA (KPLC)
Suicide is the 11th leading cause of death in Louisiana, and every 13 hours, someone dies by their own hand, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Nationwide, stories of veterans falling victim to mental health disorders are all too common.
After struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder , or PTSD, for years, Matthew Richard, 30, attempted to take his own life in March.
"So I looked in the mirror and I said 'God I'm going to countdown,'" Richard said, describing the moment he decided to take his own life, "I said 3, and I took it off safety. I said '3, 2, 1' and I said 'God' and I shot."
To understand what led Richard to this moment, he starts from the beginning of his military career. He joined the Marine Corps in 2005, following in the footsteps of his godfather.
"I told myself since I was 6 or 7 years old that I was going to be a Marine because of him," he said.
Just two years in the service, tragedy struck when Richard was overseas in Ramadi, Iraq.
"I ended up accidentally shooting a best friend of mine over there when we got back from patrol," said Richard.
Richard's gun discharged, killing Lance Corporal Steven Chavez. He went to the brig for a year for negligent homicide and received a bad conduct discharge, meaning his military benefits were stripped. Richard was no longer eligible for help from the VA, forcing him to deal with PTSD on his own.
"I was struggling mentally, physically, and spiritually for a long time after that dealing with it," said Richard.
Richard was in a place he never thought he'd be.
"I've had four or five senior Marines who have come back from war and shot themselves over divorce or other things, and I told myself, 'I'll never do that.'" read more here
Honoring fallen veterans for their bravery and service this Memorial Day WWLP 22 News
Tashanea Whitlow
Published: May 28, 2016
Anziano told 22News, his neighbor suffered from PTSD. Two months after returning home from a tour in Iraq, he took his own life. “He seemed fine, but you can’t tell with PTSD. People can hide it very well. They hide it very well.”
AGAWAM, Mass. (WWLP) – Days like Memorial Day can be painful for military men and women to remember their fallen brothers. Memorial Day is a time we remember those who served and paid the ultimate sacrifice.
But for soldiers who suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, this time and every day, can be difficult. “It’s a silent killer. I can be standing in front of you, suffering and you wouldn’t even see, because I can put a smile on my face,” said Anthony Anziano of West Springfield.
read more here
Report: Police Departments Need Mental Health Programs ASSOCIATED PRESS HARTFORD, Conn
By DAVE COLLINS
May 26, 2016
Studies show there are about 125 to 150 officer suicides a year and more than 200,000 officers are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or some other form of emotional stress
A U.S. Justice Department report prompted by the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre urges police chiefs around the country to put mental health programs in place in to help officers cope with on-the-job trauma, including the aftermath of mass shootings.
The report, offered as a best practices guide, was prepared with help from officials including retired Newtown police chief Michael Kehoe, who led the response to the 2012 school shooting and worried over the following weeks that some of his officers might kill themselves.
Most police departments train to respond to mass shootings, but few prepare officers for the psychological fallout, says the report released Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Justice and the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
The 140-page report emphasizes how to prepare for mass shootings, but it says taking steps such as choosing trusted mental health service providers, creating peer support programs, and designating mental health incident commanders also will help officers cope with more common events such as car crashes, suicides and domestic violence.
Law enforcement experts say it has been a struggle to create conditions in which officers feel comfortable coming forward for help.
read more here
Her Husband Was Killed in Afghanistan Patch By TANYA SNYDER (Patch Staff) May 28, 2016
She Went Skydiving to Celebrate Him. Alicia Dickinson is part of a new generation of young military widows who are having to rewrite the script of their lives alone. Arlington, VA ARLINGTON, VA — The woman walking in front of Alicia Dickinson at Arlington Cemetery that September day in 2012 was old. She was also there to bury her husband.
At age 30, Alicia Dickinson was a widow.
“I remember walking behind her, thinking, ‘This is what it’s supposed to be,’” Dickinson said. “Not me.”
Her husband, Scott Dickinson, died August 10, 2012, in what’s called a “green on blue” attack, shot by an Afghan soldier the U.S. forces were training. He was due to come home in 10 days. He was just 29 years old.
“Going to Arlington, you’re reminded of how many young men and women gave their lives and how many young men and women they were married to and now were left to face a new life that you don’t expect at such a young age,” Alicia Dickinson said in an interview.
She’s part of the American Widow Project, a mutual support organization for a new generation of military widows. “There should be a different term when you’re so young,” Dickinson said. “’Widow’ just seems so old.” read more here
Man reacts to finding fellow veteran dead Mineral Wells Index
Todd Glasscock
May 27, 2016
“It was really heartbreaking,” said Page, a disabled veteran of the Gulf War, his voice breaking over the phone during an interview. “I definitely cried my eyes out.”
GRAFORD – Every Sunday Mike Page walks to a cafe here to a get a paper, and as he does so, he walks past the Old Peppermill liquor store. Until this past Sunday, those walks were uneventful.
On May 22, Page said he found the body of a young man underneath the store's carport. The young man, Dustin Yeoman, 23, had apparently committed suicide by hanging himself.
Yeoman was wearing a military uniform, Page said.
Yeoman's obituary confirms he was in the National Guard. He was living in Graford, but was originally from Ollie, Iowa.
The Index reached out by phone and online to Yeoman's family for comment but has been unsuccessful with those attempts.
Long said he spoke to Yeoman's National Guard Sergeant Major and confirmed he was an Iraq War veteran.
read more here
This quote really pissed me off!
"Though statistics vary, as many as 22 veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan commit suicide daily."
I had to leave this comment
It is not "22 a day" and that report from the VA stated it was limited research from just 21 states and it also listed who they knew were missed. That report was not about OEF and OIF veterans only, but of all generations. The majority of the veterans committing suicide are over the age of 50 and you just trivialized their lives because you used a quote without reading the reports. Dustin Yeoman deserved better and so do all of them. Veterans commit suicide double the civilian rate. As such, when the CDC listed over 41,000 American suicides per year, that translates into over 26,000 veterans a year. They should matter enough to get it right and stop taking the easy way out on reporting on something that is never easy on the family left behind.
Reporters seem to find veterans committing suicide newsworthy however just not worthy enough to do basic research.
Kevin Davison’s song lives on: Canaan man performs for paramedics, nominated for Nashville award Kings County Advertiser Register
Wendy Eilliott
May 27, 2016
CANAAN - During a Halifax ceremony May 24, country music singer and paramedic Kevin Davidson performed his song When Those Sirens Are Gone. It could soon be an award winner.
Kevin Davison performs May 24 at the Emergency Health Services long term service award ceremony in Halifax.
The Canaan resident was one of 10 Emergency Health Services staff members from the Valley region who were recognized for their service.
"When Nova Scotians need urgent medical care, paramedics, nurses and medical communications officers with Emergency Health Services are there to help," said Health and Wellness Minister Leo Glavine.
"They have the training and experience to respond in emergencies and save lives. More and more, they are also working in collaborative health-care teams to improve the care we offer in communities. We are all grateful for their expertise."
The list of long service award recipients is long. The 20-year recipients from Kings County included Davison, Bruce Cruickshank of Canning, Christopher Renaud of Kingston; Rob Merchant of Hantsport; Scott Veinot of Middleton and Karen Cress and Richard Foster of Annapolis Royal.
Jay Marshall of Bridgetown and Paul Dawson of Port Williams were 25-year recipients, while Brian Bunch of Wolfville was a 30-year recipient.
read more here
"We ain't super heroes. We're ordinary men trying to make a difference."
Published on Nov 19, 2014 A song I wrote along with Doug Folkins honouring all First Responders and the painful reality of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Let's get this out to everyone who may be affected or has a loved one at risk of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Let this be our Anthem!'
If you like the song please go to www.ellentube.com and watch it again on that site. We are trying to get Ellen to notice so we can bring even more attention to this serious issue! Just search "When Those Sirens Are Gone" once you get to the site.
Thank you so much to everyone that has viewed the video.
Our military spends a fortune on war but little when our forces come home Washington Post By Roger Boas
May 27, 2016
"The Army spends a fortune training its troops to kill but almost nothing to train us for coming home."Roger Boas is the author of “Battle Rattle: A Last Memoir of World War II.”
A recent study by the Rand Corp. concludes that the U.S. military is unable to provide adequate therapy sessions for thousands of soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. The February study of 40,000 cases, the largest ever, found that only a third of troops with PTSD received the minimum number of therapy sessions needed after being diagnosed. As a veteran, I am appalled.
Though my war experience was 70 years ago, it haunts me to this day. I can still remember the sound that froze my blood. The stomach-churning whistle of a field artillery round, like a thousand shrieking pigs, increasing in a ghastly crescendo until it finally explodes — and bodies fly in every direction.
Anyone who has served in ground combat knows that sound. It’s our worst nightmare. You never know where the incoming projectile is going to hit. You’re either dead or you’ve managed to squeak out alive one more time, deeply shaken. It happens nonstop, any hour of the day or night. It seeps into your bones. read more here
