Message From Veteran's Mom After Funeral "Don't give up on them"

Family lays loved one to rest, hopes to spread awareness of addiction
Your Erie
By Jaclyn Seymour
Published 08/27 2016

"There are many people struggling and it's a vicious cycle. And they need help, they all need help. And I would advise families to not give up on them because no one hates themselves more than the addict does." Diane Robinson

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and drug addition affects millions of men, women and soldiers every day.

One family buried their loved one Saturday - Justin Hoffman Robinson - who lost his life due to both.

Escorted by the Patriot Guard riders, 31-year-old Robinson was laid to rest Saturday at the Erie Cemetary by his military brothers.

Robinson passed away from an accidental overdose on heroin.

Robinson joined the U.S. Army National Guard after graduating high school.

He volunteered to serve two tours in Iraq, and almost a third, after 9/11.

Staff Sergeant Troy Lallemand says, "He always had the values set first honor, loyalty both to his country, his community and his friends and family."

But when he returned home, the battle wasn't over.

Robinson suffered severe PTSD and addiction to heroin, but his mother says he just recently completed a PTSD program and made great progress.
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Fallen Air Force Sgt. John Chapman Possible Medal of Honor

Air Force Seeks Medal Of Honor For CT Native Who Died In Afghanistan, NY Times Reports
Hartford Courant
Kristin Stoller
August 27, 2016

Valerie Chapman holds a photograph of her husband, Air Force

Tech Sgt. John Chapman. Chapman was killed on March 4, 2002

during Operation Anaconda in Afghanistan. (Tracy Wilcox / Hartford Courant)

The secretary of the Air Force is pushing to award a Medal of Honor to the first Connecticut native to die in the war in Afghanistan, based on new evidence 14 years after his death, the New York Times reported.

Sgt. John Chapman, 36, a standout athlete and 1983 graduate of Windsor Locks High School, was killed in combat after military action began in Afghanistan following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

He died on March 4, 2002, while attempting to retrieve the body of a Navy SEAL who had fallen from a helicopter during an attack by al Qaida and Taliban fighters, according to previous Courant reports.

But new evidence unearthed by the Air Force about Chapman's final hours suggests that a senior chief petty officer may have been incorrect when he declared Chapman dead during the attack, the New York Times reported.

Instead, the Air Force said, Chapman lived for an hour after his teammates had retreated, fighting enemy troops alone, according to the newspaper report. New technology used in an examination of videos from aircraft flying overhead indicate that Chapman killed two Al Qaida fighters before "dying in an attempt to protect arriving reinforcements," the newspaper reported.
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Combat Stress Forced To Make Cuts Over Donor Fatigue?

Veterans left in cold by ‘donor fatigue’
Sunday Times UK
Andrew Gilligan
August 28, 2016

Thousands of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and other problems are to be “abandoned” by Britain’s main mental health charity for ex-service personnel.

Military veterans say that Combat Stress provides a unique service

Combat Stress is to close its welfare service and make its welfare officers redundant in a move affecting up to 3,000 traumatised veterans. The charity says the cuts have been forced on it by “donor fatigue” and falling income.

Welfare officers at Combat Stress say they are the only regular point of contact for many mentally ill veterans, visiting, talking to and helping them access non-medical services such as housing, benefits and work.
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Gee this makes sense,,,not. In the last decade all the new charities are getting all the attention, and money, for the new generation, but it is the older ones taking care of all generations of veterans being left behind.

Combat Stress History
We were founded in May 1919, just after the First World War. Our original name was the Ex-Servicemen's Welfare Society and we opened our first "recuperative home" in 1920 on Putney Hill in South West London.

Police Officer's Body Camera Captures Saving Man from Burning Car

Video: Hero Athens cop risks life to save man from burning vehicle
Online Athens
Joe Johnson
August 26, 2016

Braving intense heat from a roaring fire, Senior Police Officer Daniel Whitney would not be deterred from rescuing a man who was trapped inside an SUV that had crashed and was burning.

Athens-Clarke County Senior Police Officer Daniel Whitney

The Athens-Clarke County police officer pulled and pulled on the vehicle’s stuck door, even as an explosion from under the hood rocked the SUV and knocked off his hat. When Whitney finally got the man out and brought him to safety, it wasn’t a moment too soon. Within minutes the back of the vehicle where the man had been was gutted. Without the officer’s quick actions the victim would have suffered the same fate as the 20-year-old driver, who perished.

Whitney, 36, is a native of Athens who graduated from Cedar Shoals High School. He is a veteran of the U.S. Army who served with the 101st Airborne Division. He joined the Athens-Clarke County Police Department in 2002, and is a member of the department’s Strategic Response Unit.
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101st Airborne Soldier in Custody After Opening Fire At Fort Campbell

UPDATE

Officials ID Soldier Accused Of Firing Shots At Ft. Campbell

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. - Officials have identified the soldier who allegedly fired shots at Fort Campbell.

The soldier was identified as 23-year old Spc. Bryan Castillo, a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter repairer. He arrived at the post in September, 2013.

According to a release, Castillo allegedly entered Hangar 8 on the airfield at 11:30 a.m. Thursday and fired two shots.
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Soldier Arrested After Active Shooter Incident At Fort Campbell
News Channel 5
August 25, 2016

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. - A soldier with the 101st Airborne Division has been arrested after an active shooter incident occurred at Fort Campbell. No injuries were reported.

Authorities confirmed the incident happened Thursday afternoon. The post was placed on lockdown; however, the situation ended and the post was made secure.

Base officials said the shooter entered Hangar 8 on the airfield at around 11:30 a.m. and fired two shots.

Law enforcement was notified and immediately responded. Police chased the soldier after they fled the hangar in his personal vehicle.

During the chase, the soldier hit another vehicle, but then tried to get away on foot once the soldier got to his on-base residence.

That's when police took the soldier into custody. They also found additional weapons and ammunition.
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Death is Not the Answer Film on PTSD and Suicides

It is heartwarming to some when you think of all the people out there trying to make a difference in the lives of others. It is depressing as hell to know wanting to do good and doing it are two totally different things.

I'm not going to rehash the numbers not changing on the suicide reports since 1999.  (You can look them up for yourself if you haven't already read them here.)

There are things that do work. Trauma hits all of you. Your eyes, ears, nose, throat, heart, nerves, organs and especially your mind. It strikes the part of your brain holding your memories and emotions. All of what makes you "you" is changed in an instant.

Healing requires all of "you" to be treated properly.  You need trauma expert doctors to care for your mind and help you put it back in balance again.  You need help on an emotional/spiritual level to help you heal, which all too often is left out of treatment.  You also need physical help because your body needs help to calm down again.

When you live through the thing it isn't just "it" but it is also the fear of it happening again. That is why there are higher numbers of veterans with PTSD after multiple deployments. The Army figured that out in 2006 when they studied the effect of redeployments discovering it raised the risk by 50% for each time being sent back.

Reading an article on physical efforts there is a stunning reminder for anyone thinking any of this is new. Veterans share stories of depression, suicide for film is a great example of veterans doing physical "therapy" to keep them going. 

Recently, Gaudet was one of many veterans who joined the Visionalist Entertainment Production crew as they filmed a portion of their documentary, "Death is NOT the Answer,"

Also in the article there is a Vietnam veteran participating as he has every day since 1982.

Vietnam War veteran Michael Bowen, who ran the track with the students while carrying a prisoners-of-war flag. Bowen, known as “Flag Man,” runs 5 miles to 8 miles almost every day since 1982 to spread awareness about how veterans are affected by suicide.

Yep, 1982. Over three decades because there were many folks working on PTSD by then. I know because I learned from those out there before me so that I could help my own husband. Experts knew back then that help had to involve the whole part of the veteran so they could change again after trauma but this time, for the better.

"Death is not the answer" after war any more than it was the answer during it. How do they do everything humanly possible to survive during combat but find it is more difficult to ask for help afterwards? Doesn't make sense at all.  

In combat, you ask for everything you can get when you need it because lives are depending on all the support you can get. After combat, your life depends on all the help you can get to heal so that you can help others defeat their own demons and their lives depend on someone being there for them.

So what are you thinking? If you leave this earth because of your own actions, how many lives could you have changed fighting for them instead of giving up on yourself?

Pearl Jam Raising Veterans Voices

Pearl Jam to help fund ‘Veterans’ Voices’ project
The Recorder
Diane Broncaccio
Recorder Staff
August 26, 2016

“The Veterans’ Voices program takes participants out of the broken places, the darkness, the hopelessness.” Robin Lane

SHELBURNE FALLS — For 15 years, rock musician/singer-songwriter Robin Lane of Shelburne Falls has been using music to help people recover emotionally from sexual assault, child abuse or domestic violence. Through her nonprofit, Songbird Sings, Lane has also worked with military veterans, using music to help soldiers reconnect to feelings that have been numbed by war trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder, addiction and mental health problems.

This summer, “Veterans’ Voices” will get extra help from the proceeds of two Pearl Jam concerts held this summer in Boston’s Fenway Park.

Veterans’ Voices is one of four local programs picked by Pearl Jam’s Vitalogy Foundation to receive $1 for every ticket sold for the Fenway Park concerts held on Aug. 5 and 7. The Pearl Jam donation is to be followed by another contribution to be made by “The Foundation to be Named Later,” (FTBNL), which provides ongoing support to Songbird programs.

According to Vitalogy, the Fenway baseball park concerts broke attendance records with 72,722 tickets sold over two nights. That means Songbird Sings will receive $18,180.

“The funding provided … will be used to create songwriting workshops for veterans with PTSD and will allow Songbird Sings to expand programming and reach more survivors, in order to ease suffering caused by PTSD,” Lane said, in a news release. “A huge thanks to Pearl Jam and FTBNL for their support. We couldn’t be more grateful.”
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Man Charged After Attack on PTSD Veteran and Dog!

Wilton man accused of assaulting family member, veteran with PTSD
Central Maine
Lauren Abbate
Staff Writer
August 26, 2016

WILTON — A Wilton man was arrested twice this week for allegedly assaulting two elderly men who lived with him, including a family member and a veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Wilton Police Chief Heidi Wilcox said in published reports Thursday that both victims are dependent on care and have limited resources. She told the Lewiston Sun-Journal the veteran was been taken to a shelter.

She said that police were told the veteran’s dog was kicked across a room. She said the dog has been removed from the home until housing can be found for the owner.
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317 Florida Veterans Get Medals in Bradenton

Governor presents awards to 317 veterans in Bradenton
Bradenton Herald
James A Jones Jr.
August 25, 2016

William Thompson, 91, and Ned Teves, 82, came through the award line together. Thompson served in the South Pacific during World War II, while Teves served as an Army doctor in a military hospital in Japan during the Vietnam War.

Teves said he had been a recent immigrant from the Philippines and not yet a citizen when he was drafted into the Army.

He called his draft notice a “love letter” from the U.S. government.

Teves, like other vets from the Vietnam War era, welcomed the appreciation expressed for their service in recent years.

BRADENTON
Rick Scott had already presented Governor’s Veterans Service Awards to more than 300 veterans on Thursday when he spotted Jackson Carson, 86, sitting at the back of the room.

The Bradenton National Guard Armory had just about emptied out, and Carson seemed unable to come forward to be recognized.

The governor walked back to Carson with Major Gen. Michael Calhoun, Florida’s adjutant general, at his side. Scott placed the award around Carson’s neck, thanked him for his service and asked him when he served.
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Community Refuses To Give Up On Blind, Homeless Vet

Grace In Action: Community Refuses To Give Up On Blind, Homeless Vet
CBS News
By Robbie Owens
August 25, 2016

DALLAS (CBS11) – With hugs and smiles all around, Willie Curtis King, Jr. is enjoying a homecoming of sorts.

“I had thought there weren’t no more really good people in the world,” said King. “I was so down on my luck. But, every day, I woke up. Every day I woke up, these people helped me.”

His visit to the MLK Community Center Thursday was made even more special when you consider that this time last year, King had no home. He was a card-carrying member of the angry, hard-to-help homeless, existing on the kindness of those at the center.

“I didn’t have to be outside that dumpster,” said King. “I was just belligerent… out of control.”

Those at the MLK Center would be inclined to agree.

“I reached out to his brother,” said Officer Terry Brookins. “He cursed his brother out. Everybody tried to help him; but, he refused.”

But, Officer Brookins was patient… and he was persistent, telling CBS11 that it was “heartbreaking” to see the veteran “digging in the trash cans, trying to find food to eat.”
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