PTSD on Trial: Georgia

Former soldier uses PTSD defense in death penalty trial
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
By Rhonda Cook
February 10, 2017

Witnesses told police Mixon became even more belligerent as officer Jordan, a 43-year-old father of seven, walked her out. In the parking lot, Bowman allegedly shot Jordan five times in the back as he tried to arrest Mixon.

LaGrange, Ga.
A former sergeant in the Georgia National Guard said he does not remember shooting and killing an off-duty police officer outside a Griffin Waffle House almost three years ago, but he doesn’t doubt that he did it.

A portrait sits on the stage for the home going service for Griffin police officer Kevin “Shogun” Dorian Jordan, 43, who tragically died in the line of duty at the Oak Hill Baptist Church on Monday, June 9, 2014, in Williamson. CURTIS COMPTON

Michael Bowman — the first defense witness called in his death penalty trial — is claiming post traumatic stress disorder from three deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan caused him to react as if he were being attacked by the enemy when he allegedly shot and killed officer Kevin Jordan.
read more here

Fake Support Animals Hurting Trained Ones

Are passengers flying with legit, or phony, support animals?
Philly.com
Linda Loyd
FEBRUARY 10, 2017

Airlines are seeing more animals in cabins of planes. Owners can buy medical certificates and service-animal vests online for as little as $40 and avoid airline fees, which can be $75 to $125 each way, for pets to travel.

MARK ESSIG
Daniel, an emotional support animal, on a flight to Asheville, N.C. in October. The duck's owner suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder after a 2013 accident. The flight was the owner Carla Fitzgerald's first since the accident, and she brought the duck along for support.

A Chihuahua in a handbag at 30,000 feet.

A marmoset monkey peering out of his owner’s shirt as a Frontier Airlines jet lands in Las Vegas.

A potbellied pig waiting at the gate to board a Delta Air Lines flight in Boston.

Next time you fly, you may encounter an unusual passenger in the next seat. Turkeys, rabbits, roosters, ducks, and geese are legally allowed in the cabins of airplanes as “emotional-support animals.” Owners need only a note from a licensed medical professional — which can be bought online — that the companion animal is needed for emotional and psychological well-being.

“The bottom line is it’s a bad situation,” said Doug Lavin, vice president of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which represents 269 airlines around the world. “The numbers are quite high — in a six-month period from November 2015 to April 2016, one major carrier had 82,000 service animals, of which 54,694 were emotional-support animals.”

“There is a good amount of fraud,” Lavin said. “If you go online, you can find sites and order, for a small fee, a letter from a licensed professional that says you need to bring your potbellied pig on the plane."
read more here

PTSD on Trial: Florida Ret. Air Force Major

Retired Air Force major guilty of trying to kill 2 family members
WSVN 7 News Miami
February 10, 2017

Maffei shot Katherine and Robert multiple times as his 4-year-old son begged him to stop.

FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - A retired Air Force Major is facing 25 years to life in prison after a jury found him guilty, Thursday night, of trying to kill his wife and father-in-law.

Thomas Maffei claimed prescription medications sent him into a rage on Nov. 2, 2012, when he opened fire on his then-wife, Katherine Ranta, and her father, Robert, at her Coral Springs apartment. Both victims survived their gunshot wounds.

Katherine and Robert tearfully sat in the courtroom as a jury foreman read the guilty verdict. The jury took just six hours to find Maffei guilty on two counts of attempted first-degree murder.
read more here

Thomas Maffei’s defense attorneys claim post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety caused him to go to the Veterans Affairs clinic on Nov. 2, 2012, where he received prescription pills and a tranquilizer. Hours later, he went to his then-wife’s Coral Springs apartment and shot her and her father.

POTUS Can Save Lives As Commander-in-Chief

There is something that POTUS Trump can actually do with a stoke of his pen.

U.S. President Donald Trump waves as he arrives on Air Force One at the Palm Beach International Airport for a visit to his Mar-a-Lago Resort for the weekend on Feb. 3, in Palm Beach, Florida.

As Commander-in-Chief, he has the authority to order a full review of the Department of Defense's "Resilience Training" that has cost billions of dollars in the last decade and has produced more suicides among current military members as well as OEF and OIF veterans. He can actually do something to fix something that should have been done a long time ago.

Here is the latest Quarterly Suicide report for up to October of 2016.  You can see the full chart on the last page of the report. I simply wanted to show what the numbers were back in 2012, which had the highest on record, compared to what is going on this year with thousands of less servicemembers. 

POTUS said that he wants to increase the size of the military, but that has to be funded by Congress. Thousand of troops are needed for Afghanistan, 

“We have a shortfall of a few thousand,” Gen. John W. Nicholson said in a sober assessment of America’s longest war to the Senate Armed Services Committee .

The international force that is helping the Afghans currently has 13,300 troops, 8,400 of whom are American.

More troops, more equipment and more money, so that has to come from Congress. Unfortunately, everything that requires writing a check comes from Congress but in the case of stopping something the military is doing, will not only save money, it will save lives!

I have been undoing what this FUBAR training has been doing to the troops and our veterans. If the numbers do not prove it failed, then simply think of the latest abuse of excuses the DOD has been claiming. 

"We found the highest rates of suicide attempts were among never-deployed soldiers and those in their first years of service," Ursano's team wrote in their report, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association's JAMA Psychiatry.

And that is the worst part of all. All of them had the "resilience training" but it wasn't even good enough to prevent them from committing suicide. How the hell did they expect it to work on those with combat deployments or a multitude of them?  

The were told to suck it up and not admit they needed help for PTSD! They thought it was their fault. Gee, where did I read that before? Oh, I remember. Back in 2009 WHEN I PREDICTED IT WOULD EXACTLY WHAT IT DID DO!

He can also stop signing Bills on suicides by members of Congress until they stop repeating the same ones that already failed going back to 2007!

Texas Veteran Died After Fall and Botched Medial Care

While that is not the headline the news station decided to use, when you read the article, it is obvious the pain was not ignored and they sought care.

After ignoring pain, Texas veteran dies days after fall
KENS
Sharon Ko and KENS
February 10, 2017

Don was a corpsman in the Navy and will have a funeral with full honors on Monday.

SAN ANTONIO -- A veteran suddenly passed away nearly 72 hours after he slipped and fell outside.

On Saturday afternoon, Patsy Turner said that her husband, Don, was taking out the trash when he slipped and landed face down on the pavement. Patsy said that he said he was bruised but otherwise said he felt fine. Later that evening, Turner said that he had trouble sleeping.

The following day, Patsy got Don to go to urgent care, where a doctor took an X-ray. They said that all he had was bruised ribs, but Patsy said that Don kept complaining of pain.

"He just couldn't get comfortable. He kept saying, ‘I'm okay, I'm okay,’ but holding onto my hands really, really tight telling me how much he loved me," she said.

Don fell asleep that evening but Turner later found out that he fell into a coma.

"I called EMS. They ripped the sheets off the bed, put him on the gurney, and out the door they went, so fast I couldn't go with them," she recalled.

Patsy said that what they thought was a minor fall turned out to be far more serious. A doctor at the hospital that examined Don said that he had a 10 percent chance of living.

"They told me that he had sepsis. That he had, like, an air pocket in [his abdomen] that was kind of dead and a tear inside that had caused his intestines to rupture when he hit the ground," she described.
read more here

Fort Campbell Family Welcomed Home 3 of 4 New Babies

3 of Fort Campbell quadruplets released from hospital 
Clarksville Now 
February 8, 2017

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – Three of the quadruplets delivered by the wife of a Fort Campbell soldier are back home following an extended stay at the hospital after their birth. Kayla and Sgt. Charles Gaytan are the proud parents of quadruplets born at the end of 2016 without fertility treatment of any kind. 

Babies Lillian, Victoria and Charles have all returned home. The final quadruplet, Michael, should be released from the hospital on Wednesday or Thursday. Diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma last January, Kayla had just finished five months of chemotherapy and was in remission when she learned she was pregnant. read more here

Fort Campbell soldier died protecting his fiancee's best friend

Fort Campbell soldier died protecting his fiancee's best friend
Army Times
By: Meghann Myers
February 8, 2017

When news broke that two soldiers had been killed in an off-post home near Fort Campbell, Kentucky, early reports left out the third adult in the house that night.

Spc. Priscilla East was killed Feb. 2 by her estranged husband in an off-post home near Fort Campbelly, Kentucky

(Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle)

Spc. Dominique House had invited her best friend and fellow 101st Airborne Division soldier Spc. Priscilla East over for dinner with her and her fiancee after East called and said she didn't feel safe going home after an argument with her estranged husband.

But East's husband, Jeremy Demar, showed up at House's residence, House told Army Times in a Tuesday phone interview. Demar is accused of shooting his way into the home and killing House's fiancee, Spc. Christopher Hoch, 28, and East, 32.

"It's been a lot survivor's guilt, I guess you could say," she said. "And then reading articles -- I don't know why the police didn't mention my name."

"It feels impossible to live life without them right now," she added.
read more here

Fort Hood CID Soldier's Body Found

Fort Hood special agent's body found behind building on base
KCEN
Katie Grovatt
February 7, 2017

“The Criminal Investigation Command is a very small and close knit organization. Losing one of our own deeply affects us all. We will do everything in our power to support the Hines family during this very difficult time,” said Maj. Gen. Mark S. Inch, the provost marshal general of the Army and commanding general of CID.

FORT HOOD - A Fort Hood soldier's death is being investigated by the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command (CID) after his body was discovered behind a building on the military base.

Staff Sgt. Steven K. Hines' body was discovered Sunday at around 10 p.m. about 50 yards behind building 2201.

CID agents investigating the death have not completely ruled out foul play but they do not suspect it at this time. Special agents from outside the Fort Hood area were brought in to conduct a complete and thorough death investigation.
read more here

Trump Dumped Veterans Groups For Marvel Comics?

Does he understand that Captain America is not a disabled veteran?

Trump held his first VA listening session without veterans advocates
Military Times
By: Leo Shane III
February 7, 2017

White House officials held their first listening session on problems with the Department of Veterans Affairs on Tuesday, but without inviting prominent members of the veterans community to the event.

Officials from the American Legion, Disabled American Veterans and the Veterans of Foreign Wars said they were not invited to the morning event and did not know about it until it was announced late Monday night, as part of the White House’s routine schedule outline.

Other prominent veterans groups were surprised Tuesday morning by news of the event, and unsure who was invited to take part in the discussion.

White House officials initially did not release any other details of the event, other than the meeting followed a similar listening session with President Trump and county sheriffs discussing local law enforcement issues. A press pool event to take pictures of the meeting was cancelled shortly before the veterans meeting began.

As news spread of the meeting, Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., said White House officials told him the meeting was with health care executives, and that veterans groups would be invited for a similar session later.

In the afternoon, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer released a statement saying the meeting included Tiffany Smiley, the wife of a veteran who was blinded by a roadside bomb in Iraq, Isaac Perlmutter, chairman of Marvel Entertainment, and "health care experts" discussing "actions are necessary to improve health care access and quality for our heroic veterans."
read more here

Black Rifle Coffee Company to hire 10,000 veterans.

'Hiring Vets Is Who We Are': Black Rifle Coffee Company Hits Back at Starbucks
FOX
February 7, 2017

In response to Starbucks announcing it would hire 10,000 refugees to protest President Donald Trump's executive order on immigration, one veteran has a different plan.

Evan Hafer, an Army Special Forces veteran and CEO of Black Rifle Coffee Company, said he would hire 10,000 veterans.

"Our plan is to build 600 stores in the next six years. I'm gonna try to push this forward with the community behind me," Hafer said Tuesday as a guest on "Fox and Friends."
read more here

DOD 3rd Quarter Suicide Report, Heartbreaking

In the third quarter of 2016, the military services reported the following: 

• 82 deaths by suicide in the Active Component 

• 18 deaths by suicide in the Reserves 

• 27 deaths by suicide in the National Guard

This is after a decade of "prevention" training!

Sailor Assistance and Intercept for Life

And what exactly happened to all the other programs that we were told would work but didn't?

Navy launches new suicide prevention program for all sailors
SAIL now available at all Fleet and Family Support Center locations
News 4 Jax
By Jodi Mohrmann - Managing Editor of special projects
February 06, 2017

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The Navy announced Monday that a pilot program to prevent suicide is now available to all sailors.

SAIL, which stands for Sailor Assistance and Intercept for Life, is designed to provide rapid assistance, on-going risk assessment and support for sailors who have exhibited suicide-related behavior. It is aimed at supplementing existing mental health treatment by providing continual support through the first 90 days after suicide-related behavior.

"We are excited that we are able to bring this important program to the fleet ahead of schedule," said Capt. Michael Fisher, Director, Navy Suicide Prevention Branch. "Having SAIL available across the Navy is a great addition to the ongoing work that commands are doing to promote help-seeking behavior, self-care, and support for our Sailors who reach out for assistance. Instilling hope is the hallmark of SAIL and we believe those Sailors who take advantage of this terrific program will see its benefit."
read more here

Houston and Poland Joined For Super Bowl Troops Commercial

How Hyundai Pulled Off An Unexpected Reunion Of U.S. Troops And Their Families In Super Bowl 2017
FORBES
Jennifer Rooney
February 5, 2017

One of the more anticipated ads of the 2017 Super Bowl was from Hyundai Motor America, a surprise held until the very end of the game—for the fans but also for the soldiers at U.S. Military Base in Zagan, Poland.

Using satellite technology, 360-degree immersive pods and the filmmaking direction of Peter Berg, Hyundai, an official sponsor of the NFL, filmed what it refers to as a Super Bowl documentary as part of its Operation Better. It showed the soldiers experiencing a kind of virtual reality: that they were in Houston watching the Big Game live in a suite on site. But the shocker at the end and shown live just after the game was when it was revealed that—in a twist on the classic soldier-surprises-family—their loved ones were in the suite to surprise them.

Agency partner Innocean Worldwide Americas helped create the 90-second spot—Hyundai bought all three 30-second slots that immediately follow the confetti drop. Footage from Houston and Poland was edited and produced in a production trailer outside the stadium during the game. Soldiers in the documentary include Corporal Trista Strauch, Specialist Erik Guerrero and Sergeant Richard Morrill.

The ad Super Bowl night followed two teasers featuring Pro Football Hall of Famers Joe Montana and Mike Singletary discussing the value of teamwork and courage, especially as it relates to our troops.

The effort ties to Hyundai’s overarching goal of supporting the U.S. Armed Forces through its special discounts and incentive programs for military personnel.
read more here

Fort Benning Soldier Shot and Killed

Ft. Benning soldier shot and killed after breaking into apartment on Armour Rd.
WLOX News
Monday, February 6th 2017

COLUMBUS, GA (WTVM) - Columbus police have confirmed that 31-year-old Christopher Warden, a soldier stationed at Fort Benning was shot after he broke into an apartment on Armour Road.

On Sunday, Feb. 5, 2017, at approximately 7:19 AM, the 911 center received a call about someone trying to break into an apartment in the Armour Landing Apartments at 3929 Armour Avenue.

Warden beat and kicked the door and eventually broke out a front window and crawled into an apartment, which he thought was where his wife had gone to pick up her daughter.

He was warned by his friend that they were at the wrong apartment and a neighbor also told him that he was at the wrong apartment and that he would call 911 if he didn’t leave.
read more here

VoteVets Message to POTUS Hits Hard

Did this powerful message from a wounded war veteran spark Donald Trump's latest rant? 
Mirror UK 
Mike Smith 
February 6, 2017

“That’s not the America I sacrificed for. You want to be a legitimate President, sir? Then act like one.”

The Donald famously watches TV News in the morning - so this veterans' organisation knew just how to get a message to him. 

A hard-hitting message from a wounded Afghan War veteran might have sparked Donald Trump’s latest rant. The Donald famously starts each day in the White House early by sitting down and watching the TV news networks’ morning broadcasts. 

MSNBC’s show Morning Joe is reputedly among his favourites. So when VoteVets, a group representing military veterans wanted to get a message to him, they knew where to put it. An advert aired during this morning’s show featured an Afghanistan War Veteran - who the group have not named - doing squats with a very heavy looking barbell. read more here 

VoteVets: Act Like One VoteVets

"And he didn't feel he could be fixed." Widows Gather For Support

Military Widows Find Hope And Understanding Together
NPR
Gloria Hillard
February 4, 2017

At 43 years old, Murzyn wondered if she would be the oldest widow, and on the first day of the retreat she was nervous. "A lot of widows, military widows are young," Murzyn says. "[I thought] am I going to be the only suicide widow? Like, is everyone else going to be KIA?"

The American Widow Project provides retreats for groups of military widows. Gloria Hillard /Gloria Hillard for NPR

In the kitchen of a vacation rental in southern California, family pictures form a collage on the refrigerator.

On closer inspection the photos are of multiple families, and many of the women in the photos are sitting together around the kitchen table nearby. The photos are from their weddings or pictures of children. This is a typical, makeshift family scrapbook at an American Widow Project retreat.

During the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the women seeking help from the group were young, with husbands who had been killed in combat. Today the widows contacting the organization are older, and their husbands aren't dying abroad — they're dying on American soil.

"I have to say, I haven't genuinely laughed as much as I've laughed with these ladies, and shared things that ... that I know that they understand," says Erin Murzyn.

"He did leave a letter and he put in the letter that his head hurt so bad," Murzyn says. "And he didn't feel he could be fixed."

Russell had served two tours in Iraq and was being treated by the VA when he died. His widow says she didn't realized how bad things had become — that he was a wonderful new father and kept his feelings inside to protect those he loved.

"Russell was that Marine that other Marines looked up to," Murzyn says. "He was the guy that they went to with problems."
read more here

"And he didn't feel he could be fixed" but that is the number one thing that does not get through to them. They do not know they are not stuck with the anguish and can change again. My friend, a Marine veteran, delivered a powerful message for New Year's Eve on how their lives can in fact change for the better.

Vietnam Veteran Attacked by Middle School Students Waits for Justice

Vietnam vet waiting for justice after attack by Howard Middle School students on Lynx bus
WFTV ABC 9 Orlando
by: Janine Reyes
Feb 3, 2017

ORLANDO, Fla. - John Taylor says he is still recovering physically from an attack by a gang of Howard Middle School students on a Lynx bus in November.

And Thursday, he was still waiting for justice as well.

Taylor, a 61-year-old Vietnam vet, was riding the bus on Nov. 17 when the group of students rushed onto the bus.

Now, 11 weeks later, the bus company just recently released video of the incident to police.

“The first little guy, he was pushing and hitting people with the ball, the basketball, then when I shoved him back like this, the other guy shoved him to the side and he hit me in my jaw,” Taylor said.
read more here

Combat Veteran 70% of Suicides in UK

Armed Forces suicide shock as combat veterans make up 70% of cases
Mirror UK
Sean Rayment
February 4, 2017

Up to 189 Armed Forces members have taken their lives since 2002 with the majority of cases coming from those who have experience in warzones

Suicide levels in the Army are the highest of all three services (Photo: Getty)

The overwhelming majority of suicides in the Armed Forces are by battlefield veterans.

Figures show 70 per cent of all cases in the Army over six years were soldiers who had warzone experience.

The Sunday People understands that the highest rate was in 2013 when seven out of eight deaths – 87 per cent – were troops who had seen action in Iraq or Afghanistan. In 2009, as fighting in Afghanistan peaked, 11 out of 15 suicides were troops with front line experience and in 2012 it was 12 out of 16.

The figures, released after a parliamentary question, reveal up to 189 Armed Forces members have taken their lives since 2002. Suicides in the Army were the highest of all three services and the stats raise fresh concerns about post-traumatic stress disorder in troops – as highlighted in a Sunday People campaign.
read more here

Historical Facts on VA Claims Prove Neither Party Delivered

Right and Left Stuck Veterans With Agony
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
February 5, 2016

If you think this is anything new, it isn't.

"The VA’s handling of benefits claims has been the focus of sharp criticism for the past decade. The agency has struggled to respond to growing numbers of disability applications from veterans returning from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan."

That came from a Newsday article about a Gulf War veterans fighting for his claim to be approved and getting help for PTSD.

Veterans have been fighting for this country and fighting the government since the Revolutionary War.

A significant factor working against Revolutionary War veterans was their small number. The Continental Army never comprised more than 30,000 officers and men. The vast majority of Americans had nothing personal at stake in the plight of veterans after the war. Citizens who did feel the matter personally were unable to do much about it. American politics in the 18th and early 19th centuries was controlled by a small elite group of property holders. Most of the men who had filled the ranks of Washington’s army couldn’t even vote.By the time the Civil War began, the situation was quite different. The 1820s rise of Andrew Jackson and his populist democracy, which made voters of almost all adult white males, had created a Congress far more susceptible to popular pressure. The scale of the Civil War, in which more than 2.2 million men served the Union and more than 1 million served the Confederacy, left few families untouched.

During the Reagan Administration, there was a backlog of claims. 

These cutbacks would be accompanied by a shrinking of V.A. hospital staffs and other health-care resources for veterans. The number of Veterans Administration employees working on medical care programs would decline, under the President's budget proposal, from 193,941 in the fiscal year 1986, which began Oct. 1, to 185,039 in 1987 and 171,674 in the fiscal year 1991, the documents show.

During the Bush Administration there was a backlog of claims. During the Clinton Administration there was a backlog of claims. 

These problems remain decades later. According to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans (NCHV), there are almost 300,000 veterans homeless on any given night across the US. Veterans of the Gulf War and Iraq, like their Vietnam brethren, are fighting today for recognition of their medical maladies, such as Gulf War Syndrome, which includes symptoms of fatigue, skin rash, headache, muscle and joint pain, memory loss and difficulty concentrating, shortness of breath, sleep problems, gastrointestinal problems and chest pain. PTSD also continues to be a serious problem. From 1999 to 2007, the number of veterans receiving disability compensation for PTSD increased from 120,000 to more than 280,500.

During the other Bush Administration there was a backlog of claims

Coming on the heels of the discovery that veterans' benefit claims forms may have been shredded in regional offices nationwide, two veterans' organizations have filed a lawsuit against the Department of Veterans Affairs. They're attacking a related and, they say, similarly egregious problem: the time it takes for the VA to make a decision on a disability claim.Clogged with more than 600,000 pending claims, the VA takes an average of more than six months to make a decision—70 percent more time than it took four years ago, the claimants allege. That means that disabled veterans can't access their disability pay when they're transitioning back into civilian society and need help the most, say critics.If the claim is denied, an appeal takes even longer—an average of four years. Some stretch into decades. In comparison, private healthcare groups usually process claims in less than three months, including appeals.In response, the Vietnam Veterans of America and the Veterans of Modern Warfare filed a preliminary injunction in a D.C. district court today against the VA. The two organizations, which together represent about 60,000 veterans, are asking for the VA to adhere to a time limit: 90 days to decide initial claims for disability benefits and 180 days to resolve appeals.

Just as there was during the Obama Administration. 

“Part of it is all these new veterans in the system who came in – Agent Orange, PTSD. It means a lot more claims and, despite additional resources, it’s resulted in longer waits,” Obama said last month at the Disabled American Veterans’ annual convention. “And that’s been unacceptable – unacceptable to me, unacceptable to Secretary Shinseki.”At of the beginning of August, VA reported about 780,000 claims are pending, with about 500,000 of those claims in its inventory over 125 days.

What they all have in common is that Congress, with jurisdiction over all of it, promised to fix the problems veterans faced, but failed to do their jobs. Yet one more reason why it does not matter if they have a D or an R after their name. Neither party has respected the point that when it comes to getting the care these veterans paid for it ahead of time when they put their lives on the line.

If you want to talk about the problems with the VA and want to go on Facebook with a political rant, and do not know the facts, you are part of the problem. When it comes to both sides, neither party has lived up to their claims of supporting the troops or honoring veterans because neither party has fixed a damn thing they promised they would do.

If you think it is a good idea to privatize the VA, you are ignorant of the historical facts, along with the simple fact that our veterans paid for the care they were promised and are not civilians. THEY PAID FOR SERVICE FROM THE VA WITH THEIR OWN SERVICE TO THIS NATION!

Former Marine James McKenna wants the VA to help him with PTSD
Newsday
By Martin C. Evans
February 4, 2017

Former Marine Corps Lance Cpl. James “Jimmy” McKenna has struggled with anxiety that his Veterans Affairs doctors have linked to rocket attacks he endured during the Gulf War in 1991.

He said the anxiety has crippled his ability to hold a job as a correction officer in the Nassau County jail. The sound of the prisoners, banging doors and the tense atmosphere revived feelings of danger that McKenna said he had developed during the war.

“I was reluctant to accept it, but as time went on, I realized I needed help,” said McKenna, who has been enrolled in inpatient post-traumatic stress disorder programs at Veterans Health Administration facilities for much of the past year.

But McKenna, 48, of Wantagh, said he was rejected for benefits from the VA’s Veterans Benefits Administration when he applied during his hospitalization at an upstate facility. He said that rejection came as financial pressures related to his inability to work pushed his family toward foreclosure, and threatened his wife and four children with homelessness.
read more here

Domestic Violence: Two Fort Campbell Soldiers Killed

2 Fort Campbell Soldiers Killed, Suspect in Custody
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
OAK GROVE, Ky.
Feb 3, 2017

Fort Campbell said in a statement Friday night that East and Hoch were both specialists and that Hoch was posthumously promoted to the rank of sergeant.

East, of Missouri City, Texas, was a health care specialist who joined the Army in 2011 and began serving at Fort Campbell in 2014.

Hoch, of Ferndale, Michigan, was an infantryman who joined the Army in 2013 and arrived at Fort Campbell later that year.

A domestic dispute near Fort Campbell has left two soldiers dead and a juvenile wounded, authorities said Friday.

Jeremy Demar, 35, of Clarksville, Tennessee, forced his way into a house in Oak Grove, Kentucky, where he had tracked down his estranged wife, 32-year-old Priscilla Ann East, on Thursday night and fatally shot her and 28-year-old Christopher Ryan Hoch, Kentucky State Police said in a statement. East and Hoch were soldiers at the Army post on the Kentucky-Tennessee line, the statement said.

Demar was charged Friday with murder, murder-domestic violence, burglary and assault. He is being held at the Montgomery County Jail. Records don't indicate whether he has an attorney.
read more here