Heroic Homeless Navy Veteran Gets Help

Homeless Navy veteran who helped crash victim gets second chance
Local 10 ABC News
By Carlos Suarez - Anchor/Reporter
October 24, 2017

PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. - Navy veteran Travis Wilson's journey to this moment in life hasn't been easy one, but it sure is inspiring.

"It’s been surreal and it's really been like a dream. I'm having to check myself to see if this is really going on," he said.

A homeless veteran who made some mistakes but never forgot the Navy creed: always courageous.

Last week, Wilson came to the rescue of a man involved in a car crash in Pembroke Pines and held up the driver's neck until help arrived.

"I've had a speckled past that I brought on myself and it's not like people are always in line wanting to say 'Hey, we want you. We recognize that you're a good person,'" Wilson said.

The act caught the eye of city leaders who on Tuesday met with Wilson and the folks at Operation Sacred Trust in hopes of finding him a home and a job.
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Read first report here

Defeating PTSD Demons by Faith

Do You Still Battle Against Demons Unarmed?
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
October 24, 2017

You may have been deluded up to this point and think the number of veterans committing suicide are just OEF and OIF veterans. You may have been convinced that only they suffer PTSD because of the stupid commercial talking about veterans being forgotten right after listing what PTSD had been called UP TO THE 70'S but they leave that part out too.

God still knows they are there even if you close your eyes.

If you want to help veterans stay alive, you better come prepared to fight for them. Considering what true demon defeaters are facing, we need all the help we can get.

You need to know what we're actually dealing with beginning with the enemy within them.

The rates of veterans batteling PTSD are: 15% currently diagnosed from Vietnam with 30% had PTSD in their lifetime. Gulf War veterans, 12%. OEF and OIF veterans between 11% and 20%. 

According the Department of Veterans Affairs, there were 16,962,000 combat veterans living after older wars as of April 2017 out of 23,244,583. 4,444,533 Veterans receiving service connected disability benefits with the majority of these veterans from prior to Afghanistan and Iraq. 

Also according to the VA, the majority of the veterans committing suicide are also from those previous wars, 65% are over the age of 50.

While so many want to run around the country pulling stunts, we're lifting them up. When they are talking about numbers, we're rescuing souls. When they are dismissing importance of the spiritual connection, we're standing by their side.

If you think there are not that many veterans with a religious affiliation, you have been deluded by people who do not know what they are talking about.

A fabulous report, yet again, from the VA, is a list of veterans believing in God and breaks it down by faith groups and states. About 19 million claim to be affiliated, while 1,198,391 are listed as "unknown."  

The three largest veteran populations listed under faith are California with 1,711,106, Texas with 1,592,385 and Florida with 1,472,665.

If you still want to dismiss spiritual healing as a way to prevent suicides, then please find something else to do with your time. "The harvest is plenty, but workers are few" and users outnumber the rest of us.

"Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give."

In the 70's Vietnam veterans began the battle for the healing PTSD and it was known back then that is has to be done with by treating the three parts of the veteran. Mind-body and spirit. Too many want to dismiss the spiritual because they do not understand it, and fear it.

Last time the Constitution was read it still had the words that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

If you are really trying to help them, then first understand, they are not suffering because of God. They are suffering because of the Demon telling them what they did wrong so they forget WHY THEY WERE WILLING TO DIE IN THE FIRST PLACE and that was to save lives.

Veteran Found Dead at Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center

Veteran's death outside Phoenix VA hospital investigated as possible suicide
AZ Central
Chris McCrory, The Republic
October 20, 2017

Phoenix police were investigating the death of a veteran who may have taken his own life outside Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center, officials said.

Police said the death was reported as a "self-inflicted gunshot wound" near the U.S. Veterans Affairs Department building on Friday morning.

The incident "happened outside the facility and was not done in sight of or around other people," said Paul Coupaud, a spokesman for the Phoenix VA Health Care System.

The agency urged any veteran experiencing a crisis, or family members concerned about a veteran's mental health, to contact the Veterans Crisis Line at 800-273-8255. This line is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Police had not released the man's name by Friday afternoon.
go here for updates

Homeless Navy Veteran Has Dream Wedding

Local group organizes wedding for homeless veteran and give newlyweds temporary home

KOAA News
Alasyn Zimmerman
October 22, 2017

Todd and Shelly Wibeto have known they've wanted to get married for awhile, but there were several things in their way. 

Both Todd and Shelly were homeless, they met at a shelter in Denver and became friends, and it blossomed into something more. 

Homeless and not sure where to turn next, they both hoped for the best as they sought local resources for help. 

Todd Wibeto served in the Navy and when we found out about the El Paso County Homeless Veteran's Coalition 'Stand Down' event, he decided to stop by. 

The event gives homeless veterans several resources including haircuts, new clothes, health screenings, and opportunities to learn about jobs and housing. 

In addition to the actual event, about 25 people or a few families are selected for a Transitional Housing Initiative (THI) where they stay in a hotel for a month and by the end of it, many of the participants find permanent homes. 

When Todd went to the event, he was unsure what we would walk away with, 'I said if we get lunch, that will be good enough,' said Wibeto. 

Turns out, the selection committee had something bigger in mind. 

Award Winning Artist is Blind Vietnam Veteran

How a blind Vietnam veteran creates award-winning art
The Week.com
Abigail Edge
October 23, 2017

"For a lot of veterans, especially combat veterans, art has a way of refocusing their attention into something more constructive than feeling sorry for themselves or angry all the time," he says. "One gentleman was considering suicide until he got his artwork into Post 1 and people began buying it. It gave him a new lease of life. He had a purpose again."

Painter and sculptor Jim Stevens has been a professional artist for more than 15 years. He vividly captures portraits using oils, acrylics, and his trusty yellow no. 2 school pencil, the kind with a silver ferrule and a pink eraser on the end. Stevens' award-winning work is collected internationally. He's been featured in galleries in Seattle and Denver, where he lives.

He is also legally blind.

In 1970, Stevens was a sergeant in the U.S. army when he was shot in the head during a combat mission in Vietnam. At the military hospital at Cam Ranh Bay, surgeons removed two bullet fragments but couldn't retrieve the smaller pieces. He was told they would probably never bother him, and for 23 years, aside from occasional migraines, they didn't.

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Vietnam Veteran Capt. Gary Rose Received Medal of Honor

WATCH LIVE: President Trump to award Medal of Honor to Vietnam War veteran

PBS
Elizabeth Flock
October 23, 2017

President Donald Trump will award the Medal of Honor on Monday to a Vietnam War veteran from Alabama who risked his life on multiple occasions while serving as a medic.

Retired Army Capt. Gary M. Rose, of Huntsville, Alabama, will receive the country’s highest military honor for “conspicuous gallantry,” the White House said in a statement.

“From September 11 through September 14, 1970, while his unit was engaged with a much larger force deep in enemy-controlled territory, then-Sergeant Rose repeatedly ran into the line of enemy fire to provide critical medical aid to his comrades, using his own body on one occasion to shield a wounded American from harm,” the White House said. 
source PBS

Unrequited Service

That Such Americans Lived For Others 
Combat PTSD Wounded Times 
Kathie Costos 
October 22, 2017

“It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God such men lived” — George S. Patton

By now everyone seems to know the answer on how many veterans committed suicide yesterday. They think they have something to be proud of when they reply with "22" as the daily count. They will swallow that pride when they learn they have been deceived.

The CDC can come close to knowing how many Americans commit suicide per year. The latest number is 42,826. Self-inflicted emergency room visits are 383,000.

While we read the VA report about veterans in rural areas committing suicide at higher rates, the CDC had released the report for all Americans.

Rural counties consistently had higher suicide rates than metropolitan counties from 2001-2015, according to data released today in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in the United States. There were more than half a million suicides during the 2001–2015 study period.

But we don't talk about the other Americans committing suicide. We separate them from those with military backgrounds. Why? Because we all know that members of the military today and veterans we willing to sacrifice their lives for others.

For Those I Love 

The thought of someone like that not wanting to live anymore is unimaginable and should be unacceptable. We cannot dismiss it. We cannot honor their lives adequately by putting them among the number we think we know.

There are other reports putting the rate of veterans committing suicide at double the civilian rate. Most states release their own numbers. Still, many states do not have military service on death certificates. We simply do not know true numbers but, with what we do know, we are losing over 26,000 a year who should still be here.

There are many quotes if you search for "unrequited love" but most deal with the type of love the rest of us know, romantic in nature.

Unrequited love or one-sided love is love that is not openly reciprocated or understood as such by the beloved. The beloved may not be aware of the admirer's deep and strong romantic affection, or may consciously reject it. The Merriam Webster Online Dictionary defines unrequited as "not reciprocated or returned in kind."

When we allow them to be betrayed by every body of government for decades, that is unrequited love. But we play political games. We only pay attention to the slaughter when the other party is in charge instead of every year.

When we allow people to use them for their own gain, that is unrequited love. But we just write checks without ever asking where the money is being spent, who it is suppose to help or even if the charity actually deserves it.

When we allow them to continue to be subjected hardships they do not deserve, that is unrequited love.

When we fail to see we have done absolutely nothing meaningful for them, that is unrequited love. The VA put the number of veterans committing suicide the same as it was back in 1999 when no one was paying attention or using them.

Getting back to Patton's quote, they lived for the sake of others. Instead of appreciating that men and women lived to save others, we allow deception to promote their deaths.

Vietnam Veterans: Did you serve with Clinton Ray Brown?

Did you serve with Clinton Ray Brown?

He needs someone to speak for him since he can no longer tell his story for the VA!

This Vietnam veteran’s untold war stories may be keeping him from getting VA benefits

"Military records show that Clinton Ray Brown, born Feb. 27, 1945, in Sheldon, Mo., was a sergeant in the Army’s 6th Infantry during the Vietnam War. He was awarded a Purple Heart and several other medals for his year in-country from 1968-69."

Fort Collins Murder Suicide Investigation Involves Florida Airman

Florida man killed in Fort Collins shooting was Air Force veteran
Coloradoan
John Borja
October 21, 21017

The 26-year-old Florida man who died in a Fort Collins shooting Thursday was a kind-hearted and brave individual, according to his family.

Investigators say U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Michael A. Zamora shot and killed Tristian Kemp and 22-year old Savannah McNealy outside a condominium complex early Thursday morning. Zamora also shot and injured another woman before killing himself, police said.

The woman who survived the shooting was taken to Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland and is expected to survive her injuries, police said.

Kemp spent part of his youth in Guam, and he was a 2009 graduate of George Washington High School.
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UK Military "Taking a back seat" on Caring for Soldiers

'We saw dead families' Soldier pal claims Terry Butcher's tormented son was haunted by horrors of war
Daily Record UK
Louie Smith
October 21, 2017

“Our Government take a back seat in terms of caring for soldiers – it’s a scandal. These guys have fought for our freedom but as soon as they leave, they are forgotten.”
Joe Rimmer

A former soldier who met Terry Butcher’s tragic son Chris in rehab says the Army don’t do enough to help traumatised veterans.

Chris, 35, signed up for a 12-week stay with charity Tom Harrison House, who run recovery programmes.

But he pulled out less than halfway through and Rangers and England legend Terry, 58, drove him home.

Chris, who battled post-traumatic stress disorder after a tour of Afghanistan, was found dead at his dad’s house on Monday.

Fellow veteran Joe Rimmer, 37, said: “Chris was a friendly giant but he had more issues than we could help him with.
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