Iraq Veteran Curtis Gearhart Remembered

One Year Later, Memory of Iowa Veteran Lost to Suicide Still Alive

13 WHO TV News

November 7, 2017

IOWA  --  It's been one year since the death of Curtis Gearhart, a combat engineer who took his own life after returning home from two tours in Iraq.

On Tuesday night, a vigil marked the somber anniversary for his friends and family. The vigil was the work of Operation Middle Ground, a nonprofit that advocates for military personnel and their families dealing with suicide and PTSD.

"We knew his pain, we knew it. He didn't always show other people. He showed other people the big tough guy. His family knew things were wrong, things were bad," said Gearhart's mother Joni Frette. "Curtis was very epic in life. I mean people that knew him, that would be a good word for him, epic. He never did anything halfway, it was all the way. And that is exactly what Operation Middle Ground is doing."

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Has Dr. Phil Dropped Ethics?

What the hell was Dr. Phil thinking about having this group, with no 501 c-3, no record of doing anything for veterans end up getting this kind of exposure?

Local woman accused of faking pregnancies, not delivering money raised for veterans

Action News Jax
by: Bridgette Matter
Updated: Nov 7, 2017

Local woman Amie Hicks is getting national attention for all the wrong reasons, accused of faking pregnancies and keeping money intended for a veterans nonprofit.

We spoke with Hicks by phone Tuesday. She said the pregnancies were legitimate.

Hicks said she was on the "The Dr. Phil Show" for something else, helping start a nonprofit called Stories in Uniform Vetting America.

The organization raises money for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and other issues. Hicks said on the show $3,000 was raised.

When we asked Hicks about the money, she said the money was never collected. read more here

Would be great if vetting happened first!

There are so many worthy charities out there, actually established and doing the work but Dr. Phil did this?

Racist Message Delivered by "Victim"

Racist messages at Air Force Academy were written by student who claimed to be targeted
Chicago Tribune
Samantha Schmidt, Washington Post
November 8, 2017 

Lt. Gen. Jay Silveria gives a speech about race relations to U.S. Air Force cadets during at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo. on Sept. 29, 2017. (Jerilee Bennett / AP)

(This is what happened after it was reported.)

The speech, which the academy posted on YouTube, went viral. It was watched nearly 1.2 million times, grabbed headlines nationwide, and was commended by the likes of former vice president Joe Biden and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

(Reported but actually, did not happen the way it was reported.)

On Monday, police in Riley County, Kansas, revealed that a 21-year-old black man, Dauntarius Williams, admitted to defacing his car with racist graffiti as a "Halloween prank that got out of hand." Scrawled in washable paint were racist messages telling blacks to "Go Home," "Date your own kind," and "Die." 

The incident provoked controversy and concern at nearby Kansas State University, especially after Williams spoke with the Kansas City Star, claiming to be a black student who was leaving the school because of the incident. He was not, in fact, a student.

read the rest here 

Julia Jacobson's Ex Pleaded Not Guilty

Ex-husband accused of killing missing Army veteran pleads not guilty in Rancho Cucamonga court
Daily Bulletin
By BEATRIZ E. VALENZUELA
November 6, 2017

Police are still looking for the remains of Julia Jacobson, 37, of San Diego, and her wheaten terrier, Boogie. Jacobson was reported missing Sept. 2, 2017, and was last seen in Ontario. Her ex-husband, Dalen Larry Ware, 39, of Laveen, Arizona, was arrested Oct. 13, 2017, on suspicion of murder. (Photos courtesy of Ontario Police Department)

The man accused of killing his ex-wife — an Army veteran from San Diego — pleaded not guilty to charges of murder Monday, Nov. 6, in West Valley Superior court in Rancho Cucamonga, according to court records.

Dalen Larry Ware, 39, was first arrested on Oct. 13 in Arizona with help from the Phoenix police and the FBI’s Violent Crime Task Force. He was returned to California late last month to stand trial.

Despite the charges, the body of Julia Jacobson, 37, and her dog, Boogie, have yet to be found, Ontario police officials said. Jacobson’s family reported her missing Sept. 2.

On that morning, Jacobson was seen at a 7-Eleven in San Diego. Later that day, her debit card activity placed her at a gas station in Ontario, according to San Diego and Ontario police.
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Gunnery Sgt. Thought Hating Recruits Was A Good Thing?

‘The more you hate them, the better you train them’: Parris Island’s most notorious drill instructor on trial

Marine Corps Times

Jeff Schogol

November 6, 2017

“You have to hate recruits to train them,” Felix told the investigator, according to Marine prosecutor Capt. Corey Wielert. “They get three meals a day, sleep eight hours. The more you hate them, the better you train them.”

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. — ­Gunnery Sgt. Joseph Felix is a 15-year Marine, an Iraq and Afghanistan veteran and the father of four daughters. But he’s also become the Corps’ most ­notorious drill instructor, the Marine at the center of the Parris Island hazing scandal and now the defendant in a general court-martial that began Oct. 31 at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. 

Felix is accused of improperly hazing many recruits — for example, when one recruit puked in his chocolate milk, Felix allegedly made the squad leader drink it.
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Florida Veterans Needing "maintenance” medications Beware

VA pharmacy to stop filling prescriptions on base

Northwest Florida Daily

Jim Thompson

November 7, 2017

EGLIN AFB — Officials say the pharmacy at the Department of Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic at Eglin Air Force Base is not closing.

By late next year, however, prescriptions will no longer be filled there. Veterans who need prescriptions filled will eventually need to do so through either private pharmacies or through the mail.

The VA pharmacy’s transition to a “first-fill contract” means that prescriptions for medications that a veteran needs immediately — deemed medically necessary by the prescribing physician — will have to be filled through local retail pharmacies. 

As opposed to those “emergent” prescription needs that will be filled by private pharmacies, veterans’ “maintenance” medications — prescriptions for chronic long-term conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol — will continue to be provided through the VA’s mail-out pharmacy services and sent directly to veterans’ home addresses.read more here

One more step in killing off the VA? Wonder who is making out on this deal because it sure as hell isn't our veterans!

Veteran Threatened to "Euthanize" Himself

'Disturbed' Upstate NY man had grenade launcher, loaded AR-15, explosives cache

New York Upstate
Ben Axelson
November 7, 2017

According to family members, Reis had post-traumatic stress disorder, and had served in the Special Forces. The Times Union found publications from the 109 Airlift Wing mentioning a man named Edward Reis, and noting that he had awarded the Air Force Commendation Medal.

Edward Reis' weapons cache.(screenshot from WRGB-TV video) 

Police in the Capital Region have arrested a man described as emotionally disturbed who had an illegal arsenal of weapons and explosives, and had threatened to "euthanize" himself.

Edward J. Reis, 43, is facing numerous charges, including weapons and forgery charges, after police uncovered a grenade launcher, grenades, dozens of high-powered weapons and an AR-15 style rifle at his home, The Albany Times Union reported.

Albany County Sheriff's officers received a call saying that an emotionally disturbed man "wanted to go to Arizona and euthanize himself." Police were unable to find him at his home, but discovered the weapons cache and materials commonly used to make explosives in a locked room. 
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What Happens To Betrayed Veterans?

Kicked Out Instead of Helped?
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
November 6, 2017

One more thing some think about on Veterans Day, is the day they got kicked out and became part of the forgotten veterans we never acknowledge.

If you were kicked out of the military for having PTSD or TBI, you are far from alone! If your family doubts what you've been telling them, show them this!

To everyone else, what do we owe to the men and women kicked out of the military because they received the "unseen" wounds of PTSD and TBI?

That is yet one more thing we never really talk about when we read about the numbers of veterans we think committed suicide on any given day.

We don't think about the data the VA is missing from their suicide counts, like some states do not track military service, and were not included in on any count. 

What makes that even worse is when someone served in the military but ended up kicked out and left out of all accounts. How many of these veterans decided to commit suicide?  

GAO: DOD HEALTHACTIONS NEEDED TO ENSURE POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER AND TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY ARE CONSIDERED IN MISCONDUCT SEPARATIONS
Our analysis of DOD data shows that 91,764 servicemembers were separated for misconduct from fiscal years 2011 through 2015; of these servicemembers, 57,141—62 percent—had been diagnosed within the 2 years prior to their separation with PTSD, TBI, or certain other conditions that could be associated with misconduct.

More specifically, 16 percent, or 14,816 of the 91,764 servicemembers who were separated for misconduct, had been diagnosed with PTSD or TBI.  

Looking at the conditions individually, 8 percent had been diagnosed with PTSD and 11 percent had been diagnosed with TBI, while other conditions, such as adjustment and alcohol-related disorders were more common.

The 57,141 servicemembers who were separated for misconduct and diagnosed within the 2 years prior to separation with PTSD, TBI, or certain other conditions had, on average, 4 years of active military service. Almost all, or 98 percent, were enlisted servicemembers, rather than officers, and two-thirds had not been deployed overseas within the 2 years prior to separation.

We will probably never know what we let happen to them after they were willing to die for the sake of others.

It is bad enough most of the charities should be sued for deceptive advertising when they avoid mentioning most of the veterans committing suicide are over the age of 50, which they heartlessly ignore, but they dare to talk about PTSD as if it didn't exist until now.

Some talk about 1 out of 5 OEF and OIF veterans with PTSD but none talk about how it was 1 out of 3 Vietnam veterans.

One more thing we don't talk about when Vietnam veterans are being pinned and given parties, is that there were,

"... approximately 250,000 Vietnam-era veterans received less-than-honorable discharges, and as many as 80,000 of those service members could be eligible for PTSD-related benefits.

"VietNow pocketed donations and did virtually nothing for veterans"

Vietnam veterans charity dissolved after 'egregious fraud'
Chicago Tribune
David Jackson and Gary Marx
November 6, 2017

"Instead, VietNow pocketed donations and did virtually nothing for veterans. Today's settlement finally will put an end to VietNow's egregious fraud." Attorney General Lisa Madigan

A VietNow charity volunteer pushes a rack of boxes filled with hundreds of sandwiches bound for homeless people in Chicago on July 19, 2015, in Lombard. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)

Attorney General Lisa Madigan on Monday announced a settlement led by Illinois and 23 other states to dissolve VietNow National Headquarters Inc., a Rockford charity that claimed to help veterans overcome joblessness and post-traumatic stress disorder.

VietNow, which also goes under the name VeteransNow, will shut down operations, and its remaining assets will be distributed to two legitimate charities, according to Madigan and court records.

Madigan sued the charity after a 2015 Tribune investigation found that VietNow had raised more than $20 million between 2003 and 2014 but spent 80 percent of those donations on for-profit telemarketers. Most of the remainder went for administrative costs, the Tribune reported, leaving just a fraction of the donations for programs to help military veterans. State attorneys general from across the country soon joined Madigan's lawsuit and took other enforcement actions.
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Shooting at Church 27 People Killed and 27 Injured

At least 27 dead, more than two dozen injured in shooting at rural Texas church

ABC news

M. L. Nestel and Emily Shapiro

November 5, 2017

At least 27 people were killed and 27 others injured in a mass shooting at a church in rural Texas this morning, a law enforcement official told ABC News.

The alleged shooter, who has not been identified, is dead following the massacre in Sutherland Springs, about 40 miles southeast of San Antonio, authorities said.

Among those killed at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs was a 14-year-old girl named Annabelle Renee Pomeroy, according to her father, Frank Pomeroy, who is a pastor at the church.

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