So much for "awareness"

There's something missing from research on veteran suicides

THE HILL

Jim Lorraine

December 26, 2017

There are countless studies that show the risk of suicide is higher among those who served in the military when compared to civilians.

The Department of Veteran Affairs recognizes this issue and is taking steps to better identify and support those who served who are at risk of taking their own life. While there is a large catalogue of research analyzing suicide rates of those who served in the military, many of these studies overlook key factors that could help policymakers understand the full scope of this issue and, in turn, develop more effective preventative programs.

Here are a few of the elements that researchers should be incorporating into their studies:

read them here

*******

And to the story that started this, add in all this, that was missed, but we know about!

The article rightly pointed out the "less than honorable discharges" being a problem. Here's some more facts on that one.

Death Certificates used by the CDC do not include all veterans. Some states have different rules. California and Illinois did not have "military service" on their death certificates, (bills passed this year to add it) so veterans committing suicide in those two states would not have been counted. California has over 2 million veterans and Illinois has over 700,000. Think about that how many more that would mean.

NON-WAR TITLE

Some states do not include "military service" on death certificates unless the box where it has "war" is filled in. Humanitarian missions, deployment into Africa or other nations for non-combat missions would not be admissible. 

Beirut Marine Barracks Bombing survivors would not be included, or any other event that is not connected to a "war" such as USS Cole attacked by terrorists. That was in 2000 and pre-9/11 War on Terror. Long list on that one.

Stop raising awareness without learning first

Military suicides have also increased, yet do not seem to be even thought about for "honorable mention" within the "numbers" they do talk about. Guess they do not even know that they are two separate groups, although were among people willing to die to save lives but did not save their own. 

Still the biggest thing that was missed in the above article is this from the VA. This chart shows how many deaths per day they knew about from the research.

Those numbers in 1999 were less than 2010. Keep in mind that since that time, we lost about 5 million veterans since WWI, WWII, Korea and Vietnam veterans passed away.

Also since that time we managed to spend billions on "prevention" plus invested billions more in "raising awareness."

Add into all that the VA Crisis Line, Veterans Courts, getting homeless veterans off the streets, over 400,000 veterans charities, stunts and press coverage for talking about numbers as if that was supposed to do anyone any good.

So much for "awareness."

US Service Members Celebrating Christmas

Santa's Signal

Navy Lt. Larry Young, dressed as Santa Claus, signals to launch an F/A-18 E Super Hornet on the flight deck of the USS Theodore Roosevelt in the Persian Gulf, Dec. 21, 2017, as the aircraft carrier supports security efforts in the region. Navy photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Victoria Foley

Bagram Visit

Medal of Honor recipient and retired Army Capt. Flo Groberg speaks to service members as Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stands by during a USO Holiday Tour show at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, Dec. 24, 2017. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Divine Cox

 Holiday Hilarity

Service members take in the 2017 USO Holiday Tour show at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, Dec. 24, 2017. Performers included actor Adam Devine, comedian Iliza Shlesinger and country singer Jerrod Niemann. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Divine Cox


 Swimming Santa

Santa Claus, commanding officer of Holiday Cheer, Northpolecom, conducts basic swim qualifications at Camp Pendleton, Calif., Dec. 19, 2017. Claus and all operational reindeer must pass the qualifications every two years to maintain their water survival skills. Marine Corps photo by Gunnery Sgt. Evan Ahlin

Afghanistan Veteran Takes Care of Homeless Veterans For Chirstmas

Afghanistan veteran gives back by providing Christmas Eve meals
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Meg Jones
Published Dec. 24, 2017

"The last four, five years Christmas has been a little lackluster for me. This year I decided to do something about it because Christmas is more than gifts and pretty Christmas trees." Matt McDonell 

The holidays are a difficult time of year for Matt McDonell ever since he lost a comrade in Afghanistan on Christmas Eve five years ago.

A photo of veteran Matt McDonell, who was stationed in Afghanistan's Logar Province when his friend was killed by small arms fire on Christmas Eve 2012. Since then, Christmas has been difficult for him. Photo courtesy of Matt McDonell

Each December memories flood back for the Fox Point man: hearing the horrible news, attending a memorial service and participating in the last roll call on Christmas Day.

But this year, McDonell decided to spend the holiday helping fellow veterans, collecting clothing donations and organizing a Christmas Eve luncheon for homeless veterans. And in a way, he's helping himself heal from his loss.
read more here

Pearl Harbor 97 Year Old WWII Veteran Being Evicted

Pearl Harbor veteran, 97, faces eviction from Brooklyn home

PIX 11 NEWS

Magee Hickey

December 24, 2017

CROWN HEIGHTS, Brooklyn — A 97-year-old veteran has already lived through many battles and now he's facing one more: eviction.

James Blakely, a Navy veteran who survived the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, will be in Housing Court in less than two weeks. A group called Black Veterans for Social Justice intends to evict the World War Two vet from his studio apartment, where the walls are covered with certificates of recognition and appreciation.

“I am so angry,” Blakely told PIX11. “And we will fight this legally.”

Six years ago Blakely, who is also an ordained minister, was living in a trailer with no running water in a junkyard on Buffalo Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant columnist Denis Hamill wrote an article in the Daily News about his living conditions.

That’s when, according to Hamill, a representative from the Black Veterans for Social Justice offered the studio apartment on Bergen Street to this World War Two vet rent free for the rest of his life.

Now the group says Blakely owes years in unpaid rent.
read more here

Yukon Oklahoma Opens Arms for Wounded Veteran's Family

Volunteers Help Make Veteran's Family's Christmas
News On 6
Caleigh Bourgeois
December 23, 2017

“The feeling you get when you get to help somebody else that's in need is just a feeling everybody should experience,” Wade said. 

YUKON, Oklahoma -

A wounded warrior in Yukon and his family were given a Christmas miracle thanks to two friends and several volunteers.

Last week, Jessica Smith with the Red Cross received a phone call from a wounded warrior’s wife.

“He had just lost his job. They had no food in their cupboards. They were about to be evicted,” Smith said.

Determined to help the Yukon family, Smith called up her friend Ellie Wade, who works at First United Bank. 

“We have a fund where if we wear blue jeans on Friday we pay into it, and we collect all year long,” Wade said.

Wade and Smith took the money from that fund and started shopping. 

“We just started buying and paying the rent and utilities, and buying groceries and gifts,” Wade said. 

read more here

Fort Bliss Soldier's Death in Iraq Under Investigation

Fort Bliss Soldier Dies in Non-Combat Incident in Iraq
Military.com
By Richard Sisk
December 22, 2017

A 20-year-old soldier with the 1st Armored Division has died in Iraq in a "non-combat incident," the Defense Department announced Friday.

Army Spc. Avadon Chavez. (Facebook)

In a release, the DoD identified the soldier as Spc. Avadon A. Chaves, 20, of Turlock, Calif. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, of the 1st Armored Division, at Fort Bliss, Texas.

Sailor Went From Submarine to KIA Saving Lives--On Vacation

Submariner stranded in Puerto Rico delivered critical aid in his mom's sedan

The Virginia Pilot
Brock Vergakis
December 25, 2017

While the Navy sent helicopters, ships and doctors from Hampton Roads to help, Rivera was simply on vacation. He managed to get to an Army Reserve Center base, secured orders to temporarily join a military police battalion there, then was given an incredible autonomy to help in a way few others could – all without ever wearing a uniform.

Joel Rivera, right, shown here in a photo from 2011, aboard a submarine during a submarine rescue exercise as part of Bold Monarch 2011.RICARDO J. REYES/U.S. NAVY PHOTO 

NORFOLK — Joel Rivera rumbled down dirt roads in his mother’s Kia Forte weeks after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico – on a mission for the U.S. military that he never imagined when he joined the Navy 14 years ago as a submariner.

Dressed in civilian clothing, Rivera and his cousin drove through mountains searching for islanders needing food and water who were out of reach because large trucks couldn’t use debris-filled and washed-out roads. He’d drop off what little provisions he could carry in the four-door sedan and – whenever he could get a cell phone signal – report to military officials on the island about the hardest-hit areas.

“I’d really just pick a spot on a map that was secluded,” he said. “At this point the government was handing out food and water to the cities.

“I wanted to take care of the places where they were overlooking.” 
read more here

So how do we prove God's love and this day?

Do You Prove God's Love?
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
December 25, 2017

One Christmas Eve, an elderly widow was talking to a neighbor about plans for Christmas day. The widow couldn't make it to be with her family and they couldn't get to her. It was the first Christmas she would be alone.

The neighbor talked about having a houseful of family and friends, while complaining about having so much to do for all of them.

The widow wished her a Merry Christmas as she started to walk away. The neighbor had a change of heart and called her back to the fence.

"I was just thinking, we're having dinner around 1:00. Why don't you come over after dessert and you can watch us open our gifts." The widow just shook her head. She walked away feeling more lonely than she had before.

How can we prove God's love without opening a gate?

It is so easy to take care of our own needs, wants, desires and our pride, yet we forget about what this day is supposed to represent.

Tomorrow at work, we'll all hear stories about what we got, what we gave and then which family member ruined the day. 

Someone will regret spending so much money on ungrateful relatives. Someone else will regret deciding to spend the time with them instead of being alone binging on treats and watching "It's a Wonderful Life."

Others will remember times spent with people they loved, holding onto warm memories for comfort while they sit alone. 

Some will wander the streets, much like any other day, homeless and hungry. They will come to the shelter to get out of the cold for a while, find something to eat, and if they're lucky, someone to talk to.

Some will remember what they used to have and how much they lost.

Others will spend the day thinking of others, what they can do for someone to make this day better than it would have been otherwise.

They spent money shopping for someone else's children, so they could put it into a collection box, knowing they would never see the joy on that child's face. No one would ever thank them for the gift they gave, but they would receive the warmth within them knowing what they did in secret.

Some will volunteer their time at the shelter to care for the homeless and needy.

Some will take the time to pray during church service for someone else instead of praying for what they want for themselves.

So how do we prove God's love and this day we remember when "For God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

The Sheep and the Goats31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

So dear friends, remember the blessing we are all able to receive when the gifts we give ourselves, are priceless when they are given to others.

My Christmas wish for all of you is that you be blessed by the love this day was intended to share.

The Beatitudes

He said:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.

12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Dayton VA Medical Center Christmas Eve Service

Veterans come together for Christmas Eve vigil

WDTN 2 News

Kristen Eskow

December 24, 2017

“You can be so far away from home and think that maybe you’re forgotten about,” said Wendell Rome, chief of chaplain service for the Dayton VA Medical Center.

DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) – Veterans and their families gathered for an annual service Sunday night to honor veterans and those currently serving our country.

The Dayton VA Medical Center hosted its annual Christmas Eve vigil. As Christmas carols filled the lobby, it brought back memories for veterans like Marvin Schroeder.

“We were all brothers and sisters separated from our own families,” said Schroeder, who served in the Air Force during the Vietnam war.

Schroeder recalls those Christmases spent with his family of fellow soldiers.

“We made the celebration all together, and we really made the best of what we had,” he said.

“You can be so far away from home and think that maybe you’re forgotten about,” said Wendell Rome, chief of chaplain service for the Dayton VA Medical Center.

Chaplain Rome said he knows the feeling all too well. A veteran himself, he remembers spending Christmas in Iraq.

“It was just a difficult time, it was lonely away from home,” he said. “But yet we’re serving our country and so we just kind of band together and do the best that we can.”

read more here

Running Back to Faith with Iraq Veteran Chaplain

How I became Christian again: my long journey to find faith once more 
The Guardian 
Bryan Mealer 
December 25, 2017 

After experiencing the horrors of war, Bryan Mealer lost his faith. Morning runs with a priest – and a visit to a more welcoming church – helped restore it

Reclaiming the title is a moral protest against those who attack immigrants, refugees, minorities, and the poor and the sick, the very people whom Christ instructed us to help.’ Photograph: El Mundo Ilustrado/Rex/Shutterstock

"Our first Sunday, a man stood up and testified about being ostracized from his previous congregation because he was gay. All he’d wanted to do was worship, and the God who’d met him at Trinity did so with compassion and love, not judgment. I knew I’d found a home, one whose Christian values were suitable for my children."

A few mornings a week, I go running with a priest.

We meet at 5.30 under a streetlamp in central Austin and make our way down to the state capitol building and back, a distance of about eight miles. It’s a routine we started nearly two years ago, and it came during a pivotal point in my life.

I was 40 years old, the father of three small children, and beginning to wrestle with some of the bigger questions that loom at middle age, particularly about faith.

After growing up in the church and leaving for many years – even abandoning my beliefs at one point while covering war – I was contemplating a return. On a visit to my parents, my children had inadvertently exposed a void that I’d been trying to ignore. My three-year-old daughter asked my mother, “What is God?” only to have her brother reply: “Don’t you know, silly? God is Harvey.” 

Harvey is what we called our Honda. The look my mother shot me is still burned into my retinas.

David was a priest at an Episcopal church in south Austin and the author of two books. He was also a former marine and chaplain in the army who’d served in Iraq. read more here