Female veteran's lament becomes powerful song with help from Songwriting With Soldiers project Democrat and Chronicle Gary Craig April 13, 2018
I was just like you when the bullets flewI had your back, you had mine tooBrothers in arms, your sisters covered youDon't that make us your brother too?
Meghan Counihan’s daughter was 6 months old when Counihan was deployed to Afghanistan.
The mother of three, Counihan found herself riven by a tug-of-war of emotions, beckoned by call and duty: one for country, the other of motherhood.
Her uncles were veterans, as was her father, who'd been an Army truck mechanic in Vietnam. The military lineage spoke to her — she, too, would drive a truck for the Army — as did the vows she'd made with others in her Army unit.
“You’ve made this promise to your country, and you’ve made this promise to sacrifice, and you’ve made this promise to these people,” she said.
But at her Colorado home, she had this effervescent infant — still cuddling, still growing, still needing.
“It’s really hard to walk out that door and keep going,” Counihan said. “I was still breastfeeding. To leave when that is going on, you have a physical, visceral reaction.” read more here
Wife of World War II Medal Of Honor Recipient Reveals Their Love Story Military.com By Richard Sisk 13 Apr 2018
"More than anything, he was proud of his brothers in World War II. He had five brothers, all came back home. I've often wondered how his mother could take that, with six boys in the war," she said.
Back in 1945, when she was 15 and first set eyes on her future husband, Pauline Conner didn't think much of the scrawny fellow they were making all the fuss about in town with the parade and the speeches.
The great Sgt. Alvin York himself, the Medal of Honor recipient from World War I, had shown up for what the folks in Albany, Kentucky, called the "speakin'" at the Clinton County courthouse to welcome home Garlin Murl Conner from fighting the Nazis.
In their life together, he was a farmer and also served with the Disabled American Veterans, the Paralyzed Veterans of America, the American Legion and Kentucky Veterans Affairs. The war stayed with him in ways he could not explain.
"I always thought if anybody had PTSD [Post Traumatic Stress Disorder], it was Murl. He'd wake up in the night, kind of fighting, because of the nightmares. Lots of times he'd just go outside and sit by himself," she said.
Last month, Pauline Conner, now 88, received a phone call from President Donald Trump about her husband, who died in 1998 at age 79. The upgrade of his Distinguished Service Cross had been approved after more than 20 years of bureaucratic and court fights. read more here
91-year-old World War II veteran crosses finish line of 5k race KTXS News by Ariana Lubelli, SBG San Antonio April 12th 2018
SAN ANTONIO - Jim Ulbrich, a WWII Navy veteran, celebrated his 91st birthday weekend by running.
"I wanted to finish strong so I took off running," Ulbrich said.
The Poteet native and retired vocational agriculture teacher competed in the '65-year-old and up' category of the Caterpillar Seguin 5K Power Race on April 8th. He came in first place, breaking a record for Seguin.
"But my knees kind of squeak so I have to watch my knees," Ulbrich said. "They're a little old."
Cell phone video posted on Facebook by 'SS American Memorial located at the Lazy U Ranch Seguin TX' captured the 91-year-old running across the finish line. read more here
Lay leaders learn veteran and military culture Tyler Morning Telegraph By LouAnna Campbell Apr 12, 2018
Enlisted. Officer. National Guard. Reserves. Active duty.
These were just some of the terms about 30 lay leaders, pastors and community leaders learned Thursday at Central Baptist Church.
With 15 military installations in the state, Texas has become a veteran-friendly place to live, and the Smith County Behavioral Health Leadership Team and Texas Veterans Commission teamed up to give free training to faith, community and lay leaders.
“Texas is home to almost 1.6 million military veterans, many of whom have experienced one or more forms of military-service-related trauma,” said Craig Combs, Texas Veterans Commission community partner coordinator.
The training gave those in attendance a glimpse into military culture and the stress and effects that continuous readiness has on military members and their families.
Local mental health authorities like the Andrews Center are part of the programs the Texas Veterans Commission relies on to reach veterans. Now they are reaching out to faith-based communities to help veterans and those serving in the Reserves and National Guard.
The veterans group is working with faith community members to give them skills in suicide awareness, military sexual trauma, alcoholism, post-traumatic stress disorder and moral injury. read more here
Vietnam Veterans Forgotten Again? Combat PTSD Wounded Times Kathie Costos April 13, 2018
When I read that there will be a display to remember veterans lost to suicides at the Veterans Reunion, I thought they would get it right. Considering this reunion began for Vietnam Veterans, their lives should matter here at least. After reading the article on Florida Today, it is sickening to discover yet again, they just do not matter enough. When will reporters ever correct something as serious as veterans committing suicide? What made this one even worse was that apparently, now they can use "troops" and "veterans" lumping them together in a mashed up number like 660? That number is supposed to be how many veterans commit suicide every month. Too bad no one thought to actually do the work to figure out that there are far too many more not being remembered at all. OK, harsh reality check here. These are the numbers of the "troops" we lost in 2016 and 2017.
No, they are not even mentioned in the numbers people pass around like a treat. Too bad it is a wicked trick since even the numbers of veterans committing suicide are wrong too. That 660 is supposed to be from "22 a day" but they did not mention that report involved just 21 states. So, no, nowhere close to what is real. That report also said that among the known suicides, 65% of those veterans are over the age of 50, but since they are escorting the Vietnam Memorial Wall into Wickham Park to honor Vietnam veterans, guess they thought that these older veterans do not deserve even honorable mention! Then within the report from the VA is this reminder that the known suicides have not gone down since 1999 however the number of living veterans has gone down by over 5 million.
Am I pissed off ? Yes. When I film the riders coming in this year, I think I'll shed more tears knowing how they have been forgotten all over again! They are killing themselves in higher numbers and none of these new groups pulling stunts will lift a finger to help them or even remember they started everything available for all the other generations! I feel terrible for Robin Thomas, who lost her husband to suicide, because she had no way of knowing, what she had been told, was not the truth. She wants to honor her husband at the same time, save another family from going through the same thing. Lord I hope to give her a hug and tell her how sorry I am that after all these years, veterans like her husband are still taking their own lives.
This is from last year.
Melbourne Vietnam-veterans reunion to feature 660-flag display for troops lost to suicide
Florida Today
Rick Neale
April 12, 2018 MELBOURNE — An array of 660 American flags will silently flutter along the north shore of Back Lake in Wickham Park during next week's Florida Vietnam and All Veterans Reunion, standing somber testimony to the estimated 660 U.S. troops and veterans lost to suicide every month. The "flags for forgotten soldiers" display is a new addition to the 31st annual reunion lineup, which is billed as the largest of its kind in the nation. Flag installation begins at 1 p.m. Sunday. "We just thought we had an issue with one person. Well, after Terry died, his suicide was tragic to our family — it's inconceivable. But he acted the same as many PTSD veterans," said Merritt Island resident Robin Thomas, who is spearheading the 660-flag display. Thomas is a former Air Force staff sergeant who served from 1979-88. She gave birth to her son, Terrance O'Hearn, while stationed at Patrick Air Force Base. He later served combat tours as an Army specialist from 2006-10 in Iraq and Afghanistan, and he committed suicide at age 30 in 2016 in his California apartment. It was his fourth suicide attempt.read more here
Imagine if he had been told that he could heal and actually knew where to go to get it? Too many were too busy yelling about something veterans already knew...how to kill themselves.
This video is from 2015 before I got my hands on the report itself and saw where the data came from. At least we knew that Vietnam veterans were the majority of the veterans committing suicide. Would have been better if the rest of the country bothered to actually care.
Brazos County neighbors react to deadly shooting KBTX News By Clay Falls Apr 12, 2018
“It’s too premature for me to be able to give details of our investigation. I can confirm that he was a veteran," said Kirk.
BRAZOS COUNTY, Tex. (KBTX) - A Brazos County man is dead after the sheriff's office said his wife shot him following a fight.
Investigators were at the home in the northeast part of the county morning Thursday. The victim has been identified as 36-year-old, Jason Lee Gamez. Flashing lights and crime scene tape covered the house in rural Brazos County early Thursday along Vaquero Drive.
"I'm surprised because we walk almost every morning around the neighborhood and we have real nice people out here. There's no trouble or anything like that, so it comes as a definite surprise," said
Jim Killingsworth, who lives nearby in the North Country Estates neighborhood. read more here
The Fake Facebook Pages Targeting Vietnam Veterans The Atlantic NATASHA BERTRAND April 12, 2018
The pages are operated out of Eastern Europe and the social network took almost two months to shut one of them down.
Visitors' shadows are seen cast on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall
Yuri Gripas / Reuters
Earlier this week, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg promised lawmakers that his platform would crack down on fake accounts and foreign influence. But at least two Facebook pages linked to websites operating out of Bulgaria are still targeting U.S. veterans of the Vietnam War, according to a letter obtained by The Atlantic that was sent to lawmakers by a nonprofit veteran’s organization.
The U.S. military community is not a new or unusual target for foreign influence operations. A study published in October by the University of Oxford found that three websites linked to Russia—Veteranstoday.com, Veteransnewsnow.com and Southfront.org—engaged in “significant and persistent interactions” with veterans during the election, concluding in part that veterans are targeted because they tend to be “community leaders” trusted by the public. read more here
3 homeless veterans buried in East Tennessee Veterans Cemetery WBIR 10 News Author: Anslee Daniel April 11, 2018
Military veterans and community members gathered at the cemetery to honor Sp4 Kenneth Ray Sharp, Pvt. John Louis Sherer and Pvt. Robert Andrew Wilson.
Three Army veterans were laid to rest at the East Tennessee Veterans Cemetery on Wednesday with the help of the Dignity Memorial Homeless Veteran Burial Program.
The program partners with local funeral homes and medical examiners, as well as veterans organizations to provide a burial service for homeless and indigent veterans. read more here
FBI investigating beating of Iraq War veteran in Pearl River Author: Katie Moore April 11, 2018
The Pearl River officer said the deputies shot Cambre with a Taser, then proceeded to beat him with a retractable police baton.
The federal probe into the beating of a Pearl River veteran has entered a new phase with FBI agents interviewing members of the Pearl River Police Department this week.
Pearl River Police Chief JJ Jennings confirmed federal agents interviewed him, his Deputy Chief and the officer who initially conducted a welfare check on U.S. Army veteran Chris Cambre, 48.
Cambre suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, from his year of service in the Iraq War.
As WWL-TV and partner newspaper the New Orleans Advocate first reported, in January, a Pearl River Police Officer went to check on Cambre at the request of his friends after he posted that he was "struggling" having a bad night on Facebook. But the night got much worse for Cambre after five St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Deputies arrived.
The Pearl River officer said the deputies shot Cambre with a Taser, then proceeded to beat him with a retractable police baton. read more here
Movie being shot in Huntsville combines local and award-winning talent WSFA News By Lindsey Connell, Reporter Tuesday, April 10th 2018
HUNTSVILLE, AL (WAFF) Lights, camera, action! Huntsville is getting a touch of Hollywood as crews get ready to start shooting a new movie in north Alabama.
The plot of the independent feature film called “Only Easy Day” packs a powerful message.
Director/producer Tim Reischauer is a Los Angeles transplant to Huntsville with lots major TV shows and movies to his credit, including "Desperate Housewives,"I"t’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia," "Medium," "13 Going on 30," and many more.
He says the Huntsville area was selected as the location for the movie because of the area’s strong support for those who have served our country.
“Huntsville is a mecca of military and retired military, but more importantly, the production being centered here gives it a base of reality,” Reischauer stated.
“Only Easy Day” follows the life of a former Navy Seal who has spiraled out of control. The main character, named Bradley Johnson, struggles with returning to civilian life.
“PTSD has pushed his life in a direction to self-medicating and alcoholism. It's a redemption movie as well. It follows him through some very tough times,” Reischauer explained. “It might a little more empathy, not sympathy, but empathy to somebody we see on the street.”
The movie is meant to bring awareness to PTSD, mental health issues, homelessness and addiction. Many of those involved in the project are veterans, including associate producer Kasey Brown. read more here
Lakeland teen surprises formerly homeless veteran with Honor Flight WFLA 8 News Melissa Marino April 11, 2018
LAKELAND, Fla. (WFLA) - An Army Veteran who spent years living on the streets in Lakeland is getting the trip of a lifetime, all thanks to a teen who has made it her mission to help him.
Vietnam Veteran William Dread, also known as Willie, and 17-year-old Emily Cornelius will take off on Wednesday on the Honor Flight to Washington D.C. from the Lakeland Linder Airport.
Over the years, the pair has formed an unlikely bond.
"I decided I would go back on my military training and bought my tent and I just camped out," William Dread said.
He told WFLA that after serving as an officer in the Army, he fell on tough times. For years, the Vietnam Veteran lived on the streets of Lakeland.
But one moment changed his life forever. read more here
US Army Iraq Veteran "Pays It Forward" To Marine Colonel Who Saved Her From Life In Prison CISION PR Newswire Military Appreciation Partnerships, Inc. 10:01 ET
SEATTLE, April 10, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Lt. Elizabeth Whiteside, US Army Ret., has joined a team of supporters organizing a Trending GoFundMe Campaign on behalf of Colonel Mike Whalen, co-founder of Military Appreciation Partnerships, Inc., in his time of need. Resulting from her 2007 suicide attempt in Iraq, Whiteside faced Army Court-Martial charging her with five offenses, if convicted, could result in life in Federal Prison.
Over the following year Whiteside's family, legal team, Veterans organizations, and Senators Barack Obama, Claire McCaskill, Barbara Boxer, John Kerry and Kit Bond were unable to dissuade the Army from pursuing the charges. Similarly, the national press corps support of Katie Couric, CBS Evening News plus The Washington Post's Dana Priest and Anne Hull did not stop the relentless continuation of the Court-Martial.
Through a chance meeting, Whiteside's father Tom was put in touch with Colonel Mike Whalen, a fierce and effective and lifelong Veterans' advocate. Within five days, Col. Whalen was able to convince Army brass to drop all charges against Whiteside granting her an honorable discharge with medical benefits. Upon her complete recovery, she continued her education and today is a working professional in the mental health field.
Colonel Mike Whalen has spent his entire life helping others. He has served his country proudly as a US Marine, sustaining serious injuries as a result of his service. Col. Mike has always been able to do the impossible... Producing the "Carrier Classic" college Basketball game on the deck of the Carl Vinson Aircraft Carrier... Raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for Veterans and conducting morale boosting coaches, astronauts and INDY racing tours to our military in combat zones in the Middle East.
Now Col. Whalen has fallen on hard times. His injuries, shrapnel and Traumatic Brain Injury are catching up with him. He is now facing imminent eviction from his home. Upon hearing of Col. Whalen's plight, Elizabeth quickly joined up with others who have benefited from his help by sponsoring his GoFundMe account…telling his story and asking for your generosity to "Pay It Forward" in his time of need.
The GoFundMe campaign is rapidly approaching its goal with notable contributions from Mario Andretti, Houston Nutt, and other celebrities.
*******
I remember her story well. Read more about what Whiteside had to go through to understand how much this means to her...and many more.
SC soldier gunned down at birthday party is memorialized The State BY TRACY KIMBALL April 08, 2018
ROCK HILL Several hundred mourners gathered Saturday at Gethsemane Church in Rock Hill to lay to rest. Spc. Eric Levon Williams at a party at the former American Legion on Cherry Road. Williams had been in the Army National Guard with a Columbia unit since enlisting after graduating from South Pointe High School in May 2013. Williams, 24, was shot and killed March 31.
He was given full military honors at the service. A bugle played "Taps" as two members of the Army National Guard Honor Guard folded an American flag draped across his casket.
read more here
God was not finished: Vietnam veteran brings lifesaving clean water to Kenyans St. Louis Post Dispatch Marketing content contributor by Lori Rose 6 hrs ago
Between 2008 and 2014, Hutchings’ Shoeman Water Projects collected and sold four million pounds of shoes and dug more than 300 wells in Kenya, providing clean water to thousands.
George Hutchings nearly gave his life on the battlefield in Vietnam. Now he’s in the business of providing life-giving clean water to people who thirst.
Not to mention shoes, medical supplies, food and schools.
Hutchings, 69, has been the force behind several charities that work around the world. His most recent project, The Aqua Effect, recently dug a well through hard African granite to provide access to clean drinking water in a remote village in Kenya.
Hutchings was a high school student from Southeast Missouri when he joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1967. While serving in Vietnam in 1968 he was severely injured, earning a Purple Heart.
Shot three times in the hip when he and his men were ambushed, he lay on the battlefield, playing dead and praying to God.
“Three people in front of me were killed, and a couple behind me,” he said. “I’m laying out in no man’s land, they were shooting over my head, and I said ‘God, if you’ll get me out of here, I’ll live for you the rest of my life.’”
Sgt. Hutchings was sitting in a muddy foxhole trying to wring out his socks when a superior directed him to collect drinking water from a nearby stream. Before he could get his boots back on, a buddy volunteered to go in his place. Moments later, that buddy was struck in the chest by enemy rocket fire. read more here
Marine Veteran Credits Operation Delta Dog With Helping Him WBZ 4 News By Katie Brace April 7, 2018
HOLLIS, N.H. (CBS) – Just leaving the house was scary and overwhelming for Massachusetts veteran Brian Callahan – until he found Maggie.
“She’s been a life-saver,” Callahan said of his beloved service dog during an interview with WBZ-TV at his Dracut, Mass. home.
As an active duty Marine, Lance Corporal Callahan served three overseas deployments.
It costs Operation Delta Dog $25,000 to train, house and prepare each dog before they go to their new forever home with a veteran.
But the four-legged therapist costs the veteran nothing.
“It’s made it 100 times better,” said Alisha Callahan of the help that her husband’s service dog, Maggie, has given to him and their family.
Maggie is a calming force for the Marine veteran, by waking him up before a night terror and staying vigilant when they go out so he can relax.
“She’s given back my family. I get to go out with the kids,” Brian Callahan said.
The family even accomplished a trip that once seemed impossible: a trip to Disney World. read more here
More than my love could give PTSD Patrol Kathie Costos April 8, 2018
"Combat should never be easier than coming home to you!" Kathie Costos
For The Love of Jack, His War My Battle originally published in 2003 because I tried to warn people about what was coming into their lives. PTSD! It was republished in 2013 because too many thought their love alone would be able to heal them. Love has to be strong enough to do whatever it takes to help them heal! Stop making excuses for what you fail to do. We lose more after combat than we do during it. Wars end and they come home but that battle lasts a lifetime! We have to be trained to win it for them!
The battle to save the lives of combat veterans is not lost and it is not new. 18 veterans and more than one active duty service member take their own lives each day. More attempt it.Kathie Costos is not just a Chaplain helping veterans and their families, not just a researcher, she lives with it everyday. Combat came home with her Vietnam veteran husband and they have been married for 28 years.She remembers what it was like to feel lost and alone.Everything you read in the news today about PTSD is in this book originally published in 2002 to serve as a guide to healing as well as a warning of what was coming for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.
Helping vets is soldier’s mission Daily News Miner Keith Kurber II 2 hrs ago
"It’s time to lighten your rucksack, friend. It’s time to get found."
Keith Kurber II
FAIRBANKS — As a career soldier, everything I did for the military was based on a mission statement. It didn’t matter whether it were a peacetime training exercise or a wartime operation, the mission gave us the “who, what, where, when and why” of our task. In Luke’s gospel, Jesus Christ provided his mission statement and it reads like this: “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." (Luke 19:10, New American Standard Bible). Because I am a follower of Jesus, his mission becomes mine. Wherever I go, I am to seek out and save the lost.
The seeking part of the mission seems fairly straightforward; it means I am out and about, looking for those who need to be saved. The idea of saving is also an uncomplicated notion, as long as I don’t forget that what saves somebody is pointing them to Jesus. Personally, I can’t save anyone, but I can tell them all about Jesus, who can. I can tell people that he is the answer to their deepest needs, especially their aching fear of the unknown, their chronic lack of peace and their confusion. Who wouldn’t want that?
But sometimes lost people don’t want to be found. As a young man, I regularly resisted the advice of well-meaning Christians trying to “save” me by pointing me to Jesus. And being lost isn’t a great feeling either. No matter what you call it, being lost, confused, unsure, unclear, perplexed, disoriented or bewildered, it’s largely an unpleasant experience. When you understand that the original meaning of “being lost” also encompasses being destroyed, rendered useless or killed, it takes on a very weighty sense. The bottom line is this: Being lost is not a good place to be, especially eternally so. read more here
Keith Kurber II is the senior pastor of Harvest, a church that he and his wife, Nola, also an ordained minister, founded in September 2010. They look forward to many years serving Fairbanks and the Tanana Valley together through Harvest. Keith retired after serving 30 years of Army active duty, reserve and National Guard service as a colonel of special forces. He is also a Drop Zone graduate, having attended in March of 2018. Insight is sponsored by the Tanana Valley Christian Conference.
Report: Almost Half of Australian Military Veterans Suffer Mental Health Conditions Voice of America Phil Mercer April 07, 2018
FILE - A veteran is pushed in a wheelchair during the ANZAC Day parade, in Sydney, Friday, April 25, 2014, commemorating the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) during the First World War.
SYDNEY Almost half of the Australian military personnel who've left the defense force in the past five years have some sort of mental disorder, according to a new study. The Australian government says it is the most comprehensive study ever undertaken in Australia of the effect of military service on the mental, physical and social health of veterans, including those who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
For many former Australian service men and women, adapting to civilian life can be tough. According to a new study by the Department of Veterans' Affairs, about half suffer debilitating conditions that include anxiety and depression. Some retired soldiers, however, believe the true number of those affected is much higher.
Robin Lee was in the Australian army for 14 years, and served in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder before he left the military in 2015. read more here
Wisconsin Sheriff Discovers Letter He Got As Soldier Was Written By Deputy Now Working for Him WSLS 10 News April 06, 2018
Jim Johnson saved every letter he got while serving overseas in Baghdad with the Wisconsin Army National Guard.
"We received these letters from these young kids. I held on to all of them," said Johnson, who is now the sheriff of Ozaukee County in his home state.
Recently, he was going through some of those old letters and stumbled upon one signed by a fourth-grader at Cedar Grove Belgium Elementary School in Wisconsin.
"Dear soldiers. Thank you for what you all do and are doing for our country. Best wishes and have a Merry Christmas. From Chris Uselding."
The letter was dated 2003.
Fast-forward to 2018 and Chris Uselding is a grown man. And he's been working for as deputy for Johnson for the past few years. read more here
