Why let your engine overheat?

Crying keeps your engine cool!
PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
May 6, 2018

We have all heard the saying "men don't cry" but that must have originated from a man who couldn't do it. Think of what he was like. He must have been one nasty individual.

Imagine not being able to cope with strong emotions. Then again, imagine what it must have been like to not be able to release that negative power. His engine must have overheated all the time.

Radiators A radiator is an integral part of your car’s engine coolant system. Its primary task is to keep the engine cool — if the radiator were to malfunction, the pistons would seize up, destroying the engine. In effect, the radiator along with the rest of the cooling system is your personal insurance against a devastating repair bill.

If you have PTSD after doing your job, then there are things you need to know beyond what you imagine.

You may think that others like you do not need to cry. After all, you are so courageous that you were willing to die for the sake of someone else. Right? Why were you willing to do that? Is it because you did not care about any of them?

Would it help to know that one of the most courageous men to walk this earth cried? 

He was feeling such empathy for someone else, he could not control his emotions and he wept.

I am sure by now you know where I am going with this. That man was Jesus. When He was in the garden, knowing His days on earth were coming to an end, He had such and inner struggle going on that when He did not weep, the emotional pressure was so great that his sweat came out as drops of blood.

42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” 43 An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.44 And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. (Luke 22)

His engine overheated. Now, sure, you can dismiss all of this but then you'd have to dismiss the fact that Jesus knew all along who He was and what He was supposed to do. He also knew when it would happen. 
read more here

HOME DEPOT FOUNDATION REACHES QUARTER-BILLION-DOLLARS for Veterans!

THE HOME DEPOT FOUNDATION REACHES QUARTER-BILLION-DOLLAR COMMITMENT TO VETERAN-RELATED CAUSES

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May 04, 2018

ATLANTA, May 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, The Home Depot® Foundation announced it has reached its goal of investing a quarter of a billion dollars in veteran-related causes by 2020 – two years early. 

Since 2011, the Foundation’s mission has been to improve the homes and lives of U.S. military veterans, with a focus on serving homeless, combat-wounded and senior veterans. In 2016, due to the growing needs of those who served, the Foundation pledged to give $250 million by 2020 to nonprofits serving veterans. 

Through incredible partnerships with organizations including Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation, Semper Fi Fund, Habitat for Humanity, Volunteers of America and many others, The Home Depot Foundation has impacted the lives of veterans and their families across the United States. Since 2011, the Foundation has enhanced nearly 40,000 veteran homes and facili-ties in more than 2,500 cities. 

“Our veterans have sacrificed so we can have our freedom, so it’s a true honor to give back to them,” said Shannon Gerber, executive director of The Home Depot Foundation. “We’re fortunate to work with the best nonprofits in the veteran housing space and we’ll continue to partner together to serve those who have served us all.”  

About The Home Depot Foundation 

The Home Depot Foundation works to improve the homes and lives of U.S. veterans, train skilled tradespeople to fill the labor gap and support communities impacted by natural disasters.

Since 2011, the Foundation has invested a quarter of a billion dollars in veteran-related causes and improved more than 40,000 veteran homes and facilities in 2,500 cities. In 2018, the Foundation committed an additional $50 million dollars to train 20,000 skilled tradespeople over the next 10 years starting with separating military members and veterans, at-risk youth and members of the Atlanta Westside community. To learn more about The Home Depot Foundation and see Team Depot in action, visit thd.co/community and follow us on Snapchat, Twitter and Instagram@teamdepot and on Facebook at facebook.com/teamdepot.

Why would Navy SEALs use drugs?

Navy: SEALs Tested Positive for Illicit DrugsAssociated PressMay 4, 2018

Navy official tells The Associated Press that cocaine is the drug found in Navy SEALs in Virginia.

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) — The Navy says members of its SEAL teams have tested positive for illegal drugs.

The Navy released a statement Friday saying 11 members of its Naval Special Warfare units on the East Coast tested positive for "controlled substances."

According to a Navy official, the drug was cocaine, and commanders are investigating to determine if all the alleged offenses happened at the same place and time. go here for more

US Special Forces struggle with record suicides, report from 2014

Ret. Admiral William McRaven
No one – not the top warrior nor the highest star admiral - is immune to war’s toll.

“Ever since I’ve come back it’s been like that,” McRaven said later, during a brief interview. “I’ve told one story a dozen times and I still can’t get through it.” from 2015

There are a lot more report here, but, I think you get the point. If SEALs are using drugs, there has to be a reason for it.

Con-Man claimed to be Firefighter on 9-11

Con Man Outed after Claiming to be Ground Zero FF
Palm Beach Post
ELIOT KLEINBERG
MAY 4, 2018

Fairfield Fire Department Deputy Chief Kyran Dunn told The Palm Beach Post this week the agency has no record of Shapiro working there. A photo provided to The Post shows Shapiro wearing a yellow helmet that says "Fairfield Fire Department" with a 4-digit number, his name and "lieutenant." Shapiro's Facebook page has a close-up of the helmet.

PALM BEACH COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE Steven Shapiro.

May 04--WEST PALM BEACH, FL -- When Don Prince saw a news story about Steven Shapiro being arrested on charges of credit-card theft, he recognized him right away. Prince co-founded a substance-abuse treatment center for first responders. Shapiro, he said, worked there for a while. And told people he was a fire lieutenant in Connecticut and had been at ground zero on Sept. 11. 2001.

By all accounts, he wasn't. And he hadn't.

Such hoaxes are rare, but Prince says he and his colleagues have no patience for them.

"There were 343 firefighters who died that day," he said. "And it hits every one of us directly in the heart."

Shapiro, 56, had been booked April 16 on charges he used credit cards he found in the Delray Beach home of a woman from whom he rented a room to buy $1,823 worth of items, including a television.
read more here

No reporter serves on military suicide watch?

UPDATE

U.S. Army Secretary Mark Esper said reducing suicides in the Army is a priority, and he and his staff are working to study and resolve problems leading to them.After spending the day at Fort Riley speaking with soldiers and their families, Esper spoke with The Mercury Friday afternoon.

How long are we going to hear the same claim while they change absolutely nothing!

When will reporters tell us the truth?
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
May 5, 2018

Why are reporters ignoring the data on military suicides? That is a question we've been wondering about for over a decade, yet, there has been absolutely no answer.

The Department of Defense responds when suicide reports come out, and reporters being what they are, settle for what they are told. They say "most have not been deployed" but then never have to explain how they were supposed to be trained to prevent suicides. If the training did not work for non-deployed, how did they expect it to work for those sent to risk their lives in combat?

No one seems to wonder how it is that when the number of men and women serving in the military has gone down, the number of men and women serving in the military committing suicide remains close to 500 per year.

Active Duty Decreased

That chart shows how the DOD reduced force size.

This chart shows the number of suicides between 2013 and 2015

2013 254 Active, 220 "Reserve Components" Total 474
2014 273 Active, 170  "Reserve Components" Total 443
2015 266 Active, 209 "Reserve Components" Total 475

2016 280 Active, 202 "Reserve Components" Total 482
2017 285 Active, 219 "Reserve Components" Total 504

Congress started to hold hearings and passed bills with their names on it back to 2007. No reporter has bothered to ask then to account for the loss of life increasing at the same time the numbers of those serving decreased.

No reporter has asked the Department of Defense to account for any of this after they implemented mandatory "prevention" training after spending millions on funding programs that did not work.

No reporter has tied that training to the increase of suicides in the younger veterans population after they survived combat and had this training.

No reporter has tied the report of suicides from the VA to the decrease in the number of veterans living in the country while the numbers they know of remained about the same.

The simple truth is, when we say we value the "free press" that should never equate to them being free from responsible reporting.

Had they been paying attention to all the facts, all along, how many lives could have been saved because the American public had the facts? Do you think all the "awareness" raisers out there would have gotten away with using a number that is not even close to real if reporters paid attention?

In April of 2007, I wondered why we had a non-caring media about the non-combat deaths.

When I was searching for reports on suicides it became apparent that more were dying because they served than from combat itself. Why am I still asking the same question?

Camp Lejeune Marines Comp Benefits in hands of convicted felon?

Dr. who cheated government on taxes helps decide which Camp Lejeune Marines get benefits
WFLA
By: Steve Andrews
Updated: May 04, 2018

HOMOSASSA, Fla. (WFLA) - A Florida doctor, convicted of cheating the government, is now working with the Department of Veterans Affairs, helping to determine if sick and dying Marines deserve benefits.

Dr. Sheila Mohammed, from the Pensacola area, pleaded guilty to seven counts of tax fraud in 2015. A federal judge sent her to prison. Dr. Mohammed was also placed on supervised release for two years.

She is now reviewing medical records of veterans exposed to toxic water at Camp Lejeune for the VA.

"The idea of a convicted felon reviewing a veteran's claim. I mean, I'm just at a loss for words," said Mike Partain, a Camp Lejeune survivor and spokesman for The Few, The Proud, The Forgotten, a Camp Lejeune support group.

Over the course of decades, nearly one million Marines, sailors, their families and civilian employees unknowingly drank, cooked and bathed in contaminated water at Camp Lejeune.

The water contained four known cancer causing chemicals, creating a health disaster.

Mike Partain was conceived and born at Camp Lejeune. He developed breast cancer.
read more here

Iraq Veteran shows suicide issue "too big to ignore"

Tulsa veteran creates mural to discuss suicide, an issue 'too big to ignore'
Tulsa World
By Reece Ristau
13 hrs ago

“I want people to know that these real heavy emotions are (OK),” Butts said Friday morning. “You can talk to people about it. You don’t have to be scared of it. When you take off your mask and I take off my mask, it’s, ‘Oh, you’ve got stuff, too.’ We all have stuff.”

As a chaplain’s assistant during the Iraq War, Josh Butts tended to the emotional health of his battalion members, some of whom have since died by suicide.

As a graphic designer in Tulsa, Butts is now using art to bring awareness to the scope of that public health issue.

On Friday, Butts used chalk to create an elaborate mural of an airliner. The mural, called “Too Big to Ignore,” comprises phrases used by those affected by suicide and images representing the pain of such loss. Drawn on the side of the Hardesty Arts Center (AHHA) in the Tulsa Arts District, the airplane represents the 123 people who die in the United States each day by suicide.
read more here

Running for office, running from history?

Veteran running for office runs from history
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
May 5, 2018


Kevin Nicholson is running for the Senate in Wisconsin. He's a veteran. The problem is, he seems to have forgotten what this country actually means to the "Democrats" he served with, as well as the other citizens of this country. 

I stay out of politics because I do not think any of them have actually lived up to their promises to our veterans, especially after getting their votes for the simple reason they are also a veteran. 

Considering veterans have had to protest the way this country repaid them after war since the Revolution itself, things need to be said. The following should be a glowing example of someone thinking history is something that only began when he decided to pay attention to it. This is what the man thinks.

The letter from the veterans, all of whom support Vukmir, came a day after Nicholson, in a radio interview, questioned the “cognitive thought process” of Democratic military veterans. Nicholson also said the Democratic Party had “wholesale rejected the Constitution and the values that it was founded upon.”

Nicholson, whose campaign slogan is “Send in the Marine,” refused to back down or apologize, telling supporters in an email Thursday that “liberals can try to twist this all they want, but I stand by what I said: The Democrat Party has LONG lied to vets.”

Between my husband and I, we have had 7 WWII veterans and 1 KIA (and he was a 19 year old Marine), 1 Korean War veteran, 2 Vietnam veterans. Sorry so few, but considering we are only second generation American. All of them were Democrats! I am standing up for them against what a flat out lie this is. Guess he does not know that the majority of voters are registered Independents.

It was not a Democrat who betrayed senior veterans and wanted to cut their benefits because they were too old to work and no longer needed to receive the permanent and total disability compensation they were promised. That was a Republican.

It was not a Democrat who thought that cutting the VA budget after staring 2 wars was not just OK, but allowed his Secretary of the VA, (also with the same last name) to return money, unspent, because he believed they'd only need dental appointments. And was not a Democrat who thought a budget shortfall was OK.

It was not a Democrat who sent men and women into 2 foreign countries to risk their lives without making sure the VA was ready to "care for him/her" afterwards.

As for the veterans being neglected, then you would have to factor in both parties, since neither party has managed to live up to the debt owed to our veterans. Both sides have lied to veterans!

We had a backlog of claims before OEF and OIF veterans had to get in line. We had long waits to have claims approved for disabled veterans unable to pay their bills because they were unable to work in the civilian world. We had veterans committing suicide, ending up homeless and suffering long before Twitter and Facebook.

History does not begin when someone acknowledges it "is" but some pretend it does. When a person seeks office, it is usually very telling about how they will lead because of how little they learned as to how the mess they say they can fix, got that way in the first place.

Kevin Nicholson did not just slam Democrats he seems to hate. He slammed all those who came before him because, apparently they just do not merit the same respect as his side of the divide. He served next to others without putting politics above their lives. Why can't he remember that?

PTSD Battle Giving up is not an option

Giving up is not an option
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
May 3, 2018

Trying to explain why I do what still do after 36 years, gets frustrating. It is not about any kind of reward that you can see. Money? Hell no! If it was about money I would have quit a long time ago. It is for sure I wouldn't be getting up at 4:00 am to go to a job where I get paid to work.

It isn't about fame. It took 10 years to break 3 million hits, and that is with almost 29,000 posts. I have three books hardly no one reads. There are over 300 videos on my Youtube channel, that get so few hits, they do not even merit mentioning. 

So why do I do it? Why spend so much time doing this? Because the rewards cannot be replaced by anything.

When I see a veteran taking back his life from PTSD and then spreading the hope out to all who will listen, that is worth every second. 

When I see the truth suddenly taking over slogans of misery, that is vindication of my work.

That happened today. Quite a shocker on top of it. I was getting ready to slam another news report on the nausiating fictional number of "22" when I came across something that made me glad I had stopped to read it.

22 Warriors Foundation a resource for veterans and first responders
Las Vegas Sun
May 3, 2018

WADE VANDERVORT
22 Warriors Foundation Chairman Bill Emmel, left, his service dog Ranger and Vice Chairman Dave Austin in their office. 22 Warriors Foundation is a veteran-founded, -operated and -governed nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating veteran suicides.

When and why was it established? A 2011 survey reported that 22 veterans commit suicide daily—this is where the name 22 Warriors Foundation came from—however the number is wrong and extremely low. This survey only included 21 states—California was not one of them—and it did not include alcohol and drug overdose deaths, homeless and unidentified veterans who commit suicide, less-than-honorably discharged veterans and older generations. read more here

And that is when I smiled. They actually paid attention to what was in the report, as well as what was not in it.

The simple fact out of the veterans the VA does know about, 65% of the veterans committing suicide are over the age of 50, that is the group I tend to focus on the most. After all, they are the ones who started all of what I do. Giving up was and still is not an option.

I fell in love with a Vietnam veteran and the rest, they say, is history. We saw it all. We saw what it was like when no one wanted to hear what they had to say, yet they had to stop and pay attention to what PTSD was because giving up was not an option.

For most researchers I learned from, giving up was not an option. Most of them are long gone and you'll never know how much they invested in finding a way to help veterans heal. They did not want fame. They just wanted to make a difference and if they are no longer doing it, old age had more to do with stopping the work. Giving up was not an option for them.

Over and over again, after all these years, I have been blessed with more than you, or anyone else will ever know. It with words of encouragement when I needed to hear them the most. 

More so, it came when I was ready to give up so many times and then faced the fact that if I do, I would not be able to live with myself if I did. It is not just "something I do" because it has become a part of who I am.

Do not let what is hard to do, stop you from doing the right thing, for the right reason. Giving up should not be an option for you either!

Mefloquine raises ugly head again

Mefloquine or Medusa and where is Perseus?

Veterans allege devastating side effects from anti-malaria drug they were ordered to take
WHAS ABC 11 News
Author: Andrea McCarren
May 3, 2018

More than a million Americans are believed to have taken the anti-malaria drug called mefloquine. But veterans, former Peace Corps volunteers, government employees and world travelers say they've suffered acute side effects that are getting progressively worse.

For decades, the Department of Defense ordered tens of thousands of American service members to take a drug intended to prevent malaria, a mosquito-borne disease that can kill. And now, veterans, former Peace Corps volunteers, federal employees and world travelers believe mefloquine caused some acute psychiatric and physical conditions that they say are getting progressively worse.

Mefloquine was sold under the brand name Lariam until its manufacturer stopped producing the drug in 2008. Generic versions are still available in the United States, but only by prescription. Common side effects attributed to the drug include paranoia, anxiety, depression and neurological issues, including vertigo and tinnitus, which is the perception of noise or ringing in the ears.

"We have a hidden epidemic of veterans who are suffering the chronic neuropsychiatric effects of mefloquine poisoning," said Dr. Remington Nevin, widely considered the world's expert in the potential side effects of mefloquine. "And in many cases, they’re being misdiagnosed. Misdiagnosed with conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder."
read more here


We have been reading about this since 2008. Why are we still reading about it now?
VA issued a warning about Lariam in 2004. By 2012 after Staff Sgt. Robert Bales shot 17 in Afghanistan, later found guilty, the military "scrambled" to limit it. By 2013, the Green Berets and other Special Forces units stopped using it.

BY 2015, reports were coming out from Australia and a veteran said, "At various times it was like living in a heavily armed lunatic asylum" after taking it. In 2017, Canada was also faced with problems. 

So why after all these years are we still talking about it and who is responsible for what it did to the men and women the military gave it to?

MDMA, a psychedelic drug better known as ecstasy...again

Is there a researcher at the New York Times? If there is, please show reporters how to do it! It would really be more helpful to make sure that when things are done, and failed, they actually understand it did so for a reason!

First thing to notice, is the date of this article.

The Peace Drug
Washington Post
By Tom Shroder
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, November 25, 2007; Page W12

Post-traumatic stress disorder had destroyed Donna Kilgore's life. Then experimental therapy with MDMA, a psychedelic drug better known as ecstasy, showed her a way out. Was it a fluke -- or the future?

THE BED IS TILTING!

Or the couch, or whatever. A futon. Slanted.

She hadn't noticed it before, but now she can't stop noticing. Like the princess and the pea.

By objective measure, the tilt is negligible, a fraction of an inch, but she can't be fooled by appearances, not with the sleep mask on. In her inner darkness, the slight tilt magnifies, and suddenly she feels as if she might slide off, and that idea makes her giggle.

"I feel really, really weird," she says. "Crooked!"

Donna Kilgore laughs, a high-pitched sound that contains both thrill and anxiety. That she feels anything at all, anything other than the weighty, oppressive numbness that has filled her for 11 years, is enough in itself to make her giddy.

But there is something more at work inside her, something growing from the little white capsule she swallowed just minutes ago. She's subject No. 1 in a historic experiment, the first U.S. government-sanctioned research in two decades into the potential of psychedelic drugs to treat psychiatric disorders. This 2004 session in the office of a Charleston, S.C., psychiatrist is being recorded on audiocassettes, which Donna will later hand to a journalist.
read more here

Then consider all the years beyond that article on this drug, and all the years between then and now. What do we arrive at?

Almost the same article 11 years later on the New York Times!

Ecstasy as a Remedy for PTSD? You Probably Have Some Questions.
New York Times
By Dave Philipps
May 1, 2018

The drug known by the street names Ecstasy or Molly could be a promising treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a new study.

Research published Tuesday in the British journal The Lancet Psychiatry found that after two sessions of psychotherapy with the party drug, officially known as MDMA, a majority of 26 combat veterans and first-responders with chronic PTSD who had not been helped by traditional methods saw dramatic decreases in symptoms.

The improvements were so dramatic that 68 percent of the patients no longer met the clinical criteria for PTSD. Patients taking the drug also experienced “drastic” improvements in sleep and became more conscientious, according to the study.
read more here

Marine veteran ran to help rollover victim

Marine veteran helps I-25 rollover victim
NBC 9 News
Author: Jennifer Meckles
May 1, 2018

“The Marines, they teach you to stay calm. And in a situation like this, that’s the number one, most important thing – you’re not thinking straight unless you’re calm.”

On Tuesday morning, Ryan Erwin was in a meeting at work when he and his colleagues heard a crash outside their office at Metro Construction near downtown Denver. Looking across Interstate 25, they could see the aftermath.

“I looked over the highway and I saw a truck on its side,” Erwin said. “I just kind of jumped into that first response, which is, you better go make sure everybody’s OK!”

Erwin ran across the interstate to the scene of the crash. He found a truck on its side, and the driver trying to climb out. Several other people were gathering around also trying to help.

“At that point, [the driver] was halfway out, crawling out the top," Erwin explained. "I helped him to the ground, I asked him some questions to make sure he was coherent, that he didn’t have any head injuries. and he seemed ok – but you never, know.”

“I remember he took my face,” said Steve Holden, the driver.

He said Erwin gave him directions and took control of the situation until first responders arrived.
read more here

At least 5 dead after Air National Guard plane crashed in Gerogia

Deadly military plane crash on Savannah, Georgia, road - live updates
CBS News
May 2, 2018

SAVANNAH, Ga. -- An Air National Guard C-130 cargo plane on a training mission crashed Wednesday along a road near a Georgia airport, killing at least five National Guard members from Puerto Rico, authorities said. Black smoke rose into the sky from a section of the plane that appeared to have crashed into a median on the road.

Firefighters later put out the blaze.

Capt. Jeff Bezore, a spokesman for the Georgia Air National Guard's 165th Air Wing, said the crash killed at least five people. He said he couldn't say how many people in total were on the plane when it crashed around 11:30 a.m.

Bezore said in a statement that the identities of those on the plane would be released upon notification of their next of kin.

The Air Force said the plane belonged to the 156th Air Wing out of Puerto Rico, and Puerto Rico National Guard Spokesman Maj. Paul Dahlen told The Associated Press that all those aboard were Puerto Ricans who had recently left the U.S. territory for a mission on the U.S. mainland.
read more here

1.3 million wrongly charged veterans eligible for refunds

VA payments to wrongly charged veterans begin; Up to 1.3 million veterans eligible
Cherokee Tribune and Ledger News
Thomas Hartwell
May 1, 2018

According to Jim Lindenmayer, director of the Cherokee County Homeless Veterans Program and American Legion 9th District service officer, at least 750,000 veterans who received emergency care from non-VA medical centers and were billed through Medicare Part A or other insurance programs are eligible for reimbursement. He said there may be up to 1.3 million veterans affected by the Staab case going back several years.

BALL GROUND – After a three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims ruled unanimously last year that the Department of Veterans Affairs wrongly charged VA-enrolled veterans millions in emergency medical bills, the government entity has begun to pay partial claims. Local veteran advocates say there are many Cherokee veterans who could be eligible for reimbursement.

The VA lost its fight in the Staab vs. Shulkin case (originally filed as Staab vs. McDonald) in April 2016. Air Force veteran Richard Staab served from 1952-1956 and was forced to use non-VA emergency care in 2010 when he had a heart attack and underwent open heart surgery. Medicare covered a portion of his $48,000 bill, but the VA medical center in St. Cloud, Minnesota denied his request for the reimbursement of the remainder. Staab filed a notice of disagreement in May 2012.

Until January the appeals court decision benefitted only Staab, but the VA has since revised a rule that allows payment of hundreds of thousands of claims like Staab’s.
read more here

Airman Reddit and saved suicidal "brother"

Airman intervenes after Reddit post, saves life of suicidal Air Force member
STARS AND STRIPES
By CHAD GARLAND
Published: May 1, 2018

In Georgia, the airman’s spouse and command thanked Woomer and Collins for intervening. Had they not stepped in, officials said, the airman could have left behind a spouse and two children under the age of 10.

Telephone number of the Veteran's Crisis Line is shown on this tag. The intervention of a rookie Office of Special Investigations officer on Reddit last week may have saved an airman's life.
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY ZACHARY HADA/U.S. AIR FORCE

Online commenters worried about privacy might not like the idea of special agents among readers in online forums, but last week an Office of Special Investigations rookie on Reddit may have saved a fellow airman’s life after noticing signs of distress in a message board frequented by airmen.

On the social media site’s section for the Air Force, Senior Airman Charles Woomer noticed a subtle cry for help among posts complaining about LeaveWeb and inquiring about making the transition to the Guard and Reserve. Others did, too, according to an OSI statement issued Friday, but Woomer took action.

A poster asked how his group life insurance policy would pay out if “something” happened before he separated from the military. The person — he would turn out to be a suicidal husband and father — wanted to make sure his family would be comfortable.

Woomer, a special agent with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations Detachment 322 at Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash., was one of several “Redditors” who noticed a worrisome tone in the post. He notified his leadership, and with guidance from Senior Airman Justin Collins, he contacted officials with Reddit and Google to identify the original poster.

“These people literally saved my life this week,” wrote the user, who goes by the handle psychopete. “Today I scheduled myself for therapy and I’m active in an online support group at least until my first session. I won the battle and I’m prepped for war. I’m gonna make it.”
read more here

Officer Andre Jenkins sent the last "10-7" after 30 years

See tearful moment Florida officer signs off for retirement after 30 years
ABC News
By KARMA ALLEN
Apr 30, 2018

The cameras were rolling over the weekend as a veteran Florida police officer broke into tears while finishing the last patrol before his retirement.

Officer Andre Jenkins, a 30-year veteran with the Sarasota Police Department in central Florida, got emotional on Saturday as he sent the last "10-7," out of service message, of his long career in law enforcement, according to video released by the department.

“This will be my last transmission on the radio,” Jenkins says, while sitting in the driver’s seat of a police cruiser. “I’d like to thank all my SPD family for the last 30 years of being by my side.
read more here

Veteran sits in jail, instead of getting help he sought from VA?

First, weapons are not allowed on VA property. Do not try to take them with you. The veteran in the following report pulled out a knife and a security guard shot him.

The biggest thing to take away from this report is for all the "help" out there, it is mostly too little, too late, because no one cared enough to make sure veterans did not find coming home, harder than combat.

None of this is new and that is the most depressing part of all. Anyone in Congress have an answer for what they failed to do, or are they still too busy talking about sending our veterans into the same mess everyone else has to settle for?

This is what mental health is like for civilians in crisis.

A viral video from Baltimore is drawing attention to a crisis that's unfolding in emergency rooms across the country: Surging numbers of patients with psychiatric conditions aren't receiving the care they need.
On a cold night in January, a man walking by a downtown Baltimore hospital saw something that shocked him. He started recording the incident on his phone.
Imamu Baraka's video, which has been viewed more than 3 million times, shows security guards walking away from a bus stop next to the emergency room of University of Maryland Medical Center Midtown Campus.

And now what happened to the veteran who sits in jail.

Father of Army vet shot at Oregon VA clinic feels betrayed
ASSOCIATED PRESS SALEM, Ore.
By ANDREW SELSKY
Apr 30, 2018

Brent Brooks, who served with Negrete in the 10th Mountain Division, said he was a "really driven, goal-oriented" soldier. Their unit maintained Kiowa helicopters and sometimes came under mortar fire. In Afghanistan, their second deployment, a mortar round tore apart a wooden shack 20 yards (meters) from their own, wounding all the soldiers inside, Brooks said.

In this undated photo provided by Alyss Negrete, she poses with her with husband, Gilbert "Matt" Negrete and their children, from left, Aubree, Mya and Camren. Negrete, an Army veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, is in jail awaiting trial for attempted assault and other crimes after he allegedly pulled a knife during an altercation with veteran clinic staffers in January 2018, in White City, Ore. (Courtesy of Alyss Negrete via AP)

The father of a veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder who was shot at a government clinic in Oregon blames Veterans Affairs for letting down his son.

Gilbert "Matt" Negrete, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, is in jail in the former timber town of Medford, charged with attempted assault and other crimes after he allegedly displayed a knife during a confrontation at the VA clinic in nearby White City on Jan. 25. A VA guard shot him in the chest.

"First they shoot him, now they're gonna try to put him away," his father, Gilbert Negrete, told The Associated Press in a Facebook message. "You would think they would have some concern about us. My son needs help not prison."
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Vietnam Veterans Wall Permanently in Kentucky?

Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall officially opens in Elizabethtown
WDRB News
By Fallon Gli
Apr 28, 2018

The permanent wall, which was built by veterans themselves, was years in the making.

ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. (WDRB) – A near replica of the original Vietnam Veteran's Memorial is officially complete in Elizabethtown and opened to the public on Saturday. Those who served in the Vietnam War say this local memorial is now a place of healing.

The more than 58,000 names carved into the black stone each have a story.

“I was a medic and unfortunately there were a couple that I couldn't save,” veteran Richard Uhler said. “And they're listed on this wall.”

This Vietnam Veteran's Memorial Wall is 360-feet long, an 80 percent scale of the one in Washington D.C. Now fully finished at Veteran's Tribute Park in Elizabethtown, the men’s and women’s names represent the cost of soldiers left on the battlefield and the impact on those left behind.

“I've found some guys that I knew that I flew with, some that I kind of lived with in basic training ... sometimes it's just really hard to recognize, like someone said, that you got to come home and they didn't,” veteran Bradley Burkholder said.

For many who proudly donned their veteran hats, they remember the war like it was yesterday. Some took a knee to get an up close look at the names that weigh heavy on their hearts.

“It did bring a tear to the eye, that's right,” Uhler said.
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VA Clinics not always what you think they are

First question should be, is this a VA run clinic or is it a contractor run clinic? You know, like maybe something like this...

VA officials say the possible expiration of a contract with a medical clinic in Ely would not cause a hardship for veterans there, but two members of Nevada’s congressional delegation want to be sure.

U.S. Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., and Rep. Ruben Kihuen, D-Nev., both expressed concerns last week that the possible decision by the Veterans Affairs Salt Lake City Health Care System not to renew the contract with the William Bee Ririe Hospital and Rural Health Clinic in Ely could adversely impact the 230 veterans who receive care there.

VA hospital launches inquiry after tweets from veteran's dad about 'unsanitary' room
Deseret News
Ben Lockhart
Published: April 28, 2018

Christopher Wilson said he was in the room for an appointment on April 5 to get 18 injections in his ankle and surrounding area, and worried about the appearance of the room, which he said "felt unsanitary." The ankle was being treated in relation to a service injury he suffered while serving in Iraq, according to his father.

Pictured is a patient room at the George E. Wahlen Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Salt Lake City that Army veteran Christopher Wilson says he encountered during a visit on April 5, 2018.

SALT LAKE CITY — After the father of a U.S. Army veteran tweeted photos of an unkempt patient room at a Veterans Affairs clinic in Salt Lake, igniting angry reactions on social media, a top administrator there said the facility is investigating why the space was in poor condition.

The tweeted photos showed some medical supplies strewn out on a counter, a bowl containing water and a plaster-like substance sitting mostly full in a sink, and an overflowing garbage can.

"I figured they would say, 'Oh, this room's not clean' and take me somewhere else, but they just kind of blew past it, didn't acknowledge it," said Christopher Wilson, who spent six years in the Army and was deployed to Iraq twice. "They're doctors, right? So I figure one of them was going to say 'Let's go somewhere else' or 'Give us a minute to clean it,' but nothing."
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