Shaw Air Force Base female Airman found dead

30-year-old airman from Shaw Air Force base found dead in hotel
by ABC News 4
May 21st 2018

Sumter, S.C. (WCIV) — An airman at Shaw Air Force base was found dead this weekend at an off-base hotel.

The incident remains under investigation by the Sumter County Sheriff's Office.

Monika Carillo, 30, Airman 1st Class, assigned to the 20th Component Maintenance Squadron (CMS) at Shaw Air Force Base, was found dead on Saturday at approximately 10 p.m., according to the public affairs department with the United States Air Force.

She was an electronic warfare section team member who served in the Air Force since Sep. 12, 2017.
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Iraq Kevin Williams lost his battle with PTSD

Basildon Iraq War veteran with PTSD killed himself
BBC
May 21, 2018

While serving in the Green Jackets Mr Williams had met the Queen

A former soldier deployed to Iraq on his 18th birthday killed himself after a long battle with post traumatic stress disorder, an inquest has found.

The body of Kevin Williams, 29, was discovered by police at his home in Basildon, Essex, in March.

Essex coroner Caroline Beasley-Murray, said Mr Williams left the army seven years earlier and had found it difficult to adapt to civilian life.

The inquest in Chelmsford found that Mr Williams had taken his own life.
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Yoga group helping domestic survivors of violence

Personal note to readers: As a survivor of domestic abuse, 2X, it is good to see something like this.

A non-profit is trying to do something to help the survivors.

"In response, Bilyana created Tough As Milk, a nonprofit named after her mother, Milka, which offers free trauma-informed yoga classes in Cleveland to survivors of domestic abuse."

My Dad was a violent alcoholic until I was 13. I was not his target. My Mom and oldest brother were. I was the target of my ex-husband, when he came home from work one night, and decided I needed to die. 

I faced death a lot of times, but while every experience changed me, I survived with pieces of all of it effecting how I live my life. It all helps me understand the veterans I work with.

They cannot understand anything I went through, just as I cannot understand what they lived through in combat. We can, however, understand what it all did to us, and we help each other heal.

It is one of the reasons I started PTSD Patrol. We could not control what happened to us, but we do control what we do every day after it. 

Iraq veteran's therapy dog mauled to death in Georgia

Decatur Iraq Vet Mourning Mauled Therapy Dog
Patch.com
By Doug Gross, Patch Staff
May 21, 2018

A group that provides service dogs for veterans wants to offer a new dog for a woman who fought stray dogs that killed her Ms. Pooh.

DECATUR, GA — A veteran of the war in Iraq now living in DeKalb County is hoping authorities will find the stray dogs she says mauled to death her therapy support dog.

WSB-TV reports that Cherice Jackson was walking with Ms. Pooh — her therapy dog which was being reviewed in order to become her official support animal — in Decatur on Friday morning when they were attacked by two stray dogs she thinks were pit bulls.

She fought back, but the tiny dog couldn't be saved.

"I spent probably 20, 30 minutes trying to wrestle her from him," Jackson told WSB's Justin Wilfon. "It's probably the worst thing I've ever seen. I felt like I couldn't do anything. I feel like I failed her."
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PTSD veterans with service dogs need to pay attention

This is our dog Murray. He is not a service dog. He is a lot of things, but he has not bee trained to be a service dog.

As much as I love taking him places with us, I need to understand that there are others afraid of him. After all, his head is up to my hip. Yep, a big boy! That thing behind him is a tile cutter, so you can judge his size.

Ok, that said, this is from the ADA

Q4. If someone's dog calms them when having an anxiety attack, does this qualify it as a service animal?

A. It depends. The ADA makes a distinction between psychiatric service animals and emotional support animals. If the dog has been trained to sense that an anxiety attack is about to happen and take a specific action to help avoid the attack or lessen its impact, that would qualify as a service animal. However, if the dog's mere presence provides comfort, that would not be considered a service animal under the ADA.

Q5. Does the ADA require service animals to be professionally trained?

A. No. People with disabilities have the right to train the dog themselves and are not required to use a professional service dog training program.

Q6. Are service-animals-in-training considered service animals under the ADA?

A. No. Under the ADA, the dog must already be trained before it can be taken into public places. However, some State or local laws cover animals that are still in training.

The law is not very clear and there needs to be a lot more members of Congress-State and Federal-to get this right, make it clear and make sure there are penalties for people just wanting to "fake service dog" giving real ones a bad reputation. Want to lose your rights? That is the surest way it will happen.

This is your right and your obligation.

Ohio veteran cited for bringing his service dog to VA hospital
By: NBC4 Staff
Updated: May 20, 2018

CINCINNATI (WCMH) - A military veteran in Ohio has a service dog to help him deal with his PTSD, but the vet got in legal trouble when he brought the dog with him to a VA hospital.

Brandon Rimmer calls his 4-month-old lab Old Glory his service dog for post-traumatic stress disorder.

"The dog is a medical necessity. I'm covered by the ADA," he said.

Rimmer was a K-9 handler in the Air Force. He served two combat tours in explosive detection.

"You can't adjust back to civilian life. You can't explain it unless you've experienced it."

When Rimmer was admitted to the Cincinnati VA hospital for tests Wednesday, Old Glory went with him.

But, that resulted in the VA Police issuing a citation to federal court.

"My PTSD service dog, it's not recognized by the VA," he said. "It's recognized by the ADA, but it's not recognized by the VA. So, I'm in violation of federal law."

Cincinnati VA police chief David Bartos told WCPO he believes the dog is a puppy, not a service animal trained to perform tasks for the disabled.

"Emotional support is not a task," Bartos said, citing national VA guidelines.

That's where things get confusing. ADA guidelines say a service animal can be used to calm people with PTSD.

Different federal agencies have differing regulations.
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Veterans Court turning lives around...and saving them

Court program helps turn troubled vets’ lives around
Group State
By Bob Montgomery
Staff Writer
Posted May 19, 2018

Marine veteran Jason Moore has seen what war can do to a young soldier, and he’s committed to helping those in trouble with the law turn their lives around.

“You’re taking a guy with a hiccup and giving him a second chance,” he said of Upstate Warrior Solution’s Veterans Treatment Court program, which kicked off last year with a $20,000 grant from the United Way of the Piedmont.

With the victims’ consent, the court program assigns veterans who commit nonviolent offenses to an advocate, or mentor, who pleads on their behalf.

Instead of going to jail, they go through a treatment program and are held accountable along the way. When they finish, up to a year later, they have their charges expunged.

“Veterans who served should never be underserved in our community,” said Heather Witt, vice president of community impact for the United Way.

An estimated 100,000 veterans live in the Upstate. Upstate Warrior Solution also helps run the Greenville court program, which started in 2014.

The pilot program was brought to the 7th Judicial Circuit and led by Deputy Solicitor Derrick Bulsa and Circuit Court Judge Keith Kelly.
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Told he may not walk again, disabled veteran races

Iraq veteran overcomes war injury to race in Wilmington Grand Prix
WHYY
ByMark Eichmann
May 18, 2018

“The doctors of course were trying to figure out what’s going on, they’re telling me, ‘Just be prepared to never walk or run again, you’re probably looking at a career-ending type of injury.’ And that was really hard to digest,” Tibbits said.

His bike tires slipped as Brian Tibbits made a practice run up the steep, cobblestoned incline of Wilmington’s Monkey Hill Friday morning. After a week of rain and a forecast for more storms this weekend, Tibbits said he expects the weather to offer a more challenging race course than usual.

“I just don’t feel like I’m going to push it as hard and as fast as I can … I just want to stay safe,” he said after assessing the conditions.

But even riding his bike — let alone riding competitively — is something Tibbits’s doctors thought he might never do.

He had just become a Wilmington Police officer when he was called up to serve in Iraq with the 8th Marine Regiment out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
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Congress does not act while Agent Orange killing veterans, kids and grandkids

Sickened veterans, families, Congress wait on VA to release findings on Agent Orange exposure
WFLA Mews
By: Steve Andrews
Updated: May 18, 2018

HOLIDAY, FLA(WFLA) - For years, the family of Lonnie Kilpatrick suspected Agent Orange sickened not only Lonnie, but his children and grandchildren too.

While stationed in Guam, the Navy veteran, who died earlier this month, was exposed to the toxic herbicide, which the military used throughout the Vietnam war to wipe out jungle vegetation the enemy was hiding in.

"I know my kids they have, this thing that's caused by Agent Orange," Lonnie said in an interview in April. "I got a granddaughter that's already had brain surgery."

"They say it can be passed down for three generations," he added.

Betty Medkeci, the executive director of Birth Defect Research for Children, Inc. thinks its too early to say whether the grandchildren of veterans exposed to Agent Orange are experiencing health issues. It is her contention that neither the Department of Veterans Affairs nor private industry really wants to go there.

"We don't know, but we're not going to find out unless we do the research," Ms. Medkeci said.

Congress is still waiting to hear from the Department of Veterans Affairs whether birth defects and other health concerns showing up in the children and grandchildren of veterans are tied to the toxic defoliant.

In 2016, Congress passed legislation directing the V.A. to partner with the National Academy of Medicine "to assess the scientific research regarding descendants of individuals and veterans with toxic exposure," but Medkeci said the department failed to follow through on the directive.
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PTSD Patrol Finding Your Keys

Lost key ring
PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
May 20, 2018

You are ready to go on a journey. You gather up everything you need. Ready to head out the door, you discover your keys are not where you thought they were. Frantically, you search the clothes you had on the day before. You look all over, and then as your heart begins to race, you look again.

When you do not find them, you start to wonder if you left them someplace else. Well, considering you got back home with them, they have to be where you are, but must be hiding.

Sooner or later, you decide it is best to retrace your steps. Best place for that to start is at the beginning...in your car.

You soon discover your keys are still in the ignition.

It is the same as with your life. All too often, we forget to turn the key and turn our imagination on.

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11 New International Version (NIV)

If you spent your time risking your life for others, that desire had to have come from somewhere. Right? After all, it is not "normal" for humans to rush toward danger instead of running from it. It is not what the majority of the other humans do. It is what the people we call heroes do.

Thinking about what it takes to do that, you should also understand that other than courage and a fast thinking brain, you are also equipped with what it takes to heal from doing it.

This weeks empowerment message comes from OEF-OIF veteran helicopter pilot Bob Roebuck served seven full tours. He spent time showing me around to see the huge vehicles at Spikes Tactical  earlier this week. 
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Harry and Meghan pledged to "honor and protect" each other

Harry kept the beard and yes, wore his uniform! 

Markle becomes a princess automatically by marrying Harry. As she was not born a royal, her title as princess becomes her husband's name so she'll formally be known as Her Royal Highness Princess Harry of Wales.

NBC News WINDSOR, England — America has a new princess.
Los Angeles native Meghan Markle joined hands with Britain’s Prince Harry Saturday as they pledged to “honor and protect” each other in marriage after a 15-month romance. They later kissed on the steps outside the chapel.