Veteran got hurt at home, complained VA was too far away?

Here is a bullshit article for you about a veteran getting hurt at home, but complaining about having to drive to the VA hospital hours away instead of going to a local hospital for something that has nothing to do with his disability!

Lack of VA hospital in Jacksonville means long drives for certain types of care

One Friday night Hawkins tripped over a hose that someone left out after watering a tomato garden. The tomatoes were held up by a metal rod; and when he fell, the rod went through his ear. He got the rod out and the bleeding stopped, but it 11:30.“I looked at the time and realized there was no VA [clinic] open, and the closest treatment was either to drive to Lake City or to Gainesville,” Hawkins said.

If he is 100%, and getting his healthcare from the VA, all he had to do was call them, explain the emergency and they would have covered it. That is the way it has worked for a very long time.

So why didn't he get it taken care of at a local hospital?

Hawkins pointed out that the injury to his ear likely wouldn’t have been deemed an emergency by the VA, nor would have the serious cut on this finger he suffered a month or so ago. It too needed stitches, but, again, he went untreated.

In other words, he guessed. 

I've been dealing with the VA and emergencies all my life. My Dad was 100% and my husband is 100%. Before the VA opened in Orlando, we carried private insurance on top of that even though we were told he would have been covered, we did not want to take a chance. 

While the VA does cover all my husband's medical care, they bill out what is not tied to his claim. Before it was our private insurance and now it is Medicare. That leaves many unanswered questions in this article.

Does he have Medicare or any other insurance? He goes to our family doctor too! Why only use the VA for things that have nothing to do with his disability if it is too far to travel? Why didn't he use the Choice program everyone in Congress thinks is so great for our veterans?

One more thing they got wrong on this article is this part.

"Orlando, opened 2015. Current veteran population in metro area: 139,801"

But the news on that is while the groundbreaking was in 2008, it took a while for it to open. 

Hospital representative Michael Strickler said the entire hospital will be open by early 2016. The 134-bed patient tower and emergency department are the last two to open.

So, there you go on lousy reporting once again. Remember, when I screw up reporting something, I do not get paid to do it. They do!

Why do we still suck at suicide prevention?

Stop Raising Harmful Awareness
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
July 7, 2018

What does Combat PTSD Wounded Times stand for?
Combat means to fight and the message we're delivering is, PTSD is a wound and everyone has the ability to fight to heal. Plain and simply. Right? 

Apparently not considering the headlines of news publications from coast to coast continue to push a number of lives they think were lost instead of pushing how to change the outcome.

This is a headline from WTKR

Marine Corps veteran to complete suicide awareness walk
While that may seem like a helpful thing to do, it isn't. It is not because the "number" does not represent reality. The VA did not say it was "22 a day" when we consider the detail of the reports they released since 2012.

The number "22" was taken from limited data from just 21 states. The report cautioned against using it as the definitive outcome of tremendous loss of life far beyond what wars have claimed.

This is what was in the article from WTKR

On average, 22 veterans and active duty personnel take their own life every day. That number is even more staggering when you consider the fact that veterans make up just 7 percent of the population, but account for 20 percent of all suicides in this country, according to the group.

Mindful of the fact that the suicide rate among first responders is also rising, the Virginia Beach Fire Department is once again answering the call for support from END 22.

Well, maybe that is a approbate title of "End 22" since we need to end that conversation. It does not work!

The latest report from the VA has the known number of veterans committing suicide has not changed, even though we lost millions of veterans since 1999 when the known number was also 20 a day. As bad as that is, there are only 22 states tracking the number of veterans in their state committing suicide.

What makes all this worse is that the numbers released from the VA only go up to 2015. What happened to the following three years is anyone's guess. That is the biggest problem of all since too many are "guessing" instead of knowing.

What we do not know is how many are left out of the reports. 

Honorably discharged veterans were considered veterans but when there is anything other than that type of discharge, they are not even considered worth mentioning. Does not seem to matter that many of them had multiple deployments, but were kicked out because of untreated PTSD.

Veterans who moved out of the country are not counted in any of these reports. The list goes on, but basically, you get the idea of what all these "efforts" to raise awareness do not know. All of the reports from the VA also state the vast majority of veterans committing suicide are over the age of 50, yet these men and women have been left out of news reports and all the "awareness" being passed around on social media.

If they are not talking about the reality veterans face on a daily basis, lazy reporters won't report the facts and then the general public, contrary to also held belief, are not on social media, will assume "awareness" shared is all they need to know.

This has turned into a billion dollar industry with results akin to a great advertising campaign for snake oil salesmen hawking their useless cure!

What we do know is that the Department of Defense releases quarterly reports for all branches. Sure, they are a little late of the releasing of the data, but it gives us an idea of what is actually failing, since the numbers have remained consistently averaging 500 a year since 2012.

This shows the numbers of active duty suicides from 2017, along with a chart from 2012.

Since the VA is unable to update their research, we need to consider those numbers as a basis for understanding what is not working so we can stop sucking at preventing suicides.

Social media is robbing veterans and others of the chance to find hope that their next day can be better than this lousy day is!

How do expect the outcome to be changed if we continue to repeat what failed?

In 2013 The Warrior Saw, Suicides After War was published using publicly available data and news reports proving that Congress, the DOD and the VA spent billions, but had nothing to show for any of it. 

Military and veteran suicides are higher even though billions are spent every year trying to prevent them. After years of research most can be connected to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. PTSD has been researched for 40 years yet most of what was known has been forgotten. Families are left blaming themselves for what they were never told. Reporters have failed to research. Congress failed at holding people accountable. The military failed at giving them the help they need. We failed to pay attention.

We paid for it with our taxes, but veterans paid for it with their lives.

We should have changed the conversation that was started back in 2003! That is when I wrote For the Love of Jack, His War/My Battle. Which is still for sale even though the publisher Xlibris was supposed to stop printing it!

and this was the answer back then!

But why should they be different than all the others making money off the suffering that has been going on for decades?

Veterans and families cannot afford lawyers to do a class action lawsuit against the DOD, the VA or the people making money while producing a delusion! 

We're all just supposed to settle for what we are told and they get away with it because no one can afford to sue for wrongful deaths in the thousands any more than I can afford to sue Xlibris! 

Back in 2003 I wanted to warn people about what was coming on PTSD and suicides. I ended up giving the book away for free, considering I was not making money from my work or my life. I am still not making money trying to save lives. Hell, that is what this was supposed to be about! Wasn't it?

VA (DEA) program will be reduced from 45 months to 36 months

Changes coming to Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance program

Department of Veterans Affairs

July 3, 2018

Effective August 1, 2018, the entitlement available under the Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance (DEA) program will be reduced from 45 months to 36 months, but in October, the monthly allowance for eligible recipients will increase.

These changes, part of the Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017, aka “Forever GI Bill,”were passed by Congress last summer.

The DEA program offers education and training opportunities to eligible dependents of Veterans who are permanently and totally disabled due to a service-related condition, or of Veterans who died while on active duty or from a service-related condition.

DEA benefits may be used for degree and certificate programs, apprenticeships and on-the-job training.  Surviving spouses-can use benefits for correspondence courses and remedial, deficiency and some approved refresher courses.

What you need to know now:

• If you’re already taking classes, or will start taking classes by July 31, 2018, you remain eligible for up to 45 months of education entitlement benefits
• Beginning Oct.1, 2018, all students will see a significant increase in the monthly benefit

Eligible DEA recipients will be entitled to a monthly allowance of:

• $1,224 for full-time coursework, compared to $1,041 currently as of Oct. 1, 2017
• $967 for three-quarter time coursework, compared to $780 currently as of Oct. 1, 2017
• $710 for half-time coursework, compared to $519 currently as of Oct. 1, 2017

These increases go into effect Oct. 1, 2018.

To find out more about DEA benefits, please visit the DEA page on our website.

Call us if you have questions!

If you have further questions about your entitlement or eligibility, please call 1–888-GI-BILL-1 (1–888–442–4551). If you use the Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD), the federal number is 711. You can also visit the Forever GI Bill website at FGIB website.

As always, be sure to follow us on Facebook and on Twitter at @VAVetBenefits. These give you quick and helpful updates.

Lawsuit: Sheriff fired Deputy because of PTSD?

Army veteran diagnosed with PTSD sues over firing from sheriff's office
NJ.com
Matt Gray
July 6, 2018

Several of John McMickle's co-workers at the Gloucester County Sheriff's Office visited the U.S. Army veteran as he mourned the death of a friend in February 2017.

While McMickle wasn't a drinker, he had several alcoholic beverages that night and ended up in the hospital.

The events of that evening would eventually lead to his firing, and McMickle has filed a suit claiming the county discriminated against him.

McMickle was honorably discharged in 2006 after serving six tours, according to attorney Kevin Costello, and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder related to his service.

The veteran believes, according to the suit filed in Superior Court, that the county treated him unfairly based on his disability, rather than anything he actually did wrong.

Following his trip to the hospital, a health and welfare check was conducted "and no issues were identified." Despite that finding, McMickle's gun and ammunition were removed from his home, the suit states.
read more here

Call to help Iraq Veteran, left him beaten

Army vet sues St. Tammany sheriff, deputies over alleged beating, possible brain injury
The New Orleans Advocate
BY SARA PAGONES
JUL 6, 2018

On Jan. 21, Cambre posted on social media that he was struggling. When friends began calling him, he didn't answer the phone, prompting someone to call the Pearl River police and request a check on his welfare. Jessica Picasso, a Pearl River officer, and a paramedic with St. Tammany Fire Protection District No. 11 responded to the call, the suit says, and tried to convince Cambre to go to the hospital.

Army veteran Chris Cambre, who says he was beaten by St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's deputies during a welfare check in January, is shown the following day with a facial laceration.
Photo provided by Chris Cambre

Chris Cambre, an Iraq War veteran who claims he was severely beaten by St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office deputies in January, has filed a federal lawsuit claiming his civil rights were violated by excessive use of force and an unauthorized search of his Pearl River home.

The suit, filed Thursday, names Sheriff Randy Smith and five deputies individually. But it also names Smith in his official capacity, alleging he showed deliberate indifference to civil rights by failing to adequately train officers and commanders or discipline them. It also accuses the Sheriff's Office of covering up misconduct.

The suit alleges that the same culture at the Sheriff's Office and such violations existed before Smith took office two years ago.

The situation changed, according to the lawsuit, when the Sheriff's Office sent deputies at the request of Assistant Fire Chief Matt Parrish. A Pearl River incident report, not cited in the lawsuit, says Parrish had instructed a dispatcher to send backup because of Cambre's military training and prior comments he had made about committing "suicide by cop."

When deputies arrived at Cambre's trailer home they had their rifles drawn, the suit says, but they secured them in Picasso's police unit after Cambre showed that he was not armed.

None of the deputies asked Picasso to brief them or asked her if Cambre was being aggressive, the suit alleges.

Cambre was taken to a local hospital by an ambulance, but none of the deputies accompanied him, the suit says, even though Picasso told them she was the only officer on duty in Pearl River that night. 

read more here

UK Veteran paid ultimate price after being redeployed with PTSD

'HE WANTED TO END THE NIGHTMARES' Soldier who fought alongside Prince Harry in Afghanistan hanged himself after clearing explosives ‘without being qualified’
The Sun
By Rob Pattinson and Aletha Adu
5th July 2018

Hunt was deployed to Helmand Province in 2008 and sent back in 2009 despite showing signs of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Warrant Officer Nathan Hunt served with Prince Harry, fifth right, in Afghanistan in 2008

A SOLDIER who hanged himself after fighting alongside Prince Harry cleared explosives in Afghanistan without being qualified, an inquest heard.

Warrant Officer Nathan Hunt, 39, protected the prince and was mentioned in dispatches for saving hundreds of comrades.

Today a Lincoln inquest heard the Royal Engineer had not been properly trained for the nerve-racking combat role and suffered years of nightmares back home.

His ex-wife Lainey Hunt, a Warrant Officer with 32 Engineer Regiment, like her husband, told the hearing: "From 2008 to the day he died Nathan suffered.

"He suffered from nightmares and sleeplessness, and I would see him crying.

"I do believe Nathan wanted to end the nightmares and decided to end his life that night."
read more here

Veteran decided to become homeless veteran to tell their stories

Veteran commits to living in homeless veteran camp for 1 year
NBC News 9
By Jolina Okazaki, Multimedia Journalist
Wednesday, July 4th 2018

"The majority of the veteran suicides we get are Vietnam veterans and a lot of those guys are homeless," said Rodriguez. "The camp I'm going to, there's amputees, wheelchairs, they need help. The only way they can get more help is to tell that story and make sure people here in the country know that exists."

(KWES) -

Last year, we told you about a veteran who passed through the Permian Basin and walked to honor the 22 vets who take their lives every day. Now he's on another mission to be a voice for homeless vets.

Ernesto Rodriguez has always been an advocate to help veterans across the country, especially after dealing with PTSD. He still wants to continue his mission, but this time he's committing to one year with no A/C or roof above his head. 

"I walked across the country last year and I passed through Midland/Odessa area," said Rodriguez. "Anyone who has been in the service is going to pass by the Chris Kyle Memorial and pay their respects."

Rodriguez is heading to Tuscon, Arizona to a homeless camp that takes care of veterans. Rodriguez is joining his brothers and sisters to leave a life of air conditioning and a soft bed in order to live in a tent in the blazing heat.

read more here

VA ID card sponsored by Office Depot?

VA issues long awaited veteran ID card, but it comes with an ad on the back
NCPR
by Bobbie O'Brien (American Homefront)
July 5, 2018

The VA is now mailing identification cards to veterans who want tangible proof that they served in the military. But after waiting almost three years for the new government-issued I.D., some veterans are not happy that the card contains an advertisement.

President Obama signed the law creating the card in July 2015, but it included no funding, so it languished for more than two years. Eventually, the VA struck a partnership deal with Office Depot, in which the retail chain is paying to print and mail the cards.

The company logo appears on the back, along with the taglines, "Saluting you today and every day. Thanks for taking care of business."

That disappoints Air Force veteran Carl Hunsinger, chairman of the Manatee County Veterans Council in Florida. For years, he had lobbied Congress to create the card, because many of the 40,000 vets the council represents have little or no proof of their service.

"A majority of the ones I know are looking for a sign of professionalism. 'Hey, I'm a veteran this is my I.D. card,'" Hunsinger said.
read more here

Veteran with flag forced out of Tides Condominium?

Veteran forced to sell home over display of American flag 
By: NBC News 
Posted: Jul 04, 2018 

SWEETWATER, FL (NBC News) – A Florida Air Force veteran says he was forced to sell his home over a dispute about a small American flag he placed in a flower pot. 

"One day I was thinking about the country and I put a small American flag on my front porch in a flower pot," said Larry Murphree. 

"It's a small flag," said Murphree. "It stands for a big thank you." He says the HOA at the Tides Condominium didn’t agree. "I got a violation letter that stated the American flag was an unauthorized object and for me to take it down," said Murphree. 

"They started fining me up to $1,000 because I wouldn't take the flag down."
read more here

Iraq Veteran getting dream wedding on Veterans Day!

Veteran wins wedding giveaway
Posted by Press Release on July 4th, 2018

Emily Beers and Tyler Thiel of Downingtown are the winners of the Veterans Day Wedding Giveaway sponsored by West Chester’s American Helicopter Museum and Education Center (AHMEC) and John Serock Catering. The free five-hour ceremony and reception for 100 guests on Sunday, November 11, 2018, also boasts contributions by Blue Dog Printing and Design, Schaffer Sound, Matlack Florist, Baiada Photography and Sagets Formal Wear.

Emily Beers and Tyler Thiel of Downingtown win wedding giveaway

“I was certainly surprised and instantly felt overwhelmed with joy and pride,” said Beers when notified that she and her fiancé won. “I am truly thankful for all the local businesses that are contributing to make this day possible for us.”

“Being a veteran means so much to me. I am proud that I served my country,” she continued. “I have PTSD and the thought of planning a wedding is a daunting task. This opportunity makes it possible for me to have an amazing wedding that we will appreciate forever while reducing my stress, which greatly helps with my existing PTSD.”

Beers is a United States Army veteran with eight years’ service, including a tour of duty in Iraq.
read more here