Alene Duerk , Navy's first female Admiral passed away

First Woman Promoted to Navy Admiral Dies at 98
Stars and Stripes
By Corey Dickstein
25 Jul 2018

Following her death, Navy officials described her as a trailblazer for military women and a medical innovator.

WASHINGTON -- The first woman to rise to admiral in the Navy died Saturday, just more than 46 years after her groundbreaking promotion into the ranks of flag officer, the service announced Wednesday.

Retired Rear Adm. Alene Duerk, the first woman to rise to admiral in the U.S. Navy died Saturday, June 21, 2018. (U.S. NAVY)

Retired Rear Adm. Alene Duerk spent her career in the Navy's nursing corps, serving during three major wars and eventually rising to the Navy's top nurse position, according to the Naval History and Heritage Command. She was 98 years old.

Duerk never envisioned making the Navy a career when she entered the service as an ensign in 1941 after graduating from the Toledo Hospital School of Nursing in her native Ohio, she said in a 2016 interview at Bowling Green State University.
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UPDATE: It took time for Time to report this. They just did on July 30!

When the meaning messes up the message

Off topic: Does Walmart know what "ring my bell means?

The lyric "You can ring my bell" was seen as sexually suggestive according to The Slanguage of Sex(1984), "'You can ring my bell any time you want to' would be regarded as a 'come-on' phrase in the US if used by a female," and "Songs like 'Ring My Bell' by Anita Ward caused scarcely a raised eyebrow in the '70s."^[9] Billboard magazine included the song on its list of the 50 sexiest songs of all time.

That is almost as dumb as the Nissan commercial with Mony Mony...and kids on the bus singing about "ride the pony" without knowing what that song meant.

That is part of the problem when someone is trying to get you interested in what they have to sell. 

Same thing with the "suicide awareness" raising going on. They do not know the meaning behind the message either. 

In that case, it should have been about making people aware that tomorrow can be better instead of talking about something they do not understand. All that does it take hope away from them and message has opposite result.

Young veteran helped Vietnam veteran learn exactly what he means to community

Former Marine asks for help to repair fellow veteran's dilapidated home
WMTW ABC 8 News
Victoria Ottomanelli
July 23, 2018

A former Marine asked the community of Fort Smith, Arkansas, to help out a Vietnam veteran in need of a new home.

James "Skip" Hampton has been living in his home in Fort Smith since 1962, but has no physical or financial means to fix the bathroom plagued by mold, install central air conditioning or fix any other issues that make it difficult for him to enjoy a good quality of life in his own home.

Alejandro Cardenas, a former Marine and fellow veteran, found out what Hampton was going through while he was on the job restoring houses. After seeing the state of Hampton's house, Cardenas immediately wanted to do something about it but knew he couldn't do it alone.

When he asked people to donate supplies and volunteer to help work on Hampton's house, hundreds of messages began pouring in from people inside and outside of the local community alike. The original plan was to just fix the bathroom, but with the help of everyone involved, the volunteer team decided to remodel the entire house.
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Family of missing veteran lives changed

Family searches for answers after Army vet with PTSD vanishes
FOX 19 News
By Amber Jayanth, Reporter
July 24th 2018

Since his absence, the family lost their home and Isabella now has to work to help support her mother and other four children.

GREENFIELD, OH (FOX19)
A Greenfield Army veteran has been missing for nearly three months.

Now, his family is desperate for answers and hopes to bring him home.

The family tells us Harold Willis, who goes by the name Henry, lives in Greenfield but works in Hillsboro.

He never made it home May 3.

Melissa Willis just gave birth to her daughter Journey 10 days ago, but there wasn't much of a celebration because her husband and Journey's father and remains missing.

"He would have definitely been there," she said. "He never missed a birthday, never missed a holiday, He was always there. Always provided. He was a really good man."

Her husband of 18 years never would have missed the birth of their child.

Now, each day that he is gone breaks her heart a little bit more.

His oldest daughter, Isabella Willis, said he was last seen leaving his construction job in Hillsboro.

"He said he was coming home from a friend's house and he never made it home that night and he never picked up his check," she said.

Since his absence, the family lost their home and Isabella now has to work to help support her mother and other four children.
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Four fricken decades of PTSD?

Four fricken decades of PTSD and this is the best we got?
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
July 24, 2018

It is very hard to not be in a very bad mood today. We went out for dinner and I had a huge glass of wine. No margarita tonight since I have to get up at 3:45 for work. Hangovers are always bad but way, way too bad at that time.

I came home, feeling a bit more positive than I was before the wine and a great steak dinner at Texas Roadhouse (one of our favorites) until I saw more emails with the same theme we should have eliminated years ago. 

The going trend is the stigma of PTSD is alive and well, while far too many are not.

I read this out of Canada and wondered if it was too early to go to bed. 

Family angry top general rejected stigma as factor in RMC student's suicide on The Canadian Press, JULY 24, 2018

In an interview with The Canadian Press, Kelertas said the version provided to his family specifically identified stigma as a key factor in what happened to Harrison, who died only weeks before he was scheduled to graduate from RMC.

OTTAWA — The father of a Royal Military College student who took his own life says the family is upset that Canada's top general rejected a board of inquiry's finding that stigma around seeking mental-health support was a contributing factor in the death.

Richard Kelertas says Gen. Jonathan Vance's response suggests there is a "disconnect" between senior officers and other Forces members, including RMC students, who remain fearful of what could happen to their careers if they ask for help. (click link for more)

The truth is, it is not just Canada, or the UK, or Australia, or the USA. It is everywhere, because common sense has left the military behind in every nation.

Anyone still approving of, pushing the theory of, or using it for whatever reason they have, are complete total imbeciles!

Psychology. (no longer in technical use; now considered offensive) a person of the second order in a former and discarded classification of mental retardation, above the level of idiocy, having a mental age of seven or eight years and an intelligence quotient of 25 to 50.

If you find it offensive, then you must be among those who refuse to learn anything after 4 fricken decades of some of the best minds clarifying it!

We know that anyone who survives a life threatening event can get hit by PTSD.

How common is PTSD?

An estimated 7.8 percent of Americans will experience PTSD at some point in their lives, with women (10.4%) twice as likely as men (5%) to develop PTSD. About 3.6 percent of U.S. adults aged 18 to 54 (5.2 million people) have PTSD during the course of a given year. This represents a small portion of those who have experienced at least one traumatic event; 60.7% of men and 51.2% of women reported at least one traumatic event. The traumatic events most often associated with PTSD for men are rape, combat exposure, childhood neglect, and childhood physical abuse. The most traumatic events for women are rape, sexual molestation, physical attack, being threatened with a weapon, and childhood physical abuse.

About 30 percent of the men and women who have spent time in war zones experience PTSD. An additional 20 to 25 percent have had partial PTSD at some point in their lives. More than half of all male Vietnam veterans and almost half of all female Vietnam veterans have experienced “clinically serious stress reaction symptoms.” PTSD has also been detected among veterans of other wars. Estimates of PTSD from the Gulf War are as high as 10%. Estimates from the war in Afghanistan are between 6 and 11%. Current estimates of PTSD in military personnel who served in Iraq range from 12% to 20%.

If there is a "stigma" then it is for all those people. If there is a stigma for anyone who willingly puts their lives on the line subjecting themselves beyond what average people go through, then it is not backed up by any thinking-rational human!

If anyone is prevented from asking for help to heal as a survivor, especially those who make facing events a career choice, then the leaders at the top are in fact responsible for it!

If they think so less of their own people, we need to wonder what they think of us. Considering they come to rescue us but won't bother to rescue their own people, they must really think we do not deserve help either.

If you have not guessed already, I think I need another glass of wine! This has been one pathetic day and it isn't even Monday! It just feels like it!

Suicide "Top priority" fake news for all

A reporter with the Sun Herald out of North Carolina had chosen a headline that should fall under "fake news" but what can we expect?

20 veterans kill themselves every day. Suicide prevention is now VA’s No. 1 priority. by Matt Goad. I couldn't help it! I couldn't stop myself, not that I really wanted to. The thing is, are we really trying to save their lives or push a "feel better" story? I sent him an email but I bet he'll be like the others and just ignore it. 

Did you bother to actually research any of this? You used the slogan from the VA but did not know it was 20 a day back in 1999 when there were over 5 million more veterans living at the time? Did you know that the first suicide prevention bill was passed in 2007? 
The DOD and the VA have been saying a hell of a lot of things but the end results is, veterans are still ending their lives because coming home is still harder than combat!
OMG! Will you guys ever take this seriously?

Ya I know, shame on me for bothering to contact yet another reporter who did not do any basic research on this story.

Suicide prevention is now the VA’s highest priority among the nation’s 20 million veterans, 2 million of them women, according to a VA National Suicide Data Report released last month.

And maybe if reporters had paid attention when our generations was suffering the same way, then maybe we wouldn't be talking about what failed our veterans. 

Fake veterans charity collected millions

Just so you understand that ripping off people while claiming to be helping veterans is hurting them far beyond the ones who get caught. It is people like me who end up walking away because they cannot afford to operate anymore.

It is embarrassing to file my forms for Florida, since the IRS does not need a bottom line when you make basically nothing. Florida needs financial statements. Last year I lost over $3,000. I took in a whopping $120 for work I do 45 hours a week, with three books, over 300 videos and God knows how many posts done last year.

Most of my work is done on the phone, actually talking to veterans and families, or online. Most of the money I lost was for the cell phone.

OK, so, now maybe you get a better understanding how these people make millions for using veterans instead of helping them, and the ones actually helping, end up giving up.

We end up trapped behind the flood of fools screaming about veterans committing suicide, taking in millions and having fun pulling stunts while veterans lose hope. 

They cannot find us on Facebook or other social media sites because everyone is sharing the rumor while ignoring the end result. 

Anyway, had to get that off my chest. I have a full time job so, I can afford to do what I do. That is why it is so repulsive when people make it their full time job to rip off people by using veterans.

Fake veterans charity collected millions in donations from Ohioans
Springfield News Sun
By Max Filby - Staff Writer
July 23, 2018

One local nonprofit that has been impacted by misleading veterans charities is the Miami Valley Military Museum on the grounds of the VA Medical Center in Dayton.

WWII artifacts, including a Japanese helmet, lower right, at the Miami Valley Military History Museum located in Building 120 on the Dayton Veterans Administration campus. TY GREENLEES / STAFF

A government watchdog and six state attorneys general are taking aim at fake veterans charities, including one that collected more than $11 million from Ohioans from 2014 to 2016. A Florida-based nonprofit called “Help The Vets” was recently found to have spent less than five percent of donations on charity, with the other 95 percent going to the group’s founder and paid fundraisers, according to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office.

Now, the fraudulent charity is one of several that finds itself in the crosshairs of the Federal Trade Commission and the state attorneys general of Ohio, Florida, California, Maryland, Minnesota and Oregon. The FTC and the six attorneys general have launched a campaign called “Operation Donate with Honor” to combat giving to charities falsely claiming to be helping veterans and members of the military.
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Arizona may join states tracking veteran suicides

Arizona lawmaker planning bill to mandate tracking of veteran suicides
KTAR News
BY KATHY CLINE
JULY 23, 2018

“Before you can solve a problem, you’ve got to realize the extent of the problem,” said Mike Scerbo, spokesman for the family of Antouine Castaneda. Castaneda — a decorated Army Ranger who signed up after 911 — took his life on his 32nd birthday, July 23, 2015.

Rep. Jay Lawrence at the Arizona Capitol in Phoenix on July 23, 2018. (KTAR Photo/Kathy Cline)

PHOENIX — A bill that would require the compilation of veteran suicide statistics could be introduced next session in the Arizona Legislature.

State Rep. Jay Lawrence — a Republican who chairs the House Military, Veterans and Regulatory Affairs Committee — hasn’t written the bill yet. In fact, he’s only submitted suggestions to the Arizona Legislative Council.

He does plan to have something ready for the coming legislative session.

As Lawrence envisions it: “[The bill would] require the state of Arizona to compile a report on veteran suicide and provide that report to the Legislature and the Department of Veterans Affairs beginning Jan. 1, 2020.”

A November 2017 study from Arizona State University found Arizona veterans were almost four times as likely to commit suicide as nonveterans.
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Are you pretending to care about veterans?

When you become part of the problem!
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
July 23, 2018

There seems to be more and more cases of people using the suffering of veterans and the families they leave behind for their own gain. We saw that when the FTC decided to put an end to these ripoff charities.

FTC and States Combat Fraudulent Charities That Falsely Claim to Help Veterans and Servicemembers

The thing is, none of them could have managed to pull millions out of well-meaning donors if the "causes" was not shared across social media.

The other factor is, none of these "groups" are doing anything to actually help veterans heal, live better lives or even attempt to understand that no one will ever know exactly how many veterans commit suicide. 

The number is pure BS, because the VA report was from 21 states using limited data. Then we put together an example of so many more that did not "count" in the number that has been unchanged since 1999!

If you are wondering why so many still commit suicide, start by asking yourself one question. "Do you care enough to know or are you just pretending to care?"

UPDATE
Looks like it keeps going on and on! This headline almost made me fall off my chair.

Flags for Forgotten Soldiers raises awareness about veteran suicide

Forgotten were all those beyond the "22" a day the press keeps talking about.

I wonder what Howard Berry would feel like knowing how many the press has let be forgotten because they did not do their jobs.

After all, easy to know he does care considering his own son committed suicide after surviving the Fort Hood massacre.

Howard, if you come across this site, give me a call and I'll give you a better idea of how many actually were forgotten!

Iraq veteran begs for flag to be returned

Tacoma veteran's American flag stolen; now a heartbreaking plea to get it back
KIRO 7 News
By: Deedee Sun
Updated: Jul 22, 2018

TACOMA, Wash. - The sign says, “Please return my flag, sentimental to me. I brought it back from Iraq. The bottom four stripes have my buddy’s blood on them.”

“This was very important to him,” said Kim Phillips, who lives in Tacoma. She said veteran Nolan Gomez was doing some yard work when someone stole his American flag.

I was actually shocked. It was his country we were in and he gave me an American flag,” Gomez said.

He’s kept it with him ever since.

And in Iraq, when a roadside bomb blew up, injuring him and his team, he reached for the flag. “I dropped to my knees and my friend is screaming,” Gomez said.

He tried to use the flag as a tourniquet. His friend – who is from Lakewood – lost his legs.

“He came back out here and committed suicide,” Gomez said. “Some horrific things that have happened, and that flag has always been there.”

Gomez also suffers from PTSD.
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