PTSD Veterans being held against will at mental health facility?

Jacksonville veteran says mental health facility holding him for week with no hearing
Action News Jax
By: Jenna Bourne
Aug 3, 2018

A combat-disabled veteran told Action News Jax he’s being unnecessarily held against his will at a Jacksonville mental health facility without a hearing.

Robert Mayo, who said he’s already been locked inside River Point Behavioral Health for a week, was initially admitted under Florida’s Baker Act.

The Baker Act allows mental health facilities such as River Point to hold patients for 72 hours if they are deemed to be a threat to themselves or others.

Mayo said he should not be a Baker Act patient and he has not gotten the hearing he is entitled to by law.

His wife, Elizabeth Mayo, denies her husband has threatened to harm himself or others.

She said her husband couldn’t get a mental health appointment at the Veterans Affairs facility until until the end of September, so he went to River Point for help.

A week later, she hired an attorney to help get her husband out.

She said their son can barely sleep at night.

“He just lays in there and cries for Daddy, cries for Daddy. Every time he hears a door or something, he’s asking for daddy,” said Elizabeth Mayo.

If a patient is involuntarily committed beyond the 72 hours allowed by the Baker Act, they’re entitled to a hearing within five days.

An Action News Jax Investigation last year revealed only about 2 percent of local Baker Act patients were getting those hearings.

“How are you supposed to feel safe asking for help when you know you can be held indefinitely against your will?” said Robert Mayo, who called Action News Jax from inside the facility, with the help of his attorney. “They can hold you without having to explain themselves to anybody for as long as they want. It’s like going to jail without ever having a set release date.”
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Marine with PTSD did not hesitate to save child

Marine veteran helps save 2-year-old boy after child was pulled from pool
AZ Family.com
Whitney, Reporter
Aug 05, 2018

Serock was a Marine for four years and served in the Gulf War. He's written three books on living with PTSD, and this was the first time he's had to perform CPR since he served our country.

(3TV/CBS 5)
A Marine veteran with PTSD jumped into action to help a little boy who was pulled from a Mesa pool Saturday. And he may have helped save the toddler's life.

One minute, Robert Serock, Jr. was talking to his neighbor inside a home near Dobson and Guadalupe in Mesa.

The next minute... panic and chaos.

“I heard people screaming and yelling,” said Serock “I saw them pull the baby out of the pool.”

Serock said they never saw his neighbor's 2-year-old boy get out of the house, but they found him in the pool, unresponsive.

Serock wasted no time.

“I told them what to do… because I’ve done it before,” said Serock.
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Vietnam Veteran Honored Same Name On The Wall

WARNING: Have tissues ready when you go to watch this video.

Vietnam vet honors familiar name on wall
ABC 57 News
By: Jess Arnold
Posted: Aug 5, 2018

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- During his first ever trip to the wall, one Vietnam vet honored an all too familiar name on the wall.

The name--his own--Robert Berta.

A Robert D. Berta was born the same year (1946) as this vet, Robert L. Berta--also in South Bend.

They served overseas at the same time, where the former was killed in action.

“Scary considering I was there at the same time. We could have, we didn’t know who was going to be coming home, me or him. It seemed like I made it and he didn’t. and we never think that way. We figure we should be there, too on this wall, because we all did our job. Maybe I should have been on this wall myself, so that’s the way I feel about it," said Robert L. Berta.
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Fort Hood Soldier victim of hit and run after trying to help some else

Woman killed, soldier injured after 2 consecutive hit-and-run crashes
WSMV 4 NBC News
Meredith Digial Staff
August 4, 2018

A Good Samaritan, Kalen Lawson, 20, of Fort Hood, Texas, who is also an active duty member of the U.S. Army, stopped to help the woman. As he was helping the woman, another vehicle traveling on N Galloway, hit and struck Lawson and the woman he was helping. The woman died at the scene of the crash.

LAKELAND, Fla. (Meredith/WFTS) -- A woman is dead and a Good Samaritan U.S. Army soldier coming to her aid was seriously injured after two consecutive hit-and-runs in Polk County on Thursday morning.

One of the drivers, 20-year-old Corey Wesley Jones of Lakeland, was arrested in the case. He is also known as "DB Da Kid," and is a rapper. He was driving a 2002 black GMC SUV and left the scene after hitting 40-year-old Kelli Black.

Sheriff Grady Judd said at a press conference on Thursday that he had spoken to Jones and Jones has promised to turn himself in. Now he has been taken into custody and charged with the leaving the scene of a crash with serious bodily injury and reckless driving with serious bodily injury.
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PTSD Patrol Two Wheel Power Drive Update

The power to move starts with your desire
PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
August 5, 2018

The only thing stopping you from going where you want to go in life, is your imagination is not fueling your power to even start.

If you think you are stuck where you are, you may want to have a different life, but lack the way to change it. Just like all journeys, you need someone to clear the way so you can see what is possible on the road ahead.

The question is not how do you get there, but how do you even want to begin? If you have hope there is something better ahead for you, then you'll seek it. The more you look, the more you'll find people along the way to cheer you on.

PTSD Patrol Sunday Morning Empowerment Zone

Update from PTSD Patrol Two Wheel Power Drive

It is Sunday Morning! The beginning of a new week and hopefully, a new beginning for you too!

By now, you watched the video and saw how all of these athletes received help to achieve their goals. That is how everyone moves on in life. 

You had a desire to serve. They had a desire to do that too. 

You had to be trained to do it. So did they.

They needed help to get out of the wheelchairs. Help to learn how to swim with their physical limits but they did not limit themselves to what they were expected to do. You should not settle for being limited to what people expect out of you with your disability.

They needed help on every part of this trip in their lives, and so do you.

Sure, I know most wheelchairs have more than two wheels but when you think about it, that is really all you need. One wheel moves you but the other one guides you to where you want to go.

So where do you want to go? The only limits on your life are those you settle for. Want to get up and move that vehicle you live in? Then #TakeBackYourLife and find the drive to do it.

On a personal note: Gunny, there is something on the end of this just for you! Thank you for being such a huge part of encouraging me to never give up! 

Click the link above for the rest of this!

Widow of Vietnam Veteran struggles with HUD

Program designed to help veterans buy houses leaves widow in more debt
News 4 San Antonio
by Jaie Avila
August 3rd 2018

Vivian Crook paid most of her 30-year mortgage on her own. Her husband Steve, a Vietnam veteran, suffered from depression and committed suicide just two years after they moved in.

SAN ANTONIO - A government program that was supposed to help veterans instead leads to heartache. A local widow struggled for decades to pay off her home, only to find out she doesn't own it; the government does.

It was called the 235 Program, offered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to veterans and their families. The deal sounded promising: HUD pays part of your mortgage payment.

However, you are never able to sell, refinance, or pass the home on to your children. Jaie Avila investigated that housing program which may have impacted many other San Antonio families.

Vivian Crook paid most of her 30-year mortgage on her own. Her husband Steve, a Vietnam veteran, suffered from depression and committed suicide just two years after they moved in.

“It's been very hard on me. I've been here 30-years and paid my house off and come to find out, I don't own my house,” Vivian says.

The couple had explored a V.A. loan, but the builder told them about the special HUD program.
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Federal Housing Administration (FHA): Removal of Section 235 Home Ownership Program Regulations

38th National Veterans Wheelchair Games

Yesterday at the Ovideo Aquatic Facility the 38th National Veterans Wheelchair Games.

The National Veterans Wheelchair Games is co-presented between the Department of Veterans Affairs and Paralyzed Veterans of America. The Games serve Veterans with Spinal Cord Injury, Multiple Sclerosis, Amputations and other central neurological impairments with the goal to increase their independence, healthy activity and quality of life through wheelchair sports and recreation. Veterans are being exposed to wheelchair sports at their home VAMC or PVA Chapters as part of their rehabilitation to improve function, independence and getting them active in their home communities in sport and fitness.

This group is training to be "lifters" to help get the veterans into the pool and out of it.

Oviedo High School Volunteers

This veteran started having trouble...in a blink of an eye, the lifeguards were there to help her!

The Cohen Veterans Network shutting down clinics?

Hedge Fund Billionaire Steve Cohen Is Spending Big to Help Veterans. Why Are People Angry?
Fortune
By ISAAC ARNSDORF
August 3, 2018

The story of the Cohen Network illustrates what could lie in store for veterans as Trump pursues his campaign pledge to place their care in the hands of the private sector.

The network’s original clinic, at New York University, got into a spat over who would own the patent rights from research that Cohen funded. And shortly after the hearing, Cohen mounted an aggressive lobbying campaign to get the government to subsidize the clinics.

Steven Cohen on the trading floor at Point72 Asset
Management in 2016.
Gillian Laub

But at that same moment, across the country, the Cohen Network was closing its clinic in Los Angeles less than a year after it opened. The Cohen Network’s leaders had alienated the staff there, former employees said, by telling them to prioritize healthier patients over homeless veterans. The shutdown was so hasty that former therapists said it left some patients in the lurch.

This article is a collaboration between Fortune and ProPublica, a nonprofit investigative news organization.

At a House hearing last year on post-traumatic stress disorder, a private organization showed up with an ambitious plan to help suffering veterans. The Cohen Veterans Network was opening a chain of free mental health clinics across the country, backed by $275 million from hedge fund billionaire Steve Cohen.

By contrast to the high-profile scandals at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the Cohen Network claimed 96% client satisfaction. In a statement for the hearing, the organization said its clinics “provide a desirable alternative” to the VA—a clear echo of President Trump’s campaign promise to let veterans skip the VA for “a private service provider of their own choice.”
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Fort Bragg Soldier died in training accident a month ago?

Soldier in secret unit dies in training accident
Yahoo News
SEAN D. NAYLOR
Aug 3rd 2018

WASHINGTON — A highly decorated soldier from the Army’s elite Delta Force died last month after a free-fall parachute training accident the military did not make public.

Master Sgt. Christopher Nelms, United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), finishes a low craw under the “Worm Pit” at the Malvesti Obstacle Course in the Best Ranger Competition, April 13 at US Army Fort Benning. Photo by Patrick A. Albright.

Sgt. Maj. Christopher Nelms, 46, died July 1 from injuries sustained when his parachute failed to fully open during a June 27 jump at Laurinburg-Maxton Airport, N.C., about 40 miles southwest of Delta’s home post of Fort Bragg, N.C. “He was fighting it the whole way down,” said a former Delta Force officer familiar with the accident.

U.S. Army Special Operations Command, which exercises administrative control of Delta Force, did not announce Nelms’s death, but confirmed it when contacted by Yahoo News. “One service member died as a result of a free-fall training incident on June 27, 2018, in Laurinburg, N.C.,” said Lt. Col. Robert Bockholt, the command spokesman, in an email response to questions from Yahoo News. Nelms “received initial medical treatment for his injuries but unfortunately died at the hospital.”
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A message to VA’s workforce from Secretary Robert Wilkie

A message to VA’s workforce from Secretary Robert Wilkie

Hello, I’m Robert Wilkie and it is an overwhelming honor to serve along side you as Secretary.

There are two emotions today.

The first emotion is feeling very humbled. I was humbled by the honor of being a candidate for this job; I was even more humbled by the call to be your next Secretary.

The second dominant emotion is that of being very, very excited—thrilled! Thrilled to be part of this department.

I’m deeply grateful to President Trump for the opportunity to serve for him and for America’s Veterans. I am also grateful to the United States Senate for their vote of confidence.

First off, I want to thank you, the staff of the VA. Whether you are at a health care facility, on the Benefits team, serving at our cemeteries, or here as part of our staff at the headquarters. You may not hear enough, but I want you to hear it from me. Thank you for your tireless work and devotion to our Veterans… and thank you for all you do to help them and their families everyday.

When President Herbert Hoover signed the executive order in 1930 creating the Veterans Administration, he consolidated Veterans programs and created a new independent administration “for the relief of veterans.” Eighty eight years later, that is still our charge.

Serving our Veterans is a noble calling. We have a solemn responsibility to our Veterans – not just today, but in the months and years to come, to set the standard for the millions coming into our VA, and for the millions who will join the ranks down the years.

During my confirmation hearing, and in previous messages to you while serving as the Acting Secretary, I shared with you my philosophy – customer service.

Customer service must start with each other-not talking at each other but with each other across all office barriers and across all compartments. If we don’t listen to each other, we won’t be able to listen to our Veterans and their families…. and we won’t be able to provide the world class customer service they deserve.

Next, we must have a bottom up organization. The energy must flow from you who are closest to those we are sworn to serve.

It is from you that the ideas we carry to the Congress, the VSOs and to America’s Veterans will come. Anyone who sits in this chair and tells you he or she has the answers is in the wrong business.

I want to share a story with you from President Eisenhower.

Five months after his inauguration, about forty Korean War Veterans climbed aboard the presidential yacht Williamsburg—many were missing limbs, some were horribly disfigured. When Ike arrived at the pier, the Secret Service began running up the plank to separate the President from his troops. Before they reached the deck, Eisenhower yelled “Halt! I know these men.” The agents retreated, and the soldiers gathered around the President.

He said there was nothing the country could do for them that could compensate for what they had given to America. He then addressed them at attention, and those who could stand did, and said you will never put away your uniform, you are always on duty. “You must get well, to remind your countrymen everyday that freedom is never free.”

This is our VA. We are here to care for all of our nation’s heroes whose service and sacrifice inspires us all. That is our important and non-negotiable mission. The President and Congress support us, and I’m honored and excited to lead this organization.

I look forward to meeting you, listening to you and serving alongside you. I value your thoughts and insights as we improve our department for the challenges in the years ahead.

Thank you and God bless.