Sunday, August 19, 2018

When rich guys meet to take over the VA, veterans lose

Bush VA chief: It’s ‘astounding’ that outside advisers are influencing VA from Mar-a-Lago 
The Hill 
BY MORGAN GSTALTER 
08/18/18 

A former head of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is expressing concerns over a report that a trio of allies to President Trump who do not hold government positions are affecting hiring at the agency.
Anthony Principi, who served as VA secretary under former President George W. Bush, told Stars and Stripes this week that he found the report of alleged influence by members of Trump's private Mar-a-Lago club "astounding." 

“If these [Mar-a-Lago] assertions are true, I don’t think that’s good governance. It’s not the way the nomination and appointment process should work," Principi said. 

ProbPublica reported earlier this month that three high-profile men — Marvel Entertainment chairman Ike Perlmutter, West Palm Beach doctor Bruce Moskowitz and Washington lawyer Marc Sherman — were interacting with VA officials almost daily and meeting with them at Trump’s Palm Beach, Fla., resort. read more here

LZ battle on home front


When your ride is a helicopter
PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
August 19, 2018

LZ Landing Zone
In military terminology a landing zone (LZ) is an area where aircraft can land. In the United States military, a landing zone is the actual point where aircraft, especially helicopters, land (equivalent to the commonwealth landing point.) 
In commonwealth militaries, a landing zone is the cartographic (numeric) zone in which the landing is going to take place (e.g., a valley). The landing area is the area in which the landing is going to take place (e.g., the field where the aircraft are to land). The landing point is the point on which aircraft are going to land (e.g., a point of the field). Each aircraft has a different landing point.

From John C Wolf video  

Usually I know days ahead of doing these videos what the topic will be. This time, all I could think about is a Vietnam veteran named John Wolf and how his ride was a helicopter.

I posted the following on August 17, 2018 and could not get it out of my head.
read more here

Accused of abusing his children, judge gave him custody and child support?

Young Boys Allegedly Abused By Air Force Colonel Now In His Sole Custody
FORBES
Tara Haelle
August 17, 2018

 “Eric has admitted he cannot control his anger and sexual impulses. It’s sad he is like this because of the IED explosion, but that won't help the boys if he physically or sexually abuses them.” Air Force Master Sgt. Robert Arrant

Tomorrow morning, two six-year old brothers will leave the sole custody of the mother they have lived with for the past five years to live in the sole custody of their father, an Air Force colonel alleged to have physically and sexually abused the boys for years.
The US Air Force's handling of a child abuse case appears to have influenced a civilian custody decision.U.S. AIR FORCE PHOTO/TECH. SGT. RICHARD P. EBENSBERGER

The Air Force had deemed the abuse allegations against Colonel Eric Holt as lacking evidence, but as this reporter previously covered, an extraordinary amount of evidence from photographs, video, medical records and witnesses supports the allegations. This evidence includes five disclosures by the boys themselves to non-parental caregivers, medical authorities and child welfare authorities.

Yet in an August 15 Maryland Montgomery County family court decision, Judge Joan Ryon awarded sole custody of the boys to Col. Holt and ordered the boys’ mother, a Harvard-trained anesthesiologist, only to supervised visitation once every two weeks. Ryon did not require Col. Holt to pay any of the more than $100,000 he owed in back child support—despite a previous court order that he do so—but she ordered the boys’ mother, Dr. Holt*, to pay $5700 a month in child support to their father going forward.
read more here

First America woman to die in Vietnam jumped with 101st!

Inside the Daring Life of a Forgotten Female War Photographer
National Geographic
Nina Strochlic
August 17, 2018
But her tally of conflict zones would end in Vietnam, where she became the first American woman correspondent to die in action. Years later, other journalists reported that Vietnamese Airborne troops were still reminiscing about the small, foul-mouthed woman who’d jumped with them.
Dickey Chapelle was one of history's most fearless conflict journalists—and the first American woman to die on the job.
THE 36 HOURS before Dickey Chapelle leaped off a tower with the Screaming Eagles were terrifying. She was 41 years old and parachute jumping for the first time. But fear never lasted for the pioneering war correspondent, and she quickly proclaimed it among “the greatest experiences one can have.”

It was 1959 and Chapelle had hooked up with the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, on the border between Tennessee and Kentucky. She’d been working as a war correspondent since 1942 and had reported on dozens of conflicts. She’d been called “the polite little American with all that tiger blood in her veins” by Fidel Castro; held in solitary confinement during the Hungarian uprising; and affirmed as the first correspondent accredited by the Algerian rebels. After learning with the Screaming Eagles, she became the only woman authorized to jump into combat with paratroopers in Vietnam.
read more here

Saturday, August 18, 2018

Toast to slain Vietnam veteran John Roth

Friends drink final toast to slain Vietnam veteran
ABC 10 News
Anthony Pura
Aug 16, 2018
Roth’s wife came home and found him dead Tuesday. Police say he suffered trauma to his upper body. His wife told police the garage door was open.



OCEANSIDE, Calif. (KGTV) - Dozens of people packed a room at Surfside Tap Room Thursday night for a well-known patron believed to have been killed in his home.

John Roth, 77, was a regular at the bar. More than 50 people came to celebrate his life and drink a final toast.

“He served in Vietnam, he was a topographer,” one of his friends, Tom Andrews said. “He crawled through rice paddies to make sure the maps had the right elevations.”

“We had some intense conversations, but we would always end up laughing,” he added.
read more here

Veteran finally got degree...after 80 years

‘Never too Late’: Bill Vogt at Age 105 Finally Claims SDSU Diploma
Times of San Diego
Chris Stone
AUGUST 16, 2018
“It was pretty spectacular,” said Sandra Cook, associate vice president for academic affairs. “We get requests for replacement diplomas for students all of the time. … We’ve never had one back that far. Everyone was excited about it.”
Reminiscing about his years at San Diego State University, Bill Vogt wishes he had back all the hours he’d wasted — trying to find booze.
SDSU President Adela de la Torre presents 105-year-old Bill Vogt his 1935 diploma. Photo by Chris Stone

That was more than 80 years ago. Some things never change.

But Vogt was honored for academic achievement Thursday, finally receiving his university diploma at the age of 105½.

The cause for the delay? He failed to pass his last needed class because of an “obstinate” professor and had to take another class in the fall. Consequently, he finished midyear, during the Great Depression, when no graduation ceremony was held.
After finishing his education, he entered the Navy and served during World War II and the Korean and Vietnam wars.
read more here

Iraq veteran, then police officer, denied surgery?

Army veteran and St. Louis police officer needs back surgery; denied by health insurance
KSDK NBC 5 News
Author: Rachel Menitoff
August 16, 2018
"I can't play with them. I can't wrestle with them. I can't throw the ball with them. I just can't do those things. This gives me a chance to do that. At least, it gives me a solution going forward."


ST. LOUIS — He was a patriot, fighting in Iraq, then became a police officer. He has numerous awards and medals, but he’s also a dad.

He can't even play with his sons because his pain is so severe, pain he got serving his country and community.

Timothy Nolan has had back problems throughout his life. He has a degenerative condition. And he was used to a lot of physical work as an infantry team leader in Iraq, and most recently as a St. Louis police officer.
read more here

UPDATE from Louisiana, another veteran is fighting after he served in the Navy and then as a Sheriff's Deputy!




Vietnam veteran files federal lawsuit against Louisiana VA office director
Lafayette Daily Advertiser
Leigh Guidry
August 17, 2018

A veteran in Lake Charles filed a federal lawsuit against the Louisiana Veterans Affairs regional office director.

George Jackson, 76, lives in Lake Charles with his wife, Helene. On Thursday, she and a veterans advocate went to the U.S. District Court Western District of Louisiana to file the lawsuit against Mark Bologna.

Jackson, the plaintiff, stayed at their home.

"I'm here because my husband, George Jackson, can't be here," she told media Friday.

Jackson is considered tetraplegic, having lost the use of his limbs. He can still move them slightly but he has no strength. He splits his time between a hospital bed in his home and his electric wheelchair.

The Lake Charles native served 30 years in the U.S. Navy, climbing ladders, crouching, lifting heavy things and performing other jobs on ships. He was aboard wooden ships used to sweep rivers for mines during two tours in Vietnam.

"Most of my job was on ships ... 30 years of going up and down ladders," he said.

But he doesn't regret joining the Navy, he said. It was always his dream.

"That's the only thing I really wanted to do," Jackson said. "I watched Navy movies on TV. In first grade, I looked out the window, and I always wanted to be a sailor."

So he joined once he was old enough "and I put 31 years in the military."
read more here

National Anthem, oh so much more than a song

Freedom, war and the flag
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
August 18, 2018

Bad way to wake up this morning, was reading this headline.

ESPN won't air anthem before Monday Night Football games, returning to prior practice

"New ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro said on Friday that the network will not show the national anthem during Monday Night Football broadcasts, which is a return to standard operating procedure and a recognition of fans’ desires."
Oh, no, not that the decision to not cover it was bad, but it was what else was in the article.
“ESPN is not a political organization,” he said. “It’s not our job to cover politics, purely, but we’ll cover the intersection of sports and politics. When something happens, when the Eagles are disinvited from the White House, when someone takes a knee, when we think it’s newsworthy we’re going to cover it.”


Reporters still fail to understand that patriotism has nothing to do with politics because no matter who is in charge, the National Anthem means more than just words. I guess it is just not news to us how we feel about this stunt, so ESPN must avoid mentioning how offended we are with all of this.

The basis of the anthem was the War of 1812. The words are about the flag still flying after Americans fought back.

In the War of 1812, the United States took on the greatest naval power in the world, Great Britain, in a conflict that would have an immense impact on the young country’s future. Causes of the war included British attempts to restrict U.S. trade, the Royal Navy’s impressment of American seamen and America’s desire to expand its territory.

The United States suffered many costly defeats at the hands of British, Canadian and Native American troops over the course of the War of 1812, including
the capture and burning of the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C., in August 1814. Nonetheless, American troops were able to repulse British invasions in New York, Baltimore and New Orleans, boosting national confidence and fostering a new spirit of patriotism.

The ratification of the Treaty of Ghent on February 17, 1815, ended the war but left many of the most contentious questions unresolved. Nonetheless, many in the United States celebrated the War of 1812 as a “second war of independence,” beginning an era of partisan agreement and national pride.
For anyone suggesting the National Anthem protest is not insulting the troops or the flag, that is exactly what it is.
“The Star-Spangled Banner” is the national anthem of the United States. By the time the song officially became the country’s anthem in 1931, it had been one of America’s most popular patriotic tunes for more than a century. The anthem’s history began the morning of September 14, 1814, when an attorney and amateur poet named Francis Scott Key watched U.S. soldiers—who were under bombardment from British naval forces during the War of 1812—raise a large American flag over Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland.
In the almost 6 decades I have lived, there has been a lot of changes in this country because people stood up and refused to kneel to anything other than prayer.


I was raised by veterans willing to fight to keep this country free, but also, by 1st generations Americans. Yes, immigrants who came here from Greece, Italy and Canada. Members of my family and my husband's fought in three wars. WWII, Korea and Vietnam.

This country achieved the changes on rights because people also stood up, on their own time, and forced the politicians to do the right thing.

The football players are not doing either one. They are not taking a stand for civil rights and they are not doing it on their own time.

They use their fans paying money to enjoy the game, and stations like ESPN making money off covering this game. Using? Yes. They put on a uniform and then expect to be able to use the uniform to pull a stunt, as if that uniform entitles them to their personal views being displayed for the world to see.

Fans dropping support of these teams has nothing to do with Trump's tweets but has everything do to with disrespecting what we hold sacred.

If ESPN is really interested in what is "newsworthy" then they should give fans the same worth and attention they are giving the players. Let them cover how these stunts are pushing them away from the game they loved because they love the country, this imperfect country, and those who stood up to fight for it risking their lives, oh so much more!

  

Friday, August 17, 2018

Vietnam Veteran left outside home, died

13 Investigates: The death of 70-year-old veteran raises disturbing questions
WTHR
Bob Segall
August 16, 2018

That day came last summer on July 17. Bowers died three and a half months after what appears to be a terrible mix-up. The Marine’s family wants to know how that mix-up happened so other veterans and their families do not have to suffer like they did.

FRANKLIN, Ind. (WTHR) — Traci Dearth was enjoying a family vacation in Florida when she heard a severe weather warning on her cellphone.
“My Channel 13 app continued to go off because of all the storms back home, but I didn’t think much about it at the time. I just had no idea,” she said.

What Dearth didn’t realize was her 70-year-old father was outdoors, helplessly seeking shelter from the severe thunderstorms that brought hail, lightning, high winds and flooding to central Indiana.

The wheelchair-bound veteran with dementia was supposed to be safe inside a nursing home. Instead, he was fighting for his life, abandoned by the people who Dearth trusted to care for him.

“They had one job and that was to take care of him for seven days, and they didn’t do that,” Dearth told WTHR. “He suffered so much. It’s been a year and I still don’t understand it.”

She is now demanding answers from the Roudebush VA Medical Center, a nursing home and a local cab company. All three are accused of negligence that eventually contributed to the death of Gerald Bowers.

“This is a horrible tragedy that should have never happened,” said attorney Mark Ladendorf, whose law firm has filed two lawsuits related to Bowers’ care. “This is a story the community should hear about. Somebody needs to be held responsible, so this never happens again.”
read more here

Wolfie the Grunt told no trauma for him?

When you discover the following, you'll have a better understanding why I have done this for over 36 years! It is because of veterans like John C. Wolf~
Wolfie the Grunt takes personal 8mm movies of a Combat Assault in Vietnam
John Wolf
Published on Nov 7, 2014

I bought a 8mm Yashica movie camera during a stand down from combat. Took movies during the stand down and then decided to hump the camera into the bush on our next mission. I took footage during our airmobile assault. After blocking out Vietnam for 36 years I decided to use my footage to pay tribute to those soldiers that were ambushed and killed on Easter Sunday 4-11-1971. I never expected that video to be seen 1.5 million times and the rest of my videos to be seen 1 million times for a total of 2.5+ million currently. In this version I decided to add personal narration.

Now that you have seen this, what comes next will help you to understand that this generation of veterans has waited far too long for their service to be really honored, beyond parties and parades. That this generation of veterans have been, and still are, the forgotten generation.

This is what Wolfie wrote about his life and what honor/vindication he still fights for.

‎John C Wolf‎ to Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Yesterday at 12:50 PM ·

I am still waiting for my Notice of Denial (NOD) to be review and given a decision. It was filed in 2016 and I was told it would take 277 days for a decision. Well needless to say that was a lie. 

For 8 years I have been treated by the VA Mental Health department here in Jacksonville and given 4 prescriptions to help with my nightmares, depression, suicidal thoughts and anxiety. I was combat Infantry Vietnam and awarded a Combat Infantry Badge (CIB), a Bronze Star and Air Medal as well as other honorable ribbons.

I experienced 3 major traumas, 
1. I had only been in country for about 3 weeks and my squad was out on a search and destroy mission and we were ambushed and two new buddies in front of me were killed, one died in my arms. 

2. I went over to another platoon to see some buddies and meet the new platoon leader, Lt. Hata. He was from a town near my home at the time in the Los Angeles area and talked for over an hour. I left to return to my platoon position, but turned around to wave goodbye. Lt Hata was waving at me and suddenly he was shot in the head and killed. I was devastated. 

3. On April 11, 1971 Easter Sunday, Chaplain Merle Brown came out and brought us hot food, gave us communion and then Easter Sunday Services. He ate lunch with us and I had the blessing of sitting right next to him and he became my new friend. His helicopter was later ambushed while leaving the ground, the explosions killed Chaplain Brown as well as 10 others. I watched as this happened, I was devastated and traumatized for his loss.

In the denial of my compensation request and in a statement to Congressman John Rutherford, the VA C and P said I never experienced trauma in combat. Duh?

I was interviewed 1 time by the blond lady in Gainesville. Many of you probably have experienced with I have: DENIAL. The VA recently sent me to have a private non-VA doctor do an interview of me for PTSD. I have recently learned the blond investigator that turned me down is under investigation by the VA because there have been so many complaints about her decisions.

For all those that are filing for compensation and have or will submit letters from family and Vets they served with, do not have them put any comment in their letters with what is considered a diagnosis, i.e. PTSD, Insomnia, etc. Gainesville will take those letter and throw them into the garbage as though they were never received therefore they say they have no evidence of your problems.

My case is unique, because as some know I bought a 8mm film movie camera and took it into the bush. 

I filmed our air mobile assault the day before Chaplain Brown was killed. Years ago I took the footage and made a tribute video for those killed on Easter Sunday and posted to YouTube. History Channel contacted me and asked if they could get my original 8mm film reels and use them in Vietnam in HD documentary. I did and they upgraded the footage to HD and sent the file to me. This footage has been used in 4 other documentaries and they have been viewed over 85 million times. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvIkTGmCmg4

I am on a mission to get this murderer lady in Gainesville fired and make the President and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to clean up C and P and get what Vets deserve. If you are having the same problems as I, please contact me in hopes my experiences can help you and others too.