OEF OIF Marine Veteran Finally Feels Like One

New state law opens up benefits to an estimated 800 veterans
The Day
by Julia Bergman Day staff writer
October 4, 2018

Hartford — Thomas Burke has been out of the Marine Corps for 10 years but said it wasn't until this week that he felt like a veteran.

Burke, a former infantryman who deployed to both Afghanistan and Iraq, received an other-than-honorable discharge for smoking marijuana months after returning from a deployment in Afghanistan, during which he had to clean up the remains of a group of Afghan children who'd been blown up by a rocket-propelled grenade that they were bringing to his military base.

"I can't explain the feelings I have today, after 10 years of service from returning home, I finally feel like a veteran because Connecticut stood up and told me that I'm a veteran," Burke said Thursday.

A new state law that went into effect Monday allows veterans discharged under "other-than-honorable" circumstances, who have post-traumatic stress disorder, a traumatic brain injury or sexual trauma resulting from their military service, to access state veteran benefits.

State officials and veterans touted the new law at a news conference Thursday morning in Hartford. Several of them said that the law, the first of its kind, makes Connecticut a leader in the nation.
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Rosengren Trauma Clinic at UCF RESTORES has opened

UCF RESTORES opens PTSD clinic in Brevard County
Orlando Sentinel
Naseem S. Miller
September 5, 2018

Since its launch, RESTORES trauma clinic has treated more than 450 veterans and active-duty personnel, victims of military and civilian sexual trauma, first responders from 20 states and survivors of mass shootings, including Pulse nightclub, according to a news release.

UCF RESTORES PTSD Clinic unveils new name and plaque on Sept. 7, 2018. Center director Deborah Beidel (left) and Jim and Julia Rosengren.

UCF Foundation / Courtesy photo

The Rosengren Trauma Clinic at UCF RESTORES has opened a new clinic at UCF’s regional campus in Cocoa.

This marks RESTORES’ second trauma clinic since it was established on UCF’s main campus in 2011 to treat veterans with PTSD.

“Brevard County has the fourth-largest veteran population in the state of Florida. We’ve had patients from Brevard travel to us in Orlando for treatment, but we know that’s not possible for everyone,” said Deborah Beidel, founder and director of UCF RESTORES and a Pegasus Professor of psychology, in a news release.

Beidel estimated that the new center could treat up to 100 patients in its first year. All treatments are free.
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Wounded Iraq Veteran Death Video Shot By Laughing Deputies

Sheriff’s deputies laughed at and filmed Army veteran as he died in a jail cell
Military Times
By: Kyle Rempfer
1 hour ago

The veteran, 31-year-old Bryan Perry, served in the Iraq War, was honorably discharged and received a Purple Heart, his lawyer told local media outlets. Perry’s family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Clackamas County.

An Oregon county sheriff’s office has condemned the actions of three of its deputies who filmed and laughed at an Army veteran as he died of a drug overdose in a padded jail cell.

The veteran, 31-year-old Bryan Perry, served in the Iraq War, was honorably discharged and received a Purple Heart, his lawyer told local media outlets. Perry’s family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Clackamas County.

Two videos were filmed on the deputies’ cell phones in November 2016. In them, viewers can hear the jailers laughing at a man as he flails around in agony.

“We should go show this to his girlfriend and be like, ‘You love this?’ ” one of the deputies said on the recording.

Perry and his girlfriend were arrested together. Prior to the girlfriend being escorted to a separate holding tank for women, she yelled, “I love you, Bryan.”
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The Oregonian
Published on Oct 4, 2018
Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts released video that shows employees making callous comments, now the subject of a federal lawsuit, about an inmate suffering symptoms of drug use. The sheriff condemned the laughter and comments as "inappropriate" and said they "do not conform to our professional standards."

What Happened to the GOP?

I have friends on both sides and love them dearly. Right now, I am wondering what the hell happened to the GOP that they no longer care about voting for people under indictment!

This is what he is charge with doing, among other things.

"Prosecutors say the couple concealed many of the expenses in federal records, sometimes as donations to charities for veterans." 

Indictment of Marine veteran incumbent roils California congressional race
Associated Press
By JULIE WATSON
Published: October 5, 2018

Even with the 47-page indictment detailing alleged misuse of hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign funds, Hunter is the favorite. Republicans hold a nearly 15-point registration edge in the district, where many military veterans identify with Hunter's service as a Marine in Iraq.

U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., listens to testimony during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on Sept. 7, 2017.
CARLOS BONGIOANNI/STARS AND STRIPES

RAMONA, Calif. — In Southern California's most Republican congressional district a GOP incumbent running against a first-time Democratic candidate should be a slam dunk for re-election.

Not this year.

Rep. Duncan Hunter is under indictment as he seeks a sixth term. He has spent as much on legal fees as his re-election campaign while splitting time between meeting voters and fighting corruption charges.

It's become a bare-knuckles affair with Hunter's campaign running an ad saying his San Diego-born opponent, Ammar Campa-Najjar, changed his name to "hide his family's ties to terrorism" and now wants to "infiltrate" Congress. Campa-Najjar responded by saying Hunter has lost his grip on reality.

Hunter is one of two indicted Republican congressmen seeking re-election. The other is New York Rep. Chris Collins, accused of insider trading.
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Veterans who committed suicide remembered by name at National Mall

Veterans group places thousands of flags on National Mall to draw attention to suicide crisis
STARS AND STRIPES
By NIKKI WENTLING
Published: October 3, 2018

WASHINGTON — Thousands of American flags filled a grassy expanse on the National Mall on Wednesday morning, each of them representing a veteran or a servicemember who died by suicide in 2018 so far.

Maj. Sandra Lee Altamirano of the Army Reserve said she took military leave to help place the 5,520 U.S. flags. She recently lost three friends to suicide, two of whom were veterans.

A couple of years ago, after serving three deployments in Iraq, she contemplated suicide herself.

“Each of these flags is a name, a person. Three of them are my friends, and one could’ve been me,” said Altamirano, now a suicide prevention liaison in the Reserve. “I hope this helps people see how vast of an issue this is. It’s overwhelming. It’s a crisis.”

The flags were placed on the Mall by Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans for America, an advocacy group trying to draw awareness to the issue of veteran suicide.

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Deputy took extra steps for disabled woman, a mile's worth

Deputy pushes stranded woman's wheelchair one mile to her home
CBS NEWS
By CAITLIN O'KANE
October 4, 2018

Montanez's partner drove the patrol car behind the wheelchair, and lightly teased the walking deputy. "You can pick it up, you're only going about one mile an hour," Deputy Chapman is heard saying in the video he took of Montanez's good deed. Both Montanez and the elderly woman laughed.

A sheriff's deputy in California is being praised after he pushed an elderly woman in a wheelchair one mile to her home. Lancaster Sheriff's Deputies Chapman and Montanez got a call about a traffic hazard earlier this week. They were told it was a wheelchair in the middle of the road, but when they arrived on the scene, they realized it was much more.

There was a wheelchair on the side of the road, but there was "an elderly female sitting in it," the Lancaster sheriff's office wrote on Facebook.

The woman's motorized wheelchair ran out of power and she was stranded. The deputies offered her a ride, but the wheelchair was too heavy to get into their patrol car and the chair was unable to fold because of the battery pack. The woman didn't want to leave the chair behind, because it is her only means of mobility.

So, instead of leaving both the woman and her wheelchair on the road, Deputy Montanez got out of the patrol car and started walking. He pushed the woman all the way to her home, about one mile away, in his full uniform and boots, the Lancaster Sherrif's officer wrote on Facebook.
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Vietnam veteran charged with shooting 7 police officers

The Latest: Disabled veteran held in shooting of 7 officers
Associated Press
October 4, 2018

FLORENCE, S.C. (AP) — The Latest on the shooting of seven South Carolina law enforcement officers

The man accused of killing a police officer and wounding six other law enforcement officers in a South Carolina standoff is a military veteran who received disability payments after being wounded in the Vietnam War.

That’s according to a South Carolina Supreme Court ruling in a divorce case involving 74-year-old Frederick Hopkins and his ex-wife Carol Hopkins.

The court noted in the year 2000 that Frederick Hopkins was injured in the Vietnam War and he was receiving a disability payment of $1,127 a month. Hopkins also was a lawyer, admitted to the South Carolina bar in 1980, but was later disbarred.
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After Soldier was robbed, he got more donations than needed, and gave it away!

Soldier Whose House Was Looted Gives Away Money Raised for Him: 'I Wanted to Show Kindness'
PEOPLE
SUSAN KEATING
October 04, 2018

In just 11 days, the fundraiser reached nearly $15,000 — surpassing Capron’s $5,000 goal. Ocampo and Finch said they were astonished to receive so much. “It was overwhelming,” Finch tells PEOPLE. “It was way more than we needed.”

Army medic Luis Ocampo returned from the front lines of Hurricane Florence in September to find his house looted, and some of his family’s most cherished possessions stolen. Now, after generous well-wishers donated money to replace his losses, Ocampo is giving away most of the money that was raised for him.

“We got more than we expected, and felt that it was our responsibility to show someone that same kindness that so many showed us,” Ocampo, 24, tells PEOPLE.

Ocampo left his home in Charlotte last month when his unit from the North Carolina National Guard was called to help with hurricane relief. Ocampo spent days in New Bern, a riverfront city ravaged by the storm.

With Ocampo gone, his girlfriend Kailey Finch and their infant son also left home.
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So tell me, how is that "raising awareness" thing working?

Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs

VA Issues New Report on Suicide Data

February 1, 2013, 08:00:00 AM

Printable Version 

WASHINGTON – The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) today released a comprehensive report on Veterans who die by suicide. In the past, data on Veterans who died by suicide was only available for those who had sought VA health care services. Today’s report also includes state data for Veterans who had not received health care services from VA, which will help VA strengthen its aggressive suicide prevention activities.  The report indicates that the percentage of Veterans who die by suicide has decreased slightly since 1999, while the estimated total number of Veterans who have died by suicide has increased. 

“The mental health and well-being of our courageous men and women who have served the Nation is the highest priority for VA, and even one suicide is one too many,” said Secretary Eric K. Shinseki. “We have more work to do and we will use this data to continue to strengthen our suicide prevention efforts and ensure all Veterans receive the care they have earned and deserve.”

In accordance with the President’s Aug. 31, 2012, Executive Order, VA has completed hiring and training of additional staff to increase the capacity of the Veterans Crisis Line by 50 percent. The Veteran Crisis Line has made approximately 26,000 rescues of actively suicidal Veterans to date.  Additionally, VA has initiated a year-long public awareness campaign, “Stand By Them,” to educate families and friends on how to seek help for Veterans and Service Members in crisis. VA has launched a national public service announcement “Side by Side.”

VA is currently engaged in an aggressive hiring campaign to expand access to mental health services with 1,600 new clinical staff, 300 new administrative staff, and is in the process of hiring and training 800 peer-to-peer specialists who will work as members of mental health teams.

The report issued today is the most comprehensive study of Veteran suicide rates ever undertaken by the Department. 

On June 16, 2010, Secretary Shinseki engaged governors of all 50 states, requesting their support in helping to collect suicide statistics. With assistance from state partners providing real-time data, VA is better able to assess the effectiveness of its suicide prevention programs and identify specific populations that need targeted interventions.

This new information will allow VA to better identify where those Veterans at risk may be located and improve the Department’s ability to target specific suicide interventions and outreach activities in order to reach Veterans early and proactively.  The data will also help VA continue to examine the effectiveness of suicide prevention programs being implemented in specific geographic locations or care settings in order to replicate them in other areas if they have been effective. 

VA has implemented comprehensive, broad ranging suicide prevention initiatives, including a toll-free Veterans Crisis Line, placement of Suicide Prevention Coordinators at all VA Medical Centers and large outpatient facilities, and improvements in case management and reporting.  Immediate help is available at www.VeteransCrisisLine.net or by calling the Crisis Line at 1-800-273-8255 (push 1) or texting 838255.

The full report can be found on VA’s website along with a summary response from VA Under Secretary for Health, Dr. Robert A. Petzel.  

As you can see, the first report came out in 2013, but had data only up to 2010. It was also from just 21 states.

The second VA Suicide report was released August 3 2016


September 15, 2017 the VA Released the State Statistics Report


This is from the last report September 26, 2018

How do we lose over 4 million veterans, have more suicides and higher percentages after all this time?

So tell me, how is that "raising awareness" thing working?

If you have been donating to any of the groups still talking about raising awareness, ask them if they know any of this, and if they do, then ask them why it has gotten worse for our veterans instead of better.

Idaho Soldier lives life to the fullest--After Lightning Stuck

Struck by lightning, Idaho Soldier lives life to the fullest
Idaho National Guard
By Capt. Robert Taylor
Oct. 2, 2018

Karla said A.J. was non-responsive for approximately 20 minutes before he breathed again. The ongoing storm prevented LifeFlight from responding so A.J. was transported to the hospital by ambulance. Local media reported two teammates were also injured by the lightning strike.

Boise, ID - Idaho Army National Guard Capt. A.J. Edwards poses for a photo while tossing a football Sept. 27, 2018, on Gowen Field, Boise, Idaho. Edwards was struck by lightning on Sept. 30, 1998, at a football practice in Inkom, Idaho. He was wearing the helmet and holding the football shown. His teammates signed the football.

BOISE, Idaho - The National Weather Service estimates the odds of being struck by lightning in the United States are one out of 14,600. Despite those odds, Idaho Army National Guard Capt. A.J. Edwards was struck by lightning playing football as a 12-year-old 20 years ago.

Doctors told his parents he might not live, and that if he did live, he might not walk again.

Edwards beat those odds. The lightning temporary ended his life and caused him to relearn how to walk. He ran track for his school the next spring, ran a marathon the following year and earned an ROTC scholarship to Brigham Young University – Idaho. He enlisted into the Idaho Army National Guard in 2010 and earned his commission in 2013.

Lightning strikes

Edwards was struck by lightning Sept. 30, 1998. The last thing he remembers that day is riding his bike to football practice in Inkom, Idaho. His mother, Karla Edwards, remembers A.J. didn't want to go to practice that day because it was hot. She made him go anyway.
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