Business rips off Disabled Veterans Of America!

DAV, their name got stolen...again!

"I call myself the Disabled Veterans of America instead of David's Advertising so I don't get hung up on," he explained.

Is Valley veteran business really doing charitable work?

Make a lot of money all while helping veterans? Sounds like a great job, but it's not a charity. So is this local business doing a good thing or is it a misleading way to make money?

An alluring ad you may have seen on Craigslist promises up to $8,000 a month for salespeople. And you'd be able to help veterans by working for the Disabled Veterans of Arizona.

For $199, businesses would get a disabled vet sticker for their window, an advertising tax deduction, and their name listed on a website showing they support vets.

But it was another part of the ad that we really questioned; it said that salespeople get to keep 60% of what they take in.
read more here



UPDATE
Here are a few more that ripped off veterans recently!

HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) - A Thompsontown man has admitted in court that he defrauded a disabled veteran of more than $300,000.Jason Ehrhart, 48, pleaded guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court to health care fraud. He also agreed to make full restitution to the veteran’s estate, U.S. Attorney David Freed said.A sentencing hearing was not immediately scheduled.Prosecutors say Ehrhart in October 2006 successfully applied to serve as the legal custodian of a former Perry County resident who had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis while serving in the U.S. Army.The veteran received $476,260 in federal disability benefits from October 2006 to August 2016.

Legal News Line

SAN DIEGO — A California jury handed the state a legal victory by rendering an $8.8 million award in the state's lawsuit against operators of a veteran's charity scam who used donated funds for personal expenses. 

In a lawsuit filed last year, the California Attorney General's Office alleged Matthew and Danella Gregory, along with their adult children who served as directors for the Wounded Warriors Support Group and Central Coast Equine Rescue and Retirement, used donations earmarked for wounded veterans for personal use. According to the Attorney General's Office, the defendants used donated funds for shopping trips, personal credit card debt and traveling.

“These unscrupulous con artists exploited the generosity of Americans by falsely claiming to help our country’s wounded warriors and their families," California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement. "Instead, they used our charitable donations for personal gain. A jury of their peers has justly slapped down the Gregory family and their corrupt enterprise. 

New firefighter has a leg to stand on...really!

Disabled veteran graduates fire academy

NBC News
November 19, 2018

(KING) An injured veteran in Washington continued his tradition of serving others with an important graduation ceremony Saturday.

Retired Air Force Tech Sgt. Daniel Fye was serving his fourth tour of duty in Afghanistan in 2011, when he stepped on an IED.

He lost his left leg below the knee, and fought for months of surgery to keep his right leg.

Within two years, he was able to walk without any help.

Today, he's achieved his lifelong dream of becoming a firefighter, after graduating with honors from the South Sound Fire Academy.
read more here

Suicidal veteran had to find help from James Woods?

James Woods was traveling across country when he received a Tweet from a desperate veteran. By all accounts, Woods went above and beyond to try to save his life and find help for him.

Early this morning, I read this and shared it on Google+. Freaking out a bit, since this happened in the city I work in, it made me want to scream. 

How is it that a veteran, right here, could not find the help he needed, right here? How is it that he did not know where to turn? THIS IS FLORIDA! There are events all over the place every week, groups around every block and stunts to "raise awareness." Much like the one I have been blasting that happened Saturday.

I heard he had been found safe from a friend in the building I work in. I could not find confirmation, so I called Maitland Police Department. They said he had not been found, but they were talking to him.

So, when it comes to all the "awareness" being raised, it seems that local veterans have been unaware of "how much fun" the event was on Saturday to talk about veterans killing themselves!

How many veterans have to commit suicide in public before the public catches onto the fact all these stunts do more harm than good? They not only drain financial resources from groups actually doing the work to save lives, they have taken over social media to the point where veterans cannot find those who are willing and able to help them!

So this local veteran, thank God, was found by an actor traveling across the country BECAUSE HE COULD NOT FIND THE HELP HE NEEDED RIGHT HERE!!!!!

Since posts do not go away, I removed the veteran's name. Update from local news WESH 2 had this, "Officials with the Maitland Police Department said a welfare check was performed. The suicidal man told officers he is OK and declined any help from law enforcement or a mental health agency."

*******

James Woods uses Twitter to help veteran contemplating suicide: 'You could save another'

USA Today
Cydney Henderson
Nov. 20, 2018

"So think about this. A lot of vets, I understand, have come to where you are tonight," Woods continued. "If you could just push this decision off tonight, at least, maybe you would also inspire another vet to seek help. You could save another man, too. By waiting to do this."

Actor James Woods used his Twitter account to call attention and help to a distressed veteran who was contemplating suicide.

The "Salvador" actor, 71, alerted the Orlando Police Department Monday night and asked authorities to perform a wellness check on former Marine XXXXXXXX.

"A man named XXXXXXXX just said on @Twitter that he is sitting in a parking lot and is going to kill himself," Wood tweeted to his nearly 2 million followers. "He’s sitting with his dog, a black lab, possibly in a WalMart parking lot."

Woods' plea for help included a screenshot from MacMasters' Twitter account, which has since been deleted.

"I'm on Twitter every day, I retweet all the time but this is the first tweet I've ever written," user XXXXXXXX tweeted Thursday. "I'm (a) good guy, I'm a veteran, I love America. I'm gonna kill myself tonight. I've lost everything I have nobody, nobody cares."
read more here

When veterans commit suicides in public

SUICIDE AWARENESS: When veterans commit suicides in public

Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
November 19, 2018

It is an epidemic! All over the country groups of people are having events to raise funds because veterans are killing themselves. What makes it worse is these events are intended to be "fun" times.

This just happened in Florida over the weekend when the American Legion held one of the "awareness" events. This is the flyer they used to promote it.

Pay close attention to this part.

Nov. 17th, 2018

Challenge 22 - 2.2 Mile "Ruck" Walk and Block Party

Come out to join the Winter Garden American Legion Post 63, in partnership with the Crooked Can Brewery,  and our community for a walk , block party and a day of camaraderie to raise awareness for PTSD and Suicide in Veterans. 

Bring your family and friends to join the hike or just come out to enjoy the festivities, there will be something for everyone! Again, the goal is to have a great time, while raising awareness to a tragic epidemic of 22 suicides per day due to PTSD and lost HOPE.

While some keep focusing on the very public suicide of the veteran after he opened fire at the Borderline Bar, the truth is, more veterans are more dangerous to themselves, than to anyone else.

Yet this is list of suicide awareness, by veterans who committed suicide IN PUBLIC AS A SCREAM FOR HELP!

How much louder to they have to scream?


Last year veterans were facing off with law enforcement almost every week, maybe even more, but while these reports should have been national news, they were ignored.

Oh well, it is just so much easier to just use a number as if that is supposed to make any difference to the men and women screaming for help to stay alive.

When veterans commit suicide in a very public way, that is exactly what it is. Oh, not help for themselves. They have already made up their minds it is too late for them. They are screaming for someone to do something to help the other veterans! Like these;
(UPDATE: Added more from this year)

January 2018
Clinton Michigan
Veteran committed suicide at East Olive Elementary School

February 2018
Texas
Army veteran dead after SWAT Standoff 

March 2018
Yountville California
Veteran and hostages dead at PTSD program


Vietnam veteran committed suicide in Sheridan Police Department Parking lot after calling dispatch to let them know where he was.

Joint Base Lewis McChord Airman committed suicide after killing his family.

Waterbury 
Suicide by cop, Marine veteran

Oklahoma
Suicide by Cop: Duane served in the Air Force for 16 years, completing three tours overseas. 

Soldier dead after standoff at Aberdeen Proving Ground

Oklahoma
Air Force Veteran dead after police were called to help him.


St. Louis
62 year old veteran committed suicide in John Cochran VA Medical Center waiting room

April 2018
Boynton Beach
Florida
76 year old Vietnam veteran committed suicide in Boynton City Hal parking lot. Not first time this happened. 

It happened last year in Amarillo Texas when a veteran shot himself in front of the VA hospital.


May 2018
Airman at Cannon Air Force Base found dead in Ned Houk Park

June 2018
Fort Knox 
21 year old Private committed public suicide at Clarksville High School after he stole a gun.

Kansas
Vietnam veteran committed suicide at in the VA emergency room.


Colorado Springs

Hours after being discharged from a mental health treatment facility, 38-year-old disabled veteran Lee Cole hiked into a wilderness area in southwest Colorado Springs with a backpack and the cellphone on which he planned to record his final message.

Georgia
Navy Veteran set himself on fire in front of Georgia Capitol protesting the VA system. 

Not first time this happened. It also happened in New Jersey last year.

Norfolk Navy Yard
Sailor walked into helicopter blade, death ruled suicide.

July 2018
Alabama
Air Force veteran shot family, and himself after setting house on fire.

Chicago Police Officer and Marine veteran committed suicide in parking lot of police station.


Phoenix AZ
Veteran shot himself inside the VA Hospital Chapel 

Not the first times since it happened last year when a 33 year old veteran shot himself at the VA.

August 2018
Employee found dead inside Topeka VA Medical Center office

A Veterans Affairs employee died Tuesday morning inside an administrative office at Topeka’s Colmery O’Neil VA Medical Center. Joe Burks, spokesman for the VA Eastern Kansas Health Care System, said the employee died of an apparent suicide.

Suicide in Mishawaka VA parking lot puts spotlight on veteran mental health crisis

A veteran shot himself yesterday in the parking lot of the VA Health Care Center in Mishawaka -- dead from an apparent suicide.

UPDATE
November 2018 
Gunshot in lobby of Nashville VA Medical Center


NOW THAT IS SUICIDE AWARENESS! Veterans commit suicide in public so that other veterans will get the help they did not find for themselves. It is not that the help is not out there, but they cannot find it because all of the people having fun with stunts are getting in the way!

UPDATE Add jumping rope in Chicago to the list of stunts. This one was to raise funds for something that has been researched for decades...and does not work. Read more about how veterans got snookered.

From 2010 we have this piece of news about the "God shot" as you will read in the next event. In 2011 this was the report about the "blocker" they want to raise funds for. This is from 2015 about ganglion block no better than a placebo.

During the "Jump for Vets" charity event, around 70 people pushed themselves to do 2,200 jumps, or the equivalent of 100 jumps for every veteran that takes their own life each year. Sponsored by Rags of Honor, the charity event aims to raise around $15,000 to provide medical care for soldiers battling PTSD... The money raised will also go towards helping veterans to undergo a nerve block procedure called a stellate ganglion block, also known as the "God Shot," which eases PTSD symptoms, and could ultimately curb the veteran suicide rate.

Just because they know how to raise money, that does not mean they know what they are advertising! 

Powerball winner donates chunk to veterans!

Powerball winner donates $500,000 to veterans charity

7 News Miami
November 16, 2018

(WSVN) - A woman who won half of the $687 million Powerball is donating half a million dollars to a veterans charity.

Lerynne West, 51, made an appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres show where she told the story of how she won the lottery and how she set up The Callum Foundation with her winnings.

West said the foundation was named after her grandson, Callum, who was born prematurely and only lived for a day. The organization’s website says it focuses its grantmaking on several areas, including poverty, hunger, education, animal welfare and veteran affairs.

“I have a responsibility to do good for other people and to help other people out as well,” West told DeGeneres.

West also announced that she will be donating $500,000 to the Travis Mills Foundation through her organization. The Travis Mills Foundation helps wounded and injured veterans and their families.

West said veteran affairs has always been something she cared about, especially with her father and brothers all having served in the military.

West was one of two winners who split the $687 million jackpot for a total of $343.9. According to CNN, she opted to take the lump sum option of $198.1 million.
read more here

Suicide Awareness is not suicide prevention!

Workers of iniquity

Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
November 18, 2018

People seem to be under a delusion that "suicide awareness" is important. None of them can explain what the purpose actual is. 

Do not be under the delusion that suicide "awareness" has anything to do with prevention. It does not! All it does is offer a veteran who is contemplating it, that many others gave up on themselves.

Talking about veterans killing themselves, is something they already know how to do. Still, those who defend the stunts, claim it is not a harmful, while being unable to explain how it is helpful to anyone.

Matthew 7:21-23 King James Version (KJV)

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

A simply analogy: you find the courage to open up to a friend about something that is seriously grieving you. 

They listen. 

Then they respond with, "That happened to someone I know and they killed themselves." 

That robs you of hope. 

Yet when they respond with, "Someone I know went through the same thing. They got help and they are happier now." That restores hope.

Do no dare think that thousands of groups all over the country, calling attention to veterans killing themselves, have invested anything into changing the outcome. It is so easy to repeat a number, without knowing where that number came from, or how many more have been uncounted.

What is hard, is gaining the knowledge, and doing the work to actually restore hope. Show them that support from others can lead to healing.

When they are shown they were not worth the simple gesture of reading the reports the awareness raisers failed to do, their thoughts of being worthless are reenforced.

When they are shown that they do matter to others, then there is healing.

In 2015, a report came out on the cost of suicides. What was stunning is that attempted suicides also came with a heavy price.

Suicide and Suicidal Attempts in the United States

Some of the workers of iniquity get caught.

ORLANDO, Fla. - A nonprofit led by former Orlando mayoral candidate Neil "Paul" Paulson Sr. misled people who donated more than $20 million to his charity thinking the funds would go toward helping provide services to veterans,  Attorney General Pam Bondi said.Paulson and his nonprofit Help the Vets Inc. recently settled with Florida, California, Maryland, Minnesota, Ohio and Oregon, in a lawsuit that alleges that between 2014 and 2017, Paulson collected donations across the U.S. "based on misleading promises that the donations would assist veterans by providing funding for grants, medical care, a suicide prevention program, therapeutic family retreats and similar programs," according to a news release from Bondi's office.

Fake charity pledged to fight veteran suicide. Instead, it kept millions of dollars.

Ten veterans charities that allegedly misused millions of dollars in donations are facing sanctions from California amid a nationwide crackdown on organizations that appear to manipulate the public’s goodwill for military service members.The biggest alleged offender was Help the Vets, a charity that reportedly misused $20 million it raised over four years and did not make good on its promises to help veterans.Some of its fundraising appeals promoted a veteran suicide prevention program that did not exist, according to an injunction released by the Attorney General’s Office and the Federal Trade Commission.The charity’s promotions used urgent language, such as, “22 VETERANS WILL DIE EACH DAY UNLESS WE DO SOMETHING.” The number refers to Department of Veterans Affairs studies that estimate 20 to 22 veterans take their own lives every day. 

Some lost support while others still gain attention for themselves. You know, the ones having events to have fun. 

If that does not nauseate you enough, go to one of the events and see what a good time they are having...because veterans are killing themselves.

Suicide Awareness is not suicide prevention!

What is wrong with the supports who find no fault in having a good time because veterans are killing themselves?

This is the chart from the latest VA Suicide Report

Notice how the numbers increased after Suicide Awareness started? Notice how the number of veterans decreased, which means that it all got worse for veterans needing to be aware of how to prevent taking their own lives?

Some fight the works of iniquity.

Former NIMH head Thomas Insel recently made a remarkable concession. He acknowledged that the biomedical framework he adopted while directing $20 billion dollars in NIMH research funds failed to "move the needle" in improving the lives of the millions of people with mental illnesses. Here is his full quote: “I spent 13 years at NIMH really pushing on the neuroscience and genetics of mental disorders, and when I look back on that I realize that while I think I succeeded at getting lots of really cool papers published by cool scientists at fairly large costs—I think $20 billion—I don’t think we moved the needle in reducing suicide, reducing hospitalizations, improving recovery for the tens of millions of people who have mental illness.”

It is time to kill the business they are in because it is one with a deadly outcome!

UPDATE
This is from one of those events that happened yesterday.

Nov. 17th, 2018

Challenge 22 - 2.2 Mile "Ruck" Walk and Block Party

Come out to join the Winter Garden American Legion Post 63, in partnership with the Crooked Can Brewery,  and our community for a walk , block party and a day of camaraderie to raise awareness for PTSD and Suicide in Veterans. 

Join us for a patriotic opening ceremony, the walk, raffles, food, drink, kids activities, live music and so much more!  You are encouraged to bring your Ruck (hiking pack) if you have one, but it is not required.  Walk the full 2.2 miles or stop after the first leg as we will pass back by the Post after the first 1/2 mile.  We are hoping to have some of our WWII, Korea and Vietnam vets participating along with the younger generations.  

Bring your family and friends to join the hike or just come out to enjoy the festivities, there will be something for everyone! Again, the goal is to have a great time, while raising awareness to a tragic epidemic of 22 suicides per day due to PTSD and lost HOPE.

Registration and sign in will begin at 10:30am. The opening ceremony, which will begin at 11:00am, will be followed by the 2.2 mile walk.  Immediately after the walk, we will have an afternoon of fun, with live music, food, Crooked Can beer, kids activities and so much more.  The live entertainment will end at 5pm, but the Plant Street Market businesses will remain open into the evening.

2.  What is a "Ruck"?  It is a pack that the military uses to carry their gear on hikes.  Typically they weight 50-100lbs.  

No requirement to carry anything, but you are welcome to bring your own pack (filled or empty...no one will know)

PTSD Patrol Switching Gears

Motion requires different gears

PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
November 18, 2018

The wheels turn, turn, turn and we move forward. Sometimes the road is smooth. Other times, it is a bumpy road we must travel on to get where we want to go.

There are times when we are alone on the road, but the passengers in our minds keep us company.

Sometimes the sun is shining and we can enjoy the drive. Sometimes it is snowing. The roads are dangerous to be on.

Sometimes we are the only ones on the road. Other times we are stuck in traffic.

What all of us must deal with, is, there are no guarantees any trip will be an easy one to take. 

To everything, there is a gear, that makes your wheels turn, turn, turn 

And a time to every purpose, under your hood 

A time to be move forward, a time to park 

A time to stay, a time to travel 

A time to reverse, a time for neutral 

A time to joy ride, a time to stop 

To everything, there is a gear. that makes your wheels turn, turn, turn.

There is a time to grieve, remember what is lost and then a time to remember with fondness. A time to cry and release the pain you feel. That makes room for a time to feel joy again.
read more here

WWI best sniper returned broken in spirit and morale

First Nations sniper never recovered from horrors of war

CALGARY HERALD
By Don Thomas
November 16, 2018

Labelle was not so fortunate. He returned broken in spirit and morale, recalls his daughter Yvonne Poucette, 79. Her shoulders shook with grief last Sunday near the stone marker at the Chiniki cemetery where Labelle was buried with full PPCLI honours when he died at age 91 in 1989.

The final resting place for First World War sniper Tom Labelle of the Stoney First Nation is a remote one, on the edge of a drumlin at the Chiniki band cemetery 30 kilometres from Morley.

The Stoney Nation honours the memory of First World War sniper Tom Labelle. Photo submitted by Don Thomas.

But it’s not a forgotten place, as seen last weekend when Stoney First Nations residents gathered to honour his memory on Remembrance Day.

Labelle volunteered for the Canadian army at age 17 by lying about his age. He was inducted into the 31st Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry where his shooting skill and ability to take out German machine gunners endeared him to the officers.

Exactly how many Germans he shot is unknown. Certainly, it wasn’t as many as Corp. Francis (Peggy) Pegahmagabow, of the Shawanaga First Nation in northern Ontario — the war’s best sniper, German or British — who is credited with killing 304 Germans and capturing another 300.

But Labelle’s marksmanship may have saved the lives of hundreds of Canadian and British soldiers, since it led to German machine gunners being killed before they could slaughter Allied soldiers with their weapons.
read more here

Sheriff's Office mental health bureau with heart and soul

Collier Sheriff's Office lieutenant runs mental health bureau with heart and soul

Naples Daily News
Liz Freeman
Nov. 17, 2018

There are many people in crisis: in plain sight peddling bicycles on local roads, in and out of jail and the courts, and hidden behind closed doors in picturesque Collier County.

A former Collier County Sheriff's Office road patrol duty deputy, Lt. Leslie Weidenhammer, discusses how the mental health bureau helps people in crisis. Liz Freeman

Lt. Leslie Weidenhammer lifts up the mentally ill from their dark places.

Her memory runs deep. She knows the names of pets. Her internal radar as a law enforcement officer is ever-ready. Yet she also has a master’s degree in mental health counseling.

“It’s Leslie. I’m here to check on you,” she says gently, standing on a doorstep where she has stood countless times.

She gauges stress in the voice coming from the other side of the locked door, of a woman with schizophrenia.

Weidenhammer, 53, listens for the sound of furniture being pushed away from the door, whether paranoia has its grip today.

“Thankfully, she will call me when she is not doing well,” Weidenhammer said. “She has my cellphone.”
read more here

Judge grants hearing for Officer's PTSD benefits

Former Lake County Sheriff's Officer Guy Mikulich granted hearing for disability benefits for PTSD

NWI News
Anna Ortiz
November 16, 2018

He said he reported his issues with post-traumatic stress disorder, alcohol abuse, sleeplessness, paranoia and memory loss to the department's psychologist before the incident.

The Lake Superior Court has agreed former Lake County Sheriff's Officer Guy Mikulich can have an evidentiary hearing regarding disability benefits he has applied for.

Following a more than two-year legal battle between Mikulich and the Lake County Sheriff's Department, Mikulich alleges the board wrongfully denied him disability benefits for post-traumatic stress disorder he said he developed during his 16-year career in the department.

Mikulich filed three separate disability benefit applications with the Lake County Sheriff's Department, a court order document states, and each application was denied.

Following the board's denials, Mikulich filed a complaint for administrative review asserting that he is entitled to a judicial review. Mikulich alleges that his due process rights were violated by the Sheriff's Merit Board and its attorney by not allowing him a hearing to present evidence before the board, the court document states.
read more here