"They had asked for proof that Ace was a service dog which we provided and provided again. Then I got an email saying I was terminated. No explanation," Jennifer says.
TYLER, TX (KLTV)
An East Texas woman, an army veteran who suffers PTSD, continues to struggle in a battle against what she says was an unfair termination from the company she worked for.
The controversy swirls around whether she was able to bring her service dog to work with her.
Jennifer Mcatee Willis of Henderson has been out of work for a month now.
In November after Willis had come back from her honeymoon, and informed her employer where she had worked for 3 years that she would start bringing her service dog 'Ace' to work with her. But that's when she says the trouble started.
"It's disturbed me in a lot of ways, the stress has gotten worse and I have nightmares almost every night," she says.
In a strange sequence, Jennifer was first notified by the company she worked for that if she brought 'Ace' to work with her, she would be terminated. After our initial story aired, she was notified she was still and employee.
read more here
'There's hope for tomorrow,' DNR officer tells woman contemplating suicide on MacArthur Bridge
WXYZ 7 ABC News Jennifer Wilson December 9, 2018
"There's hope for tomorrow," he assured the woman. "It might be bad right now, but there's hope for tomorrow to be better."
DETROIT (WXYZ) - A DNR conservation officer is a hero after saving a young woman's life on Friday. It happened on the MacArthur Bridge, which connects Detroit to Belle Isle.
A 25-year-old woman in distress was saved by an officer who was there when she needed him the most.
Between the parties and the presents, we often focus on the joy and fun of the holidays, but there are a lot of people who really struggle this time of year.
Everywhere you look, messages of good cheer and hope abound but what you see doesn't always reflect what you feel.
"Holiday seasons are hard," says Ben Lasher, a conservation officer with the Department of Natural Resources. "A lot of people have strong feelings, good or bad, and this young lady was having a hard time. And I was able to be in the right place at the right time." read more here
MOVIE TRAILERS Hayden Christensen in Trailer for Sci-Fi Action Thriller 'The Last Man' by Alex Billington December 9, 2018
Kurt Matheson (Hayden Christensen) is a war veteran with PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) who perceives that the end of the world is coming. After establishing a relationship with a dubious Messiah (Harvey Keitel), he leaves his normal life and begins the construction of a shelter underground, training himself, in an extreme way, at the cost of losing everything and making people believe he is insane. When he also believes it, something extraordinary happens.
The Last Man is directed by filmmaker Rodrigo H. Vila, making his feature directorial debut after many docs and TV shows previously, including The Hero of Two Sisters Mountain, Boca Juniors 3D: The Movie, and Tango in Paris, Memories of Astor Piazzolla. The screenplay is written by Rodrigo H. Vila and Gustavo Lencina, with collaboration from Dan Bush. This hasn't premiered at any film festivals before this release as far as we know. Lionsgate will debut Vila's The Last Man in select US theaters + on VOD starting January 18th, 2019 early next year. Is anyone interested?
The official trailer for The Last Man, a new sci-fi/action film starring Hayden Christensen and Harvey Keitel.
Jacksonville Marine opens coffee shop catered to veterans transitioning home
Action News By: Bridgette Matter December 8, 2018
Kelloway’s faith in God set him on a path of purpose, he began serving coffee to homeless on a Jacksonville street corner. He then set out on a mission, to start his own coffee shop, and help other veterans struggling just like he had.
A local veteran is giving back to the community by helping transition other veterans into civilian life.
Jason Kelloway is the owner of Social Grounds Coffee Company in Springfield at 1712 Main St. N., Jacksonville, Florida 32206
Before pouring his heart into the business, Kelloway had to rebuild himself.
The Marine Corps veteran found himself in a downward spiral after his time in the service.
“There was one point in my life, I didn’t think I could even take care of myself, I had nothing, I lost everything, I really had to work on me.”
At one point, homeless in Jacksonville for two years, living out of his car, he even attempted suicide. read more here
GoFundMe case: Homeless vet Johnny Bobbitt appears in court
ABC 6 News December 7, 2018
MT. HOLLY, N.J. (WPVI) -- Johnny Bobbitt, the homeless veteran accused of trying to scam GoFundMe donors, appeared before a judge on Friday.
Wearing an orange jumpsuit, the 35-year-old appeared via closed-circuit video.
The prosecution asked he be held for trial without the option for bail.
Bobbitt has yet to formally hear the charges against him, although the Burlington County prosecutor publicly announced Bobbitt will be facing charges of fraud by deception and conspiracy. read more here
Aidan Knight, hanged himself after trying to get help from professionals
Daily Mail Joe Middleton December 9, 2018
Family of Iraq War veteran, 29, who took his own life after telling his mother he'd seen 'too much death' win six-figure payout from NHS over a catalogue of failings in his care
The family of Aidan Knight (names not given) outside the High Court in London. The family of the former soldier who committed suicide have won a six-figure payout from NHS bosses after they admitted a catalogue of failings in his care
Aidan Knight, hanged himself after trying to get help from professionals The 29-year-old's three children have been awarded a financial settlement Lawyers brought a civil action against Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust He told his mother, Angie Aleksejuk, 55, that he had seen 'too much death'
The family of an Iraq War veteran who took his own life have won a six-figure payout from NHS bosses who admitted a catalogue of failings in his care.
Father-of-three Aidan Knight, who served in Iraq with the elite 2 Para, hanged himself after trying to get help from mental health professionals for months, lawyers representing his family said.
He left the army after five years, telling his mother he had seen 'too much death' and also struggled to cope with the loss of his brother George in 2012.
Between 2014 and 2015, Mr Knight took an overdose in the first of four suicide bids.
Mr Knight's mother Angie Aleksejuk, 55, from Stafford, said: 'I wish that just one person had thought differently in the period leading up to Aidan's death, as if they had he may still be here. read more here
National Guard hears ‘heartbreaking’ cancer stories
Sea Coastline Daily By Jeff McMenemy Posted Dec 7, 2018
PORTSMOUTH -- More than 200 people who turned out for a meeting at the 157th Air Refueling Wing heard story after story about guardsmen who died from cancer or suffered with other health ailments after serving at the Pease Air National Guard base.
Col. John W. Pogorek, wing commander of Pease Air National Guard base. (Photo Rich Beauchesne Seacoastonlin)
The guard hosted a “listening session” Friday afternoon to hear the health concerns of retirees, their widows and families, along with active duty guardsmen.
Led by Doris Brock, who lost her husband Kendall Brock, a 35-year member of the guard who died in June 2017 from bladder and prostate cancer, a group of widows and retirees have pushed the Air Force to conduct a health study because of what they believe is an unusually high number of cancers at the base.
Brock reminded the people in attendance that it took 35 years before the Veterans Administration sought presumptive disability status for veterans who served at Camp Lejeune, a Marine Corps base in North Carolina with acknowledged water contamination.
“I don’t want to wait that long for us. It has to be faster,” Brock said. “We’ve lost a lot of good people.”
She believes her husband’s exposure to 12 different chemicals on the base known to be carcinogens - along with drinking contaminated water at the former air base - caused his cancer. read more here
No matter how many different ways you can discover how to get to where you want to be, you will not look for them, unless you have hope that place exists. The road to heal is real! #CombatPTSD and #TakeBackYourLife When I was going on a road trip, first I had to have the will to go, then get directions on how to get there from where I was. Back then, we went to the gas stations to get a road map. Not easy to read and really too large to hold it while sitting in a vehicle. Trying to refold it was nearly impossible! AAA came out with TripTik planners. We'd go, tell them where we wanted get to, and they would plan out the entire trip. We'd flip the pages until we arrived. To get back home, we'd just flip the pages backwards. Now we have GPS directions in our cars and on our cell phones. Makes getting where we want to go easier to find. Where do you want to go? Sometimes find out how to get someplace is not your biggest problem. Sometimes, having the desire even think about changing where you are is the hardest thing to find. When I was new on the road, it did not make much sense to look both ways before taking a right turn, because I assumed no one would be coming the other way. That is, until I almost hit someone trying to cross in front of me. Then I understood there could always be something I am not seeing, because I did not look for it.
It is the same way with answers. First you need hope there is an answer to find for whatever you want to know, or change. If there is no hope, you will not look. Hope is what gets us moving each morning. It causes us to open our eyes, but it is the desire to seek something better, that begins the search for what we hope for.
If you know there is a better road to take, then you will look for it. If you know that other people have been there, and can show you the way, you are not traveling alone. read more here
Navy Vietnam veterans feeling betrayed march on VA
WFLA 8 News Steven Andrews December 8, 2018
"We took water and distilled it, and actually bathed in it, ate food cooked in it and drank it," Mike explained. Mike served on the U.S.S. Buchanan, a destroyer that according to deck logs, anchored in Da Nang Harbor when the military sprayed Agent Orange.
WASHINGTON (WFLA) - Navy Vietnam Veterans marched from a Washington, D.C. federal courthouse to the steps of VA headquarters with a message: They were poisoned at sea.
New Port Richey veteran Mike Kvintus was among them.
"All of us veterans have taken an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States and with that oath, we expect the country to take care of us," the Navy veteran said.
Instead, with a stroke of a pen, the VA abandoned 90,000 Navy Vietnam veterans who did not step foot on Vietnam soil.
The VA contends unlike troops that served on the ground, these Blue Water Navy veterans were not exposed to Agent Orange.
"It's a national disgrace as far as I'm concerned," Mike added.
The military sprayed 20 million gallons of the toxic herbicide Agent Orange on Vietnam.
It ran into rivers and streams. It contaminated harbors and bays.
Ships like the American Victory, which served in Vietnam, turned contaminated sea water into fresh water. The distillation process only enhanced the chemicals, unknowingly poisoning crew members.
read more here
'Invisible Veteran' Multiple organizations claim female veterans are under-served in Jacksonville
That is the headline on First Coast News, and this is what the news was.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A group of veterans and local organizations say female veterans have gone under-served and unfunded for too long. First Coast News met with four local veterans from different branches of the military and different organizations who all came to the same consensus, insisting there is a problem in Jacksonville for women who served, despite Duval County having the highest number of female veterans in the state.
But is sure as hell is not news to us!
This was in the report.
Nicole Gray is a U.S. Army and Navy veteran and founder of Got Your Six Female Veteran Support Service. She says she knows how it feels first hand. "Roughly four-and-a-half years ago, I was homeless and sleeping in a car here in Jacksonville. I went to various organizations for assistance, but because I didn’t have children and didn’t deploy to war I was ineligible for assistance," said Gray.
Though VA officials say they are conducting a survey on women’s experiences at their facilities, as well as offering programs specifically for women, proponents of the proposed bill say it would target areas VA has not addressed. It follows a similar House bill proposed by Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, D-S.D., and Ginny Brown-Waite, R-Fla. Murray’s bill will ask for:
• Assessment and treatment of women who have suffered sexual trauma in the military. • More use of evidence-based treatment for women — particularly in areas such as post-traumatic stress disorder, where responses may be different or involve different issues than it does for men. • A long-term study on gender-specific health issues of female veterans. “One of the things we started to see early on is that there’s a lot we don’t know,” said Joy Ilem, assistant national legislative director for Disabled American Veterans.
SO WHY THE HELL ARE THEY STILL SAYING THEY NEED TO ADDRESS THE NEEDS OF FEMALE VETERANS?
