'Like hearing their voices': Researcher analyzes suicide notes to save lives
CTV News Daniel Otis, CTVNews.ca Writer Avis Favaro, Medical Specialist, CTV National News Elizabeth St. Philip, CTV News Published Sunday, January 27, 2019
The search for clues about why people choose to die by suicide often starts with the words they leave behind. Dr. Rahel Eynan, a scientist with the Lawson Health Research Institute in London, Ont., is unravelling such mysteries one heart-wrenching note at a time.
“When I’ll open a file, in my head I’ll say, ‘Tell me your story,’” she told CTV News. “Sometimes you actually can feel the pain of the individual that wrote them.”
In a 2018 study published by The American Association of Suicidology, Eynan analyzed 383 suicide notes left by children as young as 11 and adults as old as 98 to find signs that can be used to identify and help others who are at risk.
“About 57 per cent expressed love for others,” she explained. “Very few expressed that they felt loved… About 53 per cent expressed ‘sorry’ and apologies.”
Half, Eynan also found, were escaping illness, physical or psychological pain.
“They are so constricted in their thinking that they don’t see any other option -- the only option is to die,” she said. read more here
If you listen to any Podcast, take the time for this one. Then maybe you'll want to make a difference before it is too late for someone you love!
The Morning Call Podcast: Carbon County soldier was tormented by wars – abroad and at home
The Morning Call By Kayla DwyerContact Reporter January 28, 2019
Michael Wargo's battle was long and extremely well hidden.
Michael Wargo hid his PTSD from everyone, then paid the ultimate price. His parents are working to prevent others from enduring the same tragedy. (Contributed Photo)
He spent 10 months in Afghanistan, then eight years battling PTSD, then four and a half hours explaining his life-altering decision in a video his parents received when it was too late to change anything.
A recent audit of the Veterans Administration shows they had millions of dollars budgeted for veteran suicide awareness that went unspent last year.
This week on The Morning call Podcast, columnist Paul Muschick explains what happened, and the Wargos explain the stakes. read more here
The U.S. military finished 2018 with a troubling, sad statistic -- it experienced the highest number of suicides among active-duty personnel in at least six years.
Without the Army reporting the number of soldiers who died by suicide in the last quarter of 2018, a total of 286 active-duty members took their lives during the year, including 57 Marines, 68 sailors, 58 airmen and, through Oct. 1, 103 Army soldiers.
The deaths equal the total number of active-duty personnel who died by suicide in 2017. With the Army's fourth-quarter data, could reach the record 321 suicides recorded in 2012.
update fromCNN Sixty-eight active duty Navy personnel died by suicide in 2018 with 57 cases among the Marine Corps, according to data obtained by CNN. Another 18 Marines in the Reserve forces either are confirmed to have committed suicide or their deaths are being investigated as suspected suicides.
No More Excuses
Combat PTSD Wounded Times Kathie Costos January 27, 2019 The number of service members committing suicide continues to rise. The number of veterans committing suicide continues to rise. The number of people actually in charge with a clue of what needs to be done, continues to be absent without leave!!!! Yes, they are AWOL! How is it that there are people all over this country knowing exactly what works, what the troops need to hear, what veterans need to hear, YET WE ARE NEVER HEARD BY THOSE IN CHARGE? How is it that we have known what works for decades but the "experts" are clueless? They come up with slogans when we come up with results. They come up with excuses, when we come up with plans. What makes all of this worse for us is, we know there is absolutely no need of all this suffering when they could be healing and still serving. This is totally unacceptable because all of these suicides were preventable!
Suicide rate among active-duty Marines at a 10-year high
CNN Barbara Starr January 25, 2019
"While there is no dishonor in coming up short, or needing help, there is no honor in quitting. For those who are struggling ... our Marine Corps, our families, and our Nation need you; we can't afford to lose you." General Robert Neller
(CNN)The number of confirmed and suspected suicides in the active-duty Marine Corps reached a 10-year high in 2018 with 57 cases, according to new Marine Corps data obtained by CNN.
The United States Marine Corps emblem hanging on a wall at the Joint Detention Forces Headquarters at Guantanamo Bay US Naval Base, Cuba, April 09, 2014. AFP PHOTO/MLADEN ANTONOV
Another 18 Marines in the Reserve forces either are confirmed to have committed suicide or their deaths are being investigated as suspected suicides. Marine Corps sources say the service is concerned that 2018 may have seen 75 suicides even with the extensive mental health programs available. Many of the cases are young Marines who have not deployed overseas and have not been in combat -- a situation that has been seen in other branches of the military as well. "Don't make them just numbers," one Marine Corps official pleaded when making the data available to CNN. read more here
Yet again, one more reminder that when the DOD bought all the FUBAR "resilience" BS, they failed to notice that if it did not work for those who did not deploy, THEN IT WOULD NOT WORK FOR THOSE WHO WERE DEPLOYED MULTIPLE TIMES!!! Here are a couple of videos from a Marine veteran with PTSD. Listen to him and know that you can #TakeBackYourLife and live stronger!
Kathie Costos DiCesare Published on Dec 31, 2016 This is Jonnie. He has survived three attempted suicides and spent time as a homeless veteran. A year ago, he never thought he would be where he is today. He is healing and he wants to make sure other veterans get the message of something worth living for instead of the message spread about suicides. Spend next year healing and let this New Year be the year you begin to change again, only this time, for the better!
Kathie Costos DiCesare Published on Mar 11, 2018 Sunday morning empowerment zone features Marine veteran filmed yesterday at the Orlando Nam Knights bikeweek party. His simple message is empowerment! Take control of your life from this moment on. It's up to you where you go from here!
Kathie Costos DiCesare Published on Apr 14, 2018 My buddy Jonnie has been fighting to take his life back from PTSD. He is doing everything possible to make his life better. Working on his mind, his spirit and his body! He is at the American Combat Club in Downtown Orlando.
Kathie Costos DiCesare Published on Jul 22, 2018 PTSD Patrol Sunday Morning Empowerment Zone Jonnie shares his message of getting in control over the road you choose to be on. You can sit back and feel miserable as a victim or you can choose the road to heal as a survivor.
Veterans with debilitating Gulf War Syndrome may have passed it on to children
Mirror UK By Grace Macaskill JAN 2019
The American study, funded by the US Veterans Affairs department, will step up the pressure. Dr Michael Falvo, lead researcher at the War Related Illness and Injury Study Center, said the findings were the “first direct biological evidence”
EXCLUSIVE: Stricken families say they want the Ministry of Defence to recognise the condition as the British Legion says it believes 30,000 may be suffering
Medical research has revealed troops who served in Iraq are more likely to have damage to DNA (Image: PA)
British forces veterans suffering Gulf War Syndrome may have given it to their children.
New medical research has revealed troops who served in Iraq are more likely to have damage to DNA that could be passed on during reproduction.
Experts in the US – where the illness is recognised – claim to have found the first proof of a biological link to debilitating symptoms suffered by servicemen involved in the 1990-1991 conflict.
Almost 75 per cent of the 53,000 UK soldiers there were given an anthrax vaccine. Many were also exposed to depleted uranium in some weapons.
Thousands reported a raft of disorders on their return home, including extreme fatigue, dizziness, strange rashes, nerve pain and memory loss – and the British Legion believes 30,000 may be suffering from the syndrome.
And more and more affected families are reporting that their children have developed terrifying symptoms of conditions that can be passed on genetically.
Now they are demanding the Ministry of Defence acts on the latest research and recognises Gulf War Syndrome. read more here
'No veteran should be buried alone': No one expected to attend Texas veteran's funeral
KVUE ABC News Author: Juan Rodriguez, Rebecca Flores January 26, 2019
Air Force Veteran Joseph Walker will be laid to rest Monday, and no one is expected to attend.
KILLEEN, Texas — The Central Texas State Veteran’s Cemetery is calling for the public’s attendance at an unaccompanied Texas veteran’s funeral.
Air Force Veteran Joseph Walker will be laid to rest Monday, and no one is expected to attend. The cemetery said they do not know where his family is and they do not want him to be laid to rest alone, so they are asking the public to attend.
A member of Wind Therapy Freedom Riders is also encouraging the public to attend.
"Let's show our respects to an American Veteran," said Luis Rodriguez.
The group of bikers will meet at Rudy's BBQ off I-35 in Round Rock and take off to the burial site at 9 a.m.
"No veteran should be buried alone," Rodriguez explained on a Facebook post.
Mr. Walker served in the Air Force from September 1964 to September 1968.
His funeral will take place Monday at 10 a.m. at the Central Texas State Cemetery.
go here for updates
WFLA 8 News January 26, 2019
HIGHLANDS COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) - The Highlands County Sheriff's Office is mourning the loss of a deputy who committed suicide.
Sgt. Max Van D’Huynslager, 42, died Saturday morning from a self-inflicted injury, according to the sheriff's office.
Van D’Huynslage, who had served in the Highlands County Sheriff's Office since 2008, was not on duty when five women were shot and killed in a bank in Sebring, authorities said.
Before he joined the agency, Van D’Huynslager worked for the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, the Cape Coral Police Department and the Clewiston Police Department. He leaves behind a wife and an 8-year-old daughter, according to the sheriff's office. read more here
If the life needing to be saved this time is yours, please #BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife
I did this video back in 2008 for National Guards and Reservists, but was given an award from the IFOC because it was also helping police officers and firefighters.
Paul Muschick: Carbon County soldier survived Afghanistan. Then he lost 'the war at home.'
McCall Paul Muschick January 25, 2019
“We can’t undo what happened but if we could stop some other soldier from doing what Michael did and some other family going through what we did, this is all worth it.” Mike Wargo
Army Spc. Michael Wargo returned from military service in Afghanistan with "terrific survivor guilt" and PTSD, according to his parents. He took his life eight years later, leaving them a long video message in which he described his pain and how he suffered in silence. (CONTRIBUTED/MIKE AND SARAH WARGO)
When Michael Wargo returned from war in the Middle East, he looked fine. But he wasn’t.
He had endured a lot. Like many soldiers, he suffered in silence. He didn’t want anyone to know how troubled he was.
Eight years later, he took his life.
The suicide rate among veterans is high. They make up 8.3 percent of the adult population and account for 14.3 percent of adult suicides, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. An average of 20 veterans die by suicide each day.
Wargo’s parents, Mike and Sarah Wargo of Mahoning Township, are on a mission of their own now: to reduce that number. They are using their son’s story to illustrate the need for more to be done to stop veterans from losing “the war at home.”
“We can’t undo what happened but if we could stop some other soldier from doing what Michael did and some other family going through what we did, this is all worth it,” Mike Wargo said.
The Wargos reached out to me after reading a column I wrote about the VA not spending the bulk of the money it allotted for suicide prevention advertising last year.
The VA said that happened because leadership was in flux and the suicide prevention program was being realigned. It said changes since have been made and nearly twice as much is planned for suicide prevention outreach this year.
read more here
'Another fallen soldier': Tulsa wonders why a homeless vet died the way he did
Tulsa World By Michael Overall January 26, 2019
Holder spent two nights last week in a downtown homeless shelter, Haltom said. But he didn’t return last Saturday as overnight temperatures sank into the teens. Firefighters recovered his body the next morning outside the Daily Grill restaurant at the Hyatt Regency, where the 39-year-old veteran apparently froze to death on the patio.
He hadn’t been around for a while, long enough that people couldn’t remember the last time they had seen him. Several weeks, at least. Maybe months.
Then Zaki Holder showed up again last week, coming off the streets to get warm inside the Day Center for the Homeless in the northwest corner of downtown Tulsa.
The staff wondered where he had been but didn’t pry. Chronic homelessness doesn’t hit people in one long burst. It comes and goes and comes again.
Nobody was surprised to see Holder again.
“He was a familiar face,” said Mack Haltom, the Day Center’s associate director. “He was quiet. Stayed to himself. Never caused a problem.”
It was the second memorial service of the day for the Patriot Guard, Smith said. The first had been for a veteran who “joined the 22-a-Day Club” by committing suicide, he said. And as far as the Patriot Guard members were concerned, Holder was “another fallen soldier,” too, Smith said. read more here
“It was really an overwhelming sense of pride and honor,” Malone said of the dedication. “He’s no longer with us, but his memory and his legacy are going to be permanent reminders here in Wall Township of the sacrifice of all World War II veterans.”
WALL TOWNSHIP, NJ
New Jersey police officers launched a fundraiser last spring in an effort to honor a highly decorated World War II veteran. The result is now displayed outside their station.
Patrolman Mike Malone and his fellow Wall Township police officers hoped to raise enough money for a memorial service, but the outpouring of support resulted in $130,000 - enough to create a bronze statue of WWII veteran Harry Rockafeller, who recently died at the age of 100, NJ.com reports.read more here
Suspect shot by officers at Springs apartment complex
KKTV 11 News By Lindsey Grewe Jan 23, 2019
The suspect sustained nonlife-threatening injuries. He was identified Thursday morning as 33-year-old Thomas McGeorge.
Fort Carson confirmed Thursday that McGeorge is an active duty staff sergeant. He works as a Fire Support Specialist in the Army's field artillery team. He has served in the military for just under 11 years.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) - Officers opened fire in an apartment complex Wednesday night after an encounter with an armed suspect.
What led up to the police-involved shooting remains under investigation. Colorado Springs Police Department spokesperson Lt. Howard Black says officers were initially called to the Mountain Ridge Apartments on Verde Drive on reports of someone repeatedly firing a gun.
"These multiple shots were being called in by multiple people over a period of time," Black said.
Witnesses reported hearing at least half a dozen gunshots.
"We were smoking a cigarette, and we heard like seven gunshots, and we didn’t think nothing of it ... all of a sudden a bunch of cops showed up, and it was terrible," Gere Burrell told 11 News.
read more here
