Unplugged

Note to readers: I am unplugged until Sunday.

I am spending time plugging in with dear friends this weekend.

Also, since I do not do this work for a living, but do it for the living, I have text messages blocked.  I need to be able to focus on my job. Too many messages were coming in during the day and it was too distracting.

If you want to contact me, woundedtimes@aol.com 

By phone, 407-754-7526. Please leave a message and I will call you back as soon as possible.

Air Force Chaplain gives assurance life can get better

On suicides, Air Force’s top chaplain preaches hope over darkness to Yokota airmen

STARS AND STRIPES
By SETH ROBSON
Published: February 21, 2019

Schaick, 60, who commands 2,000 chaplains and religious affairs airmen, told the Yokota personnel that life can go to a dark place, but it always gets better.

Air Force chief of chaplains Maj. Gen. Steven Schaick told airmen gathered for a prayer breakfast Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019, at the Enlisted Club at Yokota Air Base, Japan, that everyone experiences "moments of darkness" but that things get better in the end. SETH ROBSON/STARS AND STRIPES

YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — Even a two-star general has “moments of darkness,” the Air Force chief of chaplains told servicemembers Thursday at the home of U.S. Forces Japan in western Tokyo.

Chaplain (Maj. Gen.) Steven Schaick told several airmen gathered for a National Prayer Breakfast event at the Yokota Enlisted Club that, like everyone, he experiences disorientation, for example, on days when there are complaints at work, his kids don’t answer the phone or he has issues with his wife.

“There is a spirit in this world who wants us to believe that is where it ends,” he said. “There are airmen all over Yokota who believe this even now … We had 100 airmen last year who decided that death by suicide was their only way out.”

Yokota’s 374th Maintenance Group had a string of airman suicides in 2016 and Pacific Air Forces dispatched a “suicide prevention support team” to investigate there and at Misawa and Kadena air bases.
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After hotel kicked out Vietnam veteran with service dog, he slept in his car?

UPDATE: Vietnam Veteran Kicked Out Of Bentonville Hotel Because Of Service Dog

5 News
BY JULIANNA CLIPSON
FEBRUARY 15, 2019

Cornelius and Juliana then left the hotel to sleep in his car until the morning in the hospital parking lot where his wife was working that night. He and his wife were visiting from Tulsa, where they lived. He said he was stunned by what had happened to him.

Cornelius says he made his reservation on the phone. When he arrived, he checked in. After check-in, Cornelius went to get his bags and his dog and was confronted by the clerk, Cornelius said. He was told Juliana was not allowed in the hotel, even after he explained she was not a pet.

About half an hour later, hotel staff and police officers forced Cornelius to leave.

"I was shook up... I mean I have several service-connected disabilities and what Juliana is for is for hearing and but when I went back to the hospital parking lot, I was shaken," Cornelius said.

Attempts to reach hotel management were unsuccessful before this story was published. After this story was published, 5NEWS had many conversations with the hotel manager. Monday morning (Feb. 18), the manager of the hotel called 5NEWS again to complain about this story. When asked directly for a statement or an interview the manager declined, but then said on the record, "you are liars."

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, known as the ADA, a service animal is defined as a dog that has been individually trained to do work or perform tasks for an individual with a disability. The task(s) performed by the dog must be directly related to the person's disability.
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WWII veteran celebrated 92nd birthday sharing Chick-Fil-A with total strangers

WWII veteran buys $1,500 worth of Chick-Fil-A for military families to celebrate 92nd birthday

WTOL 11 News
Author: Samantha Kubota
February 18, 2019

A California man turning 92 wanted to celebrate his birthday by giving back to military families.

Edmund Rusinek, who himself is a World War II veteran, dropped by his neighborhood Chick-Fil-A last Friday and handed the manager a wad of cash, the Orange County Register reported, and some fliers to explain his contribution. The manager told the newspaper she burned through the cash by Saturday morning, and he gave her permission to use his credit card. They estimated he had spent about $1,500 on the idea.

"I guess I’ll know for sure when I get my credit card bill in the mail," he told the paper. "I’m not a rich man – but this, I can afford.”

“Edmund is a regular customer,” Giola Arkis, the restaurant manager, told the newspaper. “He always comes in for a salad, cookies and coffee. We call him our local sweet thing.”
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On leave for husband's funeral after suicide, soldier did the same

Following his husband’s suicide, a soldier took his own life while on leave for the funeral

Army Times
By: Meghann Myers
6 days ago

A 21-year-old soldier died Feb. 5 while stateside visiting home, according to a release from the Army. It was the day after a funeral for his husband, according to their obituaries.

Pvt. Aaron Mitchell was found dead in Valley, Nebraska, 12 days after his husband, 21-year-old Rich Rosa, died by suicide.

“We’re just grieving,” Rosa’s father, Richard Rosa, told Army Times in a Wednesday phone interview, acknowledging that the family believes the deaths were by suicide. “We are without words to express how much we’re grieving and how much grief we feel.”

Rich Rosa, a civilian, had been living in the couple’s native Nebraska while Mitchell was in South Korea on an unaccompanied assignment, in which family members do not move with the soldier.

Both families requested donations to a suicide prevention or veterans organization in obituaries posted by Roeder Mortuaries in Omaha.
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Veteran “it” all started with my Combat PTSD

How Becoming an Entrepreneur Helped Me Overcome Suicidal Thoughts

Entrepreneur
Steven Kuhn
GUEST WRITER
Principle of Immediate Impact Consulting
February 13, 2019
Army veteran Steven Kuhn discusses his ongoing battle with Combat PTSD.

After years of pushing away loved ones, ignoring help and trying to forget my past, I came to the realization that embracing Combat PTSD as a source of strength was my only way out. Sounds crazy, I know, but hear me out. It shows me that I went through war and survived. I saw my inner darkness and lived there, saw death by my own hand, and lived through it all. Combat PTSD gives me the ability to do anything I want.

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

The artillery was still dropping as I ran up to Sgt. Young Min Dillon’s position. I heard he was hit and arrived just in time to share the last moments of his life. That was 1991 in Iraq. I feel fortunate to have been there and at the same time, it haunts me every day because it should have been me. At least that’s how I feel and that is where my doc says “it” all started with my Combat PTSD.

Veterans are an interesting demographic. We volunteer to do things most people don’t or won’t. Once we enlist, we are told what to do and when to do it. The basics are taken care of so that we as soldiers, marines, airmen and seamen can hyper-focus on our one task at hand. We become part of a massive team effort. In the military, no one needs to say a word: who you are, what you have done, where you served, how long you served and what you accomplished is all seen on your uniform.

I know all about the realities and horrors of PTSD firsthand. In 2008, I attempted suicide after leaving the military. At the time, I was staying in Germany where I was stationed. I attempted to grab a police officer’s weapon to shoot myself and when that didn’t work I grabbed a knife to finish the job. I came out the other side with a feeling of hopelessness I never thought I could overcome.
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Firefighters and police officers are five times more likely to suffer from PTSD

'I could feel my skin burning again' | Former firefighter opens up about his fight with PTSD

KDSK News
Author: Casey Nolen
February 20, 2019

Firefighters and police officers are five times more likely to suffer from PTSD and more likely to die by suicide than in the line of duty.

"A broken arm, you can put a cast on it and it will heal. PTSD and what firefighters and police officers deal with, this is something they can struggle with the rest of their life," said Anthony Bass with SSM Health Treatment and Recovery who counsels first responders.

It was a snow covered January night in 2014 when Tim Kirchoff and his crew arrived at a burning house on Nancy Drive in St. Charles. The fire looked like it was mostly out, but it flared up while Kirchoff and three fellow firefighters were in the basement, trapping them.

"I got to the point that I curled up on the floor and basically told my wife and kids goodbye," Kirchoff said. He can remember the fire like it was yesterday. "I knew this is the way I was going to die."

Somehow all four trapped firefighters made it out alive. Several surgeries helped mend Kirchoff's injuries on the outside. But inside, he was only getting worse.

"I was having nightmares. I was reliving it. I could literally feel my skin burning again; I couldn't sleep," said Kirchoff of the months after the fire.
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Maryland Coast Guard Lieutenant wanted to kill?

‘I am dreaming of a way to kill almost every last person on earth’: A self-proclaimed white nationalist planned a mass terrorist attack, the government says

The Washington Post
By LYNH BUI
Published: February 20, 2019

A U.S. Coast Guard lieutenant and self-identified white nationalist has been arrested after federal investigators uncovered a cache of weapons and ammunition in his Maryland home that authorities say he stockpiled to launch a widespread domestic terrorist attack targeting politicians and journalists.

Christopher Paul Hasson called for "focused violence" to "establish a white homeland" and dreamed of ways to "kill almost every last person on earth," according to court records filed in U.S. District Court in Maryland. Though court documents do not detail a specific planned date for an attack, the government said he had been amassing supplies and weapons since 2017 at the latest, developed a spreadsheet of targets that included House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and searched the internet using phrases such as "best place in dc to see congress people" and "are supreme court justices protected."

"The defendant intends to murder innocent civilians on a scale rarely seen in this country," the government said in court documents filed this week, arguing that Hasson should stay in jail awaiting trial.

Hasson, of Silver Spring, is expected to appear before a judge for a detention hearing in federal court in Greenbelt on Thursday.
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Ex-homeless Vietnam veteran Marine giving back

Formerly Homeless Veteran Gets Help, Now Gives Back

NBC Bay Area
By Garvin Thomas
Published Feb 19, 2019

One day, a Concord police officer checking on Bartell noticed the United States Marine Corp tattoo on Bartell's right arm. "He said, 'You're a veteran? You shouldn't be homeless,'" Bartell said. "I told him, 'Yeah, I've heard that before.'"

To witness 70-year-old Mike Bartell smiling, laughing, and caring for others while volunteering for the San Francisco Marin Food Bank, is to see a man who looks like he's had a lifetime of experience spreading joy.

Bartell, however, is quick to point out that if you were to ask anyone who knew him at an earlier age, they would tell a different tale.

"They wouldn't believe it," Bartell said. "That grumpy old person ... what happened to him?"

What happened is that Bartell discovered, very late in life, that it's never too late to turn one's life around.

"No, never," Bartell said. "I'm glad I didn't give up on myself and I'm glad other people didn't give up on me."

Both of those, it should be noted, were real possibilities for Bartell.

Bartell is someone who had suffered more than his fair share of indignities and trauma during his life. Bartell's father abandoned his family and his mother committed suicide when he was just six. After a childhood in and out of juvenile facilities and foster homes, Bartell joined the Marines and saw combat in Vietnam. Returning home, Bartell married a couple of times and had children but said he never conquered his ever-constant anger.
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“Guardian of the Golden Gate Bridge” saved over 200 from suicide

Guardian’ Officer Has Saved Over 200 People From Jumping Off the Golden Gate Bridge

Good News Network
By McKinley Corbley
Feb 18, 2019

“We talked for 92 minutes about everything that I was dealing with. My daughter, her first birthday was the next month. And you made me see that if nothing else, I need to live for her.”

It’s a police officer’s job to protect and serve – but Kevin Briggs never thought that his job would lead him to save over 200 people from committing suicide.

Briggs has been dubbed the “Guardian of the Golden Gate Bridge” because of his awe-inspiring history of talking people down from the edge of the historic landmark.

The Golden Gate Bridge is one of the world’s most notorious spots for suicide attempts. Briggs, who is a California Highway Patrol officer, was first stationed on the bridge in 1994 – but he says that he had never been trained on how to handle suicidal people.

As he encountered more and more distraught individuals, however, he began to pick up more and more strategies on how he could talk to them efficiently. Whenever he successfully managed to coax someone off of the ledge, he would ask them about which parts of his approach were helpful and which ones weren’t.
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