When it is your job to save people, that should include YOU! Everyone you work with would do it for you and you would do it for them. That should tell you that you should not be last on the list of lives to save! #BreakTheSilentService and #TakeBackYourLife
Pasco deputy, a wife and mother of three, died by suicide at home, sheriff says
Tampa Bay Times
By Langston Taylor
Published 6 hours ago
Updated 1 hour ago
There have been 37 law enforcement officers who have died by suicide so far in 2019, according to the nonprofit Blue H.E.L.P., which was started in 2015 to collect data and offer resources and help to officers and their families. It reported 160 deaths in 2018 and 159 in 2017.
Pasco sheriff’s Deputy April Rodriguez, a wife, a mother of three and a grandmother, died by suicide, said Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco at a Monday news conference. [Pasco County Sheriff’s Office]
A Pasco sheriff's deputy and mother of three has died by suicide, said Sheriff Chris Nocco.
Deputy April Rodriguez, 43, was found Sunday morning. She is the latest in what Nocco called an epidemic of law enforcement suicides.
Rodriguez didn't show up for work that morning, the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office said. Deputies attempted to contact her, then went to her apartment, where her coworkers found her.
“She was a good person, with a great heart, and loved her children very much,” Nocco said.
She was the third first-responder in the Tampa Bay region to die by suicide in the past two months. A Pinellas County sheriff’s deputy and a St. Petersburg Fire Rescue firefighter both killed themselves in December.
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Trump Says He's Hosting 'A Salute to America' on July 4 at the Lincoln Memorial
New York Daily News
By Brian Niemietz
24 Feb 2019
National recording artists perform at the 2018 A Capitol Fourth rehearsals at U.S. Capitol, West Lawn on July 3, 2018 in Washington, D.C. This time-honored 38-year tradition places attendees and viewers front and center for America's largest birthday party celebrating 242 years of independence. (Reese Brown/Department of Defense Photo)
"Your favorite President" is hosting an Independence Day celebration, and we're all invited.
President Trump excitedly announced on Twitter Sunday that he is throwing "one of the biggest gatherings in the history of Washington D.C. on July 4" and he's a naming it "A Salute to America."
Trump's party will take place at the Lincoln Memorial and he promises "major fireworks display, entertainment and an address by your favorite President, me!"
It's unclear if Trump's Independence Day event will coincide with the annual A Capitol Fourth celebration on the west lawn of the United States Capitol. That also features fireworks and musical performances and attracts a half-million spectators.
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Supreme Court: Retirees Can Be Court-Martialed for Crimes Committed After Service
Military.com
By Patricia Kime
22 Feb 2019
The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the Defense Department's authority to prosecute retired service members for crimes they commit, even after retirement.
In this Oct. 5, 2018 photo the U. S. Supreme Court building stands quietly before dawn in Washington. (AP Photo/J. David Ake)
The court on Tuesday chose not to hear the case of a retired Marine who was court-martialed for a sexual assault he committed three months after leaving the service in August 2015. By not accepting the case, Larrabee v. the United States, the court upheld the status quo: that military retirees are subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
The denial of Larrabee's petition marks the high court's second rebuff in a year of a case involving a military retiree accused of non-military crimes in retirement.
Retired Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Steven Larrabee was convicted of sexually assaulting a bartender, the wife of an active-duty Marine, at a bar in Iwakuni, Japan, where he worked as a civilian. He had been retired -- technically, placed on the Fleet Marine Corps Reserve status list -- for three months.
Following a general court-martial in which he wore civilian clothes, Larrabee was sentenced to eight years' confinement, a reprimand and a dishonorable discharge. In a pre-trial agreement, Larrabee's prison term was reduced to 10 months.
Larrabee served his sentence but tried to have his conviction overturned on appeal, arguing that he should have been tried in a civilian court, as the offenses occurred after he was retired.
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Judge Rules Men-Only Military Draft Unconstitutional
The San Diego Union-Tribune
By Pauline Repard
24 Feb 2019
"Forcing only males to register is an aspect of socially institutionalized male disposability and helps reinforce the stereotypes that support discrimination against men in other areas" such as divorce, child custody and domestic violence services, Angelucci said.
Marine Corps poolees with Recruiting Substation Glen Burnie, Recruiting Station Baltimore take the oath of enlistment during the Military Bowl at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Md. (Raul Torres/U.S. Marine Corps)
A federal judge has ruled that a men-only draft is unconstitutional, but he stopped short of ordering the Selective Service System to register women for military service.
The Houston judge sided with a San Diego men's advocacy group that challenged the government's practice of having only men sign up for the draft, citing sex discrimination in violation of the Fifth Amendment's equal protection clause.
"This case balances on the tension between the constitutionally enshrined power of Congress to raise armies and the constitutional mandate that no person be denied the equal protection of the law," wrote U.S. District Judge Gray Miller of the Southern District of Texas.
The lawsuit was filed in 2013 against the Selective Service System by Texas resident James Lesmeister, who later added San Diego resident Anthony Davis and the San Diego-based National Coalition for Men as additional plaintiffs.
The two men had standing to sue the government because they were within the age range of 18 to 26 in which men in the United States are required to register with Selective Service.
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update
'Sextortion' by inmates targeted Greenville veteran just before his suicide, parents say
The Greenville News
Kirk Brown,
Feb. 25, 2019
The person identified as Harris responded that his wife "is going to the police and you are going to jail."
Within minutes of that exchange, according to Greenville County Senior Deputy Coroner Kent Dill, Johns died from a self-inflicted gunshot. Bowling said data from her son's Apple Watch shows that his heart stopped beating at 12:03 p.m.
Army veteran Jared Johns was the target of a "sextortion" scam by prison inmates in the hours before he killed himself in Greenville on Sept. 11, 2018, according to his parents. They shared records with The Greenville News that appear to corroborate extortion attempts through text messages.
Kathy Bowling and Kevin Johns believe that inmates at Lee Correctional Institution tried to bilk their son out of $1,189 while posing as the parents of a 17-year-old girl who purportedly sent him illicit photos.
Jared Johns, 24, suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after serving in Afghanistan, and the condition left him unable to cope with the threats that he received in the moments leading to his suicide, his parents said.
"I feel like they're the ones who shot him," Kevin Johns said.
"My son should still be alive," Bowling said.
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Seminole County sergeant speaks candidly about suffering from PTSD, suicidal thoughts
WFTV 9 ABC News
By: Katy Camp , Lauren Seabrook
Feb 23, 2019
SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. - In the mid-'80s, Sgt. Mark Dibona decided on a career. He decided to go into law enforcement, joining the Seminole County Sheriff's Office.
"I've been on the job now almost 34 years," he said.
That's more than three decades of seeing people at their worst, day in, day out. Exposed to tragedy, violence and - at times - overwhelming sadness - Dibona took the advice of those before him and developed a tough guy mentality.
"We were told to toughen up, walk away, have a beer," he told WFTV reporter Lauren Seabrook.
But that hard shell was just that - a shell. The truth of his heart reveals a man who is deeply caring, deeply empathetic and devoted to the people he is committed to protecting.
"A family pulled up next to me about two or three o'clock in the morning and handed me their baby and said, 'My baby's not breathing,'" he recalled. "It seemed like it took forever when I was doing CPR. Unfortunately the baby didn't make it. But to this day, I can still feel the baby on my arm. And that took a toll on me."
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How DID this war hero police officer end up sleeping rough on the street?: Shocking story that shows why – one year on – the helpline we fought for is needed more than ever
Daily Mail
By IAN GALLAGHER FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY
23 February 2019
Virtually penniless and unable to draw his pension, he slept rough last month, still with his warrant card in his back pocket. In an interview with The Mail on Sunday, during which he repeatedly broke down, he spoke bitterly of abandonment, his belief that his Army and police careers had effectively been ‘for nothing’ and how his life had no horizons greater than finding his next hot meal.
Britain's first homeless policeman, 46, is a former Iraq and Afghanistan veteran
He decided to change careers after the Afghanistan War and joined the Met
The unnamed man was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder in 2017
He has received no support while on indefinite sick leave from the police force
A Metropolitan Police officer, and veteran, has been sleeping rough in a Home Counties town
Having risked his life for his country at home and abroad for two decades, he might be forgiven for expecting recognition for exemplary service.
First he spent 12 years with the Royal Engineers, leading a specialist bomb disposal team on perilous missions in Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Tiring of Army life but determined to put his experience to good use, he then joined the Metropolitan Police, proving a brave and effective frontline officer.
Yet instead of laurels, this dedicated public servant has, ten years on, achieved an altogether different distinction.
Like so many who put their lives on the line to keep others safe, he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder in 2017.
Emotionally adrift, his marriage failed – ‘I became impossible to live with’ – and then his life fell apart as his condition worsened.
Shamefully, the state averted its eyes. On sick leave ever since, he remains in theory a serving officer because the Met appears – inexplicably – to have forgotten him, or rather, in the words of the voluntary group fighting his case, allowed him to ‘fall through the cracks’.
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Shooting victim donates to veterans organization
Houston Chronicle
Samantha Ketterer
February 23, 2019
Foster, also a founder of Combined Arms, said that while PTSD is a real issue among veterans, mental health-related, violent incidents reinforce a stereotype of a veteran that’s difficult to undo.
Denise Slaughter believes that the man who nearly killed her three years ago slipped through the cracks.
He was a veteran who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder; a loving person who snapped, his parents said. He ultimately opened fire for 55 terrifying minutes on a west Houston neighborhood, firing at unsuspecting passers-by with a pistol and an AR-15. At the end of the rampage, he and one other person were dead. Six more were injured.
Denise Slaughter, survivor of a 2016 shooting, has helped the veterans organization Combined Arms equip a weight room with a donation that is also helping to build accessible bathrooms and showers. Slaughter believes that the shooter who wounded her could have been saved before he died in a standoff with police in 2016. The shooter, a veteran who reportedly had post-traumatic stress disorder, opened fire for about an hour on a west Houston neighborhood, killing one and injuring six. Two years after the shooting, Slaughter donated money to Combined Arms, an organization that helps veterans find resources they need once they return home.
Photo: Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer
Slaughter could have been angry. Instead, her family foundation donated thousands of dollars to a Houston veterans organization, hoping to prevent other service members from ending up in a situation like the man who almost took her life.
“I think he could have been saved,” she said.
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Pilot dies, family avoids disaster as plane crashes into home in Florida
ABC News
By Anthony Rivas, Jason M. Volack and Christine Theodorou
Feb 24, 2019
The plane crashed into the bedroom of 17-year-old Carmele Ngalamulume, pinning and trapping her against a wall until her brother, who was in the next bedroom, could run in and save her. There were three other children playing in the driveway of the house, according to Judd. Their mother was taking a shower when the plane dropped from the sky.
A nightmare came true for one family in Florida when a plane fell from the sky and crashed through the roof of a home.
The pilot of the flight was killed, but a trainee pilot and eight people inside the home all walked away with minor injuries.
“It was the day of miracles,” said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd during a press conference, referring to the fact that everyone inside the house survived.
The twin-engine aircraft fell into the house in Winter Haven, Florida, at around 1 p.m. while its pilot, James Wagner, 64, and his trainee, Timothy Sheehy, were practicing simulated engine failure training, Judd said.
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PTSD Patrol: Participating in the journey
PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
February 24, 2019
I have been unplugged for a few days to spend time with some very dear old friends of ours. Over the weekend we talked about old times and how our lives have changed since we were young.
My friend Ellen and I shared how much we have taken active places in the lives of our husbands and unwilling to settle for just being along for the ride.
This morning I was wondering why so many younger family members are not taking an active part in the journey too. Then it occurred to me that maybe no one ever explained to them how much power they do have over everything.
Passenger Passive is just along for the ride and not paying attention to where they are going, or noticing how they got to where they were.
Passsenger: a person who is traveling in a vehicle but is not operating it or working as an employee in it.
Captain Cruel takes advantage of the vulnerability of the person they are with instead of helping them.
Navigator Knowing charts the way to get everyone to their destination as quickly and safely as possible.
Navigator :a person in a vehicle who decides on the direction in which the vehicle travels.
Point Man Partner acknowledges the needs of someone they care about and finds a way to make their journey a much happier trip.
So which one are you? If you are a family member, you are part of the journey and you can change the trip for everyone.
Yes, without knowing it, you play a major role in all of this. You can make it worse for everyone or you can make it so much better.
While peer support is one of the best ways for recovering from PTSD, what Point Man International Ministries discovered is, family support works better than anything.
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