Hundreds of Boy Scouts sexually abused came forward

Hundreds of former Boy Scouts come forward with new claims of sexual abuse

USA TODAY
Cara Kelly
April 24, 2019

"I probably would have gotten kicked out" for coming forward at the time, Kimber said.

Kretschmer said he was abused by a Scout leader who was his psychologist through the Air Force base where his dad was stationed. He was a kid with attention issues, he said, which were less understood at the time.

"Nobody would have listened to me," Kretschmer said. "The problem is, then you think, ‘Is it something I did? What was I doing, was it my fault? If I hadn’t done whatever, he wouldn’t have done that.’ It took me years and years to realize it wasn’t that little child’s fault. It was the adult who had control."

More than 200 individuals have come forward with new allegations of sexual abuse by members of the Boy Scouts of America in recent weeks as a trio of law firms seek to uncover unidentified child abusers.

Advised by Tim Kosnoff, an attorney who has litigated more than a thousand cases of sexual misconduct against organizations such as the Scouts and the Mormon church, the group of attorneys said it has identified 150 alleged pedophiles never before publicly accused.

The law firms began running TV and Google ads encouraging victims to sign on as clients for a potential lawsuit after a report in December that Boy Scouts of America – rebranded as Scouts BSA – prepared for a possible Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. The volume already gathered could double the number of cases the organization already is facing although a bankruptcy would halt existing and future litigation, the attorneys told USA TODAY.

In a statement about the new allegations, Scouts BSA said, "Any incident of child abuse is one too many, and nothing is more important than the safety and protection of children in our Scouting programs."

Kosnoff and his colleagues said a bankruptcy filing would have a chilling effect on victims' ability to expose predators who are a threat to their communities. The number of victims who have signed on since last month is evidence for the Seattle-based attorney that many more have yet to step forward.
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Army veteran-mailman killed helping protect woman

Mailman fatally shot by teen was father of four, Army veteran

KOAT
Kay Dimanche
Reporter
Jozelyn Escobedo
Digital Editor
April 23, 2019

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.

A U.S. Postal Service mailman was gunned down Monday afternoon and police believe a 17-year-old boy is the one who shot him. According to an arrest warrant, 47-year-old Jose Hernandez was trying to intervene in a fight between the teen and the teen’s mother at the time of the shooting.

Hernandez's Bishop tells KOAT he was an Army veteran, husband and father of four.

The shooting happened in the 700 block of Terracotta SW, which is near Tower Road and 98th Street.

Xavier Zamora's mother told police Hernandez was trying to help her, but Zamora became "aggressive" with the mailman because he tried using Mace on the teen.
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Video of Afghanistan veteran being stabbed to death regarded as "trophy"

Fugitive captured in fatal stabbing of Cherry Hill war veteran

Philly.com
by Robert Moran
April 23, 2019

A 26-year-old man wanted in the fatal stabbing in Chinatown of a 28-year-old Afghanistan War veteran from Cherry Hill was captured by authorities Tuesday morning in Southwest Philadelphia.

Victor Yan has been accused of killing Brett Berdini, who was attacked by a group in the 1000 block of Race Street shortly before 2 a.m. last Oct. 14.

The attack, including the stabbing, was recorded on a camera phone by one of the assailants and shared among the attackers and others for their amusement, said Anthony Voci Jr., chief of the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office homicide unit.

“We have a generation that is apparently obsessed with recording just about everything, and that includes violent crimes,” Voci said.

Voci said the defendants regarded the video as a “trophy.”
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Afghanistan veteran and wife on motorcycle killed by vulture

Army Veteran, Wife Killed in Crash With Vulture: Kansas Patrol

By The Associated Press
April 22, 2019

MEDICINE LODGE, Kan.—Authorities say a vulture caused a crash that killed an Army veteran and his wife as they rode a motorcycle in southern Kansas.

The Kansas Highway Patrol says the bird came out of a ditch Saturday afternoon, April 20, and struck 42-year-old Brandon Husband, of Fowler, in the head on a rural road near Medicine Lodge, about 75 miles southwest of Wichita. 

The motorcycle then went off the road, struck a barbed wire fence and overturned. The patrol says neither Husband nor his wife, 43-year-old Jennifer Lynn Husband , was wearing a helmet.

Brandon Husband’s obituary says he served one tour in Kosovo, three in Afghanistan and was part of an Iraqi soldier training mission on the Iraq-Jordan border.

The Husbands leave behind four children.
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Police officer found dead at headquarters

Montebello police officer dies after being shot with his own gun at police headquarters

Los Angeles Times
By RICHARD WINTON
APR 22, 2019

A Montebello police officer who had been on the force less than a year died of a gunshot wound Sunday after discharging his weapon inside police headquarters, authorities said.

Officer Kenneth Utsinger, 41, was pronounced dead at the police station at 1600 W. Beverly Blvd. at 5:24 a.m. Sunday, according to Sarah Ardalani, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County coroner’s office.

While the call for assistance came in as a suicide, an autopsy is still pending for Utsinger, who lived in Downey, according to the coroner’s office.

A source familiar with the investigation but not authorized to discuss it said Utsinger’s body was found inside the police station’s locker room.
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PTSD Patrol 2 years of giving the keys to hope

PTSD PATROL 2nd anniversary

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
April 23, 2019


Getting road hogs with high beams off the road, was behind the creation of PTSD Patrol two years ago. It is one of the reasons why this post is not going up on PTSD Patrol. Doom and gloom needs to be left off there.

A group of us like minded workers of the harvest were tired of other people taking the attention away from healing so they could keep talking about failing.

That is exactly what raising awareness that veterans are committing suicide is doing. Talking about what failed for more veterans than they can even imagine.

The proof was right before their eyes, but they did not bother to even look. They did not bother to read the report they found so important they began countless fundraisers after snagging a headline.

The report they claimed was so important stated clearly that it was limited data from just 21 states...worse than not even half, because the states that were not counted, were among the largest veteran populations.

California and Illinois passed legislation to track veterans committing suicide long after the report was issued. Arizona will start to do it. 

The followup report with "20 veterans a day" was almost as useless. While the VA stated it involved all 50 states, including statistics from the CDC, the CDC reported that it did not have total numbers from states like Texas and Florida. 

As for the VA itself, less than half of the veterans in this country have sought benefits from the VA. The VA and states do not count veterans without "honorable discharges" as veterans, leaving them out of reports.

Now that you have a better idea of what is not known, add in these parts;

➣The majority of known veterans committing suicide are over the age of 50.

➣The known number of veterans committing suicide was 20 a day back in 1999 with 5 million more veterans alive at the time.

➣The percentage of known suicides has risen, in the veterans population as well as those currently serving this country.

According to the Department of Defense there were 504 service members who committed suicide in 2017. As of the 3rd quarter of 2018, there were 375. The total report should have been released the beginning of April, but as of this morning, it has not been released.

Recent news reports have revealed an increase to a ten year high.

Raising awareness about a subject they know very little about, has become a business. People making a great living off veterans no longer wanting to live. Worse is, they seem to find it acceptable to be profitable while "having fun" at the same time.

Road hogs with their high beams on endanger those behind them by clogging up the way for others to pass them by. They blind those coming the opposite way. Collisions occur because they want all eyes on them instead of on what will get other drivers on the right road to be glad they survived what caused PTSD in the first place.

This is my 37th year on this road. I had to learn how to read the road maps to know the way out, just as I had to learn the rules of the road. Along the way I encountered those who were prepared to lead and those who just getting in the way.

All of this matters because it is my life. It is all personal to me and that is how I started out. I needed to know for the sake of my family. Once I learned, I knew there were even more just as lost as I was. That is why I share the knowledge gained the hard way.

Much like a moped is different from a Harley, that is the difference between raising suicide awareness and actually doing the work to prevent them from happening in the first place.

Lives can be changed when we, not only offer hope, but give them the keys to use it!

#BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife

First Responders workshops for the stress of coping with danger

Workshops help first responders deal with stress

The Republic
By Mark Webber
4/20/19

Two upcoming workshops for local first responders will help them deal with the stress of coping with danger, chaos and tragedy which are part of their professions.

Mike Kutsko

Rates of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression among police and firefighters have been found to be as much as five times higher than the civilian population, said Columbus Deputy Fire Chief Mike Kutsko.

Workshops on Monday and Tuesday at Columbus City Hall are designed to help the first responders, and also their families, Kutsko said.

Until recently, most first-responders would never admit they have a problem. Good mental health is a prerequisite to working in police or fire operations, so there is fear of losing promotions – or worse – if someone admits feeling depressed or traumatized, Kutsko said.

"There is a big stigma with mental health," Kutsko said. "There’s a fear that others will look on you as if you are weak."
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Protesters in Paris shouted "Kill yourselves!" at police officers

Outrage after some French protesters urge police suicides

By The Associated Press PARIS
Apr 21, 2019

Police unions held silent protests Friday after two officers killed themselves last week. Unions say police ranks have seen 28 suicides so far this year, compared to 68 over all of 2018.

Police advance on protestors during a yellow vest demonstration in Paris, Saturday, April 20, 2019. French yellow vest protesters are marching anew to remind the government that rebuilding the fire-ravaged Notre Dame Cathedral isn't the only problem the nation needs to solve. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

With French police suicides on the rise, Paris authorities are investigating yellow vest protesters who encouraged police to kill themselves.

Radical protesters have clashed with police nearly every weekend for five months on the margins of largely peaceful yellow vest demonstrations demanding more help for France's beleaguered workers, retirees and students.

On Saturday, Associated Press reporters heard some protesters in Paris shouting "Kill yourselves!" at police firing tear gas and rubber projectiles and charging the crowd to contain the violence at the 23rd weekend of yellow vest demonstrations.

Police unions denounced the protesters' call as an unacceptable insult to the officers who have killed themselves and their suffering families. Interior Minister Christophe Castaner called it a "disgrace" and pledged his support for police and their loved ones, who have been under extra strain as the yellow vest protests have sometimes turned quite violent.
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Who or what killed Michael Hermon

Gulf War veteran who was arrested in Berkeley died after fight at Santa Rita Jail

Berkeleyside
By Emilie Raguso
April 5, 2019

Hermon also struggled with PTSD from his time in the military, she said: “We all struggle with our demons, and I know that Michael had his.”

Michael Hermon. Photo: Kat Alexander

According to Hermon’s Facebook page, he was a combat engineer in the U.S. Army working in explosive ordnance disposal. These soldiers are described online as “the Army’s preeminent tactical and technical explosives experts.” He served during Operation Desert Storm, according to his family.

A 47-year-old Gulf War veteran with a PhD in philosophy, who was arrested in Berkeley in February, died one month later after a brief altercation in jail, according to the Alameda County sheriff’s office.

Sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Ray Kelly told Berkeleyside that Michael Hermon was punched once in the nose during the fight March 13. When he didn’t stop bleeding, Hermon was taken to Stanford Health Care – ValleyCare in Livermore. At some point, Hermon stopped breathing and was placed on life support. He later died.

Hermon was due to be transferred out of jail to a diversion program for veterans, Kelly said. But the transfer had not happened yet due to lack of space. Kelly said Hermon’s cause of death has not been determined, but that authorities will look closely at his medical history, as well as any medical procedures that took place in the hospital, as part of the autopsy report: “It was a very unusual situation and a very unfortunate one for this family,” he told Berkeleyside. “It’s just a very bizarre series of events.”

Meanwhile, friends told Berkeleyside they are struggling to make sense of Hermon’s death.
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Vietnam Veterans of America giving back to others for Easter

Veterans giving back to veterans

FOX 2 News
April 21, 2019

Detroit, (FOX 2) - Members and volunteers of Vietnam Veterans of America were spreading some springtime cheer this past Easter weekend.

 The day started with delivering care packages to patients at the VA Medical Center in Detroit.

"It's our way of giving back, to tell them thank you and we appreciate them," said Vietnam Veteran of America member, Paul Palazzolo.

The organization does this twice a year. Members and volunteers say back scratchers are always the most popular item.
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