Love story of Veteran and Bride, who had to plan funeral 5 hours after wedding

Veteran dies of cancer 5 hours after getting married

Army Times
By: J.D. Simkins
May 9, 2019

Tianna Laue, married for just five hours before losing her husband, told KWWL the lessons she’s learned from the experience, however brief, will last a lifetime.

Army veteran Tristan Laue married his wife just five hours before succumbing to a rare form of liver cancer. (Tristan Laue GoFundMe)

When Tristan Laue joined the Army in July 2016, he never envisioned an enlistment that would be cut drastically short, but an indiscriminate universe had other ideas.

Laue was medically discharged from the service in April 2018 after it was discovered that the young soldier had developed a rare form of liver cancer.

Determined to battle the disease, Laue carried on with his life, attending the University of Northern Iowa while seeing his relationship with his girlfriend, Tianna, blossom in ways her family never expected.

“Talking to my mom ... she said, ‘Some people don’t get what you two had in the amount of time, like they’ll be together for years and still not have the same connection that you guys did,’” Tianna told KWWL.

But Tristan’s illness continued to advance relentlessly, diminishing with it the couple’s hopes for a long life together.

With the writing on the wall becoming more clear with each passing day, Laue made the decision to pursue one final wish and proposed to Tianna on Easter Sunday.
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DOD finally releasing military family suicide report

we finally have an answer on what Congress has been asking for since last year Senators: Where's the Military Family Suicide Data?

Two senators want to know the status of information on the suicide rate for military family members, data the Pentagon was ordered to start collecting in 2014.Defense officials were ordered to standardize and collect that data as part of a larger measure on military suicide included in a 2014 law. 

In First, Pentagon to Release Information on Military Dependent Suicides

Military.com
By Patricia Kime
9 May 2019

The Pentagon will release a new annual report on active-duty military suicides this year -- one that will provide complete data for 2018 as well as a first-ever look at suicides among military family members.

In a hearing before the House Oversight and Reform national security subcommittee Wednesday, Navy Capt. Mike Colston, the Defense Department's mental health director, and Defense Suicide Prevention Office Director Karin Orvis said the new report will allow for more timely publication of suicide rates, which are a more accurate measure of trends than yearly tallies.

Currently, the DoD publishes quarterly reports of the number of deaths in the previous three months, with the year-end data included in the fourth-quarter report for the calendar year.

But the DoD has not published the final figures or the rates for 2018 and declined to provide them earlier this month when asked by Military.com. Instead, they will be included in the new report, called the Annual Suicide Report, expected this summer, officials said.

"The Annual Suicide Report will enable us to monitor trends in suicide over time and identify risk factors for protective factors for suicide," Orvis told lawmakers during the hearing.

The U.S. military in 2018 experienced the highest number of suicides among active-duty troops in six years, according to data compiled by Military.com from statistics provided by the services.
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U.S. sailor found in Sasebo park after apparent suicide

update from Military.com

The Navy has released the identity of a 21-year-old gunner's mate found dead late Thursday in a public park outside Sasebo Naval Base, Japan. Petty Officer 3rd Class Chase Edwards, of Euless, Texas, was assigned to the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp, which is homeported at Sasebo.

Body likely belonging to U.S. sailor found in Sasebo park after apparent suicide

BY TOKYO REPORTER STAFF
MAY 10, 2019

NAGASAKI (TR) – Nagasaki Prefectural Police are investigating what is being treated as a suicide after the discovery of the body of a man believed to be a member of the U.S. Navy at a park in Sasebo City early Friday, reports the Nishi Nippon Shimbun (May 10).

At around 11:35 p.m. on Thursday, personnel at the Commander Fleet Activities Sasebo base contacted the Sasebo Police Station to report the disappearance of a male member of the U.S. military “who talked about suicide.”

At around midnight, the body of a foreign man, clothed in a gray jacket, was discovered in a park adjoining the base with a gunshot wound to the head. A pistol was found in one of his hands, police said.

Police are now working to confirm the identity of the body.
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Congress held another hearing on suicides without listening to different voices!

Why are they still asking why?

Wounded Times

Kathie Costos

May 9, 2019

I have been listening to these hearings for too many decades and find it disgraceful members of Congress are still asking "why" veterans are committing suicide.

When will they ever get to the point where they actually open their eyes and understand that the "two decades" they believe they have been doing something, with no progress at all. Actually, in the Veterans' Community, it is worse!

The answer is they keep asking the same questions, to the same experts and getting the same answer.

They will never actually hear us until they actually acknowledge we exist!

We hear their voices, hold their hands, and put our arms around their families when it is too late to reach them. They cannot find the help they need because Congress, the press and mega size veterans groups do not intend to seek our council.

After all, there is no money in hearing what works. They do not want to know the facts when they just swallow what the VA tells them about how many are killing themselves without having to explain how many they are not reporting on within the data that is available to anyone wishing to take the time to seek it.

They will not change a damn thing until they actually change the conversation with the people they have ignored for over 4 decades. Yes, the best experts were out there over 40 years ago when Vietnam veterans were pushing for the research.

Listen to their own words and know, they have been saying the same thing for far too many years! 

Veteran Suicide Prevention

Rep. Mark Takano said that his uncle, a Vietnam veteran, had committed suicide.

"The House Veterans' Affairs Committee held a hearing to examine ways to combat suicide among military veterans. Witnesses included officials from the National Institutes of Health, Veterans Affairs Department and the Suicide Prevention Branch of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration."

26 year old bit off finger of 71 year old Vietnam veteran he was fighting?

Tennessee man accused of biting off Vietnam vet's fingertip during argument

By: Bob D'Angelo, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
May 8, 2019

CHARLOTTE, Tenn.
A Tennessee man is accused of biting off the fingertip of a Vietnam veteran during a fight outside a Dickson County convenience store, WKRN reported.

Dylan McKinney, 26, was arrested after the Sunday incident in Charlotte, Tennessee, the television station reported. The district attorney is investigating whether to charge McKinney with a hate crime after the alleged attack on the 71-year-old man, according to WKRN.

McKinney was charged with resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, public intoxication and aggravated assault. He remains in the Dickson County Jail in lieu of a $62,000 bond.

McKinney, who told the television station he had been drinking when the incident occurred, said the victim put his finger in his mouth. That’s when McKinney said he bit down.

“It sounds gruesome, but I don't regret biting a man's finger off when he stuck it in my mouth and tried to tear my jaw off,” McKinney told WKRN.

McKinney said he was wearing a hoodie with a Confederate symbol and the veteran, who is black, took offense and cursed at him.

The verbal fight soon turned physical, McKinney told the television station.

“My first thought, maybe he has a gun in there, and so I did everything I could to make sure he couldn't get to anything inside his truck,” McKinney told WKRN. “As far as the confrontation, I guess you would say, maybe I started that.

“We were fighting. I didn't have time to put his finger in my mouth and eat it. I'm not a cannibal or anything like that.”
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Fort Bragg soldier raced to save buddy but he was too late

Fort Bragg sniper raced to check on his buddy. He broke into the house and found his best friend's body. Overcome with grief, he fired a couple of shots from his own gun at the floor. Now you know what happened a lot better than how this headline reads! *******

Sniper Who Once Held Record in Afghanistan Now Faces Gun Charges

NBC 4 News
By Julie Carey and Christian Paz
Published May 8, 2019

A soldier who once set a record for the longest sniper shot in Afghanistan by an American is now facing gun charges as part of a larger death investigation in Northern Virginia.

Deputies arrested Nicholas Ranstad in Warren County, Virginia, on May 4 after he called sheriff's deputies to a house where a man had allegedly suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

According to the Warran County Sheriff's Office, deputies responded to a house on the 200 block of Doom Peak Rd. in Linden, Virginia, where they met Ranstad and confirmed that the injured man, Sean David Miller, had died.

Deputies said Ranstad told them that he was friends with Miller, a Marine veteran, and had become concerned with his well-being, prompting him to travel from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to Miller's home to check in on him.

Police said they are still investigating the circumstances of Miller's death, but News4 has learned that the Medical Examiner's Office has ruled the death a suicide.

And Miller's father wrote about his son's death in a social media post, saying Miller "has fallen to PTSD and suicide."
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Female firefighters have higher risk of PTSD

Female Firefighters at Risk of PTSD and Suicidal Thoughts

Journal of Emergency Medical Services
Occupational Medicine

Female firefighters are at a high-risk of developing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and experiencing suicidal thoughts, compared to male firefighters

The study found that almost one in three (30%) female firefighters indicated that they had considered or attempted suicide compared to one in seven (15%) male firefighters.

Being single increased the risk of experiencing suicidal thoughts in both genders, previous research has indicated that having a life partner may be a protective factor for suicide.

The research also found that PTSD symptoms were more common among female firefighters, with one in five (20%) female firefighters indicating that they had experienced such symptoms, compared to one in eight (12%) male firefighters. Women who had been in the career for between 10-20 years were found to be at a higher risk of developing PTSD symptoms than those who were in the first 10 years of service.

The study also found that approximately one third of both male (31%) and female (32%) firefighters screened positive for alcohol problems.

The study assessed 2,639 firefighters, 75 women and 2,564 men in a large urban fire department. The participants filled in anonymous questionnaires indicating if they had experienced symptoms of depression, general stress, PTSD, problem behaviours associated with alcohol consumption and if they had considered or attempted suicide.
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Smartest people on PTSD were not even invited to the room?

Want to know why suicides tied to military have gone up?

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
May 8, 2019

There is a huge difference between what is happening right now, and what was happening before all the wrong awareness became a billion dollar industry.

In the movie "Now You See Me" there is a line about always being the smartest guy in the room.

The thing is, the one who thought he was smarter, turned out to outsmarted by the one he thought he trapped.  (If you saw the movie, you know the brilliant ending. If you didn't see it, well worth watching.)

I can assure you that the smartest people on PTSD and suicide, were not even invited into the conversation. They are the people I learned from over 3 decades ago.

They made me smart enough to know that if the DOD actually pushed the research project designed for school kids, on members of the military, it would be a disaster.

May 29, 2009, almost ten years ago, I warned that Comprehensive Soldier Fitness would make it worse and, suicides would go up. They did. 

When you tell a member of the military, they can train their brains to become mentally tough, you ended up preventing them from getting the truth, and knowing that PTSD has more to do with the strength of their emotional core. This BS ended up telling them it was their fault, and the the DOD messed things up even further by kicking out members who asked for help, or acted out because they felt they could not ask for help.

Now, all these years later, we are still reading about how they haven't figured out why suicides have gone up after all the "efforts" and money spent. You know, the stuff that Congress has been paying out with our money...and holding no one accountable, including themselves.

I hope that by now you have figured out that when politicians take over, it does not matter which party is in control, we end up getting stuck with the bill. We usually end up getting stuck with things just as bad, or worse, because they did not think to ask the people with the answers.

So, to toss a bigger load into the pile, we have social media making simple communications...simple.

Give the fact that people can take pictures of their McDonalds chicken nuggets with the breading taken off and turn the question of peal or not, into a such a hot topic, it got into the New York Post,

"In the following days, the post quickly amassed more than 2,500 “likes” and 19,000 shares." We have completely lost the ability to pay attention to important stuff going on.

Take the "suicide awareness" raisers running around the country as if veterans didn't know they were already killing themselves. That is yet one more reason why the numbers of veterans we failed went up, instead of down. 

This is what raising awareness has done

"Health officials also warn about the possibility of "suicide contagion" — meaning that people who are exposed to a suicide or attempted suicide within their family or friend group, or who hear about it in the media, may be at greater risk of suicide themselves."

They do not need to be reminded they are losing this war. They need to know that there is a way they can win this battle and live a better life!

Veterans and suicide risk: The warning signs — and how to get help

CBS News
BY ASHLEY WELCH
MAY 8, 2019

The suicides of at least four military veterans at Veterans Affairs facilities last month has captured the attention of advocates and members of Congress. According to data released by the VA, there were more than 6,000 veteran suicides each year from 2008 to 2016. Data published in 2017 found the risk for suicide was 22 percent higher among veterans.

The recent suicides come after President Trump signed an executive order in March mandating a veteran suicide prevention task force.

A combination of individual, relationship, and societal factors contribute to the risk of suicide, health officials say. Mental illness, including depression and anxiety, is also a risk factor for suicide. But it's important to remember there isn't just one cause.

"A lot of very smart people are looking at this and saying it's multifactorial. We don't really understand why there's such an increase," CBS News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook said on "CBS This Morning" last June, after the suicide deaths of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain. "One of the things we keep coming back to when these surprising events happen is you never know what is in somebody's head."
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Anyway, now you have the answer to that part anyway. BTW, too bad they do not even know they are way off on the number they talk about too!

Heroic teen at Colorado school had already joined Marine Corps

Colorado STEM school student Brendan Bialy helped disarm gunman

NBC News
By Patrick Smith and Hayley Walker
May 8, 2019

A high school senior who plans to become a Marine after graduation was among the students who tackled a gunman in a Colorado school on Tuesday.

Brendan Bialy attends the STEM School Highlands Ranch, which is not far from the site of the Columbine High School shooting 20 years ago.

Brendan Bialy, who is enrolled in the Marine Corps Delayed Entry Program, helped subdue a shooter at the STEM School in Colorado.

Bialy's father, Brad, confirmed to NBC News that the teenager and other classmates tackled and disarmed one of the two shooters.
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UPDATE: And the hero who did not survive

"This wasn't your average kid. He was extraordinary": Dad of school shooting hero remembers his son 
CBS News
MAY 9, 2019 

John and Maria Castillo are still trying to process the fact that their son, Kendrick, is gone.

"I'm sad, I'm mad. I have all these emotions. I feel like my life is blank as of yesterday," said John, speaking with reporters from the family home in Denver. CBS Denver was there. 
read more of his story here

Fort Myers HOA does not like Vietnam veteran's memorial on his garage?

Skirmish at Florida community over a Vietnam War memorial mural settled ... unhappily

Fort Myers News-Press
Michael Braun
May 7, 2019

A skirmish between residents and management at a North Fort Myers development in Florida involving a memorial to the Vietnam War ended peacefully if not unhappily Tuesday.

The issue arose seemingly overnight when residents of the Del Tura Golf and Country Club began talking on social media sites about a mural on a garage door painted in black and depicting a Vietnam War-era soldier kneeling before a cross with a helicopter flying in the background.

Community officials sent Bob Masson, 71, a Vietnam War vet and the mural's owner, a letter asking him to remove the depiction. Apparently there also had been a complaint.

"It feels like I've been kicked in the head," Masson said. "It feels like (his service in the war) meant nothing right now. It meant a lot to us when we were over there."
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