USS Arlington investigating death of female sailor

update Navy IDs Officer Who Died Aboard the Arlington; NCIS Probe Continues

Navy officials have identified the woman who died aboard a ship during a port stop in Spain as Lt. Kaylie Ludwig. Ludwig, a medical corps officer, was found unresponsive aboard the amphibious transport dock ship Arlington on Tuesday. She was later pronounced dead aboard the ship.

NCIS Investigating Sailor's Death Aboard Navy Ship Deployed to Europe

Military.com
Gina Harkins
May 23, 2019

An investigation is underway aboard a Navy ship after a sailor was found dead during a stop in Spain.

The San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship USS Arlington (LPD 24) operates in the Atlantic Ocean (U.S. Navy/Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Chris Roys)

A sailor assigned to the amphibious transport dock Arlington was found unresponsive on Tuesday, said Cmdr. Kyle Raines, a spokesman for U.S. 6th Fleet. The sailor was later pronounced dead aboard the ship, he added.

The person's identity has not been released, pending family notification. Navy Times is reporting the sailor was a woman.
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THE LIFE LESSON that grasped my soul was born amid the throes of war

“The Instrument of Your Fate”

Harvard Magazine
by JOSEPH BRETT
5.22.19

"Forrest Hollifield and I are flying this mission together to help and heal others. Only veterans who know the randomness of death in combat can truly appreciate the old adage that life is a gift. That is why it is called the present."

At the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Joe Brett—veteran and Harvard Kennedy School alumnus—addresses Ukrainian veterans of the Soviet-Afghan War. He writes, “I gave them a pin of my old unit, 24th Corps, which happens to be a blue heart on a white shield…or in this case a symbol for peace. We all wept when I gave this out with the words that it was up to us to all work for peace, now that we have met each other as brothers at this memorial…One former Soviet colonel hugged me and, with tears in his eyes, said that all soldiers should be veterans.” Photograph courtesy of Joe Brett

THE LIFE LESSON that grasped my soul was born amid the throes of war: If one does not manage the instrument of his fate, it will manage him.

Wars have always produced wounds and soldiers have always suffered depression, and even committed suicide, as a result. These deep, often fatal, wounds are not always physical. Mental and emotional trauma—referred to as moral wounds—have emerged as a separate category of serious wartime injury. More than 7,000 veteran suicides a year speak to this truth, yet we have not fully embraced the reality.

I am surprised to find myself a typical case study for veterans with moral wounds, not because I am unique but because I am no different than any other veteran who had to face a moment of complete moral and spiritual collapse. My future was set in motion in Vietnam on July 30, 1970.

I was an aerial artillery observer/forward air controller—everyday hunters who killed our enemy by directing artillery, bombs, and napalm on them. Our job was to also count the kills, as that was Defense Secretary Robert McNamara‘s matrix for winning the war, and the basis of promotions for career officers.Pulitzer Prize-winning author and war correspondent David Wood tells us that if a soldier kills another soldier in combat, he or she has a 40 percent higher risk of suffering a moral wound. (If a civilian is killed, the percentage is even higher.)

That July, I was a few weeks from heading home. I felt my assigned pilot was too much of a daredevil for my “old guy,” cautionary status, so I casually switched flights with a nice, newer lieutenant, Forrest Hollifield. The benefit to Forrest was that I took the dawn patrol. He got to sleep later, and I got the pilot I preferred. The completely unexpected happened when his pilot killed them both doing a stunt on takeoff. When my pilot and I landed, I saw the body bags being zipped up. My only thought was that it should have been me.
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Memorial Day, Lt. Dan and Why He's a Grateful American

A Visit with Gary Sinise: Memorial Day, Lt. Dan and Why He's a Grateful American

Military.com
By James Barber
21 May 2019

In many ways, and not only the career. I had done only two or three movies before I did "Forrest Gump." That was certainly a career changer, for sure. It also led to a long, 25-year relationship with the Disabled American Veterans organization because, within weeks of the movie coming out, they invited me to come to their national convention.

Gary Sinise as Vietnam veteran Lt. Dan Taylor in "Forrest Gump" (Paramount)

Gary Sinise spoke with us when he was scheduled to co-host the National Memorial Day Concert in Washington, D.C. He's had to cancel, but the show will go on, airing at 8 p.m. Eastern on May 26 on PBS stations. Mary McCormack will fill in for Gary as co-host with Joe Mantegna.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the National Memorial Day Concert, and Sinise has been involved with the event since 2005. We had a great conversation and decided to share the interview even though he won't be able to attend the event.

Sinise spoke to us about his experiences with the concert, what the role of Lt. Dan Taylor has meant to his career and his life, and his recent memoir "Grateful American."

I brought up his father Robert's own movie career, which he started as editor for the drive-in gore schlockmaster Herschell Gordon Lewis in the early 1960s. Gary enthusiastically displayed his own knowledge of deep cuts from one of the trashiest filmographies of all time. He truly is a renaissance man.
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NATIONAL MEMORIAL DAY CONCERT | Charles Durning | PBS

Missouri's National Veterans Memorial in Perryville now open

Grand opening of Missouri’s National Veterans Memorial in Perryville

St. Louis Post Dispatch
May 20, 2019

A Huey helicopter flies over the visitors center during the grand opening weekend celebration of Missouri's National Veterans Memorial in Perryville, Mo., on Sunday, May 19, 2019. Photo by David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com

Missouri's National Veterans Memorial in Perryville, Mo. held its grand opening this weekend. The memorial features a permanent full-scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C. The 46-acre site has a visitors center and museum space designed to honor all the nation's veterans, from all conflicts. Missouri's Vietnam Wall uses the same black-granite as the Washington, D.C., memorial, and is etched with the names of the nearly 59,000 men and women killed during the Vietnam War.

Navy veteran Shawn Jeager, from St. Charles, points out planes on the deck of an aircraft carrier etched into a granite memorial to his sons Adam Jeager (left) and Daniel Jeager during a visit to Missouri's National Veterans Memorial in Perryville on Sunday, May 19, 2019. Photo by David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com

The nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that runs Missouri's National Veterans Memorial does not charge admission but is hoping suggested donations of 10 dollars from the planned 30,000 visitors a year will help grow and sustain the memorial.
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Other than honorable way to treat combat veterans

Lawmakers demand change after KING 5 reveals VA fumble left veterans without help

KING 5 News
Author: Taylor Mirfendereski
May 21, 2019

Members of Congress who championed a 2018 law that increases access to mental health care for veterans say the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs hasn't done enough to implement it.

SEATTLE — Several current and former members of Congress who championed a 2018 law that makes a vulnerable group of veterans eligible for mental health care at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs are calling for change after a KING 5 story revealed the VA mishandled the program's roll out.

Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, said Tuesday that she's concerned about the VA's failure to reach other-than-honorable veterans who qualify for mental health treatment under the law, which Congress passed in March 2018 to reduce suicides among the group of veterans who previously were largely ineligible for care.

"Obviously I am not happy with how the VA has implemented the law," said Murray, who co-sponsored the legislation. "It is their responsibility. It is our responsibility for oversight, which we are following this very closely on."

Nationwide, less than one percent of veterans with other-than-honorable discharges received mental health treatment at the VA last year, according to data provided by a VA spokeswoman.

Congress set a 180-day deadline for the VA to notify eligible veterans about the change, but it took the agency nearly a year after the law passed to make direct contact with veterans who qualified for care.
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And what type of veteran is included in all of this?

'The Army Broke Him'
SHELTON -- Kord Ball dug out his wrinkled Army uniform from a pile of clothes inside his Shelton trailer.

And for the first time in months, the disheveled staff sergeant mustered up the energy to shave and get a haircut.

That September 2018 morning was one of Ball's last days in the U.S. Army, after a decorated 10-year military career. But the 27-year-old didn't leave the service on good terms.

Army leaders at Joint Base Lewis McChord kicked Ball out of the service for misconduct because he failed a drug test for marijuana. He received an other-than-honorable discharge, which strips away his right to access veteran benefits, including long-term health care from the Department of Veteran Affairs.

But records show the behavior that got Ball in trouble was directly related to his diagnosed anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder -- medical conditions brought on by his military service. And now, the veteran doesn't have a right to access the long-term medical benefits he needs to heal.
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If you were kicked out instead of helped to heal, tell your story so that this BS stops! The only way they get away with treating those who serve like this is to remain silent!

#BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife

President Donald Trump's tax law hit Gold Star Children

Lawmakers change Trump tax law that hit Gold Star families with 'kiddie tax'

NBC News
By Corky Siemaszko
May 21, 2019

The federal government "is trying to save a few bucks by ripping off" military families, Sen. Doug Jones, D-Ala., said.

The Senate on Tuesday passed a change to President Donald Trump's tax law after it unexpectedly socked hundreds of Gold Star families this year with a "kiddie tax" of thousands of dollars.

Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.Aaron P. Bernstein / Getty Images file

The new tax law treated military and Veteran Affairs survivor benefits as trusts or estates, which subjects them to a tax rate as high as 37 percent.

The Gold Star Family Tax Relief Act would fix the error by treating military and VA survivor benefits as earned income, which is taxed at a much lower rate. That bill now goes to the House for consideration.

"Gold Star families have sacrificed so much for our nation, and passing this legislation to remove the exorbitant tax on surviving children's benefits is the least we can do," Sen. Doug Jones, D-Ala., said after the Gold Star Families Tax Relief Act passed the Senate with unanimous and bipartisan support.
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ALSO
Gold Star families hit by huge tax increase on benefits

New gun covers enlisted in fight against suicide

"Cover Me Veterans" helps veterans thinking of suicide to think twice

Action 2 News
By Brittany Schmidt
May 20, 2019

Dr. Sigmund would often ask her clients to put a picture of someone or something they treasure close to their firearms when they are having dark thoughts. “It would be a prompt to look at that and think, 'Hey, I have a lot to live for. These people need me or I can count on them,'" said Dr. Sigmund.

GREEN BAY, Wis. (WBAY) - In the United States, we lose almost two dozen veterans a day to suicide, but one local woman is hoping her efforts will make veterans think twice before taking their own life.

“I think there could be no greater work than to devote time and effort giving back to the people who sign up, volunteer or answer the call to serve all of us,” said Dr. Heidi Sigmund, founder of the non-profit organization called Cover Me Veterans.

For the past 12 years, Preble High School and St. Norbert College graduate Heidi Sigmund has been helping veterans living with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

“We talk about 'suicidal ideation' a lot because unfortunately when someone is struggling with PTSD that is something that can come up,” said Dr. Sigmund.

When that happens, Dr. Sigmund asks her veterans to distance themselves from their firearms.

“It’s kind of a conundrum because we know that most veterans that choose to end their lives do so using firearms, but we are also working with people who really value their firearms, it’s a firearm culture,” said Dr. Sigmund.

Dr. Sigmund teamed up with GunSkins to create personalized vinyl skins to go on a veteran's firearms. In the kit, a veteran can upload a personal, meaningful photo to be printed and included in the order. Many pictures include children, spouses, pets and military logos.
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VA gave Dennis a reminder of happy times, a black and white cat

Robotic pets give Asheville veterans a source of companionship at the VA

ABC 13 News
by John Le
May 20th 2019

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — Long after serving our country, too many vets fight for a sense of peace. An unusual form of pet therapy provides a source of comfort and companionship at Charles George VA Medical Center.

"I'm 100 percent disabled, and I have PTSD," says Dennis Vincent, a Vietnam veteran. 'It's been a struggle practically since war, you know."

The VA gave Dennis a reminder of happy times, a black and white cat.

"He does a thing where he rolls on his back if I can get him to do it," Vincent explained, as the feline purred. "He's the next best thing to having a cat."

It's the 'next best thing,' because it's not real. 'Jack,' as Dennis calls it, is a robotic pet.

"You don't have to feed him. He doesn't have fleas. And he doesn't give me any back talk," Dennis points out.
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Supreme Court denies justice, lets military malpractice stand....

Supreme Court rejects bid to overturn prohibition on military malpractice cases

Military Times By: Leo Shane III May 20, 2019

Thomas wrote that by refusing to re-examine the issue, the Supreme Court has allowed the Feres doctrine to be twisted and strengthened over the years. He also lamented that Congress could find ways to address the issue “but it did not.”

The Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. is shown in January 2019. On Monday, the court opted not to hear a case which challenged the legal precedent barring individuals from suing the military for medical malpractice. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP

The Supreme Court again on Monday opted not to hear a challenge to the legal precedent barring individuals from suing the military for medical malpractice, a decision blasted by Justice Clarence Thomas as short-sighted and unfair.

“Unfortunate repercussions — denial of relief to military personnel and distortions of other areas of law to compensate — will continue to ripple through our jurisprudence as long as the Court refuses to reconsider (this issue),” Thomas wrote in his dissent to the court’s decision not to take up the challenge.

The move once again shifts from the courts to Congress debate on how to fix problems surrounding the Feres Doctrine, a 1950 Supreme Court decision that blocks troops from claiming medical malpractice damages for actions related to their military service. At the time, the court found that military personnel injured by the negligence of another federal employee cannot sue under the Federal Tort Claims Act.
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Congress major malfunction on suicide prevention

Congress needs to ask DOD and VA what their major malfunction is

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
May 21, 2019

Right now there is a hearing going on with congress on "Military and Veteran Suicide" but they are still wondering why they have not reduced them in either side of service...

Scheduled from May 21 2019 2:00 PM EDT to May 21 2019 5:00 PM EDT Elizabeth P. Van Winkle, executive director of the Office of Force Resiliency for the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, and Navy Capt. (Dr.) Mike Colston., director for mental health programs in DOD’s Health Services Policy and Oversight Office, testify at a joint hearing of the House Armed Services Committee’s subcommittee on military personnel and the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee’s health subcommittee titled, “Military and Veteran Suicide: Understanding the Problem and Preparing for the Future,” May 21, 2019.
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Resiliency is the major part of the problem, but the DOD has not figured it out yet. 

DOD suicide event report should have been released last month for 2018, but it looks like they are doing it just yearly now. Why?

These reports are the most current numbers showing the growing need to change what is being done, or expand on what is working. So far, what works has not replaced what failed.

Consider that these men and women, valued life so much, they were willing to die for the sake of others. 

They endured hardships and more misery than most humans will ever know for a cause that was greater than their own comforts.

They were willing to leave their families and friends for whatever time they were needed to be gone, again, for the sake of others.

So how is it that anyone could find it acceptable to allow any of these men and women to devalue their own lives and seek an end to the same life who gave so much, survived so much, only to fall by their own hands?

Considering the DOD has been feeding the stigma of PTSD with their "resilience" and making it sound as if there is a weakness in them instead of what they needed to know. They are survivors and while still human. When civilians get PTSD, it can happen after just one time. For them, it is the one time too many that causes PTSD in those who serve the rest of us.

Dr. Franklin got it wrong on the number when she said "20" a day over the last few years. According to the VA it has been that number since 1999 when there were over 5 million more veterans alive at the time. Yes, she got that wrong and here are the charts from the VA. Notice the percentage of suicides going up.

"The VA has tripled mental health care spending since 2005 to a record $8.6 billion in fiscal year 2019" and this is the result.

This is from the report where so many groups just decided that all they had to do was repeat a number to "raise awareness" it was happening but never thought it would be necessary to do anything else...like research what to do to get a basic understanding.

Dr. Van Winkle ran down a long list of what they are doing...but seems to have missed the point that none of it is new, while the number of active duty suicides has gone up. Check the suicide reports that have been released by the DOD

Capt. Colston said that over 40% had not been deployed but did not mention how that proves that if the "prevention" efforts were not good enough to save those lives, it was very unlikely it would save any of those who had been deployed.  Top that off with those who had been deployed multiple times and you can see how that should have been known as a major malfunction in their thinking.

Capt. Colston did not know why suicides went up...but at least he is an honest man.

Dr. Neal Dunn asked about reporting on veterans committing suicide, as if reporting on them is any worse than running around the country raising money to raise "awareness" they are happening. Seems it would be a good place to start shutting those groups down and ending the stunts that rob donors of money...and veterans of hope.


It was announced there was a suicide at a VA campus over the weekend and he had been confused because he had a "other than honorable discharge." (Looking for that information now.)

Judging by how few members of the House Armed Services Committee and Veterans Affairs Committee, maybe that explains how nothing has changed to help these veterans hear the one thing they needed to hear all along...they could heal!