Monday, June 25, 2012

Montford Marines WWII groundbreakers

Montford Marines, the first black Marines, to get highest civilian honor
By MICHAEL FUTCH
The Fayetteville Observer, N.C.
Published: June 24, 2012

Few people know their story.

Unlike the Army's Triple Nickels and the Army Air Corps' Tuskegee Airmen, the history of the groundbreakers who went through Montford Point has been largely overlooked.

Fayetteville's James Robert Simpson was among the roughly 20,000 Marines who lived it, training on a small, swampy peninsula jutting into the New River on the North Carolina coast. The World War II veteran, the eldest son of a farming couple from rural Cumberland County, was a "Point man" - one of the first blacks to serve in the Marine Corps.

"I'm proud of that," Simpson said. "To be a part of history, for sure."

At 88 and in poor health, he plans to fly to Washington this week to attend two ceremonies paying tribute to the fighting men known as the Montford Point Marines. These veterans will receive the nation's highest civilian honor, the Congressional Gold Medal.

About 400 of the estimated 420 living Montford Point veterans are expected to attend. In addition to Simpson, five men from Fayetteville are expected to make the trip: Robert Burns Sr., Cosmas Eaglin Sr., Linwood Haith, David Montgomery and Joseph Stinchcomb, said Capt. Kendra Motz, a spokeswoman for the Marine Corps.

"It's most of them, which is awesome," Motz said.

Simpson said he will go to Washington, where he and his fellow Marines will receive a bronze replica of the medal, with mixed feelings.
read more here



I had the pleasure of interviewing Charles Foreman in February.

Last night at the Orlando Nam Knights there was a surprise guest. Charles O. Foreman, a WWII veteran, member of the Montford Point Marines came. He is part of the group of Marines receiving the Congressional Gold Medal. At 87 he is just amazing. No matter what he had to go through because of the color of his skin, he'd do it all over again. He credits the Marines with making him the man he is today.


Homes For Our Troops Home Award Program

Russ and Carol Gambill don't think they have better things to do than to spend so much time working to make coming home better for our combat wounded men and women. They love what they do because they love them. If you ever wanted to get involved with an organization doing great works, this is it. Homes For Our Troops is making sure more veterans have a place to come home to!

Homes for Our Troops has partnered up with a couple of the largest banking corporations in the country.

These banks are taking their bank owned homes and want to give them to qualifying Veterans and the surviving families of our servicemen and women who have perished during the OIF/OEF and Iraqi War.

Please read the email inserted below for instruction on applying and more information. If you are or know of someone who may qualify please pass this on.

Russ and Carol Gambill
Homes for Our Troops Volunteers
Homes For Our Troops.org
Florida Veterans Network


Are you a wounded or injured, post-9/11/01 Veteran or a Gold Star spouse? Please read this email to see if you meet the basic qualification critera then apply for a mortgage-free home!

Do you know a qualifying Veteran/Gold Star family that needs a mortgage-free home? Please forward this email to them!

Homes for Our Troops - "Home Award Program"

Dear HFOT Families, Friends, and Supporters,

We are excited to tell you about an expansion to Homes for Our Troops mission. We have recently added a “Home Award Program” that will allow us to provide the "American Dream" of home ownership to a broader population of deserving Americans; our nation's wounded and injured Veterans and to the spouses of our fallen service members, completely mortgage-free.

As an organization, we feel as though our nation's Veterans, especially the wounded and injured and Gold Star families have paid enough through their service and sacrifice and it's time for us to give back. We give back by providing mortgage-free homes to our deserving military families that would not normally qualify for our original “Specially Adapted Home Program.”

Homes for Our Troops will soon begin receiving donations of homes that are currently owned by national banks. These top-quality homes are in move-in condition and located throughout the country. The banks want to donate these homes to HFOT for Veterans and their families, mortgage-free! We would like to help as many applicants as possible and need your help in disseminating this word. Please share this email with anyone you know that could potentially qualify for the Home Award Program.

Basic Qualification Criteria
You are a Veteran that sustained injuries during combat or while deployed in support of combat operations after September 11, 2001.

You are Widow/Widower or dependent of a service member due to injuries sustained in combat or while deployed in support of combat operations after September 11, 2001. You plan to make your new "HFOT Home Award" home your primary residence for a minimum of three years.

You accept the responsibility of home ownership and have the resources to maintain a home. (ongoing maintenance and upkeep, taxes, utilities etc.)

HOME AWARD PROGRAM CONTACT INFO

Carlo Gaita
Home Award Program Manager
Cheryl Wick
Program Support Representative
Email: HAP@homesforourtroops.org.

Potential Home Award Candidates: Please fill out the open application using the link above and provide the required documentation to start the application process. The open application gives you the opportunity to become pre-qualified for a "Home Award Program" home by the selection committee. When we receive notification from our banking partners that a home becomes available that fits the criteria you specify, we will send you an email notification with all the information on the home(s). You will then have seven (7) calendar days to notify Homes for Our Troops if you want one of the homes on the list.

I am sure you may have some questions about this program; please feel free to visit our web site, Homes For Our Troops Home Award or to contact us at HAP@homesforourtroops.org.

Thank you for your continued support of the Homes for Our Troops mission, we look forward to being able to provide more Veterans and their families the “American Dream” of home ownership through our “Home Award Program.”

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Army Releases May 2012 Suicide Data, DOD head in the sand

Army Releases May 2012 Suicide Data, DOD head in the sand
by Chaplain Kathie
Wounded Times
June 24, 2012

The DOD still has their head in the sand, pushing what does not work and listening to the people they should be blaming.

A friend sent me a link and wanted to know what I thought so reluctantly I just read The “Myth” of our Returning Veterans and Violent Crime by Lt.Col. Dave Grossman, USA, Ret. Author of On Killing, and On Combat "An Obscene Bid to Smear our Veterans" (the granddaddy of Battlemind) and his latest rant trying to blame the media, the left wing and NPR for reporting on what is happening to a lot of men and women when they come home from combat. (You know, the place we sent them and then forgot all about them.) If there really was a "liberal" media, don't you think they'd be daily coverage from all these years and two wars?

As it is, I have to spend hours finding their stories. The most read ones are about healing, heroes and what we can do to help. I thank God that I have read less and less the kind of thing coming out from Grossman because it doesn't help anyone.

What keeps getting missed, and there is a boatload, is a question I haven't heard anyone ask. Did they really want to die? The latest suicide number are below. For all the numbers reported between active military and veterans we are seeing 19 a day taking their own lives. These men and women are only accounted for when they are either in the DOD or VA system. No longer on active duty or listed as disabled by the VA, no one counts them but their families. Answering the question with what we do know for sure is easy.

Men and women do not manage to survive hell in combat, protect the comrades they are with, risk their lives to save someone else, make it all the way back home again and suddenly say "I want to die today" for no reason at all. They did not want to die but because of the loss of hope that the next day would be better, they decided to not take any more breaths waiting for someone to let them in on the secret of healing.

They wanted to stay alive during combat but were not afraid to do what they had to do in order to protect the lives of their buddies, so no, they are not cowards and they sure as hell are not selfish as a few hacks suggested because it was just too tough for then to have to go to another funeral after another life ended by suicide. They wanted to come home to their families and friends so that last thing on their minds was not leaving them with their fingers on triggers or putting a ropes around their necks or crashing their cars into trees.

The truth is they are dying because no one is being held accountable. Failures like Battlemind replaced by "Resiliency Training" has been killing them off and forcing them to blame themselves for "not training right" and being "weak minded" but no one has paid any price for pushing this failure. Worse is the fact they now have "master trainers" and the program is being pushed harder. Talk to any veteran after they had this training and you'll see what I mean. Does the media have a clue? Do they know about it? Do they care? Any of them ask for answers on this? Anyone asking congress why they still fund it? Anyone asking the DOD to account for this when the numbers kept going up? Calls to the suicide prevention hotline kept going up and so did the number of veterans filing VA claims for PTSD? Any clue anyone? All these years and we have the following results to show for it but no reporter has done a damn thing about any of this other than to either ignore it or report on the face value of it and whatever the talking heads have to say about it.

Few commit suicide while deployed and if they do, it is usually not their first time in combat.

If Grossman really wanted to make a difference then he should have pointed out the real numbers about how few do in fact commit crimes and then address why the suicide numbers have all gone up while he wants to blame the media for reporting on what little they do spend time on.

Army Releases May 2012 Suicide Data
FRIDAY, 22 JUNE 2012
PRESS RELEASE
MILITARY

Washington, DC—(ENEWSPF)—June 22, 2012. The Army released suicide data today for the month of May. During May, among active-duty soldiers, there were 16 potential suicides: four have been confirmed as suicides and 12 remain under investigation.

For April, the Army reported 14 potential suicides among active-duty soldiers. Since the release of that report, one case has been added for a total of 15 potential suicides: four have been confirmed as suicides and 11 remain under investigation.

For 2012, there have been 78 potential active-duty suicides: 42 have been confirmed as suicides and 36 remain under investigation. Updated active-duty suicide numbers for 2011: 165 (confirmed as suicides and no cases remain under investigation).

During May, among reserve component soldiers who were not on active duty, there were nine potential suicides (two Army National Guard and seven Army Reserve): two have been confirmed as suicides and seven remain under investigation.

For April, among that same group, the Army reported 13 potential suicides. Since the release of that report, three cases have been added for a total of 16 potential suicides (seven Army National Guard and nine Army Reserve): 11 have been confirmed as suicides and five remain under investigation. For 2012, there have been 46 potential not on active-duty suicides (26 Army National Guard and 20 Army Reserve): 33 have been confirmed as suicides and 13 remain under investigation. Not on active-duty suicide numbers for 2011: 118 (82 Army National Guard and 36 Army Reserve) confirmed as suicides and no cases remain under investigation.

In a May 10, 2012, memorandum titled “Suicide Prevention for Department of Defense Personnel,” Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta stated, “Suicide prevention is first and foremost a leadership responsibility. To that end, leaders throughout the chain of command must actively promote a constructive climate that fosters cohesion and encourages individuals to reach out for help when needed. We must continue to fight to eliminate the stigma from those with post-traumatic stress and other mental-health issues. Seeking help is a sign of strength, and department personnel, both military and civilian, must show this strength or assist those in need of help.”
read more here

Twist and turns in WWII veteran's story

National outcry erupts over bankruptcy of 89-year-old Plains veteran
By VINCE DEVLIN
of the Missoulian

PLAINS – An 89-year-old widower and World War II hero, facing too many bills from his late wife’s 10-year battle with cancer, files for bankruptcy – but fails to list what is reported to be $66,000 worth of gold and silver buried in his yard as assets.

A national organization called Oath Keepers reports on its website that the bankruptcy court ordered the veteran to vacate his home outside Plains, but erroneously claims that he is also being forced to exhume his wife’s body from her grave on the property and move it.

Oath Keepers’ founder calls the attitude of the trustee in the case “brutal and callous” in a 29-minute video posted on the website.

The resulting uproar includes death threats against the trustee, a Bigfork attorney who has since filed a motion to vacate the sale of the veteran’s home, and requested a protective order from the court.

The case of Renn Bodeker has a lot of twists, turns and fallout.
read more here

Vietnam Veteran beaten and robbed in Chicago

Vietnam veteran beaten, robbed; 2 held
By Rosemary R. Sobol
Tribune reporter
June 23, 2012

Sixty-five-year-old Vietnam vet and retired factory worker Willie Haynes was just trying to pick up his cousin from a doctor's appointment but ended up needing one himself after two robbers “jumped him’’ early Friday on the Near West Side.

The two suspects, Eric L. Thomas and Elon Love, were apprehended by police and appeared in court today, charged with aggravated robbery and aggravated battery to a senior citizen.

In court today, Judge James Brown set bails at $100,000 each for Thomas and Love.

“I didn’t deserve this,’’ Hayes said when reached by phone this afternoon. “I couldn’t believe it was happening to me.’’
read more here

New programs for combat PTSD conflict with scarcity of personnel

Psychiatrists on point back home
New programs conflict with scarcity of personnel
Jun 15, 2012
Written by
Philip Grey
Leaf-Chronicle


At Blanchfield Army Community Hospital at Fort Campbell, Lt. Col. Marla Hemphill and Maj. Joe Wise are psychiatrists manning the frontlines of the Army's war against suicide, PTSD and other behavioral health problems. / LEAF-CHRONICLE/PHILIP GREY


FORT CAMPBELL, KY. — While the Army anticipates a considerable shrinkage of resources and personnel in coming years, at least one aspect of Army operations is expected to grow rapidly, out of sheer necessity.

Due to an increasing and acknowledged need, resources aimed at addressing a host of problems coming under the term, “behavioral health,” are the big news at Blanchfield Army Community Hospital in 2012.

As a result, Lt. Col. Marla Hemphill, chief of the Department of Behavioral Health at BACH, and Maj. Joe Wise, chief of Adult Behavioral Health – both on the frontline of a vast new frontier of military medicine – are looking forward to getting some new troops to man that line.

Meanwhile, they have to manage being at the center of issues that are complex and contentious, while operating under a microscope due to the high visibility of the issues involved.
read more here

Why did we let Trever Gould die?

Why did we let Trever Gould die?
by Chaplain Kathie
Wounded Times Blog
June 24, 2012

Every 24 hours there are at least 19 suicides tied to military service. 18 veterans and 1 active military.

The military ran out of excuses years ago because none of these reports are new. While they said they were doing something about it, it all turned out to be massive failures. Why? The numbers have been screaming about this simple, ignored fact. Numbers go up and so do the families having to plan a funeral for someone who managed to come survive combat but could not survive one more day back home.

So why did we let Trever Gould die? Why didn't we do enough to save his life?

We can blame the military all we want but you see, when we as the collective we of this country, elect people to run this country, we are supposed to hold them accountable but congress hasn't really given a damn while pretending they care. Stop and think about the hearings they've had on military suicides and veterans committing suicide. How many have they had? Have they really done anything about any of this? Do they hold anyone accountable for failures? Do they even know the right questions to ask?

Resiliency Training is still going on no matter how pitiful and congress still wonders why suicides have gone up instead of asking why this program is still funded.

We allowed all of it to go on and didn't demand any answers from them so they in turn didn't really demand any answers from the DOD or the VA.

Yet still after all these years, Fort Hood managed to keep Trevor's suffering from combat PTSD a secret from his family along with the fact he was suicidal. This is after all the "help" they DOD could buy, all the funding handed over, calls flooded into the Suicide Prevention Hotline and veterans charities sprung up with their hands out pulling in hundreds of millions of dollars a year. We donated and then felt as if we were doing something to help but in the end, we were part of the problem and now another Mom has to bury her son after she thought he came home to safety.

Soldier took his life, family mourns with anger
Jun 23, 2012
By Courtney Collen

Trevor Gould at 25 years old was an active member of the United States Army out of Fort Hood, Texas.

He was job hunting in his hometown of Fulda, MN, for the summer but would head back to school in Mankato in the fall.

"Everybody loved him. He had a heart of gold. He always wanted to be a leader," Sheri Johnson said.

Sheri Johnson is Trevor's mom. After Trevor served overseas in 2010, his mom said he changed, he had Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD.

Just last week, he took his life which is fifteen years after his dad took his.

After Trevor died, Sheri looked through his military paperwork and shocked by what she saw.

"I found out he had talked to doctors in the Army saying he was suicidal. They didn't contact me, they didn't send him to help, they just pushed the paperwork through.

That's the only way I found out is through military papers," Sheri said.
read more here


UPDATE
Fulda family aims to get more help for reintegrating soldiers

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Home Depot makes better home for DAV Orlando

Home Depot, Celebration of Service, returned to Chapter 16, Orlando Disabled American Veterans to finish the repairs to the building.

A new roof, paint, landscaping, widows, air conditioners, and the list goes on but one of the best changes was putting in a wider doorway into the meeting hall so that wheelchairs could get through without a struggle. Considering we have two triple amputees from the Vietnam War, it was a blessing.

As a matter of fact, Home Depot's crew was a blessing because there is no way we could have afforded to do any of what they did for us.

Tulsa American Legion honors female veterans

Female veterans honored at Tulsa American Legion post event
By CHASE COOK
World Staff Writer
Published: 6/23/2012

World War II veteran Pietje Wall served in the Marine Corps from 1945 to 1950, with 13 months of that time on active duty.

Her job during active duty was to help give the military ships returning from combat new orders, she said. It was a time when women were finding their place in the military and were allowed to serve only in limited roles.

Now, female troops are serving in more positions in the military, and the number of female veterans is expected to rise in the coming years, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The United States has about 1.8 million female veterans, and about 26,000 of them live in Oklahoma, according to the VA.

Wall and other women were recognized for their service during a dinner held by the American Legion Auxiliary Unit 1 on Friday. The dinner is an opportunity to recognize the veterans that may be overlooked, said Maxine Mackie, the auxiliary unit's president.

"It's nice to recognize the ladies and say, 'Hey, we recognize the service you have done for us,' " Mackie said.

Christina Smith, president of the Tulsa Chapter of the Oklahoma Women Veterans Organization, said events such as the dinner are special because they are a reminder that women serve in the military, too.

People often hear male references, such as "bring the boys home," she said, but she asks that people "just remember us all."

"It's a rite of passage to serve this country," Smith said.
read more here

Did Sgt. Rafael Peralta's actions deserve MOH or not?

Sgt. Rafael Peralta’s Medal of Honor case shifts again
JUNE 22ND, 2012
POSTED BY DAN LAMOTHE

Sgt. Rafael Peralta’s case for the Medal of Honor has shifted again, according to a congressman who has pressed the Pentagon to review new evidence that he says shows the Marine chose to smother a grenade to save his buddies in Iraq.

Peralta, 25, died Nov. 15, 2004, in Fallujah. He was awarded the Navy Cross in 2008 for disregarding his own personal safety while already mortally wounded, pulling the grenade to his body, “absorbing the brunt of the blast and shielding fellow Marines only feet away,” according to his award citation.

Despite the extraordinary heroism, then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates shot down Peralta’s case for the Medal of Honor in 2008, leading the Navy Department to authorize the Navy Cross instead.

Pentagon officials cited “contradictory evidence” on whether he had the cognitive ability to choose to cover the grenade despite already being mortally wounded in the head, outraging his family, fellow Marines and veterans.

The Navy Department acknowledged in March that it was reviewing new evidence — two videos recorded shortly after the blast by fellow Marines and a new pathology report — but declined to characterize the move as a “re-opening” of the case.
read more here

Panetta: Junior leaders can stop suicides

Panetta: Junior leaders can stop suicides
By Patricia Kime
Staff writer
Army Times
Posted : Friday Jun 22, 2012
According to monthly service reports, the Army had 76 suicides through June 1 while the Marine Corps had 18. The Air Force had 35 as of May 1, according to figures provided to Air Force Times. The Navy does not publish monthly statistics, but at least 20 sailors have committed suicide this year.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Friday that preventing suicides is a foremost leadership responsibility shouldered by all commanders, but especially by junior leader, non-commissioned officers and petty officers with direct oversight over troops.

Calling suicide “the most frustrating challenge” of his position, Panetta said the Defense Department can create programs, conduct research and lead innovation in neuroscience, but leaders must tackle the issue “head on” because prevention falls to them.

“We will not tolerate actions that belittle, that haze, that ostracize any individual, particularly those who have made the decision to get help. Leadership throughout the department must make it understood that seeking help is a sign of strength, not a sign of weakness,” he said. read more here

Healing military vets’ PTSD starts with understanding

Healing military vets’ PTSD starts with understanding
Posted: Friday, June 22, 2012
By Dr. Mike Rosmann
IFT columnist
Iowa Farmer Today

PTSD seldom goes away on its own. The most-effective help with PTSD is usually obtained from professionals and trained peer support counselors who understand the experiences of those struggling with PTSD.


Last week I explained how Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can develop.

Reacting to a traumatic event with alarm is normal, but when we overreact with alarm to any reminder or cue of the trauma to the degree that distress interferes with our daily lives, it’s time to take corrective actions.

PTSD is fairly common for people involved in farming because farming is one of the most-stressful occupations and many of the factors that affect success or failure are beyond our control.

When I use the term “farming,” I am also referring to ranching, working on a farm as a laborer and related jobs that involve the production of food, fiber and biofuel.

One of my first professional experiences with PTSD after completing training in clinical psychology involved helping a farmer who became emotionally paralyzed while undergoing farm-foreclosure proceedings in court. He couldn’t sleep, he was unable to go about his daily chores on the farm, he became numb and was hardly able to speak. PTSD in the military

PTSD among soldiers who completed tours of duty in Iraq and/or Afghanistan is also common. Recent estimates range from 2.5 percent to 35 percent among U.S. veterans returning stateside (Richardson, Frueh & Acierno, 2010; Curry, 2012).

As might be expected, the prevalence of PTSD is positively correlated with the number of tours of duty and the number of exposures to fire-fights, bombs and other life-threatening events.

Many returning U.S. military who originated from rural areas find access to care for PTSD is an added burden.

Dr. Joel Kupersmith, chief research and development officer of the Department of Veteran Affairs, commented, “Providing comprehensive, high-quality health care to veterans in rural areas is a challenge.”

Of 5.6 million veterans who received care from the VA in 2006, about 40 percent lived in rural areas.

U.S. military personnel tend to originate in greater numbers from states that are rural, with Alaska having the highest number of military personnel on a per capita basis.
read more here

Home Depot Foundation doing more for veterans

Volunteers of America gets grant to help homeless veterans
Jun 22, 2012

Troops wait for President Barack Obama to speak to them at the Third Infantry Division Headquarters, Friday, April 27, 2012, Fort Stewart, Ga. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) / AP

Written by
The Courier-Journal

The Home Depot Foundation has awarded a $77,741 grant to Volunteers of America of Kentucky to help address the housing needs of Louisville-area military veterans.

The grant will be used to support transitional housing for homeless veterans at the agency’s campus at 1432 S. Shelby St. Among the improvements to be funded with the grant money is the replacement of 42 windows, many of which are in disrepair and not energy-efficient, agency officials said.

The funding follows a grant for $67,720 in October 2011 and $2,500 worth of gift cards in December 2011 from The Home Depot Foundation for other work at the campus.
read more here

THE CHALLENGES
Statistics show that many veterans face severe housing needs sometimes because of a disability from combat injuries or because they’ve been particularly hard hit by the economy and sometimes because they simply can’t find affordable housing.

An aging population: 9 million veterans are senior citizens, many of whom live on fixed incomes
Disabilities:
From 2001-2008, the number of disabled veterans increased 25 percent to 2.9 million.
Low Incomes:
More than 4.3 million veterans have a combined family income of under $20,000.
Homelessness:
Statistics show that veterans are twice as likely to be homeless than those who haven’t served.
Veterans represent 8% of the general population, yet they form 16% of the homeless population.


THE OPPORTUNITIES
The skills learned in the Armed Forces are often directly applicable in the workplace, making veterans highly educated and trained employees for businesses. We know that firsthand — more than 35,000 of The Home Depot’s associates are veterans.

Leadership & Work Ethic:
Proven leadership skills, honed in the most challenging operational environments.
Top Skills:
92% of active duty military in the United States use computers at their places of duty and 40% of military personnel have job assignments that involve information resource management; 60% of the enlisted personnel can program in at least one computer language.
Education Level:
Almost 33% of young veterans have an associate or bachelor’s degree, compared to 27% of young non-veterans.
Home Depot Foundation
UPDATE This is what they did last year.
By Joe Ruble ORLANDO, Fla. — A non-profit agency that serves 15,000 veterans in Central Florida with an annual budget of $16,000 had to make a tough decision. Were they to spend their funds entirely on the needs of homeless and other veterans or finally start a badly needed renovation project in the building they have called home for 49 years? "It was coming down to hard decisions," said Brad Bouters, commander of DAV Chapter 16 in Orlando.

Then another non-profit stepped in and with the help of The Home Depot Foundation were able to pull off the repair job. The Mission Continues organized over 100 volunteers who showed up at 2040 W. Central Avenue on Tuesday morning to turn it into a new place of work.

The DAV office there is normally open two days a week for paperwork, while the rest of the time veterans are working in the field with homeless veterans, Bouters explained. Not one DAV volunteer gets paid.

"It's just veterans giving back," he said.

read more here
And then they came out last week and did even more.

Friday, June 22, 2012

Older vets reach out to younger peers

Older vets reach out to younger peers
By ART HOVEY
Lincoln Journal Star
Posted: Thursday, June 21, 201

Peggy Gillispie remembers the day she was ready to declare her husband the winner in his war with himself.

It was 11 years after he lost a leg to a land mine in Vietnam and the day of their older son’s first communion.

When retired Marine Terry Gillispie went to confession and took part in the sacrament with 7-year-old Shawn at the Cathedral of the Risen Christ in Lincoln in 1979, she realized the “cradle Catholic” and father of three had found a measure of peace.

“It was one of the happiest days of my life,” said a woman who stood by her man through years of readjustment.

"I was more involved in my faith at that time, but I like to think I brought him back into the fold."

It took a long time for Terry Gillispie to move beyond his injuries from an ambush on April 20, 1968, just one year after graduating from Lincoln Southeast High School.

“I relived that incident every day,” he said. “I was angry. I did some things. I drank too much. I got in fights. I raised hell.”

Now that’s behind him. And now, he and fellow Vietnam veteran Larry Brown are reaching out to Mike Sheets and others coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan with post traumatic stress and other problems.

They worry that a bleak jobs picture will add to the latest round of emotional turmoil for men and women returning from war zones.

“Our objective is to get them to the VA now,” Gillispie said, “and not to have them go through what we went through.”

One focus of their efforts is Saturday’s Veterans Freedom Music Festival at the Veterans Administration Campus in Lincoln.
Read more

The Invisible War opens in theaters

While doing a radio talk show interview a couple of years ago I met two female veterans. One was from a deployment to Iraq and the other from Afghanistan. During a break we talked about military rape. They told me that female soldiers stopped taking fluids at noon so they wouldn't have to use the latrine at night. Imagine being in that kind of heat and instead of giving your body water, you're just too afraid to drink. I asked them if it happened to them and then one of them said something that shocked me. She said that it really didn't matter if it did or not. The fear was there all the time. The rest of the conversation was personal but that always stuck with me. Just the fear of hearing someone was attacked was enough to cause these women, heavily armed women, not afraid of the Taliban or the insurgents in Iraq but afraid of what was happening with their own people.

Most of the troops are decent humans and we should be proud of most of them but there are some who still think that a woman is not worth anything else. While most of the troops would risk their lives for a servicewoman just as they would for a man, a few need to be stopped and kicked out of the military because they are nothing more than criminals. Rape is a crime.

While rape does not only happen to women, it takes the rest of the servicemen to put a stop to those who cannot live up to the military code of conduct. That "buddy" raping another soldier will not care about anyone but himself so don't count on them to be there watching your back.

Today, The Invisible War opens in theaters in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington D.C.

Already, the film has been an incredibly effective vehicle to help raise mass awareness of military sexual assault and has served as a catalyst to effect change in Washington and beyond. However, much more needs to be done.

This is a must-see film about a must-solve problem. And if enough people show up opening weekend, it could expand and extend the number of showings. But if we don’t, millions of people may never have a chance to see it and learn how serious this problem is.

Make your voice heard and help tell policy makers this issue matters by supporting opening weekend in theaters. They are watching and now is the time for us to make a big impact. There is power in numbers – invite your friends, family and colleagues to stand with survivors and take the first step to ending rape within the military.

From Oscar®- and Emmy®-nominated filmmaker Kirby Dick (This Film Is Not Yet Rated; Twist of Faith) comes The Invisible War, a groundbreaking investigative documentary about one of America's most shameful and best kept secrets: the epidemic of rape within the U.S. military. The film paints a startling picture of the extent of the problem-today, a female soldier in combat zones is more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire. The Department of Defense estimates there were a staggering 19,000 violent sex crimes in the military in 2010. The Invisible War exposes the epidemic, breaking open one of the most under-reported stories of our generation, to the nation and the world.