Humor Helps Wounded Green Beret

Humor helps wounded Green Beret cope 
Lewiston Tribune, Idaho
By Elaine Williams
Published: July 27, 2014

Staff Sgt. Cody Ensley is awarded the Purple Heart, for wounds he received while performing his duties in Afghanistan, by Vice Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. John F. Campbell at San Antonio Military Medical Center on Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio Jan. 3, 2014.
PETER J. BERARDIU.S. ARMY

Laughter comes easily to U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Cody Ensley, less than a year after he nearly lost his life in Afghanistan when an improvised explosive device detonated.

Words are still a struggle, something that can be frustrating for the Green Beret who was fluent in Spanish and had mastered a smattering of an Arabic dialect used in the region where he was deployed.

Sitting close to his wife at the home of friends, Ensley, 26, a 2006 Lewiston High School graduate, answered questions, often with single words, during his first visit to Idaho since the attack.

"He knows what he wants to say, but that speech center is so damaged, he just can't get it out," said his wife, Ashley Ensley. "We play charades a lot."

The Ensleys planned to see his family, catch up with friends and attend a fundraiser at Canter's Inn in Lewiston. The trip is a celebration of how far Ensley has come.
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Push is on to treat first responders for PTSD in Canada

Growing movement to treat PTSD in responders
The Canadian Press
Steve Lambert
July 27, 2014

WINNIPEG - Alex Forrest clearly remembers what happened to a fellow firefighter who was traumatized by the deaths of two captains in a house fire.

It was two months after the Winnipeg blaze in 2007 that killed Tom Nichols and Harold Lessard, and Forrest knew his colleague was having a hard time coping.

"I checked up on him and he had killed himself in a garage, and he was holding the pamphlet from the memorial," Forrest, head of the Winnipeg firefighters union, recalled last week.

"Many of the firefighters are still suffering the effects of that fire."

Forrest is one of many emergency responders across the country, including police officers and ambulance crews, who are fighting for better treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.

He says the condition has been around a long time — he remembers early in his career 25 years ago when one firefighter committed suicide — but people are more willing to talk about the issue now.

There have been high-profile cases in recent weeks, including that of Ken Barker, a retired RCMP corporal and dog handler who took his own life. His family told the Winnipeg Free Press that Barker had struggled with PTSD after seeing many horrific crimes over the years, including the 2008 beheading of Tim McLean on a Greyhound bus.
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Fort Campbell Soldier from Florida Killed in Training Accident at Fort Polk

Fort Campbell soldier dies in training accident
The Leaf-Chronicle
July 27, 2014

FORT POLK, La. – A 101st Airborne soldier died during training on Thursday during what was termed "a routine vehicle movement to a training area" at the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) at Fort Polk, Louisiana..

According to a spokesman for the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) at Fort Campbell, Sgt. Tyler A. Zody, 20, died as a result of an accident involving one vehicle that also injured three soldiers.

The incident is under investigation.

Zody was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team "Rakkasans" at Fort Campbell as a senior sniper.

"Tyler was a dedicated and talented young NCO," said Lt. Col. Marc Cloutier, Commander of the 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment. "The Leader Battalion family will miss him dearly."

A native of Flemming Island, Florida, Zody was born Aug. 21, 1993. After he enlisted in the U.S. Army in July 2011, Zody completed basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia, as an infantryman. After graduating from training, he was assigned as a grenadier in Company A, 1st Bn, 187th Inf. Rgt in December of the same year.
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Veterans get attention again during "election-year firestorm"

How many more years do they plan on putting veterans first right before an election cycle? How many times do we have to face crisis after crisis only to see it all repeated again and again?

National News APNewsBreak: Tentative deal reached on VA reform
Associated Press
By MATTHEW DALY
July 28, 2014

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The chairmen of the House and Senate Veterans Affairs committees have reached a tentative agreement on a plan to fix a veterans' health program scandalized by long patient wait times and falsified records covering up delays. Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., scheduled a news conference Monday to talk about a compromise plan to improve veterans' care.

Miller chairs the House veterans panel, while Sanders chairs the Senate panel. A spokesman for Sanders said Sunday the men have reached a tentative agreement. The deal requires a vote by a conference committee of House and Senate negotiators, and votes in the full House and Senate.

Miller and Sanders said in a joint statement that they "made significant progress" over the weekend toward agreement on legislation to reform the Veterans Affairs Department, which has been rocked by reports of patients dying while awaiting VA treatment and mounting evidence that workers falsified or omitted appointment schedules to mask frequent, long delays.

The resulting election-year firestorm forced VA Secretary Eric Shinseki to resign in late May. The plan set to be announced Monday is intended to "make VA more accountable and to help the department recruit more doctors, nurses and other health care professionals," Miller and Sanders said. Few details of the agreement were released, but the bill is expected to authorize billions in emergency spending to lease 27 new clinics, hire more doctors and nurses and make it easier for veterans who can't get prompt appointments with VA doctors to get outside care.

Louis Celli, legislative director for the American Legion, the nation's largest veterans group, said the deal would provide crucial help to veterans who have been waiting months or even years for VA health care. "There is an emergency need to get veterans off the waiting lists. That's what this is all about," Celli said Sunday.
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Double Amputee Iraq Veteran Getting New Home

Injured Army veteran from Greenfield gets big gift
KY3 News
Drew Douglas
Jul 27, 2014

GREENFIELD, Mo.
You might remember Sgt. Derrick Hurt, who lost both of his legs as a result of injuries he suffered in Iraq in 2003. We've followed Hurt's story since he came home from Iraq in 2003. We last checked in on him in 2012 as he was getting used to new prosthetic legs.

Hurt had another important day on Sunday.

He's come a long way since first learning to walk on prosthetic legs at Walter Reed Medical Center more than a decade ago.

"I can run, I can snow ski, scuba dive,," Hurt said.

He can't wear his legs all the time, however.

"You know you get sore spots on your legs and can't put them on, so you're in your chair," he said.
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Seattle firefighters charged with harassing disabled, homeless veteran

Firefighters charged with harassing homeless man paid $25K on leave
KIROTV
By Casey McNerthney, KIRO 7 STAFF
July 25, 2014

The two Seattle firefighters charged with harassing a homeless man in Pioneer Square have been paid more than $25,000 each while on paid administrative leave, and they're still getting paid.

Robert Howell and Scott Bullene were each charged with one count of malicious harassment.

Howell and Bullene, were walking through Occidental Park after a Seattle Sounders game when they kicked and screamed at a homeless the man, witnesses told police. Both were off duty.

Also charged is Mia Jarvinen, said to be Bullene’s girlfriend. Investigators said she was with Howell and Bullene.

Police said the attack occurred after the firefighters found the homeless man was sleeping at the Seattle Fallen Firefighters Memorial. All three were intoxicated, police said.

Witness Ashton Cruz said the first man they went after was 'Sarge,' a disabled veteran, who hobbled on one leg and a walking stick.

Seattle police have said the veteran stabbed Bullene in self-defense.

Based on the police reports and witness interviews, “we have reason to believe the harassment was because of the victim’s status of being homeless,” Criminal Division Chief Craig Sims previously told KIRO 7.
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Oldest Female Veteran at 108 Treated Like Royalty in Washington

Nation's oldest female veteran, 108-year-old Lucy Coffey, fulfills her dream
Visit to Washington, D.C. includes meeting with Obama and Biden
Stars and Stripes
By Meredith Tibbetts
Published: July 26, 2014

WASHINGTON — Lucy Coffey, at age 108 the nation's oldest living female military veteran, dreamed of going to the Women in Military Service for America Memorial in Arlington, Va. This weekend she got her wish ... and then some.

Coffey was greeted with thunderous applause on Friday at Reagan National Airport, and was then welcomed to the White House by President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.

Though Coffey — who was part of the Women's Army Corps during World War II — did not walk on this trip and cannot speak, she was actively engaging with the people around her.

Staff Sgt. Lucy Coffey enlisted in 1943, around the time of her 37th birthday. She had tried to enlist several times before that, but was rejected for being too short or too slim. Donning extra weights on her legs, she passed the weight minimum of 100 pounds.

While in the Women's Army Corps, she earned two Bronze Stars, a WAC Service Medal, a Good Conduct Medal and a World War II Victory Medal. Coffey was one of 150,000 women who served as WACs during the war.
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Vietnam veteran receives Distinguished Service Cross 46 years after herosim

Vietnam veteran receives valor Distinguished Service Cross
Fay Observer
By Drew Brooks Military editor
Posted: Sunday, July 27, 2014

A former soldier was honored with the military's second-highest award for valor earlier this year, 46 years after his act of heroism.

Retired Master Sgt. Patrick N. Watkins Jr. received the Distinguished Service Cross in a ceremony at Eglin Air Force Base in May.

The medal rewards Watkins for his actions on Aug. 23, 1963, according to the citation.

At the time, he was a staff sergeant assigned to the 5th Special Forces Group, then headquartered at Fort Bragg.

Watkins was at the headquarters of Command and Control North the morning of Aug. 23, when the compound became the focus of a well-coordinated attack by a North Vietnamese Army sapper force, according to the citation.

Watkins was wounded in the initial assault but was able to organize a small reaction force to repel the attack and rescue wounded Americans.

The soldier led other Americans to defense positions through a "gauntlet of machine gun fire and grenades," according to the citation. He "disregarded his own safety to direct the recovery of the many wounded men and repeatedly engaged and killed enemy sappers."
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The video everyone needs to watch on military suicides

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
July 27, 2014

If you want to know why your veteran committed suicide, this is the biggest part of the answer. It wasn't your fault. Everything you faced since this hearing back in 2010 was the responsibility of the DOD and the VA. Nothing that happened afterwards was excusable but no one was ever held accountable for what the DOD and Congress failed to do in the first place.

During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, General Peter Chiarelli talked about how PTSD and TBI were being co-diagnosed and how there were many misdiagnosis. It was almost as if he was more angry about the reporting by NPR than the outcome.

Military Still Failing To Diagnose, Treat Brain Injuries In 2007, under enormous public pressure, military leaders pledged to fix problems in diagnosing and treating brain injuries. Yet despite the hundreds of millions of dollars pumped into the effort since then, critical parts of this promise remain unfulfilled.

Over four months, we examined government records, previously undisclosed studies and private correspondence between senior medical officials. We conducted interviews with scores of soldiers, experts and military leaders.

That was all coming out in 2010.

Speeches. Endless speeches year after year on what the military has been doing to reduce suicides have resulted in headlines like this.

Navy sees suicide uptick despite prevention efforts
The Virginian-Pilot
By Corinne Reilly
July 25, 2014

After a drop in 2013, suicides among Navy sailors have increased sharply so far this year.

The Pentagon this week released updated suicide numbers for all of the service branches for 2013. Overall, they show a decline in suicides among active-duty service members compared with 2012. Suicides decreased among Navy sailors, too, from 57 in 2012 to 43 last year.

But so far this year, the Navy has seen a marked increase - 38 confirmed or suspected suicides as of this week, according to the service. That's up roughly 50 percent compared with the same period last year.
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Suicide's toll: Survey says half of vets know someone who has tried it, July 24, 2014 Stars and Stripes. The number of enlisted has decreased but the number of suicides went up. The DOD heads refuse to accept responsibility for this outcome. All of their "efforts" pushing "resiliency" have killed more Soldiers, Marines, Airmen and Sailors then two wars combined. Their efforts have destroyed families. They simply make speeches on what they learned.

This is a video everyone needs to watch. You need to hear their words. You need to hear what they claimed 4 years ago before the numbers went to a historical high in 2012. You need to see the empty chairs where members of the Armed Services Committee should have been sitting. You need to hear the questions asked by the Senators who bothered to show up. Then you need to ask yourself is any of this is acceptable to you.

Senate Armed Services Committee
JUNE 22, 2010
Military Suicides
Military branch vice chiefs and a Veterans Administration official spoke about efforts to prevent military suicides. They also talked about efforts to diagnose and treat brain injuries.

In 2010 the DOD knew they had a shortage of mental health doctors and nurses.

Suicides Alarming: The numbers read by Senator Levin

2007 115 Soldiers, 2008 140, 2009 162.

Army, General Peter Chiarelli, Navy Adm. Jonathan Greenhert, Marine Corps Gen. James F. Amos, and Air Force Gen. Carrol H. "Howie" Chandler talked about building "resiliency" and how there was a great need to get the members of the military to seek help. All of these leaders claimed to be doing "all we can" but that was when the numbers were far lower. Dr. Robert Jesse of the Department of Veterans Affairs also made claims of what the VA was doing.

They claimed the research was new avoiding the fact that other Generals had given similar speeches decades ago. They claimed to be doing so much but none of them have ever accepted responsibility for the failure to live up to what they claimed. None of them have admitted what they had been doing failed so many the number of suicides and attempted suicides went up. The number of veterans committing suicide went up.

The backstory on all of this is the simple fact that "bad paper discharges" also went up. Those discharged were no longer the responsibility of the military to account for. They were not part of the VA accounting since most were not eligible for benefits or treatment.

The GAO Report Mental Health and Traumatic Brain Injury Screening Efforts Implemented, but Consistent Pre-Deployment Medical Record Review Policies Needed" but the Generals admitted that while they were doing pre-deployment screenings, they were not doing post-deployment screenings. The excuse was they did not have enough time or mental health workers. They also stated they were getting too many "false-positive" results.

Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metrics Pre Deployment, Deployment and Post Deployment Screenings. The Defense Department requires all service members to undergo a pre-deployment baseline neurocognitive assessment within 12 months of deployment. Establishing a neurocognitive baseline on all service members facilitates the ability to measure potential cognitive changes in individuals who are exposed to a concussive event. Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metrics (ANAM) is one such measure that can be used to assess cognitive changes post-concussion and is the neurocognitive assessment tool the Defense Department is currently employing for use by all services.

General Amos said that only about 2% needed mental health help.

Halfway into the meeting, John McCain's seat was empty. Senator Akaka, Senator Levin and Senator Inhofe, Senator Susan Collins, Senator Clair McCaskill, Senator Mark Udall, Senator Mark Begich, Senator Joe Liberman and Senator Kay Hagan were the only ones left to ask questions and listen to the answers.

General Chiarelli said the cooperation between the DOD and the VA had never been better. When a soldier decided to leave service, they were already in the VA system. Remember, that was back in 2010.

General Amos had the same statement on the cooperation between the Marines and the VA.

Adm. Greenert said the same thing. The cooperation had never been better.

General Chandler also said they had a very comfortable relationship with the VA and transitioning the Airmen.

When you hear what was said, what was claimed, back in 2010, it makes the results all the more troubling. When you see how few members of the Senate Armed Services Committee showed up to take an interest in what was happening, it leaves few questions as to why things have been so bad after they continued to simply fund programs that clearly were not working.

In the end, after all the trainings, they talked about how non-deployed committed suicide after being screened. If they were unable to stop them for committing suicide with the same training they gave to the deployed multiple times, how did they expect a different outcome?

Airmen defend base in Afghanistan during 4 hour assault

ST. CHARLES AIRMAN DEFENDS BASE IN AFGHANISTAN
St. Louis Post Dispatch
BY AFPA Super
July 26, 2014

The attack ultimately ended when an Afghan-led quick reaction force, enabled by the cover fire from Corley and other Air Force defenders, arrived at the enemy position and swept the building to eliminate the remaining attackers.

KABUL, Afghanistan – A U.S. Air Force Airman from St. Charles successfully defended his forward operating base here during a more than four hour insurgent attack, July 17, 2014.

Airman 1st Class Chris Corley, son of Dennis and Cheri Jo Corley of St. Charles, is currently deployed and serving as a Security Forces member with the 438th Air Expeditionary Wing at Forward Operating Base OQAB, at Kabul International Airport. The wing’s mission is to set the conditions for a professional, independent, and sustainable Afghan Air Force to meet the present and future security requirements of Afghanistan. Corley is assigned to provide base and personnel security in support of that mission. This marks his first deployment.

In the pre-dawn hours of July 17, a group of anti-Afghanistan forces gained access to a multi-story building under construction approximately 350 meters from the base and airport fence line. Fighting from the rooftop and windows on several stories, the attackers began firing rocket propelled grenades and shooting automatic weapons at the Afghan Air Force base adjoining the airport, and the U.S. Air Force FOB within the compound. The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack, according to multiple media sources.

Corley and a few dozen other Air Force security forces members took up fighting positions and were the first to return fire.
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Fort Hood Soldier died after contracting illness in Afghanistan

Fort Hood Soldier Dies from Illness Contracted in Afghanistan
By: TWC News Staff
07/26/2014

A Fort Hood soldier has died in San Antonio after he contracted an illness in Afghanistan.

Army officials say Pfc. Donnell Hamilton Jr. died Thursday at Brooke Army Medical Center from an illness sustained in Ghazni Province, Afghanistan.
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WWII Veteran attacked at Oklahoma Veterans Center

Oklahoma veteran attacked in Claremore Center
KFOR News 4
BY ALI MEYER
JULY 25, 2014

CLAREMORE, Okla. – There are more than 300,000 veterans in Oklahoma, and seven state-run facilities for those vets in their golden years.

The family of one veteran recently contacted NewsChannel 4 after a horrific situation at the vet center in Claremore, Oklahoma.

Seaman First Class Richard Morrison enlisted in the Navy when he was just 15 years old.

He fought World War II in the Pacific and today fights a different battle; dementia.

His family noticed about a year and a half ago that he was showing signs of Alzheimer’s and needed help.

Morrison’s family tried live-in nursing care for almost two years.

They eventually decided his best option was the Claremore Veterans’ Center.

He had been here just five weeks when he was attacked by another resident in the dementia wing.

Richard Morrison’s case is just the latest in a string of complaints out of the Claremore Veterans’ Center in recent years. In fact, conditions were so bad at Claremore a few years ago the state legislature asked the State Health Department to step in. The state now conducts regular, unannounced visits to all the vet centers around the state.
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Bad outcome:Awareness up, spending up and so are military suicides

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
July 26, 2014

In 2009 I was able to figure out that Comprehensive Soldier Fitness would increase military suicides.

"If you promote this program the way Battlemind was promoted, count on the numbers of suicides and attempted suicides to go up instead of down. It's just one more deadly mistake after another and just as dangerous as sending them into Iraq without the armor needed to protect them."

Finally the reduction of military personnel is being factored in on the suicide reports like this.

After years of attempting to prevent suicides, these numbers are more proof it isn't working. One more factor to include in this is there are less serving this year than last year. According to the DOD Army 537,135 April 2013 went down to 518,576 April 2014. Marines had a decrease from 194,703 to 191,599 and the Air Force went from 334,255 to 329,979. The Navy had an increase from 318,999 to 323,788. But why include the other side of the numbers that do in fact matter?

When you think of the design of the Capitol it is totally appropriate it is a huge circle. Members of Congress keep running around and arriving right back at the same place others started.

Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images

Over and over again members of Congress come up with Bills to address suicides but other than doing a lot of talking, they simply repeat what has already failed. The military is just as guilty. How is it that no one has been held accountable for the billions spent each year when the result has been more suicides and less recovering?

How is it that Generals like Army Gen. Raymond T. Odierno got away with blaming soldiers and their families for suicides and was not ever forced to apologize for what he apparently believes?

"First, inherently what we do is stressful. Why do I think some people are able to deal with stress differently than others? There are a lot of different factors. Some of it is just personal make-up. Intestinal fortitude. Mental toughness that ensures that people are able to deal with stressful situations."

"But it also has to do with where you come from. I came from a loving family, one who gave lots of positive reinforcement, who built up psychologically who I was, who I am, what I might want to do. It built confidence in myself, and I believe that enables you to better deal with stress. It enables you to cope more easily than maybe some other people."

What exactly would he say to veterans after they survived? What would he say to all the Medal of Honor Heroes talking openly about their own issues with PTSD and thinking about suicide? What would he say to Dakota Meyer's face after he did in fact try to kill himself with a gun put up to his head and he pulled the trigger not knowing his Dad removed the bullets?

No one has been held accountable for any of this and we got excuses while families were forced to plan funerals instead of retirements. Think the problem in the VA is bad with claims and wait times for appointments? Then think of this other fact. Senator Joe Donnelly said, "43 percent of service members who committed suicide never sought help. He says trying to combat the problem of military and veteran suicide needs to involve erasing the stigma of seeking help." avoiding the fact that also means 57% committed suicide after seeking help. Next time you read a report on the over 22 veterans a day ending their own lives remember that fact. Next time you read a story on servicemembers committing suicide think of the rest of what you read. If you were not already pissed off then you were not paying attention!

Number of military suicides showing uptick
By Patricia Kime
Staff writer
July 25, 2014

The number of military suicides so far this year is running slightly higher than for the same time frame last year, but without the context of force reductions, the raw data say little about current suicide trends in the armed services.

This year, the four services have seen 162 confirmed or suspected suicides — 151 among active-duty troops and 11 among reserve component members — through July 20, according to Pentagon documents obtained by Military Times.

The Navy and Air Force both had an uptick in suicides, while the Army and Marine Corps are down from their 2013 year-to-date numbers.

In the same period last year, there were 160 total deaths by suicide across the four services. In 2012, there were 209.

While the numbers appear to signal a reversal of the decline in military suicides in 2013 compared to the year before, the breadth of the change, if any, will be determined when the Defense Department calculates the current incidence rate of suicide — a measure that weighs the number of suicides against the number of personnel serving.

The most recent rates published by the Pentagon show that in 2013, the incident rate among active duty personnel was 18.7 per 100,000. In 2012, it was 22.7 per 100,000 — the highest it has been since DoD began closely tracking the data in 2002.

A current incidence rate was not included in the 2014 year-to-date suicide report. The figure is challenging to calculate, since it is based on the number of troops on active duty as well as the number of mobilized Guard and reserve troops — numbers that fluctuate as service members train and move between active and reserve status.

Of the 162 confirmed or suspected suicides to date this year for both the active and reserve components, the service breakdown is Army, 71; Air Force, 34; Marine Corps, 21; and Navy, 36.

This time last year, the figures were Army, 85; Air Force, 25; Marine Corps, 26; and Navy, 24.

The Navy is well ahead of its pace at this time last year and in fact is already closing in on its total of 43 for all of 2013.
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Veteran died soon after release from hospital called "suspicious"

Deputies investigating Mercer County veteran's 'suspicious' death
WKYT News
Mark Barber
Jul 26, 2014

MERCER COUNTY, Ky. (WKYT) - Investigators say they found a 48-year-old veteran dead in his Mercer County home Friday night.

They tell us James Price had health issues but they believe there could be more to his death.

Deputies are calling his death suspicious because they say he was alive when he left UK Hospital Friday afternoon but he was found dead not long after he was dropped off at home.

"I thought it was all very strange," said a neighbor who didn’t want to be identified.

He says he called 911 when he saw Price fall out of a Lexington taxi on South Cedar Lane about 6 p.m. Friday.

"The guy kind of fell out, he couldn't sit up, stand up or anything. The cab driver picked him up from behind and carried and dragged him into the house and laid him on a couch and left," said the neighbor.
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