Wreaths Across America Honors Fallen Back to Revolutionary War

Wreaths Across America ceremony honors fallen colonial soldiers
Newark Post Online
By Josh Shannon
Mon Dec 15, 2014

NEWARK POST PHOTO BY JOSH SHANNON
Wreaths Across America
Kevin Conley's service dog Angus, who helps him control his PTSD symptoms, mingles among the crowd at the Wreaths Across America ceremony at Pencader Heritage Museum on Saturday.

As part of a nationwide observance, dozens gathered Saturday near the site of the Battle of Cooch’s Bridge to lay wreaths in honor of the 24 colonial soldiers who died in the only Revolutionary War battle fought in Delaware.

“When our forefathers came to this ground in 1777, on their lips and in their minds was what freedom really stands for: independence and liberty,” State Rep. Earl Jaques told the crowd gathered at the Pencader Heritage Museum on Route 72. “They gave us that with their blood and with their ultimate sacrifice.”

Jaques, a brigadier general in the Delaware National Guard, was one of 10 people chosen to lay the wreaths, which are part of the Wreaths Across America program.

The effort began in 1992 when the Worcester Wreath Company of Harrington, Maine, had a surplus of wreaths and arranged to have them laid on graves at Arlington National Cemetery. The tradition continued, largely unnoticed, until 2005, when a photo of the wreaths went viral online.

The attention led to an influx of funds and volunteers, and the project expanded. Today, more than 540,000 wreaths are laid at 900 locations in all 50 states and in cemeteries on foreign soil.
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Glenn Miller "He gave his life when he didn't need to,"

Museum marks Glenn Miller's disappearance
Des Moines Register
Linh Ta
December 14, 2014

"He gave his life when he didn't need to," Yellin said. "The young people have to understand that they have to be up close and personal."

The museum displays items from musician Glenn Miller’s life and World War II service on Sunday.
(Photo: Linh Ta/The Register)

It's been 70 years since musician Glenn Miller disappeared over the English Channel during World War II, but even now, his music lives on.

On Sunday, the Glenn Miller Birthplace Museum in Clarinda remembered the disappearance of the Iowa native, and held a ceremony in honor of not only his musical contributions, but his contributions to the U.S. Army.

Miller, known for leading the Glenn Miller Orchestra to several top hits in the late 1930s and early 1940s, enlisted in the Army at age 38, despite making $15,000 to $20,000 a week in his musical career. After being denied at first because of his age, he was assigned to the Army Air Forces, and used his music to boost troops' morale.

"He felt that the biggest impact he could have was joining the service," said Rick Finch, director of the museum. "I think that we sometimes forget that service now."
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Ret. Command Sergeant Major Thomas Colvin Wants to Honor All Veterans

Looks like I'm not the only one thinking all veterans should matter and not just the one making the news today.

"Only when proper recognition is given to veterans who have gone before us, will I be proud of a highway named in our honor." Command Sergeant Major (Retired) Thomas Colvin

Honor all veterans
Gadsdey Times
Published: Sunday, December 14, 2014

During its regular session in 2014, the state Senate passed SJR3. As the resolution read, “Naming a portion of United States Highway 411 from Etowah-St. Clair County line north to the intersection of United States Highway 411 and I-759 in Gadsden as the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Memorial Highway.”

As a veteran of Operation Desert Shield/Operation Desert Storm (1990-1991), Iraqi Freedom (2003) and Operation Enduring Freedom (2005-2008), I declare it unnecessary to do so. Why, you may ask, would you not want a highway named in our honor? As the resolution further states; “WHEREAS, it is fitting and proper that we show them that we shall not forget their service, sacrifice and dedication in protecting our nation.”
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Service Dog Kicked Out of VA--For Blind Veteran

Blind Vet's Guide Dog Banned From VA Hospital
SF Weekly
Posted By David-Elijah Nahmod
Dec 12, 2014 at 2:14 PM

Matthew Easton's dog Chestnut isn't just his buddy — he's his eyesight.

Easton, an Air Force veteran who served from 2001-2005, lost most of his vision due to an eye disease. Chestnut is Easton's guide dog. With his faithful companion by his side, Easton is able to get around his neighborhood in San Luis Obispo.

Chestnut also guides Easton from Central California to the VA Hospital in San Francisco's Outer Richmond District, where he receives medical treatment for his eyes.

But recently, the VA Hospital delivered some not-so-welcoming news, telling Easton that he could no longer bring Chestnut into the eye exam room at the hospital.

"I was told by the Patient Advocate Office as well as the eye clinic that the only option was to have a family member or a friend watch my dog for me during my exam," Easton told SF Weekly. "I was told if that wasn't an option that I was to call Animal Control and have them take my guide dog to the shelter at my own expense just for the short duration of my appointment."

Easton says that he was advised to "leave his dog in the car."

Obvious questions arose, such as: leave Chestnut in what car? A blind person can't legally drive. As a person who lives on disability insurance Easton can hardly afford boarding fees. And besides, how would Easton get from the pound—which is in the Mission—to the VA Hospital in the Outer Richmond without his guide dog?
read more here

Only way to reduce suicides tied to military is fix stupid solutions

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
December 14, 2014

There is only one way to reduce military/veteran suicides but in order to do it, they'd first have to fix what are stupid solutions.

Spc. Jacob Sexton committed suicide in 2009. His Dad went on a crusade to prevent other families from going through the same thing. Indiana WBNS 10 News reported that Jeff Sexton went to the State of the Union Address in 2014, invited by Senator Joe Donnelly.

In this video you'll hear about a Dad saying his son committed suicide in 2009. He talked about how his son Chance Kingsley had reported PTSD but was still sent back. He mentioned that if what was in the Sexton suicide prevention bill were in place back then, his son would still be alive. The trouble with this is, he was wrong.

There were many bills, rules and regulations in place pushed by parents with the same goal of sparing other families from burying their members due to suicide. A great example is the Joshua Omvig Suicide Prevention Act signed by President Bush in 2008. This was supposed to save lives too.

More bills followed and pushed for mental health screenings, pre and post deployment but the leaders of the military said they do not do post deployment screenings during a Senate Armed Forces Committee meeting in 2010. They excused themselves saying they didn't have the manpower or the time to do them.

While most are talking about the Clay Hunt Suicide act being held up, they pretty much ignored this one and all the others that sound good in a news report and a speech but will do little to actually save any lives.

The Jacob Sexton Military Suicide Prevention Act Explained -- Washington, D.C. 6-22-13
Chicago Medical Innovations
Jun 27, 2013

Marta McLellan Ross, Military Legislative Assistant to U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly (D-IN), explains The Jacob Sexton Military Suicide Prevention Act at "Visible Honor for Invisible Wounds" to commemorate National PTSD Awareness Day in Washington, D.C. on June 22, 2013.

The event was co-sponsored by Chicago Medical Innovations. Join Chicago Medical Innovations (http://www.chicagomedicalinnovations....) in the fight against Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and help spread the word about PTSD.

Chicago Medical Innovations is a Non-Profit 501(c)3 Organization that facilitates access to innovative treatment options for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among veterans, sexual assault victims and others who have faced traumatic experiences and have been unable to achieve adequate relief from PTSD symptoms through existing evidence-based treatments.

Indiana National Guardsman committed suicide at movie theater
Spc. Jacob Sexton died because of war and because the military didn't make sure they were prepared to return home.

Guardsman home from war kills self in Ind. theater
Associated Press
7:12 p.m. CDT, October 13, 2009

MUNCIE, Ind. - The father of an Indiana National Guardsman who fatally shot himself inside a movie theater said Tuesday that the families of servicemembers returning home from war need to closely watch them for signs of stress.

Spc. Jacob Sexton, 21, showed no signs of being suicidal before shooting himself in the head, the guardsman's father, Jeffrey Sexton of Farmland, said.

"We just need to watch these boys and the girls coming back home. Something's just not right. Too much is happening," Jeffrey Sexton told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

Muncie police said Jacob Sexton had argued with theater employees on Monday night over having to show identification to see the R-rated horror comedy "Zombieland." Twenty minutes into the film, a friend handed Sexton a 9 mm handgun, at the guardsman's request, and he then shot himself in the head, police said.

The Jacob Sexton Military Suicide Prevention Act of 2014 would:

Require annual mental health assessments for all servicemembers, including members of the Active, Guard, and Reserve components. Right now, the best and most consistent screening is happening only for those within the deployment cycle which can leave non-deployed members of the Active, Reserve, and Guard components underserved.

Maintain strong privacy protections for servicemembers. We must ensure that seeking help remains a sign of strength by protecting the privacy of the servicemember coming forward. The privacy of servicemembers would be ensured by guaranteeing medical privacy protections for these mental health assessments.

Require a Pentagon report to evaluate existing military mental health practices and provide recommendations for improvement. This report, which is due to Congress within a year of enactment of the bill, would help identify which programs are working and which need to be fixed. A specific focus of the report will be identifying successful peer-to-peer programs that address the need for a more bottom-up approach to identifying warning signs and combatting stigma in each of the Services, with the intention of future expansion.

The Jacob Sexton Military Suicide Prevention Act will come up for a vote as part of the Fiscal Year 2015 National Defense Authorization Act this year.

There have been years of repeated "efforts" that were supposed to reduce suicides while removing the stigma attached to admitting a soldier needs help to heal PTSD. One of the first of such efforts was spawned by the suicide of a Montana National Guardsman Spec. Chris Dana.

The Montana National Guard is taking steps to help returning and deploying soldiers and airmen deal with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

The Guard hopes to equip citizens with the tools to reach out to friends, family members and neighbors who could be suffering from PTSD through statewide meetings.

The meetings outline symptoms of both PTSD and mild traumatic brain injuries and how to get help.

Col. Jeff Ireland: "We want to do everything we can to most importantly take care of our soldiers, our airmen and their families and if we have someone suffering from PTSD, helping them to get into a program that will help to get them better so that we can continue them as a resource for the guard and also be a productive citizen."

There were two PTSD meetings Wednesday -- one in Helena at the Armed Forces Reserve Center and the other in Butte at the National Guard Armory.

This caused then Senator Obama to travel to Montana to talk about the efforts.

Montana National Guard Spc. Chris Dana will never know the impact his life and ultimately his death may someday have on the lives of veterans nationwide.

Dana took his life in March 2007, less than two years after returning from a tour in Iraq. His family believes he was a victim of post-traumatic stress disorder, brought on by his combat experience.

Since Dana's death, his stepbrother Matt Kuntz has campaigned for more awareness of the costs of untreated post-traumatic stress syndrome in Iraq war veterans.

Wednesday, he was invited to meet with Sen. Barack Obama to share the message he's been spreading statewide for more than a year. At a quiet picnic table at Riverfront Park, Obama sat across from Kuntz, his wife, Sandy, and their infant daughter, Fiona.

And this was said before the election.

August 28, 2008 - Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama promised Wednesday to expand Montana's pilot program to assess the mental health of combat vets nationwide, if elected.

The Montana National Guard has developed a program to check its soldiers and airmen for signs of post-traumatic stress disorder every six months for the first two years after returning from combat, then once a year thereafter. The program exceeds national standards set by the U.S. Department of Defense.

The pilot program was created in response to the suicide of former Army Spc. Chris Dana of Helena, who shot himself on March 4, 2007, days after being given a less-than-honorable discharge because he could no longer handle attending drills following a tour in Iraq.

"He (Obama) told me he understood why we need to have additional screenings for PTSD," said Matt Kuntz, Dana's stepbrother, who was among a small group invited to meet with Obama on Wednesday in Billings.

"And he told me when he is elected president, he will implement Montana's pilot program nationwide."

Kuntz, who recently gave up his job as a lawyer in Helena to advocate for the mentally ill and their families, said he was invited to brief Obama on how Montana had become a national model for assessing the mental health of its combat vets.

Besides the additional screenings, the Montana National Guard has developed crisis response teams that include a chaplain to investigate behavioral problems among its troops, and TriWest Healthcare pays to have four part-time counselors on hand to talk with soldiers and airmen during weekend drills.

After the briefing, Obama spent about 20 minutes telling several hundred veterans and their families that, if elected as president, he will be committed to meeting their needs.

I was hopeful. So were a lot of others that things would change because Senator Obama served on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee and knew what was going on. He was one a few politicians paying attention to the bitter battles they fought after combat and suffering needlessly. He was one of a few politicians we expected to hold people accountable for what they failed to do.

Suicides went up after more bills and more money was spent by Congress yet as President, he has held no one accountable for any of it.

When Dallas Morning News and NBC reported Injured Heroes, Broken Promises: Hundreds of Soldiers Allege Mistreatment at Army Warrior Transition Units being told to man up and being treated like fakes, it showed exactly where all the talk, all the promises and all the claims made about changing the culture ended. It all ended with a bunch of nonsense produced by leaders like General Ray Odierno.

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.

If leaders are this boneheaded then how can anyone expect a bill will reduce suicides when they are being pushed to blame themselves? Congressional Bills have yet to be written to fix stupid.

What is in the defense budget?

A 1% pay raise for the troops? Gee do you think they can get off food stamps with that?

What these critics may not realize is that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is also increasingly relied upon by members of the U.S. armed forces, with patrons of military commissaries using food stamps to purchase $103.6 million worth of groceries in fiscal 2013.

That's a 5 percent rise from 2012, and almost double the $52.9 million spent in 2009.

That's a faster pace of growth than the general population, since overall SNAP spending rose just 51 percent from 2009 through 2013, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Senate approves giant defense policy bill
The Associated Press
By Donna Cassata
PUBLISHED: Saturday, December 13, 2014

WASHINGTON – Congress on Friday sent President Barack Obama a massive defense policy bill that endorses his stepped-up military campaign of airstrikes, and training of Iraqis and moderate Syrian rebels in the war against Islamic State militants.

The Senate overwhelmingly approved the bill, which authorizes funds for basic military operations, including construction of ships, aircraft and weapons, as well as a 1 percent pay raise for the troops.

The vote was 89-11.

The measure also served as a catch-all for legislation that was generally supported by Congress but stalled as the end of the session neared.

A coalition of defense hawks and Western state Republicans overcame objections by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and several other GOP senators, who were furious that unrelated provisions to designate 250,000 acres of new, federally protected wilderness were added to the popular legislation dedicated to military operations.

The measure would authorize the training and equipping of moderate Syrian rebels battling the extremists, a mandate that lasts for two years. It also would provide $5 billion to train Iraqis to counter the militants who brutally rule large sections of Iraq and Syria.

“American air power had changed the momentum on the ground somewhat and given moderates in the region an opportunity to regroup, but ISIS cannot be defeated without an opposing force to take the fight to it on the ground,” said Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the Armed Services Committee.
read more here

“What the VA did to me 60 years ago is they tore up the Bill of Rights”

If you missed this story, Vegas Navy Cross recipient shot down by VA benefits office I strongly suggest you read it.

In this one you'll read about the story of a Korean War Veteran being denied benefits and his 60 years battle for justice. Charles Mahoney was treated to electroshock wiping out his memory for days much like 2,000 WWII veterans.

Besieged by psychologically damaged troops returning from the battlefields of North Africa, Europe and the Pacific, the Veterans Administration performed the brain-altering operation on former servicemen it diagnosed as depressives, psychotics and schizophrenics, and occasionally on people identified as homosexuals, according to the report.

The VA’s use of lobotomy, in which doctors severed connections between parts of the brain then thought to control emotions, was known in medical circles in the late 1940s and early 1950s, and is occasionally cited in medical texts. But the VA’s practice, never widely publicized, long ago slipped from public view. Even the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs says it possesses no records detailing the creation and breadth of its lobotomy program.

If you are still under the impression that any of this is new, then please make sure you are not expressing your imbecilic opinions publicly. Lack of knowledge, refusing to do basic research and actually learn the truth are reasons why it has been this bad this long for our veterans. We've doomed them to history repeated over and over again.

Veterans say legitimate claims routinely denied or ignored
Las Vegas Review
By KEITH ROGERS
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
December 13, 2014

Vietnam War Navy Cross recipient Steve Lowery isn’t alone in his battle to convince the Veterans Benefits Administration that his wounds are linked to his military service.

Lowery, a retired Marine major from Las Vegas, took a long-awaited physical examination Thursday at the North Las Vegas VA Medical Center to show a doctor that scars from shrapnel in his knee and those on his thighs from an AK-47 resulted from a 1969 firefight in Vietnam.

In 1994, the VA benefits office in Reno told him those wounds weren’t related to his military service, and he’s been fighting with the agency ever since.

The VA apparently disallowed his initial claim because the government’s archive agency failed to send his records to Reno. Bewildered by the decision, Lowery provided a copy of his personal medical file in 2010. Two years later, his claim was rejected again.

Since the Review-Journal wrote about Lowery’s case last week, other veterans have come forward with complaints about tactics employed by the agency, which demands that veterans prove their injuries were service-related but can deny claims without proving anything.

They include Phil Cushman, a Vietnam War Marine veteran from Oregon who beat the VA system there by winning a “due process” challenge in a federal appeals court that netted $400,000 in compensation. Now, through his nationally recognized nonprofit veterans rights advocacy group, Cushman is helping disabled Korean War soldier Charles P. Mahoney, of Las Vegas, with his appeal for more compensation.

Screen capture from Las Vegas Review Journal

“I’m not filing claims for the money. I want justice,” Mahoney, 82, told the newspaper. “What the VA did to me 60 years ago is they tore up the Bill of Rights.”

Mahoney, who served with the 1st Cavalry Division in Korea in 1950, suffered wounds and mental problems from a mortar blast that heaved him 15 feet into the air. After a hospital stint in Japan, he was taken to Fort Hood, Texas, where he underwent a series of electro­shock treatments in 1951 that “blotted out my memory for nine months.”

Two Army evaluation boards determined he was 100 percent disabled, but a third said he was only 10 percent disabled. The Army then told him he was cured and discharged him in 1952.
read more here

There used to be excuses for all of this happening. When? After the Revolutionary War when the Colonies had no basic understanding of the necessity to care for those who put their lives on the line. It isn't as if that generation was totally off the hook either because they did little to take care of any of them or their widows.

After 1946 when the House Veterans Affairs Committee took their seats there should have been no acceptable excuses.

Fort Campbell Green Berets in Afghanistan From the Start

Green Berets took center stage in war to rebuild Afghanistan
Fayetteville Observer
By Drew Brooks Military editor
Posted: Sunday, December 14, 2014

Staff photo by Andrew Craft
Special Forces in Afghanistan
At Fort Bragg Col. Michael Sullivan is commander 
of the 3rd Battalion 3rd Special Forces Group.
In Afghanistan, he leads those soldiers and a
small group from the 7th Special Forces Group.

CAMP VANCE, Afghanistan - Michael Sullivan was training to join the Special Forces when he and his fellow soldiers had a real-world lesson to talk about in a food court on Fort Bragg.

On Sept. 9, 2001, suicide attackers posing as journalists assassinated Ahmed Shah Massoud, a leader of the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan.

The Green Beret trainees were familiar with the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan, Sullivan said. They knew Massoud was seen as a threat to the Taliban regime.

Two days later, on Sept. 11, Sullivan - then a captain - was signing for textbooks for his language courses when the planes crashed into the towers in New York and the Pentagon in Washington.

Almost immediately, the Special Forces trainees were speculating - correctly - that the attacks originated in Afghanistan.

For Sullivan and thousands of other Special Forces soldiers, the attacks were life-defining.

Just days after the terrorists struck, Green Berets from the Fort Campbell-based 5th Group were in Afghanistan. In more than 13 years since, the Special Forces presence in the country has been a constant. Thousands of soldiers have given years out of their lives to the Afghanistan mission.

Many have been wounded.

Many have died.

In the process, they say, they have built the foundation for a future in a country that has known decades of war.

Mark Schwartz was a Green Beret major when he became one of the first American soldiers to enter Afghanistan after 9/11.

"You can imagine, you've never been to combat before and you're going to get off an aircraft with yourself and about 10 of your closest friends and you're walking into an uncertain environment," he said.

Now a brigadier general helping to lead special operations forces in Afghanistan, Schwartz said he and his team flew into northern Afghanistan from Central Asia to organize and assist the anti-Taliban forces.
read more here

60 Percent Unemployed Veterans 45 and Older

Older Vets Make Up Most Of Unemployed, New VA Report Shows
Hartford Courant
By LISA CHEDEKEL
Conn. Health I-Team Writer
December 12, 2014

Veterans ages 18 to 54 had similar, or slightly lower, rates of unemployment than their civilian counterparts from 2000-2013, but older veterans were more likely than their peers to be unemployed, according to a new report by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

The report also shows that the majority of veterans who were unemployed – 60 percent – were 45 and older, and that nearly a third were veterans who served after 2001.

The unemployment rate for that latest generation of veterans fell to 5.7 percent in November – down from 9.9 percent a year ago.

The newest women veterans face a higher unemployment rate than men: 8.1 percent, compared to 5.3 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The unemployment rate for the U.S. as a whole was 5.8 percent in November.
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National Guards Keepers of the Dream for 378 Years

You show up when your neighbors are facing fires, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes and snowstorms. You show up even though your family is going through the same thing and need you there too.

You show up no matter what you had planned for the day when fellow citizens decide they will take the opportunity of a protest to turn into looting and vandalizing their own neighborhoods.

You show up when someone in your community needs help and much of those efforts are for the poor, needy, forgotten and the elderly.

You also show up on regular jobs working in offices, for hospitals, driving ambulances, riding on firetrucks and in police cruisers. You show up as teachers and even some preachers. You show up in college classrooms as students and in your kids schools as members of the PTA.

You also show up and get shipped out to foreign lands away from those jobs and from your own families.

The thing is, no matter how many times we ignore how much you do for us, you still do it and that, that a lot of us are eternally grateful for.

We recognize December 13th as the birthday of the National Guard.

On this date in 1636, the first militia regiments in North America were organized in Massachusetts. Based upon an order of the Massachusetts Bay Colony's General Court, the colony's militia was organized into three permanent regiments to better defend the colony.

Today, the descendants of these first regiments - the 181st Infantry, the 182nd Infantry, the 101st Field Artillery, and the 101st Engineer Battalion of the Massachusetts Army National Guard – share the distinction of being the oldest units in the U.S. military.

December 13, 1636, thus marks the beginning of the organized militia, and the birth of the National Guard's oldest organized units is symbolic of the founding of all the state, territory, and District of Columbia militias that collectively make up today's National Guard.

NATIONAL GUARDS THE KEEPERS OF THE DREAM. This is a message to anyone who ever believed they could be something great when they grow up. It’s an invitation to the future deliverers of promise and agents of change. To all who want to better themselves and the world around them by taking a path with purpose and being a part of something bigger. Join the heroes who have taken the vow to rebuild the broken and defend the good. Welcome to the greatest cause of your lifetime. Your own.

Terrible Love is in the Austin Film Festival

"A bittersweet autopsy of mental illness and lost love, Terrible Love tells the story of Rufus, a wounded veteran returning home from Iraq with post-traumatic stress disorder, and his devoted wife Amy. They promised themselves never to leave each other, but that promise is put to the ultimate test when Rufus’ PTSD becomes violent. Terrible Love dives head first into the heart-breaking effects of PTSD, the relationships it hurts, and the lives it threatens."

Terrible Love Winner of the Audience Award at the 2014 Austin Film Festival
This is just to let you know you do matter to a lot of people and we care about what is happening to you over there as much as we care about what happens to you here.

Amputee Afghanistan Veteran Skateboards Again!

How Sergeant Stubbs learned to skateboard again:
Inspirational video shows Afghanistan veteran's painstaking determination to get back on his board after losing both legs in front line explosion
Ian Parkinson, 24, from Arizona, lost both legs when he stepped on an IED
He was on patrol near Kandahar in June 2011 when the device exploded
Ian, who calls himself Sergeant Stubbs, lost both legs at the knee
He has had 24 major operations and spent two years in rehabilitation
In March 2012 he stepped back on his skateboard for the first time

Using his 'stubbies' - prosthetics - Ian is re-learning to skateboard again
Ian said without his friends and family he couldn't have made it through
He credits his wife and high school sweetheart Ashley as being his 'rock'
Daily Mail
By LIZZIE PARRY FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 13 December 2014

His is a tale of triumph over adversity.

Growing up there were just two things that were certain in Ian Parkinson's mind - the army and skateboarding.

For as long as he can remember, the now 24-year-old from Arizona, wanted to be a soldier.

He admired the uniform, looked up to veterans, and watched and read anything he could about the military. The only other thing captivating his young imagination was skateboarding.

But as a teenager, Ian could never imagine how both would change his life.

In June 2011, while serving with the US Army in Afghanistan, Ian lost both his legs after stepping on to an IED.
read more here

We were young too and we still need help scream from Vietnam family veterans

Ok, I am officially pissed off again. Do they have a clue that PTSD and combat wounds didn't just start? Everytime I read about young "caregivers" thinking they are the only ones needing help, it is infuriating because my generation followed in the footsteps of older veterans and their families. We just took those steps and managed to walk miles more to get this country to do the right thing for all of us and whatever generation coming behind us would face.

Military caregiver: We're young, and we need help
AZ Central
Melissa Comeau, AZ
December 12, 2014

Wife of a veteran: Soldiers returning from war today often require care for decades. Yet many programs don't support them or their caregivers. Here's how you can help us.
read more here


My Comment

We were young too. I was only 23 when we met. My husband was young when he enlisted at 17 and turned 19 in Vietnam. PTSD took control of our lives and we had nowhere to turn. We didn't have Facebook or online support groups. We didn't even have the internet. While everything available for the younger veterans today became possible because of older veterans and our families, we're left out of what younger ones think should only be for them.

We were caregivers longer but no one ever thinks of us. Most of the backlog claims are from 50 and older veterans. Most of the veterans committing suicide are over 50.

I am glad your generation has been getting plenty of attention because that is what our generation fought for.

The question is, when does your generation remember we've been waiting even longer?

The pictures all over Facebook are of young veterans but our's are in photo albums unless someone knows how to use a scanner. They are in books at the library because they are part of history that apparently has been forgotten by this generation. Pictures like this one.

Veterans came back from Vietnam but older veterans didn't want anything to do with them. When they decided to fight for what was right, they included the older veterans because they knew they waited longer for the same wounds to be taken care of. They used the power of their numbers and their voices even though the American public wanted nothing to do with them.

This generation doesn't even know where the term "new normal" came from and my generation started it because we were pissed off watching talk shows about trivial problems when what we were going through was kept secret. We were conditioned to feel ashamed by our parents telling us to suck it up and get over it. After all that was what they did.

They did it and they suffered for it instead of healing and finding peace. They committed suicide and drank too much. They got divorced at higher percentages than their civilian peers. They swapped war stories at the local bar. So did we but we were not willing to settle for bitter tears and we opened our mouths.

We did it without the internet at first but then in the 90's we managed to learn how to join forces across the nation and make things happen faster.

We ended up left out of what this internet generation thinks they are the only ones going through any of this. So how is it the generation that fought for all generations is yet again last on the list to get what we waited longer for and fought harder for?

We want this generation to have it better than we did but that doesn't mean we should be shoved out of their way.

We were there when troops were sent off to war in the 90's and when they were sent into Afghanistan and Iraq. Our generation sent our own kids. We knew that while things were not perfect for them when they came home, they were a hell of a lot better than what our generation came home to. We were there to offer support, help and educate them so they wouldn't have to learn all of this the hard way.

I've been doing this for over 30 years and I am no longer young. None of the leaders are young and we are far from foolish yet this generation fails time after time to listen to those who have been here longer and had to learn the hard way.

So how is it this generation so technological savvy is so misinformed?

I read Facebook posts and pop into this group or that one after someone wants me to support their group yet have found too few deserving it. Why? Because they cannot even answer basic questions.

They don't understand PTSD or why some have it and they sure as hell have no clue what works yet they get the attention as "experts" pushing others into information overload.

It happens when news reports come out and they just post what was reported without understanding basic history enough to know it is a load of crap just like the latest suicide prevention bill coming on the tail of others that failed.

We know better because we've been doing it longer and as for learning, we researched as if our lives depended on it simply because they did.  No one was fighting for us back then and no one is remembering us now.

WE ARE VETERAN FAMILY VETERANS

Police need help finding missing Iraq Veteran with PTSD from Libertyville

Police search for missing vet from Libertyville
FOX 32 News
By Tisha Lewis, Reporter
Posted: Dec 12, 2014

CHICAGO (FOX 32 News)
A desperate search is underway for a suburban man and Iraq war veteran.

Police are very concerned about 30-year-old Daniel Nerstrom. Nerstrom's car is not with him and his handgun is missing. He's believed to have left his Libertyville home on foot.

Police say he's not a danger to anyone else, but he might be to himself.

"Just come home, I need you Dan. I will come to you," said Kim Nerstrom, Daniel's mother.

Fighting through tears, Nerstrom's mother made an emotional plea for her son's safe return. It's been 11 days since the army veteran was last seen. Police said Nerstrom walked out of his Libertyville home shortly after sunset on Monday, December 1st.

"We need our boy home," said Kim.

"We just need to get some word that he's ok and we'll go from there," said Douglas Nerstrom, Daniel's father.

Nerstrom's parents said the Iraqi war veteran was battling post traumatic stress disorder and sought help on several occasions.

"He's always gone to the VA and it just seemed like it never got any better, if anything it was on the slow decline," said Douglas.
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Camp Pendleton Corpsman Memorial Rededicated

Corpsman monument rededicated
OC Register
By ERIKA I. RITCHIE
STAFF WRITER
Published: Dec. 12, 2014

Original memorial was installed at old Naval Hospital in 1983 but was damaged when it was moved.

JOSHUA SUDOCK , STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Raul Avina created a corpsmen monument in 1983. The monument was in front of the Naval Regional Medical Center Camp Pendleton for 31 years. Last year a new Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton opened on the base.

Attempts to move Avina's sculpture didn't go well and a new monument was created from Avina's original.

An unveiling was held Friday at the base. Many of Avina's family members were on hand for the event.

Corpsman are the Marines "docs" in combat and have saved countless lives over the decades.

"They will do this because each and every one of them know that their Marines will protect them with their very lives as well, he added."

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1,200 Fort Carson soldiers volunteered for needy in Colorado

Local Soldiers on a special ruck march Friday morning
KOAA News
By Joanna Wise
December 12, 2014

COLORADO SPRINGS
UPDATE: Fort Carson says more than 1,200 soldiers volunteered for the event, a record-setting number.

Hundreds of Fort Carson soldiers are going the extra mile, marching through downtown Colorado Springs for a good cause Friday morning.

The 5th annual 1st SCBT's Operation Holiday kicked off at Dorchester Park on South Nevada Avenue. More than 500 soldiers from the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, donated clothing and canned goods to people in need this holiday season.

They stuffed their rucksacks with the items and then marched from the park to the soup kitchen. The departure time was set for 7:00 a.m.

The soldiers trekked across Pikes Peak Greenway Trail to Bijou Street and were expected to arrive at the Marian House around 7:30 a.m.

Rochelle Schlortt, spokesperson for the Marian House, said the event always has a huge impact.
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