Veterans in other news October 17, 2018

Ex-Marine to serve 18 years after attempt to run over Las Vegas pastor

A former Marine convicted of menacing his neighbors and attacking a Las Vegas pastor was ordered to serve up to 46 years behind bars on Tuesday. Walter Laak was found guilty but mentally ill in August after prosecutors argued that he knew his actions in September 2016 were illegal, while acknowledging that the Iraq War veteran suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder...He was acquitted of one count of assault with a deadly weapon. Laak, who served two tours of duty in Iraq, was accused of beating and attempting to run over a Las Vegas pastor with his vehicle, then driving to the victim’s home and firing multiple gunshots into it while the pastor’s wife and children were inside. It was the third serious crime for which Laak faced charges since his return from combat. He was given a general discharge in 2005. read more here

We’re Too Excited About MDMA’s Potential for Treating PTSD is the headline, however, it is far from new. They have been "researching" it since the 70's.

Read the rest of the article on SLATE here

Florida man rescued after clinging to capsized boat for nearly 20 hours says he prayed, 'called on the Father'

“A bigger wave came and it just filled the back of the boat up and it just went down,” Stills told FOX35. The grandfather and Vietnam War veteran grabbed onto the boat while his friend, 73-year-old Earnest Jones, ended up in the water with a lifejacket on. “Then he started drifting off and he told me to stay with the boat,” Stills told FOX35. read more here

An Army Veteran Wages War on Social-Media Disinformation

 The Wall Street Journal

Kris Goldsmith’s campaign to get Facebook Inc. to close fake accounts targeting U.S. veterans started with a simple search. He was seeking last year to gauge the popularity of the Facebook page for his employer, Vietnam Veterans of America. The first listing was an impostor account called “Vietnam Vets of America” that had stolen his group’s logo and had more than twice as many followers. Mr. Goldsmith, a 33-year-old Army veteran, sent Facebook what he thought was a straightforward request to take down the bogus page. 

At first, Facebook told him to try to work it out with the authors of the fake page, whom he was never able to track down. Then, after two months, Facebook deleted it. The experience launched him on a hunt for other suspicious Facebook pages that target military personnel and veterans by using patriotic messages and fomenting political divisions. It has become a full-time job. read more here