Widow sues British Army after husband lost battle to PTSD

Widow of war veteran who killed himself to sue British Army over his death

Birmingham Live
Sean Rayment and James Roger
May 5, 2019

“The Government, the NHS and the Ministry of Defence need to wake up to their responsibilities. These agencies can’t carry on as if veterans’ lives don’t matter." Jo Jukes

Jo with her late husband David in 2015

A war veteran's heartbroken widow is to sue the NHS, Ministry of Defence and police in a landmark case.

Jo Jukes is grieving her husband David's tragic death.

The 47-year-old says it could have been ­prevented.

David, a Staffordshire Regiment war veteran, killed himself.

The 49-year-old was a lance corporal in the Staffordshire Regiment, and served in nearly every major British deployment in the last 25 years.

These included Iraq, Afghanistan and Bosnia.

Since his death, a further 60 veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are believed to have killed themselves.

Jo wants better communication between the agencies responsible for his mental health.

The mum-of-two is believed to be the first widow to plan legal action following the suicide of a veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder.
read more here

#BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife

Army Medic-War Veteran Comes to Rescue At Walmart

Army vet helps gunshot victim following Friday night shooting
FOX 4 News
LynnAnne Nguyen
December 31, 2016

“Everybody started running towards us screaming they're shooting, they're shooting,” said Semmler.

Police are still looking for the people who shot a man at a Walmart in the Red Bird area of Dallas. The victim is stable, thanks to a Good Samaritan who used his military training to step in and help as they waited for medics to get there.

Rafael Semmler was at the Walmart on Wheatland with his family, Friday night, when they heard gunfire.

Semmler says he made sure his family got out safely, then his military instincts kicked in.

“You don't really think about it, it's just at that time it's kind of like instinct, it's what you've been trained to do,” he said, “and was my first instinct was to go toward it to see if there's anything I could do to help out.

Semmler went straight to the McDonald’s inside the store where most of the commotion was.

“Another gentleman was like, I've been shot, I'm dying. So I immediately went directly to him first.”

Semmler says the man had been shot in the arm and was losing a lot of blood. After eleven years in the military as an infantryman and a medic, Semmler says he’s used to training abroad in places like Kuwait, Iraq and Bosnia, but never thought he’d be using it here at home.
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PTSD Veteran Getting Help After Smashing Cars in Canada

Driver In HSC Parking Lot Was Veteran Suffering Extreme PTSD 
VOCM News 
December 20, 2016 

A 42-year-old combat veteran is in hospital and getting the care he needs following an unusual incident in the Health Sciences parking lot last night.

Police were called to the Health Sciences around 11:45 last night following reports of a man driving erratically in the lot and smashing his pickup into vehicles and other property. 

The man had to be subdued by police using a taser A family member tells VOCM News the man, who served many years in the military both in Canada and in Bosnia, had gone to the hospital seeking help but never had the nerve to go in. She says he's now receiving care and she encourages any military veterans or others struggling with PTSD to reach out and get the help they need.

PTSD: "It's like a tornado going through a quiet town."

Living with post traumatic stress – a Hull soldier's story
By Hull Daily Mail
Posted: March 25, 2016

The condition's impact on his day-to-day life has been wide and varied. He suffers from flashbacks, sleeplessness and occasional involuntary fits of rage. . he says, trying to explain its nature.

SCOTT Moore's voice trembles slightly as he describes an ordeal that began almost two decades ago.

The 42-year-old from west Hull is a former soldier in the Yorkshire Regiment who served in Bosnia and Northern Ireland in the 1990s and he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

It is a condition that has cost him two marriages, a livelihood and even his enjoyment of New Year's Eve.

Even more seriously, in November 2014, it led to him attempting to take his own life.

"I'd just had enough," he says. "I went and got the drugs I needed – I knew exactly what I was doing and what it would take to kill me."

Indeed, as doctors would tell him later, he had taken enough medication to kill ten men.

But he did wake up, and was informed by medics at Hull Royal Infirmary that his lengthy prescription of drugs to heal his physical pain had saved him.

"Because I was taking so many painkillers I'd become immunised to them," Scott says.

Scott is far from alone in his suffering. A report commissioned by veterans' charity Help For Heroes last November estimated more than 61,000 former soldiers suffer from mental health problems after they leave the Forces.

It was the second time Scott had attempted to take his own life. The first had been in 1998 when he was still serving. Within a year he left active service.
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After 21 Years of Service, Combat Veteran Beaten by Girlfriend

Sergeant who served in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Northern Ireland was beaten to a pulp by his dumbbell-wielding girlfriend
Daily Mail UK
By AMANDA WILLIAMS FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED:22 February 2016

Rob Bryan has served in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Northern Ireland
He was left lying in blood after he was attacked by Angelique Doyle
He is sharing his story to help other male victims of domestic violence

The 36-year-old smashed a glass and a bottle over his head before battering him with a stool and biting him. She picked up a 12kg dumbbell, and launched it at his face, breaking his nose and leaving the father needing hospital treatment

A war veteran who served in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Northern Ireland was beaten to a pulp by his girlfriend in an unprovoked attack with a dumbbell.

Rob Bryan, was left lying in a pool of blood at his flat in Manchester after the attack at the hands of partner Angelique Doyle.

The 36-year-old smashed a glass and a wine bottle over his head before battering him with a stool and biting him.

She picked up a 12kg dumbbell, and launched it at his face, breaking his nose and leaving the father needing hospital treatment.

Now the former soldier is sharing his story to urge other male victims of domestic violence to speak out.

The 43-year-old, who was discharged from the army with PTSD in March 2014 after 21 years of service, had been in a relationship with Doyle for 15 months.
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Christmas Tree in Vietnam Spreading Joy Since 1968

Christmas tree used during Vietnam War bringing joy to veteran in Middletown
The Intelligencer
By Anthony DiMattia, staff writer
Posted: Friday, December 25, 2015

Chloe Elmer/Photojournalist
Veterans share Christmas tree that was bought during Vietnam
Vietnam Veteran Jesse Hill, left, received a Christmas tree from his friend Ferdie Tellado, center, which he had while serving in Vietnam on Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2015. Hill and Ferdie are members of Delaware Valley Vietnam Veterans. Pictured right is Scott Tellado, a veteran of Iraq and Bosnia who also had the tree.

It was December 1968 when Ferdie Tellado received a much needed care package from his wife while he was serving in Vietnam.

But this wasn't any regular parcel for a soldier away at war; it was something much more symbolic: a Christmas tree.

"I was the only one there with a Christmas tree," said Tellado, now a member of the Delaware Valley Vietnam Veterans. "We sang and did everything around that tree."

Fast forward 47 years and that same 2½-foot tree is now bringing joy to another Vietnam veteran: Middletown resident Jesse Hill.

As a show of camaraderie, Tellado gave the tree to his fellow DV3 member.
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UK: Veteran Homeless After 11 Years of Service

Homeless ex-soldier says he has been urinated on and spat at while living on streets of Manchester
Manchester Evening News
BY KATIE BUTLER
21 SEPTEMBER 2015

Billy Gage, who spent 11 years in the army but is now living on the streets, also had his sleeping bag set on fire

Ex British soldier Billy Gage talks about the abuse he has suffered while on the streets

A former British soldier has told how he has been urinated on and had his sleeping bag set on fire while living on the streets of Manchester.

Billy Gage went into the Armed Forces as soon as he left school at the age of 16 and spent 11 years serving his country as an All Arms Commando and went on several tours including Northern Ireland, Kosovo, Bosnia and Sierra Leone.

After leaving in 2004 he started his own plastering business, got married and had a son, Daniel.

But when his son was just six-years-old, Daniel tragically died.

The 39-year-old said he is shocked there is not more help for soldiers and he is disgusted at how people treat those living on the streets.

He said: “Sometimes I just go to a quiet street and cry to myself. I just can’t believe I’m in this situation.

“I have put my life on the line for the good of this country and this is the way I’m treated? It’s disgusting.”

He said he has been urinated on, spat on and even had his sleeping bag set on fire while being homeless.
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Canada's Top General Denies Soldier's Suicide Tied To Military Service?

If you think that shirking responsibility for military suicides is only an American gimmick, they are doing it in Canada too. This case involves a veteran of Bosnia and Afghanistan with PTSD.

Medals wrongly issued after Afghan vet's suicide, Lawson tells parents
OTTAWA CITIZEN
DAVID PUGLIESE,
Published on: July 7, 2015

“He’s clearly saying these medals mean diddly squat,” she said. “What’s next? Are they going to remove Stuart’s name from the Book of Remembrance?”

A photo of Cpl. Stuart Langridge is seen along with his beret and medals. THE CANADIAN PRESS

Canada’s top general has personally written to the parents of a dead soldier to tell them their loved one’s suicide wasn’t the result of his military service and to suggest that the medals issued in the aftermath of the death weren’t deserved.

Shaun and Sheila Fynes of Victoria, B.C., said they were stunned when they received the letter on Monday from Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Tom Lawson.

Lawson told the couple that a military board of inquiry concluded that the suicide of their son, Cpl. Stuart Langridge, in the barracks at Canadian Forces Base Edmonton wasn’t related to his service. In addition, because of that determination Lawson raised the issue in the June 22 letter about whether medals should have been awarded to the parents. The couple received Memorial Crosses and the Sacrifice Medal.

Langridge, a model soldier and veteran of Bosnia and Afghanistan, was suffering from symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder when he killed himself in 2008.
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Andrew Bailey Spencer: In service, abides

Andrew Bailey Spencer: In service, abides 
In life, Andrew Spencer had a constant desire to help people. His family hopes a memorial fund in his name will continue his commitment to others by helping to prevent deaths from substance abuse. Roanoke.com
Tonia Moxley
February 1, 2014

Photo courtesy of the Spencer family

His father says he was diagnosed late last year with “significant post-traumatic stress disorder.” Andrew died Jan. 19 after inhaling compressed gas used to clean electronic equipment.

Andrew Spencer served with the Army Corps of Engineers from 1992-2004.

BLACKSBURG — Andrew Bailey Spencer’s motto was simple. Whether he was helping the elderly find their groceries at his new job at Kroger, serving his country in Bosnia or power washing the walkways at Blacksburg Presbyterian Church’s columbarium, it was always “Andrew, at your service! How may I help you?” And although his ashes will now rest beside those of his late mother, Norrine Bailey Spencer, in the columbarium he tended, Andrew will still be at the service of his community.

Spencer’s family and his church have set up a memorial fund in his name to help prevent deaths from substance abuse, which took his life unexpectedly on the morning of Jan. 19. He was 41. “We wanted something that could serve a useful purpose and do some good,” his father, Ed Spencer, said of the fund. “Maybe save a life.”

Born in Delaware, Andrew Bailey Spencer was adopted and came to Blacksburg while still a young boy. As he grew, Ed Spencer said, his son became a gifted athlete, able to play nearly every sport he tried. He also showed a constant desire to help others and to take physical risks that often landed him in the emergency room. Andrew Spencer excelled in structured environments from an early age, his father said, working his way up to Eagle Scout and becoming a member of the Order of the Arrow, another scouting program. The young man tried college, but found his calling in the military. read more here

Canadian inquest shows military ethos prevents seeking help for PTSD

It is the same thing in the US.

‘Military ethos’ prevents veterans from getting help, ex-soldier testifies at Prince George inquest
PRINCE GEORGE CITIZEN
BY MARK NIELSEN
JANUARY 29, 2014

A “military ethos” is preventing Canadian veterans from seeking the help they need for such problems as post-traumatic stress disorder, a coroners inquest into the death of Greg Matters heard Wednesday.

Tim Laidler, who served in Afghanistan in 2008 before leaving the military, said “very thorough” support is available through such organizations as the Veterans Transition Network, a non-profit group that provides counselling services.

“The problem is it’s not within the military ethos and the veterans’ culture to actually access that service, to stand up and ask for help,” Laidler said in giving testimony at the Prince George courthouse via telephone from Vancouver, where he attends the University of B.C.

Matters was a 15-year veteran of the Canadian military who did a tour in Bosnia before receiving an honourable discharge in 2009. It was not until late 2010, however, that he began receiving counselling for PTSD, the inquest has heard.

An RCMP emergency response team shot and killed Matters on his family’s Prince George property on the evening of Sept. 10, 2012, some 40 hours after he ran his brother off the road. Matters’ possible state-of-mind at the time of his death has been a major topic during the inquest.
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UK Veteran with PTSD uses service ducks

Pets stop Paul from quacking up
Daily Record
By Paul Cargill
7 Jan 2014

Ducks help army bomb disposal hero keep flashbacks in check

Perthshire Advertiser

A former bomb disposal officer from Perth is coping with traumatic memories of Bosnia – by looking after his pet DUCKS.

Retired Royal Engineer Paul Wilkie (43), who was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in October 2012, adopted his two Call ducks shortly after moving from Perth to Guildtown last September.

The former Perth Academy pupil, who served in Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan during his 22 years in the army, can often be spotted walking the ducks, named Hesco and Bastion, around the village.

The father-of-three, who left the Royal Engineers in June 2012, explained how he suffers from nightmarish flashbacks of his time in Bosnia every time he falls asleep.

“I was working for the United Nations in Bosnia about 18 years ago,” he said yesterday. “I won’t go into too much detail, but I saw children playing with mines and getting killed.

“Every night I go to sleep, I have to relive that horrible experience. Sometimes I have to go through it three or four or maybe even six times a night.

“I don’t know what triggers it, but I sometimes wake up covered in sweat.”

But Paul said his feathered friends, who are named after the temporary defensive walls soldiers construct around their camps on tour, were helping him to cope with his horrific nightly flashbacks.
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Canadian MP faces court martial over PTSD service dog

Soldier faces court martial for bringing service dog to work
CTV Atlantic
December 20, 2013

A New Brunswick-based soldier is facing a court martial for bringing a service dog to work.

Stuart Murray is a military police officer who did two tours in Afghanistan and one in Bosnia.

The 43-year-old suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and has a dog named Vivian to help ease the symptoms. However, Murray has been charged with disobeying a lawful order because he brought Vivian to work against orders.

Stewart Murray, who suffers from PTSD, is facing a court martial for bringing a service dog to work.

“This dog is like medicine to him,” says Nova Scotia NDP MP Peter Stoffer. “You certainly wouldn’t refuse someone who is a diabetic from bringing their medicine to work.”

Murray was directed by the military to go to a civilian psychiatrist because of his illness and he was prescribed the service dog.

“It is a service dog. The psychiatrist recommended that this individual have this dog to do his day-to-day chores,” says Stoffer.

Retired Air Force Capt. Medric Cousineau knows Murray and he too suffers from PTSD. He left the military in 1991.

“I had a recurring horrible night terror every morning at 4:30,” he says.

Cousineau, who received Canada’s second highest order for bravery for a rescue at sea, was in a downward spiral for 25 years until August 2012, when he received his own service dog.

“She’s my savior,” he says.
read more here and see video

Forth suicide in Canadian Military within a week

Another Canadian soldier dies of apparent suicide
CTV News Canada
December 3, 2013

Another Canadian soldier has died of an apparent suicide, after three veterans were found dead last week.

Master Cpl. Sylvain Lelievre, 46, was a member of the Royal 22e Regiment at CFB Valcartier in Quebec. Friends say he was a decorated soldier who served in Bosnia and Afghanistan. His body was discovered Monday near the base.

One friend said Lelievre was “an outstanding soldier, always proud to serve his country.”

Alain Brunet, who served with Lelievre in Germany more than two decades ago, told CTV News his friend was known for his “contagious” smile.

“The guy just wanted to please everybody. Will do anything for any friends or anything that needs help,” he said. Brunet’s wife, Tracy, said she wanted Lelievre to be remembered as “somebody that had a huge heart, a heart of gold."

She said he was loved by everyone who knew him.
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Also on this

Soldier attempts suicide after being told PTSD will end military career
The Canadian Press and Murray Brewster
Dec 3, 2013

OTTAWA – The moment the Canadian military told him he was being discharged because of his post-traumatic stress disorder, Master Cpl. Kristian Wolowidnyk felt his life was over.

Two days later, on Nov. 21, Wolowidnyk — a former combat engineer who survived the desolation of Kandahar in 2009 and 2010 — tried to take his own life, but survived.

Veterans advocates say a number of suicides within the military in recent days may only hint at the magnitude of the problem. For every death by suicide, they warn, as many as 12 others may have sought the same fate.

Defence officials confirmed Tuesday that military police are investigating the death of a member of the Royal 22e Regiment at CFB Valcartier in Quebec as the fourth apparent Canadian Forces suicide in a week.

In an interview with The Canadian Press, Wolowidnyk — a husband and father to a two-year-old child — said he was desperate to stay in the military and re-qualify for another military trade.

Not only was he denied, but he was told that his psychological injuries, including anxiety and serious depression, did not qualify him to remain in the military as part of a prolonged release process for injured soldiers.

He spent a week in the mental health wing of the civilian Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton before being released to his family — and to confront the reality of his military career coming to an abrupt end sometime within the next year.
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Canadian Bosnia veteran betrayed instead of treated for PTSD

Protest for Hamilton veteran losing funding
CHCH
September 25, 2013

A quiet protest is taking place this week in front of the federal building downtown Hamilton. A Canadian Armed Forces veteran says Veterans Affairs is releasing him from the vocational rehabilitation program, even though he suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and physical disability.

Shane Corbeil served in the Canadian Armed Forces from 1989 to 1997 where he was stationed at CFB Trenton and in Bosnia.

“Your average day citizen doesn’t see people hanging from their basements because they killed themselves with an electrical chord and a soldier has to see that stuff,” he says.

His time in the military not only left him in physical pain, there was emotional scarring as well.

“In the 90′s there was nothing for a veteran to get any help. You were given a release and they said see ya later.”

It wasn’t until 2007 that Corbeil sought help. He says Veterans Affairs Canada paid for initial psychiatric treatment where he was told he had symptoms of PTSD.

He was receiving $3,000 a month in lost income, until 5 days ago when his case worker told him he was being released from their vocational rehabilitation program because he does not suffer from PTSD.
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Chris Bourque lost his battle to PTSD after Afghanistan

Concert to aid family of PTSD victim
Event set for Friday night By Jason Warick
The StarPhoenix
February 11, 2013

Co-workers thought Chris Bourque seemed fine when he returned from a mental health leave several months ago.

They knew Bourque was suffering from the effects of his military service in Bosnia and Afghanistan, but the Saskatoon correctional worker seemed "back to his old self," Mark Friesen said. He was dependable and hardworking, and never missed a chance to add a sarcastic comment or bit of wry humour.

"He never talked about (Afghanistan), and we didn't want to pry," Friesen said.

That's why Friesen was shocked by the phone call he received in late November informing him of Bourque's death.

"It hit me like a ton of bricks. It was surreal," Friesen said.

Bourque's wife, Gwen, who also served in Afghanistan, said in an email over the weekend her husband's death is still "too painful" to talk about. She said she trusted Friesen to speak on the family's behalf.

Friesen said Bourque killed himself because of the post-traumatic stress disorder acquired during his tours. The condition is common in those surrounded by danger or death such as soldiers. It causes changes in the body's hormones, chemistry and nerve response, creating anxiety, stress and other problems.
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Bosnia veteran shot by police was finally getting treatment for PTSD

Bosnia veteran shot by police was finally getting treatment for PTSD: family
By: The Canadian Press
14/09/2012

Greg Matters is shown in this undated family handout photo. A Prince George man shot at his home in a confontation with RCMP was a veteran of the Bosnian conflict who was finally getting treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, says his family. Greg Matters was a soldier for 15 years, his sister, Tracey, told reporters.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Prince George Citizen-Brent Braaten

PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. - A man fatally shot at his home in a confrontation with RCMP in Prince George, B.C., was a veteran of the Bosnian conflict who was finally getting treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, says his family.

Greg Matters was a soldier for 15 years, his sister, Tracey, told reporters on Thursday.

He left the Canadian Forces in 2009 and after he returned to his home town in northern British Columbia it became clear to those who loved him that Matters was suffering from PTSD, she said.

"There was a delay in him getting treatment," said his sister, who returned to Canada from Australia after learning her brother was dead.

"We actually, as a family, suspected he had post-traumatic stress disorder and we sought treatment independently."

About a year and half ago, he began treatment at the Operational Stress Injury clinic in Vancouver, one of nine across Canada funded by Veterans Affairs.

"He was just back to the good old Greg that I knew 20 years ago," Tracey Matters said in a telephone interview with reporters. "He was an absolute riot. I loved him to bits. "He was a decorated veteran suffering from PTSD but was making amazing success; he was improving dramatically."

But on Monday, an RCMP emergency response team was deployed to a rural property near Prince George, about 750 kilometres north of Vancouver, where a confrontation ensued, and 40-year-old Matters was fatally shot by police.
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Canadian police shooting leaves PTSD veteran dead

Sheriff can't get help for PTSD shooter because the VA said NO

Here we go again! We tell law enforcement to get their act together so they treat veterans with PTSD as if they are troubled and need help. This Sheriff listened. He paid attention. He didn't kill this veteran. He took him into custody and tried to get him help. What happened? Nothing! The VA said they would't help!

Sheriff can't get help for PTSD shooter
VA denied mental treatment, lawman says
Updated: Thursday, 26 Jul 2012
Ian Schwartz

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - A heavily armed veteran who caused quite a scare Wednesday remains jailed on Thursday.

Torrance County Sheriff Heath White told KRQE News 13 the man needs mental help, so he turned to the agency he thought would be most likely to provide it but came up empty.

White said, Morris Haviland, the ex-soldier, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD, after being badly wounded during peacekeeping duty in Bosnia.

On Wednesday he fired a dozen shots inside his house in Mountainair, and after surrendering, claimed it was booby trapped with explosives.

"He started deteriorating throughout the week," White said. "He started reliving his experience through the military while he was overseas."

White said during his PTSD episode Haviland, 54, started firing his AK-47 inside his home getting the attention of a lot cops and then the bomb squad.

"He definitely needed some type of mental health assistance, whether it be medication, counseling," White said.

After deputies took Haviland into custody, White called the Veterans Administration hospital in Albuquerque.

He wanted to get Haviland immediate mental help for his PTSD, help he could not get in jail.
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When they gave their best to us

When they gave their best to us
by Chaplain Kathie
Wounded Times Blog
July 8, 2012

I had no intentions of writing a post like this this morning but as I was going through my emails there was a notice of a comment left on my post Why did we let Trevor Gould die? One more reminder of how much has been known about Combat PTSD and suicide. One more reminder of how ordinary citizens with courage and compassion, the very qualities the military looks for so they will be willing to die for each other, are the very things that can kill them after war if they are not helped to recover from where they've been and what they were asked to do. Or the fact they will never again be "an ordinary" citizen but will live the rest of their lives as a Combat Veteran.

Whenever I hear from a family member after a veteran has committed suicide, I grieve more because I am reminded again of how much I have failed since I started working online tracking these reports. On this blog alone there are over 15,000 posts, so I do not doubt what I know but I doubt my ability to do anything with what I know. I can't get anyone to listen. I don't have a PR firm or people behind me with deep pockets, so I do the best I can and try to find excuses to not give up.

I know should be happy about the lives I've managed to save and families kept together because of all of this but it is the ones I lost or never reached that stick in my mind the most.

In less than a week I managed to give up on a veteran that called me on accident. I couldn't take his attitude, his drinking any more than I could take the way he treated people he turned to for help. It wasn't just me. He did it to his Mom, his Grandmother, other relatives and in less than a week he was kicked out of two homes. Everyone gave up on him and I think it is because he gave up on himself first.

He served in Bosnia among other places but it was the Bosnia deployment that "messed" him up the most. None of it made sense to him. Judging by how few reports there are about veterans of Bosnia and Somalia, they don't seem to matter anymore than the veterans do. Even though they gave their best to this country while serving so far away and forgotten, pushed away as much as they pull away, we find excuses to forget.

We just celebrated our Independence but between cookouts, fireworks and beach time there wasn't much reflection of who is responsible for this nation being free. Even less reflection of the fact that while we sing a bunch of songs, we never really think of the lyrics or the price paid by those who fought for all of this. We don't think about the only rewards they ask for. They aren't medals or parades or monuments, even tough those things are appreciated by them. What they want most in return for their service is knowing the wounded are taken care of and their families have all they need to take care of them. That never happens. We have too much of a history in this country of failing them.


In January of 2011, news broke that Fort Hood sees twofold increase in suicides from prior year I wrote a post saying that it did little good to have been right back in 2009 when I warned it would happen and posted the link to the old post.

By 2010, I knew I was right but it didn't do any good for soldiers like Sgt. Douglas Hale Jr.

22 suicides in 2010 at Fort Hood
One was Army Sgt. Douglas Hale Jr., who had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after completing his second tour in 2007. He texted his mother, Glenda Moss, on July 6 asking forgiveness before shooting himself to death in a restaurant bathroom near Fort Hood.

News came out on December 24, 2010 that McCain calls suicide prevention "overreach" and blocks bill it did not leave me with much hope that this country would ever get it right.

I knew it was going to get worse because of this among many other reports I read.

Army's "Spiritual Fitness" Test Comes Under Fire Comprehensive Soldier Fitness (CSF) is a $125 million "holistic fitness program" unveiled in late 2009 and aimed at reducing the number of suicides and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) cases, which have reached epidemic proportions over the past year due to multiple deployments to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the substandard care soldiers have received when they return from combat. The Army states that it can accomplish its goal by teaching its service members how to be psychologically resilient and resist "catastrophizing" traumatic events. Defense Department documents obtained by Truthout state CSF is Army Chief of Staff George Casey's "third highest priority."

"Military suicides show some families work through their grief, while others are left feeling angry and confused." was also reported in January of 2011. But this is something that doesn't get talked about enough.

We were also reading things like this.

Concerns Raised About Combat Troops Using Psychotropic Drugs
FOX News
Jan 19, 2011

As U.S. military leaders gathered Wednesday to give their latest update on the rash of Army suicides, new questions are being raised about a U.S. Central Command policy that allows troops to go to Iraq and Afghanistan with up to a six-month supply of psychotropic drugs.

Prescription drugs have already been linked to some military suicides, and a top Army official warned last year about the danger of soldiers abusing that medication. Psychiatrists are now coming down hard on the military for continuing to sanction certain psychotropic drugs for combat troops, saying the risk from side effects is too great.

“There’s no way on earth that these boys and girls are getting monitored on the field,” said Dr. Peter Breggin, a New York-based psychiatrist who has extensively studied the side effects of psychiatric drugs. “The drugs simply shouldn’t be given to soldiers.”

Anxiety, violent behavior and “impulsivity” are all side effects of some of these medications, he said, the latter symptom being particularly dangerous in a war zone. Breggin said that if patients were given these medications in the civilian world and not monitored, it would amount to “malpractice.”

But we still see the numbers go up a year and a half later. People can pretend to be shocked by all of this. Military brass can say anything they want about what they are doing and promise to do more but when they are doing the same thing, it is just more of the same leading to more of the same results,,,,,deplorable. Politicians can keep saying they care but the truth comes out sooner or later when it is all getting worse,,,disgusting. And Moms will keep having to go visit their sons and daughter's graves instead of them.

Hello I am Sheri Johnson Trevor Gould's mother. A person does not know how hard they can ache until they lose a child. It hurts even more knowing my son did not get the help he need when he asked for it. He always acted strong around me because he was trained that way and thought he was my protector. We need to help our soldiers that come home and even the ones that are deployed. They need to be heard we need to be heard. I would give anything to hold my son one more time and tell him how much I love him, but I can't do this anymore and I want to change things so other parents and spouses can hold their loved ones every day.

In the following video I made back in 2009, there was a song that haunted me from Ken Burns The War sung beautifully by Norah Jones.

“American Anthem” words and music by Gene Scheer

All that we’ve been given by those who came before,
The dream of a nation where freedom would endure.
The work and prayers of centuries have brought us to this day.
What shall be our legacy, what will our children say?
Let them say of me, I was one who believed in sharing the blessings I received.
Let me know in my heart when my days are through,
America, America, I gave my best to you.
America, America, I gave my best to you.


Each generation from the plains to distant shores,
With the gifts they were given were determined to leave more.
Battles fought together, acts of conscience fought alone,
These are the seeds from which America has grown.
Let them say of me I was one who believed
In sharing the blessings I received.
Let me know in my heart when my days are through,
America, America, I gave my best to you.
America, America, I gave my best to you.


For those who say they have nothing to share,
Who feel in their hearts there is no hero there,
Though each quiet act of dignity is that which fortifies,
The soul of a nation, that will never die.
Let them say of me that I was one who believed
In sharing the blessings I received.
Let me know in my heart when my days are through,
America, America, I gave my best to you.
America, America, I gave my best to you.

I point out often that it took Vietnam Veterans coming home and fighting for Combat PTSD to be treated and they did in fact give their best to America because they never gave up on us. If they had, there would be nothing for the veterans that came later back from where we sent them. The documentary The War was about WWII but when you read the lyrics from this song, I am sure you noticed that it does not just apply to that time in our history but to all times when ordinary citizens went where few others have been, yet have no regrets about their service no matte what happened to them afterwards. They gave their best to us, so why haven't we given our best to them?

Veteran and Englewood Police Officer killed by hit and run driver

Hit-and-run kills officer
May 30, 2012.
Tom Munds

Englewood Police Officer Jeremy Bitner died from injuries he received when he was hit by an alleged drunk driver in the early-morning hours of Memorial Day.

Englewood Police Chief John Collins’ voice reflected the depth of his feelings at a May 29 press conference where he announced Bitner’s death. He said Bitner had died the day earlier – the same day as the crash – but the announcement was delayed at the request of the family and so Bitner’s desire to be an organ donor could be honored

Bitner served a tour in the Army as a member of the 101st Airborne Infantry and served a tour in Bosnia. He became a law enforcement officer and was a deputy with the Elbert County Sheriff’s Office before being hired by Englewood in December 2004. In his time as an Englewood police officer, Bitner served as a member of the Special Weapons and Tactics team, was a field training officer for newly hired officers and was an instructor in the Citizen’s Academy.

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Runner half-way through bid to run 100 marathons

Runner half-way through bid to run 100 marathons
8:36am Monday 21st May 2012 in News
By Kate Liptrot

A FORMER York resident who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder is nearly half-way through a bid to run 100 marathons in 100 weeks.

Simon Buckden, 40, was diagnosed with PTSD after the horrific atrocities he witnessed in Bosnia left him suicidal and drinking heavily.

He is taking part in the challenge to raise awareness of the condition and to raise money for Help For Heroes – an ambition made all the more remarkable as he was diagnosed with cancer earlier in the year and is currently undergoing radiotherapy.

Mr Buckden, who works as a motivational speaker and ambassador for the Leeds and York NHS Partnership, said: “I call PTSD a narrowing of your life, I became a shell of a person. It cuts down the things you can do because you don’t want to be in certain places. It reduces your quality of life.
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