Hate denied by love defined at Christchurch

Time a time again, someone decides to act out of hate against people who have nothing to do with what is a boiling rage against them. 

Yet, time and time again, we see that one act followed by hundreds of acts based on love.

All too often, when something like this shatters the "normal" life experience, we ask "Where was God" but if you look, you can see Him everywhere.

You see him when someone else puts their own life on the line, sacrificing themselves to save another. You see it when, with every reason to fear another attack, people show up in case they can help someone else.

You see it when a Father saves his son from bullets, so he may live on. When police officers rush to help, not knowing if they will ever return to their own homes. Other first responders run toward the wounded, not knowing if they will be next to need rescuing.

When you go to the link, there is a video and a young woman, crying, says "This is not who we are. This will not define us." And it won't because in return for the one action of a person filled with hate, love responded.

New Zealand Attacks: Quick Action, Near Miss and Courage in Christchurch

The New York Times
By Damien Cave
March 17, 2019

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand — Abdul Aziz was praying with his four sons in the Linwood Mosque when he heard the gunshots. Rather than run from the noise, he ran toward it, grabbed the first thing he could find — a credit card machine — and flung it at the attacker.

The man dropped a shotgun, and Mr. Aziz picked it up. “I pulled the trigger, and there was nothing,” he recalled. The gunman ran to his car, where he had other weapons, and Mr. Aziz followed, throwing the shotgun at the vehicle and shattering a window.

Mr. Aziz’s actions, which he and others described in interviews, may have prompted the gunman to speed away rather than return to kill more people. Minutes later, two police officers from another town who were in the area rammed the suspect’s car into a curb and took him into custody, ending the worst mass murder in New Zealand’s modern history.

But interviews with dozens of survivors, and an analysis of a video recorded by the attacker as well as one made of his arrest by a bystander, suggest that the violence ended after a near miss by the police at the first mosque — and acts of courage during and after the attack on the second.

If not for the two police officers, who have not been publicly identified, and Mr. Aziz, 48, a ponytailed furniture shop owner who fled Afghanistan a quarter-century ago, the slaughter might have continued. The suspect had two other guns in his car, the police said, as well as two homemade explosives
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USMC veteran lived in New Zealand as homeless veteran and died there

Homeless man found dead in Auckland was 'humble' US Army veteran

Stuff.com New Zealand
Harrison Christian
Nov 24 2018

"Miller was a humble man, a US veteran with an honorable discharge from the US Marine Corps," she said.

Miller Patane, 58, was a US army veteran who once appeared on the front page of the NZ Herald receiving a slice of wedding cake from generous newlyweds.

Workers at an Auckland local board arrived at their office last Wednesday morning to find a rough sleeper bundled up in a blanket on the front steps of their office.

The bundle didn't move, and it was soon apparent the man inside was dead.

Morning commuters streamed past the dismal scene on Dominion Rd as police arrived and the body was taken away in an ambulance. Staff and elected members of the Albert-Eden local board were offered counselling.

The man was 58 year old Miller Patane, a US Army veteran who grew up in Ōtara and had been homeless for decades.

His large Mormon family, many of whom live in the US, came to New Zealand this week to farewell him. His younger sister, Moana Patane Gasu, received word of his death from the NZ police at her home in Utah.
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Yes you saw that right. The article was not corrected even though his sister said he was in the Marine Corps. 

British Army Chaplain "PTSD is wound that does not bleed"

Whanganui reverend and ex British Army padre speaks of wounds that don't bleed
New Zealand Herald
Liz Wylie
25 Apr, 2018

Reverend Stephen Van Os lives a quiet life in Whanganui these days but in previous years he was living on the edge of war zones.

As a padre for the British Army for 30 years, he was posted to combat zones in Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan where he gave spiritual support to combat personnel.

Although he was aware of Post Traumatic Stress Injury (also known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), it did not occur to him that he may be affected.

"It wasn't until I was back on 'civvie street' that I realised things were not right.

"This younger generation of veterans have to deal with many of the same life challenges of those earlier generations of servicemen and women but perhaps without the understanding of the public that they too had experienced some dangerous, stressful and personally distressing situations in their service for New Zealand."
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Navy Veteran Wins Claim for Parkinson's Tied to Agent Orange...In New Zealand

Navy veteran who won compensation battle after linking his Parkinson's to chemical exposure speaks out for first time

NZ Herald

Kurt Bayer

December 5, 2017 (New Zealand)

A New Zealand navy veteran who won a compensation battle after successfully linking his Parkinson's disease to chemical exposure in the 1960s has spoken out for the first time about the fumes he likened to solvent abuse.

A Navy veteran has spoken out for the first time about the chemical exposure he experienced during his service. Photo / File

He says despite suffering neurological pain in the 1970s after working with toxic chemicals on assignment both here and overseas, he was told to "get on with it" and that it was all in his head.

It comes after a Herald investigation found hundreds, if not thousands, of New Zealanders may have been affected by the toxic chemical trichloroethylene (TCE) in a wide range of workplaces over several decades.

In a potentially-landmark case, Veterans Affairs' has provided the ex-serviceman, who wants to remain anonymous, with an entitlement to disability compensation for Parkinson's, a condition attributed to his operational service on a Royal New Zealand Navy ship during the 1948-1960 Malayan Emergency.

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PTSD Suicide Collateral Damage Spread With Whispers, Not Awareness

Collateral Damage Spread With Whispers
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
August 21, 2016


The 22 Push-up challenge sounds like a good thing to do and it has spread all the way to New Zealand. Major Kidd took up the challenge after someone he knew committed suicide. There is no evidence that any of this awareness has changed a damn thing. As a matter of fact, here in the US, it has gotten worse.

"When it comes to the awareness of what some of our young people, when they go offshore, see and do, I don't think there is that awareness." Major Rodger Kidd

The question is, what good has come out of any of this awareness?

Why push something that has changed nothing? Is it fun to do? Is it challenging to do? Does it feel good to try to do something? Wouldn't it feel better to actually achieve something meaningful instead?

The military uses push-ups for training and punishment. What good does it do to try and get the civilian population to understand something veterans do not even know? Veterans know they are killing themselves but they do not know how to find hope that tomorrow can be different from today.

The only way we can address healing in a meaningful way is to talk about facts not just easy numbers to remember.
The fact is simple. According to the VA tracking veteran suicides in 1999, the number they discovered was 20 a day. 17 years later the number is still 20 a day. Awareness now? Why when no one is talking about how it actually got worse?

It is still double the civilian rate of suicides and still most of the suicides happen to veterans over the age of 50.

Veterans are killing themselves at more than double the rate of the civilian population with about 49,000 taking their own lives between 2005 and 2011, according to data collected over eight months by News21. 

“It’s not enough that the veteran suicide problem isn’t getting worse,” he said, “it isn’t getting any better.” Rep. Jeff Miller

Rep. Jeff Miller showed that his committee does not understand that while they spend billions a year, hold hearing after hearing, they have actually achieved total ignorance.  It has gotten worse because in 1999 there were almost 7 million more veterans in the country than now. How does he claim the numbers have not gotten worse?

Suicide Mortality Among Individuals Receiving Treatment for Depression in the Veterans Affairs Health System: Associations with Patient and Treatment Setting Characteristics was published in 2007.

Conclusions. Unlike the general population, older and younger veterans are more prone to suicide than are middle-aged veterans. Future research should examine the relationship between depression, PTSD, health service use, and suicide risks among veterans.

It is not just the veterans we need to worry about. It is their whole families. This report is from 2014 Collateral damage: The mental health issues facing children of veterans

Ron Avi Astor, professor of social work at the University of Southern California, said, "The vast majority of the kids and families, even with a lot of deployments and a lot of moves, about 70 percent or more depending on the issue you're looking at, are doing fine."

But Astor says the other thirty percent -- up to a million and a half kids -- are not doing fine. He studied 30,000 high school students in eight California school districts. Particularly troubling: Astor found one out of four military kids is likely to consider suicide -- significantly more than non-military kids.

And what does the Veterans Administration do for the children and siblings of people who've come back from the war? Not much, said Astor.

The VA spent almost $500 million last year for PTSD treatments for veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan. But their family members (a VA spokeswoman informed us by email) may receive counseling "if determined to be essential to the effective treatment and readjustment of the veteran."

Christal Presley told Teichner, "My mom had asked me not to talk about the things that were happening with my father. In fact, if my mom mentioned the word Vietnam, it was with a whisper."

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The collateral damage of war is still being spread with whispers.

Young New Zealand Veterans Unaware of Help Ending Up Homeless

Young New Zealand veterans homeless and living on the street
Stuff New Zealand
SHANE COWLISHAW
April 10 2016

While many of the younger soldiers suffer from issues including post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), they do not consider themselves veterans and are often unaware of the help available to them.

LAWRENCE SMITH / FAIRFAX NZ

Tina Grant says some young soldiers returning home are left out of the system.

Since the Vietnam War, New Zealand soldiers have been deployed on 41 operations to places including Bosnia, East Timor and Afghanistan.

Young New Zealand war veterans are homeless and living on the street as some struggle silently with the trauma of their service.

With Anzac Day approaching many think of older veterans who served during World War II and the Vietnam War, but the bulk of veterans are much younger.

There are about 31,000 veterans in the country, with 20,000 having served in conflicts after Vietnam.

A review of the Veterans Support Act in December could bring changes, with the RSA hoping it could allow New Zealand veterans suffering from chronic PTSD access to specialist care facilities in Australia.
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Drug Company "PTSD will significantly enhance partnering potential"

So, why are so many doing stuff to "treat" PTSD while it has gotten worse? Here's your answer. FOLLOW THE MONEY!
This is a press release!

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Identified as Major New Market Opportunity for BNC210
PR Newswire
ADELAIDE, Australia
Dec. 8, 2015

It is estimated that approximately 8 million Americans, or 3.5% of the US population, suffer PTSD at any given time. Similarly, an estimated 1 million Australians experience PTSD in any year[1], and 12% of Australians will experience PTSD during their lifetime[1].

A substantial additional market opportunity for BNC210 has been identified and will be developed via a Phase 2 trial funded by a US$12m placement Data supporting the use of BNC210 for PTSD will significantly enhance partnering potential and the value created for BNO shareholders The placement of US$12m, following the Merck and Co. Inc, (MSD) investment, reflects increasing interest from US investors as BNO builds greater visibility in the US

Australian drug development company Bionomics Limited (ASX:BNO, OTCQX:BNOEF) will launch a key Phase 2 trial of its novel anxiety drug BNC210 as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), following a US$12 million private placement to US institutional investors.

The new trial is expected to begin in the first half of 2016, with patients to be recruited at several trial sites in Australia and New Zealand. All patients enrolled will have experienced severe trauma, including war, natural disasters or have been involved in serious accidents.

The program will be funded with a US$12 million Private Placement to four US institutional investors.

Under the placement 40,207,472 shares will be issued at A$0.408 per share with attaching 40,207,472 warrants to purchase shares at A$0.5938 per share (the same price as the MSD investment), of which 16,082,988 warrants will be subject to shareholder approval at a shareholder meeting to be held early in 2016. Roth Capital Partners acted as the sole US Placement Agent in the transaction.

The Board recommends that shareholders vote to approve the issue of the warrants. The Board further advises that individual Board members will vote their shareholdings in favour of the issue of the warrants.

Bionomics CEO and Managing Director Dr Deborah Rathjen said all existing data indicated that BNC210, which is currently in trial to treat Generalised Anxiety Disorder, could be an effective therapy for PTSD patients.
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Amputee Iraq veteran snowboarding champion

Wounded veteran to snowboarding champion
WTOP.com
By Paula Wolfson
February 24, 2014

WASHINGTON -- He stands tall on his snowboard, maneuvering a championship course with speed and agility.

That snowboard has been his ticket to competitions around the world -- from Colorado to New Zealand. It has also been a driving force in his recovery from the wounds of war.

Capt. Wayne Waldon lost his right leg on the battlefield in Iraq on July 11, 2007. He was airlifted first to a military facility in Germany, and a few days later to what-was-then Walter Reed Army Hospital in D.C.

Once there, he was immediately inspired by the patients who moved around on prosthetics.

"You look at them and you look at you. You pretty quickly stop feeling sorry for yourself and have no excuse," Waldon says.

He was teamed up with Harvey Naranjo, who runs the Adaptive Sports Program at the new Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. It was Naranjo who urged this wounded warrior, once an avid skier, to return to the slopes.

But Waldon, now 30 and retired from the military, opted for the extreme sport of snowboarding, instead. Six months after his injury, fit with a new prosthesis, he headed to his first adaptive sports competition.
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New Zealand Military Admits They Don't Understand PTSD

Military admits: We don't understand trauma
New Zealand Herald
David Fisher Senior reporter of the year
Saturday Feb 1, 2014

Military chiefs have admitted they do not have a "well-developed" understanding of combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder.

It comes as Weekend Herald inquiries reveal low levels of reported PTSD in the New Zealand Defence Force and no statistical collection of the mental health problem by Veterans Affairs.

There have been just 13 cases of PTSD relating to New Zealand deployed to combat zones in the last 10 years.

The number equates to half of the level established by Australian Defence Force research which pegged the level at 2 per cent for each deployment.

Research found 8 per cent of current serving members suffered PTSD.

PTSD is caused by exposure to stressful events and can lead to anger, aggression, flashbacks, sleeplessness and a range of other mental and physical health issues.

It follows figures from NZDF showing there have been five suicides in the past two years, against five in the previous eight years.

New Zealand's military partners are having fallout from years of combat in Afghanistan with increased mental health problems and a soaring suicide rate among veterans.
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Florida family missing at sea

Florida Family and 4 Others Missing at Sea Off New Zealand
New York Times
By GERRY MULLANY
Published: June 28, 2013

HONG KONG — Rescue teams were searching the waters between Australia and New Zealand on Friday for a schooner carrying seven people after their boat went missing in stormy seas.

Three passengers on the boat, the Dyche family from Florida — David A. Dyche, 58; his wife, Rosemary, 60; and their son, David — were on their last sailing trip as a family before David, 17, was to leave for college, according to the Web site of The Australian.

The boat, named Nina, left New Zealand for Australia across the Tasman Sea on May 29, and the crew was last heard from on June 4, when one of the people on board, Evi Nemeth, 73, sent a text message to Bob McDavitt, a meteorologist in New Zealand, saying, “Any update 4 Nina? ... Evi.” The message followed a call from Ms. Nemeth saying, “The weather’s turned nasty, how do we get away from it?”
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Standoff ends in Australia when police dog brings down armed man

There are so many different titles this news report could have had, like the one I used, but using the term "berserk" does not help veterans in any nation. If you think only American veterans are suffering from PTSD, this is a good reminder that combat and PTSD does not know borders of nations.

'Berserk' gunman was ex-soldier
The New Zealand Herald
By Matthew Theunissen
Saturday Jun 15, 2013

The gunman who went "berserk" with a high-powered air rifle on the North Shore on Friday night is an ex-soldier who suffers post-traumatic stress disorder.

The 49-year-old, who the Herald on Sunday have chosen not to name, is under guard in North Shore Hospital being treated for dog bites after being brought down by a police dog during the three-hour siege on Awaruku Rd, Torbay.

The ex-soldier allegedly fired random shots from the high-powered weapon, including at the police helicopter as it circled above, although his ex-partner said the weapon was not loaded.

Awaruku Rd residents described hearing dozens of shots before armed police surrounded his house and yelled through a loudspeaker for him to surrender.

The police dog which eventually subdued him was injured after receiving several hard blows from the rifle.

His ex-partner, who did not want to be identified, said he used to be a corporal in the Australian Army.

Just prior to the incident, he had signed paperwork regarding the custody of his two young children, a task he had found stressful.

"It just sort of pushed him over the edge, basically," the woman said.
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Fallen Soldier's mother welcomes release of footage of battle

Soldier's mother welcomes release of footage
New Zealand Herald
By Matthew Theunissen
Jun 14, 2013

The mother of a soldier killed in Afghanistan says footage released by the Defence Force of a firefight between New Zealand troops and insurgents shows how well our soldiers are trained.

The footage was released yesterday following a Court of Inquiry into the deaths of five New Zealanders in two separate incidents just two weeks apart in August last year.

Lynne McSweeney, whose son Corporal Luke Tamatea was killed when the humvee he was in ran over an improvised explosive device (IED) in Bamiyan Province, told Radio New Zealand she welcomed the release of the footage because it showed how difficult conditions were in Afghanistan.

"It certainly wasn't a walk in the park. The actual terrain that they worked in made their job so difficult and so I think it's important that people understand that.

"But it also shows, I believe, how well trained the soldiers were. To me, the way that they were able to take control of that ambush is testimony to their training and their ability.''
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New Zealand Soldier's body returned home, with live grenade

NZ soldier's body sent home with live grenade
Source: ONE News
June 13, 2013

A Military Court of Inquiry report released today has revealed a Kiwi soldier's body was sent home from Afghanistan with a live grenade on them.

The Court of Inquiry examined the repatriation of Private Richard Harris, Lance Corporal Jacinda Baker and Corporal Luke Tamatea, who were killed by an Improvised Explosive Device in Afghanistan on 19 August 2012.

It criticised the failure of New Zealand and US forces to find a grenade on the body of one of the fallen soldiers, which sparked the evacuation of Christchurch Hospital when it was discovered.

"This was an unusual situation and the three soldiers were processed as best they could be given the situation and the resources available," Defence Minister Jonathan Coleman said.

In a rare move, the military also released footage of a battle in Afghanistan in which two New Zealand soldiers were killed in 2012. It says it wanted to illustrate the confusion of the firefight.
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Bystanders Lift Car Off 10-Year-Old Boy

Bystanders Lift Car Off 10-Year-Old Boy In New Zealand After Collision
The Huffington Post
By Ron Dicker
Posted: 09/29/2012

We often hear of ordinary people unleashing superhuman strength in an emergency. But in Nelson, New Zealand, this week, the heroics required a team effort.

Three bystanders lifted a car off a 10-year-old boy after he became pinned underneath in a collision. The boy, who was not identified, suffered just scrapes and bruises, the Nelson Mail reported. Police are still investigating.

The boy was pushing his scooter on a street crossing when the car plowed into him and dragged him more than six yards, the news outlet said. Some onlookers waved at the driver to stop.

The assistant manager at a Subway, Patrick McDougall, Coffee Shack co-owner Keith Simpson and an unidentified woman heard the crash followed by the screams of the boy and others, according to the Leader. Then they sprinted to the scene and quickly hoisted the vehicle from the front and pushed the car back to free him. He appeared to have been trapped under a wheel.

"It was bloody heavy and I think the driver still had the brakes on, but we got it back," Simpson told the Leader. "Then the boy started talking so that was a big relief.

I hope I never have to see that again."

The trio's actions illustrate the Superman potential in all of us. In August, a slight Massachusetts man named Carlos Castro lifted an SUV to free a neighbor who became trapped underneath when a tire jack collapsed.
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New Zealand sending troops to train at Camp Pendleton

The Defence Force is sending a contingent of soldiers to train in the United States for the first time in nearly 30 years.

Thirty-four engineers from Linton and one medic will go to Camp Pendleton in California.

They will depart after completing exercises in New Zealand with a platoon of US marines in June.
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New Zealand's greatest war heroine is likely to be honored

Veteran 'disgusted' war heroine never recognised
By Ian Stuart of NZPA

Naby wake - the woman considered to be New Zealand's greatest war heroine - is likely to be honoured by a permanent memorial. Photo / supplied

The woman considered to be New Zealand's greatest war heroine is likely to be honoured by a permanent memorial but a World War 2 veteran says he is disgusted she was never formally recognised by the country she refused to forget.

Nancy Wake, a British agent in France during the war, died in England yesterday, three weeks short of her 99th birthday.

The New Zealand-born resistance fighter saved hundreds of Allied lives during World War 2 by getting them back to England from Europe. She was one of the most decorated women of the war.

She left New Zealand when she was very young and lived most of her life until the war in Australia but until she died she refused to renounce her New Zealand roots, saying she was born in New Zealand and would always be a New Zealander.

She had been honoured by several countries but not formally by New Zealand.

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Veteran disgusted war heroine never recognised

New Zealand Veteran confronts fake Vietnam Hero

"That record shows Bateman never left New Zealand as part of his service."

THE SOUTHLAND TIMES GEOFF BATEMAN: Told The Southland Times on Anzac Day that he volunteered for Vietnam in 1968.

Veteran changes Vietnam story
JARED MORGAN
A man masquerading as a Vietnam veteran has confessed to a military record that shows he never served in the conflict after a genuine ex-serviceman paid him a house call today.

The Southland Times tagged along this morning as Graeme Henderson, who served as a warrant officer with 161 Battery in South Vietnam in 1971, knocked on Geoff Bateman's door and asked for an explanation.

Geoff Bateman told the Times on Anzac Day that he volunteered for Vietnam in 1968, the height of the conflict and the peak of anti-war protests.

When pressed for details of his service, he said he would not talk about it the memories were painful and he had "lost mates".

Yesterday he maintained the story when questioned, saying: "Yeah, I was in Vietnam.''

Today, he recanted that, claimed he had never served in the conflict and that he never said he did.

However, his confused wife Urmilla Wati demanded to know why her husband was being questioned.

Her husband had told her throughout their relationship and two-year marriage he had served in the war, she said.
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Veteran changes Vietnam story

Passengers injured as storm hits cruise ship

Passengers injured as storm hits cruise ship

PA
Friday, 1 August 2008


More than 40 passengers were injured when their P&O cruise ship was caught in 25ft swells and high winds, it was revealed today.


Some of the 1,732 passengers aboard the Pacific Sun feared for their lives with one emailing a message reading: "We are nearly on our side. If we get out of this, it will be a miracle."


Some passengers were reportedly injured when machines in the ship's casino came loose while crockery flew in the dining area during the storm off New Zealand.
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California fires:International help arrives, more asked for

Butte County fire claims a life as Schwarzenegger musters more help
A body is found near a house in Concow, officials say. The governor calls up an additional 2,000 National Guard troops for duty. International firefighters arrive.
By Eric Bailey, Steve Chawkins and Maria L. La Ganga, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
2:13 PM PDT, July 11, 2008
Fire officials confirmed today that one person has died in a wildfire in Butte County as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called up an additional 2,000 National Guard troops for duty on the front lines of wildfires raging throughout Northern California.

In addition, firefighters from Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Greece have begun arriving to bolster the exhausted personnel who have been waging battle against hundreds of blazes for nearly three weeks.
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