Veterans More Involved Helping Others Than Civilians Are

Veterans more likely to volunteer, vote, serve community than civilians 
The Washington Times
By Jacqueline Klimas
Thursday, April 30, 2015

“They have learned to put service before self, to bridge differences to accomplish shared goals. “What they now need is a new purpose. At a time when our country faces so many challenges, we need to make the most of what veterans have to offer.”
Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald

Veterans are more likely than similar civilians to volunteer more hours, to vote consistently and to serve in civic organizations, according to a report released Thursday that advocates hope will counteract the perception of veterans as “broken heroes.”

The report found that veterans, even those who may be struggling with issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder, are eager to contribute to their communities and can make neighborhoods safer and friendlier.

“For years, we’ve been working to make sure veterans are perceived as leaders and assets. Now we have empirical evidence,” said Chris Marvin, managing director of Got Your 6, a veterans group that sponsored the report. “The statement that veterans are civic assets is no longer an opinion; it’s a fact, and it’s backed up by data.”

In addition to volunteering more hours annually — 160 for an average veteran volunteer compared with 120 for a civilian — veterans are more likely to trust most of their neighbors, the report found.

Veterans also are more likely to vote in local elections, contact their public officials and discuss politics frequently with families and friends.

Former service members came under fire this week after a CNN anchorwoman suggested that veterans who left the service and became police officers may be partly to blame for law-enforcement violence against minority communities around the country.

“I love our nation’s veterans, but some of them are coming back from war, they don’t know the communities and they’re ready to do battle,” Brooke Baldwin said live on air while reporting on the riots in Baltimore.

John W. Stroud, national commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, called Ms. Baldwin’s comments insulting to those who served the country in the military and urged others to contact CNN to voice their disgust. Ms. Baldwin has since issued an on-air apology.
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Spokane Beauty School Makes Veterans Cry For Good Reason

Spokane beauty school cuts veteran's hair for free 
KREM.com
Whitney Ward
March 31, 2015

One of the instructors at Glen Dow helped launch a new policy at the teaching salon in 2014.

The salon now offers free haircuts to every veteran every single week.

"Sometimes we get vets in here that cry when they hear that we do the free haircuts thing," said Siobhan Brown, an instructor at the beauty school.

"And sometimes it makes you wonder how humbled you can be at times. Because we're thanking them. 

It's about time they get something for the service they've done."

Instructors said they give about 40 free haircuts each month to veterans since the policy began.
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Iraq veteran with service dog gets his hair cut at Glen Dow in Spokane. 

 (Photo: KREM.com)

Extreme Truck Makeover for National Guardsman

Friends, family provide secret service for Guardsman from Central Point
Mail Tribune
By Sam Wheeler
May 24, 2014

Two-dozen years in the military and a tour apiece in Iraq and Afghanistan haven't made Sgt. 1st Class Mike Walker a big fan of surprises, but that's just what he got on Friday.

Walking into Bob Thomas Automotive with his wife Christa, Walker was expecting to drive out with his old Chevrolet pickup that he dropped off months ago to get the four-wheel-drive switch fixed.

Walker took his old Chevy back to his Central Point home — with a bumper-to-bumper, wheels-to-roof overhaul thanks to nearly 20 local businesses that donated time, labor and materials to spruce up the truck as a "thank you," for his service.

Bob Thomas led Walker from the front office to the shop where about 50 people and the made-over 2000 Chevy were waiting for him.

"I am a first sergeant and I am speechless. That's not supposed to happen. I get paid to yell at people," said a stunned Walker. "I am just so grateful, humbled, a little embarrassed. ... Thank you."

The reupholstered pickup was sprayed with fresh paint, sitting high on a new lift kit and shiny new wheels and tires, sporting a new custom-made front bumper and winch and ready to roll with an engine tune up. Oh, the four-wheel drive switch was fixed too.

The back window displays a design to memorialize Capt. Bruno Giancarlo de Solenni, a Southern Oregon University student who, along with Walker, served with the Oregon Army National Guard in Afghanistan's Helmand Province in 2008.

De Solenni, a Crescent City native, was killed Sept. 20, 2008 by a roadside bomb. The 32-year-old and Walker were working on an anti-drug task force near Kandahar when he died.
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Mental health worker get crash course on Combat PTSD

Soldiers and health professionals focus on PTSD
Florida Today
Written by
R. Norman Moody
September 6, 2013

COCOA BEACH — Cortney Butler wants to help spread the word about mental-health issues faced by troops returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Butler, an Air Force master sergeant, said military medical personnel told her she suffers from adjustment disorder. However, Butler said she is experiencing the anxiety, depression and anger that comes with post-traumatic stress disorder.

“It’s almost as if PTSD is a new thing,” said Butler, a reservist with the 920th Rescue Wing at Patrick Air Force Base. “An incredible amount of my peers are coming back with this.”

Local mental-health care providers got a crash course in PTSD Friday at Warrior’s World: Understanding the Mental Health Care Needs of Veterans, an effort to improve the care that the men and women returning from war receive.

More than 50 mental health care professionals came together for the symposium Friday at the Hilton Cocoa Beach Oceanfront Hotel. Sessions covered military sexual assault, military culture and assisting military families, in addition to PTSD.

Bill Vagianos, a psychologist and a Marine veteran of the Vietnam War, told the audience that part of PTSD is feeling like you are not useful. He spoke as a panelist on one session on PTSD, telling participants about how he was affected after his best friend and many other fellow Marines were killed in the war.
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UPDATE
Bill Vagianos opened up his heart and told his story about how he became a Psychiatrist after Vietnam. If you want to know what it takes to really be the best at what a person does, here's the best clue possible. It is not just his career. Combat PTSD is his life!

Newman’s Own Award winners honored for helping military community

Newman’s Own Award winners honored

By Karen Jowers - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Sep 11, 2009 15:33:12 EDT

Groups helping wounded troops in a variety of ways — sewing adaptive clothing, providing trained service dogs, connecting them with donors, establishing peer support groups, building new homes — are at the forefront of this year’s winners of the Newman’s Own Awards.

Eleven organizations received a total of $75,000 in grants, ranging from $5,000 to $15,000 apiece, for their efforts to improve the quality of life for the military community.

USA Together, a Web site that links wounded service members with donors, was the overall winner, receiving a $15,000 grant and a bust of Paul Newman, provided by Newman’s Own, which sponsored the competition, along with the Fisher House Foundation and the Military Times Media Group, which publishes Army Times, Air Force Times, Navy Times and Marine Corps Times.

Newman’s Own makes sauces, salsas, dressings and other foods, many of which are sold in commissaries. Founded by the late actor Paul Newman more than 26 years ago, the company has given all its profits — about $270 million to date — to charities, including military charities.

“My overwhelming message is to say thanks to all of you for doing this and for meeting the needs,” said Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, speaking to the charities during the awards ceremony Sept. 10.
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http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2009/09/military_newmansown_awards_091109w/