Yet another abysmal awareness event on veteran suicides?

This part is wrong

"Twenty-two veterans take their own lives every day, according to a study conducted by the Department of Veterans Affairs between 1999 and 2011. That’s one every 65 minutes."

This is the chart that according to the VA is just a basis.

and the research was from just 21 states using limited data. Plus of the "known" deaths, notice that the number was "20" a day in 1999 and "22" a day in 2010? What you did not notice is that there were over 5 million more veterans alive in 1999~ and the number released in the latest report of "20" a day showed how all this "suicide awareness" has not helped! The percentages went up...not down!

Forgotten Warrior Memorial unveiled at Channahon State Park

The Herald News
By Brandon Grossi
May 13, 2019

“With 30 years in the military and 14 with the police, I started having dark thoughts. ... I was afraid of coming forward, afraid that I would embarrass the military and those who served under me. I was afraid I wouldn’t be a man if I admitted I needed help," he said. "There was a night I got into my car and put my service weapon against my temple. By the grace of God I came away from that and got help ... If you know anyone you think might struggle, I’m asking you, I’m begging you, talk to them.”

Twenty-two veterans take their own lives every day, according to a study conducted by the Department of Veterans Affairs between 1999 and 2011. That’s one every 65 minutes.

K9s for Veterans and other veteran support organizations gathered with community members on Saturday to unveil and dedicate the Forgotten Warrior Memorial at Channahon State Park.

The circle of polished stone monuments and flags honors veterans who have lost their battles with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as well as those who continue to struggle with mental warfare long after they return from the battlefield.

Roughly 250 people sat or stood before a temporary stage next to the memorial. Local leaders, veterans and mothers of fallen soldiers delivered remarks. By the second speaker, a light drizzle began to fall on the crowd.

“When I saw the weather report today, I was disappointed, but maybe this is better,” Channahon Mayor Missey Moorman Schumacher said from the podium. “Maybe this weather is more indicative and appropriate for the struggles of these veterans.”
read more here

Good intentions do not change much without good information. Want to help someone? Then ask them what they need and be prepared to help them get it!

Fort Bragg soldier raced to save buddy but he was too late

Fort Bragg sniper raced to check on his buddy. He broke into the house and found his best friend's body. Overcome with grief, he fired a couple of shots from his own gun at the floor. Now you know what happened a lot better than how this headline reads! *******

Sniper Who Once Held Record in Afghanistan Now Faces Gun Charges

NBC 4 News
By Julie Carey and Christian Paz
Published May 8, 2019

A soldier who once set a record for the longest sniper shot in Afghanistan by an American is now facing gun charges as part of a larger death investigation in Northern Virginia.

Deputies arrested Nicholas Ranstad in Warren County, Virginia, on May 4 after he called sheriff's deputies to a house where a man had allegedly suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

According to the Warran County Sheriff's Office, deputies responded to a house on the 200 block of Doom Peak Rd. in Linden, Virginia, where they met Ranstad and confirmed that the injured man, Sean David Miller, had died.

Deputies said Ranstad told them that he was friends with Miller, a Marine veteran, and had become concerned with his well-being, prompting him to travel from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to Miller's home to check in on him.

Police said they are still investigating the circumstances of Miller's death, but News4 has learned that the Medical Examiner's Office has ruled the death a suicide.

And Miller's father wrote about his son's death in a social media post, saying Miller "has fallen to PTSD and suicide."
read more here

Find help to heal PTSD before you spread suicide

Fate of two soldiers sheds light on veteran suicide, points out where to get help

Delaware Online
Jerry Smith
February 19, 2019

Pfc. Jacob Jonza (left), and Sgt. Daniel Grime of Company B, 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, provide security for their platoon during a patrol through a business district in Baghdad's Sha'ab neighborhood in 2008. (Photo11: Staff Sgt. Michael Pryor/Defense Visual Information Distribution Service)

Free: This abridged version of the story about veteran suicides is presented free as a public service to allow access to information to get help. To read the full story, please subscribe online.

Francis Graves III and Jacob Jonza each carried emotional scars after returning home from military deployments to the Middle East.

Ultimately, each tried to take his life. One lived, while the other died.

About 24 First State veterans kill themselves each year, part of 6,000 veterans who commit suicide nationwide, according to a 2016 U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs survey.

Because the number has risen in the last decade, both the Trump administration and Wilmington Veterans Administration Medical Center have made veteran suicide a priority.

Graves, from Townsend, lost his battle years after returning from a stint in Saudi Arabia when he killed himself in 2015.

Jonza tried to kill himself in 2008, but was saved.
read more here

As you'll see in the video, the pain never stops for those you leave behind. Stop spreading suicide and start inspiring healing!

Go to the link and look at what help is out there for you in Delaware. If you live in another area of the country, you can find help to heal there too~


#CombatPTSD and #Take BackYourLife

VA decided to link up with two other groups

VA announces broad suicide prevention partnership and safe firearm storage partnership

WASHINGTON — Today the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced that it has recently formalized two partnerships aimed at preventing Veteran suicide.

Effective January, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) began collaborating with VA to advance and improve the quality of life for Veterans to prevent suicides. Through this partnership, VA and AFSP have been exchanging research on suicide and prevention efforts. AFSP has also begun sharing VA suicide-prevention messaging.

Effective last November, the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) began working with VA to develop a program that will empower communities to engage in safe firearm-storage practices. The program will include information to help communities create coalitions around promoting and sustaining firearm safety with an emphasis on service members, Veterans and their families.

“We want all Americans to know that suicide is preventable.” said VA Secretary Robert Wilkie. “By working with local organizations and community partners, we’re confident that we can make a meaningful difference to reduce suicide among Veterans.”

These innovative partnerships highlight the shared mission between the VA, nonprofit organizations and local communities to end suicide among those who have served or are currently serving.

Research shows there is no single cause for suicide: It is the outcome of multiple contributing factors and events. However, environmental factors, such as access to lethal means, increase the risk for suicide. Firearms are one of the most deadly and common methods for suicide among Americans — particularly for service members and Veterans.

Veterans in crisis or having thoughts of suicide, and those who know a Veteran in crisis, can call the Veterans Crisis Line for confidential support 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Call 800-273-8255 and press 1, chat online at VeteransCrisisLine.net/Chat, or text to 838255.

Reporters covering Veteran mental health issues can visit ReportingOnSuicide.org for important guidance

**Is this where the unspent money went from last year?**

Why are suicidal veterans still avoiding the VA?

Remember this news?

On Monday, a Government Accountability Office report blasted department officials for failing to spend millions in outreach and public awareness funds related to veterans suicide prevention last fiscal year. Only about only $57,000 — less than 1 percent — was actually spent. read more here

And now we have this.

VA focused on suicide prevention

NWI
Department of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie
December 30, 2018

Holidays can be especially tough for troops deployed abroad, but they can also be challenging for veterans in need. And this holiday season, we have an important message for those who have worn the uniform: the Department of Veterans Affairs is here to help.

Suicide prevention is VA’s No. 1 clinical priority, but getting more veterans into care is one of our greatest challenges. An average of 20 veterans die by suicide each day. Of those 20, 14 have not received recent VA care.

That’s why we’re working closely with the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security to implement President Trump’s Jan. 9, 2018, executive order to ensure that all new veterans receive mental health care for at least one year following their separation from service.
read more here

VA’s available resources are extensive. To get the word out, VA spent $12.2 million on suicide prevention outreach in fiscal year 2018, including $1.5 million on paid media. We’ve also made great use of unpaid media through our partnership with Johnson and  Johnson to produce a public service announcement featuring Tom Hanks — at no cost to VA. That partnership helped put VA in the top 10 of the Nielson ratings for PSAs. Its YouTube version drew tens of thousands of views.

And then there is this part

The Veterans Crisis Line helps about 2,000 callers every day. In the past 10 years, it has answered over 3.5 million calls, engaged in over 413,000 online chats, and responded to over 98,000 text messages. Most of the callers to the Veterans Crisis Line are veterans, but many are also concerned family members and friends calling on behalf of a veteran close to them. VA is there to help them, too. Our suicide prevention coordinators conducted over 22,000 outreach events last year, reaching 2.2 million people.

I can attest to the fact that when a veteran goes to to the VA, he/she is more likely to heal and live a better quality of life. I have seen it all my life with my 100% disabled Dad and my 100% disabled husband. Plus they helped with a lot of veterans I sent to them over the last 3 decades, in different parts of the country.

But he did not explain why this has been the outcome of all of that.

Rush to spend funds headline made advocates cringe

VA in rush to spend funds for suicide prevention? Seriously?

This is the headline that made advocates cringe! VA vows to spend full suicide prevention budget after revelation it left millions unused in 2018

This is December 20th! They had no plans for spending the funds, all of the nearly $5 million!

“This year, I’m making sure that we are spending the funding 100 percent,” said Dr. Steven Lieberman, who is in charge of the Veterans Health Administration. “I’m reviewing the budget monthly and making sure we have obligated all the dollars. We have to get it right.”

Excuse me? Then why didn't they before the GAO reported about them not doing it? Didn't they notice?

Well, not really that hard to believe there are a lot of things they did not notice.

Like the fact California is just adding on veterans status to death certificates so they have a clue how many veterans committed suicide there. Yes, California with the largest veterans population in the country. No need to wonder why out of the known suicides reported, Texas and Florida are tied for first place with 530.

The article went on to say a lot. Like this.

The GAO report also revealed the VA had no means to measure the effectiveness of its suicide prevention outreach campaigns. Lieberman told lawmakers that they would have a system in place to do so sometime in 2019.

So, we have had veterans, at least 26 of them, doing their own outreach work, screaming for help for other veterans, because it was too late for them. Yes, that's right. At least 26 veterans committed suicide in very public ways this year.

Would be great to know exactly who gets the money and what they plan on doing with it BUT WOULD BE EVEN BETTER IF SOMEONE COULD EXPLAIN WTF HAPPENED TO ALL THE MONEY ALREADY SPENT THAT PRODUCED THE RESULTS WERE ARE SEEING EVERY DAY?

If you want to actually be aware who has been paying the price for this lack of urgency, it is loaded into a double barrel Howitzer!

 In January, a Michigan veteran went to an elementary school and killed himself. In February, a Texas Army veteran was dead after facing off with SWAT. 

Let's not forget about March when a veteran who was kicked out of a PTSD program in Yountville California, killed women who had dedicated their lives to help veterans, and then killed himself. But safe bet you didn't hear about the Vietnam veteran committing suicide in the Sheridan Police Department parking lot, or the Joint Base Lewis McChord Airman who committed suicide after killing his family. Or the Waterbury veteran who committed suicide by cop. Or the Air Force veteran in Oklahoma, or the soldier at Aberdeen Proving Ground, or the 62 year old veteran who committed suicide at the John Cochran VA Medical Center.

How about the 76 year old veteran in April, who killed himself in the Boynton City Hall Parking lot?

A Cannon Air Force Airman's body was found in Ned Houk Park in May. In June it was a 21 year old who committed suicide at Clarksville High School. A 38 year old veteran decided to record his awareness message in Colorado Springs and in Georgia, a Navy Veteran decided to set himself on fire at the Georgia State Capitol. A Sailor had his awareness message via walking into a helicopter blade at Norfolk Navy Yard.

Then there was July when an Air Force veteran shot his family and then himself after he set his house on fire in Alabama. In Chicago, a Police Officer/Marine veteran decided he had enough and he committed suicide in the parking lot of the police station.  Here in Florida, an 85 year old veteran pulled out his gun at the VA and killed himself. In Arizona, a veteran shot himself in the VA hospital Chapel.

In August a veteran/VA employee committed suicide in Topeka VA medical center and in Mishawaka VA parking lot a veteran shot himself in the parking lot.

In September, there was the veteran who committed suicide in Minneapolis VA parking lot. a day after he was discharged. 

How about October when a Greenville veteran video taped himself just before he committed suicide begging his family to forgive him?

In November, a veteran pulled out a gun in the Nashville VA lobby and ended his awareness message.

Here in Florida 10 days ago, a Retired Marine Colonel killed himself at Bay Pines.

So, please tell me if you think that the funds could have helped if they were spent during all these months. 

If they are in a rush to spend the money, maybe they should pay the families for the funerals that had to take place because NO ONE TOLD THESE VETERANS THEY COULD HEAL AND HOW TO GET IT!

Slogan of 22 Other Than Honorable Way for Veterans Day

Real Numbers Should Matter More Than Slogan Of 22

Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
November 5, 2018

With Veterans Day coming it is more troubling too many in this country have not had the opportunity to become aware of the other numbers that should matter more than a slogan, when the topic is veterans killing themselves.

For far too many veterans, their days are ended with a bullet, or a rope, drugs, car wrecks, a knife or facing off with police officers.

If you still have the number 22 stuck in your head, after you read this, maybe it will disgust you as much as it has sickened me all these years.

Here are just the facts. We need to begin with the group of veterans who pushed for all the research and funding on what war does to those we send.

Vietnam veterans were the first generation to make the battle to heal PTSD public. They were determined to #BreakTheSilence. 

Most servicemembers receive fully honorable discharges. However, 1.5 million have received less than fully honorable discharges since 1950.

That was from The Comptroller General report to Congress in 1980. That also means that they would not have been counted in any of the suicide reports being released since this decade.

One such veteran was John Shepherd Jr. and this report came out in 2012 on the Hartford Courant.

John Shepherd Jr. enlisted in the Army and earned a Bronze Star for valor fighting with the Ninth Infantry Division in the Mekong Delta in 1969. But after his platoon leader was killed while trying to help him out of a canal, Mr. Shepherd appeared to come undone, eventually refusing to go out on patrol. 

He was court-martialed and given an other-than-honorable discharge, making him ineligible for most veterans' benefits. He believes his behavior was the result of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. His immediate problem: PTSD wasn't recognized as a medical condition until 1980.

Why is that important? Because the Department of Veterans Affairs stated clearly, the majority of veterans committing suicide are over the age of 50.

None of those veterans would have been included within the "known" number of veterans committing suicide.

More were added to the omission of numbers that should have mattered. GAO again, released another report May 16, 2017.

GAO's analysis of Department of Defense (DOD) data show that 62 percent, or 57,141 of the 91,764 servicemembers separated for misconduct from fiscal years 2011 through 2015 had been diagnosed within the 2 years prior to separation with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI), or certain other conditions that could be associated with misconduct. 

Specifically, 16 percent had been diagnosed with PTSD or TBI, while the other conditions, such as adjustment and alcohol-related disorders, were more common. 

Of the 57,141 servicemembers, 23 percent, or 13,283, received an “other than honorable” characterization of service, making them potentially ineligible for health benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). 

GAO found that the military services' policies to address the impact of PTSD and TBI on separations for misconduct are not always consistent with DOD policy. For example, contrary to DOD policy, Navy policy does not require a medical examination—or screening—for certain servicemembers being separated in lieu of trial by court-martial to assess whether a PTSD or TBI diagnosis is a mitigating factor in the misconduct charged. 

This type of separation occurs when a servicemember facing a trial by court-martial requests, and is approved, to be discharged administratively. In addition, GAO found that two of the four military services have TBI training polices that are inconsistent with DOD policy. GAO also found that the Army and Marine Corps may not have adhered to their own screening, training, and counseling policies related to PTSD and TBI. 

For example, GAO found that 18 of the 48 nongeneralizable sample separation packets reviewed for Marine Corps servicemembers administratively separated for misconduct lacked documentation showing that the servicemember had been screened for PTSD and TBI. 

During interviews with Army officers, GAO found that some officers may not have received training to identify mild TBI symptoms, despite Army policy that all servicemembers should be trained. Further, GAO found instances in which both Army and Marine Corps may not have adhered to their counseling policies, which require that servicemembers, specifically prior to requesting separation in lieu of trial by court-martial, be counseled about their potential ineligibility for VA benefits and services. 

For 11 of the 48 separation packets included in GAO's analysis of Army servicemembers who requested separation in lieu of trial by court-martial, there was no documented evidence—or the evidence was unclear—as to whether the servicemembers received counseling.

KPPC in 2016 reported the number of "bad paper discharges" since 1990, was 615,000.

None of them would have been counted in the suicide data.

Getting back to the data itself, this chart shows the "known" suicides in the first VA Suicide report released in 2012.

This is from the latest report from the VA on known suicides.

As you can see, the percentages went up and the number of living veterans dropped by over 4 million. Again, as with all the reports, the majority of veterans committing suicide were over the age of 50, as well as the majority of the less than honorable discharges, were also of those older generations.

If you are among the veterans who were kicked out instead of treated, the VA is trying to find you~

VA Struggles To Reach Other-Than-Honorable-Discharge Vets In Need Of Help

Advocates Fault VA for Inadequate OutreachThe VA last year estimated there are more than 500,000 OTH vets. 

Nationally, 115 veterans have used the program, a figure that's disappointing to veterans advocates. They say it represents just a small fraction of the veterans who now qualify for mental health care. 

"It's not possible that that's the number of people who need help," said Kristofer Goldsmith, an Iraq vet who works with the Vietnam Veterans of America. "It's a failure to contact them, to fully inform them and to break the stigma." 

Vietnam Veterans of America lobbied the VA to help veterans with other-than-honorable discharges. 

"It's a program that most people who are eligible for don't know about, and the reason for that is that VA refused to do any outreach," said Vietnam Veterans of America executive director Rick Weidman.Weidman said there was an internal debate over whether the VA could pay to reach out to veterans who normally don't qualify for VA care.

After racking my brain for one more piece of all of this, is a report from Jacksonville Times Union going back to 2014. The report said that there were only 250,000 Vietnam veterans with "less than honorable discharges" and that "80,000" of them may be due to PTSD. 

Eliminate the negative slogan!

When people decided it was OK to run around the country and let troubled veterans know how many others may have killed themselves, they added misery!

It would have done just as much good to hand them a flag for their coffin! They do not know they can heal PTSD and need to hear #TakeBackYourLife!

If you do not understand this then think of it this way. You are deeply troubled about something. You trust one of your friends and you share all of it. They tell you that someone they know got help for the same trouble. Or, they say, they know someone with the same problem and they committed suicide. Which one do you think would help the most?

Time to end the nonsense and start getting serious about helping veterans find hope they need to not become a number AND LEARN THEIR NAMES!

Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive

You've got to accentuate the positive

Eliminate the negative

Latch on to the affirmative

Don't mess with Mister In-Between

You've got to spread joy up to the maximum

Bring gloom down to the minimum

Have faith or pandemonium

Liable to walk upon the scene

To illustrate his last remark

Jonah in the whale, Noah in the ark

What did they do

Just when everything looked so dark

Man, they said we better, accentuate the positive

Eliminate the negative

Latch on to the affirmative

Don't mess with Mister In-Between

No, do not mess with Mister In-Between

Do you hear me?

Oh, listen to me children and-a you will hear

About the eliminatin' of the negative

And the accent on the positive

And gather 'round me children if you're willin'

And sit tight while I start reviewin'

The attitude of doin' right

You've gotta accentuate the positive

Eliminate the negative

Latch on to the affirmative

Don't mess with Mister In-Between

You've got to spread joy up to the maximum

Bring gloom, down to the minimum

Otherwise pandemonium

Liable to walk upon the scene

To illustrate my last remark

Jonah in the whale, Noah in the ark

What did they say

Say when everything looked so dark

Man, they said we better accentuate the positive

Eliminate the negative

Latch on to the affirmative

Don't mess with Mister In-Between

No, don't mess with Mister In-Between

Songwriters: Johnny Mercer / Harold Arlen

Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

What this guy "knows" is wrong but press didn't care

I totally lost it earlier today when I read another news report with someone claiming that bombastic number of "22 a day" referring to veterans taking their lives. How many more times will it take for them to stop using veterans like that? How many more times do reporters have to get embarrassed for not knowing anything about any of this?
This is what I wrote earlier on Google+

"How the hell do people keep getting attention for getting it wrong? Is anyone paying attention to what is real anymore? What this guys "knows" is wrong and as for the "a lot" part, we're looking at over 70 a day and I actually bothered to put it all together because I read the damn reports!!! Good Lord! Nothing will change as long as people keep doing what is easy."

And this is the reason I wrote it.

“I know, it’s a lot,” said Joseph Palesano, after telling a group in attendance at Wednesday’s Kiwanis Club meeting in the basement of Calvary Presbyterian Church in South Pasadena that 22 veterans lose their lives on average to suicide everyday.

So, not to cut through all the crap that is out there, here are the facts.

The "22 a day" rant came from the first VA suicide report, which stated clearly that it was limited data from just 21 states. Not 50, not including all veterans in those numbers and no, not just veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan. 

Also notice this on page 18

The other fact is both reports also stated that majority of veterans they knew about committing suicide were over the age of 50!

This is from the second study, where they had more data, but as you will see, they still didn't have all of it.

In 2001, Veterans accounted for 12.1 percent of the U.S. adult population and 23 percent of all suicides among U.S. adults. Between 2001 and 2014, there were decreases in both the proportion of U.S. adults who were Veterans (8.5 percent in 2014) and the proportion of adult suicide decedents who were Veterans (17.8 percent in 2014). However, changes in the proportion of U.S. adults who were Veterans or the proportion of adults who died by suicide and were Veterans leave gaps in our understanding of changes in rates of suicide among Veterans over time. 

Here is a list from every state on the data you need to know. Why? Because Death Certificate rules on "military service" vary from state to state. Just an example, California and Illinois just passed legislation last year to add it to their Death Certificates. In other words, no one knows how many in states like that.

Speaking of that, if a veteran ended up kicked out instead of being helped to heal, they were not counted at all.

Veterans Voice Suicide Concerns

Representatives of the organization Wellness Works spoke at this week’s South Pasadena Kiwanis Meeting 

It’s an alarming number that members of the Wellness Works organization hope will dwindle over time.“I know, it’s a lot,” said Joseph Palesano, after telling a group in attendance at Wednesday’s Kiwanis Club meeting in the basement of Calvary Presbyterian Church in South Pasadena that 22 veterans lose their lives on average to suicide everyday.That’s everyday he reminded those taking in his somber message. “It’s too many,” he said, following his presentation. “That’s why we’re trying to do something about it.”

Now, how about they start with actually reading the reports before they go to the press? How about they actually study what has been done, what worked and what failed, you know, like when groups decided that older veterans did not need any help, so they left the off the to do list?

How about reporters actually learn some facts or even ask these people what the hell they are doing with the money, when all they seem to be doing is raising money and getting attention for doing that?

I guess I stopped going after them for far too long! It all piled up and exploded. Plus add in none of them are talking about the number of suicides within the military.

UConn Messed Up PTSD Research

This started out to be a post about all the "awareness" being raised across the country. Stunning when you can see all of it just from the beginning of the year. What made this even more stunning was this "research" from University of Connecticut.

"In the survey, the average age of veterans was 35, and they had served in Iran, Afghanistan, and surrounding areas as part of Operations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, and New Dawn. Most of them—62 percent—served in the Army. Seventy-five percent reported exposure to combat."

Yes, you read "Iran" instead of Iraq.  Yes, you read they were only talking about this generation of War on Terror veterans.

"Younger veterans in their 20s, both male and female, reported much less suicide ideation than older vets in their 40s and 50s who completed the survey. Park suspects the finding may be due to the fact that many older veterans of recent conflicts were members of the National Guard or military reserves who were called into service." 

Yes, you just read they think younger veterans are not thinking about suicide as much as older veterans.

This is the part that got me...

Researchers found that veterans who had negative attitudes about religion and spirituality—meaning they felt God was punishing them or that God had abandoned them—were at significantly higher risk for suicide, even after accounting for depression and other variables.  

Interestingly, the researchers found that positive feelings about religion and spirituality—feelings that God is a partner in your life and someone you can turn to for guidance, support and strength—did not significantly reduce veterans’ suicide risk.  

"Most importantly, Park says, the study clearly showed that spiritual struggle among veterans is a separate and independent risk factor for suicide and not just a reflection of people’s depression."  

“This suggests that people are experiencing some profound spiritual struggle over and above any depression they might have,” says Park. “What people experience, what they do, and what they witness can have profound negative effects on them when they come back.” 

So which is it? 

Top that off with their other finding that,

"Among recently returned veterans, a new study says those who are married or living with a partner are at higher suicide risk than soldiers who are single, and older married female veterans are at the greatest risk."

read more here when you're done shaking your head...I need a drink! 

Still time to change the road you’re on, and heal

Not too late for Vietnam veterans to heal
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
December 6, 2017 

“Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run there’s still time to change the road you’re on.”Led Zeppelin

World War I to the first Gulf War -- "second-class veterans"
El Paso Times by Chris Roberts
October 2007

In the past 18 months, 148,000 Vietnam veterans have gone to VA centers reporting symptoms of PTSD "30 years after the war," said Brig. Gen. Michael S. Tucker, deputy commanding general of the North Atlantic Regional Medical Command and Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He recently visited El Paso.

Two-tiered system of healthcare puts veterans of the war on terror at the top and makes everyone else -- from An internal directive from a high-ranking Veterans Affairs official creates a two-tiered system of veterans health care, putting veterans of the global war on terror at the top and making every one else -- from World War I to the first Gulf War -- "second-class veterans," according to some veterans advocates.

"I think they're ever pushing us to the side," said former Marine Ron Holmes, an El Paso resident who founded Veterans Advocates. "We are still in need. We still have our problems, and our cases are being handled more slowly."

Vice Adm. Daniel L. Cooper, undersecretary for benefits in the Department of Veterans Affairs -- in a memo obtained by the El Paso Times -- instructs the department's employees to put Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom veterans at the head of the line when processing claims for medical treatment, vocational rehabilitation, employment and education benefits...

Veterans Affairs officials say prioritizing war-on-terror veterans is necessary because many of them face serious health challenges. But they don't agree that other veterans will suffer, saying that they are hiring thousands of new employees, finding ways to train them more quickly and streamlining the process of moving troops from active duty to veteran status.

"We are concerned about it, and it's something we are watching carefully," said Jerry Manar, deputy director national veterans service for Veterans of Foreign Wars in Washington, D.C. "We'll learn quickly enough from talking with our veterans service officers whether they're seeing a dramatic slowdown in the processing of claims."

Manar and Holmes said Afghanistan and Iraq veterans deserve the best care possible, but so do all other veterans.

Shocking? Not really. I posted it back in 2007 soon after El Paso Times reported it. The thing is, none of what has been happening to our "senior" veterans is new, even though it seems the rest of the country never noticed.

Our generation is pretty much on our own but the truly remarkable thing is, nothing the new generation has for them would have been possible if you did not come home and fight for all of it. 

As you read above, before most of the new groups paid any attention at all, you were fighting for a very long time, then had to get in line behind the newer veterans.

It is easy to wonder why none of these "awareness" raisers noticed any of it until the first VA Veteran Suicide report came out. Back then aside from the warning about the data being taken as "all there is to know" there was this being reported by the Washington Post

To account for uncertainties, researchers gave a range of 18 to 22 veteran suicides a day, which is consistent with previous VA estimates using CDC data. The report does not include some states with the largest veteran population (including California, Texas, Georgia, Arizona and North Carolina), so it is unclear how this would affect the rate.

But safe guess is that it was just an easy number for all of these groups to remember. Too bad they also forgot the other part of the report. 

Meaning that your generation was committing suicide at higher percentages. Why? Because back in 1999, there were over 5 million more veterans in the country. Yes, before the young veterans came back from Afghanistan and Iraq.

As they became the focus of the "project" of the famous group now playing a commercial about naming what PTSD used to be called, like during your generation, they omit the fact that you came home at a rate of 1 out of 3, instead of 1 out of 5. Oh, yes that same group that says how bad it is to be forgotten about. 

Guess they never heard of a study going back to the 70's called "The Forgotten Warrior Project" but none of you forgot about those who came before you any more than you forgot about those who came after you.

The question is, why do you fight so hard for everyone else but yourself?

Within all the reports from the VA, there is one part that stands out. 65% of the veterans committing suicide are over the age of 50.

Most of you are more involved with supporting the groups who want nothing to do with you. 

So when do you start fighting for each other again? 

It is not too late to change the road you're on, after all, that is the message you've been giving to younger veterans since you were younger!