Veterans in Chicago take lead on helping other veterans

Special Segment: Hope and Help for Veterans

Stacey Baca

December 14, 2010 (CHICAGO) (WLS) -- Service members returning home this holiday season, especially from Iraq and Afghanistan - may notice messages on billboards and bus stops. The Department of Veteran Affairs is reaching out to try to prevent suicide and help those with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Throughout Chicagoland, there is a push to help all veterans and men and women in uniform, especially those with PTSD. ABC 7 took a hopeful look at ways veterans and others are helping military members who need it most.

Brent Lewis is a Naperville restaurant manager and a Marine who served in Iraq seven years ago.

"I lost Marines ... it's hard to move on from that be positive with that," said Lewis.

He returned home with PTSD. In Naperville, loud noises made him duck behind corners and some odors triggered thoughts of the war. And then he met Dr. Laura Bokar.

"Brent was ready," said Dr. Bokar.

Dr. Bokar, who practices rapid resolution therapy, says rather than just listen, the therapist guides the process.

"It's a whole different focus, and again, the therapist is responsible. It's effect driven. That is what we're going to do, this is how we're going to do it, and this is where I'm going to get you. You don't have to think about how we're going to get there - that's my job," said Dr. Bokar.

For others, there is the spiritual approach. Sister Linda McClenahan, a decorated Vietnam vet and PTSD survivor, lived the pain of war.

"I lost God in Vietnam, completely. I didn't believe in God anymore. I was angry," said Sister McClenahan.

Now, Sister McClenahan, also known as Sister Sarge, leads free spiritual retreats for all vets living with PTSD. It's part of Mayslake Ministries in Lombard.
read more here
Hope and Help for Veterans

Homeless Navy Veteran still does right thing with found wallet

UPDATE

Job offers pour in for homeless veteran that returned wallet




A homeless veteran found a wallet and brought it to the police station because he knew it belonged to someone else. This is a story that may get you to think about our homeless veterans in a different way. His own kids won't get gifts from him because he has no money. He lives on the streets asking for help but never taking what is not given to him.

Homeless veteran finds, returns wallet filled with cash
Posted by Andrew Ryan, Globe Metro Desk December 14, 2010 10:00 PM
By David Filipov, Globe Staff and L. Finch, Globe Correspondent

Maybe it was the holiday spirit. Maybe it was because it was the right thing to do.

Or maybe it was a little bit of both that inspired Brian Christopher to perform a simple act of kindness.

The 49-year-old Navy veteran was walking near City Hall yesterday when something on the ground caught his eye. It looked like a comic book. Christopher, an amateur artist, picked it up.

It was a wallet with $172 in it. But no credit cards, license or any other identification.

What would you do? While you are thinking about that, consider this: Christopher is homeless. He has no income. He has three children, ages 14, 12, and 10, in Maryland. He really, really could have used the cash.

Instead, he brought the wallet to the closest police station, where an officer found a receipt inside with a name and telephone number. The police officer used that to track down the owner, who picked up the wallet. All the money was there.
read more here
Homeless veteran finds, returns wallet filled with cash

Dedicated to helping other veterans, thieves stole his equipment

Disabled vet ripped off by thieves

By Meaghan Smith

LEE COUNTY: A North Fort Myers man says a man he hired to do yard work stole the parts he uses to repair old cars and motorcycles to help disabled veterans get around. And we spoke to that man accused of stealing those items.

It's a sad day for disabled veteran Lenny Apichel.

"It makes it rough," he said.

The 67-year-old Vietnam vet builds three-wheeled bikes so the handicapped can ride. The do-gooder says he lives to help other disabled veterans.

"We help a lot of veterans out. We help the disabled out," he said. "A lot of fellows out there want to have fun like we can, so this is their way of getting around."

But thanks to the thieves, now he can't do that.
read more here
http://www.nbc-2.com/Global/story.asp?S=13672859

Vietnam Veterans of America fight for justice for wrongfully discharged veterans

Vets sue Pentagon on discharges

By Joseph Picard | December 15, 2010 1:51 AM GMT
The Vietnam Veterans of America is going to sue the Department of Defense for, the group says, wrongfully discharging nearly 26,000 service members for "Personality Disorder."

The veterans organization will hold a press conference call Friday to discuss the legal action.

"The Department of Defense has violated the law by failing to release records showing that it has wrongfully discharged nearly 26,000 service members on the basis of so-called "Personality Disorder," the VVA said in a release. "This Personality Disorder designation has prevented disabled veterans from receiving the disability compensation and other benefits they have earned."
read more here
http://uk.ibtimes.com/articles/92138/20101215/military-veterans.htm

"Police say maggots ate her alive" but husband finds mercy

Don't judge until you read this.

Man Gets Probation, Treatment For Wife's Death

A local man learns his sentence today for his role in the very disturbing death of his wife. Some may find the details of this story very graphic. Darrel White's wife Jorene was bedridden at the time of her death. Police say maggots ate her alive.

This is a rare case where everyone involved seemed to agree on the appropriate punishment - and it doesn't include any prison time. Darrel White will spend five years on probation and he'll start receiving mental health treatment at an inpatient facility immediately.
read more here
Man Gets Probation, Treatment For Wife's Death

120 disabled Veterans and their families are traveling to Walt Disney World in Orlando

Military Members and Veterans with Disabilities

Learn Life-Changing Skills

VA to Offer Educational Breakouts

WASHINGTON - This week more than 120 wounded military personnel,
disabled Veterans and their families are traveling to Walt Disney World
in Orlando for the 6th Annual Road to Recovery Conference. The
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is providing on-site counseling and
information about VA programs.

"VA is honored to work with our partners in the private sector and
Veterans service organizations to help America's heroes and their
families, particularly Veterans who are facing unique challenges," said
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki.

The week-long event is presented by The Coalition to Salute America's
Heroes and the American Legion.

VA will have counselors on site to provide one-on-one counseling. Other
VA employees will be available to provide participants with information
about health care and financial benefits available to injured military
personnel, Veterans and family members.

Participants will attend more than 40 hours of seminars, workshops, and
panel discussion devoted to enhancing personal relationships and
providing information on benefits, services, insurance, health care,
financial support and employment opportunities. Experts from
government, the private sector and other non-profits groups will also be
on hand to offer advice and guidance on resume rewriting, career
counseling and many more topics.

Representatives from the U.S. Olympic Committee's paralympic program
will be on site to discuss the new joint VA-Paralympic program for
disabled service men and women who may be interested in representing
their country as a U.S. Paralympian.

For more information about the Road to Recovery Conference, visit
www.saluteheroes.org , or contact Jose
Llamas, VA public affairs coordinator, at (202) 461-7549

Man lied about being a SEAL topped off with claim of having PTSD

There was a time when no one wanted to admit they had PTSD, now it seems as if this fraud thought it was a badge of honor like the claim about being a SEAL. He took advantage of a lot of people's good hearts and from this day on, they will question every veteran they meet because they trusted this impostor looking to "be more" than he was.

Man's military story turns out to be untrue
BY SCHUYLER KROPF
skropf@postandcourier.com
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Last week, Les Agro of Summerville told a story about being a Navy SEAL who'd taken part in the 1991 liberation of Kuwait. It was a tale he's convincingly spun for at least eight years.

On Tuesday, Agro admitted he's an impostor.

"I wanted to be more than I am," he said of the lie he's told to his family, the American Legion, a therapy provider and the newspaper. He did serve five years in the Navy, discharged as a petty officer second class, records show.

Agro, 43, was featured in a front-page Post and Courier story Monday about post- traumatic stress disorder and an effort to provide vets peace through horse-riding therapy. The interview took place on the Ridgeville farm where Leslie and Sidney Clark operate Horses In Service Ministries, a faith-based nonprofit that hopes to strengthen ties between PTSD victims and their families. Agro has a wife and three children.

During the interview, Agro, a barrel-chested man who wears his hair military-style short, spoke of the bond forged with comrades in combat, even becoming emotional about his experiences. He also claimed to have been wounded during the liberation of Kuwait.
read more here

Man's military story turns out to be untrue/

Florida school board meeting ends with gunman's self-inflicted death

Staring at Death: 'God Blocked the Bullet,' Fla. School Official Says
Dec 15, 2010 – 12:30 PM
by Lisa Flam

(Dec. 15) -- With a heavily armed ex-convict shooting directly at him, a Florida schools superintendent was prepared to die but said today he was saved when "God blocked the bullet."

"I was very confident that I was going to get shot. I wasn't pulling for it, but I was ready if that was going to happen," Bay City Schools Superintendent Bill Husfelt said today on ABC's "Good Morning America." "I knew where I would go if I were to pass away. I was very prepared for that."

The gunman, Clay A. Duke, opened fire on Husfelt at a school board meeting Tuesday night in Panama City, but nobody was hit. A security officer, Mike Jones, exchanged fire with Duke, wounding him. Duke, 56, then fatally shot himself with a 9 mm handgun, the only casualty of the violence caught on videotape.

"He was pointing right at me," Husfelt recalled on CBS' "The Early Show." "God blocked the bullet. I really believe that."

read more here
God Blocked the Bullet

School chief who tried to calm Fla. school board shooter in 'surreal' ordeal says faith helped



PANAMA CITY, Fla. (AP) — A 56-year-old ex-convict calmly held a school board at gunpoint and said he was seeking redress for his wife's firing before shooting at the superintendent at short range and then killing himself.

No bullets struck the superintendent, Bill Husfelt, who credited God for his escape late Tuesday. The gunman, Clay A. Duke, apparantly created a Facebook page last week that refers to class warfare and is laced with images from the movie "V for Vendetta," in which a mysterious figure battles a totalitarian government.

"We could tell by the look in his eyes that this wasn't going to end well," Husfelt later told The Associated Press.

As the Bay City school board was in the midst of a discussion Tuesday, Duke walked to the front of the room, spray painted a red "V'' with a circle around it on the white wall, then turned and waved a handgun. He calmly ordered everyone to "hit the road" except the men on the board sitting behind a long beige desk.
read more here
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/sns-ap-us-school-board-shooting,0,1838964.story

Patrick D. Deans: Orlando soldier killed in Afghanistan

Patrick D. Deans of Orlando was killed Sunday in Afghanistan. (U.S. Army / December 14, 2010)

Patrick D. Deans: Orlando soldier killed in Afghanistan
Spc. Patrick D. Deans, whose father is a corporal with the Orange County Sheriff's Office, was killed Sunday in the Kandahar province of Afghanistan.

By Gary Taylor and Susan Jacobson, Orlando Sentinel
7:59 p.m. EST, December 14, 2010

It's clear from Spc. Patrick D. Deans' Facebook page that he understood the danger inherent in becoming a soldier.

"A Veteran is someone, who at one point in their life, wrote a blank check payable to the United States of America for an amount up to, and including their life," Deans posted on his wall Nov. 10. "That is beyond honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer remember that fact."

A little more than a month later, Deans was one of six soldiers killed in Kandahar province, Afghanistan by a suicide bomber. He died Sunday, two days before his 23rd birthday.

Deans served in Iraq during his first tour of duty and was sent to Afghanistan after he reenlisted, said Butch Herdegen, 23, one of Deans' closest friends.

The only child of Patrick M. Deans, a corporal with the Orange County Sheriff's Office, and his ex-wife, Robyn Deans, of Seminole County, Deans grew up in east Orange County.

The family moved to Narcoossee in east Osceola County, where Deans attended Harmony High and played on the school football team. He moved back to east Orange with his dad and graduated in 2006 from Timber Creek High, Herdegen said.

read more here
Patrick D. Deans: Orlando soldier killed in Afghanistan

also another solider from Florida, Specialist Jorge E. Villacis, 24, of Sunrise, killed in same attack



Soldier from Sunrise killed in Afghanistan

Senate OKs GI Bill improvements

Senate OKs GI Bill improvements
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Dec 14, 2010 21:11:28 EST
In an unexpected drive toward the goal line, the Senate approved a long-delayed package of improvements in the Post-9/11 GI Bill, raising the possibility this legislation, once thought dead, would become law by the end of the year.

Friday is the target adjournment date for Congress, leaving little time for action. At the moment, GI Bill legislation is not on the schedule of measures to be taken up by the House this week, but the schedule is in constant flux.

Passage of the bill this year has been a high priority for veterans’ groups, especially Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, which has been complaining about congressional inaction on veteran-related bills.

Passed by voice vote, the bill, S 3447, makes some major changes in the year-old education benefits program — including added vocational and technical education to the covered classes — allows active-duty service members and their spouses to receive a $1,000 per year good allowance, and provides a living stipend to students who are enrolled in distance learning.

It also expands the types of duty by Guard and reserve members that qualify for benefits.

Most of the changes would not take effect until one year after the bill becomes law.

One of the major changes in the bill is the creation of less complex formula for deciding tuition and fee reimbursement for private institutions and for people taking graduate courses at public and private schools. Instead of setting a reimbursement cap for each state, based on the highest in-state rates for tuition and fees charged by a four-year public college or university, the bill would create a flat-rate cap for the entire U.S. of $20,000 a year for tuition and fees. In cases where tuition exceeds the $17,500, the existing Yellow Ribbon program, where a school and the VA make matching contributions to cover higher fees, would continue.
read more here
Senate OKs GI Bill improvements

Republicans Block $250 COLA Check Veterans, Seniors

We all know how hard they fought for the tax breaks for the rich. They fought so hard that unemployment, tax cuts for regular people and everything else could end because they wanted to make sure the rich got their tax cuts. If that was not enough to let people know they are don't care about us, then this should finally clear things up once and for all. They couldn't even let Veterans and seniors get a lousy $250 check to replace the cost of living we're not getting.

Republicans Block $250 COLA Check Veterans, Seniors

Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives voted down a bill to provide another $250 payment to Social Security recipients and disabled veterans. The payment is meant to replace a lost cost-of-living increase for 2011.

“I find it unconscionable that Republicans are blocking a little bit of help – $250 – for seniors and for men and women who risked their lives for our country, and at the same time Republicans are demanding a $700 billion tax break for the wealthy, millionaires and billionaires,” said Congressman Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan after the vote.

141 Republicans voted against H.R. 5987, the Seniors Protection Act, which would have given seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities who receive Social Security a one-time $250 payment in 2011.
read more here
Republicans Block $250 COLA Check Veterans, Seniors

Veteran ordered to pay back government over false claim

Surfside Beach man ordered to pay around $500,000 back to federal government

A Surfside Beach man was sentenced in federal court on Thursday for theft of government funds.

Frank C. Vass, Jr., 56, of Surfside Beach, was sentenced to 27 months imprisonment and 5 years supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $483,532.25 in restitution to the Veterans Affairs Administration and to the Social Security Administration, according to the U.S attorney's office in Columbia.

Evidence presented at the hearing established that Frank filed false claims and lied to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs about his physical condition by claiming that he was only able to walk a few steps at a time and required to remain in a wheelchair all other times.


Read more: Surfside Beach man ordered to pay

Vietnam Vet, Jacksonville Native Killed In Line Of Duty

Jacksonville Native Killed In Line Of Duty
62-Year-Old Deputy Shot During Domestic Violence Call In Mississippi
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A Jacksonville native working as a deputy in Mississippi is now a fallen hero.

Deputy DeWayne Crenshaw was killed in the line of duty Friday on a domestic violence call near Ripley, Miss.

Franklin Fitzpatrick, 26, who was arrested in the shooting of the Vietnam veteran, faces capital murder charges.

"He spent his life protecting his country and the public," said Denzell Sapp, Crenshaw's brother-in-law. "That's what he wanted to do. That's what he did."

Crenshaw's family said he did nothing but serve in his 62 years of life. He was awarded two purple hearts as a U.S. Army paratrooper in Vietnam. He worked as the corrections officer at a prison.

And most recently, he worked as a sheriff's deputy in northern Mississippi.
read more here
Jacksonville Native Killed In Line Of Duty

Iraq veteran shot by police suffered PTSD

Wife: Iraq veteran shot by police suffered PTSD

Dec 11, 2010 3:29pm

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — The wife of a Fort Carson soldier who was wounded during a confrontation with Army police says he had been sent home early from Iraq this summer after becoming suicidal.


On Sept. 22, Army police went to the home of Spc. Anthony Nicolas Jumangit, 23, at Fort Carson after his wife said he was threatening to cut himself with a knife. Officials said police shot him in the hand in self-defense after he allegedly advanced toward them.

Jumangit, of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, had repeatedly warned his supervisors that he didn't believe he was mentally fit to deploy last March after a close friend died during a combat tour that ended in 2008, his wife, Rebecca Jumangit, told The Gazette.

After he came home early in July, Jumangit complained that his antidepressant medication wasn't working, and he struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder so severe that he avoided driving and visiting crowded stores, she said.

"They just ignored him," she said.

read more here
Iraq veteran shot by police suffered PTSD