Selfish Owners Use Fraud Service Dogs

Service Dog Frauds: Rising Problem Could Jeopardize Safety Of Truly Dependent People

Hartford Courant
Leonard Felson
October 23, 2018

Dogs trained to perform specific tasks go through rigorous training. It takes two years before service dogs, like the German Shepherd guide dogs trained by Fidelco at its two centers — one in Bloomfield, the other in Wilton — are placed with clients. That’s 15,000 hours of training, “more instruction than our kids get in kindergarten through college,” says Russman, and $45,000 in direct costs. Therapy dogs such as the ones Quinn trains go through 2,000 hours of task training in addition to obedience training.

Eliot D. Russman, president and CEO of the national Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation, sits with several German Shepherds at the training center in Bloomfield. (Brad Horrigan)

On a recent Hartford-bound flight from Florida, a couple boarded with two vest-clad rare-breed small dogs. As they settled in their seats, they took the dogs’ vests off, unleashed them, and over the duration of the flight, as the human passengers dozed off, the dogs wandered up and down the aisle, even after flight attendants warned the couple to hold on to their pet companions.

It isn’t the first time Eliot D. Russman, a passenger on the flight and head of Bloomfield-based Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation, has witnessed a spreading trend: dog owners taking their pets wherever they want, often under the ruse that the canines are emotional support animals, with online-purchased harnesses, vests and identification cards meant to prove it.

“There’s a growing sense of entitlement that people want what they want and they don’t care about anyone else,” says Russman, president and CEO of the nonprofit organization that breeds, trains and raises German Shepherds as guide dogs for the blind across North America. “It’s plain and simple selfishness.”

Service dogs have been assisting their owners for generations, not only guiding the blind, but also retrieving and helping stabilize their owners’ gait.
read more here

Veteran with PTSD overcome by flyover during Invictus and comforted

Tears of a hero: The heartwarming moment Invictus competitors comfort a veteran whose PTSD was triggered by a helicopter flying overhead

Daily Mail Australia

Mark Brook

October 23, 2018

• A heartwarming moment at the 2018 Invictus Games in Sydney has left spectators in tears
• Paul Guest, who suffers from PTSD became visibly upset during his wheelchair tennis match on Monday 
• The 54-year-old Navy serviceman was frightened by a helicopter flying overhead and became upset 
• Guest, who was comforted by his Dutch teammate Edwin Vermetten, was injured serving in Northern Ireland

Paul Guest (left) was so overcome with emotion he was unable to play and needed to be comforted by Dutch teammate Edwin Vermetten (right), who realised he was suffering

The touching moment an Invictus Games competitor comforted a fellow veteran suffering from PTSD has left spectators in tears.

British mine warfare specialist Paul Guest was visibly shaken when a helicopter flew by during his wheelchair tennis doubles match at Sydney Olympic Park on Monday.

The 54-year-old, who was injured serving during The Troubles in Northern Ireland, was so overcome with emotion he was unable to play and needed to be comforted by Dutch teammate Edwin Vermetten, who realised he was suffering.

read more here

Disturbed gives military reason to fight the demon of PTSD

Dan Donegan Talks About Disturbed's New LP and Upcoming USO Shows

Military.com
Under the Radar
22 Oct 2018

Guitarist and founding member Dan Donegan took time to talk with us about the new album and the band's longtime support for military men and women.

Disturbed is Mike Wengren (drums), Dan Donegan (guitar), David Draiman (vocals) and John Moyer (bass) (Photo by Travis Shinn)

So you've got a new album coming out this week.

It's called "Evolution." We're excited. We've been sitting on it for a few months now. We finished up with it in the springtime. We're branching out with the sound. There are some acoustic tracks in there along with some heavier tracks as well. The band did a lot of exploring and experimenting and we came up with a great body of work that we're excited to share with everyone.

Hard rock legends Disturbed just released their seventh studio album "Evolution" last Friday and they're playing USO shows at Creech Air Force Base in Indian Springs, Nevada, and Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas this week to celebrate.

The shows are open to everyone with Military ID and the band members will be visiting service members on base October 22 and 23.

Disturbed has always always had a big following in the active duty military. Is that something you noticed early on?

For sure. Early on with even the release of our first album, "The Sickness," we learned very quickly that we had a large military fanbase. We're strong supporters of our troops and we've made it a point to try to reach out to them and do what we can, whether it's meet and greets or going to bases or performing. Back in 2008, we performed in Kuwait for the troops. We take any opportunity we get to bring them a little break in their everyday life and bring some entertainment.
read more here

Reason to Fight

Disturbed

The image in your eyes

Reflecting the pain that has taken you

I hear it in your voice, so ridden with shame

From what's ailing you

I won't give up so don't give in

You've fallen down but you can rise again

So don't give up

When the demon that's inside you is ready to begin

And it feels like it's a battle that you will never win

When you're aching for the fire and begging for your sin

When there's nothing left inside, there's still a reason to fight

Lost in your world of lies

I find it so hard to believe in you

Can it be real this time?

Or just a part of this game that we're playing through

I won't give up so don't give in

You've fallen down but you will rise again

I won't give up

When the demon that's inside you is ready to begin

And it feels like it's a battle that you will never win

When you're aching for the fire and begging for your sin

When there's nothing left inside, there's still a reason to fight

Don't let it take your soul

Look at me take control

When knowing to fight this war

This is nothing worth dying for

Are you ready to begin?

This is a battle that we are gonna win

When you're aching for the fire and begging for your sin

When there's nothing left inside, there's still a reason

When the demon that's inside you is ready to begin

And it feels like it's a battle that you will never win

When you're aching for the fire and begging for your sin

When there's nothing left inside, there's still a reason to fight

I'll be your reason to fight

Give you a reason to fight

Wisconsin has a Hope Line to prevent suicides

'There's nobody to lie to': Vet shares success story of texting suicide prevention hotline

Channel 3000 WISC TV
By: Jamie Perez
Posted: Oct 18, 2018

KAUKANA, Wis. - The Center for Suicide Awareness in Kaukana is celebrating four years of saving lives. On Oct. 10,the center celebrated its anniversary. While the center itself is helping decrease the number of suicides across the state of Wisconsin, one method is providing a unique way for that to happen.

"You text the word Hopeline to 741741 and then send," said Barb Bigalke, founder of the center. "It doesn't cost anything, it doesn't take away from your minute plan, so it really is a free service."

Crum is a Marine Corps veteran who struggled with negative thoughts after his service. Crum said he had a tough time with relationships, jobs and other mental and emotional factors in his life. He said he needed a complete stranger to talk to in order to finally be honest with himself. He texted the Hopeline.

"You don't have to lie to anybody," Crum said. "I think sometimes we tend to lie to ourselves. There's nobody to lie to. There's nobody to give a false sense of everything is OK. So in that moment I was like, 'OK I need to be truthful with myself.' Through texting, all of that stigma and and those barriers are kind of taken away."

Crum said you don't have to be actively suicidal to use the Hopeline. He said you could just be having a bad day, in a state of depression or a myriad of other reasons. He said the Hopeline is for anyone to use to actively prevent anything bad from happening in the future.

"Whether you're 10 years old or 60 years old or a veteran or LGBTQ, we've got a myriad of different ages, races, populations to text it and say, 'I need help.'"

Crum said it helped him get through one of the most difficult times of his life. It worked so well for him, he found his own purpose out of it. Crum now works at the Center for Suicide Awareness helping save others' lives.
read more here

VA Security Guard sent away homeless veteran despite rules

Left in cold by VA medical center, homeless veteran finds kindness in strangers

Boston Globe
Brian MacQuarrie
Globe Staff
October 22, 2018

VA officials said they have no record of an encounter that night between Franks and VA security officers. Under the Bedford VA’s policy, any veteran who turns up homeless can be sheltered in the urgent-care area if no other beds are available, agency officials said.

CRAIG F. WALKER/GLOBE STAFF Navy veteran Norman Franks spent four months in a cramped tent in a campsite on the grounds of Hanscom Air Force Base. (Craig F. Walker/Globe Staff)

BEDFORD — At 2 a.m. on a chilly May morning, Norman Franks sat slumped in a chair in a TV lounge at the Department of Veterans Affairs medical center, fighting for snatches of sleep under the glare of ceiling lights, he said.

A Navy veteran of the late 1970s, Franks had led a troubled life. His addiction to crack cocaine led to a long series of armed robberies, which led to 15 years in prison. Now, he found himself homeless.

Franks wanted a clean start, but first he needed a place to live. With no good options, he made his way to the Bedford veterans complex, an outpost of a sprawling federal agency that takes its motto from Abraham Lincoln’s promise “to care for him who shall have borne the battle.”

Instead, he spent the night in the woods, shivering under a tarp. He stayed there for four of the next five nights, then spent the next four months in a cramped tent in a campsite on the grounds of Hanscom Air Force Base.

As the weeks passed, Franks fell deeper into despair. But slowly, unexpectedly, he was reclaiming some of his life, thanks to a devoted group of strangers — members of an American Legion post, volunteers from a Catholic parish, even from a congressman’s staff — who felt obliged to aid a veteran in need.
read more here

Five British Army OE OIF veterans committed suicide in one week

Five British Army heroes die in a week as MoD launches probe into suicides among 228,000 troops who served in Iraq and Afghanistan

Daily Mail
Zoie O'Brien
October 21, 2018

Ministers have now announced a study into the 'caused of death including rates of suicide' from anyone who has died since serving in Iraq or Afghanistan. There have been repeated complaints about the way post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among veterans and serving soldiers is managed.

British airmen shelter from the dust thrown up from a helicopter in Basra, Iraq in 2009

Five British Army soldiers who were active on the front line have died suddenly in just one week.

The tragic deaths of the servicemen come as it was revealed as many as 42 former or serving servicemen and women are believed to have committed suicide this year alone.

Five people died between September 26 and October 1 in tragic circumstances, according to the Sunday Times.

They are believed to have served in the forces in conflicts including Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan.
read more here

From Firehouse to Homeless Veterans House in Santa Rosa

Veterans find new affordable housing in old Santa Rosa firehouse

Press Democrat
Will Schmitt
October 19, 2018

About 40 veterans have housing vouchers but cannot find a place to live due to Sonoma County’s shortage of affordable housing, officials said. “We need about a thousand of these,” Mayor Chris Coursey said at Friday’s open house. “Maybe not a thousand, but we need a lot of these.”

Kent Porter/Press Democrat

Traci Swank-Chrisco can’t wait to move in. Standing between the old Benton Street firehouse and a new apartment complex, she reminisced about being homeless twice in her life, including a stretch where she was raising her son. The Santa Rosa native and former Army private has a place with roommates now, but the second-floor apartment at the new Benton Veterans Village will be just for her when she moves in next week.

“It’s the first place that I’ve had since I got out of the Army that I don’t have to share with a lover, a child, or a roommate,” she said. “It’s monumental.”

The new homes for Swank- Chrisco and six other formerly homeless veterans are part of the $3.6 million Benton Veterans Village development, which came to be through a joint effort led by the nonprofit developer Community Housing Sonoma County. The new apartments were built adjacent to the repurposed Santa Rosa firehouse, which in recent years has served as a food pantry.

An open house was held Friday to celebrate the progress and the promise of the property.
read more here

Isn't it time for you to fight and #TakeBackYourLife

PTSD Patrol Beat the Demon

PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
October 21, 2018

Spreading "suicides awareness" has met a dead end. It makes no sense to keep going down the road you do not belong on! 


Whenever someone reminds you there are veterans taking their own lives, start thinking about how to #TakeBackYourLife.

You already survived what caused PTSD and the demon to come into your life. Do it again! Only this time, give him the finger and tell him he cannot defeat you now!

go here for video

Yesterday was the Orlando Nam Knights Biketoberfest Party. Just before you get to the clubhouse, there is a "Dead End" sign. It got me thinking about how all the "suicide awareness" is in realty, a dead end.

It offers no hope. It offers reminders that more veterans lost their battle with the demons of PTSD to other veterans trying to fight them. 

Where is the hope in that message?

Some of my friends helped me with the video. The one in the Reaper costume, Tony, put it on even though it was 94 degrees here in Orlando. Skip did a great job with being rescued by Susan. That is the message of PTSD Patrol. Friends helping friends because they needed it. 

You may feel as if you have to fight your own demons all by yourself. Yet when you think about what was going on when you were involved in the events that caused PTSD, you were not alone then. Why fight this time by yourself when you do not have to? Isn't it time for you to fight and #TakeBackYourLife?

Orlando Nam Knights Eternal Chapter Memorial Ceremony

Orlando Nam Knights Eternal Chapter held their annual memorial for fallen members during Biketoberfest party

CNN Hero PTSD Veteran Chris Stout Helping All Generations

CNN HERO CHRIS STOUT

WTVA
CNN
Posted: Oct. 19, 2018

Chris Stout's nonprofit provides tiny houses and support to homeless veterans and assists any local vet with jobs, transportation and other issues.
"It provides everything these guys need to live with dignity, safely, and then fix what got them there in the first place." 

Leo Morris served in the Air Force. Karen Carter patrolled with the Coast Guard. Henry Owens enlisted in the Navy.

These veterans all served their country. They've also shared another experience: homelessness.

"You feel a sense of desperation, loneliness," said Owens, who was homeless for eight years. "I had no hope."

Today, they have another common bond: They are neighbors. Each one lives in a tiny home in the Veterans' Village in Kansas City, Missouri -- run by the Veterans Community Project.

The nonprofit is the vision of a group of young veterans led by former US Army Corporal Chris Stout.

After being wounded in Afghanistan in 2005 and returning home, Stout struggled with his injury and PTSD. He enjoyed being around veterans and got a job connecting vets to services they needed. But he was frustrated by the gaps and inefficiencies he saw. At times, Stout used his own money to put homeless veterans up in hotel rooms.

In 2015, he and a few buddies quit their jobs and started their organization.

"We are the place that says 'yes' first and figures everything else out later," Stout said. "We serve anybody who's ever raised their hand to defend our Constitution."

Stout found that many homeless veterans didn't like traditional shelters because they were unsafe or lacked privacy. When he learned about tiny homes, he quickly realized that a cluster of them made a lot of sense.
read more here