Trump Appointee Thinks PTSD Vets are Faking!

Trump appointee, former Navy SEAL, resigns after deriding military veterans with PTSD

The Washington Post

By ELI ROSENBERG

Published: January 18, 2018

An appointee of President Donald Trump has resigned from the federal agency that runs AmeriCorps and other service programs after remarks he made disparaging blacks, Muslims, gays, women, veterans with PTSD and undocumented immigrants surfaced in the news media.

Carl Higbie lasted less than six months as the chief of external affairs in the Corporation for National and Community Service.

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In other audio unearthed by CNN, Higbie, a former Navy SEAL, derided military veterans with PTSD as having "a weak mind," and said he thought a large majority of people with PTSD were being dishonest. 

"I'd say 75 percent of people with PTSD don't actually have it, and they're either milking something for a little extra money in disability or they're just, they honestly are just lying," he said on another talk radio show in 2014.

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Nonetheless, he was appointed to the position at the CNCS, which runs AmeriCorps and other volunteering initiatives, and has programs dedicated to rebuilding after natural disasters and supporting veterans and their families, including helping them transition once they return home. read more here and check back later on this

From CNN  aside from the other sickening things he had to say, which are too many to list here, this is more of the above report from CNN, with audio, if you can stand to hear the words out of his mouth. Reading them were bad enough, but listening to him was even worse.

"Yeah I'm a gonna go out on limb here and say, a lot of people are going to disagree with this comment," Higbie said on Sound of Freedom in February 2013. "But severe PTSD, where guys are bugging out and doing violent acts, is a trait of a weak mind. Now things like (military member) Brandon, where he was legitimately blown up and a loud noise makes him on edge -- completely understandable, but when someone performs an act of violence that is a, it is a weak mind. That is a crazy person, and the fact that they're trying to hide it behind PTSD makes me want to vomit.""I'd say 75% of people with PTSD don't actually have it, and they're either milking something for a little extra money in disability or they're just, they honestly are just lying," Higbie said in August 2014, as a guest on an Internet radio show. "Twenty-five percent legitimately do have problems. They have bad dreams. They can't cope. They have problems with noises and things like that. And I really think there are people that cannot deal with the stress of combat and some people can."

Associated Press
Published on Oct 3, 2016

Donald Trump is drawing criticism after he appeared to suggest that veterans who suffer from PTSD might not be as strong as those who don't. Trump made the reference while discussing his desire to improve mental health services for veterans. (Oct. 3)

Guess he didn't know the number changed...the reported number anyway.

VA Conducts Nation’s Largest Analysis of Veteran Suicide July 7, 2016, 09:56:00 AM WASHINGTON — The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has undertaken the most comprehensive analysis of Veteran suicide rates in the U.S., examining over 55 million Veteran records from 1979 to 2014 from every state in the nation. The effort extends VA’s knowledge from the previous report issued from 2012, which examined three million Veteran records from 20 states were available. Based on the 2012 data, VA estimated the number of Veteran deaths by suicide averaged 22 per day. The current analysis indicates that in 2014, an average of 20 Veterans a day died from suicide.

But then again,  there were others, like Gen. Raymond Odierno

Considering there are Medal of Honor Heroes, other Generals, Navy SEAL, Green Berets, Special Forces from all generations, saying they have PTSD...doubtful any of these men would be willing to look one of them in the eye and tell them they were not tough enough to take it!

Iowa Veterans Given Unproved PTSD Treatment?

It is stunning what comes out of some articles that you think may have absolutely nothing to do with veterans and then discover something like this!

"At the time, some mental health professionals were questioning the ministry's efforts to recruit hundreds of Iowa military veterans to participate in an unproven treatment program for post-traumatic stress disorder. “Operation Zhero” used unlicensed, volunteer counselors to provide free-of-charge counseling to soldiers who returned home from the war with PTSD."

You can read the rest of the article here 

State agency head fired; audit shows $380,000 of misspending

 The San Diego Union Tribune took a look at that group in 2016. The headline question was "Can faith help cure PTSD?

The answer to that question is, it can help them heal but not cure them. If I did not believe that, I would't have been invested in it for over 35 years. Point Man International Ministries would not have been invested in it for almost as long. It does work but only if it is done right.

The question in my mind right now is why would so many groups pop up around the country, claiming to be doing what has been done, and honestly, done right, for all these years? Especially when Point Man has been doing it with all generations of veterans and not like this...

"What he (Chad Robichaux) credits with saving him is faith. Now, his Temecula-based nonprofit group is part of a nationwide circle of Christianity-based programs focused on post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, as a generation of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans suffer the aftermath of combat." 

Maybe if they knew the majority of the veterans the VA knows about, were not OEF or OIF veterans, but over the age of 50, they would have done things differently. 

Congress wants to know why 4 top VA jobs still open

Senators call out Shulkin on VA’s unfilled top jobs
STARS AND STRIPES
By NIKKI WENTLING
Published: January 17, 2018

WASHINGTON — Why four top jobs within the Department of Veterans Affairs remain unfilled nearly one year after President Donald Trump took office drew the attention of members of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee on Wednesday as they questioned VA Secretary David Shulkin about the state of the agency.

VA Secretary David Shulkin raises his hand to take an oath before the start of a Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs hearing on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2018, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.
CARLOS BONGIOANNI/STARS AND STRIPES

The VA, the second-largest federal department, is operating without permanent leaders for its benefits administration and large health care system. Also missing are its IT leader and the assistant secretary for the agency’s new accountability and whistleblower protection office. The leadership void came up at the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing, where Shulkin gave testimony on the “State of the VA.”

“One thing that concerns me deeply is the four positions that remain unfilled in the department,” said Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., the committee chairman. “I know you’re trying, but this is one of those things where an ‘A’ for effort isn’t enough.”

The job of undersecretary for benefits has been vacant since October 2015, when then-undersecretary Allison Hickey resigned after being implicated in a government watchdog report for helping two VA employees manipulate the department hiring system.

The VA created a commission last spring to choose a new undersecretary. Shulkin told senators Wednesday that the commission sent three names to the White House. Their first choice for the job withdrew, Shulkin said, and Trump’s administration is now vetting the second choice.
read more here

Senior Chief Brad stress reliever...retriever

Naval Base Uses Unique Strategy to Combat Suicides, Stress: A Dog
Fox News
By Terace Garnier
18 Jan 2018

There are only 29 dogs across the country with this ability, according to Kim Hyde, a manager with Southeastern Guide Dogs.

Sr. Chief Brad posing for the camera on Joint Base Andrews. (Fox News)

Every day, Senior Chief Brad greets sailors and Marines as they enter a military clinic for their regular doctor's appointments. Throughout the day, he makes his rounds and visits patients sitting in the waiting area, cuddling with them briefly. If he senses they are down, he takes action.

But he's no medical professional. He's a golden retriever yellow lab mix initially trained as a seeing-eye dog, a post-traumatic stress disorder therapy dog and, now, a stress dog.

As suicides across the military have steadily increased since 2013, according to the Department of Defense (DOD), a naval clinic on Joint Base Andrews in Maryland has found a secret weapon to sniff out military members dealing with extreme stress -- a dog.

When Senior Chief Brad senses someone is down, he instantly alerts his handler, Chief Bobby Long. Long, a medical technician, counsels the patient to figure out if they need professional help.

"People that need a little extra attention or are maybe showing signs of irritability, stress, depression, whatever it could be; he will really focus in on that person and then he wants my attention," Long said. "Some of the science behind that shows that dogs can pick up on pheromones that people emit when they are highly stressed and some science points to body language, cues that people leave."
read more here

How can you help a veteran with PTSD?

Not just a face in a crowd
PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
January 16, 2018

How can you help a veteran with PTSD? The same way they were wounded in the first place. Whenever you see pictures of a wounded service member, you do not see massive crowds surrounding them. You see a few of the members of their own unit coming to help help. And that is how it needs to be done when the wound is cut deeply into their soul.

That is what Point Man International Ministries figured out over 3 decades ago. Treat them like a member of your family unit, know them like a brother or sister and then help them by standing by their side. Then they'll know they really matter.

It isn't good enough to say you understand what they are going through if you do not have a story to tell of your own. You need to be able to share your own struggles with the veteran you are trying to help. In a large group, it seems that everyone is competing to tell their tales as if it is a contest to win as the most miserable.

In small groups, it is more about sharing and caring on a personal level. You can share what caused your heartache and then share with them how you ended up feeling better about your life.

You can be an example of not giving up on yourself as much as you prove you will not give up on them as long as they do everything possible to heal themselves.

You can make sure you stay in contact with them, encourage them to take the steps they need to get where they need to be. 
read more here

Sailor saved from attempted suicide by crewmates

If the sailor was wondering how much his life was worth, the crew just let him know how much he does matter!

Sailor’s suicide attempt prompts heroic response by sub crew
NAVY Times
By: Geoff Ziezulewicz
January 17, 2018

“From gunshot to ambulance took about 7 hours,” Robinson said in the post. “We drove up the river in dense fog, in the dark of night, with intense rain and wind. It was the worst weather I’ve ever seen for something like this.”

The crew of the submarine North Dakota leapt into action after a petty officer attempted suicide by shooting himself in the chest. (Chief Mass Communication Specialist Peter D. Lawlor/Navy)

The crew of the submarine North Dakota raced through bad weather to save a shipmate’s life after an unidentified petty officer shot himself in the chest with his military-issued rifle while the vessel was underway, according to Navy officials and a post on the boat’s Facebook page.

Cmdr. Mark Robinson, the boat’s captain, praised his crew in the post for their feverish efforts on Friday to get the sailor back to land.

Corpsmen leapt into action to treat and stabilize the man’s injuries, while radiomen kept communications open in bad weather, allowing trauma doctors to remotely lend assistance, according to the post.
read more here

'Valhalla' PTSD relief in pro wrestling

'Valhalla' documentary shows vets finding PTSD relief in pro wrestling
WACo Tribune Herald
Carl Hoover
January 17, 2019

Professional wrestling means more than an evening’s entertainment for three Texas wrestlers, who say the sport and the physical training it demands keep them functioning despite post-traumatic stress disorder from their time in combat.

Three professional wrestlers and Army veterans share their story of how wrestling helps them cope with post-traumatic stress disorder in the film “Valhalla Club.” “Valhalla Club” photo

The three — Army veterans and wrestlers Jan Ohrstrom, John Brazier and Eddie Wittern — tell their story in the film “Valhalla Club” that makes its debut at 8 p.m. Thursday at the Waco Hippodrome.

The documentary, written and directed by Waco filmmaker R. Bradley Morris, evolved from a discussion between Ohrstrom and Wittern a few years ago, when both men shared their struggles with PTSD and how wrestling helped them cope with the stresses of dealing with their combat experiences in Iraq.

“It hit me: This is a story that needs to be told,” said Ohrstrom, 36.
read more here

PTSD facility in Aurora VA not happening now?

Veterans react to news of no PTSD facility when new Aurora VA opens
KDVR News FOX 31
Kristin Haubrich
January 17, 2018

"The hardest wound to overcome that I battle every day is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder."  Ian Newland

DENVER -- Department of Veterans Affairs officials announced on Wednesday their new Aurora hospital will no longer have a post-traumatic stress disorder facility when they first open their doors.

FOX31 talked to veterans who are directly affected by the lack of a PTSD facility at the new campus and the delayed opening of the new VA.

“I was in the trail Humvee and an enemy insurgent threw a hand grenade through the top,” combat Army Veteran, Ian Newland said.

Newland’s body is full of shrapnel. He was nearly killed in Iraq in a grenade attack. Over the past decade, he’s overcome several physical wounds, but there’s one not so easy to heal.

“The hardest wound to overcome that I battle every day is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder."

At his lowest point, Newland attempted to take his own life. He said his treatment for PTSD at the Denver VA, only worsened his situation.

“It reminds me of a grade school program. This is what PTSD is, this is how you suffer with it and this is what our text books say how you can overcome it. It did nothing for me. It actually exacerbated my PTSD and made it worse,” Newland said.

Newland traveled more than 300 miles to South Dakota where he received six months of cognitive therapy. He was told that same program would be offered at the new Aurora VA, but it turns out that program won’t be available when they first open.
read more here

Reporter did something good and out popped a miracle

Generous donation allows former service member to bury his wife in accordance to his faith

“One of our members saw the original news clip concerning Mr. Gordon and was very moved,” Goldman said.

Goldman started making some calls. Next thing you know the Dorsey Earl Smith Memory Gardens Funeral Home and Cemetery in Lake Worth made a generous donation.

and now go here for the rest of the article you really have to read for yourself. Great example of what happens when the press does something for the sake of helping...and out pops a miracle!

Death of Fort Riley Soldier Under Investigation

Fort Riley soldier found dead off post
Military Times
Charlsy Panzino
January 17, 2018

A Fort Riley soldier was found dead in an off-post residence on Monday, according to the Army.

Spc. Hunter Schmidtke, an infantryman with Company B, 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, was found unresponsive in the home in Junction City, Kansas.
read more here

Suicide Awareness Must Have Past by Jacob Brown

Pushing "Awareness" Proved You Didn't Really Care About Them!
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
January 16, 2018

If you have a problem with the truth, then please don't bother to read this site anymore. If you really want to do what is popular, then you're in the wrong place. You are part of the reason it is as bad for our veterans as it is. 

Instead of sharing all the "22 a day" or "20" number, go back to sharing cat videos and puppies going down stairs. Hey, you can also share your fabulous life and what you want people to know about you. I'm sure they'll be overjoyed with you sharing your lunch pictures again.

Get a clue! If you think fun stunts and repeating slogans stolen from the headline of a reporter, who did not even bother to read the whole report, would change a damn thing, well you're right. You managed to let veterans know, not only did a lot of other veterans give up, but added in the additional fact that all these groups didn't even care they were doing it!

You proved a lot to them.

However, if you want to do the right thing and actually fight to make a difference in the lives of our veterans, please learn what is shared here and then, take action!

What you are about to read is yet one more example of veterans not getting the help they need and families having to face what no one has prepared them for...war coming home.

For all the bullshit about "resilience training" and making sure the families are prepared, you'd need a pay loader to pick it all up for the incinerator instead of  a pooper scooper.

They are coming home without a clue what PTSD is or even the tiniest hope of healing. 

Officer involved shooting report released

Payson Roundup

Alexis Bechman

January 16, 2018

Just minutes after two Gila County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrived at the Beaver Valley home of Jacob Brown, the tormented military veteran suffering from the delusions, paranoia and flares of rage from post traumatic stress disorder lay dead on the ground.

Jacob Brown walking around his Beaver Valley rental before a deadly encounter with GCSO deputies, taken from surveillance cameras.

The tragic confrontation in June between Brown, 35, and Deputy Cole LaBonte, 33, and Sgt. John France, 60, lay rooted in the demons that had stalked Brown for years. He emerged from a home full of his own surveillance cameras with a drawn shotgun to confront the deputies who shouted at him repeatedly to put down the weapons before firing a total of 10 shots, killing Brown on his front porch. Brown did not fire, with the safety still engaged on the shotgun.

The Roundup obtained the Department of Public Safety’s investigation of the shooting, which cleared the two officers of any wrongdoing.

Brown’s wife says her husband had been out of his mind days leading up to the shooting and she had fled the area after he got a strange look in his eyes. 

She knew he was back there. Back in the war. Fighting a battle she could not see or help him overcome.
While he had left the war, it had not left him. 

His struggle to overcome post-traumatic stress disorder ended tragically. It left a family without a father, stamped the start of a young deputy’s career with a tragic shooting and apparently ended the law-enforcement career of a 36-year veteran.

read more here 

Yes, that is a picture of the last moment of Jacob Brown's life in Arizona. He survived combat but did not survive being home. 

Guess all that suicide awareness stuff got past him. Guess it got past his wife. Gee, must have gotten past all the officers left grieving for what they should have never had to do.

Maybe they all missed the "awareness" stunts there?

Here is the mind blowing headline from September 11, 2017

“It’s an epidemic:” Motorcyclists ride to raise awareness about veteran suicides

But they couldn't even get where the number came from. They have it as "Department of Defense instead of Department of Veterans Affairs.  

“They came up with a number in 2012, the Department of Defense," said Bill Byrne, a member of a New York chapter of Rolling Thunder. "22 veterans a day take their lives.”

As for Department of Defense, they never seem to know there are about another 500 a year committing suicide while still in the military or the simple fact that the two departments do not combine numbers! Here is the last suicide report from the DOD up to the first half of last year.

When awareness didn't work, veteran advocate took actionAZFamily-Jun 13, 2017 "We got tired of fighting veteran suicide just through awareness. We can throw all the big banners up. I can carry 22 ribbons every day. We aren't saving any lives. We were just making people aware," said Arthur. "We moved from awareness to actual action." Since that 2015 display, 

Why would he want to stop raising awareness?

Arizona veterans' suicide rate 4 times higher than civilians'

Want to start to make a difference, then go onto the sites of all these groups asking you for money using suicidal veterans to tug at your heart and ask them what are they trying to do. If they didn't take veterans seriously enough to read the damn report, learn any facts, show any kind of research on a subject this serious, then they are not serious about doing anything more than getting publicity for themselves!

People like me have done the research because saving lives, especially these lives required all the effort we could put into it.

Want to know the facts they won't tell you because they did not even bother to check? They need to stop raising awareness without learning first, but guess it wasn't important enough to them. Start learning for them and then ask them why they didn't bother to.

Here is a state by state list of veteran suicides, by ages and if they were able to list Military Service on their death certificates or not. Veterans Day Reminder of the Forgotten Find your state, how many veterans live there and how many the VA knows committed suicide. One more way to discover why the headline number is not even close to the number of hearts that stopped beating.

Here is the link to the report that has how many were kicked out of the military instead of helped. Guess what? They are not counted either! Kicked Out Instead of Helped

Florida First Responders example of wrong way PTSD crash!

Will Florida do the right thing for our First Responders...finally? If we do not acknowledge that this is a wound that comes with the job, then our veterans will think Florida feels the same way about them.

It is a simple question. Do we value those who risk their lives for us or not?

With emotion, legislators and relatives of late firefighters push PTSD bill

Florida Politics

Danny Mculiffe

January 16, 2018

“The numbers don’t lie,” Jimmy Patronis, Florida’s chief financial officer and state marshal said. He cited research from 2015 that showed 15 percent of firefighters had made at least one attempt at suicide during their career, while 46 percent of firefighters had thought about taking their lives.

“Recovering a toddler’s body from the river, pulling bodies from a car that ended up in a canal and carrying a decapitated teen’s body across the sand who was the victim of a shark attack would certainly take a toll on anyone,” Leslie Dangerfield said behind teary eyes.

She was describing the atrocities her husband, Indian River Battalion Chief David Dangerfield, had witnessed before he ultimately took his life. Leading up to her husband’s suicide, Leslie Dangerfield said his behavior had changed. He had succumbed to the “beast of PTSD,” or post-traumatic stress disorder.

Leslie Dangerfield told her story during a press conference Wednesday aiming to alert the public on bills in the Legislature this year that would provide workers’ compensation for first responders suffering from PTSD.

Currently, workers’ compensation laws do not provide for benefits in cases of first responders suffering from mental health-related injuries, unless they are accompanied by physical injury.

The issue has permeated the judiciary branch. 

Compensation Judge Neal Pitts denied workers’ compensation for former Orlando Police officer Gerry Realin last week. Realin responded to the Pulse nightclub shooting, which left 49 massacred and 58 others injured in June 2016.
read more here 

Aurora cop and ex-Marine owes the VA $16K due to a clerical error

He almost died in Iraq. Now, an Aurora cop and ex-Marine owes the VA $16K due to a clerical error.

Chicago Tribune
Denise Crosby
January 14, 2018

Michael Bond knew he'd have a tough time convincing his Marine buddy to accept any form of charity.

So the former Naperville man chose not to tell Aurora Police Officer Joshua Horton about the GoFundMe account he'd set up for him.

Joshua Horton, who was seriously wounded in 2004 in Iraq right before becoming the father of quintuplets, poses for a family photo with the four surviving quints, now 14, his two older children and second wife Aria. (Joshua Horton)

The "Wounded Marine Family Relief" fundraiser was created to help offset a clerical error that was taking away almost $16,000 in disability payments Horton received from the Veterans Administration after being seriously wounded in Iraq. Those VA benefits had been going to Horton's six children — including four surviving quintuplets who had been born in October 2004 at Edward Hospital, even as their father was being flown out of Iraq with life-threatening injuries sustained in a mortar attack.

Bond, who like Horton, had re-enlisted for active duty after 9/11, describes his close friend — they met while serving with Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 24th Marines — as a "warrior servant" who has "answered the call every time, without hesitation, even when he could have stood down."

Horton could certainly have claimed a hardship leave after finding out his wife Taunacy was pregnant with quintuplets. And still, the Marine sergeant from Oswego remained in Iraq with his platoon, a decision that nearly cost him his life in the small town of Yusufiyah, just southwest of Fallujah.

Horton certainly has paid a high price for his service to country and community. Despite his many wounds that included traumatic brain injury, the Aurora cop made it his goal to return to the police force he loves. A fall he took two years ago, however, while responding to a domestic dispute, injured his back and forced him onto light duty.
read more here

Horror of war and the battles we should be winning

These homefront battles should be won and done
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
January 15, 2018

A little while ago I came across this headline.

Horror of war heroes 'tearing families apart' as impact on loved ones goes unrecognised

While an understanding of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has grown in recent years, the secondary trauma is ripping families apart.

Their loved ones came back from the horrors of war as heroes in need of support.But it’s not just service personnel who can suffer in the aftermath of conflicts – it can devastate the lives of their partners and families, too. 

It is from Scottish News on The Daily Record. It looks like they, as well as the rest of the NATO nations have a lot of catching up to do, including the USA.

How is it that when Vietnam veterans came home over 40 years ago and forced this nation to pay attention to what combat did to them, most of what was known has been forgotten?

"Every generation

Blames the one before

And all of their frustrations

Come beating on your door"

In The Living Years

How have we allowed anyone to believe any of this is new? How have we managed to screw it up so badly that OEF and OIF families are believed to be the only ones having to face any of this?

"So we open up a quarrel

Between the present and the past

We only sacrifice the future

It's the bitterness that lasts"

In The Living Years

Stunning for anyone involved in this work all this time because, to tell the truth, I find it all unacceptable and inexcusable.

I got into all of this in 1982, but there is a group, who has my heart and I belong to, doing this work for veterans and their families going back to 1984.

We figured out that healing happens with the triple play of mind, body and spirit, as well as the fact that families were on the front line of this battle they brought home to us.

It is our fight and a lot of us won many battles but have still not won the war only because too many are oblivious to the simple fact they could learn how to defeat PTSD.

Point Man International Ministries knew this way back then. 

Outposts are lead by Christian Vets who care deeply about veterans and their struggles. They fully understand the difficulties associated with returning home after a long and difficult deployment as well as the non-combat experiences. Outposts are places for veterans to talk, share and listen to others who have walked in their shoes. All Vets are welcome regardless of what country they served with and gender is irrelevant as both men and women have served and sacrificed for their respective countries.

And the original Homefront

Homefront groups are lead by Christian mothers, wives and friends of both active duty military and veterans. They provide an understanding ear and caring heart that only those left behind at home can understand. They have experienced the stress of dealing with deployments and the effects of a loved one returning home from war. If you have someone you love deployed or having issues readjusting since coming home get connected with a local group or contact HQ for assistance.

So why hasn't everyone else? Is it because they do not have the ability to discover this or is it because they have more than we ever did to find what they are looking for, but settle for what is easy to find?

"So don't yield to the fortunes

You sometimes see as fate

It may have a new perspective

On a different day

And if you don't give up, and don't give in

You may just be okay"

In The Living Years

People keep saying they are looking for answers. Too many claim they want to reduce suicides. Many more claim to care. When it has all gotten worse, the answer to make it better has been there all along but when I talk to people about becoming leaders, they walk away.

They are not happy with the fact that this is usually supported financially by the leader of the group, simply because we're more about doing the work instead of getting money.

These groups are small groups, and often, one on one, with privacy instead of publicity. One of the reasons I find it impossible to support any of the "awareness raisers" out there, publicizing the heartache and obliterating any chance of someone finding hope again and giving them the power to change the ending.

I keep wondering where all the good Christians are in the Veterans Community and what they are doing when they could be doing this work for the sake of their brothers and families.

I have seen what is unimaginable suffering but also limitless healing to the point where it is actually proof of miracles still happening everyday. To see all these families needlessly suffering, is like a dagger to my soul. I always wonder how an average person like me managed to learn at the library when these families have not even searched for online in the palm of their hand and the cell phone they are never without.

So what exactly do you think you can add to their living years? Want to change the outcome? Then you better start by changing what you put into it!

Kathie Costos DiCesare
Published on Mar 29, 2015

Vietnam veterans said they would never leave one generation behind. They fought for each other and for all generations but have been forgotten. Reporters just don't have time for them or reminding anyone that they waited longer, suffered longer, are the majority of the suicides, attempted suicides and those waiting for claims to be honored by the VA.

Had it not been for them, nothing would have been done on PTSD.

When you watch this video, you'll see that they deserve just as much attention as the newer veterans. The problem is, none of our veterans get enough of anything!

Wounded Female Veteran Saved 500!

‘Molded and crafted by heroes’

Fayetteville Observer
Michael Futch
January 14, 2018 

Sellers, who previously served with the 1st Cavalry Division Sustainment Brigade at Fort Hood, Texas, said she helped save over 500 lives down range in Afghanistan by standing between the suicide bomber and the participants in a Veterans Day run.

India Sellers-Walker received the keys to her newly refurbished 2004 Chevrolet TrailBlazer from a skydiving former Army Golden Knight.

The 70 or so on hand, who witnessed Mike Elliott’s long descent from a darkening cloudy sky, loved it.

On Saturday afternoon, Sellers-Walker, a 26-year-old member of the Fort Bragg Warrior Transition Battalion, received the sports utility vehicle as a gift from Caliber Collision’s Changing Lanes Academy and the U.S. Veterans Corps. The car donation, part of the National Auto Body Council’s Recycled Rides program, was presented to her during a program held under cloudy skies on the parade field outside the Airborne & Special Operations Museum.

“This is a very special gift,” said Larry Keen, who is president of Fayetteville Technical Community College. “It has been molded and crafted by heroes.”

Changing Lanes was developed in partnership with FTCC and Fort Bragg’s Career Skills Program. It is one of the first programs in the nation to provide transitioning service members with training and employment opportunities in the collision repair industry.

The Warrior Transition Battalion nominated Sellers-Walker for the vehicle, which was donated by Jennifer and Mike Burch of Holly Springs.

She said she can use the extra room in it.

Since a Veterans Day suicide bomb attack inside Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan on Nov. 11, 2016, Sellers-Walker has undergone 26 surgeries for the extensive injuries that riddled her body. 
read more here