Former Army Ranger, filmaker trains with the best

Wounded Warrior Project commercials popping up all over the place. What is going on here? If you watch their commercials you'll notice that while they talk about the veterans of war coming home, they never really say what they do for them.

The latest one is the Brawny commercial we've all seen on TV and they say that they will donate $1 up to $250,000 to Wounded Warrior Project on this video.

Bob Woodruff, the reporter on this story, has a foundation ReMIND.org and on their site there is a group of partners they list. Wounded Warrior Project is not on it.

There is another list

Leadership Partners

Our corporate partners have made a strategic investment in the Nation’s most effective model for assisting our injured service members as they reintegrate back into society.

The following companies have made an annual contribution of more than $100,000 or more.

GFI Group, Inc.
H.C.S. Foundation
Lockheed Martin Foundation
TriWest Healthcare Alliance
The Art of Grace, Inc.
The Paul E. Singer Foundation

There are great groups out there but then there are some that have become moneymakers plain and simple.

It has gotten to the point where I go to watch a great report like this about an Army Ranger wanting to go into film and having George Lucas as a mentor that I almost didn't watch it. As soon as I saw the commercial for Wounded Warrior Project, I wanted to close the site but I really like Bob Woodruff, so I forced myself to get beyond the ad for WWP. I hope you do the same. I know how my readers feel about them, so please, just shut your eyes for the commercial and watch this report.

Former Soldier, Future Filmmaker
ABC
Former Army Ranger Hank Hughes aspires to be a filmmaker
04:20
07/31/2012

Returning soldier reunited with daughter at SeaWorld

Returning soldier reunited with daughter at SeaWorld
By Bakari Savage, Reporter
Friday, August 03, 2012
ORANGE COUNTY

A returning soldier surprises his young daughter by coming home after a year-long deployment.

Spc. Eric Espinosa and his wife teamed up with SeaWorld to make it happen, and we were there to capture it on camera.

Four-year-old Alexis was inside of SeaWorld’s Shamu Stadium. She thought she was there just to see another Shamu show and has no idea her dad was waiting to meet her here.

“Saying bye is the hardest thing," said Leah Espinosa, the returning soldier's wife.

"You know where he’s going and you worry every day. But, as soon as I saw him, everything went away.”
read more here

Joint Base Lewis-McChord vow to do better on PTSD

Think about what would have happened if these soldiers never said a word and just suffered in silence. Think about what it would be like if there were no reporters willing to tell their stories. The only thing that would have happened would have been more suffering.

Military commanders vow better treatments for post traumatic stress
By Keith Eldridge and KOMO Staff
Published: Aug 2, 2012

Right now, these are promises are coming down from the highest commanders. But soldiers down below are still waiting to see if these promises are kept as they go down the chain of command.

JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. -- The top commanders at Joint Base Lewis-McChord are pledging to better handle soldiers who believe they're suffering from post traumatic stress.

Multiple tours of duty have taken their toll on U.S. troops, both the casualties and the injuries, seen and unseen.

"I've definitely got more than a couple of years of stuff floating around up in my head," said Army Specialist Jared Enger.

Enger was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder but the findings were overturned by a forensic psychiatrist.
read more here

Mayor Bloomberg Breaks Public Promise to Vietnam Veteran

Vietnam Vet Vendor Still Sleeping In Hot Dog Cart After Mayor Bloomberg Breaks Promise
Dan Rossi Still Ticketed After Being Told Not To Worry About Keeping Spot
August 1, 2012

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Mayor Michael Bloomberg may have to eat his words after a broken promise to a disabled Vietnam vet who runs a hotdog cart.

Last month, Hizzoner vowed to help Dan Rossi keep his spot selling hotdogs in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but the only thing that has resulted since has been a flurry of tickets.

When asked about the situation on July 19, Bloomberg told CBS 2′s Marcia Kramer that “[Rossi's] rights should be protected and he should not worry about it.”

“We’re talking to him. I’m personally not going to make the bed, but he doesn’t have to worry about it and we’re going to take care of it,” Bloomberg added at the time.

However, Mayor Bloomberg definitely has not taken care of it.

When the mayor first addressed the issue, Rossi had been sleeping in his cart every night for five weeks, trying to protect his prime location in front of the MET because the city refused to enforce his legal right to the spot as a disabled Vietnam veteran.
read more here

Wounded Times is now part of Point Man International Ministries

Many of Wounded Times Blog readers are aware that for the last couple of years I have been working with Point Man International Ministries.

It has been a blessing to be included in this group considering that I am not a veteran. My husband is a Vietnam veteran. It is because of him that I have spent the last 30 years trying to make a difference in the lives of our veterans and their families. It is because of this work Dana Morgan, President of Point Man encouraged me to be a part of this group that began working on the spiritual connection to combat and PTSD in 1984.

We can talk all we want about helping our veteran but as you've read on this blog in the last five years, we are far from really doing it. This battle is far from over. Point Man International Ministries DBA Point Man of Winter Park is now tax exempt with the State of Florida, CH36936. I obtained the IRS tax exempt last year but since I was still attending classes at Valencia College for Digital Media, it didn't make much sense to do the paperwork for Florida since I was not spending much money and didn't have time to seek donations. This step was taken a couple of months ago and as of this morning, the determination letter arrived in my mail box.

This is why the header image has suddenly changed.

What difference does this make to my readers?

None. I'll still be posting on everything I've been doing for the last 5 years. I will not seek government funding to allow me to be able to post what is really going on. I will not endorse any politician or political position that is not for veterans. If a politician does something for veterans or against them you will know it. I could have taken the easy way out years ago and just did what was popular but that wouldn't have helped anyone.

What does change?

I have the ability to seek donations to cover the expenses of traveling, public speaking, consultations and filming events. Up until now it has all been out of pocket and right now my pockets are empty. There is no way I can afford to find a location to hold meetings locally without financial support to be able to at least supply coffee and donuts while having a place to talk. I need donations to buy materials for veterans to understand how to heal from a spiritual basis. I also need local groups to help me with networking so that I have Yoga instructors to send them to along with any other group offering help to our veterans.

This is not about to be anything that needs huge donations to operate. As a matter of fact, while spiritual healing is priceless, it is not expensive. I just cannot afford to do it on my own anymore.

If you can make a donation, please do in any amount possible. If you want a copy of my book, you can donate to receive a pdf of it. Hard copies of it are not available yet since it does cost money to print them. Just make sure when you want a copy, put "book" in the subject on the Pay Pal donation.

You can also mail donations to
Point Man of Winter Park
PO Box 196992
Winter Springs FL 32719-6992