UK bike memorial ride for soldier after suicide

Memorial bike ride for Lee
Friday, 10 August 2012

A gruelling 214-mile cycle ride over four days from Tenby to Warsop, in Nottinghamshire, is taking place at the end of the month in memory of Lee Bonsall.

Twenty-four-year-old Lee tragically committed suicide in March, after suffering in silence from ‘Post Traumatic Stress Disorder’ (PTSD) and was found by his wife Serena in their Tenby home.

“Lee had been suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder after serving in Afghanistan, he gave no indication of how bad his depression was and he hadn’t received the help he needed,” explained Serena, who is one of those taking on the cycling trip from Tenby to Lee’s original home town of Warsop.

“Obviously this has been the most traumatic time of life and I never thought I would be a widow at the age of 24. Out of all of this sadness though, I feel it’s important to do something positive and raise awareness of this terrible illness, not only for Lee, but for others who have suffered this life-changing condition.

“On average, veterans wait 13 long years before contacting Combat Stress for help.

That’s too long to suffer in silence, so let’s work together to battle the stigma of service-related mental ill-health,” added Serena.
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Paul Ryan pick is against veterans

UPDATE From Vote Vets
GOP Budget Doesn't Even Say the Word "Veteran"
How bad is Mitt Romney’s VP Pick Paul Ryan for Veterans?

His budget slashes care for veterans, but doesn't even use the word "veteran" once.

Below is the piece I wrote, written in March at Huffington Post, about Paul Ryan’s hostile view of veterans. Please help us share this blog post on all of your social networks, and forward to your friends and family.

Sincerely,

Jon Soltz
Iraq War Veteran
Chairman, VoteVets.org
@JonSoltz

GOP Budget Doesn't Even Say the Word "Veteran"

Yep, this guy

“While our veterans certainly deserve all the accolades Scott offers, they need proper benefits more, which our congressman is working to take away, based on his vote for the Ryan Budget.”

Deriving its name from its primary sponsor, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.), the bill contains substantial cuts in military benefits, some of which will leave 130,000 veterans without needed healthcare.

“The Ryan Budget is an insult to every American veteran. It’s 98 pages long and does not even contain the word ‘veteran.’ It contains over $11 billion in cuts that adversely affect our veterans, yet never mentions them by name.”

Romney just proved what he thinks about veterans. Hey, if they break the VA, then they can sell it off to private companies.

Mitt Romney Floats ‘Private Sector Competition’ For Vets’ Health Care System
By Emily Friedman
ABC News
Nov 11, 2011

MAULDIN, S.C. — Mitt Romney suggested on Friday that he was open to introducing “private sector competition” into the health care system U.S. military veterans receive.

At a campaign event in South Carolina, Romney raised the possibility of a voucher system.

“If you’re the government, they know there’s nowhere else you guys can go, you’re stuck,” Romney told a group of veterans at Mutt’s BBQ restaurant here. “Sometimes you wonder if there would be some way to introduce private sector competition, somebody else who could come in and say each solder has ‘X’ thousand dollars attributed to them and then they can choose where they want to go in the government system or the private system with the money that follows them.”

Romney added, “Like what happens with schools in Florida where people have a voucher that goes with him.”

Democrats immediately pounced on Romney’s remarks, blasting out information about Sen. John McCain’s plan to privatize the VA in 2008 and articles that suggested veteran’s at the time weren’t happy with the proposal. The Veterans of Foreign Wars weren’t pleased either: In a statement to the Talking Points Memo, VFW spokesman Jerry Newberry said, “The VFW doesn’t support privatization of veterans health care. This is an issue that seems to come around every election cycle.”
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Update
Democrats think I am against President Obama because I complain so much about what our veterans are still going through. Republicans think I am against Republicans because I slam so many members of congress in that party. The truth is, I am pro-veteran and believe it is our responsibility to hold them all equally accountable for what they do FOR veterans or TO veterans. This is the reason why I am a registered Independent. I am against all politicians when they vote against veterans.

Military Sexual Assault Victims Meet With McKeon, Ask For Investigation

Military Sexual Assault Victims Meet With McKeon, Ask For Investigation
Written by Mark Archuleta
KHTS
Friday, 10 August 2012

Military sexual assault survivors from last week's Protect Our Defenders (POD) press conference in DC met (or teleconferenced) with the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) staff today to continue pressing for an open Lackland Air Force Base hearing and investigation.

Former Naval Aviator Lt. Paula Coughlin, a victim of sexual assault during the infamous Tailhook scandal in 1991 has started Paula’s Petition asking the House Armed Services Committee, chaired by 25th District Congressman Howard “Buck” McKeon to conduct and open investigation into the Lackland Air Force Base sexual assault scandal and the institutionalized legacy of sexual assault in the military.
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My video Hardest Times You Could Imagine from 2009

Best Western employee laughed at paralyzed veteran needing help

Paralyzed war veteran says hotel worker mocked his request for help
By Joshua Rhett Miller
Published August 10, 2012
FoxNews.com

A paralyzed Army veteran wants “major policy changes” from a national hotel chain following an incident in which he was mocked when he asked for help down a flight of stairs, his father told FoxNews.com.

Staff Sgt. Chad Staples, 28, was checking out of Best Western Plus Monahans Inn and Suites in Monahans, Texas, on Tuesday when he discovered the elevator was out of service, his father Robert Staples said.

The former Army sniper, who was paralyzed from the waist down after being shot in Baghdad in 2007, then called the front desk for help down the stairs from his third-floor room.

“He wanted somebody to take his bags and wheelchair down,” Robert Staples told FoxNews.com by phone from his Maine home. “Basically, the girl said, ‘Are you serious?’ He said, ‘Uh yeah, I’m in a wheelchair. I need some help.’”

The hotel employee, Staples said, replied: “’What do you want me to do about it?’ She laughed at him.”

At that point, Staples said his son used a couple “poor word choices” by using two expletives.

“He said, ‘Are you [expletive] serious? I’m in an [expletive] wheelchair,’” Robert Staples said. “He then hung up the phone and then threw his bags and wheelchair down the stairs and slid down on his backside.”

Best Western representatives, in a statement posted Thursday on its website, apologized for the incident, citing a power outage that impacted the area.

“We spoke directly to Mr. Staples and offered a full and sincere apology and reimbursed his expenses while at Best Western,” the statement read. “Best Western has been an industry leader in proactively communicating ADA requirements to its hotels and provides extensive training to address the needs of our disabled guests.”
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37 years later, Marine killed in last Vietnam war battle is buried

37 years later, Marine killed in last Vietnam war battle is buried
LA Times
August 7, 2012
Tony Perry in San Diego

Photo: Robert Rivenburgh wears an identification tag bearing a picture of his brother, Richard, at Richard's funeral Monday at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego.

Credit: Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times

For all U.S. military personnel ordered into a war zone, there is an implied promise: If you fall in battle, you will not be left behind.

And so for 37 years, the family of Marine Pfc. Richard Rivenburgh, who was 21 when he died during the 1975 rescue of the U.S. merchant ship Mayaguez, waited.

"There was a promise unfulfilled until today," Navy chaplain Cmdr. Jim Peugh said Monday at Rivenburgh's funeral at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego.

"Holy God, we welcome home our brother."
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If you look on the left sidebar of Wounded Times, you'll see a section that says, Christ Prayed too, For a friend in need and then Matthew 25. Many know why it is there but it has been a long time since I talked about it. The reason it is there is because of a Vietnam Veteran, told he wasn't one because they had never heard about what happened with the Mayaquez.

This "job" comes with a lot of responsibilities. Some, very public, like what you're reading right now. Other times it is filming events in Central Florida. While both are public, no one knows about the veterans I talk to all the time. I can't think of a better way to spend my time on this earth.

Then there are the emails and phone calls. I could go weeks without hearing from a veteran or a family member but then an email comes and I know someone is being torn apart.

One of those emails came a few years ago from the Vietnam veteran mentioned above. He had a career, a live in girlfriend of many years and thought he was over it. He took a trip to Washington to see the Wall. He was never the same after that. They say the Wall heals, but there is another side of this that comes with an awakening of the pain some thought they had put in the past. It brings it all back.

Well, he contacted me because he didn't know what happened to him. He was crying, having nightmares, flashbacks and the shock of the sudden change was just too much for him.

I have a rule that I will get them to understand what PTSD is, stay "with them" until they to the point where they want to go for help, then let them go to people trained in psychological counseling. Usually I won't hear from them again but once in a while I'll get updates about how their lives are going afterwards. My job basically is to talk them off the ledge and help their families understand so they can support them on the road to healing.

In this veteran's case, I broke my own rule. Hundreds of emails later, I had to give up because he needed a lot more help than I could give him but as long as I was there for him to communicate with, he wasn't willing to get better help than I could give. There is a reason for that. The Mayaquez is the reason he couldn't find help in his area.

Too many didn't know what happened and they called him a liar. He was refused help more than anyone was willing to help him. His girlfriend left him then took almost everything he had. He had more people turn their backs on him than were willing to help him. It broke my heart to cut off contact with him because I knew he needed someone able to do more than I could and then I blamed myself for not being what he needed.

I told him that as long as he saw this passage on my blog, I would be thinking of him. Every now and then I get an email from him to let me know he's still around. When a report comes out about the Mayaquez, he is the first person I think about and how there are so many stories out there no one knows about.

If you are a psychologist think about giving up some of your time to help veterans like him. They need help, someone to listen to them, show them they matter, but keep in mind they cannot pay. They have been abandoned by everyone else in their lives, so they may come off as if they are taking it out on you but you need to understand you are just part of a very long list of people they asked to help them. They need help getting paperwork done so they at least get some kind of income to live with from Social Security or welfare until they are able to have a VA claim approved. These untold stories are veterans all over this country with nowhere to turn to, so they won't find you. You have to spend some time to find them. Take out ads and let them know you care about them when no one else does.

Vietnam war deaths 1956-1975

Mayaguez incident on May 15, 1975 little known part of Vietnam War