Camp Lejeune Marine drowns off NC coast

Camp Lejeune Marine drowns off NC coast
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C.

A Camp Lejeune Marine died last weekend after drowning off the coast of Emerald Isle, authorities said Monday.

Lance Cpl. Esrom R. Joseph, 19, of Scott, La., died Saturday. Camp Lejeune authorities said the drowning is under investigation by the Emerald Isle Police Department as well as the command post.
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Police: Officer Shoots Armed Fort Carson Soldier

Police: Officer Shoots Armed Fort Carson Soldier
Fountain Police: Officer Was Responding To Domestic Violence Incident
ABC News 7
Posted By Alan Gathright
August 13, 2012

FOUNTAIN, Colo. -- A man who was shot by a Fountain police officer after police say he threatened family members with a gun has been identified as a 34-year-old Fort Carson soldier.

Stephen Payne was shot by an officer in the 800 block of Daffodil Street just before 1 a.m. Sunday, KRDO-TV reported.
Fountain Deputy Police Chief Bill Elder told the news station that officers responded to a domestic violence case involving a man with a gun.
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Veterans Affairs agency under investigation for conference spending

Veterans Affairs agency under investigation for conference spending
By Lisa Rein
Washington Post
09:00 AM ET, 08/14/2012

The Department of Veterans Affairs spent $5 million—and set aside $4 million more — last year for two training conferences whose organizers are under investigation for breaking ethics rules by improperly accepting gifts, congressional committees and government sources said Monday.

The agency’s inspector general is investigating whether event planners and other organizers of the conference for human resources employees improperly accepted alcohol, concert tickets and spa treatments. Investigators also are looking into tens of thousands of dollars spent on promotional items for conference attendees, government sources said.

A total of about 1800 VA employees attended the four-day events, held in July and August 2011 at the Marriott World Center in Orlando, officials said.

The investigation comes four months after the General Services Administration was engulfed in scandal over a Las Vegas conference for the agency’s West Coast employees that cost $823,000. That four-day event, revealed by the GSA inspector general, was billed as a training exercise but was little more than an entertainment junket. The agency’s top leaders were fired or forced out as a result.
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Construction issues cause delays for Lake Nona VA Medical Center

Construction issues cause delays for VA Medical Center
Facility slated to open in late 2013
ORLANDO, Fla.

WESH news

Construction delays and design changes have veterans in central Florida waiting on a much-anticipated new Orlando Veterans Administration Medical Center. The VA has promised more scrutiny of the hospital's contractor, but the contractor said it's the VA's design changes that are delaying completion of the project.

Supporters of the project say it is greatly needed because of the growing veteran population in central Florida. When completed, the 300-bed facility and support services will provide care for nearly 500,000 vets who live in central Florida.

The microscope was on contractor Brasfield and Gorrie on Monday.

A U.S. House Subcommittee on Veterans’ Affairs talked to representatives of Brasfield and Gorrie about the future of the new Orlando VA Medical Center in Medical City near Lake Nona. The 65-acre campus was set to open in October, but it could be the end of 2013 before construction is completed.

"They are either going to terminate us, or they're going to work with us," said Jim Gorrie, president and CEO of Brasfield and Gorrie. "You can't just continue down the path we're going."

If construction is completed by the end of 2013, it will be early 2014 before patients needing dialysis or clinic services are seen. Surgeries and overnight stays will be much later, officials said.
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TNT Major Crime was against veterans with PTSD

TNT Major Crime was against veterans with PTSD
by Chaplain Kathie
Wounded Times Blog
August 14, 2012

'Major Crimes' focus could be a major mistake on USA had the right title but not the right mistake.

 The criminals on this opener were, you guessed it, veterans with PTSD!

Reloaded "criminals" this time were from different branches of service and the team had to figure out where they all came together. First it was a gun range, then a game and finally they figured out that they must have all met in treatment. Yes, treatment. The only "thug" to survive was a veteran plus the son of a veteran, coming from a long line of other veterans. The veteran cop/Dad said his son was "doing better" and Provenza started to think "better than what" so he asked the Dad about his son. That's when they figured out the son was not only the mastermind but got the rest of the group killed and when one of them survived, he pulled the trigger on the survivor.

Why is it that James Duff couldn't think of a better way to introduce this spin off? Did he figure he could just take the easy way out and pull some obscure news reports about some veterans with PTSD going bad? He sure didn't put much thought into what it was really like for veterans coming home from endless tours of duty with Combat PTSD more likely to kill themselves than harm anyone else. He didn't think about the fact that while over 2 million have served in the two wars over the last 11 years, there are very few veterans committing "major crimes" against anyone.


In the Closer there were three innocent Army Rangers gunned down coming out of a club.

THE CLOSER “War Zone” Review It started with Brenda going up against the US Army, the FBI, and Pope in order to try to solve the murders of three soldiers just returned from Afghanistan. It turned out to be a case of mistaken identity between twin brothers. How does one brother join the army while the other ends up in a gang? I guess they both “joined up” in their own way, albeit in very different organizations.

This was good because it showed respect and care for the service members but most shows have to tie veterans to crimes they commit, not crimes committed against them.

I loved the Closer, just as I love Criminal Minds. The problem is when they decide to make veterans with PTSD the topic of their shows and end up feeding into the image of a crazed veteran committing crimes and blowing people away.

If you read Wounded Times with any regularity, you know that few commit crimes and if you watch the TV shows with a veteran as the topic, you know how reprehensible it is to know a writer decided they needed a criminal and right away thought of a veteran using PTSD as an excuse. They know about veterans about as much as I know how to fix my car.

Let's put it this way. My check engine light came on and it ended up costing me $90 for diagnostics just because I didn't close the gas cap tight enough!