Military Veteran Support, stop killing yourselves!

I received a request to get the word out about this AP to help you stay alive. I am begging you, work harder on staying alive than you work to plan how to end your lives!
I'll keep sharing what I find to help you stay here because you do matter more than you know!

Military Veteran Support According to military reports, 22 lives a day are being lost to suicide.

Suicide has heavily impacted all 4 branches of the military and LIfehealth has a moral obligation to try and reduce those numbers. Suicide is 100% preventable. And with the right tools and right determination, something can be done. A lot more than is being done presently.

Research shows that the average age of a veteran who commits suicide is about 60 with Vietnam and female veterans particularly at risk. The findings also revealed that the high-risk period for suicide is the first four weeks post-deployment, and that this period requires strong monitoring and case management (Source: USA Today)

CallApp is a program that removes a lot of the decision making for anyone at risk of suicide. it's a one-touch solution that sits on their phone and integrates with many of the common applications already available such as GPS tracking and call mapping.

Former sub commander, who faked death to end affair, faces expulsion

Former sub commander, who faked death to end affair, faces expulsion
By MICHAEL MELIA
The Associated Press
Published: April 12, 2013

GROTON, Conn. — A former submarine commander who faked his death to end an extramarital affair knows he made a terrible mistake and has apologized, and the Navy shouldn't throw away his talent and training, his lawyer said Friday at a hearing to determine whether he will be expelled from the service.

A lieutenant acting as a prosecutor countered that there's no place in the Navy for a man with the character of Cmdr. Michael P. Ward II.

Ward, a married 43-year-old, sent his mistress in Virginia an email in July posing as a fictitious co-worker named Bob and saying Ward had died unexpectedly, a Navy investigation found. Ward was relieved of his duties aboard the USS Pittsburgh in August, a week after he'd taken command, and has received a letter of reprimand for adultery and other military violations.

A panel of three officers at the Naval Submarine Base in Groton will decide whether Ward should stay in the Navy and at what rank. A demotion could cost him up to $750,000 in retirement benefits.
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End Mental Health Stigma and Disparity by Awarding the Purple Heart

End Mental Health Stigma and Disparity by Awarding the Purple Heart for War Stress Injury
Huff Post
Mark C. Russell, Ph.D., ABPP
Retired U.S. Navy Commander, Military Clinical Psychologist
Posted: 04/12/2013

On 17 April 2013, a diverse group of veteran's advocate organizations, military service agencies, and national mental health alliances will meet to discuss re-opening a controversial national campaign to award the Purple Heart, one of the oldest and most recognized American military medals, to service members who were killed or wounded by enemy action, for war stress injury (WSI) like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) earned honorably in engagement with the enemy.

Overview of the Controversy

The current petition rekindles an impassioned debate started in 2008, when Secretary of Defense Robert Gates initiated a formal review. However, in 2009, Dr. David Chu, Undersecretary of Personnel and Readiness, decided that PTSD did not meet the requirements for the Purple Heart in that "Historically, the Purple Heart has never been awarded for mental disorders or psychological conditions resulting from witnessing or experiencing traumatic combat events (e.g., combat stress reaction, shell-shock, or PTSD)." However, during the First World War British "shell-shocked" soldiers were initially awarded the "Red Wound Stripe"-a Purple Heart equivalent.

Dr. Chu's circular reasoning is problematic-just because the Purple Heart hasn't been awarded for WSI doesn't mean that it shouldn't be. For instance, the original Badge of Military Merit designed as a purple heart of cloth, was introduced by George Washington in 1782 to encourage gallantry and fidelity among soldiers, and not specifically given to the physically wounded. In fact, prior to 1932, wounded American soldiers were only awarded "wound chevrons" according to Army Regulation 600-15. It wasn't until General Douglas MacArthur renamed the "Purple Heart Medal" in 1932 that it became focused on soldiers killed and wounded in combat.
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I have seen this "moral injury" when veterans come home and I have seen PTSD in survivors of what civilians go through. There is only one type of cause that comes close to what combat does and that is what happens to members of law enforcement.

Anyone who knows this personally, aside from reading it in a book, knows the history of individuals changing on a daily basis, aside from monthly therapy sessions, would agree.
The Purple Heart does not have increased levels of "honor" so a graze receives the same award as an amputation so why are we arguing about this?

Capitalizing on Newtown tragedy?

Throughout the history of this country, tragedy usually caused changes. Some are complaining that the families are "capitalizing on Newtown" but that isn't anything new. Things change because when a tragedy hits, people always think of it happening again to others. Here are just a few things that started because of tragedy.

Fire Department An ounce of prevention ... a pound of cure 19th c. image of Franklin as firefighter.On a visit to Boston, Benjamin Franklin noted that the inhabitants of his native city were far better prepared to fight fires than the natives of his adopted city, Philadelphia. Upon returning home, he consulted the Junto, a benevolent group dedicated to civic and self-improvement, and asked for their suggestions on better ways to combat fires. Franklin also sought to raise public awareness about the city's dire need to improve fire-fighting techniques. In a Pennsylvania Gazette article of 1733 Franklin noted how fires were being fought in Philadelphia. "Soon after it [a fire] is seen and cry'd out, the Place is crowded by active Men of different Ages, Professions and Titles who, as of one Mind and Rank, apply themselves with all Vigilance and Resolution, according to their Abilities, to the hard Work of conquering the increasing fire."

Police In 1636 the city of Boston established Night Watch, which idea worked reasonably well as long as the area remained a rural and agrarian one. New York City established the Shout and Rattle Watch in 1651, but, by 1705 Philadelphia found it necessary to divide the city into ten patrol areas.

Automobile Insurance The world's first automobile insurance policy was issued in Dayton, Ohio in 1897. Throughout most of the twentieth century, the city of Detroit, Michigan was synonymous with American automobile manufacturing. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, that was not the case. Instead, Ohio innovators in Cleveland and elsewhere were at the forefront of this new form of transportation technology.

The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 heralded a new era in the history of public efforts to protect workers from harm on the job. This Act established for the first time a nationwide, federal program to protect almost the entire work force from job-related death, injury and illness. Secretary of Labor James Hodgson, who had helped shape the law, termed it "the most significant legislative achievement" for workers in a decade

Did anyone ask Robert Downey Jr. what "a little PTSD" is?

Kevin Feige: 'No Iron Man 3 pressure' 'Iron Man 3' has ''no pressure'' to be bigger than 'The Avengers'.

Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has insisted that the forthcoming action flick - which sees Robert Downey Jr. reprise his role as the metal-clad crime fighter - isn't expected to be bigger or more action-packed than last year's superhero team-up movie and will instead focus on developing the Tony Stark character.

Downey added: ''The tone of the movie is a little different than the other Marvel movies so far. It's no mystery that Tony has a little PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder] from what happened in New York [in 'The Avengers'] and he's struggling. He's messed up.''