The headline should read Advocate Ty Ziegel died after helping many

The headline should read Advocate died after helping many

Ex-Marine who survived Iraq bombing died of drugs
St. Louis Dispatch
May 4, 2013

A former Marine from Illinois who was badly disfigured by a suicide bombing in Iraq died of a combination of heroin and alcohol intoxication, a coroner's inquest determined.

Tyler Ziegel died Dec. 26 after a fall, but Peoria County Coroner Johnna Ingersoll said Saturday it was the combination of drugs in his system _ not the fall _ that killed him. The coroner's jury ruled Thursday that the 30-year-old's death was accidental.

"Like so many of his fellow wounded warriors, Ty fought back," Quinn said in the address. "He fought back through 59 surgeries and untold emotional scars to become an advocate for veterans and military families."
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Ty Ziegel update

“In the past, they were just telling a guy to suck it up and move on”

Officer in shooting incident named
By Jessica Bruha
The Norman Transcript
May 5, 2013

NORMAN — The female officer involved in Wednesday’s shooting at Main Street and Hal Muldrow Drive was identified by fellow officers as Glenda Vassar.

Vassar repeatedly issued verbal warnings to him, but she shot him after he began to approach her in an aggressive manner armed with a small kitchen knife, eyewitnesses said.

"Earlier this year, Vassar was recognized as the first female officer to receive the Police Officer of the Year award. She has worked as a Norman officer for two-and-a-half years and was commended during the awards ceremony by Chief of Police Keith Humphrey."

During Vassar’s administrative leave, she was required, as part of the policy, to talk to a peer support responder (PSR).

The Peer Support Team was developed to help officers “defuse” or “debrief” from incidents such as officer-involved shootings, Jackson said. The team allows officers involved in critical incidents to sit down and talk to someone who has been in their shoes.

“Suicide is the No. 1 cause of death of police officers,” Jackson said. “In the past, they were just telling a guy to suck it up and move on.”

That was before many realized that Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, depression and other conditions were affecting officers after being involved in critical incidents, he said.
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Army takes note as vet rapper Soldier Hard's lyrics tackle suicide

'Red Flags': Army takes note as vet rapper Soldier Hard's lyrics tackle suicide
By Bill Briggs
NBC News contributor
May 5, 2013

A hip-hop song beseeching battle buddies to be on watch for suicidal signals among their peers is being used — informally for now — within the Army as a prevention tool to help the branch stem an ongoing suicide crisis.

“Red Flags,” penned and recorded by former Army tank gunner Jeff Barillaro, was created as an urgent call for current troops as well as Iraq and Afghanistan veterans not to ignore or miss the sometimes-subtle yet often-obvious behavioral changes known to precede many suicides, Barillaro said.

“We’ve seen the red flags but we were blind to them,” said Barillaro, an Iraq War veteran who performs under the stage name Soldier Hard. Many of his songs and videos draw on his own raw experiences with a diagnosis of severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
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This is one of the best things I've seen on PTSD and suicides in a very long time. In 2006 I started making videos for Vietnam veterans. Naturally I used "old" music that many of the new veterans complained about. Some of them like the oldies but most do not listen to that music. They listen to Rap and Red Flags hits all the right points.

This is one of them on Great Americans. It used to be on YouTube.

As you can hear, it is not the kind of music they want to listen to. I am glad the Army is paying attention to what can really help these younger veterans reach out for help instead of reaching the end of their hope.

Now even Christian Faith is part of a political game on FOX

This is the article on Stars and Stripes Pentagon, OK to talk about faith but not to push

Yet this is what is appearing on message boards and in emails this morning.
"PENTAGON MAY COURT MARTIAL SOLDIERS WHO SHARE CHRISTIAN FAITH"

Apparently FOX does not know the difference between proselytizing and evangelizing. Freedom of religion must only apply to those who agree with them and when they don't they are supposed to be guilty of attacking faith. How is that supposed to work? Doesn't freedom of religion mean that everyone is free to worship as they see fit?

AMENDMENT I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Does FOX know what the word "freedom" means?

Does FOX know the history behind this? That soldiers were being forced to attend Christian events? That they were told they were going to hell if they didn't convert?

Does FOX have the ability to distinguish between all the denominations of Christianity in this nation alone? Do they know each "church" has their own doctrine and while they all fall under Christianity, they are not all the same?

Being truthful with their audience wouldn't get their blood boiling over thinking their faith had just come under attack.

This issue has been near and dear to my heart because the way things were, many soldiers were being turned away from Christ instead of toward Him. This at a time when they needed spiritual help in healing from what they had to do and what they had to see. Over 60% of military chaplains thought it was their job to make converts to their own faith by telling the soldiers they were going to hell and their suffering was punishment for turning away from Christ.

Normal Chaplains were having a hard time being able to talk about their faith because of what the others were doing. This is a wonderful solution yet FOX turned it into something ugly.

UPDATE
I thought if I took a few minutes to calm down I would just get over this but that isn't happening. I am just getting more angry.

Today is Orthodox Easter. I am Greek Orthodox and this is how we celebrate the victory of Christ over death.

Orthodox Easter Resurrection: The Gift of Liberation and Call to Compassion
Posted: 05/04/2013
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew
Spiritual leader of 300 million Orthodox Christians worldwide

While many Christians celebrated Easter over a month ago as a result of differing calendar calculations, Orthodox Easter takes place much later this year, falling on May 5. Thus, at midnight on Saturday, May 4, the night that our fourth-century predecessor on the Throne of Constantinople, St. Gregory Nazianzus, described as "brighter than any sunlit day," some 300 million Orthodox Christians will swarm churches to hear the words: "Come, receive the light!"

On that night, throughout the world, entire congregations previously waiting in darkness and filled with anticipation will light up, their faces shining with joy and hope. Together they will all chant in numerous languages, depending on geography and culture, the triumphant hymn familiar to young and old: "Christ is risen from the dead, trampling death by death, and granting life to those in the tombs."

"Life to those in the tombs" refers to a refreshing perspective on Easter: we see an open tomb, not an empty grave. The miracle of the Resurrection then is an open invitation to a new way of living that prevails over the darkness within us and around us. The Orthodox icon of the Resurrection depicts Christ pulling Adam and Eve, our earliest prototypes of sinners, out of a tomb and into a new life. It is an image of liberation, often depicting broken chains and shattered padlocks. The light of Christ enters and brightens the furthest depths of human experience. No longer does the grip of hell, imprisonment and defeat cause us to become rigid, numb and indifferent. Resurrection is all about a new reality, a fresh perspective, a renewed life, where resentment, hardness and hostility are overcome.

Here is a link to a video on this.
‘Holy Fire’ ceremony in Jerusalem ushers in Orthodox Easter

There are times when people think that Greeks are not Christians because we do things a different way. The fact is, our tradition goes back to when St. Paul preached to the Greeks. We read the same Bible as everyone else but our doctrine is not the same as other members of Christianity. Even though our church is the oldest, it is not the largest. I have actually heard people say they didn't think Greeks were Christian because we do things differently.

This is just one example of how people should be able to freely talk about their faith but not force anyone else to do anything, including listen to me or do what I say. When leaders in military force their faith on someone else, that is wrong and they should be held accountable for what they do. Sharing the love of God The Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, the Holy Trinity celebrates the parts of all of His children. There are three parts in all of us. Mind, body and spirit and each must be cared for. Doing it with love helps. Doing it by force harms.

5 US service members killed by IED and 2 killed in Green on Blue

7 US troops killed in separate attacks in Afghanistan
By Heath Druzin
Stars and Stripes
Published: May 4, 2013

KABUL – Eight coalition troops, including at least seven Americans, and one Afghan interpreter were killed in separate attacks across Afghanistan, reflecting a rising death toll in the country.

Five Americans and an Afghan interpreter were killed Saturday when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb in Afghanistan's Kandahar province, according to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and local officials.

David Lakin, a spokesman for the U.S. military in Afghanistan, confirmed the U.S. deaths in the bombing.

Two more ISAF troops were killed Saturday in a so-called insider attack in western Afghanistan, according to a coalition news release. According to The Associated Press, the two victims were Americans who died after an Afghan National Army soldier fired on coalition troops. Another coalition servicemember was killed in northern Afghanistan, though ISAF did not immediately say where the attack took place or which country the servicemember is from.
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