Point Man 'Healing the Wounds of War' Prayer Breakfast

Point Man International Ministries

Point Man Ministries organizes the 'Healing the Wounds of War' Prayer Breakfast
Special to the Post
5/29/13

Point Man Ministries organizes the “healing the wounds of war" prayer breakfast for Veterans each Tuesday at 8:30 am at the Buffalo Inn (164 N Pagosa Blvd).

Who is Point Man?

Since 1984, when Seattle Police Officer and Vietnam Veteran Bill Landreth noticed he was arresting the same people each night, he discovered most were Vietnam vets like himself that just never seemed to have quite made it home. He began to meet with them in coffee shops and on a regular basis for fellowship and prayer. Soon, Point Man Ministries was conceived and became a staple of the Seattle area. Bill's untimely death soon after put the future of Point Man in jeopardy.
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Staff Sgt. Bales plea deal could cause retaliation in Afghanistan

This story leaves so many questions. Why did Bales go on the rampage? What medication was he on? There are stories circulating he had PTSD but PTSD does not usually cause anything close to this. There are reports about others committing crimes after being given Mefloquine and the Bales case caused the military so scramble to stop using it after this. There are also reports Bales had TBI and PTSD but so far there have been few answers as to why this happened. Now with troops still in Afghanistan, this plea deal could inflame retaliation against them. There needs to be answers and fast or this could get a lot worse.

Bales to plead guilty in Afghan massacre
Proposed deal would allow Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier to avoid the death penalty.
Seattle Times staff and news services
May 29, 2013

In a proposed deal to avoid the death penalty, Staff Sgt. Robert Bales has agreed to plead guilty to killing 16 Afghans during a March 2012 tour of duty with an Army unit from Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

John Henry Browne said his client has “tremendous remorse” and would enter the plea at a court hearing at the base scheduled for June 5.

“The commanding general (at the base) has approved this so the only thing left is for the judge on the 5th to accept this plea,” Browne said Wednesday.

The Army judge has set aside a day for the plea agreement, and Bales is prepared to talk about the crimes.

Bales, 39, is accused of carrying out the most serious U.S. war crimes to emerge from more than a decade of American military involvement in Afghanistan.

In Afghanistan, the plea deal could inflame tensions. In interviews with The Associated Press in Kandahar in April, relatives of the victims became outraged at the notion Bales might escape the death penalty and even vowed revenge.

“For this one thing, we would kill 100 American soldiers,” said Mohammed Wazir, who had 11 relatives killed that night, including his mother and 2-year-old daughter.
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Load gun at Arlington National Cemetery accidentally wounds visitor

Accidental Shooting Reported at Arlington Cemetery
May 29, 2013
Associated Press

ARLINGTON, Va. - One person was injured after an accidental shooting in the parking lot at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day.

A spokeswoman for Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, which responded to the incident, says the shooting occurred Monday, hours before President Barack Obama laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Sharon Walker says the gun fell out of a cemetery visitor's car. Walker says the gun fell under the car and as the man tried to retrieve it, a shot went off and struck one of the passengers from his vehicle in the leg.
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Graphic shows veterans commit suicide every hour

The graphic from Huffington Post is amazing but as powerful as it is, it does not include members of the National Guards or Reservists.

2012 Military Suicides
Source Department of Defense

There is something else that is very important to notice. The fact that the majority of veterans committing suicide are over 50. Most of them are Vietnam veterans.

People working on helping veterans are freaked out over the numbers of OEF and OIF veterans we see suffering today because of what happened when Vietnam veterans came home. Nothing was being done for them before they pushed for everything available today, yet the number of Vietnam veterans committing suicide took years to go up after the Vietnam War was over. It is all happening too fast for the new generation.

The numbers of suicides and attempted suicides following years of "efforts" and billions spent every year to "prevent" them with over 900 suicide prevention programs coupled with what is still happening to Vietnam veterans has us all in fear that these numbers are only the beginning and the military still doesn't have a clue what works because they are too busy pushing what has already failed.

Veteran Suicides Outpace Combat Deaths, Child Gun Deaths
(INFOGRAPHIC)
Huffington Post
Jan Diehm
Posted: 05/24/2013

Memorial Day commemorates the U.S. soliders who lost their lives in service. It's also a time to recognize a growing but less visible group of fallen soliders who chose to end their own lives while serving or after returning from war.

There are about 22 veteran suicides each day, a rate higher than previous estimates, based on a report released by the Department of Veterans Affairs earlier this year. Many veterans who take their own lives are over 50, but the hundreds of thousands of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan also struggle to adjust to civilian life while dealing with the mental and physical effects of war on top of a weak job market.

One an hour.

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Family hangs onto hope after Spec. Kelli Bordeaux declared dead

Missing soldier's family holds out hope for news
May. 28, 2013
The Associated Press

ST. CLOUD, FLA. — Relatives of a missing soldier the Army has declared dead say they believe she’s still alive.

Brig. Gen. David K. MacEwen declared 23-year-old Spc. Kelli Bordeaux deceased as of May 20. That will allow her family to receive military death benefits.

Bordeaux was stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C. It’s been more than a year since the central Florida native left her apartment on April 13, 2012, and headed to Froggy Bottoms, a bar about a half-mile from her home. Early the next morning, witnesses reported seeing her leaving the bar with a homeless sex offender. He has denied any role in her disappearance.

Searches by groups of volunteers looking for Bordeaux’s remains in secluded areas near the base have been unsuccessful.

No one has yet been criminally charged in the case.

Bordeaux’s brother, Matt Henson, told WFTV in Orlando that he’s still in touch with North Carolina investigators. A reward has grown from $25,000 to $33,000
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