Korean War Veteran And Wife Pass Away After 63 Years Minutes Apart

After 63 years of marriage, Platte couple dies 20 minutes apart
KSFY News
By Courtney Collen
Aug 07, 2016

"The VA was doing as much as they could until about 7-8 weeks ago. Said there isn't more they could do," Lee explained.

After some recent falls, Henry's condition worsened.

"He said, 'I need to go to the nursing home'. They put mom and dad in the same room which was very sweet," Lee said with a smile.

It's one of those stories that rarely comes around once in a lifetime. A story of an elderly man and woman with incredible faith and 63 years of marriage.

As their health got worse, their faith and love for God, their family and each other grew stronger until the very end.

After they married in 1953, the journey of life took Henry and Jeanette De Lange to Platte, South Dakota. He was a Korean War Veteran. She was a musician, worked at the Platte Care Center and took care of their five children.

It wasn't until Sunday, July 31, 2016 when their children got a call from the Platte Care Center.

"They said both your mom and dad aren't doing very well at all. Highly recommended that we get there as soon as we could," son Lee De Lange said.

Lee's mom, at 87 years-old, suffered from Alzheimer's Disease and had been in nursing home care since 2011.

"Dad visited mom once a day, twice, or maybe three times a day. It was very sweet," Lee said. "Wednesday or Thursday, she had stopped eating. She was dehydrated."

The clock on the wall said 5:30 p.m. when Henry went to heaven, twenty minutes after his beloved wife.

"We're calling it a beautiful act of God's providential love and mercy. You don't pray for it because it seems mean but you couldn't ask for anything more beautiful."

It doesn't end there; the clock told another story.
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Wounded Times Challenging PTSD and Suicide Awareness Groups

Marines march in "silkies" to raise awareness about military suicides. Sounds good but the number of members of the military, National Guards and Reservists are not part of the often quoted "22 a day" so not so much truth awareness being raised there. Actually there is not much truth awareness being shared at all and that, that my friends, has left me sick to my stomach.

How about they raise awareness on something like this considering it came from the DOD.

The DSPO has an annual budget of $24 million. The Pentagon also is the largest single supporter of suicide prevention research, funding 61 studies in recent years at a cost of more than $100 million, according to a Rand Corp. report.

Suicide prevention training is mandatory in all five military services, including the Coast Guard, whose suicide statistics are not included in the Defense Department tally.

According to the report, 120 soldiers, 39 Marines, 43 sailors and 64 airmen died by suicide in 2015. The number of Air Force deaths marks the highest for the service in the past decade.

Among the reserves and National Guard, 88 Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine reservists died by suicide in 2015, while 100 Army National Guard members and 21 Air National Guardsmen killed themselves.

Actually it is worse considering that the DOD started that "prevention" training in over a decade ago when there were more serving but less committing suicide. The Joshua Omvig Suicide Prevention Act came about in 2006 because there were 99 suicides that entire year. The bill was signed by President Bush in 2007.

These are the "military" suicides for the first quarter of 2016

In the first quarter of 2016, the military services reported the following:
 58 deaths by suicide in the Active Component
 18 deaths by suicide in the Reserves
 34 deaths by suicide in the National Guard

And here is a better way to see what is going on.

Mission 22 is a collaboration between Elder Heart, a veteran non-profit organization, and a global advertising agency. Elder Heart is comprised of Delta Force and Special Forces operators Tom Spooner, Magnus Johnson, and Mike Kissel. Because of their personal battles with PTSD and TBI they have made it their mission to raise awareness, enlist support, and end veteran suicide in America.

In 2012 48 Marines committed suicide. 2013 it was 45 followed by 34 in 2014, 39 in 2015 and for 2016 first quarter it was 12. Really not good considering how long they have been "preventing" them topped off with there have been less and less serving every year.

No evidence it worked while they were in the military and more than enough evidence it failed them when they got out of the military.

In 1999 the VA put the number of suicides at 20 a day while no one was talking about them.  

There were about 7 million more veterans in the country back then.  Now the latest report from the VA has the number at,,,,ding, ding, ding, hope alarm bells are going off, because it is right back to 20 a day.

So what exactly has all this "awareness" raising been hoping to achieve? Spreading something that is lacking solutions? Spreading rumors that are baseless especially when you read the reports and understand that while everyone has been pushing up, taking walks, running and doing a hell of a lot of talking, too few actually know what is going on and even less know how to stay alive instead of committing suicide.

I challenge every group out there with good intentions to actually stop doing what is easy for them and start doing what if necessary to change the outcome.

Here are just a few of them but they are happening all over the country.

History of #22KILL: Honor Courage Commitment, Inc. started the #22KILL movement in 2013 after learning about the staggering statistic that an average of 22 veterans are killed by suicide every day. HCC has committed to researching and understanding the genesis of this epidemic, and educating the general public on the issue. #22KILL is a platform to raise awareness not just towards veteran suicide, but also to the issues that can lead them to suicide. These mental health issues can stem from Post Traumatic Stress, Traumatic Brain Injury, or the struggles and stresses of transitioning from military to civilian life.

22 Too Many is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that cares deeply and passionately about our nations veterans and their families. Through athletic events, we seek to serve as a living memorial, reduce the stigma by increasing public knowledge and awareness of PTS, share helpful resources, and provide support and comfort to the grieving families left behind.

Stop Soldier Suicide We’re Veterans who understand the military mindset and training. While we are not a crisis center and don't provide direct clinical services or therapy, we do offer a high-touch service with connection to resources for many of the stresses faced: job loss, relationship issues, mental health needs, financial worries, housing and more.

The challenge is simple. Since I've been doing this for over 3 decades, tracked reports right here for 9 years with over 26,000 posts, stun me.  Take the time to do a video about what you are doing and put it up on YouTube. Send me the link.

It should be simple to answer the following questions,

What is your goal?
How do you plan on achieving it?
What is the money you are raising for?
How many lives have you saved?
How many people are doing more than just talking about the problem?
What are you doing?
How is what you are doing different from everyone else?

Keep in mind, I started doing videos on PTSD back in 2006, so won't be easy to show me something new.

I'll share your video but will add my two cents to it.  That is a chance you'll have to take but if you believe in what you are doing, then that should not be a problem.

If you stun me, I'll post your video along with a full guest post to spread the word about what you are doing. Right now this is the traffic on Wounded Times.

It started on August 10, 2007 because a Marine dared me to stop posting political rants and keep this about the truth.  I kept my word after he asked me if I was doing this for "them" or myself.

The count started May 2010 with 2,812,685 page views, 79,670 page views last month. Plus I do all this for free. I lose a couple of thousand dollars every year. I have a regular job to pay my bills and I give away more than I get from Google ads.



It is read all over the world.

United States
1861484
Germany
145137
France
141682
Russia
96605
Spain
52740
United Kingdom
49471
Canada
33561
Ukraine
29659
Bulgaria
16494
China
16084

Time to step up the real challenge here because the truth is, we're losing this battle after war. They are running out of time for us to change the outcome.


UPDATE

Received the first response from an old friend, Bob Bambury
Veterans Multi-Purpose Center
Founded: 1992

South Carolina PTSD Veteran Died in Standoff with Deputies

Sheriff: Man Who Died in Standoff with Deputies Had PTSD 
WLTX News 
August 09, 2016

Richland County deputies respond to a standoff

with a man in Little Mountain on August 9, 2016.

(Photo: WLTX)

Richland County, SC (WLTX) - Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott says the man who died in a confrontation with his deputies Monday night was a military veteran who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.
read more here

Vietnam Veteran Will Not Give Up On Their Brothers

When I took some time off the end of July to spend with family in New England, I was supposed to be unplugged and just relaxing. I was walking around Portsmouth when I came upon a strange thing.  

Naturally I had to stop and talk to him while my daughter gave me the look like, "You're supposed to be off this weekend." It turns out that Peter MacDonald is a Vietnam Veteran.  As you know, that is the generation everyone forgets about and the one that got me started doing this work.  

They came home with the same wounds all the other generations did but they decided to fight to have it treated.  You know, the things everyone seems to think only happens to the OEF-OIF generation. 

They came home and fought to have PTSD diagnosed and treated as well as compensated for this wound.  They came home and ended up homeless walking the streets, living in the woods and depending on anything a kind heart bothered to share with them.

These were the numbers of veterans most walked away from.

Approximately 40% of homeless men are veterans, although veterans comprise only 34% of the general adult male population. The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans estimates that on any given night, 200,000 veterans are homeless, and 400,000 veterans will experience homelessness during the course of a year (National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, 2006). 97% of those homeless veterans will be male (Department of Veterans Affairs, 2008). The National Survey of Homeless Assistance Providers and Clients reports that veterans account for 23% of all homeless people in America (U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness and the Urban Institute, 1999).

They suffered when no one else was looking. 

As the public has once again decided to cross the street instead of offer even a smile, they have proven how magnificent they really are.  They still haven't give up on the rest of the people in this country. They sure as hell are not giving up on each other.

It makes them very sad that with all the talk about helping the younger veterans, no one is talking about helping them, but not for the reason you may think.  They are sad knowing that the younger generation would not have to be going through the same suffering they did had all of us paid attention when they came home.

I was glad I stopped because this veteran was once homeless himself and decided that after he had been helped to get back on his feet, he would do the same for others.

I looked online and found a news report about him. Here it is.

Former Homeless Vet Vows To Help Others By Building Tiny Homes
WBZ-TV
By Chantee Lans
July 12, 2016

LEE, N.H. (CBS) – Peter MacDonald served as a Marine sergeant in Vietnam in the 1970s. He became homeless when he returned to New Hampshire.

“A person who became my friend found me. He was a Vietnam veteran that got back a year before me and realized what I was going through when he found me living under dumpster in Dover,” explained MacDonald.

He and his wife later met through his veteran rehabilitation services. Three years ago, they used their retirement money and life savings and held fundraisers to start a non-profit called Veteran Resort Chapel. The goal is to build 12 tiny homes on 11-acres of land for homeless combat veterans.

“This is something that should’ve been done years ago and I really hope that other people will see the idea of tiny homes for homeless combat veterans to given them a chance to find themselves to come home mentally as well as physically,” said MacDonald.
read more here

Canada: Military Missed Opportunity to Save Suicidal of Soldier

Military had chance to "lessen the likelihood" of soldier suicide, judge says
The Canadian Press
By Chris Purdy
Posted: Aug 06, 2016

PTSD-diagnosed soldier "would have been handled entirely differently" if diagnosis was known

A fatality inquiry into the death of Cpl. Shaun Collins,

a 27-year-old Canadian Forces soldier, suggested the military

could have lessened the likelihood of his death. (Supplied)

A judge says the military had several opportunities to prevent or lower the risk of suicide for an Edmonton soldier who hanged himself in a holding cell five years ago.

Cpl. Shaun Collins, 27, killed himself at Canadian Forces Base Edmonton after he was arrested by military police for drunk driving on March 11, 2011.

Provincial court Judge Jody Moher said in a fatality inquiry report released late Friday afternoon that things could have been done to try to save the soldier.

"It is irrefutable that there were a number of potential opportunities to obviate or lessen the likelihood of Shaun Collins committing suicide that evening," she said.

​Moher said no one did a computer search that night on Collins after his arrest.

A search would have found that Collins, a member of the 1st Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after he returned from his second tour in Afghanistan in 2010. He had also tried kill himself, or threatened to kill himself, four times and was being transitioned out of the military.

The judge wrote that information on the soldier's mental health was available on a military computer system. But a comssionaire, dispatcher and three military police officers on duty did not do a check and placed him alone in a cell.
read more here