Senator Marco Rubio Too Busy With Fundraisers To Take Care of Disabled Sergeant?

ELECTION: Murphy accuses Rubio of neglecting to help wounded warrior
News 13 Orlando
By Greg Pallone, Reporter
August 31, 2016

Riley said he thought that because Rubio was running for president and ran TV ads backing the military, his son's situation would get noticed. But instead, Rubio held at least 18 fundraisers when Sgt. Riney was being brought back to Florida in need of financial help, Murphy's campaign said.

Army veteran Tim Riney Jr. was injured in a Stryker vehicle accident in Colorado in February 2015. (Courtesy of Tim Riney)

Just hours after winning their party nominations for U.S. Senate, Rep. Patrick Murphy and Sen. Marco Rubio are both on the attack.

Murphy introduced father of wounded warrior in Rubio attack
Murphy, vet's dad accused Rubio of not helping son
Son was severely injured and paralyzed in 2015 Stryker vehicle accident

Murphy on Wednesday accused Rubio of putting his presidential bid in front of helping a wounded soldier, and introduced a wounded warrior as the face of his campaign.

Tim Riney of Safety Harbor, near Clearwater, is the father of Army veteran Timothy Riney, who was paralyzed after a military training exercise in February 2015. Riney was hurt and a fellow soldier killed after their 18-ton Stryker vehicle plunged over an embankment at Fort Carson, Colo.

“They are saying it's the worst accident with a Stryker in the history of the country, and you don't have time to help us?” the elder Riney said of Rubio.

Riney said his son needed help with medical costs, and it took five months for Rubio's office to get back to him. Meanwhile, his son was transferred to a Tampa VA hospital, and they struggled to get financial assistance for home wheelchair accessibility.

“Marco Rubio is so set on putting himself first that even when a Florida veteran is lying paralyzed in a hospital bed, he can't find the time to help out," Murphy said Wednesday.
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Suicide Prevention Month Is Back Again

I have a very cynical attitude to all this raising "awareness" because making anyone aware of a problem has managed to produce more suicides. In other words, when it comes to reducing suicides, no one thought about making the veterans aware of why they should live instead of taking their own lives.

A good example of raising awareness is the mega charity Wounded Warrior Project.  Yep, those guys.  Their stated mission was to "raise awareness" but they forgot to mention that they were interested in making folks aware they wanted them to be aware of WWP.  Not much else. It worked.

What followed their success was a growing emergence of groups raising awareness of suffering and collecting money to do it. Would have been terrific had they actually provided awareness of what works, which they had nothing to do with considering it all started decades ago.  Would have been great if anyone was aware of that.

For years they have been putting on commercials, asking for money, holding some type of fundraising event and then taking a large portion of that money and donating it to colleges along with other charities.  If anyone is angry about that, suggest you think about the commercials because they never once said what they were going to do with your money. 

One more suggestion is that you also check their website from time to time considering it is all on it topped off with press releases that no one manages to read.

They are reorganizing and they are cutting staff according to a report from News4Jax.

Sources said Jeremy Chwat, the chief strategy officer, was let go this week. His biography says he was a founding member of the charity; the non-profit claims there were 27 original founders, although John Melia says he and his family founded the organization in 2004.
According to the organization's most recent tax filings, Chwat's compensation was higher than $300,000 annually in salary and benefits. His departure means four out of five chief officers are now gone in the wake of the charity's spending scandal.

But while the report says it is the largest, it isn't. It isn't new either. None of this is new but apparently there has been a resurrection of the snake oil salesman. All they have to do is talk about the problem without ever offering anything that would change the outcome.

So as the number of veterans committing suicide remains higher than the civilian population, one more thing that everyone should be made aware of is that civilians are not prepared to die for the sake of someone else as a career. (Ok, I lied.  Actually two things to be aware of.) They were also trained in "prevention" that only managed to feed the stigma while civilians were told it was to save their lives.  So how is it that their numbers are higher than the civilian rate of suicides?

Too few were made aware of SNAKE OIL salesmen not saying a damn thing that made a difference for veterans.

Suicide Prevention Month: #BeThere

Suicide Prevention Month: #BeThere
VA Highlights Initiatives to Prevent Veteran and Servicemember Suicide

WASHINGTON – Today marks the start of Suicide Prevention Month and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is asking for the entire nation’s help in reducing Veteran suicide. VA is calling on community leaders, supervisors, colleagues, friends, and family members to BeThere for Veterans and Service members starting with a simple act, which can play a pivotal role in preventing suicide.

“You don’t have to be a trained professional to support someone who may be going through a difficult time,” said Dr. Caitlin Thompson, Director of the VA Office of Suicide Prevention. “We want to let people know that things they do every day, like calling an old friend or checking in with a neighbor, are strong preventive factors for suicide because they help people feel less alone. That’s what this campaign is about - encouraging people to be there for each other.”

The campaign also highlights VA resources that are available to support Veterans and Servicemembers who are coping with mental health challenges or are at risk for suicide, and it encourages everyone to share these resources with someone in their life.

“We hope our Suicide Prevention Month efforts help educate people about the VA and community resources available nationwide,” said VA Under Secretary for Health David J. Shulkin, M.D. “We’re committed to working with experts and organizations across the country to identify ways we can help Veterans and Servicemembers get the care they deserve and to expand the network of mental health support.”

Veteran suicide data released by the VA Office of Suicide Prevention in early August 2016 serves as a foundation for informing and evaluating suicide prevention efforts inside the VA health care system and for developing lifesaving collaborations with community-based health care partners.

VA plans to host a series of roundtable discussions with key stakeholder groups in the coming months as part of its plan to develop a public health strategy for preventing Veteran suicide. In August, VA hosted its first roundtable discussion, “Suicide Prevention is Everyone’s Business,” with corporate sector partners. In September, VA will host the Veterans Affairs Suicide Prevention Innovations event, which will bring together a community of experts from business, industry, academia, and government agencies to collaboratively identify solutions for reducing suicide rates among Veterans and Servicemembers. In addition, new programs such as REACH VET are being launched nationwide in September to identify Veterans in VHA care who may be vulnerable, in order to provide the care they need before a crisis occurs.

For more information about VA’s suicide prevention efforts:

Suicide Prevention Month website: VeteransCrisisLine.net/BeThere
Suicide Prevention Month toolkit: VeteransCrisisLine.net/SpreadTheWord
Suicide Prevention Fact Sheet
VA’s Veterans Crisis Line: Call 1-800-273-8255 and Press 1; chat online at VeteransCrisisLine.net/Chat or text to 838255 — even if a Veteran is not registered with VA or enrolled in VA health care.
Make the Connection website: http://maketheconnection.net
VA Mental Health website: http://www.mentalhealth.va.gov

Humans of New York Reminder Troops Are Still Only Human

Humans of New York decided to profile veterans. The response has been overwhelming.
Washington Post
By Dan Lamothe
August 31, 2016 

At the outset of the project, Stanton said on Facebook he expected that the project would show conflicting feelings: “patriotism, disillusionment, pride, regret, gratitude, and grief.” 

Zachary Iscol appears in the picture in a light-blue shirt and tousled hair, a 5 o’clock shadow on his face. In accompanying text, he mourns the loss of his friend “Ronnie Winchester,” a first lieutenant with the Marine Corps who died in Iraq in 2004, just a few years after graduating from the Naval Academy.

“He was the nicest guy you can imagine,” Iscol said. “My 22nd birthday was during our officer training course. None of us had slept. We were all starving. We were only getting one ration per day. But Ronnie wanted to give me a memorable birthday. So he put a candle in his brownie and gave it to me. That’s how nice of a guy he was. Ronnie ended up getting killed in Iraq. And if a guy like Ronnie got killed, you can’t help but wonder why you deserve to be alive.”

It’s one of many sentiments that have been shared recently by veterans on Humans of New York, the popular social-media group that was created to document the lives of New Yorkers and now has nearly 18 million followers on Facebook and 5.8 million more on Instagram. The series has seen numerous veterans and military family members share their observations of the world with photographer Brandon Stanton.

At the outset of the project, Stanton said on Facebook he expected that the project would show conflicting feelings: “patriotism, disillusionment, pride, regret, gratitude, and grief.” Many of the veterans involved have post-traumatic stress, Stanton said, but the hardships they shared in interviews with Humans of New York are too nuanced for that diagnosis to capture everything involved.
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Police Officer Gave Homeless Veteran Clothes, Food and Shelter

Franklin Sergeant helps homeless veteran who was exploited by thief
FOX 17 Nashville
BY KAYLIN SEARLES
TUESDAY, AUGUST 30TH

Richards not only made these accommodations for the homeless veteran, he brought him to the motel, went to Walmart and bought t-shirts, underwear, socks, shorts and non-perishable food and water. Richards also bought the veteran a new bag to carry it all in.

Franklin Officer Of The Month.PNG Chief Deborah Faulkner

Kris Krabill (Toyota, Cool Springs), Sgt. Charlie Richards

Leo Linkov (Franklin Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram) 

Photo: Franklin Police

FRANKLIN, Tenn. (WZTV) — Franklin Police Sergeant Charlie Richards was named officer of the month for going above and beyond his duties to help a homeless veteran "who was exploited by a thief and left with nothing but the clothes on his back."
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