WWII Veteran Back in the Navy

96-year-old vet gets his wish of visiting US Navy station
The Associated Press
By: Jennifer Mcdermott
July 27, 2017

WWII veteran Edmund DelBarone, second from right, makes the U.S. Navy crossed anchors symbol with his arms while posing for a photograph at Naval Station Newport, in Newport, R.I., Thursday July 27, 2017. DelBarone, a 96-year-old World War II veteran, once dreamed of returning to a Navy installation to reminisce about his naval career, and help of a nonprofit it has become a reality.
(Jennifer McDermott/AP)

NEWPORT, R.I. — A 96-year-old World War II veteran who dreamed of returning to a Navy installation to reminisce about his more than 20-year naval career got his wish on Thursday.

Edmund DelBarone toured Naval Station Newport in a visit arranged by Denver-based nonprofit Wish of a Lifetime. After seeing some of the ships assigned to the base, he said he’d have no trouble taking them out to sea.

“It’s exciting,” he said after. “I didn’t expect to see so much.”
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Caregiver Support Program Resumes Full Operations...For Some Veterans

VA Caregiver Support Program Resumes Full Operations
July 28, 2017

WASHINGTON – Today the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced it is resuming full operations of the Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers. The resumption follows an April 17 decision to temporarily suspend certain clinical revocations from the program to conduct a strategic review aimed at strengthening the program.

“VA has taken immediate steps to improve the program’s operations,” said VA Secretary David J. Shulkin. M.D. “Our top focus during the review has been to listen, evaluate and act swiftly to make changes that will better meet the needs of our Veterans and caregivers. This does not mean our work is done. We will continue to refine and improve this important program.”

VA’s three-month review indicated a need for better communication about clinical revocations, improved internal processes and procedures, and additional staff training.

Following the review, VA issued a new directive outlining staff responsibilities, Veteran and caregiver eligibility requirements, available benefits and procedures for revocations from the program.

VA also conducted mandatory staff training on the new directive and implemented standardized communications and outreach materials to educate Veterans and caregivers about the program.

Additionally, the VA will be formalizing additional ways to ensure that the experience of Veterans’ families, caregivers and survivors are understood and that, where needed, new, or additional, assistance is explored. The VA is committed to listening to the voices of those who care for Veterans of all eras and to collaborating to improve services, outreach and awareness.

The caregiver program website has also been redesigned, and now includes a section linking caregivers and Veterans of all ages to resources and home- and community-based services available through VA’s Geriatrics and Extended Care programs.

More information on the program is available at www.caregiver.va.gov.

Love Story Just Beginning For Newlywed Navy SEAL After Accident

Navy SEAL embraces wife for first time since tragic accident 
FOX News 
Published July 26, 2017 

A touching video of a Navy SEAL standing and embracing his wife four months after a traumatic car accident left him with a severe brain injury has been viewed by more than 3 million people. 

Jonathan Grant, 36, was serving as a combat medic instructor at Fort Bragg at the time of the accident, according to the couple’s GoFundMe page. He suffered a diffuse axonal injury (DAI), and was in a coma for nearly two months as doctors gave him just a 10 percent chance of survival. 

His Pilates instructor wife, Laura, has stood by his side throughout his recovery, which included moving to a Richmond, Virginia, rehabilitation facility where Grant could receive intensive therapy.
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Jimmie Smith, Homeless Veteran Laid to Rest

update

Hundreds honor homeless vet at Sierra Vista funeral

Hundreds gathered at the Southern Arizona Veteran’s Memorial Cemetery in Sierra Vista to honor the life of a homeless veteran.

Pfc. Jimmie Smith, from Tennessee passed away at the age of 60. He served in the U.S. Army from 1975 to 1977. Smith was discharged from Fort Bliss.

According to officials with the Arizona Department of Veterans’ Services, not much is known about Smith’s background or family.

Dee Foster and Arthur Parson, both Sierra Vista residents, remember Smith as a man with a gentle heart.

Strangers gather to give homeless Arizona veteran proper burial 
The Republic
Cydney Henderson
July 27, 2017

Smith served in the U.S. Army from September 1975 until August 1977 before getting discharged from Fort Bliss in Texas, according to the Arizona Department of Veterans’ Services.

A homeless Arizona Army veteran is going to get the funeral he deserves today, after a call for help on Facebook.

Pfc. Jimmie Smith has no family. Despite bravely serving his country, the 60-year-old died alone.

The Arizona Department of Veterans’ Services is doing its part to make sure the veteran is not alone during his memorial service in Sierra Vista, near Tucson.

The department asked community members to attend Smith’s Thursday morning funeral in place of his family, to give a man who fought for his country a proper send-off.
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"A suicide attempt in an Army unit can lead to more"

Stunning, since after all these years they still can't figure out why healing isn't as contagious as suicide.

A suicide attempt in an Army unit can lead to more, study finds

By Jacqueline Howard, CNN

Updated 3:00 PM ET, Wed July 26, 2017

"Historically, you were protected from suicide when you went in the Army. Rates of suicide were about half of those in the civilian population, and around 2009, they increased to above that of the civilian population and they remained high since then," said Ursano, who was lead author of the new study.

(CNN)Marc Raciti had the tree picked out. 

Positioned on a rolling Hawaiian hillside along the North Shore in Oahu, where the now-retired United States Army major was stationed, that tree was where Raciti said he planned to take his last breath. He planned to hang himself.

As a physician assistant, Raciti had been deployed five times, twice to Iraq, and mourned the suicide deaths of three medics who served with him. He suffered post-traumatic stress disorder and often fantasized about suicide.

"I did lose three medics after coming back from Iraq to suicide, which exasperated my PTSD, but mine is of survivor's guilt for the ones I could not save," Raciti said.

The US Department of Defense has continued to investigate what factors might influence a military member's risk of suicide attempt, and a new study suggests that previous suicide attempts in a particular unit of members can play a significant role.

Marc Raciti, the retired US Army major, said that he kept his silent suffering a secret from those around him, including both his military family and biological family, because of that stigma.
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If you really want to learn more, then watch the video attached to this. They are talking about when Maj. Gen. Dana Pittard actually put the blame on soldiers committing suicide on the soldiers in 2012. Not much has changed, other than the numbers have gone up since then, and not in a good way.

But here are a few more blasts from the past if you think any of this is new.

Yes, that says 2005