Why Do Some PTSD Veteran Caregivers Matter More?

Why Do Some PTSD Veteran Caregivers Matter More?
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
September 24, 2017

None of us should matter more than the rest of us. So why is it that only Post 9-11 veterans seem to matter more than all other generations? Do people simply assume the others have all they need? Do they think our generation has nothing to teach them?

There are no new wounds, no new heartaches, no new struggles for the veterans or the families they come home to. When we read about the younger spouses struggling to help their veterans, we are shocked that they still know very little. Shocked? Yes, because when our veterans came home, we had to learn on our own and lean on each other.

There is a story out of Ohio, "Veterans' spouses get pampered" but only OEF and OIF spouses seem to matter.

Read the article because it tells the story of what it is like when they come home to all of us. None of this is new but as social media seems to have inflicted oblivious reporters seeking an easy way of doing their jobs, they flock to what they see, instead of searching for the truth. Our generation and the ones before us feel as if we didn't matter then and we don't matter now.

“I didn’t know any of this,” Megan Cain said. “We had a young son. We were so grateful for my husband to come back. When he wasn’t the same, and he had all these issues, I was lost. It would be the middle of the night, and he’d walk the perimeter of our house with a baseball bat. He knew it wasn’t rational, but he felt they would come back to retaliate for what he’d done.”

We could have told her. After all, it is exactly the same thing all of us went through when no one noticed.

They still don't! We don't want them to have any less. Actually, we want them to have a lot more than we had, but we never planned on being left behind. 

Two New Haven Police Officers Shot During Standoff

2 police officers shot: Suspect still barricaded in Connecticut home

FOX 5 News
Erin Vogel
September 23, 2017

WASHINGTON (Sinclair Broadcast Group)- Two police officers were shot Saturday and the suspect is still barricaded within the home in New Haven, Connecticut.

The New Haven Police told Sinclair, the incident occurred around 10:30 a.m. Saturday. The New Haven Police were alerted to the gunshots by a report from their "Shot Spotter" system.

The incident occurred on the 600 block of Elm Street. When officers arrived on the scene they learned a 51-year-old woman was shot and ran from the home to a neighbor’s house. She was then transported to a nearby hospital and is in critical condition. Police are not releasing her name at this time.

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LZ Michigan Vietnam Veterans Honored at the Wall

West Michigan veterans celebrated at LZ Michigan event

FOX 17 Michigan
Rebecca Russell
September 24, 2017

COMSTOCK PARK, Mich.– A big community event at Fifth Third Ballpark on Saturday honoring West Michigan veterans. It was put on by LZ Michigan, a group whose goal is to remember, honor and celebrate community veterans and their families.

“There are a lot of activities from the Wall That Heals, to kids areas, to the ceremony with the most recent Medal of Honor recipient James McCloughan as well as music and lots of presentations for and from community veterans,” said Tim Eernisse, WGVU Director of Development and Marketing. 

It was an emotional day for some checking out the Wall That Heals, a replica of the Vietnam Wall.

“It does bring up emotions,” said Ted Roper, a Vietnam veteran. “It makes you think back to how all these guys could’ve been lost and it makes you sad when you think about it.”

There are more than 2,600 names on the wall from Michigan.

“You see your high school friends on here,” said Bob Woodfor, a Vietnam veteran. “People you associated with during your life, this is where you find them.”

Also in attendance, Marine Corps veteran Jeff DeYoung, whose bomb sniffing dog Cena was laid to rest last month after being diagnosed with bone cancer. DeYoung now uses his custom Jeep as a traveling memorial for Cena, sharing their story to those who come to see it.

“I get to tell them about me and Cena and I have photos of our story and articles and things like that,” said DeYoung. “I don’t want Cena’s passing to be in vain or forgotten, so our lifestyle and work is continuing, but more than most it’s another way for us to reach out.”

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Nurse charged with stealing pain medication

Nurse charged with stealing pain medication from Minn. VA hospital

Star Tribune

Andy Mannix

September 22, 2017

A nurse at Minnesota’s Veterans Affairs Medical Center has been charged with regularly stealing pain medications over a six-month period from the hospital last year.

Matthew Leininger, 42, who was fired from the hospital in March, stole drugs such as fentanyl, morphine and oxycodone on more than 70 occasions, according to a criminal complaint filed this week. He told investigators he needed the drugs to cope with mental health issues, according to prosecutors. He faces five counts of felony theft by swindle.

According to a criminal complaint, the medical center uses a machine called Pyxis to dispense drugs to doctors and nurses. Leininger was required to log in with his user identification and provide his fingerprint to obtain the drugs, then enter into a machine which patient will receive the drug and record the dose to be administered. Then the nurse is expected to log in how much was given to the patient or the amount that was wasted.

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Mystery Marine Mario Kletzke Remembered After Suicide

Stafford County's Mystery Marine is being honored one year after his death

Fredericksburg Free Lance Star

Kristin Davis

September 22, 2017

Christian Dimaglba holds US Marine flag during Marine Cpl. Mario Kletzke's funeral procession, 

Peter Cihelka The Free Lance Star

Hundreds lined State Route 610 in Stafford County—at the busy intersection of Shelton Shop Road, in front of Sittin’ Pretty Pet Salon and Fatty’s Crab House and a bank and a car dealership. They were Marines and soldiers, wives and widows of veterans who’d fished out their service flags and American flags. They were babies in strollers and high school athletes and members of the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps in crisp uniforms.

This is where they’d seen him—those who’d seen him at all—the Mystery Marine in service-issued silkies running with a POW flag on the Fourth of July.

His name was Mario Kletzke.

He died Sept. 24 at his home in Stafford, of suicide. He was 23.

His final route would be part of the one he’d run, only this time there was a police escort and a hearse and all those people standing under a gray sky before lunchtime on Thursday.

His Marine Corps record told this much of his story: Kletzke enlisted right out of high school in 2012. He’d been a rifleman and spent nearly eight months in Afghanistan. He’d last served with the 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, in Camp Lejeune, N.C. When he was discharged as a corporal at the end of June after fulfilling a four-year commitment, his awards included a combat action ribbon, a Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal and a National Defense Service Medal.

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