Seven Deployments Veteran Finds Solace with Service Dog

Navy veteran with amnesia and PTSD finds solace in service dog

WMTV 15 News

By Alissa Harrington 
Nov 14, 2017

LEXINGTON, Neb. (KSNB) -- 

Imagine waking up one day thinking it is 1994, but it is actually the year 2009.

That's what happened to Buf Kloppenborg, a Navy veteran from Nebraska. Luckily, a service dog has helped Kloppenborg tremendously in getting through his amnesia and severe PTSD, but now he's in need of a new dog and is look for the help of the community.

"I pull over to get some sleep and the next thing I know, I wake up and it's 2009, and I'm driving a Jeep that's not mine," Kloppenborg recalls, describing the night that when his world changed.

In 2009, the Navy Corpsman woke unable to recall the last 14 years of his life, including the last 4 out of 7 military deployments.
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Amy Grant and Vince Gill Share Healing PTSD With Music

How these veterans are using music to win the fight against PTSD
The Tennessean
USA Today
Jake Lowary
November 16, 2017

Music therapy isn't really a secret, but it's one of a litany of new treatment programs like meditation breathing, medical marijuana and cannabinoid oil, that are attracting attention and support that just a few years ago would have been cast aside.

Deep in the rolling hills of Middle Tennessee, on land owned by two of country and gospel music’s most-acclaimed stars, is one of the most recent examples of how American veterans are taking control of their battle against their own demons.

Michael Smith, Danny Williams and Howard Spier are among the dozen gathered here on an unusually hot, early October day. Each are veterans who have fought for their country, but are now using music to overcome the stress they brought home from war.

With them on Amy Grant and Vince Gill’s secluded farm in Williamson County are songwriters associated with some of the biggest country hits, like Bob Regan, who are helping the veterans write the latest versions of country songs to help them cope and move beyond their struggles.

They stayed here for a few days, fully immersing themselves in the experience organized by Challenge America, which supports extending arts programs to under-served communities.

Veterans, still conflicted, see a bright future
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Veteran Survived Final Deployment, But Not Suicide

Fighting veteran suicide gets personal

The Mountaineer

Kyle Perrotti

November 17, 2017

When Sgt. Jared Best reenlisted to go to Afghanistan after having already done a tour in Iraq, he did so to be there for his guys, many of whom were inexperienced in combat.

But he never realized the toll that final deployment would take on him.

Patti and Hugh Best, although still grieving, have begun the search for a solution to the problem of veteran suicides that they say is plaguing this country.

When Best finally got out of the Army and returned to Haywood County to tend his family’s farmland in Crabtree, he learned just how hard it can be to adjust to civilian life, and how hard it can be to forget the things he’d experienced. 

Last New Year’s Eve, alone and with too much time to think, the 26-year-old took his own life with a gun.
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"He felt he was unworthy" and took his own life after 2 tours in Iraq

Kansas veterans: 'This is an emergency'

KWCH 12 News
November 16, 2017

“We lost more men after combat than during combat...something new has to be done!” says Steven who served with Norman.

WICHITA, Kan. A Kansas veteran commits suicide five days after the birth of his little girl, and the men he served with are ready to take action.

The people who knew Norman Worden call him a hero, a loving father and husband. He was a man who would die for the brothers he served with in Iraq. But on the inside, Norman was fighting a battle few can understand.

“He felt he was unworthy and didn't deserve a lot of things. I would say he was a hero and he would tell me I’m far from that. I'm not a hero,” says his wife Jordahn.

It was a feeling that despite his many attempts to get help, would lead Norman to take his life inside his Larned home.

He leaves behind his wife, three boys and a newborn daughter. “Right before his suicide, it was surprising to me. I thought he was doing well and was excited about our daughter, like there were no signs of anything,” says Jordahn fighting back tears.

The men he served with in the 714th on two tours in Iraq are asking how many more like Norman have to die before something else is done.
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Florida Veteran Committed Suicide On Veterans Day

Winter Garden group's walk to raise awareness about veteran suicides to have fresh meaning
WFTV 9 News
by: Ken Tyndall
Updated: Nov 16, 2017

WINTER GARDEN, Fla. - Veterans and volunteers inside the American Legion Post 63 in Winter Garden were getting ready Thursday for a weekend walk aimed at raising awareness about the epidemic of veteran suicides.

The walk was postponed in September because of Hurricane Irma and many will take to the road Saturday with heavy hearts, wondering if one of their own would be participating had the event gone on as originally planned.

Just days ago, a Winter Garden veteran took his own life and many of the awareness walk's organizers knew him personally.

"He was a member of this local community, and more than likely would have been at this event," Kurt Gies said. "And he would have seen what we're doing and the awareness that we're trying to bring.

"I don't know if it would have stopped him, but it may have."read more here

Ashley Moir said she knows over 34 veterans who have committed suicide. The veteran in this report committed suicide on Veterans Day. He was a part of this group. She says that there isn't a lot you can do unless you know them. 

Anyone else see the problem with this? What good does it do to a veteran needing hope to hear about a number that is not even close to the truth?

I am sure they are heartbroken and wondering what they could have said, or done differently. I am sure they have regrets. I know I do, or should say, still do after 17 years when we lost my husband's nephew.

The difference was that I knew everything I needed to know back then. I knew what it was, why he had it and what he needed to do to heal. I knew the numbers, facts and researched it long enough, to change the rest of his life. The problem is, I did not know the one thing that could have saved him. How to get him to listen.

So how do we get people to listen when they cannot hear they are wrong? How do we get them to care enough to know what they need to in order to help veterans taken back control of their lives instead of taking them?

The only way to do it is to tell the truth and then do the work it takes to get them to understand they already survived the worst that PTSD could do when they survived the trauma that started it.

The sound of silence will keep trapping them if we cannot hear their cries!