"It's a high time to fight" and take your life back!

Don't fight this one alone
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
December 8, 2017

It was the job that came with a warning. It could be hazardous to your life. Do you even remember why you wanted to do it?

It is a safe bet that whatever the reason was, you were willing to die for the sake of those you were serving with. They were probably just as willing to die for you and you trusted them.

They trusted you. So, why don't they trust you now? Why don't they trust you to be there to listen to them because they need help to not become one of the numbers who did not make it to the next day?

The thing is, there is nothing behind them that is not weaker because you are standing beside them. 

Saving survivors of anything is not easy but saving a veteran is harder. It is because you forget that asking for help during combat was vital to getting as many of your brothers and sisters home to their families. Someone got the stupid idea that asking for help was a sign of weakness. Oh, no, you shouldn't need anyone to help you. After all, isn't that what you said when you were in combat? Ya, right. 

So would you save a friend? Spend time listening to them and waiting when the words don't come out? Would you offer your hand on their shoulder? Would you think anything less of them because they needed something from you to stay alive?

THEN WHY DO YOU THINK LESS OF YOURSELF BECAUSE YOU NEED THEM?

For Heaven's sake! Life meant so much to you when you were in combat, you were willing to die for them! SO HOW ABOUT YOU BE WILLING TO ASK THEM FOR HELP NOW? 

This time the life you save can be your own and then you can save someone else tomorrow.

Don't let tonight be lonely when you don't have to fight the demons by yourself. 

"It's a high time to fight when the walls are closin' in. Call it what you like it's time you got to win."


Billy Squier - Lonely Is The Night - 11/20/1981 - Santa Monica Civic Auditorium (Official)
Lonely Is The Night

Lonely is the night when you find yourself alone
Your demons come to light and your mind is not your own
Lonely is the night when there's no one left to call
You feel the time is right, say the writing's on the wall
It's a high time to fight when the walls are closin' in
Call it what you like it's time you got to win
Lonely, lonely, lonely your spirit's sinkin' down
You find you're not the only stranger in this town
Red lights, green lights, stop and go jive
Headlines, deadlines jammin' your mind
You been stealin' shots from the side
Let your feeling's go for a ride
There's danger out tonight, the man is on the prowl
Get the dynamite, the boys are set to howl
Lonely is the night when you hear the voices call
Are you ready for a fight, do you wanna take it all?
Slowdown, showdown waitin' on line
Show time, no time for changin' your mind
Streets are ringin', march to the sound
Let your secrets follow you down
Somebody's watchin' you baby, so much you can do
Nobody's stoppin' you baby, from makin' it too
One glimpse'll show you now baby, what the music can do
One kiss'll show you now baby, it can happen to you
No more sleepin', wastin' our time
Midnight creepin's, first on our minds
No more lazin' 'round the TV
You'll go crazy, come out with me
Feelin' lonely
Lonely is the night
Feelin' lonely
Lonely is the night
Lonely, lonely, lonely

Songwriters: William H Squier Lonely is the Night lyrics © Spirit Music Group, Global Talent Publishing

Pearl Harbor Survivor Laid to Rest 76 Years After That Day

Pearl Harbor veteran laid to rest on day he survived attack 76 years ago
WPFT 5 News
Alanna Quillen
Dec 7, 2017

Eddie was one of the over 2,000 survivors of Pearl Harbor that are still left in the country.

LAKE WORTH, Fla. - Seventy-six years ago on Thursday, Japanese fighter planes attacked Pearl Harbor, killing more than 2,400 Americans.

But thousands more survived, including one South Florida man who was actually laid to rest on the very day he almost died all those years ago.

WPTV was there at the South Florida National Cemetery as family and friends said goodbye to "Pearl Harbor Eddie" as he was known, a fitting service for Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.

Edward Hammond died in September at 93-years-old. He was the last known Pearl Harbor survivor in the South Florida area.

He was just 17 when he served in the U.S. Navy as a chief machinist mate, stationed at the United States Naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
read more here

Another Pulse First Responder With PTSD Mistreated

Pulse first responder suing Orlando police dept., city for $1 million

Officer says he was harassed over claims for PTSD treatment

By Mike Holfeld - Investigative Reporter

Posted: 5:16 PM, December 07, 2017

ORLANDO, Fla. - Pulse first responder and former Orlando police Officer Gerry Realin said Thursday that he will file a lawsuit against the city of Orlando and Orlando Police Department seeking damages for alleged violation of Florida's Workers' Compensation Law.

Maitland attorney Geoff Bichler, of the law offices Bichler, Oliver, Longo and Fox, told News 6 that Realin was harassed and intimidated by at least seven Orlando police employees including Chief John Mina.

Realin was part of the hazmat team assigned to remove the dead from Pulse Nightclub the morning after the deadly assault June 12, 2016. His doctor said he was unable to return to work at the department because of PTSD.

“We feel that the facts are very clear and compelling," Bichler said. “That there was harassment and retaliation almost from the time Mr. Realin came forward.”

In the lawsuit, Bichler included copies of texts and emails that he said will offer strong proof of the “intimidation tactics” used against Realin.

read more here

Vietnam Veteran and Wife Died Suspected Murder-Suicide

Police say Kingston couple died in murder-suicide
Ottawa Citizen
Ian MacAlpine
Kingston Whig-Standard
December 6, 2017

An elderly couple shot to death in Kingston’s west end have been identified as a 76-year-old Vietnam War veteran and his 78-year-old wife.

Kingston Police vehicles block access to Graceland Avenue in Kingston, Ont. on Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2017. Police were called to the area after reports of a man with a gun inside. When police entered they found an elderly woman dead and the elderly man with critical injuries. ELLIOT FERGUSON / ELLIOT FERGUSON/WHIG-STANDARD

On Tuesday morning, Kingston Police received a 911 call from a distraught man who said he had a handgun. Shortly after receiving the call, patrol officers and emergency response team members entered the home on Graceland Avenue to find Steven and Glenda Spetz upstairs with gunshot wounds.

Glenda Spetz was pronounced dead at the scene. Her husband was taken to hospital, where he later died.

Kingston police said on Wednesday that the man was responsible for his and his wife’s death.

Neighbour Zdenka Ko, who has lived on the corner of Graceland and Lincoln Drive for the past 24 years, said on Wednesday she knew the couple as friendly but private.

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Homeless Veterans Faced Deeper Cuts Instead of Help

VA tried to reallocate $460 million earmarked for homeless veterans. Now it says that won’t happen.
The Washington Post
Emily Wax-Thibodeaux
December 6, 2017

“It’s just unconscionable to take this action without consulting HUD or the many mayors who have been working so hard on this. The former troops who used these vouchers are the most likely to die on American streets.”

Elisha Harig-Blaine 

Flags are hoisted at the Los Angeles encampment of homeless veteran Kendrick Bailey on Nov. 10, 2017. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images)

The Department of Veterans Affairs appears to be backtracking on its divisive plan to reallocate nearly a half-billion dollars from a successful program to reduce homelessness among former military personnel, bowing to pressure from lawmakers and advocacy groups who criticized the effort as cruel and counterproductive.

The about-face, announced in a statement Wednesday night from VA Secretary David Shulkin, followed a Washington Post inquiry about the Trump administration’s effort to divert the funding — totaling $460 million — instead to local VA hospitals for discretionary use. As Politico first reported, that money had been set aside specifically for a voucher program, run by VA and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, that provides long-term living accommodations for the country’s most vulnerable military veterans, many of whom suffer from mental illness.
read more here