Homeless Vietnam Veteran Found Dead

UPDATE

CORONER OFFERS TO HELP PAY FOR BURIAL OF HOMELESS VETERAN
The body of 69-year-old Dennis Reidy was found Tuesday in the corner of a park in Lexington. Coroner Margaret Fisher tells WYFF-TV that Reidy was found in "a type of garage storage box" wearing a South Carolina Gamecocks jacket.

Homeless vet found dead in woods was USC grad, former deputy, and Vietnam vet
FOX 8 News
By Chad Mills
January 25th 2018

LEXINGTON COUNTY, SC (WIS)
It’s a picture that tells a story of loneliness, hopelessness, despair. In the quiet corner of a Lexington park is the place where a homeless veteran lived and died.

A 15-year-old discovered the body of 69-year-old Dennis E. Reidy there on Tuesday.

“Lying in, basically, a type of garage storage box,” said Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher.

It’s a case that brings tears to Fisher’s eyes. Since Tuesday, she’s discovered Reidy was a Vietnam War veteran, a Richland County deputy from 1978 to 1990, and a University of South Carolina grad.

“He was found on the day that he passed wearing a South Carolina Gamecock jacket, and it just broke my heart,” Fisher said, her voice trembling. “When you give up your life and your family and everything that you have to go out and serve your country, they deserve everything that they need when they get back. They deserve health care. They deserve shelter. They deserve everything that we can do for them as a country because they went out and protected us.”

But what’s more unforgettable to Fisher is where he was found. His body was found on Chariot Street, which is just a short walk from a shelter for homeless veterans where James Wardlaw, who goes by J.W., is outreach manager.
read more here

Reporter failed to Google what he was told about PTSD by Army?

Reporter Should Know Before Listening
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
January 26, 2018

In keeping with holding reporters accountable for what they report, we have another example of a reporter failing the subjects. Just think, with all the stuff popping out, reporters get paid to do it?

Looks like the Jeremy Schwartz of American Statesman Staff decided to not even read the report they just released, or even ask any questions regarding proof of healing.

First, here are the numbers of soldiers reported as suicides by the Department of Defense.

In 2015, 120 Soldiers committed suicide and 55 Army Reservists and 104 Army National Guards.

In 2016, 130 Soldiers committed suicide and 41 Army Reservists and 109 Army National Guards.

Up to the first half of 2017, it was 55 Soldiers, 31 Army Reservists and 62 Army National Guards.

All in all, when you factor in the other thing the DOD said would also work, called "resilience" training, we see how this reported "progress" is repeating what has not worked.

This is the headline "New PTSD study shows recovery for Fort Hood soldiers in just two weeks" Schwartz wrote,

"The study, the first-ever randomized clinical trial of prolonged exposure therapy with active-duty military personnel and the largest study yet of prolonged exposure therapy, was carried out by researchers affiliated with the STRONG STAR Consortium, a multi-institutional research network funded by the Defense Department aimed at researching combat-related PTSD treatments."

And in the next paragraph,

In 2016, STRONG STAR announced the results of another Fort Hood study that found 12 sessions of therapy led to PTSD recovery in 40 to 50 percent of soldiers. Instead of confronting traumatic memories directly as in prolonged exposure therapy, cognitive processing therapy helps patients learn to think about their traumatic experiences in a clearer way, without “distorted thoughts” that perpetuate feelings of guilt, blame and anger, researchers said. 

Which is it? The first ever or the second one? 

What makes this even more frustrating is this piece of news that must have just been too hard to Google to know if he was told anything close to the truth.

This is from 2015 when a veteran had experienced this therapy. He should know because he is a veteran and had this therapy in 2013.

Trauma Post Trauma
The “gold standard” treatment for PTSD makes many vets’ symptoms even worse.
By David J. Morris

The problem with prolonged exposure is that it also has made a number of veterans violent, suicidal, and depressed, and it has a dropout rate that some researchers put at more than 50 percent, the highest dropout rate of any PTSD therapy that has been widely studied so far.

Perhaps a better example of how this does not work, is the research done in 2006 Do You Need To Talk About It? Prolonged Exposure for the Treatment of Chronic PTSD referencing the benefits along with the dates of how long this research has been studied. It goes back to the 90's. 

If it worked, then it would have worked and we would not have seen the results we have when the suicide rate of our veterans has gone up, along with the number of service members throughout all branches.

Veteran Shot At Oregon VA Clinic by Security Guards

UPDATE
Army veteran shot by police at VA clinic faces charges

UPDATE
Man shot at VA clinic arrested days before
The Associated Press
By Andrew Selsky
JAN. 27, 2018

SALEM — A man made paranoid and incoherent statements at a Veterans Affairs clinic and confronted an employee with a knife before he was shot by a security officer, law enforcement officials said Friday.

Gilbert Matthew Negrete, 34, of Medford remained in a hospital in Medford on Friday after being shot once in the chest by a Veterans Affairs police officer Thursday in nearby White City, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office said.

The sheriff’s office said in a statement that Negrete had a run-in with the law earlier in the week.

Police had arrested Negrete on Tuesday on charges of driving under the influence of a controlled substance and attempting to elude police. He was released from jail Wednesday due to jail overcrowding. The sheriff’s office said a man believed to be Negrete then tried to get his car from an impound lot and allegedly threatened an employee with a knife.

Negrete had an appointment at the VA clinic on Thursday, the sheriff’s office statement said.
read more here 

Man shot at Oregon veterans clinic during altercation
Associated Press
Andrew Selsky
January 25, 2018

Veterans at the clinic receiving treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and other issues expressed shock about the shooting.

SALEM, Ore. – A man said to be a military veteran seeking mental health care was shot by a security officer at a Veterans Affairs clinic in southern Oregon on Thursday after an admissions area altercation in which authorities said the man became combative.

The man was flown to a hospital after the shooting in the southwestern community of White City with injuries that did not appear to be life-threatening, the Jackson County sheriff's office said in a statement.

Shawn Quall, an Army veteran of the first Gulf War who is from Bend, Oregon, said he heard the man shouting before the situation escalated.

"I was walking down the main hallway when I overheard a veteran yelling at intake people that he was here for the fifth time trying to get health care, and was upset at what he thought was a runaround," Quall told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

Quall kept walking down the hall, but when the yelling got louder, he started running back and heard someone yell: "He's got a knife!"
read more here

Reporters Still Don't Take Veteran Suicides Seriously

Reporters Continue Hiding Facts on Veteran Suicides
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
January 25, 2018

The first Suicide Report from the Department of Veterans Affairs was released in 2013. It was the report that started all the "awareness" groups running around the country. The question is, why didn't they read the report itself? That is something that has been a burning question no one has been able to answer. Read below for some of the reporters who are still using that number!

The fact is, that report was from just 21 states with limited data. The other fact is, for the number of veterans they knew committed suicide to take the average from, they reported the majority of those veterans were over the age of 50. The question is, why didn't reporters know those facts?

Why didn't they bother to read the reports to inform the public that the number had remained basically the same since 1999?

Why didn't they report that the number of veterans alive in the country had gone down during those same years by over 5 million with the aging population?

When the VA released the second report with the number of "20" a day, it turns out they didn't bother to read that report either. That report came out August 3, 2016.


Reporters did not cover the facts that were missing from the data, such as lack of military service on death certificates when veterans were not "honorably" discharged, or military service was not even on the death certificates like California and Illinois. They passed legislation last year to add it to them. Or other states where the veteran had to also be connected to a war to be checked off.


This left out anyone not serving in a "named war" in those cases. Then there are the unknowns. Drug overdoses are not always clearly accidental or suicide. Accidents are not always known for sure. Then there are the veterans facing off with law enforcement at least once a week in this country.

With all that has been missed, it is worse when families miss the veteran they lost. In 2000, long before the War on Terror began, a Vietnam veteran checked himself into a motel room on a Massachusetts highway. He committed suicide. That death caused me to take these lives we lose very seriously. That veteran survived Vietnam, survived being on US soil since 1971. That veteran was my husband's nephew. They were in Vietnam the same year and very close in age.

So, for all the folks running around the country, claiming that they take all of this seriously enough they want you to give them money and pay attention to them and their stunts, you should be asking them questions too. Like for starters, why they are still saying "22 a day" or "20 a day" as if they are doing anything about any of it other than congratulating themselves for the number of followers they have.

One thing for sure, they are part of the problem, but reporters are the other part.

As time permits, more of the got it wrong and got it right will be added. Just wanted to give you an idea of what we're up against. If reporters do not do their jobs on a subject this serious, nothing will ever change.

GOT IT WRONG 

Added on 1/27/2018

How a hockey club is taking on the suicide rate among military veterans

Reporter Hannah Schlomann 1/26/2018

In recent years, this rate was about 22 deaths per day, according to estimates by the US Department of Veteran Affairs. It’s a number that many – including Bobby Colliton, an Army and Air Force veteran from Spokane, Wash. – find unacceptable.

Added on 1/26/2018

Miss USA says ‘Salute to the Armed Forces’ is more than just a slogan

Reporter Jeremy Beale 1/25/2018

Got the number right from latest report but "Armed Forces" suicides were not mentioned even though the average is about the same with between 400-500 per year from all branches. Read the DOD reports here.

Oakcrest plants flags to honor 'Forgotten Soldiers' who died by suicide

Reporter Clair Lowe January 25, 2018

"According to federal statistics, 22 veterans die every day by their own hand, said Lynn Brown, of Absecon, totaling about 8,000 veteran suicides a year."

What made that worse was omitting that the number is supposed to be from the VA, which would mean they were from all branches, not just soldiers. It also left out the number of service members who committing suicide while still in the military.

OVER 50 PEOPLE PLUNGE INTO COLD WATERS TO RAISE AWARENESS ABOUT VETERAN SUICIDE

Reporter Breken Terry

Date of report 1/1/2018

"The VA reports that about 22 veterans a day, from Vietnam veterans to today's war veterans, take their life and that's unacceptable," said Miles.

USED "22 a day"

A unique way to raise awareness for veteran suicide

ReporterKaitlyn Connolly date of report 1/12/2018

Mission for Babalu's Tattoo event is to stem tide of military suicide

Reporter Amanda Push 1/19/2018

Vet camps out at Jefferson Barracks to save lives

Reporter KMOV 1/18/2018

Veteran suicide rate in spotlight as Easthampton Savings Bank execs join local police in no-shave 'Manuary'

Reporter Mary C. Serreze 1/12/2018

Got the reported number right from the latest VA number but this article was about "Twenty Two Until None" and then did not mention that these were police officers paying to grow beards. There was no mention of Police Officers and Firefighters also committing suicide.

GOT IT ALMOST RIGHT

Veterans’ suicide prevention discussed at Carson City meeting

Reporter Steve Ranson 1/23/2018

Veteran Suicide: Why does it continue to happen?

Reporter Rob Hughes 1/18/2018

KANSAS CITY, Mo. —

The numbers are heartbreaking. Veteran suicide continues to be a growing epidemic and tragic problem nationwide, and in Kansas City. The VA reports the number of American Veterans taking their lives increased over 32% from 2001-2014. This includes all ages, all wars. The Veteran suicide rate in Kansas and Missouri is significantly higher than the overall national suicide rate.

Medal Of Honor - Donald "Doc" Ballard has a new mission

Someone 2 Know: Donald "Doc" Ballard
KTVN 2 News
Andi Guevara
January 25, 2018

“I’m here to visit the VA Hospital to ensure the veterans get the care that they're entitled to and they get some resolve with their problems. I'm also here to educate the veteran - on he has to step up and be part of the solution, not part of the problem.”

After decades serving in the military and more than half a dozen awards - including the Medal Of Honor - Donald "Doc" Ballard has a new mission - to protect his brothers and sisters in arms after they come home.

It was a hero's welcome for Ballard when he arrived at the Reno-Tahoe International Airport this month.

Fellow vets were among the group waiting to shake hands with the Medal Of Honor winner, who was in town to raise awareness about our service men and women who come back from war zones.

“I was wounded eight times, I killed six people. I can't be expected to come home and be normal, I’m not the same kid that left,” says Ballard.

Now in his 70's Ballard says he still battles with his demons. He earned the nickname “Doc” for his work as an enlisted medical specialist. Stories like his are told in a new booked called “Doc: Heroic Stories of Medics, Corpsman and Surgeons in Combat.”
read more here 

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