When I think about regular people, like me, losing hope to the point where they commit suicide, it is heartbreaking. Hope is what keeps all of us from giving up this life we have. Often it is not enough to love others, if we feel as if we do not deserve to be loved. There was a time in my life when I felt that way. While I did not attempt suicide, I prayed that God would to it for me. I lost hope, a sense of self worth, but above those, I lost faith that God even cared about me. When the people committing suicide were those who dedicated their lives to saving others, it is beyond heartbreaking. If you are among those in the military, veterans, police, firefighters and first responders, please read the prayer I wrote for you because after all these years of working with some of you, that is what I see within all of you!
Indiana National Guard soldier dies at Fort Hood in Texas By: The Associated Press Published: Sunday, January 07, 2018
INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana National Guard says one of its soldiers has died after arriving for training at Fort Hood in Texas.
Indiana Guard officials said 43-year-old Sgt. 1st Class Mark Boner of Fort Wayne died early Saturday. The Guard didn't release information about the circumstances of his death, saying it was under investigation.
Boner was a member of the Kokomo-based 38th Sustainment Brigade. About 250 members of the unit left last week for training at Fort Hood ahead of a deployment to Kuwait.
read more here
A soldier caught on fire while rescuing people from a burning car. It didn't stop him Ledger Enquirer Scott Berson January 29, 2018
"As I was [unbuckling her seatbelt] the whole vehicle caught fire, and I just felt a blanket of fire wrap around my body, and everything just happened in a matter of seconds from there," Davis said in an Army news release.. "But before I could get the other half of her body out, she caught fire from all the fuel that was on her. I noticed she was on fire [shortly] before noticing that I was on fire too."
Maj. Gen. Andrew Poppas, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) commanding general, pins the Soldier's Medal on Staff Sgt. Nicholas Davis, C Battery, 1st Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) artillery cannon crew member and section chief, during a ceremony held at Fort Campbell, Jan. 22, 2018. Sgt. Samantha Stoffregen Special to the Ledger-Enquirer
It was a normal summer day on June 9, 2017 when Staff Sgt. Nicholas Davis, C Battery, 1st Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, 101st Airborne Artillery cannon crew member and section chief, was driving home to Ellijay, Ga., from Fort Campbell in Kentucky.
As he was cruising down the road near Nashville, he noticed a car overturned on its passenger side. It had flipped almost completely over, coming to rest on a slight downward slope, reported the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Few other drivers seemed concerned, according to the Army.
"I was pulling up, and I noticed there was a small engine fire underneath the belly of the car, so I jumped out and ran up to the vehicle," Davis said.
When he reached the car, he found two people, Rick and Sharon Steiert, trapped in the vehicle. Most distressingly, a can of fuel that had been in the back of the car had tumbled during the crash. It had now become wedged under Sharon's legs, and she was covered in gasoline. read more here
Combat PTSD Wounded Times Kathie Costos January 28, 2018
There seems to be a lot of confusion about something that should not confuse anyone after all these years. Human beings are not helpless because others are there to help them. Those others, you, pay a deeper price than anyone else. For you, it is a matter of facing life or death situations over and over again because you chose it as your job to do. When you are one of those rare ones putting the lives of others ahead of your own, that is what a hero does. Sure, you may get uncomfortable with that word and think of others you served with as more worthy of that title, but to the rest of us, that is exactly what you are. There is a price you pay for what is inside of you. The same courage that made you want to do that job in the first place, is waiting for you to have the courage to ask for help. In other words, it may be time to call for backup! If you see yourself as a victim, then you may be not even thinking of that in the right way. Do you feel the "victims" you risked your life for were worthy of the effort? After all, you managed to be there so they went from "victim" to survivor. Didn't you? If what caused the PTSD did not win when it happened, then why let it defeat you now? You are a survivor of what happened yesterday and it became part of you but did not change you. It changed the way you think about yourself and others. It did not change "who you are" even though it changed "how you are" but you are in control of what you make out of what it is trying to do. Someone told you a lie that may have made sense but if they told you PTSD is based on weakness, not being tough enough to take it, then they don't know what they are talking about. It is because you have a much stronger emotional core than they do. Maybe they are just jealous of that quality you have, then again, maybe they are only covering up their own pain because someone else told them that same lie. Look up most of the Medal of Honor recipients who openly talked about what their actions did to them and how they battled PTSD as hard as they fought to save lives on the line. When you walk away from "IT" you do not just carry your own pain. You carry the pain of others. Often they are not even people you know. Most of the time they are the one too many strangers you saw suffering, that piled onto all the others you encountered. So please, ask yourself a very important question. "If life mattered so much to you, you risked your own for their sake, then why doesn't your life matter to you?" Are you willing to turn to the very people you know would have died for you and trust them? You only have PTSD because you survived "IT" so stop thinking it defeated you. Stop being your own worst enemy and start being a hero in your own story. After all, if you think you are the only one you were with suffering, all you need to do is take an honest look at them and see the pain in their eyes. You know, the same pain you see when you look in the mirror. What are you waiting for? This time the life you save needs to be your own!
UPDATE: This article either proves I read way too many articles on PTSD or, I must be getting through to some... This came out on February 2, 2018
"Spreading the message that the heroes saving lives everyday, sometimes need help themselves. 'It reminds you that you are out there doing good. We didn’t do anything to cause any of those tragedies to occur, but we did the best we could.'"
Indiana veteran leaves behind hilarious obituary FOX 59 News January 26, 2018
“Terry Wayne Ward, age 71, of DeMotte, IN, escaped this mortal realm on Tuesday, January 23rd, 2018, leaving behind 32 jars of Miracle Whip, 17 boxes of Hamburger Helper and multitudes of other random items that would prove helpful in the event of a zombie apocalypse."
DEMOTTE, Ind. – A northwest Indiana woman decided the style of traditional obituaries didn’t quite fit her dad’s personality, so she wrote up one that did.
“He lived to make other people laugh…it was the only way to honor him properly,” said daughter, Jean Lahn, of Lowell.
Terry Ward moved to Demotte from suburban Illinois in 1973 after serving in the Vietnam War. The Army veteran wanted a quiet place in the country after participating in active combat.
During her work at Geisen Funeral Home, she has seen her fair share of stale obituaries, usually set up the the exact same way.
“I wrote it myself and I didn’t tell anyone I was going to make it funny,” Jean said.
After reading it, the rest of her family said it was perfect and shared many laughs. read more here
