ONLY ON 8: Homeless man shot, killed was a Vietnam veteran Las Vegas Now By: Shakala Alvaranga Posted: Feb 05, 2018
LAS VEGAS - Oneida Lewis-Baker hadn't heard from her father, 64-year-old James Lewis, for years.
Though their communication was basically non existent, Oneida never stopped searching for him.
"I looked for my dad for years and I couldn't find him," Lewis-Baker said.
It turns out, James lived in the same city as her and was the third homeless person killed last week.
Police believe their deaths may be connected.
"To watch someone drive twice by him, get out and shoot him like he didn't have any loved ones, that was heartbreaking," she said.
A small memorial with candles now sits where Lewis was shot. In the surveillance video, a man gets out of an SUV at 4:15 a.m. early Friday morning, fires two shots at Lewis, and runs away.
There was no struggle and Lewis never even appeared to wake up.
"You took someone who served this country. You took a military veteran," Lewis-Baker said. read more here
Giving Healing Awareness Some Fuel Combat PTSD Wounded Times Kathie Costos February 5, 2018 Which road you take is up to you, so stop and get directions! I have to admit it.
A co-worker keeps giving me advice on how to get people to pay attention to something as heartbreaking, and uncomfortable to talk about, as suicides. This is the result of the last time she told me I needed to pull a stunt. The numbers you hear do not make them true. Almost like when folks were saying the earth was flat, it wasn't and still isn't. The CDC puts the number of Americans committing suicide at 42,826. Almost every state has said veterans commit suicide double the civilian rate, and some states say it is triple. That means it would have to be over 70 a day. This is complicated but what makes it all worse is that the ones trying to do the "teaching" are just repeating a headline. You'd think they would have taken these lives a lot more seriously and reporters would have done a better job getting closer to the real number. No one will ever know for sure but we, not only have to try to figure it out, stop what failed, beginning with awareness and we have to repeat what worked all these years. If you doubt what is in this video, consider this. All the folks running around the country screaming about "suicide awareness" have managed to bring the known veteran suicides down to...
WHERE THEY WERE IN 1999 WHEN THERE WERE OVER 5 MILLION MORE VETERANS ALIVE AT THE TIME.
And they would have known this if they bothered to read the report in the first place.
Hope you enjoy this video but hope you change what is happening a lot more. If they did not know what is stated in this video, then there isn't much they bothered to learn.
For the love of God, if you know someone hurting, tell them they can heal and live a better life instead of giving up!
"Death certificates provide “a convenient but imperfect tool to describe suicides,” says the fact sheet. “While the death certificate provides a field asking whether the decedent was ever in the armed forces, it does not distinguish between active duty, the Reserves or National Guard membership … while the death certificate is able to reliably identify military services, research has suggested that there may be vulnerable subgroups such as active duty personnel.”
Army criticized for its handling of whistleblower retaliation case at Womack Military Times By: Kathleen Curthoys February 5, 2018
OSC found that a pattern of retaliatory personnel actions against Gilbert aggravated the seriousness of the hospital’s infection control problems and increased the risk to patients. Those actions were likely a deterrent to others who may be whistleblowers, the report said, and the supervisor deserved discipline for actions that violated personnel policy.
A federal agency that protects government whistleblowers criticized the Army on Monday for declining to discipline a staff member at its Fort Bragg, North Carolina, hospital after an investigation found failures in infection control that put service members and families at risk.
Whistleblower Teresa Gilbert was a board-certified infection control technician at Womack Army Medical Center who reported violations of infection control policies in early 2014 that she said presented a health and safety threat to troops and family members at the hospital.
She reported that Womack staff members failed to correct infection control deficiencies that an earlier inspection had found, including dirty and unsterilized medical equipment, according to a redacted 2017 report by the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, the independent federal agency tasked with safeguarding whistleblowers from reprisal.
A supervisor retaliated against Gilbert by restricting her access to infection control practices and patient medical records and excluding her from meetings, the OSC report said. The supervisor also cut her work hours to half days, requiring her to take four hours of leave each day and then charging her with being absent without leave for not submitting leave requests for that time, the OSC report said. In addition, Gilbert was threatened that she would be removed from the hospital unit. read more here
Friend says Harris Co. deputy's accused shooter troubled by divorce and custody dispute ABC 13 News By Jessica Willey Friday, February 02, 2018
Cobb was on the track team at the University of Houston. He was a triathlete and an Army veteran, having served in Afghanistan. "I know for sure he had PTSD. I know it. I feel like, that was a huge, plays a huge part in what happened," she said.
SPRING, Texas (KTRK) -- The man at the center of a deputy's shooting and SWAT standoff overnight was a disabled Army veteran who suffered from post traumatic stress disorder, according to friends.
Matthew Vincent Cobb, 35, was found dead from gunshot wounds early Thursday morning inside the house on Kiplands Way where he rented a room. That came after a Harris County Sheriff's deputy and a roommate had been shot.
Sources tell Eyewitness News Cobb had threatened his ex-wife with a gun at her house and then left. Deputies found him at his house and were mid-arrest when, investigators say, Cobb pulled a gun from his clothes and fired.
The deputies returned fire and retreated. Video from a neighbor's security camera shows one deputy stumbling out, having been shot in the arm. read more here
Veterans who help veterans need help of their own Herald Net Julie Muhlstein February 4, 2018
Even after a veteran has died, a claim effort can continue and a widow may be helped. “Some guys just want to give up,” Hughes said. “We try to convince them not to.”
Just outside Stanwood’s American Legion Post 92 Thursday, Navy veteran and Post Chaplain Phil Lewis, 85, talks about major work needed on the building, which is only a few years younger than he is. Post Cmdr. Gina Seegert might appear to be suffering from a little sticker shock, considering they need to raise $90,000. (Dan Bates / The Herald)
The distinct Spanish mission-style building has a past. It was built in 1939, by the Works Progress Administration, as East Stanwood City Hall. More than a piece of history — a place with a past — today it serves a vital purpose. As Stanwood American Legion Post No. 92, it helps veterans in need.
With its volunteer Veteran Service Officers, the post guides people who have served in the military through the paperwork tangle to obtain veterans benefits. The Legion hall hosts monthly prime-rib dinners, and offers bingo and other social opportunities. Members send care packages to local men and women now in the armed forces.
A lifeline for veterans, Stanwood’s Post 92 now has a need of its own.
When it was built, an 80-foot beam made by flattening an old-growth tree was used as a main support. Under a saggy part of the hall’s floor, that beam is rotting. In 2014, the group replaced about 30 feet of it.
Phil Lewis, the 85-year-old chaplain of Post 92, is leading a “Replace the Beam” fundraising project. The goal is $90,000. The money would be used to jack up the building, cut out the existing 2-foot-by-2 foot beam, put a form in place, add rebar, and pour cement to create a new 50-foot concrete beam. Project plans include replacing part of the floor.
