Art of Marine veteran who paints as therapy on exhibit in Lincoln Heights
ABC 7 News
By George Pennacchio
Friday, February 09, 2018
"I continue to seek help. I've tried the kitchen sink. I've tried hypnosis. I've tried traditional therapy. I've tried Qigong. I've tried Tai Chi. Whatever works!"
Roberto Gutierrez
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Artist Roberto Gutierrez says color is in his DNA.
He expresses that in his paintings, after having lived through the darkness of war.
"It's my soother for PTSD. Still going through that," said Gutierrez. "Never will get rid of it but it's better."
For more than 40 years, Gutierrez has been painting away the pain of the Vietnam War.
The U.S. Marine veteran is among just a few members of his platoon who made it home alive.
Today, Gutierrez is a distinguished artist known for painting Los Angeles landscapes.
His current exhibit at Plaza de la Raza also celebrates landscapes from New York and Paris.
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I need a drink...again!
Nothing will change until reporters actually do their jobs and stay off Facebook collecting feel good stories! THE SUBJECT IS VETERANS COMMITTING SUICIDE but they cover the folks repeating a number that has been proven false a long time ago!
Now this one with a veteran saying he wants to raise a million dollars, but really doesn't know what he'll do with the money? Catch this, yes, he has a Gofundme!
Wilsonville veteran has a dream: A place to help other vets cope with PTSD
by KATHERINE KISIEL, KATU February 9, 2018
WILSONVILLE, Ore. (KATU) - A veteran is on a big mission to help fellow vets who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. The Department of Veterans Affairs says about 22 service members commit suicide every day.
He’s trying to raise a million dollars. He admits it’s a lofty goal.
“I’ve got these big ideas, and my wife’s like, ‘What are you going to do with the money?’ Well, if it doesn’t get there to where I can open it, I’ll donate it to Labradors for Vets. But I gotta try,” he said.
I have a dream too! It is when reporters actually pay attention to what they are reporting!
DO THESE PEOPLE JUST WAKE UP ONE MORNING AND THINK ALL THEY HAVE TO DO IS GET PUBLICITY?
I have another dream that people stop wanting to help long enough to find out WHAT THEY NEED TO DO, THEN HELP ESTABLISHED GROUPS DO BETTER JOBS! Just because someone suddenly became aware of something does not mean they are the only one to fix it! It usually helps to know how it works first!
No matter how much he may care, nothing will change without knowing what is needed, what is working and what failed. If this number is stuck in his head, then we should be wondering why he would not know what the rest of us knew years ago? How does anyone expect to change anything without some serious research?
Suggestion, forget what reporters told you and what all the other awareness raisers have been doing all over the country. Invest time in finding out what you need to know and then you may be able to change something!
I bet no one told him the majority of the veterans committing suicide are over the age of 50. After all, no one but us are talking about the most glaring part of the suicide report too many failed to read.
Gee, do you think it may be because reporters across the country have let hundreds spread the same number and provided with them all the attention they wanted?
And yet again, a reporter just covered a story that should have been left on Facebook sharing the Gofundme for people who have no clue what is real vs what is not not even a plan other than the amount of money someone wants to raise.
And she gets paid for this kind of reporting? Want to find more reporters not doing their jobs? Here you go!
UPDATE
Arizona vets ruck march to Washington D.C. to raise awareness for veteran suicide
12 News Reporter Chad Bricks February 8, 2018
The number of veteran suicides is estimated at 22 per day. To raise awareness, these Arizona veterans are marching to the U.S. Capitol at a pace of 22 miles per day.
Marine who recruited missing Winthrop man is in military custody
THE BOSTON GLOBE
By Danny McDonald GLOBE STAFF
FEBRUARY 09, 2018
Authorities searched woods near Turtle Pond in the Stony Brook Reservation in Hyde Park for Brancato last month. Family members continue to comb the reservation every weekend for Brancato, said Brancato Walke. “Why aren’t the Marines doing something, that’s what I’d like to know,” said Brancato Walke. “Why haven’t they stepped up?”
A Marine gunnery sergeant who recruited a 21-year-old Winthrop man who has been missing since mid-November is in military custody, according to a Navy official.
Frank Lipka was the sole recruiter at the Roslindale office where Marine recruit Joseph Brancato was processed, said Ed Buice, a spokesman for the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, in an e-mail.
Brancato was last seen on Nov. 18 in Roslindale’s Mendelssohn Street area, where he was living and training with Lipka in the hopes of passing the physical tests necessary to become a Marine, said Brancato’s aunt, Andrea Brancato Walke.
read more here
Soldier charged with Dallas murder battled PTSD, says family
Senior pastor William Nkea is still trying to understand how his nephew, Bobby Ngendung, 23, went from a soldier serving his country in Afghanistan to a man charged with murder, apparently so out of control, he had to be held down for his mug shot.
KHOU 11 News
Author: Monica Hernandez
February 8, 2018
Senior pastor William Nkea is still trying to understand how his nephew, Bobby Ngendung, 23, went from a soldier serving his country in Afghanistan to a man charged with murder, apparently so out of control, he had to be held down for his mug shot.
"I knew he was battling PTSD," said Nkea. "He looked a little depressed and a little isolated."
The VA was treating Ngendung for PTSD, said Nkea.
Ngendung was discharged from the army as a Private First Class, said Nkea. WFAA asked the Army communications team for more details, but they had not been provided as of press time.
Two of Ngendung's roommates came home to their apartment in the 5600 block of SMU Boulevard between 5:30 a.m. and 6 a.m. Monday to find Ngendung acting "very worried and psychotic" and "pacing back and forth," saying "I {expletive} up, I {expletive} up, I put my hands on...." without finishing the sentence. Then, police said, he referred to the closet and the color red.
His roommates were able to calm him down and drive him to the hospital. Fearing he killed the fourth roommate, Michael Mitchel, they alerted a security guard.
read more here
A Drug Widely Used to Treat PTSD Symptoms Has Failed a Rigorous Trial
The medication is currently prescribed for many veterans
Scientific America
By Andrew Joseph, STAT
February 8, 2018
“I really think that we are beginning to recognize that sweeping everything under one PTSD rug may be more than one rug can cover, or should cover,” said Friedman, a psychiatry professor at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine. “By better defining what the syndrome is that we’re treating, we can better identify medications that could be helpful.”
Thousands of people with post-traumatic stress disorder have taken the drug prazosin to ease the nightmares and disturbances that stalk their sleep.
Numerous studies have shown the drug to be effective at controlling those episodes. But a team of researchers from the Department of Veterans Affairs, seeking to collect more evidence, set out to study the sustained effectiveness of the treatment. They organized a large, lengthy, multisite trial—the most rigorous type of trial.
The drug was no better than a placebo.
read more here
