Gulf War Veteran fined for having flashback while parking?

Navy veteran with PTSD is fined £100 for 'overstaying' in a parking space while recovering from a flashback - before car park firm reject his appeal and threaten to sue him
Daily Mail
Rory Tingle
February 25, 2018

Mr Clamp received a penalty charge notice from Euro Car Parks for overstaying in a 20-minute maximum stay space. His is pictured embracing his son, David, on the deck of HMS Hecla after returning from the Gulf War in September 1991

EXCLUSIVE: Tim Clamp, 60, had a PTSD flashback at petrol station near Gatwick
He explained incident to shop assistant before driving off to pick up a taxi client
Five days later Euro Car Parks demanded £100 for overstaying 20-minute limit
Firm rejected Gulf War veteran's appeal even after hearing evidence of condition
Subsequently increased fine to £160 and threatened to take Mr Clamp to court
Local MP Nick Herbert slammed the parking company for its lack of 'empathy'

A Gulf War veteran with PTSD was fined for overstaying by 20 minutes in a parking space while recovering from a flashback before having his appeal rejected despite providing medical evidence for his condition.

Tim Clamp, 60, had parked his Ford taxi at Gatwick North Shell petrol station while waiting to pick up a customer when a minor argument with another motorist sparked a 'very distressing' mental episode that left him immobilised.

After he recovered, the Royal Navy veteran and Sussex Police crime investigator explained what had happened to a shop assistant before driving off and 'blanking' the incident from his mind.
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Jesse Melanson wasn't the same after Iraq

Family of Richmond man say PTSD, medication factors in shooting death
Central Maine
Keith Edwards
February 24, 2018

Jesse James Melanson, 33, suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from his four tours of duty with the Army in Iraq and had stopped taking medication, according to a brother, a sister and his ex-wife.

A Richmond man who shot and killed himself earlier this month as he was about to be arrested at his home over allegations of stolen property suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from his four tours of duty with the Army in Iraq, where he witnessed his best friend since kindergarten get killed in a mortar attack, according to the man’s family.

The brother, the sister and the ex-wife of the late Jesse Melanson said he was a great father to his two children, that he was hardworking and generous, but also that he wasn’t the same person when he came home from Iraq.

Lisa Melanson said when she talked to her brother last month, he said the medication he took to try to control his PTSD was too strong and was making him sick, so he had stopped taking it. She said she urged him to go to VA Maine Healthcare System-Togus to adjust his medication. He told her he would.
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Endless speeches from Congress but never apologies?

What excuse will Congress have this time?
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
February 24, 2018

If you've been reading Combat PTSD Wounded Times, then you know what politicians promise ends up being BS for votes. In a couple of months, every member of the House, will be back in their hometowns loaded with speeches they think we're going to want to hear.

The only thing veterans need to hear, won't be said. They need to have an apology from every single one of them. Why? Take a look at what has happened to our troops and veterans.

The next time you go to hear one of their speeches, have a few words for them to listen to. 

Exactly when do members of Congress answer for any of this? How many more years will we just accept more of the same "efforts" leaving worse results? The following are the facts and they need to be asked why they have done nothing that worked but kept on doing it!

Back in 2010, The Statesman had this report

Suicide among veterans receiving less attention than active-duty deaths

"The numbers have been an issue at the VA since 2008, when a CBS News investigation revealed an “alarming” rate of suicide among veterans and a failure by the VA to gather the nationwide data needed to track the deaths. Six months later, the U.S. House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs blasted the agency for “denying” and “underplaying” suicides after emails surfaced that showed VA officials sought to keep the numbers of suicides and suicide attempts — the latter totaling 950 per month among VA patients — from public view."

And stuff was done,

In August, President Barack Obama issued an executive order with a list of suicide prevention and mental health requirements for the VA — some of which the agency had already begun. Obama ordered the VA to fill staff vacancies, reduce wait times and launch a national campaign to educate veterans about mental health services.Kemp said the VA has devoted substantial resources to preventing suicides in recent years, adding a national crisis hotline and hundreds of additional mental health professionals as it pushes its suicide prevention budget from $73 million this year to an estimated $83 million in 2013. 

And kept getting done, and redone, followed by more money, and more coffins filled. Now the news coverage is the other way around. It seems no one is tracking the number of members of the military still committing suicide a decade after they pushed "prevention" and "resilience training" to every member of the military. 

But as we've seen with everything else, they never seem to be able to do much of anything other than talk about how important something is to them.

Wouldn't it be great if they actually meant it! 

Sailor in critical condition after hit from helicopter blade

UPDATE 2/25/2018

Marines Identify Flight Surgeon Who Died After Struck by Rotor Blade

Officials have identified a Navy officer who succumbed to his injuries after being struck by a spinning helicopter blade Feb. 21.

Navy Lt. James E. Mazzuchelli, 32, died Saturday after he was critically injured by the tail rotor of a UH-1Y Venom, officials with 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing said in a statement. read the rest here

UPDATE
Camp Pendleton Sailor Dies From Rotor Injury

Paramedics took the victim to Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla, where the sailor was pronounced dead at about 5:45 a.m. Saturday -- a little more than two days after the incident.

Camp Pendleton Sailor in Critical Condition After Being Struck by Spinning Helicopter Blade
KTLA 5 News
BY ERIKA MARTIN
FEBRUARY 23, 2018

A U.S. Marine Corps sailor stationed at Camp Pendleton remained in critical condition two days after being hospitalized with injuries sustained from a military helicopter, base officials said Friday.

A UH-1Y Venom helicopter, the type of aircraft involved in the critical injury of a sailor at Marine Corps Air Station Camp Pendleton, is seen in an image from Aug. 28, 2008, released by the U.S. Marine Corps.

The sailor was struck by the tail rotor blade while on deck around 6:10 p.m. Wednesday, according to a news release from the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, the aviation unit to which the troop is assigned.

The sailor was taken to a hospital near the base, where he remained on Friday, officials said.

The military has not publicly identified the injured service member.
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Someone paying attention to majority of veterans with PTSD?

There is a great article from Northwestern University about older veterans with PTSD. You know, the ones we talk about all the time but not enough want to help. The only thing that is wrong with this article is this part.

"Dr. Wirick said many of her clients believed that they couldn’t talk about their experiences because of the hostility surrounding the conflict. They were forced to repress those feelings because they felt like the enemy, which created more complex psychological reactions to their time in combat. Stigma, she noted, was also common among men of the Vietnam generation who were told to “man up” about depression or anxiety. Those repressed feelings later surfaced when they attempted to reintegrate into the lives they led before the war."

The way their parents dealt with PTSD after WWI, WWII and Korea, had more to do with Vietnam veterans silent suffering than anything else. After all, that is the way they "got over it" and got on with their lives. The truth is, they just got too busy to notice what they brought back with them.

My husband's Dad and Uncles were WWII veterans. My father-in-law said he needed to "just get over it." My Dad was a Korean War veteran. He noticed what was called "shell shock" the night they met and then told him to get help. It was the night that set me on this path over 35 years ago.

Read the rest of the article and then maybe you'll understand that some of the Vietnam veterans did a hell of a lot more than settle for what had been acceptable. They fought back!

40 Years Later: Addressing PTSD Among Older Combat Veterans
Northwestern University
by Counseling Staff
February 22, 2018

In 1969, after serving 10 months in Vietnam, Tony Viana brought home shrapnel still lodged in his body. He also brought home an altered state of mind.

“I had never been hypertensive or jittery, but after I got out, I’d say to my girlfriend at the time that I feel apprehensive,” Viana said, “like something ominous [was] about to happen.”

Noises startled him. He had ringing in his ears. But aside from acknowledging the evidence of his physical injuries, doctors at the Veterans Administration (VA), which later became the Department of Veterans Affairs, told him there was nothing wrong with him. And while his private doctor prescribed medication to ease his nerves, Viana would wait nearly 40 years before returning to the VA to be diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Although symptoms of PTSD usually begin occurring within the first months of experiencing a traumatic incident, it can be years before someone has an accurate diagnosis. For Vietnam veterans who served before the military understood and was prepared to assist with the effects of the condition, being diagnosed with PTSD later in life presents distinct challenges for older veterans and the counselors who serve them.
read more here