Fitzgerald Survivors battle PTSD without brothers

Former Fitzgerald XO: Navy crew members battling PTSD after fatal collision
Navy Times
Geoff Ziezulewicz
March 15, 2018

Navy spokesman Cmdr. William Speaks said about 85 percent of the Fitz’s crew was reassigned when the ship went stateside for repairs and upgrades.

Sailors who survived the warship Fitzgerald's June collision with a merchant vessel off Japan are suffering from post-traumatic stress when returning to sea, according to Cmdr. Sean Babbitt, the ship's executive officer at the time, shown here two days after the disaster that killed seven sailors. Babbitt took command and led the crew in its efforts to bring the Fitz back to port under her own power. (MC2 Richard L.J. Gourley/Navy)

Many crew members of the destroyer Fitzgerald who survived the warship’s catastrophic collision with a merchant vessel last summer are experiencing post-traumatic stress after returning to sea, according to the ship’s former second-in-command.

Writing on the U.S. Naval Institute’s blog this week, former executive officer Cmdr. Sean Babbitt spoke of the lingering trauma the Fitz’s crew now face after fighting for survival and losing seven shipmates in June.

“While many of our sailors have returned to normal lives on board other ships, many have experienced relapses and manifestations of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) brought back by returning to sea,” Babbitt writes.

“I personally know of a number of sailors who served on board the USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62) who have held their hands up and said I need more help, and some of those sailors may never see a ship again.”
read more here

Multiple deaths after FIU bridge collapse

FIU pedestrian bridge collapses days after installation; police say multiple deaths, cars trapped
Miami Herald
BY ANDRES VIGLUCCI, MONIQUE O. MADAN AND DANIEL CHANG
March 15, 2018

A pedestrian bridge under construction collapsed Thursday, just days after crews had dropped an elevated 950-ton span in place in a project that was intended to give Florida International University students a safe route across the busy roadway.

The bridge gave way suddenly while the traffic light for motorists on Tamiami Trail was red, so that the concrete span fell on top of a row of stopped vehicles.

A woman stopped at the light who was heading westbound said the structure fell without warning. The woman, who asked that her name not be used, said it was immediately clear to her that several people were dead.
read more here

Neighbor and Cab Driver helped Vietnam Veteran...no one else would

What’s being done to help emaciated veteran found lying in waste
WTVR News
Shelby Brown
March 14, 2018

MECKLENBURG COUNTY, Va. -- A Mecklenburg County man said he was not prepared for what he saw the day he approached a neighbor's home.

Chris Thomas called it a sad story that he just cannot get out of his head.

In October, Thomas stumbled upon a Vietnam veteran who was living in squalor when he went to feed the veteran’s dogs that he initially encountered roaming the streets.

Thomas said a worker at a nearby convenience store told him the dogs belonged to the veteran, who was thought to have been sick and in the hospital.

Later that day, when Thomas and his wife showed up to feed the veteran's dogs, he said he found the man lying in his own waste, unable to move from his sofa.
read more here

Lt. Col. Adam L. Collier found dead

Marine Battalion Commander Found Dead in Home

Military.com
By Hope Hodge Seck
14 Mar 2018

Officials have ruled a suicide after the commanding officer of a Marine Forces Reserve unit was discovered dead earlier this month.

FILE -- Lt. Col. Adam Collier, Commander of Troops, forms the company for the 3D Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company Change of Command, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, CA. April 2, 2016.
(Photo credit: David Biber -- ESGR)

The Marine Corps was notified of the death of Lt. Col. Adam L. Collier, commanding officer of 4th Reconnaissance Battalion, on March 11, officials with MarForRes told Military.com. The battalion, which falls under the 4th Marine Division, is based in San Antonio, Texas.

He deployed three times: to Iraq and Kuwait in 2004; to Iraq from 2009 to 2010; and to Afghanistan in 2011.read more here

US Women:Trailblazers long before their time

Today there is not going to be a lot of posts going up for a very good reason. A friend asked me to do a video on women trailblazers. I thought, OK, should be easy, since I tracked all this stuff for a long time. Plus, hey, I'm originally from New England, and growing up, we were actually taught history.

Needless to say, it turns out I am shocked by how much I forgot, and even more so by what I never knew.

This is a forgot...

Sybil Ludington became famous for her ride to warn the Patriot militia of the British coming, similar to that of Paul Revere, but Sybil was only 16 years old.

On the night of April 26, 1777, Colonel Henry Ludington, father of 12, veteran of the French-Indian War, and commander of the militia in Duchess County, New York, (just across the state line from Danbury, Connecticut) received a messenger to his house. The British had entered Danbury and found some American military stores, stolen some, destroyed others and drank the whiskey. Drunk, they began ransacking the town, burning and looting.

Col. Ludington's militia, some 400 men, was on furlough. Whether the colonel asked his oldest daughter or the 16-year-old bravely volunteered is unknown, but around 9 p.m., she set off in the rain to warn the men. discover more here

This is a never knew,

Cathay Williams (1844 – 1892), a.k.a. William Cathay, was the first known African American woman to enlist in the United States Army, and the only black woman documented to serve in the US army in the 19th century.

Born a slave in Independence, Missouri in 1844, Cathay worked as a house servant on a nearby plantation on the outskirts of Jefferson City. discover more here

The thing that keeps getting to me is that women have been fighting for this country all along. So why are they still treated as if they do not belong in the military?

Why is it that members of the military still act as if it was only the males responsible for our freedom?

Anyway, back to work on the video. Just wanted to share some of those thoughts. The more I work on this video, the more proud I am of being a woman in this country. Maybe if more young women would spend time learning about how we arrived at this place, in this time, they'd be even more encouraged to do whatever it is they want to do, no matter what people say.