Wednesday, March 21, 2018

Veteran dead after standoff at Panera Bread

Gunman Dead As 5-Hour Standoff At Princeton Panera Bread Ends
The standoff lasted five hours on Tuesday afternoon. Schools were under shelter-in-place, and nearby buildings were evacuated.
Patch.com
By Anthony Bellano, Patch Staff
Mar 20, 2018
According to Planet Princeton, police reportedly found the gunman's car — a Ford Focus with Pennsylvania tags. Details about the car's location weren't immediately available. Sources told the website that the man was a veteran.

PRINCETON, NJ — A gunman is dead after a nearly 5-hour standoff at a Princeton Panera Bread Tuesday, ending an ordeal that led to evacuations at Princeton University and neighboring buildings as well as a shelter-in-place at nearby schools.

The state Attorney General's Office confirmed that the unidentified gunman was shot dead by police after hours of negotiations. The gunman has not been identified pending the notification of family members.

The Attorney General's Shooting Response Team is investigating the circumstances of the shooting.
read more here


Fort Stewart Soldier surrendered after standoff

Fort Stewart police respond after soldier barricades himself in on-post apartment
Army Times
By: Nicole Bauke
March 20, 2018

A Fort Stewart, Georgia, soldier barricaded himself with a weapon in his on-post apartment for three hours on Tuesday, according to a press release.

The incident happened about 11:20 a.m. on Courage Loop in Marne Point.

The soldier, who has not been identified at this time for privacy reasons, initially refused to comply with police commands, but he surrendered to military police almost three hours later.
read more here


Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Stop stuffing what your service does to you

Stop stuffing what your service does to you
PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
March 20, 2018

If you made it your job to serve others, time to deal with it instead of stuffing it.

The only way to prevent PTSD is to stop all wars, crimes, fires, natural disasters and accidents. Think about that for a second. 

Now think about how you decided to make it your job...willingly putting your life on the line because all those things happen to people you don't even know.

Sure, you can understand when one of us has just been through something horrible and dealing with a lot. Why can't you understand when one of your own, or you, has to deal with a lot more because you face more of those times that could kill you?

While it may be difficult for the survivors, it is a lot hard for those we count on to help us become a survivor instead of victims.

Service members (including National Guard and Reservists) law enforcement, firefighters and emergency responders, face the same things the rest of us deal with but piled on top of that "everything else" are all the times you put your lives on the line. Even when you are not in an active situation, you are waiting for the next time. After all, that is what you get paid to do. Isn't it?


What you cannot forget, you stuff it to be able to just get on with your time off the job. The problem is, there is really no time you are totally off the job. You know when you are not on duty, someone else is.
read more here

VA employee wanted to help veterans with PTSD-until boyfriend killed her

Woman was on track to become licensed psychologist before boyfriend killed her, friends say
KSAT ABC 12 News
patty Santos
March 19, 2018

Santiago worked at the VA helping veterans. She was on a postdoctoral clinical fellowship in geropsychology at the South Texas Veterans Health Care System.
SAN ANTONIO - Tania Rendo Santiago had a way of connecting with people, her friends say.

Santiago's friend Kristina Arciniega said that's what drew her to the counseling psychologist. Arciniega said Santiago's personality is what helped her connect with her patients.

“She was there to give you great insight. She was also a friend,” Arciniega said. “She wasn't stuffy. She was well-rounded. She loved to walk with you, your dog and have fun and host people.”
When police arrived, officers said the gunman, Scott Caruso, 36, shot and killed himself. Friends said the two had been in a relationship.
read more here

Monday, March 19, 2018

What do we owe Vietnam Veterans?

The Forgotten Warriors
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
March 19, 2018

The generation who changed this nation has been left behind and the debt we owe them, has been forgotten.
One of my coworkers mentioned a well known veterans' charity and that put me in a very bad mood for most of the day.

The thing is, the group we talked about is only interested in veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan. She had no idea the majority of the veterans needing help with PTSD, as well as the majority of veterans committing suicide, are the same veterans who made everything available for this generation.

While the true number of veterans committing suicide on a daily basis will never really be known, the VA reports stated clearly that 65% of those they know about, were over the age of 50.  The majority of the veterans over the age of 50, are Vietnam veterans.

Department of Veterans Affairs 2016
While every generation came home with the same wounds, it was Vietnam veterans pushing for the research, treatment and funding for PTSD to care for all generations.

It is because of them trauma in the civilian world is understood. It is because of them, trauma that comes with pubic service jobs, like law enforcement, firefighters and emergency responders, are more understood, than they would have been otherwise.

Is any of this perfect? No. That is the thing that keeps getting missed. What do the rest of us owe these veterans?

Is it having ceremonies? Parades? Tribute events? Do any of these things repay them for their service during Vietnam or their service to the nation afterwards?

It is not repaid by forgetting about them when all the new charities ignore them. It is not repaid by turning our backs on all the established groups who have been fighting for all generations of our veterans, most of which, are headed by Vietnam veterans.

It is not by separating the worth of the families providing care for the new generation held in higher regard than the older generations doing the same service as the younger ones.

It is by paying attention to the needs of our older veterans that we finally begin to repay the debt we owe them.

Stop letting Vietnam veterans suffer in silence as the Forgotten Warriors