Brooklyn veterans fighting to keep VA clinic open?

What kind of a message does this send? Increase funds for private care but close down VA Clinics that treat disabled veterans? 

Veterans and supporters mobilize in opposition to closure of ENT clinic at Brooklyn VA Hospital
Brooklyn Reporter
By Jaime DeJesus
June 1, 2018

Fearing that the Brooklyn VA Hospital could ultimately be in jeopardy, supporters of the facility — which treats veterans from across the borough as well as Staten Island — are staking their position in support of the hospital, which recently decided to shutter its ENT clinic.

ebrooklyn media/Photos by Jaime DeJesus 

Danny Friedman addressing the group.

On Friday, June 1, veterans, Congressmember Dan Donovan and the New York City Veterans Alliance joined together at a conference at the Knights of Columbus, 1305 86th Street, to protest the closure and express their concern that the hospital so many former members of the military rely upon will eventually downsize to an outpatient only clinic or transform into condos.

“It’s already hard for some of our local veterans to get to the Brooklyn facility and now many will have to travel to the Manhattan facility or one in the Bronx,” said Donovan. “This could be particularly devastating to those who are elderly or disabled, who may forgo visits instead of facing long and difficult commutes to get to their appointments. The decision needs to be reversed.”

“We’ve been seeing a gradual decline in services,” said Danny Friedman, president of Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 72. One of the worries is that the facility will be the victim of a gradual diminution of services, effectively death by a thousand cuts. In 2015, the U.S. Veterans Administration decided to close a 25-bed inpatient medical surgery unit at the hospital, another move that was vocally protested by veterans and their supporters.
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PTSD From Sexual Assaults

Washington Post finally picked up on this one...today! (6/5)


More Vets Who Are Coping With PTSD From Sexual Assaults Get Honorable Discharges
NPR
Quil Lawrence
June 1, 2018

"I still have nightmares about it," he told NPR in 2016. "I am 45 years old, and I still have that vision in my head."

Heath Phillips says the trauma of being sexually assaulted drove him to alcoholism and to go AWOL. Three decades later, the military has agreed to upgrade his discharge to honorable. Courtesy of Heath Phillips

Sexual assault is still a major issue for the military. Reports rose by 10 percent last year, though there is some discussion about whether that is an increase in the number of assaults or an increased willingness of troops to come forward and report them. That would be an improvement because victims of rape in the military often face retaliation, sometimes even a less than honorable discharge from the military.

Among those veterans there is another number that is going up: the people getting their records corrected to show they served honorably.

Sexual assault and harassment affects female troops at a higher rate. But because the military is still mostly male, it's men who make up a much larger number of victims among the thousands of sexual assaults each year. Women report the crime more than twice as much as men.

This makes Heath Phillips, who speaks publicly about his experience, rare.

Phillips was sexually assaulted repeatedly by a group of sailors right after he joined the Navy.
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Truck driver Iraq veteran saved State Trooper

Iraq War vet, now a trucker, puts suspect in chokehold to save trooper from being shot
USA Today
Joel Shannon
June 2, 2018

“I did two tours in Iraq, and I never had to put a choke hold on anyone. That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever done."

The Wyoming Highway Patrol is praising an Iraq War veteran for his role in apprehending a suspect and helping a trooper who was in danger of being shot.

Trucker Darren Phillips of Taylorsville, Utah, pulled over after seeing an altercation between a trooper and a suspect Thursday near Green River, Wyoming, about 140 miles northeast of Salt Lake City.

“I put my brakes on, and I jump out. And by this time, the trooper is on his back and the guy is on top of him," Phillips told KSL-TV, Salt Lake City. "The trooper saw me running over and as soon as I got up to him, he says, ‘He’s going for my gun.' "

Phillips put the suspect in a chokehold. A Facebook post from the TV station quotes Phillips: It was the "craziest thing" he's ever done despite serving two tours in Iraq.

Phillips said his training in the Marines and Army National Guard helped him subdue the man and pull him off the trooper.
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PTSD Patrol begs female veterans to train their power

Female Warriors: Train Your Power
PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
June 3, 2018

Earlier this week NPR had a heartbreaking report on female veterans and suicide.

"The suicide rate for female veterans has soared 85 percent in recent years, leading the military, VA and advocacy groups to try new ways to improve women's mental health care during and after service."

That caused me to write about how it was time to put "suicide awareness groups" out of business. Most of them do not know the facts, few focus on the majority of known veterans committing suicide and even less focus on female veterans.

I thought about all the female veterans I've met over the years. Some were suffering but even with that suffering came this survivor attitude that kept them moving forward, doing all they could for others. They trained the power within them so that giving up, settling for what their life was like, was not an option.

Think about what would have happened if these women had given up.  
Primer Magazine, Adam Brewton wrote about the powertrain.

Shop Talk: Understanding the Powertrain

"Your car is an integral part of your life and a large investment item. Knowing some basic information will help you better understand what needs fixing when you have to take your car to the shop, and allows you to have a chance at holding your own when your..."

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Vietnam veteran shocked to discover he was dead for 30 days

Dayton veteran wrongly marked deceased by VA
Dayton Daily News
June 1, 2018

DAYTON
A Dayton man was recently shocked to learn he was deceased when he received a letter of condolence from the Department of Veteran’s Affairs addressed to his late wife.

Alfred Wilson joined the Marine Corp in 1967, sent to Vietnam in 1968, and was discharged with medical retirement in 1969 for being shot in the leg.

Wilson was married for 44 years to his wife who had a stroke back in October 2017 and later passed away in March.

He received the letter addressed to his wife from the VA in the mail stating he was dead and had been so for the past 30 days.
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