Happy Birthday to US Army...and the Flag

The U.S. Army: celebrating 243 years of awesomeness 
Happy birthday, Army! 
By: Charlsy Panzino 
June 14, 2018

Go here for a great video!

And it is also Flag Day

Couple stops to respectfully fold American flag after 2 people ripped it down
CBS News
Last Updated Jun 14, 2018

A home security camera caught two people in downtown Mobile, Alabama, ripping down an American flag. But what happened next was heartwarming. A couple walking by stopped to do the respectful thing: fold the flag like true patriots.

It happened at the home of a woman named Margaret Dopson. "We've had our flag ripped down four times in three years. It's one of the reasons for the cameras," Dopson told CBS News. "It's gut-wrenching to me to see it on video. It's a quick flash of what's wrong with society -- anger, hatred and disrespect."

Fortunately, the story doesn't end with that "gut-wrenching" moment. The couple that came along afterwards turned things around. They took care to fold the flag using proper form, making small triangles until it was neatly bundled.
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Israeli Veterans choose to share hope...and life with PTSD

Choose life, say recovering Israeli 'brothers'
Sun Sentinel
Deborah Fineblum
June 14, 2018

 "As combat soldiers, we think we're not supposed to show fear or weakness, or admit we need help. And if you're not in a wheelchair, people look at you like 'what's the problem?' Our group encourages the guys to take off the Superman mask and face their feelings." Ohad Poraz

A few of the 100 middle-schoolers in the room had probably heard the term PTSD before. Hardly any of them had ever met anyone, however, who had suffered the trauma of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, much less encountered 10 of them at once.

But earlier this month, middle-schoolers at the Rashi School in Dedham, Mass., did just that.

The Israelis who came to speak to them were all combat soldiers injured in the line of duty. As such, they are also members of a remarkable organization (some 830 strong) called "Brothers for Life" (Achim L'Chayim), a group that for the last 11 years has been bringing the wounded together with American Jews, along with injured U.S. soldiers and, perhaps most importantly, with each other.

Take Ohad Poraz, 33, a healthy-looking father of 4-month-old twins who told the students, "I'm at a point in my life when I'm the happiest I've ever been."
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Canada:Veteran with PTSD shares healing

On PTSD Patrol, we're always talking about the things that work. Well, here is one out of Canada from a veteran with PTSD.

Local resident inspires others battling PTSD with social media posts 
Vancouver Island Free Daily 
LIFE LINDSEY HORSTING
Jun. 14, 2018

It didn’t matter if only five people saw it, he felt a sense of power, being able to take control of a part of his life, that he felt had been suppressed for so long.“I wasn’t looking for validation, I was looking for a voice I never had,” Vaillancourt explained.

(Photo by Madison Simpson)

Patrick Vaillancourt knew he needed to talk about living with post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression once he was diagnosed.  

Patrick Vaillancourt, a social media influencer, was diagnosed with anxiety and depression in 2015 while he was working in the Canadian Armed Forces.

Originally from Toronto, he entered the Forces at 17 years old, and said he was broken down and built back up in a way that was unfamiliar to him.

He was exhibiting drastic moodswings, sleep deprivation, was always angry, would cancel plans and isolated himself, and was lacking motivation.

It got to the point where his friend in the Forces told him it was time to get help, to this day he is very thankful for the push. “He is my guardian angel, he saved my life,” Vaillancourt said.

He received counselling through the Toronto Military Family Resource Centre (MFRC), an organization he volunteered with when he was younger, and the help was effective.

He was able to work himself back into the military system, but after counselling there was no follow-up from the MFRC and he was left to his own devices to deal with the depression.
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WWII veteran recovering from pneumonia booted from Boston apartment

WWII veteran recovering from pneumonia booted from Boston apartment
WCVB News
June 13, 2018

Two months rent had been paid in advance

BOSTON
Ilya Levin’s WWII uniform is his only physical memento of his past after his entire Boston apartment was wiped clean.

Levin’s family tells Newscenter 5 that the 95-year-old was booted from his apartment while recovering from pneumonia. Everything from the apartment was thrown out in an apparent mistake by the management company at the Patricia White Apartments on Washington Street. “I’m shaking,” Alex Levin said. “I can’t believe it.”

Levin’s family found the apartment empty Monday when they stopped in to check on things.

For the past three weeks, Levin has been recovering from pneumonia in a rehab facility. But the family still has their father’s apartment keys and had paid two months rent in advance.

“He had a little place where he would have all his pictures,” Eugene Levin said. “His pictures of his parents that died during the Holocaust, it’s gone. It’s not here.”

Also missing is a safe that Levin had bolted to the closet floor.

WCVB reached out to the property management company and are waiting for comment. The Mayor’s office is also looking into the matter.
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Fort Knox Soldier stole gun--found dead

Coroner: Soldier found in Clarksville died of self-inflicted gunshot wound
News and Tribune
BY ELIZABETH DEPOMPEI
Jun 12, 2018

Njoroge was assigned to the 14th Human Resources Sustainment Center, 1st TSC at Fort Knox, Ky., according to a news release from the U.S. Army. He was on leave in Clarksville at the time of his death.

CLARKSVILLE — An investigation into the death of a U.S. Army soldier on leave in Clarksville is ongoing.

Pfc. Bryan N. Njoroge, 21, of McKinney, Texas, was found unconscious on Clarksville High School property near the announcer station at the school's baseball field around 3:30 p.m. Saturday, according to a police report. The responding officer observed a gun and a "large amount of blood" surrounding Njoroge.

Clark County Coroner Billy Scott said Tuesday the death is preliminarily attributed to a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Toxicology results are pending.

A second police report from the Clarksville Police Department shows that a gun was reported stolen from American Shooters around 8 p.m. Friday. Using witness statements and security footage, police identified the theft suspect as Njoroge, who had left his military I.D. at the business.

An employee told police Njoroge had been in the indoor range three times during the day, each time renting the same gun. Njoroge reportedly came out to the front counter around 8:10 p.m. As other customers entered the store, Njoroge "slowly made his way away from the front counter towards the door" and left the store, according to the police report.

Njoroge was found deceased outside Clarksville High School the next day. The school is located less than a half-mile from American Shooters.
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