Senate hearing with veterans charity got testy

Alleged altercation at US Senate hearing between VA staffer and MVP founder
WIBW 13 News
By Shawn Wheat
Jun 21, 2018

TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) -- 13 NEWS has learned that there was an alleged physical altercation in April of 2017 during a subcommittee meeting in Washington D.C., between an employee of the VA and the founder of the Military Veterans Project.

In a recent e-mail exchange, Military Veteran Project (MVP) founder Melissa Jarboe told Joseph Burks, the Public Affairs Officer for VA Eastern Kansas Health Care System, to cease and desist any communication with her.

“The physical attack, verbal abuse and intimidation you displayed on April 27, 2017 has not been forgotten, rather thoroughly documented via video, audio and written statement to appropriate parties and chain of command,” Jorboe said in the e-mail, obtained by 13 NEWS.

Jarboe declined an on camera interview, but told 13 NEWS, she was called to testify by Senator Jerry Moran, at a hearing on "Preventing Veteran Suicide".

When asked by Senator Moran if there was a partnership between the MVP program and the VA, Jarboe said, “We do not currently have a strong partnership with the Veterans Administration. We are there if they need us. We are not asked to attend any of their boards. We are not a part of their direct community approach or outreaches. But, we will still eagerly assist the Veterans Administration when they are in crisis or in need because that’s what we’re supposed to do as Americans.”
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Because you did cry their tears

Older veterans cried the same tears
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
June 23, 2018

Considering this is PTSD Awareness Month, the most important thing has been missing from what you need to be aware of. The results prove that.

The latest suicide report from the Department of Veterans Affairs is missing a lot of information, but within the report it states two very damning facts.

Veterans over the age of 50 are over 58% of the known suicides, and veterans are twice as likely to commit suicide as civilians.

Pretty shocking stuff considering the topic is all over social media and stunts are pulled all over the country on a daily basis to "raise awareness" of the deaths, but few offer hope of healing.

Very hard to take for any advocate, especially when there have been decades of research to prevent veterans from taking their own lives after surviving combat.

"I'd protect you from the sadness in your eyes, give you courage in a world of compromise" so the song goes and how I wish I could change things for you. The sadness in your eyes does not go away because there is a smile on your face. Yet, those same eyes that have seen way too much, end up shining when you heal.

It seems that most people want what is easy, while you did what was hard. They want easy solutions, slogans that make them feel better, but do not accomplish much else, and fast answers, so they do not have to look too hard.

Why do you continue to risk your life now after you risked it for everyone else? Is it your pride? Do you fear being seen as weak? Then you've been getting the wrong message. This is an old video I did and it shows what PTSD is.

And here is another one on grieving.

If you grieve, then you cared and there is nothing weak about that. It took a lot of inner strength to put your life on the line.

Find that same care for your own life now and heal so you can still help others now. When you can, you can take away the sadness in someone eyes of someone else, because you did cry their tears!

She was shot 5 times, but Navy Master Chief stays in!

Shot 5 Times by Afghan Soldier, Navy Master Chief Refused to Quit
Military.com
By Matthew Cox
21 Jun 2018

"Whether that is three years or four years or 10, as long as I can make a difference every day, and I know I am making a difference every day, and I can serve my country in an operational function -- I'm gonna stick around."

Navy Master Chief Raina Hockenberry remembers everything from that day in 2014 when an Afghan soldier shot her five times.

Master Chief Personnel Specialist Raina Hockenberry, from Kalihi, Hawaii, competes in the 50-meter breaststroke swimming competition at the 2018 Department of Defense Warrior Games at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Navy photo/ Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Marcus L. Stanley)

She was serving as the senior enlisted leader position for Combined Security Transition Command Afghanistan. Hockenberry was part of a group visiting a basic training facility for Afghan soldiers.

We stopped for our last briefing of the day, and one of the Afghan soldiers just opened fire through a window," she told reporters at the Pentagon Wednesday describing the green-on-blue attack that wounded 13 other military personnel that day. "He just started shooting."

Hockenberry suffered two gunshot wounds to the right leg, shattering her tibia. She was shot once in the groin and twice in the stomach.

While at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, "people tended to assume that I would be medically retired; I can understand why, but I just didn't see it."

Four years later, she won eight gold medals in the recent Warrior Games in Colorado Springs and now serves on the USS Port Royal at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

In four months, she plans to participate in the Invictus Games in Sydney, Australia.
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Fatal motorcycle crash claimed life of sailor

Motorcyclist Killed on I-5 Was Aspiring Navy SEAL
By NBC 7 Staff
Jun 21, 2018

A member of the U.S. Navy was killed when his motorcycle collided with a car on Interstate 5 near the San Diego-Coronado Bridge Friday.

Lt. j.g. mid Mason Calhoun, 24, was an active-duty midshipman who lived in Pacific Beach, according to the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office.

Calhoun was on his way to turn in paperwork as part of the application process to be a US Navy SEAL, his mother told a Virginia television station.
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Puppies saved by soldiers in Afghanistan on Animal Planet

Animal Planet’s ‘Dodo Heroes’ Highlights US Soldiers Reuniting With Their Afghanistan Dogs (Exclusive Video)
The Wrap
Tony Maglio
June 22, 2018

Animal Planet’s “Dodo Heroes” highlights those who go to great lengths to save, protect, and rehabilitate animals — and this Saturday’s subject Pen Farthing takes that “heroes” part of the show title to a whole new level.

The man, who as a Royal Marine used to spend his days saving humans in war-torn Afghanistan, now spends them saving dogs (and cats, and donkeys, and now a horse) there. But Farthing is still saving soldiers in a way, as his mission through his charity Nowzad — named after his own pooch from the war zone — is to reunite American military personnel with their unofficially adopted local four (and sometimes three)-legged friends.

The lengths that Farthing and his organization go through to export these forgotten street dogs from Afghanistan to their specific soldier in the United States is remarkable — as is the cost.

read more here and watch great video