Vietnam Veterans Forgotten Warriors Again?

Moral Injury inflicted by ignorant reporters
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
September 8, 2018

Reading many reports over more than three decades has left me stunned by some reporters failure to do basic research on the topics they write about. We are living with what they failed to do.

Vietnam Veterans have been forgotten over and over again!

Ryan Sanders, "contributor" to the Dallas Morning News, wrote "Some troops come home with wounded souls that need healing" leaving out the very veterans who caused all the wounds of war to be known!

There are so many things wrong with this article on "moral injury" that I am regretting being up this early! Moral Injury is not some new condition penetrating the souls of the veterans of today's wars, yet once again, older veterans have apparently been doing just fine and dandy in the mind of the author.

I got a kick out of this part!

Hyperconnectedness: In previous conflicts, especially in world wars but even as late as the Vietnam War, combatants engaged in battle after a long boat ride. They had limited contact with home, almost exclusively through letters. While no amount of separation can or should make war easy, these factors allowed fighters to sort their battlefield experiences, allowing many to leave that part of their lives "over there." In today's conflicts, an American soldier can be dodging improvised explosive devices in the morning and video chatting with his children in the afternoon. Separation becomes impossible, and the wounds can stick.

A long boat ride? Does he know they did have planes during the Vietnam war? Did he ever consider what it was like being the FNG coming into a unit when everyone wanted you to stay away from them especially the short timers counted down the days for DEROS instead of months?

Does he even understand that the term "moral injury" came from research on Vietnam veterans?

One of the best researchers and writers on the subject won numerous awards including the Genius Award, is Jonathan Shay who wrote about Achilles in Vietnam, among other books. This was all about the "moral injury" and it came out in 1994. It was one of the best things I read at the time while doing research on what was trying to kill my husband...PTSD.


Why do some people think they can eliminate the majority of veterans in this country, living with the same wounds of war, at higher rates...in higher numbers?

I have no idea if the subject of Sanders article gave him this wrong information or he figured it out all by himself, either way this is one more reason why the majority of veterans committing suicide remain the highest in veterans over the age of 50! This is pure BS! Wonder if he even had a clue that it was called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder back in 1978!

And yes, that is hanging on the wall behind my desk to remind me of why I do this and why my head explodes when the veterans, who pushed for all the research, keep being the Forgotten Warriors!

Veterans remembered by teenager challenge coin tribute

Respect to veterans: Teen creates a coin for every grave site
Palm Beach Post
By Kevin D. Thompson
Staff Writer
September 7, 2018

LAKE WORTH
Four years ago, Joshua Katz, a 12-year-old devoted Boy Scout, was at a Memorial Day ceremony at the South Florida National Cemetery in suburban Lake Worth passing out water to those thirsty from the heat. A penny on a headstone caught Katz’s eye.

Joshua Katz, 16, at the South Florida National Cemetery Memorial Garden and Benches in Lake Worth. (Greg Lovett / The Palm Beach Post)

“I took a picture of it and looked it up because I didn’t know what it meant,” said Katz, now 16.

He learned it was meant as a message to the deceased soldier’s family that someone else has visited the grave to pay respects.

He learned more: A nickel meant another solider stopped by to visit. A dime meant a soldier served with the deceased soldier and a quarter meant that somebody was there when the soldier died.

While Katz understood the practice of leaving coins, he wanted to do more.

“I spent my whole summer to come up with a way to make sure there was some kind of symbol of recognition on their headstones and that all the names were read aloud,” said the suburban Lake Worth resident.

That will happen Saturday, Sept. 8 at the event Katz helped create, the 5th Annual POW-MIA-OREE (Prisoner of War, Missing in Action, Outdoor Remembrance Educational Event) at the cemetery. The 90-minute event starts at 8:30 a.m.

The event is to show respect for veterans and their families by having the names of every veteran interred at the cemetery read aloud. Also, a custom challenge coin will be placed on each headstone and marker for loved ones, to have as a keepsake to know their loved one has not been forgotten.
read more here

Why are soldiers still not getting mental health help?

Soldiers who attempt suicide often have no history of mental health issues
Reuters
Lisa Rapaport
September 5, 2018

Previous combat injuries were also associated with a 60 percent higher risk of suicide attempts among soldiers without a history of mental illness.

(Reuters Health) - More than one-third of U.S. Army soldiers who attempt suicide don’t have a history of mental health problems, a recent study suggests.

Attempted suicides have become more common among enlisted soldiers since the start of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, researchers note in JAMA Psychiatry. While a history of mental illness has long been linked to an increased risk of suicide among military service members and civilians alike, less is known about the risk among soldiers who haven’t been diagnosed with psychiatric disorders.

For the current study, researchers examined data on 9,650 active-duty Army soldiers who attempted suicide between 2004 and 2009 as well as a control group of more than 153,000 soldiers who didn’t attempt suicide.

Overall, 3,507, or 36 percent, of the soldiers who attempted suicide had no previous diagnosis of mental illness, the study found.

“Soldiers without a mental health diagnosis may have had mental health problems but had not reported them to their medical care teams,” said lead author Dr. Robert Ursano, director of the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland.
read more here

Trip to Peru with the PTSD Patrol T-Shirt

 PTSD Patrol looking out from peak in Peru!

My wonderful friend Erica took a trip to Peru with the PTSD Patrol T-Shirt in her bag. I had no idea she had it with her. Today she sent me these pictures and I almost fell off my chair! Just stunning to see it with that view and that message.

How can anyone look at God's creation and not see His love in those mountains?

You may think that your troubles are just too big when you are at the bottom. How can you get over them until you start to take one step ahead?

Standing there will not get you anywhere but when you have the courage to move forward, the view from the top is stunning!

Bacteria feeding off the veterans we love!

Why do they do it? Why do they cheat the very people they claim are so worthy of being helped? Why do they take advantage of the fact we love our veterans?

It's easy! They do not really give a damn and frankly, we do not care enough to find out if veterans get what the group claims they need. 

What is worse, is that most of the time, the fact these groups are not delivering anything for the money they get, are masked behind some carefully chosen words to let us assume they are not some bacteria feeding off the veterans we love!

Police raid New Jersey couple's home after $400G in GoFundMe cash they raised for homeless veteran disappears
FOX News
Greg Norman

Superior Court Judge Paula Dow said the day before that McClure and D’Amico must show up in court next week for a deposition in a suit filed by Bobbitt over the whereabouts of the hundreds of thousands of dollars raised for him via GoFundMe, according to Fox 29.

Bobbitt’s story went viral in late 2017 after he gave McClure his last $20 for gas when she was stranded. She set up a GoFundMe page for him, which raised $400,000.
read more here

Stop Veteran Charity Scams 
Federal Trade Commission

FTCvideos
Published on Jul 19, 2018
Many charities do a great job supporting our nation’s veterans, but a few take advantage of people’s generosity. This video tells donors how to research charities to avoid donating to a sham charity.

The Federal Trade Commission deals with issues that touch the economic life of every American. It is the only federal agency with both consumer protection and competition jurisdiction in broad sectors of the economy. The FTC pursues vigorous and effective law enforcement; advances consumers' interests by sharing its expertise with federal and state legislatures and U.S. and international government agencies; develops policy and research tools through hearings, workshops, and conferences; and creates practical and plain-language educational programs for consumers and businesses in a global marketplace with constantly changing technologies.