Eighth-graders win second place for documentary about Vietnam veteran Capital Journal Online By Max Wirestone, Special to The Capital-Journal Posted Sep 29, 2018
“There’s a lot people out there who do amazing things,” Christensen said. “But they don’t get credit or recognition for it. And I think they should.”
If there is a wave of student documentaries next year at Washburn Rural Middle School, gifted facilitators Lindsay McDowell and Alice Bertels will know why.
That is because two of their students — eighth-graders Megan Christensen and Meredith Kucera — won second place in the national Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes’ 2018 Discovery Award competition. The contest encourages middle and high school students to research and uncover the stories of positive role models whose contributions to history aren’t well-known.
Their winning documentary, “The Incredibly Stupid One,” is a profile of U.S. Navy veteran Douglas Hegdahl, who gathered critical intelligence from the North Vietnamese camp where he was held captive by pretending to be illiterate and mentally disabled.
The students were drawn to the project not because of the documentary aspect but because of their interest in the subject matter.
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Hegdahl, who was considered by the Vietnamese to be worthless in terms of intelligence information, was one of the first prisoners offered an early release. He didn't want to go and tried to behave so that he would be detained — at one point, when Tom Hayden was touring the prison camp, Hegdahl gave him the finger. But his roommate pulled rank and ordered him to go, knowing that Hegdahl's remarkable memory would provide the government invaluable information and the families of prisoners immeasurable comfort. Hegdahl memorized the names of more than 300 fellow POWs, along with their Social Security numbers and an identifying trait such as a pet's name for confirmation.
At U.S. Marine base, families plead for housing help after Florence Reuters Andrea Januta September 29, 2018
Most of Camp Lejeune’s housing is run by Atlantic Marine Corps Communities, or AMCC, a partnership between Australia-based Lendlease Group, Boston-based WinnCompanies and the U.S. Navy. All the homes profiled in this article are managed by AMCC.
Jennifer Maher, pregnant in her third trimester, prepares cleaning supplies in an attempt to clean up mold after suffering severe damage to her home post-Hurricane Florence at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, U.S., September 27, 2018. REUTERS/Andrea Januta
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. Two weeks after Hurricane Florence deluged the U.S. East Coast’s largest Marine Corps base with raging waters and dangerous winds, some military families say they are still residing in unlivable conditions and awaiting help from the base’s private housing manager.
Some, like Jennifer Maher, said they feel unsafe in their Camp Lejeune homes but were told they will not be moved because assessment crews determined their houses are habitable.
That did not work for Maher, pregnant in her third trimester and living with her husband and 2-year-old son. When she returned home last Friday, she opened the door to the stench of mold, she said while showing the wreckage to a visiting reporter. Then she saw the ceiling had collapsed in their bedroom and garage.
“I’m pregnant and I can smell the mold,” said Maher, whose husband is a Navy corpsman stationed at Lejeune. “There’s no way I could bring a newborn home and let her breathe this in.” read more here
UPDATE A ride for life PTSD Patrol Kathie Costos September 30, 2018 Today my husband and I are celebrating our 34th anniversary. No matter how hard some years were, we had love and fed each other hope. He is the reason I have done this work for the last 36 years. I have seen the darkness but have also seen what brighter days bring. Yesterday I went out to East Orlando Harley Davidson for Ride to Fight Suicide
All of our lives have been changed in someway by the lose of hope, but none of us are ready to give up this fight for life. While our lives may be different, the purpose of our lives has become one of restoring hope.
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Suicide is a painful thing for the families left behind. They never find the answers they are looking for. It is always with them, when the person they loved gave up on themselves. Beyond that, they gave up on the people who loved them as well.
The never ending questions of "why didn't they come to me" or "talk to me" or "let me know how much they were hurting" or "why didn't they trust me to listen to them?"
I know those feelings all too well, because it happened in my family. My husband's nephew was also a Vietnam veteran and he committed suicide 18 years ago. I have all those questions still in my head that will never be answered. read more here
Local firefighter opens up about dark side of the job By: MADELYN JANSSEN Posted: Sep 27, 2018
Robinson wants other first responders to know it's not only ok, but good to talk about how the calls affect them. And he wants to be an example of how you can come out the other side, and find a path back to happiness. Society, friends and family can all play a part in breaking the stigma around asking for help. "Ask the tough questions if you think someone is struggling. You will never regret asking, you will regret not asking."
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - "Suck it up buttercup." That's the stigma Kern County Fire Department Captain Derek Robinson is fighting to change. He's been with the department for more than 17 years. It was only last year that he himself dropped the act, and decided it was time to ask for help. In August he detailed that fight to overcome his emotional injuries, in a Facebook post. He's sharing that to help reach anyone else struggling with the same demons.
A study last year said first responders are more likely to die from suicide than in the line of duty. PTSD and depression rates among first responders are as much as five times higher than among civilians. Robinson didn't realize for years that he was among those suffering. But the Friday after Thanksgiving 2017 he was called to a scene that changed that. A family was ripped apart by a drunk driver. A mother and child killed in a crash along Highway 99. "You can't respond and not feel something, especially when you see the impact on the family. Here's a family on Thanksgiving day traveling and their lives were not just interrupted, but completely destroyed and they lost a mother and a child, you can't absorb that. You just can't." Robinson suffered from sleepless nights. He turned to self-medication at times. He lost relationships and lost his passion for the job. Years of repeated exposure to trauma had taken their toll. It was a month after that Thanksgiving crash that Robinson decided to seek help. That changed everything. "Where I am now is drastically different from where I am today by getting help. This is more of an injury and same as a physical injury it can be dealt with." read more here
Marine veteran shares story of battling PTSD and how to get help News 4 San Antonio by Ariana Lubelli September 28th 2018
"The important thing is to know the services that are out and seek those services before you get to that crisis point," said Gordon.
There is a great need for mental health services for veterans. It's a demand seen across the country and just as prevalent in San Antonio.
Andrew Reidel is a Marine veteran and outreach coordinator for PTSD Foundation of America. He knows all too well about the demons that PTSD brings on.
"Just imagine coming home and being just dead, just a moving body, just existing not really living. That's how we come home," said Reidel.
He served eight years in the military with tours to Iraq and Afghanistan and operations in other overseas locations.
"For me, it was the nightmares and the night sweats, real quick to get angry. Probably the worst part of it was not being able to connect with the average person when I got home," said Reidel.
Since 2011, Reidel has attempted suicide at least three times. Sadly, his story is familiar to many veterans. read more here
