Veteran police officer, UPMC chaplain among wounded in synagogue mass shooting
Pittsburg Post Gazette
Shelly Bradbury
October 28, 2018
Pittsburgh police officer Tim Matson is seen here after receiving an award at the 19th Annual Law Enforcement Agency Directors Awards Ceremony on Jan. 27, 2017. Officer Matson was one of four officers wounded in the Squirrel Hill synagogue mass shooting on Oct. 27, 2018.
A veteran Pittsburgh police officer known for keeping his cool under pressure and using humor to defuse tense situations was one of four officers wounded while responding to an active shooter Saturday at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Squirrel Hill.
Pittsburgh police Officer Timothy Matson cracked jokes in his hospital room Sunday, a day after he was shot multiple times and critically injured while confronting the shooter who killed 11 people.
“We were in his hospital room today, visiting, and as soon as we walk in he’s already cracking jokes,” Cmdr. Jason Lando said. “He’s in that situation, where his life is the one in danger, and everyone is so worried about him — but he’s cracking jokes and it makes everyone feel better.”
That’s just the type of guy he is, Cmdr. Lando said. Officer Matson joined the department in 2005 and was assigned to Zone 5. He has been a part of the city’s SWAT team since 2016.
“When bullets are flying and people’s lives are in danger, Tim Matson is the guy you want going through the door,” Cmdr. Lando said. “He’s the guy who goes in and calmly gets the job done.”
An online fundraising campaign for Officer Matson raised nearly $20,000 Sunday.
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Man who rescued toddler graduates Veterans Treatment Court
WLOS NBC 10 News
October 26, 2018
BUNCOMBE COUNTY, N.C. (WLOS) - A man who was hailed as a hero after rescuing a toddler in a crash celebrated a milestone on Friday.
Gage Hampton, an Afghanistan veteran who rescued a toddler from a wreck in May, graduated from Buncombe County's Veterans Treatment Court. (Photo credit: WLOS Staff)
Back in May, Gage Hampton came to the rescue of a toddler who was trapped in a car that had crashed through a store window.
On Friday, he graduated from Buncombe County's Veterans Treatment Court. The Army veteran has overcome PTSD and been sober for nearly three years.
During Friday's ceremony, he was presented with a Quilt of Valor.
"All my support network is here. It's just a real blessing to have this ceremony and to graduate from veterans treatment court," Hampton said. "I got the feeling of redemption, you know, to be in this situation and it's just a blessing, it really is."
Hampton did combat duty in Afghanistan while he was in the Army. He said the experience taught him the meaning of self-sacrifice.
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VA prioritizing all pending Veterans benefits appeals claims for victims of hurricanes Florence and Michael
From the Department of Veterans Affairs
WASHINGTON — Veterans impacted by recent hurricanes Florence and Michael will now have their pending appeals claims for benefits prioritized by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), department officials announced.
VA’s Board of Veterans’ Appeals has determined that the significant effects of hurricanes Florence and Michael were sufficient cause for the Board to advance the appeals for counties in Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia determined to be disaster areas by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
“Accelerating the decision process on pending appeals claims for those Veterans and their families affected by hurricanes Florence and Michael is the right thing to do,” said VA Secretary Robert Wilkie.
By regulation, the Board may advance appeals on its docket by a motion of the chairman if sufficient cause is shown. All Veterans and other appellants with an appeal currently pending before the Board whose addresses of record are in one of the affected counties will have their appeal automatically advanced on the Board’s docket.
No action from Veterans or appellants are needed if their addresses are current. Visit the list of counties affected by hurricanes Florence and Michael at this link: https://www.bva.va.gov/.
The advancement on docket (AOD) for these two storms is expected to last for six months from the date of the events. Therefore, Florence counties will be AODed from Oct. 1, 2018, to March 31, 2019; and counties affected by Hurricane Michael will be AODed from Nov. 1, 2018, to April 30, 2019. The Board will reassess AOD for these two storms once the six-month periods end.
The Board’s mission is to conduct hearings and decide appeals in a timely manner. For more information about VA’s Board of Veterans’ Appeals, visit www.bva.va.gov/.
VA amends regulations on VA pension and other needs-based programs
From the Department of Veterans Affairs
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) recently amended its regulations governing entitlements to VA pension and Parents’ Dependency and Indemnity Compensation, which are need-based programs.
“The amended regulations bring consistency to the pension process and ensure benefits are available for Veterans and survivors with financial need,” said VA Secretary Robert Wilkie. “They will help maintain the integrity of and provide clarity to our needs-based pension program.”
VA’s pension program provides monthly benefit payments to eligible wartime Veterans and their survivors with financial need.
The pension regulations, which were updated Oct. 18, cover the following:
Establish a clear net-worth limit for income and assets for Veterans to qualify for pension,
Establish a 36-month look-back period to review asset transfers at less than fair market value that reduce net worth and create pension entitlement,
Establish up to a five-year penalty period to be calculated based on the portion of the covered assets that would have made net worth excessive, and
Updates medical expense definitions for consistency with VA internal guidelines.
The changes are intended to ensure VA only pays benefits to those Veterans with a genuine need.
When Female Veterans Return Home
Marie Claire
Jim Rendon
October 29, 2018
While civilian and military men commit suicide at higher rates than their female counterparts, according to a 2016 VA report, in 2014, the difference between soldiers and civilians was greater for women in all age groups. For young women it is particularly alarming: In 2014, female veterans between 18 and 29 years old killed themselves at six times the rate of civilian women of the same age. Researchers don’t know exactly why so many female veterans are committing suicide, but they have found that survivors of military sexual trauma have a higher rate of suicide than others, and about 20 percent of female soldiers have been victims of such abuse, according to the VA. The study also found that female veterans were more likely than civilian women to kill themselves using a firearm—the most lethal method of suicide.
More than 380,000 women have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, and about 1 in 5 of them return with post-traumatic stress disorder. One unorthodox veterans’ retreat is teaching female soldiers that war has not broken them. In fact, their anguish may be key to their transformation.
First Lieutenant Brie Zeiger tried to stifle her fear as the C-130 transport plane she was riding in began its descent toward Forward Operating Base Salerno in a hostile region of Afghanistan. The base was attacked so often that the soldiers nicknamed it “Rocket City.” Just three months earlier, in June 2012, insurgents had detonated a truck bomb and invaded the base, killing two Americans. As the plane approached the runway, Zeiger heard an odd sound, like pellets smacking a metal target at a fairground shooting game. This was normal, the crew told her, just incoming fire from the Taliban.
Zeiger, then 26, was a nurse in a small surgical unit there. At night, the faintest whir of helicopter blades would jolt her from bed; wounded were on the way. She loved the challenge of the work, the rush of making life-or-death decisions. “I felt like I was doing exactly what I was meant to do,” she says. But in time, she was numbed by the relentless stream of injured soldiers. One soldier arrived riddled with shrapnel from an improvised explosive device. The medical team tried to keep him alive by pumping air in and out of his lungs. Zeiger remembers looking into his eyes, digging through his bloody clothes to find his dog tags, then watching the 23-year-old pass away. “There is something about seeing a soldier die that changes you,” she says.
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