I wanted to see the darkness turn to the light of day

Dawn of Veterans Day

PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
November 11, 2108

Before dawn yesterday, I went out to Apopka to walk along the path of the Vietnam Memorial Traveling Wall. I wanted to see the darkness turn to the light of day.

Much like when you drive surrounded by darkness, you can light your way by turning on your headlights, you can do that with your life as well.

The darkness can feel overwhelming at times and it can be hard to see what is around you.
read more here

509 U.S. military personnel died by suicide in 2017

Army Wants Sergeants in the Barracks on Weekends to Prevent Suicides

Military.com
By Matthew Cox
November 8, 2018

The U.S. Army's top official said Thursday that he wants to see sergeants making regular visits to the barracks on weekends to help reduce the number of soldiers who die by suicide.

Suicide is a problem that every service struggles to prevent. In calendar year 2017, 509 U.S. military personnel died by suicide, according to Defense Department numbers. Of that number, the Army suffered 298 deaths by suicide across the active duty, National Guard and Reserve.

"It's a tragedy that we have suicide in our ranks, but it's coming into our ranks from society writ large," Army Secretary Mark Esper told an audience at the American Enterprise Institute. "Every week, I am signing letters to families offering my condolences for soldiers who have taken their lives."

The problem typically affects younger soldiers and is usually "related to personal financial problems, relationship problems and career concerns," Esper said, adding that alcohol consumption can be a factor as well.

It's also "typically a Friday night though Sunday morning problem," he said.
read more here

Veteran Army Pilot Helps Homeless Vets Get Back on Their Feet

Former Army Pilot Helps Homeless Vets Get Back on Their Feet: ‘What She’s Done for Me Saved My Life’

PEOPLE
Susan Keating
November 9, 2018

One former Marine, Christopher S.W. Quincer, had lost everything — his job, housing and family — before Snyder found him five years ago in a shelter. “She got me into housing, and paid my first six months rent,” says Quincer, 43. She helped him get a job, reunited him with his family and Quincer now runs a successful company.

Former Army helicopter pilot Deborah Snyder has gone from the cockpit to the boardroom to take on an important mission: finding homes for veterans who don’t have a place to live.

“I don’t think we should have homeless vets,” Snyder, a retired lieutenant colonel, tells PEOPLE. “It’s a fixable problem.”

Since 2011, Snyder, 53, and her organization, the Operation Renewed Hope Foundation, have fixed the problem for more than 800 homeless veterans in the Washington, D.C., area.

“We find housing for them, and help in other ways too,” Snyder says, noting that the organization’s services include help with transportation, jobs and medical services.
read more here

Marine Vet Would Have Tried to Help Shooter Heal PTSD

Slain Marine Vet Would Have Tried to Help Shooter if He Could, Friend Says

Military.com
By Hope Hodge Seck
November 10, 2018

"I know that if the shooter -- it's hard to even say he's a Marine, it hurts -- If Dan and I knew this guy needed help, we would be like, 'hey, dude, what can we do for you,'" Andrade said. "We clicked with veterans fast, quick. Dan would have helped this guy."

An hour and change before Dan Manrique's life was brutally cut short in a mass shooting at the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks, California Wednesday night, he had been in a meeting with fellow members of veterans organization Team Red White and Blue, brainstorming about how to improve community within the group and connect better with veterans in need.

Rudy Andrade, far left, stands next to fellow Marine Corps veteran Dan Manrique, who was killed in a mass shooting Nov. 7 at a bar in Thousand Oaks, California. 

(Photo courtesy of Genevieve Urquidi)

So when Rudolph Andrade, a Team RWB chapter captain for Los Angeles, got a text message the following day asking if Manrique had been in the vicinity of the shooting, Andrade's first response was reassurance.

"Dan was with me last night when all this happened," Andrade said he replied.

Days later, the shock of processing the loss of Manrique, a close friend as well as a teammate, is still setting in for him.

In fact, there were at least three members of Team RWB at the scene horrific shooting that claimed 12 lives, according to Andrade and postings on the Team RWB Ventura County Facebook page: Manrique, on full-time staff for the group as the Pacific Regional Manager; Justin Meek, a promoter at the bar killed in the shooting, who'd reportedly planned on joining the Coast Guard after college; and Fernan Diamse, another chapter member who made it out alive, but sustained a cut on his arm from broken window glass in his effort to escape.
read more here

Fort Carson 300 Welcomed Home

300 soldiers return from Afghanistan in an emotional family reunion

KRDO News
By: Dani Fried
Posted: Nov 09, 2018

A homecoming for about 300 Fort Carson soldiers from the 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division was held Friday morning at 12:45 at William "Bill" Reed Special Events Center.

Families filled the center earlier in the evening, preparing to greet their loved ones.

"I can't wait for him to meet his son," said Ursula Lopez, whose son, Damien, was born only three days after her husband was deployed.

The 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team deployed in February. They were gone for a total of nine months.

Teddy Anderson, the young son of Maj. John Anderson, immediately began crying after Major Anderson ran in front of the other soldiers to greet him and his brother.
read more here