Less serving in the military but suicides are up?

After years of attempting to prevent suicides, these numbers are more proof it isn't working. One more factor to include in this is there are less serving this year than last year. According to the DOD Army 537,135 April 2013 went down to 518,576 April 2014. Marines had a decrease from 194,703 to 191,599 and the Air Force went from 334,255 to 329,979. The Navy had an increase from 318,999 to 323,788. But why include the other side of the numbers that do in fact matter?

The article on ABC News about military suicides really bothered most of the people I talked to as much as it did me so I pointed it out. These are the numbers that need to be included in any report about military suicides. Less serving and more suicides is devastating.

Total Armed Services
April 30, 2013
Army 537,135-- Navy 318,999-- Marine Corps 194,703-- Air Force 334,255

"According to the 2014 data, there have been 70 confirmed and suspected suicides by Army soldiers; 34 by airmen, 21 by Marines and 36 by sailors."

April 30, 2014
Army 518,576-- Navy 323,788-- Marine Corps 191,599-- Air Force 329,979

"In the same time frame last year, there were 81 suicides by soldiers, 24 by airmen, 25 by Marines and 24 by sailors."

Evidence withheld by Germany on Petty Officer 2nd Class Dmitry Chepusov Murder

Germans withholding evidence in AFN murder case pending death penalty decision
Stars and Stripes
By Jennifer H. Svan and Marcus Kloeckner
Published: July 23, 2014

KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — German authorities will withhold key evidence in the strangulation death of an AFN broadcaster — including the victim’s throat — unless the U.S. military gives assurances it will not seek the death penalty for the airman accused of the murder.

The U.S. military charged Staff Sgt. Sean Oliver in March with murder in the death of Petty Officer 2nd Class Dmitry Chepusov. German police stopped Oliver on Dec. 14 in Kaiserslautern for driving erratically and found Chepusov’s lifeless body in the passenger seat of Oliver’s car.

After conducting an autopsy, German authorities concluded that Chepusov, a 31-year-old sailor assigned to the American Forces Network at Ramstein Air Base, died of “force to the neck.”

Although German authorities initially cooperated with U.S. military investigators, they withheld the throat and other evidence when they turned Chepusov’s body over to U.S. authorities.
read more here

Video: Wounded Warrior Rows Across the Pacific

Former Marine makes historic trek across the Pacific to become the first paraplegic to successfully row from California to Hawaii.
DVIDS
Petty Officer 2nd Class Lori Bent
July 21, 2014

Fallen Police Officer Last Act of Love, Heart to Vietnam Veteran

GIFT OF LIFE: HEART OF SLAIN NJ POLICE OFFICER DONATED TO VIETNAM VETERAN
ABC News
By Dr. Sapna Parikh
Tuesday, July 22, 2014

NEW PROVIDENCE (WABC) -- From one hero to an another, an officer killed in the line of duty gave the most important gift possible after his death: the gift of life.

By allowing his organs to be donated after his death, Jersey City Police Officer Marc Anthony DiNardo gave a Vietnam Veteran a second chance at life.

Officer DiNardo died from wounds suffered in a shootout in 2009. But his family say his legacy lives on and hopes his organ donation will urge other to do the same.

Exactly five years ago, DiNardo lost his life in the line of duty, but the 37-year old husband and father's commitment to saving other lives never ended.

"He's a hero in life and in death," said the officer's widow, Mary DiNardo.

As an organ donor, officer DiNardo's heart went to another hero, Captain Don Zolkiwsky, a Purple Heart recipient and veteran of the Vietnam War.

"It's bittersweet. Sweet in that, yes it happened, bitter in that someone had to die for me to live," said Capt. Zolkiwsky.
read more here

The other part of the 161 Military Suicides for This Year

Reminder of the most ignored fact in all of this. The number of enlisted service members went down as well last year and this year. Whenever they mention the numbers compared to the highest year on record for suicides in 2012, they need to include that very important factor.

"According to the 2014 data, there have been 70 confirmed and suspected suicides by Army soldiers; 34 by airmen, 21 by Marines and 36 by sailors. In the same time frame last year, there were 81 suicides by soldiers, 24 by airmen, 25 by Marines and 24 by sailors."

Military Suicides up a Bit in 2014; More Seek Help
ABC News
WASHINGTON
Jul 22, 2014

Suicides among active-duty military have increased a bit so far this year compared with the same period last year, but Pentagon officials say they are encouraged that more service members are seeking help through hotlines and other aid programs.

Pentagon documents show there were 161 confirmed or suspected suicides as of July 14, compared with 154 during the same time frame in 2013. The uptick was among the Air Force and Navy, while soldiers and Marine suicides went down. The documents were obtained by The Associated Press.

According to the final report released Tuesday, active-duty suicides dropped by nearly 19 percent in 2013, compared with the previous year, going from 319 to 259.

Suicides among National Guard and Reserve members increased by about 8 percent, going from 203 to 220. The AP reported preliminary 2013 numbers in April.
read more here

Mom blames overmedicating on Iraq Veteran's death

Distraught mother: 'All they were doing was overmedicating him'
Billings Gazette
By Cindy Uken
July 23, 2014

A 36-year-old Iraq war veteran was being treated for traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder and back injuries with more than 27 different medications when he died unexpectedly, according to his mother.

Paul Gardner, of Billings died on March 3, 2001 from complications related to injuries he sustained in Iraq after a rocket attack on his base, said Claire Gardner, of Seattle.

She blames the pills — and the VA for the complications.

“It seemed like all they were doing was overmedicating him,” Claire Gardner said. “They were treating the symptoms with pills and covering up the real problems.”

She is concerned that other veterans are also being overmedicated. That is why she has put up $5,000 in seed money to jump-start the Paul Gardner Veterans Relief Foundation to give veterans non-narcotic options for rehabilitation and relief from chronic pain.

“The Foundation will allow veterans and their families the opportunity to take a breath and a step back,” Gardner said.
read more here

Warnings
from 2007 Links to medications suspected with non-combat deaths
2008
Prozac Platoon America's Medicated Army
2009
Sen. Benjamin Cardin wants study on prescriptions-suicide link 2010
Nevada Soldier With PTSD Prescribed 14 Drugs Before Police Shootout
2011
Powerful Drug Cocktails Have Deadly Results For Some Troops

Marine died in his sleep; autopsy lists 27 medications

US Troops Heavily Medicated on Prescription Drugs, Report Warns

Prescriptions for antipsychotics jumped tenfold from 2002 to 2009
There are more but as you can see as the years went on no one stopped it after Gardner's death.

Florida Fake Special Forces Sgt Major confronted on video

Fake Special Forces Sgt Major (Robert 'Bobbie' Bowen) Called out by 4th Anglico Marines (Part 1)
He showed up at a funeral for a fallen Marine!
Part Two

Linked from BlackFive

Florida Veteran Marine Forgotten and Locked into VA Clinic

WATCH: Marine gets locked inside VA Outpatient Clinic in Orange City
News 13
By John W. Davis and Natalie Tolomeo, Team Coverage
July 22, 2014

A U.S. Marine Corps veteran said he was locked inside this VA Outpatient Clinic, in Orange City, on Monday, July 21, 2014.

ORANGE CITY
Jeff Duck, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, was sitting inside a room at a VA Outpatient Clinic in Volusia County Monday. He was told to wait in the room and that someone would be there shortly.

No one came, though. And when he went out of the room to see what was going on, he realized he was the only person inside the clinic.

Duck said he's not blaming anyone in particular, but he does think what happened to him shows the VA system is broken.

"In the military, you never leave anybody behind," Duck said Monday night. "This kind of leaves the feeling — obviously I was left behind."

Duck, using his cell phone, captured video Monday afternoon when he stopped in for a visit at the Orange City-based VA Outpatient Clinic, located on South Volusia Avenue.

"You could see in the video (that) the lab was open," Duck said. "I don't know what was in there. I didn't look that closely. They have locks to the doors going back to the doctors’ offices, but I could have just crawled over the front counter and walked to the back."
read more here

On Dashcam: Veteran Marine-Police Officer Saves Woman From Freight Train

Video: Marine veteran saves woman from oncoming freight train
Marine Corps Times
Joshua Stewart
Jul. 21, 2014

Some Marine Corps training will stick with you for life — and sometimes, it will help save a life.

Ramon Morales, a police officer with the Richmond Police Department in Texas, pulled a woman from an oncoming freight train last month. The Marine veteran said he credits his quick action to the training he received while in the Corps.

“I didn’t think about it, I just reacted,” Morales told Marine Corps Times.” The Marine Corps puts you in a position to think about others before you.”

Morales, a former corporal who served as an aircraft rescue and firefighting specialist, recently joined the police department. At about 1 a.m. on June 22, he said he was wrapping up a call at a bar and was sitting in a parking lot when a person there flagged him down.

He was told there was a distraught woman sitting on nearby train tracks, and he sped off to help.

Video captured from his police car shows him arriving at the tracks just as the crossing bells and lights went on, and as the vehicle barriers fall into place. He ran out of his car and pulled a sobbing woman to safety — just seconds before an oncoming freight train rolled by with its horn blaring.

He is, however, using his moment in the spotlight to encourage people — including Marines — to help prevent suicide.

read more here

Obama didn't need to be briefed in 2008 because he was on the committee

New American slanted report on VA problems just goes to show when it comes to doing the right thing and political games, games win while veterans continue to lose.

First is that Obama knew about what was going on in the VA since he was on the Senate Veteran Affairs Committee

This is one of the first bills he introduced showing what kinds of problems he knew about.

S.692 -- VA Hospital Quality Report Card Act of 2007 (Introduced in Senate - IS)
S 692 IS
110th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 692
To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish a Hospital Quality Report Card Initiative to report on health care quality in Veterans Affairs hospitals.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 27, 2007
Mr. OBAMA introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs
A BILL
To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish a Hospital Quality Report Card Initiative to report on health care quality in Veterans Affairs hospitals.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `VA Hospital Quality Report Card Act of 2007'.
SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

The purpose of this Act is to establish the Hospital Quality Report Card Initiative under title 38, United States Code, to ensure that quality measures data for hospitals administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs are readily available and accessible in order to--
(1) inform patients and consumers about health care quality in such hospitals;
(2) assist Veterans Affairs health care providers in identifying opportunities for quality improvement and cost containment; and
(3) enhance the understanding of policy makers and public officials of health care issues, raise public awareness of hospital quality issues, and to help constituents of such policy makers and officials identify quality health care options.

SEC. 3. VA HOSPITAL QUALITY REPORT CARD INITIATIVE.
(a) In General- Subchapter III of chapter 17 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
`Sec. 1730A. Hospital Quality Report Card Initiative
`(a) Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of the VA Hospital Quality Report Card Act of 2007, the Secretary shall establish and implement a Hospital Quality Report Card Initiative (in this section referred to as the `Initiative') to report on health care quality in VA hospitals.
`(b) For purposes of this section, the term `VA hospital' means a hospital administered by the Secretary.
`(c)(1)(A) Not less than 2 times each year, the Secretary shall publish reports on VA hospital quality. Such reports shall include quality measures data that allow for an assessment of health care--
`(i) effectiveness;
`(ii) safety;
`(iii) timeliness;
`(iv) efficiency;
`(v) patient-centeredness; and
`(vi) equity.
`(B) In collecting and reporting data as provided for under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall include VA hospital information, as possible, relating to--
`(i) staffing levels of nurses and other health professionals, as appropriate;
`(ii) rates of nosocomial infections;
`(iii) the volume of various procedures performed;
`(iv) hospital sanctions and other violations;
`(v) the quality of care for various patient populations, including female, geriatric, disabled, rural, homeless, mentally ill, and racial and ethnic minority populations;
`(vi) the availability of emergency rooms, intensive care units, maternity care, and specialty services;
`(vii) the quality of care in various hospital settings, including inpatient, outpatient, emergency, maternity, and intensive care unit settings;
`(viii) ongoing patient safety initiatives; and
`(ix) other measures determined appropriate by the Secretary.
`(C)(i) In reporting data as provided for under subparagraph (A), the Secretary may risk adjust quality measures to account for differences relating to--
`(I) the characteristics of the reporting VA hospital, such as licensed bed size, geography, and teaching hospital status; and
`(II) patient characteristics, such as health status, severity of illness, and socioeconomic status. `(ii) If the Secretary reports data under subparagraph (A) using risk-adjusted quality measures, the Secretary shall establish procedures for making the unadjusted data available to the public in a manner determined appropriate by the Secretary.
`(D) Under the Initiative, the Secretary may verify data reported under this paragraph to ensure accuracy and validity.
`(E) The Secretary shall disclose the entire methodology for the reporting of data under this paragraph to all relevant organizations and VA hospitals that are the subject of any such information that is to be made available to the public prior to the public disclosure of such information.
`(F)(i) The Secretary shall submit each report to the appropriate committees of Congress.
`(ii) The Secretary shall ensure that reports are made available under this section in an electronic format, in an understandable manner with respect to various populations (including those with low functional health literacy), and in a manner that allows health care quality comparisons to be made with local hospitals or regional hospitals, as appropriate.
`(iii) The Secretary shall establish procedures for making report findings available to the public, upon request, in a non-electronic format, such as through a toll-free telephone number.
`(G) The analytic methodologies and limitations on data sources utilized by the Secretary to develop and disseminate the comparative data under this section shall be identified and acknowledged as part of the dissemination of such data, and include the appropriate and inappropriate uses of such data.
`(H) On at least an annual basis, the Secretary shall compare quality measures data submitted by each VA hospital with data submitted in the prior year or years by the same hospital in order to identify and report actions that would lead to false or artificial improvements in the hospital's quality measurements.
`(2)(A) The Secretary shall develop and implement effective safeguards to protect against the unauthorized use or disclosure of VA hospital data that is reported under this section.
`(B) The Secretary shall develop and implement effective safeguards to protect against the dissemination of inconsistent, incomplete, invalid, inaccurate, or subjective VA hospital data. `(C) The Secretary shall ensure that identifiable patient data shall not be released to the public.
`(d)(1) The Secretary shall evaluate and periodically submit a report to Congress on the effectiveness of the Initiative, including the effectiveness of the Initiative in meeting the purpose described in section 2 of the VA Hospital Quality Report Card Act of 2007. The Secretary shall make such reports available to the public.
`(2) The Secretary shall use the outcomes from the evaluation conducted pursuant to paragraph (1) to increase the usefulness of the Initiative.
`(e) There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2008 through 2016.'.
(b) Clerical Amendment- The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 17, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 1730 the following new item:
`1730A. Hospital Quality Report Card Initiative.'.

Top that off with the fact that all the problems had existed before Obama took over and no one did much before to fix it. This is what veterans have been dealing with for decades. Presidents point their fingers at Congress and Congress points their fingers at Presidents and both parties fail.

You can look up what happened and when but when you think that you're getting the real story from anyone, think again and look it up! As for McCain, we all know what he's been doing and none of it has been good especially when it comes to veterans in his own home state while he not only ignored them, he denied they were having problems all along.

Obama Administration Had Been Briefed on VA Problems in 2008
New American
Written by Raven Clabough
21 July 2014

As if the Obama administration is not in enough hot water over the disastrous Department of Veterans' Affairs, reports now reveal that the administration had been warned about waiting times and fraud immediately after the president was first elected in 2008.

The Veterans Administration has been under harsh scrutiny after reports exposed that the Phoenix facility had been altering its scheduling books and that at least 40 veterans had died while awaiting care. Senator John McCain, an Arizona Republican, said though the scandal began in his home state, it has since become a national crisis. "Altogether, similar reports of lengthy waiting lists and other issues have surfaced in at least 10 states," according to the Washington Times.

What's worse is that the Obama administration had been briefed on the weaknesses of the VA and did nothing to address them.
read more here

Vietnam vet, retired state trooper collapses, dies while fighting wildfire

Vietnam vet, retired state trooper collapses, dies while fighting wildfire
13 FOX News
BY SKIGGINS78
JULY 21, 2014

CARLTON, Wash. – The massive Carlton Complex Fire has destroyed between 150 and 200 homes, and the wildfire is showing no signs of stopping.

The fire claimed it’s first victim over the weekend — 67-year-old Robert Koczewski died while trying to keep the flames from destroying his home.

Robert and his wife watched the valley go up in flames and they’d seen it happen before, so they grabbed some water hoses and hoped for the best.

But this time Robert couldn’t withstand the physical demands; he collapsed and died of an apparent stroke while protecting his home.

After spending 26 years in the Marine Corps, and more than a decade with the Washington State Patrol, Robert and his wife retired to central Washington.
read more here

Headline on veteran's care did not match story

Great headline. It got my blood pressure up just reading the headline and that is the biggest problem of all. When there are so many reports of veterans in crisis turning to the VA and being turned away, hospital staff at the VA did the right thing when a veteran talked about ending his pain "even if forced to find some way to end it myself." He was under observation for a few hours and then released. The title of this article is intended to add to the real problems the VA needs to explain but the truth on this one is they did their jobs.

Veteran gets locked up instead of lifesaving care
First Coast News
Anne Schindler
July 21, 2014

"I drew a line in the sand," says the 67-year-old, absentmindedly rubbing his useless leg. "I said, 'If I go home and I can't take the pain, I might have to be forced to find some way to end it myself.'"

KEYSTONE HEIGHTS, Fla. – James Ponder knows about pain. He was just 21 when his knee was blown off by a 51-caliber machine gun round that shattered his right femur and left a gaping hole that he compares to a bite from a "big ol' shark."

A swiftboat gunner patrolling the southernmost tip of the Mekong Delta in November 1968, Ponder had been in country just four months when he went from being Vietnam conscript to medically discharged Vietnam Vet.

But Ponder – who has since suffered ailments including a ruptured colon, heart attack and abdominal hernia -- is philosophical about pain. "Pain is pain," says the 67-year-old Keystone Heights resident. "I feel I come out a better person for having experienced things in life that have brought me pain."

That said, Ponder describes a recent eight-week abdominal illness as a period of indescribable agony. "It was a pain I've never felt before," Ponder says. "It was very excruciating -- an extreme type of pain. There was just no way to escape it."

Three times Ponder went to the emergency room of the closest Veterans Administration hospital – twice in Gainesville and once in Live Oak. All three times, doctors misdiagnosed his pain as hernia-related.

Ponder was sure they were mistaken. "I genuinely felt like I was dying from within." He was so certain, he told his wife, Rebecca, to seek an independent autopsy in the event he died – simply to determine his true cause of death.

Doctors were reluctant to prescribe pain medicine, believing it would cause constipation and only aggravate his symptoms. Instead, they offered him a temporary painkiller – a shot of morphine – and sent him home to rest. Twice, he went home to "climb the walls" in pain. The third time, he refused to leave.
read more here

Marine "Terminal to Ironman Tri-athalete" Survived Cancer twice

Camp Pendleton Marine survives cancer twice, runs Ironman
Staff Sgt. Clay Treska to speak at Relay for Life
By Linda McIntosh
JULY 21, 2014

CARLSBAD — When Staff Sgt. Clay Treska got back from Iraq, he had another battle to fight. He was diagnosed with cancer in April 2008. Four months later, after undergoing chemotherapy, the Camp Pendleton-based Marine was set on getting back in shape and started training to compete in a triathlon.

His testicular cancer went into remission.

But when the cancer came back a year later, and he was given six months to live, the 13-year Marine Corps veteran stuck with his plan. He kept training.

He went on to compete in the Ironman World Championship triathlon in Hawaii in 2010.

Treska, 34, is scheduled to be a guest speaker at the Carlsbad Relay for Life July 26-27 at Valley Middle School in Carlsbad.

The 24-hour relay and luminaria honors those fighting cancer along with survivors and those who died from the disease.

Treska, whose courage has made him a hero, will share his story.

His website, teamtreska.org, says “From terminal to Ironman triathalete in 10 months.” It also says, “Nothing is impossible.”
read more here

Wonder if it ever gets tiring of being in congress with nothing to do

UPDATE

Gallup Poll on Congress

Pretty much sums up what folks have been saying for a very long time!

Wonder if it ever gets tiring of being in congress with nothing to do? After all, it must get really boring getting up every now and then to make a speech about something they have no clue on. It happens all the time.

John McCain is a typical example of what has been going on in Washington. His track record on veterans issues has been AWOL and for an-ex POW constantly reminding folks he was one, he is a lot better at pretending to care than most.

The trouble is, how he really feels always seems to show up in what he says on top of the votes he casts against bills to make veterans lives better.

Back in 2010 there was a suicide prevention bill by Congressman Holt and McCain was in the hot seat over blocking the bill. McCain called it “overreach” and said that “Maybe you need this in New Jersey but we don’t need this in Arizona.” and folks were reminded about this when Congressman Holt went on talks shows like Lawrence O'Donnell The Last Word on MSNBC talked to Congressman Holt about this bill. Holt said that McCain called it “overreach” and said that “Maybe you need this in New Jersey but we don’t need this in Arizona.”

Huffington Post article by Amanda Terkel also tried to get people to just open their eyes about what was really going on.

In April, Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.) introduced legislation named after the late soldier meant to provide more resources for suicide prevention to Reserve members. The House in May incorporated it into the National Defense Authorization Act for 2011, but it was stripped from the final version, and Holt is pointing the finger at the lead Republican negotiator on the Senate legislation, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

“Twice now, the Senate has stripped this legislation from our defense bill,” Holt told The Huffington Post Tuesday. “It’s hard to understand why. I know for a fact, because he told me, that Sen. McCain doesn’t support it. Whether he’s the only one, I don’t know. But there was no effort to try to improve the language or negotiate changes; it was just rejected, and I think that is not only bad policy, but it’s cruel. It’s cruel to the families that are struggling with catastrophic mental health problems.”

“He [McCain] said having these counselors check in with the Reservists every few months this way overreaching,” continued Holt, relaying a phone conversation he had had with the senator. “I asked him in what sense it was overreaching. Surely he didn’t think there wasn’t a problem, did he? I must say I don’t understand it.”

People paying attention to all this knew they sure needed it in Oregon when the suicide prevention hotline rescued 5 veterans in just two hours.

In 2013 John McCain was proven totally wrong when this report came out about what Arizona actually did need but McCain said was not needed in Arizona.

"The rate of suicide among military veterans in Arizona is more than double the civilian rate. Advocates say veterans need more than benefits when returning from war. The average veteran suicide rate in Arizona from 2005 through 2011 is almost 43 deaths per 100,000 people. That’s according to data compiled by News21, a national reporting project based out of Arizona State University. And the rate should increase as more veterans return home."

Then all of us heard McCain complain about the VA and the backlog and how veterans shouldn't have to go through any of it. This was happening in Arizona right under McCain's clueless nose in 2012.

VA backlog: Number of veterans in Arizona: 600,000
Number of pending veterans disability claims: 23,000
Number of claims with a wait time over 125 days: 17,000
Average number of days a claim is pending: 320
Average number of days a claim takes to complete: 365
Sources: Phoenix Veterans Affairs Regional Office and Arizona Department of Veterans Services

McCain had no right to pretend to be shocked instead of offering his apologies to all the veterans he let suffer instead of doing something when they had the chance. The shannagaines keep them really busy but caring about the veterans isn't even on their list of committees to show up at. Oh, sorry but I forgot. McCain never served on the Veterans Affairs Committee.

Right now a grand game is being played once again as people elected to do their jobs think that job is complaining about everything instead of fixing anything.