For military families, the wars never end, fighting to keep them alive

How do you explain this to the rest of the citizens of this country? How do you get them to understand that when our husbands, wives, daughters and sons return from combat, the war isn't really over?

It does not really matter to us which war in what decade because the fact is, veterans risked their lives in service to this country, but being home with us is still more dangerous that combat was. More die after combat than during it. Not much has changed since this country began.

We keep hearing about the "price" of war and know the numbers will never show the true total. We keep hearing promises from politicians about fixing what went wrong and wonder what they mean. We wonder what "one" suicide will actually be the "too many" they keep claiming year after year while we wait for them to actually reach the point where they stop what they are doing, fix what is wrong and live up to what they claim.

How many more years will the public let us keep paying the price for those they choose to ignore until they decide another war has to be fought and they remember those willing to pay the price with their lives?

‘They’re Still At War When They Come Home’: Soldier’s Mother Struggles With His Suicide
WBUR News
By Lynn Jolicoeur
September 19, 2014

Tammy Sprague Gallagher, whose son, a Massachusetts National Guard soldier, died by suicide last October, stands among tributes to him in her Raynham home.
(Jesse Costa/WBUR)

“I only have a picture now, a frozen piece of time, to (remind) me of how it was when you were here and mine. I see your smiling eyes each morning when I wake. I talk to you and place a kiss upon your lovely face.”

For Tammy Sprague Gallagher of Raynham, this has become a daily ritual. She spends a few moments in front of her dresser, which is covered with pictures of her son, Joaquin Pereira Jr., and his military medals. She talks to him, or reads this poem to him.

“How much I miss you being here I really cannot say. The ache is deep inside my heart and never goes away. I need to feel you constantly to get me through the day. I love you so very much. Why did you go away?”

Pereira was 25 when he died by suicide last October.

He was a Massachusetts National Guard soldier and did two tours overseas in war zones. He’s one of eight Massachusetts Guard soldiers who’ve killed themselves since August 2012. That’s a big increase in the suicide rate for the Guard, and it happened despite the Guard instituting widespread suicide prevention programs over the last several years.
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Watchfires lead the way out of PTSD darkness

Watchfires Lead The Way
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
September 19, 2014

Watchfires lighting the way out of the darkness of PTSD

Wisdom, compassion and courage
are the three universally recognized
moral qualities of men. Confucius

Why do you have PTSD? Why you and not someone else?

I am sure you've heard some kind of nonsense like it has something to do with you being mentally weak but that kind of rumor will always start with someone with very weak emotions. The stronger you feel love, happiness, joy and empathy, the stronger you will feel the sadness, grief, loss and regret.

When you risked your life for someone else, it meant you cared and so did the others you were with but some cared less while others cared more. Compassion is a gift the rest of the world depends on when things go wrong for them, but they are the last to understand what it does to the compassionate ones when they give all they have.

“But there was no need to be ashamed of tears, for tears bore witness that a man had the greatest of courage, the courage to suffer.”
Viktor E. Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning

Had you not left your home, family and friends, you would not have experienced the conditions closer to hell than any other place on earth. You wouldn't have seen with your own eyes what horrors man is capable of or abundance of compassion spawn by the pain. You wouldn't be hurting if you were not there.

Today is POW MIA Day. Most people have seen the flag, the table ceremony honoring the memory of those who did not come home but there is another service that remembers the lost.

In the The Battle Hymn of the Republic Julia Ward Howe wrote "I have seen Him in the watchfires of a hundred circling camps" yet while the tradition was carried on by Vietnam veterans, it goes back to the beginning of this country.

Vietnam veterans have come together to build such fires according to the military regulations and specifications of the 1700s, when fires were used to help guide stray Soldiers home from battle.

Vietnam veterans have been lighting the watchfires for decades on helping other veterans find their way back from combat to living as a veteran. While what we call PTSD now may seem new to you, it is as old as the Bible itself. Anyone reading the spiritual struggles of David in the Book of Psalms can see it clearly.

Psalm 144
Of David.
1 Praise be to the Lord my Rock,
who trains my hands for war,
my fingers for battle.
2 He is my loving God and my fortress,
my stronghold and my deliverer,
my shield, in whom I take refuge,
who subdues peoples[a] under me.
3 Lord, what are human beings that you care for them,
mere mortals that you think of them?
4 They are like a breath;
their days are like a fleeting shadow.
5 Part your heavens, Lord, and come down;
touch the mountains, so that they smoke.
6 Send forth lightning and scatter the enemy;
shoot your arrows and rout them.
7 Reach down your hand from on high;
deliver me and rescue me
from the mighty waters,

In Vietnam, much like in Afghanistan and Iraq, the enemy hides within "friendlies" and they are hard to see but what is harder to see is the enemy hiding within you. More deadly than any weapon in the enemy hands, this is embedded within you. More veterans die by their own hands than have been killed in those wars. Why? Because you have not been trained to use the weapon you were born with.

It is your soul. Some call it the spirit. It holds everything you need to do with what you were sent to their earth to do.

Did you feel as if there was nothing else you wanted to do than join the military? Then that is what you were sent here for. The courage was paired with your compassion and both joined forces with your determination to endure whatever came your way.

The answer is within you as well.

You are not alone. There are other veterans all across the country waiting for you, watching for you appearing in the distance so you stop feeling lost and alone. They are waiting for your families too so that they can be helped to help you heal.

Members of Point Man International Ministries have been standing watch since 1984. They can help you find your way all the way back home so you can stand for others when their time has come to return to the One Who sent them here.

I am Florida State Coordinator looking for leaders right here doing what I cannot do. These OutPosts are run by veterans and are in small groups, much like a unit in combat. Home Fronts are for the families, like mine, so that families receive the support and knowledge they need for the sake of their veterans.

My husband and I are celebrating our 30th this month so it is not impossible.

You can get out of the darkness if you look for the light to show you the way.

"Days of Elijah" sung by Camp Pendleton Marines

‘Oorah!’: The Viral Video of Marines Singing a Popular Christian Worship Song You Just Have to See
The Blaze
Billy Hallowell
Sep. 18, 2014

There’s a feel-good video going viral that shows Marines at Camp Pendleton exuberantly singing “Days of Elijah,” an upbeat Christian worship song about hope and redemption.

The men, who wave their hands in unison sporadically and shout, “Oorah!” as they sing the praise and worship song, were apparently gathered over the weekend for a Christian service at the California military installation.
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Marine Reservists Capture Record 792 Pound Gator

Marine sergeant and friends bag record-setting alligator
Military Times
By Joshua Stewart
Staff writer
September 18, 2014

Sgt. Jesse Phillips, inset, a mortarman with 3rd Battalion, 23rd Marines, hunted a 792-pound alligator, with two of his friends. It measured more than 13-feet from the tip of the nose to the tail, and broke a Mississippi state record. (Courtesy of Jesse Phillips)

The next time Sgt. Jesse Phillips has to train in the swamp, he’ll be all too familiar with the type of beasts that might be slithering around his boots.

The mortarman with Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 23rd Marines, an Alabama-based Reserve unit, made history on Sept. 2 when he and his friends caught a 792-pound alligator in Mississippi. The gator measured in at nearly 13 ½ feet from nose to tail, had a belly that was 69 ¼ inches in girth, and a tail that spanned 51 inches around.

It was the first time the sergeant went alligator hunting, and it paid off. According to the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, their alligator was the largest male ever caught in the state.

“During my swamp training I’m going to think about it a lot different now that I’ve snagged a 13-foot, five-inch gator,” Phillips told Marine Corps Times. “I don’t like snakes and I don’t like gators. But it ended up good — I faced my fears.”
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POW-MIA Day and the story few know

The Story of the POW/MIA Flag
HistoryNet
By Marc Leepson
Published Online: April 18, 2012

Heisley modeled the flag's silhouette on his 24-year-old son, who was on leave from the Marines and looking gaunt while getting over hepatitis. Heisley also penned the words that are stitched on the banner, "You are not forgotten."

Newt Heisley, with the POW/MIA flag he designed. (Copyright Don Jones Photography)

You see it everywhere—the stark, black-and-white POW/MIA flag—flying in front of VA hospitals, post offices and other federal, state and local government buildings, businesses and homes. It flaps on motorcycles, cars and pickup trucks. The flag has become an icon of American culture, a representation of the nation's concern for military service personnel missing and unaccounted for in overseas wars.

From the Revolution to the Korean War, thousands of U.S. soldiers, Marines, airmen and sailors have been taken prisoner or gone missing. But it took the Vietnam War—and a sense of abandonment felt by wives and family members of Americans held captive—to bring forth what has evolved into the nation's POW/MIA symbol.

The POW/MIA flag is inextricably tied to the National League of POW/MIA Families, which was born in June 1969 as the National League of Families of American Prisoners in Southeast Asia. Its mission was to spread awareness of the mistreatment of POWs at the hands of their captors. It was the brainchild of Karen Butler, wife of Navy pilot Phillip Butler, who had been shot down over North Vietnam in April 1965, and Sybil Stockdale, whose husband, Navy Commander James Bond Stockdale, was the highest-ranking POW in North Vietnam. Stockdale had been held prisoner since September 1965, when his A-4 Skyhawk went down over North Vietnam.

In 1971, League member Mary Hoff came up with the idea of creating a flag as the group's symbol. Her husband, Navy pilot Lt. Cmdr. Michael Hoff, had been missing since January 7, 1970. Mary Hoff called the country's oldest and largest flag-maker, Annin Flagmakers of Verona, N.J.
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Thanks Gunny for the link to this!

Presidential Proclamation --- National POW/MIA Recognition Day, 2014
NATIONAL POW/MIA RECOGNITION DAY, 2014
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION

America's history shines with patriots who have answered the call to serve. From Minutemen who gathered on a green in Lexington to a great generation that faced down Communism and all those in our military today, their sacrifices have strengthened our Nation and helped secure more than two centuries of freedom. As our Armed Forces defend our homeland from new threats in a changing world, we remain committed to a profound obligation that dates back to the earliest days of our founding -- the United States does not ever leave our men and women in uniform behind. On National POW/MIA Recognition Day, we express the solemn promise of a country and its people to our service members who have not returned home and their families: you are not forgotten.

My Administration remains dedicated to accounting as fully as possible for our Nation's missing heroes, lost on battlefields where the sounds of war ceased decades ago and in countries where our troops are deployed today. Whether they are gone for a day or for decades, their absence is felt. They are missed during holidays and around dinner tables, and their loved ones bear this burden without closure. Americans who gave their last full measure of devotion deserve to be buried with honor and dignity, and those who are still unaccounted for must be returned to their families. We will never give up our search for them, and we will continue our work to secure the release of our citizens who are unjustly detained abroad. Today, we acknowledge that we owe a profound debt of gratitude to all those who have given of themselves to protect our Union and our way of life, and we honor them by working to uphold this sacred trust.

On September 19, 2014, the stark black and white banner symbolizing America's Missing in Action and Prisoners of War will be flown over the White House; the United States Capitol; the Departments of State, Defense, and Veterans Affairs; the

Selective Service System Headquarters; the World War II Memorial; the Korean War Veterans Memorial; the Vietnam Veterans Memorial; United States post offices; national cemeteries; and other locations across our country. We raise this flag as a solemn reminder of our obligation to always remember the sacrifices made to defend our Nation.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim September 19, 2014, as National POW/MIA Recognition Day. I urge all Americans to observe this day of honor and remembrance with appropriate ceremonies and activities.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this eighteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand fourteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-ninth.

BARACK OBAMA

HEART TO HEART
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel gives former U.S. Sen. Max Cleland of Georgia, an Army veteran of the Vietnam War, a hug after introducing him as the guest speaker at the 2014 National POW/MIA Recognition Ceremony at the Pentagon, Sept.19, 2014
DoD photo by U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Adrian Cadiz

Massachusetts National Guard Fighting Suicides

Massachusetts Army National Guard Is Fighting A War Against Suicide
WBUR
By Lynn Jolicoeur
September 18, 2014

The clanging and hissing noises of cars being repaired are a welcome change from the sounds of war for 31-year-old Nate Radke.

Radke’s business, Gardner Auto Sales, though a little grimy inside the garage, is a shining example of how this Massachusetts National Guard sergeant has turned his life around in a short time.

Two years ago, Radke was living with his wife and two young children in the moldy basement of his parents’ house. He had recently returned from 2 1/2 years of training, deployment to Afghanistan and post-deployment treatment. He was suffering from post traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury — with mood swings, massive headaches, dizziness and sleep problems. He had missed the birth of his first son, who was now a toddler and barely recognized him. His wife was upset he had been gone so long. He says he had been denied Social Security disability benefits and had long waiting periods for medical appointments at the VA hospital.

“I felt left behind. I felt betrayed,” Radke reflected. “I felt that nothing was working no matter what I did.”
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Researchers find no "one size fits all" treatment of PTSD

Research shows possible neurological patterns for PTSD symptoms
MYFOXPhilly

The study, published online Sept. 17 in JAMA Psychiatry, represents a shift within the field of psychiatry away from a "one-size-fits-all" approach to more individualized treatments for mental health issues that target specific areas of the brain.

THURSDAY, Sept. 18, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Imaging technology has shed new light on how certain symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) manifest in the brain, according to a new study.

PTSD is a mental health condition that can cause a wide range of debilitating symptoms, such as flashbacks to a traumatic event, being in a constant state of stress and avoiding certain situation and people, according to background information from the study.

Researchers identified a specific opioid receptor in the brain linked to emotion that is also associated with a specific group of PTSD symptoms, including listlessness and emotional detachment. They suggested their findings could help doctors develop targeted, or personalized treatments for the condition.

"Our study points toward a more personalized treatment approach for people with a specific symptom profile that's been linked to a particular neurobiological abnormality," explained the study's lead author, Dr. Alexander Neumeister, co-director of NYU Langone Medical Center's Steven and Alexandra Cohen Veterans Center for the Study of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury, in an NYU news release.

"Understanding more about where and how symptoms of PTSD manifest in the brain is a critical part of research efforts to develop more effective medications and treatment modalities."

"People with cancer have a variety of different treatment options available based on the type of cancer that they have," noted Neumeister. "We aim to do the same thing in psychiatry. We're deconstructing PTSD symptoms, linking them to different brain dysfunction, and then developing treatments that target those symptoms. It's really a revolutionary step forward that has been supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) over the past few years in their Research Domain Criteria Project."
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Firefighters Shower Plane of Army Reservist Back from Afghanistan

UPDATE
Video: Firefighter welcomed home from Afghanistan deployment
Firefighters took up donations to send him packages with special treats and even a fire department flag to remind him of home
Fort Worth Star-Telegram

DALLAS — Arlington firefighter Ryan Pugh, a specialist in the Army Reserve, received a wet welcome home Thursday after a nearly year-long deployment in Afghanistan.

In a “shower of affection,” fire engines shot sprays of water over the top of Pugh’s plane moments before it pulled into a gate at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, where family, friends and fellow firefighters gathered to celebrate his long-awaited arrival.

After reuniting with his fiancée, his parents and his older brother, Pugh said he was pleasantly surprised to see so many of his Arlington Fire Department friends and colleagues also waiting for him with hugs and handshakes.
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Arlington firefighters welcome home one of their own from Afghanistan
Star Telegram
BY SUSAN SCHROCK
September 18, 2014

DFW AIRPORT — Arlington firefighter Ryan Pugh, a specialist in the Army Reserve, received a wet welcome home Thursday after a nearly yearlong deployment in Afghanistan.

In a “shower of affection,” fire engines shot sprays of water over the top of Pugh’s plane moments before it pulled into a gate at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, where family, friends and fellow firefighters gathered to celebrate his long-awaited arrival.

After reuniting with his fiancee, his parents and his older brother, Pugh said he was pleasantly surprised to see so many of his Arlington Fire Department friends and colleagues also waiting for him with hugs and handshakes.

“I missed those guys terribly. I’m overwhelmed by it,” said Pugh, who served in Kabul with the 302nd Military Police Company. “I definitely feel the love and support.”

Arlington firefighters regularly took up donations to send Pugh care packages with treats such as Crystal Light drink mix packets and Oreo cookies, even a Fire Department flag to remind him of home.
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Fallen Soldier's Mom Sent to Collections by Funeral Home?

FUNERAL HOME COLLECTION NOTICES SENT TO MOM OF FALLEN SOLDIER
ABC 7 News Chicago
By Steve Campion
September 17, 2014

HOUSTON -- With bill collectors calling and letters arriving in the mail, a Houston mother said she's forced to relive her son's death.

Sergeant Graham Woody passed away in April of 2013. He died from injuries sustained in a military exercise in Fort Bliss. His mother, Maddi Armstrong, held a service for him days later at the Setteghast-Koph Funeral home in Sugar Land.

"Graham was an amazing, amazing kid. He graduated from A and M with an engineering degree," remembered Armstrong.

Armstrong says Woody joined the Army out of a love for his country.

In June of this year -- more than a year after his death -- Armstrong said she first got a call from a debt collector. Just last week, she received a letter for more than $5,000 in monies owed. The company even offered her a settlement.
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Fallen Soldiers No Longer Treated Like Luggage on South West

Veteran designs a fitting tribute for the last rides of fallen soldiers
Wisconsin Journal Sentinel
Meg Jones
September 17, 2014

Vietnam veteran Richard Kalashian worked with Southwest Airlines to design a special luggage cart to carry the caskets of fallen soldiers.

Town of Genesee— Rich Kalashian had gone to O'Hare International Airport to greet a friend when he looked out the window to see a flag-draped casket unloaded from a military plane.

The fallen service member was loaded onto a luggage cart and driven to a waiting hearse parked next to a grieving family watching their loved one's final journey.

The Vietnam veteran watched the poignant scene unfold and thought the veteran deserved something more than a luggage cart that looked like all the other baggage carriers.

"Military families and their fallen soldiers deserve a proper patriotic entrance with all the respect and dignity they deserve," said Kalashian, who earned a Bronze Star in Vietnam.

Through Kalashian's inspiration and efforts, a cart for caskets is being transformed into a fitting tribute to service members.

Starting next month it will be permanently stationed at Mitchell International Airport.
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Homeless Veteran John E. Miller Died Alone, Buried with Honors

John E. Miller: Full honors at funeral for homeless veteran
WPTV
Ashleigh Walters
Sep 17, 2014

PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. - Wednesday John E. Miller was honored by a group of men who had never met him. They knew he was born in Akron, Ohio in 1950 and served honorably as an E-1 Private in the United States Army in 1970.

"Unfortunately in this case have not been able to locate any family or any friends," explained Bill Quinn with Dignity Memorial and a funeral services director.

Miller's body sat in a quiet room at Quattlebaum funeral home in West Palm Beach. The silver-toned casket was draped in an American flag. The chairs in the expansive room sat empty.

"He is cared for just like one of your loved ones would be. We take him into our care from his place of death. We bring him in and we take care of him. We dress him in clothes, whether he has clothes or not. He is dressed in, you know, in a brand new set of clothes. He is placed in a casket that we provide free of charge," explained Quinn.

Miller died homeless. The Dignity Memorial Homeless Veterans Burial Program is a network of funeral, cremation and cemetery service providers who work with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, local medical examiners, coroners, veterans advocates and veterans organizations to offer homeless and indigent veterans a proper burial.
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Canadian Veteran Released Early After Standoff, Attempted Suicide, Committed Suicide

How much more had to go wrong for this veteran? He survived a standoff with police. He was taken to the hospital for help. Sounds good until the 72 hours he was supposed to be there turned out to be only 24. Early discharge came after he tried to kill himself in the hospital. Two tours of duty in Afghanistan yet this is how his life ended?

Canadian soldier involved in standoff with police dies by suicide
CTVNews.ca Staff
Published Tuesday, September 16, 2014

A few days after the standoff, Demers attempted suicide and was taken to a psychiatric ward. He was supposed to be on a 72-hour-hold, but was released after 24 hours.

A Canadian soldier who was involved in a 40-hour standoff with Ontario Provincial Police last month has died by suicide.

Master Cpl. Denis Demers, a Canadian Forces medical technician who served two tours in Afghanistan, was found dead on Sept. 12, CTV’s Mercedes Stephenson reported Tuesday.

Demers, 44, was involved in a lengthy standoff with police in Petawawa, Ont., at the end of August. The standoff ended peacefully and Demers was taken to a local hospital.
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Texas soldier heading to surprise family, died on flight home from Kuwait

Soldier flying home to surprise family in Texas dies en route
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, Texas
By Nicole C. Brambila
Published: September 15, 2014

LUBBOCK, Texas (MCT) — Staff Sgt. Virginia Caballero died unexpectedly on a commercial flight home from Kuwait, family members said Monday.

Rodrigo Cantu, Caballero’s cousin, said she was flying home earlier than expected last week when during the flight she felt ill and went to the bathroom. A military companion traveling with Caballero went to the bathroom to check on her when she did not return and found her unconscious, Cantu said.

“They made an emergency landing, went to the hospital and got a faint pulse,” Cantu said.

Cantu said a lot of the details are sketchy, but Caballero’s family in Abernathy was officially notified about her death on Saturday.

Caballero was 41.

Cantu said it is thought that Caballero suffered from a blood clot, which was exacerbated with the altitude on the flight that would be her final trip home.

“None of the family knew she was on her way home,” said Martina Flores Herrera, a cousin. “She was trying to surprise us.”
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Indiana sues fake nonprofits for not helping veterans

State sues founders of fake veteran nonprofits
IndyStar
Michael Auslen
September 17, 2014

Indiana’s attorney general is suing four people who he says defrauded citizens by falsely claiming to be collecting money to aid veterans.

Adam Silvani, Olivia Locke, Roger Locke and Donald Shoppe, all of Fort Wayne, solicited donations via three nonprofit groups they registered with the state. According to court documents, the groups — Sandbox Veterans of America, Catholic Veterans of America, and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America — never distributed funds to veterans.

The state is seeking thousands of dollars in reparations under the Indiana Deceptive Consumer Sales Act, alleging that the defendants not only lied about how money would be used but that doing so was illegal. The suit filed in Allen County Circuit Court also asks that all four individuals be barred from operating or seeking donations on behalf of any Indiana nonprofit.

“The allegations are really clear,” said Abby Kuzma, director of consumer protection in the attorney general’s office. “This is a clear violation of public trust.”
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