Friday, October 24, 2014

PTSD veteran shot by police recovering

Prosecutors: Man shot by Lakewood police had earlier run-in with officers
The News Tribune
BY ALEXIS KRELL
Staff writer
October 23, 2014

A man who Lakewood police shot and wounded last week had a run-in with officers two weeks earlier when he was subdued by a stun gun while wielding a knife according to charging papers.

In the most recent incident, Anthony Eric Chavez, 24, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to first-degree assault, theft of a firearm and unlawful carrying or handling of weapons apparently capable of producing bodily harm.

Court Commissioner Meagan Foley set his bail at $500,000.

An attorney for Chavez was not reachable for comment Thursday.
At the hospital, Chavez asked police to apologize for his actions to Lee. He said he took the gun from a friend’s apartment at the complex, and was trying to shoot himself as Lee arrived, but couldn’t get the gun to fire.

The mother of Chavez’s children told police he was hit by shrapnel while in the Army and suffered a traumatic brain injury and has post traumatic stress disorder. He started drinking heavily and taking illegal drugs after his injury, and refused his medications, she said.

She told police he had tried to kill himself multiple times.

The day he was shot, Chavez met with her, gave her his dog tags and wallet, and told her to give them to their son, the woman said.
read more here

PTSD: Iowa National Guardsman Reminds Soldier Americans Care

Iowa soldier organizes a 23-mile march to remind veterans that people care
Omaha.com
By Steve Liewer
World-Herald staff writer
October 24, 2014
AMBER BAESLER/THE WORLD-HERALD
Iowa National Guard Staff Sgt. Patrick Osborn at his home in Council Bluffs. After hearing about a similar event in Minnesota, Osborn organized a 23-mile march from Council Bluffs to Omaha to bring attention to veterans who commit suicide and struggle with post-traumatic stress.

You might say Patrick Osborn wears his passion on his sleeve.

Wrapped around his arm, from triceps to wrist, is an American flag tattoo, emblazoned with the words “American soldier.”

The Iowa National Guardsman and Iraq War veteran from Council Bluffs will again show his commitment to soldiers when he leads more than 200 people on a 23-mile Ruck Up for Life through Council Bluffs and Omaha on Saturday. The 23 miles symbolizes the estimated 22 veterans who committed suicide, on average, each day in 2010 — according to a Department of Veterans Affairs report released last year — plus one representing the average number of active-duty suicides per day in recent years.

“It’s to help other veterans realize they’re not alone with their post-traumatic stress,” Osborn said.
read more here

Fort Lewis-McChord soldier charged with murdering young wife

JBLM soldier charged with murder in wife’s death
The News Tribune
BY ADAM LYNN
Staff writer
October 22, 2014

Pierce County prosecutors contend a Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier shot and killed his 19-year-old wife last week because he was angry that another man had bought liquor for her.

On Wednesday, they charged Skylar Nemetz, 20, with first-degree murder in the Oct. 16 death of Tarrah Nemetz.

A not-guilty plea was entered on Nemetz’s behalf during his arraignment in Superior Court. Court Commissioner Meagan Foley ordered him jailed in lieu of $1 million bail.
read more here

WWE Wrestler Kicks Soldier In Uniform Defending the Flag!

WWE: Rusev Kicks U.S. Army Soldier, Will Triple H Address The Real Upset Servicemen? [Video]
Posted in: Wrestling
Posted: October 22, 2014

When Rusev kicked the U.S. Army Soldier on Monday Night RAW the reaction from the American audience was about what you would expect. Now Triple H is claiming the WWE will deal with the matter internally as part of their kayfabe investigation into the incident. But for real American soldiers, that response is unlikely to be enough.

In a related report by The Inquisitr, you might be surprised to find out that real life Miroslav Barnyashev and Catherine Joy “C.J.” Perry are real Americans who act American in their personal lives – when they’re not acting as the fake Russians called Rusev and Lana.
read more here

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Austin Film Festival Terrible Love About PTSD Featured Today

Ultra5280.com
A veteran comes home from Iraq after suffering an injury to his eye. Rufus, played by Rufus Burns, brings back more than a physical injury to his family and wife Amy (Amy Urbina). As time goes by, the evidence of Rufus’ PTSD becomes clearer to Amy but is shrouded from those around the couple as they figure out how to battle this disorder and repair their marriage.

TERRIBLE LOVE is the debut feature from director Christopher Thomas and producer Luke Helmer. Following in the footsteps of Drake Doremus (LIKE CRAZY), the actors improvised their dialogue after heavy outlining and pre-production work. The grounded nature of this style gives it an immediacy and authenticity that is able to deliver an unflinching look at a devastating disorder.

Review from Splash Magazine Yenis Monterrey
"Find out what happens in this realistic story that many veterans deal with in real life. Director Christopher Thomas says his film was inspired by friends suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. Don’t miss “Terrible Love” screening and find out the unveiling story behind this couple dealing with PTSD."
This is the movie I consulted on for 3 years with Christopher. I can tell you that there was a deep, emotional connection to this labor of love from everyone involved, especially from Christopher. He struggled to get it right, so right that even after knowing it from start to finish, when it was done, he blew me away by what he had accomplished!
Action! Austin Film Festival starts Thursday
By KXAN News
Published: October 23, 2014

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The 21st annual Austin Film Festival kicks off at the Paramount Theatre. Al Pacino’s “The Humbling” premieres, along with several others throughout the next few days. For one week, more than 180 films will be showing.

Austin Film Festival co-founder Barbara Morgan spoke about how the festival is more than film screenings. People who want to get a kick-start can help get their career going, and there are workshops incorporated into the festival.

Director Christopher Thomas has a film, “Terrible Love,” screening Thursday night. He says his film was inspired by friends suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. “Terrible Love” screens Thursday at 9:45 p.m.
read more here

Strangers Step Up for PTSD Disabled Vietnam Veteran

Standoff between Vietnam veteran, repo man ends peacefully
Viewer trying to raise money to pay off loan
ABC 10 News
Steve Fiorina
Oct 22, 2014
SAN DIEGO - The Honda Ridgeline was ready for towing with wheels up on the bar, but the owner was inside the truck and refused to exit.

San Diego police were called to the address in Valencia Park. They talked to Dan Riley, who is visiting from Arizona.

"They said if I didn't get out, the owner of the company would have a citizen’s arrest done to me," said Riley.

"So you're expecting them to come and then what?" asked 10News reporter Steve Fiorina.

"Eventually, I guess I'll go to jail," Riley said.

He wasn't. Riley is a disabled Vietnam War veteran. He is also is behind on a $10,000 loan. The truck is on a repo list.

The tow company cruising the neighborhood got a hit on the license plate with its side-mounted cameras and tried to take possession. After several hours, the standoff ended. The police left and the tow truck was unhooked.
read more here

Canadian Terrorist Attacks Prove Love Stronger Than Hate

What will it take for terrorists to understand they cannot defeat love? How dumb are they? How do they waste their days hating so much instead of enjoying the emotion of love, experiencing tenderness, along with everything else that makes life worth living?

Tributes to Canada Soldier as Shaken Parliament Returns to Work
NBC News

Sweet tribute: Pittsburgh NHL fans sing 'O Canada' after Ottawa shootings
While courage is required to serve in the military, even a bully has some sort of courage but his love is for himself alone. To risk your life serving your country, it requires courage but above that, it requires being selfless. It is love for those you serve with causing you to put your life on the line, knowingly risking everything for the sake of someone else. That is something terrorists will never understand and will never, ever be able to defeat.

They can claim they are doing it for "their people" but then they would not be killing their own or putting their lives on the line so they can kill off more of those they see as enemies. They can claim they are doing it for "religious" reasons but the truth is, they use it and hide behind it.

They do not seek better lives for their own families or anyone else. They thrive on hatred and anger, feeding off fear but even as they do cause some to be afraid, they never win. Even with your fear, even in your emotional pain, you still refuse to surrender to it.

Most of the time after PTSD has set in while deployed, you do not allow yourself to suffer or feel it. You keep going until all those you are with are out of danger. Then and only then do you focus on yourself. That requires love in the purest form. A love that seeks nothing for yourself.

These are horrible times but there have been horrible times before. Each time during the history of civilization, those horrible times only came to an end when good people stood up against bullies and terrorists and said they would not surrender, refusing to allow them to take away all that is good in life.

Marine Veteran Laid To Rest After Gun Range Suicide

Solemn ceremony for Marine vet
Friends honor Jeremy Sears, who 'never asked for help' before suicide
UT San Diego
By Jeanette Steele
OCT. 22, 2014
Tami Sears, center, watches as Marines fold a flag during a memorial for her husband, Marine Jeremy Sears during a memorial for him at Miramar National Cemetery. At left, his her mother, Kathy Clinnin. — K.C. Alfred / UT San Diego

It was a spare, solemn service for a tough Marine Corps veteran who rarely talked about himself.

Jeremy Sears’ friends spoke for him Wednesday at a Miramar National Cemetery ceremony, where uniformed Marines presented a folded American flag to Sears’ widow, Tami.

Sears – who did five combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan before leaving the Marines in 2012 – killed himself Oct. 6 at an Oceanside gun range.

read more here

Oceanside shooting range where veteran put the gun to his head

Congressional Candidate’s Veterans Health Care Plan Plagiarized

GOP Congressional Candidate’s Veterans Health Care Plan Plagiarized From Fox News Article
It’s an article about a proposed overhaul of VA health care.
Buzzfeed
posted on Oct. 21, 2014,

A Republican congressional candidate in Oregon appears to have plagiarized her plan for veterans from a Fox News article about proposed changes to the troubled Veterans Affairs health care.

Tootie Smith, a Republican running against Oregon Democrat Rep. Kurt Schrader in the state’s 5th Congressional veteran’s medical care plan uses nearly-identical language to a Fox News article from July on action taken by House and Senate Veterans Affairs committees.

The campaign for Smith, who currently serves as Clackamas County Commissioner, didn’t return emails or phone calls about the similar text.
read more here

Fence Jumper at White House Captured

Man apprehended after jumping White House fence
The Associated Press
DARLENE SUPERVILLE
Oct 22nd 2014

WASHINGTON (AP) - A 23-year-old Maryland man was in the custody Wednesday night after he climbed over the White House fence and was swiftly apprehended on the North Lawn by uniformed Secret Service agents and their dogs.

The incident came about a month after a previous White House fence jumper sprinted across the same lawn, past armed uniformed agents and entered the mansion before he was felled in the ceremonial East Room and taken into custody.

That embarrassing Sept. 19 incident preceded the disclosure of other serious Secret Service breaches in security for President Barack Obama and ultimately led to Julia Pierson's resignation as director of the agency after 18 months on the job.

Secret Service spokesman Brian Leary said a man he identified as Dominic Adesanya of Bel Air, Maryland, climbed the north fence line at about 7:16 p.m. and was taken into custody immediately by uniformed agents and K-9 teams that constantly patrol the grounds. Adesanya was unarmed at the time of his arrest, Leary said. Charges were pending.

Two dogs were taken to a veterinarian for injuries sustained during the incident, Leary added.
read more here

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Canada: Cpl. Nathan Cirillo Killed Guarding Tomb of Unknown

Gunman, soldier dead after series of shootings in Ottawa including at Canadian Parliament
By RYAN GORMAN
Oct 22nd 2014

A Canadian soldier is dead after being shot at a Canadian National War Memorial by a suspect who was killed as he stormed the Canadian Parliament, officials said, and there may be more shooters still on the loose.

The gunman was shot dead by the parliament's sergeant-at-arms after he shot Cpl. Nathan Cirillo while he stood guard over the tomb of the unknown soldier at the National War Monument just before 10:00 a.m. Wednesday.
read more here
Michael Zehaf-Bibeau Named As Ottawa Shooter By U.S. Media
The Huffington Post Canada
Posted: 10/22/2014

CBS Evening News says it has identified a dead suspect in the shooting of a soldier in Ottawa on Wednesday.

The network tweeted just before 1 p.m. that the shooter was Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, a Canadian who was born in 1982.

NBC reported that he was born as Michael Joseph Hall.

Zehaf-Bibeau, 32, was raised in Quebec, according to CTV News, and was a Canadian convert to Islam, Reuters said.

Canadian authorities had considered him a "high-risk traveller" and his passport was taken away, according to The Globe and Mail.

Global News reporter Domenic Fazioli tweeted that Zehaf-Bibeau's name appears three times in Montreal's court database following arrests for possession of marijuana and PCP in 2004.
read more here

Inside Section 60 at Arlington National Cemetery

Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery Offers Tragic Testimony to America's Most Recent Wars
Improvised explosive devices have transformed battle—and disrupted one of the central rituals of grieving, author says.
National Geographic
Simon Worrall
for National Geographic
PUBLISHED OCTOBER 21, 2014
Photo of Mary McHugh lies at the gravesite of her fiancee.
On May 27, 2007—Memorial Day—Mary McHugh mourns her dead fiancé, Sgt. James Regan, in Arlington National Cemetery's Section 60. Regan had been killed by an IED explosion in February in Iraq.
PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN MOORE, GETTY
It's a tiny piece in a much larger jigsaw puzzle. No famous poets or presidents are buried there. No admirals or generals. Instead Section 60 in Arlington National Cemetery, just across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., is the final resting place of the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice in America's most recent wars, especially Iraq and Afghanistan.

The emotions it inspires, intensified every November 11 on Veterans Day, are raw. Its stories, heartbreaking.

Robert M. Poole, a former executive editor of National Geographic, spent several years listening to those stories for his new book, Section 60: Where War Comes Home. Speaking from his home in Vermont, he explains why he wanted to commemorate this patch of hallowed ground, why it takes years of practice to fold a ceremonial flag, and why Section 60 is one of the few places in America where it's considered normal to talk to the dead.
read more here

Vietnam Veteran Earned Medals 46 Years Before He Got Them

Milford Vietnam veteran gets 17 medals, ribbon 46 years later
New Haven Register
Pam McLoughlin
October 21, 2014
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, left, presents Frank Somohano of Milford with medals and a ribbon Tuesday marking his military service.
Arnold Gold — New Haven Register
MILFORD
It’s been some 46 years since Frank Somohano Sr. served in Vietnam, but as of Tuesday he’s going to need a bigger display case for his medals and ribbons.

Somohano, 67, who served in the U.S. military for 22 years, was officially presented with 17 medals and a ribbon Tuesday at City Hall by U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. Somohano served as a Marine for four years, going to Vietnam in 1964, then the Army for 16 years, and the Army Reserve.

“They mean everything. … I feel blessed,” he said of the new decorations. “I was pleasantly surprised when this happened.”
read more here

Veterans Fed Up With Michael Savage After PTSD Rant

This started out as a rant about naming a tunnel after Robin Williams. Oh, by the way, Robin Williams went to Iraq and Afghanistan many times with the USO. The tone took a turn when a caller didn't agree with him. The caller was a veteran with PTSD.

Michael Savage Lashes Out After Veteran with PTSD Calls

What the fuck does Savage know about bravery? What does he know about putting your life on the line? What does he know about the price being paid all over the country? Hell, what does he know about how long it has been going on or what real patriotism is?

His disgusting rant against the veteran "You were a veteran at 20?" as if he didn't have a clue Vietnam veterans came home and yes, earned the title of veteran before they were even old enough to drink! What a damn fool! "Why should we be aware of mental illness?" Savage should be aware of a lot of things and there are plenty of real heroes ready to do the explaining to this twisted freak.

Here's some of the stories of men the country not only needed but were a hell of a lot more brave than this coward. Members of Special Forces not only have PTSD, some committed suicide.
Special Forces: commandos are committing suicide at a record pace this year Earlier this month, Socom commander Adm. William McRaven told a Tampa intelligence symposium that commandos are committing suicide at a record pace this year. Though he offered no figures, he was repeating a concern he first raised in February at a Congressional hearing on his budget.


Saturday, April 19, 2014
U.S. special forces struggle with record suicides
U.S. special forces struggle with record suicides even after all these years of the DOD saying they were taking care of the men and women serving this country. Even after suicides and attempted suicides went up. Even after even the "toughest" of the tough suffered. Anyone know what is going to change? How to change it? Who is accountable for it?

Joe Miller, then an Army Ranger captain with three Iraq tours under his belt, sat inside his home near Fort Bragg holding a cocked Beretta 40mm, and prepared to kill himself.

Staff Sgt. Jared Hagemann, 25, of the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, killed himself June 28 (2011) at Lewis-McChord. Staff Sgt. Hagemann had orders to return to Afghanistan for a ninth tour of duty.

Crowley-Smilek, 28, a former U.S. Army Ranger who suffered from combat stress and physical injuries from service in Afghanistan, was dead; shot multiple times by a police officer outside the Farmington municipal offices on U.S. Route 2.

Staff Sgt. Charles Reilly, is a Special Forces soldier who has been deployed six times in the past decade. She said psychiatrists have diagnosed him with PTSD, and he's assigned to Fort Bragg's Warrior Transition Battalion, where soldiers recover from physical and mental wounds.

Sgt. Ben Driftmyer was discharged and betrayed. Survived.

"I had spent eight years serving the military. I never got in trouble. Never did anything bad. And I got treated like I was a piece of crap because of it," said Ben Driftmyer, discharged U.S. Army Sergeant and Cottage Grove resident. Driftmyer was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder by Eugene doctors after he was chaptered out from the special forces unit in Baghdad. He suffered several mental breakdowns during his service, but his discharge was classified as "other than medical."

"Because the military didn't want to pay for me for the rest of my life," said Driftmyer.

Chief Petty Officer Jerald Kruse, served 19 years in the Navy. He was a SEAL, an elite warrior sent to fight in some of the toughest situations around the world, including in Iraq. “His problems really began in ’05. That’s when I really began to notice something was wrong,” she said. He drank excessively, stayed up all night and lashed out at her and their three kids.

Navy Cmdr. Job W. Price, 42, of Pottstown, Pennsylvania, died Saturday while serving as the commanding officer of SEAL Team 4, a special warfare unit based in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Navy SEAL Robert Guzzo returned from Iraq, he feared seeking treatment for PTSD would endanger his career.

U.S. special forces struggle with record suicides: admiral
Reuters
BY WARREN STROBEL
TAMPA, Florida
Thu Apr 17, 2014

(Reuters) - Suicides among U.S. special operations forces, including elite Navy SEALs and Army Rangers, are at record levels, a U.S. military official said on Thursday, citing the effects of more than a decade of "hard combat."

The number of special operations forces committing suicide has held at record highs for the past two years, said Admiral William McRaven, who leads the Special Operations Command.

"And this year, I am afraid, we are on path to break that," he told a conference in Tampa. "My soldiers have been fighting now for 12, 13 years in hard combat. Hard combat. And anybody that has spent any time in this war has been changed by it. It's that simple."

It may take a year or more, he said, to assess the effects of sustained combat on special operations units, whose missions range from strikes on militants such as the 2011 SEAL raid that killed al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden to assisting in humanitarian disasters.
read more here


Savage said that everyone wants a government check. He said he was raised differently. "Raised to fight weakness. Raised to fight pain. Raised to depression. To not give into it and cry like a little baby" well he wasn't raised to actually go off and do the real fighting.

He has a brave mouth but that's all. He has to be the dumbest person in the country even though he seems to think he's braver than those who actually do go. "You need men like me to save the country" this bombastic twit! In case he doesn't know what the word means,,,,here it is.
The kind of person that makes a retarded chimp look smart.

Savage complained about "government checks" but failed to think about the billions being spent by congress, the VA and the DOD to fight PTSD or the fact they will keep paying long after wars are over. Failed to see that these men and women "looking for a check" will never make as much money from compensation as they could working on top of the fact while they were risking their lives 24-7 they also ended up making less per hour than someone working for Burger King!

Dakota Meyer not only has PTSD, he tried to kill himself. He also has the Medal of Honor.
The close call occurred in September 2010, just days after the first anniversary of the battle in Ganjgal, a small village in Afghanistan's Kunar province, Meyer said. He had been drinking at a friend's house in Kentucky, he said, and on the way home pulled his pickup truck over and took from the glove compartment what he thought was a loaded Glock pistol.

"I just remember pulling over, and it was at my buddy's shop. He had a shop that his dad and him work out of, and I just pulled in the driveway and was like, ‘I just can't do it anymore,' you know?" Meyer said. "I said, ‘I'm done. I just can't take it anymore. That's it.'"

Meyer pulled the trigger and was shocked when it didn't go off, he wrote in the book. He suspects someone else unloaded the pistol, but declined to disclose who it was. He subsequently sought treatment for post-traumatic stress and is doing better now, he said.


Medal of Honor recipient Ty Carter waging war on PTSD
Former Army Sgt. Kyle J. White said troops suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder shouldn’t suffer in silence.

“There’s no shame in going and getting help,” White, who was diagnosed with PTSD before he left the military, said at a news conference Wednesday in Charlotte, N.C.

The first thing that servicemembers with symptoms of PTSD need to do is reach out and get help, he said. “These servicemembers need to realize that they went to war and they made it back, but they might have some scars remaining. Reach out to your chain of command, and they will help you get the treatment that you need. If I can do it … then there’s no reason they can’t as well.”

Thank God there are a lot more like them than Savage. Was all of the above bad enough for you to hold this twit accountable for what he said? Is it enough for you to stop using the freedom of speech rant defending him while no one else is supposed to be allowed to use their own free speech rights as well to defend the troops and veterans with PTSD he just attacked?

He gets to say whatever he wants because real patriots actually fought and died to obtain it and others fought and died to retain it. Why should they have to suffer for what this POS gets to enjoy? Go back and listen to the exchange he had with the veteran. Is that really the kind of person you want to listen to? No one has to silence Savage. He just did a good enough job of that on his own because so far, veterans are fed up with him!