The most recent report from the Department
of Veterans Affairs (VA) reveals that veterans are taking their own
lives at a rate of 22 each day, or one suicide every 65 minutes – a
20-percent increase from 2007. Even more gruesome, last year we saw
more suicides than combat deaths (349 to 295, according to the latest
Pentagon figures). -- Stop
the Madness,
John Roberts, Executive Vice President, Warrior Relations, Wounded
Warrior Project.
15 February 2013
When
we learn about challenges with PTSD and a suicide rate in soldiers
higher than those killed in combat, we begin to touch the surface of
being in a battlefield where human rights and the rule of law does not
exist. -- H-II - The
Soldier's Tear - Human Rights and International Law: HRI, 2.15.2013
Sixteen Air Commandos finish their 450 mile ruck
from Hurlburt Field, Fla., to MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla. and
kneel at the statue in the center of USSOCOM’s Special Operations
Forces Memorial. The ruck was to honor the memory of Lt. Col. John D.
Loftis, 866th Air Expeditionary Squadron; Capt. Ryan P. Hall, 319th
Special Operations Squadron; Capt. Nicholas S. Whitlock, 34th Special
Operations Squadron; 1st Lt. Justin J. Wilkens, 34th Special Operations
Squadron; and Senior Airman Julian S. Scholten, 25th Intelligence
Squadron. Photo by Mike Bottoms, USSOCOM Public Affairs. -- USSOCOM.
23 January 2013
Uninsured Veterans
and Family Members - A National Healthcare Crisis
A 2012 report by the
Urban Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, “Uninsured
Veterans and Family Members: Who Are They and Where Do They Live?”
(PDF), analyzes data from the 2010 American Community Survey (ACS) by
the U.S. Census Bureau and the 2009 and 2010 National Health Interview
Surveys (NHIS). The report seeks to identify uninsured non-elderly
veterans and to estimate the levels of medical coverage by state.
Results
of the report include:
Approximately 1 in 10 — 1.3 million — of the
country’s 12.5 million nonelderly veterans did not have health
insurance coverage or access to Veterans Affairs (VA) health care as of
2010. When family members of veterans are included, the uninsured total
rises to 2.3 million. An additional 900,000 veterans use VA health care
but have no other coverage.
“A variety of factors, including Medicaid
eligibility thresholds for adults, the characteristics of labor market,
and the proximity of veterans to VA facilities, may contribute to
variation across states in uninsurance rates among veterans.”
“Uninsured veterans are less likely than
insured veterans to report service-related disabilities [although]
17.3% of the uninsured have either a service-related disability or a
functional limitation.” They are more likely to be male (90.4%),
non-Hispanic white (70.4%), unmarried (58.2%) and earned a high school
degree (40.7%). More than 40% are younger than 45 years old.
Nearly 50% of uninsured veterans have incomes
at or below 138% of the
Federal Poverty Line ($30,429 for a family of four in 2010). Under
the ACA, these would qualify for coverage as of January 2014. Another
40.1% of veterans and 49% of their families have incomes that qualify
for new subsidies through health insurance exchanges with the ACA.
A provision of the ACA mandates that each
state establishes a health
insurance exchange or a marketplace of health providers and plans
that individuals and small businesses can buy into. While the exchanges
do not need to be up and running until 2014, some states have already
started the process.
The uninsured rate is 12.3% in states with the
least progress on exchange implementation, compared with 9.6% to 9.8%
for veterans in states with most progress to health insurance exchange
implementation.
---------------------------------
31 December 2012
Despite
intensification of outreach programs for our troops, we have a clear
need for specialized outreach for family and community members, who
serve as the primary support system for wounded warriors.
Eleven veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan join an expedition
to climb the 20,000 foot Himalayan giant Mount Lobuche. With blind
adventurer Erik Weihenmayer and a team of Everest summiters as their
guides, they set out on an emotional and gripping climb to reach the
top in an attempt to heal the emotional and physical wounds of the
longest war in U.S. history.
Representing nearly every branch of the military, the veterans, and the
Gold Star Mom who joins their trek, bring humor and deep emotion to
this hero’s journey all captured with breathtaking, vertigo-inducing
cinematography by three-time Emmy® winner, director Michael Brown.
High
Ground: Official Web Site. Movie
Trailer: A Don Hahn Production of a Michael Brown Film. Netflix:
Available in HD Related:
To say Chris Fleming is an inspiration is
an understatement. Hurt in
the line of duty, Chris refuses to let his injuries prevent him from
competing in 3-Gun. Hear Fleming's story of how competitive shooting
has played a role in his recovery. --Wounded Warrior
Spotlight: Chris Fleming: HRI:H-II, 26
October 2012.
----------------------------------------------
16
May 2012
Stephen
Michael Apatow Founder,
Director of Research & Development Humanitarian
Resource Institute (UN:NGO:DESA) Humanitarian University
Consortium Graduate Studies Center
for Medicine, Veterinary Medicine & Law Phone:
203-668-0282 Email:
s.m.apatow@humanitarian.net Internet:
www.humanitarian.net
Not Forgotten - Restore
Warriors Project National
Campaign targets 3000 counties in 50 States and Territories The members of our armed
forces serve to protect and it's time
that we show
respect, honor and gratitude for their sacrifice. This need has
prompted
a national call for all communities, businesses and corporations to
commit
special programs and assistance for current members/veterans of our
armed
forces, especially our most severely wounded warriors and wounded
transitional.
-- H-II: Stephen Michael Apatow
Credit: NATO SOF Training and Education Program
Restore Warriors Project
The
Goal: Help wounded service members and their families who are
struggling with the impact of combat stress in their daily
lives.
Restore
Warriors has been created to provide:
Information about combat stress-related
injuries
Help to assess your emotions and behaviors
Reassurance that you are not alone - an
estimated 600,000
military personnel and veterans will suffer from invisible
injuries
Hope that you can successfully deal with these
symptoms
Help to renew your self-confidence
Assistance to build stronger relationships
A new sense of well-being
Restore
Warriors is an anonymous website where real
warriors share their personal stories, situations, and strategies
for fellow warriors and their families to help themselves deal with
real life, everyday issues related to combat stress, PTSD, and
brain injuries. On The web at:
Keeping
Our Troops and their Families in Our Thoughts and Prayers
In
2011 More US soldiers killed themselves than were killed in combat.
When
guns fall silent and ceasefires are agreed, wars live on in the minds
of the men and women who fought them. And a killer still stalks them,
more deadly than the enemies they once faced. -- US war woe: Suicide kills more soldiers than combat : RT, 23 December
2011.
Homeless
Veterans: Between 529,000 and
840,000 veterans are homeless at some time during the year. On any
given night, more than 300,000 veterans are living on the streets or in
shelters in the U.S. Approx. 33% of homeless males in the U.S. are
veterans.The number of homeless Vietnam-era veterans, male and female,
is greater than the number of soldiers who died during the war. -- Veterans
and Homelessness Statistics: Veterans Inc.
Female Homeless Veterans: The
population of female veterans without permanent shelter has more than
doubled in the last half-dozen years and may continue climbing now that
the Iraq war has ended, sending women home with the same stresses as
their male counterparts - plus some gender-specific ones that make them
more susceptible to homelessness. - Homelessness
increasing for female veterans: Boston Globe, 9
April 2012.
Veterans Unemployment: Iraq and
Afghanistan Veterans of America said in a survey of its membership
released in March that 16.7 percent of its members were unemployed.
Among the unemployed, 24 percent said they could not find a job that
matched their skills or experience, and 11 percent said they could not
find a job that matched their level of education. -- Young
vets’ joblessness hits 10.3 percent: Military Times, 6 April 2012.
Veterans Foreclosure Crisis:
Unemployment, debt and a troubled housing market are plaguing familiesacross
the country, but for those in the armed forces, there is an even bigger
burden to bear.... According to the Department of Defense, military
families move 10 times more often than civilian families. -- Military
families face financial hurdles: CNN, 27 March 2012.
