Female service members find their identity through Ms. Veteran America

Female service members find their identity through Ms. Veteran America
10TV CBS News
November 24, 2016

“When people look at my uniform, they see Major Boothe; they don’t see me as a wife, they don’t see me as a mother. We have to somehow erase a little bit of our identities as women in order to blend in and serve in the military.” Maj. Jas Boothe

More than 204,000 women are serving in the armed forces right now, making up nearly 16 percent of service members. When women retire from the military, they often don’t get the same treatment or access to services that men do. But an event featuring hundreds of active and retired military women is trying to change that.

Through poise, grace and service, the competition for Ms. Veteran America unites them all for a common mission, reports CBS News correspondent Dana Jacobson.

“When I was really struggling with PTSD and I just got out of the military, I felt a bit worthless,” Molly Mae Potter said.
read more here

Cross posted from Combat PTSD Wounded Times

America's only memorial to military women needs your help

The Women's Memorial

"Let the generations know that the women in uniform also guaranteed their freedom." Anne S. (Sosh) Brehm 1LT, USA NC, World War II

If you think there are not enough of you to make sure this Memorial to your service remains open, this is a screen shot of how many were at the dedication.

America's only memorial to military women needs your help
Army Times
By: Charlsy Panzino
November 19, 2016


The nation’s only memorial for women in the military needs your help to keep serving the women it honors.

Almost 20 years after it opened, the Women in Military Service for America Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia is experiencing some financial struggles, and a grassroots effort to raise $20 million is underway to keep the site open for decades to come.

Commonly referred to as the Women’s Memorial, it’s one of the first sights visitors see as they drive down Memorial Avenue toward the entrance of the cemetery. It’s also a place where women who served can register their name and experiences for posterity.

Retired Army Maj. Gen. Dee McWilliams, president of the Women in Military Service for America Memorial Foundation, said around 300,000 women have registered.

“Not every woman who was ever in the service will get a book written about them,” she said. “This is a way to ensure they have a little piece of history about them.”
read more here


Women Veterans' Inspiring True Stories
Make the Connection
Women Veterans represent an enduring legacy of leadership, service, and sacrifice. Each woman's experience is unique, yet many face similar challenges while serving in the military and after returning to civilian life. Hear inspiring stories from women who discovered ways to stay strong and find success.

Residual War-Fighting for Justice After Service

The New York Times reported on how many service members were kicked out the military instead of being treated and compensated for the battle they would have to fight for the rest of their lives.

Since 2001, more than 300,000 people, about 13 percent of all troops, have been forced out of the military with less-than-honorable discharges.

Sounds really lousy until you discover that the number of those kicked out had been increasing since 1990. KPPC News reported it happened to 615,000 up until March of 2016. In 2014, a Vietnam veteran had waiting 43 years for justice. In 2015, Vietnam Veterans of America went to court seeking justice for veterans abandoned by the military. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel ordered reviews of these reprehensible actions.

Larry Barnett was among those kicked out. He had two tours in Iraq between 2003 and 2005. His life was spared by two Deputies. But there are so many more of their stories. Far too many, we will never hear about. Some ended up taking their own lives. Some ended up living on the streets with no help at all.

When I wrote Residual War, Something Worth Living For, these were the folks I was thinking about. In 2013, the Army had kicked out 11,000. One of them was Tom Faith. He was found living in the woods in Florida after attempting suicide twice. One of the forgotten veterans, sent away by his family after they thought they had no other choice. Every soldier found themselves facing the same outcome, until a General decided to do something about it. He established a unit at Fort Christmas, where proven heroes could remain in the Army until they could retire with dignity after years of dedicated service to this country. All of them had been diagnosed with PTSD.

While they were helped to heal, the homeless veterans in the clandestine shelter, were used and abused as part of a drug research program to develop a medication to stop them from feeling everything.

Over the years, too many of their stories had gone unnoticed by most, so I had to try something different. I told the truth within the fictional accounts based on real suffering and real peer support that goes on all the time. There are good Generals and bad ones. There are good Chaplains and bad ones. There are good stories as well as horrible endings. In this case, there is all of the above.

Read the story below and remember, he was willing to die for the sake of those he served with, yet betrayed by the same military leaders who sent him there.

Why some who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan can’t get VA medical care
WSAV News 3
JoAnn Merrigan, Reporter
Published: November 23, 2016

Unfortunately, Goldsmith says those worries are well founded. “Those with bad discharges are most likely to die by suicide after fighting the system for so long to get care. And after being denied over and over, they just give up,” he told me.

Since 9-11, tens of thousands of soldiers and marines have seen combat. Now it’s estimated at least 125,000 of them are not eligible to receive any benefits from the Veterans Administration (VA) because they received dishonorable discharges.

“Most people live under the assumption that every veteran is able to get healthcare at the VA. And the truth is that these veterans with less than honorable discharges are prohibited from getting any access,” says Kristofer Goldsmith, a vet who fought in Iraq who now advocates for other veterans.

One of those trying to get healthcare is Michael Coleman. I talked with Michael and his mom Jo awhile back. Michael was in bad shape and had just attempted suicide. He says he was diagnosed with PTSD but drummed out of the Army back in 2004 after serving in Iraq in 2003. “They gave me a bad conduct discharge and released me from the Army,” he told me. “I have tried going to the VA and telling them I have PTSD but they say until my discharge is upgraded, they can’t do anything for me.”

read more here

(Cross posted on Combat PTSD Wounded Times)

Next Commander-in-Chief Does Not Honor Military Women?

Women serving in the military today, as well as those who served since the beginning of this nation, are facing something no one thought they would ever have to face again. The attitude of the next Commander-in-Chief, that they should not be in the military.

It was said in 2014 by Donald Trump.

“Well, I went to a military academy, which was from a different planet. ... We didn’t have women in the academy at that time,” he said. “Today you have women, which is a whole other story, women in the Army and you see what’s going on. It’s like, it’s like bedlam. It is bedlam.
“... It’s something that people aren’t talking about, but what’s going on is bedlam, bringing women in the Army.”

But there have always been women in the military and they earned the right to be honored equally for their service to this nation.

From the time when "Molly Pitcher was a patriot who carried pitchers of water to soldiers and helped with cannon duty during the American Revolution's Battle of Monmouth" and other women decided that this nation was worthy dying for, they served side by side with the men.

That is what Residual War, Something Worth Living for is all about. Amanda Leverage (fictional character) always wanted to be in the Army, following her parents who met during the Vietnam War. She became a Chaplain to help soldiers heal and then a Colonel to make sure that she stood as an example to other female soldiers. 

One day, her actions saved lives and she was nominated for the Medal of Honor. Having been shot three times, she ended up at Walter Reed Hospital, when she received a cell phone in the mail from a young soldier she adored. It was his suicide video. The life she saved, caused her to be wounded and away from "Teddy" when he needed her the most. She discovered the Chaplain she saved was actually responsible for "Teddy" not wanting to live one more day on this earth.

His two regrets were not being fast enough to save Amanda and too fast to save the Major who destroyed both of them.


Did you know military women have received every war medal including the Medal of Honor?

WALKER, DR. MARY E.
Rank and organization: Contract Acting Assistant Surgeon (civilian), U.S. Army
Places and dates: Battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861; Patent Office Hospital, Washington, D.C., October 1861; Chattanooga, Tenn., following Battle of Chickamauga, September 1863; Prisoner of War, April 10, 1864-August 12, 1864, Richmond, Va.; Battle of Atlanta, September 1864

Entered service at: Louisville, Ky.

Citation: Whereas it appears from official reports that Dr. Mary E. Walker, a graduate of medicine, "has rendered valuable service to the Government, and her efforts have been earnest and untiring in a variety of ways," and that she was assigned to duty and served as an assistant surgeon in charge of female prisoners at Louisville, Ky., upon the recommendation of Major-Generals Sherman and Thomas, and faithfully served as contract surgeon in the service of the United States, and has devoted herself with much patriotic zeal to the sick and wounded soldiers, both in the field and hospitals, to the detriment of her own health, and has also endured hardships as a prisoner of war four months in a Southern prison while acting as contract surgeon; and Whereas by reason of her not being a commissioned officer in the military service, a brevet or honorary rank cannot, under existing laws, be conferred upon her; and Whereas in the opinion of the President an honorable recognition of her services and sufferings should be made: It is ordered, That a testimonial thereof shall be hereby made and given to the said Dr. Mary E. Walker, and that the usual medal of honor for meritorious services be given her. Given under my hand in the city of Washington, D.C., this 11th day of November, A.D. 1865. Andrew Johnson, President (Medal rescinded 1917 along with 910 others, restored by President Carter 10 June 1977.)

Given under my hand in the city of Washington, D.C., this 11th day of November, A.D. 1865.

Andrew Johnson, President

Medal rescinded 1917 along with 910 others, restored by President Carter 10 June 1977

The Hardest Times You Could Imagine

RESIDUAL WAR, SOMETHING WORTH LIVING FOR

There is a time for everything. Time to decide to follow where you are led or to walk away. Time to choose to do the right thing, no matter what price you know you will have to pay, or to do the popular thing. For the men and women deciding to join the military, it is the hardest thing to do for some but for others, it is the only thing they ever wanted to do.

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

9 What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?

10 I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.

11 He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

Ecclesiastes 3King James Version (KJV)

For ever soldier sent to Fort Christmas, it was their last chance to stay out of trouble until they could retire with dignity. For every soldier, it was also their chance to heal together as a blended unit of true heroes fighting the biggest battle after multiple deployments. The battle to save their own futures.

This is the work of fiction, but within the pages are a lot of truths. In 2013 the Army discharged 11,000 soldiers with bad discharges, leaving them with nothing. No help from the VA or any of the multitudes of charities for veterans, these soldiers were not on the to do list.

It happened in every branch. 

Eric Highfill spent five years in the Navy, fixing airplanes for special operations forces. His discharge papers show an Iraq campaign medal and an Afghanistan campaign medal, a good-conduct medal, and that he's a marksman with a pistol and sharpshooter with a rifle.

None of that matters, because at the bottom of the page it reads "Discharged: under other than honorable conditions."

"I went down to the Battle Creek [Mich.] VA and I spoke with the receptionist. She looked at my discharge and said, 'Well, you have a bad discharge. ... Congress does not recognize you as a veteran.' And they turned me away," Highfill says.

Tom Faith was one of them. After two failed suicide attempts, his family didn't know who he was anymore and they didn't know how much he needed help to survive after combat. They sent him away. He ended up living in the woods in Florida with some other dishonored veterans.

He thought he was saved when a man came to select several of these veterans for a research project. At Fort Christmas, they would be given food, shelter, a paycheck, and even a car, as long as they participated in the drug trials.

The thing is, the shelter was underneath the gift shop, hidden from public view. There was a lot that was hidden beneath the old Fort until an Army Major was sent there to heal and put in charge of the newly taken over property from the Parks Department. The shelter, as far as anyone knew, was run by a defense contractor and had nothing to do with the soldiers living above it.

RESIDUAL WAR

CHAPTER SIX

TERROR BY NIGHT

“Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.” Psalm 91

INT

FIRST NIGHT

LEVERAGE’S ROOM

Alarm clock shows  3:15 near the window where she is standing looking out.

MICHAELS ROOM

INT

Michaels paces the floor.

ALVAREZ ROOM

INT

Alvarez is sleeping with his machine gun by his side.

FRANKLIN ROOM

INT

Franklin is sitting on the side of the bed. Elbows on knees, head down in his hands.

DANIELS ROON

INT

Empty.

SHULTZ ROOM

INT

Shultz is in bed with glow of cell phone on his face.

BEAN ROOM

INT

Bean and Murray are sleeping in the same bed. Bean has arm around Murray as his legs are moving and he is whimpering.

GROUNDS

EXT

Daniels is walking around as if on patrol, listening to every sound.

INT

Shelter

FAITH IN DORM

INT

Faith is in fetal position, shaking with tears coming out of his eyes.

“Arms wide open

I stand alone

I'm no hero and I'm not made of stone

Right or wrong

I can hardly tell

I'm on the wrong side of heaven and the righteous side of hell

The wrong side of heaven and the righteous side,

The righteous side of hell.”

5 Finger Death Punch

Wrong Side of Heaven 

There will be more on this along with what is actually true within the pages of this work. 

It is time to change the conversation from veterans committing suicide into one of veterans committed to helping others find something worth living for.