Posted on November 11, 2012 by The Military Suicide Report
Since taking over as commander-in-chief, at least 23,000 veterans and service members have died by suicide, according to data reported in 2008 by the U.S. Center for Disease Control and the Department of Veterans Affairs. As Obama prepares himself and his cabinet for the second term of his presidency, a new report from the Center for a New American Security titled, “Upholding the Promise: A Strategy for Veterans and Military,” says the president must confront two serious problems on veterans issues: rampant suicides and more than a million unprocessed veterans benefits claims, mostly filed by combat-wounded men and women who volunteered to fight for America during the two military campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan. (Getty)
CNAS Report Warns Obama Faces Hard Choices for Veterans in Second Term
by Steve Vogel
Washington Post, Nov. 10, 2012
A report being issued this week by the Center for a New American Security warns that the Obama administration will “face an array of hard choices” involving veterans and the military community as it tries to cope with problems ranging from military suicide to veterans disability claims during the president’s second term.
“These choices will be made more difficult by significant downward pressure on spending, requiring the next administration to make hard choices with profound implications for the men and women who serve us in uniform, and those who came before them, as well as for our national security,” the report from the Washington national security think tank says in its executive summary.
“Upholding the Promise: Supporting Veterans and Military Personnel in the Next Four Years,” which is to be released Friday, is written by Phillip Carter, a senior fellow at the center and a former Army officer who served in Iraq and later as a political appointee in the Obama administration, responsible for detainee policy at the Defense Department.
The report identifies three broad priority areas for the Obama administration. The first includes issues such as military suicides, combat stress and veteran homelessness, which “must be decisively addressed by the next administration, in ways that exceed the work done during the past four years, simply because veterans and military personnel continue to suffer.”
The second area of priority would be to “make substantially more progress” in improving government service, chief among them reversing the growth of the claims backlog at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Posted on October 24, 2012 by The Military Suicide Report
‘Suicidal’ War Veteran Found Floating in Hackensack River Died of Drowning, Autopsy says
Police say 31-year-old former soldier had served in Afghanistan and was diagnosed with PTSD, severe depression and schizoaffective disorder at East Orange New Jersey VA; likely prescribed antipsychotics and other off label psychotropics medications through VA doctors
by Michaelangelo Conte
The Jersey Journal, Oct. 17, 2012
Drowning was the cause of death of a Jersey City war veteran found floating in the Hackensack River off Kearny on Monday, about a week after the “suicidal” 31-year-old went missing.
The body of Travis Sean Mettelholzer, 31, of Jersey City, was found near 50 Campus Drive by a warehouse worker at 9:46 a.m. Monday, Hudson County Prosecutor Guy Gregory said.
An autopsy performed at the state Regional Medical Examiner’s office in Newark resulted in a determination Mettelholzer drowned and the manner of his death was suicide, Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Gene Rubino said today.
Rubino said toxicology tests are still pending.
Last week, The Jersey Journal published a story at the request of Jersey City police seeking the public’s help in locating Mettelholzer, who police said suffered from post traumatic stress syndrome, severe depression and schizo-affective disorder.
Mettelholzer had been receiving treatment at the Veterans Administration Hospital in East Orange.
Mettelholzer, who served in Kandahar, Afghanistan and left the Army in July, was last seen at his home around 1 p.m. last Monday. He called his wife around 2 p.m. and asked her to check his Facebook.com page, which featured a video of him saying he loved his family and bidding them good-bye, police said.
He left his car keys with an employee of Foot Locker at Hudson Mall on Route 440 and asked her to contact his family so they could pick up his car, police said. A worker at the Foot Locker said yesterday that Mettelholzer had been a regular customer.
The State Police Marine Unit searched the Hackensack River last Monday.
Posted on October 24, 2012 by The Military Suicide Report
Retired Army Capt. Luis Carlos Montalvan credits his trained service dog Tuesday, pictured above, with saving his life after suffering severe PTSD from violent war duty in Iraq during 2003. ”It’s amazing stuff,” “Tuesday can anticipate and fend off panic attacks. He senses Luis’ breathing patterns and perspiration and then nuzzles to calm him. He lets Luis know when it’s time for his medication, and won’t allow him not to take it. And he’ll wake Luis up if he’s experiencing a nightmare,” Senator Al Franken said. On Oct. 5, 2012, VA leaders ended support for service dogs for veterans suffering from the “invisible wounds of war” which includes PTSD, mTBI and other neuropsychiatric injuries.
President Obama’s Got It Wrong About Support for PTSD Veterans
by Steve Dale
Chicagonow.com, Oct. 23, 2012
I’d never have thought a humble pet columnist would be correcting the President of the United States. During the third presidential debate October 22, President Barack Obama maintained that his administration was “making sure that…our veterans are getting the care that they need when it comes to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury.”
The President fails fact checking on this issue.
Until Tuesday tells a personal story; it isn’t filled with generalized facts about service dogs or PTSD. I can’t say I learned anything new from it, but that might be because I once helped someone with a social anxiety disorder who can’t leave his home without the calming influence of a service dog. He was experiencing the same discrimination that Montalván describes: restaurant managers, worried about violating health codes, mistakenly (and illegally) claim that a dog isn’t really a service dog unless its owner is blind. I also live next door to a service dog that assists a woman in a wheelchair. Based on those experiences, and having a golden retriever of my own, I believed every word of Luis Carlos Montalván’s account of how his relationship with Tuesday made it possible for him to reclaim his life — despite the discrimination he encountered. (Amazon)
His statement came only weeks after the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced it was suspending support (equipment, veterinary care, counseling) for service dogs to be partnered with veterans returning from war with PTSD.
What’s more, the VA summarily discontinued an ongoing study (which was a directive of Congress) to better understand the impact service dogs have on veterans with PTSD and their families.
It’s hard to believe the President is unaware of the VA’s decision. If he is personally uninformed, his administration must know.
After all, when the VA made its announcement in September, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) was so affronted that he quickly held a press conference.
Schumer replied to my request for further comment via email: “It’s of the utmost importance that we provide our vets with every option available to treat service-related ailments. For some vets who suffer from PTSD and other mental illnesses, this means service dogs. Especially as the wars are winding down, and more and more soldiers are returning home with mental trauma, the VA must continue to allow their doctors and mental health professionals to provide benefits to veterans who need mental health service dogs.”
Mr. President, the truth is, at this moment, the VA and your administration are not supporting veterans with PTSD and traumatic brain injury, at least not those who want service dogs.
Here’s why this is such a big deal: The VA estimates that 400,000 ex-soldiers are currently being treated for PTSD, with the numbers climbing daily.
The rate of divorces, substance abuse and unemployment among veterans with PTSD exceed those in the general population. Suicide rates are off the map, with 32 to 39 attempts daily (with about half as many succeeding). What’s happening is tragic and may be preventable.
According to medical professionals (including many at the VA), as well as organizations that train service dogs for veterans with PTSD, vets paired with service dogs always show improvement. Suicide rates nearly disappear. Divorce and substance abuse decline.
The number of pharmaceuticals prescribed for PTSD patients is sometimes obscene, but for those who get a service dog, this changes, too.
… our veterans are getting the care that they need when it comes to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury.
— President Barack Obama, Oct. 22, 2012 during third presidential debate
Ray Ganiche, of Navarre, FL, a Vietnam Army veteran, was diagnosed with PTSD and ultimately paired with a German Shepherd service dog. It wasn’t long before his nightmares and night sweats disappeared. His dog, Dazzle, awakens Navarre just as the terrifying dreams begin, and today Ganiche can sleep through the night. He requires far fewer meds than before he was teamed with Dazzle.
The same is true for Capt. Luis Carlos Montalvan, an Army intelligence officer who served in Iraq. Montalvan was injured while on duty. Today, he walks with a cane and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Montalvan says his service dog, a Golden Retriever named Tuesday, helped move him from unemployment and agoraphobia (fear of going outdoors) to a new life as the author of the top-selling book, “Until Tuesday: A Wounded Warrior and the Golden Retriever Who Saved Him” (Hyperion Books, New York, NY, 2011; $22.99).
Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) met Montalvan and Tuesday in 2011. ”It’s amazing stuff,” Franken told me. “Tuesday can anticipate and fend off panic attacks. He senses Luis’ breathing patterns and perspiration and then nuzzles to calm him. He lets Luis know when it’s time for his medication, and won’t allow him not to take it. And he’ll wake Luis up if he’s experiencing a nightmare.”
