Sean Duvall, a 45-year-old homeless Navy Persian Gulf War veteran made a call to the Department of Veterans’ Affairs hotline when he was contemplating killing himself with a gun he’d made. The counselor sent the police to pick him up and they got him to a VA treatment facility and now that it seems that he’s on the way to recovery, the federal prosecutor is filing charges against him (Washington Post link);
Duvall, who served in the Navy and lives outside Roanoke, now faces four federal counts related to manufacturing and possessing the homemade gun, which could lead to a 40-year prison sentence.
Veterans groups and mental health advocates warn that Duvall’s prosecution could have a chilling effect on distressed veterans who might be contemplating suicide.
“Every veteran I’ve talked to is outraged,” said Dan Karnes, president of the Roanoke Valley Veterans Council. “When we have veterans that are coming back from wars now, they’ll think twice about seeking help when they see what was done to him.”
And, oh, yeah, the persecutor pursuing charges, well he just happens to be DVA administrator Eric Shinseki’s son-in-law, Timothy Heaphy;
Through a spokesman, Heaphy declined to comment. But his office has argued that it has an obligation to prosecute Duvall, who admitted to making and possessing the weapon and was on the Virginia Tech campus, the site of a mass shooting in 2007, at the time of his call.
He’s such a coward that he had to “decline comment” through a spokesperson? Yeah, this will go a long way towards veterans seeking help. Do we have to talk to our lawyers before we call the hotline?
Peggy sent us a link from a local Memphis TV station about Tshonba Bernard, supposedly a veteran of the war against terror, even though they don’t mention which battlefields who is unable to get veterans benefits from the VA who says that they can’t find a reason for his claim for PTSD. Here’s a screenshot of his uniform in the video at the link;
Now, that’s not the uniform of someone who deployed to the war. There’s no combat patch and no campaign ribbons. There’s also no infantry cord, even though there’s an EIB and the brass looks like infantry branch insignia. There would be a CIB if he’d deployed with an infantry unit as his branch insignia indicates.
AKO says he’s still in the National Guard and a sergeant in B Co. 1/224th Aviation Regiment (unless there is more than one Tshonba Bernard in Tennessee). Now, I’m not sure if NG guys still in the service can get DVA benefits, but it looks like he’s getting treatment from the pile of pills on his nightstand in the video at the link above.
While I agree that it takes entirely too long for veterans to get the benefits that they deserve, the media should do a better job of picking the veterans they use in their reports.
Added by Sporkmaster:
Also if he was National Guard, wouldn’t he get this instead?
Also did anyone else notice this with the Air Assault Badge?
“Military recruits are a little less warm and friendly to begin with and the military experience seems to reinforce this–as after service, men score even lower on agreeableness when compared to individuals who did not go into the military,” lead author Dr. Joshua J. Jackson, an assistant professor of psychology at the university, said in a written statement. “Interestingly, this influence appears to linger long after the soldier has re-entered the workforce or returned to college.”
Maybe we’re disagreeable because of the stupid, moron civilians we have to deal with who think that we’re all suffering from PTSD. Maybe it’s because we have had to face the realities of the world and then we have to come back to the plastic world which is more worried about millionaire crackheads who kill themselves and millionaires who have 30-day marriages. Maybe we’re disagreeable because most of the shit civilians worry about don’t amount to hill of crap.
And while we’re trying to do our work, the gabby shitbag in the next cube is on the phone calling across the office to talk about American Idol…while I end up doing her work at the end of the day just to make a deadline.
We have to listen to the whiners wonder how we’re going to get off our Middle East oil habit, but won’t allow us to drill for own. Or we get to listen to their false claims to “support the troops” while they raise our healthcare costs and slash our defense budget while pumping up welfare and social programs. Or meaningless debates over “payroll tax cuts” that benefit no one and we all know will have to paid back eventually.
Maybe our service to the country gave us an intellectual clarity to know the answers, but no one is asking us.
Thanks to Daniel for getting my blood pressure up.
Alex sent us the following information in case any of you are around Fort Jackson next month;
This Hero2Hired (H2H) sponsored hiring event is being conducted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce, South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, U.S. Department of Labor Veterans’ Employment & Training Service (DOL VETS), Fort Jackson, The Army Career and Alumni Program (ACAP), South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce Veterans Services (SCDEW), South Carolina National Guard, U.S. Army Reserve, South Carolina Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), the Employer Partnership of the Armed Forces, Army Community Services and the State Media Company. These agencies are partnering to help veterans, guardsmen/reservists, and their spouses find meaningful employment.
March 6, 2012
10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. (opening ceremonies kick off at 9:45 a.m.)
MG Robert B. Solomon Center
Bldg 6510
6510 Strom Thurmond Blvd
Fort Jackson, South Carolina 29207
I hope this helps someone, because I know we get a lot of visitors from Columbia and Fort Jackson.
cakmakli sends us a link to an Army Times article which tells the story of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin E. Dempsey who told Senator Lindsey Graham today that he’d sure like to pay more for his retiree health care than we’re paying now;
In response to Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who asked whether he was willing to pay more, Dempsey said: “I am, sir.”
Under the proposed budget, a retired Dempsey would pay an $820 annual fee in fiscal 2013 to enroll his family in Tricare Prime. By 2017, that fee would rise to $2,048.
If Dempsey hung up his uniform tomorrow, his 38 years of service would earn him annual military retirement pay of around $219,000 a year.
Thanks for sticking up for the rest of us who get about 10% of that for our retirement, ya wizened old dildo.
Speaking at a news briefing on the budget Monday at the Pentagon, Air Force Lt. Gen. Larry Spencer, the Joint Staff’s force structure director, said the Joint Chiefs and senior enlisted leaders support the hikes and said the increases would still leave Tricare one of the most “generous” health care plans in the nation.
“In accordance with the principles that guide our budget, they honor our commitment to America’s all-volunteer force and their families,” Spencer said.
Why even fucking try anymore. If these peckerwoods stick up for us any more, we’ll be thoroughly screwed. Do they plan on charging us for our funerals, too? Fucking partisan whores.
Claymore sends us a link to the Atlanta Journal Constitution which reports that a guy murdered his 16-year-old stepson. And of course, the main thrust of the article is that Eric Brandon was a door gunner in the Sinai two decades ago which probably caused him to gun down the teen;
On his Facebook profile, Brandon, 46, said he began working at UPS about 10 years ago after working six seasons as a park ranger in North Dakota and serving six years in the U.S. Army in the 1980s.
During his years in the Army from 1984-1990, Brandon said, he served as a doorgunner in the 82nd Airborne Division’s Combat Aviation Battalion, and as a peacekeeper in Egypt’s Sinai desert.
And, oh, yeah, he was one of those bitter-clinger members of the National Rifle Association;
He listed few details about his family, but listed the National Rifle Association and the Wounded Warriors Project as interests.
So if his service included a stint on a peacekeeping mission, the Jimmy Carter-inspired peace mission designed to keep separated Israel and Egypt, wouldn’t he be trained to NOT pull the trigger? I wonder how much PTSD he had from flying around the desert NOT pulling the trigger.
He worked ten years at UPS, but six years as a crew chief on a helicopter is what made him pull the trigger. He also had six years as an armed park ranger. He was a high school grad….wouldn’t that make him have a lot less patience with teenagers?
In fact, one common thread running through all of these veteran-involved shootings is that they all went to high school. Maybe we should have the police focus on all high school graduates – that makes at least as much sense as the veteran scare.
There has been a on going drama that has been going to for a few years. I had been following this but because of the lack of coverage. I am still working on finding out more from them. Here is the short version.
I first heard of this group when I first PCSed to Alaska. They had people that would raise money near the Fredd Myers and had a visible building near Fort Richardson. They were featured on the local news about how they are trying to help the local Veteran community.
Vets Help Vets is in a strip mall just off the Glenn Highway, down from the Whaler Bar and a Hmong grocery. Butler, a middle-aged guy with a warm Louisiana accent, greeted me and photographer Erik Hill as we came through the door and started right in explaining what he was about.
“I tell it like this, ‘It takes a vet to help another vet,’ ” he said. “I’m trying to take care of those that fall through the cracks.”
But the problem is that Butler took off after taking most of the organization’s funds along with the creditability. Since then the group has been trying to repair since.
“Everything was in default. We almost lost the building,” Anderson says. A lack of money left a stack of bills unpaid, rent backed up, and threatened putting people back on the streets.
“Our homeless veterans would have been homeless all over again,” says Anderson.
The alleged incident prompted a complete makeover from uniforms and money management, to selecting new board members. Vets Helping Vets also has a new license as a nonprofit for protection against theft.
That was in September, since then they have had nothing but bad fortune. I know that they had to relocate due to the problems with the previous owner/founder.
Donations are down, and the group is in danger of having electricity shut off Thursday, Sept. 29.
Organizers said a power shutdown would impact their effort to help the hundreds of homeless veterans who walk through their doors with job and education opportunities, and two meals a day.
“We put our guys out on the line for community donations and things like that. The money that comes back in, we turn around and spend it back on the veterans or the organization to keep it up and running,” said Calista Anderson, president of Vets Helping Vets.
Shortly after that the local news reported the video above an the related link. I was very much surprised about their situation. I knew it was bad, but not this bad. Also I think that the fact that I live in Anchorage and still surprised by this. I think that the lack of coverage did not help with this. But I think the main thing that made me want to write this was the following statement below.
But Anderson is working to improve its image.
“Money is being managed well. That’s why we say anyone can come in and check it out,” she said.
The organization continues to feed nearly 20 homeless veterans each night, even without the lights or heat in the building.
The main cook, Marcus Coval, a Navy veteran, says he’ll continue cooking so that veterans can have a little light in their lives.
The group says it’s also considering changing its name and even potentially moving to another building if the situation doesn’t improve.
Which brings us to this post. I do not expect anyone to give money, but if these people are doing so much with so little to help the large number of veterans in need, we should help them out by spreading the word about them. I will try to contact them to see if their luck has turned.
I may be late to this, but I just watched the 2010 documentary “Chosin” which is completely narrated by veterans of the battle, both Marines and Army. This is easily the best documentary I’ve ever watched.
They describe how they weren’t ready for war, many were Reservists who hadn’t even been to boot camp when they climbed aboard ships to cross the Pacific. Their boot camp training was done on the ships. Each veteran graphically describes the battle at Chosin Reservoir from their particular perspective. They don’t hold back with their language or descriptions.
But I think their stories have value for today’s veterans returning from the current wars. They tell about their difficulties relating to the civilian world when they come back from their war – the same difficulty we all have. It may ring some familiar bells. The veterans also relate what they think of their service and express pride in South Korea and the place it holds in the world today.
The documentary is on Netflix, and I urge everyone to give it a look, especially the newest veterans among us. You won’t be disappointed, I promise.
