It is Very Hard to Exist After Losing a Buddy During Your Time in The Military

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Military news…

VA Offers $3 Million Prize for Ideas to Stop Veteran Suicides

The goal is to get thousands of new ideas on how to better help and support veterans over the next six weeks and award cash prizes for the best 40 ideas in the coming months.

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Senators From Rural States Trying to Stop Wave of VA Hospital Closures Before They Start

The medical centers slated for closure include areas where the veteran population is expected to decline, while new facilities would be built in regions where veterans are relocating, largely in the South and West.

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US Marines Train for a Possible Future Chinese Invasion of Taiwan As the war of words ramps up between the Biden administration and Chinese government over the status of Taiwan, U.S. forces in Japan are gearing up for a possible conflict.

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Marine Corps Considers Abandoning Parris Island Amid Rising Extreme Weather Threats

A string of recent reports has predicted that Parris Island will face increasingly frequent and ferocious hurricanes, floods, and extreme heat. Those escalating temperatures are already a growing risk to trainees on the island.

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5 missiles hit Iraqi base hosting US troops; no casualties

Iraqi security officials said the missiles hit only a few yards from where U.S. forces are stationed.

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Ukraine war volunteers are coming home, reckoning with difficult fight

Foreign fighters from the United States and elsewhere have described glaring disparities between what they expected the war in Ukraine to be like and what they experienced. 

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Ukraine suffers on battlefield while pleading for US arms

Gloominess descends on Ukraine as the war tide turns. “They’re just raining down metal on us,” said a soldier fresh from the front line where Russia is advancing.

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I can’t help but think back to Memorial Day. While in the service I lost two buddies. The first one was a high school buddy that signed up with me the same day. We went through basic training together. I have a funny story about him from basic training in my upcoming book, Signs of Hope for the Military: In and Out of the Trenches of Life.

We also were also sent to Korea together. He was sent to another camp. I heard the horrible news about six months later that he had died. Not in combat, but from a rare disease he caught. I was devastated.

The second buddy I lost was also in Korea. Again this was not in combat. He liked going to the near village a lot and have parties. One night he partied too much and on the way back to our camp, he fell into a honey bucket and suffocated. (A honey bucket is what the Koreans used to put all of their human waste, for fertilizer from their rice fields.) It was a horrible way to die.

Have you lost a buddy? I know you anger and hurt feeling. I interviewed many veterans who lost buddies. All of the interviews are in my upcoming book, Signs of Hope for The Military: IN and Out of the Trenches of Life.

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Checking in on you. How are you doing? Is everything going OK, or are you struggling from losing a buddy?

FEAR NOT!

There are over 14,968 veterans on this site who have your back.

Here is what I am asking you to do…please share this site with as many other veterans as you can. It has helped so many.

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If you are battling mentally, but you are losing, GET HELP!!

Here is a toll free number that you can call 24/7. There are highly qualified counselors there to help you, and they will not hang up until they know you are OK.

1-800-273-8255…texting 838255.

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Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

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An Incredible Interview With a VA Nurse With Forty Years of Service.

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Military news…

Legally Blind U.S. Army Veteran Sets Personal Best at Boston Marathon

Rob Sanchas, 54, ran the entire 26.2 miles with the assistance of his guide, Jeremy Howard.

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U.S. Soldiers Took Her Birthday Cake in 1945. They Finally Replaced It.

As Meri Mion prepared to celebrate her 90th birthday, U.S. soldiers based in Italy “returned” the birthday cake that was taken from her windowsill in 1945.

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Air Force Wants Big Increase for 2023 Budget to Improve On-Base Housing for Military Families

Funds to improve the dwellings provided by privatized housing companies doubled in the budget request, with around $110 million requested in 2022.

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Military Veteran Receives New Rank at 101 Years Old

More than 55 years after he retired, Chief Warrant Officer Thomas Adams Jr. is now Major Adams. 

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The Navy’s First Medical Ship In 35 Years Will Be Unlike Any Before It

While not a one-to-one replacement for either of the Navy’s huge medical ships, the new vessels will go places they can’t.

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Ukrainian military confirms ‘The Ghost of Kyiv’ is made up

“The Ghost of Kyiv is alive and embodies a collective image,” a Ukrainian military spokesman said.

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NATO fighter jets scrambled ‘multiple times’ this week in response to Russian aircraft

It’s not the first time pilots had to intercept Russian planes.

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Here is another interview for my upcoming book, Signs of Hope for the Military: In and Out of the Trenches of Life. A VA Nurse.

VA Nurse

Thank you so much for allowing me to interview you. How long were you a nurse?

Nurse: I worked 40 years with the last six as a VA nurse.

Did you like working for the VA?

I loved it much more than the regular nursing. I was able to make my own decisions.

I had to understand that they were not going to get well. I helped a man who was a double amputee. It was very rewarding.

How did you know what to do with each patient?

Had to find out what they needed through texting other nurses, and what their doctor shared as far as their basic needs. In other words; VA was “live.”

You said the work was rewarding. Can you explain that a little more?

My heart grew with each patient.

Tell me about some of the patients?

I had on patient that had wounds all over his body. He was tortured by testing his skin with different bacteria.

Another patient was traumatized. Yet another committed suicide.

That must have been hard. Are there other stories you can share?

There was another tortured veteran. They put rats in his mouth. They did waterboarding on him. They kept him awake with blaring music. They played the same songs over and over again. This made him sleep deprived.

These stories had to affect you. Did some veterans share with you how they felt when coming home from Vietnam?

Taxis wouldn’t even pick them up if they knew they were veterans. There were people waiting at the airport for the veterans to land, and they screamed at them as they came through their lines.

Were most of your veterans Vietnam veterans?

No one veteran was only thirty years old. He had PTSD and TBI (Traumatic brain injury.) His wife now has to take care of him and his mental wounds. He was shot in the head.

I am not sure how you could do this day after day.

I wouldn’t have done nursing for 40years if I didn’t think it was rewarding.

I have heard there are some sexual harassment, and sexual abuse in the military. Have you had to deal with that?

There was a female soldier who was raped and got pregnant. She is now raising the child.

Another woman was raped and got military compensation. She has PTSD and cannot function.

Yet another woman from WWII was raped. She got syphilis and died from it.

(If you or anyone you know have faced sexual harassment, or sexual abuse in the military, there is now a number you can call for help: 1-800-692-966… You can get help and even compensation.)

MST (Military sexual trauma) even has a course that is six weeks long that can help people.

Any other interesting stories you can share?

I took a trip to Normandy Beach, France. I walked the beach to see all the graves around the towns. They showed us where to boats came in. We saw the trenches and the fox holes. I went to a WWII museum. They had bombers.

This is an amazing story of your life as a nurse. Do you have any feel good stories to wrap this up? 

A Vietnam veteran adopted a child from Vietnam, because they came home without their parents.

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Incredible interview! I have more to share in future posts so keep coming back. Better yet…go to the top of this page and click on Subscribe. When you do all future posts will come directly to your inbox.

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Checking in on you. How are you doing? Is everything going OK, or are you struggling?

FEAR NOT!

There are over 14,572 veterans on this site who have your back.

Here is what I am asking you to do…please share this site with as many other veterans as you can. It has helped so many.

______________________________________________________________

If you are battling mentally, but you are losing, GET HELP!!

Here is a toll free number that you can call 24/7. There are highly qualified counselors there to help you, and they will not hang up until they know you are OK.

1-800-273-8255…texting 838255.

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Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!

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+If you like what you see, please subscribe at the top of this page where it says, “subscribe.” When you do, all future posts will come directly to your inbox. Also, if you know some else who could benefit from this site, please let them know.

Cmdr. Brian Bourgeois, 43, Commanding Officer of SEAL Team 8 Was Fatally Injured

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Military news…

Several Navy vessels are in such dire need of maintenance that their unseaworthy appearance is an embarrassment to the United States.

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Light, fast and lethal is what the Marine Corps expects from its light armored reconnaissance battalions, and last week it put forward what it expects from the next generations of combat vehicles.

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It’s a rare treat when a movie or TV show actually gets a military uniform right, and it’s even rarer when that uniform that hasn’t even been adopted yet. But somehow, the animated comedy series “South Park” pulled it off for Space Force.

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Cmdr. Brian Bourgeois, 43, commanding officer of SEAL Team 8, was fatally injured during a fast-rope training exercise on Dec. 4 in Virginia Beach, Virginia.


Army to Award Purple Hearts to 39 Soldiers Injured in Iran Missile Attack Following CBS News investigation

The Army will award the Purple Heart to dozens of soldiers injured when Iran hit their base in Iraq with ballistic missiles in January 2020. CBS News found these soldiers had not been recognized with the award and denied medical benefits, despite appearing to qualify.

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Berger: I’ll Accept a Smaller Marine Corps to Make Light Amphibs Happen

The Marine Corps’ top general recently reiterated his willingness to cut the number of Marines for new systems, including the light amphibious warship, he says the service needs to deter or defeat China.

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Five-nation Pacific naval drills send precautionary message to adversaries, admiral says

U.S. naval forces in the Indo-Pacific train frequently alongside its allies, said Vice Adm. Karl Thomas, to deter “aggressive or authoritarian” countries from overreaching in the region.

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I have been sharing endorsements for, my upcoming book, Signs of Hope for the Military: In and Out of the Trenches of Life, from many very important people. I thank them so much for taking time to read my advanced copy and commenting. I have one more to share from a general. I am very proud of that.

That endorsement will be in my next post.

To make sure you don’t miss it, come back often. Better yet...go to the top of this page and click on “Subscribe.” When you do all future post will come directly to your inbox.

(Just do it!) 🙂

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Bed check. How are you doing? Do you have dreams about your service time? Are they nightmares?

FEAR NOT!!

There are over 13,530 fellow veterans subscribed to this site who have your back.

If the dreams just too much for you right now, GET HELP!

Here is a toll free number to call 24/7. There are highly qualified counselors there to help you, and they will not hang up until the know you are OK.

1-800-272-8255..texting 838255.

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Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!

___________________________________________

+If you like what you see, please subscribe at the top of this page where it says, “subscribe.” When you do, all future posts will come directly to your inbox. Also, if you know some else who could benefit from this site, please let them know.