The moral obligation to know our veterans: Mike Haynie at TEDxUniversityofNevada
Published on Feb 3, 2014
Dr. Mike Haynie is the Founder and Executive Director of the Institute for Veterans and Military Families and the Barnes Professor of Entrepreneurship at Syracuse University's Whitman School. In this talk he discusses how as a result of the all-volunteer approach to military service, most people in the United States do not understand the challenges facing our veterans.
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Regards,
The Canadian Veterans Advocacy Team.
Friday, September 26, 2014
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
New announcement: FREE B&B ACCOMMODATIONS ON REMEMBRANCE DAY TO HONOUR VETS AND MILITARY PERSONNEL
BBCanada.com is proud to be assisting Canadian Bed and Breakfast owners in launching the 2014 B&Bs for Vets campaign to celebrate Remembrance Day. Canadian B&B owners would like to honour and say THANK YOU to our veterans and active military personnel and for this reason they are joining hundreds of B&Bs across North America in the "B&Bs for Vets" initiative. This unique program allows veterans and military personnel to stay at a participating B&B, FREE OF CHARGE for either the night of Monday November 10th or Tuesday November 11th, 2014.
We hope that we can count on your support to get the message out to Canadian veterans and military personnel about the B&Bs For Vets annual event. In order to publicize this event, attached is a press release in both English www.bbcanada.com/bb_demo/enews/2014/october/Vetsposter.pdf and French www.bbcanada.com/bb_demo/enews/2014/october/Vetsposter_f.pdf and a link to our English and French posters. Please feel free to print and display or hand out these posters as needed.
BBCanada has dedicated a web page to the campaign B&Bs for Vets. Your members will be able to view all participating B&Bs, and link to their homepage, http://www.bbcanada.com/bbforvets , which offers a full description of the B&B, along with their policies and contact details in order to make a reservation. Last year, many B&B owners were disappointed that no one booked their FREE rooms. This year, we would like to make a special effort to get the word out to our "Vets" so they can enjoy being treated ~ they certainly deserve it!
If you require any additional information, please feel free to contact Lisa by email or call 1-800-239-1141 ext. 6679.
Thanking you for your support
.
Best regards,
Cathy Lisa
Cathy McGowan Lisa Le Chatton
General Manager Director of Sales and Marketing
Web: BBCanada.com Web: BBCanada.com
Web: GitesCanada.com Web: GitesCanada.com
Email: cmcgowan@bbcanada.com Email: llechatton@bbcanada.com
Toll-free : (800) 239-1141 ext. 6675 Toll-free : (800) 239-1141 ext. 6679
Fax / Télécopieur : (905) 297-7351 Fax / Télécopieur : (905) 297-7351
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Regards,
The Canadian Veterans Advocacy Team.
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
Military suicides outnumbered deaths in Afghanistan, new stats show
Military suicides outnumbered deaths in Afghanistan, new stats show
Dominique La Haye, QMI Agency
First posted: Tuesday, September 16, 2014 04:26 AM MDT | Updated: Tuesday, September 16, 2014 04:50 AM MDT
![http://storage.edmontonsun.com/v1/dynamic_resize/sws_path/suns-prod-images/1297526032734_ORIGINAL.jpg?quality=80&size=420x[/img]](http://storage.edmontonsun.com/v1/dynamic_resize/sws_path/suns-prod-images/1297526032734_ORIGINAL.jpg?quality=80&size=420x[/img]){kind=link}
MONTREAL — There were more suicides in the Canadian Forces since 2002 than combat deaths during Canada's Afghanistan mission, according to a report obtained by QMI Agency.
In the 12 years that Canadians fought in Afghanistan, 158 Armed Forces members were killed. According to records obtained from the Department of National Defence, there were 178 Canadian Forces suicides in the same period.
Due to standard military practice to issue only the numbers of suicides of full-time male soldiers — so the military can compare those statistics with the same age in the general population — previous numbers did not include female soldiers or reservists.
This has allowed the government to state that the suicide rate of a full-time male members of the Armed Forces is no different than that of the average Canadian from a similar demographic.
"I think the problem is much bigger than the numbers show," military lawyer and retired Col. Michel Drapeau said. "Many suicides occur after the person has left the Armed Forces and those numbers aren't included in the totals.
"Often, the ones who have just left the Forces are the most desperate."
Defence Minister Rob Nicholson has ensured the "Forces have taken great strides in recent years to make sure that more attention is being paid to mental health issues, whether they are deployment related or not," Ministry of National Defence spokesman Johanna Quinney told QMI Agency.
"We have augmented the military budget by $130 million, including an increase of $11.4 million for mental health initiatives, raising the total to $50 million. We now have 29 mental health clinics across the country."
The father-in-law of one young soldier who committed suicide says the military still needs to work on the basics.
Marc Tardif said if not for the Army's mistakes, his daughter-in-law, Anne Crevier, may still be alive today.
Crevier, 19, joined the forces in May 2011. On her final exercise of basic training, she was hit in the eye by a paintball. Crevier was wearing goggles, but not a full face mask.
The military transferred her for treatment to Valcartier in Quebec -- far from her family, friends and basic training mates.
"She was really left all on her own," Tardif said.
Crevier told Tardif that she was harassed while at Valcartier, and told that she was better suited to "work in an office."
Nine months after the paintball accident, Crevier committed suicide. "She lost all hope," Tardif said.
Two and a half years later, the family still waits for the results of the inquiry to Crevier's suicide.
-- ---- -----
Suicides in the Canadian Armed Forces (2004 to March 31 2014):
2014 (March 31) :
Male - regular forces: 5
Female - regular forces: 0
Male and female reserves: 3
Total: 8
2013
Male - regular forces: 9
Female - regular forces: 1
Male and female reserves: 3
Total: 13
2012
Male - regular forces: 10
Female - regular forces: 3
Male and female reserves: 4
Total: 17
2011
Male - regular forces: 21
Female - regular forces: 1
Male and female reserves: 3
Total: 25
2010
Male - regular forces: 12
Female - regular forces: 0
Male and female reserves: 1
Total: 13
2009
Male - regular forces: 12
Female - regular forces: 2
Male and female reserves: 8
Total: 22
2008
Male - regular forces: 13
Female - regular forces: 1
Male and female reserves: 1
Total: 15
2007
Male - regular forces: 9
Female - regular forces: 1
Male and female reserves: 2
Total: 12
2006
Male - regular forces: 7
Female - regular forces: 1
Male and female reserves: 3
Total: 11
2005
Male - regular forces: 10
Female - regular forces: 0
Male and female reserves: 1
Total: 11
2004
Male - regular forces: 10
Female - regular forces: 0
Male and female reserves: 3
Total: 13
-- Source - Department of National Defence
Regards,
The Canadian Veterans Advocacy Team.
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
Veteran’s advocate rallies for Torbrook woman
Veteran's advocate rallies for Torbrook woman
Heather Killen
Published on September 08, 2014
© Heather Killen
Leah Greene, a 36-year-old private, couldn't find the support she needed from the military and has turned to Barry Westholm, a national veteran's advocate.
Former sergeant major speaks out about poor process
By Heather Killen
The Spectator
A national veteran's advocate, working on behalf of Torbrook woman, is urging the government to start putting people over process.
Leah Greene, a 36-year-old private who was stationed at 14 Wing Greenwood, says she was lost in the shuffle and couldn't find the support she needed after a spinal cord injury ended her military career and left her in chronic pain.
She says the military abandoned her at a time when she needed it the most.
Desperate, Pte. Greene contacted Barry Westholm, a well-known Ontario-based veteran's advocate last fall, to help her pull her life back together.
Westholm made headlines last year after his resignation from the Joint Personnel Support Unit (JPSU) and more recently his break with the Conservative party, openly criticizing the government for its poor treatment of ill and injured military personnel.
The JPSU is a military branch created to help ill and injured military members, but with so many veterans now returning from tours of duty with injuries and emotional crisis, Westholm says the department is often too overwhelmed and understaffed to be much help.
Injured In 2009
Pte. Greene, a cook, was injured in 2009 during a ball hockey game, an activity she was required to do as part of her physical training. Before the injury, her life was moving in the direction of her dreams, but she says the accident has left her in limbo.
She was playing the game for the first time when she accidently twisted her back. She pulled back to take a shot that was blocked by another player. The force of the blocked motion wrenched her lower back and severely impacted the vertebrae.
"I was the only female playing, but I loved it," she said. "I knew I was hurt real bad, but I kept on playing. I didn't want to admit I was injured. Later at work, I was trying to cook the asparagus and I couldn't hold myself up."
Greene said she went to the emergency room that night and was treated for a strain. She knew something was seriously wrong, as she would temporarily lose sensation and control of her lower body. She would sit down and then find she couldn't stand, she would lie down and be unable to get up.
Toughed It Out
She says she tried to tough it out, but after a series of visits to the emergency room and a battery of tests, she was diagnosed with cauda equina syndrome, an extreme pressure and swelling of the nerves at the end of the spinal cord.
"They told me if you have this surgery, you'll be up dancing in six weeks," she said.
So she underwent the prescribed surgery, but experienced further complications that have left her permanently disabled and emotionally scarred.
Doctors prescribed various pain medications. She was taking as many as 16 different prescriptions to control the pain. Her life began to spiral out of control and eventually she lost her family, her home, and her independence, she said.
Left Alone
Unable to climb the stairs to access her bed and bathroom, she slept on her living room sofa and used a makeshift commode that was set up in the entryway of her front door.
For years no one from the military came to see her. She added that while she was still being paid by the military, her disability kept her from active duty and she was no longer part of anything.
It's the ugly machine of government. When you look at her military record before the injury, it was stellar. When I met her, she was a rambling wreck. The government puts process over people. When you see what happened here, you can see we are in big trouble as a country. Barry Westholm
As her physical independence deteriorated, her mental health also declined. She spiraled into depression, anxiety, and eventually thoughts of suicide. Trying to get the support she needed, she continued to reach out to the military for help.
Her behavior was viewed as erratic and she was institutionalized twice. She added that her situation finally degraded to the point where she was stationed to a room in Juno Towers in Halifax, her family was separated, and the military process that was intended to help her, was slowly erasing her life.
"At that point I took a leap of faith and reached out to Barry," she said. After hundreds of hours spent in meetings, writing letters, making phone calls and teleconferences on Pte. Greene's behalf, Barry Westholm says he's hopeful she will soon have what she needs for the road to recovery.
Home Modified
Her two-storey home has been modified to allow her to live on the main floor and Westholm has been able to provide her the moral support she needed to rebuild her confidence and independence.
He says Pte. Greene's case is an example of how cases can be mishandled and can subsequently spiral into a complete breakdown of the person's emotional, mental, and family life.
"It's the ugly machine of government," he said. "When you look at her military record before the injury, it was stellar. When I met her, she was a rambling wreck. The government puts process over people. When you see what happened here, you can see we are in big trouble as a country."
He added that many of the people he encountered during his time with JPSU expressed a similar sense of betrayal. In the early stages of military training, the individual is broken down to become part of a team.
But, once an injury separates a member from active duty, it's as though the team abandons the member. Feeling betrayed and isolated, all too often the condition spirals to a complete emotional breakdown, he said.
Conned
"From day one, they tell you that you are part of a team, but the minute you are injured, you realize you are on your own and you feel like you've been conned," he said. "She put her heart into her career, her military record was stellar. But after she was injured, no one came to see her for two years."
These cases are complicated and require many hours of intervention to resolve, he said. People need lots of support throughout the process in order to rebuild their lives.
"The work we were doing at first was good, but people kept coming and we were not staffed to handle the number of cases that were coming at us," he said. "We lost three people to suicide, I began hearing other stories."
Westholm says that complexity of these cases require countless hours of personal intervention that the government process doesn't include.
"These are complicated lives with complicated stories," he added. "There are just not enough people to help them."
Regards,
The Canadian Veterans Advocacy Team.
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
New announcement: PTSD awareness march reaches New Brunswick
PTSD awareness march reaches New Brunswick
3 veterans left B.C. in June on cross-Canada journey
CBC News Posted: Aug 30, 2014 2:49 PM AT Last Updated: Aug 30, 2014 2:49 PM AT
(Check the Video) http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/ptsd-awareness-march-reaches-new-brunswick-1.2751493
The men are aiming to raise awareness about Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. (CBC)
Three former soldiers are marching through New Brunswick as they enter the final few weeks of a cross-Canada journey aiming to raise awareness about Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Laden with military backpacks, Steve Hartwig and two fellow veterans left CFB Gagetown on Friday, hoping to make it to Saint John on Saturday.
Their journey began in British Columbia back in June.
"Everybody has some misunderstanding about PTSD," said Hartwig. "When you come home a lot of people just don't understand what you go thorough."
The three men all served in Croatia in the 1990s and have been diagnosed with PTSD themselves. They're marching because they want the public to better understand the disorder, a condition affecting thousands of Canadians inside and outside the armed forces.
Veteran Paul Bilton welcomed the marchers.
"I was really upset there today when somebody said to me, 'Oh you're PTSD, just get over it and grow up.' That means I have to suck it back inside and try to deal with it. Well it's not going too good," he said.
Bilton served in three conflicts, most recently in Afghanistan. Some painful memories still linger.
"The dog sat on the anti-personnel mine. But what hurt, it was trying to talk to the kids and wiping the dog parts off their faces," he said.
It's stories like Bilton's that inspire the walking veterans.
"That's our motivation everyday is people coming and telling us it's making a difference for them," said Jason McKenzie.
The men hope to finish in St. John's, N.L. on Sept. 14.
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Regards,
The Canadian Veterans Advocacy Team.
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