Heart braking. If this doesn’t move you, I don’t know what would.

I came across this yesterday from Not The bee, broke my heart! You know what it takes for a man to brake down like this?

This veteran was on the verge of suicide on the side of the road when a trooper showed up like a guardian angel

Say a prayer of relief for the veteran going through a profound crisis, and say a prayer of thanksgiving that this police officer was there to help him at the time he most needed it:

This breaks my heart. You can feel his pain. God Bless this young man and all of our service members.
22/a day… pic.twitter.com/SlbfX4ek1q

— real Anthony Aguero (@AgueroForTexas) September 30, 2022

From Hartford Courant, Traffic stop on I-84 turns into a heartwarming moment between a Connecticut state trooper and an Army veteran

A routine traffic stop on Interstate 84 on Sept. 11 turned into a memorable moment between a trooper from the Connecticut State Police and a U.S. Army veteran.

Trooper Kyle Kaelberer pulled over onto the right shoulder near Exit 68 of I-84 to assist a motorist with their hazard lights on.

Kaelberer found a man in distress, who identified himself as an Army veteran. The man said he was on the phone with a counselor from a suicide prevention hotline for military veterans.

And from Breitbart News, State Trooper Embraces Suicidal Army Vet During Routine Traffic Stop

HEARTWARMING — While conducting a traffic stop on September 11, 2022, a Connecticut state trooper found an Army veteran in emotional distress and on the phone with the VA suicide hotline. The trooper reassured the veteran and gave him a hug when asked.

Veteran suicide numbers are higher than VA reported, more than double federal figures, study shows

American flags have been planted on a grassy area of the Mall with each of them represents a veteran or a service member who died by suicide in 2018. A new independent study said the number of veteran suicides is more than double federal estimates.  (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

The rate of suicides among America’s veterans could be more than double the figure reported by the Department of Veterans Affairs, according to a recently released study.

In a joint study between America’s Warrior Partnership, a nonprofit organization that works to end veteran suicide., the University of Alabama and Duke University, researchers reviewed death figures from 2014 to 2018 for eight s states – Alabama, Florida, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, and Oregon – and determined that states had undercounted veteran suicides that were not included in figures released by federal officials. 

The states were the only ones that provide reliable data, the AWP report said. 

“If we are going to make progress toward preventing former service member suicide, we need better data,” said Jim Lorraine, President and CEO of AWP. “Inaccurate data leads to a misallocation of very valuable resources.”

According to the report, if the eight states represented the national suicide rate, it would account for 44 veteran suicides a day in that four-year period instead of 17.7, a figure released by the VA. 

Veterans group says suicide rates among veterans is higher than what VA says

A group recently uncovered that the suicide rate among veterans from 2014 to 2018 was 37% higher than reported by the VA.(AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)

Its report, Operation Deep Dive , used state-provided death data and military records from eight states to evaluate the suicide rate and find trends to try to end veteran suicides altogether.

The group uncovered that the suicide rate among veterans from 2014 to 2018 was 37% higher than reported by the VA and that if the rate from the eight states they investigated was adjusted to represent a national rate, there were be an average of 24 veteran suicides daily, instead of the 2014-2018 average of 18 veteran suicides.

Former service members from the Air Force were the least likely to die from suicide, followed by the Navy , Army , Marines , and lastly, the Coast Guard .

Another one of the group’s findings was that not every current or former service member who died by suicide was identified as a member of the military. Eighteen percent of the time, a service member who takes his or her own life isn’t recognized at the time of death as having served in the military.

I don’t know what to do about it. I know how hard is to ask for help, been there done that.

24/7, confidential crisis support for Veterans and their loved ones

Are you a Veteran in crisis or concerned about one?

You’re not alone—the Veterans Crisis Line is here for you. You don’t have to be enrolled in VA benefits or health care to call.

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Veteran suicide prevention

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Veteran Self-Help Resources

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One way I think is for these money hungry war monger politicians and Generals to stop getting us into theses senseless political never ending wars.

Dan Bongino: This is the kind of event that can spark a world war

Fox News host Dan Bongino reacts to the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipeline amid the Russia-Ukraine war in the opening monologue of ‘Unfiltered.’

Military suicides undermine Army’s ability to solve readiness crisis

The U.S. Army is in the throes of a burgeoning readiness crisis with military service leaders anticipating a significant drop-off in their ability to recruit enough Americans to its ranks. 

And at least part of the reason is the grinding suicide crisis in the military. Not only do recruits have to worry about their safety on a battlefield; they now must be concerned about ailments that trail them after their service to the nation. 

“To compete for talent, the Army must provide a workplace environment free of harmful behaviors, to include sexual assault, sexual harassment, racism, extremism, and the risk factors which lead to death by suicide,” Gen. Joseph Martin, the Army’s vice chief of staff, told a House panel last month. 

Army Secretary Christine Wormuth echoed the frank admission. “We need to show that we are doing something about suicide prevention in the Army,” she said.  

“Suicide has proven to be an incredibly difficult issue for the military to get its arms around,” said the publication Task & Purpose. “The Army specifically saw its highest rate of suicides in 2021 since 1938, coming in at 36.18 suicide deaths per 100,000 soldiers.” 

By comparison, among all U.S. adults, the suicide rate per 100,000 is about 18 deaths. Among veterans, the suicide rate also well surpasses the civilian rate. 

Video: Military veteran raises awareness for veteran suicide: PTSD is a ‘causal factor’

Fox Report Anchor Jon Scott, and military veteran Michael Murray II, Founder and President of Liberty–OVE, discussed the awareness of PTSD and veteran suicide on ‘Fox & Friends Weekend.’

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6312470842112

Not just for vets, mental illness is a huge problem in America right now no doubt. And a lot of it is happening in blue states and cities. I’m sure you saw this one the other day.

FDNY lieutenant paramedic and 9/11 first responder stabbed to death in broad daylight while walking to get lunch

NEW YORK CITY, NY – People across the city are mourning the tragic loss of a New York Fire Department (FDNY) paramedic and 9/11 first responder who was fatally stabbed while working in the line of duty.

FDNY paramedic Lieutenant Alison Russo-Elling, who was 61-years-old, was on duty in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens when she was stabbed multiple times in a completely unprovoked and violent attack.

The fatal incident happened during the afternoon on Thursday, September 29th. Russo-Elling was on shift at EMS Station 49 in Astoria when she was stabbed multiple times in a “barbaric and completely unprovoked” attack near 20th Avenue and Steinway Street.

According to The Post, The 61-year-old “was about six or seven months away from retirement,” Vincent Variale, president of Local 3621, told reporters outside the hospital where Russo-Elling succumbed to her injuries. “She was talking about it.” According to Daily Mail,

A man, 34, with a history of schizophrenia was charged Thursday for the fatal stabbing of longtime EMT worker Allison Russo-Elling, 61

This is reportedly his first arrest. He had an interaction with the police in 2018, when he was accused of issuing threats to Asians.

The incident resulted in his hospitalization, but an arrest was never made.

‘The Five’ react to New York law enforcement attacks and Mental Illness

‘The Five’ co-hosts sound off on the latest attacks on New York City law enforcement.

Why Closing U.S. Psychiatric Hospitals Caused a Mental Health Crisis

The last thing you want is a shortage of mental health facilities as the number of patients diagnosed with mental health disorders increases. But, that is exactly what is currently happening.

As mental illness continues to have catastrophic effects on the lives of millions of people across the country, the closure of mental health hospitals only exacerbates and prolongs the problem. Understanding mental health is not only important for you at an individual level, but also for everyone in society as well.

Mental health disorders can be caused by genetics as well as environmental influences. Our fast-paced society puts us at greater risk for mental health complications because human beings today worry and stress more than previous generations.

Making matters even worse, there is a stigma attached to mental health. Having a mental health disorder is seen as something to be ashamed of, and people often avoid getting treatment simply to avoid the bad image.

Numbers Increase as Facilities Decrease

The closure of mental health hospitals over the last decade has increased steadily each year. The trend is driven by a desire to desensitize psychiatric patients that started back in the 1950s and 60s.

The thought was that a number of patients could actually do well in the community, and, as more were released, the facilities were dissolved. The fact that the government would then have more money to use elsewhere encouraged a bias to develop over time.

Now there are not enough beds to house the patients in real need of psychiatric hospital treatment.

What Happens to Patients When Mental Health Clinics Close?

“There aren’t empirical studies of this,” says Linda A. Teplin, Owen L. Coon Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine.

“They’re just too expensive to do, and not feasible. There are findings and government statistics that suggest what is happening,” but due to many complex variables, “nobody can do a direct study on the consequences of cuts for mental health.”

Nevertheless, a few experts were able to share some common scenarios they’ve observed when access to public mental health centers is thwarted:

The State Of Mental Health In America

2022 Key Findings

• In 2019, just prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, 19.86% of adults experienced a mental illness, equivalent to nearly 50 million Americans.  
• Suicidal ideation continues to increase among adults in the U.S. 4.58% of adults report having serious thoughts of suicide, an increase of 664,000 people from last year’s dataset. The national rate of suicidal ideation among adults has increased every year since 2011-2012. This was a larger increase than seen in last year’s report and is a concerning trend to see going into the COVID-19 pandemic.
• A growing percentage of youth in the U.S. live with major depression. 15.08% of youth experienced a major depressive episode in the past year, a 1.24% increase from last year’s dataset. In the bottom-ranked states, up to 19% of youth ages 12-17 experienced major depression.
• Over 2.5 million youth in the U.S. have severe depression, and multiracial youth are at greatest risk. 10.6% of youth in the U.S. have severe major depression (depression that severely affects functioning). The rate of severe depression was highest among youth who identified as more than one race, at 14.5% (more than one in every seven multiracial youth).
• Over half of adults with a mental illness do not receive treatment, totaling over 27 million adults in the U.S. who are going untreated. In Hawaii, the bottom-ranked state, 67% of adults with a mental illness did not receive treatment. Even in Vermont, the top-ranked state in the U.S., 43% of adults experiencing a mental illness were not receiving treatment. 
• The percentage of adults with a mental illness who report unmet need for treatment has increased every year since 2011. In 2019, 24.7% of adults with a mental illness report an unmet need for treatment. 
• Over 60% of youth with major depression do not receive any mental health treatment. Even in states with the greatest access, nearly one in three are going without treatment. In Texas, the bottom-ranked state for this indicator, nearly three-quarters of youth with depression did not receive mental health treatment. 
• Both adults and youth in the U.S. continue to lack adequate insurance coverage. 11.1% of Americans with a mental illness are uninsured. There was a 0.3% increase from last year’s dataset, the second year in a row that this indicator increased since the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). 8.1% of children had private insurance that did not cover mental health services, totaling 950,000 youth. 

This year’s report includes spotlights on two of MHA’s policy priorities in 2021-2022 – the implementation of 988 as the national three-digit suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline and increasing mental health education and supports in schools, particularly for BIPOC youth. 

Tracking the History of State Psychiatric Hospital Closures

For the last 60 years state mental health agencies (SMHA) have been building comprehensive community-based systems to care for persons with serious mental illnesses.

SMHA have also refocused the use of state psychiatric hospitals on patients in major crisis, patients whose illnesses were not being adequately addressed in community settings, and increasingly forensic and other involuntary patients.

Since the 1950s, the number of beds in state psychiatric hospitals has declined by over 91 percent.

As a result of this phenomenon, many state psychiatric hospitals that had once served thousands of patients every day are now much smaller and many states that had multiple psychiatric hospitals have consolidated their acute inpatient services by merging facilities. Get publication

Thanks for stopping by, God bless you and God bless America. May He also have mercy on us.

ICYMI: More Unaccountably from The Military. 3212 UN-REDACTED.

I watched this documentary last night on Hulu, 3212 UN-REDACTED time well spent.I remember the news when it broke and admittedly didn’t pay much attrition to it when it came out. I do remember thinking it was odd though, somethings not right.

Here’s the trailer, TRAILER: 3212 UN-REDACTED

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Articles from oldest to most recent.

Mar 6, 2018: Probe finds deadly Niger mission lacked proper approval

Marine Gen. Thomas Waldhauser arrives before testifying at a hearing before the House Armed Services Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 6, 2018. (Carolyn Kaster/AP)

WASHINGTON — A military investigation into the Niger attack that killed four American service members concludes the team didn’t get required senior command approval for their risky mission to capture a high-level Islamic State militant, several U.S. officials familiar with the report said. It doesn’t point to that failure as a cause of the deadly ambush.

Initial information suggested the Army Special Forces team set out on its October mission to meet local Nigerien leaders, only to be redirected to assist a second unit hunting for Doundou Chefou, a militant suspected of involvement in the kidnapping of an American aid worker.

Officials say it now appears the team went after Chefou from the onset, without outlining that intent to higher-level commanders.

As a result, commanders couldn’t accurately assess the mission’s risk, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the results of the investigation before they’re publicly released.

The finding will likely increase scrutiny on U.S. military activity in Africa, particularly the role of special operations forces who’ve been advising and working with local troops on the continent for years.

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May 8, 2018: Did military hide the real mission of the Niger ambush from Congress?

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine is accusing the military of hiding from Congress its true mission in a Niger ambush last October that ended in the deaths of four American Green Berets.

Following a classified briefing from senior Defense Department officials to the Senate Armed Services Committee, senators confirmed the fatal mission had been to “capture-or-kill” a target and not simply a training activity with local forces.

“That was a very explosive briefing,” said Kaine, D-Va. “I have deep questions on whether the military is following instructions and limitations that Congress has laid down about the mission of these troops in Africa, and I’ve had those questions, and I think this hearing raised a lot more in a pretty explosive way.”

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May 10, 2018: Overrun and outnumbered, special ops soldiers fought to the end in deadly Niger ambush

https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-military/2018/05/10/overrun-and-outnumbered-special-ops-soldiers-fought-to-the-end-in-deadly-niger-ambush/

As enemy forces closed in, the team commander made a string of split-second decisions to have the 11 U.S. forces and approximately 30 Nigerien forces get back in their vehicles and pull back to avoid being flanked.

But the vehicles ultimately lost contact with each other and did not immediately have visibility on the forces left behind.

These details of the soldier’s final moments, along with those of Staff Sgts. Bryan Black, Jeremiah Johnson and Dustin Wright, were revealed Thursday as the Pentagon released to the media the military’s extensive review of that Oct. 4 ambush.

In the months since the ambush, U.S. Africa Command has conducted an extensive investigation to answer other questions that have haunted the soldiers’ families and riled Congress: What were those service members doing there, and why didn’t they have better support?

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Jun 6, 2019: Survivors and fallen soldiers of Niger ambush awarded valor medals, but questions linger

From left, Staff Sgt. Bryan Black, Staff Sgt. Jeremiah Johnson, Sgt. La David Johnson, and Staff Sgt. Dustin Wright. (U.S. Army)

The Army is awarding nine valor medals to honor the actions of those involved in the October 2017 Niger ambush, including four Silver Stars and several Bronze Stars with Valor.

Two of the Silver Stars will be posthumously awarded to Green Beret Staff Sgt. Dustin M. Wright and Sgt. La David Johnson. Sgt. 1st Class Jeremiah W. Johnson and Staff Sgt. Bryan C. Black will posthumously be awarded the Bronze Star Medal with Valor.

The special operations joint team, known as Team Ouallam, was ordered to continue a raid on a local ISIS commander against the better judgment of the commander on the ground after the helicopter-borne assault team they were supporting backed out due to weather issues.

Team Ouallam continued the mission and was subsequently ambushed by an assaulting force three times their size and equipped with medium and heavy machine guns, rocket propelled grenades and mortars.

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Monday, Nov 8: Investigative journalist seeks to uncover the truth behind fatal 2017 Niger ambush in documentary

Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford, speaks to reporters about the Niger operation during a briefing at the Pentagon, Monday, Oct. 23, 2017. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

ABC News’ investigative journalist James Gordon Meek remembers reporting on the ambush of Operational Detachment Alpha (ODA) 3212, an Army Special Forces team, in Tongo Tongo, Niger, on Oct. 4, 2017. Four soldiers — Sgt. 1st Class Jeremiah Johnson, Staff Sgts. Bryan Black and Dustin Wright, and Sgt. LaDavid Johnson — were killed, and seven others were temporarily stranded with no reinforcements, until French forces evacuated them.

But although Meek was already confused over inconsistencies reported by the Army regarding the incident, the idea to start investigating didn’t come to fruition until he received a phone call from his high school English teacher Dave Sharrett.

Army Private First Class Dave Sharrett II, Sharrett’s son, had been killed in Balad, Iraq in 2008. The Army originally told the Sharrett family their son had been killed by insurgents, but after Meek investigated on their behalf, it was revealed that Sharrett II had been shot by his own lieutenant, then 1st Lt. Timothy Hanson.

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Wednesday, Nov 10: New camera footage from Niger ambush bolsters case for medal upgrades, moms of fallen soldiers say

Memorial to the four U.S. troops killed in an ambush in Niger on Oct. 4, 2017. (Photo courtesy Henry Black).

Wright was initially recommended for the Medal of Honor in August 2018. But Maj. Gen. Marcus Hicks, who led Special Operations Command-Africa at the time, downgraded the recommended decoration to a Distinguished Service Cross in September of that year, according to award approval records Meek shared with Army Times.

Raymond Thomas III, the Army general helming SOCOM at the time, then downgraded the award again to a Silver Star in December 2018, the records showed.

The leader of the Green Beret team on the ground, Capt. Michael Perozeni, was also initially recommended for a Bronze Star with Valor. That was downgraded to an Army Commendation Medal by Thomas in early 2019.

The new footage, as well as the scrutiny placed on the military’s inquiry into the mission, offers an opportunity for the awards and the investigation to be reevaluated, according to Gannon and Criscio.

“I plan to talk to my senators and my congressman and I plan to reach out to the Senate [armed services committee],” Criscio said. “So whether [military leaders] do it or not, I know that I and Debbie are going to push for it.”

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November 11, 2021: ABC News Documentary ‘3212 Un-Redacted’ Counters Pentagon’s Narrative Of Deadly Ambush On Special Forces’ Anti-Terror Operation In Africa

UPDATED, with comment from the Defense Department: When ABC News producer and investigative reporter James Gordon Meek first heard about the deadly terrorist ambush of a U.S. Special Forces team in Niger on Oct. 4, 2017, he said that he and others at the network quickly were met with the Pentagon’s shifting version of events.

“When this happened, we could not get two people to tell us the same story,” Meek told Deadline. “We couldn’t even get people to tell us whether there were 10 or 11 Americans that were ambushed or there were 50.”

As they pursued the story and interviewed family members of the fallen soldiers, they eventually saw a much larger project beyond breaking news updates or a more in-depth news magazine piece. Instead, they created a feature-length documentary, 3212 Un-Redacted, debuting on Hulu on Thursday, Veteran’s Day.

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Nov 15: How the family of the ‘3212’ soldier who fell in Niger grappled with false and misleading information

Sgt. LaDavid Johnson’s widow, Myeshia Johnson, and their daughter visit LaDavid’s gravesite. (James Gordon Meek)

“Oct. 6, 2017 was a day I think I went insane,” Cowanda told us.

Had Sgt. LaDavid Johnson truly been captured after the Oct. 4 ambush? The military would later say that he had not. But that hardly satisfied a family left reeling by grief, doubt and a string of inconsistent information from the Army.

The mystery of that Army phone call stating that LaDavid Johnson had been captured by ISIS — which our investigation ultimately determined was based on an uncorroborated intelligence report quickly knocked down at the time by military intelligence officers in Niger — is one of the earliest examples of conflicting and false statements by U.S. military leaders given to the families of the four fallen soldiers of Operational Detachment-Alpha 3212, which are scrutinized in the ABC documentary streaming on Hulu beginning Nov. 11.

Despite a public pledge in late 2017 by then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford to “go to every last length to provide the families with accurate information,” the Johnsons told us they felt the exact opposite happened.

In fact, so did the families of the other three other fallen soldiers: Staff Sgt. Dustin Wright, Sgt. 1st Class Jeremiah Johnson and Staff Sgt. Bryan Black.

So, any comments, thoughts?

God bless America and you!

Military Veterans being deported.

I came across this the other day while I was roaming the internet. I hadn’t heard about it before, I thought if a immigrant served honorably in the Military they were granted citizenship.

Who among us, (Talking to Veterans now) finding it difficult to adjust back into the world when they got out didn’t have some sort of problem or run in with the law? I know I did and I was a “Cold War ” vet, didn’t see any combat. I got a DUI and spent a little time in county on another occasion but charges had to be dropped due to an illegal search. I know there’s probably a lot of vet’s that didn’t have any problems but I also know there’s an awful lot that do. I know two personally.

Personally, I think no expense or time should be spared to look at each case individually. Unless of course it’s a no brainer and the veteran is a absolute degenerate and violent criminal. Even still though that veteran deserves at the very least a full investigation that includes in my opinion a Psychiatric eval to see if he or she has PTSD or something that would prevent them from being a good citizen. And if they do have PTSD or some other disorder or inability to adjust to civilian life do to Military service it should be taken care of. The “Nanny State” or government already spends and wastes so much on freebies and fraud there should be no problem what so ever helping a veteran.

Anyone that knows me knows I’m totally against “Illegal Immigration” and believe it should be done right by going through the process and assimilating, I’ve blogged about it here many times. I protested and got interviewed ( not so favorably of course) by the Press Enterprise in my city when the legislators were considering a Immigration change for the city. It was me and I think two or three more compared to about fifty supporters of the legislation.

I also support building the wall.

Anyways, that’s my two cents. Check out these stories and share your thought’s if you can, would really like to hear what others have to say on the subject.

Part one, excerpts from the article. “Army veteran Mario Martinez spent six years of his life fighting for the United States.

Now, he’s fighting for the right to keep living here.

Martinez, 54, was born in Mexico, but came to the U.S. as a young child and became a legal resident. He joined the Army, served with the 82nd Airborne Division, and earned an honorable discharge. But more than a decade after he left the service, he was convicted of a felony, putting his immigration status in jeopardy.

“One mistake shouldn’t make the rest of your life,” said Martinez, who spent four years in California state prison for an assault conviction stemming from a 2008 domestic violence case. “I mean I paid for what I did, I did my time. I did it quietly, went in and got out.”(“More than a decade after he left the Army, he was convicted of assault in a domestic violence case. It happened the night he found the body of his best friend, who had died by suicide. Martinez said he was upset and got into an argument with his girlfriend. At the trial, his girlfriend testified that it was a one-time event, but cuts to her cheek required stitches, according to court records.”)

He served four years in prison.

After Martinez served his time, he was handed over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency that handles deportation for the Department of Homeland Security. He spent another 10 months in detention, then was released on bond in 2014. He currently lives in Southern California, while he awaits a court date in his deportation case.

“ICE exercises prosecutorial discretion for members of the armed forces who have honorably served our country on a case-by-case basis when appropriate,” said Rodriguez. “Still, applicable law requires ICE to mandatorily detain and process for removal individuals who have been convicted of aggravated felonies as defined under the Immigration and Nationality Act.

An executive order signed by President Trump on January 25 expands who can be deported to include not only those with criminal records, but non-citizens who have committed a “chargeable criminal offense.” Already immigrant arrests are up by a third, compared to last year, according to ICE data.

But the current enforcement policy on immigration has been shaped over decades by both Democratic and Republican presidents.

Many veterans and advocates point to a 1996 law, passed during the Clinton presidency, as laying the groundwork for current deportations. That law, called The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, expanded the types of criminal convictions eligible for deportation. In the following decade, the U.S. deported 897,099 non-citizens after they served their criminal sentences, according to a 2007 report from Human Rights Watch, which based its findings on ICE data. During those years, 77 percent of the legal permanent residents were deported for non-violent offenses.” Continue to the article here.>Serving In the U.S. Military Won’t Protect These Veterans From Being Deported

Part two, excerpts from the article. “Signs of American military life are everywhere in the cramped Tijuana apartment: a U.S. flag hung on the wall, Army patches covered a camouflaged backpack, photos of uniformed men lined a shelf. 

“It was very difficult to transition, the first couple months,” said Hector Barajas, a former U.S. Army paratrooper, who was deported to Mexico in 2010 and calls the apartment home.

He said when he first landed back to Mexico – a country he had little connection to since he left as a child in the 1980s ­- there was no network of veterans and no offices to help get him on his feet. He started reaching out to other veterans and soon turned his home into a shelter for deported veterans in Tijuana, many of whom needed help with even the most basic things as they adjusted to an unfamiliar city.

“That’s part of our job here: to make it easier for the men to find work, helping them find their IDs, where to go get their driver’s license,” said Barajas. “It’s difficult when you don’t really have anyone to help you out with that.” 

Hector Barajas was pardoned by California Governor Jerry Brown in March this year, opening up the possibility of his return to family in Los Angeles. CREDIT DORIAN MERINA / AMERICAN HOMEFRONT 

He said he’s been in touch with nearly 60 deported veterans since October. His office keeps a database of about 350 veterans who have been deported to different cities in Mexico and countries further away, such as the Philippines, Honduras and Iraq. The two-story apartment in a residential part of eastern Tijuana has three cots upstairs and a tiny kitchen Barajas refers to as a chow hall. Together, the vets call this place, “the bunker.”

Barajas served two stints in the Army, including in the 82nd Airborne. But when he got out, he ran into trouble with the law. In 2002, he was sentenced to 3 years in prison for discharging a firearm from a vehicle. After prison he was deported, but then re-entered the U.S. illegally and was deported again in 2010, according to records from Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Barajas, now 40, said he regrets his actions, but doesn’t like to dwell on the past.

“I paid dearly for it and I am taking responsibility for putting myself in that position,” he said. “As far as being a productive member of society, let’s move forward.”

In March, California Governor Jerry Brown pardoned Barajas and two other veterans, noting their honorable service in the military. That pardon clears a major obstacle, but doesn’t guarantee their return.

Barajas is hoping to get his legal status back and reunite with his family in Southern California, including his 11-year-old daughter. For now, he spends his time helping other deported veterans ­- many of whom, he said, struggle after getting out of the military.

“Not too many people are willing to put on a uniform and go fight, and it’s the reason we have these freedoms today is because of these men and women,” he said. “When they came back, they came with trauma. We have PTSD. It’s military, it’s connected to their service. The reasons these men are going to make these mistakes and suffer is because of the military trauma.”

There are more than 11,000 non-citizens serving active duty in the military, according to the Pentagon. About a decade ago, that number was three times as high. Legal permanent residents are eligible to serve, and doing so can expedite the naturalization process. But citizenship is not automatic and many veterans leave the military without obtaining it.

Some described a confusing and time-consuming process, made harder by deployments and frequent moves. Others said that because they had grown up mostly in the U.S., they felt American and didn’t think to apply, especially while focused on the demands of military service.” Continue to the article here.> Deported Veterans Hope To Return To Nation They Fought For

Read about one success story of a deported Veteran, 31-year-old Daniel Torres.

A “heartbroken, broke” Daniel Torres self-deported to Mexico.

Excerpt from the article. “The success story of the deported veterans community is 31-year-old Daniel Torres.

He moved to the US from Mexico when he was 15 when his father got a job as an electronic engineer in Utah.

At 18, his US visa expired but he stayed on illegally. At 21 he joined the Marine Corps.

“I said I was an American citizen when I wasn’t,” Daniel says.

He served in the army for four years, including a tour of Iraq, and had just signed up for a year-long deployment in Afghanistan when his chain of command discovered he was an undocumented immigrant.

They could have charged him with fraud but instead they let him leave the military when his contract expired.

“I couldn’t get employment, I couldn’t go to school, I couldn’t get a loan, I couldn’t do anything,” he says.

He left America voluntarily and moved back to Mexico where he went to law school, started working at the Deported Veterans Support House and applied for US citizenship.

It took five years, but last April he got it.

“My case was simple enough because I had no criminal record, I have no deportation record and they gave my citizenship,” he says.

He says being accepted back into the US felt “weird”.

“I had kind of given up on the United States,” he says.

“Then after a while I started realising we can make a difference — the biggest barrier was people didn’t know about it.

“Unless you were directly affected or a family member affected, no-one knew military members were being deported.

“So once we started breaking down that ignorance barrier we started seeing results, we started getting places,” he says.

He plans to move back to Utah to study law in the US to become a binational attorney.

But his victory is far from complete.

“I’m not celebrating until everyone gets to go home,” he says.”  Continue to the article here and read about three others that aren’t so lucky, two you’ve already met from the other article.> ‘These men and women return only when they die’

Google Search, US President Donald Trump said he was open to the idea of allowing deported veterans to return.

It seems to me both Democrats and Republicans should be able to work together on this. It looks like for now it’s only the Democrats, Republicans should be ashamed.

May 26, 2017 Press Release.

Preventing veterans from being deported and helping deported veterans get access to medical care

Washington, D.C. (May 26, 2017)—Congressman Juan Vargas (CA-51) reintroduced a bill package that will prevent veterans from being deported and help veterans that have been deported get access to the medical service they deserve. The Immigrant Veterans Eligibility Tracking System (I-VETS) Act of 2017, Healthcare Opportunities for Patriots in Exile (HOPE) Act of 2017, and Naturalization at Training Sites (NATS) Act of 2017 are part of this legislative package.

“A number of our nation’s servicemembers are immigrants who answered the call to serve and protect our nation and our freedom,” said Rep. Vargas. “These bills will ensure that immigrant servicemembers are well informed on their path to naturalization and allow veterans who have been deported to access the health care services they need.” More here.> Rep. Juan Vargas Reintroduces Deported Veterans Bill Package

President Trump, keeping his promises has already done many positive thing’s for the Military. I hope he and the DOJ looks into this.

BTW, despite attacks from the left, right and “The Lamestream Media” the President had a pretty impressive first six months. 

As always, God bless America and you. 

This is crap. This needs to stop. VA waste.

This is ridiculous and shameful. With all the money this country wastes in the government, on welfare abuse, immigration, left leaning policies, refugees, the UN, this should not be. This should be one of the most smooth running organizations we have, we owe it to the Veterans. This makes me sick.

From the famed Sharyl Attkisson. Thank you. “A medical doctor-turned-whistleblower was part of a team that reviewed veterans’ medical files to see if they’re entitled to compensation for Agent Orange injuries. He says he caught reviewers pushing through files at an improbable rate, failing to give them a proper review and often denying vets their due. The company, a V.A. contractor, denies it.”

If I wanted to declare Martial Law in America I would…

I would stared to defund the Military and weaken it as much as possible. I would start by getting rid of the top General’s and high ranking officers with experience in war, those with an outstanding carer and loyalty to God and country and replaces them with younger, inexperienced and probably more sympathetic to the progressive movement.

I would probably want to take control of as much of the American economy as possible. Let’s say maybe Healthcare and from there make sure I take control of by putting my friends and sympathetic leaders to the progressive movement in place of powerful arms of the government. Let’s say the E.P.A. the I.R.S. and D.O.J.for starters.

I would do everything I could to disarm the American citizen and start buying up all the ammunition making it harder to get a hold of and raising the prices at the same time and to make sure I was well supplied. Then I would start doing the same thing with supplies of survival type’s of food that people and patriotic type groups might be buying up for themselves  I would also star Militarizing the local police department’s, they might be more willing to take orders and control their community’s also because there will probably be parts of the Military that won’t fall in lien.

I would alienate Americas allies and make it easier for her enemies to influences and take a foot hold in the country via “Political Correctness”, not enforcing laws and by any other means possible.

I would promise and give as much free stuff/ benefits to community’s loyal to my party. I would also flood the country with illegal immigrant’s not loyal to the country and be more willing to go along with the program and supply them also with the aforementioned free stuff and benefits. I would ask illegals to join the Military and promise them citizenship for there service. They would be more likely to support the agenda and ad to the weakness of the Military.

I would do everything I could to dived the Nation along racial lines, economics, “economic inequality” and anything else that would keep them from coming together and uniting.

I would make as many executive orders as possible to seize more control, see how far I could go and to enrage the opposite party to possibly get them to react in a unpopular manner. I would blame everything on them and stop everything they tried to do in government in an effort to dived them and maybe even destroy the party.

With everything in chaos and constantly getting worse, seemingly out of control at any time of my choosing like right before my last term as president or riot’s might start to spread across America, I would become king.

One more thing that might go along with this agenda. If I Were the Devil –  PAUL HARVEY  

Just a thought, what if? Does this sound like anything happening in America today? God bless America and you AND the Patriot that would fill the gap and hold the line.