MONTANA DEMOCRAT SENATOR WALSH HAS DEDICATED HIS CAREER TO - TopicsExpress



          

MONTANA DEMOCRAT SENATOR WALSH HAS DEDICATED HIS CAREER TO VETERANS SUICIDE PREVENTION! ITS AN IMMEDIATE TOP PRIORITY! The Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that more than 22 veterans die by suicide each day. The bill would expand veteran eligibility for mental health services from five to 15 years. “Preventing Americas heroes from falling to suicide isnt a partisan issue,” Walsh said. “It is our duty to come together and fight on behalf of those who fought for us, and Sen. Murkowskis support will strengthen this bill and send the urgent message that our veterans need care now.” Walsh and Murkowskis home state colleagues Sens. Jon Tester and Mark Begich, both Democrats, have co-sponsored the SAV Act, as well as Democratic Sens. Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Patty Murray of Washington, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and Ron Wyden of Oregon. - Bozeman Daily Chronicle, 5/9/14 And Walsh has gained a strong ally in his fight: newsday/... For years after leaving the Army, Iraq War veteran Kristofer Goldsmith seethed over his forced discharge after combat-related depression led him to attempt suicide days before he was scheduled to be sent back into battle. He embraced an outsiders attitude and wore a Mohawk haircut to indicate his disillusionment. But disgruntlement gave way to organizing, and Goldsmith, a student at Nassau Community College, eventually persuaded Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand to look into the Pentagons practice of kicking soldiers out of the military because of service-related psychological problems. Gillibrand Wednesday cited Goldsmiths apprisals as she announced her support for legislation that would force the military to include psychological health experts on panels that handle appeals from veterans seeking to clear their records of disciplinary discharges. While the men and women of our military risk their lives to protect our country, too many of the service members have been discharged as a result of undiagnosed or improperly diagnosed mental-health conditions, Gillibrand said. Gillibrand, who made the announcement at the NCC campus in Garden City, said unfair disciplinary discharges can deny veterans access to U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs medical care, disability checks, GI Bill student aid and other benefits they earned with their military service. Employers often shun veterans who have less than a full honorable discharge, making it even harder for veterans to transition from military service to productive civilian life. The Senate legislation, initially sponsored by Montana Democrats John Walsh and Jon Tester, was based on recommendations by the Iraq/Afghanistan Veterans of America, an advocacy group in which Goldsmith has emerged as a leader. - Newsday, 4/16/14 And Walshs supporters of this bill have played a big role in writing it: collegian/... A supporter of the bill, Jason Sydoriak, served two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. Sydoriak is the president of the student veterans at CSU and went to Washington, D.C. to lobby for the bill alongside 30 other veterans. Walsh, a sponsor of the bill, is the first Iraq combat veteran to serve in the U.S. Senate. He led an infantry battalion in Iraq, and one of his corporals died by suicide after returning home. Sydoriak represented the Iraq Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), the largest not-for-profit, non-partisan organization lobbying for veteran rights. “(We’d) tell them what we want. Some of us have some stories — people that either have dealt with suicide themselves (or) know someone who has died by suicide,” Sydoriak said. One of the main provisions of the bill includes extending the free health care coverage for veterans receive coming out of the military from five to 15 years. This would give veterans more time to determine whether or not they have symptoms of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, Traumatic Brain Injury, depression or anything else. Nick McCormick, a legislative associate at Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, was one of the people responsible for writing the bill. “We do the largest survey of Iraq and Afghanistan vets outside the government and from the feedback we got from that survey this year, the top concern we had was suicide and other provisional mental health issues … (so) we took a look at the suicide and mental health legislation pending before Congress,” McCormick said. “There were a lot of stand-alone bills that tackled a lot of different issues, and so based upon that, we just decided the best way to go forward was to package all these ideas in a comprehensive piece of legislation that addresses a few different things.” “This is a very personal issue for him,” a representative from Walsh’s office said. “The senator views it as a non-partisan issue because all Americans should be committed to taking care of our veterans right now. It’s just Sen. Walsh sponsoring it with a handful of other democrats but he has ongoing conversations with other Republican members to ask them to support the legislation.” - Collegian Central, 5/5/14 And more Veterans are standing up and speaking out on this issue: newsandtribune/... “When it comes to veteran suicide, I was almost a causality of that war,” said Indianapolis resident Zach McIlwain. Combat isn’t unfamiliar to McIlwain. In the Army for eight years, the 27-year-old served two tours in Iraq, finishing his military career as an infantry platoon sergeant. Once he left the Army, things didn’t go as easily as planned. Figuring out employment and other matters in the civilian world can be tough for those recently out, especially for veterans harboring mental and physical problems from their years in war zones. Missing their support group of friends from the military also takes a toll. For McIlwain, a 980-day Veterans Affairs backlog and processing problems with his injury claims didn’t help either. “Nothing was moving forward. Nothing was really going the way I wanted. I was missing something from my life and I couldn’t figure out what it was,” he said. “I got to a point almost like ... if this is what life has to offer me, I don’t want to live it. “Luckily my wife is fantastic. She said, ‘Look, you’re down in the dumps. You’re really struggling. You need to go get some help.’” And he did. Using the Post 9/11 GI Bill, he finished his degree in economics with cum laude honors from Ball State University and works in the banking sector. But McIlwain’s passion revolves around assisting other veterans overcome their mental health struggles through his position as a Veteran Leadership Fellow for the IAVA. In March, McIlwain participated in the IAVA’s Storm the Hill initiative as one of 32 advocates for veteran’s affairs. This year, the group focused on suicide prevention. More than 1,000 American flags were placed on the National Mall lawn to remember those veterans who had killed themselves thus far in 2014. In addition, throughout their time on the Hill, members of the organization met with Congress about legislation that could reduce the number of veterans who take their own life. One bill called the Suicide Prevention for America’s Veterans Act received its full support. - News & Tribune, 5/19/14 Walsh is the only member of the U.S. Senate to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan. Hes need now more than ever because we need someone who has experienced what these troops coming back from war have gone through. We need men like Walsh to help us address this serious issue. Of course Walsh has also been handling other issues in the Senate and taking this job seriously. Hes been looking out for Native American issues:
Posted on: Tue, 23 Dec 2014 17:20:20 +0000

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