The Travis Mills Foundation supports post 9/11 recalibrated veterans and their families through long-term programs that help these heroic men and women overcome physical obstacles, strengthen their families, and provide well-deserved rest and relaxation.
We support these veterans through our nationally recognized retreat located in the Belgrade Lakes Region of Maine. Veteran families who have been injured in active duty or as a result of their service to our nation receive an all-inclusive, all-expenses paid, barrier-free vacation in Maine where they participate in adaptive activities, bond with other veteran families, and enjoy much-needed rest and relaxation in Maine’s outdoors.
Native American veterans still struggling to get the health care they were promised
Cronkite News By Madeline Ackley Jan 19, 2020
“It was very hard to get into,” Barnes-Saucedo said of the VA system. “Since I was freshly out of the military, I still had a hard time getting into a clinic down in the Phoenix VA.”
Vanissa Barnes-Saucedo said she hasn't received the same respect and resources as fellow Hopi veterans who are male. She is one of an estimated 133,899 Native American Veterans. Madeline Ackley Photo Cronkite News
KYKOTSMOVI — Vanissa Barnes-Saucedo was 21 when military recruiters stopped her in a shopping mall, waving enlistment papers in front of her. Although she says she wasn’t entirely sure what she was getting herself into, she signed the papers anyway.
For the next six years, Barnes-Saucedo was stationed around the world: Virginia, Colorado, South Korea, Kuwait and Iraq. However, by the time she was honorably discharged in 2014, she suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.
When she returned home to northeastern Arizona, Barnes-Saucedo had difficulty navigating the Department of Veterans Affairs — the government agency in charge of veterans’ health care. She’s Hopi, born and raised on her tribe’s ancestral lands. The nearest full-service VA center, in Flagstaff, is a two hour drive; the VA campus in Phoenix is a four hour trip.
“It was very hard to get into,” Barnes-Saucedo said of the VA system. “Since I was freshly out of the military, I still had a hard time getting into a clinic down in the Phoenix VA.”
Although she didn’t mind making the trip, she said she was bothered by the treatment she received there.
“They made me feel like . . . I was making up some of the issues I was having,” she said. Barnes-Saucedo also wanted to make in-person doctor appointments but felt pressured by staff members to use the telemedicine service instead.
“I felt helpless . . . It was difficult,” she said. Eventually, she decided to go to her local Indian Health Service center, a government-run agency tasked with caring for Native populations. read it here
The factors behind alarming suicide rate among women veterans
KOAA News By: Renae Skinner Jan 15, 2020
Guthmiller talked about her struggles with PTSD after she got home from deployment. She says it's a very isolating feeling.
"I would feel alone, it's nerve racking, and little things would make me nervous," Guthmiller said. "It's a really hard thing to explain."
PUEBLO — When you think of the faces of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, usually our brave men in uniform come to mind. However, one group in the military we often forget is women.
The United States Department of Veterans Affairs says the suicide rate among women veterans is double that of women who don't serve.
A local veteran and professor spoke to News5 about what factors are contributing to this startling reality.
"Being in the military, we have to be strong because we are around men," Christine Guthmiller said. "We're trying to prove ourselves, and I think it's a stigma."
Guthmiller is a veteran and a financial coordinator at the Veterans Resource Center at Colorado State University-Pueblo.
According to the U.S. Office of Veterans Affairs, the suicide rate is higher among women who report military sexual assault, domestic violence, sexual discrimination and harassment-- all factors that can contribute to PTSD. read it here
Why did they choose to overlook combat itself?
Women have served this country...including combat operations, since the Revolutionary War. They have been awarded every medal, including the Medal of Honor. They have served in every branch...even before there were branches. So why do we still assume military women do not get hit by PTSD for all the reasons males do? Is it so hard to acknowledge their service in all respects to that service?
Army Rangers
U.S. Army Sgt. Danielle Farber, Pennsylvania National Guard 166th Regional Training Institute Medical Battalion Training Site instructor, and U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Jessica Smiley, South Carolina National Guard military police non-commissioned officer currently serving with the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, graduate U.S. Army Ranger School at Fort Benning, Georgia, Dec. 13, 2019, as the first National Guard enlisted females to complete the leadership school. Smiley and Farber completed the mentally and physically challenging school, which focused on squad and platoon operations designed to prepare Soldiers to be better trained, more capable, and more resilient leaders. (Photo Credit: Sgt. Brian Calhoun)
DECEMBER 17, 2019 SGT. BRIAN CALHOUN
Navy SEAL
Navy SEALs perform advanced cold weather training in Kodiak, Alaska.Eric S. Logsdon/U.S. Navy via Getty Images/File
For the first time ever, a woman has successfully completed the rigorous screening stage for the Navy SEAL officer training program, according to an independent publication Military.com.
Though she was not selected as a SEAL, the fact that she was able to make it past the screening stage is an accomplishment on its own.
Female candidates for these jobs are required to complete the same training as men. There are no special considerations based on an individual’s physical ability.
Marine Corps Recon
Marines with 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, conduct combat rubber raiding craft training on Camp Schwab, Okinawa, Japan, on July 16. (Cpl. Josue Marquez/Marine Corps)
The first female Marine has passed the Basic Reconnaissance Course and earned the 0321 reconnaissance Marine military occupational specialty, or MOS, the Marine Corps has confirmed.
Lance Cpl. Alexa Barth graduated from the grueling 12-week course Nov. 7, 1st Lt. Sam Stephenson, Marine Corps spokesman, confirmed to Marine Corps Times Thursday.
Barth still has a few more training schools to go through before joining her unit at 1st Recon Battalion at Camp Pendleton, California, said Maj. Kendra Motz, spokeswoman for 1st Marine Division. Barth is expected to arrive at her unit late spring 2020.
It is long past the time when it is OK to dismiss what has been happening to our female veterans, or pass it all off as if PTSD is all about what happened to them as the "weaker" sex. Sure, the list above are part of the reasons female veterans get hit by PTSD, but no one assumes when a male talks about PTSD it has anything other than combat attached to it. It is time to get this right...if we are ever going to make it right! #BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife
Why you should never publish your book on April Fools Day or with Xlibris
This is a special cross post!
Wounded Times and PTSD Patrol Kathie Costos April 13, 2019
"We're not interested in owning your work...after all, we didn't write it." Xlibris
That quote is from the Xlibris brochure that made me decide on choosing them as the (FLUSHING) publisher for the book that had to "get out there" way back in 2003.
After all this time telling veterans to #BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife that is what I am doing. Breaking the silence on what has been torturing me for all these years and taking back control over my own work! I wrote FOR THE LOVE OF JACK, HIS WAR/MY BATTLE before 9-11 but could not find a publisher. After all, it was about a veteran's family living with PTSD. To top that off, the veteran was a Vietnam veteran. You know, before they were big news again.
After 9-11, I added to the ending and had the copyright done in 2002. 2003 I decided to self publish it. On April 1, 2003 it was published.
Yes, April Fools Day! Should have known right there it was off to a bad start with this (FLUSH) company.
After 16 years...I can assure you, that while the actual ownership of the book does belong to me, they have not seemed to be able to remember that fact. I was hearing from people about reading the book, but saw few sales reported. I questioned Xlibris and they said that they were "used" books they must have been reading. Used book? How when there were only a few "new" ones sold according to them. Just to find out what was going on, I ordered 2 books from Barnes and Noble. I had them shipped to the store and yes, paid full price. The bar code did not work. Anyway, a few more emails and trust was gone. I wanted my book out of their hands. I told them to stop printing it. That didn't work. Really odd that they did not manage to explain why the book was still being sold, if there were no sales. I wrote to the Better Business Bureau and Xlibris responded with it was my ego that was involved and not their problem. Besides, they also said that I was taking up too much of their time. Odd thing is that responding to the BBB, they said that "half a dozen" more were sold. By 2004 I totally had it and my lawyer sent them a letter to stop publishing it and give me a full report. In 2005, the book was still being sold. I (FLUSH) emailedthem again!
This is their response.
RE: STOP SELLING MY BOOK/CANCELLATION CONFIRMATION Mon, Mar 14, 2005 6:33 am Channel (Channel@Xlibris.com)
Dear Ms. Costos, As long as Ingram still has physical copies of your book in stock, your book will continue to be listed as available and people can continue to purchase copies of it through the different online resellers. Another way to get hold of your book is through the used book resellers.
What happened was when customers decided to sell their used copy of a book to these resellers; they can set the book's price to any amount they want when they list it with online resellers with Amazon.com, Borders.com, Barnes and Noble.com. Xlibris does not have a relationship with these used book resellers nor do we have a say in the way they operate their business since they got these books from the customers who decided to sell their purchased books to them. Further, these used book resellers are entitled to sell used book under the first sale doctrine of copyright law.
This email is also to confirm the cancellation of your book with Xlibris. Your book entitled "For The Love of Jack", with ISBN 1-4010-8691-8, is no longer available for sale through our Xlibris website or the 800 number. Although no new copies of your book will be produced from this point forward you should be aware that due to our relationship with various printers and book distributors, physical copies of your book currently exist within the book vending channels. For reasons of quality assurance and to provide a more efficient ordering process, Ingram will keep a handful of copies of all titles listed with them in stock at all times.Ingram currently shows one (1) physical copy of your book in stock.Your title will remain available in the channels until this copy is sold. When a title is listed as cancelled, production knows not to replenish this stock once it is depleted. Unfortunately, it must be depleted before Ingram will remove the title's listing from its system.
Amazon and the other online channels base their listing information from what Ingram's system provides. As a result, as long as Ingram has copies in stock, title will remain listed with the online stores. These online resellers and distributors could not change the availability of your book to out of stock until somebody purchases these remaining books from them.
The copies that the online retailers have were purchased from us (you were paid royalties for these sales) giving the resellers the right to continue the sale of your book with no implication on the contract between you and Xlibris. Please note that as part of Barnes and Noble's sales programs, titles that are considered "out of print" are kept in the system as such to allow customers the ability to track hard-to-find books. Hard-to-find and out-of-print books present a great source of revenue for these businesses, which is why they continue listing books that are no longer available through their distributor. We would like you to know that it has been a pleasure doing business with you. We wish you success in your writing endeavors and we hope to work with you again in the future.
How could there be more "used" copies than ones I had been "paid for" in the first place?
"Hard-to-find and out-of-print books present a great source of revenue for these businesses, which is why they continue listing books that are no longer available through their distributor."
A great source of revenue that are no longer available? Is this why they refused to pull the book? FLUSHING seriously?
I emailed them again and told them I wanted this stopped! I asked them how I could finally get this done.
This is their reply.
Channel (Channel@Xlibris.com)To:you (Bcc) + 1 more DetailsDear Ma'am,Currently, there is only one (1) physical copy of the book left at Ingram's microinventory. You may purchase this remaining copy either through Amazon/Borders.com or Barnes and Noble.com. Based on Amazon's listing, it is indicated that there is only 1 left in stock for your title. List Price: $20.99
So I paid full price for that book and others!
Well this kept going on, and on, and on! I tried giving away free PDF of it, and that happened many times, because I figured if I was not getting paid, I could at least control that and get it into the hands of people it would help. In 2012, I opted to have it republished with a few changes on Amazon.
Long story short, 2019 and the book was still online. I am planning on writing the follow up. Last week, after trying to get my ducks in a row for more changes coming to this site (which we'll talk about later), I went onto Amazon and saw that the damn thing was still online right next to the one I put up in 2012. I hit the roof when I saw that there were "new" copies and "used" copies.
I sent an email to Xlibris, Lightening Source/Ingram (the printer) and Amazon legal department.Ingram legal department responded, just stating that "The title in question, For the Love of Jack / EAN 9781401086916, is already cancelled in our system." with no answer as to when that was done or why it was still available.
Cutting this shorter than including in all the evidence and emails back and forth, on March 28, 2019 Xlibris responded with,
"However, although no new copies were produced, we would like to make you aware that due to our relationship with various printers and book distributors, physical copies of your book may currently exist within the book vending channels until these copies have been sold out."
The email went on to state that, when a book is out of print, it can still be online but will show "out of print" or "not available" even though I had already shown them, that according to Amazon, they had at least one new one.
So, I ordered it and it shipped.
I didn't know I was a magician! How did I manage to buy a brand new book that went extinct in 2005? Wow, looks like there are a lot of (FLUSHING) magic tricks going on!
This new copy that did not exist shipped out the day after I ordered it from California.
On April 1, 2019, exactly 16 years after they published my book, I asked them to tell me when they supposedly stopped it from being printed. On April 2, 2019 they responded with this.
"Upon further checking, the book was cancelled way back March 11, 2005. Therefore, there was really a time wherein the book was available."
When questioned again as to how it was possible I managed to buy a new book...and not a new one, they replied with this.
The books I bought online in 2005 were new, and they had emailed acknowledgement of at least one of them. How were they not able to decide when they "cancelled" it? Was it 2004? 2005? And how the (FLUSH) were people making money off new ones when Xlibris denied the existence of new ones? How did I manage to buy new books, yes, paying full price, for books that went extinct? I called Morgan and Morgan yesterday and ran down what happened. They wanted to know how many I thought were sold. How the (FLUSH) would I know that since Xlibris keeps saying that only "used" copies are being sold and they have "no control" over that? The lesson here is, never publish on April Fools Day...or with Xlibris because after 16 years of putting me through hell, they cannot, or will not, explain how it is a book that had so few sales, according to them, IS STILL BEING SOLD!
Two wheel power drive Combat PTSD Wounded Times and PTSD Patrol Kathie Costos August 4, 2018 This week's PTSD Patrol Sunday Morning Empowerment Zone is still going up tomorrow, as always, but I wanted you to see what this week's video is about ahead of time. When you think about a vehicle with 2 wheels, right away, I know your thinking of the Harley's roaring down the street. This is about a different 2 wheeler. This is about pushing forward with your own power and training to do it. The people in the pictures below lost something, but ended up gaining a lot more. Their 2 wheel vehicles are wheelchairs! Yesterday at the Ovideo Aquatic Facility the 38th National Veterans Wheelchair Games.
The National Veterans Wheelchair Games is co-presented between the Department of Veterans Affairs and Paralyzed Veterans of America. The Games serve Veterans with Spinal Cord Injury, Multiple Sclerosis, Amputations and other central neurological impairments with the goal to increase their independence, healthy activity and quality of life through wheelchair sports and recreation. Veterans are being exposed to wheelchair sports at their home VAMC or PVA Chapters as part of their rehabilitation to improve function, independence and getting them active in their home communities in sport and fitness.
This group is training to be "lifters" to help get the veterans into the pool and out of it.
Oviedo High School Volunteers
This veteran started having trouble...in a blink of an eye, the lifeguards were there to help her!
Check back tomorrow morning for this week's video.
UPDATE It is Sunday Morning! The beginning of a new week and hopefully, a new beginning for you too! By now, you watched the video and saw how all of these athletes received help to achieve their goals. That is how everyone moves on in life. You had a desire to serve. They had a desire to do that too. You had to be trained to do it. So did they. They needed help to get out of the wheelchairs. Help to learn how to swim with their physical limits but they did not limit themselves to what they were expected to do. You should not settle for being limited to what people expect out of you with your disability. They needed help on every part of this trip in their lives, and so do you. Sure, I know most wheelchairs have more than two wheels but when you think about it, that is really all you need. One wheel moves you but the other one guides you to where you want to go. So where do you want to go? The only limits on your life are those you settle for. Want to get up and move that vehicle you live in? Then #TakeBackYourLife and find the drive to do it.
On a personal note: Gunny, there is something on the end of this just for you! Thank you for being such a huge part of encouraging me to never give up!
