Blind
Veterans National Chapter #1
WEB SITE: http://www.davbvnc1.com/contents.htm
July/August 2014 Newsletter
Editor: Dennis O’Connell
Bvnc1@optonline.net is the new email address
"IF I CANNOT SPEAK GOOD OF MY COMRADE,
I WILL NOT SPEAK
Commander
Carroll Prosser (SC)
Phone
(843) 997-1981
Email:
heypops43@gmail.com
Senior
vice Commander James Hogan (CA)
1st
Junior vice Commander Terry Livingston (FL)
2nd Junior vice Commander
3rd Vice Commander Ron Lester
4th
Junior vice Commander William Burgess
Judge
Advocate Dennis O’Connell (NY)
Chaplain Rev. Tony Martino (IL)
Phone 847 736 2111
email: deaconmartino@gmail.com
Adjutant/Treasurer Paul Kaminsky (FL)
(also webmaster)
Phone
904 291-0576
email: pkjax@kaminsky.com
Immediate
Past Commander Richard Bugbee (AZ)
PLEASE,
if you know of any member who is sick or deceased inform one of the officers
whose contact information is listed above ASAPP.
Robert Abshire, Colorado Springs CO
Stephen Hofheimer, Clearwater FL
Joseph McNeil, Columbus GA
Donald Overton, Palm Bay FL
Robert Tullis, Tucson AZ
MESSAGE FROM THE COMMANDER
My fellow Blind Chapter members, it was really
good to see many of you at the national convention. Wish more could have
attended but we are all getting older and that has really made a difference in
our attendance. The convention was full of information and we are looking for a
successful year under Commander Ron Hope.
Thank you for the honor of serving as the
Blind Chapter commander for another year and we also look forward to a
successful year for each of us.
A great big thank you to all of our new
officer for stepping up and agreeing to serve. A special thank you to adjutant
Paul Kaminski for a job well done, not only at the convention, but also during
the year. The best part of the convention was the opportunity to spend social
time with the members and their wives.
I wish each of you peace and good health,
FROM A LATE MEMBER, Glenn R. Logan
1Lt, USA (Ret), LPC, CAC-III
Many of our blinded Vets also have
PTSD, and it is important for everyone to know that it is not a life sentence!
His
letter:
A
few of your recent articles on the problems encountered by the Wounded Warrior
Transition Unit at Fort Carson have made it to the ‘Military Medical News’ of
late. This is a subject that is very near to my heart, as I bear a VA diagnosis
of Severe Combat-Related Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (in partial remission).
My diagnosis was as the result of Korea, Vietnam and a couple of wars in which
I was an ‘observer’, but the dynamics are similar to what was described by
Alexander the Great in the years of the Peloponnesian Wars.
I’m
very happy with the designation ‘in partial remission’. This means that, on
days when my serenity is low, I may exhibit a ‘startle reaction’, or maybe
break out in a sweat and smell gunpowder if I see a snatch of a jungle warfare
movie on TV. This can be controlled by using self-talk and meditation to ensure
that my serenity level is high enough to prevent the appearance of PTSD
symptoms, and a high serenity level correlates well with increased longevity
and better health (so I gain an added benefit)
For
17 years after I left Vietnam, I self-medicated with alcohol. I had no idea
what was wrong, and thereby no inkling that it could be healed. Then I was
arrested for a DUI, and this set in motion the events that would lead to
‘partial remission’.
I
was required to enroll in a treatment center for alcoholism and drug addiction
(my blood alcohol had been .369 and I was coherent, indicating that the disease
of alcoholism was severe). Against the odds (only one in ten stay sober for any
significant length of time), I’ve been sober for over 22 years and counting.
A
series of coincidences led to my enrolling in Graduate School to become a
Clinical Mental Health Counselor (and simultaneously to start training as an
eventual Senior Chemical Addictions Counselor). One of my Professors suggested
that I go to the VA to get help with my PTSD (I did not realize that it was so
obvious that it could be spotted in the classroom), so I went to the Vet Center
and entered counseling.
At
the Vet Center, my Readjustment Counselor was a former Army Chaplain who was
also recovering from PTSD, and the men in my group all had PTSD with symptoms
about as intense as my own. My first epiphany was the realization that I was
not a freak, I was simply having normal reactions to abnormal stimuli. This
allowed for the possibility of getting better. As we shared our stories of the
incidents that caused the initial reactions, and learned about the triggers
that reproduced these reactions in the present, we were able to unbundle the
physical, emotional, mental and spiritual components of the symptoms we were
demonstrating, and healing began.
I
subscribe to a theory of treatment that I attribute to Dr. Charles Figley, a
giant in the treatment of PTSD. This is that there is a ‘Trauma Membrane’ that
folks with PTSD establish around themselves. It is tough and leathery, and the
more attempts are made to get inside this membrane, the tougher it becomes. But
someone who has had a similar experience is welcomed inside the membrane, for
they will not treat their fellows as freaks! (This theory has a lot of support
in the literature on treatment of PTSD in rape and child sexual abuse victims.)
The
‘trauma membrane’ theory does not preclude non-PTSD-suffering therapists
from being effective, but it does suggest that they might better function
as ‘moderators’ while the victims in the group heal each other.
Professionally,
subsequent to my 22-year Army Intelligence career and 13 years as ceo of a small
defense contractor, I worked as a Senior Chemical Addictions Counselor,
Veterans Readjustment Counselor, Psychiatric Evaluator in the Emergency Rooms
of city hospitals, and Adjunct Professor of Psychology at PPCC. The years in
the healing professions paid little by comparison, but they were by far more
personally satisfying, for me.
FAREWELL MARINE the combat boots are empty and
finally they're still, they’re set carefully at attention, they've marched up
their last hill. The rifle, too, is silent now and unwaveringly erected,
Holding up the well-worn helmet of the Marine it once protected.
Farewell Marine United States Marine Taps USMC
Marines Honor Combat Boots Rifle Comrades Tribute Memorial Brotherhood Brother
of Man Hero Heroes Buddy Farewell Sacrifice Sacrifices Proud Marine the Proud
the Few the United States Marines Marine Corps USMC
GREYHOUND
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veteran families with a 40 percent nationally recognized discount on Greyhound
Package Express (GPX), the company’s expedited shipping service. U.S. Active
Duty Military, Veterans, National Guard & Reserve and their families
holding.
FOR
YOUR INFORMATION
ASPCA
Animal Poison Control Number: (888)426-4435
FROM THE EDITOR
It was a good turnout by the membership of the Blind
Veterans National Chapter #1 in Las Vegas for the DAV National Convention this
year. Our meetings accomplished a great deal, and I’m sure our
Adjutant/Treasurer, Paul Kaminsky, will give an overview in the next issue.
For the first time, many of us stayed an extra day
and enjoyed dinner together and then the show “Jersey Boys”.
Maybe
someone will come up with some ideas that we can do together in Denver in 2015?
If
anyone receives this through snail mail and would prefer email, please let me
know via email: bvnc1@optonline.net
Congratulations
to our own Paul Kaminsky, who was elected to the office of District Director 5
for the BVA.
TOP
TEN DISABILITIES CLAIMED BY VETERANS
1. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
2. Sleep Apnea
3. Diabetes Type II
4. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
5. Irritable Bowel Syndrome
6. Tinnitus
7. Peripheral Neuropathy
8. Depression
9. Anxiety
10. Various Skin Disorders