Thank you for your service to our country. May your family find some peace in this difficult time.

:( 

So sad. 

Story on ABC says he was murdered by a former marine who he was trying to help..... 

so terrible when boys go far away to wars, and make it back home..only to be killed in the US.. 

This is so sad. 

More than one person thinks it's a conspiracy. Either way, the US is missing one amazing man. 

I am being to wonder about a conspiracy too. Look at all of the shootings? What is going on? 

I am being to wonder about a conspiracy too. Look at all of the shootings? What is going on?


It's the chem trails that did it. They were reportedly seen overhead right before the PTSD Marine shot them. Obama sent them there to upset the guys brain waves, after consulting with Hillary and Bill. It's all a conspiracy for sure. 

Wow. Now that's one perspective I hadn't considered. 

No conspiracy......
Two former soldiers trying to help another back from the stresses of combat.
They let their guard down and this marines mental illness took over.
The fact that the two heroes were helping another is indisputable, the issue is did they have the professional training to accomplish what they were doing?
As a veteran, I would also want to help another veteran who may reach out, but I am not trained to do so and hate the fact that these veterans died after doing so much good for others.
The DoD and DoA need to step up and do something with the individual's they have just turned out after leaving the military.

I still haven't heard a word from the current administration regarding this tragedy, guess he's too busy "doing skeet shooting"! 

I agree, we need to help those who have helped defend our country. 

I still haven't heard a word from the current administration regarding this tragedy, guess he's too busy "doing skeet shooting"!

Piss poor taste. You just blew any credibility or goodwill you might have gained to solicit help for fellow veterans. If it was me, I'd be hanging my head in shame for sinking as low as you have. 

GP,

IT'S HIS JOB!!!

HE IS THE COMMANDER IN CHIEF.

ONE OF HIS FORMER TROOPS WAS MURDERED.

HE needs to lead by example and quit ignoring the issue, maybe an executive order, maybe a congressional committee, anything but his disdain for the MILITARY, current, past and future. 

IT'S HIS JOB!!!



He has not been able to spin this in a manner that will benefit him or his agenda so there is not urgency to make a statement.

GeorgiaP, you should be used to people ignoring tragedy in order to profit from others loss, your president and his crew do it as a rule.

Odd how even when you (erroneously) perceive an uncaring attitude from someone that you don't agree with it upsets you but when you, with your mental illness that doubles as the liberal mind set and your crooked politicians live it on a daily basis you applaud it. A twisted mind indeed. 

I am sorry that two good veterans are dead, but many more are included on the list of hundreds of dead killed by guns since Sandy Hook.

This is quite similar to Adam Lanza’s mother in Newtown who encouraged her mentally unstable kid to take up shooting and brought him to a range thinking this would be good therapy for him.

Lesson here is that people suffering from mental problems and veterans suffering from PTSD shouldn't be be anywhere near weapons. Have a look at the enormous suicide risk among military vets these days and especially among those with PTSD, and guns are the last thing that you would want them to have.

But then there is nothing logical about gun nuttery. And the President is thankfuly addressing this. 

Oh right, this goes back to guns.

What they need is treatment for their PTSD , not removing their weapons that we were happy to give them when it was convenient for us but them take them away after we give them trauma that creates a disorder?

How can you turn this into a gun thread when a man who we owe so much to has lost his life? I highly doubt his family would appreciate that. 

Yes, and Obama wants cuts to the military budget. He has no intention of helping our military personnel. He shows his disdain for our military heroes on a regular basis. 

Give the man some respect, please. He is not even buried yet. 

But then there is nothing logical about gun nuttery. And the President is thankfuly addressing this.


By your logic, we should ban alcohol too as drunk driving kills more kids per year than gun violence via mass shooting ever did.

We can call it addressing "alcohol nuttery" 

OMG really? The President isn't doing #$%@! And I suggest you head back to Georgia before that idiot shows up in Texas to take any guns. 

If you can't just pay your respects to a decorated hero then quit posting. 

And my respect goes out to these men and their families and friends. 

If you can't just pay your respects to a decorated hero then quit posting.


Well Chris Kyle was very pro-gun and opposed the President's policies, so defending his views would be like a homage to him. 

You people are sick...and crazy.

Conspiracies...smh

As for Obama, unless you're a veteran, don't speak about how he treats us. 

Well Chris Kyle was very pro-gun and opposed the President's policies, so defending his views would be like a homage to him.


As do most, if not all, of our veterans! 

OL AG stated that he is a veteran. 

JAMS, being a veteran, didn't you defend my right to speak freely? 

But then there is nothing logical about gun nuttery. And the President is thankfuly addressing this. 


So because I own guns and fought to protect my freedoms, I AM A GUN NUT?

Obama is NOT ADRESSING the underlying issue, he is attacking our rights as Americans to own weapons, not only for "doing skeet shooting" like him, but to protect our families when required. 

Guns protect his children. 

Yes, and Obama wants cuts to the military budget. He has no intention of helping our military personnel. He shows his disdain for our military heroes on a regular basis.

Wrong.

For Immediate Release August 31, 2012

Fact Sheet: President Obama Signs Executive Order to Improve Access to Mental Health Services for Veterans, Service Members, and Military Families


WASHINGTON, DC – Today, President Obama will sign an Executive Order directing key federal departments to expand suicide prevention strategies and take steps to meet the current and future demand for mental health and substance abuse treatment services for veterans, service members, and their families.

Ensuring that all veterans, Active, Guard, and Reserve service members and their families receive the support they deserve is a top priority for the Obama Administration. Since September 11, 2001, more than two million service members have deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan with unprecedented duration and frequency. Long deployments and intense combat conditions require optimal support for the emotional and mental health needs of our service members and their families. The Obama Administration has consistently expanded efforts to ensure our troops, veterans and their families receive the benefits they have earned and deserve, including providing timely mental health service. The Executive Order signed today builds on these efforts.

President Obama’s Executive Order

The Executive Order signed by President Obama:

Strengthens suicide prevention efforts across the Force and in the veteran community:

•The Executive Order directs the VA to increase the VA veteran crisis line capacity by 50% by the end of the year.

•Under the Executive Order, VA will ensure that any veteran identifying him or herself as being in crisis connects with a mental health professional or trained mental health worker within 24 hours or less.

•VA will work with the Department of Defense to develop and implement a national 12 month suicide prevention campaign focused on connecting veterans to mental health services.
Enhances access to mental health care by building partnerships between VA and community providers:

•In service areas where VA has faced challenges in hiring and placing mental health service providers and continues to have unfilled vacancies or long wait times, the Executive Order Directs the Department of Veterans Affairs to work with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish at least 15 pilot sites. In pilot sites, VA will contract with community health centers, community mental health clinics, community substance abuse treatment facilities and other HHS grantees and community resources to help reduce VA mental health waiting lists.

•Under the Executive Order, HHS and VA will develop a plan for a rural mental health recruitment initiative to promote opportunities for VA and rural communities to share mental health providers when demand is insufficient for either to support a full-time provider.
Increases the number of VA mental health providers serving our veterans:

•Under the Executive Order, VA will hire 800 peer-to-peer support counselors to empower veterans to support other veterans and help ensure that their mental health care and overall service needs are met.

•VA has launched an effort to hire 1,600 new mental health professionals to serve veterans. The Executive Order directs VA to use its pay-setting authorities, loan repayment and scholarships, partnerships with health care workforce training programs, and collaborative arrangements with community-based providers to recruit, hire, and place 1,600 mental health professionals by June, 2013. Since, 2009, the VA has expanded its mental health programs, hiring more than 3,500 mental health professionals since 2009.
Promotes mental health research and development of more effective treatment methodologies:
•The Executive Order directs the Department of Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Education to develop a National Research Action Plan that will include strategies to improve early diagnosis and treatment effectiveness for TBI and PTSD.

•The Executive Order further directs the Department of Defense and Department of Health and Human Services to conduct a comprehensive mental health study with an emphasis on PTSD, TBI, and related injuries to develop better prevention, diagnosis, and treatment options.
Launch a government-wide collaborative effort to address these issues through a Military and Veterans Mental Health Interagency Task Force:

•The Executive Order establishes an Interagency Task Force, including the Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Education, the Domestic Policy Council, National Security Staff, the Office of Management and Budget, the Office of Science and Technology Policy, and the Office of National Drug Control Policy, which will make recommendations to the President on additional strategies to improve mental health and substance abuse treatment services for veterans, service members, and their families.
Supporting our Military, Veterans, and their Families

The President has taken key steps to protect and strengthen the health of our military, veterans and their families here at home. Many of these initiatives are supported by agencies across the federal government and collaborative partnerships with states and communities.

Health Care
•For the first time ever, 135 medical schools have committed to exchanging leading research on PTSD and TBI and will also train future physicians to better understand veteran health needs. More than 150 state and national nursing organizations and over 650 nursing schools have committed to ensure our nation’s 3 million nurses are prepared to meet the unique health needs of veterans and their families by educating the current and future nurses of America to have a better understanding of PTSD and TBI.

•President Obama signed the “caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010”, into law which helps our most seriously injured post-9/11 veterans and their family caregivers with a monthly stipend; access to health insurance; mental health services and counseling; and comprehensive VA caregiver training and respite care.

•The Department of Labor has proposed new regulations for the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to support military families and caregivers. This rule would implement statutory changes to the FMLA, expanding leave to family members caring for veterans who have suffered a serious injury or illness.

•In July 2010, the VA published a historic change to its rules, streamlining the process and paperwork needed by combat veterans to pursue a claim for disability pay for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

•The VA expanded its workforce by over 2,600 people to handle applications for disability pay. The VA is also using technology and new approaches to help veterans get their benefits by accepting online applications for initial disability benefits, initiating an innovation competition, launching pilot initiatives, and investing over $128 million in a paperless Veterans Benefits Management System.

•The administration is utilizing partnerships to reduce the stigma associated with seeking treatment for behavioral health issues. Make the Connection, a campaign launched by the Department of Veterans Affairs, is creating ways for veterans and their family members to connect with the experiences of other veterans and access the information and resources to help these families confront the challenges of transitioning from service to daily civilian life. 

So once again, with all those programs and MILLIONS of dollars spent......

The outcome is still the same prior to them.

SSDD......

HE IS WORTHLESS AS A LEADER!! 

So because I own guns and fought to protect my freedoms, I AM A GUN NUT?

So do I. But I'm reasonable and realize that there need to be better background checks and also reacognize that NUTS should not have access to firearms. This is what the majority of people, even NRA members, think. 

GeorgiaPeach, that Executive Order is just words on paper. Go live on a military base for a while and see how they are treated. 

SEE RESPONSIBLE GUN OWNER....

But the liberals want to limit gun ownership for EVERYONE.

Not once have they said they are targeting mental illness, only attacking guns and WHAT they consider acceptable for you and I to own.

SEE Diane Feinstein........ And HER list of unacceptable weapons. 

They are releasing murderers from prison to make room for the gun nuts. 

The military budget was greatly reduced and is about to be reduced even more. Much MORE is needed for those wounded esp in the area of PTSD. Same with mental health in the general population. But again the emphasis is on guns not the shooters.