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    Protesters: Veteran shoots self at Vt. encampment

    By DAVE GRAM - Associated Press | AP – Fri, Nov 11, 2011

    BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — Police said preliminary investigations show a 35-year-old military veteran fatally shot himself in the head Thursday at an Occupy Wall Street encampment in Vermont's largest city.

    Burlington police said the name of the Chittenden County resident is being withheld because his family has not been fully notified.

    The man shot himself inside a tent in City Hall Park on Thursday afternoon. Mike Noble, a spokesman for the Fletcher Allen Health Care hospital in Burlington, confirmed that the man had died. Noble said he could provide no other details.

    In a statement issued late Thursday, Occupy Burlington said, "We mourn the loss of a great friend tonight, while discovering an ever-deeper resolve to stand with our most vulnerable citizens."

    Protesters at the Occupy encampment say the man was a victim of inadequate mental health services being offered to veterans.

    "This person has clearly needed more help than we were capable of giving him here at this park," said Emily Reynolds, a University of Vermont student and a leader in the local Occupy movement.

    If government provided better mental health services, she said, "this probably wouldn't have happened."

    Deputy Chief Andi Higbee told reporters the shooting raised questions about whether the protest would be allowed to continue.

    "Our responsibility is to keep the public safe. When there is a discharge of a firearm in a public place like this it's good cause to be concerned, greatly concerned," Higbee said.

    The encampment has been in the park since Oct. 28. The city had threatened to evict the protesters because the park is closed from midnight until 6 a.m., but city officials made special accommodation for the protesters.

    Almost two dozen tents have remained in the park, and the number of protesters has varied.

    The first Occupy encampment sprang up in New York in September, and the movement has since spread to cities around the country and world. Protesters object to corporate influence on politics and what they call an unequal distribution of wealth.

    Burlington is a community of just under 40,000 people on the shores of Lake Champlain known for its left-leaning politics.

     
    • George Mason
      George Mason  •  Eugene, United States  •  6 mths ago
      I have seen too many soldiers and vets, over the years die before their time. May God bless this brother with the peace he lost on earth. RIP friend.
      • 2 sides
        2 sides 6 mths ago
        Yes, i see it daily unlike these others who throw in their spoon fed Fox "facts" or sit at their computer and judge people in situations they have never lived or encountered. They call anyone who disagrees a democrat or socialist...keep sucking the teet of Fox!!
      • George Mason
        George Mason 6 mths ago
        While I am a political conservative like many vets I am a social Liberal. I don't know where you served or when but you know that there is only one color (US green) and only one belief, in the man or woman beside you. Go in peace and may God bless you and yours. You have paid the price to say anything and go just about anywhere. Love ya.
      • Calbeck
        Calbeck 6 mths ago
        Hint: mental health services are free to any veteran at any VA hospital, if you don't make enough money to get your own.
    • Alan
      Alan  •  6 mths ago
      Do not judge those who have been to war...for they have walked with ghosts...so that you may walk with the living.
      • crossfire
        crossfire 6 mths ago
        very well said as a nam vet,have a vrey good veterans day
      • Big Mo
        Big Mo 6 mths ago
        Alan, as a Nam Vet and retiree, that is well said,
      • Alan
        Alan 6 mths ago
        Thank you for your service brothers. My dad was a Nam vet and I'm a vet of Iraq and Afghanistan. Peace be with you on this Veterans Day.
    • Biggreyoldman
      Biggreyoldman  •  6 mths ago
      Veterans to get help call 1 800 273 8255. Thats the VA help line. Please call. It takes the courage of a warrior to admit he needs help.
      • IneedaNickName
        IneedaNickName 6 mths ago
        Actually, Big rey, if you call that line, they ask if you're a veteran. It's a regular hotline. the wait time is a little longer if you say yes, because they transfer you. Most of them time they just press you to give up your name and number so they can have the local suicide prevention coordinator contact you. (or sometimes law enforcement.) If you say 'no' they put you on with a counselor that offers to have a cop come out and talk to you, but if you decline that, will talk to you a short while about what is going on in your life/head.
      • ron
        ron 6 mths ago
        I hate to agree with ineedanick? but yeah hes right. we who serve the many come home to who cares unless its vet day. again I say for all the brothers that come home ten fold didn't and they are the ones who deserve the prayers and love.
      • brenda
        brenda 6 mths ago
        Is there anyway for you to come up with a toll number? I am the daughter if a WW2 disabled vet with a handicapped sister. My mother passed away recently without a will, and she never reassigned guardiaship ofr my sister. My brother and I have to get my sister recertified, and legally have guardianship reasigned also. We've been told that this process can drag out for close to a year.

        The 1-800 numbers are lessons in futility. I finally called a local VA Hospital to find out phone numbers and addresses to local offices.

        Someone that might be on the brink, might not be able to wade through the endless computer age phone loops that LEAD NOWHERE!

        My father spent WW2 in a Japanese camp. The VA kept him pilled up. The vets deserve better for the prices that they pay in order to serve their country!!!!! Even sadder, I remember reading an article in my local Newspaper, that the Japanese camp survivors had to sign gag orders about their ordeals. MAYBE had my father had the opportunities to purge the emotional poisens, it might not have been so bad.

        I also feel that the armed forces need to do a better job of psychological screening prior to deployment. Young men with dysfunctional backrounds just DO NOT have the mechanisms needed to deal with the brutalities of war.

        The armed forces might also like to consider popping the various Countries leaders into locked rooms and letting THEM do the actual fighting. OR make it mandatory for politicians to have done some front line time as a pre-requisite of being able to campaign for office.
    • Viking on the hill
      Viking on the hill  •  Ashland, United States  •  6 mths ago
      I am a veteran who uses the services of the VA. I can tell you from experience that the VA takes the mental health, and suicide of veterans very serious. I feel very sad to hear of a brother who did himself in. I also know, deep in my heart, that for some unknown reason, he chose to not take the help offered at the VA. To the people at the Occupy movement. It is neither your fault nor anyone else s. This is the end of a mans life not a talking point. Rest in peace, and thank you for your service.
      • A Yahoo! User 6 mths ago
        Then why does it take 90 days to get an appointment for help? but only two weeks to get shipped back to the desert?
      • Mark
        Mark 6 mths ago
        petunia , you have no clue as to what you are talking about.
      • Paul
        Paul 6 mths ago
        Well said Viking. Civil dialogue is much more effective.
    • JonBoy
      JonBoy  •  West Palm Beach, United States  •  6 mths ago
      As a disabled veteran, I'm praying for this poor brother who could no longer find peace. For the rest of my brothers and sisters in similar situations, help is only a phone call away. Dial 1-800-273-TALK. That's the number to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Please call.
      • FIRE IDIOT OBAMA
        FIRE IDIOT OBAMA 6 mths ago
        A veteran here as well, US Army, Infantry. Thanks for posting that.
      • UncleJoe
        UncleJoe 6 mths ago
        Great post there JonBoy. {: )
    • A Yahoo! User
      A Yahoo! User  •  6 mths ago
      When you send people to war, you better be ready to take care of them when they return. If not, don't send them to war.
    • Bill
      Bill  •  Miami, United States  •  6 mths ago
      RIP, I am a vet with PTSD. Been dealing with it sense Viet Nam. Some days suicide looks like a good option. This is not a simple subject.
    • Michael
      Michael  •  Chicago, United States  •  6 mths ago
      RIP Brother
    • Flush Washington
      Flush Washington  •  6 mths ago
      Wow...our people riot over the dismissal of a pedophile enabler, and laugh at the tragic death of a veteran......have we become Sodom? What the hell is wrong with you people????
    • A
      A  •  Oroville, United States  •  6 mths ago
      My heart goes out to his family and I hope he finds peace forever more.
    • scott
      scott  •  6 mths ago
      im a veteran and i can say that the va doesnt care a rats #$%$ about you.
    • walked the beat and the h ...
      walked the beat and the h ...  •  Las Vegas, United States  •  6 mths ago
      Semper Fidelis, may your journey be a peaceful one brother
    • DaveR
      DaveR  •  Yuba City, United States  •  6 mths ago
      Adjusting to civilian life after several years od military service is not easy. I know I have been through it. I do not blame anybody it is just something the Vet has to deal with and adjust too. Some guys can`t do it. Believe it or not a lot of us did not hate the military we loved it and when you are out nothing out here can take it`s place. I got a job when I got out, that was never the issue. It is just the way life is and I doubt a 1000 counselors can make a person like a life they don`t like. I personally do not like civilian life,never will. You can counsel me until doomsday and I won`t like it. I am not going to kill myself because of it but I can see where a guy might if he had nothing else.Don`t say stay in because there are circumstances where you have to get out. Like you are too old, you max out or maybe have a medical problem that prevents you from re-enlisting or something else. So everybody has to get out one way or the other.
      I feel bad for this guy,maybe he could have been helped but then maybe he didn't want help.It is a sad event.May he RIP.
    • Herb
      Herb  •  6 mths ago
      To all the veterans and current military personell. Thank you for your service to this Country. I appreciate all the hard work that you do and all the sacrifices that you endure. You are truly the best of what the USA has to offer.
    • M
      M  •  6 mths ago
      Suicide in the military is truly an epidemic. It's time to get these people the help they need. RIP
    • Jennie
      Jennie  •  Dallas, United States  •  6 mths ago
      When my husband came home from Afghanistan they had a family services weekend. They brought the entire family of the unit to hotel and conference center for a seminar and activity weekend. The main focus was clearly to understand Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and the key identifiers. My memory is not clear of the exact identifiers so look it up for yourself, but what I found strange was that the soldier must be identified to you must have 3 or 5 of the symptoms and you must experience all of them simultaneously for a given period (3 to 6 months) in order to be found to have PTSD. There were a list of about 7. For instance, Loss of sleep, anxiety, bad dreams, anger, drinking, etc. I think 1 of these symptoms should be bad enough that a returning soldier should be able to seek treatment covered by the Military. This is now a mandatory event for returning soldiers and I found that it was more of a disclaimer event in case anyone tried to say they had PTSD, how hard it would be to be diagnosed and that you are better off not telling anyone.
    • Mr. Hero
      Mr. Hero  •  6 mths ago
      No respect for Veterans these days - Sadly, there isn't any respect for anyone anymore.
    • Streamline Train
      Streamline Train  •  6 mths ago
      Please don't compare OWS to the Tea Party. You will not be taken seriously.
    • Paul
      Paul  •  Madison, United States  •  6 mths ago
      Support The Troops*
    • Elizadeath
      Elizadeath  •  6 mths ago
      It's pretty sad how many people are on here callously shrugging off a suicide, whether or not he was a vet. It's sad that someone felt they had no other recourse in their life other than to kill themselves, and look how many people couldn't care less. It's no wonder our country is a divided, hateful, faltering society...apathy and nastiness have become so hip. Given our spiralling economy, there will be many more suicides to come, and many of you will end up knowing someone who does it; remember your callousness when it happens.
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