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I lost my Mom today. I am a Disabled Veteran that is fighting for his benefits. I am suffering from PTSD and a financial hardship. I need your help to bury my Mom and take care of some outstanding medical bills. I am not alone. There are hundreds of Veterans who have lost loved ones that struggle every day. I have devoted my life to helping those Veterans get the help they needed after separation from their service. I am no longer in the position to help...I am broken...now more than ever, I need their help so that I can help others in the future.
In the summer of 2009 I was deployed in Iraq, having seen 3 years of direct combat as a US Army Infantryman and Platoon Sergeant. I've seen my fair share of funerals. It was during that year...I had to visit "Combat Stress Counseling". When I returned from Iraq in 2010, I was on my way out of the Army on a temporary disability retirement. My PTSD and other complications led to me getting medically discharged. Two weeks after my discharge I was informed by Bank of America that they had bought my Countrywide fixed VA Home Loan and that I was $2800 in default. I had paid my mortgage on time, early, over $200 more than the mortgage every month, and I was being foreclosed on while still under the SCRA. I fought. I took cash payments into a Bank of America branch office, they refused payment. I took the case to JAG, they passed the case on to the Attorney General of Texas, and several Congressmen. I LOST. The case was never fought for, I couldn't afford litigation. I couldn't afford a private lawyer. My dad called me in December of 2010. I had to tell a Vietnam Veteran, a United States Marine, that his son was losing his VA Loan fraudulently and that his son's mind was broken from war. I couldn't have been more ashamed at my situation....I needed help.
The bank was stealing my home. My father told me that day, he had terminal cancer. My father passed from terminal cancer Aug. 5, 2011. The funeral was mine to bear. I struggled with the death of my father, he was the guiding force in my life. He was gone, and my Mother was never the same. I was a mess, having to pay out of pocket for mental counselling led to me spiraling...the VA was still not giving me and my family much needed support.
I was never the same. The rock of our family was dead. My friends, many of them were also dead. I wasn't okay. I thought about taking my life numerous times. I have been given drug cocktails by the doctors that were treating all of the returning Vets out of Fort Hood, TX in 2009-2011. We had to pay out of pocket back then for PTSD mental counselling, as the VA wasn't prepared for what was coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan. I was going out of my mind, when I had a seizure and heart attack in my front yard, in front of my kids and wife. I thought that the Army doctors and the VA were trying to kill me. That was the beginning of 2011. I still to this day, DO NOT RECEIVE SOCIAL SECURITY NOR AM I MORE THAN 60% DISABLED ACCORDING TO THE VA. I've been denied by Social Security twice since I got out of the Army. I make less than $24000 a year with a family of 4. My wife works over 40 hours a week as a Procurement Specialist, but here in Midland, MI that pays less than $1500/mo. full time. We are living in poverty. And we've been fighting the VA claims department for over 8 years now.
After fighting the bank in Texas, my Mom, now widowed helped us move to Florida. That was in 2013. The VA was not paying me for dependents and we had to make decisions fast. We moved to Florida to be close to my newly widowed Mom. The VA wasn't paying me for my 3 dependents, 3 years after getting out of the Army, and the VA still did not fix their problem, nor was I being compensated for my family. The organization that was supposed to be helping my family had let me down again. I decided to call a Congressman. We had an appointment to go up to the Orlando VA Center to speak with an advocate there and get some answers about my claim. The woman at the Orlando VA office felt threatened. She decided to make a fraudulent 911 call that day. According to the Officer on the scene, she stated, "he is a Veteran, he has multiple weapons in the house, he's holding his children hostage and is ready for anything!" Why did THIS HAPPEN TO ME??? I was at the grocery store getting food for my kids, while a SWAT team with M16's were pointing weapons at my kids, and banging on the front door screaming my name. The entire neighborhood was told to stay inside. Again....I was at the store. I have never been able to AFFORD an attorney! Every one of my friends have told me that I could sue, but you see, I'm telling you this because I am NOT ALONE. This is what Veterans deal with every day. The pains of war continue no matter where we live. I received a call by the Winter Springs/Oviedo Police Captain, I was in the bread isle when he asked me where I was. He asked if I was inside the house. I said, "No I haven't been there for an hour, I'm at the store getting food for my kids." The 911 operator was told a lie. Why would someone do this to a Veteran and their family? Maybe they thought that the Congressman would fire someone? Maybe the VA thought they were doing the right thing? Why cause such an escalation of force? Did the police lie in their actual report? Was the 911 operator told a different story? I will never know. I was taken against my will, had the Baker Act used against me, I was held without the RIGHT TO FILL OUT A WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS. What does a citizen do when their rights are taken away? In my case, my families case. NOTHING. I could not afford a retainer for a lawyer, and cannot to this day. I thought about my Dad on that day, I thought, what would he do?
I am still struggling, every day is as hard as the one before it, every day the scenes of war play out in my head, I've witnessed countless deaths, IED's and some of the biggest gunfights the US Army has seen since Vietnam. I was there in downtown Baghdad when we cleared out Sadr City. I have seen too much war, and my family suffers from PTSD from the same services that were supposed to help them. And just about every year or so I hear about another Soldier that I knew, that has taken their lives because of Bills, because of Death of Loved Ones, because of the hardships that each Veteran has to endure every single day. I wish for NO MORE VETS TO HAVE TO SUFFER.
In the fall of 2015 we decided as a family to come back to Midland, Mom wanted to spend some time with friends in a familiar place...so we packed up Mom, and moved from Florida back up to my hometown. I was happy to be here. Volunteered as an assistant with my High School alma mater Ice Hockey team. My Son wants to play there in the future. He says he wants to be a lawyer, or play in the NHL. My 16 year old Daughter is going to the same school, and is an artist who wants to become a service dog trainer and breeder someday. They loved their Grandmother more than anyone, as she spent the last 9 years living by their side and seeing what kind of people they have grown to become. My Mom saw all of the pain that our family had been going through, she loved going to Hockey Games and seeing her Grandson play. We are devastated today....
My Mom had a severe unexpected heart attack Wednesday morning at 4 am. She was non-responsive since, and was pronounced dead last night at 840pm. My family is in poverty. The funeral and medical expenses outweigh our savings. We couldn't afford life insurance. I can't afford to bury my mom. I can't afford to grant her her last wishes, which were to have a memorial and have her ashes spread next to her Husband and best friend who is now in the Gulf of Mexico near Destin, Florida. They loved to walk the beaches together after Dad got cancer. I was not prepared for this. My Mother was 75 years young and in good health. She was saddened for the past 8 years, after the loss of her husband. They were inseparable since the 6th grade. I was their only child. My Father served his Country in the US Marine Corps, like his Father before him. My family has always chosen to serve. My Mom was so very close to our family especially our two kids. We were a proud bunch, living with the trials, tests and temptations that come with barely making it after serving. I am still struggling with the VA to receive the benefits I deserve, all the while finding the last 8 years of over 1000 job applications get turned down. (I am partially disabled from PTSD, but do NOT qualify for disability benefits until I am 70% rated by the VA- which means, I don't get the State offered benefits. I do not qualify for food stamps....I make almost $2000/mo. and that is too much). With no job, no hope, little income for a family of 4.
I am humbled and sorrowed at what has become of my family, that I wasn't strong enough to take care of my Mom, that I am struggling to afford to take care of my 16 year old daughter and 14 year old son. I sacrificed 12 years in the service of my Country, and I've seen over 3 years of direct combat....I am NOT being compensated for what I have to see every day. My family has been wronged, and now more than ever I need the help of my fellow Brothers and Sisters in Christ, and my fellow Veterans and my Nation.
Please join me by helping me found an endowment fund, and a 501c3/c4 organization with any funds over the $15000 medical bills and funeral costs. The fund will ensure that at least ONE VETERAN FAMILY a year is helped financially with help for funeral expenses, or medical bills, or to help them bury loved ones. I promised to leave no one behind, I need your help now, so that I can help my brothers and sisters tomorrow. We are NOT alone.
May God Bless our Family and may God Bless This Country and Every Veteran and their Families.
Thank you
(update: Friday 2/8 7:23pm - we thank you for those that have already donated, we appreciate all of your prayers and sympathies, please continue to share our story, we love you all)
In the summer of 2009 I was deployed in Iraq, having seen 3 years of direct combat as a US Army Infantryman and Platoon Sergeant. I've seen my fair share of funerals. It was during that year...I had to visit "Combat Stress Counseling". When I returned from Iraq in 2010, I was on my way out of the Army on a temporary disability retirement. My PTSD and other complications led to me getting medically discharged. Two weeks after my discharge I was informed by Bank of America that they had bought my Countrywide fixed VA Home Loan and that I was $2800 in default. I had paid my mortgage on time, early, over $200 more than the mortgage every month, and I was being foreclosed on while still under the SCRA. I fought. I took cash payments into a Bank of America branch office, they refused payment. I took the case to JAG, they passed the case on to the Attorney General of Texas, and several Congressmen. I LOST. The case was never fought for, I couldn't afford litigation. I couldn't afford a private lawyer. My dad called me in December of 2010. I had to tell a Vietnam Veteran, a United States Marine, that his son was losing his VA Loan fraudulently and that his son's mind was broken from war. I couldn't have been more ashamed at my situation....I needed help.
The bank was stealing my home. My father told me that day, he had terminal cancer. My father passed from terminal cancer Aug. 5, 2011. The funeral was mine to bear. I struggled with the death of my father, he was the guiding force in my life. He was gone, and my Mother was never the same. I was a mess, having to pay out of pocket for mental counselling led to me spiraling...the VA was still not giving me and my family much needed support.
I was never the same. The rock of our family was dead. My friends, many of them were also dead. I wasn't okay. I thought about taking my life numerous times. I have been given drug cocktails by the doctors that were treating all of the returning Vets out of Fort Hood, TX in 2009-2011. We had to pay out of pocket back then for PTSD mental counselling, as the VA wasn't prepared for what was coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan. I was going out of my mind, when I had a seizure and heart attack in my front yard, in front of my kids and wife. I thought that the Army doctors and the VA were trying to kill me. That was the beginning of 2011. I still to this day, DO NOT RECEIVE SOCIAL SECURITY NOR AM I MORE THAN 60% DISABLED ACCORDING TO THE VA. I've been denied by Social Security twice since I got out of the Army. I make less than $24000 a year with a family of 4. My wife works over 40 hours a week as a Procurement Specialist, but here in Midland, MI that pays less than $1500/mo. full time. We are living in poverty. And we've been fighting the VA claims department for over 8 years now.
After fighting the bank in Texas, my Mom, now widowed helped us move to Florida. That was in 2013. The VA was not paying me for dependents and we had to make decisions fast. We moved to Florida to be close to my newly widowed Mom. The VA wasn't paying me for my 3 dependents, 3 years after getting out of the Army, and the VA still did not fix their problem, nor was I being compensated for my family. The organization that was supposed to be helping my family had let me down again. I decided to call a Congressman. We had an appointment to go up to the Orlando VA Center to speak with an advocate there and get some answers about my claim. The woman at the Orlando VA office felt threatened. She decided to make a fraudulent 911 call that day. According to the Officer on the scene, she stated, "he is a Veteran, he has multiple weapons in the house, he's holding his children hostage and is ready for anything!" Why did THIS HAPPEN TO ME??? I was at the grocery store getting food for my kids, while a SWAT team with M16's were pointing weapons at my kids, and banging on the front door screaming my name. The entire neighborhood was told to stay inside. Again....I was at the store. I have never been able to AFFORD an attorney! Every one of my friends have told me that I could sue, but you see, I'm telling you this because I am NOT ALONE. This is what Veterans deal with every day. The pains of war continue no matter where we live. I received a call by the Winter Springs/Oviedo Police Captain, I was in the bread isle when he asked me where I was. He asked if I was inside the house. I said, "No I haven't been there for an hour, I'm at the store getting food for my kids." The 911 operator was told a lie. Why would someone do this to a Veteran and their family? Maybe they thought that the Congressman would fire someone? Maybe the VA thought they were doing the right thing? Why cause such an escalation of force? Did the police lie in their actual report? Was the 911 operator told a different story? I will never know. I was taken against my will, had the Baker Act used against me, I was held without the RIGHT TO FILL OUT A WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS. What does a citizen do when their rights are taken away? In my case, my families case. NOTHING. I could not afford a retainer for a lawyer, and cannot to this day. I thought about my Dad on that day, I thought, what would he do?
I am still struggling, every day is as hard as the one before it, every day the scenes of war play out in my head, I've witnessed countless deaths, IED's and some of the biggest gunfights the US Army has seen since Vietnam. I was there in downtown Baghdad when we cleared out Sadr City. I have seen too much war, and my family suffers from PTSD from the same services that were supposed to help them. And just about every year or so I hear about another Soldier that I knew, that has taken their lives because of Bills, because of Death of Loved Ones, because of the hardships that each Veteran has to endure every single day. I wish for NO MORE VETS TO HAVE TO SUFFER.
In the fall of 2015 we decided as a family to come back to Midland, Mom wanted to spend some time with friends in a familiar place...so we packed up Mom, and moved from Florida back up to my hometown. I was happy to be here. Volunteered as an assistant with my High School alma mater Ice Hockey team. My Son wants to play there in the future. He says he wants to be a lawyer, or play in the NHL. My 16 year old Daughter is going to the same school, and is an artist who wants to become a service dog trainer and breeder someday. They loved their Grandmother more than anyone, as she spent the last 9 years living by their side and seeing what kind of people they have grown to become. My Mom saw all of the pain that our family had been going through, she loved going to Hockey Games and seeing her Grandson play. We are devastated today....
My Mom had a severe unexpected heart attack Wednesday morning at 4 am. She was non-responsive since, and was pronounced dead last night at 840pm. My family is in poverty. The funeral and medical expenses outweigh our savings. We couldn't afford life insurance. I can't afford to bury my mom. I can't afford to grant her her last wishes, which were to have a memorial and have her ashes spread next to her Husband and best friend who is now in the Gulf of Mexico near Destin, Florida. They loved to walk the beaches together after Dad got cancer. I was not prepared for this. My Mother was 75 years young and in good health. She was saddened for the past 8 years, after the loss of her husband. They were inseparable since the 6th grade. I was their only child. My Father served his Country in the US Marine Corps, like his Father before him. My family has always chosen to serve. My Mom was so very close to our family especially our two kids. We were a proud bunch, living with the trials, tests and temptations that come with barely making it after serving. I am still struggling with the VA to receive the benefits I deserve, all the while finding the last 8 years of over 1000 job applications get turned down. (I am partially disabled from PTSD, but do NOT qualify for disability benefits until I am 70% rated by the VA- which means, I don't get the State offered benefits. I do not qualify for food stamps....I make almost $2000/mo. and that is too much). With no job, no hope, little income for a family of 4.
I am humbled and sorrowed at what has become of my family, that I wasn't strong enough to take care of my Mom, that I am struggling to afford to take care of my 16 year old daughter and 14 year old son. I sacrificed 12 years in the service of my Country, and I've seen over 3 years of direct combat....I am NOT being compensated for what I have to see every day. My family has been wronged, and now more than ever I need the help of my fellow Brothers and Sisters in Christ, and my fellow Veterans and my Nation.
Please join me by helping me found an endowment fund, and a 501c3/c4 organization with any funds over the $15000 medical bills and funeral costs. The fund will ensure that at least ONE VETERAN FAMILY a year is helped financially with help for funeral expenses, or medical bills, or to help them bury loved ones. I promised to leave no one behind, I need your help now, so that I can help my brothers and sisters tomorrow. We are NOT alone.
May God Bless our Family and may God Bless This Country and Every Veteran and their Families.
Thank you
(update: Friday 2/8 7:23pm - we thank you for those that have already donated, we appreciate all of your prayers and sympathies, please continue to share our story, we love you all)
Fundraising team (2)
Jason Hall
Organizer
Midland, MI
Jennifer Hall
Team member
