Navy Veteran To Walk From NJ Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial to D.C. to Raise Awareness, Funds for PTSD

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
5/25/16


Mike Dowens will kick off the three-day walk from the Memorial on June 2 to raise funds to send a veteran suffering from PTSD to treatment

Holmdel, NJ (May 24, 2016) — Mike Dowens, a Navy veteran, is kicking off a three-day walk from the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial in Holmdel, NJ, to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., on June 2, 2016. Dowens suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) stemming from his time serving in the Liberia, Somalia and Haiti as a Navy search and rescue swimmer. His goal is to increase awareness about PTSD and raise money through a Go Fund Me campaign to send a veteran in need to The Refuge, a treatment center in Florida where he sought treatment for his own PTSD.

Dowens, 37, will begin his walk the morning of June 2 at the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial, 1 Memorial Lane, exit 116 off the Garden State Parkway at the PNC Bank Arts Center. He will then take a route on walkable roads to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., a total of 237 miles. He will be joined on his walk by another veteran and PTSD sufferer. The two will walk non-stop, pausing only for meals.

After spending four years in the Navy and being honorably discharged in 2006 for asthma he developed while overseas, Dowens felt lost. He felt severe separation from the military and suffered intense symptoms of PTSD for years before he finally sought treatment.

“I struggled with the fact that I wasn’t in the Navy any longer,” said Dowens. “I had survivor’s guilt and tried to get back into the military nine times.”

Dowens knows The Refuge, a PTSD and trauma center in Ocklawaha, Florida, saved his life. And now, he knows he wants to give back.

“While I was in treatment I realized I could serve without going back in the military,” he said. “I could raise money for a veteran to get the same help that I got.”

The walk Dowens is making draws sharp comparison to the Last Patrol, a group of New Jersey Vietnam veterans who walked from the nation's capital in 1989 to the would-be site of the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans' Memorial in Holmdel to raise awareness, support, and funds for a memorial honoring Vietnam Veterans in New Jersey.

On May 27, 1989, The Last Patrol was greeted with welcome arms by members of the community who had come to pay respect to the efforts of these men as well as to honor the fallen. The message was simple — Welcome Home.

That message spoke volumes to a group of veterans who hadn’t been welcomed home with such open arms. The Vietnam War was unpopular in the United States, and the soldiers felt the brunt of that unpopularity when they returned home. Adjusting to life at home was difficult, and things like PTSD and other health issues were largely ignored. Veterans felt isolated and alone and often didn’t seek treatment.

Veterans of Iraq, Afghanistan and other recent conflicts have had similar experiences when coming home. PTSD and its treatment are major issues with this group of military veterans, and something difficult to seek help for. It’s something they share with Vietnam Veterans.

“Not all wounds are visible,” said Dowens.

And it’s those invisible wounds Dowens is trying to raise awareness for with his walk. His mission, named Unbroken Warriors, has raised more than $6,000 to date with a goal of $10,000. The funds will send a veteran for PTSD treatment at The Refuge. To donate, click here.

Dowens, who has been a police officer in Holmdel for eight years, will wear a full pack weighing 70 pounds on his walk. He hopes this trek calls attention to the issues that veterans, past and present, are dealing with.

“You don’t have to wear a uniform to serve,” said Dowens.

About New Jersey Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial Foundation

The New Jersey Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial, dedicated May 7, 1995, strives to encourage and foster patriotism and provide for recognition of the sacrifices, courage and valor of the New Jersey Veterans of the Vietnam Era. The Vietnam Era Museum & Educational Center, dedicated in September 1998, strives to encourage and foster a thorough understanding of the Vietnam era, including the political, historical, social, cultural and military aspects that affected the United States, especially New Jersey. For more information, visit www.njvvmf.org.

"There is something fascinating about science."

The following is from Congressman Rush Holt's newsletter:

In Life on the Mississippi Mark Twain wrote, "There is something fascinating about science. One gets such wholesale returns of conjecture out of such a trifling investment of fact."  He was being facetious, of course, extrapolating that the Mississippi River, if it continued to shorten by cutting new channels through its bends, would eventually be a mile and three quarters long from southern Illinois to New Orleans, but he was more right than he intended.  Science does offer marvelous extensions of understanding, far beyond a scientist's immediate observations.   Last week, scientists working at the South Pole announced new measurements of tiny variations in the radio noise in the deep sky that greatly advance our understanding of the origins of the universe. How could these subtle variations measured by a telescope pointed to different points of the sky tell scientists about the origin of the universe?

More than 80 years ago Edwin Hubble, an astronomer hired at the Carnegie Institution telescope on Mount Wilson, California, looking at cloudy nebulae determined that indeed they are clusters of stars, but vast clusters, vastly far away.  He determined they are galaxies like our own Milky Way, and he then concluded, wonder of wonders, that the universe is expanding: that every distant galaxy in the sky is speeding away from each other.  The realization that space itself is expanding led several scientists to postulate that a Big Bang had exploded the entire universe from a tiny point to its present almost-incredible size.  More and more evidence has amassed in support of the conjecture, especially evidence collected decades ago at Bell Labs in New Jersey that in every direction in the sky there is a faint, cold radio signal, the afterglow of the Big Bang.

For a fraction of a second after the Big Bang, according to the favorite theories, the universe briefly inflated at a rate far faster than the speed of light. Different parts of the universe, expanding so fast they were out of touch with each other, could inflate at different rates, and tiny fluctuations could grow so that galaxies, planets, and things on planets (us) could eventually form.  The variations in expansion rate also generated gravitational eaves.  As Princeton University's David Spergel points out, NASA's  COPE and WMAP satellites had already detected the density fluctuations.  This latest experiment reported the first detection of gravitational waves from the very early universe.  If confirmed by other scientists, this week’s discovery, which was sponsored in part by our tax dollars through the National Science Foundation, would represent our first physical evidence that such a rapid inflation actually happened.

Don't you find it a remarkable testament to the power of science that humans can, simply by looking closely at the sky, determine with high certainty what happened in the moments after the universe began?  These discoveries may seem esoteric now – but so too did research into electricity in the 18th century or radioactivity in the 19th.  Or who would have thought that magnetic techniques to deduce the shape and spin of unseen atomic nuclei would lead to MRI diagnoses of brain aneurysms or multiple sclerosis?  History shows that, when individuals and businesses and governments invest in scientific research, the payoffs are enormous both for our economy and for our understanding of the world.

Ways to Make Your Voice Heard

In order for me to do my job, it’s important that I hear from you. Please know that you can always send me an e-mail through my webpage or voice your opinions by calling me at 1-87-RUSH-HOLT.

If you visit my office, I or a member of my staff may be able to meet with you personally to hear your thoughts. I am glad to help you to make your voice heard: the House can provide, for instance, a sign-language interpreter if you or a member of your party can communicate better through American Sign Language.

If you come to Washington D.C., I hope you’ll also take advantage of the many tours I can help arrange of landmarks such as the Capitol, the White House, the Supreme Court, and more. I especially recommend that you visit the Jefferson Building of the beautiful and interesting Library of Congress.

Working for You

In mid-January, I heard from an East Windsor man who thought the Social Security Administration had been underpaying his Social Security Disability benefits. He was right. He had recently suffered a major medical emergency and urgently needed the money. On his behalf, I reached out to the Social Security Administration’s payment center, and the man soon received a payment of $10,110 for wrongly withheld benefits.

Have you encountered a similar problem with the Social Security Administration, the IRS, a passport center, the VA, Medicare, or any other federal agency? If so, please call me at 1-87-RUSH-HOLT or send an e-mail. I’ll do all I can to address your problem.

Sincerely,

Rush Holt
Member of Congress

October 2011; Stop the Machine! Create a New World!

This may be a little far-left for some people but I support the basic premise of what October 2011 is trying to do; End the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, support human rights, commitment to a healthly, green environment and ensuring that the middle class and poor do not become the victims of corporate greed. So I feel it's worth informing people about October2011 and their cause.

Unfortunately, I can't take the pledge because I wont be going to Washington DC anytime soon, let alone in October, but that doesn't mean others that support these causes couldn't sign the pledge and lend a hand in a nonviolent protest rally on October 6,2011.

I'll be there in spirit.

A Call to Action - Oct. 6, 2011 and onward

October 2011 is the 10th anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan and the beginning of the 2012 federal austerity budget. It is time to light the spark that sets off a true democratic, nonviolent transition to a world in which people are freed to create just and sustainable solutions.

We call on people of conscience and courage—all who seek peace, economic justice, human rights and a healthy environment—to join together in Washington, D.C., beginning on Oct. 6, 2011, in nonviolent resistance similar to the Arab Spring and the Midwest awakening.

A concert, rally and protest will kick off a powerful and sustained nonviolent resistance to the corporate criminals that dominate our government.

Forty-seven years ago, Mario Savio, an activist student at Berkeley, said, "There's a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious—makes you so sick at heart—that you can't take part. You can't even passively take part. And you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop. And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all."

Those words have an even greater urgency today. We face ongoing wars and massive socio-economic and environmental destruction perpetrated by a corporate empire which is oppressing, occupying and exploiting the world. We are on a fast track to making the planet unlivable while the middle class and poor people of our country are undergoing the most wrenching and profound economic crisis in 80 years.

"Stop the Machine! • Create a New World!" is a clarion call for all who are deeply concerned with injustice, militarism and environmental destruction to join in ending concentrated corporate power and taking direct control of a real participatory democracy. We will encourage a culture of resistance—using music, art, theater and direct nonviolent action—to take control of our country and our lives. It is about courageously resisting and stopping the corporate state from destroying not only our inherent rights and freedoms, but also our children’s chance to live, breathe clean air, drink pure water, grow edible natural food and live in peace.

As Mother Jones said, "Someday the workers will take possession of your city hall, and when we do, no child will be sacrificed on the altar of profit!"

We are the ones who can create a new and just world. Our issues are connected. We are connected. Join us in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 6, 2011, to Stop the Machine.

***************************************************************************************

Take the pledge and sign up to attend here. Let America know you are coming to make history and a new world!

"I pledge that if any U.S. troops, contractors, or mercenaries remain in Afghanistan on Thursday, October 6, 2011, as that criminal occupation goes into its 11th year, I will commit to being in Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C., with others on that day with the intention of making it our Tahrir Square, Cairo, our Madison, Wisconsin, where we will NONVIOLENTLY resist the corporate machine to demand that our resources are invested in human needs and environmental protection instead of war and exploitation. We can do this together. We will be the beginning ."

NJPP Monday Minute 1/17/11: To make real the promises of democracy...

Today, the nation pauses to honor the life and work of a true American hero, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Because Dr. King practiced the non-violence that he preached when he protested poverty and injustice, his ideas carry a special resonance for many of us today. We will hear Dr. King's best-known line, "I have a dream" many times today, and we will gladly rejoice in those words and be uplifted by their aspiration.

We at NJPP would like to invite you to be inspired even further by spending 15 minutes listening to Dr. King’s "I Have a Dream" speech in its entirety, as it was delivered from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. more than 47 years ago.

West Wing Week: "AKA Santa Claus"

It was a very busy week which saw a lot accomplished by the President and those down in Washington. This video from the White House Blog gives us a recapped of what went on while we were preoccupied with holiday shopping and decorating -

Welcome to the West Wing Week, your guide to everything that's happening at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Walk step by step with the President as he signs the repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,” looks back at an historic lame duck session, reads to kids for the Holiday season, and receives the Census report.

APP Editorial: Beck's rally not about honor

The following editorial is from today's edition of the Asbury Park Press. A simple Amen is all that needs to be said.

It's hard to guess exactly what Glenn Beck is thinking today in the shadow of the Lincoln Memorial, on the anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King's historic "I Have A Dream" speech.

Is his "Restoration of Honor" rally a way to honor America's military, or is it rather, as Beck originally put it, a matter of "reclaiming the civil rights movement" — which begs the question: From whom does he intend to take it back, and whom would he like to see get it?

There is no shortage of angry, doughy, white guys in this country who feel shortchanged and cheated and, rather than looking in the mirror, prefer to blame every failure and setback in their lives on those with more melanin than their own pasty selves.

Beck may be a fool — a man who believes that President Barack Obama has a deep-seated hatred of white people, a man who, 30 years late, hears Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA" and can't tell the difference between a patriotic protest song and anti-American propaganda, a man who never met a conspiracy theory he didn't like — but he's not stupid. He's got red meat to hand out to the crowds.

But most Americans know he's a clown. What Beck carries in his heart is no dream. It's a nightmare.

Chris Christie's 'Macaca Moment' on Health Care

John R. Bohrer - Huffington Post

New Jersey's off-year gubernatorial race has been pretty boring for outsiders, except for maybe the TV ad accusing Chris Christie, the Republican nominee, of "throwing his weight around." (Christie's on the heavy side.)

The ad was supposed to draw attention to the fact that Christie got away with some pretty obscene driving offenses, but really, no one cares about that stuff. New Jersey's race isn't about driving, it isn't about corruption, it isn't about President Obama -- it's about the state economy and taxes. The inability of Governor Jon Corzine, a Democrat, to find his footing on the economy has made him deeply unpopular for a long, long time. Pundits believe he's a surefire loser.

So do national Republicans. According to U.S. News & World Report, GOP strategists in Washington will milk a Corzine loss for all its worth, trying to delay the vote on health care reform in order to "[scare] moderate Democrats away from the Obama plan as they worry about their own re-election in 2010."

But like a lot of other outsiders, the Republicans in Washington haven't been watching this race closely enough.

If they had been, they'd know that the Christie camp is deeply concerned about the health care debate hurting their candidate. A little more than a week ago, while the rest of the country was buzzing about the 'Look At That Fat Guy' ad, Corzine also started airing a TV spot informing voters that Christie supports health insurance companies who deny coverage for mammograms.

The ad must have hurt in the Republicans' polling, because in no time at all, Christie -- long the frontrunner in this race -- was forced to play defense.

In light of Christie's response, the Star-Ledger says Corzine's ad "happens to be true."

Final word on this? No way. Christie, when questioned by a cancer survivor, was emphatic when explaining why insurance companies should deny mammograms to young women. The cancer survivor tells him that in fact she had been diagnosed with cancer in her twenties. To that, Christie continues to defend the health insurance companies -- and even gets nasty and dismissive with the woman -- insisting that dropping mammograms is A-OK because "that's an exception."

This is Christie's 'macaca moment,' unleashing his nasty side to show people what Republicans really think about providing all Americans with decent, quality health care. He's saying that insured or not -- if you're a young woman who wants a mammogram, a health insurance company shouldn't have to pay because "that's an exception."

Christie's nasty attitude and dismissive tone toward the cancer survivor only makes it worse for him. In July, I wrote that Republicans were endangering Christie -- perhaps their only rising star in the Northeast -- by stalling the health care reform vote and carrying the debate into October. That was before the rancor and lies of August. New Jersey is still a very blue state, with many more Democratic-leaning independents than Republican ones. The GOP's angry rhetoric toward the President and his efforts to reform the health care system do not endear Republicans to these voters -- voters Christie needs to win this election.

Now Christie is on film, getting short with someone for daring to question the whims of the health care industry. He's going to have a tough time not looking like just another anti-reform Republican, disdainful for the economic concerns of average citizens just trying to stay healthy.

If Corzine plays his cards right, Christie will have a hell of a time keeping voters focused on the issues he wants. Christie will win this race if GOP opposition to health care reform doesn't become the leading issue; he may even win it if it does. But if Republicans in Washington believe they can continue their antics without paying the price for it, they may soon think again.

Senate tunes out Fairness Doctrine

For people that really care about the "Fairness Doctrine", yesterdays vote in the Senate was either great news if you are a Rush Limbaugh fan or a blow to the head that stiffles free speech to progressives.

Sen. Jim DeMint(S.C.) attached an amendment onto a bill that would give the District of Columbia a voting rights in congress. The  admendment would prohibit the FCC from re-instating the Fairness Doctitrine. This amendment, theBroadcaster Freedom Act, passed along with the bill that gives Washingon, D.C voting rights.

Here is a little of what the Hill has to say about this:

The Senate voted Thursday in favor of an amendment to the District of Columbia voting-rights bill that would prohibit the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from reinstating the so-called Fairness Doctrine, which critics say would decimate conservative talk radio.

The Senate passed the measure 87-11.

Republicans have introduced the Broadcaster Freedom Act in the House as well, but Democrats are not expected to allow a vote on the bill.

Legislation would have to pass both chambers of Congress and receive President Obama’s signature.

The FCC first implemented the doctrine in the late 1940s to balance the political content of broadcasters, requiring them to give equal time to liberal and conservative viewpoints.

The agency scrapped the regulation in the mid-'80s after determining that it was no longer necessary because the public had a wide array of political news sources from which to choose.

Since then Congress has tried twice to re-implement the Fairness Doctrine but failed because of vetoes by former Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.

The amendment, sponsored by Senate Republican Steering Committee Chairman Jim DeMint (S.C.) and Senate Republican Conference Vice Chairman John Thune (S.D.), would block the FCC from reviving equal-time requirements by enacting the Broadcaster Freedom Act.

Read more>>> Here 

Barack Obama: Inaugural Celebration Address at the Lincoln Memorial

Due to the NFL championship games being played yesterday and the fact that HBO paid over $2 million for exclusive rights to cover the inaugural celebration at the Lincoln Memorial, most people did not a see Barack Obama address the crowd.

So here it is:

Youths head to inauguration by the bus load

As masses of people migrate towards Washington DC this weekend to be witness to the inauguration of Barack Obama, Star-Ledger's own Jennifer Weiss rode a public bus to our nation's capital and noticed that almost everyone on her bus is under the age of thirty.

Ride on the Whistle Stop Train Tour

Inaugural Weekend is kicked-off with President-elect Obama's whistle stop train tour from Philadelphia to Washington, DC.

Hop on board and join the fun!!

HOLT TO HOST TELEPHONE LISTENING SESSION THURSDAY, JANUARY 15 AT 7 PM

WASHINGTON - U.S. Representative Rush Holt announced that he will host a telephone town hall meeting with Central New Jersey residents on Thursday, January 15 at 7 p.m. The one-hour meeting will take place five days before the inauguration of Barack Obama, and will provide participants an opportunity to share views on the challenges facing New Jersey and the country, including the economy, energy, retirement security, health care, and anything else that may be on their minds.

What: Rush Holt will hold a live telephone town hall meeting with constituents.

When: Thursday January 15, 7-8 p.m.

Call-in information: To participate, constituents should call 1-866-447-5149 and enter the pin number 13372.

Contact: Zach Goldberg
202-225-5801 (office)

Rush Holt: 2008 End of Year Report

At the end of every year, I send out a report highlighting the various ways a representative can help you. This mailer is being sent to postal patrons in Central New Jersey , but I wanted to provide the online version in advance.

Some examples from the report of how I have responded to various needs that people have brought before me are creating property tax deductions for homeowners who do not itemize on their federal tax returns, obtaining emergency travel papers for a Ewing resident to return home from overseas, securing $240,000 for a job training program at Brookdale Community College to help unemployed and underemployed workers, and hosting a day in Washington D.C. for Central New Jersey first responders to meet with Congressional leaders and Administration officials.

Next year will be a historic one for our nation, as we confront numerous challenges, including an economy in crisis. As we continue to face these challenges, I need to know your thoughts and your concerns. I look forward to hearing from you, whether by phone (toll-free at 1-87-RUSH-HOLT), e-mail, or in person in Washington or in your community.
Sincerely,

RUSH HOLT
Member of Congress