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SCUBAPRO Sunday – Veterans Suicide

September 12th, 2021

“The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive the Veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation.” — President George Washington

With today being the day after the 20th anniversary of 9/11 and September being suicide awareness month, I wanted to write about something close to me. I have lost some very good friends to suicide — people you never thought in a thousand years would take their own lives. They were among the best dads you could ever meet, truly the people you think of when you imagine great fathers. As colleagues, when it came to being a team guy, a teammate, or friend, you couldn’t find better ones. Since the war on terror started, we have lost a lot of brothers and sisters to war, but we are losing four times as many veterans to the effects of war than to the war itself.

Most of the time, suicide is only discussed when it is or affects someone close to you. I think it is very misunderstood, specifically when it concerns what causes people to do it or even to think that it’s the only way out. I believe there is a lot of speculation and misdiagnosis, but I also think no one really wants to talk about it. Many veterans are suffering from a host of different things that can be both physical and/or mental. Depending on what report you read, up to 22 veterans commit suicide every day. Some reports are higher and some lower, but they are not that far apart. Regardless of the daily number, Veterans have the highest suicide rate amongst ANY group. It is not just the vets from the War on Terror, either. This number represents all the wars and conflicts from which we still have survivors. And it’s not only a U.S. problem, as many of our allies are dealing with the same issues. If you know someone or you might be having problems, PLEASE talk to someone, anyone. The Veterans Crisis Line is 1-800-273-8255 and press 1.

I have lost some very close friends to suicide, and I never want it to happen to anyone. Please look out for the signs and symptoms; sometimes they are easy to see, while other times you have no clue, and it will happen to someone close to you. But if you are thinking of hurting yourself, please talk to someone. If you believe the world is better with you not in it, it is not. The people you leave behind will always have to deal with what happened and still have to think they could have done more. I know I do, but I also know I did all I could have done to help. But there will always be that .01% that thinks “I could have done more to help my brother”. People, especially military people, are good at hiding things and it’s not always easy to see. Please keep an eye on your brothers and sisters. I look at the military as a family.

www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/suicide/symptoms-causes/syc-20378048

Posted in Advertiser, Guest Post, Veterans | 1 Comment »

Air Purifiers for Schools and Kindergartens: Supplying Devices to the City of Hamburg

September 12th, 2021

Responding to a public request for tenders, the Rheinmetall technology group has won an order from the authorities in Hamburg to supply air purifiers for schools and vocational training centres. Worth a figure in the single-digit million-euro range, the order – now official – encompasses 1,000 air purification devices. Fully assembled and ready to operate, these Type RX devices are due to be delivered by the end of September 2021.

Representing an important milestone for the Group’s Beyond Automotive strategy, this order will be handled by Rheinmetall subsidiary Pierburg GmbH.

The Rheinmetall RX pro air purifier is a mobile filter and decontamination unit for cleaning and decontaminating air in interior spaces up to 80 square metres. In the process, it filters bioaerosols like viruses, bacteria, pollen and particulates out of the air safely and sustainably.

This is how it works. The air is sucked into an intake vent on the underside of the device, purified in various filter stages, and then released back into the room. The devices are equipped with highly effective HEPA filters that continuously free the air of substances measuring up to one micrometre. Today, air purifiers of this type are already providing a vital service in operating rooms, intensive care units and laboratories. The resulting filtration achieves degrees of separation of >99.95 (HEPA 13) to >99.995 percent (HEPA 14).

The market for air purification devices is currently in a high-growth phase with strong future potential. First and foremost, public authorities are now driving the strong demand for mobile air purifiers. In response to the pandemic, the German federal government is supporting the purchase of such devices as a way of keeping schools and kindergartens open for in-person instruction as far as possible. The federal government in Berlin has allocated €200 million for the procurement of air purification devices by the individual German states. Rheinmetall’s RX pro is on the official list for public sector requests for tender. The company has already received numerous orders from various entities in Germany.

Having already proved itself to be a reliable source of personal protective equipment, or PPE, for public authorities in Germany during the early phase of the pandemic, the Group has now turned its attention to air purification. As far back as spring, two schools – the École Française in Düsseldorf and the Ivo-Frueth-Schule in Oberndorf – were provided with air purifiers free of charge for use in school canteens. The prime motivation: protecting pupils and their families and bringing a measure of normality back to everyday school life.

Posted in Advertiser, Press Release | 1 Comment »

Remembering 9/11 – In Honor of Flight 93

September 12th, 2021

Never Forget these fine people who were taken from us by evil men. Let’s honor the heroes of Flight 93 who made a fateful decision that they weren’t going to become pawns in a crazed attempt to decapitate our government. They took the enemy on, firsthand. They will always have our respect.

Let’s Roll!

The Crew
Jason Dahl
LeRoy Homer, Jr.
Lorraine Bay
Sandra Bradshaw
Cee Cee Lyles
Wanda Green
Deborah Anne Jacobs Welsh

The Passengers
Christian Adams
Todd Beamer
Alan Beaven
Mark Bingham
Deora Bodley
Marion Britton
Thomas E. Burnett Jr.
Willam Cashman
Georgine Rose Corrigan
Patricia Cushing
Joseph DeLuca
Patrick “Joe” Driscoll
Edward Porter Felt
Jane Folger
Colleen L. Fraser
Andrew Garcia
Jeremy Glick
Lauren Grandcolas
Donald F. Greene
Linda Gronlund
Richard Guadagno
Toshiya Kuge
Hilda Marcin
Waleska Martinez
Nicole Miller
Louis J. Nacke II
Donald and Jean Peterson
Mark “Mickey” Rothenberg
Christine Snyder
John Talignani
Honor Elizabeth Wainio
Kristin Gould White

We will not name the hijackers. May they forever be dishonored.

Posted in Memorial | 4 Comments »

9/11 Remembered – The Toll

September 11th, 2021

If you thought 2020 sucked, welcome to 2021. Not only are we observing the 20th anniversary of the greatest attack on America, we also just turned Afghanistan over to terrorists.

Reading the timeline each year is a sobering experience, but it pales in comparison to the haunting images from that day. I watched it all live, as it happened and I was numb to it. It didn’t sink in because I was trying to formulate a plan to react. Now, the images haunt me, and I fear they always will.

It’s a belittling experience when one of your children, born after the war began, sees dad with tears and I feel helpless in my act of self-pity. I’m supposed to be his rock and there I am, sobbing because of some video on TV that is foreign to him. It only has any meaning to him at all, because I’ve told him about that day and the toll. For him and his generation, the world has always been this way; they’ll never understand how much we sacrificed.

We live in a military community, so there’s a basic level of respect for what we happened, but I see what’s going on in the world. Our President didn’t even address the nation live. He taped his statement.

There were 2996 immediate deaths on September 11th, 2001. There were people who cheered that day, celebrating an attack on America. I will never forget them. I will never forgive them. Two decades later, I see members of our government trivialize the events of that day, desecrating the dead with their comments. Twenty years and America forgets its dead, abandoning its mission.

Regardless of which way the political winds blow, I remain a patriot. But in a greater sense, I will also always honor those from other nations who stood with us on that day and throughout the ensuing decades of conflict. After all, there were victims from 90 countries on 9/11. A sick ideology attacked the world and despite our efforts, it lives on, dug in like a tick.

The crisis remains. Every year we lose more and more to that fateful day. Victims and rescuers alike suffer life threatening medical conditions due to the exposure to toxins during the attacks and continue to succumb to these lingering wounds. As a country, we must stand by them.

And then, there’s the war that has yet to end. In the ensuing 20 years we’ve definitely taken the fight to the enemy and even cut their head off a time or two. The names change, but they remain enemies of freedom. We must secure our future, here and abroad. Afghanistan is over..for now, but the struggle goes on.

Even now, the world is faced with the continued threat of Islamic fundamentalism that targets our ideals in both word and deed. We must oppose them in every case, lest our efforts thus far, be in vain.

Never Forgive, Never Forget

Posted in Memorial | 7 Comments »

9/11 Memorial – As It Happened – 1720

September 11th, 2021

Later that day, at 1720 – 7 World Trade Center, a 47-story building, collapses.

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9/11 Memorial – As It Happened – 1028

September 11th, 2021

1028 – The North Tower of the World Trade Center collapses.

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9/11 Memorial – As It Happened – 1003

September 11th, 2021

1003 – United Airlines Flight 93 is crashed by its hijackers as passengers try to retake the plane over Somerset County, Pennsylvania. There are no survivors.