Veteran files suit against Louisville police after being tasered

Veteran files suit against Louisville police
By Jason Riley
The Courier-Journal
Posted : Saturday Jan 26, 2013

A Kentucky National Guard lieutenant colonel has filed a lawsuit against several Louisville Metro Police officers, alleging he was assaulted and wrongfully detained when they took him to the ground and handcuffed him after a confrontation in January 2012.

Lt. Col. Donald Blake Settle claims he was stopped as he tried to leave Mid City Mall on Jan. 29, with one officer eventually pulling a Taser on him before he was forced face-down onto the concrete and restrained, according to the lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Jefferson Circuit Court.

Police have said they believed Settle was a homeless panhandler because his clothes were dusty, he had difficulty speaking and he couldn’t provide his address.

In an interview in September, Settle, a Purple Heart and multiple Bronze Star recipient, said he has a poor memory and difficulty speaking as the result of injuries, including a traumatic brain injury, incurred in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan and a vehicle rollover.

His case resulted in an internal police investigation, sharp questioning from Fort Knox officials and a new mandatory training program for police on how to deal with military veterans with traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder.
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Lt. colonel with brain injury was handcuffed by police
Also another case

Tasered Veteran Files Lawsuit Against New Lenox Police Brian Wilhelm, 28, was Tasered by police in December 2010 while trying to help people in a car accident.

Family wants to prevent soldier suicides after son takes own life

Family: Combat veteran commits suicide
Record Eagle
BY GLENN PUIT
January 2, 2013

BEULAH — Eric Lewis Harm survived combat in Afghanistan, but he couldn’t survive coming home.

The decorated Army combat veteran was found dead Dec. 28, an apparent suicide in Manistee County, four months after he left the military. Harm, 24, was a 2007 graduate of Benzie Central schools and grew up in Almira Township.

His family said combat trauma played a role in his decision to take his own life.

“He was just always a happy guy, always looking to help other people and do good,” said his aunt, Dwin Dykema.

“He couldn’t deal with the things that he saw over there.”

A Manistee County sheriff’s sergeant declined comment on the cause of death, citing an open investigation.

The tragedy has Dykema and Harm’s parents wanting to help other veterans deal with the stress of life after combat. Dykema also started an online fundraising campaign to help pay for Harm’s funeral.

“There needs to be more awareness,” Dykema said. “These guys don’t come home with a care package. We are going to move forward and see if we can start a (veterans’ assistance) initiative.”

U.S. Army spokesman Mark Edwards said Harm was a motor transport operator on active duty from May 2009 to September 2012. His initial training was at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri and his duty station was at Fort Knox, Ky. Harm deployed to Afghanistan from January 2011 to January 2012.

The problem of veterans taking their lives after combat is not a new tragedy to northern Michigan. U.S. Army Sgt. Joseph H. Baker II, 32, bottled up his emotions and ultimately took his own life in January 2011 in Antrim County. Family members said Baker suffered from terrifying nightmares and other symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
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Belgian teen gets wish to be US soldier at Fort Knox

Belgian teen gets wish to be US soldier
Published December 12, 2012
Associated Press

FORT KNOX, Ky. – A 16-year-old Belgian boy with cancer listened to his grandfather tell stories about United States troops liberating the country during World War II. On Tuesday, he got a chance to be one of those soldiers.

Antoine Brisbois was at Fort Knox for the first of a two-day visit that includes working alongside soldiers and training.
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Operation Homefront Launches Annual Holiday Meals for Military

Operation Homefront Launches Annual Holiday Meals for Military Program
By Operation Homefront
Published: Monday, Oct. 29, 2012
SAN ANTONIO
PRNewswire-USNewswire

Operation Homefront, the national non-profit dedicated to providing emergency financial and other assistance to the families of our nation's military, has announced today that it is launching its annual Holiday Meals for Military program.

The Holiday Meals for Military Program began Thanksgiving 2009 as a result of a chance encounter in a supermarket in Utica, N.Y., near Ft. Drum. A soldier, his wife, and infant had a handful of grocery items they could not afford, so a Beam Inc. employee picked up the $12 cost for the groceries. Since that time, the program has grown from initially providing 500 meals kits to military families in 2009 to providing 5,200 this holiday season.

The 5,200 meal kits, which include all the grocery items necessary for a full holiday meal, will be distributed to lower and mid-grade ranking military families, E-1 thru E-6, at seventeen bases nationwide in December 2012, including Camp Pendleton, Calif.; Fort Benning, Ga.; Fort Campbell, Ky.; Fort Carson, Colo.; Fort Drum, N.Y.; Fort Hood, Texas; Fort Knox, Ky.; Great Lakes Naval Base, Ill.; and MacDill Air Force Base, Fla.
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Mikayla Bragg and 31 Soldiers "Fell Through the Cracks"

How Mikayla Bragg and 31 Soldiers "Fell Through the Cracks"
Huffington Post
Paul Rieckhoff
Founder, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America
Posted: 10/24/2012

Alone in a guard tower 6,800 miles from her home in Longview, Wash., Specialist Mikayla Bragg took her own life last December. Bragg's commanding officers at Forward Operating Base Salerno, Afghanistan, had no idea that in the months prior to her deployment the 20-year-old Army specialist had multiple encounters with the military mental health system.

Had her mental health care history been shared by those treating her at Fort Knox, Bragg's COs in Afghanistan would have known that the young soldier had previously made an attempt on her life, that she had spend 45 days in an Army hospital for mental health treatment prior to deploying, and that six months before she committed suicide she had ceased using prescription anti-anxiety medication so that she could deploy.

In the 135-page report following the Army's investigation into Bragg's death, a behavioral health officer at FOB Salerno said that it was his/her opinion that Bragg "fell through the cracks" thanks to a lack of communication between officials at her duty station stateside and her commanding officers in Afghanistan. For Bragg's CO to be left in the dark about her mental health care needs is unconscionable; our leaders (and our systems) cannot allow our troops to fall through so-called cracks.

Last Friday, the Army released suicide numbers for the month of September. There were 31 potential suicides for the month: 15 among active-duty soldiers and 16 among the reserve and Guard components, bringing the total number of Army suicides so far in 2012 to 247. After just nine months of 2012, the number of suicides has almost surpassed the total number of suicides in 2011.
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Attempted suicide was not enough to keep her from being deployed?

Army suicides 15 and Citizen Soldiers 16 for September

Attempted suicide was not enough to keep her from being deployed?

Report: Longview soldier committed suicide in Afghanistan
Commanders not told about history of mental health issues
Sunday, October 14, 2012

LONGVIEW — A 20-year-old soldier from Longview killed herself in Afghanistan last December as she served alone in a guard tower, where she was stationed despite a long history of mental health issues that was not communicated to her supervisors, according to a new report.

An Army investigation determined that Spc. Mikayla Bragg's commanding officers were never told she had made an apparent previous suicide attempt while serving stateside in Fort Knox, even though officials at the Kentucky base knew of it. The (Longview) Daily News obtained the investigation report through a Freedom of Information Act request.

"I found out after her death she had been seen (at Fort Knox) for issues like this. Of course, the information was never provided to her commander (in Afghanistan)," wrote one frustrated Army captain, whose name was redacted. "Real effective policy they have in place."

Among the findings were that her superiors weren't told she had spent 45 days in an Army hospital at Fort Knox for mental -health treatment just months before she deployed. She had been hospitalized after telling doctors she wanted to crash a car and injure herself.

They also didn't know she had weaned herself off her prescribed anti-anxiety medication to satisfy requirements to deploy. That was six months before she shot and killed herself while stationed alone in a guard tower on Dec. 21 at Forward Operating Base Salerno.

"It is my opinion that (Bragg) 'fell through the cracks' created by the lack of information sharing that had been repeatedly requested and denied," a brigade behavioral health officer stationed at Camp Salerno wrote to investigators.
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Veteran on Mission: Stop Soldier Suicides

Brian Kinsella, CEO Stop Soldier Suicides
Founder and Chief Executive Officer

Brian served as a Logistics Officer in the United States Army from 2005-2010. His service includes assignments in Germany, Italy, and Fort Knox. He deployed as a Detachment Commander to Baghdad, Iraq for 15 months during the surge in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He then served as the Aide-de-Camp and Executive Officer to the Commanding General of the 3rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary). He deployed to Port-au-Prince, Haiti in support of Operation Unified Response as the Aide-de-Camp to the Commanding General of the Joint Logistics Command.

Brian is currently working in the Corporate and Investment Banking division of BNP Paribas in New York City. He graduated from The Johns Hopkins University with a BA in Political Science and attended the University of Louisville Graduate School of Business.

Oct 12, 2012 by Associated Press
As the number of American troops committing suicide rises, a former Army officer is on a cross-country motorcycle trip to raise awareness of his mission to get service members free mental health care.

Louisville police training to focus on veterans after Lt. Colonel abused

After confrontation with lieutenant-colonel, Louisville police training to focus on veterans
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
September 23, 2012

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Fort Knox officials are meeting with Louisville police about training officers to deal with veterans who have traumatic brain injuries or post-traumatic stress disorder after a January confrontation where Lt. Col. Donald Settle claims police used excessive force against him.

The Courier-Journal reports (http://cjky.it/VsSo5K) Settle had gone to Mid-City Mall to buy a gift card. His clothes were dusty because he had been remodeling, and an officer mistook him for a homeless panhandler. It didn't help that Settle, who had recently moved to a home outside Elizabethtown, couldn't remember his address when asked by Officer Daniel English.

"He approached him and it went downhill from there," said Louisville Metro Police Lt. Col. Vince Robison. Robison said the officer reported that Settle seemed confused and upset that he was being stopped.

Fort Knox officials came to Louisville in July to meet with Robison and Police Chief Steve Conrad. They discussed concerns about how Settle was treated and general concerns about how police treat soldiers returning with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries.

The goal was to "ensure similar incidents are not handled in the same fashion," Robison said in an email.

The training will be mandatory beginning next year.
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Lt. Colonel with brain injury tasered by police

Lt. colonel with brain injury was handcuffed by police

Louisville police run-in with lieutenant colonel leads to investigation, more training
Lt. colonel with brain injury was handcuffed, considers suit
Written by
Jason Riley
Courier Journal.com
10:36 PM, Sep 22, 2012

Decorated Kentucky guardsman speaks out after police take down: The incident has resulted in an internal police investigation, questioning from Fort Knox officials, and a potential lawsuit. It also has prompted a mandatory training program for police on how to deal with veterans coming home with PTSD.

The man’s clothes were dusty, and he had difficulty speaking. Questioned by a Louisville Metro Police officer inside Mid-City Mall, he couldn’t provide his own address.

Judging the man to be a homeless panhandler, the police officer asked him to leave, and a confrontation ensued — a Taser was drawn, other officers were called and the man was taken down and handcuffed for several minutes.

But the man cuffed and threatened with jail in the Jan. 29 incident was neither homeless nor panhandling. He was a Purple Heart and multiple Bronze Star recipient and a Kentucky National Guard lieutenant colonel going on a routine errand.

Lt. Col. Donald Blake Settle has a poor memory and difficulty speaking as the result of injuries, including a traumatic brain injury, incurred in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan and a vehicle rollover. And on this day, he had stopped to chat with an acquaintance while shopping for a gift card.

His case has resulted in an internal police investigation, sharp questioning from Fort Knox officials, and a potential lawsuit. But it also has prompted a new mandatory training program for police on how to deal with military veterans coming home with traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder.
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Vietnam War Veteran Elected Leader of The American Legion

Vietnam War Veteran Elected Leader of The American Legion
Published: August 30, 2012

INDIANAPOLIS — A U.S. Army Vietnam War veteran has been elected national commander of the nation’s largest veterans organization.

Delegates to The American Legion’s 94th National Convention here chose James E. Koutz of Boonville, Ind., to lead the 2.4 million-member organization of wartime veterans for a one-year term.

Koutz entered the United States Army in August 1969. He attended Basic Training at Ft. Knox, Ky., and Advanced Infantry Training at Ft. Ord, Calif.

In January 1970 he reported to Vietnam and served an extended tour of duty with Co. C 169th Engineer Battalion. He was honorably discharged with the rank of Specialist 5 in March 1971 and quickly joined The American Legion. He is a member of Boonville Post 200 where his father, George, was a World War II veteran and a past commander of the post.

Jim was honored as a life member of his Post in 1991 and served as its post commander for nine years.
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Fort Knox soldier killed in crash in Radcliff

Fort Knox soldier killed in crash in Radcliff

By Tamara Evans
RADCLIFF, Ky. (WDRB Fox 41)----A Fort Knox soldier has been killed in a crash.

Radcliff Police tell us the crash happened around 9:30 Saturday morning on South Wilson Road, between Skyline Drive and Nalls Lane.

They say it appears the Toyota 4-Runner veered into the opposite lane and then slammed head-on into a tree.
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300 Fort Knox soldiers home in time for the holidays

SLIDESHOW: 300 Fort Knox soldiers home in time for the holidays


Posted: Dec 21, 2011
By Katie Delaune

FORT KNOX, Ky (WDRB) -- If you want to make an auditorium full of soldiers' family very anxious, make them wait as a black curtain slowly reveals 300 faces returning from a year long deployment.

Olivia Hunter has one word for it, "Excitement." This is her husband's 3rd deployment and today is their 13th anniversary. "Can't wait to see him," she says. "I know their behind this big black curtain. It's going to be the best Christmas gift ever."

After 365 days deployed and traveling thousands of miles, these last few minutes are agonizing as soldiers and families stand just feet away. "I'm probably going to run like a crazy woman and probably knock him over," says Nicky Petulla. This is her first deployment experience with husband Jason. She along with the other wives and husbands pack the stands searching among the saluting camouflaged soldiers for their familiar face. Then the soldiers are dismissed and hundreds run into each other's arms.

Nicky didn't quite knock over her husband Jason, instead hugging him tightly before going in for the first of many kisses to come. "Amazing, amazing," she says later with a big smile. "Never go to let him go."

The 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division spent a year in Afghanistan helping the country's security forces, each soldier always mindful of what they were missing back home.
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Orders: Commanders must help GIs find jobs

Orders: Commanders must help GIs find jobs
By Jim Tice - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Oct 15, 2011 8:27:48 EDT

THOMAS BROWN / STAFF Army Career and Alumni Program counselor Cameron Dougherty works with Sgt. 1st Class Antonio Johnson at the ACAP center at Fort Belvoir, Va., on Oct. 5.

FORT KNOX, Ky. — Commanders throughout the active Army and Reserve soon will be ordered to help soldiers, family members and civilian employees prepare for life after the Army, whether to attend school, get a job or start a business.

An execution order launching the initiative is expected to be released within days, and will be based on an implementing directive issued Aug. 29 by Army Secretary John McHugh.

The effort to improve the breadth, quality and integration of Army transition services comes at a time when departing soldiers face one of the toughest job markets in years.

“We want to prepare them so they can meet whatever their goal is when they leave the Army. Most importantly, we want them to be able to get a job,” Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Chiarelli told Army Times on Oct. 5. “We’re working very, very hard to find ways that we can use information technology to provide jobs.”
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Fort Knox soldier pleads no contest in beating of homeless man

Fort Knox Soldier Pleads No Contest in Beating Death of Homeless Man
Posted by Barry Leibowitz

CINCINNATI (CBS/AP) A soldier from Fort Knox in Kentucky pleaded no contest to felonious assault in the beating of a homeless Cincinnati man with a baseball bat and pipe.
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http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20012690-504083.html

Search continues for soldier feared drowned in Taylorsville lake

Search continues for soldier feared drowned in Taylorsville lake

Posted by Charles Gazaway

TAYLORSVILLE, KY (WAVE) - Search crews continued patrolling Taylorsville Lake on Friday, hoping to find a Fort Knox soldier who disappeared while swimming on May 29.

High water and debris on the lake continued to hamper the search for 23-year old Specialist Anthony Carter, who was assigned to the Warrior Transition Battalion.
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http://www.wave3.com/Global/story.asp?S=12597370

Ft. Knox honors Vietnam veterans

Ft. Knox honors Vietnam veterans
Posted: May 15, 2010 5:56 PM EDT

Vietnam War veterans and their accomplishments are often forgotten. At Fort Knox Saturday, an important monument was unveiled to remember those who lost their lives in that conflict.

A memorial stone honors 105 soldiers from the 19th Engineer Battalion. The battalion was remembered for there extraordinary heroism between July 16, 1967 and December 31, 1968.
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Ft. Knox honors Vietnam veterans

Thruway crash kills N. Tonawanda officer set to deploy to Iraq

Thruway crash kills N. Tonawanda officer set to deploy to Iraq
By Dan Herbeck and Jay Tokasz
NEWS STAFF REPORTERS
December 27, 2009

An Army lieutenant from North Tonawanda who expected to be deployed to Iraq within a few months was killed Saturday morning in a car crash on the Thruway in Chautauqua County.

Jordan A. Bunker, 24, a University at Buffalo graduate who was a former co-captain of the North Tonawanda High School football team, died after he lost control of the car at about 10:10 a. m. and hit a guardrail in the Town of Hanover.

State police said Bunker’s girlfriend — Audrey Brackett, 25, of Fort Knox, Ky. — was taken to Lake Shore Hospital in Irving for treatment of injuries that were not life-threatening.

Bunker, a second lieutenant stationed at Fort Knox, had spent Christmas week in North Tonawanda, visiting family and friends, according to his father, Daniel Bunker of North Tonawanda.

“I’ve never seen him happier in his entire life. I think it was because he was in love with [Brackett],” Bunker said. “Jordan arrived here on [Dec. 19] and had the most wonderful week visiting with his family and friends. There were about 70 people who stopped by to see him Wednesday night. On Christmas night, I never saw him stop smiling.”

“He joined the Army last year because the job market here isn’t so good,” Bunker said. “He made a three-year commitment. He was in an armored unit. He told me he expected to be sent to the Middle East and was willing to take that risk to serve his country. My son was a great kid. . . . He touched a lot of lives.”

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http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/otherwny/story/905864.html?imw=Y

Sgt. Zachary Swelfer awarded Silver Star at Fort Knox

1st ID sergeant awarded Silver Star

By Marty Finley - The (Elizabethtown,Ky.) News-Enterprise via AP
Posted : Sunday Dec 13, 2009 13:54:42 EST

FORT KNOX, Ky. — Sgt. Zachary Swelfer’s demeanor was calm and his reaction was modest when he was awarded the Silver Star at Fort Knox.

Swelfer, a member of the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, received the award for his bravery and quick response in the line of fire during a tour of duty in Afghanistan that ended earlier this year.

The ceremony at the central Kentucky Army post last week was lined with soldiers of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, often called the Duke Brigade or “Big Red One,” to celebrate the occasion.

Swelfer, 27, of Merrillville, Ind., also was joined by members of his family, who expressed pride in his actions, but little surprise.

Swelfer’s father, Edward, said his son was raised to help others, but he never expected him to receive the Silver Star, which is the third-highest military award for valor.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/12/ap_swelfer_silver_star_121309/

Soldier’s death at Knox leads to changes

Soldier’s death at Knox leads to changes

The Associated Press
Posted : Monday May 25, 2009 14:21:58 EDT

FORT KNOX, Ky. — Indiana National Guard Sgt. Gerald “G.J.” Cassidy, who served his country in Bosnia and Iraq, died alone and ignored in a barracks at Fort Knox from an accidental drug overdose.

His fate left a legacy that has changed the lives of thousands of wounded soldiers, Army officials say. The Louisville Courier-Journal reported Sunday that his death in September 2007 led to improvements at Fort Knox and all 45 Warrior Transition Units nationwide devoted to healing war wounds and getting soldiers back to military jobs or productive civilian lives.

“Any time you lose a soldier, you have to go back and examine what you’ve done wrong. It’s very apparent that mistakes were made with Sgt. Cassidy,” said Lt. Col. Gary Travis, battalion commander of the Fort Knox unit. “Cassidy’s incident occurred during a time of transition.”

Cassidy began experiencing migraine headaches after a roadside bomb exploded about 11 feet from his Humvee in Iraq in August 2006. With diagnoses of post-traumatic stress disorder and mild traumatic brain injury, Cassidy returned to the U.S. in April 2007 and was sent to Fort Knox, which launched its Warrior Transition Unit that June.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/05/ap_SoldierMedical_052509w/

Army: Body found at Fort Knox

Army: Body found at Fort Knox

The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Apr 17, 2009 19:57:17 EDT

FORT KNOX, Ky. — The Army says it is investigating the discovery of a body on the Fort Knox Army post.

The Army said in a news release Friday the body of a man in his late 40s to early 50s was found Thursday night in a heavily wooded area on the base near the Saunders Springs Nature Preserve.

The Army says authorities are investigating and trying to confirm the identity of the individual.

Saunders Springs Nature Preserve, owned by the nearby city of Radcliff, is a 26-acre forest that is open to the public year-round.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/04/ap_kyArmy_BodyFound041709/