Marine Major Died During Run in Germany

Marine major dies after collapsing during training run
Marine Corps Times
By Hope Hodge Seck Staff writer
November 13, 2014

A Marine supply officer died last week after collapsing during unit training in Germany.

Maj. Ryan Hansen, 41, a sustainment division head at Marine Corps Forces Europe, was pronounced dead at Sindelfingen hospital near Boeblingen on Nov. 7, Marine officials said. He had been completing a physical training run. Marine Corps Forces Europe and Africa is based in Stuttgart.

The cause of Hansen's death remains under investigation, said Capt. Richard Ulsh, a spokesman for MARFORAF. The command has not yet received an autopsy report, he said.
read more here

US Soldier shot by German Police

U.S. Soldier Shot Twice by German Cops After Oktoberfest Rampage
NBC News
September 26, 2014

MAINZ, Germany – An American soldier was shot twice by German police after drunkenly rampaging through a hospital with a fire extinguisher, officials said. The 28-year-old serviceman had been brought to the emergency room after sustaining a head wound at Munich’s world-famous Oktoberfest on Thursday night.

A police spokesman told NBC News that the soldier had been unruly while being transported him from the beer festival in an ambulance.
read more here

WWII soldier buried with enemy no longer MIA

US soldier killed in WWII finally being laid to rest
Stars and Stripes
By Matthew M. Burke
Published: August 13, 2014

The remains of a U.S. World War II soldier, identified by French scientists earlier this year, are to be interred Wednesday on the 70th anniversary of his death.

Army Pfc. Lawrence Gordon was one of two soldiers killed on Aug. 13, 1944, when his M8 armored car was struck by a German anti-tank shell near Carrouges, France. His remains were first interred in an American cemetery as “unknown,” despite the fact that his bloody wallet was sent home to his family and the man killed next to him was identified.

The remains were then reburied seven months later as an unknown in a German cemetery in France because the body was found with German clothing or equipment.

Despite years of research and evidence compiled by an amateur research team that the remains actually belonged to the U.S. soldier, accounting officials at the Joint Prisoners of War, Missing in Action Accounting Command decided against exhuming and testing the remains last year. Instead, Gordon was positively identified Feb. 13 by France’s national crime laboratory with the support of German authorities.

“Thank God he was in a German cemetery,” Henry said Tuesday, still en route to Eastend. “If he was in an American one, there is no chance in hell he’d be home right now getting buried. He’d still be an unknown.”
read more here

Six of the nine U.S. servicemembers wounded recovering in Germany

Servicemembers wounded in Kabul attack in stable condition
Stars and Stripes
August 8, 2014

KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — Six of the nine U.S. servicemembers wounded when a suspected Afghan soldier opened fire on coalition forces at a defense university in Kabul are in stable condition at a U.S. military hospital in Germany, officials said Friday.

The attack on Tuesday killed Maj. Gen. Harold J. Greene, the first general officer killed in hostilities overseas since the Vietnam War, and wounded more than a dozen others, including nine Americans.

Six of them were flown to Ramstein Air Base in Germany and transferred to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, where they were in stable condition, spokesman Chuck Roberts said.

Five were being treated for gunshot wounds, while the sixth was injured by shrapnel.
read more here

Evidence withheld by Germany on Petty Officer 2nd Class Dmitry Chepusov Murder

Germans withholding evidence in AFN murder case pending death penalty decision
Stars and Stripes
By Jennifer H. Svan and Marcus Kloeckner
Published: July 23, 2014

KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — German authorities will withhold key evidence in the strangulation death of an AFN broadcaster — including the victim’s throat — unless the U.S. military gives assurances it will not seek the death penalty for the airman accused of the murder.

The U.S. military charged Staff Sgt. Sean Oliver in March with murder in the death of Petty Officer 2nd Class Dmitry Chepusov. German police stopped Oliver on Dec. 14 in Kaiserslautern for driving erratically and found Chepusov’s lifeless body in the passenger seat of Oliver’s car.

After conducting an autopsy, German authorities concluded that Chepusov, a 31-year-old sailor assigned to the American Forces Network at Ramstein Air Base, died of “force to the neck.”

Although German authorities initially cooperated with U.S. military investigators, they withheld the throat and other evidence when they turned Chepusov’s body over to U.S. authorities.
read more here

Soldier stationed in Germany killed on autobahn

Report: Soldier from Saginaw died in fiery crash on German autobahn
MLIVE Michigan
Brad Devereaux
May 19, 2014

SAGINAW, MI — A soldier from Saginaw was killed in Germany when the sport utility vehicle he was riding in struck the divider on the autobahn, crashed and caught on fire, according to a report by Stars and Stripes, a news organization reporting on the U.S. Military community.

Sgt. Kamien A. Stanford, 28, was born in Saginaw and graduated from Saginaw High School in 2003, according to his paid obituary. He was living in Ansbach, Germany, according to his obituary.

One of three other soldiers with Stanford was driving at the time, according to a report from German police, Stars and Stripes reports.

Stanford died at the scene of the May 11 accident, the report states.
read more here

Airmen receive long-overdue POW medals after 70 years!

About time: WWII airmen receive long-overdue POW medals
FOX News
April 30, 2014

It's recognition more than 70 years in the making.

Eight U.S. service members shot down and captured while fighting Hitler’s Nazi regime finally received long overdue Prisoner of War medals during a ceremony Wednesday at the Pentagon. For decades, the airmen were denied POW status, even though they crashed over Germany and were later held in a prison camp in Wauwilermoos, Switzerland. But after a grandson of one of the airmen fought a 15-year battle to show what they had gone through, including the daring escapes that allowed them to get back to the fight, the Pentagon reversed course.

USAF Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh III presented the medals to eight of the veterans and one of their grandsons during the ceremony. The Air Force authorized the awarding of the medal to 143 USAAF airmen last year following a change in criteria. Army Air Corps First Lieutenant James Mahon, 91, was among those honored, some 70 years after his imprisonment after he and the rest of his B-17 crew were captured.

"It’s the kind of courage we read about in books, that people make movies about," Welsh said of the valor shown by the airmen. "But make no mistake about it, these men have that type of courage … and boy, did these guys saddle up.”
read more here

Wounded Solider Recovering in Hospital, Re-enlists

Wounded Wendover soldier re-enlists from hospital
Landstuhl Regional Medical Center Public Affairs
By CHUCK ROBERTS
17 hours ago

Lt. Gen. Donald M. Campbell Jr., commanding general of U.S. Army Europe, reenlists Staff Sgt. Tyronne Jones in a Feb. 19, ceremony at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany.

LANDSTUHL, Germany — In the aftermath of being downed by a gunshot wound during a firefight in Afghanistan, several thoughts came to the mind of Staff Sgt. Tyronne Jones — among them was re-enlistment. Sadly, the date and location were not the only things that changed that day.

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Edward Balli was supposed to have conducted Jones’ reenlistment ceremony at their Forward Operating Base in Afghanistan. Balli died beside Jones in that same firefight on Jan. 20 against enemy insurgents who penetrated their compound through a hole from a massive explosion.

Instead, Jones was re-enlisted by Lt. Gen. Donald M. Campbell Jr., commanding general of U.S. Army Europe, in a Feb. 19 ceremony at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center before his wife and two children and fellow soldiers from his home station in Vilseck, Germany.

Although Jones is a career soldier who planned to re-enlist, the deadly attack only firmed his resolve.
read more here

Navy SEALs take control of hijacked tanker in Mediterranean

Navy SEALs take control of hijacked tanker in Mediterranean
Stars and Stripes
By John Vandiver
Published: March 17, 2014

STUTTGART, Germany — A team of U.S. Navy SEALs seized control early Monday of a commercial tanker that was hijacked in the Mediterranean earlier this month by a small group of armed Libyan men, the Defense Department said.

The SEALs, acting under an order from President Barack Obama, embarked from the USS Roosevelt, which is deployed to the Mediterranean as part of the George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group.

“No one was hurt tonight when U.S. forces, at the request of both the Libyan and Cypriot governments, boarded and took control of the commercial tanker Morning Glory, a stateless vessel seized earlier this month by three armed Libyans,” DOD spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby said in a news release.

A Defense Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the two-hour operation resulted in the arrest of three Libyans and the discovery of two AK-47s on board. No shots were fired during the action, he said.
read more here

Marine reservist sent to collection agency by the Marines?

Marine reservists the latest left on the hook for 'erroneous payments'
Stars and Stripes
By John Vandiver
Published: January 25, 2014

STUTTGART, Germany — For two years, Marine Corps Reservist Lt. Col. Rollin Jackson served on active duty in California, some 2,000 miles from his Missouri home.

During that time, he was required to live in a hotel near his duty station in San Diego, where he worked as a mobilization officer.

Then, without warning, the Marines told Jackson he had been overpaid. Based on a technicality — that Jackson signed his mobilization orders upon arrival in San Diego rather than at his home in Missouri — the Marine Corps determined that Jackson owed $85,000 that he was paid for hotels and per-diem during his tenure in California.

The Marines also sent his government travel card statement, carrying a balance of $9,996.25, to a collection agency, Jackson said.

He and other Marine Corps reservists are the latest group of servicemembers and civilian Defense Department employees in dispute with the military over whether certain allowances were properly paid or have to be repaid.
read more here

Troops killed in Afghanistan helicopter crash from Fort Riley and Germany

Department of Defense
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Release No: NR-083-13 December 19, 2013

DoD Identifies Army Casualties

The Department of Defense announced today the death of six soldiers who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

They died Dec. 17, in Now Bahar, Afghanistan, of injuries suffered as a result of a helicopter crash. The incident is pending investigation.

Killed were:

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Randy L. Billings, 34, of Heavener, Okla.,

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Joshua B. Silverman, 35, of Scottsdale, Ariz., and

Sgt. Peter C. Bohler, 29, of Willow Spring, N.C.

They were assigned to the 3rd Assault Helicopter Battalion, 1st Aviation Regiment, 1st Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kan.

Sgt. 1st Class Omar W. Forde, 28, of Marietta, Ga., assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kan.

Staff Sgt. Jesse L. Williams, 30, of Elkhart, Ind., assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, Regimental Support Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment, Vilseck, Germany.

Spc. Terry K. D. Gordon, 22, of Shubuta, Miss., assigned to 1st Squadron, 6th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kan.

DOD: Sailor from Texas died in Germany

DoD Identifies Navy Casualty
No. NR-078-13
December 17, 2013

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a sailor who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

Petty Officer 1st Class James L. Smith, 38, of Huffman, Texas, died Dec. 11, in Landstuhl, Germany, from a non-combat related incident.

Smith was assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 28, Shreveport, La.

Army suspends Command Sgt. Major over "alcohol related" incident

Wiesbaden garrison CSM suspended in 'alcohol-related incident'
Army Times
Dec. 6, 2013

The top enlisted soldier at U.S. Army Garrison Wiesbadenhas been suspended from his job as garrison command sergeant major after “an alcohol-related incident,” according to an Army spokeswoman.

Command Sgt. Maj. Sa’eed Mustafa was suspended Nov. 25 after the off base incident, Anemone Rueger, a spokeswoman for the Wiesbaden garrison, told Army Times in an emailed statement.

Rueger said no one else was involved in the incident, but otherwise did not elaborate on the allegations against Mustafa, writing that the “investigation is ongoing.”

Mustafa, a native of Highland Falls, N.Y., is a 29-year Army veteran who took the top enlisted post of the Wiesbaden garrison in July 2012, according to his official biography on the garrison’s website. As of Friday, he was still listed on the site as the garrison’s top enlisted leader.
read more here

PTSD and depression hitting fifth of soldiers in Germany

A fifth of serving soldiers 'have mental problems'
The Local Germany's News
Published: 26 Nov 2013

One in five of German soldiers being sent on operations abroad have mental health problems before they go - and are far more likely to develop serious difficulties when they return according to a study published on Tuesday.

Researchers at Dresden's University of Technology described “manifest but largely unrecognized” illnesses including depression and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) affecting a fifth of troops before they went into duty.

And on their return, the soldiers had a four to six times greater risk of developing further mental health problems, Hans-Ulrich Wittchen from the university’s Institute of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy told the Süddeutsche newspaper.

The German parliament commissioned the study in 2008 to see how many cases of PTSD were undiagnosed in the military. It showed the problem remained hidden as soldiers feared being stigmatized if they admit to having difficulties.

Troops also thought it would hurt their career if they told colleagues or superiors they were suffering from mental strain, the Süddeutsche said.

Researchers tested 2,500 soldiers, some of whom had served abroad and some of whom had not. They also interviewed 621 soldiers before they went to Afghanistan and then again a year after their return.
read more here

A Dream Come True Ends in Suicide for Soldier

A Dream Come True Ends in Suicide for Soldier
News21
by Chase Cook
Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation Fellow
Published Aug. 24, 2013

The roadside bomb blasted the safety hatch and blew away the windshields on the heavy transport that Army Pfc. Kimberly Agar rode across Iraq during the 2007 surge. As she regained her composure, insurgents rained rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire on the convoy for about 15 minutes. Agar climbed into the back seat and returned fire as the convoy pushed through the ambush.

Agar’s group didn’t suffer fatalities in that attack but she was diagnosed as having a concussion after she complained of headaches and insomnia, about a day after the bombing.

About a year later, Agar finished her 15-month deployment and went home to Dallas for a two-week break before returning to Fort Benning, Ga. Her mother, Margy Agar, though, noticed her daughter was different, saying she was distant, withdrawn and not “my Kimi anymore.”

In 2009, Kimberly Agar re-enlisted and was posted to Germany, a place she had always wanted to visit. There, the talented vocalist who swept pageants in her childhood and teen years eventually made the U.S. Army Europe Band and Chorus, singing with the elite, selective military musical troupe that performs at diplomatic and military events.

It was a job that the younger Kimberly would have envied — getting paid to travel the world as an entertainer. Agar told everyone it was her dream gig. But there were lingering effects of her injuries, fragile emotions and even a suicide attempt.

The mother of Army veteran Kimberly Agar, Margy Agar, talks about her daughter's struggles with symptoms related to a traumatic brain injury.

Early in October 2011, Agar killed herself in Germany after struggling with a minor traumatic brain injury.
read more here

Air Force to dismiss anyone found to have committed sexual misconduct

Air Force to dismiss anyone found to have committed sexual misconduct
By Jennifer H. Svan
Stars and Stripes
Published: August 13, 2013
8 minutes ago

KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — Airmen who commit any type of sexual misconduct, whether groping a co-worker or rape, face dismissal from the service under a tough new Air Force policy aimed at eliminating such behavior from the ranks.

The new guidance, which took effect July 3, requires commanders to initiate separation action for any officer or enlisted airman found to have committed or attempted to commit a range of sexual offenses.

The measure is among several new Air Force policies dealing with cases of sexual assault and related misconduct.

Airmen in a position of trust found to have engaged in an unprofessional relationship — such as dating a potential recruit or military trainee — are also now subject to mandatory administrative discharge.

The service also has taken steps to protect airmen from retaliation for reporting sexual assault. Any orders of involuntary discharge issued to airmen who have filed a recent unrestricted report of sexual assault are to be reviewed by a senior commander.
read more here

Patriot Guard Riders escorting Staff Sgt. Jesse Thomas Jr. body home

The Patriot Guard has been requested to escort and stand in honor for SSgt Jesse L. Thomas Jr.

SSgt Jesse L. Thomas Jr. age 31

Pensacola, Fl.

June 20 and 22, 2013

This will be a two part mission. SSgt Thomas was KIA on June 10, 2013 in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. We will receive SSgt Thomas's remains upon arrival from Dover, DE at the Pensacola Aviation Center, 4145 Jerry L. Maygarden Rd., Pensacola. Aircraft arrival is scheduled for 11:00 AM, June 20, 2013. We will then escort SSgt Thomas to the Joe Morris Funeral Home, 701 N. DeVillers St., Pensacola.

The second part of this mission will take place on Saturday, June 22, 2013. Funeral services are scheduled at the East Hill Church of God in Christ, 400 East Jordan St. Pensacola at 1:00 PM. We will set a flag line up prior to the service. Following the service, we will escort SSgt Thomas to Barrancas National Cemetery for honors. Honors at Barrancas National Cemetery are scheduled for 3:15 PM. Joe Morris Funeral Home, 701 N. DeVillers St., Pensacola is in charge of arrangements.

SSgt Thomas was assigned to the 39th Transportation Battalion, 16th Sustainment Brigade, 21st Theater Sustainment Command out of Kleber Kaserne, Germany.

He leaves behind his wife, Michelle, also an active duty member, 3 step children, and his Mother, Irma Oliver. SSgt Thomas earned the following awards during his service to this country. The Army Commendation Medal (3) {3rd posthumous}, Army Achievement Medal (3), Army Superior Unit Award, Army Good Conduct Medal (3), Afghanistan Campaign Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Medal, Korean Defense Service Medal (2), Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal, Non-Commissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon (2), Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon (2), and posthumous NATO Medal.

"Dirty Dozen" World War II hero James "Jake" McNiece passed away

WWII Hero, Inspiration for 'The Dirty Dozen,' Dies
Jan 23, 2013
UPI

World War II hero James "Jake" McNiece, whose behind-the-lines exploits helped inspire the film "The Dirty Dozen," has died, family members said. He was 93.

McNiece, a retired postal worker who spent most of his adult life in Ponca City, Okla., but lived his last years near family in Springfield, Ill., passed away Monday, The (Oklahoma City) Oklahoman reported.

McNiece led a group of soldiers nicknamed "The Filthy 13" on a paratroop mission behind German lines in the hours before the June 6, 1944, D-Day invasion by Allied forces.

Their mission was to destroy bridges and prevent German reinforcements from moving into Normandy and retreating forces from leaving.
read more here

WWII Merchant Marine remembers guardian angel

The day Eugene Quidort listened to his guardian angel
Posted by Brian Albrecht
January 17, 2013


Eugene Quidort was a cadet midshipman aboard the tanker "Esso Gettysburg," getting ready to go down to the engine room when a voice of warning came out of nowhere. That voice, and later, a school of dolphins, saved his life when the ship was torpedoed by a German submarine during World War II.

Then he heard a girl's voice, clear as the blue sky overhead: "I wouldn't go down there if I were you . . . Go to the flying bridge and get some sun."

World War II veteran gets duffel bag back

World War II veteran gets duffel bag back after almost 70 years
By Randi Belisomo
WGN-TV
January 8, 2013

A World War II veteran from Indiana has his duffel bag back almost 70 years after he lost it.

William Kadar was fighting the Germans in France in November of 1944 when he became separated from his trusty sack.

“Well, I finally got it!” Kadar, 92, said today in Merrillville.

He was later captured by the Germans and forced to march across France and Germany to a prisoner of war camp. The camp was liberated, but Kadar did not see his bag again until today.
read more here