Brides Across America giving away wedding gowns to qualified military brides

Brides Across America was born on a realization that our country needs to do more to support our troops and their families. Bringing bridal and military together is a marriage made in heaven! Bridal salons are uniting across America to donate and giving away wedding gowns to qualified military brides.

The wedding industry is making a difference and giving brides to be the opportunity to find the wedding gown of their dreams as well as alleviating financial stress of purchasing a wedding gown.

Each store will be preparing a select number of gown to give away. Most of the gowns are samples and overstocks and are worth approximately $500 to $3000. Dresses range in sizes from 4-22 and will be given away on a first-come, first serve basis as long as you qualify.

Brides Across America is dedicated to make military brides dreams come true while, anxiously waiting the arrival of thier loved one from overseas.

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Veterans warned to get checked for rabies

Our dogs and cats here get shots but when soldiers come in contact with puppies they fall in love with overseas, they have no way of knowing if the animal is carrying rabies or not. It is even worse when they come into contact with older dogs, afraid and ready to attack. If you know a veteran that served in Iraq or Afghanistan, warn them they need to be checked if they were bitten by an animal there. I could save their lives.

VA: Get checked; soldier dies of rabies
KXAN.com
The Veterans Administration is asking troops who were deployed in the past 18 months, and had contact with a dog, cat or other animal, to get checked.

Some homeless veterans have just given up hope

If you want to judge a homeless veteran, next time, think about how they ended up there.

Reaching out to homeless veterans on Chattanooga's streets
by Yolanda Putman

Within three weeks, an outreach specialist will drive in a Veterans Administration van looking for homeless veterans living on Chattanooga's streets.

"If there's a veteran on the street who needs medical, housing, employment services ... we're reaching out," said Dan Heim, Health Care for Homeless Veterans program coordinator with the Tennessee Valley Healthcare System.

Medical, addiction and dental services also are available to veterans.

The outreach specialist also will do outreach in mission shelters and halfway houses looking for veterans who may not be aware of the services available to them. The outreach specialist will have an office in the VA Outpatient Clinic off Brainerd Road. The goal is to educate veterans about VA services and to end veteran homelessness by 2015.

But Vietnam veteran Ronald Walker, 62, said veterans in Chattanooga do know of the services available to them.

"Most veterans realize where they can go to get help. It's just that a lot of them have given up hope," said Walker, while lounging in a chair at the Chattanooga Community Kitchen, which provides the homeless with food, day shelter and more.
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When I Came Home
Synopsis
Iraq War veteran Herold Noel suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and lives out of his car in Brooklyn. Using Noel's story as a fulcrum, this doc examines the wider issue of homeless U.S. military veterans-from Vietnam to Iraq-who have to fight tooth-and-nail to receive the benefits promised to them by their government.

Iraq War’s ’Missing’ $6.6 Billion Is Discovered in Central Bank

Iraq War’s ’Missing’ $6.6 Billion Is Discovered in Central Bank
October 26, 2011, 12:24 AM EDT

By Tony Capaccio and David Lerman
Oct. 26 (Bloomberg) -- A new Pentagon audit resolves a lingering Iraq-war mystery, concluding that $6.6 billion of U.S.-controlled reconstruction money was transferred to the Central Bank of Iraq, not lost or stolen.

The Coalition Provisional Authority, created by the U.S. to run Iraq after the invasion, controlled more than $20.7 billion during its 14-month life, including $6.6 billion held when it was dissolved on June 28, 2004.

“That money is not missing,” said Inspector General Stuart Bowen in a telephone interview.

A 2010 Bowen audit couldn’t account for the money. Today’s report says “sufficient evidence exists showing almost all” the $6.6 billion was transferred to the central bank.

The inability to account for the money led to suspicion in Iraq that the funds had been stolen. The Iraqi parliament’s Integrity Committee wrote the United Nations in June that “all indications are that the institutions of the United States of America committed financial corruption by stealing money.”

“That’s not true,” Bowen said. “This report answers the question about the $6.6 billion. We conclude it properly was accounted for by the Federal Reserve Board Bank of New York and Central Bank of Iraq.”
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Witness Who Saw Suspect Shoot And Kill Deputy Speaks

Only Witness Who Saw Suspect Shoot And Kill Deputy Speaks to WJBF News Channel 6
By: JILLIAN BENFIELD
Published: October 25, 2011

Augusta, GA --
We have new information about the murder of Richmond County Sheriff's Office Deputy J.D. Paugh.

Deputies say Paugh was shot and killed early Sunday morning when he saw a suspicious situation on Bobby Jones Expressway.

Sheriff Ronnie Strength says, Fort Gordon student soldier Christopher Michael Hodges fired off 42 rounds and shot Deputy Paugh 9 times before shooting himself in the head. He also added that Paugh fired 3 shots, one of them hitting Hodges in the arm.

The Sheriff says Hodges was intoxicated the night of the shootings. Sources tell us that Hodges was ordered by the military to go through treatment for alcoholism, but his girlfriend tells a different story.

You've seen the the flags flying at half staff around town, you've heard the heartfelt interviews from Deputy J.D. Paughs friends and colleagues, but there is one story that has yet to be told.

Besides Deputy Paugh and suspect Christopher Hodges, Raven Harper was the only one there the night deputies say her boyfriend fired off 42 rounds from his m4 assault rifle...killing Paugh and himself.
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Was Navy Sailor Kyle Antonacci's Death Suicide or Murder?

Was Navy Sailor Kyle Antonacci's Death Suicide or Murder?

By BARBARA PINTO
Oct. 25, 2011
Navy sailor Kyle Antonacci was found hanged last year while he was covertly helping an investigation that cleared another sailor of a rape accusation brought by a female Marine.

Antonacci's family, however, doesn't believe he committed suicide and fear he may have been murdered for his role in the investigation.

They also raised questions about how the Navy treated his death. The family says the Navy initially told them that Antonacci died in a car crash, and failed to tell them about injuries -- including a broken nose -- that their son suffered in his last moments. In addition, they claim that key evidence like investigation photographs of his injuries have disappeared.

"It's been hell," said Lisa Antonacci, the sailor's mother. "We feel like we are being completely ignored by the Navy. They took my son, put him in a box and that was that."

An ongoing, 20-month-long military investigation has yet to determine if Antonacci's death was homicide or suicide.

Lisa Antonacci said her son joined the Navy in hopes of one day becoming a SEAL, one of the country's elite special forces.

"He became intrigued with the Navy Seals," said his mother. "He didn't even like gym class, my son, but he wanted to be a Navy Seal. He said he wanted to make a difference and serve in the military."

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also

Positive their son did not commit suicide

Vietnam Vets show up to welcome home others get surprise

They were supposed to be welcoming home a soldier from Afghanistan. They showed up like they always do to make sure these men and women do not come home feeling no one cared. After all, they know what that feels like and they remembered every sorrow their homecoming carried.

My husband is a Vietnam veteran. When I showed him the video I shot of what happened when 7 Marines came back from Afghanistan to Orlando International Airport, he got sad. He remembered when he came home and how he felt.

He finished watching the video and then I told him that it was only possible because Vietnam Veterans made sure it did. It is because of them the troops have been treated a lot differently than they were. After all, a lot of them raised their own children to serve as well. Yes, even after they were treated so poorly. That's how amazing these men and women are. He smiled after that.

To the Vietnam Veterans in Little River, you deserved this!

Vietnam veterans receive overdue 'welcome home'
by Ryan Naquin
Posted: 10.21.2011

Ryan Naquin

LITTLE RIVER -- What was supposed to be a welcome home for a serviceman returning from Afghanistan turned into the surprise of a lifetime for a group of Vietnam veterans.

James Young drove from Gainesville, GA for the event. "It's a camaraderie that only veterans can experience," said Young. "Whether I know these men or not."

Young and more than twenty other veterans from the Army's 25th Infantry during the Vietnam War gathered in Little River, SC Friday.
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also

DIFFERENCE MAKER: Vietnam veteran jumped at the chance to meet troops in Afghanistan
Oct. 21, 2011
Written by
JOHN CARLSON
MUNCIE -- It's been a long time since Charlie Manis was an Army Ranger in National Guard Company D, fighting in Vietnam.

Not since 1969, to be precise.

Nobody has to remind him of the Rangers' motto, though.

"Rangers lead the way," he repeated Wednesday, seated at a table in La Hacienda, the popular southside Mexican restaurant he has owned and run for nearly 34 years.

For him, they are words to live by, ones that have set the course of his life. They also explain why, when recently given an unprecedented opportunity to join three other Ranger combat veterans in meeting American troops in Afghanistan, he jumped at the chance.

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Vietnam Vet, double amputee in wheelchair, killed by car

Veteran in wheelchair struck, killed by car

By James Hinton
Tuesday, October 25, 2011

A wheelchair-bound double amputee Vietnam veteran was struck and killed as he crossed Belmont Street in Brockton yesterday afternoon.

Marine Corps veteran Edwin Nelson, 65, an in-patient at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center just down the road from the crash scene, was taken to Good Samaritan Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, Brockton police said.
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Tenn. soldier suspected in shooting of Ga. deputy previously served in Iraq

Tenn. soldier suspected in shooting of Ga. deputy previously served in Iraq
By Associated Press, Published: October 24

ATLANTA — Military officials said a Tennessee Army National Guard soldier accused of killing a sheriff’s deputy, then committing suicide, had previously served in Iraq with the 3rd Infantry Division.

Spc. Christopher Michael Hodges served with the division based at Fort Stewart between 2005 and 2009 and deployed to Iraq in 2007-2008.
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Tenn Guardsman kills deputy then self


Funeral arrangements for Deputy Paugh

The family of Deputy J.D. Paugh has invited PGR to stand in honor for his services to the state, county and especially the motorcycling community he gave so much of his time to.

Visitation:

Wednesday 26 October 2011

Thomas King Funeral Home

124 Davis Rd.

Martinez, GA.

Military records sought in slaying of Ga. deputy
The Associated Press

ATLANTA — Investigators were awaiting military records and autopsy results Monday to help explain why a National Guardsman allegedly gunned down a sheriff's deputy and then killed himself on the side of a highway in Georgia.
Officials said Spc. Christopher Michael Hodges, 26, was firing gunshots at passing cars moments before the off-duty deputy pulled over to investigate a suspicious car on the side of the road early Sunday.

Hodges and Richmond County Deputy James Paugh, 47, were found dead on the side of Bobby Jones Expressway after 1 a.m. Sunday.
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Police kill armed soldier during confrontation on the street

Lakewood police kill armed soldier during confrontation on the street
Lakewood police shot and killed an armed Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier early Sunday morning during a confrontation on his street.

STACIA GLENN; STAFF WRITER
Published: 10/24/11

Lakewood police shot and killed an armed Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier early Sunday morning during a confrontation on his street.

Trent Lloyd-Thorpe, 32, was pronounced dead in the 4800 block of Yew Lane Southwest, where neighbors said he lived with his fiancée and two children.

The incident started just after 1 a.m. when a man called 911 to report Lloyd-Thorpe had either been shot or had shot himself and was lying in the street.

Police, who said Lloyd-Thorpe had been attending a nearby party before the shooting, arrived within a minute and found the injured man in the street.

“The radio traffic was ‘multiple shots fired,’” Lt. Dave Guttu said. “The next radio traffic came that officers had been involved in the shooting.”

Investigators are still trying to figure out what led up to the shooting.

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Soldier killed by Lakewood police 'avoided trouble at all cost'
Trent Lloyd Thorp was an easygoing man who maintained an affable smile even while deployed in Afghanistan. The 32-year-old soldier from Joint Base Lewis-McChord was fatally shot early Sunday during a confrontation with Lakewood police.

BY STACIA GLENN; STAFF WRITER
Published: 10/24/11

Trent Lloyd Thorp was an easygoing man who maintained an affable smile even while deployed in Afghanistan.

The 32-year-old soldier from Joint Base Lewis-McChord was fatally shot early Sunday during a confrontation with Lakewood police in his neighborhood.

“Despite the pressures of deployment and the mission itself, Trent was always nothing but kind,” said Stephanie McAllister, who was stationed with him at Fort Lee, VA., and served with him in Afghanistan. He was “one of those rare guys that everybody liked.”

Police said Monday their investigation was ongoing and no new information will be released until the four officers involved in the shooting give statements.

The officers are on administrative leave, which is standard protocol after a police shooting.

Thorp joined the Army on May 12, 2008, and was sent to Fort Lee. He deployed to Afghanistan in June 2010 and returned in May, according to JBLM.
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