Showing posts with label Afghanistan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Afghanistan. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

UCF Community in shock after Steven Sotloff beheaded

Purported killing of journalist Steven Sotloff by ISIS shocks UCF community
Orlando Sentinel
By Gal Tziperman Lotan
September 2, 2014

A video purporting to show the killing of journalist and former UCF student Steven Sotloff by militants was released today, sparking outrage and calls for more action against his killers.

The White House is working to determine the authenticity of the video, which shows an Islamic State militant beheading a man he identifies as Sotloff, 31, and threatening British hostage David Haines, according to the SITE Intelligence Group monitoring service.

"I'm back, Obama, and I'm back because of your arrogant foreign policy towards the Islamic State," the man said, according to SITE. "So just as your missiles continue to strike our people, our knife will continue to strike the necks of your people."

If the video is legitimate, Sotloff would be the second American journalist killed by the Islamic State militant group known as ISIS in two weeks. Reporter James Foley was beheaded in a video released Aug. 19.

Sotloff attended UCF between 2002 and 2004, took a few journalism classes, and wrote for the student paper, the Central Florida Future. He left during his junior year.
read more here

Vietnam Veteran Found Not Guilty Over Drone Protest

Vietnam veteran turns to activism for redemption
Buffalo News
By Phil Fairbanks
News Staff Reporter
on September 1, 2014

Russell Brown, a Buffalo resident and Vietnam veteran, was arrested in Central New York in April 2013 while protesting the use of drones.
Robert Kirkham/Buffalo News

In a suburban courtroom outside Syracuse, before a jury of six men and women, Russell Brown talked about his days as a Marine in Vietnam.

He talked about the fighting and killing – he was in Quang Tri Province, a bloody battleground in the late 1960s – and how a lot of innocent Vietnamese died there.

He also talked about why, 45 years later, his experiences during that war led him to an anti-drone protest and the decision to lie down in front of an Air National Guard base in Central New York and cover himself with paint the color of blood.

It was the “most peaceful experience” since his return from the war in 1968, he told he jury.

“When I was in Vietnam, I didn’t say anything,” the 67-year-old Buffalo resident said. “I never spoke out.”

Brown, who represented himself during the two-day trial in Dewitt Town Court, portrayed his protest as an act of redemption, a way for him to ease some of his guilt and regret about the war.

The jury, after just two hours of deliberation, found him not guilty.
read more here

Saturday, May 24, 2014

Ovideo War Memorial Honors 385 Fallen

Fallen Floridians Memorial Cross Tribute 385 crosses, one for every military member from Florida who died while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, will arrive on the grounds of the Lawton House in Oviedo. Larger crosses will collectively honor those who gave their lives in previous conflicts. Each cross will hold a wreath created in 2013 by Eagle Scout 17-year-old Conner MacFarlane and refurbished by his 14-year-old sister, Chloe. One of the crosses is in honor of their father who died in Afghanistan in 2012. Chloe and fellow Girl Scouts from the Oviedo area will lay the wreaths. Lawton House, 200 West Broadway, Oviedo, 32765. May 17 - May 27 the public is invited to walk the grounds of the Lawton House from 10AM to 8PM daily to see the crosses and pay tribute to these brave men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice.
No music, no words, just the power of seeing this many Afghanistan and Iraq fallen heroes remembered from Florida.

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Four American workers shot at the CURE hospital in Afghanistan

3 American workers shot, killed in Afghan hospital
CNN
By Qadir Siddiqui and Holly Yan
April 24, 2014

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
4 American hospital workers were shot, 3 fatally
Police: A guard at the hospital opened fire
The guard also shot himself but survived, police say
It's the latest in a series of deadly attacks against foreigners

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- At least three American hospital workers in Afghanistan were killed Thursday by an officer guarding the hospital, Kabul police said.

The three men killed were among four American workers shot at the CURE hospital in downtown Kabul, city police spokesman Hashmatullah Stanekzai said.

The police guard shot himself but survived, Stanekzai said. The motive for the attack was not immediately clear. The U.S. Embassy in Kabul confirmed the shooting.

She was married at 6 years old Can Afghan rappers turn out youth vote? Afghans vote for future despite threats "With great sadness we confirm that three Americans were killed in the attack on CURE Hospital," the embassy tweeted. "No other information will be released at this time."
read more here

Dr. Jerry Umanos was a pediatrician at Lawndale Christian Health Center

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Brad Pitt to Star as General Stanley McChrystal

Brad Pitt to Star as General Stanley McChrystal in Afghanistan War Film The Operators
E News
by BRUNA NESSIF
Apr. 14, 2014

Dmac/FAMEFLYNET PICTURES
Brad Pitt is locking in yet another war flick on his list of films.

Angelina Jolie's handsome significant other is going to star as Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the former commanding general of international and U.S. forces in Afghanistan, in the upcoming movie The Operators, according to The Los Angeles Times.

The military drama will be written and directed by Australian director David Michod, who was behind the indie film Animal Kingdom a few ago, and will be based off of journalist Michael Hastings‘ 2012 book The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America's War in Afghanistan.

McChrystal made headlines when he was fired in 2010 after making some controversial remarks in a Rolling Stone profile by the late Michael Hastings, in which General McChrystal and his staff criticized administration officials, the president and his advisers.
read more here

Friday, April 11, 2014

Florida Bomb Sniffing Dog Retires with Full Honors

Fla. bomb-sniffing military dog that saved 13-person patron in Afghanistan retires with honors
Associated Press
April 11, 2014

TAMPA, Fla. – Staff Sgt. Shannon Hutto thought his bomb sniffing dog Eddie was just being lazy when he wouldn't move from a certain spot one hot day in Afghanistan in 2012.

But Hutto then saw what Eddie smelled: a homemade bomb, partially buried in the dirt. It was six inches from Hutto's foot.

"It was a high stress moment," Hutto said.

A short time later, Eddie sniffed out another improvised explosive placed on a bridge the patrol unit was about to cross.

Eddie saved Hutto's life, the lives of a dozen patrol members and countless people in the village.

For his service, Eddie retired Friday with full military honors. The ceremony was held at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, and a few dozen soldiers turned out to cheer Eddie on.
read more here

Monday, April 7, 2014

U.S. casualties from OEF and OIF will be honored at Vietnam Wall

U.S. casualties from Afghanistan, Iraq will be honored at Vietnam Wall
The Washington Post
Michael E. Ruane
April 6, 2014

WASHINGTON — The first name that will be read at the ceremony on Memorial Day weekend is that of Evander Earl Andrews.

A small-town boy, he left his parents’ home in central Maine, joined the Air Force, and on Oct. 10, 2001, became the first military member reported killed in the post 9/11 wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

His mother, Mary, 71, said on Friday that she never thought his death would be followed by 6,700 more.

On May 24, Andrews’ name and the names of the others killed in the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will be read aloud chronologically for the first time in a tribute at the Vietnam Wall, according to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund.

The ceremony will open at 9 a.m. on the east knoll of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and the reading will run from about 10 a.m. to about 5:40 p.m., the fund said.

Those interested can register to read names starting at 8 a.m. on April 14 at Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. People will be asked to read 15 names at a time.

Sunday, March 16, 2014

Bomb sniffing dog adopted by contractor he saved

Layton man injured in Afghanistan adopts 'hero' dog
Deseret News
By Emiley Morgan
Published: Saturday, March 15 201

LAYTON — On May 9, 2010, John Logie, his body full of shrapnel, was loaded into a helicopter and flown from Afghanistan to Germany after being injured by an improvised explosive device.

He said his K9 partner, Balto, watched as he was loaded up.

"He's looking at me like, 'Where are you going, Dad?'" Logie recalled.

Saturday, the same dog stared down the same man, as Logie arrived to pick up Balto from the Delta Cargo warehouse at the Salt Lake City International Airport as his new owner.

"This is my hero right here," Logie said as the dog was released from his kennel. "He saved my life multiple times and now it's time for him to go home and sit on the couch."

Logie said he began working with Balto when he went to Afghanistan in 2009. Working as a contracted handler first with the U.S. Special Forces, then the Canadian Military, the pair spent almost a year together searching for explosives and clearing the way for troops until the day Logie was injured.

"When you're over there in that kind of condition, the dog is pretty much on your hip 24/7," Logie said. "You sleep with him, live with him, eat with him… He's got a good sniffer on him. He found a lot before I got hurt."

On May 9, 2010, Logie said he and Balto were sent out to clear a compound near some grape fields where explosives were often buried. Picking up some IED residue from a nearby building, Balto pulled Logie toward the structure — and away from a powerful "primary" IED.

Logie hit a secondary IED, which sent shrapnel through his left arm and leg, parts of his right leg and arm and damaged his hearing. But he believes hitting the less powerful explosive spared his life.
read more here

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Taliban Suicide Bomber Ends Life of Teacher in Afghanistan

Chicago native killed in Afghanistan blast
American University employee remembered for fearlessness, passion
Chicago Tribune
By Jonathan Bullington, Tribune reporter
January 19, 2014

She knew the risks, but Lexie Kamerman's family and friends said the Chicago native would not be deterred from her goal: helping young women in Afghanistan improve their lives through education.

"That's the wonderful thing about her. She had a sense of fearlessness," said friend Sherrille Lamb. "She was so focused on helping those young ladies that no matter what the circumstances around her might bring, that's what she was there for."

Less than a year after she took a job at the American University of Afghanistan, Kamerman was among 21 people who died Friday when a Taliban suicide bomber and gunmen attacked a restaurant in the capital, Kabul.

"She was an amazing young woman — smart, strong, beautiful, funny, stubborn and kind," her family said in an emailed statement. "As you could probably guess, her death is a shock to us all and we can't imagine a moment going forward when she won't be desperately missed."
read more here

Thursday, December 19, 2013

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.

Monday, December 16, 2013

Contracting out PTSD

Contracting Out PTSD
It's not only the troops suffering from war's mental ravages
TIME Swampland
By Mark Thompson
Dec. 15, 2013

Contractor fraud and waste in Afghanistan and Iraq has run rampant, costing U.S. taxpayers something between $31 billion and $60 billion, according to the congressionally created Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But it also has cost many of those contractors too: a new report from the Rand Corp. says such private workers suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder and depression at rates similar, if not higher, than the troops they serve alongside.

The Rand study, Out of the Shadows: The Health and Well-Being of Contractors Working in Conflict Environments — released Dec. 10 as part of what Rand describes as “self-initiated independent research” — says:

Although contractors have become a nontrivial part of the fighting force in several theaters of conflict over the past decade, their characteristics, deployment experiences, and health status have not been thoroughly explored. This study found that the contractors sampled have similar deployment experiences to military personnel—including combat exposure. The contractors in our study reported relatively high rates of probable mental health problems, including PTSD and depression. Moreover, our findings suggest that this population has few resources to cope with these problems and faces significant barriers to seeking mental health treatment.
read more here

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Contractor killed in Afghanistan by rocket as she slept

Loss in Afghanistan felt deeply in Pungo
The Virginian-Pilot
By Joanne Kimberlin
December 14, 2013
VIRGINIA BEACH
"I want to see something in the paper besides stories about some Muslim or Islamic kid getting killed by a drone," Joe said. "Americans get killed over there, too, just doing their jobs."

The rocket came over a wall 7,000 miles away. Now, a man sits alone and smokes in his kitchen in Pungo, mourning his wife.

Kathleen "Kitti" Pennell, a civilian contractor working in Afghanistan, was killed Nov. 29 at Bagram Air Field by what the military calls IDF - indirect fire. Official details are scarce, but Joe Pennell was told that his 53-year-old wife died in her quarters when an insurgent-fired rocket hit her barracks.

One of her colleagues, Albert Henry Haas of Illinois, was also killed. Two others were wounded.

Attacks are almost routine at Bagram, a U.S.-run base outside Kabul that shelters tens of thousands of military personnel, contractors and Afghan workers. Incoming mortar rounds and rockets - mostly old, Soviet-made models - trigger sirens and a scramble for bunkers, but few inflict serious damage.

One found its mark as Thanksgiving Day drew to a close. Kitti, a flight coordinator for a company that hauls military supplies, was probably asleep when the rocket sailed over the base's perimeter around midnight.

"They tell me she never knew what hit her," Joe said. "I hope they're not just saying that to make me feel better."
read more here

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

PTSD hits one out of three contractors in war zones

Large incomes, Workers' Compensation, Health Insurance and PTSD. Think about that for a second.

They are not members of the military but they are contractors. They report rates of PTSD at one out of three.

Hmm, doesn't that sound familiar? That is because up until these recent wars, that was the percentage used by most experts when trying to explain how many get hit by PTSD.

They worry about their jobs, so only 16% have actually filed Comp Claims. It isn't that they don't have PTSD issues but more about losing their jobs.

That sounds familiar too. It does because that is what is going on with our troops and veterans.

PTSD hits civilians serving on war fronts, study finds
USA TODAY
Gregg Zoroya
December 10, 2013

Rates of mental illness among an international force of civilian contractors hired to work in Iraq or Afghanistan rivaled those among service members, a report says.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Nearly one in three U.S. contractors show signs of PTSD after working in Iraq, Afghanistan
Most have health insurance, but few make use of it to combat stress
Working in a war zone not just stressful for troops, RAND report finds

Rates of mental illness among an international force of civilian contractors hired to work in Iraq or Afghanistan rivaled those among servicemembers, with one in four civilians showing signs of post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a RAND Corp. study released today.

The prevalence of PTSD was even higher among American contractors. Nearly one in three showed signs of the disorder, researchers found in an online survey of 660 civilians working in war zones between early 2011 and early 2013.

"These findings highlight a significant but often overlooked group of people struggling with the after-effects of working in a war zone," said Molly Dunigan, co-author of the study and a political scientist with RAND.

Researchers said it is unclear how many contractors have served in war zones, but they often outnumber the troops deployed.
"Many simply avoided doing so out of concern that it would affect their employment, according to the study. Only about 16% of contractors surveyed said they filed workers' compensation claims."
read more here

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Vietnam Veteran putting skills to use in Afghanistan at 71

Vietnam Vet, 71, Working As Contractor In Afghanistan
Here and Now
December 4, 2013

Jeff Traylor (center), a 71-year-old contractor in Afghanistan, is flanked by two servicemen. (Jeff Traylor)

You’ve not doubt heard the stories about people working past retirement age. Jeff Traylor has taken that to a new level.

He’s 71 years old, a Vietnam veteran, and he’s working with the Air Force as a contractor in Afghanistan. He’s doing it because he needed the job.

“Regardless of what they may say about age discrimination, it still exists,” Traylor tells Here and Now’s Jeremy Hobson. “I can tell it from the way that my applications were received. That’s one issue. And then I have a lot of experience and I bring a lot to the table for a company, but most of them are not willing to pay for those services and education that I’ve gained in my many, many years in the industry.”
go here for more and interview

Saturday, November 30, 2013

Parent pushes for Afghanistan war memorial in Brevard

Parent pushes for Afghanistan war memorial in Brevard
FLORIDA TODAY
Written by
R. Norman Moody
November 29, 2013

MERRITT ISLAND — Over 18 months, Jeanne Weaver completed many drafts of a drawing that will be become a sculpture that pays tribute to those who served in the war in Afghanistan.

Weaver, an artist from Cocoa Beach, worked from several photographs, including one of her son, Army Lt. Todd Weaver, to come up with final drawing that will be the Afghanistan War Memorial at the Brevard Veterans Memorial Center plaza.

Todd Weaver, was killed Sept. 9, 2010, when a bomb exploded along the road his platoon was patrolling in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

“He is the lone soldier who will represent all of our troops serving in Afghanistan,” she said. “As far as I’m concerned he is a nameless lone soldier.”

Weaver will not be identified in the sculpture. The soldier is kneeling, his rifle in one hand; his other hand pointing offinto the distance. A mountain, a desert and a river completes the scene for the 4-foot wide by 5-foot tall monument that will list the names of those from Brevard or with local family connections killed in the war in Afghanistan.

“I wanted to show emotion and I wanted to show passion,” Weaver said. “I wanted it to be a lasting memorial.”
read more here

Monday, October 28, 2013

University of Montana Fallen Soldier Memorial for OEF and OIF

UM's Fallen Soldier monument dedicated as state’s official Iraq, Afghanistan war memorial
Missoulian News
By Alice Miller
October 26, 2013


Michelle Torres makes a special stop when she comes to Missoula to visit her children and grandchildren.

“When I do come to town, I usually do come and sit and visit with this,” she said, gesturing to the plaque where Travis Arndt’s name is chiseled in stone at the Fallen Soldier Memorial on the University of Montana campus.

“I really miss him,” she said of her son Saturday after a ceremony dedicating the memorial as the official state Iraq and Afghanistan veterans monument.

Torres especially misses her son’s sense of humor. “It can bring down the room.”

Arndt, 23, died in 2005 when an armored vehicle the U.S. Army sergeant was in rolled over in Iraq. The memorial helps her heal after the loss, Torres said.

Forty-two other Montana soldiers’ families and loved ones also lost a service member in Iraq or Afghanistan, and those 43 heroes are immortalized at the memorial, which was unveiled in November 2011.
read more here

Comedian Kathy Griffin receives award for work with veterans

Kathy Griffin Receives Distinguished Service Partner Award for Work with Veterans
Harvard Crimson
By KRUTI B. VORA
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
2 hours ago

Comedian and bestselling author Kathy M. Griffin received the inaugural Distinguished Service Partner Award to commemorate her work with veterans during a charity benefit hosted by the Harvard Undergraduates Honoring Veterans this Saturday.

After a performance by the improvisational comedy group Immediate Gratification Players, Griffin participated in a conversation with Undergraduate Council Finance Committee Chair Matthew R. Marotta ’14 on topics ranging from her work with veterans groups to life as a female comedian. “My involvement is built around laughter truly being the best medicine,” Griffin said in an interview with The Crimson after the event. “What I learned was that these men and women need to laugh at these moments, more than ever.”

Griffin, who has toured Iraq and Afghanistan with the United Service Organizations, also gives tickets to her comedy shows to the Veteran Tickets Foundation, allowing veterans to come free of charge and meet her after the show.

“It’s really one of my favorite things about touring, meeting these people every show,” Griffin said. “I love to hear their stories, and everybody’s story is so different.”
read more here

Monday, September 23, 2013

Six months leave and $280,000 for contractors in Afghanistan?

Before you read the report there is something that really made me scream

The Army's internal investigation showed that supervisors directed team members to claim the maximum amount of overtime and comp time possible, earning them salaries topping $280,000 and entitling them to six months paid leave upon returning to the United States.
Thinking about what the troops make for what they do and how long they have to do it, this should have everyone screaming!
Army leaders warned about issues with social scientists
USA TODAY
Tom Vanden Brook
September 23, 2013

Documents show concerns about Human Terrain Team members reached high levels of the Army.

WASHINGTON — Senior Army leaders were warned about potential fraud and rampant sexual harassment by government social scientists sent to Iraq and Afghanistan under the Army's Human Terrain System, newly released documents show.

An investigation of time cards submitted by the Human Terrain Team members in 2009 and 2010 "revealed irregularities both in overtime and compensatory time card reporting...Of note, supervisory involvement in the time sheet management process was not documented, nor does there appear to be an auditable system in place," according to documents released by the Army.

In February, a USA TODAY investigation of the program found substantiated instances of sexual harassment and racism, potential fraud in filing time sheets and indifference to the reports team members had produced. The Army documents were obtained earlier this year by USA TODAY through a Freedom of Information Act request. But the Army withheld some part of the report then, and released them this month after a series of FOIA appeals.
read more here

Friday, September 6, 2013

USAID worker committed suicide

A Death in the Family
USAID's first known war-zone-related suicide raises troubling questions about whether America is doing enough to assist its relief workers.
Foreign Policy
BY GORDON LUBOLD
SEPTEMBER 5, 2013

On Aug. 15, the U.S. Agency for International Development announced that one of its employees had died suddenly. The agency didn't mention that Michael C. Dempsey, a senior field program officer assigned as the leader of a civilian assistance team in eastern Afghanistan, killed himself four days earlier while home on extended medical leave. However, the medical examiner in Kent County, Michigan, confirmed to Foreign Policy that Dempsey had committed suicide by hanging himself in a hotel-room shower. His death is USAID's first known suicide in a decade of work in the war zones of Afghanistan and Iraq. And what makes the suicide particularly striking is that it came a year and three days after Dempsey's close friend and colleague was killed in an improvised-explosive-device attack in Afghanistan.

After a decade of development and reconstruction work in two of the world's hottest war zones, USAID now has hundreds of Foreign Service officers who are potentially at risk for post-traumatic mental-health issues. While an enormous amount of resources and attention has been paid to military suicides, comparatively little focus has been given to civilians' struggles. And it's a sign that it's not only members of the armed services who shoulder the emotional burdens of war.
read more here

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

War correspondent Michael Hastings had PTSD

This would have been a better title "War correspondent Michael Hastings had PTSD" instead of ending it with "used drugs" because while that may get more attention it is a disservice to veterans with PTSD using medical marijuana topped off with the fact it was not part of the accident that claimed his life. Shame on CNN!
Journalist Michael Hastings had PTSD, used drugs
CNN
By Matt Smith
August 20, 2013

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Michael Hastings likely died instantly, autopsy report states
Drugs residues in his system don't appear to have played a role in the crash
Hastings was known for a Rolling Stone piece that got a top general sacked
He had been using medical marijuana to treat PTSD, the report states

(CNN) -- War correspondent Michael Hastings may have been using marijuana to treat post-traumatic stress disorder before his death, but drug use doesn't appear to have been a factor in his fatal car accident, according to his autopsy report.

Hastings, 33, likely died within seconds when his Mercedes-Benz slammed into a tree in Los Angeles on June 18, the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office found. He was best known for a 2010 Rolling Stone profile of Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, that led to McChrystal being sacked.
read more here