Alaska Deputy Commissioner of VA Out of a Job

ANCHORAGE - Deputy commissioner of Alaska's Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, McHugh Pierre, resigned on Thursday at the request of Gov. Sean Parnell, a Parnell spokeswoman said.

Reminder of some of what was going on in Alaska

Is there a doctor in the house at Wasilla Alaska VA? Nope!
VA clinic in Wasilla without doctors
The Associated Press
September 4, 2014

ANCHORAGE, ALASKA — The Veterans Affairs clinic in Wasilla is without doctors after the three physicians working under contract over the summer decided not to renew those.

A nurse practitioner, who transferred from Anchorage last week, is now carrying the 1,000-patient caseload.

The Mat-Su Veterans Affairs Community Based Outpatient Clinic is supposed to have two full-time doctors but has been down one since 2012. The last full-time doctor left in May, KTVA reported

Fort McClellan Veterans Sick and Dying From Toxic Exposures

Sick veterans who served at shuttered, toxic Army base turn to Congress, VA for help
FoxNews.com
By Barnini Chakraborty
Published September 19, 2014

VetFriends.com

WASHINGTON – Sue Frasier spent the first six months of her military career at Alabama's Fort McClellan. But that short stint -- 44 years ago at an Army base the EPA later would find so toxic it would shut it down -- was all it took for her to start getting sick, she says.

Her problems began shortly after completing boot camp in 1970 at the Anniston, Ala., base. Today, she says she's coping with asthma, a life-threatening gastrointestinal disease that required surgery, and fibromyalgia that results in long-term pain and tenderness in her joints and muscles.

"It hurts everywhere, but at least I can still walk and talk," she told FoxNews.com.

Frasier is among thousands of veterans who were stationed at the former Army base who believe they were exposed to dangerous polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs. They repeatedly have turned to the Department of Veterans Affairs for help, seeking aid for medical treatment and a formal study of their ailments -- but say their pleas have been largely ignored or buried in red tape for decades. Today, they're looking to fresh leadership at the VA, and allies in Congress, to finally take on their case.

The true cause of the veterans' ailments has never been officially determined. Fort McClellan housed several Army components, including a division for chemical weapons training and research. But many veterans suspect they were sickened by chemicals dumped near Anniston by Monsanto Co., which had facilities in the area and disposed of chemicals near the base.

Two pieces of legislation have been introduced to deal with the veterans' medical claims. A proposed Senate bill would establish a national center for research on the diagnosis and treatment of health conditions of the descendants of veterans exposed to toxic substances during service in the Armed Forces. The bill has not advanced.

Over on the House side, a bill more specific to Frasier and similar veterans' claims, and backed by Rep. Paul Tonko, D-N.Y., would require the VA to create a registry of everyone who served at Fort McClellan from 1935 to 1999. It then would require the department to reach out to those veterans and offer health exams and information about the effects of toxic exposure. It also would open up disability payments to the veterans.

The House bill, though, has been stuck in congressional gridlock for five years and hasn't made its way out of the House Veterans Affairs Committee.
read more here

Gettysburg Soldier and Two Vietnam Soldiers, 3 New Medal of Honor Heroes

Obama to award 3 Medals of Honor
Stars and Stripes
By Jennifer Hlad
Published: August 26, 2014
3 minutes ago

President Barack Obama will award the Medal of Honor to two soldiers who served in Vietnam and one who distinguished himself in the battle of Gettysburg, the White House announced Tuesday.

Army Command Sgt. Maj. Bennie G. Adkins and Army Spc. 4 Donald P. Sloat will be honored Sept. 15 for their conspicuous gallantry.

Adkins deployed to Vietnam three times. During his second deployment, in March of 1966, he was a sergeant first class with Detachment A-102, 5th Special Forces Group, 1st Special Forces.

Adkins displayed "extraordinary bravery" during a sustained and vicious attack by the Vietcong from March 9 to March 12, 1966, Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala. said in 2013.

Rogers spoke about Adkins' actions in asking Congress to pass a bill allowing the president to award him the Medal of Honor.

Adkins had been recommended by his command for the Medal of Honor but received a Distinguished Service Cross for his actions, which included running through exploding mortar rounds while wounded to drag several of his fellow soldiers to safety, Rogers said.

Adkins retired from the Army after serving 22 years and will travel to Washington from his home in Alabama to receive the medal, the White House said.

Sloat was a machine gunner with Company D, 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment, 196th Light Infantry Brigade, Americal Division, when he was killed in Vietnam in 1970.

Sloat’s squad was on a patrol near Hawk Hill Fire Base on Jan. 17, 1970 when one of the soldiers triggered a grenade booby trap in their path, the White House said. Sloat picked up the grenade, intending to throw it away, but realizing it was about to explode, instead used his body to shield three fellow soldiers from the blast, the White House said.

Sloat’s brother, William Sloat of Enid, Oklahoma, will accept the medal on his brother’s behalf.
read more here

Vietnam Veteran robbed and crooks smoked wife's ashes

Victim: burglar smoked my wife’s ashes
FOX 10 News
By Liz Nelson
Published: July 30, 2014

CITRONELLE, Ala. (WALA) – A Vietnam War veteran is speaking out exclusively to FOX10 News after he claims a burglar broke into his home and smoked the ashes of his deceased wife.

Last week, Citronelle resident and Vietnam Vet, Phillip McMullen, went out of town to stay with some friends. While he was gone, he said the unspeakable happened.

“(The burglar) ransacked my house, tried to break in my gun safe, which, they weren’t able to, they even took my wife’s ashes off my headboard, strewed them around, looked like they tried to smoke some of them or something,” McMullen said, “I guess they figured out this stuff ain’t worth smoking, so they threw it up underneath one of my toolboxes.”

McMullen said he thinks the burglar thought the ashes were drugs, since the ashes were kept in a plastic box, rather than a metal urn.
read more here

Veteran Marine and neighbor shock suspect after robbery

Marine, neighbor draw weapons on Lawrence Co. suspect
WAFF News
By Jack Madison
Posted: Jul 31, 2014

LAWRENCE COUNTY, AL (WAFF)
One of the two men who subdued an armed man wanted for several alleged crimes, is talking about what happened.

Lawrence County Sheriff's investigators said 24-year-old Ryan Denham robbed a woman at gunpoint, stealing her car and money. This came after they say he tied up his own grandparents and stole the gun he used.

Brian Peters, a Marine who is no longer on active duty, said he and neighbor Curtis Bonar heard the suspect was in the area, and that he had just tried to rob another victim at gunpoint. So the two decided they needed to protect their families.

Authorities had warned people in the neighborhood on County Road 556 to go inside their homes as they looked for Ryan Denham.

Peters said he and his neighbor, Curtis Bonar, came to his house and said he saw Denham, with a rifle, coming close to them. Denham was walking in the woods. Peters got his AR-15, Bonar had his pistol, as they hunkered down in Peters' backyard.
read more here

Welfare check on veteran ends with him being tasered and arrested?

Former soldier tased, arrested after Phenix City standoff
WRBL News 3
By David Hurst
Posted: Jun 30, 2014

PHENIX CITY, Ala.
News 3 cameras were rolling when a Phenix City man was tased and arrested outside his home Monday afternoon after an hour-long standoff with Phenix City Police.

Jonathan Russ was arrested outside his Phenix City home on Maggy Court in the Silver Leaf subdivision.

Police initially went to the home for a welfare check on a child. Russ answered the door with a gun and wouldn't let the officer inside, Phenix City Police Lt. Jason Whitten tells News 3.

Authorities say as the officer was calling for backup, a child ran out of the house. The child was staying at the home with Russ, according to police. Authorities would not comment on the relation of the child to Russ.
read more here

Korean War Veteran Finally Get VA Benefits After 56 Years!

Alabama veteran granted VA benefits after more than 50 years of denials
WSFA News
News Staff
Posted: Jun 18, 2014

MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA)
A Korean War Veteran's 56-year struggle for Veterans Affairs benefits is finally over.

Willie McCall, 85, suffers from debilitating, combat-related health issues and was essentially forgotten by the federal government. Before totally giving up on his VA benefits, McCall's nephew, Freddie Porterfield, contacted the 12 News Defenders.

McCall says during his time as a rifleman during the Korean conflict, the weather was so cold it left him with frostbite, jungle rot and circulation issues. He walks with a cane and has special orthotic shoes.

Despite multiple diagnoses, he was denied VA benefits. His denials go back to the late '50s.
read more here

WSFA.com: News Weather and Sports for Montgomery, AL.

Vietnam vet fatally gunned down over TV

Former Birmingham firefighter, Vietnam vet fatally gunned down over TV
AL.com
By Carol Robinson
May 02, 2014

HUEYTOWN, Alabama - A retired Birmingham firefighter and two-tour Vietnam Veteran was fatally gunned down during a break-in at his Hueytown home earlier this month.

Authorities today are expected to announce charges against two men in the April 23 slaying of 66-year-old Howard Arthur McKee. Hueytown Police Chief Chuck Hagler will be joined by the Birmingham police, U.S. Marshals and FBI at a press conference scheduled for noon. Both men are in custody.
read more here

Vietnam War POW Jeremiah Denton Jr. passed away at 89

Jeremiah A. Denton Jr., Vietnam POW and U.S. senator, dies
Washington Post
By Emily Langer
Updated: Friday, March 28, 2014

Jeremiah A. Denton Jr., a retired Navy rear admiral and former U.S. senator who survived nearly eight years of captivity in North Vietnamese prisons, and whose public acts of defiance and patriotism came to embody the sacrifices of American POWs in Vietnam, died March 28 at a hospice in Virginia Beach. He was 89.

The cause was complications from a heart ailment, said his son Jim Denton. Adm. Denton was a native of Alabama, where in 1980 he became the state’s first Republican to win election to the Senate since Reconstruction.
read more here

Denton is featured in Two Men, Two Fates about Vietnam POWs on Stars and Stripes.

More than 700 servicemembers became prisoners of war in Vietnam.

None endured longer than Floyd James Thompson and Everett Alvarez Jr.

The two men represent the extremes of the POW experience -- in captivity and in life. By Chris Carroll

Denton Jr. Blinking Morse Code 'T-O-R-T-U-R-E'

Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day in Alabama

Wiregrass Recognizes Vietnam Veterans at “Welcome Home” Day
WTVY News
Mar 16, 2014

Vietnam Veterans will be recognized and honored during the official Wiregrass Vietnam Veteran’s “Welcome Home” Day on Saturday, March 29th at 10a.m. The event will be held at the Westgate Library Branch at 535 Recreation Drive in Dothan, Alabama.

Mayor Mike Schmitz believes this is an important issue that needs to be honored and recognized by Wiregrass residents. One of his brothers served in Vietnam, and Mayor Schmitz remembered how the troops were treated when they returned from serving.
read more here

Paralyzed Marine getting control in smart home

Wounded Marine getting a smart home
Gadsden Times
BY JOHN DAVIDSON
February 26, 2014

In this Feb. 25, 2014 photo, Jacksonville High School students attend the groundbreaking of a ìSmart Homeî for retired U.S. Marine Sgt. Ben Tomlinson, in Jacksonville, Ala. Tomlinson was shot in the back, leaving him paralyzed him from the chest down. The construction of the home is a joint project involving various charities.
(AP Photo/The Gadsden Times, Eric T. Wright)

JACKSONVILLE, Ala. -- The next steps toward helping a wounded U.S. Marine become independent happened as organizers from various charities broke ground at the site of his future home.

Retired Sgt. Ben Tomlinson of Jacksonville served in the Marines in the 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion in Camp Lejeune, N.C., and deployed twice to the Helmand Province, the center of the Taliban insurgency and opium trade in Afghanistan. He was shot in the back, leaving him paralyzed him from the chest down.

His home will be a "smart home," meaning nearly every facet of the house will be able to accommodate Tomlinson. The cabinets and counter tops raise and lower and the hallways are much wider to accommodate his wheelchair.

The air conditioning, heating and lighting also can be customized, and all of the adjustable functions can be controlled through an iPad or iPhone.
read more here

Fort Campbell Soldier killed trying to get help on highway

Fort Campbell soldier killed on Interstate 24 trying to flag down help
Leaf-Chronicle
Written by
Tavia D. Green
February 3, 2014

CLARKSVILLE, TENN. — A family is grieving the loss of a Fort Campbell soldier who was killed Sunday night while trying to flag down help on Intestate 24.

At about 11:43 p.m., Tyler Carl Wilsdorf, 23, of Dadesville, Ala, was riding as a passenger in a car that was traveling east on Interstate 24 from Exit 4, when the driver became lost and tried to make a u-turn in the eastbound lanes near the six mile marker, according to wreck report by Trooper Todd Pitts of the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

The driver began driving west in the median while still on the eastbound side of I-24. The car got stuck in the median, the report said.

Wilsdorf was deployed to Afghanistan and received a Purple Heart. Caddell said he was a Christian who had re-dedicated his life to Christ about three months ago.
read more here

FBI says Iraq veteran tried to hire KKK hitmen

Iraq veteran from Munford tried to hire KKK hit men to kill black neighbor, FBI officials said (updated)
AL News
By Carol Robinson
August 26, 2013

A Munford man is in federal custody after authorities say he tried to hire the Ku Klux Klan to kill his black neighbor.

FBI agents arrested Allen Wayne "Big Dad" Morgan, 29, about 3:30 p.m. Sunday at the Econo Lodge in Oxford, said FBI spokesman Paul Daymond. Morgan is charged with murder-for-hire, and also under investigation for possible hate crimes.

Authorities said Morgan, and Iraq veteran who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, thought he was hiring the KKK to kill neighbor Clifford Maurice Mosley. They said he spelled out in detail how he wanted the man killed.
read more here

Motorcycle gift for husband serving in Afghanistan stolen

Wife seeks help finding stolen motorcycle gift for husband serving in Afghanistan
FOX Alabama
By Bethany Wales
By John Shryock
Updated: Aug 07, 2013

MILLBROOK, AL (WSFA)
A welcome home gift for a soldier serving in Afghanistan is now missing, stolen from the family's yard. The brightly colored motorcycle was supposed to be waiting for David Langdon when he returned from fighting, but right now his wife says the motorcycle she bought and parked behind her house, has vanished.

Now, she's asking the public to help police find it.

Shannon Langdon says her husband is heartbroken about the theft. After years of wanting a bike, and Mrs. Langdon saying, "No, it's too dangerous..." she finally gave in to his persistence.

"He never wants anything, ever, he always gives to me, but he never wants anything..." Mrs. Langdon says. "And I finally said, ok you can get one..."

Langdon's wife wanted it to be waiting on him when he came home.

From the other side of the world, David picked out the bike he wanted. It was located in nearby Wetumpka. read more here

Afghanistan Double Amputee Veteran Gets New Home

Afghanistan Veteran Gets New Home
WKRG News
By Chad Petri
Posted: Jul 14, 2013

Mobile, AL
With hero's welcome, the raising of the flag and, of course, a ribbon cutting Corporal Christopher Montgomery gets a look at his new house donated by Homes for our Troops after a spirited ceremony in Mobile.

"Without these friends, family, I wouldn't be half the man I am today, no pun intended," says Corporal Christopher Montgomery. Montgomery lost both his legs to a roadside bomb in December of 2010--he says he couldn't believe his it when he was told he was getting a home.
read more here

"Military Mistress" accused of bilking servicemen

'Military Mistress' to Face Theft Charges
The News Tribune
Tacoma, Wash
by Adam Lynn
Jul 11, 2013

Bobbi Ann Finley, the so-called "Military Mistress" accused of bilking servicemen across the nation, was released from an Alabama prison this week.

Her freedom was short-lived.

Two Pierce County sheriff's detectives met her at the prison gates and arrested her on a 2011 warrant charging her with theft for allegedly persuading a local woman to cash bad checks for her, sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said Wednesday.

They booked her into the Pierce County Jail on Tuesday, and Wednesday she appeared in Superior Court, where she was formally charged with second-degree theft. A not-guilty plea was entered on her behalf, and Court Commissioner Meagan Foley ordered her jailed in lieu of $200,000 bail.
read more here

Soldier killed on July 4th in Afghanistan was only 18 years old

DoD Identifies Army Casualty
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

Pvt. Errol D.A. Milliard, 18, of Birmingham, Ala., died July 4 in Farah province, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained when enemy forces attacked his unit with a rocket propelled grenade while on dismounted patrol. He was assigned to the 2nd Engineer Battalion, 36th Engineer Brigade, White Sands Missile Range, N.M.

Veteran's standoff with SWAT ends peacefully

Headland shooting suspect likely suffered from PTSD
Dothan Eagle
June 21, 2013

Headland Police Chief Mark Jones said a 27-year-old man likely suffered from post traumatic stress disorder from former military service when he fired an AK-47 toward police officers on Thursday.

(name removed)

No one was injured in the shooting.

Jones outlined some of the details Friday of the shooting that brought more than 40 law enforcement officers to Headland, including three different SWAT teams.

“He was at home by himself. I think he’s got some psychological issues. I think he’s former military, and might be suffering from PTSD,” Jones said. “I think it was just in his mind somebody else was there.”
read more here

Vietnam Veteran Marine receives Silver Star

Former Marine earns Silver Star for Vietnam heroics
By Sgt. Raymond Lott
U. S. Marine Corps Forces Reserve
June 11, 2013

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.
What do you do when your platoon commander is killed?

One Marine knows the answer — take charge.

Sergeant Gary L. Hill, who completed his service in 1969, received the nation’s third-highest award for doing just that during a ceremony at the Tuscaloosa Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center here June 7, 2013.

Retired Gen. Charles C. Krulak, former Commandant of the Marine Corps, presented Hill with the Silver Star Medal for his leadership as a junior Marine during the Vietnam War.

“I only did what I had to do to stay alive, and that’s keep moving,” Hill said. “The Marine Corps raises everybody to be a leader if they need to be. If you’re the last man standing you’re the leader anyhow.”

Hill was almost one of those Marines until one day at church when a family friend, Jeff Brown, heard Hill’s story. Brown knew he needed to be recognized. So Brown made contact with retired Vietnam veteran Maj. Gen John Admire to make sure Hill received due credit.

Admire has been working for 40 years to recognize his Marines who served during Vietnam and Hill was no exception. Admire worked tirelessly on substantiating records until Hill was approved for the Silver Star Medal for his actions while Hill served with 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment.

read more here

Afghanistan Veteran-Police Officer killed two before himself in Alabama

Dallas County DA: Selma Police officer who fatally shot ex-girlfriend, her stepfather had PTSD
AL.com
By Erin Edgemon
June 04, 2013

SELMA, Alabama -- Selma Police Chief William Riley is remaining mum on the mental state of one of his police officers who apparently fatally shot his ex-girlfriend and her stepfather before turning the gun on himself on Sunday afternoon.

Riley declined to speak about the motives of Dwight Moorer, who served as a Selma police officer for five years, and his possible mental state the days leading up to the shootings out of respect for the families involved.

Moorer, 28, killed Keoshia L. Hill, also 28, and her 59-year-old stepfather, Bill Jackson, before turning the gun on himself.

Dallas County District Attorney Michael Jackson isn’t remaining as quiet.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Jackson states Moorer appeared to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder from his tours to Iraq with the Army. Moorer remained in the Army Reserves.

"When he went to Afghanistan he saw some horrific things," Jackson told the AP. "With the stress of being a police officer and the tremendous stress of some relationships, it just all came together at the same time."
read more here