Showing posts with label Arlington National Cemetery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Arlington National Cemetery. Show all posts

Sunday, January 3, 2016

Female WWII pilots barred from Arlington National Cemetery

Female WWII pilots barred from Arlington National Cemetery 
Associated Press
By Matthew Barakat
Published: December 31, 2015
But in March, the Secretary of the Army ruled that WASPs never should have been allowed in and revoked their eligibility.
U.S. Air Force Col. David Kirkendall, 647th Air Base Group Commander and Deputy Commander of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam tours the Arizona Memorial with Kathryn L. Miles, World War II Women's Airforce Service Pilot (WASP), and her daughters Beth Tillinghast and Anne Miles, June 6, 2014, at JBPHH, Hawaii. WASPs performed non-combat missions to enable male pilots to fill combat roles in the war effort. Members of the 747th Communications Squadron Spouses Group hosted the tour.
CHRISTOPHER HUBENTHAL/U.S. AIR FORCE
read the story here

Sunday, December 6, 2015

Wreaths Across America Heading to Arlington

Convoy of wreaths departs for Arlington National Cemetery 
Associated Press
Published: December 6, 2015
All told, Wreaths Across America expects to ship more than 900,000 wreaths to veterans' graves in hundreds of locations in all 50 states and overseas.
Trucks bearing wreaths from Maine arrive at Arlington National Cemetery for Wreaths Across America, Dec. 13, 2014. JOE GROMELSKI/STARS AND STRIPES
COLUMBIA FALLS, Maine — A convoy of a dozen trucks carrying wreaths made in Maine departed Sunday for Arlington National Cemetery, where the greenery will adorn the graves of military veterans.

A box truck and 11 tractor-trailers left Columbia Falls with the bulk of the 248,000 wreaths that will be placed on gravesites in Arlington, said Susan Patten, a spokeswoman for Wreaths Across America. read more here

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Until We Finally Rest at Arlington

Until We Finally Rest at Arlington
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos

No one has to tell us what freedom really means.
Your boots were back on last night in your dreams.
As for me, no one told me I'd be fighting a war
with memories of things I never saw.
But I'll do what other wives have done since Lexington
fighting this last battle until we finally rest at Arlington.

I still love you as much as I can
but to tell you the truth, you're not the same man.
The man I knew wouldn't push me away
he'd be doing whatever he had to do to stay.
If you're afraid I'll stop loving you,
then darling you don't have a clue
that after all the years we've been through
there isn't anything I won't do for you.

Tell me you don't deserve me in your life
and I'll tell you I'm glad I'm your wife.
PTSD doesn't have to defeat or rob tomorrow
replacing this love of our with sorrow.
So I'm going to tell you exactly what I think of you
like the only person on earth that really knows what is true.

You did what few others have done
from the first battle at Lexington
when brave men fought for freedom to be obtained
and all those who came after to to keep it retained
when all was said and done
the battle back home had just begun
to find your place back at home
feeling as if you had to fight alone.

I know you changed since those dark days
but I also know there are different ways
to change again and live a happier life
to feel all the love I promised when I became your wife.
But fighting wars should never be easier for any of you
then being back home remembering what you had to do.

The grieving you do comes from an unselfish heart
and that was within you right from the start.
It took love to be willing to lay down your life
and courage to endure all the strife.
You may wonder why God let it all happen
but you really need to look again
at all the compassion surrounding you
when your friends were willing to sacrifice for you too.

So please search for all that now
so that you can live a better life somehow.
And the sadness in your eyes will melt away
when you understand that I'm going to stay
and fight for you as hard as you fought back then
until the day we finally rest at Arlington.

Monday, September 28, 2015

Missing In American Lost Another Veteran Escorting Remains

Crash kills motorcyclist escorting veteran's body, hurt 3 
Des Moines Register
Charly Haley
September 27, 2015
One motorcyclist died and three others were injured Saturday in Iowa when a car crashed into motorcyclists escorting the body of a veteran killed in a similar accident earlier this month.

The crash happened about 1 p.m. on Interstate Highway 80, near Atlantic, when nearly 125 motorcyclists and other vehicles were escorting veteran Bill Henry's cremated remains home to Omaha from the Freedom Rock landmark in western Iowa.

The Iowa State Patrol said Donald Kerby, 81, of Des Moines struck a motorcycle when he changed lanes to avoid a trailer parked on the road's shoulder. Ryan Lossing, 38, of Omaha died, and three other riders were hurt.

Henry was killed after a similar crash near Manassas, Va., earlier this month. The 69-year-old Army veteran died Sept. 14, two weeks after suffering head injuries from a crash that happened as he helped escort six West Coast veterans' remains to Arlington National Cemetery for burial.

Henry co-founded and helped lead the Nebraska chapter of the Missing in America Project, which works with funeral homes to return unclaimed remains of veterans to family members and arrange for military burials.

"It's a tragedy. They (Henry and Lossing) both went before their time," said Larry Schaber, a friend of Henry's who co-founded Nebraska's Missing in America Project chapter with him.
read more here

Friday, July 31, 2015

Veteran of Korea and Vietnam Laid to Rest At Arlington

Fresno-area veteran lauded at Arlington burial
McClatchy DC
Corinne Kennedy
July 30, 2015
A family man and patriot, friends and family say
Veteran of 329 combat missions in Korea, Vietnam
Inspired loyalty from colleagues
Leué flew 329 combat missions over both Korea and Vietnam during more than three decades of military service. He earned numerous honors, including four Distinguished Flying Crosses, three Navy Commendation medals and a Bronze Star. He also penned two memoirs detailing his service.

The Navy Honor Guard carries the casket of Korean and 
Vietnam war veteran David Leue. Daniel Desrochers McClatchy
WASHINGTON A construction worker removed his hardhat and held it over his heart Thursday morning as the funeral procession wound its way through Arlington National Cemetery.

As the sun broke through the clouds for the first time all morning, tourists put down their cameras to watch as the family of David E. Leué followed his shiny silver casket, draped in an American flag and carried by horse-drawn cart, to its final resting place.

Leué, of Clovis, Calif., died Jan. 25 and was interred with full military honors, including a three-volley rifle salute and the playing of Taps. He was 87.

His burial at Arlington took several months, as is often the case at the revered patch of greenery across the Potomac River from the capital, where the tombstones honor national luminaries and everyday Americans alike.
read more here

Saturday, July 25, 2015

Losing the Battle at Home, Veterans Remember Jessie Tolbert

Surviving the War; Losing the Battle at Home
WOWT NBC Omaha
Brian Mastre
Jul 24, 2015
“PTSD comes in many forms,” said his platoon leader Graber. “As a leader – sometimes those who are the strongest are suffering the most and you can't pick up on it until later. Sometimes it hits them months and years later.”

They've given everything for their country but when they come home they lose hope. It doesn't have to be that way. Brian Mastre reports: Surviving the War; Losing the Battle at Home

A close-knit unit of the Army's 259th Field Service Company came back together this year for the first time since the team returned from Iraq in 2007.

Back then, none of them envisioned the Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia would one day be their reunion destination.

After all, they all came home from the war alive.

The soldiers came to Arlington National Cemetery to meet the family of one of their leaders in Iraq and to finally say goodbye.

The remains of Specialist Jessie Tolbert of West Virginia rest in Section S25 of the Columbarium.

“I knew him from basic training and all the way through our military experience. We were friends,” said Travis Johnson, who traveled from Lakeland, Florida, to be with the rest of the team. “[Jessie] would come at the drop of a hat to bail you out of whatever mess you were in.”

Their platoon leader, Emily Graber, who was in town on other business, stopped by the cemetery to reminisce and remember. “Tolbert was a special soldier. He was always very willing to do whatever you ask him. Sometimes as a leader, that's hard to find. he was so energetic with what you do and he so loved the military.”

The get-together was months in the making. Around the first of the year, veteran Kyle Hanson of Omaha – another one of Jessie Tolbert's friends and fellow soldiers – along with Jenna Vaughn of Lincoln – another member of the team – tried to find Tolbert online to warn him of bad news. One of their friends had died from a brain aneurysm.

“None of the phone numbers for him worked anymore," said Hanson, "And so I went online to look for him – and I didn't find a phone number – but his obituary.”

Jessie Tolbert had killed himself in 2012. It took more than two years for the news to reach the rest of the team.
read more here

Boots On The Wire, War Not Left Behind

Thursday, June 18, 2015

Remains of Staff Sgt. Warren Newton Laid to Rest At Arlington

47 years after being declared missing in action, local Vietnam veteran's remains interred in Arlington
Oregon Live
Jim Ryan
June 17, 2015
The remains of a local Vietnam War veteran and his crewmates were interred in Arlington National Cemetery on Wednesday, almost 50 years after the men were declared missing in action.

Warren Newton, an 18-year-old Army staff sergeant from Eugene, died in 1968 while serving as a door gunner on a helicopter flight that was shot down by Viet Cong fighters in Vietnam.

The ceremony honoring Newton and his crewmates was the culmination of extensive efforts from a division of the Department of Defense that is committed to accounting for missing veterans and providing information to their families.
read more here

Vietnam veteran from Eugene to be honored, his remains interred in Arlington National Cemetery

Saturday, May 30, 2015

National Guard Family Told Son Can't Be Buried at Arlington?

UPDATE
Army sec. approves Arlington burial for La. guardsman killed in helicopter crash

Dad: soldier son killed in training crash deserves Arlington Cemetery burial
FOX News
Published May 30, 2015

A soldier from the Louisiana National Guard who died alongside Marines in a training accident deserves to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery, his father said Saturday.

Former Green Beret Stephen Florich told Fox and Friends it is a “travesty” his son has been denied that honor because he was not on active duty at the time of his death.

Most active duty or retired military members of military service are eligible for in-ground interment at Arlington. Members of the reserves or National Guard are not eligible unless they have been on active duty.

“I think my son was very active on that aircraft,” Florich said. “My son was in uniform. My son was serving in the capacity as a crew chief and a door gunner. And in adverse weather conditions, he accepted a mission to train people for combat in the future. And in that, he gave all and lost his life.”

The March 11 crash in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida killed Staff Sgt. Thomas Florich, 26, of Baton Rouge, La., three other guardsmen and seven Marines. The Army UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter went down in heavy fog.
One of the Marines involved in the crash, Sgt. Andrew Seif, who had recently been awarded the Silver Star, the nation’s third highest award for valor, was buried at Arlington in April.

The seven U.S. Marines aboard the helicopter were all active duty service members and part of Marine Special Operations Command (MARSOC).
read more here


National Cemetery Administration
Members of Reserve Components and Reserve Officers’ Training Corps


(1) Reservists and National Guard members who, at time of death, were entitled to retired pay under Chapter 1223, title 10, United States Code, or would have been entitled, but for being under the age of 60. Specific categories of individuals eligible for retired pay are delineated in section 12731 of Chapter 1223, title 10, United States Code.

(2) Members of reserve components, and members of the Army National Guard or the Air National Guard, who die while hospitalized or undergoing treatment at the expense of the United States for injury or disease contracted or incurred under honorable conditions while performing active duty for training or inactive duty training, or undergoing such hospitalization or treatment.

(3) Members of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps of the Army, Navy, or Air Force who die under honorable conditions while attending an authorized training camp or on an authorized cruise, while performing authorized travel to or from that camp or cruise, or while hospitalized or undergoing treatment at the expense of the United States for injury or disease contracted or incurred under honorable conditions while engaged in one of those activities.

(4)Members of reserve components who, during a period of active duty for training, were disabled or died from a disease or injury incurred or aggravated in line of duty or, during a period of inactive duty training, were disabled or died from an injury or certain cardiovascular disorders incurred or aggravated in line of duty.

Saturday, May 23, 2015

Veteran Reminds Others No "Happy" Memorial Day

I’m a veteran and I hate ‘Happy Memorial Day.’ Here’s why.
Washington Post
By Jennie Haskamp
May 22, 2015
I’m frustrated by people all over the country who view the day as anything but a day to remember our WAR DEAD. I hate hearing “Happy Memorial Day.”

I have friends buried in a small corner of a rolling green field just down the road from the Pentagon. They’re permanently assigned to Section 60. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, it’s 14 acres in the southeast corner of Arlington National Cemetery that serves as a burial ground for many military personnel killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. There are fresh graves there.

I spent my formative years in combat boots and all of my friends are in the military, were in the military, or married into the military. I have several friends buried at Arlington, and know of dozens more men and women interred in that hallowed ground.

Section 60 is a place I visit often.

I toyed with the idea of making the trip south from New York City this weekend to spend some time, reflect and sit quietly but decided against it. Some friend, huh?
Nearly 150 years ago, Memorial Day— first called Decoration Day— was set aside to decorate the graves of the men who’d recently died in battle. America was still reeling from the Civil War when Gen. John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, issued a proclamation in 1868, according to a PBS account of his decision. “The 30th of May,” he declared, “would be an occasion to honor those who died in the conflict.”

Wednesday night, sitting in a pizza joint in the Bronx, watching the world go by, I was upset and couldn’t put my finger on why.

A friend said “Hey! Do you want to go to Fleet Week? It’s this weekend here in the city.”

What? No? Absolutely not. I don’t want to be in the midst of tens of thousands of people clamoring for a chance to look at a static display of Marine Corps and Navy equipment. I don’t want to see Marines and sailors dressed up, paraded around for community relations and recruiting purposes. I don’t want to watch any parades.

As I said it (barked it, really), my friend’s eyes widened and I recognized the frustration in my tone. I didn’t know why I was upset, at first. I paused, and while I was sitting there contemplating my outburst, I heard a commercial on the radio screaming through the tinny speakers.
“Beaches, beats and BBQs!” it said. “We’re your Memorial Day station with everything you need to kick off the summer in style!”
read more here
Wounded Times Shadow Salute

Thursday, May 14, 2015

Hearse Drivers Carrying Veteran's Body Get Lesson in Respect

Hearse Stops at Dunkin' Donuts with Veteran's Flag-Draped Coffin in Parking Lot 
NBC Miami
May 13, 2015
A hearse driver was fired after stopping at Dunkin Donuts as he left a veteran's flag-draped casket visible in the hearse outside. (Published Wednesday, May 13, 2015)
Two former funeral home employees are out of a job after they stopped for coffee at a Dunkin' Donuts, leaving a hearse carrying the flag-draped coffin of an Army veteran in the parking lot.

NBC affiliate WFLA reports that the body of Lt. Col. Jesse Coleman was on its way from Veterans Funeral Care in Clearwater to a funeral service Tuesday morning.

The two employees stopped at a Dunkin' Donuts in New Port Richey around 8:50 a.m. Rob Carpenter, who was headed into the Dunkin' Donuts that morning, did a double take when he saw the hearse. Carpenter's own father served in the military, so he decided to confront the drivers.
He says Coleman's family, however, was surprisingly forgiving and didn't want the men to lose their jobs, even praising their work at the funeral.

The family says Coleman, who died at age 84, served one tour in Korea, two in Vietnam, and was the recipient of numerous medals from the military, including two Bronze Star Medals and two Army Commendation Medals.
read more here

Friday, April 17, 2015

Marine Staff Sgt. Andrew Seif Laid To Rest At Arlington

Decorated Marine killed in Florida training accident buried at Arlington National Cemetery 
By WRIC Newsroom
Published: April 16, 2015
The ordeal is a stark reminder of the risks associated with military service that aren’t always on the front lines of the battlefield.
Staff Sgt. Andrew C. Seif, a critical skills operator with 2nd Marine Special Operations Battalion, U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Special Operations Command, was awarded the Silver Star Medal during a ceremony at Stone Bay aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C., March 6, 2015.
(Photo: Dept. of Defense via ABC News)

The pouring rain on Tuesday was fitting for the occasion: a military funeral was held at Arlington National Cemetery for Marine Staff Sgt. Andrew Seif, killed in a training accident in Florida one month ago.

Exactly one week after being awarded the Navy’s third-highest award for valor, the Silver Star, Seif’s helicopter crashed in heavy fog during a training exercise in the Florida panhandle. Among the dead were some of the most highly trained Marines and Army pilots: 11 men from Marine Special Operations Command, knowns as MARSOC, and two pilots and two crewmembers from the Louisiana National Guard.
read more here

ABC Breaking US News | US News Videos

Saturday, February 28, 2015

Army Sgt Fights For Right To Bury Marine Dad At Arlington

Soldier fights for right to bury her father 
Military Times
By Karen Jowers, Staff writer
February 28, 2015

"I want him to be closer to me," said James, who plans to retire in Maryland. "And to me, Arlington is the ultimate cemetery. My dad was so proud of his service. That's all he talked about. He did four years, and you'd think he did 30. He loved the Marines."
A few years ago during a visit with her father, a Marine Corps veteran, in St. Louis, Army Sgt. 1st Class Yvette James asked about his burial wishes when that time came. "I said, 'I'm your only child.

What do you want me to do?' " she recalled. "He went to his room, got a folder, pulled out a copy of his DD 214, and said, 'All I want is to be buried with military honors.' " But James, who is stationed hundreds of miles away at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, found herself plunged into an intense month-long family battle when her father, Clinton Brownlee, died Jan. 25.

James contends she was wrongly excluded from the burial planning largely due to her military service, even though under Missouri law she has the right to make those decisions as Brownlee's primary next of kin and only child.

A funeral home had allowed James' cousin to make arrangements for the service and burial — even after James had faxed the home a letter expressly denying permission for her cousin to do so.
read more here

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Marine Robert Richards Life Remembered

Marine sniper saluted as more than the controversial video that defined him 
The Washington Post
By Greg Jaffe
Published: February 24, 2015
He was still recovering at Walter Reed when he learned that one of his Marines, Josh Desforges, had been killed.

"That was the only time I heard him crack," his mother said. "He was begging to go back to Afghanistan, even though he had a hole in his throat."


Edward Deptola, center, was Robert Richards's platoon sergeant. Deptola and others gathered to remember Richards on the night before his interment.
MATT MCCLAIN/THE WASHINGTON POST

WASHINGTON — His three combat tours in Afghanistan had been boiled down to a 38-second video clip, played and replayed on YouTube more than a million times. In it, Rob Richards and three other Marine Corps snipers are seen urinating on the bodies of Taliban fighters they had just killed.

"Total dismay" were the words then-Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton used to describe the video when it surfaced on the Internet in January 2012. "Utterly deplorable," agreed then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. Richards's career in the military was finished.

More than two years later — long after the rest of the country had moved on to other scandals — Richards, 28, died at home and alone from an accidental painkiller overdose.

Now an ammunition can carrying his cremated remains sat on the table of a hotel bar in Arlington, Va., as his family, friends and fellow Marines swirled around it.

Almost everything about war is complicated, messy or morally fraught; in this case even more so. A Marine vilified by his country's leaders and court-martialed for "bringing discredit to the armed forces" would soon be buried at Arlington National Cemetery, the country's most hallowed ground. On this mid-February night before the funeral, dozens who knew Richards beyond those 38 seconds gathered to celebrate his life.
read more here

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Boots On The Wire, War Not Left Behind

Local Soldiers Plan Trip to Honor Friend
WOWT News
By: Brian Mastre
Feb 09, 2015
“The last memory I have is of us throwing our boots on the wires,” said Hanson. “It's sort of a military tradition when you get out of the military – that you throw your boots on the power lines.
When you're on the battlefield, veterans will tell you that bond with your team is inseparable. But when you come home, it can be a struggle to fit in the slower pace of real life. Even more so if you've suffered a traumatic brain injury. Some local soldiers want to honor one of the men they came to respect serving in Iraq.

“He was one of the first people I met at Fort Bragg,” said Kyle Hanson of Omaha.

“He was one of the first people to take me around and show me the ropes. He quickly became one of my best friends,” said Jenna Vaughn of Lincoln.

Their friend – their fellow soldier, Specialist Jessie Lee Tolbert's final resting place became the Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

He was 26.

“This man who was full of life,” said Vaughn. “He had the best smile and biggest blue eyes, and he was always there for his friends with a go-get-them attitude of honor that a lot of people don't get to see.”

“The last memory I have is of us throwing our boots on the wires,” said Hanson. “It's sort of a military tradition when you get out of the military – that you throw your boots on the power lines.

Last time I saw him, he was full of life. He said he'd catch us later – we had a beer and he got out of Dodge.”

Kyle Hanson and Jessie Tolbert provided base defense. They patrolled together as part of the 2-59th Field Service Company. They spent 13 months in Iraq.
“None of the phone numbers for him worked anymore,” said Kyle, “And so I went online to look for him – and I didn't find a phone number – but his obituary.”

Kyle knew his friend suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

“It was often the topic of conversation when we would speak,” said Kyle.

But he thought Jessie was managing it best he could.

Friends acknowledge that on December 30th, 2012, he ended his own life.
read more here

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Inside Section 60 at Arlington National Cemetery

Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery Offers Tragic Testimony to America's Most Recent Wars
Improvised explosive devices have transformed battle—and disrupted one of the central rituals of grieving, author says.
National Geographic
Simon Worrall
for National Geographic
PUBLISHED OCTOBER 21, 2014
Photo of Mary McHugh lies at the gravesite of her fiancee.
On May 27, 2007—Memorial Day—Mary McHugh mourns her dead fiancé, Sgt. James Regan, in Arlington National Cemetery's Section 60. Regan had been killed by an IED explosion in February in Iraq.
PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN MOORE, GETTY
It's a tiny piece in a much larger jigsaw puzzle. No famous poets or presidents are buried there. No admirals or generals. Instead Section 60 in Arlington National Cemetery, just across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., is the final resting place of the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice in America's most recent wars, especially Iraq and Afghanistan.

The emotions it inspires, intensified every November 11 on Veterans Day, are raw. Its stories, heartbreaking.

Robert M. Poole, a former executive editor of National Geographic, spent several years listening to those stories for his new book, Section 60: Where War Comes Home. Speaking from his home in Vermont, he explains why he wanted to commemorate this patch of hallowed ground, why it takes years of practice to fold a ceremonial flag, and why Section 60 is one of the few places in America where it's considered normal to talk to the dead.
read more here

Friday, September 12, 2014

Green Beret's widow on mission for truth

Widow fights Army ruling of Green Beret's death as overdose
Los Angeles Times (MCT)
By Tina Susman
Published: September 11, 2014
A U.S. Army carry team transfers the remains of Sgt. 1st Class Anthony Venetz Jr. of Prince William, Va., at Dover Air Force Base, Del., on Jan. 30, 2011.
JASON MINTO/U.S. AIR FORCE

Debbie Venetz heard the doorbell ring and saw those familiar Army boots as she peeked through the window onto her front steps.

Her husband, Sgt. 1st Class Anthony Venetz, was back from Afghanistan, in time for their daughter's seventh birthday party the next day.

That's what Venetz thought, until she opened the door and saw the chaplain.

It was Jan. 28, 2011, and Anthony Venetz, a 30-year-old Green Beret, had become the latest U.S. soldier to die in Afghanistan. Two weeks later, the recipient of two Purple Hearts and two Bronze Stars was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Years later, Debbie Venetz is still fighting to learn the circumstances of her husband's death and to claim benefits the Army has refused to pay after it ruled he died of an accidental drug overdose and, therefore, not in the line of duty.

"It's a daily thing. For over 3 1/2 years now, this is all I've been dealing with," she said, sitting at a table in her parents' home in this suburb of New York City. "But nobody has ever said to me, 'Just move on,' because they know something is not right."
Interviews conducted in 2011 as part of the first military investigation into his death paint Venetz as a steadfast serviceman whose only crutches were cigarettes and long Skype calls with his wife and their two young children.

"Exuded confidence." "Natural leader." "Straight up. … I'd follow him anywhere." "Everybody liked him." "He would always follow the rules."

When word filtered back to fellow soldiers that his death was the result of drugs, the reaction was disbelief.

"There was nothing but shock," one soldier who had been in Afghanistan with Venetz said in the investigative report, which had most names redacted. "It just dumbfounded me," another said. "It just seemed out of character … not the Tony I knew."

Nonetheless, the Army's Criminal Investigation Command, which investigates noncombat deaths, ruled that Venetz died as a result of his misconduct, based on autopsy findings. That meant his widow, now 33, would not receive benefits that included compensation of more than $1,200 a month and coverage of some school costs for her children, who were 6 and 3 when their father died.

At her urging, the 7th Special Forces Group, to which her husband belonged, conducted its own investigation the following year, and that convinced her she didn't have the whole story.
read more here

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Soldier killed in Afghanistan on Third Tour

Family remembers soldier killed in Afghanistan
TBO.com staff
Published: August 27, 2014

Army Sgt. 1st Class Matthew I. Leggett, 39, died during combat in Kabul on Aug. 20.
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Army Sgt. 1st Class Matthew I. Leggett, 39, died during combat in Kabul on Aug. 20.

The family of an Army paratrooper who was killed in action in Afghanistan last week has released a statement.

The Department of Defense said Army Sgt. 1st Class Matthew I. Leggett died during combat in Kabul on Aug. 20. The 39-year-old was assigned to the headquarters battalion of the 18th Airborne Corps.

Leggett enlisted in the Army in May 1995 and had been based at Fort Bragg since 2012. He served three combat tours and was the recipient of numerous awards and decorations, including a Bronze Star Medal with one oak leaf cluster and a Purple Heart for wounds sustained in combat.

His mother, Thea Marie Kurtz, is from Ruskin.
Here is the family's statement:
“LET'S GET IT ON” was Matthew's favorite saying when he was on motorcycle rides with his brother Ben or participating in online racing forums. Matthew (Matt) was born in Wabasha, Minnesota on October 13, 1974 to Thea Kurz, of Port Edwards, Wisconsin and Thomas Leggett of Nekoosa, Wisconsin. He has two brothers, Roderick and Benjamin, as well as two nieces and a nephew. He was raised with his brothers in Pepin, Wisconsin. He spent his early childhood and early teenage summers fishing and paddling around the Mississippi river on various watercrafts.
Matt completed two previous combat tours in Iraq and was on his third combat tour in Afghanistan. He was set to retire from the United States Army in the summer of 2015. read more here

Sunday, August 17, 2014

Boston Red Sox Remember Major General Harold Greene

Red Sox honor general killed in Afghanistan
Harold Greene was Red Sox fan
WCVB News
August 17, 2014
The family of Maj. Gen. Harold Greene, from left, daughter-in-law Kasandra, son Matthew and daughter Amelia, is honored during the fifth inning of a baseball game between the Boston Red Sox and the Houston Astros in Boston, Saturday, Aug. 16, 2014
AP Photo/Michael Dwyer



BOSTON —The Red Sox had a moment Saturday night to honor Maj. Gen. Harold "Harry" J. Greene, who was killed in Afghanistan earlier this month. He was born in Boston and was a big Red Sox fan.

His family wore Red Sox jerseys and stood on top of the dugout when his picture was shown on the center-field scoreboard after the fifth inning. They received a standing ovation. Greene, the highest-ranking U.S. military officer killed in combat since the Vietnam War, was buried with full honors Thursday at Arlington National Cemetery.

The 55-year-old two-star general went to Afghanistan in January. It was his first deployment to a war zone.
read more here

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Suicide at Arlington National Cemetery was 92 year old Air Force veteran

UPDATE from Army Times

Arlington tragedy: Deceased colonel remembered as loving, generous and proud of service
Army Times
Stephen Losey
Jun. 25, 2014

Col. Robert Stanton Terrill stands next to a portrait of himself and his wife, Helen.
(Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania)
Retired Air Force Col. Robert Stanton Terrill was married to his wife, Helen, for 65 years before she passed away after a long illness in 2009. Helen was laid to rest in Section 64 of Arlington National Cemetery.

The morning of June 20, the 92-year-old Terrill left his home in Falls Church, Virginia, went to the section where his wife was buried, and apparently shot himself.

Terrill’s apparent public suicide — believed to be the first such incident in the cemetery’s history — shocked those who knew him. Neighbors and acquaintances remember Terrill as a loving and generous man who was proud of his military service. The Army’s Criminal Investigation Command is still investigating Terrill’s death and has not officially confirmed that he committed suicide, but officials say they do not suspect foul play.

“I don’t think any of us had any idea,” said Janice Gaynor, who lived on the same street as the Terrills for more than four decades. “He didn’t complain or anything.”
read more here


Arlington Suicide Victim Was 92-Year-old AF Vet
Military.com
by Brendan McGarry
Jun 24, 2014
Terrill shot himself around 10 a.m. June 20 near the Columbarium Courts in Section 64 of the cemetery. His wife, Helen Terrill, was buried in the same section in 2009, according to news reports and the cemetery's online gravesite database.
The man who killed himself last week at Arlington National Cemetery was a 92-year-old Air Force veteran whose wife was reportedly buried there.

The victim was identified as Robert Terrill, 92, of Falls Church, Virginia, who retired from the service as a colonel, according to a press release from the cemetery. Only cursory information about his service history was immediately available.

He received his military commission in 1946 and eventually became a command pilot, with more than 8,000 total flight hours, though retirement records don’t indicate whether he flew in combat or the type of aircraft he piloted, according to Michael Dickerson, a spokesman for the Air Force Personnel Center at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, located outside San Antonio. He was promoted to colonel in 1959 and retired from a job at the Pentagon in 1968, Dickerson said.
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Army reports suicide at Arlington National Cemetery

Friday, June 20, 2014

Army Report: Suicide at Arlington National Cemetery 9-11 Pentagon Section

Army reports apparent suicide at Arlington Cemetery near section containing Sept. 11 victims
Associated Press
Published June 20, 2014

ARLINGTON, Va. – The Army says a man found with a single gunshot wound at Arlington National Cemetery apparently committed suicide.

The Army Criminal Investigation Command in a news release did not give the cause of death, but it says it does not suspect foul play.

Spokeswoman Melissa Bohan (BOH'-an) says military and civilian police responded at about 10 a.m. Friday to reports of a single shot fired.
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