Two Fort Hood slain soldiers return to Florida

Two fallen Fort Hood soldiers to be buried locally, honored as heroes
Bay News 9
By Jason Lanning/Josh Rojas, Team Coverage
Last Updated: Friday, April 11, 2014

Tampa International Airport firefighters held a water cannon salute for the plane that brought Lazaney-Rodriguez’ body to Tampa from Texas.

TAMPA
Two of the three soldiers killed in last week's Fort Hood shootings will be buried locally.

The body of Staff Sgt. Carlos A. Lazaney-Rodriguez arrived at Tampa International Airport Friday afternoon.

Lazaney-Rodriguez, 38, originally from Puerto Rico, was months away from retiring after 20 years of service.

Tampa International Airport firefighters held a water cannon salute for the plane that brought Lazaney-Rodriguez’ body to Tampa from Texas. His family held a private ceremony on the tarmac.

More than 100 Patriot Guard Riders also showed up at the airport to show their respects for the soldier.

"It's just an honor to be here for them. I'm sad that I do. I'd much rather me shaking their hand than saluting their coffin,” said Randall McNabb, Patriot Guard Riders.
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UPDATE

Mourners gather for funeral of Ill. soldier killed at Fort Hood
Chicago Tribune
Tribune wire reports
April 12, 2014

ROLLA, Mo.— Mourners gathered in Rolla, Missouri on Saturday for the funeral of an Iraq war veteran killed in a shooting rampage at the Fort Hood Army base earlier this month. Friends and family of Timothy Owens, 37, a native of Effingham, Illinois, attended a private service at First Baptist Church.

Outside the church, several dozen motorcyclists, many of them veterans, prepared to escort the hearse to the cemetery.

Veteran Frank Reinhart said the mission of the Patriot Guard Riders was to ensure dignity at memorial services for fallen military, something his generation missed after returning from the Vietnam War.

"You go through little towns and see people with their hands over their hearts, it's very moving," Reinhart said, adding that the group aims "to see that the family gets support and a little bit of honor."

Two other soldiers died in the attack this month - Daniel Ferguson, 39, of Mulberry, Florida, and Carlos Lazaney Rodriguez, 38, of Puerto Rico. Their funerals will be held on Monday in Florida.
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Michigan PTSD group dis-honors soldier's memory after suicide

This is a quote of what a Mom was told. "not here where we don’t have any connection … where nobody knows Ryan Patrick Kennedy" and that quote came after her son's story touched someone so much, things started to change in Michigan. Saying there is "no connection" is not true and the story shows that. They may want to do something good in Michigan but this is a lousy way to start.

Soldier's mother 'devastated' by name change at PTSD site
Center planned to honor son's name
Associated Press
Apr. 10, 2014

TRAVERSE CITY — The mother of a soldier from Chicago said she is “devastated” at the decision to remove her late son’s name from a planned facility in Traverse City devoted to treating post-traumatic stress disorder.

The center once known as the Ryan Patrick Kennedy House is now being called Tranquility House. Kennedy suffered from PTSD and took his own life in 2012.

The project’s board members made the decision this week, saying they did so after seeing how much financial support was coming from Chicago.

“We determined that it would be better to allow them to reorganize, if you will, in Chicago and not here where we don’t have any connection … where nobody knows Ryan Patrick Kennedy,” board member Richard Edmonds said.

Kennedy’s mother, Linda, said the idea for the Traverse City facility began last year when she made an online connection with another soldier’s mother from northern Michigan.

They talked about creating a place where PTSD sufferers such as Ryan Kennedy could go to heal.

“It helped me to know that Ryan’s name was going to be used to help other young soldiers suffering with PTSD so they wouldn’t do what Ryan did,” Lisa Kennedy told WPBN-WTOM-TV.
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Dentist grants smile to homeless veteran, he shares gift

See How Dentist Inspires Veteran To Start Nonprofit
CNN

April 10, 2014

In today's edition of the "Good Stuff," a Chicago dentist helps a homeless veteran improve his smile and the man pays the generosity forward. CNN's Chris Cuomo reports.

Melvin Bridgmon spent ten years homeless and it damaged his health, his self-esteem, and also his teeth.

"I was afraid to go a lot of places, afraid to speak out in public," Bridgmon said.

That was until Manus Dental in Chicago stepped in to help the man with their program "Grant a Smile."
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Security Guard kicked Vietnam Veteran out of Walgreens

Vietnam Vet Mistaken As Homeless, Kicked Out Of Walgreens
CBS Chicago
Bernie Tafoya
March 31, 2014

CHICAGO (CBS) – A Vietnam War veteran is hospitalized after reportedly suffering an episode of post-traumatic stress disorder for the way he was treated at a Hyde Park Walgreens last week.

Arnetha Habeel, says her 62-year-old husband, Daniel Habeel, walked into the Walgreens at 55th and Lake Park Avenue last Wednesday night and was promptly told by a security guard that he would have to leave or else face handcuffing and arrest by Chicago police.

Mrs. Habeel says that when her husband came out of the store he was visibly upset and kept saying to her that he didn’t do anything wrong. She says Habeel’s blood pressure got worse the more he thought or talked about it, so she took him to the Jesse Brown VA Hospital where he’s been for more than four days.
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Marine's final fight on a Chicago street

A Troubled Marine's Final Fight
When his nation called, Marine Sergeant David Lindley answered. But when he came home hurting, his country let him down
TIME
By MARK THOMPSON
Monday, Feb. 10, 2014

At some point I remember looking out the window and seeing a man hiding behind a tree. I knew I could kill him, but some part of me kept saying, No, don't hurt anyone. I fired at the tree and laughed because I knew I could have hit him. When I smelled the smoke from the rounds fired, I had a rush. Suddenly I was back in the fight.

David Linley's last night as a free man began, like so many others before it, in his dark basement, watching Band of Brothers. Or was it Saving Private Ryan? Deep into a bottle of Bombay gin at the time, Linley can't recall what was on the screen when his wife Kristin came downstairs to do the laundry. She was surprised to see him wearing, for the first time at home, the Marine fatigues he had worn in Iraq.

Her interruption was minor and routine--a light switched on, a noise from the washer--but it triggered in Linley something he couldn't ignore. Feeling an irrational rage welling up inside, Linley ordered Kristin to leave the house with their 3-year-old son Hunter and 3-week-old daughter Hannah. Then Linley, age 41, kept drinking. Over the next 24 hours, he tried to kill himself twice by filling the house with natural gas, once by sitting in his running car inside the garage and once by hanging.

As a Marine sergeant, Linley saw action and witnessed horrors in Grenada, Lebanon and Iraq a generation ago. Ten years ago in January, he headed back to Iraq on his final combat deployment. He had earned an expert rifleman's badge, the corps's highest. The Marines tapped him for prized assignments guarding U.S. diplomatic outposts in Brazil and Pakistan, jobs that required top-secret clearance. He was discharged from the corps, honorably. Twice.

But his final firefight was on his suburban street 30 miles (48 km) southwest of Chicago, and the enemy was local police. When it ended, he'd traded 17 years in uniform for 16 years behind bars.

The trouble is, Linley has never gotten that treatment. "I've seen a psychiatrist about every six months for 30 minutes, which is absolutely useless," he says. "I have received no treatment for PTSD at all--nothing." Linley says he sought an antidepressant in anticipation of a VA-sponsored prison PTSD-counseling group. Such counseling depresses Linley, so he wanted to get on an antidepressant for the sessions. He took Celexa, prescribed by a corrections psychiatrist, for about a year, awaiting the counseling. But the VA never came, prison officials say, because there weren't enough veterans seeking such help there. Linley says he stopped being "doped up" on the medicine, which made him "foggy and nauseous," once it became clear the VA wasn't coming.
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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."
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Veteran charged with boarding plane with loaded gun?

This has me all confused. She is charged with "boarding a plane" but how did she get on the plane with a gun in the first place? I can't even get past the security with a pack of cigarettes in my pocket. The foil sets off the alarm every time.

Veteran charged with trying to board plane with loaded gun at Midway
Chicago Sun Times
BY JON SEIDEL Staff Reporter
December 29, 2013

A military veteran is accused of trying to bring a loaded handgun onto a plane at Midway Airport during the busy holiday travel weekend.

Josephine M. Coleman, 25, of Country Club Hills, is charged with boarding an aircraft with a weapon, and Cook County Judge James Brown ordered her held Sunday in lieu of $25,000.
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PTSD veteran wanted to die but his dog wanted him to live

Dog saves veteran from taking his own life
Global News Wire
RedRover
December 20, 2013

CHICAGO, Dec. 20, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- It's a miracle that Sergeant Michael Sorensen is still alive. A veteran of the Iraq war, he was blasted by improvised explosive devices (IEDs) four times during his deployments and suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury. He has a cracked T-4 vertebra which needs kyphoplasty surgery to stabilize his spine. For his sacrifices, he was awarded a Purple Heart.

Since his service ended in 2009, Michael has been admitted to VA hospitals on five different occasions to overcome the symptoms of PTSD, but each time the treatments failed. Michael became depressed and angry – even suicidal.

Then Michael met Bane. Bane came from a rescue organization which retrains pit bulls to be companion and therapy dogs for war veterans. The organization saved Bane from a local animal shelter where he was scheduled to be euthanized the next day if no one adopted him.

At first, even with Bane, Michael was still in a bad state of mind. One night, Michael made the decision to end the suffering. Bane sensed that something was wrong and wouldn't leave his side, guarding Michael from the knife that he set out on the bed.

Michael broke down in tears as he realized that this dog cared for him. After that night, Michael and Bane became inseparable. Bane had saved Michael's life. Today, Bane wears a harness so that Michael can lean on him. He brings Michael's shoes to him; he turns on and off the lights.
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Former Eagles cheerleader now stars for Army

Former Eagles cheerleader now stars for Army
USA TODAY Sports
Gary Mihoces
December 19, 2013

Rachel Washburn says she would wear "a pretty head scarf" to help connect with Afghan women.
(Photo: Rachel Washburn)

As a Philadelphia Eagles cheerleader, Rachel Washburn toted pom-poms. As an Army intelligence officer with a special ops combat unit in Afghanistan, she carried an assault rifle and pistol. She was a pioneer in a special mission to relate to local women in ways that would be culturally inappropriate for male troops — including helping deliver an Afghan baby in a snowstorm.

Washburn, 25, who recently returned from her second tour in Afghanistan, will be honored Sunday night as a "Hometown Hero" by the Eagles at their home against the Chicago Bears.

Cheerleader turned soldier? Did that turn heads when she was in military training or living in a mud hut with Green Berets in a village in Afghanistan?

"Initially, it was kind of a novelty to people I met if they ever found out," Washburn said Thursday in a phone interview from Savannah, Ga., where she was on the first day of her post-deployment leave.
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Vietnam Vet Wins $12 Million Malpractice Settlement From VA Hospital

Vietnam Vet Wins $12 Million Malpractice Settlement From VA Hospital
CBS Chicago
December 3, 2013

CHICAGO (CBS) — A Chicago-area Vietnam veteran will get a $12 million medical malpractice settlement from the federal government.

John Johnson was a Vietnam Veteran and heart patient.

He went in for oral surgery at the Hines V.A. Hospital in 2007, went into cardiac arrest and suffered brain damage as a result.
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Female veterans fighting for benefits

Female Veterans Battle for Benefits at Home
Chicago Tribune
by Annie Sweeney
Dec 02, 2013

When Xatavia Hughes, the granddaughter of a military man, went to serve in Iraq, she was prepared to prove herself to the male soldiers.

"My grandfather was tough and strong. That is how I was brought up: 'Don't let it get to you. Show them,'" the 28-year-old mother of two said.

And she did. It was only after she returned from a war zone to Chicago in December 2010 that Hughes began to feel tested.

A month after returning, Hughes found herself in an improbable spot: living in a dorm room at the Pacific Garden Mission, the sprawling homeless shelter on the city's West Side, shielding her two sons from addicts and criminals.

"Often when I was in shelter there was a bunch of veterans," Hughes said of her six months of homelessness. "When we get out, I thought we were supposed to be taken care of. And I was like, 'Wow, this is how our life is going to be?' I never felt that I would do so much good and then have to be pushed aside."

Hughes was like so many women over the past decade who stepped up to serve as the country launched two wars. They saw it as a way to get ahead in life and forge a different future.

Women have become the fastest growing segment of the veteran population, a trend that is expected to continue. Their return has posed several new issues for the Department of Veterans Affairs. Many are single moms. They have been adversely affected by the scandal of military sexual trauma that affects one in five women who serve. They report higher rates of mental health illnesses and homelessness. Many don't feel comfortable in the male-dominated VA.
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For some veterans, Vietnam nightmares return

For some veterans, Vietnam nightmares return
By Colleen Mastony of Chicago Tribune
November 16, 2013

Vietnam Army veteran Bob Ranieri is pictured outside his home in Chicago.

Four decades after the war in Vietnam, veterans still find that flashbacks and dreams can be triggered without warning.

CHICAGO — Nearly four decades have passed since the end of the Vietnam War. Bill Simon, a 65-year-old combat veteran, thought he had had long ago escaped the nightmares and flashbacks that haunted him after his return home.

"For many years, I never had any issues," he said. He had all the trappings of a successful life: a loving wife, three children and a house in Arlington Heights, Ill. But about 10 years ago, the nightmares returned. Night after night, they became more vivid and more bizarre.

"Regardless of whatever I start dreaming about, the dream always mutates into some Vietnam incident," said Simon, a research specialist at a petrochemical company. "They've gotten progressively worse. Right now, I barely sleep."

Simon doesn't know what triggered the return of his nightmares. But experts say his experience is not uncommon. As Vietnam veterans age, many discover they have more time to contemplate their lives. The time for reflection — as well as retirement, reunions with war buddies and the deaths of loved ones — can stir memories from a long-ago war.
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Navy veteran finishing college killed in robbery

Navy veteran finishing college killed in robbery
Suspect in custody but has yet to be charged
By Ellen Jean Hirst and Karen Chen
Chicago Tribune reporters
August 27, 2013

A 33-year-old Chicago State University student was preparing for his last year of studies when he was shot and killed Sunday afternoon during a robbery at his apartment building in the South Chicago neighborhood, authorities said.

The gunman shot Telkia Burns in the right temple about 3 p.m. and fled with his money and house keys, according to Chicago police.

"I'm just a mother without a child," Katherine Burns said. "That's all."

An 18-year-old suspect was in custody over the shooting in the 2900 block of East 91st Street but had not been charged, according to police. When the robber tried to go through Burns' pockets, Burns fought back and was shot in the head, police said.

Burns was a Navy veteran who learned to speak Japanese while stationed in Japan for three years, according to Milton Thornton, who said he served in the military with him. Burns was studying community health at Chicago State through a Veterans Affairs work-study program, Thornton said.
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Lance Cpl. Levy Rivera remembered by Marines in Hawaii

MAG-24 mourns the loss of a Marine
By Lance Cpl. Janelle Y. Chapman
Marine Corps Base Hawaii
July 19, 2013

Marines, sailors and civilians of Marine Aircraft Group 24 and Marine Wing Support Detachment 24, along with family, attended a memorial service at the Chaplain Joseph W. Estabrook Chapel for Lance Cpl. Levy Rivera, July 11.

The 24-year-old native of Chicago was struck by a vehicle while attempting to cross Pali Highway and later died of his wounds. Rivera was the dispatcher for MWSD-24, MAG-24, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing.

Rivera joined the U.S. Marine Corps on Aug. 8, 2011. He attended the Motor Vehicle Operations Course in Fort Leonardwood, Mo. He was in the Marine Corps for less than two years.
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Pizza delivery Guinness Record from Chicago to Afghanistan

Pizza Delivery to Afghanistan Troops Sets Guinness Record
ABC News
Susanna Kim
May 22, 2013

A pizza mission to U.S. military service members in Afghanistan has made the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest pizza delivery.

Pizza 4 Patriots, a 501(c)3 registered non-profit based in Illinois, has been sending pizzas to military service members abroad for the last five years.

Last summer, Pizza 4 Patriots and shipping company DHL organized their biggest delivery yet: 30,000 pizzas to service members in Kandahar, Bagram and Camp Bastion in Afghanistan in celebration of Independence Day. The delivery began June 21, 2012. DHL donated its services and loaded the pizza shipments at a service center in Chicago.
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Indiana National Guardsman hero killed stopping robbery

Former guardsman killed in Bahamas robbery
May. 18, 2013
By Eric Weddle
The Indianapolis Star

INDIANAPOLIS — Kyle Bruner led a marching band, taught special-needs children, excelled as an athlete and handled heavy artillery in the Indiana National Guard — all in 34 years, before dying what police described as a hero’s death earlier this week in the Bahamas.

Bruner, who spent his youth in Indianapolis and later settled in Chicago, was in the Caribbean country in pursuit of a new career as a professional mariner after years working as a deckhand.

His sister said Friday it was one of Bruner’s most defining traits — a desire to stick up for others — that led to his death. He was shot in the neck as he tried to help a woman who was being mugged, according to Nassau police.

Sarah Brown recalled how he once came to her defense. Some kids had begun to pick on her at one of his baseball games.
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Chicago's WGN couldn't do justice to "heart warming" Bulls story?

This could have been a fantastic story of a homecoming but the report blew it big time. The words "heart-warming" didn't seem to matter enough to even manage more than six short sentences! We don't even know what the names are, how long he had been gone, or anything else.  WOW this is really lousy reporting.  Why didn't the reporter just stick the picture up on Facebook and call it a day?

Soldier surprises mom at Bulls game
by WGN Web Desk

There was a heart-warming moment at Saturday night’s Bulls game against the Indiana Pacers.

A mother was escorted to the court during a time-out.

She thought she was about to take a half-court shot.

But, when Benny the Bull removed her blind-fold, she got something better.

Her son, who just returned from being deployed in Iraq, was there to surprise her.

She had no idea he was home.

go here to see the picture but that's all you're going to get from this. One comment summed it all up.

Anonymous said:
March 25, 2013 at 12:15 AM
Not even a video?

Iraq veteran lost eye, got Cubs logo

Amazing what they can do now. Long gone are the days of black patches plus the attitudes of the wounded. Great story.

War veteran loses eye, gets Cubs logo on prosthetic eye
CBS Sports
By Matt Snyder
Senior Blogger
February 21, 2013

An Iraq war veteran lost an eye in combat, and now he's chosen a prosthetic eye with a Cubs logo where the pupil and iris would normally be. It's all kinds of crazy and awesome. go here for more

Army Reservist survived in Afghanistan, killed in Chicago

Man shot, killed months after returning from Afghanistan
by Sean Lewis
Anchor/Reporter

Along the snow covered section of Evergreen Street in East Chicago, gunfire took the life of 25-year-old Willie Cook.

His uncle described his nephew calling him a “great guy.” Cook served in the Army Reserves, returning in September from a tour in Afghanistan and worked as a forklift operator at the ford plant not far from home.

Stephen Parker, Willie’s uncle said he was a “Well-rounded, hardworking guy. He worked. He didn’t’ deserve it.”

An empty parking spot marks where Willie had just pulled up in his car Saturday afternoon outside his grandmother’s home, his 3 year old son Antwan sat in the backseat when someone opened fire.
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Teen who performed at Obama inaugural events shot dead in Chicago

Teen who performed at Obama inaugural events shot dead in Chicago
By Catherine E. Shoichet and Ted Rowlands
CNN
updated 7:24 AM EST, Thu January 31, 2013

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: Chicago mayor: "We have a responsibility to see a stop to this"
Hadiya Pendleton, 15, was shot dead in Chicago on Tuesday
Last week she performed in events surrounding President Obama's inauguration

"Just a matter of days after the happiest day of her life, she's gone," Sen. Dick Durbin says Can there be a solution to America's gun problems? Anderson Cooper looks at both sides of the debate in "Guns Under Fire: an AC360º Town Hall Special" Thursday at 8 p.m. ET on CNN.

Chicago (CNN) -- A teen who performed at events around President Barack Obama's inauguration was shot to death in Chicago this week, and now her story has become part of the debate in Washington over gun violence nationwide.

The shooting death of 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton came up in a U.S. Senate hearing and a White House press briefing Wednesday.

"She was an honor student and a majorette," said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois. Performing at inaugural events last week "was the highlight of her young, 15-year-old life," he said.

Speaking at Wednesday's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on gun violence, Durbin mentioned Pendleton's death as he argued that more must be done to stop gun crimes.
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