Hero combat dog killed by coward hit and run driver

Canine veteran killed by vehicle
IN EAST HELENA
GERMAN SHEPHERD HAD TWO TOURS IN IRAQ, 10 SECRET SERVICE MISSIONS
Independent Record
By SANJAY TALWANI
October 4, 2013

A retired military dog with two tours in Iraq and experience with the U.S. Secret Service was killed Monday in an apparent hit-and-run outside East Helena.

Natz, a 7-year-old German shepherd, had just retired from the military in May after five years in explosives detection.

“This was a very special dog, an incredibly special dog.” said his owner, Rachel Weidner. “He protected a lot of people.”

Monday morning in the predawn hours, Natz got loose — for the first time ever — from his home on Old U.S. Route 12 just east of East Helena, said Weidner. He had the appropriate identification tag, she said.

She and her husband searched for him, and she eventually left for work but returned a few hours later, around 8 a.m., to find a lengthy splatter of blood and some of Natz’s fur on the road about 300 feet from her home.

She contacted local police and learned that his remains had been taken to the Lewis and Clark Humane Society.
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Reminder of the Walter Reed story that broke hearts around the country

And This Was Called Care? The Walter Reed Story
New York Times
By MICHAEL WINERIP
Published: September 30, 2013

As this week’s Retro Report video explains, the biggest scandal in recent times involving the care of wounded American troops was actually worsened because medicine on the battlefront had made such remarkable advances.

Compared with service members who served in Vietnam, troops sustaining combat wounds in Iraq and Afghanistan had roughly twice the chance of surviving. That meant many were airlifted back to this country with such severe injuries they needed the most sophisticated medical and rehabilitative care the country had to offer.

But once they became outpatients, thousands of service members entered a system that had not kept up with the times, that was understaffed, poorly organized and generally second rate.

The story broke in The Washington Post in the winter of 2007, with a series about Walter Reed Army Medical Center. While the most obvious shortcomings were the physical conditions of the hospital housing for the soldiers — peeling paint, crumbling walls, mold and rats — the more damning problem was an understaffed medical system overseen by a dysfunctional bureaucracy.
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Florida Marines taking 81 mile hike for fallen

Marines to hike 81 miles over Labor Day weekend to honor Fallujah heroes
INFANTRY IRAQ MARINES
POSTED BY GINA HARKINS
AUGUST 29TH, 2013

A group of Marine reservists are leading a three-day, 81 mile hike in Florida this weekend to honor those who died in the Battle of Fallujah in 2004.

A group of Marines, leading an 81-mile hike in Florida to honor those who died fighting in Fallujah, Iraq in 2004, stand with their governor. From left to right: Cpl. Larry Rubino, Staff Sgt. Denis Vanegas, Florida Gov. Rick Scott, Capt. Jason Wetherington, Capt. Chris Troken and Maj. Charleston Malkemus.
(Courtesy of Maj. Charleston Malkemus)

Maj. Charleston Malkemus, an infantry officer who fought in the infamous Battle of Fallujah in Iraq in 2004, carries a flag he received from a Marine who was killed in action. He said he now displays it in his company office to remind other Marines of their commitment to uphold the expectations of their brothers-in-arms. And this weekend, he will carry the flag 81 miles as he helps lead a hike from West Palm Beach to Miami.

“Picking up a flag and carrying it forward into battle has been an act of inspiration for ages,” Malkemus said. “When my fellow Marine died and I received his flag, I wasn’t only entrusted to carry on his spirit, but to ensure that I carried it forward into greatness.”
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Making peace: Profile of Army, Marine Corps veteran

Making peace: Profile of Army, Marine Corps veteran Chris Chatwin
Steamboat Today
By Joel Reichenberger
September 1, 2013

Steamboat Springs — Chris Chatwin thought he knew the price he had paid for the nine years he spent in war zones, the six tours to Iraq and Afghanistan he took with the U.S. military and the two years he spent serving as a security contractor.

He was in three improvised explosive device explosions. He was shot twice. Post-traumatic stress disorder set in early in his career and never has gone away.

PTSD terrorizes him, forcing him to wince at the thought of Fourth of July fireworks, to plot an exit out of every building he enters and, at times, to slow down to 30 mph on the interstate while he surveys the roadside for bombs.

When he was diagnosed last year with a rare infectious disease contracted during his military stint, it took from him the one thing he thought he’d escaped with: his physical health.

“That was the hardest part,” he said. “I survived all these deployments and to come back and get this disease ... I took it really hard. I almost went as far as ending myself. Through the grace of God, I didn’t.”
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Female soldier's body exhumed to discover truth

Soldier's body is exhumed; Army closes case
YNN News
By: Erin Connolly
August 26, 2013

On a day we find out exclusively the body of fallen soldier Amy Seyboth Tirador has been exhumed, we're also learning the Army has closed its case in her death. Our Erin Connolly sat down with Seyboth Tirador's father to hear the latest on their search to find the truth.

COLONIE, N.Y. -- There have been two large developments in one day regarding the death of Staff Sgt. Amy Seyboth Tirador of Colonie. First, there's been an official ruling from the Army. And second, we have confirmation, for the first time, that Amy's family has taken matters into their own hands.

"On May 19th, my son-in-law and I did have her exhumed at Saratoga National Cemetery," said her father, Jerry Seyboth.

For the first time, we're learning the soldier's body was exhumed by her husband, Mickey Tirador. It's a fact Amy's father Jerry and Mickey wanted to keep private, but with so many people pointing fingers at Mickey, he wanted to clear up any misunderstandings.

Her father Jerry said, "I don't think he had anything to do with my daughter's death, and I think he's doing everything possible to get to the bottom of it."

Amy died last November in Iraq while serving her third tour of duty. An Arabic translator, Amy went back to the barracks to spend some time with Mickey who was serving in the same unit. The next day, Amy was found with a single gunshot wound to the head.
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Vermont soldier’s death spurs heartache, healing

Vt. soldier’s death spurs heartache, healing
Times Argus
August 11,2013

“Dear Mom and Dad,” began the handwritten note pulled from his pocket. “By the time you read this I will have died for my country. Please don’t be sad.”

Vermonter Kyle Gilbert’s parents still remember the last words their only child said on the phone before the 20-year-old soldier was killed in Iraq on Aug. 6, 2003: “Just don’t forget me.”

A decade later, they haven’t. They just didn’t anticipate the fallout.

When state leaders and national news crews flocked to Gilbert’s funeral 10 years ago, his hometown of Brattleboro stood united in grief. Then residents split over a proposed memorial on Main Street. His parents divorced. Friends felt torn when his mother and father held separate annual remembrances.

On Saturday, upon his aunt’s urging, Gilbert’s family and neighbors reunited at his hometown VFW.

The public event aimed to honor his memory. But for the hundreds who gathered, it also offered an opportunity to heal.
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Morale in Manning's unit suffered

Commander: Morale in Manning's unit suffered
BY DAVID DISHNEAU AND PAULINE JELINEK
Associated Press
Jun 28, 1:35 PM EDT

FORT MEADE, Md. (AP) -- Pfc. Bradley Manning's former commander in Iraq says he was stunned and morale among his troops "took a hit" after they learned Manning was suspected of leaking classified documents.

"The last thing I anticipated was an internal security breach from one of our own," Col. David Miller said Friday as the fourth week of Manning's court-martial drew to a close.

"My read of my staff at that time was it was like a funeral-like atmosphere fell over that crowd," said Miller, commander of the brigade in which Manning served as an intelligence analyst in 2010 in Iraq. "That's the best way I would describe it - they were angry, sad ... frustrated all at the same time."

Manning's fellow troops collectively felt the allegations were a blemish on the otherwise good work they'd done in the war zone, Miller said.
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Hawaii 3rd Marines runs to honor 119 fallen heroes

3rd Marine Regiment holds run, ceremony to honor 119 fallen heroes
DVID
Marine Corps Base Hawaii – Kaneohe Bay
Story by Lance Cpl. Matthew Bragg
June 7, 2013

A Marine from 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment slides his hand down a pair of dog tags as he hangs them upon the pedestal on Marine Corps Base Hawaii, June 6, 2013. A total of 119 Marines and sailors who hung dog tags of fallen heroes wore black shirts that read, “All gave some. Some gave all. In memory of our fallen brothers.”
(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Matthew Bragg)

MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII — With operations winding down overseas, 3rd Marine Regiment continued the tradition of remembering 119 service members from the regiment killed in action in Iraq and Afghanistan with a memorial run followed by a ceremony, June 6, 2013.

Marines and sailors from the regiment gathered in formations at Landing Zone 216. Of these runners, 119 Marines and sailors each wore a black shirt that bore the words, “All gave some. Some gave all. In memory of our fallen brothers.” In addition, each wore the dog tags of fallen service members.

Sgt. Maj. Justin LeHew, sergeant major of 3rd Marines, reminded the Marines and sailors why they were there, and encouraged them to always honor their fellow service members.
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Wounded and Waiting PTSD and the wounds of war

Wounded and Waiting PTSD and the wounds of war.
The only difference between now and when I made this video is there are more of them waiting longer.
The troops are wounded and waiting for the care we promised them. Back lof of claims also means for them. Would you put up with it if it was workman's comp and your life? Think about them and help get their claims honored.

Fate of Sgt. John Russell in hands of military judge

Five killings at Camp Liberty in Iraq: Calculation or despair?
By Kim Murphy
May 11, 2013
Los Angeles Times

JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD, WASH. — The court-martial of Army Sgt. John Russell concluded Saturday with a military judge asked to decide whether the 14-year Army veteran was deluded by depression and despair as he shot five fellow service members in Iraq, or was executing a calculated plan of revenge against psychiatrists who had blocked his hopes for an early exit from the Army.

In closing arguments after a week of testimony, Judge David L. Conn was presented two starkly different views of what drove Russell, 48, to seize his escort’s M-16 rifle and gun down five people at the Camp Liberty combat stress center at the Baghdad airport on May 11, 2009.

While the defense says Russell was suffering from organic brain damage, major depression and post-combat stress that was aggravated by hostile mental health workers, Army prosecutors argued Saturday that Russell had been trying to paint himself as mentally ill even before the murders in an attempt to win early retirement and had then struck back “in the language of revenge” when a psychiatrist refused such a diagnosis.

Russell has already pleaded guilty to five specifications of murder, but the judge will determine whether the acts were premeditated, a key factor in whether he must serve life in prison or is eligible for parole.
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Sgt. John Russell pleaded guilty

Iraq vet pleads guilty to killing fellow soldiers
Seattle Post Intelligencer
Monday, April 22, 2013


JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. (AP) — An Army sergeant pleaded guilty Monday to killing four other soldiers and a Navy officer in 2009 at mental health clinic in Baghdad during the Iraq War.

The plea at a military court at Joint Base Lewis-McChord means Sgt. John Russell will avoid the death sentence. His maximum sentence would be a life term.

Russell — who is from Sherman, Texas — went on a shooting spree at the Camp Liberty Combat Stress Center near Baghdad in May 2009. It was one of the worst instances of soldier-on-soldier violence in the Iraq war.

Russell was nearing the end of his third tour when his behavior changed, members of his unit testified in 2009.

They said he became more distant in the days before the May 11, 2009, attack and that he seemed paranoid that his unit was trying to end his career.
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Sgt. John Russell example of what went wrong

High suicide rates and PTSD among vets

High suicide rates and PTSD among vets (video)
Detroit Free Press
Iraq War Legacy: High Suicide Rates and PTSD Among Vets: The official war in Iraq may be over but the battle scars still remain, both physical and emotional, for those who served, and for their families. Lindsay Claiborn reports.
March 16, 2013

Adding Guilt To The Grief

For many, like Denise Coutlakis, the grief is still raw. Her husband, Col. Todd Hixson, committed suicide in October 2009. The 27-year Marine veteran of several wars had been home just three weeks from his only deployment to Iraq.

When Coutlakis got the phone call saying that her husband had committed suicide, she says she did not know what to do. "I didn't know ... how to get my husband's body. I didn't know what to do next, so I called the Marine Corps," Coutlakis says.

She made the call on a Sunday, and Coutlakis says it took a while for anyone at the base to respond. "They showed up at some point and ... started talking to you about, 'This is what you need to do to move on. [Here] are the things you need to do. Here are the services,' and it gives you a sense ... [that] you have a list of things to do," Coutlakis says.

But Coutlakis says the list did not help her heal, and the suicide only added guilt to her grief.

When a service member dies in combat or in an accident, Coutlakis says, "nobody looks at the family and says, 'What was their responsibility in this? What did they not do?' " (Supporting Those Left Behind By Military Suicides by SARAH GONZALEZ, NPR October 21, 2010)

Delay in trial of Sgt. John Russell leaves families frustrated

Family Frustrated by Wait in Army Fratricide Case
Mar 04, 2013
Stars and Stripes
by Megan McCloskey

WASHINGTON -- It’s been almost four years since the deadliest case of American fratricide in the Iraq War, and the Army sergeant accused of killing five of his fellow servicemembers has yet to face a court-martial.

The lengthy delay has one victim’s family questioning what, exactly, is keeping the Army from moving faster on the case.

“It’s just not justified. There’s really no good reason,” Tom Springle said. “We’ve waited long enough.”

His brother, Navy Cmdr. Charles Keith Springle, was among those killed in May 2009 at Camp Liberty in Baghdad when Sgt. John Russell allegedly opened fire on the combat-stress clinic there.

Finally, late last year, after years of delays on both sides, the court-martial date was set for March 11, but it was recently pushed back to late April because the prosecution hadn’t provided the defense with court-ordered funds for expert witnesses.

“I wouldn’t be afraid to bet money this April there’s still no court-martial,” Springle said.

The Springle family has company in their frustration with those still awaiting the trial of Maj. Nidal Hasan more than three years after he allegedly killed 13 people and wounded dozens of others in a shooting at Fort Hood in November 2009. So far, no court-martial dates have held up in that case either with delay after delay, and both groups of victims are angered by the drawn-out process that to them is seemingly without reason.
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Sgt. John Russell trial, example of what went wrong

Was soldier killed over wife's lesbian affair?

The saddest part of this is the story will end up getting plenty of attention from people who would not care otherwise.

Army sergeant shot, killed in Iraq after discovering wife’s lesbian affair – now dad is on case
EXCLUSIVE: Kevin Green — whose son LaShawn Evans was shot in the head on Valentine’s Day 2011 after discovering that his fellow soldier wife was having a lesbian affair with another officer — has filed papers in Brooklyn Federal Court demanding the preservation of cell phone and text messages from devices belonging to Evans.
BY JOHN MARZULLI
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
PUBLISHED: SUNDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2012

Kevin Green — whose son LaShawn Evans was shot in the head on Valentine’s Day 2011 after discovering that his fellow soldier wife was having a lesbian affair with another officer — has filed papers in Brooklyn Federal Court demanding the preservation of cell phone and text messages from devices belonging to Evans; his wife, Florinda Evans, and LaShawn’s mother-in-law from Jan. 1, 2011, to Sept. 1, 2011.

“I made my son a promise that I would honor him and fight till I know what happened,” Green told the Daily News.

The Army initially ruled Evans’ death a suicide, but the crime was reclassified as a murder six months later. That’s where the investigation remains.
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Sgt. Rafael Peralta will not receive Medal of Honor for saving lives

The video shows him dropping on the grenade. The medical examiner said he was already dead before it happened. Well, if the examiner is right then this was one miraculous event and he just fell in the right place at the right time. I really doubt it happened that way.

Marine who died in Iraq won't get Medal of Honor
Seattle PI
December 12, 2012

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The secretary of defense has denied a request to upgrade a fallen Marine's Navy Cross to the Medal of Honor, a San Diego congressman's office said Wednesday.

The Pentagon told Rep. Duncan Hunter it supports the decision of former Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who honored Sgt. Rafael Peralta with the Navy Cross instead of the military's highest honor.
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Will Sgt. Rafael Peraltas life finally honored?

Mother And Daughter Form Soldiers' Bond In Iraq

Mother And Daughter Form Soldiers' Bond In Iraq
by NPR STAFF
December 8, 2012

Courtesy of Jessica Pedraza

Marilyn Gonzalez (left) and her daughter, Jessica Pedraza, at their base in Kuwait in 2010.

Sgt. Marilyn Gonzalez and her daughter, Spc. Jessica Pedraza, served together in Kuwait and Iraq from January until December of 2010. But they weren't both supposed to go then.

They were in the Massachusetts Army National Guard, in the same company, but they had different jobs.

In 2010, Gonzalez was ordered to deploy to Iraq, but her daughter was not. Pedraza decided to put college on hold and changed her job in the military so that she would be sent to war with her mom. They didn't need supply specialists, but they did need a truck driver.

"When you told me that you wanted to deploy, I was so angry," Gonzalez, now 44, tells her daughter.

But Pedraza, now 22, said she couldn't stay home worrying.

"Whenever I would go out on a mission, you would go in my room and make my bed, and sometimes you would come back from your missions and catch me sleeping on your bed," she says.
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Riverine success in Iraq shows need for naval quick-reaction force

Riverine success in Iraq shows need for naval quick-reaction force
U.S. NAVY
By MATTHEW M. BURKE
Stars and Stripes
Published: October 29, 2012

Petty Officer 3rd Class Jobey French, a boatswain's mate assigned to Riverine Command Boat 803 from Riverine Squadron 2, mans an MK-44 mini machine gun while conducting security escort operations for ships transiting out to sea through the Intracoastal Waterway in North Carolina, during Exercise Bold Alligator 2012 on Feb. 1.

SASEBO NAVAL BASE, Japan — When the U.S. Navy’s Riverine forces were resurrected six years ago to secure Iraq’s rivers and coastal waterways, they functioned much as the highly decorated river rats of the Mekong Delta did in Vietnam. Their success has given new life to the unit and the strategy.

In Iraq, Riverine forces became a quick reaction force — capable of search-and-seizure, insertion or extraction — on swift, agile boats with heavy-caliber weaponry. Between March 2007 and October 2011, the Riverines carried out more than 2,000 missions, trained Iraqi River Police, screened detainees and discovered weapons caches while flying 667 unmanned aerial vehicle hours.

Army and Navy river units were dismantled after the Vietnam War ended in 1975 and the Riverines’s future was in limbo when the Iraq war wound down last year. The Navy, however, has decided it has an enduring need for these quick and lethal small boat fighters.

``Just because you don’t need a tool right this second, why would you throw it away?’’ asked Chief Petty Officer William Squires, who is training to command one of the boats. ``It gives us capability to dominate inland waterways… It’s mind-boggling what we can do with four boat patrols and the weaponry we have.’’
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Oregon National Guardsmen still fighting for justice after Iraq

While they were sure they were willing to face the risks of combat in Iraq, they had no clue they had to fear something else happening to them by a company paid by their own country.

National Guardsmen’s suit accusing Iraq War contractor KBR of concealing toxic danger begins
By Associated Press
Published: October 10

PORTLAND, Ore. — A war contractor knew a critical southern Iraq oilfield plant was riddled with a well-known toxin but ignored the risk to soldiers while hurrying the project along, firing a whistleblower and covering up the presence of the chemical when faced with exposure, the soldiers’ attorney said in opening arguments Wednesday in a federal civil suit.

An attorney for the contractor, Kellogg, Brown and Root, fired back in his opening salvo of a trial expected to last weeks that the soldiers’ injuries weren’t a result of their exposure to the toxin, called sodium dichromate. Geoffrey L. Harrison argued that the company had no knowledge of the chemical’s presence at the plant and when they found it, they promptly and repeatedly warned the military of the danger.

A jury of six men and six women will decide whether the company is culpable for 12 Oregon National Guardsmen’s exposure to the toxin, a known carcinogen, and whether that exposure led to their ongoing respiratory illnesses. The soldiers will also try to show that the fear of future illnesses is causing them to suffer emotional distress.
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Iraq contractor seeks appeal from law suit

Soldier surprises daughter at school

Soldier surprises daughter at Challenger Elementary
Posted: Sep 12, 2012
By Jamel Lanee
HUNTSVILLE, AL (WAFF)

Nalani Coates, 6 years old, thought it would be a normal day at school. Staff members at Challenger Elementary had a huge surprise in store for the kindergartner.

Her dad, David Coates, a U.S. Army service member came home a few days early to surprise her.

Nalani and her classmates are outside at the flag post calling for a soldier, but she doesn't realize it's her dad she's yelling for. When she realizes it's her father, she runs and gives him a huge hug.

Nalani hasn't seen him in over four months. She wasn't expecting to see him until Friday.

Her surprise left her in shock. The little girl is so stunned, she gives her mother a hug and then returns to sing a song with her class.

Coates said it's really tough to leave behind your family when you're in the service.

"It's really tough. It's one of those things that when you get to call home and you get to see how they're doing and it's like, 'Oh, we did this and we did that,' and you really wish you could be there," he said. "And I love serving my country, but the hardest part of any deployment of any kind of service of being away from home is being away from your children and your spouse."
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Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier killed by police

UPDATE March 27, 2013
Fatal police shooting of JBLM medic justified says prosecutor

Man fatally shot by police was JBLM soldier
The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Sep 2, 2012 15:41:41 EDT

TACOMA, Wash. — A man fatally shot by a Tacoma police officer last week has been identified as a 29-year-old Army sergeant stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state.

A base spokesman says Sgt. Prince Gavin, of Chicago, deployed twice to Iraq. The combat medic was preparing to move to Fort Carson, Colo., before he died.

Gavin was killed Friday afternoon in a confrontation with Tacoma police. A police spokesman told the News Tribune that Gavin had a gun in his hand when he got out of his truck and ran toward a house in the Hilltop neighborhood.
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UPDATE September 3, 2012
Man Tacoma police shot ‘follows the rules,’ girlfriend says Army Sgt. Prince Gavin was moving from Tacoma on the day he was shot and killed by a police officer, his girlfriend said Saturday.


This article mentions there was another domestic situation police had to respond to. This happened around the same time.
Lewis-McChord Family members say soldier fatally stabbed wife