5,500 vets on the street in the Sunshine State

Jacksonville Officials See Population Of Homeless Vets Changing
WJCT News
Peter Haden
September 21, 2014

Volunteers assisted nearly 300 veterans at Jacksonville's Stand Down event Saturday.

Credit Peter Haden

Any trend in veteran homelessness will be seen in Florida. In 2013, officials counted more than 5,500 vets on the street in the Sunshine State-- 10 percent of all homeless vets in the nation. Only California had more.

Brian Richmond, 25, was discharged from the United States Air Force four years ago. He's been homeless for the last three and a half.

"My mom passed away. I ran out of money and couldn’t keep my house up, so had to sell it," he said. "So, I had to come out here - out to the streets."

He slept in a tent under a bridge in Jacksonville for two years. Then he got into the Sulzbacher Center - a transitional housing facility where he stays now.

Richmond was one of about 300 vets that came to the Veterans Stand Down Resource Fair Saturday at the Jacksonville Fairgrounds. They had access to medical and dental care, haircuts, clothes and help with legal issues.

It’s the 15th year in a row Jacksonville has hosted the Stand Down event.
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If you care about homeless veterans, you may be interested in this as well.

Veterans housing initiative imperiled by Shinseki's resignation

But an estimated 50,000 veterans remain homeless, and Shinseki, the driving force behind the initiative, is now gone, forced to resign amid the department's health care scandal. There are concerns that Congress, despite bipartisan support in the past, will not continue to finance the program at its current level.

Soldier's war dog located when FCN story goes viral

Soldier's war dog located when FCN story goes viral
First Coast News
Jacob Long
May 14, 2014

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A reunion could be in the works for a Georgia soldier and the dog he believes was wrongfully taken from him.

First Coast News told the story this week of U.S. Army Specialist Luke Andrukitis and his wartime companion Robbie.

Robbie is a four-year-old Belgian Malinois the military used to sniff out explosives in Afghanistan. Andrukitis, who is stationed at Fort Stewart in Hinesville, Ga., was Robbie's handler for about a year.

In a previously recorded interview, Andrukitis told FCN he and Robbie grew incredibly close.

"Literally, every waking moment you're spending with that dog, (you're) bonding because to the dog you are like this father," he said.

But a problem arose for Andrukitis and several other Ft. Stewart handlers when they returned from deployment earlier this year.

They claim the government contracted kennel, North Carolina-based K2 Solutions, adopted their canines out without their knowledge after it lost its contract with the Army.
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Florida Marine Shot After Trying to Help Strangers

Military veteran shot in the face when helping others
First Coast News
Michelle Quesada
April 14, 2014

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A local military veteran is recovering from a gunshot wound to the face after he was shot while trying to help others.

Ralph Tackett, 49, spent hours in surgery Monday.

"They got the bullet out, he's got three plates in his jaw, three titanium plates and he's going to need more surgeries," said Sandy Tackett, the victim's wife.

According to a Jacksonville Sheriff's Office police report, Tackett heard a car crash outside his home on Fort Caroline Road Saturday morning. He got in his car to drive out and help when he saw the crashed Silver Pontiac Grand Prix and three men walking towards him, waiving him down.

"They asked him for a tire, he said 'a tire? I think you need more than a tire,'" said Richard Tackett, the victim's son.

The report states that's when one of the suspects shot him in the left lower jaw.

"They didn't ask for the car, didn't ask him to get out or anything they just shot him," said Sandy.
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Another Marine's car was stolen.

Fort Carson soldier from Jacksonville Florida shot and killed in Colorado Springs

Fort Carson soldier identified as victim in shooting outside Circa Club
The Gazette
By Andrea Sinclair
Published: August 19, 2013

A Fort Carson soldier has been identified as the victim of a fatal shooting outside the Circa Nightclub in downtown Colorado Springs early Sunday morning, police said Monday.

Deangelo Brown, 22, is the 22nd homicide victim in Colorado Springs this year.

Colorado Springs is ahead of pace of the record number of homicides for a year. In 2011, a record-breaking year with 32 homicides, there were 18 homicides at this time of the year.

His home of record is Jacksonville, Fla., according to the Army. read more here

Vietnam Veterans of America convention pitch in for Florida homeless veterans

Vietnam vets at Jacksonville convention step up for their homeless post-9/11 brethren
Jacksonville.com
By Matt Soergel
Posted: August 16, 2013

Vietnam vets in town for their annual convention kicked in money, a few dollars at a time, to help out a Jacksonville center for homeless post-9/11 veterans.

Donating was an easy decision for Robert Stewart, an Army vet from the city of Oregon, Ohio.

“Every veteran here, in the blink of an eye, can be homeless,” he said. “And we don’t leave our own — we take care of our own.”

Friday conventioneers gave a giant-sized check for $4,000 to Five Star Veterans Center, a transitional center that now has 20 once-homeless vets living there.

That amount will grow as the Vietnam Veterans of America convention continues at the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront.

“I’ll walk out of here and someone will give me five bucks or 10 or 20,” said Nancy Switzer of Rochester, N.Y., who helped organize the fundraising through her group, Associates of Vietnam Veterans of America.

Five Star’s been struggling for money since the scandal in March that torpedoed its major contributor, Allied Veterans of the World.

An investigation into racketeering and money-laundering at gaming centers owned by Allied Vets led to 57 arrests and the resignation of the state’s lieutenant governor.
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Vietnam Veterans of America National Convention in Jacksonville this week

Vietnam Veterans of America National Convention in Jacksonville this week
Organized by local chapters of the Vietnam Veterans of America, they hope others will come out to join.
Jacksonville.Com
By Clifford Davis
Posted: August 11, 2013

Though the Vietnam War nearly tore the country apart, it brought many Americans who fought there closer than most could imagine.

This week, the bond they share will bring thousands of veterans and family members from the 619 chapters nationwide to Jacksonville for the 16th annual Vietnam Veterans of America National Convention.

One purpose is to set the organization’s path for the next two years, but it also serves as a coming together for men who share a common bond and common scars. Men like Walter Lincey.

Lincey moved to Jacksonville in April and happened to spot another man at a grocery store wearing a Vietnam veteran hat. That man was Chapter 1046 president Tony D’Aleo.

The chapter met Wednesday night to thresh out the schedule for the convention, and Lincey came for the first time.
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Iraq Veteran still searching for missing PTSD service dog

An Iraq War veteran who suffers from PTSD is getting some help in the search to find his missing dog
WTLV News
Heather Crawford
Jun 13, 2013

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- He served our country and helped fight for freedom, and that's why a small non-profit based in New York that helps pair veterans suffering from PTSD with therapy dogs said it is offering a big reward to help find a missing Jacksonville veteran's dog.

We first told you about Sgt. Kenneth Chambers desperate search to find his dog last Fall, and despite nearly 10 months having passed since she vanished the effort to find her is gaining steam.

"That's my little girl and she belongs with me. Safe and sound at my side. Anything less I will not settle for that," said Chambers.

Not a day goes by that Sgt. Kenneth Chambers doesn't hand out a flyer with a picture of his missing Shepard-Blue Heeler mix named Adalida. Her picture is plastered to the back of his truck.

"She was stolen August 22 at 103rd and Blanding Blvd. at the Sav-a-Lot food store," said Chambers.

He said he left her in the car with the window's rolled down while he ran inside for about five minutes to help his mother bag groceries. When he came back she was gone, along with a piece of his heart.
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Florida Navy Officer missing in Florida

Missing Fla. Navy Recruiter's Daughter: 'I Just Wish He Would Come Home'
ABC News
By REENA NINAN and ALEXIS SHAW
June 9, 2013

Authorities are trying to piece together where a respected Jacksonville, Fla. navy recruiter may have gone after he was reported missing 12 days ago.

Chief Petty Officer Kevin Williams, 39, was first reported missing by his wife, Vanessa, after the couple got into a fight in a mall parking lot on May 28.

In the heat of the argument, Vanessa Williams told ABC News that she walked off in the other direction, but told her husband to stay put.

"I was so mad with him, so I said 'Wait here. I'm not…I don't want to walk with you and argue anymore," she said.

But when she returned to the spot where she left him, Williams was gone, but he left his cell phone behind.
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Jacksonville Summit to address veterans' suicides

Jacksonville Summit to address veterans' suicides
WOKV News
April 10, 2013
By Tiffany Griffith

Jacksonville, FL — City leaders are confronting the alarming number of veterans' suicides in our country. An issue that's especially important in our large military community.

"You know the warrior mentality, the military mentality is really not to admit weakness," says John Roberts with the Wounded Warrior Project.

But he says, we need to work as a community to give our veterans a comfortable place to discuss their post-war trauma. The numbers show 22 veterans killed themselves everyday in 2010. Roberts added that in 2012, there were more veteran suicides than combat related deaths.

After serving in the first Gulf War, Roberts says he also suffered with Posttraumatic stress disorder. He feels like his counselor at the Veterans Administration wasn't really interested in his problem, so he turned to alcohol and shut down from his wife. That's until he talked to a fellow Marine for help.

Roberts is encouraged that Jacksonville leaders are addressing this head-on. He says we have to erase the shame of Posttraumatic stress disorder, gain our veterans' trust and give them a safe space to discuss their problems.
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Florida LT Gov. Carroll resigns, tied to Allied Veterans

UPDATE
Officials: 3 men focus of veterans charity scam
By Mitch Weiss and Russ Bynum
The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Mar 14, 2013 9:09:04 EDT

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Authorities in Florida say three men are at the center of a scandal involving a purported veterans charity that law enforcement officials say was a $300 million front for illegal gambling.

Jacksonville lawyer Kelly Mathis was identified by authorities Wednesday as the mastermind of the alleged racketeering scheme, which led to charges this week against nearly 60 people. Two other men, Johnny E. Duncan and Jerry Bass, were called “co-conspirators” of the operation by officials.

Authorities alleged that Mathis made about $6 million from the operation. During a news conference Wednesday, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi unveiled a poster with a photo of Mathis, linked to dozens of alleged gambling operations. Officials say he was the registered agent for 112 businesses related to the investigation, which was handled by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.
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Florida Lt. Gov. resigns amid gambling scandal, racketeering probe
By Domenico Montanaro
Deputy Political Editor
NBC News
March 13, 2013

Florida’s embattled Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll (R), the first African American elected statewide and first woman to serve as lieutenant governor, has resigned amid a gambling, racketeering, and conflict-of-interest scandal.

“Effective immediately, I hereby resign the Office of Lieutenant Governor of the State of Florida. It has been an honor to have served the State of Florida in this capacity,” Carroll wrote in a brief letter to Gov. Rick Scott (R).

Carroll had been seen as a rising Republican star before a rash of bad headlines. She served as one of the national chairmen for 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney's “Black Leadership Council" with ex-Rep. Allen West (R-FL) and now-Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC).

"The resignation comes two days after Florida Law Enforcement officers interviewed Carroll about her involvement with Allied Veterans of the World, a non-profit that operates internet cafes in Florida. Officials from Allied Veterans and Nelson Cuba, the president of the Jacksonville Florida Order of Police, were arrested on racketeering charges after an investigation by the IRS and Secret Service.
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Jacksonville firefighters charity helps native son following Afghanistan injuries

Jacksonville firefighters charity helps native son following Afghanistan injuries
'He was spared by God and has all his limbs,' says Josh Gillette's dad.
Jacksonville.com
Florida Times Union
by Dan Scanlan
Posted: February 27, 2013

Josh Gillette might not be able to make it to Friday’s luncheon in his honor.

Jacksonville native Josh Gillette, 32, is recovering from an explosion in Afghanistan. He attended Englewood and Wolfson high schools and was part of their JROTC programs

But as the Jacksonville native continues therapy at Walter Reed Medical Center for major injuries suffered in Afghanistan, people who don’t know him will be helping his future.

Funds raised at the 11:30 a.m. luncheon at the Jacksonville Fire Fighter Hall at 618 Stockton St. will go to his family from the Jacksonville Fire Fighter Charities. The bills have racked up from Gillette’s and his wife’s trips from their Tennessee home to Walter Reed for therapy, said his father, David Gillette.

“I prayed and prayed for God to provide for my son and daughter-in-law and every time I turn around, someone is wanting to help,” Gillette said from his Jacksonville home.

Fundraising site The website The War Hero was set up by Shain Gillette to help cover the costs his brother’s family is incurring in recuperating from his injuries.

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MP Sgt. Smith's suicide leaves unit in shock

Now maybe you can see that what the DOD is doing to stop suicides is not working!

Sergeant’s unexpected suicide rattles his MP unit
Army Times
By Joe Gould
Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Sep 25, 2012

On a Thursday, military policeman Sgt. Derek Smith was in a small conference room at Fort Belvoir, Va., playing the role of a concerned friend in a suicide prevention training session. That Sunday, he was found in his patrol car, dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

How Smith could take his own life was a mystery to his commander and others in their relatively tight-knit unit, the post’s 45-member 212th Military Police Detachment.

“From my view, he had not a care in the world, and life was going great,” said Staff Sgt. Steven Finch, Smith’s supervisor. “No sign whatsoever. Zero. I’d spoken to him that Friday and his family had spoken to him that afternoon. Nothing.”

Smith, 29, of Jacksonville, Fla., entered the Army in 2007 and deployed to Iraq a year later for 15 months, then left the Army and re-enlisted in 2010.

At least to his co-workers, he showed no signs of the behavioral health problems, financial distress or relationship issues that often precede a suicide.
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Jacksonville soldier's suicide part of growing trend in military

Jacksonville soldier's suicide part of growing trend in military
In mid-August, Derek Smith shot himself while stationed at Fort Belvoir in Virginia.
September is suicide prevention month across the country.
Posted: September 6, 2012
By William Browning

Provided by family L. Alan Smith (center) and his wife, Lavonne, pose with their son Sgt. Derek Smith in their Forest Circle home in Jacksonville.

On Aug. 19 at about 10 in the evening, a 29-year-old Army police officer at Fort Belvoir in Virginia parked his patrol vehicle, walked into a wooded area of the military post and shot himself.

His death came days after July was shown to be the worst month for Army suicides in years. During that month 26 active-duty soldiers killed themselves. In all, the Army recorded 116 suicides among active-duty soldiers between January and the end of July.

Looking at suicides across all four branches of the military is just as striking. In June the Associated Press obtained an internal Defense Department document showing that there had been 154 suicides in the first 155 days of 2012. That marked the fastest pace of active-duty suicides in the nation’s decade of war.

Military suicides are often related to cumulative stress from combat duty. Other factors are marital problems, financial problems and health issues. But no matter the reasons, behind the rising numbers are families left with only stories of their deceased loved ones — like the Fort Belvoir police officer who killed himself last month.
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Maine VA employee suspected in murder-suicide

Former Jacksonville resident killed girlfriend, then himself, Maine State Police say
Posted: July 29, 2012
By Associated Press

HAMPDEN, Maine — Maine State Police identified the man who shot his girlfriend and then killed himself at a Hampden house where a state police SWAT team had assembled.

The shooter was identified Saturday as 53-year-old Lawrence Beaute, who had lived in Jacksonville.

Police say Beaute was a medical technician at a Veterans Affairs facility in Bangor. read more here

Oviedo soldier dies in Afghanistan

UPDATE Jacksonville-based soldier who died in Afghanistan leaves wife, 2 children
Updated: July 10, 2012

Oviedo soldier dies in Afghanistan
July 8, 2012
By Leslie Postal and David Breen
Orlando Sentinel

A U.S. Army captain from Oviedo died in Afghanistan on Friday about three months after his Army Reserve unit was mobilized.

Bruce A. MacFarlane, 46, died in Kandahar, according to the Department of Defense, which did not provide information on how he died.

He was assigned to the 1186th Transportation Company, 831st Transportation Battalion, which is based in Jacksonville.

"He was a great guy, good family guy," said Keith Marang, who lives next door and said he met MacFarlane when both families moved into their new homes in 2008. "I was just floored when I heard the news."

He said MacFarlane, befitting his military career, was clean-cut and fit and looked younger than his age. He and his wife have two children, a son and a daughter, Marang said, adding that he thought they were in their early teens. He said the family moved to Oviedo from DeLand.

A person who answered the door at the family's large, modern home Sunday afternoon said they were not available, and she was not authorized to release any information. She said she was a friend of the family, and they'd been devastated by the news.

MacFarlane, who spent 12 years on active duty, was very patriotic, with an American flag always flying from his home, his neighbor said. Several small flags and red, white and blue pinwheels decorated the flower pots at the front door Sunday, presumably from the Fourth of July holiday last week.
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Disabled Iraq veteran was attacked in a road rage incident

Disabled Iraq veteran punched by teenager
12:04 AM, Jun 25, 2012
Written by
Mike Lyons

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A disabled veteran was attacked in a road rage incident on the Westside Saturday and a teenager was arrested on battery charges.

50-year old Robert Dodd lives in Baker County. The single father of two walks with a cane, injured by mortar attacks while in the Navy in Iraq in 2004. He was driving his pickup east on Normandy Blvd. near Yellow Water Road when a young driver pulled out in front of him and he had to slam on brakes.

Dodd says he almost ran into the small car that pulled out in front of his pickup while he was driving just under 60 miles per hour. He said if he would have hit the car with his pickup, the driver could have been seriously hurt. Dodd said he then tried to go around the car.
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In Fla., first lady praises military families

In Fla., first lady praises military families
By Gary Fineout -
The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Apr 13, 2012

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — First Lady Michelle Obama steered clear of an ongoing political controversy over mothers and work and instead used a Thursday evening stop in Jacksonville to praise military families. Mrs. Obama visited Naval Air Station Jacksonville as part of the one-year anniversary of her Joining Forces program, which aims to help veterans and their families.

BOB SELF / THE FLORIDA TIMES-UNION VIA AP First Lady Michelle Obama and the teen daughters of military families react to the annoucement that they would receive gift certificates from JCPenney on Thursday at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Fla. Mrs. Obama visited NAS Jacksonville as part of the one-year anniversary of her Joining Forces program.

She was greeted in a wide-open hangar by hundreds of high-school aged girls whose parents are in the military. During the hour-long event, television star Ellen DeGeneres appeared remotely via a big projection screen and told all of the young women that they were getting a $250 department store gift card that they can use for their upcoming proms.

The first lady said it was important to recognize that the children of people in the military are also making sacrifices and must often move from school-to-school, or deal with prolonged absences of one of their parents.

“You have lived lives that make you incredibly special,” Mrs. Obama said. “...You don’t take your families for granted.”
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Jacksonville's Arlington area to offer a place for homeless veterans

Center opens in Jacksonville's Arlington area to offer a place for homeless veterans
The former nursing home is turned into housing for ex-service members.
Posted: April 3, 2012

WILL DICKEY/The Times-Union 

Jerry Bass is the national commander of the Allied Veterans of the World and Affiliates, and has an office at the Allied Veterans Center, which is located in a former nursing home on Acme Street in Arlington.

By Beth Reese Cravey

Last year, Gale Patrick Lancaster was homeless and jobless.

He was living on the street in downtown Jacksonville and, because of his circumstances, had lost visitation with his young daughter. Now, the 41-year-old Marine veteran has a place to stay at the newly opened Allied Veterans Center for homeless veterans off Atlantic Boulevard in the Arlington area.

He is now doing construction and janitorial work and in May will begin studying logistics and transportation at Florida State College at Jacksonville, with hopes of getting a port-related job. And he recently had a reunion with his daughter, after center officials helped get his visitation rights restored. Lancaster, who served in the Gulf war, credits the center for turning his life around.

“It’s a place for vets to get back on their feet, become productive members of society,” he said. “It’s hard to get help … [that helps] you out of a situation, rather than shoving you here or there.”
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Homes for Our Troops plan home for Marine Gunnery Sergeant John Hayes

GySgt. John Hayes


Jacksonville, FL


Marine Gunnery Sergeant John Hayes was on his 4th deployment when he lost both of his legs and suffered life-threatening injuries after stepping on an IED in Sangin, Afghanistan on December 28, 2010. An Explosive Ordinance Disposal Technician, GySgt Hayes was on a routine mission, when his comrade located an undetonated ordinance. While retracing his steps to return and assist his partner, GySgt Hayes stepped on a buried IED resulting in the traumatic amputations of both of his legs.

During transport out of Afghanistan to Landstuhl, Germany, GySgt Hayes required lifesaving resuscitation multiple times. Once stabilized, he was brought to Bethesda National Naval Medical Center where the long road to recovery began. During his first week in the hospital, Hayes miraculously survived a series of grueling surgeries before a serious infection led to a rare hemi-pelvectomy amputation, leaving Hayes without a leg or pelvis on his left side. GySgt Hayes has endured over sixty surgeries thus far, and remains at the newly renamed Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for continued treatment and physical therapy.
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Firefighters help bring body of homeless Vietnam Vet home

Fallen Vietnam veteran returns home to family
Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2011
By Alyssa Spirato

Jacksonville, FL — A fallen Vietnam veteran is brought home for the holidays with the help of the fire department all way in North Las Vegas, Nevada.

Sandy Battige and her sister Betty live right here in Jacksonville.

After their brother, Wayne Allen Green, a homeless Vietnam vet died a horrific death just a few days after thanksgiving. His family didn’t have the resources to bring his body down to Jacksonville until the beginning of next year, so firefighters in North Las Vegas stepped in to help.

“Through donations from the North Las Vegas fire department, we raised enough money to have his body cremated and flown over here,” says firefighter paramedic Gary Parsons from the North Las Vegas Fire Department.
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