Fallen soldier comes home from Vietnam 45 years later
WCNC.com
April 9, 2015
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Bunyan Price died 45 years ago during the Vietnam War. Today his family was finally able to see him come home.
The family was joined at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport by a police escort along with some 300 members of the Patriot Guard.
They looked on as the casket with Price's remains was slowly lowered from the aircraft that carried him on the last leg of his long journey home.
His uncle, Harley Walker Jr. said, "We were kind of shocked but it is a relief."
Relief that the family now knows what happened to Price, who was a 19 year old fighting in Vietnam.
read more here
Showing posts with label KIA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label KIA. Show all posts
Friday, April 10, 2015
Monday, January 5, 2015
Military Bereavement Study on Grief Covers All Causes
Military families in largest ever bereavement study share insights on grief
Stars and Stripes
By DAVID CRARY
The Associated Press
Published: January 4, 2015
With his wife and child close at hand, Army Maj. Chad Wriglesworth battled skin cancer for more than a year before dying at age 37.
"It was long and painful and awful," said Aimee Wriglesworth, who believes the cancer resulted from exposure to toxic fumes in Iraq. Yet the 28-year-old widow from Bristow, Virginia, seized a chance to recount the ordeal and its aftermath to a researcher, hoping that input from her and her 6-year-old daughter might be useful to other grieving military families.
"To be able to study what we felt and what we're going through - maybe this will help people down the line," Wriglesworth said.
By the hundreds, other widows, widowers, parents, siblings and children are sharing accounts of their grief as part of the largest study ever of America's military families as they go through bereavement. About 2,000 people have participated over the past three years, and one-on-one interviews will continue through February.
The federally funded project is being conducted by the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress at the Maryland-based Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. The study is open to families of the more than 19,000 service members from all branches of the military who have died on active duty since the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, regardless of whether the death resulted from combat, accident, illness, suicide or other causes.
Stars and Stripes
By DAVID CRARY
The Associated Press
Published: January 4, 2015
"Regardless of how the person died, at some point in their life they stepped forward to raise their right hand and say `I will protect this nation"
This Dec. 16, 2014 photo shows the wedding photo of Army widow, Aimee Wriglesworth, and her late husband, Chad, on display in her home in Bristow, Va. The couple married when Chad was in the Air Force; he later transferred to the Army, where he rose to the rank of Major. Wriglesworth lost her husband to cancer in 2013. By the hundreds, other widows, widowers, parents, siblings and children are sharing accounts of their grief as part of the largest study ever of America's military families as they go through bereavement.
STEVE HELBER/AP
With his wife and child close at hand, Army Maj. Chad Wriglesworth battled skin cancer for more than a year before dying at age 37.
"It was long and painful and awful," said Aimee Wriglesworth, who believes the cancer resulted from exposure to toxic fumes in Iraq. Yet the 28-year-old widow from Bristow, Virginia, seized a chance to recount the ordeal and its aftermath to a researcher, hoping that input from her and her 6-year-old daughter might be useful to other grieving military families.
"To be able to study what we felt and what we're going through - maybe this will help people down the line," Wriglesworth said.
By the hundreds, other widows, widowers, parents, siblings and children are sharing accounts of their grief as part of the largest study ever of America's military families as they go through bereavement. About 2,000 people have participated over the past three years, and one-on-one interviews will continue through February.
The federally funded project is being conducted by the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress at the Maryland-based Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. The study is open to families of the more than 19,000 service members from all branches of the military who have died on active duty since the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, regardless of whether the death resulted from combat, accident, illness, suicide or other causes.
Of all the active-duty deaths in the period being studied, about 13 percent were suicides. Accidents accounted for 35 percent, combat 30 percent, illness 15 percent and homicide 3 percent, according to Cozza.
One of the major partners for the study is the Arlington, Virginia-based support group known as TAPS - the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors. It was founded in 1994 by Bonnie Carroll two years after her husband, a brigadier general, died in an Army plane crash.
Carroll said she was heartened that the study encompassed all types of deaths, even including service members responsible for murder-suicides.
"Regardless of how the person died, at some point in their life they stepped forward to raise their right hand and say `I will protect this nation,'" Carroll said.
read more here
Sunday, December 14, 2014
Ret. Command Sergeant Major Thomas Colvin Wants to Honor All Veterans
Looks like I'm not the only one thinking all veterans should matter and not just the one making the news today.
Honor all veterans
Gadsdey Times
Published: Sunday, December 14, 2014
During its regular session in 2014, the state Senate passed SJR3. As the resolution read, “Naming a portion of United States Highway 411 from Etowah-St. Clair County line north to the intersection of United States Highway 411 and I-759 in Gadsden as the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Memorial Highway.”
As a veteran of Operation Desert Shield/Operation Desert Storm (1990-1991), Iraqi Freedom (2003) and Operation Enduring Freedom (2005-2008), I declare it unnecessary to do so. Why, you may ask, would you not want a highway named in our honor? As the resolution further states; “WHEREAS, it is fitting and proper that we show them that we shall not forget their service, sacrifice and dedication in protecting our nation.”
read more here
"Only when proper recognition is given to veterans who have gone before us, will I be proud of a highway named in our honor." Command Sergeant Major (Retired) Thomas Colvin
Honor all veterans
Gadsdey Times
Published: Sunday, December 14, 2014
During its regular session in 2014, the state Senate passed SJR3. As the resolution read, “Naming a portion of United States Highway 411 from Etowah-St. Clair County line north to the intersection of United States Highway 411 and I-759 in Gadsden as the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Memorial Highway.”
As a veteran of Operation Desert Shield/Operation Desert Storm (1990-1991), Iraqi Freedom (2003) and Operation Enduring Freedom (2005-2008), I declare it unnecessary to do so. Why, you may ask, would you not want a highway named in our honor? As the resolution further states; “WHEREAS, it is fitting and proper that we show them that we shall not forget their service, sacrifice and dedication in protecting our nation.”
read more here
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Command Sgt. Maj. killed in Afghanistan
Command Sgt. Maj. killed in Afghanistan
The (Salisbury, Md.)
Daily Times staff
November 26, 2014
Two soldiers were killed Monday morning when a bomb hidden in the median strip of a street in eastern Kabul detonated as a convoy of coalition troops drove by, according to a New York Times report.
The bomb struck a Toyota Land Cruiser and also wounded a passerby, Afghan police told the Times.
The names and nationalities of the soldiers have not been released by the American-led International Security Assistance Force. The policy of the U.S. Department of Defense is to not release the name of casualties until 24 hours after the next of kin has been identified.
But Turner's death was confirmed by Elmer Davis, a close friend who had known Turner since high school. Davis said a family member informed him of his friend's death.
The other casualty has been identified by local media in Ohio as Spc. Joseph Riley. Riley had been in the Army less than three years, according to the report Tuesday by the NBC affiliate in Columbus.
read more here
The (Salisbury, Md.)
Daily Times staff
November 26, 2014
Command Sgt. Maj. Wardell Turrner, assigned to a key training command in Afghanistan, was killed Monday, according to a friend and Facebook posts.Command Sgt. Maj. Wardell Turner
(Photo: Photo via delmarvanow)
Two soldiers were killed Monday morning when a bomb hidden in the median strip of a street in eastern Kabul detonated as a convoy of coalition troops drove by, according to a New York Times report.
The bomb struck a Toyota Land Cruiser and also wounded a passerby, Afghan police told the Times.
The names and nationalities of the soldiers have not been released by the American-led International Security Assistance Force. The policy of the U.S. Department of Defense is to not release the name of casualties until 24 hours after the next of kin has been identified.
But Turner's death was confirmed by Elmer Davis, a close friend who had known Turner since high school. Davis said a family member informed him of his friend's death.
The other casualty has been identified by local media in Ohio as Spc. Joseph Riley. Riley had been in the Army less than three years, according to the report Tuesday by the NBC affiliate in Columbus.
read more here
Sunday, November 16, 2014
True heroes - tested in war - gather at a diner
I hate to do this to this great article but there is something that just does not seem right about it. All my life I've been around veterans and heard hundreds of stories. Whenever they guess at how many lives were lost or how many were wounded, it was never about their own unit. In this case a veteran guessed at how many lives his unit lost as well as how many were wounded while he was with them.
Every other story I've heard showed they remembered. They remembered how many died as well as how many were wounded. They remembered their names as much as they remembered their faces and what happened to them. Is this a case of "fog of war" or something else?
Every other story I've heard showed they remembered. They remembered how many died as well as how many were wounded. They remembered their names as much as they remembered their faces and what happened to them. Is this a case of "fog of war" or something else?
True heroes - tested in war - gather at a diner
Philly.com
Natalie Pompilio
November 16, 2014
"I think hero is a word used too loosely today. To me, heroes are those who act even though they know the risks. They're hard to find. Yet on Tuesday, I was lucky enough to be in a room filled with them."
We were talking about Vietnam. He was a squad leader, Second Battalion, First Marines. The company became separated on patrol.
"The overgrowth of trees in the mountain area there, you would be going down into a riverbed, trying to go from point A to point B, and at 12 o'clock in the afternoon, it would be like 7 o'clock at night," Alex DiGiacomo told me, looking away at something I could not see. "We got ambushed there one night."
Then he paused. He was silent for 13 seconds. I know because I recorded the conversation, and I later watched the timer count down. Thirteen seconds is a long time when you're watching someone in pain. DiGiacomo sat across from me, his lips twisting and his eyes filling with water.
"We lost . . . ," he started, then stopped, then started again. "We lost about five or six guys killed, four or five wounded. We lost the L.T. and the radio man and the other guys, killed and wounded. It took us all night to go 200 yards to hook up with the rest of our company."
He remembered how the weight of his friends' bodies felt as he and the other survivors carried and dragged them away. He remembered the smells. "Certain aftershave lotions, certain times of year, I go right back," said DiGiacomo, 68. "The images you live with when you're in combat . . . you never get over it."
read more here
Thursday, November 6, 2014
When Blue Stars Turn to Gold Tribute To Military Families Sacrifices
RIVERSIDE: Vet's song about military families takes flight
Press Enterprise
Mark Muckenfuss
Staff Writer
November 6, 2014
Blue Stars Turned Gold
Ted Peterson isn’t sure if he’ll be sick or if he’ll shine.
On Thursday, the Riverside resident and fledgling songwriter will be sitting on a White House panel that includes country singer Willie Nelson and hip-hop artist Common. Hosted by Michelle Obama, the group will discuss the role of music in the military.
“I’m ready to vomit I’m so nervous,” said Peterson, 44. “If it was up to me, I would not be up there on that stage.”
He’s on the stage because he wrote “When Blue Stars Turn to Gold,” a country-oriented song about the sacrifice of military families. The song caught some fire on YouTube recently and grabbed the attention of the panel’s organizers. It’s the first song he has composed in his short writing career that has been recorded.
Peterson, who is connected with the Guitars For Vets music therapy group at Loma Linda’s VA Medical Center, doesn’t even play a musical instrument. He came to songwriting in a roundabout way.
A Navy veteran with active duty from 1989-1993 and later the reserves, from 2002-2007, Peterson also worked for 15 years for Camp Pendleton’s base security. Some long-term physical problems caught up with him and he was forced to leave his security job. He had no idea what to do with his life.
“I hit a depression, a pretty bad one,” said Peterson, 44, of Riverside. “A Vietnam veteran who’s a friend of mine pulled me aside and said, ‘What’s going on with you?’ He made me promise that I would go and talk to someone. So I did.”
It may have been the best advice he ever received.
read more here
Press Enterprise
Mark Muckenfuss
Staff Writer
November 6, 2014
Blue Stars Turned Gold
Ted Peterson isn’t sure if he’ll be sick or if he’ll shine.
On Thursday, the Riverside resident and fledgling songwriter will be sitting on a White House panel that includes country singer Willie Nelson and hip-hop artist Common. Hosted by Michelle Obama, the group will discuss the role of music in the military.
“I’m ready to vomit I’m so nervous,” said Peterson, 44. “If it was up to me, I would not be up there on that stage.”
He’s on the stage because he wrote “When Blue Stars Turn to Gold,” a country-oriented song about the sacrifice of military families. The song caught some fire on YouTube recently and grabbed the attention of the panel’s organizers. It’s the first song he has composed in his short writing career that has been recorded.
Peterson, who is connected with the Guitars For Vets music therapy group at Loma Linda’s VA Medical Center, doesn’t even play a musical instrument. He came to songwriting in a roundabout way.
A Navy veteran with active duty from 1989-1993 and later the reserves, from 2002-2007, Peterson also worked for 15 years for Camp Pendleton’s base security. Some long-term physical problems caught up with him and he was forced to leave his security job. He had no idea what to do with his life.
“I hit a depression, a pretty bad one,” said Peterson, 44, of Riverside. “A Vietnam veteran who’s a friend of mine pulled me aside and said, ‘What’s going on with you?’ He made me promise that I would go and talk to someone. So I did.”
It may have been the best advice he ever received.
read more here
Thursday, October 30, 2014
Marines Leave Afghanistan
 |
| Afghanistan War Fatalities from Icasualties.org |
CNS News
By Ali Meyer
October 29, 2014
This handout photo provided Defense Department shows Marines and sailors with Marine Expeditionary Brigade – Afghanistan load onto a KC-130 aircraft on the Camp Bastion, Afghanistan flightline, Monday, Oct. 27, 2014. The handover of the U.S. Marines' main base to Afghan control in the hardscrabble Helmand province is more than a signal that America’s longest war is ending. It is a reminder of the enormous loss and sacrifice by Marines who swept in as part of President Barack Obama’s surge of forces against a resurgent Taliban in 2009.
(AP Photo/Staff Sgt. John Jackson, Defense Department, US Marines)
There were 1,631 casualties of the Afghan war who were in the U.S. Army, which means that they comprised 73.3 of the casualties. After the Army, the Marines were the next branch of the military that had the highest number of casualties totaling 418.(CNSNews.com) -- As U.S. Marines withdraw from Operation Enduring Freedom (the Afghanistan war), CNSNews.com's database on casualties shows that 418 Marines gave their lives in the conflict and that 92% of those casualties, 385 deaths, occurred since President Barack Obama took office in 2009.
“U.S. Marines and service members from the United Kingdom left Regional Command Southwest in Afghanistan’s Helmand province today, turning their facilities over to the Afghan security forces,” reported the Department of Defense on Oct. 27.
“We lift off confident in the Afghans’ ability to secure the region,” said Army Lieutenant General Joseph Anderson, commander of the ISAF Joint Command. “The mission has been complex, difficult and dangerous. Everyone has made tremendous sacrifices, but those sacrifices have not been in vain.”
Sergeants and Specialists in the Army represent nearly half – 49.6 percent – of the total casualties of the Afghanistan War, according to CNSNews.com’s database of U.S. casualties in the war.
read more here
Friday, September 26, 2014
War Ends For Fallen, Not For Widows
Moving On: Project Helps War Widows Recover
NPR
by GLORIA HILLARD
September 25, 2014
In the kitchen of a beach house in San Diego a group of moms is preparing dinner.
The 13 women from all around the country have one thing in common - they lost their husbands in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
They are part of the American Widow Project, a support group for women whose husbands were killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Defense Department estimates there are more than 3,200 military widows and widowers from those wars.
The women gather once a month in small groups for bonding and adventure.
For 34-year-old Danielle Schafer, much of the day her husband died remains hazy.
read more here
NPR
by GLORIA HILLARD
September 25, 2014
"And I still have that voicemail, and I still listen to it seven and a half years later. I can't erase it," she says. "Just because that war is over, it doesn't mean that ours is over, like our journey is still continuing."
Members of the American Widow Project cheer at the end of an annual event in San Diego. The organization's mission is to help heal and empower participants.
In the kitchen of a beach house in San Diego a group of moms is preparing dinner.
The 13 women from all around the country have one thing in common - they lost their husbands in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
They are part of the American Widow Project, a support group for women whose husbands were killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Defense Department estimates there are more than 3,200 military widows and widowers from those wars.
The women gather once a month in small groups for bonding and adventure.
For 34-year-old Danielle Schafer, much of the day her husband died remains hazy.
read more here
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Marine gave life with poem he carried, it has been stolen
Poem found on fallen Marine's body stolen
Memento given to family stolen from truck
WCVB News
Heather Unruh
Aug 25, 2014
FAIRHAVEN, Mass. —He was only 19, when Lance Cpl. Matthew Rodriguez of Fairhaven died in action in Afghanistan last December.
Now, as his family struggles to cope with his death, a theft of something very precious to the Marine. He carried it with him the day he died.
His family hopes it will be recovered.
The Marine and his high school sweetheart Julia Tapper were engaged just a year before Rodriguez was killed on the battlefield last December.
"We would have talks about what might happen to him and he would always tell me not to be sad or crying," said Tapper, Rodriguez's fiance.
"He was always smiling, must a big goofy kid," said the soldier's mother, Lisa Rodriguez.
Holding on to memories is all the family has.
Then on Sunday a precious part of those memories was stolen.
Matthew's truck was broken into in a New Bedford parking lot. Julia's purse was taken.
Inside the purse was Matthew's iPhone and a poem she shared with her lost Marine.
Rodriguez had cut it out, laminated it, and never parted with it. It was found in his helmet the day he died.
read more here
Memento given to family stolen from truck
WCVB News
Heather Unruh
Aug 25, 2014
FAIRHAVEN, Mass. —He was only 19, when Lance Cpl. Matthew Rodriguez of Fairhaven died in action in Afghanistan last December.
Now, as his family struggles to cope with his death, a theft of something very precious to the Marine. He carried it with him the day he died.
His family hopes it will be recovered.
The Marine and his high school sweetheart Julia Tapper were engaged just a year before Rodriguez was killed on the battlefield last December.
"We would have talks about what might happen to him and he would always tell me not to be sad or crying," said Tapper, Rodriguez's fiance.
"He was always smiling, must a big goofy kid," said the soldier's mother, Lisa Rodriguez.
Holding on to memories is all the family has.
Then on Sunday a precious part of those memories was stolen.
Matthew's truck was broken into in a New Bedford parking lot. Julia's purse was taken.
Inside the purse was Matthew's iPhone and a poem she shared with her lost Marine.
Rodriguez had cut it out, laminated it, and never parted with it. It was found in his helmet the day he died.
read more here
Monday, June 23, 2014
New Hampshire Volunteer Firefighter Killed in Afghansitan
New Hampshire Marine Among 3 Killed By IED in Afghanistan
NBC News
June 21, 2014
A New Hampshire Marine who was barred from wearing his military uniform to his high school graduation was killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan on Friday, along with two other American soldiers and a military dog, officials said.
Lance Corporal Brandon Garabrant was 19 years old. The names of the fallen soldiers have not yet been released by the military, but New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan confirmed his identity and offered condolences to the family.
“As a volunteer firefighter and dedicated Marine, Lance Corporal Garabrant was committed to serving his fellow citizens, and he was tragically taken from us far too soon,” the governor said in a Facebook post. “Our thoughts and prayers are with Lance Corporal Garabrant's family, as well as those of the other American heroes who were lost, and we will be forever grateful for his selfless service.”
read more here
NBC News
June 21, 2014
A New Hampshire Marine who was barred from wearing his military uniform to his high school graduation was killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan on Friday, along with two other American soldiers and a military dog, officials said.
Lance Corporal Brandon Garabrant was 19 years old. The names of the fallen soldiers have not yet been released by the military, but New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan confirmed his identity and offered condolences to the family.
“As a volunteer firefighter and dedicated Marine, Lance Corporal Garabrant was committed to serving his fellow citizens, and he was tragically taken from us far too soon,” the governor said in a Facebook post. “Our thoughts and prayers are with Lance Corporal Garabrant's family, as well as those of the other American heroes who were lost, and we will be forever grateful for his selfless service.”
read more here
Sunday, June 15, 2014
DOD releases names of 5 soldiers killed in Afghanistan
Release No: NR-316-14
June 14, 2014
DoD Identifies Army Casualties
The Department of Defense announced today the death of five soldiers who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.
They died June 9, in Gaza Village, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered while engaged in a combat operation. The incident is under investigation.
Killed were:Staff Sgt. Scott R. Studenmund, 24, of Pasadena, California;Staff Sgt. Jason A. McDonald, 28, of Butler, Georgia;Spc. Justin R. Helton, 25, of Beaver, Ohio;Cpl. Justin R. Clouse, 22, of Sprague, Washington;Pvt. 2nd Class Aaron S. Toppen, 19, of Mokena, Illinois.
Staff Sgt. Studenmund and Staff Sgt. McDonald were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group, Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Spc. Helton was assigned to the 18th Ordnance Company, 192nd Ordnance Battalion, 52nd Ordnance Group, Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Cpl. Clouse and Pvt. 2nd Class Toppen were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colorado.
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
Five soldiers killed by "friendly fire" bomb drop in Afghanistan
'Friendly fire' kills 5 American service members in Afghanistan
CNN
By Ed Payne and Masoud Popalzai
June 10, 2014
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
More than 2,300 U.S. troops have died in Afghanistan
The incident also killed an Afghan soldier
A U.S. defense department spokesman says he has no comment
In April, 5 British service members were killed in a chopper crash
Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Five American service members were killed in southern Afghanistan, when a coalition jet called in to help ward off a Taliban attack mistakenly bombed them, an Afghan official said Tuesday.
The five were killed along with an Afghan soldier in Zabul province, said the province's Police Chief Ghulam Sakhi Roghliwanai.
According to NATO, the troops were conducting a security operation. Such operations have been stepped up ahead of the Afghanistan's presidential runoff election, which will take place on Saturday.
The service members' unit came in contact with enemy forces. That's when the casualties occurred, the NATO statement said -- but then it added this line: "Tragically, there is the possibility that fratricide may have been involved."
read more here
UPDATE
Pvt. Aaron Toppen, of Mokena, was one of five U.S. troops killed Monday during a security operation in southern Afghanistan, his sister said.
CNN
By Ed Payne and Masoud Popalzai
June 10, 2014
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
More than 2,300 U.S. troops have died in Afghanistan
The incident also killed an Afghan soldier
A U.S. defense department spokesman says he has no comment
In April, 5 British service members were killed in a chopper crash
The five were killed along with an Afghan soldier in Zabul province, said the province's Police Chief Ghulam Sakhi Roghliwanai.
According to NATO, the troops were conducting a security operation. Such operations have been stepped up ahead of the Afghanistan's presidential runoff election, which will take place on Saturday.
The service members' unit came in contact with enemy forces. That's when the casualties occurred, the NATO statement said -- but then it added this line: "Tragically, there is the possibility that fratricide may have been involved."
read more here
UPDATE
Pvt. Aaron Toppen, of Mokena, was one of five U.S. troops killed Monday during a security operation in southern Afghanistan, his sister said.
Sunday, June 8, 2014
Combat Service Dog Adopted by Family of Fallen Marine
Family adopts Marine dog that was with their son when he was killed
LA Times
Tony Perry June 7, 2014
Dino, 6, a Belgian malinois, was adopted by the family of Staff Sgt. Christopher Diaz, who was 27 when he was killed in September 2011 while deployed in Helmand province.
Dino was with Diaz during the deployment but was uninjured.
"I don't think that it will decrease any of the pain we feel," Diaz's father, Salvador Diaz, a former Marine, said of the adoption. "He's not going to replace Christopher but he'll give us something that Christopher loved, the Marine Corps."
Diaz's mother, Sandra, her voice cracking, said that, "It's going to be helpful - we'll have something to hold on to."
read more here
LA Times
Tony Perry June 7, 2014
Marine dog Dino with his current handler, Sgt. Jonathan Overland, and relatives of Staff Sgt. Christopher Diaz, Dino's former handler, who was killed in Afghanistan. The Diaz family will take Dino home to El Paso.CAMP PENDLETON - In a brief but poignant ceremony Saturday, a bomb-sniffing dog was declared retired and officially adopted by the family of his Marine handler who was killed in Afghanistan.
(Tony Perry/Los Angeles Times)
Dino, 6, a Belgian malinois, was adopted by the family of Staff Sgt. Christopher Diaz, who was 27 when he was killed in September 2011 while deployed in Helmand province.
Dino was with Diaz during the deployment but was uninjured.
He's not going to replace Christopher but he'll give us something that Christopher loved, the Marine Corps.
- Salvador Diaz
"I don't think that it will decrease any of the pain we feel," Diaz's father, Salvador Diaz, a former Marine, said of the adoption. "He's not going to replace Christopher but he'll give us something that Christopher loved, the Marine Corps."
Diaz's mother, Sandra, her voice cracking, said that, "It's going to be helpful - we'll have something to hold on to."
read more here
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
Congress spaming public
2nd Lt. Daryn Andrews, Staff Sgt. Clayton Bowen, Staff Sgt. Kurt Curtiss, Pfc. Matthew Martinek, Staff Sgt. Michael Murphy and Pfc. Morris Walker according to news reports these 6 soldiers died looking for Bowe Bergdahl. Why Bergdahl was captured and held all this time is still a mystery. One of the recent stories, hopefully, to be demystified soon. As of right now Democrats are flooding emails with defending what President Obama ordered and Republicans are flooding emails attacking his decision. All of them end up in my spam folder and deleted. I grew tired of political emails a long time ago.
The families should be supported no matter how they feel and we should all be seeking the truth. That is something that isn't going to happen very soon. Aside from supporting them, the rest of us need to open our eyes to one simple fact members of congress have little interest in talking about. The simple fact is, if it is true Bergdahl walked away, then the soldiers looking for him would have known that but they searched for him anyway. That is what most of them are like. He was one of them and they didn't want to leave him behind. I bet they did everything to find him up to and including losing their own lives.
We have seen too many generations sadly look back on all the MIAs left behind. WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam and the Gulf War have left too many and we've been searching for all of them for decades. Families need to know where they are laid to rest and to close the mystery. Many of them were heroes and many more heroes tried to find them.
As for politicians, this is another election year but so far none of them have held themselves accountable for anything.
They use the troops just as much as they use veterans. They pretend they are coming up with solutions no one else has tried before and then claim they have all the answers for everything else while holding themselves up as above having to answer for anything.
The two biggest stories last week were about veterans and Bergdahl. Congress has yet to answer for either one of them. So Democrats and Republicans fill emails with spam so that we think they actually did something to get their jobs back, but the trouble is, none of them can tell us how to get lives back that were lost for what they failed to do.
The families should be supported no matter how they feel and we should all be seeking the truth. That is something that isn't going to happen very soon. Aside from supporting them, the rest of us need to open our eyes to one simple fact members of congress have little interest in talking about. The simple fact is, if it is true Bergdahl walked away, then the soldiers looking for him would have known that but they searched for him anyway. That is what most of them are like. He was one of them and they didn't want to leave him behind. I bet they did everything to find him up to and including losing their own lives.
We have seen too many generations sadly look back on all the MIAs left behind. WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam and the Gulf War have left too many and we've been searching for all of them for decades. Families need to know where they are laid to rest and to close the mystery. Many of them were heroes and many more heroes tried to find them.
As for politicians, this is another election year but so far none of them have held themselves accountable for anything.
They use the troops just as much as they use veterans. They pretend they are coming up with solutions no one else has tried before and then claim they have all the answers for everything else while holding themselves up as above having to answer for anything.
The two biggest stories last week were about veterans and Bergdahl. Congress has yet to answer for either one of them. So Democrats and Republicans fill emails with spam so that we think they actually did something to get their jobs back, but the trouble is, none of them can tell us how to get lives back that were lost for what they failed to do.
Friday, May 16, 2014
Ollie Sauls Jr. long lost casualty of war
Round Rock’s long lost casualty of war
Discovery shows Round Rock lost two in the war
Austin Community Newspapers
By Cristina Peña
May 16, 2014
For more than four decades, Round Rock residents have been under the belief that there was only one local person killed in action during the Vietnam War. But now, thanks to family members and local veteran groups, another Round Rock resident is being recognized for his military contributions.
Ollie Sauls Jr., born in April 1947, grew up on a large cotton farm just off County Road 110 – just east of the current Round Rock city limits – and lived locally until 1955 when he left to live in Arizona, California and eventually Detroit. Though his 12-person family moved often, Sauls’ grandparents and some extended family continued to reside in Round Rock.
Sauls’ uncle, Clarence L. Sauls, and cousins, Ella Morrison, Mildred Sauls and Rita Effinger are his only living relatives currently residing in Round Rock. But other family members, like his grandparents, are buried with him on a family plot in the Hopewell Cemetery off Sam Bass Road, adjacent to the historic Round Rock City Cemetery.
Local veteran Jim Torres found Sauls’ gravesite while combing the cemetery for veterans’ names to include on a new veterans memorial monument, slated to be built by 2015.
read more here
Discovery shows Round Rock lost two in the war
Austin Community Newspapers
By Cristina Peña
May 16, 2014
Sauls was killed in action May 27, 1968 just fewer than three months into his first tour of duty and shortly after turning 21. According to May 31, 1968 news release from the Department of Defense, he was attached to the Army’s 4th Calvary Regiment when he suffered multiple fragmentation wounds in hostile action in Gia Dinh Province, which surrounds Saigon. He earned multiple awards and decorations during his short time as a private first class in the Army including the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm and the Purple Heart.
For more than four decades, Round Rock residents have been under the belief that there was only one local person killed in action during the Vietnam War. But now, thanks to family members and local veteran groups, another Round Rock resident is being recognized for his military contributions.
Ollie Sauls Jr., born in April 1947, grew up on a large cotton farm just off County Road 110 – just east of the current Round Rock city limits – and lived locally until 1955 when he left to live in Arizona, California and eventually Detroit. Though his 12-person family moved often, Sauls’ grandparents and some extended family continued to reside in Round Rock.
Sauls’ uncle, Clarence L. Sauls, and cousins, Ella Morrison, Mildred Sauls and Rita Effinger are his only living relatives currently residing in Round Rock. But other family members, like his grandparents, are buried with him on a family plot in the Hopewell Cemetery off Sam Bass Road, adjacent to the historic Round Rock City Cemetery.
Local veteran Jim Torres found Sauls’ gravesite while combing the cemetery for veterans’ names to include on a new veterans memorial monument, slated to be built by 2015.
read more here
Friday, February 14, 2014
Sgt. First Class Roberto C. Skelt from Florida KIA in Afghanistan
Release No: NR-084-14
February 14, 2014
DOD Identifies Army Casualties
The Department of Defense announced today the death of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.
They died Feb. 12, in Kapisa Province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when they were struck by enemy small arms fire.
Killed were:
Spc. John A. Pelham, 22, of Portland, Ore., and Sgt. First Class Roberto C. Skelt, 41, of York, Fla.
Pelham and Skelt were assigned to 2nd Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Bragg, N.C.
Love story of Air Force couple that should have made national news
Today on Wounded Times began with a sad love story that ended too soon followed by ones with happier endings. There is no better story to spotlight today as a reminder of the men and women serving in Afghanistan risking their lives together than the story of Captains David and Dana Lyon. David was killed in Afghanistan and Dana escorted his body back home.
January 3, 2014
Air Force Wife Escorted Body of Husband Back Home
Fallen captain remembered as protector, athlete, loving husband
Marine Corps Times
Jeff Schogol
January 2, 2014
Rick Pounds remembers the moment his daughter Dana found the man to spend her life with.
In 2008, she tried out for the Olympics as part of the Air Force team, but her javelin throw was just inches short of making the cut. She was inconsolable afterward — until her fiancee, David Lyon, comforted her by holding her, walking with her and helping her move through the pain.
“If my daughter would have given me the task of ‘go find me a husband anywhere,’ that’s who I would have picked,” Rick Pounds said in a Jan. 2 interview.
The two, both Air Force Academy graduates, did get married and both became Air Force captains. They were deployed to Afghanistan and were able to see each other this Christmas. Two days later, Lyon, 28, of Sandpoint, Idaho, was killed by a suicide car bomb.
Rick Pounds had to pause to collect himself before talking about how his widowed daughter escorted Lyon’s flag-draped transfer case to the U.S.
“She got to fly back, right beside him, all the way home,” he said.
Marine Corps Times
Jeff Schogol
January 2, 2014
Capt. David Lyon, who died Dec. 27 in Afghanistan, had been with his wife, Capt. Dana Lyon, just days earlier.
(Courtesy of Pounds family)
Rick Pounds remembers the moment his daughter Dana found the man to spend her life with.
In 2008, she tried out for the Olympics as part of the Air Force team, but her javelin throw was just inches short of making the cut. She was inconsolable afterward — until her fiancee, David Lyon, comforted her by holding her, walking with her and helping her move through the pain.
“If my daughter would have given me the task of ‘go find me a husband anywhere,’ that’s who I would have picked,” Rick Pounds said in a Jan. 2 interview.
The two, both Air Force Academy graduates, did get married and both became Air Force captains. They were deployed to Afghanistan and were able to see each other this Christmas. Two days later, Lyon, 28, of Sandpoint, Idaho, was killed by a suicide car bomb.
Rick Pounds had to pause to collect himself before talking about how his widowed daughter escorted Lyon’s flag-draped transfer case to the U.S.
“She got to fly back, right beside him, all the way home,” he said.
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Fort Bragg Soldier from Kentucky Killed in Afghanistan
Release No: NR-082-14
February 13, 2014
DOD Identifies Army Casualty
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.
Spc. Christopher A. Landis, 27, of Independence, Ky., died Feb. 10, on Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, from wounds received when the enemy attacked his dismounted patrol with a rocket propelled grenade in Kapisa Province, Afghanistan.
He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Bragg, N.C.
Friday, January 17, 2014
Fort Bragg Green Beret killed in Afghanistan
Associated Press
Jan. 16, 2014
FORT MITCHELL, KY. — The Defense Department announced today the death of Sgt. Daniel T. Lee, 28, of Crossville, Tenn.
Lee died Jan. 15 in Parwan Province, Afghanistan, when his unit was hit with small arms fire the DoD announcement said. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Bragg, N.C.
The soldier’s father, Daniel Patrick Lee, told The Kentucky Enquirer that Army officials told him and his wife that their son died being shot in the chest.
read more here
Monday, January 13, 2014
Florida soldier died "a warrior's death" defending others
Dying a 'warrior's death'
Northwest Florida News
By Army Lt. j.g. Bryan E. Mitchell
Special to the Daily News
Published: Sunday, January 12, 2014
CAMP MARMAL, Afghanistan — Hundreds of troops gathered Sunday in a dingy airplane hangar that had been diligently transformed into a place of mourning and solemn remembrance.
Service members from at least a dozen countries came together to pay their respects to Army 1st Class William “Kelly” Lacey, a 38-year-old Northwest Florida native, who was killed in an attack the week before.
“He died a warrior’s death, defending his soldiers,” Capt. David Darling said during the ceremony.
On Jan. 4, less than two weeks before he was set to return home, Lacey sprung from his bed shortly after sunrise. Insurgents had struck his outpost on the Nangarhar Province compound.
“He was the first on the scene,” Chaplain David Howell said. “Vulnerable and exposed but suppressing fire.”
A car bomb had slashed through a section of the perimeter wall. At least six enemy fighters, some clad in suicide vests, were storming the base.
Lacey assumed a high position in a guard tower, and is credited with killing three assailants — two wearing suicide vests — before a rocket-propelled grenade took his life. No other Americans were killed.
read more here
Northwest Florida News
By Army Lt. j.g. Bryan E. Mitchell
Special to the Daily News
Published: Sunday, January 12, 2014
CAMP MARMAL, Afghanistan — Hundreds of troops gathered Sunday in a dingy airplane hangar that had been diligently transformed into a place of mourning and solemn remembrance.
Troops kneel before the Fallen Soldier Battle Cross for Sgt. 1st Class William "Kelly" Lacey who was killed in an attack in Afghanistan on Jan. 6. A memorial was held on Sunday in an airplane hangar at Lacey's base at Camp Marmal, Afghanistan.
U.S. Army / Special to the Daily News
Service members from at least a dozen countries came together to pay their respects to Army 1st Class William “Kelly” Lacey, a 38-year-old Northwest Florida native, who was killed in an attack the week before.
“He died a warrior’s death, defending his soldiers,” Capt. David Darling said during the ceremony.
On Jan. 4, less than two weeks before he was set to return home, Lacey sprung from his bed shortly after sunrise. Insurgents had struck his outpost on the Nangarhar Province compound.
“He was the first on the scene,” Chaplain David Howell said. “Vulnerable and exposed but suppressing fire.”
A car bomb had slashed through a section of the perimeter wall. At least six enemy fighters, some clad in suicide vests, were storming the base.
Lacey assumed a high position in a guard tower, and is credited with killing three assailants — two wearing suicide vests — before a rocket-propelled grenade took his life. No other Americans were killed.
read more here
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)