First-ever Salem County Veterans Picnic draws more than 300
South New Jersey Times
Spencer Kent
September 13, 2014
PILESGROVE TWP. — Tami Mowers-Thomas feared she'd fail in giving veterans the event she felt they deserved.
But the granddaughter of a World War II veteran, Mowers-Thomas was motivated to deliver something worthy of the sacrifice veterans of all eras have given to their country.
At the first-ever Salem County Veterans Picnic on Saturday at the Salem County Fairgrounds, Mowers-Thomas was in tears, as the event drew a successful crowd of roughly 300 people and veterans from all over Salem County.
Sandy Wentzello, of Salem, is a Korean War and World War II veteran. Wentzello served in the U.S. Air Force. After being wounded in Korea, he was held as a prisoner of war. He escaped and went 13 days without food and water. He had no shoes and had to wrap his feet with his shirt in the blistering cold.
These are the kind of stories that only those who have gone to war can understand. And it's the type of events like Saturday's picnic that allow veterans to get together to be with people who understand them.
read more here
Showing posts with label Korean War. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Korean War. Show all posts
Sunday, September 14, 2014
Monday, September 1, 2014
Veterans over 50 78% of veteran suicides
Hey, lets not talk about the truth behind the numbers. Lets not talk about how we suck at taking care of veterans after sending them off to fight our battles. Lets not talk about how what they have been going through for decades predicts the future of today's veterans unless we change right here, right now.
Clinicians were deployed with the troops in Korea. As soon as a soldier was showing symptoms of a crisis, they were removed from combat, treated and for the most part, sent back to duty. With Vietnam they tried something new. DEROS, one year deployments. This decreased medical evacuations for psychiatric cases but on the flip side, increased the number of veterans with untreated PTSD.
The result is;
"Veterans over the age of 50 who had entered the VA healthcare system made up about 78 percent of the total number of veterans who committed suicide"The military did psychological screenings all the way back to WWI and ever since then, they have managed to put the blame on everyone and everything else. PTSD WWI and WWII
War II. Prominent civil and military medical authorities pointed out that World War I had demonstrated the necessity and feasibility of psychiatric screening in eliminating overt and covert mental disorders prior to entry in the military service. Emphasized by these authorities, based upon the experience of World War I, was the inability of emotionally unstable or otherwise psychiatrically vulnerable persons to absorb training profitably, to tolerate stress, or otherwise to make any useful contribution to the military effort. Also cited as further evidence for the thorough screening out of even potential psychiatric problems was the high cost of mental disorders in war that included their deleterious effect on other soldiers, the increased requirements of medical personnel and facilities to care for these problems, disability pensions, and other veterans' benefits.
During World War II, almost one fourth of all American psychologists were involved in the military. In addition to the screening of recruits, military psychologists were involved in the development of instrument displays, protective gear and placement of controls in aircraft.
The use of psychological warfare and methods of deceiving the enemy were also areas that required the involvement of a military psychologist. In addition to finding ways to affect the enemy, a military psychologist would have been involved in methods to increase soldier morale and deal with any stress issues that the soldiers may face.
Unlike the time after World War I, military psychology did not disappear at the end of World War II. Various veterans' hospitals began training clinical psychologists who could understand the needs of a veteran as well as diagnose and treat other problems. Over fifty percent of all veterans in VA hospitals at that time were diagnosed with a psychological problem.
In a further development, the American Psychological Association organized the Society of Military Psychology in 1945. This society which was also known as Division 19 was one of the original divisions organized by the American Psychological Association.
During the Korean War, clinical psychologists began working overseas with soldiers and in the Vietnam War an increase in psychological problems associated with war was seen.
Post traumatic stress disorder became one of the leading problems faced by Vietnam vets.
Clinicians were deployed with the troops in Korea. As soon as a soldier was showing symptoms of a crisis, they were removed from combat, treated and for the most part, sent back to duty. With Vietnam they tried something new. DEROS, one year deployments. This decreased medical evacuations for psychiatric cases but on the flip side, increased the number of veterans with untreated PTSD.
The result is;
Older Vets Committing Suicide at Alarming Rate
Military.com
by Bryant Jordan
Aug 31, 2014
Veteran suicide numbers have gone up in recent years with much of the attention focused on veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan killing themselves. However, almost seven out of 10 veterans who have committed suicide were over the age of 50, according to a Department of Veterans Affairs study.
Even as the agency collects data to better understand the issue, independent experts acknowledge that finding all the answers won't be easy.
"Nobody knows anything about [why], but we suspect a combination of factors," said Dr. Tom Berger, a Navy corpsman in Vietnam and today executive director of the Veterans Health Council at Vietnam Veterans of America. "Certainly we share some of the risk factors with the younger guys," including post-traumatic stress disorder, high rates of depression and combat.
Older veterans are at an age when the structure they built into their lives starts to loosen up, he said.
"A lot of guys went in, and then they came out and became a workaholic rather than deal with depression and PTSD," he said. They covered over stresses born of service with work and family, but the stresses remain today and the vets are going into retirement and the family structure dissipates as children go or have gone their own ways.
For Korean War veterans it may even be worse. Many of these veterans would have been in their 40s before the VA - under pressure from Vietnam veterans and politicians - acknowledged PTSD was real and began providing services to veterans.
"The Korean guys don't talk about their service, and some of them were involved in the bloodiest battles ... in brutal, cold weather," Berger said.
The VA study found that the percentage of older veterans with a history of VA healthcare who committed suicide actually was higher than that of veterans not associated with VA care. Veterans over the age of 50 who had entered the VA healthcare system made up about 78 percent of the total number of veterans who committed suicide - 9 percentage points higher than the general pool.
read more here
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
Ex-POW Veteran of 3 Wars Passed Away at 92
Brevard Vietnam veteran, POW dies
FLORIDA TODAY
Norman Moody
August 18, 2014
MELBOURNE – Retired Air Force Col. Larry Guarino, a fighter pilot who in the Vietnam War was shot down near Hanoi in 1965 and held as a prisoner of war for more than seven years, has died.
He was 92.
Guarino, an Indian Harbour Beach resident, was a highly decorated veteran, who also served in World War II and Korea. He told the story of his captivity in Vietnam in "A POW Story — 2801 Days in Hanoi."
"That book inspired so many people," said Evelyn Guarino, his wife of 71 years.
She said a young private once wrote her husband to say that after reading about what Guarino went through in prison, he was ashamed of himself for complaining about not having his family with him in Germany where he was serving.
"He was a wonderful man," Evelyn Guarino said. "He had a great sense of humor."
She said he served for 33 years as a pilot and loved the plane he flew in World War II, the Spitfire.
His medals included the Air Force Cross, the second highest military award, Air Force Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross and two Purple Hearts.
read more here
FLORIDA TODAY
Norman Moody
August 18, 2014
Retired Col. Larry Guarino was a POW for more than seven years. The Indian Harbour Beach resident died of natural causes at the age of 92.
(Photo: File photo)
MELBOURNE – Retired Air Force Col. Larry Guarino, a fighter pilot who in the Vietnam War was shot down near Hanoi in 1965 and held as a prisoner of war for more than seven years, has died.
He was 92.
Guarino, an Indian Harbour Beach resident, was a highly decorated veteran, who also served in World War II and Korea. He told the story of his captivity in Vietnam in "A POW Story — 2801 Days in Hanoi."
"That book inspired so many people," said Evelyn Guarino, his wife of 71 years.
She said a young private once wrote her husband to say that after reading about what Guarino went through in prison, he was ashamed of himself for complaining about not having his family with him in Germany where he was serving.
"He was a wonderful man," Evelyn Guarino said. "He had a great sense of humor."
She said he served for 33 years as a pilot and loved the plane he flew in World War II, the Spitfire.
His medals included the Air Force Cross, the second highest military award, Air Force Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross and two Purple Hearts.
read more here
Friday, July 25, 2014
Combat and PTSD 100 years of research leaves leaders still clueless
100 years after a psychiatrist undertook battlefield mental health we have arrived at a time and place where there has never been more money spent on Combat and PTSD and never more suffering. That is a devastating indictment for all of us. Less serving in the military but suicides are up?
Thomas W. Salmon was the first American military psychiatrist and a pioneer for mental health research during World War I. In this video, his story is told by Dickinson College Professor of English Wendy Moffat. Moffat is a biographer and social historian of the modern period in America and Europe.
Special thanks to Camille Fife-Salmon and the Salmon family for permission to use photographs.
"English Professor at Dickinson College, Wendy Moffat is writing the biography of Doctor Thomas Salmon, a civilian psychiatrist who voluntarily went to the front during WWI to study, diagnose and treat mentally broken soldiers. He's the first U.S. Army psychiatrist and the first to recognize PTSD."Published on Jul 23, 2014
Thomas W. Salmon was the first American military psychiatrist and a pioneer for mental health research during World War I. In this video, his story is told by Dickinson College Professor of English Wendy Moffat. Moffat is a biographer and social historian of the modern period in America and Europe.
Special thanks to Camille Fife-Salmon and the Salmon family for permission to use photographs.
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
83,000 Americans still missing from past conflicts
DOD: New POW/MIA accounting agency to open in January
Stars and Stripes
By Travis J. Tritten
Published: July 15, 2014
WASHINGTON — Defense Department officials testified Tuesday that the new agency to replace the troubled POW/MIA accounting community in charge of recovering and repatriating the remains of troops killed in past conflicts will be stood up on Jan. 1.
The agency will consolidate the work of the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office and the Joint Personnel Accounting Command as ordered by the secretary of defense in February, said Michael Lumpkin, the assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict.
Lumpkin testified before the House Armed Services’ military personnel subcommittee, which for years has pressed for reform and in 2009 helped pass a congressional mandate that the DOD recover at minimum of 200 remains annually beginning next year.
On Tuesday, Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., chairman of the House subcommittee, said he was pleased that the DOD is moving ahead with the changes.
“What a positive report — that is very unusual in Congress,” he said.
The DOD efforts to recover 83,000 Americans still missing from past conflicts have so far fallen far below the goal set by Congress and been dogged by incompetence and dysfunction, including claims agencies ignored leads, arguing against identifying remains in government custody, desecrated and mishandled of remains, and failed to keep critical records.
read more here
Stars and Stripes
By Travis J. Tritten
Published: July 15, 2014
The Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. JPAC's mission is to conduct global search, recovery and laboratory operations to identify unaccounted-for Americans form past conflicts.
JON DASBACH/U.S. NAVY
WASHINGTON — Defense Department officials testified Tuesday that the new agency to replace the troubled POW/MIA accounting community in charge of recovering and repatriating the remains of troops killed in past conflicts will be stood up on Jan. 1.
The agency will consolidate the work of the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office and the Joint Personnel Accounting Command as ordered by the secretary of defense in February, said Michael Lumpkin, the assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict.
Lumpkin testified before the House Armed Services’ military personnel subcommittee, which for years has pressed for reform and in 2009 helped pass a congressional mandate that the DOD recover at minimum of 200 remains annually beginning next year.
On Tuesday, Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., chairman of the House subcommittee, said he was pleased that the DOD is moving ahead with the changes.
“What a positive report — that is very unusual in Congress,” he said.
The DOD efforts to recover 83,000 Americans still missing from past conflicts have so far fallen far below the goal set by Congress and been dogged by incompetence and dysfunction, including claims agencies ignored leads, arguing against identifying remains in government custody, desecrated and mishandled of remains, and failed to keep critical records.
read more here
Friday, June 20, 2014
Korean War Veteran Finally Get VA Benefits After 56 Years!
Alabama veteran granted VA benefits after more than 50 years of denials
WSFA News
News Staff
Posted: Jun 18, 2014
MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA)
A Korean War Veteran's 56-year struggle for Veterans Affairs benefits is finally over.
Willie McCall, 85, suffers from debilitating, combat-related health issues and was essentially forgotten by the federal government. Before totally giving up on his VA benefits, McCall's nephew, Freddie Porterfield, contacted the 12 News Defenders.
McCall says during his time as a rifleman during the Korean conflict, the weather was so cold it left him with frostbite, jungle rot and circulation issues. He walks with a cane and has special orthotic shoes.
Despite multiple diagnoses, he was denied VA benefits. His denials go back to the late '50s.
read more here
WSFA.com: News Weather and Sports for Montgomery, AL.
WSFA News
News Staff
Posted: Jun 18, 2014
MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA)
A Korean War Veteran's 56-year struggle for Veterans Affairs benefits is finally over.
Willie McCall, 85, suffers from debilitating, combat-related health issues and was essentially forgotten by the federal government. Before totally giving up on his VA benefits, McCall's nephew, Freddie Porterfield, contacted the 12 News Defenders.
McCall says during his time as a rifleman during the Korean conflict, the weather was so cold it left him with frostbite, jungle rot and circulation issues. He walks with a cane and has special orthotic shoes.
Despite multiple diagnoses, he was denied VA benefits. His denials go back to the late '50s.
read more here
WSFA.com: News Weather and Sports for Montgomery, AL.
Monday, June 16, 2014
Outset of the great war, a dreadful rumor arose
History lesson on Combat PTSD
WWI "Shell Shock"
The Century: America's Time - 1914-1919: Shell Shock
ABC News
Sounds like they should have figured out what to do to help soldiers heal. The truth is, they didn't.
WWII
After WWI they had thought the issues veterans faced had more to do with the "shells" and the compression taking a toll on their brains. By WWII, they knew they were facing something different.
In the same article the Korean War was also discussed. Things changed for the better. They did something right.
Psychiatric evacuations dropped to only 6%. Why? Because clinicians were there when needed. "Clinicians provided immediate onsite treatment to affected individuals always with the expectations the combatant would return to duty as soon as possible. (Also from the above article)
By Vietnam, the number of soldiers diagnosed while deployed dropped. Why? Because they were in and out in a year. What followed was the number of Vietnam veterans needing help to heal.
Everything went up after that. Arrests, drug and alcohol situations made the news but homelessness, suicides, attempted suicides and everything else we see today happened to them, but no one cared enough to notice other than their own families.
Next time you hear some "expert" saying PTSD didn't exist before Vietnam, give them a history lesson.
WWI "Shell Shock"
The Shock of War
World War I troops were the first to be diagnosed with shell shock, an injury – by any name – still wreaking havoc
Smithsonian Magazine
By Caroline Alexander
September 2010
In September 1914, at the very outset of the great war, a dreadful rumor arose. It was said that at the Battle of the Marne, east of Paris, soldiers on the front line had been discovered standing at their posts in all the dutiful military postures—but not alive. “Every normal attitude of life was imitated by these dead men,” according to the patriotic serial The Times History of the War, published in 1916. “The illusion was so complete that often the living would speak to the dead before they realized the true state of affairs.” “Asphyxia,” caused by the powerful new high-explosive shells, was the cause for the phenomenon—or so it was claimed. That such an outlandish story could gain credence was not surprising: notwithstanding the massive cannon fire of previous ages, and even automatic weaponry unveiled in the American Civil War, nothing like this thunderous new artillery firepower had been seen before. A battery of mobile 75mm field guns, the pride of the French Army, could, for example, sweep ten acres of terrain, 435 yards deep, in less than 50 seconds; 432,000 shells had been fired in a five-day period of the September engagement on the Marne. The rumor emanating from there reflected the instinctive dread aroused by such monstrous innovation. Surely—it only made sense—such a machine must cause dark, invisible forces to pass through the air and destroy men’s brains.
Shrapnel from mortars, grenades and, above all, artillery projectile bombs, or shells, would account for an estimated 60 percent of the 9.7 million military fatalities of World War I. And, eerily mirroring the mythic premonition of the Marne, it was soon observed that many soldiers arriving at the casualty clearing stations who had been exposed to exploding shells, although clearly damaged, bore no visible wounds. Rather, they appeared to be suffering from a remarkable state of shock caused by blast force. This new type of injury, a British medical report concluded, appeared to be “the result of the actual explosion itself, and not merely of the missiles set in motion by it.” In other words, it appeared that some dark, invisible force had in fact passed through the air and was inflicting novel and peculiar damage to men’s brains.
By 1917, medical officers were instructed to avoid the term “shell shock,” and to designate probable cases as “Not Yet Diagnosed (Nervous).” Processed to a psychiatric unit, the soldier was assessed by a specialist as either “shell shock (wound)” or “shell shock (sick),” the latter diagnosis being given if the soldier had not been close to an explosion. Transferred to a treatment center in Britain or France, the invalided soldier was placed under the care of neurology specialists and recuperated until discharged or returned to the front. Officers might enjoy a final period of convalescence before being disgorged back into the maw of the war or the working world, gaining strength at some smaller, often privately funded treatment center—some quiet, remote place such as Lennel House, in Coldstream, in the Scottish Borders country. read more of PTSD in WWI Here War Neurosis
The Century: America's Time - 1914-1919: Shell Shock
ABC News
Sounds like they should have figured out what to do to help soldiers heal. The truth is, they didn't.
WWII
After WWI they had thought the issues veterans faced had more to do with the "shells" and the compression taking a toll on their brains. By WWII, they knew they were facing something different.
"During the early years of World War II, psychiatric casualties increased by 300% when compared to WWI."
"At one point in the war, the number of men being discharged from the service for psychiatric reasons exceeded the total number of men being newly drafted."
23% of the evacuations were for psychiatric reasons. Readjustments Problems Among Vietnam Veterans, The Etiology of Combat Related Post Traumatic Stress Disorders (1978)
In the same article the Korean War was also discussed. Things changed for the better. They did something right.
Psychiatric evacuations dropped to only 6%. Why? Because clinicians were there when needed. "Clinicians provided immediate onsite treatment to affected individuals always with the expectations the combatant would return to duty as soon as possible. (Also from the above article)
By Vietnam, the number of soldiers diagnosed while deployed dropped. Why? Because they were in and out in a year. What followed was the number of Vietnam veterans needing help to heal.
Everything went up after that. Arrests, drug and alcohol situations made the news but homelessness, suicides, attempted suicides and everything else we see today happened to them, but no one cared enough to notice other than their own families.
Next time you hear some "expert" saying PTSD didn't exist before Vietnam, give them a history lesson.
Thursday, June 12, 2014
Governor Scott Signs Legislation Honoring Florida Veterans
Evidently Florida Legislators assume they can just make these changes and retitle wars. While we should not have too much of an issue with Korean changing from "conflict" to "war" it appears our legislators do not know that if veterans served during Vietnam but not in Vietnam, they are called "Vietnam Era" veterans and now they want to just blend them in together.
Governor Scott Signs Legislation Honoring Florida Veterans
Florida Department of Veterans Affairs
JUNE 12, 2014
TALLAHASSEE — Governor Rick Scott has signed House Bill 559, which further honors and recognizes Florida’s veterans for their service and sacrifice. House Bill 559 changes statutory references from the Korean Conflict to the Korean War and Vietnam Era to Vietnam War, a change requested by veterans to more accurately reflect the nature of the fighting in these two wars. The change in the name is also reflected on the Korean War Veteran license plate. The legislation also redesigns Florida’s military and veteran special use plates to include images of the awards and decorations on the plate. This allows the plates to be more recognizable and increases awareness of the special use plates.
“I am pleased to sign this legislation that properly honors the service of our heroes who served our nation in Korea and Vietnam,” said Governor Scott. “With more than 1.5 million veterans in Florida, we have the third largest population of veterans in the nation, and I am proud to sign H.B. 559 that will redesign the Korean War license plate and establish eligibility guidelines for other veterans’ license plates. This legislation is one more way we thank our veterans for their service and sacrifice.”
The law takes effect July 1, 2014.
“We were proud to advocate for this bill, as many of the license plate additions and upgrades signed into law by Governor Scott came directly from recommendations our agency received from Florida’s veteran community,” said retired Army Col. Mike Prendergast, executive director of the Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs.
Monday, May 26, 2014
Memorial Day Videos | National Memorial Day Concert | PBS
Memorial Day Videos | National Memorial Day Concert | PBSLast night was the 25th Annual Memorial Day Tribute Concert, hosted by Joe Mantegna and Gary Sinise. As always, I was moved to tears many times.
Each year, the National Memorial Day Concert presents a unique program honoring the valor and patriotism of Americans who have served our country. The show pays tribute to their sacrifices, as well as those of their families and loved ones.
As the war in Afghanistan winds down, the 2014 National Memorial Day Concert will recognize our servicemen and servicewomen with a special “welcome home” to thank veterans who served in Afghanistan.
In these segments of the show, we’ll feature a story about a critically wounded veteran suffering from severe physical injuries and the grave invisible wounds of war. We’ll also focus on the story of a mother coping with grief after the death of her son, the first to die in Afghanistan. His service inspired her to become actively involved with Gold Star Mothers. Now she is helping other mothers with their loss, grief and healing as they move forward with their lives.
The 70th anniversary of the D-Day invasion also will be commemorated in 2014. World War II veterans who participated in the invasion, a seminal moment that turned the tides of war in favor of the Allies, will be honored and featured in this tribute to the sacrifices of our nation’s Greatest Generation.
go here for more of this tribute
Joe Mantegna
Joe Mantegna is a world-class and award-winning entertainer with a strong background in television, theater and film who returns to co-host theNational Memorial Day Concert for his ninth consecutive year with Gary Sinise. Currently, Mantegna stars as FBI Special Agent David Rossi in season nine of the hit CBS drama Criminal Minds... READ MORE
Gary Sinise
Actor and humanitarian Gary Sinise has been actively and tirelessly supporting the troops for over 30 years. Among his numerous film and television roles, it was his portrayal of Lt. Dan Taylor in the landmark filmForrest Gump that formed a lasting connection with servicemen and servicewomen throughout the military community... READ MORE
General Colin L. Powell, USA (Ret.)
For over 50 years, General Colin L. Powell, USA (Ret.) has devoted his life to public service. Having held senior military and diplomatic positions across four presidential administrations, Powell’s deep commitment to democratic values and freedom has been felt throughout the world. The son of Jamaican immigrants, Powell was... READ MORE
Dianne Wiest
Oscar and Emmy Award-winning actress Dianne Wiest recently finished shooting the feature film The Humbling opposite Al Pacino, directed by Barry Levinson. Over the years, Wiest has given memorable performances in films such as Charlie Kaufman’s Synecdoche, New York; A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints; Hannah and Her Sisters... READ MORE
Jennifer Nettles
Jennifer Nettles, lead vocalist for international super duo Sugarland, has become one of the most popular singer-songwriters in music today. Since Sugarland exploded onto the music scene in 2004, they have worldwide sales of over 22 million albums and singles to date, have achieved eight No.1 singles and have won numerous awards... READ MORE
Danielle Bradbery
Seventeen-year-old Danielle Bradbery charmed her way into the national spotlight with a mix of country-western hits from several decades during season 4 of The Voice. The reigning star of the NBC hit show has become the youngest winner ever, and her coach, Blake Shelton, called her, "the most important artist to ever walk across... READ MORE
Megan Hilty
Megan Hilty recently starred alongside Sean Hayes in NBC’s comedy Sean Saves the World. Prior to that, she portrayed the seasoned triple threat, Ivy Lynn, in NBC’s musical drama Smash for two seasons. In March 2013, Hilty released her debut solo album, It Happens All The Time, which included fresh interpretations of... READ MORE
Jackie Evancho
Jackie Evancho’s first performance on NBC’s variety show America’s Got Talent left audiences and judges astonished that such a perfect, beautiful, soprano voice could come from a 10-year-old girl. During her next appearance in the competition, judges asked her to improvise a tune, which she performed flawlessly. It wasn’t just her... READ MORE
Anthony Kearns
Anthony Kearns, recognized as one of the world‘s finest tenors, made his official U.S. Grand Opera debut as the lead tenor in the role of Edgardo in Gaetano Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor with Opera Naples of Florida in January 2011. His first appearance with the opera company came in early 2010 as Romeo in its production... READ MORE
Jack Everly
Jack Everly is the Principal Pops Conductor of the Baltimore and Indianapolis Symphony Orchestras, Naples Philharmonic Orchestra and National Arts Center Orchestra (Ottawa). He has been on stage with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, The New York Pops at Carnegie Hall, appears annually with The Cleveland... READ MORE
National Symphony Orchestra
The National Symphony Orchestra of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, led by Music Director Christoph Eschenbach, is recognized not only nationally but internationally as well, and is considered one of the world's finest ensembles. The Orchestra, in its 83rd season (2013-14), maintains a busy concert... READ MORE
U.S. Army Herald Trumpets
The United States Army Herald Trumpets is the official fanfare ensemble for the President of the United States. Founded in 1959 and patterned after traditional British “fanfare” trumpet ensembles, The U.S. Army Herald Trumpets was formed to add splendor to official military ceremonies. A performing element of The United... READ MORE
U.S. Army Chorus
In 1956, the U.S. Army Chorus was established as the vocal counterpart of The U.S. Army Band Pershing’s Own and is one of the nation’s only professional, all-male choruses. From its inception, the U.S. Army Chorus has established and maintained a reputation of excellence in the performance of male choral literature... READ MORE
U.S. Navy Band Sea Chanters
The United States Navy Band Sea Chanters is the official chorus of the United States Navy. The ensemble performs a wide variety of music, ranging from traditional choral music, including the sea chantey, to Broadway musicals. Under the leadership of Chief Musician Georgina L. Todd, the Sea Chanters appear throughout the... READ MORE
U.S. Air Force Singing Sergeants
The Singing Sergeants, the official chorus of the United States Air Force, is one of the world's most versatile and traveled choral organizations. Originally formed in 1945 from within the ranks of The United States Air Force Band, the chorus is now composed entirely of professional vocalists from leading colleges, universities and music... READ MORE
The Soldiers' Chorus
The Soldiers’ Chorus, founded in 1957, is the vocal complement of the United States Army Field Band of Washington, DC. The 29-member mixed choral ensemble travels throughout the nation and abroad, performing as a separate component and in joint concerts with the Concert Band of the “Musical Ambassadors of the Army.” The chorus has... READ MORE
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Declaration of Independence, read publicly in Exeter in 1776 and 2014
Veterans shine at moving tribute
Seacoast Online
May 20, 2014
On Saturday evening New Hampshire Senators Kelly Ayotte and Jeanne Shaheen and New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan, led the Pledge of Allegiance at the second annual Veteran's Count Salute Our Soldiers gala at Service Credit Union headquarters in Portsmouth.
But these political luminaries were not the stars of the night.
Through a feat of diplomacy, determination and security that simply boggles the mind, Julie Williams, director of the American Independence Museum in Exeter was able to wheel out, in a Colonial-style display case crafted for the event, the priceless Dunlap Broadside Declaration of Independence, read publicly in Exeter in 1776 by John Taylor Gilman.
The Declaration, along with original drafts of the U.S. Constitution, a Purple Heart awarded by George Washington, a Purple Heart awarded to Bill Schuler and a Congressional Medal of Honor awarded by Franklin Roosevelt to Harl Pease, will be on display at Service Credit Union, and may be viewed by the public free of charge, through May 29, from noon to 5 p.m. each day.
But these shining American treasures, however impressive, were not the stars of the night.
The stars, as keynote speakers Col. Danny McKnight ("Black Hawk Down") and Jim Webb (former U.S. senator and secretary of the Navy) noted very clearly, are America's military veterans who, from the dawn of our nation's history, have answered the highest calling to protect our sacred freedoms.
The cherished ideals contained in the Declaration of Independence and Constitution have been protected by the men and women of the military who have fought and sometimes made the ultimate sacrifice for Americans' life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.
Honored Saturday night were veterans from World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. There were parents whose sons and daughters are deployed to Afghanistan today and who know the mixture of pride and anxiety that comes from having someone you love putting themselves in harms way in service of our glorious country.
read more here
Seacoast Online
May 20, 2014
On Saturday evening New Hampshire Senators Kelly Ayotte and Jeanne Shaheen and New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan, led the Pledge of Allegiance at the second annual Veteran's Count Salute Our Soldiers gala at Service Credit Union headquarters in Portsmouth.
But these political luminaries were not the stars of the night.
Through a feat of diplomacy, determination and security that simply boggles the mind, Julie Williams, director of the American Independence Museum in Exeter was able to wheel out, in a Colonial-style display case crafted for the event, the priceless Dunlap Broadside Declaration of Independence, read publicly in Exeter in 1776 by John Taylor Gilman.
The Declaration, along with original drafts of the U.S. Constitution, a Purple Heart awarded by George Washington, a Purple Heart awarded to Bill Schuler and a Congressional Medal of Honor awarded by Franklin Roosevelt to Harl Pease, will be on display at Service Credit Union, and may be viewed by the public free of charge, through May 29, from noon to 5 p.m. each day.
But these shining American treasures, however impressive, were not the stars of the night.
The stars, as keynote speakers Col. Danny McKnight ("Black Hawk Down") and Jim Webb (former U.S. senator and secretary of the Navy) noted very clearly, are America's military veterans who, from the dawn of our nation's history, have answered the highest calling to protect our sacred freedoms.
The cherished ideals contained in the Declaration of Independence and Constitution have been protected by the men and women of the military who have fought and sometimes made the ultimate sacrifice for Americans' life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.
Honored Saturday night were veterans from World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. There were parents whose sons and daughters are deployed to Afghanistan today and who know the mixture of pride and anxiety that comes from having someone you love putting themselves in harms way in service of our glorious country.
read more here
Friday, April 18, 2014
Minnesota veterans avoiding Veterans Service Centers
Veterans forgoing use of county services centers across Minnesota
Star Tribune
Article by: PAUL LEVY
Updated: April 17, 2014
Across Minnesota, county veterans services officials have struggled with getting visitors.
Minnesota veterans who were deployed in Iraq or Afghanistan have returned to their families, friends, jobs or school. But rarely do they visit county veterans services offices — not even those vets with post-traumatic stress disorder.
County officials have tried to lure young veterans into these service offices through billboard and newspaper advertisements, brochures and word-of-mouth — usually with little success. In Fillmore County, center director Jason Marquardt alerted young vets to his officewhile telling them about a new veterans cemetery under construction in southeastern Minnesota — anything to get their attention.
Pride, resistance to government programs and a preference to use the Internet are among the reasons some avoid the services offices, officials say. And there is the simple matter of age.
“Let’s say you’ve just been deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan,” said Milt Schoen, Hennepin County veterans services officer. “You are invincible. You’re always going to be strong. You don’t need to go to an office where somebody can tell you about benefits if you have PTSD.”
The centers provide an array of services, from helping vets complete forms for government-paid medical assistance to providing financial and mortgage advice to directing people to resources on health and other issues. And while younger veterans’ absence is more noticeable, it’s not only they who have eschewed the offices.
“The older veterans don’t want to come in because they think they’re taking away something from younger veterans,” Marquardt said. “The Vietnam, Korea or World War II guys either don’t want anything to do with government or don’t want to take anything.”
read more here
Star Tribune
Article by: PAUL LEVY
Updated: April 17, 2014
Across Minnesota, county veterans services officials have struggled with getting visitors.
Minnesota veterans who were deployed in Iraq or Afghanistan have returned to their families, friends, jobs or school. But rarely do they visit county veterans services offices — not even those vets with post-traumatic stress disorder.
County officials have tried to lure young veterans into these service offices through billboard and newspaper advertisements, brochures and word-of-mouth — usually with little success. In Fillmore County, center director Jason Marquardt alerted young vets to his officewhile telling them about a new veterans cemetery under construction in southeastern Minnesota — anything to get their attention.
Pride, resistance to government programs and a preference to use the Internet are among the reasons some avoid the services offices, officials say. And there is the simple matter of age.
“Let’s say you’ve just been deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan,” said Milt Schoen, Hennepin County veterans services officer. “You are invincible. You’re always going to be strong. You don’t need to go to an office where somebody can tell you about benefits if you have PTSD.”
The centers provide an array of services, from helping vets complete forms for government-paid medical assistance to providing financial and mortgage advice to directing people to resources on health and other issues. And while younger veterans’ absence is more noticeable, it’s not only they who have eschewed the offices.
“The older veterans don’t want to come in because they think they’re taking away something from younger veterans,” Marquardt said. “The Vietnam, Korea or World War II guys either don’t want anything to do with government or don’t want to take anything.”
read more here
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
PTSD Hitting Senior Veterans Late in Life
For some aging vets, PTSD triggered late in life
Michigan Radio
Kate Wells
April 8, 2014
There’s still so much we don’t understand about war vets and PTSD, or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Why some experience it, but so many others don’t.
Why one vet can have symptoms right away, while another can be fine for years.
Now older generations of veterans from World War II, Korea and Vietnam are showing us that PTSD can actually be triggered late in life.
Especially when veterans are dying.
Wide awake, but the nightmares persist
When Brenda Jackson was really little, she'd get up in the night and find her dad, wide awake, holding his head in his hands.
"My dad was Lenwood Long. He served in the Pacific in World War II, and he saw a lot of combat," says Jackson. "Ironically, we could never get him to talk about that time. We knew that he suffered, but we did not recognize it as PTSD."
Jackson is now 73, a retired nurse practitioner living outside St. Petersburg, Florida.
Brenda Jackson's father served in WWII. He started experiencing late-onset PTSD. She remembers her father was more reserved when he got back from war. The family knew he had trouble sleeping – hence the nights spent with his head in has hands.
But it wasn't until a stroke landed him in the VA hospital that they realized the extent of his trauma.
First, he started having nightmares while he was wide awake.
read more here
Michigan Radio
Kate Wells
April 8, 2014
There’s still so much we don’t understand about war vets and PTSD, or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Why some experience it, but so many others don’t.
Why one vet can have symptoms right away, while another can be fine for years.
Now older generations of veterans from World War II, Korea and Vietnam are showing us that PTSD can actually be triggered late in life.
Especially when veterans are dying.
Wide awake, but the nightmares persist
When Brenda Jackson was really little, she'd get up in the night and find her dad, wide awake, holding his head in his hands.
"My dad was Lenwood Long. He served in the Pacific in World War II, and he saw a lot of combat," says Jackson. "Ironically, we could never get him to talk about that time. We knew that he suffered, but we did not recognize it as PTSD."
Jackson is now 73, a retired nurse practitioner living outside St. Petersburg, Florida.
Brenda Jackson's father served in WWII. He started experiencing late-onset PTSD. She remembers her father was more reserved when he got back from war. The family knew he had trouble sleeping – hence the nights spent with his head in has hands.
But it wasn't until a stroke landed him in the VA hospital that they realized the extent of his trauma.
First, he started having nightmares while he was wide awake.
read more here
Friday, April 4, 2014
Military spouses face another fight over VA death benefits
Death certificate snafu can leave military spouses battling for benefits
Staten Island Live
Tom Wrobleski
April 1, 2014
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- It was hard enough for Josephine Maruffi and Carmela Fernandes to lose their husbands after lifetimes spent together.
But the pain was deepened when the Veterans Administration (V.A.) denied the widows the benefits they were due through their husbands' military service.
And all because of a paperwork issue that should be easily remedied, said Rep. Michael Grimm (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn) and City Councilman Vincent Ignizio (R-South Shore).
And many more military spouses in New York City could be suffering the same difficulty without even realizing it, they said.
"I dealt with the V.A. for almost two years," said Ms. Fernandes, an 80-year-old Eltingville resident.
"I must have spoken to them 50 times. They never said why they were denying me."
Speaking in Grimm's New Dorp district office, Ms. Fernandes said that she was due close to $1,800 in monthly benefits through her late husband, Anthony, an Army veteran who'd served in combat in the Korean War and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
The problem: The V.A. does not approve death benefits if a death certificate does not list a cause of death. New York City's one-page, "short-form" death certificate does not list causes of death, Grimm said.
read more here
Staten Island Live
Tom Wrobleski
April 1, 2014
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- It was hard enough for Josephine Maruffi and Carmela Fernandes to lose their husbands after lifetimes spent together.
But the pain was deepened when the Veterans Administration (V.A.) denied the widows the benefits they were due through their husbands' military service.
And all because of a paperwork issue that should be easily remedied, said Rep. Michael Grimm (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn) and City Councilman Vincent Ignizio (R-South Shore).
And many more military spouses in New York City could be suffering the same difficulty without even realizing it, they said.
"I dealt with the V.A. for almost two years," said Ms. Fernandes, an 80-year-old Eltingville resident.
"I must have spoken to them 50 times. They never said why they were denying me."
Speaking in Grimm's New Dorp district office, Ms. Fernandes said that she was due close to $1,800 in monthly benefits through her late husband, Anthony, an Army veteran who'd served in combat in the Korean War and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
The problem: The V.A. does not approve death benefits if a death certificate does not list a cause of death. New York City's one-page, "short-form" death certificate does not list causes of death, Grimm said.
read more here
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Canada: Korean War Veteran Finally Gets Help For PTSD
Nightmare ends: Korean War veteran finds peace after half-century struggle with PTSD
OTTAWA CITIZEN
BY CHRIS COBB
MARCH 28, 2014
PEMBROKE, Ont. — It was a nightmare Jim Purcell took to his bed every night for more than 50 years.
It featured his best buddy, Bob Casey.
The two grew up together in a hardscrabble section of Halifax. They played together, went to school together and, when they were 18 years old in 1951, they joined the army and went to fight in Korea together.
Jim is 81 and has lived his adult life in Pembroke. He has a daughter, two sons and grandkids.
Casey didn’t live to grow old.
In the muddy, rat-infested trenches of the Korean hills, they had a bunker to sleep in and, like many 18-year-old boys, Casey loved to sleep.
The Chinese shell scored a direct hit on the bunker while he was napping.
“He got his head blown off,” says Purcell. “Casey come out there like a chicken with its head cut off, except it wasn’t quite off. He come to the door of the bunker and just dropped. That stayed with me for years. I’d wake up screaming, ‘Get out of the bunker, Casey. Get out of the bunker.’”
When the former Royal Canadian Regiment corporal says the image haunted him for years, he means 48 years.
That translated into an adult life of hard drinking, bar fights, trouble with the cops, anger, depression, failed treatment and, in his later years, what the psychologists and psychiatrists call “suicidal ideation.”
read more here
OTTAWA CITIZEN
BY CHRIS COBB
MARCH 28, 2014
After struggling with the effects of PTSD for 50-odd years, 82-year-old Korean War veteran James Purcell began treatment with psychologist Sarah Bertrim, left. ‘If there’s anyone out there thinking the way I was, I want to tell them to get help,’ he says.
Photograph by: Wayne Cuddington , Ottawa Citizen
PEMBROKE, Ont. — It was a nightmare Jim Purcell took to his bed every night for more than 50 years.
It featured his best buddy, Bob Casey.
The two grew up together in a hardscrabble section of Halifax. They played together, went to school together and, when they were 18 years old in 1951, they joined the army and went to fight in Korea together.
Jim is 81 and has lived his adult life in Pembroke. He has a daughter, two sons and grandkids.
Casey didn’t live to grow old.
In the muddy, rat-infested trenches of the Korean hills, they had a bunker to sleep in and, like many 18-year-old boys, Casey loved to sleep.
The Chinese shell scored a direct hit on the bunker while he was napping.
“He got his head blown off,” says Purcell. “Casey come out there like a chicken with its head cut off, except it wasn’t quite off. He come to the door of the bunker and just dropped. That stayed with me for years. I’d wake up screaming, ‘Get out of the bunker, Casey. Get out of the bunker.’”
When the former Royal Canadian Regiment corporal says the image haunted him for years, he means 48 years.
That translated into an adult life of hard drinking, bar fights, trouble with the cops, anger, depression, failed treatment and, in his later years, what the psychologists and psychiatrists call “suicidal ideation.”
read more here
Monday, March 24, 2014
WW II, Korean and Vietnam Army veteran beaten to death
Veteran beaten with a pipe dies
Ocala Star Banner
By Austin L. Miller
Staff writer
Published: Saturday, March 22, 2014
An 87-year-old war veteran beaten earlier this past week with a pipe and a sledgehammer has died. His 55-year-old son is accused of the killing.
Ocala police and family members said Ralph T. Croskey, a World War II, Korean and Vietnam U.S. Army veteran, passed away on Saturday morning at Ocala Regional Medical Center.
Allen Croskey, one of Croskey's three children, was charged with attempted murder Wednesday afternoon after authorities had gone to Ralph Croskey's southwest Ocala residence after receiving a call about a disturbance. Those charges have been elevated to second-degree murder since Ralph Croskey's death.
Ralph T. Croskey was an executive member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, or NAACP, and a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
read more here
Ocala Star Banner
By Austin L. Miller
Staff writer
Published: Saturday, March 22, 2014
An 87-year-old war veteran beaten earlier this past week with a pipe and a sledgehammer has died. His 55-year-old son is accused of the killing.
Ocala police and family members said Ralph T. Croskey, a World War II, Korean and Vietnam U.S. Army veteran, passed away on Saturday morning at Ocala Regional Medical Center.
Allen Croskey, one of Croskey's three children, was charged with attempted murder Wednesday afternoon after authorities had gone to Ralph Croskey's southwest Ocala residence after receiving a call about a disturbance. Those charges have been elevated to second-degree murder since Ralph Croskey's death.
Ralph T. Croskey was an executive member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, or NAACP, and a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
read more here
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
The 24 Heroes finally receive Medal of Honor
CSPAN video on Medal of Honor Ceremony
Report from CNN
Report from CNN
The color of valor: 24 minority veterans receive long overdue Medal of Honor
By Chelsea J Carter and Halimah Abdullah, CNN
updated 4:12 PM EDT, Tue March 18, 2014
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: "Their courage almost defies imagination," President Barack Obama says
NEW: Obama honors 24 veterans with the Medal of Honor
White House says they were passed over for the top medal because of discrimination
Only three of them are still alive; they served in WWII, Korea and Vietnam
(CNN) -- If not for the hue of their skin or their ethnicity, 24 soldiers who faced death in service to their nation would have received the most prestigious medals for their valor long ago.
But they were born and fought in a time when such deeds were not always fairly acknowledged.
On Tuesday, the U.S. government corrected the oversight.
President Barack Obama honored 24 Army veterans with the Medal of Honor -- the country's highest military award, given to American soldiers who display "gallantry above and beyond the call of duty " -- for their combat actions in Vietnam, Korea and World War II.
"Some of these soldiers fought and died for a country that did not always see them as equal," Obama said during a ceremony at the White House. "...Their courage almost defies imagination."
Only three of the soldiers are alive to receive the recognition.
The rest -- soldiers with last names including Garcia and Weinstein and Negron -- are dead.
Of the 24 honored, 10 never came home. The body of one -- Cpl. Joe Baldonado -- has never been recovered, Obama said.
For the few who survive, such as Melvin Morris, this day has been more than 40 years in the making.
read more here
Heroics detailed for 24 soon to receive Medal of Honor
Heroics detailed for 24 soon to receive Medal of Honor
At last, recognition
Stars and Stripes
By Chris Carroll
Published: March 17, 2014
WASHINGTON — Spc. Santiago J. Erevia had orders to tend the wounded while the rest of the platoon pressed on attacking. But when he and the men under his care came under fire from four nearby Viet Cong bunkers on May 21, 1969, Erevia didn’t dive for cover.
Instead, he gathered up spare weapons and ran into a storm of bullets.
He knocked out one bunker after another with hand grenades as gunners in the others fired on him. Out of grenades and with one bunker still active, he took an M-16 in each hand and charged, shooting down the last defender at point blank range.
read more here
Sunday, March 16, 2014
Kurt Chew-Een Lee, a Retired Marine Corps Major Hero Passed Away
Marine Corps hero who saved thousands of lives in Korea dies at 88
The Washington Post
By Bart Barnes
Posted March 15, 2014
WASHINGTON — Kurt Chew-Een Lee, a retired Marine Corps major who received the Navy Cross during the Korean War for his lone, head-on charge into hostile fire to force enemy troops to reveal their positions, an action that saved thousands of American lives, was found dead March 3 at his home in Washington. He was 88.
A niece and family spokeswoman, Lynn Yokoe, confirmed the death but did not know the cause.
The son of Chinese immigrants, Lee was said to have been one of the first officers of Asian ancestry in the Marine Corps.
As a first lieutenant and platoon leader in 1950, he earned the Navy Cross and the Silver Star, two of the military’s highest combat decorations for valor, in a 36-day period that included some of the fiercest and highest-casualty fighting of the Korean War.
In September of that year, U.S. forces had landed at Inchon in South Korea, forcing North Korean troops back north near the Chinese border. Chinese forces then crossed into Korea and joined in the fighting.
Lee, leading a machine-gun platoon in the far north of the Korean peninsula, often advanced to within hearing distance of the enemy forces, shouting to them in Mandarin Chinese to sow confusion.
He received the Navy Cross for action on the night of Nov. 2-3, when his unit was outnumbered and under heavy attack. He had instructed his men to shoot at the muzzle flashes from enemy weapons. According to the citation on the award, he “bravely moved up an enemy-held slope in a deliberate attempt to draw fire and thereby disclose hostile troop positions.”
Wounded in the knee and elbow during the firefight, Lee was evacuated to an Army field hospital, where he learned a few days later that he was about to be sent to Japan to recuperate.
With a sergeant and a commandeered jeep, but without authorization, he left the hospital and returned to combat.
read more here
The Washington Post
By Bart Barnes
Posted March 15, 2014
WASHINGTON — Kurt Chew-Een Lee, a retired Marine Corps major who received the Navy Cross during the Korean War for his lone, head-on charge into hostile fire to force enemy troops to reveal their positions, an action that saved thousands of American lives, was found dead March 3 at his home in Washington. He was 88.
A niece and family spokeswoman, Lynn Yokoe, confirmed the death but did not know the cause.
The son of Chinese immigrants, Lee was said to have been one of the first officers of Asian ancestry in the Marine Corps.
As a first lieutenant and platoon leader in 1950, he earned the Navy Cross and the Silver Star, two of the military’s highest combat decorations for valor, in a 36-day period that included some of the fiercest and highest-casualty fighting of the Korean War.
In September of that year, U.S. forces had landed at Inchon in South Korea, forcing North Korean troops back north near the Chinese border. Chinese forces then crossed into Korea and joined in the fighting.
Lee, leading a machine-gun platoon in the far north of the Korean peninsula, often advanced to within hearing distance of the enemy forces, shouting to them in Mandarin Chinese to sow confusion.
He received the Navy Cross for action on the night of Nov. 2-3, when his unit was outnumbered and under heavy attack. He had instructed his men to shoot at the muzzle flashes from enemy weapons. According to the citation on the award, he “bravely moved up an enemy-held slope in a deliberate attempt to draw fire and thereby disclose hostile troop positions.”
Wounded in the knee and elbow during the firefight, Lee was evacuated to an Army field hospital, where he learned a few days later that he was about to be sent to Japan to recuperate.
With a sergeant and a commandeered jeep, but without authorization, he left the hospital and returned to combat.
read more here
Retired Marine 1st Sgt. James Barnett turned home into a museum
'Most Marine wives will not tolerate their husband doing something like this'
Roseburg News-Review
By CARISA CEGAVSKE
Published: Mar 15, 2014
ROSEBURG, Ore. (AP) — Retired 1st Sgt. James Barnett has turned his Roseburg home into a museum of Marine Corps artifacts. He has a collection of clear boxes filled with soil collected from every Marine base in the world and all the major World War II battles.
Barnett has also collected more than 900 challenge coins, traditional medallions bearing the insignia of military organizations; Marine recruiting posters; drinking glasses; framed quotations about the Marines; Marine bulldogs and just about any other type of memorabilia imaginable.
Barnett, 80, entered the Marine Corps when he was 17 years old, shortly after the Korean War broke out.
"Four of us decided we were going to single-handedly win the Korean War, so we joined up together and went to boot camp in San Diego," he said.
He was too young for combat and was assigned to guard duty at a Naval brig in San Diego.
Barnett served 20 years in the Marines and is a veteran of the Korean and Vietnam wars. He also served as a drill instructor at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana and as a Marine recruiter. After retiring, he helped his wife with her custom drapery business and they retired to Roseburg 26 years ago.
During the Vietnam War, he met Maj. Gen. Marion Carl, ace pilot for the Marines. Carl was highly decorated and posthumously initiated into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio.
After Carl was murdered in his Glide home in 1998, Barnett spearheaded a campaign to create a memorial to Carl at the Roseburg Regional Airport. The campaign drew $35,000 in donations and attention from across the country. The memorial includes a bronze likeness of the general. Barnett assured that the cement foundation contained soil from each of the battlegrounds over which Carl fought.
read more here
Roseburg News-Review
By CARISA CEGAVSKE
Published: Mar 15, 2014
ROSEBURG, Ore. (AP) — Retired 1st Sgt. James Barnett has turned his Roseburg home into a museum of Marine Corps artifacts. He has a collection of clear boxes filled with soil collected from every Marine base in the world and all the major World War II battles.
Marine Museum In this Feb. 27, 2014 photo, Jim Barnett stands in his Roseburg, Ore. home surrounded by items he has collected over the years traveling as a first sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps. Barnett, 80, entered the Marine Corps when he was 17 years old, shortly after the Korean War broke out.
(AP Photo/The News-Review, Michael Sullivan)
Barnett has also collected more than 900 challenge coins, traditional medallions bearing the insignia of military organizations; Marine recruiting posters; drinking glasses; framed quotations about the Marines; Marine bulldogs and just about any other type of memorabilia imaginable.
Barnett, 80, entered the Marine Corps when he was 17 years old, shortly after the Korean War broke out.
"Four of us decided we were going to single-handedly win the Korean War, so we joined up together and went to boot camp in San Diego," he said.
He was too young for combat and was assigned to guard duty at a Naval brig in San Diego.
Barnett served 20 years in the Marines and is a veteran of the Korean and Vietnam wars. He also served as a drill instructor at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana and as a Marine recruiter. After retiring, he helped his wife with her custom drapery business and they retired to Roseburg 26 years ago.
During the Vietnam War, he met Maj. Gen. Marion Carl, ace pilot for the Marines. Carl was highly decorated and posthumously initiated into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio.
After Carl was murdered in his Glide home in 1998, Barnett spearheaded a campaign to create a memorial to Carl at the Roseburg Regional Airport. The campaign drew $35,000 in donations and attention from across the country. The memorial includes a bronze likeness of the general. Barnett assured that the cement foundation contained soil from each of the battlegrounds over which Carl fought.
read more here
Thursday, February 27, 2014
One tough Iwo Jima Marine retires after 65 years
World War II vet retires after 65 years with Marines
UT San Diego
By Linda McIntosh
FEB. 26, 2014
Sgt. Maj. Walter Valentine, 89, served in World War II, Korea and Vietnam over three decades with the Marines and then spent another three decades helping comrades make a smooth transition into civilian life when they retire.
After Valentine finished boot camp at Camp Lejeune, NC in 1942, he joined the 3rd Marine Division and headed for combat in the Pacific as a scout sniper.
He was in the assault landing of Bougainville, now Papua New Guinea, in November 1943, then headed to Guadalcanal for more combat training. Later he participated in the assault landing that recaptured the island of Guam and fought in the battle of Iwo Jima, where he earned a Purple Heart.
“I will never forget the flag rising at Iwo Jima,” Valentine said.
read more here
UT San Diego
By Linda McIntosh
FEB. 26, 2014
World War II veteran Sgt. Maj. Walter Valentine served 30 years active duty in the Marine Corps and another 35 years as a civilian employee at Camp Pendleton.CAMP PENDLETON — A Camp Pendleton Marine who joined the Corps in 1942, retired earlier this month from his civilian job at Camp Pendleton.
Sgt. Maj. Walter Valentine, 89, served in World War II, Korea and Vietnam over three decades with the Marines and then spent another three decades helping comrades make a smooth transition into civilian life when they retire.
After Valentine finished boot camp at Camp Lejeune, NC in 1942, he joined the 3rd Marine Division and headed for combat in the Pacific as a scout sniper.
He was in the assault landing of Bougainville, now Papua New Guinea, in November 1943, then headed to Guadalcanal for more combat training. Later he participated in the assault landing that recaptured the island of Guam and fought in the battle of Iwo Jima, where he earned a Purple Heart.
“I will never forget the flag rising at Iwo Jima,” Valentine said.
read more here
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