“I let off a shot and he took off,” Milspaugh told the news station with a laugh. “He left his ax. He left his hat and everything else after that.”A 92-year-old homeowner armed with a handgun fired a shot and scared off an ax-wielding man trying to break into his San Jacinto residence Sunday, authorities said. World War II veteran Joseph Milspaugh told KNBC-TV he heard a noise coming from his backdoor and quickly armed himself with his handgun.
Atkinson’s mental illness was also cited as a contributing factor. Atkinson left his family and mental health treatment in Texas to live on the streets in Los Angeles.The Board of Supervisors agreed Tuesday to pay out $375,000 to the mother of a homeless combat veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder, who was fatally shot after threatening the deputy with a wooden dowel rod.
They went back on Monday to check up on Perry and to deliver a few Christmas gifts -- clothes, slippers, crossword puzzles and cookies -- from some officers in the department, Nunez said.
Two Los Angeles Police Department officers recently surprised a World War II veteran who was alone for the holidays with a Christmas tree, lights, presents and cheer.
Los Angeles Police Department officers surprised 94-year-old World War II veteranHerman Perry with a Christmas tree, lights and presents on Dec. 21, 2015.
“I know there are hundreds of veterans out there living hand to mouth who have no idea we exist, that they can come to their local VA and get clean, used clothing for free.”
Mort Schecter and Wynn Van Citters help veterans in need of clothing at the VeteransAdministration Sepulveda Ambulatory Care Center, Wednesday, November 18, 2015.
(Photo by Hans Gutknecht/Los Angeles Daily News)
The decision to deny the Haags and Axel service on the flight left them stranded in Los Angeles for the night.A retired Marine and his service dog were denied a seat on an American Airlines flight the same day they had been honored with the Service Dog of the Year award.
Haag said the airline did not remove their luggage from the flight, so they were left with just the clothes on their back, which would constitute a significant security violation, as checked bags are typically matched with passengers as a preventative measure against terrorist attacks.
American Airlines did not offer to put them in a hotel for the night or provide any other support.
Haag said he hoped his ordeal might lead to action in forming a national registry for service dogs so no other veterans have to go through the same thing. “Service dogs are not going to go away,” he said.
read more here
Rodriguez is no ordinary undrafted rookie. He is an Army veteran who served separate tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was wounded in the Battle of Kamdesh, among the bloodiest firefights in the war, and was awarded a Purple Heart and Bronze Star Medal with valor device for his actions that day.
St. Louis Rams wide receiver Daniel Rodriguez takes part in a drill during training camp at the NFL football team's practice facility on Tuesday. (Jeff Roberson / AP)It was impulsive. It was foolhardy. It made no football sense.
Blackburn said Marcussen was a broadcaster in Los Angeles — “did a couple of commercials and things” — but ended up divorced, falling on hard times and moving far from his home.
VA Deputy Secretary Sloan Gibson participated in this year’s PIT count in Baltimore, Maryland. VA photo by Robert Turtil.Secretary Bob McDonald walked the streets of LA’s Skid Row with local volunteers and VA employees last week, and tallied the homeless during the city’s annual point-in-time, or PIT count.
Dodger Stadium was site of simulated raid by Marines from Camp PendletonCamp Pendleton Marines To Conduct Training In Downtown LA
If Marines deploying next year are ordered to assault an enemy stronghold and capture a high-value target, they can say they practiced at Dodger Stadium.
Dodger Stadium was the site Monday night of a simulated raid by Marines from the Camp Pendleton-based 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit.
A “raid force” of 75 Marines arrived on MV-22B Ospreys and other aircraft from Fort Hunter Liggett near Monterey, Calif., about 170 miles from Chavez Ravine. The aircraft landed in the stadium parking lot and Marines stormed the stadium, primarily through the stadium tunnels.
click link for the rest
Hundreds mourn Army vet who survived Afghanistan, but not LA streets
FoxNews.com
Published November 10, 2014
Hundreds gathered Sunday at a makeshift sidewalk memorial in Los Angeles to honor an Army soldier who had been gunned down hours earlier, just months after returning from the treacherous battlefields of Afghanistan.
Francisco Garcia, 21, was killed moments after leaving a party that had carried in to Sunday's wee hours when an unknown assailant pulled up in a car, confronted him and then fired the deadly shot, police said. Garcia, who had been honorably discharged after an 18-month stint in Afghanistan and hoped to become a California Highway Patrol officer, was pronounced dead at the scene.
“The ironies are obvious,” Los Angeles Police Department Lt. Paul Vernon told KTLA-TV in Los Angeles.
“To survive as a soldier in an overseas conflict, only to be killed in your old neighborhood upon your return.”
read more here
The VA: Trouble from the start
Created to save money, the agency has only ended up illuminating the human cost of war
Boston Globe
By Beth Linker
SEPTEMBER 07, 2014
"The cost of military engagement is inseparable from the long, slow, and massively expensive process of helping those who suffer battle wounds. For a nation that prides itself on military preparedness, frank and honest discussions about the aftermath of war are in short supply."
NICK UT/ASSOCIATED PRESS/1981
At Wadsworth VA Hospital in West Los Angeles in 1981, Vietnam veterans camped out after the suicide of a disabled Marine who had rammed the front door with a Jeep and sprayed gunfire to protest lack of treatment.
THIS SUMMER’S revelations about the Veterans Administration have tarnished the image of a cherished national institution. One of the nation’s largest health care systems, the VA provides a lifetime of medical services at no personal expense to military veterans. But recent events suggest the system is broken. Reports from Phoenix exposed an organization rife with negligence and mismanagement, where sick veterans waited three months or more to be seen by a doctor, and administrators falsified these wait times to earn incentives for complying with timeliness mandates. Many have suffered from the latest VA debacle: ailing veterans in need of care, grieving family members who have reportedly lost loved ones because of delays; and Eric Shinseki, the four-star Army general who was forced to resign from his position as secretary of veterans affairs this past May.
Given the profound importance of veterans and their contributions, trouble at the VA is the rare issue that can move those on both sides of the political aisle. Appalled conservatives like Representative Jeff Miller have spoken out against the “selfish bureaucrats” and governmental bloat that are hurting veterans. The left and center-right seem to agree that the problem is resources: An unlikely combination of Senators Bernie Sanders and John McCain got a Senate emergency funding bill passed, with the goal of building additional facilities and hiring more doctors and nurses to meet ever increasing veteran demand on the system.
read more here
Just after 10:30 p.m., the Corvette smashed into a Nissan Maxima. As the car’s tires spun and smoked, the driver exited the Corvette. He was then shot, and collapsed on his back on a sidewalk.
The Oceanside man — a National Guard veteran — died at a hospital about 45 minutes after the chase ended near the intersection of East Olympic Boulevard and South Los Angeles Street.
No weapon was recovered at the scene of the shooting, according to police. read more here
Harout Aogryan, of the Armenia Brigade Motorcycle club leads volunteers during an event hosted by Vet Hunters Project.WHITTIER
Photo by Robert Huskey
