North Carolina National Guardsman Killed in Crash with Deputies

N.C. National Guard soldier killed in crash with sheriff's deputies
WRAL News
December 6, 2015
SCOTLAND COUNTY, N.C. —

One National Guard soldier was killed and another injured Saturday night after the men were involved in a crash with two deputies from the Scotland County Sheriff’s Office.

Highway Patrol troopers said that a vehicle occupied by the two soldiers ran a stop sign on N.C. Highway 144 in Laurel Hill and struck a Scotland County Sheriff’s Office vehicle head-on.

The soldier sitting in the passenger’s seat of the vehicle, Andre Nelson, 22, of Lumberton, was killed. Authorities said they believe Nelson was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash.

The other soldier and driver of the vehicle was identified as Rasheed McLain, 24, of Fayetteville. He was taken to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries.
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Marine Reservist in Hot Water For Wearing Uniform at Trump Event

Marine Rebuked for Performing at Donald Trump Rally in Uniform
Military.com
by Hope Hodge Seck
Dec 01, 2015

The Defense Department allows troops to participate in political and campaign activities as private citizens, but does not allow them to represent the military or associate the Pentagon with any specific candidate, issue or cause. Participation in political activities in uniform is prohibited.

A Marine who recently performed the national anthem at a Donald Trump presidential campaign rally has been told to cease further uniformed campaign activities. Cpl. Jason Perkins, a reservist with Combat Logistics Battalion 451 out of Charlotte, North Carolina, awed crowds at a Nov. 21 campaign rally for the Republican candidate in Birmingham, Alabama, with a booming rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner," which he performed in his dress blue uniform.

But when a video of the performance began circulating online, members of the military quickly pointed out that he was in violation of regulations prohibiting troops from wearing their uniforms to political events.

Marine Forces Reserve spokesman Capt. Andrew Chrestman said the command had reached out to Perkins after his campaign performance.

"Cpl. Perkins is now aware that his conduct violated long-standing DoD policy," Chrestman said in an email. "[He] has been informed of the appropriate ways to participate in the political process as a member of the Marine Corps."
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National Guard Soldier Mom Shot During Home Invasion Recovering

Soldier improving in hospital after home-invasion shooting
Charlotte Observer
BY JOE MARUSAK
November 7, 2015

Semantha Bunce, 21, was shot in her northeast Charlotte home
Husband says she’s doing “a little better”

A 21-year-old Army National Guard member who was shot by intruders in her northeast Charlotte home last week continues to improve at Carolinas Medical Center.

“She’s doing a little better,” Semantha Bunce’s husband, Paul Bunce III, told the Observer in a brief phone interview on Saturday.

Semantha Bunce was feeding the couple’s baby just before 10 a.m. Tuesday when someone knocked on the front door, rang the door bell and then kicked in the door, her father-in-law, Paul Bunce Jr., told Observer news partner WBTV.

Semantha Bunce met the intruders at her bedroom door, and when the men opened fire on her in the stairwell area, she fired back, her husband told WSOC-TV last week. “I think it was a shock to the intruders just as much as it was to her,” he told the station.

Paul Bunce III told WSOC-TV he believes his wife’s training as a combat medic allowed her to stay mentally focused and calm during what was a fight for her life.

The couple’s 4-month-old son was uninjured.

Paul Bunce III was at work as a maintenance technician at a Matthews apartment complex when he received a call about the shooting from the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office. He was told his wife had been shot multiple times and taken to CMC in critical condition, according to a YouCaring fund-raising site established by his employer, MAA. The company manages apartment complexes in the Carolinas and 13 other states.
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Fort Bragg Master Sgt. Found Dead

Army identifies 1st TSC soldier found dead near Bragg 
Army Times
October 22, 2015

A soldier from the 1st Theater Sustainment Command was found dead Tuesday at his home in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

Master Sgt. Daniel A. Wells, 37, was an electronic maintenance chief in the support operations section, Special Troops Battalion, 1st TSC, according to information from the Army. He was based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

The Fayetteville Police Department is investigating the circumstances of Wells’ death.
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Air Force Veteran and Apex Police Officers Change Futures

Apex Police Department launches training program for military veteran officers 
News Observer
BY WILL DORAN
October 10, 2015

“It was one of those things like, ‘Duh. Why haven’t we been doing this all along?’ ” said Myhand, a retired Army first sergeant with two decades of military and law enforcement experience.

Highlights

Innovative program aims to help police officers who are veterans connect with fellow veterans in need.
Program inspired by a real incident involving an Air Force veteran and Apex police officers
Organizers want to train Wake County officers first but hope to expand it regionally and nationally.
Nick Blalock was ransacking his father’s house, and when police officers responded to defuse the situation, he thought about running away, or even fighting them.

But he changed his mind when the Apex police officers told Blalock they were military veterans, just like him.

Blalock, a 2006 Apex High School graduate, had recently returned home after seven years with the Air Force’s Special Operations. He struggled to readjust to civilian life. One day in late 2013, tensions with his father boiled over, and he began destroying the home they shared.

There was potential for violence when officers Jonathan Guider and Harry Pennington responded to the call. There was a shotgun in the house, though Blalock never picked it up.

But Guider and Pennington coaxed Blalock out of hiding by offering to talk, instead of shouting orders. They bonded over stories about deployments to the Middle East, and they learned Blalock’s loss of his beloved pit bull was just one of the factors that set off his anger. Guider offered to buy him a new one.

When Guider and Pennington returned from the call, they explained their unorthodox tactics to their supervisor, Capt. Blair Myhand, prompting him to seek a program to train the department’s 15 officers who are veterans. He wanted to help those officers respond to crises involving fellow veterans – and attempt to reduce violence.

“If one veteran can not be killed, or one police officer can not die, as a result of these trainings, I’ll feel it’s a success,” Myhand said. “When I meet my maker, I want to be able to say I did that.”
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“It was one of those things like, ‘Duh. Why haven’t we been doing this all along?’" and it is a great question. Even great is the fact that this has been done all over the country for over 30 years! Point Man International Ministries started when a Seattle police officer, Marine, Vietnam veteran wanted to do something to help the veterans he was arresting. He started Point Man and since then it has proven to be a Godsend! Just a reminder that I am Florida State Coordinator.

Oregon Hero Thought of Others While Being Shot

UPDATE
Former JBLM soldier emerges as hero in campus shooting
Seattle Times
By Hal Bernton
Seattle Times staff reporter
Originally published October 2, 2015

Chris Mintz, surivor of the Umpqua Community College shooting, Thursday, was shot seven times. Mintz, 30, is an Army veteran who lived in Tacoma about 10 years ago while stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, according to Mintz’s brother. (Family of Chris Mintz)

An Army veteran who once served at Joint Base Lewis McChord is emerging as a hero who tried to protect classmates in the shooting rampage that took place at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Ore.

Christopher Mintz, 30, was shot multiple times and suffered wounds to both legs, his stomach and back but is now recovering at an Oregon hospital, according to his cousin, Derek Bourgeois, who says he spoke briefly with Mintz Thursday evening after surgery.

“He said he wished he could have saved just more people,” Bourgeois told The Seattle Times. “He was just out of surgery and struggling to get out a few words.”
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Oregon shooting hero tells gunman, 'It's my son's birthday today' 
CNN
By Don Melvin
October 2, 2015

(CNN)When Chris Mintz heard gunfire at Oregon's Umpqua Community College on Thursday, his thoughts were not of himself.

Instead, he thought first of protecting others.

Then he thought of his 6-year-old son, Tyrik.

Nine people were killed when a gunman opened fire at the College on Thursday. Nine others were injured.

When the shooting broke out, Mintz, 30, an military veteran and a former high school football player in Randleman, North Carolina, tried to save the lives of others.

"Tries to block the door to keep the gunman from coming in," his aunt, Wanda Mintz, told Fox 8, a CNN affiliate in High Point, North Carolina.

"Gets shot three times," his aunt said. "Hits the floor."

"Looks up at the gunman and says, 'It's my son's birthday today,' " his aunt said.

Still, there was no mercy. The gunman shot Mintz again. It's not yet clear exactly how many more times, but both his legs are broken, said family members who talked to him by phone on his way into surgery.
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Mom Gets to Meet Solider Who Saved Her Son

SOLDIER SAVES 6-MONTH-OLD IN CRASH 
ABC 11 News
September 30, 2015

SPOUT SPRINGS, NC (WTVD) -- It was an emotional reunion Wednesday at the Spout Springs Fire Department as a young Army family thanked a fellow soldier for rescuing their son.

Sgt Josh Farrell got a big smile from the 6-month-old boy he rescued.

On August 18, Caitlin Coffeen ran off the road in the rain and hit a power pole along HWY 87 S. north of Spring Lake. She was able to get out, but couldn't get to her son strapped in a child seat in the overturned vehicle. read more here

Marine Dies in Hit-and-Run While Helping Another Driver

Marine, 21, Dies in Hit-and-Run While Helping Another Driver
NBC Washington
Sep 30, 2015

Ferrell joined the fire department at age 16 and then joined the U.S. Marine Corps, Tyner said. His journey led him to Maryland, where he was promoted to corporal and stationed at Camp David.

A Marine who tried to help the driver of a disabled vehicle in heavy rain Tuesday night in Frederick County was hit and killed by a driver who fled the scene.

Marine Cpl. William Ferrell, 21, stopped to help a driver on northbound Route 15 in Thurmont, Maryland State Police said.

Ferrell, of Carthage, North Carolina, was walking on the shoulder and was just feet from the stranded car when a tractor-trailer or heavy-duty pickup with a car-hauling trailer left the road, striking and killing him.

Witnesses tell police that as they tended to Ferrell, the truck stopped for a few minutes, then pulled away.

Police say the truck likely has damage to its right side.
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Missing PTSD Veteran Returns After Month on Appalachian Trail

Veteran, struggling with PTSD, disappears for a month to hike Appalachian Trail
WNCN
Nate Rodgers
Published: September 11, 2015

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WNCN) — It pains Michael Kirkpatrick that his need to heal ended up worrying many loved ones.

The 29-year-old worked as an Army infantryman for nearly three years.

Like many others before him, he experienced the death of a fellow colleague.

“When they just disappear and you just find out they’re gone that’s a hard thing to get through,” Kirkpatrick said Thursday.

For Kirkpatrick, returning to civilian life was a challenge. In addition to struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder, he recently separated from his wife and kids.

“I was in this hole in the ground, where I guess it felt like it kept getting deeper, debt, not seeing the kids and not being able to talk to them as much as I want,” Kirkpatrick said.
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Camp Lejeune Helicopter "Hard Landing" Leaves Marine Dead and 11 Others Injured

Marine dead, 11 hurt after hard landing at Camp Lejeune 
WXII 12 News
UPDATED 2:57 PM EDT Sep 03, 2015

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. —One Marine has been killed and 11 others were hurt when a helicopter made a hard landing at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.

Camp Lejeune officials said in a statement that he CH-53E helicopter came down hard during a training exercise around 9 p.m. Wednesday.

"Of the 11 injured Marines, six were treated at the naval hospital and released, while one was admitted in stable condition. Four were taken to a civilian hospital in nearby Jacksonville, where they are scheduled to be released. One Marine is being taken to a Greenville hospital and is reported to be in stable condition."
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UPDATE
September 4, 2015

Camp Lejeune identifies Marine killed in helicopter hard landing
Staff Sgt. Jonathan Lewis, 31, of Warrenton, Virginia.

Lightning Strike Sends 16 Fort Bragg Soldiers to Hospital

Lightning strike hospitalizes 16 soldiers at Fort Bragg
WITN News
Updated: Thu 3:46 PM, Aug 20, 2015

A lightning strike has hospitalized 16 soldiers on an Army training exercise in North Carolina.

Master Sgt. Patrick Malone, a spokesman for the 82nd Airborne Division, says 60 soldiers were gathered to discuss the day's training when lightning struck nearby around 8 p.m. Wednesday.

Malone said 15 soldiers were hospitalized overnight for observation at an Army hospital, and another was taken to a different hospital for heart monitoring. Two others were examined and returned to duty without staying overnight.
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Also from WITN News

CAMP LEJEUNE: Marine grabs police officer's gun; fires it in hospital waiting room
WITN News
Aug 19, 2015

Camp Lejeune says a Marine in police custody managed to grab an officer's gun, firing it once in the waiting room at the Naval Hospital.

It happened approximately 6:30 p.m. Sunday, but the Marine Corps didn't release information about the shooting until late Wednesday afternoon.
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Decorated Veteran Father of 9 Dies in Gunfire at Church

UPDATE August 21, 2015
Wade Baker was on the Dr. Phil show in 2007 talking about PTSD
Man Killed in Police Shooting Appeared on Dr. Phil, Discussed PTSD

Father of 9 dies in gunfire at church; Family releases statement 
Wade Allen Baker was decorated veteran, family says
WYFF 4 News
By Carla Field
UPDATED 3:39 PM EDT Aug 20, 2015

Wade was also a military veteran. He served in the U.S. Army from approximately August 1989 to November 1998. His military occupational specialty was mechanized infantryman, and he received an honorable discharge. His military awards include: Army Commendation Award (second award), Army Achievement Medal, Joint Meritorious Unit Service Award, Good Conduct Medal (third award), National Defense Service Award, Southwest Asia Service Medal with three Bronze Service Stars, Armed Forces Service Medal, Overseas Service Ribbon, Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait), Kuwait Liberation Medal (Saudi Arabia) and others.

WAYNESVILLE, N.C. —The family of a man who died at a North Carolina church after an exchange of gunfire with officers released a statement Thursday in which they spotlighted his highly awarded time in the military.

Multiple law enforcement agencies responded to a 911 call claiming that four people had been shot at about 3:15 p.m. Wednesday at Maple Grove Baptist Church on Stamey Cove Road in Waynesville.

Sgt. Heidi Warren of the Haywood County Sheriff’s Office said a man, later identified as Wade Allen Baker, 44, of Clyde, alone in the church when law enforcement crews arrived. The man exchanged gunfire with the officers, she said.

The SBI said Thursday that Baker was pronounced dead at the scene. No one else was injured in the gunfire. Officials have not said who fired the shot that killed Baker. read more here

Vietnam Veteran Finally Gets Medal Thanks to National Guardsman

Needed recognition: Vietnam veteran finally gets his medals
Winston-Salem Journal
Michael Hewlett
August 16, 2015

Wallace, who served in Vietnam from 1969 to 1971, said he got the award for helping to save a fellow soldier’s life.

Bernard Wallace didn’t worry too much about making sure he got his medals, including the Bronze Star Medal, when he left Vietnam. Wallace was remembering what his drill sergeant told him — do whatever you have to do to get out alive and to get home.

“At the time, all my concerns were getting back home to my family,” he said Sunday night.

But a young sergeant in the National Guard named Joey Ireland started digging around in Wallace’s military records and noticed that Wallace had a number of medals he had never received. After serving in the U.S. Army in the 101st Airborne Division, Wallace was with the National Guard for 24 years.
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Solider's Dog Zeus Took Cross Country Trip Courtesy of Banfield Employee

Lost, now found: Zeus the dog reunited with soldier and family
The Olympian
BY SEAN ROBINSON Staff writer
August 14, 2015

Perhaps it was coincidence that Zeus the dog came home on a morning marked by peals of thunder. Or perhaps the dog gods were laughing.

Either way, Melody Harworth was crying.

“Hi, puppy,” she kept saying and sobbing Friday, as Zeus emerged from a car and greeted his long-lost family. “Hi, puppy, hi, puppy.”

Her husband Ben Harworth’s eyes were red-rimmed; until last month he believed his dog was long dead. Friday, he accepted slobbery kisses and woofed at the old friend he hadn’t seen in three years.

Zeus, unable to fly because of a medical condition, had been ferried crosscountry from Fort Bragg in North Carolina, his old home. The ride came courtesy of Rachel Overby, who works with Banfield Pet Hospital, a partner with PetSmart stores.

Harworth, a chief warrant officer, had been stationed at Fort Bragg until 2011, when he transferred to South Korea.

CW2 Benjamin Harworth, stationed at JBLM, gets loving kisses from his long lost dog, Zeus, with his wife, Melody looking happy at Petsmart in Lacey on Friday. Harworth was deployed to Afghanistan, let his friend watch his dog Zeus. Harworth receives a call in Afghanistan from his friend saying that his dog has died. Harworth receives a call recently from Banfield Clinic near Fort Bragg saying that they have his dog. He tells them this is impossible because his dog died four years ago. Last month, Banfield explains that they scanned the dog's microchip and it is Zues. Banfield arranged to have Zeus transported across the country to be reunited with Harworth at the Lacey Petsmart. Lui Kit Wong read more here

National Guard Sgt. Kyle Snyder Gets Free Home, Worries About Others

Wounded NC Guard veteran gets new home in Wake Forest 
News and Observer
BY MECHELLE HANKERSON
August 14, 2015

Snyder spent three years in and out of the hospital, including several months at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.

WAKE FOREST
For the first time since returning home from Afghanistan in 2012, N.C. National Guard Sgt. Kyle Snyder finally has his own home.

Operation: Coming Home, which builds homes for wounded veterans in the Triangle, has almost finished a home in the Traditions subdivision for Snyder, his wife, Joann Snyder, and their children.

The organization held a ceremonial groundbreaking at the home Friday morning to honor Snyder and his family.

The Snyders have been renting homes since Kyle Snyder returned from service after being injured by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan.

The attack left shrapnel in his leg and caused him to develop chronic pain syndrome. At one point, doctors thought they would have to amputate his left leg.

“I asked them to just give me a chance to get through it,” he said. He’s had 18 surgeries on his legs since then to make sure they are fully healed.
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Navy SEALs Took on Lake Norman to Save Veterans

How many times have you heard it said that PTSD is a sign of weakness? Some are still thinking that even after all these years. Nothing seems to be able to educate them on the simple fact that Medal of Honor recipients have said they suffer from what war did to them. Were they weak? Hell no and they proved that by doing whatever they could to save someone else.

Generals have publicly talked about their own struggles to heal. Members of Special Forces have come forward to show that no matter how courageous they were, no matter how well they were trained, they could not be trained to stop being human and caring.

That is the biggest thing missing in all the talking going on. It is not that they are weak at all. It is because the core of their emotions is so strong they able to do what they do for the sake of someone else. They are willing to "pay any price up to and including their own lives" until everyone goes home.

That is when they feel the pain the most and the danger created by combat is the greatest threat to them.


SEALs Swim Across Lake Norman to Save Veterans from Suicide
FOX 46 Charlotte
Caroline Fountain Digital Journalist
Posted: Jul 24, 2015

The darkness nearly swallowed up Kevin Trainor, a Mooresville veteran.

Lake Norman, N.C. (WJZY) -- Many of our military men and women face death when they are sent into combat. But it's actually here at home where more veterans lose their lives due to post traumatic stress disorder.

A group of Navy SEALs took on Lake Norman Friday for a 13.1 mile swim to bring awareness to the 22 veteran suicides that happen every day. Just last week that number became a lot more real.

Members of the community also took to the water for a 1.2 mile swim all to help save veteran’s lives.

"These are our national treasures that we're losing to suicide. We're going to stand in the gap for these guys. We're not going to let them fade away into darkness and hopelessness. We're going to show up every year and we're going to swim and raise awareness and get the word out. It's growing. We are making an impact in our community," said Shannon Rusch, Navy SEAL and founder of SEAL Swim Charities.

"We just lost another brother last week who was with the rescue swimmer group. We're fixing to lay him to rest. Through PTSD, he took his own life," said Trainor.
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Fort Bragg Soldier Found Dead At Campground

Fort Bragg soldier found dead at beach campground 
WRAL.com
July 21, 2015

CAROLINA BEACH, N.C. — Police say a Fort Bragg soldier has been found dead in a Carolina Beach campground.

Local media outlets report that 40-year-old warrant officer Tania Dunbar was found dead by neighboring campers at Freeman Park on Sunday night. read more here

Fort Bragg Soldier Faces Charges Older Than Constitution

Fort Bragg soldier's gun-related charge predates U.S. Constitution
FayObserver.com
By Amanda Dolasinski Staff writer
July 19, 2015

The Fort Bragg soldier who forced a lockdown at Cross Creek Mall earlier this month was charged with a centuries-old misdemeanor known as going armed to the terror of the public.

The charge dates to at least 1781, says Ronnie Mitchell, the lawyer for the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office.

"It's a very ancient charge," he said. "It started even before the U.S. Constitution was adopted in 1787."

Bryan Scott Wolfinger, 25, of the 2200 block of Ridge Manor Drive, was charged July 2 after he walked out of the mall with an AR-15 assault-type rifle.

The misdemeanor is part of the state's constitution, Mitchell said.

"There are many people that have attempted to attack that misdemeanor over the years," he said.

"They believe it infringes on their Second Amendment rights. Our courts have long held that going armed to the terror of the people does not violate either the Second Amendment or Article 1, Section 30 of the North Carolina Constitution."
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Bragg soldier charged with going armed to the terror of the public

Widow Tells What Happens After War

Widow recounts husband's stateside struggles
Jacksonville Daily News
Bianca Strzalkowski
Posted Jul. 13, 2015

“There was no reason he should have been deployed, we just weren’t getting the answers that we wanted or needed,” Heather said. “I think basically it was slap a Band-Aid on it and then send them back in.”

Jerome “Chad” Lechlinski took his own life on June 4 in his Jacksonville home. His widow hopes sharing his story will help others.

A Jacksonville man is one of the latest casualties of war, but his death did not occur in the foreign lands of Iraq or Afghanistan — his battle was lost at home.

Jerome “Chad” Lechlinski was a jokester, his wife Heather says, always looking for a way to make people laugh. On the inside though, Chad was fighting an internal enemy that not even his family fully realized.

Chad took his own life on June 4 in his Jacksonville home.

His widow hopes sharing his story will help others.

The 31-year old graduated from Dixon High School in 2002. He joined the Marine Corps to follow in his family’s long lineage of military service. In 2004, Heather and Chad Lechlinski met online while he was deployed to Cuba.

His wife had little familiarity with the military, but she moved to Onslow County to be with him and his family. His career in the infantry never slowed with continuous deployments to Africa and Iraq. During his first Iraq deployment in 2005, a suicide bomber attacked the vehicle Chad was driving, causing the death of one of his gunners. That incident was the start of something changing within him.
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After Soldier Brings Weapons Mall on Lockdown

UPDATE
Fort Bragg soldier's gun-related charge predates U.S. Constitution

Bragg soldier charged with going armed to the terror of the public
Fayetteville Observer
By Nichole Manna Staff writer
July 3, 2015

A Fort Bragg soldier with an AR-15 assault-type rifle wearing a military ballistic panel carrier and carrying multiple rifle ammunition magazines caused a busy Cross Creek Mall to lock down Thursday night.

Bryan Scott Wolfinger, 25, was charged early this morning with going armed to the terror of the public.

He told police he was preparing to have photographs taken with military equipment when 911 calls sent Fayetteville police to the mall.

Wolfinger was processed at the Cumberland County Detention Center and was released to his company commander and provost marshal at Fort Bragg.

The incident happened on the eve of a patriotic three-day holiday weekend for many in an area that is home to the nation's largest military installation, Fort Bragg. There was no estimate on the number of people in the mall when it was locked down, according to mall officials and the police.
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