Remembering 300, Students Feed Homeless Veterans

Students prepare 300 meals for veterans, homeless, those in need
ABC 27 News
By Dawn White
Published: May 28, 2017

Retired U.S. Army Specialist E4 Stanley Carn watched while student set up the food they prepared at Small Memorial A.M.E Zion Church. “It’s great the kids are doing it because it’s more community oriented that way,” Carn said.

YORK, Pa. (WHTM) – The nation will honor those who lost their lives while serving the country on Memorial Day. Students honored and served veterans before Monday.

The students could be out doing other things on their Saturday, but they volunteered their time to help out veterans, the homeless, and those in need in the community.

Hannah Penn K-8 was the place where York City School District students and staff worked hard cooking hot food, putting apples and sandwiches in bags, and boxing the food up.

8th grader De’Kzeon Wyche was one of the students lending a helping hand.

“It’s just a great opportunity and stuff,” Wyche said. “I could be sitting at home, but I choose to come here because there’s people who are in need. I feel it was good to come out and help support and give them food and stuff.”
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Veteran-Amputees Inspire Boston Marathon Watchers--And Country

Man with prosthetic leg carries woman across Boston Marathon finish line
WCVB
Apr 18, 2017

BOSTON
In the closing moments of the Boston Marathon, a moment captured at the finish line is capturing the hearts of many.

At the end of the course, a man with a prosthetic leg was seen carrying his guide and the American flag across the finish line.

Earl Granville said 50 feet before crossing the line on Boylston Street, he looked to his guide, Andi Piscopo, and decided to have some fun with the finish. He picked her up and carried her across the line much to the delight of those gathered at the finish line and on social media.

A video WCVB posted to their Facebook page has been seen by millions, leaving Granville in disbelief. "Never had I thought just a spur-of-the-moment thing would blow up like this," he said.

Piscopo was feeling just fine and didn't need help to cross the finish line. As Granville's guide, it was her job to keep an eye on him medically and keep his pace count. The team has run in multiple endurance races together.

"To see him accomplish his goals, it makes me want to do more," Piscopo said. "He inspires me to be a better person."

Granville is a nine-year veteran under the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, and lost part of his leg in the summer of 2008 when his vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan.

"My downward spiral happened after that," Granville said. "A lot of hardships I faced, a lot of things I was doing, a lot of unhealthy choices I was making."
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Marine who lost leg in Afghanistan ran Boston Marathon carrying American flag
The Dallas Morning News (Tribune News Service)
By ELINE DE BRUIJN
Published: April 18, 2017

A Marine who lost his leg in Afghanistan crossed the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday the same way he had run most of the course -- with a U.S. flag in hand.

Jose Luis Sanchez, of San Antonio, carries the United States flag across the finish line in the 121st Boston Marathon on Monday, April 17, 2017, in Boston. ELISE AMENDOLA/AP

"I was like I'm not gonna let this beat me, dude. I used that to fuel my drive," he said. "Never again am I going to feel sorry or feel these emotions. I'm not gonna feel weak anymore. At that point, I never looked back."

Sanchez's unit wrote him messages on the flag, which was flown at every location during their tour, he told WBZ-TV.

Sanchez was fighting post-traumatic stress disorder when he decided to open the flag and read it five years after the unit had given it to him, he said.
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Tragic Outcome of Combat PTSD Veterans

Army vet battled post-deployment demons until childhood friend became casualty of his personal war
The Times Tribune
BY PETER CAMERON, STAFF WRITER
PUBLISHED: MARCH 26, 2017

“To this day, I blame the military for my son’s death as much as I do Matt ... ” Jim Evans said. “I wish there was a way to indict the military. If they would have taken care of Matt when he came home, maybe we wouldn’t be in this position now.”

MICHAEL J. MULLEN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Kimberly and Jim Evans hold a photograph of their son, Mike, and grandson, Michael. Mike Evans tried to help his childhood friend, Matthew Gajdys, after his deployment.

Matthew Gajdys came out of the Army at war with himself.

After tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, he returned to Dickson City in 2012 and struggled to return to civilian life.

He couldn’t find steady work. He was angry, impulsive and drinking more than a case of Coors Light every day. He started bar fights as a release for his frustration. His undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder made him a stranger to his wife. She kicked him out.

Homeless and hopeless, Gajdys was rescued by a childhood friend. Mike Evans opened the Moscow trailer park home he shared with his 8-year-old son to the troubled veteran.

When Gajdys moved in, his demons came with him.

Four months later, Gajdys was in jail and Evans was dead.
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Neighbors Rush to Help Disabled Veteran Escape Fire

Bed-ridden with cancer, veteran crawls to safety with girlfriend from Springdale fire
WTAE News 4 Pittsburg
Sheldon Ingram
December 30, 2016

SPRINGDALE, Pa.
A fierce and rapid fire tore through a two-story Springdale house on Butler Street, chasing a disabled military veteran and his girlfriend into the street.

Mike Elliot, 65, crawled to safety, though disabled, on oxygen and battling cancer.

Neighbors who rushed to his aid say he was wearing boxer shorts, a T-shirt and no shoes while on his knees in the frigid night air.

"It just tore my heart apart to see this right after Christmas," said Joe Kuchek, a neighbor who gathered blankets to assist Elliot.

He shared the house with his girlfriend, Janis Schweitzer, 69. Both escaped without injury, but the house is destroyed.
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Navy Corpsman Veteran Honors Fallen Officers with Last Call

Local veteran honors fallen officers in viral song
York Daily Record.com
Abbey Zelko
November 7, 2016

Veteran and singer-songwriter Dave Bray, of West Manchester Township, released a viral single this year called "Last Call" in memory of fallen first responders.
(Photo: Submitted)

Three times, the dispatcher called out the officer’s badge number.

And three times, there was no response. Just an empty silence that filled the airwaves.

“There’s nothing. Just that brutal loss, that hollow void that remains on the air,” said Dave Bray, a Navy and Marine veteran from West Manchester Township. “It’s haunting, definitely haunting.”

Bray wasn’t there when 34-year-old police officer and Iraq veteran Bradley Fox was killed in the line of duty outside Philadelphia in 2012. But when he later heard the recording of Fox’s “last call” – an on-air tribute for fallen police officers and first responders – he felt the emotion.

Bray knows what it’s like to put on a uniform and serve, without knowing if he'll come home.

He served in the U.S. Navy as an 8404 FMF Corpsman for the 2nd Battalion/2nd Marines for four years. And while he said he never felt like his life was in imminent danger, he could never know for sure.

“None of us ever know what’s going to happen,” he said.
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Fort Carson Special Forces Soldiers Killed in Afghanistan

DOD confirms two soldiers assigned to Fort Carson died in Afghanistan
KKTV News 11
November 4, 2016

FORT CARSON, Colo. (KKTV) The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) confirmed Friday two soldiers working with Operation Freedom's Sentinel in Afghanistan who were killed were assigned to Fort Carson.

They have been identified as Capt. Andrew Byers, 30, of Rolesville, N.C. and Sgt. 1st Class Ryan Gloyer, 34, from Greeville, Penn.

The DOD says the soldiers were assigned to Company B, 2nd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) of Fort Carson.
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Memories From Priests Who Went to Battle on 9/11

Ground Zero: Memories From Priests Who Went to Battle on 9/11
The terror attacks of Sept. 11 left an imprint on the nation — and also on the lives of clergy who witnessed it and ministered to the victims.
National Catholic Register
BY PETER JESSERER SMITH
09/11/2016

When people ask him — and many have — “Where was God that day?” Father Colucci says that he saw, firsthand, the Body of Christ in action. “The best of humanity came out that day.”

An American flag flies above the cross of steel beams discovered in the rubble at Ground Zero on Aug. 19, 2002, in New York City. – Mario Tama/Getty Images

NEW YORK — “It started coming down on us.”

Fifteen years ago, Capt. Thomas Colucci led the men of his 31st Street firehouse into what would be the finest hour for New York City’s fire, police and emergency responders: Ground Zero on Sept. 11.

After the South Tower collapsed, the Catholic fire captain and his firefighters began digging through the wreckage, searching for any hope of survivors and the firefighters who had gone into the tower to save them.

Then, at 10:28am, the sky opened up with a roar, and a collective scream of terror erupted from the ground — the North Tower and iconic spire begin to fall — and the men and women who donned the uniforms of New York’s first responders would give the final sacrifice amid a hail of steel, concrete and debris.

As they escaped, Colucci saw some of his comrades struck down — he and a few of the firefighters found their only refuge sheltering behind a car. Enveloped in that cloud of darkness, the fireman’s vocation became clear: He would become a priest, helping those in darkness see a great light.

Nearly 3,000 men, women and children perished in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. But the legacy of 9/11 is that more than 25,000 other lives were saved that day, because ordinary men and women put on their uniforms and ran to save others from death and danger. On a Tuesday morning, 343 firefighters and emergency personnel, 23 New York Police Department and 37 Port Authority officers laid down their lives for others. Many more would give their lives — a payment deferred by cancer they gathered from the rescue work.

Colucci retired in 2004, and, this year, he became Father Colucci.
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Pennsylvania National Guardsman Helped Heart Attack Victim Live

Pa. Army Guard Soldier aids heart attack victim
Pennsylvania National Guard
By By Sgt. Shane Smith
Joint Force Headquarters
September 01, 2016

His quick and decisive actions garnered praise from witnesses and fellow Soldiers.

GREENSBURG, Pa. — Pfc. Fred Vandenheuvel was enjoying dinner with fellow Guard members at a Greensburg restaurant when he witnessed a man collapse. With a background in law enforcement and as a first responder, he leapt into action.

Pfc. Fred Vandenheuvel, a member of the Pennsylvania Army

National Guard’s 252nd Engineer Company rendered aid to a

man who suffered a heart attack while dining in a local

restaurant.

(Courtesy Photo) (Photo by Courtesy Photo)

“At first I wasn’t sure what had happened,” recalled Vandenheuvel, a member of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard’s 252nd Engineer Company. “The man wasn’t moving. I thought he may have had a heart attack.”

The man was still conscious and complaining of intense chest pain when Vandenheuvel first reached him. Vandenheuvel was asked to call the man’s wife.

“I told his wife where we were, what had happened, and asked if her husband had any prior medical history or heart issues,” he said. “She told me her husband has a history of heart problems.”

Vandenheuvel called 911 and remained on the line with paramedics until they arrived.
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Sammy "Sergeant" Vasquez Battles To Win

Gorman: 'Sergeant' Sammy hopes title is next
TribLive
Kevin Gorman
July 15, 2016

Vasquez entered the ring via a Humvee and wearing camouflage trunks, so adopting The Sergeant nickname made sense for him. He's an outspoken advocate for veterans, and he doesn't shy from speaking about his battles with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Sammy Vasquez (left) throws a punch at Aron Martinez during their

welterweight bout Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016, in Los Angeles.

PHOTO BY AP

In a tribute to his two tours of duty in Iraq with the U.S. Army, boxer Sammy Vasquez Jr. changed his nickname from The Who Can Mexican to The Sergeant.

The 30-year-old welterweight from Monessen believes he is on the cusp of a title that carries even more clout: How does “world champion” sound?

Vasquez embraces the idea of becoming Western Pennsylvania's next world boxing champ.

His immediate predecessors are two of his heroes. Former heavyweight champion Michael Moorer is from Vasquez's hometown of Monessen, and former lightweight champ Paul Spadafora represented Pittsburgh out of McKees Rocks.

“When I think of Michael Moorer or Paul Spadafora or even Billy Conn, I still am like, to me, he's a great,” Vasquez, 30, said. “To put myself in that category, it's weird for me. I'm still a huge fan. To put my name up there with those guys is an awesome feeling.”
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Street Rod Truck Dedicated to Vietnam Veterans

Street Rod Nationals truck dedicated to Vietnam Veterans
ABC 27 News
By Samantha Galvez
Published: June 5, 2016

“It’s just a great feeling now after 45 years to actually have somebody come up and say, ‘thank you,’ and shake your hand,” Charlie Bryson, a Vietnam Veteran, said.

YORK, Pa. (WHTM) – More than 3,000 street rods made their way through the York Expo Center this weekend, but one stood out among the rest; a 1946 Chevy with Vietnam Veteran signatures all over it.

“The Vietnam Veterans have a symbol of respect for each other called, ‘welcome home,’ and it’s so nice to meet a veteran that I have never met before from Vietnam to just approach me and say, ‘welcome home.’,” Dennis Dahlinger, a Vietnam Veteran, said.

The truck has more than a thousand signatures on it.
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Pennsylvania VA Was Not Treating Hundreds of Veterans?

Pennsylvania VA Caught Manipulating Data On Patient Care
Daily Caller
MICHAEL VOLPE
Contributor
June 3, 2016

In his initial 2013 review, DeNofrio found that out of 647 patients identified as having a TBI who the hospital said were receiving care 414 were not receiving any care. Out of those left, DeNofrio found that 97 were still in need of follow-up appointments.

The Veteran Affairs Office of Inspector General (VAOIG) is currently investigating the Altoona Pennsylvania VA Medical Center (VAMC) for manipulating data in treating patients with traumatic brain injuries (TBI).

“We have opened a case based on a review of the information you sent to our office,” according to a May 10 email sent to James DeNofrio, an Altoona VAMC employee and whistleblower who originally filed the complaint.

Because veterans who suffer TBIs can develop all sorts of physical and psychological issues ranging from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) to chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) they require specialized care which is provided in polytrauma at the Altoona VAMC.

The problems started in 2013 when Dr. David MacPherson, then the Chief Medical Officer for Veteran Integrated Services Network (VISN) 4, a region which includes the Altoona VAMC, expressed concerns that the number of TBI patients purported to be treated at the Altoona VAMC appeared to be unusually high.

“Altoona reports a very large number of case managed polytrauma Veterans and I don’t think the report is accurate,” Dr. MacPherson said in a 2013 email to Dr. Santha Kurian, the chief of staff of the Altoona VAMC.

A call to VISN 4 was left unreturned and Andrea Young, public affairs officer for the Altoona VAMC said Dr. MacPherson has since retired.

DeNofrio was then tasked with reviewing the TBI files.

According to subsequent emails sent to superiors, DeNofrio found that not only did Altoona VAMC take credit for providing polytraumatic care to patients who were not receiving it — many who the hospital claimed were receiving care had moved to other parts of the country and DeNofrio discovered one was in jail. He also found dozens of veterans with TBI who were receiving no care at all.
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Mom Says "Marines Broke My Son" and Gets Him Help

Get Marty: Veteran’s Mother Pleads For Help For Her Son
CBS Pittsburg
By Marty Griffin
April 28, 2016

“The Marines broke my son. Now I’d like them to fix him,” says Maureen Valenzi.

SEWICKLEY (KDKA) — The mother of a U.S. Marine Corps veteran in an emergency situation reached out to KDKA’s Get Marty.

“The Marines broke my son. Now I’d like them to fix him,” says Maureen Valenzi.

Ian Valenzi served two tours of combat duty in Afghanistan. The Sewickley native returned home with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and a heroin addiction.

“I was in trouble. I was in a bad place. I could have hurt myself,” says Ian.

Ian tried to get help at the VA and became extremely frustrated. He sat in the waiting area for 14 hours.

“I had enough,” Ian said.

KDKA’S Marty Griffin reached out to the director of the VA who got Ian immediate help.

In fact, Ian is now in a specialized treatment program at the VA. He will be there four and a half months.

“They saved my life. If I didn’t come here, I may have been dead,” says Ian.
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Suicide Hits Minnesota National Guard Hard

Suicide hits hard among the ranks of Minnesota National Guard
A father's despair over his son's death in Iraq drives home a suicide crisis for Minnesota National Guard.
Star Tribune
By Mark Brunswick
APRIL 1, 2016

Few organizations have felt the crisis in military suicides more than the Minnesota National Guard. In the past five years, more of its members have died by suicide than all but one state Guard in the country.

Kim Schmit knew her husband was in trouble, that much was clear.

It had been seven years since the Willmar couple’s 26-year-old son, Josh, had been killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq while serving in the Army. Greg Schmit, an 18-year member of the Minnesota National Guard, had found it particularly hard to adjust.

Out of guilt and grief, his life had dissolved into a series of unproductive counseling sessions at the VA. A medley of medications for anxiety, depression and sleeplessness now frequently left him either lethargic or irritable. Contributing to his despair, he contended that the Guard had been unsupportive after Josh’s death and that a few commanders had conspired to ruin his career and have him fired.

Late on a July night last year, Kim would later tell authorities, she was awakened by her husband struggling for breath next to her. She spotted the prescription bottles. All were empty. Within minutes, Greg Schmit, the by-the-book supply sergeant, was rushed to the hospital in a futile attempt to save his life.

Few organizations have felt the crisis in military suicides more than the Minnesota National Guard. In the past five years, more of its members have died by suicide than all but one state Guard in the country. Minnesota’s Guard is the 10th largest state Guard by size. But when it comes to suicide, its 27 deaths rank second only to Pennsylvania’s 30.

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Fort Hood: Col. Andrew Poznick Found Dead Near Carlisle Barracks

Former Fort Hood combat commander found dead near Carlisle Barracks, Pa
Killeen Daily Herald
Jacob Brooks
Herald Staff Writer
March 23, 2016

Spc. Jared Forsyth | U.S. Army

Col. Andrew Poznick

Lt. Col. Andrew Poznick speaks to his troops with 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, in Basrah, Iraq, on July 29, 2011. Poznick was commander of the battalion. On Sunday, March 20, 2016, Poznick was found dead at his residence near Carlisle Barracks, Pa.

A former Fort Hood battalion commander who led 1st Cavalry Division troopers in Iraq during the final months of the Iraq War has died, an Army official confirmed Wednesday.

Col. Andrew Poznick was found dead Sunday at his off-post residence near Carlisle Barracks, Pa., where he was scheduled to soon join the faculty at the Army War College, said Carol Kerr, a spokeswoman for the graduate school that focuses on strategy for its military and civilian students.

“He was going to join the faculty this summer,” said Kerr, adding Poznick was currently pursuing a doctorate at Temple University in Philadelphia as part of an elite Army education program.
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Veteran Marine's Suicide Leaves Family Asking Why

'If it could just help one person:' Parents grapple with answers after son's suicide
Herald Standard
By Alyssa Choiniere
March 13, 2016

She said he sent Facebook messages to about 100 people in his last hours. For the last few weeks, she said, it now seems like he was preparing for suicide. Shortly before he died, he made weekend plans with four different friends. He wasn’t alive to see them through.

Dan Rush, 26, of Uniontown took this photo of himself. He was a Marine veteran who died by suicide in February. (photo courtesy of Ron and Loretta Rush)

Dan Rush hit send on his last text message to his mom nine hours before he was found hanging in Uniontown’s Bailey Park Feb. 6.

“I guess you just don’t get it, Mom,” he said after she encouraged him to seek mental health treatment after his time in the Marine Corps.

The 26-year-old echoed a sentiment shared by many military veterans, particularly those who are struggling to readjust to civilian life. But why Dan chose to end his life is a question his parents ask themselves incessantly but can’t answer.

Why?

Maybe, they theorize, he felt like a failure despite his strides to be the best at everything. Maybe he felt like a misfit in the civilian world. Maybe he was suffering from post-traumatic stress after witnessing something he never shared.

“I’ve gone through it in my head a million times. But I’m going to be going through it for the rest of my life,” said his father, Ron Rush, in a video interview from their Florida home. “As much as I try, I’m never going to know what hurt him so bad.”
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VA Nurse Accused of Being Drunk in Operating Room?

Nurse accused of aiding in emergency surgery at Wilkes-Barre Veterans Administration Medical Center while under the influence of alcohol 
Times Leader
By Joe Dolinsky
February 22nd, 2016

PLAINS TWP. — A registered nurse is accused of assisting in an emergency surgical procedure on a patient at Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center while under the influence of alcohol.

Richard J. Pieri, 59, (removed address) is charged with reckless endangerment, driving under the influence and public drunkenness. A summons was issued for him Monday, according to court documents.

The charges stem from a Feb. 4 incident in which Pieri allegedly staggered into the hospital and struggled through his duties before aiding in the procedure. Pieri was responsible for prepping and retrieving the patient, preparing surgical materials inside the operating room, documenting the procedure and monitoring the subject’s vital signs, according to the affidavit.
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Judge Orders Iraq Veteran to Put Flowers on Grave?

We know most veterans do not get what they need to heal from where they sent and we also know that many self-medicate to get numb. In the following case an Iraq veteran was found guilty of DUI and a woman died. The veteran made a choice to drink and drive. She also made a choice to risk her life in the military. Will she get help in jail to heal? Even if she does what good will it do if she is forced to go to the grave of the woman she killed?

Judge Refuses to Alter Veteran's Sentence in Fatal Crash 
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 
HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. 

Feb 20, 2016

A judge in central Pennsylvania refused to modify the sentence he imposed in a fatal crash, including provisions that the defendant carry the victim's picture and place flowers on her grave. 

Jennifer Sloan, 34, of Cresson, an Iraq war veteran who said she turned to alcohol due to post-traumatic stress disorder, was sentenced in Blair County in December to 2 1/2 to five years in prison in the April 2013 death of 58-year-old Connie Naylor, of Dysart. read more here

Soldier and 14 Year Old Murder Charges After Mom's Body Found

Girl Pleads Guilty to Plotting Mom's Death With Soldier Beau
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ALLENTOWN, Pa.
Feb 11, 2016

A 14-year-old Pennsylvania girl accused of plotting with her soldier boyfriend to kill her mother pleaded guilty Thursday in a deal with prosecutors.

Jamie Silvonek will be sentenced to 35 years to life in prison, the Lehigh County District Attorney's office said.

As part of the deal, Silvonek pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, criminal conspiracy, abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence. She will be eligible for parole after serving 35 years. Silvonek, who was charged as an adult, was accused of conspiring with 21-year-old Army Spc. Caleb Barnes via text to kill her mother in the driveway of her home near Allentown last March, after the three returned from a concert. Barnes stabbed the 54-year-old Cheryl Silvonek then he and the teenager ate at a restaurant and went shopping for gloves, bleach and other cleaning supplies, authorities said.

Police found Cheryl Silvonek's body in a shallow grave a few miles from the Silvonek home. The victim's blood-soaked car was found nearby.
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Iraq Veteran Sammy Vasquez "Undefeated" With PTSD

Vasquez's victory keeps the Pennsylvania product unbeaten after he served two stints in Iraq for the Army and returned with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Boxing has helped Army veteran Sammy Vasquez work through PTSD
LA Times
Lance Pugmire January 21, 2016

"You can't prepare yourself for what you think war is. You see someone you're there with every day, talk about getting home … and then one of them ends up dead. That jacks your brain up … you get a lot of anger, aggression." Sammy Vasquez

Sammy Vasquez is unbeaten in 20 fights, winning 14 of them by knockout.

Undefeated welterweight Sammy Vasquez (20-0, 14 knockouts) and his Saturday night co-main event opponent Aron Martinez of Los Angeles are linked by their desire to win a boxing title one day.

But Vasquez's cause is something more.

"Mine is for America," Vasquez said.

Not only does the Pennsylvania fighter want to discuss his upcoming Fox-televised fight at Staples Center, he feels compelled to open the conversation with a discussion of military service.

Vasquez was 17 when he committed to the idea of joining the Army after being shaken by 9/11 as a younger boy.

He served two duties in Iraq, a 2005-06 stint in which he served on quick-reaction and security teams, and a 2008-09 assignment in which he worked alongside and helped train members of the Iraqi military and police.
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After 26 Years in Army Veteran Killed 9 Days After Retiring

Decorated war veteran with Austin ties killed in crash
American-Statesman
By James Barragan Staff
January 15, 2016

Martinez, 49, had retired from the Army on Dec. 31 and was looking forward to spending more time with friends and family, said his brother Octavio Martinez.

Sgt. 1st Class Carlos Martinez, who was killed in a car crash in Ohio on

Jan. 9. Martinez, who grew up in Austin and was profiled by the American

Statesman, had just retired from the U.S. Army after a 26-year career.

A decorated war veteran who grew up in Austin and had just retired from the U.S. Army after a 26-year career was killed last weekend in a car crash in Ohio.

Carlos Martinez, who was profiled by the American-Statesman in 2006 for his work defusing explosives for the Army, was returning to his Pennsylvania home after a trip to Indiana on Jan. 9 when a Dodge Avenger driving in the opposite direction hit several other cars before going through a grass median and a guardrail and hitting the Toyota Prius that Martinez and his wife were in.

Martinez’s wife, Laura, who was driving the Prius, suffered severe injuries but survived the crash.
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