Fort Hood Murderer Got Paid, Wounded Still Waiting

Just a reminder on how much this all really stinks is this NBC reported Hasan was still getting paid in 2013

A military panel also ordered that Hasan be stripped of his military pay. However that order will not take effect until place 14 days following his sentencing. Hasan will continue to receive his full military salary until Sept. 10.

Earlier this year, NBC 5 Investigates was the first to report that the Department of Defense showed Hasan had been paid about $300,000 after his arrest for the Nov. 5, 2009, shooting.

Disgraceful when you consider the wounded are still waiting.

Fort Hood victim still waiting for injuries to be called ‘combat-related,’ despite Army pledge
FOX
By Catherine Herridge, Pamela Browne
Published November 06, 2015

Manning has received combat-related special compensation under the Purple Heart medal which amounts to $700 a month and a lump sum for back pay.

Six years after the Fort Hood massacre killed 13 and injured more than 30 others, at least one of the survivors says he is still fighting to have his gunshot wounds officially classified as "combat-related injuries," despite a pledge from the Army secretary to provide all possible benefits to the families.

"I hope that this can be fixed. I mean it isn't even necessarily about the benefits anymore, it's just, getting this fixed so I can put this behind me," Shawn Manning told Fox News.

Manning was a staff sergeant when he was shot six times by then Army psychiatrist Nidal Hasan on Nov. 5, 2009. Two bullets remain lodged in his back and leg. Yet he's still seeking the "combat-related" classification for his injuries from a military physical evaluation board.
read more here

Jim Webb Was Right Last Night About A Lot

Some folks seem to think that Jim Webb had a Miss Rhode Island moment in the debate last night when she was asked what the prefect date was.

Naturally the question was not about a date on the calendar but the kind of date she would want to have with a man.

In Webb's case, they seem to forget, when a veteran like Webb thinks about an enemy, it would only be natural for him to think of a real one that was trying to kill him and the Marines he was risking his life with.

Here’s What Happened to Jim Webb’s ‘Enemy’ in Vietnam
Wall Street Journal
Washington Wire
Daniel Nasaw
October 14, 2015

Toward the end of Tuesday night’s Democratic debate in Las Vegas, CNN moderator Anderson Cooper asked the candidates which enemy they had made of whom they were most proud.

Four candidates listed Washington interest groups, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton threw in “Iranians” and “Republicans.” But Mr. Webb, a decorated Marine veteran of the Vietnam War, said, “I’d have to say the enemy soldier that threw the grenade that wounded me, but he’s not around right now to talk to.”

In July 1969, Mr. Webb was a 23-year-old Marine lieutenant leading a platoon through an area of South Vietnam the Americans called the Arizona Valley, on a search-and-destroy mission in hostile territory.
read more here

Good time to clear up a few other things like the fight Webb had to take on because Senators like McCain said the GI Bill was "too generous" for the troops.

Barack Obama/Jim Webb vs John Mccain - Veteran GI Bill


Female veterans are a bit upset too but here's the real story behind women in combat from Webb. Oh, by the way it is from 2006.


Oct 10, 2006
Jim Webb (D-VA) sets the record straight regarding Women in the military.


I watched as much of the debate as I could but since I get up at 4:30, I didn't see all of it. From what I just got caught up with it is apparent that CNN and the rest of the media have decided who they want to be on the ballot. Too bad for them that the election is a year away and Americans are paying attention.


Webb has also been criticized about complaining for not enough time to talk. Turns out he was right.

Jim Webb’s Complaints About Debate Speaking Time, in 150 Words

Our graphics team did a rundown on how many words each candidate spoke during the event, and Mr. Webb finished fourth of the five, at 2,766 words. For comparison’s sake, Hillary Clinton spoke the most, at 5,452 words.

And if you didn't see the movie Miss Congeniality, Miss Rhode Island won.

Vietnam Veteran Takes Debate Stage Tonight

Jim Webb, wild card candidate, steps into the spotlight
Washington Post
By Rachel Weiner
October 13, 2015

Former Virginia senator Jim Webb launched his presidential campaign in July, but it's understandable if you didn't know that: for the past four months, he's kept a low profile, and the polls have reflected it. Tuesday's debate offers his first, best chance to break out of the very low single digits.

Webb is hoping to appeal to Democrats who may feel alienated by both former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders -- in particular, working-class white male voters; he wrote an entire book about the Scots-Irish roots of rural Appalachia. The former Republican's own background is in the military and the Reagan administration; he is far more focused on foreign policy than many of his Democratic rivals -- and the only Democratic candidate opposing President Obama's nuclear agreement with Iran.

read more here

Jim Webb,
Former Senator from Virginia, has been a combat Marine, a counsel in the Congress, an assistant secretary of defense and Secretary of the Navy, an Emmy-award winning journalist, a film-maker, and the author of ten books.

Mr. Webb graduated from the Naval Academy in 1968, receiving a special commendation for his leadership contributions. First in his class of 243 at the Marine Corps Officer’s Basic School, he served as a rifle platoon and company commander in Vietnam and was awarded the Navy Cross, the Silver Star Medal, two Bronze Star Medals, and two Purple Hearts. He graduated from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1975.

Mr. Webb served in Congress as counsel to the House Committee on Veterans Affairs from 1977 to 1981. In 1982 he led the fight to include an African American soldier in the Vietnam Veterans memorial on the National Mall. In 1984 he was appointed Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs, and in 1987 became Secretary of the Navy.

BOOKS
I Heard My Country Calling (2014)
Fields of Fire (1978)
A Sense of Honor (1981)
A Country Such as This (1983)
Something to Die For (1991)
The Emperor’s General (1999)
Lost Soldiers (2001)
Born Fighting (2004)
A Time to Fight (2008)

Iraq Veteran Getting Help After False Report Led to SWAT Standoff

Man in custody after West Toledo standoff 
Toledo Blade
BY MIKE SIGOV BLADE STAFF WRITER
September 7, 2015

Mr. McGranahan had served two tours of duty in Iraq, been wounded in the back, and awarded a Purple Heart. The woman, Shirley Mowery, said her grandson suffered post-traumatic stress disorder, but was not capable of hurting anyone.

Toledo police have identified Donald McGranahan II as the main taken in custody after a standoff with police in West Toledo today.

Shortly after 1 p.m. a police SWAT team led him away from the house in the 1400 block of Gage Road where he’d been holding them at bay for about two hours. He was wearing body armor, police said. Mr. McGranahan, 32, called 911 just after 11 a.m. and said he had just shot his girlfriend at the home and that he had her children tied up in the bathroom, police said.

The caller also allegedly threatened to shoot police, they said.

Police negotiators went to the home, where they later learned the caller’s claims about hurting a woman and children were false.

The woman he mentioned was safe and in another location and no children were at the house or harmed, Toledo Police Lt. Joe Heffernan said.

Toledo Police Chief George Kral said Mr. McGranahan surrendered after negotiators had him speak with his relatives.

After searching the home, police determined no one else was inside and though several loaded firearms were later found in the house, the man had not wielded one during the standoff.
read more here



UPDATE 9/8/2015
Man taken into custody after standoff pleads not guilty

Veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan Ready to Ram

The rookie is a veteran: Aspiring Ram Daniel Rodriguez is battle tested
LA Times
By SAM FARMER
August 26, 2016

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.

Yet Jeff Fisher couldn't help but smile.

The St. Louis Rams coach didn't slam his headset to the ground when rookie Daniel Rodriguez fielded that kickoff nine yards deep in the end zone and, instead of taking the obvious touchback, decided to run it out. Fisher only smiled.

"I was thinking, 'Just let him return it,'" Fisher said. "He's savoring every moment."

First of all, it was only an exhibition game at Oakland. But more important, Rodriguez deserved his moment in the spotlight. OK, so it was miraculous that the 5-foot-8, 180-pound returner was able to get the ball to the 15, but his story is all about miracles anyway.
read more here

SIckening Note on Marine Iraq Veteran's Car in New York

Veteran finds hateful note on car at NY shopping center
WISH TV 8
Rachel Yonkunas
Published: July 31, 2015

QUEENSBURY, N.Y. (NEWS10) – A simple trip to the store ended with a veteran getting a hateful letter left on his car.

When a local Iraq War veteran went shopping Thursday morning, he did not expect to find an anonymous note with ugly language left on his car.

The letter blasted the Marine for having a Purple Heart and serving overseas. It stated, “All of you Islamaphobe vets deserve to die.”

The note has people shaking their heads. Some call the author pathetic.

“It’s just shocking,” Ann Lanoir said. “It’s just ignorant. That’s the way I feel. I feel like some punk wrote it.”

“Makes me sick to my stomach,” Navy veteran Robert LaPrairie said. “To me, it’s an act of terrorism really.”
read more here

Vietnam Veteran Jim Webb Explains What Average Citizen Can Never Understand

To Kill a Man A short story
Politico
By JIM WEBB
July/August 2015

Webb says, that the average civilian can never understand. As he wrote in his 2014 memoir, “I and my fellow combat veterans stand on one side of a great impassable divide, with the rest of the world on the other.”

Long before James Webb became secretary of the Navy or a U.S. senator—or even potentially a 2016 Democratic presidential candidate—he was a 23-year-old Marine fighting in Vietnam’s An Hoa basin, west of the city of Da Nang, as part of the Fifth Marine Regiment.

During his tour as a rifle platoon and company commander, Webb was awarded the Navy Cross, the Silver Star, two Bronze Star Medals and two Purple Hearts for his actions in combat.

An enemy grenade left him with shrapnel lodged in his head, arm, leg and back. Recounting his gritty combat tour during some of the war’s darkest days—in one eight-week period, his rifle platoon suffered 51 Purple Hearts among those killed or wounded—he told an interviewer in 1988, “My greatest feeling in Vietnam was that I was a pawn.”

And when he thought of the other things, he could never forget those who had died and those who had suffered more than he had. These were the true moral paragons, whether or not they ever considered it or knew it. Some had taken blasts of shrapnel. Some had been ripped by gut shots from enemy rifles and machine guns. Some had lost limbs. Some had returned with minds pushed so far over the edge by it all that they could not fully come back, even when they were home, and never would.

All these years later, he still regarded them as his people, his friends, indeed his lifelong comrades, but it had not really started out that way.

The bonds that brought them together and kept them close were powerful and permanent and overwhelming, but they were consequential, not intentional. read more here

ABC US News | World News

Highly Decorated Ranger, Wasn't

Stolen valor can also be a problem among active-duty troops 
Stars and Stripes
By Ashley Rowland
Published: July 5, 2015

Rare are the reports of active-duty servicemembers trying to paint themselves as heroes.

SEOUL, South Korea — Damian Barbee was a model soldier, a highly decorated Ranger with nearly a dozen awards for valor and ribbons recognizing his overseas service.

His story was too good to be true.

In May, the former senior noncommissioned officer was found guilty of lying about items on his service record, including claims he earned a Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Master Parachutist Badge and a valor device on his Army Commendation Medal. Even his Ranger tab was fake.

In addition to being court-martialed for seven false claims of wearing decorations and badges, Barbee also lied to investigators, telling one official he had been awarded the Combat Action Badge in 2002, producing a falsified document as proof.

Barbee, formerly an E-8, was sentenced to hard labor without confinement for three months and given a reduction in rank to staff sergeant.

A groundswell of support for U.S. troops after more than a decade of war has led some to take advantage of that goodwill — lying about military service for adoration and financial gain. The practice is so offensive that it’s punishable by federal law under the Stolen Valor Act, which was signed by President Barack Obama in 2013.
read more here

Jim Webb, Vietnam Veteran Runs for President

UPDATE From China
Former senator and Vietnam veteran Jim Webb to run for president in long-shot bid against Clinton
South China Morning Post

Webb’s opposition to the Iraq War – his son Jimmy served in the conflict – played a central role in his surprise Senate election in 2006 against a Republican challenger. While he chose not to seek re-election after one term, his military and foreign policy credentials could allow him to become a debate stage foil to Clinton, who served as President Barack Obama’s secretary of state.

But he opposed President George W Bush’s decision to invade Iraq in 2003 and was recruited by Democrats to challenge Republican Sen. George Allen in 2006. Webb’s campaign was helped by an anti-Iraq war fervor. click link for the rest

Democrat Jim Webb joins 2016 White House race
FOX News
July 2, 2015

Considered a moderate-to-conservative Democrat who supports gun rights and is strong on defense, Webb contends his candidacy would appeal to a wide swath of voters who feel disenfranchised by Washington politics.

Former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb is jumping into the race for president, becoming the latest Democrat to try for a primary upset over frontrunner Hillary Clinton.

In a message to supporters obtained by Fox News, and later posted on his website, Webb says: "After many months of thought, deliberation and discussion, I have decided to seek the office of the Presidency of the United States."

Webb's entry brings the total number of Democratic presidential candidates to five. Clinton continues to dominate the field, though Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders lately has been gaining in the polls.

But Webb, 69, is cut from a far different political cloth than the independent, socialist-leaning Vermont senator.

A highly decorated Vietnam veteran and former secretary of the Navy under the Reagan administration, Webb had been seriously mulling a presidential run since establishing an exploratory committee in November 2014.

Webb, who is also a war novelist, served under Reagan from 1984 to 1987 but quit after refusing to reduce the size of the Navy during budget talks. He was a U.S. Marine Corps platoon and company commander in Vietnam, earning a Navy Cross, the Silver Star, two Bronze Star Medals and two Purple Hearts for his actions in combat.

read more here

Hasan's Victims Will Finally Get Benefits

Fort Hood attack Purple Heart recipients to get added benefits 
Reuters
April 16, 2015 (Reuters) -

The U.S. Army said on Thursday it will provide additional benefits to the dozens of soldiers awarded Purple Heart medals stemming from a 2009 shooting rampage by an Army psychiatrist at the Fort Hood Army base in central Texas.

The Army also said it would award the Purple Heart medal to a soldier who was killed and another who was wounded in a 2009 attack on a recruiting station in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Three-dozen Purple Heart medals were awarded last week at Fort Hood to wounded survivors and relatives of those killed in the shooting rampage by then-Army Major Nidal Hasan following years of lobbying by politicians and lawyers. read more here

Army Will Give Purple Heart to Chemical Weapons Wounded

Veterans Hurt by Chemical Weapons in Iraq Get Apology 
New York Times
By C. J. CHIVERS
MARCH 25, 2015

The Army has approved a Purple Heart for former Specialist Richard T. Beasley, who was burned by sulfur mustard agent while dismantling a bomb in Iraq.
Credit via Richard T. Beasley

WASHINGTON — The under secretary of the Army on Wednesday apologized for the military’s treatment of American service members exposed to chemical weapons in Iraq, and he announced new steps to provide medical support to those with lingering health effects and to recognize veterans who had been denied awards.

Under Secretary Brad R. Carson acknowledged that the military had not followed its own policies for caring for troops exposed to old and abandoned chemical munitions that had been scattered around Iraq, and he vowed improvement.

He also said that the Army had reversed a previous decision and approved a Purple Heart medal for a soldier burned by sulfur mustard agent, and that he expected more medals to be issued to other veterans after further review.

“To me, the scandal is that we had protocols in place and the medical community knew what they were, and yet we failed in some cases to implement this across the theater,” he said. “That was a mistake, and I apologize for that. I apologize for past actions and am going to fix it going forward.”
read more here

Why Are We Denying Purple Hearts to Veterans With PTSD?

Why Are We Denying Purple Hearts to Veterans With PTSD?
Huffington Post
Gene Beresin
Posted: 03/03/2015

I have seen Arthur for psychiatric care for over 20 years. He suffers from severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following his two tours of duty in Vietnam.

Arthur attended the University of Massachusetts, and graduated in 1969. Although he was drafted upon losing his student waiver, he chose instead to enlist as a volunteer. Soon he was training to deactivate bombs and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in the field.

Although he proved to be quite talented, and ultimately succeeded in saving countless lives, he also experienced failure. No one can detect and suppress every device in the jungle.

Each and every death he witnessed felt like a terrible personal failure. He still dreams of the horrifying scenes he lived through in the war.

To this day, Arthur suffers from PTSD and profound survivor's guilt. While better in many ways, he qualified for total disability based on his diagnosis, and sees me on a regular basis.

Arthur received two Purple Hearts for physical wounds incurred in 1970 and 1971, but was denied Purple Hearts for his traumatic brain injury and PTSD because they were not considered obvious physical wounds at the time.

I appreciate the profound impact PTSD has had on his life--his daily flashbacks, impaired sleep, obsessions over what he could have done to save more lives, extreme vigilance to protect the ones he loves. Not a day goes by that he doesn't question himself.

It defies me that he has not earned Purple Hearts for these long-lasting effects of PTSD--awards to stand beside the two Bronze Star Medals for Valor he received.
read more here

My comment

Great job on the question and calling attention to this subject back up again.

Until people understand that there are different types of PTSD and combat PTSD is different, they will never see it as anything other than an illness. Civilians get PTSD from a long list of traumatic events in their lives but as with different levels, their treatment needs to be based on the cause. The cause of Combat PTSD is military service and it is complicated by the deep connection servicemen and women have to others they serve with. This carries into their lives as veterans.

What we know about PTSD in the civilian world was knowledge gained by veterans coming home from Vietnam and fighting for the research to be done. Strange how they are the last to receive the benefits they obtained for everyone else.

I've read the best experts over the last 30+ years and they point out the differences few others even think about. When folks get that this PTSD is caused by combat, they would have no problem with the Purple Heart any more than they would have issues with TBI caused by service as well. It isn't an illness that was caused by them but something inflicted upon them. There is so much that is done wrong because people still don't know what they should have known years ago. Veterans want healing more than anything else but they can't get it while there is still so many mistakes being made disguised as "doing something" when what works is ignored.

Purple Hearts For Fort Hood Soldiers But What About Longer Lasting Wounds?

Finally Fort Hood Soldiers shot by one of their own will received Purple Hearts.

It has been a long time coming. CNN reported on this effort from Congress back on November 17, 2009.

The bill was introduced by Texas GOP Rep. John Carter, who represents Fort Hood in the House of Representatives.

"As far as I'm concerned, this was an attack by an enemy upon American troops on American soil," Carter said Tuesday at a Capitol Hill news conference.

The Daily Star out of New York reported this yesterday and was shared by Military Times.

The bill "is about giving soldiers the benefits that other soldiers get when they are unfortunate enough to be killed or wounded in a combat zone."

But it was back on domestic soil on Nov. 5, 2009 where he would experience the most dangerous, violent and horrific experience of his military career. It was then that the Texas base from where he was preparing to deploy once again, this time to Afghanistan, became the backdrop for a massacre.

"I can remember it like it was yesterday," Cooke, the divorced father of two young sons, said Wednesday when contacted by The Daily Star at his mother's home near Charlotte, N.C. On that day, Cooke had gone to the Soldier Readiness Center at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas, to deal with matters for his upcoming deployment to Afghanistan.

He never made it to Afghanistan, and he almost didn't make it through that day.

"Matt doesn't trust people anymore because he was shot by one of his own," said Frappier, whose children include two daughters, Christina and Kimberly, the latter a resident of Oneonta. "When he lay on the floor in that building, so many people ran right past him. In his mind, he is going to be shot again."

He was shot by someone he was supposed to trust with his life and as a psychiatrist, in a position where many were supposed to trust him with their mental health. The damage done goes far beyond the bullets and the graves he filled or the number of days the wounded had to face recovering. The aftermath of the Fort Hood massacre is a never ending story of massive failures.

No one has reported on how many soldiers were treated by this terrorist. No one has tried to figure out how many of them committed suicide or died because of medications tied to this man who was responsible for their care. No one investigated how many got divorced, how many families broke apart or how many veterans lost their ability to trust anyone at anytime.


UPDATE
I was thinking about this most of the day and remembered the spike in suicides after this horrible day at Fort Hood.

By September of 2010 Fort Hood reported a record number of suicides with 4 in one weekend. By 2011 suicides at Fort Hood were higher.

Authorities found Giger, 42, of Houston dead in his apartment near Fort Hood, hanging by necktie. He was one of at least 22 GIs from the post to commit suicide in 2010.

The Fort Hood mark is a new record for the post and contributed to the Army’s worst year for suicides. There was, however, a sign of hope in the grim tally. Slightly fewer active-duty soldiers died by their own hand compared with 2009. But there was bad news, too: The number of suicides in the National Guard and Army Reserve rose sharply.

But it got worse and in 2013 there was this report, mostly forgotten to the rest of the news coverage.

While he was not one of the 13 soldiers who lost their lives or the 32 others who were struck by bullets, Josh Berry struggled through years of pain and suffering caused by the attack before he couldn't handle it anymore, family members said.

The Mason native committed suicide on Feb. 13, 2013, a result of years of post-traumatic stress caused by the Fort Hood shooting, according to his father.

Howard Berry knew soon after the attack that his son was a changed man. While it would be several years before he had to endure the pain of burying his son, he believes a part of his son died during the attack.

Will his family get a Purple Heart in his honor as well? Will any of the others?

Iraq Marine Veteran Alan Kissinger Needs Help to Prove TBI and PTSD

Eyewitness News Investigates: A Marine's Pain 
Tri State Homepage
February 19, 2015

Putting yourself at the abyss to serve country, then years recovering from a war injury. What do you have to show for it?

The Purple Heart given to those soldiers who've suffered wounds in combat. It's estimated 1.8 million such honors have been awarded. But there's no number of those servicemen and women who were lost in the process. Eyewitness News found one, still waiting and coping with war's wake.

"I just want to feel like I have meaning again," said Alan Kissinger. "I feel worthless"

Alan Kissinger is a marine.

"I've put on dress blues," said Kissinger. "I've fought for our country. I've watched my friends die."

He's never forgotten.

"Been smiled at by death," said Kissinger, "but I smiled back."

He is a father.

"My daugher was born while I was in Iraq," said Kissinger. "I didn't meet her until she was 6-months-old."

Then came Fallujah, Iraq on June 25, 2007.

"We heard a loud pop," said Kissinger, "a flash, and our truck filled up with smoke, and we got hit by a roadside bomb."

The roadside bomb, in the new millennium know as the improvised explosive device, the I.E.D. Alan Kissinger spent three years in a military barracks for wounded veterans, recovering from the physical wounds. But his soul is still healing, and that is not going well.
read more here

Black Hawk Down Chris Faris Retiring After 31 Years

Top MacDill enlisted leader, veteran of Mogadishu's 'Black Hawk Down' battle, to retire 
Tampa Bay Times
William R. Levesque
Times Staff Writer
Sunday, January 25, 2015

Chris Faris, command sergeant major of U.S. Special Operations Command at MacDill Air Force Base,is retiring at the end of February after 31 years in the military. He is also a co-grand marshal of Gasparilla 2015. Photo courtesy Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino

He acknowledged the battle that cost the lives of 18 U.S. troops and left 73 others wounded is never far from his mind. "I probably think about it two million times a day, every day," Faris said. "You don't go to war without being changed."

TAMPA — Chris Faris was wounded in Mogadishu in 1993 as a member of the elite Delta Force during the battle made famous in the book and film Black Hawk Down. And he has spent nearly six years deployed overseas since 2002, often while on secret missions in the world's most-dangerous places. But the work one of the grand marshals of the 2015 Gasparilla celebration wants to be remembered for is his effort to encourage soldiers to seek the help they might need after returning from war.

Faris is command sergeant major — the top enlisted leader — of U.S. Special Operations Command at MacDill Air Force Base, and has earned seven Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart in his 31 years in the Army. He will retire at the end of February. That, Faris said, is enough.
read more here

Utah Deputy Cleared After Killing Veteran Nicholas McGehee

Sheriff’s deputy justified in shooting armed soldier in Tooele County
FOX 13 Salt Lake
BY ASHTON EDWARDS
JANUARY 16, 2015

“Task Force Marne commanding general, Maj. Gen. Tony Cucolo, shakes hands with, Spc. Nicholas McGehee, a native of Sanford, N.C. and “Golden Dragon” Soldier with 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry, 2nd Advise and Assist Brigade, 25th Infantry Division out of Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, after pinning him with the military’s oldest award still given to servicemembers, The Purple Heart, during a ceremony on Contingency Operating Site Warrior, Kirkuk, Iraq, Oct. 7.”McGehee was shot and killed in an encounter with police in Tooele County on December 28. Image courtesy Defense Video and Imagery Distribution System.

TOOELE, Utah – The Department of Public Safety said the Tooele County deputy who shot and killed a man in Stansbury Park was justified in using deadly force.

Back on Dec. 28, Sgt. Eli Wayman shot 28-year-old Nicholas Ryan McGehee.

The incident started when McGehee’s wife Kathryn called authorities about her husband who was intoxicated, had stepped on some glass and needed help.

Deputies went to the home near Aberdeen Lane and Merion Dr. after Kathryn told the 911 dispatcher her husband was armed with a shotgun.

When Sgt. Wayman saw McGehee with the shotgun, he told him to put down the gun and talk.

At that point McGehee went back into the house and slammed the door.

During the altercation Sgt. Wayman told McGehee at least three times to drop his weapon but he didn’t listen.

Officials said McGehee ended up pointing his gun at Sgt. Wayman which forced him to shoot.
read more here

Utah Iraq Veteran Killed by Police

At the end of Rose Parade, keys wait for Purpe Heart Veteran

Rose Parade 2015: Retired Army veteran surprised with new home at end of parade 
Pasadena Star News
San Gabriel Valley Tribune
Richard Irwin
January 1, 2015

Retired Army Sgt. Dominic Perrotte III and his family receive a “key” to their new home from Wells Fargo. Photo Courtesy Wells Fargo

Thursday’s Rose Parade centered on lives reflecting the theme of “Inspiring Stories.” Leading the way was posthumous Grand Marshal Louis Zamperini whose amazing life is chronicled in the recently released Angelina Jolie film “Unbroken.”

Other American heroes with inspiring stories in the parade, ranged from wounded veterans and organ donors to Special Olympians and plucky high school musicians.

But only one hero received the keys to a new home. That was retired Army Sgt. Dominic Perrotte III. He thought he was only riding in the 126th Rose Parade as a representative of American service men and women around the world. But Perrotte and his family got much more, when Wells Fargo and Company and the Military Warriors Support Foundation gave him a mortgage-free home in Virginia.

The family learned of the gift in a ceremony at the end of the Rose Parade. Tim Sloan, senior executive vice president of Wells Fargo, presented the teary-eyed family with a large red ceremonial house key.

“In honor of your service, Wells Fargo and the Military Warriors Support Foundation would like to present you with the 200th home that Wells Fargo has provided to veterans since 2013,”

Sloan said as Kayla grabbed her husband’s arm and began to cry. “Sgt. Perrotte, Kayla, here’s the key to your new home in Hampton, Virginia, thank you for your service.”
read more here

Vietnam Veteran wondered "whatever happened to his Army friend"

Two Army vets reclaim friendship after discovering they were neighbors
ABC News
Jane Park
Dec 26, 2014

The pieces began falling together late October when Peggy noticed Roger was a wounded vet. She saw the Purple Heart logo on his license plate. Then she noticed the baseball cap visible from the back window of Roger’s car that read, “9th Infantry.” It was the same infantry Dave had served in.

BERKLEY (WXYZ) - October 6, 1966.

It was the day Roger Watson was drafted, and the day he met a friend who never quite left his memory - Dave Brown.

Dave remembers Roger too.

Both men were from northwest Detroit and went through basic Army training together in Fort Hood, Texas.

They became fast friends. Then they went home for a month before serving in Vietnam.

“After that, we never did see one another,” Dave recalls.

Dave had heard that Roger was wounded early in his tour, but never learned if he had survived.

After returning home, Roger got married, had kids and settled down on Franklin Road in Berkley. He would wonder, from time to time, whatever happened to his Army friend, Dave.
read more here

After Fort Hood Massacre Soldiers May Finally Get Justice

House Passes Fort Hood Purple Heart Legislation
Senate expected to pass bill, pass to President Obama
NBC 5 News
December 4, 2014

Congressman Roger Williams (R-TX25) and Congressman John Carter (R-TX31) released a statement Thursday saying the House was sending legislation to the Senate that will make victims of the 2009 shooting at Fort Hood eligible for the Purple Heart.

According to the statement, the Senate is supportive of the House legislation and is expected to pass the bill next week and send it on to President Barack Obama.

The language providing those injured in the massacre Purple Heart status was included in the FY15 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) conference agreement.

The NDAA adjusts the Purple Heart criteria so that service members and civilians who experience an attack inspired by terrorism, receive the appropriate awards and recognition, the statement said. The language awards the Purple Heart to service members who are victims of an attack that was inspired or motivated by a U.S. State Department-designated foreign terrorist organization.
read more here



We face it all with a blend of bitterness and hope for justice. Hope that the American public will care enough when they know what has been going on to actually do something instead of settling for anything as if it is better than nothing. 

Denton native Zackary Filip, who was named 2010 Soldier of the Year by Army Times, said he was harassed and belittled when he sought help with his post-traumatic stress disorder at the Fort Hood Warrior Transition Unit.
(Vernon Bryant/Staff Photographer)

Ohio Voters Put Firefighters Out of Work Including Wounded Veteran

Layoffs At Franklin Township Fire Department Include Decorated Iraq War Veteran
10 News
Kevin Landers
November 6, 2014

Voters overwhelmingly rejected a Franklin Township fire levy.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Paul Shambaugh grew up on the west side Columbus and when he returned home from serving two tours in Iraq, he says he wanted to help the people he grew up with.

His dream died, when the fire levy failed Tuesday night.

The former Marine infantryman calls the whole situation frustrating. “Here I am, come beginning January, probably laid off tell my wife we may not have health benefits, not getting paid.”

He says watching his injured fellow Marines on the battlefield and feeling helpless are reasons why he wanted to be a medic in his hometown. “There was nothing more than I wanted to do was to help people here," Shambaugh explains.
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