Show of Support for Wounded Warrior Regiment Marines

Motorcade of Marines to head for Keowee Key 
Public encouraged to line up along route, show appreciation
WYFF News
Myra Ruiz
June 22, 2015

The public is invited to line the route of a motorcade to show appreciation for visiting combat Marines.

EASLEY, S.C. —An annual event aimed at showing appreciation for combat Marines will kick off today, and the public is invited to participate.

Honoring Their Service is an event which provides much-needed rest and relaxation for visiting Marines in the Keowee Key community.

This year, about 40 Marines from Camp Lejeune, N.C., and the South Carolina Wounded Warrior Regiment are expected to attend. 

The event begins with a motorcade that starts in Easley, goes through downtown Seneca before ending at Lake Keowee. Businesses along the route have been encouraged to place a "Welcome" or "Thank You" message on any electronic sign they may have.
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This is about Marine Corps Wounded Warrior Regiment and not the "project"

Army
Wounded Warrior Program
Navy
Wounded Warrior Safe Harbor
Air Force
Air Force Wounded Warrior Program

"Act of Hate" 9 Dead At South Carolina Church

9 people including church pastor, State Sen. Clementa Pinckney, fatally shot at historic black church in Charleston
AOL News
June 18, 2015

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) -- A white man opened fire during a prayer meeting inside a historic black church in downtown Charleston on Wednesday night, killing nine people, including the pastor, in an assault that authorities described as a hate crime. The shooter remained at large Thursday morning.

Police Chief Greg Mullen said he believed the attack at the Emanuel AME Church was a hate crime, and police were looking for a white male in his early 20s. Mullen said the scene was chaotic when police arrived, and the officers thought they had the suspect tracked with a police dog, but he got away.

Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley called the shooting "the most unspeakable and heartbreaking tragedy." "The only reason that someone could walk into a church and shoot people praying is out of hate," Riley said. "It is the most dastardly act that one could possibly imagine, and we will bring that person to justice. ... This is one hateful person."

State House Minority leader Todd Rutherford told The Associated Press that the church's pastor, state Sen. Clementa Pinckney, was among those killed.
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Court Overturns Justice for National Guard Soldiers

Court overturns $85 million award for Oregon soldiers
AP
By Steven Dubois
May 14, 2015

A federal jury in Portland found KBR guilty of negligence after a three-week trial in late 2012. Each of the 12 soldiers was awarded $850,000 in noneconomic damages and $6.25 million in punitive damages.

PORTLAND, Ore. — The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned an $85 million jury award to a dozen Oregon National Guard soldiers who said they were sickened from guarding a water treatment plant during the Iraq War.

The military contractor Kellogg, Brown and Root successfully argued that Oregon was not the proper jurisdiction for the case. KBR is based in Houston, and similar cases filed by soldiers from Indiana, West Virginia and South Carolina are pending in federal court there.

“We are thrilled with the result; it is the right result and we look forward to a successful conclusion to this and all the legacy tort claims that relate to KBR’s work supporting the U.S. military in Iraq,” KBR attorney Geoffrey Harrison said by phone Thursday.
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Woman Killed in South Carolina Random Shooting

South Carolina woman killed in random shooting by former Soldier who claims PTSD
Examiner.com
Susy Raybon
April 4, 2-15

At 1:30 p.m. Thursday afternoon, Lynn Michelle Harrison was randomly gunned down on her way to have lunch with her son. In what appears to be a random act of violence, Harrison, 57, was shot in the neck while at a traffic light in Summerville, South Carolina. She died at the scene.

Adding to the tragedy, yesterday the shooter, Jimi Redman, Jr.,32, a felon from Fort Worth, Texas, said he is a former Army Soldier who is suffering from PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder. When he appeared in bond court, his body language, on video released yesterday, (broadcast locally) seemed unapologetic for the senseless killing.
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Navy Chaplain Faces Charges for Being Intolerant

Chaplain faces possible discharge for being 'intolerant'
Military Times
By Andrew Tilghman, Staff writer
March 11, 2015

"The Navy values, and protects in policy, the rights of its service members, including chaplains, to practice according to the tenets of their faith and respects the rights of each individual to determine their own religious convictions,"

Chaplain Lt. Cmdr. Wesley Modder, second from right, offers an invocation during a 9/11 commemoration ceremony in San Diego in 2012. Modder is at the center of a controversy over religious freedom in the military.
(Photo: MC2 Benjamin Crossley/Navy)

A Pentecostal chaplain once assigned to elite Navy SEAL units may be kicked out of the Navy for allegedly scolding sailors for homosexuality and premarital sex.

Lt. Cmdr. Wesley Modder was given a "detachment for cause" letter on Feb. 17 after his commanders concluded that he is "intolerant" and "unable to function in the diverse and pluralistic environment" of his current assignment at the Navy Nuclear Power Training Command in South Carolina.

Modder denies any wrongdoing and is fighting the dismissal with attorneys from the Liberty Institute, which advocates for religious expression in the military and in public institutions. Modder has served more than 19 years and could lose his retirement benefits if the Navy convenes a board of inquiry and officially separate him before he completes 20 years of service.

Navy Capt. Jon Fahs, NNPTC commander, cited several specific incidents in which Modder offered inappropriate counseling to sailors in the command, according to the detachment for cause letter. The letter states that Modder:

Told a female that she was "shaming herself in the eyes of god" for having premarital sex.

Told another student that homosexuality was wrong and that "the penis was meant for the vagina and not for the anus."

Suggested to a student that he, Modder, had the ability to "save" gay people.

"Berated" a student for becoming pregnant while not married.

Commanders felt that allowing vulnerable sailors to be counseled by Modder is "a recipe for tragedy," according to the letter.

The issue arose after multiple sailors filed equal opportunity complaints about Modder with the command, alleging discrimination.
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OEF OIF 5 Tours, Marine's Home Hit By Thieves

Reports: Retired marine's home stripped bare in theft
FOX News Carolina
By Derek Dellinger
Posted: Jan 22, 2015

GREENVILLE, SC (FOX Carolina) Donald Taylor's luck just hasn't been good when it has come to his home.

There's been problem after problem, he said, leading him to finally vacate the home late last year due to a foreclosure with belongings still in the home.

Taylor said he, his wife and son went to visit family while the issues with the bank settled down. Just as the retired Marine's finances were getting good and they were able to move back in last month, they were hit with another setback - his home had been stripped bare of nearly everything of value. 

"When we walked in there was stuff everywhere. There was glass, no appliances, no door hinges, no doors, they were all taken down," Taylor said.

Inside his home near Furman University, it's a mess. There is damage to sheet rock from power wires being stripped, along knobs and faucets removed from baths, showers and sinks.
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Gringe Landlord says Soldier can't stay with wife and new baby for holidays

Visiting soldier can’t stay in wife’s SC apartment, landlord says
BY CNN WIRE
DECEMBER 12, 2014

CENTRAL, S.C. — A soldier returning home for the holidays to see his wife and newborn baby in South Carolina is being kicked out of his wife’s apartment after the landlord said he is overstaying the time allowed for visitors, reported WHNS.

Sergeant William Bolt is stationed in Missouri, but his wife has been in Central, S.C. She gave birth to their daughter two weeks ago.

Bolt said the landlord at The Groves apartment complex in Central told him he had overstayed, saying visitors are not allowed to stay in the apartments past seven days, per the agreement signed by Bolt’s wife, Lily.

“I’m stationed in Missouri and we haven’t seen each other in six months. What’s the problem with me staying and visiting with my wife?” Bolt said.
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Capt. William H. DuBois killed in F-16 Crash

Department of Defense
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Release No: NR-599-14
December 02, 2014

DoD Identifies Air Force Casualty
The Department of Defense announced today the death of an Airman who was supporting Operation Inherent Resolve.

Capt. William H. DuBois, 30, of New Castle, Colorado, died Dec. 1 when his F-16 aircraft crashed near a coalition air base in the Middle East. He was assigned to the 77th Fighter Squadron, Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina.

US Air Force pilot killed when F-16 crashes in Middle East
FOX News
December 1, 2014

The U.S. military is investigating the death of an Air Force pilot following the crash of an F-16 plane returning to its base in the Middle East Sunday night.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) issued a statement Monday saying the pilot was killed when the F-16 Fighting Falcon crashed in a non-combat-related incident. The aircraft was returning to its base shortly after takeoff, the statement said.

While CENTCOM said the crash did not happen in Iraq or Syria, there were no further details on the exact location of the base. First-responders were still on the scene Monday.

The pilot has not been named, but it’s standard U.S. military policy to defer identification until 24 hours after next-of-kin notification.
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Service Dogs Serving Veterans With PTSD

Service Dogs Helping Veterans With PTSD
WLTX News
Clark Fouraker
November 14, 2014

Sgt. Willie Roberts (ret.) and RC

(Photo: WLTX)

Columbia, SC (WLTX) - After 7 combat deployments, mostly to Iraq and Afghanistan, retired Army Sergeant Willie Roberts has some hard memories.

"I'm trying to keep it together here because it just makes me think about stuff," Roberts said during our interview.

When symptoms from his Post Traumatic Stress Disorder begin to show, his therapy dog "RC" goes to work.

"These dogs don't cure PTSD, but they give them the necessary tools to start being a real active, valuable member of our community," said Jen Rogers of the Palmetto Animal Assisted Life Services or PAALS.

"Right now the VA is trying conduct studies to determine wether or not, statistically, if these veterans are benefitting from this tool of a PTSD service dog," Rogers said.

The study is important because right now the VA doesn't reimburse therapy dogs according to Rogers.

"80% of the people on our wait list are local veterans that need this help and we haven't even brought everyone home yet," she said.
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This is the reason the VA should approve of PTSD Service Dogs.

History of Therapy Dogs • 1976: Elaine Smith RN started a systematic approach to use and training • Smiths dogs visited institutions with a noted physiological effect on the patients: – Lower Blood Pressure – Stress Relief – Raising Spirits – Overcoming psychological disorders

Think about how long they have been used.

Iraq veteran second chance taking care of Mom with $1 million

Iraq veteran 'taking care of mom' with $1M SC lottery win
The State.com
October 30, 2014

A Charleston man was fixing lunch when he got a call from the South Carolina Education Lottery yesterday saying he won $1 million.

When he hung up the phone, he turned off the stove and called his mom. “We need to talk,” he said.

The Iraqi veteran entered about five or so non-winning tickets in the Lottery’s Millionaire Madness Second-Chance Drawing and then completely forgot about them. One of those tickets was selected from more than 525,000 entries received to win the $1 million prize, according to a release from the South Carolina Education Lottery.

“I thought it was a practical joke,” he said, until he checked the Lottery’s website and saw the winner was from Charleston and the number that called him was registered to the Lottery.
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Sgt. Maj. Paul Archie talks about career and what happened besides viral video

Sgt. Major speaks out: 'My career was defaced'
Marine Corps Times
By Hope Hodge Seck
Staff writer
October 27, 2014


Sgt. Maj. Paul Archie was fuming.

All day Marines had been coming to him with questions about a man who stood protesting outside Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina, wearing the distinctive drill instructor’s campaign cover, known affectionately as a “Smokey Bear.” Like the Marines he spoke with, Archie felt that wearing the uniform item in a political protest was inappropriate and even against official regulations.

When he confronted Marine vet and former drill instructor Ethan Arguello, the heated exchange was caught on video by another protester. The 32-second clip that showed the two nose-to-nose in a shouting match was uploaded to YouTube and went viral, watched by more than 200,000 people.


The firestorm of news coverage the video created, coupled with third-degree assault charges pressed by Arguello that were later dropped, would ultimately result in Archie’s resignation from his post as sergeant major for Parris Island and the Eastern Recruiting District, along with his retirement from the Marine Corps soon after.
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PTSD Army Veteran Caught in New York Police Gun Fight

Army Vet and Family in Town for Funeral Get Caught in Police Shooting
DNA Info New York
By Eddie Small
October 1, 2014

Mercado Jr., 48, a contracting specialist at the VA Hospital in Columbia, South Carolina, said he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after serving in the Army from April 1985 through May 2005, a time period that included stints in Somalia and Kosovo.

MOTT HAVEN — A South Carolina family's trip to New York City for a funeral turned into chaos Monday afternoon when they got caught in a police-involved shooting and narrowly missed getting struck by the gunfire.

The fusillade left them with a gaping bullet hole in the hood of the car they were driving and left one of the family members, an Army vet suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, "in a state of panic" because of how close the gunfire came to him, they explained.

Around 5:45 p.m., officers on patrol by East 145th Street and College Avenue started chasing a 20-year-old man who they saw shooting a gun a block away, but the suspect then started running toward and pointing his gun at them, police said.
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South Carolina’s Day of Recognition for Veterans’ Spouses and Families

Veterans, families join in bill signing
Herald Online.com
BY DON WORTHINGTON
September 12, 2014

“All military wives deserve this day,” said Gino Del Buono of Rolling Thunder and a Navy veteran of 30 years.

Gov. Nikki Haley signs the bill designating the day after Thanksgiving as a day of recognition for veterans’ families. S.C. Rep. Raye Felder (in black jacket, red blouse) stands behind Haley. York County veteran Harvey Mayhill (in suit with patriotic tie) standing to the right the governor.
PROVIDED BY S.C. REP. RAYE FELDER — Provided by S.C. Rep. Raye Felder

As state holidays go, it won’t be a day of parades or grand speeches.

But on South Carolina’s Day of Recognition for Veterans’ Spouses and Families – the day after Thanksgiving – there should be more than just a day of thanks, say those who advocated for the day. It should be a day of action and not words, they say.

Gov. Nikki Haley celebrated the new state day of recognition on Friday with a ceremonial signing of a bill that passed through the Legislature unanimously on its second try this year.

Surrounding Haley at the bill signing in Columbia were veterans and their families.

Spouses and their families, said Harvey Mayhill, an Air Force veteran and Rock Hill resident, “are pretty much alone without support,” when loved ones are deployed.

They go through “just as much hell as veterans deployed,” Mayhill said. “They are veterans in a different way that support this country.”
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South Carolina Wounded 101st Veteran Stunned by Community

Wounded Army veteran surprised with free home in Port Royal 
Island Packet
BY MATT MCNAB
September 10, 2014

U.S. Army Sgt. Lynn "Allan" Holland and his family got the surprise of a lifetime Wednesday in Port Royal -- a new, free house.

Looking at the future site of his home in the Shadow Moss development, Holland could muster only one word: "Wow."

The veteran, injured in combat in Afghanistan in 2012, and his family found out at a ceremony in the development Wednesday that they will receive a mortgage-free home in the coming months.

"It's awesome," Holland said. "It's changed our lives."
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Packet and Gazette News Video

Published on Sep 10, 2014
U.S. Army Sgt. Lynn "Allan" Holland and his family found out on Wednesday afternoon that he and his family are being given a new Centex home at the Shadow Moss community. The home will be built mortgage free by the PulteGroup, Inc.’s Built to Honor program in partnership with Operation Finally Home.

Vietnam Veteran Healing PTSD with Sea Knight

Patriots Point helicopter brings Vietnam vet face to face with war traumas
The Post and Courier
Schuyler Kropf
Aug 30 2014

Tinley had a lot to overcome. There was survivor's guilt and most nagging on his conscience was that the body of a very close friend was taken out with him on that 1967 flight.

"The more you actually confront something, the more it helps you," said Roger Tinley, whose treatment for PTSD involves visits to the same type helicopter - a twin-rotor Sea Knight undergoing refurbishment at Patriots Point - that airlifted him to safety after being wounded in Vietnam in 1967.
WADE SPEES/STAFF

The nightmare that haunts Vietnam War veteran Roger Tinley is anchored around the helicopter ride that saved his life.

On April 21, 1967, Tinley was part of a group of young Marines sent to reinforce the Que Son District of Vietnam. It was not a good day for the Americans. They faced heavy numbers of North Vietnamese and casualties ran high.

Tinley, a radio operator, was wounded by a grenade in the close-quarter fighting and spent that night helping to fend off the attacking forces as best that he and the rest of his group of Marine riflemen could.

When the shooting finally stopped, Tinley was medically evacuated on a CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter, the familiar tube-shaped workhorse chopper that's carried aloft by two giant whirling rotors.

But Tinley wasn't alone on the flight out. The bodies of eight other Marines killed in the fighting were packed inside with him. "Why me?" Tinley thought to himself as the ride's only survivor.

Decades would pass until he faced the chopper again.
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VA drink refill cost veteran $525

SC man fined $525 for not paying for drink refill
WBTW
Posted: Apr 17, 2014

CHARLESTON, S.C.
An 89 cent drink refill that went unpaid is costing a South Carolina man $525. It happened at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Charleston. The Medical Center has signs posted saying drink refills are not free.

Christopher Lewis of North Charleston refilled his drink Wednesday, but neglected to pay. A federal police officer gave him a ticket that carries a fine of $525. Lewis said he tried to pay for it right then and there, but wasn't allowed to. Instead he was given the ticket and reportedly told not to return to the property.
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UPDATE
"In reviewing the case, the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center has determined a warning in lieu of a citation is sufficient in this case," hospital spokeswoman Tonya Lobbestael said. "The individual is not banned from the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center."

Apartment house on fire, quick actions, military training, saved lives

Marine Saves Lives in Apartment Fire
Marine Corps News
by Cpl. Sarah Cherry
Feb 28, 2014

Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort -- Just past midnight, in the dark early morning hours of Feb. 17, Lance Cpl. Tad Steadman and his friend Mike Hassan were working on their cars outside the Westbury Mews Apartments in Summersville, S.C., when Steadman, an air traffic controller aboard Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, noticed something wrong.

A small fire was beginning on the second story of the 900 block of the apartment building.

"I saw it’d started jumping up to the third deck," said Steadman, who immediately directed Hassan to call 911 and ran into the building. "I ran straight to the second story to the apartment it started in and started banging on the door. My first thought process was getting everyone out."

As Hassan, a former soldier, spoke with emergency services on the phone, Steadman continued alerting residents moving next to the apartment directly above the fire. Soon he was joined by Hassan and helped clear people out of the building.

"Military mode kicked in," Hassan said. "We were yelling 'fire, fire, fire' and 'get out.'"
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DIsabled Vietnam veteran shot by police reaching for his cane

Sheriff: Man reaching for cane shot during traffic stop
WSOC News
By Greg Suskin and Trish Williford
Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2014

CLOVER, S.C. — The York County sheriff has reviewed the dash cam video of an officer-involved shooting, and placed the deputy responsible on paid leave during the investigation.

Deputy Terrance Knox, 24, stopped Bobby Canipe, 70, of Lincolnton, Tuesday night in Clover, for an expired tag. Deputies said Canipe got out of his truck and grabbed a walking cane out of the bed of his pickup. The deputy thought the cane was a weapon.

Knox fired his gun at Canipe several times, striking him once in the stomach area. Close friends said Canipe had surgery Wednesday at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, and is expected to survive.

Eyewitnesses told Channel 9 they saw the sheriff's car moments before the shooting, parked in parking lot on 321.
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Two Tour Iraq Veteran Murdered While Celebrating Birthday

Rodney Jermaine Nesbitt was shot and killed while out celebrating his 29th birthday
The Greenville News
Anna Lee
February 24, 2014

GREENVILLE, S.C. — A U.S. Army veteran who survived a tour of duty in Iraq was killed early Saturday morning in South Carolina while out celebrating his 29th birthday, his father said.

Rodney Jermaine Nesbitt and another person were found shot inside of a Chevrolet Tahoe in Greenville, S.C., early Saturday morning. They were shot after authorities received reports of an altercation at a business in the area.

"He had a big heart," said Kenneth Fields, Nesbitt's father. "Everyone that you talked to always said how nice he was."

Nesbitt was shot in the head and died at the scene, said Greenville County (S.C.) Coroner Parks Evans. The other person was wounded, but authorities have not released much information about that person.

The shooting is being investigated as a homicide.
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Homicide claims life of Fort Carson soldier

Colorado Springs' third homicide victim was Fort Carson soldier
The Gazette
By Sue McMillin and Andrea Sinclair
Published: February 5, 2014

The man who died in a stabbing Tuesday has been identified as Brandon Alfonzo Jones, a 25-year-old Fort Carson soldier, officials said Wednesday.

The El Paso County Coroner's Office has ruled his death a homicide, Colorado Springs police said in a release.

This marks the city's third homicide this year.

The stabbing occurred during a disturbance about 3:30 p.m. at an apartment complex at 1230 Encinitas Point, off South Academy Boulevard and Westmeadow Drive, police said.

Jones, from Columbia, S.C., joined the Army in March 2012 and completed a one-year deployment to Afghanistan in August of last year, according to military records.
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