Oregon Iraq Veteran Combat Medic Faces Judge--May Get Justice

Former combat medic admits robbing credit union in Eugene
Former military medic Jace Heney is to be sentenced Jan. 20 after pleading guilty to robbing a credit union
The Register Guard
By Jack Moran
OCT. 15, 2015

A former military combat medic who pleaded guilty on Wednesday to robbing a credit union near downtown Eugene in November told a judge that he committed the crime during a period in which he used hard drugs to alleviate the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Heney admitted being the person who robbed an Oregon Community Credit Union branch at 488 E. 11th Ave. on Nov. 4. The robber handed a teller a demand note and later fled after taking $1,800, according to an investigator’s affidavit filed in court.

Authorities circulated surveillance photos of the robber and subsequently received several tips from members of the public who said they thought the man depicted in the images was Heney, according to the affidavit.

Aiken thanked Heney for his military service and asked that he and Weintraub, as well as the federal prosecutor handling the case, contact officials with a federal Veterans’ Court program in Virginia to get an idea of how cases similar to Heney’s are handled there.
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Marine From Virginia Dead After Gunfire With State Police in Michigan

Member of Marines dies after gunfire on Drummond Island
Associated Press
September 25, 2015

DRUMMOND TOWNSHIP, Mich. — State police say two federal agents were helping search for a missing member of the U.S. Marines when they exchanged gunfire with him on northern Michigan’s Drummond Island.

Hours later Thursday, state police found 38-year-old Aaron Andrew Furness of Woodbridge, Virginia, dead inside a remote cabin. Police say Friday the cause is under investigation.
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UPDATE

Marine died of self-inflicted wound after firing at agents on Michigan island
MLIVE,com
By John Tunison
September 29, 2015

MICHIGAN -- A 38-year-old U.S. Marine died of a self-inflicted injury after firing upon federal agents who were looking for him last week on Drummond Island

State police on Tuesday, Sept. 29 said an autopsy confirmed the cause of death for Aaron Andrew Furness, 38, of West Bloomfield.

Furness was a U.S. Marine gunnery sergeant based at Quantico, Va.

His obituary indicates he served 19 years in the Marines and was deployed for several months in 2007 and 2008 in Iraq.
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Guardians At the Wall In Salem Virginia

Veterans guard Vietnam Veterans Memorial traveling replica in Salem
WDBJ 7 News
Shayne Dwyer
Sep 18, 2015

Volunteers known as the Guardians of the Wall make sure that the wall, and the more than 58,000 souls listed on it, are never alone. Half of the guardians are veterans.

SALEM, Va.
The Wall That Heals, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial traveling half-scale replica, is continuing its tour in our area. Organizers said a couple thousand people have already come to see it -- and while those people look on, there is a special group of people helping out.

They're called the Guardians of the Wall, and their job is to help people explore the wall and its history. Official duties include helping people find names, while unofficial duties include making new friends and exchanging war stories.

"They kneel down and they touch it, and you can feel their heartache when you see them crying," Army Veteran and guardian Richard Simms said.

At lease one guardian is with the wall twenty-four hours a day to make sure that the wall is never alone.

"It's the most important job because they are the first folks that visitors see when they come to visit the wall," Col. John R. Miller, Stonewall Jackson Chatper of the Associaiton Of The U.S. Army President said. "They are the face of the wall."
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Missing In America's Bill Henry Killed in Motorcycle Crash

Motorcycle crash kills advocate for Nebraska veterans
LINCOLN JOURNAL STAR
By ZACH PLUHACEK
8 hours ago

Bill Henry, an Army paratrooper during the Vietnam War who became an advocate for Nebraska veterans, died Monday of injuries suffered in an Aug. 30 motorcycle crash in Virginia.

This spring, Henry lobbied the Nebraska Legislature to enact a bill making it easier for funeral homes to turn over the unclaimed cremains of veterans to groups like Missing in America Project, which has a Nebraska chapter co-founded by Henry. The legislation passed without opposition.

Henry, 69, also assisted the Department of Veterans Affairs and Heroes of the Heartland Foundation to help veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, something he struggled with himself following three tours in Vietnam.

"He had control of his demons, and he was there to help the other soldiers," said Larry Schaber, a friend and co-founder of the Nebraska Missing in America Project chapter.

The day of the crash, Henry was part of a convoy escorting six veterans' cremains from California to be interred at Arlington National Cemetery. Henry stopped to take a picture, hopped back on his 2010 Victory Cross Country and tried to catch up.
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Preventing Military Suicides Won't Happen Without Change

Army works to prevent suicide through education, intervention
US Army Homepage
By Kate J. Ray, RN, Behavioral Health, Kenner Army Health Clinic
September 3, 2015

FORT LEE, Va. (Sept. 3, 2015) -- The International Association for Suicide Prevention and the World Health Organization will observe World Suicide Prevention Day, Sept. 10, with the theme "Preventing Suicide: Reaching Out and Saving Lives."

This observance acts as a call to action to both individuals and organizations that suicide can be prevented through education and intervention.

The Army has been concerned about suicide since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in 2008 that the rate of suicide among Army service members was nearly double the civilian rate. This led to the largest military-based mental health study ever undertaken, which involved the Army partnering with the National Institute of Mental Health to study the factors leading to Soldiers ending their own lives.

This year, some of the data from the "Army Study to Assess Risk and Resiliency in Service members," or STARRS, was released, and it is helping to drive changes in the way the Army views suicide.

Several risk factors for suicide occur among civilian and military populations including: an existing diagnosis of depression or severe anxiety; recent behavioral health hospitalization; alcohol or substance abuse; chronic pain or a serious medical condition; experiencing a highly stressful life event; relationship conflicts; and bullying at work or among peers.

In addition, Army STARRS showed some military-specific risk factors - i.e. being an enlisted Soldier, having a recent demotion or having deployed - put troops at a higher risk for suicidal acts. The Virginia Department of Health reports veterans account for 22 percent of all suicide victims in Virginia older than 18.
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Vietnam War Hero Fighting Low Name Recognition Run for President?

"Fighting low name recognition on the national stage" seemed really odd to read after years of hearing about Jim Webb. After all, if you're a veteran receiving a college education, he's part of the reason. He's done a lot for veterans and not afraid to fight against the establishment. So why would this man with his record be such and unknown? Is it the press? Is it the Super Pacs?

Jim Webb: Money 'screwing up' political process
Richmond Times Dispatch
BY MARKUS SCHMIDT
August 21, 2015

RICHMOND — Democratic presidential candidate Jim Webb said Friday that Super PAC money is "really screwing up the political process" and that it affects his campaign's ability to get his message out.

"The challenge that we have right now in the current political environment, money dominates the process like it never has before," said Webb, who served as a U.S. senator from Virginia from 2007 until 2013, on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."

Webb said he was concerned with the buying power of Super PACs that are funneling most of the $388 million spent on the election this year into the race. Unlike the candidates, PACs are allowed to accept unlimited contributions in support of candidates from almost any source.

"I don’t believe that Super PACs are ethically supportable concepts," Webb said. "That money ... is affecting our ability to get out and talk."

Webb also cited reports that less than 400 families nationwide are responsible for almost half the money raised in the 2016 presidential campaign — an unprecedented concentration of political donors.

Webb, 69, a highly decorated Marine rifle platoon and company commander in Vietnam, former Navy secretary, lawyer and book author, announced his White House bid in early July. Since, he has run a quiet but focused campaign, offering a sometimes moderate and at other times hawkish alternative to his fellow Democratic contenders, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Martin O'Malley, the former governor of Maryland.

Fighting low name recognition on the national stage and struggling to move beyond his single-digits in the polls, Webb is still optimistic that he will become a more visible candidate once the dust from Trump's bombastic entering into the race has settled.
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UPDATE
Webb 'proud' to see female Rangers
2 women recently became first females to earn Ranger tabs
Author: By Eric Bradner CNN
Published On: 1 h

"I am totally comfortable now with the military being able to make these decisions in a way that goes to performance," he said, "and I am very proud to see -- these two women are West Point graduates, and they went through the rigorous training, and the military should be able to decide how they are used."

WASHINGTON (CNN)
Former Sen. Jim Webb says he is "proud" to see the first two female Army Rangers, even though he'd opposed women in combat positions in the wake of his experience in the Vietnam War.

Webb, who's now a Democratic presidential candidate, told CNN's Jim Acosta in an interview Sunday on "State of the Union" that he no longer believes the position he took in a 1979 op-ed in The Washingtonian.

"I came back from a very hard war where more than 100,000 Marines were killed or wounded. I had my views about how the political process should be dictating to the military that they make changes," Webb said.
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USNS Comfort Anything But Good For Sailors

Survey: Trust, exhaustion issues on Navy hospital ship
Associated Press
13NewsNow.com
August 18, 2015

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) - Stress levels were so high among sailors aboard a Norfolk-based Navy hospital ship preparing to provide humanitarian assistance to Latin America that the medical unit was not considered mission capable weeks before it was set to deploy in March, according to Navy documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.

The commander of the USNS Comfort's medical unit, Capt. Rachel Haltner, was removed from her post two days before the ship left port. At the time, the Navy said the move was due to a "loss of confidence in Haltner's ability to command."

Navy documents released to The Associated Press through the Freedom of Information Act show sailors in the Comfort's medical unit reported low levels of trust in their leadership and felt mentally, physically and emotionally worn out before they ever deployed. The documents showed many respondents to a command climate survey said they got six hours of sleep or less per night, that there were communication issues and there was a lack of personnel to get the job done.
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Female Marine Retires With Women Who Inspired Her To Join 20 Years Ago

Retiring Marine meets women who inspired her to join
Marine Corps Times
By Matthew L. Schehl, Staff writer
August 18, 2015

“These ladies inspired me to join the Marine Corps, and here they were after 20 years. That was full circle.”

Gunnery Sgt. Francine Jarrett is joined by the Marines, then noncommissioned officers, who inspired her to enlist: from left, Marialena Bridges, Suzanne Gemignani and Eborah Johnson.
(Photo: Courtesy John Bridges)

At her recent retirement ceremony, Gunnery Sgt. Francine Jarrett came face to face with the women who inspired her to join the Marine Corps 20 years ago, though they'd never met.

Fellow Marines presented Jarrett with a framed, signed copy of the recruitment poster that caught her eye, and her imagination, as a young woman during the July 17 ceremony at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, Virginia..

“Just seeing the poster, I was already emotional," Jarrett said. "Then I heard ‘and the ladies are here!’ … I was blown away.

“These ladies inspired me to join the Marine Corps, and here they were after 20 years. That was full circle.”

The 1994 recruitment poster featured three noncommissioned officers — Marialena Bridges, Suzanne Gemignani and Eborah Johnson — in dress blues with the caption “After years of fitting in, maybe it’s time to stand out.”

It was a first for the Marine Corps and the U.S. military as it showed successful, professional women in a male-dominated organization, said Master Sgt. Zachary Bourgeois, who worked with Jarrett at Enlisted Professional Military Education, Marine Corps University, at Marine Corps Base Quantico.
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Iraq Veteran Claims Fairfax County Police Heavy Handed Tactics Need To Change

An Iraq war veteran is accusing Fairfax County Police of using heavy handed tactics
ABC 7 News
Roz Plater
July 25, 2015

"They will say this is according to the book, but they will not look to see if the book itself is wrong." Alex Horton

FAIRFAX, V.a. (WJLA ) - Alex Horton says it started Sunday morning June 14th. He was sound asleep in a model unit of his Alexandria apartment building while his unit was being repaired.

A neighbor thought he was a squatter and called police.

Horton says he woke to find three Fairfax County Police officers with their guns drawn.

"They came in and swept from either side with their guns drawn," Horton said. "Then one leapt on the bed and handcuffed me; my face was down."

Horton continued saying, "My risk of violent death went up a hundred percent that morning and I was doing nothing wrong."

He wrote about his experience on social media and in an Op-Ed for the Washington Post.

Then in a surprising move Fairfax County Police Chief Edwin Roessler issued a statement on Twitter saying in part:

"I can assure you no SWAT response was utilized in the response to this call for service. However, the Fairfax County Police Department takes seriously the writer’s remarks and as such, an inquiry by the Department’s Internal Affairs Bureau is being conducted at my direction."

The Chief also seemed to take issue with Horton calling it a "raid". But the Iraq Veteran sees it differently.
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Veteran Told Charity Anything But the Truth

Veteran accused of lying, taking money, goods
ABC 13 News
Brian Farrell, 13News Now
July 16, 2015

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WVEC) -- A former Marine who claimed to be a wounded warrior is accused of taking money under false pretenses in at least two Hampton Roads cities.

13News Now first met Brent Henry in March when he planned to walk 216 miles from Virginia Beach to Arlington National Cemetery in order to raise awareness about veterans with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and the need to provide suicide prevention resources.

Henry was going to make the trip to Arlington with his service dog, Geneva.

Both worked with the non-profit group Wags for Warriors of Virginia, a no-kill animal shelter and training facility that helps veterans with disabilities and PTSD through the use of service dogs.

"He claimed that he was something he wasn't, said that he had been places that he hadn't been," said Adam Mayo, founder of Wags for Warriors of Virginia.

"He named this dog that he had after supposed service dog that he had -- a working dog -- in the military that apparently died working in the military," explained Mayo. "Come to find out the only place he was ever deployed was Japan. He never saw combat. He was never in the desert. He was never in a helicopter crash like he told us he was."

Mayo told 13News Now he found out about discrepancies in Henry's story when he started looking into the Marine's background. He said Henry would not provide a copy of his service record, including discharge information.
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Greater Injuries Than Realized on Battlefield

Navy Chief With Brain Injury Fights Back After Losing Promotion
The Virginian-Pilot
by Dianna Cahn
Jun 15, 2015

Fleming received the diagnosis like a revelation. His struggles came from war wounds, not malaise. Like many combat veterans, he had apparently suffered greater injuries than he'd realized on the battlefield.

NORFOLK -- Chief Petty Officer John Fleming had the kind of career you can bank on: Fast-track promotion, stellar evaluations through repeated combat deployments, a stack of medals and commendations including a Bronze Star with valor. "The cornerstone of the department," one commander wrote.

As an explosives ordnance disposal tech, he unearthed and destroyed countless improvised bombs aimed at killing U.S. forces or their allies. In 2004, he was grazed by a bullet, thrown from a heavy-duty truck during a firefight and returned to combat even after being shipped home for his injuries.

Then, years later, Fleming started forgetting things. He had trouble organizing ideas. Tasks he'd been doing routinely were suddenly confounding, and pressure from his commanders at his new unit at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek exacerbated his confusion.

In the span of four months at Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 2 in 2013, Fleming's 13-year career unraveled. He received bad evaluations for failing to complete tasks -- the final one stated his performance "demonstrated a lack of loyalty to the mission" -- and had a pending promotion stopped. He was removed from two jobs.

In the coming months, Fleming was diagnosed with mild traumatic brain injury and later, with post-traumatic stress disorder. The TBI apparently stemmed from the truck rollover in Iraq nine years earlier. His medical records, which he shared with The Virginian-Pilot, state that the 2004 injury was compounded by repeated blasts over the years. The findings would be confirmed by other TBI and mental health experts.
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Veteran Fights Against Fort Campbell Malpractice

Campbell County Veteran Fights Military Malpractice 
WSET ABC News 13
By Mona Abdi
Posted: Jun 12, 2015

An MRI scan taken at a hospital in Fort Campbell a week before he left the military showed ... Hall could've been diagnosed then --- but was left untreated for 5 years. "They said it was my fault because I should of checked" said Hall.

Campbell County, VA - A Campbell County veteran who fought for America is fighting a new battle here at home. For Nelson Hall the conflict is both personal and painful.

"They teach you don't be a sick hall warrior, don't complain about injuries deal with it" said Nelson Hall.

After 5 years in the Army and 3 tours overseas, Hall is no stranger to battle. "I was air assault, so I jumped out of helicopters and stuff" said Hall.

But his toughest fight began after he was medically discharged in 2008. Hall qualified for retirement because of the insurmountable medical problems he suffered from towards the end of his service.

"I noticed memory loss, I was always at the TMC sick, broke out in hives" said Hall. But worst of all, Hall says, were the headaches. "Sometimes it's like an electrical shock going down the back of my head down my neck."

The pain continued well after he left the Army. "Finally one of my VA doctors asked for another MRI and that's when they found out it came out abnormal" said Hall.
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Virginia Iraq Veteran Keeps Flag Up

Iraq vet defies homeowners association, refuses to take down flag
WISHTV.com
Liz Palka
Published: June 10, 2015

Congress passed the Freedom to Display the American Flag Act in 2005. The legislation gives an individual the right to fly the American flag, despite a community’s restrictions. However, the bill does give a homeowner’s association the ability to restrict “time, place, or manner of displaying the flag.”

SUFFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — A Suffolk man refuses to take down his American flag, despite a homeowner’s association asking him to do so.

“This is something that shouldn’t be happening here in Hampton Roads,” Daniel Toner said.

Toner rents his home in Suffolk’s Belmont Park. He told 24-Hour News 8’s sister station WAVY he was aware the community had regulations regarding flags. He said he reached out to property management, Chesapeake Bay Management, Inc., to inquire about the regulations.

Toner has an email from the property manager saying he was allowed to fly a flag off his porch, if he followed guidelines. On Monday, he received another letter from the property manager.

“Then I got that letter in the mail saying that I had to take it down until they passed a resolution saying it was okay to have a flag holder on the front of your house,” Toner said.

In the letter, property manager Kimberly Katz said she misspoke in the earlier email and the flag holder resolution has not been adopted yet. She asked him to take it down until the resolution was officially adopted. Katz said a resolution is expected to be adopted in July.
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Salem Virginia PTSD Veterans Sent to North Carolina?

The good thing is that this article points out they are separating types of PTSD finally. Treating them all the same, no matter what the trauma was, didn't make sense for decades. The best-real-experts, have been saying that for as long as they have been researching PTSD and that goes back to about 40 years ago.

The bad thing is, this means that the veterans will be away from their family support.

Salem VA to shift some PTSD patients to North Carolina
Roanoke.com
Luanne Rife

May 28, 2015

The Salem VA Medical Center in July will begin to send veterans with combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder to North Carolina for residential treatment.

The change announced Thursday affects only veterans whose PTSD is considered combat-induced. No changes are expected to outpatient PTSD treatment programs and support groups. Veterans whose PTSD is attributed to other causes, including military sexual assault, can continue to access a residential program in Salem.

Until now, the Salem VA did not differentiate between combat and noncombat PTSD.

“Right now we have an inpatient program that we bring in a big group for a six-week period of time for combat and noncombat PTSD,” said Ann Benois, a spokeswoman for the medical center. The shift requires sorting between the types and sending vets with combat-related cases to a pilot project established at the Salisbury VA Medical Center in North Carolina.
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Two Navy SEALs Died in Training Accident

2nd Navy SEAL dies after accident in Little Creek pool 
Pilot Online
Virginia Pilot
Lauren King
April 7, 2015

A second Navy SEAL involved in an accident at a Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek pool has died.

Petty Officer 1st Class Brett Allen Marihugh, 34, of Livonia, Mich., died Sunday afternoon of his injuries, according to Lt. David Lloyd, a Naval Special Warfare Group 2 spokesman. Marihugh and Petty Officer 1st Class Seth Cody Lewis were found unresponsive Friday in a swimming pool on base while doing physical fitness training.

Both belonged to Naval Special Warfare Group 2, and Lloyd said in a news release that the two men were discovered at the bottom of the pool by service members assigned to the Combat Swimmer Training Facility, which is used by members of the SEAL team for regular fitness training.

Lewis was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at Sentara Leigh Hospital, the news release said. Marihugh had been in critical condition and was transferred to Sentara Virginia Beach General, where he later died.
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Linked from Military.com

Air Force Song Book Includes Raping Women As Fun?

Air Force Songbook Again Cited, This Time in Sex Assault Lawsuit
Stars and Stripes
by Travis J. Tritten
Apr 01, 2015

WASHINGTON -- Sex assault victim advocates on Tuesday again pointed to an unofficial Air Force songbook with derogatory lyrics about women and gay airmen as a reason for filing a new lawsuit against the Defense Department.

The 130-page book was originally made public by an assault victim in 2012 and is stamped with the playing-cards logo of the 77th Fighter Squadron, which is known as the Gamblers and based at Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina. Despite an Air Force crackdown, advocates claimed too little was done and such songbooks are still being used by officers and commanders.

The lawsuit by sexual assault victims was filed in a Virginia federal court and calls for the DoD to stop using convening authorities to judge whether such cases go to court-martial. As the military struggles with an epidemic of sex assaults, the use of such authorities has brought widespread scrutiny from the public and some on Capitol Hill who say the practice is biased toward perpetrators.

The songbook is part of a continuing culture in the Air Force and military that glorifies sexual violence, said retired Air Force Col. Don Christensen, president of Protect Our Defenders, an advocacy group for military sex assault victims.

"This is something that is used by Air Force officers today," Christensen said. "These are the commanders who sing songs about raping women as fun."
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Navy Response to ISIS Hit List Frustrates Families

Families frustrated by Navy response to Islamic State 'hit list'
By Dianna Cahn
The Virginian-Pilot (Tribune News Service)
Published: March 25, 2015

NORFOLK (Tribune News Service) — Families of some of the 100 servicemembers whose names and addresses appeared on an online "hit list" by Islamic State militants are struggling to figure out how much danger they really face.

The weekend posting by a group that identified itself as the Islamic State Hacking Division included pictures of servicemembers along with their names, home addresses, branches of service and, in some cases, ranks and titles. It claimed the information was hacked from military sites, while the Pentagon insists it was culled from the Internet. The posting, which has since been removed, called on unnamed "brothers in America" to seek out the servicemembers and "kill them in their own land."

On the list: 15 servicemembers from Hampton Roads, most of whom were assigned to warships that launched strikes against the Islamic State.

The wife of one sailor named said affected families are frustrated. They maintain that the Navy's public relations arm has been too lax in allowing information about naval operations onto the web and that the Pentagon is not taking the threats seriously enough. Additionally, they said, the Navy is not being forthcoming enough with them about how it intends to deal with the risk.
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Marines Release Names Black Hawk Crash

Marines confirm victims in Florida crash 
WITN News
Mar 13, 2015

The Marine Corps has released the names of seven members of MARSOC who died in Tuesday night's Black Hawk crash in Florida.

Major General Joseph Osterman identified the Marines as

Captain Stanford Shaw of Basking Ridge, NJ,

Master Sgt. Thomas Saunders of Williamsburg, Virginia,

Staff Sgt. Marcus Bawol of Warren, Michigan,

Staff Sgt. Trevor Blaylock of Lake Orion, Michigan,

Staff Sgt. Liam Flynn of Queens, New York,

Staff Sgt. Kerry Kemp of Port Washington, Wisconsin,

Staff Sgt. Andrew Seif of Holland, Michigan.

All were from the 2nd Special Operations Battalion of MARSOC.
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VA Sent Vietnam Veteran Records of Iraq Veteran?

VA investigating how a veteran’s personal files were mistakenly sent to Fredericksburg vet
ABC 7 News
By Joce Sterman
March 2, 2015

FREDERICKSBURG, Va. (WJLA) – The Department of Veterans Affairs is investigating how sensitive personal files were sent to the wrong person. It's a problem brought to light by the 7 On Your Side I-Team. Continue reading

Taking care of her husband is Carolyn Wilkins’ primary job these days. But for the Fredericksburg woman, battling to get the Vietnam veteran's medical care covered is a close second.

Wilkins said, "That's a fight in and of itself."

But when Wilkins asked the VA for copies of her husband's medical files, her fight took an unexpected turn. Instead of receiving Joseph Wilkins’ records, she received a package of files belonging to an Iraq war veteran from North Carolina. It's a man with no connections to the Wilkins family. The files contain everything from the man's high school diploma to his service record, and they include multiple notations of his Social Security number.

The 7 On Your Side I-Team looked through the files, discovering Wilkins was also sent the other veteran's complete personnel and dental records, as well as a folder full of evidence related to the man's case with the Board of Veterans Appeals.
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Second Tampa Bay veteran received someone else's medical records
A second Tampa Bay area veteran received someone else's confidential medical records in the mail.

Native Vietnam Veteran Hair Cut Off At Rehab Center

Native Veteran Has Traditional Long Hair Cut Off In Nursing Home 
Indian Country Today
Vincent Schilling
2/7/15

Courtesy Lillian Leno Native Veteran Barry Leno after his traditional ponytail was cut off at nursing facility.

A 65-year-old Native Vietnam veteran staying at the Ashland Rehabilitation Center and Nursing Facility in Ashland, Virginia has recently had his traditional long hair cut off without the permission of his family.

Barry Leno, (Algonquin, Seneca) who has had his hair in a traditional ponytail for decades and suffers from dementia, cried when his wife arrived at the facility recently and asked what happened. 

According to Leno’s wife, Lillian Leno, she went to visit her husband in the facility February 4 and discovered his hair was cut to above his shoulders. She said she was devastated to see her husband cry as he explained that his hair had been cut.

“I don’t know… (what happened,),” Lillian said. “I came in yesterday to visit him and his pony tail was cut off.

We have been married 32 years and he has had it as long as that. I asked him what happened, he said ‘I don’t know,’ and he started crying. He said ‘they cut it off.”
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