Amputee veteran's neighbor in HOA won't "allow" him ramps?

Disabled veteran with PTSD, bilateral amputee says HOA won't let him have ramps at house

WZTV
by AJ Abell
February 28th 2019

She says the neighbor threatened them with a $1 million lawsuit if they put in the ramps, so now, just to get outside, he has to get out of his wheelchair and physically walk down the stairs where he could easily fall down.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — A disabled Vietnam War veteran says his Hermitage neighborhood won’t let him put ramps over the steps of his house because they don’t look good and don’t follow the HOA regulations.

Selross Adams and her husband William just moved to the Meadows of Seven Points neighborhood about a year ago.

He’s a disabled Vietnam veteran with PTSD and is considered a bilateral amputee, so – with help from the VA – the two have turned their house into a special adaptive home.

Adams says, right before they could close on the home, their next door neighbor said the ramps had to go because they don’t look good.

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West Palm Beach VA Doctor Shot by Double Amputee

UPDATE

'Heroic' doctor subdues gunman at veterans hospital, authorities say

The gunman was identified as 59-year-old Larry Ray Bon.
ABC NEWS
By Morgan Winsor
February 28, 2019

A doctor is being hailed a hero for stopping a patient who opened fire in the emergency room of a veterans hospital in South Florida on Wednesday night.

The patient, a double-amputee, came to the West Palm Beach VA Medical Center in Riviera Beach for treatment but became combative with staff members and was taken to the emergency room. He pulled out a small handgun from his electric wheelchair and started firing as he was about to undergo a mental health evaluation around 6:20 p.m. local time.

The doctor was shot in the neck, and another hospital employee was grazed by a bullet, according to Justin Fleck, assistant special agent in charge at the FBI's Miami field office.

The wounded doctor, whom Fleck called "very brave," was able to jump on the patient in between fired rounds and disarm him before more shots were fired.

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Doctor shot at VA hospital in West Palm Beach, Florida

STARS AND STRIPES
By NIKKI WENTLING
Published: February 27, 2019

WASHINGTON – An employee was shot Wednesday evening at the Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in West Palm Beach, Fla., the VA confirmed.

An emergency room doctor was shot in the neck by a double amputee in a wheelchair, according to local news station CBS12. A hospital tech was in the restroom with the shooter and saw him loading a weapon, the report said. When the tech went to seek help, the shooter came out of the restroom firing.

The VA Sunshine Healthcare Network confirmed in a statement that one VA employee was shot at about 6:20 p.m. The employee was taken to another hospital and was in stable condition Wednesday night.
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Community comes together to help amputee move on to healing

Veterans community comes together to help double amputee move to Arkansas

AZ Central
Nathan J. Fish, Arizona Republic
Feb. 16, 2019

With a wide smile on his face, Matt Zajac, a double-amputee Army veteran, wheeled himself outside, stopping to light up a cigarette. Boxes lined his driveway.

"Keep the beer, throw out everything else," Zajac told one of a volunteers with a laugh.

Almost a dozen volunteers from multiple veterans organizations joined forces Saturday to help Zajac move out of his home in San Tan Valley.

Volunteers wearing black Changed By Nature Outdoors shirts bustled around, carrying boxes and furniture in and out of Zajac's home. The volunteers loaded up the moving truck parked in front of the home near Bella Vista Road and Hunt Highway.

Zajac is moving to participate in an Arkansas-based wounded-veteran program with We Are The 22, a nonprofit organization committed to preventing veteran suicide. The Purple Heart awardee said he reached out to the organization for help with his post-traumatic stress disorder.
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Double amputee OEF OIF veteran driven to inspire!

Double amputee veteran chases truck driving dream

WKRN
By: Adam Snider
Posted: Feb 14, 2019 12:07

CHRISTIANA, Tenn. (WKRN) - A dream decades in the making was nearly taken away from a local veteran.

"There's dark days out there. Depression, I've had to fight through them. But man, lately I've kind of forgotten about them." Erin Schaefer

Outside of Christiana though, for the last several weeks, he's worked to achieve this goal.

"My dad was a trucker so that's all I've known," said Erin Schaefer, an Army veteran who served in both Iraq and Afghanistan. "I just love the open road, being out there with the truck. Just myself and my thoughts."

Those thoughts sometimes take him back to the Army and his final term in Afghanistan.

It was on this trip in 2010, that he was in the wrong truck at the wrong time.

"Was out on a convoy taking supplies from one base to the next. Came to a halt because the other truck in the rear of our convoy had become disabled," he explained. "Started moving again, and the IED blast went off."

Erin is now an amputee, losing both his legs below the knee.

"There's dark days out there," he said. "Depression, I've had to fight through them. But man, lately I've kind of forgotten about them."

He's found new life, thanks in part to an old passion.

Erin is now seeking his CDL, at the Truck Driver Institute (TDI) outside Christiana.
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Amputee-Disabled veteran changed tire...for Gen. Colin Powell

Veteran who lost leg in Afghanistan helps his "idol" Colin Powell change tire on side of road

CBS News
BY CAITLIN O'KANE
JANUARY 24, 2019

A military veteran on his way to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Wednesday saw someone having car trouble on the side of the road. Being the good Samaritan that he is, the veteran stopped to help — only to realize the man was his idol, Colin Powell.

"I'm not really starstruck that much. It was just a situation like, here's somebody on the side of the road who needs help, why not get out?" Anthony Maggert told CBS News. Since they were only about 5 miles away from Walter Reed, he knew the man likely didn't just look like Colin Powell — he was Colin Powell.

"The closer I got to the vehicle, I saw the face and I said, 'That has to be Colin Powell,'" Maggert said. When Powell got out of the car, Maggert realized he was face-to-face with the renowned general.
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Triple Amputee wants to host Oscars

Local Army veteran hopes to host the Oscars

#AdamForTheOscars read story here

Someone tell the DOD and the VA Pastor got hand to grow back...for Vietnam Veteran

The following is from Patheos, an Atheist website. Normally, I'm not really interested in what I end up getting links to involving what goes against what I believe, but at least we do agree on this one! 

It is about a stunt using a "Vietnam veteran" who had his hand magically grow back.

With Awful Re-enactment, Pastor Talks About Witnessing a Missing Hand Grow Back

Recently, John Kilpatrick was a guest on the show. He may be best known to readers of this site for speaking in tongues in church in order to defeat witchcraft. It went viral because of how absurd it was.

I guess Kilpatrick wants something even more embarrassing to top his Google results since he told Roth about a time he watched a real live miracle: He saw a Vietnam veteran’s missing hand grow back during a revival.

The story is told via an incredible reenactment. Seriously, you have to watch this.

Someone needs to alert Walter Reed and the VA so they can get moving on this one and then grow back limbs of all the amputees they have...Good Lord!

Someone robbed from future home of amputee veteran

Thieves steal materials from disabled veteran's future home

KIRO 7 News 
By: Shelby Miller 
Nov 28, 2018 

“I lost both of my limbs, obviously. Both of my ear drums blew out, my left eardrum was 100 percent, my right eardrum was 25 percent. The blast threw me back,” he said. “It gave me a traumatic brain injury because I hit my head so hard and it also gave me two bulging discs in my lower spine,” said Sawyer. Since then, the retired army veteran has overcome the unthinkable. Now, he has to deal with even more. 

Thieves in Maytown, Thurston County, stole more than $5,000 worth of building materials from the construction site of a disabled veteran’s future home. 

“When you feel like you’re not really worthy of a home in the first place and then you come out here and you find somebody’s broken into a box and stolen a bunch of materials, you know, from your project that have been donated for free - that just makes me feel even worse,” said Sgt. Jereme Sawyer.

The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office said the theft happened at 4022 150th Ave. SW.

Those who’d like to help can donate to Homes For Our Troops. Anyone with information is asked to call the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office at 360-704-2740. read more here

Caring for triple amputee "part of spousal duty" to VA?

Nashville VA reinstates triple amputee veteran's full-time caregiver services after Tennessean report

Nashville Tennessean
Yihyun Jeong
Nov. 21, 2018

A triple amputee veteran will have his full-time caregiver services reinstated after the Tennessean reported Wednesday that the Nashville VA initially decided to deny the level of his caregiver's benefits.

Staff Sergeant J.D. Williams lost his right arm and both legs while deployed with the 101st Airborne Division in Afghanistan in 2010.

He was discharged and sent home, where his wife, Ashlee Williams, was assigned and paid by the VA to be his caregiver.

But after six years, she wrote on Facebook on Nov. 17, the VA decided to lower her husband to the lowest tier of the program, determining that he no longer needs a full-time caregiver.

She claimed that the VA assumed that the care she provided her husband, including helping her husband with applying prosthetics and lifting him into a wheelchair about 10 times a day, was part of her "spousal duty."

"...should have been included on the marriage certificate according to the VA," Ashlee Williams wrote in a post that was shared more than 25,000 times on Facebook by Wednesday morning.
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New firefighter has a leg to stand on...really!

Disabled veteran graduates fire academy

NBC News
November 19, 2018

(KING) An injured veteran in Washington continued his tradition of serving others with an important graduation ceremony Saturday.

Retired Air Force Tech Sgt. Daniel Fye was serving his fourth tour of duty in Afghanistan in 2011, when he stepped on an IED.

He lost his left leg below the knee, and fought for months of surgery to keep his right leg.

Within two years, he was able to walk without any help.

Today, he's achieved his lifelong dream of becoming a firefighter, after graduating with honors from the South Sound Fire Academy.
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Double amputee faces charges, but who else should too?

Understand that this is a double amputee, who was not diagnosed with PTSD, or treated for it. If a double amputee does not understand PTSD enough to know that trauma is the cause of it, then what the hell as the military been doing all these years on the "education" end of the deal?

Army combat veteran says shooting incident 'was never about the Xbox'

Knoxville News Sentinel
Hayes Hickman
Nov. 11, 2018

"I want people to know," Jones said, "if they need help, get help."

Casey Jones (Photo: submitted)

After reaching for a handgun in a moment of crisis, Army combat veteran Casey Jones says he decided instead to empty the pistol's clip into his bedroom ceiling in a desperate bid to save himself from his demons.

Jones, 30, fired every round from a second loaded weapon into the surrounding walls after that. One of those bullets went through a window and lodged behind the shutter of his North Knox County neighbors' home across the street. Thankfully, no one was hurt.

"In my mind, I was trying to get rid of those rounds before one ended up in my head," Jones told the USA TODAY NETWORK-Tennessee. "But I never wanted to hurt anyone."

The episode led to his arrest in the early hours of Wednesday. The Purple Heart recipient now faces four felony counts of reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon.

According to arrest warrants, Jones and his wife told responding sheriff's deputies he snapped while playing video games on his Xbox.

"But that wasn't the reason for it — it was never about the Xbox," he said. "It was just one of those nights."

'Whatever it takes to make this right'

Jones has never formally been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, although he reluctantly is beginning to recognize his struggles. Wednesday's incident wasn't the first time Jones has put a gun to his head, he confessed.

He hopes, however, that this time was the turning point.

Jones, not his wife, called E-911 that night. And in the days after his release from jail, he contacted a counselor through the local Veterans Affairs office.
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Kirstie Ennis Continues to Inspire Through Challenges

Veteran and amputee inspires with each death-defying climb
USA Today
Sheeka Sanahori, Militarykind Oct. 3, 2018

"The main thing that saved me, saved me from myself, really was my dad telling me, 'You've got to be shittin' me. The enemy couldn't kill you, and you're going to do it for them?'"

Kirstie Ennis is on a mission to become the first female amputee to climb the highest peaks on every continent. She's well on her way to accomplishing her latest mission.

"It reminds you of your resiliency, it reminds you of your independence, it's a fight," Ennis said. "Quite literally an uphill battle and I love it."

Ennis is used to tough battles. She joined the U.S. Marine Corp when she was 17, following in the footsteps of both of her parents.

She was deployed to Afghanistan twice. During her second deployment, a helicopter crash changed her life.

"I lost my entire jaw, my teeth, especially on the right side. And then I just screamed. I screamed mostly out of shock, not pain," she said. "One of the Army medics that we picked up got in my face and told me not to close my eyes again because I wouldn't open them and then everything went black."

Ennis raises money for non-profits from her climbs and from modeling. She was the first amputee to pose for a fundraiser calendar for the nonprofit organization called Pin-ups for Vets, which raises money to help hospitalized veterans and deployed troops.
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New home for disabled veteran vandalized by teenagers!

2 juveniles arrested for allegedly vandalizing home under construction for disabled veteran in Hanson
WHDH News
SEPTEMBER 26, 2018

HANSON, MASS. (WHDH) - Two juveniles were arrested in Hanson, accused of vandalizing a home under construction for a disabled veteran.

The teenage boys, whose names were not released, smashed every single window on a house being built by Jared Allen’s Homes for Wounded Warriors — the first one this charity has built here in Massachusetts.

“This house is for a veteran. He’s a single-leg amputee, and his home right now doesn’t work for him on several levels,” said Karalexis, the lead project manager. “So what our organization does, we come in here, we build a fully functional handicapped home.”

Karalexis says the damage is so extensive, it’ll set them back weeks.

The home is free for the wounded veteran, but it costs construction crews time and money.

“They’re all mortgage-free,” Karalexis said. “We purchase the house, and the only way to do that is with the generosity of corporations. Every penny counts and the pennies go toward the projects.”

They estimate the damage at $50,000.
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Triple amputee part of dynamic duo

Power couple: Wife of airman who survived most catastrophic wounds in history vying for cover of Maxim magazine
Military Times
By: J.D. Simkins
September 24, 2018

Brian and Ashley often make trips to Walter Reed to visit other wounded veterans to provide hope and inspiration. In 2014, Brian was presented the George C. Lang Award for Courage for his many efforts to take care of and mentor wounded vets.

Ashley Kolfage met her husband-to-be, Brian, when she was working as a hostess at a Chili’s in the small west Texas city of San Angelo.

Ashley and Brian Kolfage practice surfing. The couple married in 2011. (Photo courtesy of Ashley Kolfage)

The two quickly became friends, but before any romance could take hold, Brian deployed to Iraq, where, on Sept. 11, 2004, he became the most severely wounded airman to survive any war in U.S. history after a 107mm enemy rocket landed just three feet away as he walked to get a drink of water.

Both of Brian’s legs were instantly shredded, he lost his dominant right hand and his lung collapsed.

Miraculously conscious after the explosion, the senior airman screamed for help. A close friend tried to keep him calm as medics rushed to help. All the while, Kolfage repeated that he just wanted to make it home to see his family.

Medics would go on to perform hours of life-saving surgery before placing Kolfage on a flight to Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, where he arrived only 36 hours after being wounded, the fastest medevac to the U.S. from a war zone in history.
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Amputee sunk to new low to re-enlist...in dive tank~

Amputee soldier takes re-enlistment oath at bottom of dive tank
AL.com
By Lee Roop
August 31, 2018

If you were looking for Huntsville soldier Michael Brown on Friday, you needed to search 30 feet under water in the U.S. Space and Rocket Center's dive tank.

Two thumbs up from a re-committed soldier
Staff Sgt. Michael Brown gives two thumbs up when he surfaces after taking a re-enlistment oath at the bottom of a dive tank. Brown wanted to celebrate the passion he developed for diving since it became part of his rehabilitation from losing a lower leg in combat in Iraq.

Staff Sgt. Brown, a combat veteran and wounded warrior based at Redstone Arsenal, went to the bottom of the tank to take his oath of re-enlistment from fellow diver and Lt. Col Gary Blount.

Brown chose the center's Underwater Astronaut Trainer "as a fitting location to marry his two passions, the Army and scuba diving," the Army said in a press release. It's where Brown loves to be, and that's something of a surprise to him and everyone else.

"In 2007, two years after joining the army, my left leg was blown off below the knee," Brown explained after surfacing. It happened in Mosul, Iraq, 33 days after he deployed during Operation Iraqi Freedom. An RKG-3 anti-tank grenade hit Brown, and he was evacuated to Walter Reed Army Hospital where military doctors have learned how to perform surgical miracles.

Brown got specially designed prosthetic leg and also something to think about. "I was taught to scuba dive as part of adaptive rehabilitation - to think outside the box about what my 'new normal' could be," Brown said Friday.
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Jared Bullock not letting what he lacks define what he gives

‘Tough as nails’ veteran urges focus on fitness, not wounds
STARS AND STRIPES
By ROSE L. THAYER
Published: August 11, 2018

Reeves said Bullock’s focus as a business owner is incredible — just as it was during his early days of recovery.“When he got injured, he said, ‘This does not define me.’ He hasn’t let it define him,” Reeves said.

Jared Bullock, a former Green Beret, and his wife Jesica stand outside Foundry Athletics, a gym they opened May 19, 2018, in Carterville, Ill. PHOTO BY TIM KOLCZAK

AUSTIN, Texas — Everything changed for Sgt. 1st Class Jared Bullock on Nov. 13, 2013.

It was one month into his fifth deployment, and the Green Beret and a team of soldiers were riding in an all-terrain vehicle in Kandahar when it ran over an improvised explosive device. Bullock woke up in Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, where he learned he’d lost his right arm above the elbow and his right leg above the knee.

The explosion also took the life Bullock’s best friend, Staff Sgt. Richard L. Vazquez, 28, and Staff Sgt. Alex A. Viola, 29, died days later in the hospital.

His injuries left him wondering what was next for him, after 10 years in the Army doing a job that he loved.
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Quadruple amputee Marine threw first pitch?

Marine vet with arm transplant throws ceremonial first pitch at NY baseball game
American Military News
Cheryl Hinneburg
August 10, 2018

On June 30, Marine veteran John Peck, who lost both legs and arms in Afghanistan, was able to throw the ceremonial first pitch at the Rockland Boulders game, thanks to a double arm transplant.

Peck received the double arm transplant just two years ago after losing all of his limbs in 2010 when he stepped on an improvised explosive device, Lohud News reported.

32-year-old Peck said: “Throwing the first pitch is kind of cool for me, I’ve never done that before.”

Prior to the transplant, Peck relied upon prosthetic limbs, but he went on a waiting list to receive the transplant.

Two years ago this month, he was the second wounded veteran to receive an arm transplant.
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Technology and tenacity help amputees stay in service!

Soldier amputees have more options for continued service
Joint Base San Antonio
U.S. Army Warrior Care and Transition
By Whitney Delbridge Nichels
July 26, 2018

FOB FRONTERAC, Afghanistan - Col. Todd R. Wood (right), commander of the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, administers the oath of re-enlistment to Staff Sgt. Brian Beem (left), a cavalry scout assigned to the 5th Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, during a special ceremony at Forward Operating Base Frontenac, Nov. 9. Beem is a single leg amputee who has continued to serve despite his injury. He lost his leg after an improvised explosive device detonated during his 2006 deployment to Iraq.

ARLINGTON, Virginia — Thanks to advances in modern medicine and the availability of sturdier prosthetics, soldiers who are able to redeploy after amputation have a number of possible options for continued military service.

Army Staff Sgt. Brian Beem lost his leg in 2006 to an improvised explosive device in Iraq. "I thought my career was over," he said.

Beem credits his experiences at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, with helping him assess and eventually find options for returning to duty.

“It took me about a year to get up to speed with physical training, and I was feeling pretty confident,” he said. Within a short time, Beem was ready to deploy to Afghanistan with his unit. Although he was no longer on patrol as he was in previous deployments, he still played a vital role in battle staff operations.

“It was really gratifying to be able to deploy,” he said. “It’s possible, but it’s not easy. The process is there for those who have the perseverance.”
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Amputee Peter Damon painting inspiration

Veteran who lost both arms in Iraq discovers a talent for painting
CBS NEWS
By DAVID MARTIN
July 3, 2018

"I don't see it that way. Suffering an injury like this sort of has a way of making you focus on what's important in life." Peter Damon

Peter Damon at work on a painting CBS NEWS

MIDDLEBORO Mass. -- Peter Damon turns out about 30 paintings a year and sells them for between $250 and $1,500. That's not enough to make ends meet, but it has made him whole again. He lost both arms in Iraq.

"Having this skill or pursuing this skill that even able-bodied people find difficult was something that really sort of gave me a boost and sort of made me feel like I fit in more in the world," Damon said.

He was an Army helicopter mechanic working on landing gear in 2003 when pressurized gas blew it apart, killing one soldier and gravely injuring him. "I lost my right arm above the elbow, about three inches above the elbow, and my left about six inches below," he explained.

Damon was a blue-collar guy who had been an electrician before he joined the Army.

"How am I going to make a living and take care of my family? I had always worked with my hands," he said.

Then with a simple little drawing, a new future opened up for him.

"I was kind of miraculous in a way," Damon said. "Something was telling me to focus on this and everything will be alright."
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New Yorker Reporter Resigned,,,after blaming others

Ok! So a reporter shared something that turned out to not be true, and now, she is blaming others for doing it?
I screw up all the time because I believe reporters. That is my bad for not taking the time to make sure what they share is in fact true. OK, honestly, I also screw up all by myself but I do try to get it right. I eat crow so often, I carry a salt shaker! 

This person is paid to report news not jump all over something she saw on social media and share as if it is true. 

Writer resigns from ‘New Yorker’ after twitter flap over Pasco Marine’s tattoo
Tampa Bay Times
Howard Altman
Times staff writer
Published: June 22, 2018

Lavin said she "was also a useful foil: a fat Jewish feminist with a Harvard education. ICE said I ‘baselessly slandered an American hero,’ artificially pitted me against a disabled veteran, and engineered a conservative news cycle in which I was a villain."

Talia Lavin, whose tweet about a Pasco veteran’s tattoo implied he was a Nazi, has apologized to him and resigned from her position as a fact-checker at the New Yorker magazine.

But in another tweet, Thursday evening, Lavin also lashed out at the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, saying it unfairly targeted her in its own tweet about combat-wounded veteran Justin Gaertner.

"This has been a wild and difficult week," Lavin said in the tweet. "I owe ICE agent Justin Gaertner a sincere apology for spreading an rumor about his tattoo. However, I do not think it is acceptable for a federal agency to target a private citizen for a good faith, hastily rectified error."

A Twitter storm erupted last weekend after Lavin’s tweet about a cross-shaped tattoo on Gaertner’s elbow drew a response from ICE saying she had "essentially labeled him a Nazi."

Later, Lavin tweeted, "I had become a weapon used to discredit my colleagues and the vital work they do holding power to account. As a result, I have resigned after three years at the New Yorker."

But she also insisted that ICE misled people about her role in the controversy.

"ICE also lied about me, saying I originated the scrutiny of Gaertner’s tattoo," she said in a tweet.
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