Love is responding to rioters

#LoveInAction responding to rioters

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
May 30, 2020

There are examples of great bravery happening out of love. It is time to honor those who decided that the destruction and intimidation should not be the response to what was wrong...and they did what they could to help others. There are many examples of this online...and you will find yourself uplifted by human acts of kindness!

Protesters surround an LMPD officer during a protest for Breonna Taylor on May 28, 2020 in Louisville, Ky. The protest organizers surrounded the officer and joined arms to make sure that the crowd did not touch him.(Michael Clevenger/Courier Journal)

A line of almost all white women formed between police officers and black protesters at Thursday night's rally in downtown Louisville calling for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor. (Photo: Tim Druck)

A man carried a woman to safety after she was injured during a demonstration at 6th Street and Jefferson Streets to protest the killing of Breonna Taylor by the LMPD in Louisville, Ky. on May 28, 2020. Sam Upshaw Jr./Courier Journal

A woman was comforted after she was injured during a demonstration at 6th Street and Jefferson Streets to protest the killing of Breonna Taylor by the LMPD in Louisville, Ky. on May 28, 2020. Sam Upshaw Jr./Courier Journal

Volunteers cleaned up charred debris in the alleyway behind Sports Dome on University Avenue in St. Paul on Friday.(SHARI L. GROSS – STAR TRIBUNE)

Volunteers cleaned up charred debris in the alleyway behind Sports Dome on University Avenue in St. Paul on Friday. (SHARI L. GROSS – STAR TRIBUNE)

Volunteers gathered in Minneapolis Saturday morning, cleaning up Lake Street at Nicollet Avenue, near the epicenter of Friday night's protests over the killing of George Floyd.(Parker Yesko for MPR News)

Florida Deputies took custody of homeless, partially blind veteran with open hearts!

A partially blind homeless veteran was robbed. Florida deputies put him up in a hotel.

WTSP
Author: Dale Greenstein
March 23, 2020

The deputies said it was a privilege to help someone who fell on hard times after serving our country.

PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — Sadly, his story is far from unique. He risked his life for our country, and now he’s spending his life on the streets.

But one homeless veteran’s desperate situation got even worse – when he was robbed. He’s partially blind. He was hungry. And he needed help.

He has family – a sister – but she's is dying from cancer, so he refused to become a burden on her.

That’s where two Florida deputies come in.

According to a Facebook post from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, Deputies Perez and Wensyel came across the veteran and simply couldn’t turn a blind eye.

They bought him a warm meal. But, they weren’t finished.

The deputies found him a hotel to stay in and paid for the room out of their own pockets.
read it here

Anonymous angel delivered life changing gift to disabled veteran

Disabled Veteran Gets Incredibly Thoughtful, Anonymous Gift

The Epoch Times
BY JACK PHILLIPS
July 8, 2019

An Oregon woman shared about a touching act of kindness that has gone viral.

Brittany Lynn Garrett wrote on the Love What Matters Facebook page detailing the act of kindness.

“As I was getting ready for my day, my husband appeared at the door with tears in his eyes holding our son,” Garrett said on Facebook. “My heart sank and I thought someone we love took a trip to Heaven… He quickly assured me that no one had died, but someone had just given him a very expensive riding lawn mower!”

She said she had no clue who sent him the generous gift.

“I don’t know who they are, but they have been watching my 100% combat disabled husband push mow our entire yard once or twice a week, and thought this would help make more time for the important things in life!!” she wrote.
read it here

Community forms Hands Across the Bridge to support veterans and first responders fighting PTSD

Community Joins Hands Across SH 66 Bridge in Support of Veterans, First Responders

Blue Ribbon News

“To see this amount of support from the community shows that people do care,” Salerno said. “And that eases the minds of our military veterans and first responders, knowing that all of these people are out here for them.

(ROCKWALL, TX — June 24, 2019) 
On June 22, community members joined hands on the State Highway 66 bridge to raise awareness on suicides committed among our country’s military veterans and first responders.

In Oct. 2018, Third Watch LE Motorcycle Club started a Walk Across the Bridge movement to raise awareness and combat suicides among veterans and first responders suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The bridge walk, held on the 22nd of each month, has grown from 13 participants in October to an average of 90 participants each month.

As part of their bridge walk event this month, Third Watch LEMC invited folks to line the bridge, hold hands, and take a few minutes of silence to remember those veterans and first responders who committed suicide due to PTSD. The Hands Across the Bridge event saw more than 140 people span a third of the two-mile bridge in support of the cause.

Third Watch LEMC’s John Salerno, a 9/11 survivor and retired NYPD detective, said he was honored at the turnout for the event, and hopes they can make it halfway across the bridge for the next one.
read more here

Veteran lost brother to PTSD battle...stranger let her know he cared

Stranger leaves heartfelt note for veteran who lost brother to PTSD

WINK
Jerrica Valtierra
Jack Lowenstein
Published: June 20, 2019

A little kindness can go a long way. And for a woman, a stranger’s act of kindness meant the world to her. Now, she wants to thank a man who showed her and her brother a simple kindness.

Lauren Osborne is a retired Florida Highway Patrol officer and a U.S. Air Force veteran. Osborne lost her brother to PTSD after he served in the U.S Marines Corp.

Osborne drives around with a special decal on her car that memorializes her brother’s life. She also just so happens to have a dash cam that captured a man share his sentiments with her.

“There’s no way that I could really thank him for what he did,” Osborne said. “It was really sweet.”

Osborne’s camera recorded the moment a man left a note on her car’s windshield.

“Sorry about your brother,” the stranger’s note read. “May God bless him. He was part of a great brotherhood.”

Osborne said she had to take the time to appreciate the message left especially for her and her brother.

“I received this note,” Osborne said. “I was actually taken aback a little bit. I had to sit in my car and read it.”

Osborne’s brother served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Osborne said he experienced the unimaginable while he was overseas.

“One of the hardest things I ever probably will go through in my entire life,” Osborne said. “My brother, a U.S. Marine for five years, he was a sergeant when he discharged at the end of 2010. He became incredibly withdrawn.”
read more here

Sen. Martha McSally bought uniform for Ret. Air Force Colonel

Sen. Martha McSally buys retired Air Force colonel a new uniform so he can swear son into Navy

Arizona Republic
Jeannette Hinkle
June 20, 2019

Luse said he hopes to one day thank McSally in person for her gift. He might get the chance at Arturo’s swearing-in, which likely will happen in Phoenix this August. McSally told The Republic she’ll attend if her schedule allows.

Retired Air Force Col. Charlie Luse, a Casa Grande resident, needed a new uniform for his son's swearing-in to the Navy. Sen. Martha McSally bought him one. Jeannette Hinkle, Arizona Republic

A button had popped off retired Air Force Col. Charlie Luse’s dress uniform.

The material was outdated, a shade lighter than the uniforms of today. The shoes he needed were long gone.

Luse, 85, never thought its condition would matter, until a Navy recruiter knocked on his son Arturo Luse’s door.

When Luse learned Arturo, 19, had decided to enlist, he filled out a form requesting to conduct his son’s swearing-in ceremony and was approved. But Luse couldn’t read the oath in civilian clothes. He needed a new uniform.

Luse posted on the neighborhood-based social network Nextdoor from his home in Casa Grande, hoping a fellow Air Force officer could lend or sell him the Class A dress uniform he needed.

Seamstresses responded, offering to alter his old uniform, but Luse told them, jokingly, that the uniform had shrunk beyond alteration. He’d gained some weight since retiring from the Air Force in 1982.

Then Luse opened his email inbox to a message informing him that Sen. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., had seen an article about his predicament in the Casa Grande Dispatch and wanted to buy the fellow retired Air Force colonel a new uniform.

McSally, a retired Air Force combat pilot, told The Arizona Republic she was happy to dip into the money she sets aside for good causes to buy the uniform, which cost about $450. The connection between service members transcends period or place of service, she added.

“It’s difficult to describe, but we know it on a deep and personal level,” McSally said.

Luse said he was thankful for McSally’s gesture as a member of what he calls the greatest fraternity in the world.

“We're both retired colonels. We're both pilots. We both went to the Air War College. We both had very similar Air Force careers, except she's in politics and I'm not,” said Luse, whose Air Force career stretched from 1956 to 1982 and took him everywhere from Greece to Thailand, where, as an officer, he scheduled bombings during the Vietnam War.
read more here

Neighbor and Cab Driver helped Vietnam Veteran...no one else would

What’s being done to help emaciated veteran found lying in waste
WTVR News
Shelby Brown
March 14, 2018

MECKLENBURG COUNTY, Va. -- A Mecklenburg County man said he was not prepared for what he saw the day he approached a neighbor's home.

Chris Thomas called it a sad story that he just cannot get out of his head.

In October, Thomas stumbled upon a Vietnam veteran who was living in squalor when he went to feed the veteran’s dogs that he initially encountered roaming the streets.

Thomas said a worker at a nearby convenience store told him the dogs belonged to the veteran, who was thought to have been sick and in the hospital.

Later that day, when Thomas and his wife showed up to feed the veteran's dogs, he said he found the man lying in his own waste, unable to move from his sofa.
read more here

Chicago Homeless Air Force Veteran feels love from community

Police Lieutenant Honored For Helping Rebuild Homeless Vet’s Newsstand
CBS Chicago
March 13, 2018

CHICAGO (CBS) — A Chicago police lieutenant was honored Tuesday for helping change the life of a homeless veteran.

The Chicago Police Memorial Foundation named Lt. John Garrido its officer of the month, saying he embodies the oath to serve and protect.

Garrido, a 27-year veteran of the force, was honored for working to help Anthony Johnson, who operates a newsstand at the intersection of Foster, Milwaukee, and Central avenues in Jefferson Park.

The lieutenant saw that the newsstand was run down, and inquired about its operator. That’s when he learned it was run by a homeless Air Force veteran.

Garrido created a Facebook page to reach out to the community to help build a new stand, complete with murals showcasing the neighborhood and the veteran turned newspaper salesman.
read more here

UK: Homeless PTSD veteran searching for veteran angels who took care of him

Homeless Army veteran tries to track down Good Samaritans 'John' and 'Patrick' who paid for him to stay in a hotel and gave him 'military-grade' clothing after seeing him in a doorway
Daily Mail
Rory Tingle
February 28, 2018

Ed was approached by the two men when he was on the streets in Bridgend
The pair took him for a meal in Wetherspoons and then paid for a hotel room
When he returned to his spot next day he found a bag of cold-weather gear
Do you know the good Samaritans? Contact rory.tingle@mailonline.co.uk

A homeless Army veteran with PTSD is trying to track down two Good Samaritans who paid for him to stay in a hotel and gave him 'military-grade' warm clothing after seeing him in a doorway.

Ex-serviceman Ed - who was deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan and Sierra Leone - thought he was being moved on by security when he was approached in Bridgend, south Wales, last week.

Instead the two men, who are also thought to be ex forces, took the 48-year-old for a meal at Wetherspoons and then to a hotel where he stayed for two nights.
read more here

Community rebuilt Navy Vietnam veteran's home

Community rallies to help build Valley veteran's home
ABC 15 News
Aldo Vazquez
11:04 PM, Feb 10, 2018
16 mins ago

Nearly 300 volunteers, along with several other organizations including mostly veterans, came together to help build the house from the ground up.

NEW RIVER, AZ - A big ‘welcome home’ was held for a Valley Vietnam veteran whose home burned down in a fire four years ago.

“I’ve been waiting three-and-a-half years, going on four years, to get back in my house,” said Jack Cooper.

Jack Cooper built his house 26 years ago in New River. Four years ago, an electrical fire burned his house down to the ground. The only thing that survived were two pictures of his times in the Navy.
read more here

Vietnam Veteran "Smiley" Given Back Reason to Smile...New Teeth

Veteran named ‘Smiley’ is gifted with $60,000 dental implants by generous dentist
WCMH NBC 4 Columbus
Inside Edition Staff
Published: January 26, 2018

A veteran was given the gift of a new smile by a dentist who was deeply moved by his touching personal story.

Larry “Smiley” Kleiman, who did two tours in Vietnam, had almost no natural teeth left when he saw Dr. Michael Tischler, founder of the Teeth Tomorrow franchise network, for a consultation.

Dr. Tischler was so moved by his personal story that he decided to perform the $60,000 surgery free of charge.

“He smiled, he had no teeth. His his name was Smiley, he was a fireman. He worked with dogs in Vietnam. And everything about him was just the kind of person that you wanna help,” Tischler said.

Kleiman currently spends his time helping others with his local K-9 unit and as an active volunteer at his local firehouse. Which is why Tischler said he called he wife and said “let’s help this guy.”
read more here

Reporter did something good and out popped a miracle

Generous donation allows former service member to bury his wife in accordance to his faith

“One of our members saw the original news clip concerning Mr. Gordon and was very moved,” Goldman said.

Goldman started making some calls. Next thing you know the Dorsey Earl Smith Memory Gardens Funeral Home and Cemetery in Lake Worth made a generous donation.

and now go here for the rest of the article you really have to read for yourself. Great example of what happens when the press does something for the sake of helping...and out pops a miracle!

Yukon Oklahoma Opens Arms for Wounded Veteran's Family

Volunteers Help Make Veteran's Family's Christmas
News On 6
Caleigh Bourgeois
December 23, 2017

“The feeling you get when you get to help somebody else that's in need is just a feeling everybody should experience,” Wade said. 

YUKON, Oklahoma -

A wounded warrior in Yukon and his family were given a Christmas miracle thanks to two friends and several volunteers.

Last week, Jessica Smith with the Red Cross received a phone call from a wounded warrior’s wife.

“He had just lost his job. They had no food in their cupboards. They were about to be evicted,” Smith said.

Determined to help the Yukon family, Smith called up her friend Ellie Wade, who works at First United Bank. 

“We have a fund where if we wear blue jeans on Friday we pay into it, and we collect all year long,” Wade said.

Wade and Smith took the money from that fund and started shopping. 

“We just started buying and paying the rent and utilities, and buying groceries and gifts,” Wade said. 

read more here

Dunkin Donuts Employee Chased My Car

It is so easy to complain about service, so when an employee goes above and beyond good service into stunning actions, he deserves praise! Never so grateful to have someone chase my car before.

Having a rough day with a lot on my mind. I needed a good cup of coffee. Placed my order and the clerk thought the clerk had a great personality. There was an elderly lady ahead of me, who just wanted to talk. She didn't notice I was there, and when she did, she apologized. I told her it was ok and I was in no hurry. The clerk treated her with patience and respect.

I placed my order and left. I forgot one of the drinks but didn't notice. Next thing I knew, Guillermo was standing next to my car with the drink in his hand.

This is Guillermo Gerristen, an employee of Dunkin Donuts on Red Bug Road, Oviedo FL. He's the one who chased my car, not just into the parking lot, but on the next road while I was waiting for the light.

I had to go back to thank him properly, naturally with my camera since it was something that we just don't get to experience often enough!

Sikhs Believe Feeding Veterans Is Gift to God

For Sikhs in Sonoma County, to feed veterans is to give directly to God
Press Democrat
Chris Smith
December 19, 2017

This is the 10th straight year that Sikhs wearing traditional turbans or scarves have graciously welcomed and fed veterans at a December session of Vet Connect, which each Tuesday provides a variety of services and materials to help people who served in the military.

Mandeep Nagra, right, welcomes veteran Jamie Fox to a vegetarian Indian lunch at the Veterans Memorial Building in Santa Rosa on Tuesday, December 19, 2017
Christopher Chung/Press Democrat

Indian cuisine is something Army veteran Joe LaFrance never tried before Tuesday, when he dug into a complimentary feast in Santa Rosa.

The buffet of chickpea-flour fritters, called pakora, with fresh mint sauce, and lentil soup, savory vegetables, yogurt, cumin rice, paratha flatbread, rice pudding and chai tea was prepared for military vets by members of the Sikh temple in Santa Rosa.

It has LaFrance, who returned from numerous tours of duty with post traumatic stress disorder, looking forward to his next Indian meal.

“It’s something new,” said the 54-year-old veteran of Desert Storm, Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq. “You get tired of eating the same food all the time.”

As he sat at a table at the Santa Rosa Veterans Memorial Building and gazed at the more than 20 local Sikhs who spent hours preparing the food and invited all veterans to come and eat their fill, LaFrance said, “It’s nice to be remembered.” 

A leader of the annual luncheon is Dr. Mandeep Nagra, an internist who studied in Punjab, India, and practices at the Veterans Administration clinic in Santa Rosa. 

He said a fundamental belief of Sikhs motivates them to provide food to people in need: To feed a hungry mouth is to make a donation directly to God.

read more here 

**Totally awesome! Just made my day!

Gerald Leo Smith, Homeless Korean War Veteran Needs Help Proving He's Alive

Daytona Beach homeless veteran says he can't get help because government thinks he's dead

WFTV 9 News

By: Lauren Seabrook

Updated: Dec 5, 2017 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - When Teri Ahmann found Gerald Leo Smith living in the bushes in Daytona Beach as Hurricane Irma loomed, she saw a bit of herself in him, having been homeless herself three decades ago.

She decided to reach out to the Navy veteran and offered to buy him a drink.

“For whatever reason, he just looked sad to me, so I walked up and I say, ‘Can I get you a beer?’” Ahmann said.

She then asked Smith where he was planning to shelter during the hurricane.

“He said he didn’t know,” Ahmann said. “He was going to go where God told him to go.”

Ahmann decided to take Smith in and soon learned that he served in the Navy during the Korean War and had been walking the streets for more than three decades.

She helped Smith clean up, bought him new clothes and even tried to open a bank account in his name.

That’s where they realized they had a problem.
read more here

Homeless Man Helped Stranger with $20, She Returns $20,000

This story keeps getting better!!!

Homeless veteran who received over $360K now wants to pay it forward, 'I just want to do the right thing'

UPDATE

Woman Raises over $254,000 for Homeless Veteran Who Helped Her

Posted on November 23, 2017

UPDATE

Woman raising funds to help homeless Marine Veteran

Johnny, who's 34, told McClure and D'Amico he has been homeless for about a year. He said he was previously a certified paramedic, and also served in the Marine Corps.

Woman raises money for homeless veteran who spent his last $20 to help her

Associated Press

November 22, 2017

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A New Jersey woman who was helped by a homeless man when she ran out of gas in Philadelphia is raising money to help him.

Kate McClure was heading to Philadelphia to visit a friend last month when she ran out of gas on Interstate 95. The Florence Township woman pulled over and began to worry until a homeless man approached her.

The man, whose name was “Johnny,” told her it wasn’t safe and he bought McClure gas with his last $20.

McClure promised she would return to pay him. McClure and her boyfriend, Mark D’Amico, have since raised over $20,000 for the former ammunition technician.

The pair hope to get “Johnny” an apartment and help with transportation.

read more here

Dentist Didn't Want Veteran to Wait, So He Paid the Bill

Dentist pays $15,000 bill for military veteran's dental work

FOX 35 News

November 17, 2017

Instead of waiting months for the paperwork to go through the VA, Dr. Nguyen wanted to help him immediately and cease his pain. So, he took care of the bill and went to work.

HOUSTON, Tx. - Most of us don’t look forward to going to the dentist, but this story could relieve some fears about your next visit.

When retired Staff Sergeant David Tyler Harmon and dentist, Dr. David Nguyen, met at their local gym, Harmon decided to book a cleaning. He had no idea it would turn into two weeks of dental work. He also didn’t know about the kindness in his new dentist’s heart.

"I came in for a cleaning, and he's like, 'My goodness!'" Harmon told FOX 26. "And I start telling him all the pain I'm in."

"All veterans are heroes," said Dr. Nguyen. "They give up so much for this country, and whatever I can do just to help him out a little bit, it's all worth it to me." read more here

Police Officer Pulled Veteran Over To Thank Him

Police officer pulls over a man because he looks like his dead son; what he sees on the dashboard

Connect Statesboro

Melinda Fox

September 1, 2017

Jazwinski concluded his Facebook post with these words:

"To all the family and friends of soldiers, fighting or done fighting, God bless you. Your peace and your hearts. It's so hard without them, I know. This road is a tremendous one. Love to all."

'I still don't believe it most days he's gone.' By Melinda Fox Sept. 1, 2017

William Jazwinski didn't know why a police officer pulled him over on April 18. He asked the officer if he had been speeding.

The officer responded, "No, not speeding. Just wanted to stop ya and say thank you for your service."

Jazwinski remembered the bumper sticker on his vehicle that identified him as a member of the military and began chatting with the officer about his military service.

Jazwinski had served 15 months as a heavy wheel vehicle operator in Iraq. Now home, he had just completed a post-traumatic stress disorder program and kept the folded U.S. flag he received from the military on the dashboard of his truck.

It was this flag that prompted the officer to open up about the real reason he had pulled Jazwinski over.

The officer told Jazwinski that he had been sent a flag in honor of his son who was in the military as well. He said, "My son went to Iraq. He didn't make it home."

The police officer continued, "You remind me of my son. I pulled you over. I thought you were him. I still don't believe it most days he's gone."

The officer then asked Jazwinski, "Do you mind stepping out and receiving a hug?"

Jazwinski admits that this hug was something that not only the police officer needed, but he needed, too.

"With tears in both our eyes I got out and hugged that man. I'm talking about for a minute or two crying. Down to our knees crying. I needed that."
read more here

Homeless Veterans Get Tiny Houses Built by Tiny Hands in LA

California School Children Help Build Tiny Homes for LA's Homeless

REUTERS

Jane Ross

August 28, 2017

Tiny house builder Elvis Summers (middle) stands inside the shell of a tiny house he is building for a homeless veteran with some of the children helping him build it, (L-R) Jordan Diem, Sam Diem, Elvis Summers, Skyler Hewitt (top) and McKenna Hewitt in Santa Clarita, California, U.S. on August 2, 2017. Picture taken August 2, 2017. REUTERS/Jane Ross Reuters

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A Los Angeles man who has spent more than two years building tiny, portable homes to help house the city's homeless population recruited a group of fourth and fifth grade children to aid his mission.

Elvis Summers, 40, has built dozens of compact one-room homes on wheels. For his latest construction, a 28-foot-by-8- foot home, he has teamed up with a group of more than 100 children, aged 9 to 11, from a local charter school.

Mariposa Robles, 10, sawed planks of wood, installed floor insulation and helped raise the plywood walls of a tiny house. Around 135 children have been involved with the project, working in shifts over a year.

"It's so amazing seeing it all come together," an excited Robles told Reuters.

read more here