Soldier's family brings fight with contractor to Congress
By DAVID GOLDSTEIN
McClatchy Newspapers
Army Lt. Col. Dominic "Rocky" Baragona was killed in Iraq on the very day he was going home.
He was en route, heading south on the road between Baghdad and Kuwait City, when a tractor-trailer lost control, jackknifed across the highway and crushed his Humvee.
That was more than six years ago, when the Iraq war was barely two months old, and Baragona's family has been fighting to hold someone accountable ever since.
His parents, Dominic and Vilma Baragona, and a sister, were on Capitol Hill Wednesday to tell a Senate hearing how their quest for justice after his death has been a frustrating effort.
"Never could I have imagined that I would sit here six years later with no justice, no criminal investigation, few answers," Dominic Baragona Sr. told the Senate Subcommittee on Contracting Oversight.
The family has been asking questions ever since it learned of Baragona's death.
The tractor-trailer that killed Baragona was owned by the Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Co., an overseas U.S. government contractor that has earned millions of dollars from its work for the military.
read more here
http://www.kansascity.com/444/story/1578986.html
Thursday, November 19, 2009
What do you do with a Legion post that is losing its members?
It is not that the newer veterans are not coming but the Legion, along with too many other posts across the country, are not asking them.
When
New service organizations had to form a few years after Afghanistan was invaded, that should have caused alarm bells to go off in every established post. There would have been no need of them had the needs of the veterans been met by a welcoming neighborhood post showing they cared enough to know what the need was.
Young families wouldn't mind hanging around with people old enough to be grandparents if they knew they were cared about. Since we live in a time where families are no longer staying in their home towns they miss having someone older around to spoil them emotionally. Home could have been where the post was but they wanted to stay the same way they had been while the newer veterans needed oh so much more.
They needed accessibility to online resources but they also needed something the Legion was in a perfect position to deliver on. Experience. They would be able to just be an example of surviving even after what they went through in wars now reported in history books instead of newspapers. Wives could have helped new wives know that their marriages are not hopeless when love is there and support is available. There is so much they could have been doing but maybe its a case of no one ever giving them advice, or showing them how, or in some cases, just doing if for them. The age of these commanders does play into what was not being done and it's easy to jump to the conclusion they simply didn't know how to do any of it.
When
New service organizations had to form a few years after Afghanistan was invaded, that should have caused alarm bells to go off in every established post. There would have been no need of them had the needs of the veterans been met by a welcoming neighborhood post showing they cared enough to know what the need was.
Young families wouldn't mind hanging around with people old enough to be grandparents if they knew they were cared about. Since we live in a time where families are no longer staying in their home towns they miss having someone older around to spoil them emotionally. Home could have been where the post was but they wanted to stay the same way they had been while the newer veterans needed oh so much more.
They needed accessibility to online resources but they also needed something the Legion was in a perfect position to deliver on. Experience. They would be able to just be an example of surviving even after what they went through in wars now reported in history books instead of newspapers. Wives could have helped new wives know that their marriages are not hopeless when love is there and support is available. There is so much they could have been doing but maybe its a case of no one ever giving them advice, or showing them how, or in some cases, just doing if for them. The age of these commanders does play into what was not being done and it's easy to jump to the conclusion they simply didn't know how to do any of it.
What do you do with a Legion post that is losing its members?
Nov, 17-2009 4:05 pm
By JACKIE HANUSEY
Staff Writer
LINWOOD – Linwood American Legion Post 353 sits at 23 Elm Ave., old and in disrepair.
The building’s yellow paint is peeling; the once-red door faded. From the outside, the curtains look worn and moth-eaten.
Birds live in the roof, and the portico over the front porch is rotted and unstable, according to City Councilman Tim Tighe. Sometimes, the grass is unkempt.
Tighe said the city has been wrestling with what to do about the building for several years.
He said it is a shame that the building needs so much work. Owned by the American Legion, it was constructed in 1900. It is on an undersized lot, which would make it hard to sell.
But perhaps the biggest problem to overcome is not the age of the building, but its membership.
“It’s a touchy situation. No one has any intentions of hurting the veterans,” Tighe said. “We don’t understand where the younger veterans are.”
red more here
http://www.shorenewstoday.com/news.php?id=5828
Soldier defends decision to reveal murders of Iraqi detainees
Soldier defends decision to reveal murders of Iraqi detainees
By Abbie Boudreau and Scott Zamost, CNN Special Investigations Unit
November 19, 2009 5:57 p.m. EST
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Sergeant who revealed murders of four Iraqis says he has no regrets about breaking silence
Three sergeants were convicted of murder and conspiracy to commit murder CNN investigation revealed that one of the trio was frustrated with rules for taking in detainees Full investigation on "AC360°" tonight, 10 ET; read blog posts: Abbie Boudreau; Scott Zamost A CNN investigation reveals why the Army's rules for holding detainees may have led to the murders of four Iraqis by three decorated Army sergeants. Watch tonight through Friday on "AC360°" at 10 p.m. ET.
Bakersfield, California (CNN) -- A former Army sergeant who revealed the murders of four Iraqis at a canal in 2007 says he has no regrets about breaking his silence.
"I did the right thing," Jess Cunningham told CNN's "AC360°." "I'm not going to hide behind false brotherhood."
Nine months after the March 2007 murders, Cunningham told his Army lawyer what had happened at the canal. Eventually, three sergeants would be convicted of premeditated murder and conspiracy to commit premeditated murder.
"These men are not heroes. They're not saviors," Cunningham said.
First Sgt. John Hatley, Sgt. 1st Class Joseph Mayo and Sgt. Michael Leahy are all serving terms at the U.S. military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
read more here
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/11/19/army.tapes.soldier.speaks/index.html
By Abbie Boudreau and Scott Zamost, CNN Special Investigations Unit
November 19, 2009 5:57 p.m. EST
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Sergeant who revealed murders of four Iraqis says he has no regrets about breaking silence
Three sergeants were convicted of murder and conspiracy to commit murder CNN investigation revealed that one of the trio was frustrated with rules for taking in detainees Full investigation on "AC360°" tonight, 10 ET; read blog posts: Abbie Boudreau; Scott Zamost A CNN investigation reveals why the Army's rules for holding detainees may have led to the murders of four Iraqis by three decorated Army sergeants. Watch tonight through Friday on "AC360°" at 10 p.m. ET.
Bakersfield, California (CNN) -- A former Army sergeant who revealed the murders of four Iraqis at a canal in 2007 says he has no regrets about breaking his silence.
"I did the right thing," Jess Cunningham told CNN's "AC360°." "I'm not going to hide behind false brotherhood."
Nine months after the March 2007 murders, Cunningham told his Army lawyer what had happened at the canal. Eventually, three sergeants would be convicted of premeditated murder and conspiracy to commit premeditated murder.
"These men are not heroes. They're not saviors," Cunningham said.
First Sgt. John Hatley, Sgt. 1st Class Joseph Mayo and Sgt. Michael Leahy are all serving terms at the U.S. military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
read more here
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/11/19/army.tapes.soldier.speaks/index.html
Standoffs Involved Vets Who May Have PTSD
Standoffs Involved Vets Who May Have PTSD
By: Jenny Griswold and Becky Nahm
Two standoffs in the metro in three days both involved Iraq war veterans who friends say suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.
On Nov. 11, officers went to the Apple Valley home of Robert James Dunnum, 44.
According to a criminal complaint, he had been drinking and told his wife "you want a war, I'll start a war."
He's charged with making terroristic threats and domestic assault.
He allegedly had seven guns and a grenade.
On Nov. 13, in Edina, officers sent neighbors to their basements while a man holed up in his home with a gun. The man was also an Iraq war vet.
read more here
http://kstp.com/news/stories/S1259809.shtml?cat=1
By: Jenny Griswold and Becky Nahm
Two standoffs in the metro in three days both involved Iraq war veterans who friends say suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.
On Nov. 11, officers went to the Apple Valley home of Robert James Dunnum, 44.
According to a criminal complaint, he had been drinking and told his wife "you want a war, I'll start a war."
He's charged with making terroristic threats and domestic assault.
He allegedly had seven guns and a grenade.
On Nov. 13, in Edina, officers sent neighbors to their basements while a man holed up in his home with a gun. The man was also an Iraq war vet.
read more here
http://kstp.com/news/stories/S1259809.shtml?cat=1
Two non-combat deaths under investigation
Death wasn’t combat related Troy Marine lost his life in Iraq; probe is ongoing
By Casey Farrar
Sentinel Staff
Published: Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Military officials have released more information about the death of a Troy Marine in Iraq last week, but say an investigation into how Staff Sgt. Stephen L. Murphy died could take weeks.
Murphy, 36, died Nov. 8 as the result of a non-hostile incident in Anbar province, according to officials at the U.S. Department of Defense.
Further details about how Murphy died won’t be available until military officials complete an investigation into the incident, which could take several weeks, said Marine Master Sgt. Keith Milks.
A non-hostile incident is one that does not take place in combat or involve foul play and could be a suicide, accident or medical condition, said Major Kelly Frushour, a Marine spokeswoman.
read more here
http://sentinelsource.com/articles/2009/11/17/news/local/free/id_379484.txt
Local soldier buried with military honors
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November 17, 2009 5:52 PM
A slow moving funeral cortege moved down Colonie streets Tuesday morning for the funeral of Staff Sergeant Amy Seyboth Tirador.
The 29-year-old 1998 graduate of Colonie Central High School was killed in Iraq on Nov. 4 by what the Army called "non combat circumstances." Amy's parents have said they were told she was shot in the back of the head and the family has promised to find out the truth about what happened.
Neighbors stood outside the Reach Out Fellowship Church watching the flag draped silver casket carried inside while Tirado's husband and parents marched in anguish behind it.
The circumstances of Tirador's death was on the mind of several people. One woman outside the church said, "It's very upsetting. You send your child off to war and then something like this happens."
read more herehttp://www.cbs6albany.com/news/buried-1268519-honors-local.html
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