Father of slain 6 year old Sandy Hook student heckled by gun activists

Neil Heslin, Father Of Newtown Victim, Heckled By Pro-Gun Activists
(VIDEO, PHOTOS)
Huffington Post
Posted: 01/29/2013

Neil Heslin, the father of a 6-year-old boy who was slain in the Sandy Hook massacre in Newtown, Conn., on Dec. 14, stoically faced down pro-gun activists last night.

More than 1,000 people attended a hearing before the Gun Violence Prevention Working Group at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford on Monday to share their views on gun control, USA Today reported. Among them was Heslin, who held a large framed picture of himself and his son Jesse as he urged officials to consider strengthening gun laws in Connecticut.

But as he gave his emotional testimony, pleading with lawmakers to improve mental health options and to ban assault weapons like the one Adam Lanza used to murder his child and 25 other people, his speech was interrupted by dozens of audience members, The Connecticut Post reported.

“I still can't see why any civilian, anybody in this room in fact, needs weapons of that sort. You're not going to use them for hunting, even for home protection," Heslin said.

Pro-gun activists responded by calling out: "Second Amendment!"
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Camp Pendleton Marine Awarded Bronze Star While Deployed At Sea

Camp Pendleton Marine Awarded Bronze Star While Deployed At Sea
KPBS
By Beth Ford Roth
January 28, 2013

Cpl. Timothy R. Childers
USMC
Lieutenant Col. John Wiener, commanding officer, Combat Logistics Battalion 15, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, pins the Bronze Star with Combat Distinguishing Device on 1st Sgt. Bradley G. Simmons, Sergeant Major, CLB-15, 15th MEU, during his award ceremony aboard the USS Rushmore, Jan. 25.

Camp Pendleton Marine 1st Sgt. Bradley G. Simmons was awarded the Bronze Star January 25 on the flight deck of the San Diego-based USS Rushmore during the ship's deployment at sea.

Simmons is assigned to the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which is currently deployed with the Peleliu Amphibious Ready Group.

Simmons received the Bronze Star with Combat Distinguishing Device for "heroic service" while serving in Sangin District, Afghanistan in 2011, according 15th MEU Public Affairs. Simmons served then as the first sergeant of Company B, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, Regimental Combat Team 8, 2nd Marine Division (Forward), II Marine Expeditionary Force.
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Veteran Iraq sniper targets new enemy

I am glad this veteran came forward for several reasons. Above all, he sought treatment to heal. Other than that, he was a sniper. I know a couple of them and they got help too. These guys are about as trained and tough as they come so when others notice even they need help, it makes it easier for them to come to terms with their own needs.

PTSD in-patient treatment changes life of Denver veteran
FOX31 Denver
by Jeremy Hubbard
January 28, 2013

He was there as a truckload of soldiers from his unit were blown up by an improvised explosive device, and the trauma of that – and other horrors he witnessed in Iraq – have haunted him for years.

But now Army veteran Curtis Bean is getting intensive help for his Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. And it’s been a life changing experience.

In Iraq, Bean was a sniper, one of those guys constantly staring through a scope with an eye out for the enemy. Little did he know, when he got home from war, he’d have a few different enemies to look out for.

“I was drinking heavily. There were times I was drinking so heavily I wouldn’t remember what I did,” Bean said.

He was trying to deal with his PTSD, a condition up to 80 percent of soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan face. He encountered some horrifying things during his two tours in Iraq, including an IED blast that killed four men from his unit.

“Not dealing with it is not the right answer,” Bean said.
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Vietnam veterans honored on 40th anniversary of Paris Peace Accords

Vietnam veterans honored
By Zack McDonald
The News Herald
January 27, 2013

PANAMA CITY — Several Vietnam veteran groups stood in silence, heads bowed, eyes closed, as a bell tolled far off in the distance after each name of a deceased Vietnam veteran echoed through Oaks by the Bay Park Sunday.

The scene Sunday afternoon coincided with the 40th Anniversary of the Paris Peace Accord signing, which formally brought the Vietnam War to an end. It was intentionally reminiscent of an earlier event in Bay County. Four years ago The Moving Wall, a replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C., was at Oaks by the Bay Park to mark the state of efforts to place a permanent dedication to fallen soldiers.
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Paris Peace Accords

Quadruple amputee Iraq veteran gets new arms

UPDATE
January 29, 2013


Soldier who lost all four limbs in Iraq bomb blast receives double arm transplant
Brendan Marrocco, injured by a roadside bomb in 2009, was the first soldier to survive after losing all four limbs in the Iraq war. The New York City native is recovering after undergoing a double arm transplant and a bone marrow transplant on Dec. 18 at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, his father said Monday.
BY CHELSIA ROSE MARCIUS , JOSEPH STEPANSKY AND STEPHEN REX BROWN
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

He was the first soldier to survive the loss of all four limbs in Iraq, and now he’s the recipient of a cutting-edge double-arm transplant.

Staten Island’s own Brendan Marrocco, 26, endured the 13-hour operation on Dec. 18 at Johns Hopkins Hospital to replace the arms he lost because of a roadside bomb on Easter Sunday 2009.

“He never quits, he fights to survive,” said Giovanna Marrocco, 76, Brendan’s grandmother.

“He’s very happy, he wanted this transplant. I’m happy, too.”
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Double-arm transplant given to Iraq war veteran
By The Associated Press
on January 28, 2013

BALTIMORE — A soldier who lost all four limbs in a roadside bomb attack in 2009 in Iraq has received a double-arm transplant in Baltimore, Johns Hopkins Hospital officials said Monday.

Surgeons who treated the unidentified infantryman plan to discuss the transplant Tuesday at a news conference with the soldier. The soldier is one of seven in the U.S. who have undergone successful double-arm transplants, the hospital said.

The transplant last month is the first for the hospital and involved an innovative treatment to prevent rejection of the new limbs. The treatment used the dead donor’s bone marrow cells and so far has prevented rejection and reduced the need for anti-rejection drugs. Those drugs can cause complications, including infection and organ damage, hospital officials said.

The novel treatment to help prevent rejection was pioneered by Dr. W.P. Andrew Lee, plastic surgery chief at Johns Hopkins, when he previously worked at the University of Pittsburgh.
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