Kenneth Berez, leader of Vietnam Veterans of America
Washington Post
Published: February 15
Kenneth Berez, 64, a Vietnam veteran who worked for many years with the Vietnam Veterans of America and a related foundation, died Jan. 29 at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda.
He had bladder cancer, his wife, Jenny Schnaier, said.
Mr. Berez served in the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division in Vietnam. He was severely wounded in 1969 during a Viet Cong ambush and spent two years recovering.
He began volunteering with Vietnam Veterans of America in 1979 and became a full-time employee of the support and advocacy group a year later. He worked on membership initiatives and headed the group’s educational efforts.
He developed an educational program for schools and worked on a program to provide prosthetic limbs to Vietnamese and Cambodian victims of land mines. From 1996 to 1998, he worked for the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation.
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Saturday, February 16, 2013
Bank America and Homes For Our Troops Team Up For Widows
Fort Campbell widows receive mortgage-free homes
Feb 15, 2013
Written by
Kristin M. Hall
Associated Press
NASHVILLE, TENN. — The widows of three Fort Campbell soldiers who were killed in Afghanistan received mortgage-free homes in Tennessee on Friday from Bank of America and Homes for Our Troops.
The wives of Army Spc. Charles “Scott” Jirtle, Army Spc. Blaine Redding and Army Spc. Anthony Vargas were presented with ceremonial keys to their homes in front of a crowd of supporters who had come to Nashville from the post on the Tennessee-Kentucky state line.
The donation of the homes was a reflection of the support from the military community around Fort Campbell for these families, who are referred to within the military as “Gold Star Families.”
All three soldiers were assigned to units in the 101st Airborne Division. Some of the division’s top leaders were in attendance, including the deputy commanding general for support, Brig. Gen. Ronald F Lewis.
Jirtle, 29, and Redding, 22, were killed after their vehicle was hit with an improvised explosive device on June 7, 2010, in Konar, Afghanistan. They were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team.
Vargas, 27, died Nov. 8, 2010, in Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, after insurgents attacked his unit using an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to 1st Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team.
read more here
Feb 15, 2013
Written by
Kristin M. Hall
Associated Press
NASHVILLE, TENN. — The widows of three Fort Campbell soldiers who were killed in Afghanistan received mortgage-free homes in Tennessee on Friday from Bank of America and Homes for Our Troops.
The wives of Army Spc. Charles “Scott” Jirtle, Army Spc. Blaine Redding and Army Spc. Anthony Vargas were presented with ceremonial keys to their homes in front of a crowd of supporters who had come to Nashville from the post on the Tennessee-Kentucky state line.
The donation of the homes was a reflection of the support from the military community around Fort Campbell for these families, who are referred to within the military as “Gold Star Families.”
All three soldiers were assigned to units in the 101st Airborne Division. Some of the division’s top leaders were in attendance, including the deputy commanding general for support, Brig. Gen. Ronald F Lewis.
Jirtle, 29, and Redding, 22, were killed after their vehicle was hit with an improvised explosive device on June 7, 2010, in Konar, Afghanistan. They were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team.
Vargas, 27, died Nov. 8, 2010, in Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, after insurgents attacked his unit using an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to 1st Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team.
read more here
In Loving Memory Of A Wife, Daughter And Fallen Soldier
In Loving Memory Of A Wife, Daughter And Fallen Soldier
by NPR STAFF
February 16, 2013
North Carolina National Guardsman Tracy Johnson is an Iraq War veteran and an Army widow.
She is also one of the first gay spouses to lose a partner at war since the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell."
On Feb. 14, 2012, Tracy married her longtime partner, Staff Sgt. Donna Johnson. But eight months later, Donna was killed by a suicide bomber while serving in Khost, Afghanistan.
"That day, I had a bad feeling," Tracy tells her mother-in-law, Sandra Johnson, during a visit to StoryCorps. "I immediately starting scouring the news websites, and it said that ... three U.S. soldiers were killed in Khost, Afghanistan, and I knew, obviously, that's where she was stationed."
But she had to wait to find out if her fears were legitimate.
read more here
by NPR STAFF
February 16, 2013
North Carolina National Guardsman Tracy Johnson is an Iraq War veteran and an Army widow.
She is also one of the first gay spouses to lose a partner at war since the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell."
On Feb. 14, 2012, Tracy married her longtime partner, Staff Sgt. Donna Johnson. But eight months later, Donna was killed by a suicide bomber while serving in Khost, Afghanistan.
"That day, I had a bad feeling," Tracy tells her mother-in-law, Sandra Johnson, during a visit to StoryCorps. "I immediately starting scouring the news websites, and it said that ... three U.S. soldiers were killed in Khost, Afghanistan, and I knew, obviously, that's where she was stationed."
But she had to wait to find out if her fears were legitimate.
read more here
Marine Squad's Lone Survivor Opens Up About Life After War
A Marine Squad's Lone Survivor
On August 3, 2005, Marine Lance Corporal Travis Williams lost his entire squad in an explosion in Iraq. Seven years later, the noise from his work making custom knives helps him drown out the memories. WSJ's Michael M. Phillips reports.
On August 3, 2005, Marine Lance Corporal Travis Williams lost his entire squad in an explosion in Iraq. Seven years later, the noise from his work making custom knives helps him drown out the memories. WSJ's Michael M. Phillips reports.
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