Korean War Chaplain may be first Medal of Honor Recipient and Saint

Posthumous MoH for Korean War Catholic priest
The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Feb 23, 2013

WICHITA, Kan. — A Roman Catholic priest from Kansas will be awarded the nation's highest military award for bravery for his actions during the Korean War, according to former Kansas Congressman Todd Tiahrt.

Tiahrt told The Wichita Eagle that Emil Kapaun will be posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor by President Obama in April. Tiahrt also posted a letter from a Pentagon official on his Facebook page, saying that Kapaun will be honored April 12 at the Pentagon.

Kapaun, a priest from Pilsen, Kan., who died in 1951, has been celebrated for his actions during the Korean War. The Vatican has also classified Kapaun as a Servant of God, a step in the process to sainthood.

The Pentagon is expected to invite several of Kapaun's fellow former prisoners of war to attend the ceremony. They survived horrific conditions in the prison camp after they were captured in battles against the Chinese Army in late 1950, shortly after China entered the Korean War.

Kapaun grew up in Pilsen, in Marion County, and served there as a parish priest before joining the Army. He served in World War II and in Korea before he was captured. Kapaun died at the prisoner of war camp hospital seven months after he was first taken captive by the Chinese in 1950.
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Daytona race leaves fans injured after crash

Update February 24, 2013
From WESH2 News
28 Hurt in last lap crash at Daytona
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. —At least 28 people were injured Saturday when large chunks of debris, including a tire, sailed into the grandstands when a car flew into the fence at Daytona International Speedway on a frightening last-lap accident in the second-tier Nationwide Series race.

Daytona Nationwide crash: Kyle Larson's frightening wreck sends car parts into stands
Jeff Owens Sporting News

Speed TV reported that 15 spectators were taken to local hospitals, with six being treated for trauma-like injuries.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — A spectacular crash in the Nationwide Series race Saturday tore apart the catch fence and sent parts of Kyle Larson’s car, including the engine, flying into the grandstands at Daytona International Speedway.

Larson’s car was flipped upside-down into the fence during a frightening melee on the final lap.
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More military lives lost to suicide in 2012 than battle dead from three wars

I have been looking at these numbers for so long now that it has become infuriating to turn on the news and not hear one word about any of this.

Last year we lost more troops to suicide than we lost in battle during the Gulf War.
Gulf War
Persian Gulf War
Total Served 2,225,000
Total Deaths
382

2012 Military Suicides
449


Last year we lost more veterans to suicide than we did in 11 years of fighting two wars.

US Killed in Afghanistan
2001 12
2002 49
2003 48
2004 52
2005 99
2006 98
2007 117
2008 155
2009 317
2010 499
2011 418
2012 310
2013 3
Total Deaths
2,177


US Killed in Iraq
2003 486
2004 849
2005 846
2006 823
2007 904
2008 314
2009 149
2010 60
2011 54
2012 1
Total Deaths
4,486

Total Killed in Three Wars
7,045

2012 Veteran Suicides

8,030

Military/veteran families grieving by graves filled last year by suicide

8,479

UPDATE February 24, 2013
John Henry Parker, a friend, wrote on Huffington Post that this was happening and it was a big deal even before the new numbers came out. The veterans committing suicide figure went up along with military suicides. It you want to know why this is such a big deal to people paying attention, read this.

Veteran Suicides Each Year Eclipses Total OEF/OIF U.S. Military Killed in Action Since 9/11
Huffington Post
John Henry Parker
Co-Founder, Purple Star Veterans and Families (PSVF)

Wake Up, America.

We are crossing a serious milestone in our nation's history -- and nobody knows it.

The latest U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) report from the DEFENSE CASUALTY ANALYSIS SYSTEM puts the number of U.S. military killed in action (KIA) while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan at 6,567 as of December 14, 2012.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of Americans are not correlating the lives lost in The War On Terror with the catastrophic loss of life occurring when warriors come home. In the United States, every 80 minutes a U.S. Military Veteran dies from suicide. That's 18 per day, 6,570 per year.

Speaker Boehner forgets he forgot about veterans

Boehner is at it again! He forgets what Congress is supposed to do all the time. THIS FALLS UNDER THE CONGRESS AND IT IS THEIR JOB TO FIX IT. THEY HAVEN'T AND VETERANS SUFFER BECAUSE OF WHAT THEY HAVE FAILED TO DO!

Boehner: Veterans’ claims system is broken
By Lisa Cornwell
The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Feb 22, 2013

CINCINNATI — U.S. House Speaker John Boehner said the system for handling veterans' disability claims is broken and he wants the head of the Department of Veterans Affairs to explain what is being done to fix it.

Boehner, a Republican from Ohio, said in a letter to Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki this week that the benefit delivery system for veterans has not shown any noticeable improvement in the four years Shinseki has headed the department and the backlog of compensation claims "remains alarmingly high."

The VA was preparing a formal response to Boehner's letter, a VA spokesman said Friday. The VA has said it completed a "record-breaking" 1 million claims per year the past three years.

But the speaker wrote in his letter that the backload remains high, especially in Ohio, despite the announcement at the Cleveland Veterans Affairs Regional Office last summer of a new organizational model to help reduce the backlog by 2015. The Cleveland office, which handles claims from around the state, is now processing claims in an average of 334 days compared with the national average of 272 days and the VA's own goal of 125 days, Boehner said.
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Entire F-35 fleet grounded over engine issues

Entire F-35 fleet grounded over engine issues
Army Times
By Aaron Mehta
Staff writer
Posted : Friday Feb 22, 2013

ORLANDO, Fla. — The Pentagon has suspended all test flights for the entire Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter fleet due to engine problems.

The move came nine days after the Pentagon cleared the F-35B jump-jet variant, designed for the U.S. Marines, to resume tests after a monthlong suspension. Both suspensions are due to problems with the engines. It also comes at a time when the program is facing increased scrutiny from lawmakers and senior DoD officials.

Unlike the last suspension, which was only for the B variant, this suspension affects all three variants: the F-35A Air Force conventional takeoff version, the F35-B for the Marines, and the F35-C carrier variant for the Navy.

“On Feb. 19, 2013, a routine engine inspection revealed a crack on a low pressure turbine blade of an F135 engine installed in a [conventional takeoff] test aircraft at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif,” wrote Kyra Hawn, Joint Program Office (JPO) spokeswoman, in a statement.
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