Thieves stole items from Combat Veterans' Memorial

Veterans outraged by theft of items from memorial
Tri-City Herald
By Geoff Folsom
March 7, 2014

The boots and plaque are all that remain of the veterans memorial at Flat Top Park in West Richland. KRISTINA LORD — Tri-City Herald

The apparent theft of an M-16 rifle and helmet from a West Richland memorial has outraged Mid-Columbia veterans.

Dan Richey, a member of Combat Veterans International Chapter 3 who lives around the corner from Flat Top Park, noticed early last month that the rifle and helmet were missing from the top of the 2 rock they had been perched on for more than 12 years.

The bronze boots at the base of the sculpture also were damaged.

Richey said he checks The Final Tribute veterans memorial on his regular walks to the park, where he also monitors the memorial's nearby flags to ensure they're in good flying shape.

"I'm appalled and dismayed," he said. "I can't believe we have individuals in our neighborhood who would do such a thing."

Richey reported the vandalism to police. West Richland police are investigating the theft, said Sgt. Thomas Grego. Bobby Dale Albers of Kennewick, sergeant at arms for Combat Veterans International Chapter 3, said the theft and damage goes "way beyond vandalism."
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Vietnam Veteran Helping Others to Come Home

‘We have to learn how to come home,’ says veteran
The Olympian
BY ADAM ASHTON
Staff writer
March 8, 2014

A well-timed bear hug from a Vietnam veteran persuaded Jonathan Wicks to put down the gun he’d raised to his head and start seeking therapy for the post-traumatic stress he developed after serving in Iraq.

Nine years later, Wicks is the one giving back to former military service members as a counselor at the Tacoma Vet Center. It’s rewarding work for a veteran inspired by his own therapists at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

“PTSD showed me what my meaning is” in life, he said.

Wicks shared his story Friday with an audience of nearly 200 at the University of Washington Tacoma, urging them to show compassionate, nonjudgmental care for veterans leaving the military after the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

His testimony was part of a conference on veterans and military families that was targeted at professionals in social work, counseling and human resources. They’re among those most likely to encounter veterans struggling to adjust to civilian living.

“We have to learn how to come home just as well as we learned how to go into the military,” said Stephen Robinson, a retired soldier who helped bring the conference together as vice president of external affairs for Prudential.

“The people who helped me the most were not combat veterans,” he (Anthony Hassan) said. “They just showed me compassion. They showed me compassion I didn’t know people had.”
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Saluting Soldier Hargis looking forward to being new Dad

Soldier wounded in Afghanistan on road to recovery
WLWT News
By Adrianne Kelly
March 8, 2014

Hargis caught nation's attention during his salute in ICU at field hospital in Afghanistan

CINCINNATI —A Tri-State soldier wounded in Afghanistan is now on the road to recovery.

Sgt. Josh Hargis caught the nation's attention during his salute in the intensive care unit at a field hospital in Afghanistan.

Hargis' brother organized a warriors' walk to honor him and other wounded veterans.

Hargis is already looking ahead to his next big challenge: he and his wife Taylor are expecting a baby in May.
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Milwaukee VA Hospital drug investigation

4 charged in Milwaukee VA Hospital drug investigation
WISN News
Nick Bohr
March 7, 2014

WISN 12 News reporter Nick Bohr first reported on this case Thursday, when officials declined to comment on the investigation.

The Veteran Affairs Police Department investigation began in early December after a fellow worker reported seeing three certified nursing assistants and a licensed practical nurse passing or exchanging medications.
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JPMorgan whistleblower gets $63.9 million in mortgage fraud deal

JPMorgan whistleblower gets $63.9 million in mortgage fraud deal
Reuters
Jonathan Stempel
March 7, 2014

(Reuters) - A whistleblower will be paid $63.9 million for providing tips that led to JPMorgan Chase and Co's agreement to pay $614 million and tighten oversight to resolve charges that it defrauded the government into insuring flawed home loans.

The payment to the whistleblower, Keith Edwards, was disclosed on Friday in a filing with the U.S. district court in Manhattan that formally ended the case.

In the February 4 settlement, JPMorgan admitted that for more than a decade it submitted thousands of mortgages for insurance by the Federal Housing Administration or the Department of Veterans Affairs that did not qualify for government guarantees.

JPMorgan also admitted that it had failed to tell the agencies that its own internal reviews had turned up problems.

The government said it ultimately had to cover millions of dollars of losses after some of the bank's loans went sour, resulting in evictions and foreclosures nationwide.

"There were a lot of bad loans made during the financial boom, and the United States taxpayer was left holding the bag through the VA and FHA loan programs," Edwards' lawyer, David Wasinger, said in a phone interview. "Hopefully the settlement sends a message to Wall Street that this conduct is not allowed, and that in the future it will be held accountable."

Edwards could not immediately be reached for comment.
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