Florida: Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn Cashe Actions Worthy of Medal of Honor

Medal of Honor campaign continues for sergeant who saved troops in Iraq
Los Angeles Times
By David Zucchino
Published: December 7, 2014

Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn Cashe

COURTESY OF KASINAL CASHE WHITE

LOS ANGELES (Tribune News Service) — If he had known in 2005 what he knows today, Brig. Gen. Gary Brito would have nominated Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn Cashe for the Medal of Honor.

Brito knew in 2005 that Cashe, his uniform soaked with fuel, had plunged into a burning vehicle in Iraq on Oct. 17, 2005, to rescue soldiers who were on fire. But only months later did Brito, Cashe's battalion commander, learn the full details of Cashe's courage that day outside the city of Samarra.

Cashe rescued six badly burned soldiers while under enemy small-arms fire. His own uniform caught fire, engulfing him in flames. Even with second- and-third degree burns over three-fourths of his body, Cashe continue to pull soldiers out of a vehicle set ablaze when a roadside bomb ruptured a fuel tank.

Before all of those details emerged, Cashe was awarded a Silver Star, the military's third-highest award for valor, after Brito nominated him. But soon after learning more about Cashe's actions, Brito mounted an unusual Medal of Honor campaign that has continued for more than seven years.

If the latest batch of sworn statements submitted to the Army by Brito is successful, Cashe will become the first African American among 16 service members awarded the nation's highest medal for valor for actions in Iraq or Afghanistan. Cashe, 35, died of his burns three weeks after the bomb attack. Seven of the 16 medals have been awarded posthumously.

"You don't often find truly selfless sacrifice where someone put his soldiers' welfare before his own," Brito said. "Sgt. Cashe was horribly wounded and continued to fight to save his men."
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Article from Orlando Sentinel in July

Friends, family gather as Army names Reserve Center after fallen hero
By Susan Jacobson
Orlando Sentinel
Published: July 20, 2014

SANFORD, Fla. — Gary Mills owes his life to the late Army Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn C. Cashe.

Mills was one of half a dozen soldiers whom Cashe pulled from a burning Bradley Fighting Vehicle after a roadside bomb hit it in Iraq on Oct. 17, 2005.

Badly burned over most of his body, Cashe died Nov. 9, 2005.

But his name will live on in Sanford, where Mills joined dozens of Cashe's fellow soldiers, friends, family and dignitaries at a ceremony Saturday naming the new U.S. Army Reserve Center after the fallen hero.

"It's long overdue," Mills, 34, of Jacksonville said of the recognition.

On the lawn of the 31,030-square-foot training building near Orlando Sanford International Airport, speakers praised Cashe's bravery, selflessness and dedication and read proclamations from Gov. Rick Scott and Sanford Mayor Jeff Triplett recognizing Cashe's sacrifice.

Representatives of Sens. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Jacksonville, also paid their respects.

Two of Cashe's brothers and a sister -- he comes from a blended family of 18 siblings -- spoke of his impeccable character and remembered his love of hunting and fishing.

Cashe joined the Army immediately after graduating from Oviedo High School in 1988. He had deployed to Iraq once before during Operation Iraqi Freedom and had previously served in Bosnia and the first Gulf War.

When he died at 35, Cashe left a wife and three children in addition to his mother, siblings and a large extended family.
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PTSD on trial and the story upside down

It is really odd how people can read the same article but come away with different points of view. Take this one about an Iraq veteran facing charges for shooting a police officer.

This is the headline Iraq war vet indicted for shooting Athens police officer But twisting the story around, pulling the bottom of the article to the top, it raises important points that could very well be missed if you stopped reading after the beginning.

Defense attorney Edward Tolley noted in one of the motions that Marcantonio was involved in numerous fire fights during his deployment in Iraq, and in 2006 he suffered a severe brain injury when an armored vehicle he was in was struck by an artillery shell. He suffers from PTSD, Tolley noted. Tolley said that if granted bond, Veteran Affairs has offered to accept Marcantonio with an ankle monitor while he is provided with in-patient mental health services. The attorney also argued that Marcantonio was honorably discharged from the Marines and had no prior criminal record. The lance corporal was awarded the Purple Heart and other medals and commendations for his service in Iraq.

Now read what the beginning of the article had.

James Michael Marcantonio, 28, is a decorated combat veteran of the Iraq war who suffers from post traumatic stress syndrome that possibly triggered the altercation in which the officer was shot, according to court filings by his defense attorney. On Nov. 25, grand jurors filed an indictment in Clarke County Superior Court charging the former U.S. Marine with aggravated assault against a police officer, aggravated battery, attempted removal of a firearm from a public official, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime and felony obstruction of a law enforcement officer. The injured officer was one of two who responded on Aug. 31 to Fairways at Jennings Mill apartments on a woman’s report that Marcantonio was banging on her door and trying to get inside, according to police.

By the time you read that part, you knew that he was a dealing with PTSD and the VA offered to help.

Green Bay Packers Honors Solder Who Saved Lives on Multiple Deployments

Soldier whose work saves lives in Lambeau spotlight tonight
Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel
By Meg Jones
December 8, 2014

Family photo
Lt. Col. Patrick Stamm (center) is seen in Iraq in 2009. He’ll attend Monday night's Packers game at Lambeau Field through Operation Fan Mail.

Green Bay — Lt. Col. Patrick Stamm was an Air Force brat who spent his four years of high school in four different schools as his fighter pilot father moved the family from base to base.

One of those stops was Markesan High School, west of Fond du Lac, where he spent his sophomore year.

His father, who was born in Milwaukee and grew up in Markesan, instilled in him a love for America and the Green Bay Packers. Stamm remembers watching the Packers play at Milwaukee's County Stadium and catching a game in San Diego.

Most Operation Fan Mail recipients are nominated by family or friends.

Stamm, however, was nominated by his battalion commander in Afghanistan. Col. Patrick Kelly, who became a lifelong Packers fan after watching the Ice Bowl on television from the Bronx as a 7-year-old, had attended a game in 2012 through Operation Fan Mail. He wanted to pass the thrill on to Stamm.
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Navy Cross Vietnam Veteran Turned Down by VA?

Vegas Navy Cross recipient shot down by VA benefits office
Las Vegas Review Journal
Keith Rogers
Posted December 6, 2014

Vietnam War veteran Steve Lowery has the scars, the medals and his Marine Corps medical records to prove he was wounded when his 12-man reconnaissance team was attacked on March 5, 1969.

“We were nearly wiped out and overcome,” said the Las Vegas resident, recounting the firefight in the darkness atop Hill 1308 that left three of his buddies dead and seven wounded including him.

One who was killed, Pfc. Robert H. Jenkins Jr., was awarded the Medal of Honor for saving Fred Ostrom’s life by shielding him from an exploding grenade. Others received Silver and Bronze Stars for their bravery.

Lowery, the team leader and a 1964 graduate of Rancho High School, was awarded the Navy Cross, the nation’s second highest valor award.

That makes him among the most highly decorated veterans from Las Vegas, but he doesn’t expect to be treated any differently than other veterans who have served their country honorably.

“I wear this on behalf of the other 11 who were with me,” he said last week about the Navy Cross, which has a citation that reads: “For extraordinary heroism … Corporal Lowery was seriously wounded in both legs by the intense enemy fire.

“Steadfastly remaining in his hazardous position, he boldly delivered accurate return fire and hurled grenades at the advancing enemy … killing several of the enemy and causing the others to retreat.”

Yet in the eyes of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the bullet from an AK-47 that ripped through his thighs and shrapnel from a “Chi-Com” — Chinese Communist — grenade that pierced his right knee were not related to his military service.

Nor was the neck injury he suffered near the end of his career when a moving van rear-ended his car when he was stopped at a light while on active duty in Hawaii.

That’s what the letter says from the VA Benefits Regional Office in Reno that rejected his claim for service-connected compensation.

“We determined that the following condition is not related to your military service,” reads the Aug. 1, 2011, letter from “A. Bittler,” veterans service center manager. “Gunshot wound to left thigh; neck condition; shrapnel, right knee; gunshot wound, right thigh.”
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Dying Vietnam Veteran Wed in Hospital Room Has to Pay Back Thousands?

VA delay triggers $6,324 bill for dying veteran who got married
Veterans Affairs wants a Gold Bar couple to repay more than $6,000 in pension overpayments, caused by the VA’s paperwork backlog.
Seattle Times
By Hal Bernton
Seattle Times staff reporter
December 3, 2014

STEVE RINGMAN / THE SEATTLE TIMES
Debbie Shafer takes care of her husband, Rob Arthur, who is terminally ill with brain cancer, in their Gold Bar mobile home.

GOLD BAR, Snohomish County — When Rob Arthur was diagnosed with brain cancer back in January, the gaunt, gray-haired Vietnam veteran decided to wed his longtime girlfriend, Debbie Shafer, in a hospital room.

The marriage has been a source of comfort for this couple as they face the challenges of an unforgiving disease, deemed terminal, in a trailer home set by the steep flanks of the North Cascade mountains.

It also has been a big source of stress in their dealings with the federal Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Last summer, the VA ruled that Arthur — his earnings boosted by his wife’s wages as a nurse’s aide — was no longer eligible for an income-based pension and would have to repay $6,324 in checks mailed out during the more than six months that the department took to make this decision.

“They are mental abusers right now, is the way I look at it,” Shafer said. “And that’s not a kind way to look at your government. We got knocked down, and now they are stomping on us. We don’t have the money to pay them.”

These overpayments are more fallout from the troubled VA’s inability to keep up with a massive caseload of veterans who turn to the department for benefits. These delays sometimes can create major financial problems for the veterans by sticking them with unexpected bills to repay checks they should not have received.

“It can be an incredible hardship,” said Amy Fairweather, a policy director at San Francisco-based Swords to Plowshares, a nonprofit veterans service organization. “The onus should be on the VA to take care of these matters and not to go after destitute or low-income veterans to pay back pensions.”

VA officials say their actions are guided by federal law.
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