Fort Bragg Reservist Gives Christmas Miracle to Vietnam Veteran

Facebook plea brings strangers to aid of Vietnam veteran near Fort Bragg
Fay Observer
By Amanda Dolasinski Staff writer
December 23, 2014

Staff photos by Abbi O'Leary

More than 50 soldiers and other volunteers turned out Sunday to help clear land and build a home for Vietnam War veteran Donald Lee, who had been living in an old camper without heat. 

CAMERON - Vietnam War veteran Donald Lee wobbled around with a cane as the sound of axes chopping wood and chain saws taking down trees echoed throughout his 5-acre property.

He occasionally stopped to pet one of his many rescue dogs or to hug one of the soldiers who arrived to join the others already at work.

"This is a Christmas miracle," he said, taking it all in. "In 40 some years, one thing about the military that hasn't changed, brothers and sisters take care of each other."

By 10 a.m. Sunday, more than 50 volunteers - mostly soldiers and strangers who had never met Lee - were sprawled across his property clearing trees and debris to build him a new home.

Lee left the Army in 1975. But the experiences he endured stuck with him and drove him to alcohol.

He shut the world out and found tranquility alone in the camper on his property.

He started to clean up his life in 1999 and has been sober since, he said.

He continued to struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder until friend Amanda Pavone came into his life.

"She kicked me in the butt till I was ready to live again," he said. "I needed it."

Lee met Pavone, a soldier with a Reserve unit, a few months ago through a group that pairs soldiers dealing with PTSD. At first, Pavone was running to get groceries and dog food for Lee and his 12 rescue dogs.

She soon realized that he was living in a small camper off Page Store Road in Cameron that had no running water, heat or even a front door.
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Fort Lee Hardee's Lunch Angel is Chief Warrant Officer Jason Sibley

What this Iraq War veteran did at Hardee’s will melt your heart
CBS 6
BY WAYNE COVIL
DECEMBER 23, 2014

“I really didn’t feel as if I had done anything, that I believe most people would do,” Sibley said.

Chief Warrant Officer 3 Jason Sibley

FORT LEE, Va. — We now know the name of the mystery soldier whose act of kindness at a Petersburg Hardee’s went viral last week.

The tale began when a stranger sat and watched the Iraq War veteran buy lunch for a woman he met outside the restaurant on Tuesday.

As one of the people inside the restaurant was leaving, he asked to snap a picture of the soldier and the woman he bought lunch for.

Chief Warrant Officer 3 Jason Sibley, a husband, father of three with 16 years of service in the Army, said it all started when he left Fort Lee a quick lunch at a nearby Hardee’s.

“I was going to lunch at Hardee’s and as I came in, a lady approached me and asked if I would buy her a meal. And I said, ‘Yes,'” Sibley told CBS 6 News senior reporter Wayne Covil. “I asked her if she wanted to sit down, our meal would probably come together [and] if she wanted to have lunch together.”
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Thursday, December 18, 2014
Soldier Fed Hungry Woman and Sat with Her a While

Pat "Grandpa" Featherby, Iraq War veteran from Wichita passed away

Pat Featherby, Iraq War veteran from Wichita, dies at 44 
THE WICHITA EAGLE
BY FRED MANN
 12/23/2014

“All you have is each other. Without each other, we would not have made it. There is no question in my mind.”

Spc. Pat Featherby died Dec. 19 at age 44. TRAVIS HEYING FILE PHOTO

Pat Featherby was a bouncer and concert promoter in Wichita when he saw a report on television about American soldiers being ambushed and killed in Iraq. He decided to do something about that.

He signed up for duty with the Kansas Army National Guard at age 35, earning the nickname “Grampa” in basic training.

In the Guard’s 714th Security Force, Spc. Featherby reunited with a childhood buddy, Sgt. Jerry Young. They traveled together to Iraq, roomed together and rode in the same escort convoys in northern Iraq, Young leading the way in the scout vehicle.

Both suffered multiple traumatic brain injuries from roadside bombs.

They talked each other through the war, and after they returned home they talked each other through their lives as they dealt with severe symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and a host of other medical, financial and social issues.

Mr. Featherby died Dec. 19 of what his family said were service-related injuries. He was 44.
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"War Dogs" shares the bond between combat dogs and soldiers

The tale of a Marine and his war dog torn apart by death
PBS The Rundown
BY MARGARET WARNER
December 23, 2014

Sirius with his new owner, Marine Cpl. Eric Roethler.

Photo by U.S. Navy

Margaret Warner talks with Rebecca Frankel, author of the new book “War Dogs,” about the powerful bond between servicemen and their combat dogs. Video shot by Morgan Till, edited by Ariel Min.

The crucial link for an effective war-dog-and-handler team in battle zones is the psychological bond between the two. They depend on each other for their lives. And if their assignment is detecting deadly IEDs — as it was for many of the 2,500 canines in America’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan wars — so do every soldier or marine in the unit they lead on foot patrol.

It’s a deep bond based on trust, professional confidence in the other’s instincts and abilities to find explosives, and a personal mix of discipline, intimacy and affection. The bond can take weeks of training to develop and months of battlefield experience to hone.
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Only 15% US Military Approve of Commander-in-Chief Obama

It is great to read about what most talk about. The troops are very unhappy. When sequestration cut funding for the military after Congress caused the mess, President Obama didn't do much about it. That put a huge scar on all of them considering most wanted to make it to retire from the military instead of being laid off. Imagine what it did to morale when deployed Captains and Majors got their pink slips.

Then there is the issue of PTSD and suicides. Would be interesting to read results of a survey to see who troops blame for the lack of care and the way they were treated in the Warrior Transition Units.

All in all, as damning as this report is, for the troops, it only touches on what they have been talking about for years.

President Barack Obama address the group of soldiers at US Central Command (CentCom) at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., on Sept. 17, 2014. James Borchuck/AP

Obama’s mark on the military
A DEEPLY UNPOPULAR COMMANDER IN CHIEF IS FORCING PROFOUND CHANGE INSIDE THE RANKS
Military.com
By Stephen Losey
December 21, 2014

According to a Military Times survey of almost 2,300 active-duty service members, Obama's popularity — never high to begin with — has crumbled, falling from 35 percent in 2009 to just 15 percent this year, while his disapproval ratings have increased to 55 percent from 40 percent over that time.

In his first term, President Obama oversaw repeal of the controversial "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

Then he broke with one of the military's most deeply rooted traditions and vowed to lift the ban on women serving in combat.

And the commander in chief has aggressively sought to change military culture by cracking down on sexual assault and sexual harassment, problems that for years were underreported or overlooked.

Obama is an unpopular president in the eyes of the men and women in uniform. Yet his two-term administration is etching a deep imprint on the culture inside the armed forces. As commander in chief, he will leave behind a legacy that will shape the Pentagon's personnel policies and the social customs of rank-and-file troops for decades to come.

For Obama's supporters, the cultural changes he's overseeing are on a level with President Truman's 1948 order that desegregated the military and put it at the forefront of the national push for racial equality.
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