Utah Iraq Veteran Killed by Police

Utahn killed in police shooting ‘loved life,’ father says
The Salt Lake Tribune
By MICHAEL MCFALL
First Published 4 hours ago

"The shooting ended the life of a man who had been a staff sergeant in the U.S. Army and had plans to become a nurse.

"He loved life. He loved his wife," said Russell McGehee. "… He had a lot of plans. It’s so difficult to look at a person who has all these plans [and see that end]."

McGehee had wanted to be a soldier since he was 10 years old, and in 2009, he was deployed on his first of two tours to Iraq.

Though McGehee was in the infantry, his father said that "they actually did some special ops stuff to actually catch the bomb makers [who created improvised explosive devices]."

A Stansbury Park man who aimed a handgun at a Tooele County Sheriff’s deputy was fatally shot by the officer early Sunday.

The deputy had responded to a 4 a.m. call, expecting to help 28-year-old Nicholas McGehee with a lacerated foot at a home near the intersection of Aberdeen Lane and Merion Drive. A Utah Highway Patrol trooper went with the deputy to assist, said Tooele County Sheriff Frank Park.

But through a window of the home, the officers saw a man holding a shotgun, the sheriff said.

"As they approached the house, [they could see] there was evidently more going on than the medical," Park said.

At some point, McGehee’s wife came out of the house. While the trooper helped her to his car for safety, McGehee came out holding a handgun, Park said.

The deputy commanded him two or three times to put the gun down — but when McGehee pointed it at the deputy, the officer fired three times, killing him, Park said.

McGehee’s father, Russell McGehee, said he understands his son had accidentally injured his foot, and his daughter-in-law called 911 because his son would not go to a doctor. What transpired after that is a mystery to the family.

"I had never seen him pull a gun on anyone. I don’t know what the deal was," said Russell McGehee, who lives in Sanford, N.C., where McGehee grew up. "I don’t know why he would have done that."

Russell McGehee had received a call several hours earlier, while still in bed, that his only son had died.
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“Songwriting With Soldiers” Retreats Repairing Pain With Song

Vets and musicians meet to craft personal songs 
Associated Press
By MICHAEL HILL
Sunday, December 28, 2014

Iraq combat veteran Adan Olid, center, works on a song with songwriters Darden Smith, left, and Marshall Crenshaw during the Songwriting With Soldiers retreat at the Carey Institute for Global Good on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2014, in Rensselaerville, N.Y. Olid is one of more than 100 veterans who have turned their stories into sometimes affectingly personal songs at Songwriting With Soldiers retreats. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)

RENSSELAERVILLE, N.Y. (AP) - Adan Olid’s life took a turn on San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge.

As he stood at a railing, the troubled Iraq War veteran decided not to jump. He felt inspired to work through the “ghost-like feeling” of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Now that pivotal moment for Olid has inspired a song - written, performed and recorded by professionals. The 29-year-old former Marine is one of more than 100 veterans who have turned their stories into sometimes affectingly personal songs at “Songwriting With Soldiers” retreats.

Vets work with musicians hunched over guitars who turn anecdotes and raw feelings into lyrics and melody. Songs are laced with lyrics about “bullet catchers,” sacrifice, “hillbilly armor,” death and, in the case of Olid, renewal on a bridge. “I think music does a lot more than a pill can do,” said Olid, who wants to share his song with other veterans. Olid was deployed to Iraq three times before leaving the Marines as a sergeant in 2011.

Like many veterans, the stress of close calls or memories of dying friends lingered when he returned to Southern California. Music has been a comfort to Olid, especially the music of Johnny Cash and the old rockabilly stars. He uses recorded songs at his job as a counselor for fellow veterans and even plays guitar a little. It was a natural progression for him to attend the recent songwriting retreat at the Carey Institute for Global Good in rural Rensselaerville, near his Albany-area home.
read more here SongwritingWith:Soldiers

Citizens Support Police Because Blue Lives Matter Too

'Blue lives matter' rally held in Denver for police
KUSA.com
Ryan Haarer
December 27, 2014

Moment of silence in Denver for slain NY officers.

(Photo: Ryan Haarer)

DENVER- A crowd gathered at Civic Center Park on Saturday to show their support for law enforcement after months of criticism and attacks on police.

The rally is one of many being held across the country. Many were started through social media using the twitter hashtag #BlueLivesMatter.

"They are mostly good people who actually care about their communities and it is hard to see other people tear them down on a daily basis," said Kim Snetzinger who showed up to participate in the rally.

Those in law enforcement will tell you the job has always been dangerous, but it hasn't always been so thankless. This year's events involving the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner brought on an outpouring of anger towards police for what many see as excessive force.

"You can always find somebody to say something negative about you. But we say thank you. Thank you for running towards the gun shots. Thank you for securing our neighborhoods," said Pastor Larry Stevenson, exciting the crowd.
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Organizers hope Sea of Blue is start of national movement
WKYC Staff
December 28, 2014

CLEVELAND -- They called it the Sea of Blue and that's exactly what it was as thousands packed downtown Saturday to rally for police officers.

They covered Public Square as supporters were not only rallying for the officers killed in the line of duty, but every officer and even for people killed at the hands of officers.
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Sea of blue grief: 25,000 cops attend funeral for fallen NYPD officer
FOX.com
December 27, 2014

Thousands of police officers from across the country assembled in winter sunshine in New York City for the funeral of Rafael Ramos, a police officer shot to death with his partner in an ambush last week.

The officers in dress blue uniforms stood outside the Christ Tabernacle Church in Queens for the Saturday morning services. The sea of blue stretched more than six city blocks.

In his eulogy, Mayor Bill de Blasio offered the city's condolences to the Ramos family.

"All of this city is grieving and grieving for so many reasons," he said. "But the most personal is that we lost such a good man."

Vice President Joe Biden expressed his condolences to Ramos' two sons.

“You’ve shown tremendous courage these past days,” he said.

He said Ramos and his partner Wenjian Liu were officers who were committed, passionate and vigilant.
read more here

Fort Bragg Operation Toy Drop Helps Families in Need

U.S. Army paratroopers wait to be assigned to chalks before participating in an airborne jump during the 17th Annual Randy Oler Memorial Operation Toy Drop, on Dec. 8, 2014 at Luzon Drop Zone, N.C. Operation Toy Drop is the world’s largest combined airborne operation and allows Soldiers the opportunity to help a less fortunate child in the Sandhill region to receive toys for the holidays.
(U.S. Army photo by Spc Ashley Keasler)

Operation Toy Drop
Military.com
Posted 4 days ago by Member 30091762

Dozens of parachute silhouettes raining down against the North Carolina sky are nothing out of the ordinary around Fort Bragg, but each December since 1998, airborne operations have taken on a different meaning to America's men and women in uniform with the Randy Oler Memorial Operation Toy Drop.

An annual opportunity for Fort Bragg's military community to help families in need over the holidays, Operation Toy Drop combines the efforts of Army, Air Force and civilian service organizations in a truly unique event.

Operation Toy Drop is a week-long, philanthropic project where Fort Bragg's paratroopers (or visiting paratroopers from across the nation) individually contribute new, unwrapped toys to be distributed to local children's homes and social service agencies.

1 in 4 women veterans experienced sexual harassment or assault

It is a good time to look back at Victim advocates want radical overhaul in handling of military sex assaults on Stars and Stripes By Leo Shane III Published: December 29, 2011 after reading this to see that not much has changed since then.

Vets fight for care following sex traumas
WASHINGTON POST
By Emily Wax-Thibodeaux
DECEMBER 28, 2014

A recent VA survey found that 1 in 4 women said they experienced sexual harassment or assault.

WASHINGTON — Thousands of female veterans are struggling to get health care and compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs on the grounds that they suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder caused by sexual trauma in the military.

The veterans and their advocates call it the second battle — with a bureaucracy they say is stuck in the past.

Judy Atwood-Bell was just a 19-year-old Army private when she was locked inside a barracks room at Fort Devens in Massachusetts, forced to the cold floor, and raped by a fellow soldier, she said.

For more than two decades, Atwood-Bell fought for an apology and financial compensation for PTSD, with panic attacks, insomnia, and depression that she recalls starting soon after that winter day in 1981. She filled out stacks of forms in triplicate and then filled them out again, pressing over and over for recognition of the harm that was done.

And the Pentagon released data on Dec. 4 that showed that 62 percent of those who reported being sexually assaulted had experienced retaliation or ostracism afterward. read more here