OEF OIF 5 Tours, Marine's Home Hit By Thieves

Reports: Retired marine's home stripped bare in theft
FOX News Carolina
By Derek Dellinger
Posted: Jan 22, 2015

GREENVILLE, SC (FOX Carolina) Donald Taylor's luck just hasn't been good when it has come to his home.

There's been problem after problem, he said, leading him to finally vacate the home late last year due to a foreclosure with belongings still in the home.

Taylor said he, his wife and son went to visit family while the issues with the bank settled down. Just as the retired Marine's finances were getting good and they were able to move back in last month, they were hit with another setback - his home had been stripped bare of nearly everything of value. 

"When we walked in there was stuff everywhere. There was glass, no appliances, no door hinges, no doors, they were all taken down," Taylor said.

Inside his home near Furman University, it's a mess. There is damage to sheet rock from power wires being stripped, along knobs and faucets removed from baths, showers and sinks.
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Criminals Made Vietnam Veteran Homeless, Community Made Him Feel Loved

Bradenton Vietnam veteran gets break after criminals left him homeless
Bradenton.com
BY JAMES A. JONES JR.
January 23, 2015

'I didn't realize there are so many good people out there'

Margi Dawson with Turning Points hugs Dennis Moylan after he was presented with a mobile home Thursday at Pioneer Mobile Home Park in Bradenton. At right is John Smith with Turning Points. Moylan was left homeless in December after a suspect fleeing deputies crashed a stolen Cadillac Escalade into his mobile home destroying it.
GRANT JEFFERIES/Bradenton Herald

MANATEE -- A stolen Cadillac Escalade crashed into Dennis Moylan's trailer the day after Christmas and left him homeless.

Moylan, a 63-year-old Marine Corps veteran of fighting around Phu Bai and Quang Tri, Vietnam, had lived in the trailer for 14 years, making just enough as a groundskeeper at New College of Florida to pay his bills.

Somehow, even though his home was destroyed, Moylan wasn't injured.

"I think St. Joseph was in the back bedroom," he said.

Moylan didn't have any savings and didn't know what he would do. "I couldn't fathom something like this happening," he said.

On Thursday, Moylan choked up, overcome by emotion when he received a $3,000 donation from Bingoland through the nonprofit Turning Points. That money allowed him to become a homeowner again just a few doors down from his original home.
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Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth May Get Justice After Electrocution Death

Mom of soldier electrocuted in base shower hails Supreme Court ruling 
The Associated Press
Published: January 21, 2015

PITTSBURGH — The mother of a Pittsburgh-area soldier electrocuted in his barracks shower at a U.S. Army base in Iraq seven years ago says she's grateful the Supreme Court rejected three appeals by a military contractor seeking to stop the case and other lawsuits from going forward.

The high court offered no comment Tuesday in allowing three lawsuits against KBR Inc. over the electrocution and open-air burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan to proceed.

The parents of Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth, who was electrocuted in his barracks shower in January 2008, filed one of the lawsuits. The suit alleges a KBR unit was legally responsible for what it says was shoddy electrical work common in Iraqi-built structures taken over by the U.S. military. KBR disputes the claim.

Cheryl Harris, Maseth's mother, told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review on Wednesday that she never expected it to take more than seven years after her son's death to get the case closer to a trial. "I'm grateful that we're here," she said.
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Green Beret electrocuted in shower on Iraq base
CNN
Abbie Boudreau and Scott Bronstein
May 28, 2008

Story Highlights
At least 12 U.S. troops have been electrocuted in Iraq from wiring problems

Ryan Maseth, 24, died January 2 while taking a shower on base

"I truly couldn't believe he would be electrocuted," his mom says

Defense Department inspector general, Congress launch investigation

PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- A highly decorated Green Beret, Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth died a painful death in Iraq this year. He died not on the battlefield. He died in what should have been one of the safest spots in Iraq: on a U.S. base, in his bathroom.

Ryan Maseth, a 24-year-old Green Beret, died in his shower January 2.

1 of 2 The water pump was not properly grounded, and when he turned on the shower, a jolt of electricity shot through his body and electrocuted him January 2.

The next day, Cheryl Harris was informed of his death. A mother of three sons serving in Iraq, she had feared such news might come one day.

"I did ask exactly, 'How did Ryan die? What happened to him?' And he had told me that Ryan was electrocuted," she said.

Her reaction was disbelief. "I truly couldn't believe he would be electrocuted ... in the shower," she said.

Maseth, 24, was not the first. At least 12 U.S. troops have been electrocuted in Iraq since the start of the war in 2003, according to military and government officials. Watch mom describe horror, heartbreak over son's electrocution »
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Electrical Risks at Bases in Iraq Worse Than Previously Said
New York Times
By JAMES RISEN
Published: July 18, 2008

WASHINGTON — Shoddy electrical work by private contractors on United States military bases in Iraq is widespread and dangerous, causing more deaths and injuries from fires and shocks than the Pentagon has acknowledged, according to internal Army documents.

During just one six-month period — August 2006 through January 2007 — at least 283 electrical fires destroyed or damaged American military facilities in Iraq, including the military’s largest dining hall in the country, documents obtained by The New York Times show. Two soldiers died in an electrical fire at their base near Tikrit in 2006, the records note, while another was injured while jumping from a burning guard tower in May 2007.

And while the Pentagon has previously reported that 13 Americans have been electrocuted in Iraq, many more have been injured, some seriously, by shocks, according to the documents. A log compiled earlier this year at one building complex in Baghdad disclosed that soldiers complained of receiving electrical shocks in their living quarters on an almost daily basis.
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240,000 Veterans Claims Still Backlogged

Veterans advocates: Stop the VA 'hamster wheel' disability appeals process
Stars and Stripes
By Heath Druzin
Published: January 22, 2015

"Veterans groups and advocates lined up to blast the VA appeals system at Thursday’s hearing in front of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs subcommittee on disability assistance and memorial affairs."

The effort to clear a massive backlog of veteran disability claims is hurting efforts to address a similar backlog in appeals of denied claims, say advocates demanding reforms to an onerous “hampster wheel” system that leaves veterans languishing for years.

A congressional subcommittee hearing Thursday focused on the appeals process, noting that the Department of Veterans Affairs has about 350,000 pending appeals of denied service-connected disability claims.

“I am aware that the [VA] chose to prioritize certain initial claims in recent years, but I must say that when veterans in my district share that they waited six, eight, 10 years to resolve a meritorious appeal of a service-connected disability claim, I just find that alarming and unacceptable,” Rep. Ralph Abraham, R-La., said.

Veterans wait an average 3½ years to get an initial decision and often years longer for the VA to finalize that decision. There are almost 510,000 original disability claims pending, with more than 240,000 deemed “backlogged” — meaning the veteran has been awaiting a decision for at least 125 days.
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Senator Barbara Boxer Swan Song Still Tone Deaf

This is from Barbara Boxer's website as a press release without any corrections done.

How important is this to her if she sends out a press release with all those errors? Lord knows I make a lot of mistakes too but since I am by myself and usually have my head exploding with frustration, it is a lot different than having staff to check.

Boxer Introduces 'Homeless Veterans Welcome Home Act' to Provide Suupport For Veterans Transitioning Intro Permanant Housing

Bill is Based on Successful California Program that Provides Homeless Veterans with Critical Household Items and Assistance to Help in Transition to Permanent Housing
Wednesday, January 21st 2015
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) today introduced the Homeless Veterans Welcome Home Act of 2015, legislation that would establish a national pilot program to provide furniture, household items, and other assistance to help homeless veterans as they transition into permanent housing.

“When many homeless veterans finally obtain permanent housing, they arrive with few or no possessions,” Senator Boxer said. “This grant program will assist veterans by providing them with basic household items – such as a bed or utensils– to help them successfully make the transition to civilian life.”

According to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), approximately 40,000 homeless veteran families receive permanent housing through VA housing assistance programs each year. However, most veterans who receive housing do not have the means to pay for critical household items and typically move into empty apartments. These veterans often have no means to cook or enjoy the basic comforts of a furnished home.

In 2012, the non-profit California Department of AMVETS partnered with the West Los Angeles VA to create an innovative “Welcome Home” program that provides homeless veterans transitioning into permanent housing with furniture, appliances, and other necessary household items. The program has since expanded to serve Long Beach, San Diego, Orange County and Fresno communities and has provided household items to over 1,450 formerly homeless veterans.

The Homeless Veterans Welcome Home Act of 2015 is modeled on this successful public-private partnership, and will help fill an important gap in our assistance to homeless veterans by addressing their immediate move-in needs.

Specifically, the Boxer-Feinstein bill would:

Establish a 3-year pilot program to award grants to eligible organizations to facilitate the delivery of furniture, household items and other assistance to homeless veterans who qualify for housing under the VA’s housing assistance programs.
Require the VA to prioritize communities with the greatest need of homeless services and fair geographic distribution when awarding grants.
Cap the maximum amount awarded per grant at $500,000, and the maximum amount of assistance provided to an eligible veteran at $2,500.
Authorize $5 million for 3 years to be appropriated for the program.

This bill is endorsed by the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans (NCHV), National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH), Disabled American Veterans (DAV), Swords to Plowshares, and the California Department of AMVETS.

Far from the first time Senator Boxer has introduced bills and far from the first time it has included errors as well as omissions.

In 2008 military suicides had her attention.

Bill Addresses Military Suicides
By Susan Jones
CNSNews.com Senior Editor
March 27, 2008

(CNSNews.com) - Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) recently introduced legislation requiring the Defense Department to establish a detailed database on suicides and attempted suicides among U.S. troops.

Last year, 121 soldiers committed suicide and another 2,100 attempted suicide, Boxer said on her Web site. She noted that the 2,100 attempted suicides represents a six-fold increase since 2002 (when the U.S. was not at war).

In addition to requiring a comprehensive database, the Boxer-Lieberman legislation (formally, The Armed Forces Suicide Prevention Act of 2008) would require the individual investigation of all suicides across the Armed Forces, and it would require the Pentagon to provide Congress with regular updates on military suicides.

A second bill, The Armed Forces Mental Health Professionals Recruitment and Retention Enhancement Act of 2008, would increase the number of uniformed mental health providers serving service members and their families. (Lieberman noted that the troops have a strong preference for uniformed, rather than civilian, providers.)

"This legislation will help ensure that the Defense Department and Congress are getting an adequate picture of the state of mental health within our Armed Forces," Boxer said in a news release.

Earlier that month she had this to say

“We have a big problem ... that is only going to get worse if we don’t do something big now,” Boxer said as she and military medical officials testified before the Senate Armed Services personnel subcommittee.

“We need to ensure we have adequate numbers of uniformed mental health providers who can train and deploy with our troops and be there when they are needed,” she said, noting that treatment does no good if it is not available quickly.

“When we do this right, it is going to help our military in the long run,” Boxer said.

And when will that be? After all the bills done the "big problem" became worse because the "something" they did right away and often repeated did not work and they just did it all again!

What kind of a game are they playing with the lives of our veterans and troops? We've heard it all so long now that the swan songs of members of congress have proven they are still tone deaf!