Vietnam Veteran Buried in Mass "Pauper's Grave"

Sacramento County coroner admits to burial mistake involving veteran
Officials won't disclose others buried in 'mass graves'
KCRA News
By Kevin Oliver
Feb 10, 2015

Despite state law forbidding veterans from being buried in so-called "pauper's graves," a woman discovered her father's remains were mistakenly buried by the county in the communal spot.

Edward Nellis divorced his wife and lived for decades on the streets.

Hernandez believes her father suffered post-traumatic stress disorder from the Vietnam War.

An Air Force navigator with an MBA, he died alone and penniless.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KCRA) —A Sacramento woman is suing the county after discovering her father wasn't buried in the veterans cemetery where county officials said he was laid to rest.

The county coroner orders the cremation and burial of about 250 people every year -- people who don't have the money or family members to pay for it.

The plots are simply marked by the years in the back of Camellia Memorial Lawn.

Despite state law forbidding veterans from being buried in so-called "pauper's graves," a woman discovered her father's remains were mistakenly buried by the county in the communal spot.

Michele Hernandez visited the Sacramento Valley National Cemetery for the first time this February.

Her father's name is etched in a bright white wall alongside hundreds of other veterans. It took eight years for his remains to get to the national cemetery.

"I love you and I miss you, dad," Hernandez said as a friend comforted her. "I'm sorry this was handled so badly. You didn't deserve it."
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Banks Pay Back Troops After Foreclosures

Banks Issue $123 Million to 952 Troops for Illegal Foreclosures 
Military.com
Michael Hoffman
February 10, 2015

"These unlawful judicial foreclosures forced hundreds of service members and their families out of their homes," Acting Associate Attorney General Stuart F. Delery said in a statement.

More than 950 service members will receive over $123 million from a settlement announced Monday by the U.S. Justice Department with five mortgage servicers for non-judicial foreclosures in violation of the Service Members Civil Relief Act (SCRA).

Under the National Mortgage Settlement, 666 service members and their co-borrowers will receive $88 million from GMAC Mortgage, Citi, Wells Fargo and JP Morgan Chase. Another $35 million was already paid out to 286 service members and their co-borrowers from Bank of America.

The 952 service members will receive $125,000 plus any equity in the lost property and interest on that equity under the settlement from the lawsuit. 

Co-borrowers will receive compensation for any of their share of lost equity. A non-judicial foreclosure allows a bank or mortgage servicer to sell the home without having to file a lawsuit against the owner.

A "notice of default" is issued and the home is then sold at public auction.
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Brian Williams Ditched Medal of Honor Event for SNL

UPDATE
Brian Williams Suspended From NBC News For 6 Months
Where were all these stories before Stars and Stripes decided to report on them?

Veteran recounts Brian Williams ditching Medal of Honor event for SNL
Stars and Stripes
Patrick Dickson
February 10, 2015

Santangelo wrote an angry letter to Williams a week after the banquet. “In an act of egotistical, blatant self-promotion, you deceived the (Medal of Honor) Recipients, declined to break bread with them and disrespected them.

WASHINGTON — Brian Williams’ on-air apology last week rang hollow to a number of veterans. Perhaps none more so than Boston firefighter Neal Santangelo.

In Sunday editions of the Boston Herald, Santangelo recounted for columnist Peter Gelzinis how, at the last minute, Williams had told organizers of a 2006 Congressional Medal of Honor banquet in the city that a “pressing engagement” would prevent him from serving as master of ceremonies and keynote speaker, as he’d agreed to do six months earlier. 

He would instead only have time to greet the audience. As members of the committee that arranged the event, Tom Lyons and Santangelo were disappointed, but arranged for a police escort to rush Williams to the airport to catch his plane back to NYC. After the banquet, as they and other committee members relaxed in the hotel lounge, Santangelo’s wife phoned from their room to say she knew why Williams had to bail out.

She was watching the NBC Nightly News anchor ham it up with Seth Meyers and Amy Poehler in a Weekend Update sketch on “Saturday Night Live.” read more here

TMZ Got Eastwood Sniper Comment Wrong

TMZ Got Story Wrong

It's their right,,,,,not they're right.

Clint Eastwood 'American Sniper' Bashers Have a Point
BY TMZ STAFF
2/10/2015

Clint Eastwood said something really weird Monday night about "American Sniper" ... appearing to agree with his harshest critics. Clint was leaving Dan Tana's in West Hollywood when our photog asked what he thought about Bill Maher and Michael Moore blasting the portrayal of military sniper Chris Kyle as a hero. You'll recall, Moore called snipers "cowards," and Maher said Kyle was a "psychopath patriot." go here for more and watch the video yourself.

He didn't say that bashers have a point either,,,,Maybe they need to join forces with Brian Williams?

Death of Soldier in Kosovo Ruled Suicide

Servicemember’s death in Kosovo ruled suicide
Stars and Stripes
By Jon Harper
Published: February 9, 2015

WASHINGTON — Nine months after Army Staff Sgt. Heidi Ruh died at Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo, the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command has ruled her death a suicide.

Ruh died May 9, 2014, from a “noncombat related incident,” officials said when her death was announced, saying the exact cause was under investigation.

The Army investigation was completed Jan. 20.

“Based on the totality of the investigation, to include the evaluation of evidence, death scene examination, interviews, and the final autopsy and toxicology reports conducted by the Armed Forces Medical Examiner, as well as the legal opinion, our investigation determined that SGT Ruh’s manner of death was suicide and the cause was an intraoral gunshot wound,” Army CID spokesman Christopher Grey said in an email.
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