Fort Riley Soldier Died in Iraq

UPDATE
Soldier from Glendale killed in crash while serving in Iraq
Los Angeles Times
Ryan Fonseca
January 30, 2016

An Army sergeant from Glendale serving in Iraq was killed earlier this week in a rollover accident, Army and Department of Defense officials said.

Sgt. Joseph F. Stifter, 30, from Glendale, suffered fatal injuries after his armored vehicle rolled over at Al Asad Airbase in Iraq. (Courtesy of the U.S. Army 1st Infantry Division)

Sgt. Joseph F. Stifter, 30, suffered fatal injuries after his armored vehicle rolled over at Al Asad Airbase in Al Anbar Province, Iraq, the DOD confirmed Friday.
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Fort Riley soldier dies in Iraq
WIBW News
Jan 31, 2016

FORT RILEY, Kan. (WIBW) -- A Fort Riley soldier has died on Thursday while serving in Iraq.

Sgt. Joseph F. Stifter died on Thursday from non-combat-related injuries, the post said. 

He was a field artillery cannon crewmember with the 1st Infantry Division Soldier with the 1st Battalion, 7th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team

"Sgt. Stifter was an exceptional Soldier and leader in our battalion," said Col. Miles Brown, commander of the 2nd ABCT.

"We are deeply saddened by the loss of a member of the 'Dagger' family."
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Heroin Robs Family of Army Veteran

Heroin robs another family: Young Army veteran from Hudson remembered
Telegram.com
By Brad Avery
MetroWest Daily News Staff
Posted Jan. 30, 2016

After a relapse, he was able to get clean again and had been living in Veterans Administration transitional housing. He had been clean up until the night he died, his parents said.

Matthew Holmes with his sister Rachel at her Hudson High School graduation.

Submitted Photo/MetroWest Daily News

HUDSON - A soldier, a sports fan, a son and a brother - Matthew Holmes was the kind of person who always wanted to help others. He was the kind of person who would give the shirt off his back - literally. He once tried to use his shirt to put out a brush fire, his parents said.

Holmes died last week at age 22, losing a years-long battle to heroin addiction.

"He was in the top 2 percent on aptitude tests," said his father. "He could have had any job he wanted and written his own script. He wanted to be the boots on the ground, to be an infantryman."

Holmes lived at Fort Hood and trained as a sniper, but never saw combat. By the time he reached the military, troops were being pulled out of Iraq and the wars in the Middle East were winding down for a period. That's when he started running into problems.

He told his parents that his whole sniper team was getting into a depressive mode, doing busywork during work hours and partying heavily in the downtime. Although he started abusing prescription drugs at 16 at high school parties, his problems grew in the military where he had access to hard drugs. Eventually, as the problem worsened he sought help and was able to receive an honorable discharge.
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Congress Didn't Plan Veterans Choice Program

Program to hasten veterans’ care poorly implemented, Maine advocates say
Portland Press Herald
BY STEVE MISTLER STAFF WRITER
January 30, 2016

Health Net Inc. is one of the program managers cited in the report. It’s also the company charged with managing the Veterans Choice program in Maine and New England.

A report released Thursday shows that a 2014 program designed to reduce wait times has left half the qualifying veterans without medical appointments.

AUGUSTA — Advocates for Maine veterans said Friday that the rush to implement a $10 billion federal program designed to shorten wait times for veterans seeking medical care is contributing to delayed care, unbooked doctor appointments and billing errors.

“It was doomed for failure before it even hit the streets,” said Gary Laweryson, a retired Marine from Waldoboro who is chairman of the Maine Veterans Coordinating Committee.

There have been a number of reports in Maine and other states that the 2014 Veterans Choice health program is not working as intended. Those complaints, once anecdotal, were validated Thursday in a report produced by the VA Maine Healthcare System showing that only half of the 4,300 veterans who applied for care under the 2014 Veterans Choice program had received appointments since July.

The report was presented to veterans advocates and staff for the state’s congressional delegation during an unannounced meeting held at the VA’s Togus campus. The meeting has prompted urgent calls from Maine’s delegation to reform the program.

However, veterans advocates say the program was hastily conceived and carelessly implemented. Those assertions are supported by a U.S. Veterans Health Administration Office of Inspector General report issued in September.

Amedeo Lauria, a service officer for the American Legion at Togus, said veterans are having a difficult time just getting a call returned from a hotline provided by the choice program. On Thursday, Health Net said a call center in Tampa, Florida, was set up for 500 employees. Only 130 have been hired.
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Australia: Veteran Sent Wife's Attacker to Hospital

Aussie Iraq war vet under investigation for protecting wife from alleged Muslim attacker 
Washington Times
By Kellan Howell
January 30, 2016

“I’m a war veteran and I fought in the Middle East. The main attacker was Muslim and my take is he probably didn’t like being told what to do from a woman,” Mr. Tyrrell told the Herald Sun.

Kyle Tyrrell, 47 and his wife Liana. (Image: the Herald Sun)

Police are investigating a retired Lieutenant-Colonel and Iraq war veteran in Australia after he got into a skirmish with a fisherman who he says attacked his wife.

Kyle Tyrrell, 47, suffered minor injuries and says his wife, Liana, was punched in the face during the fight on Jan. 23 at the Cosy Corner beach at Torqauy, the Herald Sun newspaper reported. At least one of the fishermen was taken to the hospital.
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Community Comes Together For Family of Missing Marine

Community rallies support for missing Marine's family
KOAA News 5
By Lena Howland
January 31, 2016

FOUNTAIN - A community rallied in support of a grieving southern Colorado family as their decorated Marine was lost at sea in a helicopter crash.

The American Legion Post 38 held a fundraiser dinner for fallen Marine Sergeant Jeffrey Sempler on Saturday evening.

As News5 has reported, Sempler's helicopter crashed off the coast of Hawaii during a routine training session more than a week ago.

The search for him and 11 other missing marines has since been called off.

"It's been really rough, we were hoping that they would find him alive, but that didn't happen," Laurie Allen, the mother of Jeffrey Sempler said.

A mother's worst nightmare.

"I kind of knew it was coming but I didn't want to believe it," Allen said.

She hopped on a plane to Hawaii soon after learning the search mission for her son was called off.

"It's hard, everybody lost so much," she said after meeting with the families of the 11 other marines.

Sergeant Jeffrey Sempler, one of 12 missing Marines, now presumed dead.
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KOAA.com | Continuous News | Colorado Springs and Pueblo

They did it in Pennsylvania too.

DUNCANNON, Pa. (WHTM) – A vigil was held for Sgt. Adam Schoeller, the marine who went missing off the coast of Hawaii, following a training exercise on January 14.

Sunday, the community gathered to honor a friend, son, neighbor, and comrade.

“We’re just going to miss him,” Adam’s father, Ralph Schoeller, said.

Even though Adam didn’t make it home, his memory is a homecoming.