Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Airman jumps out of a C-130 Hercules at 10,000 feet

Jump Training
Air Force Tech. Sgt. Benjamin Jonas jumps out of a C-130 Hercules at 10,000 feet while flying over Yokota Air Base, Japan, March 2, 2016. Jonas, a noncommissioned officer in charge of survival, evasion, resistance and escape operations, is assigned to the 374th Operations Support Squadron. Air Force photo by Senior Airman David Owsianka



Can't help it! When I saw this picture in work today all I could think of is that song "I'm a little teapot,,"

Ex-Marine Sought in Shooting of Idaho Pastor

What We Know About Kyle Odom, Ex-Marine Sought in Shooting of Idaho Pastor
NBC News
by Alex Johnson
March 7, 2016

Kyle Andrew Odom, the 30-year-old ex-Marine suspected of having shot a prominent Idaho minister several times outside his church Sunday, has a history of mental issues and acted alone, police said Monday.
Coeur d’Alene police detectives have identified Kyle Andrew Odom, of Coeur d’Alene, as the suspect in Sunday's shooting at The Altar Church. Coeur d’Alene Police

Odom remained at large Monday night and is considered armed and dangerous, Coeur d'Alene police said a day after Tim Remington, senior pastor of The Altar Church, was shot and critically wounded in the church parking lot.

Remington, 55, was upgraded to fair condition Monday at Kootenai Health and Medical Center. He was shot six times after services Sunday afternoon, a day after he delivered the invocation at a rally for Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz.
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Korean War Veterans Not Happy After Member Shoved Woman

Veterans Group Identifies Man Seen Shoving Protester at Trump Rally
Military.com

by Bryant Jordan
Mar 08, 2016

Senior Citizen Veteran Fights Protester at Louisville Trump Rally
(Screengrab: YouTube)
The Korean War Veterans Association has identified the member who was seen shoving and shouting at a young black woman who was protesting a Donald Trump rally in Louisville, Kentucky.

In a statement released Monday morning, KWVA President Larry Kinard said the man, identified as Alvin Bamberger of Cincinnati, Ohio, "was not officially representing the Korean War Veterans Association at the event and the association does not, in any way, condone his actions."

The organization "places a great deal of emphasis on the conduct and decorum of the KWVA members at public meetings,"
he said in the statement.

"Once the association has learned all of the facts regarding this incident, and there are many yet to be revealed, it will then be in a position to better move forward and determine the applicable actions to be accomplished," Kinard said.
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Port Saint Lucie PTSD Veteran Refused Service Over Service Dog

Veteran, service dog kicked out of local restaurant
CBS 12 News
BY CORY PIPPIN
MONDAY, MARCH 7TH 2016

Port St. Lucie — A local Veteran says he was refused service from a Port Saint Lucie restaurant because of his service dog.

Nelson Melendez spent eight years in the Army with multiple tours overseas. 


When he returned home to Port Saint Lucie, he was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Stormy, a greyhound with months of service dog training, was donated to him to help.

Melendez says he and Stormy went to Bobby's Pizza on Selvitz Road Saturday afternoon.

But when they walked in, he says the owner told him to leave.

He says he tried to explain that Stormy was a service dog.

"The laws are benefitting the dog owner and not the businesses. When we have customers complaining and having dog hair in their food and saying you will buy my meal, it's kind of a catch 22," Newman said.
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Iditarod Musher Gets Support From Veterans He Supports

Veterans suffering from PTSD cheer on Iditarod musher who supports them
Alaska Dispatch
Tegan Hanlon
March 7, 2016


"While Casillo isn’t a combat veteran himself, his wife is a lieutenant colonel in the Alaska Air National Guard."


Musher Rick Casillo checks the heat on his cooker. Mushers in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race came and went from the Rainy Pass checkpoint for much of the day Monday. Marc Lester / ADN
RAINY PASS LODGE — Jeff Turkel traveled to the Rainy Pass checkpoint Monday to heal.

The 56-year-old once served in the U.S. Air Force and worked in Iraq in 2004 as an employee with the Department of Defense, he said. The jobs left him battling flashbacks. He said doctors told him the post-traumatic stress disorder triggered his seizures.

“Basically I lose all cognitive functions. My brain shuts down. I weaken,” Turkel said, standing in the snow Monday and awaiting the arrival of musher Rick Casillo. “I lose all touch with reality. It’s kind of like a fainting spell, but worse.”

Iditarod veteran Casillo started Battle Dawgs four years ago for combat veterans, aiming to “change and save lives,” he said. The nonprofit connects veterans with the outdoors and promotes teamwork in an effort to shrink suicide rates, Casillo said. He takes the veterans on glacier tours, ice fishing trips and asks them to help out with the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
read more here

Reminder: It is not "22 a day" and until folks stop repeating "just a number" they will continue to feel like they just don't matter enough.