VALLEY VET STUNNED TO HEAR FROM US MARINE HE THOUGHT WAS DEAD
ABC 30 News
Dale Yurong
March 29, 2016
Grantham told Action News, "When we got back to triage they actually put me in a body bag."
FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A retired US Marine from the Valley has been on one final mission - to find a comrade who he thought died by his side.
In an iconic Vietnam War photo taken in February of 1968 Lance Corporal Rick Hill of Coalinga could found at the top right. Laying on his side was a fellow US Marine named Alvin Grantham. Up until a few weeks ago Rick thought Alvin died shortly after the picture was taken but that was not the case.
Hill recalled the most intense firefight of his two tours. He was shot in one leg and took shrapnel in the other. "I was wounded in the battle of Hue during Tet February 68. We were pinned down. We were in trouble."
Rick noticed a tank rolling by.
"They asked me, got room for one more and they always got room for one more and they threw me up on the tank."
The famous picture of wounded US Marines being medevaced on a tank appeared in Life and Time magazine. Rick's mom told him, "That's the only way I knew you were still alive."
Rick tearfully told us, "For 48 years I look at this picture and look at these guys looking back at me and I always figured it's an honor."
Since 1991 Rick and his wife Hayley have lived the quiet life in Coalinga but that all changed a few weeks ago when someone answered a facebook post about the photo.
"He says, hey I'm the guy laying on the tank without a shirt. I look at my wife and go no way. That guy died."
That's what Rick was told but Alvin Grantham of Mobile, Alabama messaged him and wrote, "Lots of people think I didn't make it."
read more here
Here's some really bad reporting. This is a story about a charity raising money to supply veterans with service dogs.
"We are losing 22 veterans a day to suicide - and that's only with six states that are reporting," says Jolanthe Bassett.
But there's a bright light at the end of the tunnel -- man's best friend. That's where Jolanthe comes in with Guardian Angels Medical Service Dogs.
"We've paired over 150 dogs since 2010, and in that time we haven't had one suicide attempt," she says. She volunteers with Guardian Angels Medical Service Dogs and worked to find Eric his current partner, Sun, after his first dog died tragically.
It isn't 22 a day and the suicide report from the VA was from 21 states, not 6. If folks actually read the report they would know this was limited data and they missed a lot.
The thing about "no attempted suicides" could very well be true however it is important to point out that while PTSD service dogs are very helpful, there have been many veterans with them and they not only attempted suicide, they succeeded.
Also keep in mind that some folks want to imagine these dogs as the "cure" instead of part of the help that is needed. Plus some veterans don't like dogs or can't have them.
For most veterans, even a regular dog is very helpful. We lost our's last week and we have huge holes in our hearts. Harry was just a mutt but he gave us a lot of comfort knowing he was always on guard among so many other things. He wasn't just a dog to us, he was part of our family.
Throughout most of our 30+ year marriage we've had dogs, so yesterday we went to meet out new "dogson." Haven't agreed on a name yet but he sure will have big paws to fill after Harry.
But as you can see, I don't think that will be a problem for this little guy. He isn't even 7 weeks old yet.
They are running to fund help for PTSD and TBI, which is a good thing. But yet again, they are using "22" as if that is a real number. Will these folks raising awareness ever get the point that it is much more than 'just a number' to use?
PHOTOS: Shepherd's Men run through Lynchburg
The News and Advance
The Shepherd's Men group came through Lynchburg Tuesday, March 28, 2016 as part of a 1,500-mile journey between Boston and Atlanta to raise money for the SHARE Military Initiative, a donor-funded 12-week-program that treats the physical and psychological effects of traumatic brain injury and post traumatic stress disorder.
read more here
'She's Family': Sailor Saves Mom, Daughter From Stabbing
Jennifer Barela and her daughter were attacked viciously by Barela's husband in November
San Diego Miiltary Times
By Brie Stimson and Candice Nguyen
March 28, 2016
Jaclyn Place, 30, was doing homework in her Oceanside home late one night last November when she heard screams coming from her neighbor’s house.
“The volume was escalating,” Place said. “That’s when I decided to go outside and noticed [my neighbor] was calling for me. As soon as I opened the door I saw her -- then a flash-- it was him running. She was screaming ‘he stabbed me,’ and as she turned I saw blood all the way down her back. I had a fight or flight second, and then went to work.”
Her neighbor, Jennifer Barela, was referring to her husband who had just viciously attacked her with a knife.
Place, a lead chief petty officer at Camp Pendleton and hospital corpsman, began assessing Barela’s condition. She also called another neighbor, Staff Sgt. Thomas McDonald with the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, instructing him to bring his first aid medical bag.
read more here
VA Makes Contract Awards Totaling up to $6.8 Billion for Medical Disability Examinations
03/29/2016 11:45 AM EDT
VA Makes Contract Awards Totaling up to $6.8 Billion for Medical Disability Examinations
Provides efficient, streamlined process in support of the MyVA Initiative of Medical
Disability Examinations for Veterans
WASHINGTON – The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) today announced the award of twelve major contracts that will enhance its ability to deliver timely disability benefits claims decisions to the nation’s Veterans in line with the MyVA initiative. The contracts make up a $6.8 billion enterprise-wide Medical Disability Examination Program under Public Law 104-275, and represent a major step forward in improving the disability examination experience for Veterans.
A unique feature of this multi-contract award will see the consolidation of the contracts under a single program management initiative, with representation in the central management group from both the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) and the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). To date, contracts for medical examinations have been managed by both administrations with varying degrees of efficiency and delivery time of exam reports, which are critical to Veterans’ disability determinations supporting their compensation and pension claim.
The new program management and delivery process will also continue to ensure broad national and international coverage of medical examination requirements to meet Veterans’ needs world-wide. Acting Principal Deputy Under Secretary for Benefits, Tom Murphy noted that, “This will be a major accomplishment for Veterans going forward, not only for the efficiencies and additional oversight, but VA can now maximize the capacity of inherent capability and leverage the contract expertise and capacity as needed. The goal will be to reduce the veteran’s wait times for examinations as much as possible thereby providing faster claims decisions and enhancing Veterans’ experience in a positive way.” Contracts were awarded to the following firms:
VetFed Resources, Inc., 2034 Eisenhower Ave., Ste 270, Alexandria, VA - Large Business
Veterans Evaluation Services, Inc., 3000 Richmond Avenue, Ste 540, Houston, TX - Large Business
QTC Medical Services, Inc, 21700 Copley Drive, Ste 200, Diamond Bar, CA - Large Business
The contracts are being awarded for a period of 12 months with four, 12-month options, with an aggregate ceiling of $6.8 billion. The contract will be managed by VA’s Strategic Acquisition Center based in in Frederick, MD.
