MOH Marine Pfc. Hector A. Cafferata Jr. Passed Away At 86

Marine who earned Medal of Honor at Chosin Reservoir dies
Marine Corps Times
Lance M. Bacon
April 15, 2016

Marine Pfc. Hector A. Cafferata Jr., who earned the Medal of Honor at the Chosin Reservoir during the Korean War, died April 12 at the age of 86.

Pfc. Hector A. Cafferata Jr., who received the Medal of Honor for

his valor at the Chosin Reservoir in 1950 during the Korean War,

died April 12.(Photo: Defense Department)

Cafferata was a rifleman with Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division, on Nov. 28, 1950. More than 10,000 Chinese troops had surrounded Gen. Douglas MacArthur's U.N. forces at the Chosin Reservoir, including 8,000 from the Marine division. On a frozen, rocky promontory, the 230 or so Marines of Company F had been assigned to protect the Toktong Pass, a narrow escape route through the Nangnim Mountains.

The other members of Cafferata’s fire team became casualties at the pass during the initial phase of “a vicious attack launched by a fanatical enemy of regimental strength against his company's hill position,” according to his award citation.

Cafferata was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Harry S. Truman at a White House ceremony on Nov. 24, 1952. He was one of 42 Marine vets to receive the nation's highest military award for valor for actions in the Korean War — 14 of whom were awarded for actions in the Chosin Reservoir campaign. Seven of those awards were posthumous.
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New Mexico National Guardsman Won Court Battle After Losing His Job

Victory for an Iraq war veteran
Alburquerque Journal
By Joline Gutierrez Krueger / Journal
Saturday, April 16th, 2016

“I don’t want other veterans to be as disheartened as I was to go to war, and then come back and find you have to fight again in your own homeland for your job.” Phillip Ramirez

Gov. Susana Martinez with Army veteran Phillip Ramirez during a Memorial Day 2014 event in Gallup. Ramirez says he wanted to take a photo with the governor so that, later, she could learn that he is the soldier her administration was battling in court over his workplace discrimination lawsuit. (Courtesy of Phillip Ramirez)

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — He fought for the country, then fought for his state job and now, after eight long years, two gubernatorial administrations, two attorneys general and hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees, the battle is over – and he won.

Again.

But those who have stood with him in the fight say this isn’t just a victory for New Mexico veteran Phillip Ramirez, but for other veterans who feel discriminated against in their civilian jobs because of their military service.

“I’m so happy, not just for me, but for the veterans who won’t have to go through what I have,” said Ramirez, a former Army National Guard sergeant whose long slog through the courts has been covered here in this column since he filed his landmark lawsuit against the state Children, Youth and Families Department, his former employer, in 2008. “I don’t want other veterans to be as disheartened as I was to go to war, and then come back and find you have to fight again in your own homeland for your job.”

In 2011, a Gallup jury sided with Ramirez, awarding him $100,000 in a victory believed to be the first of its kind in New Mexico in which the state was found to have violated a soldier’s rights under USERRA. The law provides protection for members of the military against workplace discrimination or retaliation.
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Was Veteran Released From VA After Standoff Too Quickly?

Female veteran in crisis enough to cause a seven hour standoff yet she was only in the VA for less than a week afterwards?

Standoff suspect charged after quick release from VA hospital
News Herald
Jon Stinchcomb, Reporter
April 15, 2016

After being taking into custody, Muirhead was taken to a Veterans Administration Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to receive treatment. She reportedly was released from the hospital within less than a week.

PORT CLINTON - The woman alleged to have caused a seven-hour standoff with police last week has been charged with two misdemeanors despite initial statements from police that charges would not be filed.

Melissa Muirhead, 30, of Port Clinton, was charged Thursday with one count of aggravated menacing and one count of inducing panic, both first-degree misdemeanors.

According to authorities, Muirhead is a military veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. The Port Clinton Police Department and Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office previously responded to multiple calls to her home for similar welfare checks in recent years.

Because there were no injuries from the incident, Port Clinton police Chief Rob Hickman initially said he did not expect charges to be filed.

However, after detectives conferred with assistant prosecutor Dave Boldt, the two misdemeanor charges were filed in Ottawa County Municipal Court.

According to officers from Port Clinton Police Department, the hope is that the charges will result in some form of court-ordered treatment so an incident does not happen again.
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Vietnam Veteran Receives Long Overdue Silver Star

Vietnam veteran receives long-overdue Silver Star
WEGB News
BY WRGB STAFF
APRIL 14TH 2016

WASHINGTON, DC -- An American hero received a long-awaited honor Thursday.

Stan DeRuggiero, who lives in Austerlitz, was an Army specialist in Vietnam in 1968 when his company came under heavy fire. He saved the lives of three wounded paratroopers, acting as a human shield and refusing to withdraw until he had helped get all three men out of harm's way.

DeRuggiero previously received the Bronze Star with V Device for his actions on that day. Due to the level of bravery he showed, his former company commander successfully petitioned the military to upgrade the award to Silver Star.

Congressman Chris Gibson, also a veteran, pinned the medal on DeRuggiero.
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New Jersey Turnpike Crash Leaves 4 Fort Totten Army Reservists Hospitalized

Soldiers Remain Hospitalized As Police Probe Humvee Crash On New Jersey Turnpike
CBS New York
April 15, 2016

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, N.J. (CBSNewYork) — Investigators on Friday were still trying to determine what caused a military vehicle to crash on the New Jersey Turnpike, seriously injuring four soldiers.

The U.S. Army Reserve soldiers, part of the 533rd Brigade Support Battalion stationed at Fort Totten in Queens, remain at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital where they were taken after Thursday’s crash.

Police said Pfc. Deborah Perez of Brooklyn lost her leg; Sgt. Theodore Jackson of Lincoln Park is in critical condition; Spc. Marcos Santana of Poughkeepsie is in serious condition; and the driver, Sgt. Gedry Concepcion-Munez of Bronx, is in good condition, CBS2’s Janelle Burrell reported.

Investigators said the accident happened shortly before 3 p.m. Thursday. The crash caused the Humvee to overturn, landing on its roof and sending debris across the southbound side of the Turnpike near exit 8 in South Brunswick.
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