Body Pulled From San Diego Bay Identified as Missing Navy Wife Elizabeth Sullivan NBC News by RACHAEL TROST December 7, 2016
A body pulled from the San Diego Bay in California in October has now been identified as missing Navy wife and mother of two Elizabeth Sullivan.
Sullivan's body was pulled from the water on October 5, according to NBC affiliate NBC 7. San Diego police confirmed the identification Wednesday. Homicide investigators have traveled to the East Coast to reportedly look into possible leads, the station reported. read more here
John Glenn, American hero, aviation icon and former U.S. senator, dies at 95 Columbus Dispatch Joe Hallett December 8, 2016
Glenn recalled "many teary departures and reunions" at the airport's original terminal on Fifth Avenue during his time as a military aviator during World War II. He and his wife Annie, who had been married 73 years, later kept a small Beechcraft plane at Lane Aviation on the airport grounds for many years, and he only gave up flying his own plane at age 90.
His legend is other-worldly and now, in his 95th year, that’s where John Glenn has gone.
An authentic hero and genuine American icon, Glenn died this afternoon surrounded by family at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus after a remarkably healthy life spent almost from the cradle with Annie, his beloved wife of 73 years, who survives.
He, along with fellow aviators Orville and Wilbur Wright and moon-walker Neil Armstrong, truly made Ohio first in flight.
read more here
75 years after Pearl Harbor, a veteran says soldiers across generations can unite Miami Herald Jessica Campisi December 6, 2016
“We slap our yellow ribbon magnets on our cars and say, ‘Thank you for your service,’ but society doesn’t actually understand what it means, and as a result doesn’t fully appreciate.” Craig Bryan
WASHINGTON
For Lou Conter, the psychology of war is simple: It’s kill or be killed.
Lou Conter, of Alta Sierra, Calif., a survivor of the USS Arizona, salutes at the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument in Honolulu, Hawaii, during the 72nd anniversary commemoration of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 2013. Courtesy of Lou Conter
The 95-year-old Pearl Harbor veteran remembers escaping the USS Arizona at age 20, after a Japanese bomb burned the ship to pieces. He remembers his patrol bomber being shot down, then hiding in the jungle with no choice but to survive. And he remembers the three weeks it took to get home to San Diego, and reflecting on everything he had seen.
Seventy-five years after Pearl Harbor, Conter, who now lives in Alta Sierra, California, credits those three weeks with preventing post-traumatic stress disorder and the intense military training he endured with helping to keep him alive.
“There was no turning around, no getting off (of duty) in six months or anything else unless you were in a coffin,” Conter said. “There are men today, calling their wives . . . then get(ting) off the phone to go cut someone’s throat. . . . I can’t imagine.”
Today, soldiers can more easily talk to their families while overseas or be back home within hours of stepping off the battleground, Conter said. After six months of deployment, soldiers are eligible for leave, according to the U.S. Army website. But at the end of the day, “war is war,” he said, and all conflicts boil down to the same thing: a fight for survival.
Even beyond the battlefield, service members from all time periods share a common notion of “the warrior identity” and their experiences before and after they served, added Craig Bryan, a clinical psychologist who’s the executive director of the National Center for Veterans Studies at the University of Utah. read more here
Shelter Addresses Safety After Veteran Jumps From Window WPR.org VA Officials Say VAF Has 'Serious Problems' At Homeless Shelter Monday, December 5, 2016
Officials at a nonprofit homeless shelter say they're working to address safety concerns after a veteran jumped out of a window at the facility last week.
A resident jumped from a third floor window at the shelter, according to the Veterans Assistance Foundation. VAF Executive Director Don Roach said the individual was alive when transported to the hospital.
This is the second incident this year involving the nonprofit shelter, which leases space at the Tomah Veterans Affairs Medical Center. After a veteran died at the facility in September, the VA announced they would be ending the nonprofit's lease agreement.
"The VAF has some very serious problems that it needs to address within its program and just the physical safety of veterans within their program is just part of that," said VA Public Affairs Officer Matthew Gowan. read more here
Military Vet, Best-Selling Author Luis Carlos Montalvan Found Dead in Texas NBC News by BRIAN LATIMER December 5, 2016
Montalvan was a decorated 17-year veteran from a tour in Iraq. He received two Bronze Stars, the Purple Heart, the Combat Action Badge and the Army Commendation Medal for Valor. Along with PTSD he suffered from other injuries sustained in combat.
In this March 16, 2010, file photo, Iraq War veteran Luis Carlos Montalvan and his service dog walk in the corridor of the Cannon House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington. J. Scott Applewhite / AP
Friends, family and fans are mourning the death of U.S. military veteran Luis Carlos Montalvan, who was known for his best-selling book about his struggle with post traumatic stress disorder. He was 43.
Montalvan was found dead Friday night in a room in the Indigo Hotel in downtown El Paso, Texas, according to the city's police department.
"There were no signs of foul play and cause of death is pending investigation by the Medical Examiner's office," El Paso police said in a statement.
Montalvan's service dog, named Tuesday, was not with him, his friend and co-author Ellis Henican told USA Today. read more here
