Naperville Army veteran feels at home, thanks to students' donations Daily Herald Christopher Placek December 16, 2016
"I never imagined being in a high school full of kids cheering for me and doing something amazing like this for me. I don't know what someone could want more than to be honored like this." Tony Chobanov
"Amazing," is how Army Spc. Tony Chobanov feels about the support he's received from a veterans organization that's building a house for him and his family, and the students who have helped raise funds to pay for it.
Some 2,000 students at John Hersey High School in Arlington Heights stood and applauded Friday as Chobanov and his wife, Abbey, walked into the school gym for an assembly where they were presented with a $16,000 check and an oversized key that represents their new house to be built next spring in Spring Grove.
Chobanov, 32, served two tours of combat duty -- one in Afghanistan and one in Iraq -- that led to his diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder and a traumatic brain injury.
He's worked several jobs in the trades since returning in 2008, putting in long hours to provide for his family, but has struggled as half the family income has gone to pay the rent of their Naperville home.
This year, he learned he, his wife and three children had been chosen by A Soldier's Journey Home, an Arlington Heights-based nonprofit, to receive a new house. He said he's receiving treatment for his war injuries and no doubt has been helped by the support he's receiving.
"And the vision that was planted in my brain, still remains within the sound of silence."
The vision is planted within their brains and they cannot escape it unless they are shown the way out. The sights, sounds and scents of war stay with them even though they may be shoveling snow, driving a truck, walking the dog or simply watching TV. It is time for us to end the sound of suffering in outward silence while they are linger in hellish longing for peace.
They can have peace on earth within their own soul if we help them to see all that was good within them even in war. The times they shed a tear, said a prayer, reached their arm around a buddy because he needed it. The time they cried for a child they saw or stood in silence as a flag was placed over the body of someone they served with. Help them to see that all they endured was due to their tremendous ability to love enough to be willing to die for each other. Help them to know that last, lingering image trapped in their mind was not all their was. That the fact they grieve came from their tremendous ability to love that deeply. Time for all of us to stop talking about what we think we may know about what they are going through and start listening to what they have to say. Disturb the silence and help them hear why you think they are worthy to heal.
Sick Marine still waits for the help he was promised KOMO News by Tracy Vedder December 15th 2016
George's scleroderma is one of 15 diseases the Veterans' Administration determined could have been caused by contaminated drinking water at Marine base Camp LeJeune. And Congress passed a law in 2012 so anyone who served there between 1953 and 1987, and who has one of those diseases, is automatically eligible for VA health care.
SEATTLE -- In spite of a personal promise from the secretary of veterans affairs to examine his claim, a local Marine Corps veteran with a fatal disease still waits for help In October the KOMO Investigators asked Secretary Robert McDonald about Spike George. He's battling a disease the VA already determined is service related. But not only is the VA not paying him disability, it's also stopped answering any calls or questions about his case. Spike George can't wait much longer. He suffers from scleroderma. It's a progressive disease that makes it difficult to breathe and impossible to eat. He's so weak he can't really walk anymore. George has been in and out of the hospital for successive surgeries and bouts of pneumonia this past year. We had to ask him to drop his normally stoic demeanor to tell us how he's really doing. George admits, the reality is harsh. "There's times that I think how long? How long do I have to put up with this? How long am I going to be here ... suffering?" read more here
Hundreds of Fort Carson soldiers help the homeless during Operation Stryker Christmas FOX 21 News By Angela Case and Lauren McDonald Published: December 15, 2016,
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Hundreds of Fort Carson soldiers delivered items to those in need during the annual Operation Stryker Christmas Thursday morning.
About 350 soldiers from the 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team carried donated goods from Fort Carson to the Marian House Soup Kitchen in downtown Colorado Springs. They started the 25-mile ‘Manchu Mile’ Wednesday evening and arrived at Marion House Thursday morning.
The Manchu Mile commemorates the 85-mile march the 9th regiment completed during the Boxer Rebellion in July 1900.
Another 1,400 soldiers with the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team marched from Dorchester Park to Marian House Thursday with rucksacks full of donated goods.
All of the items were donated by soldiers and their families. read more here
Gold Star Family Works To Honor Son By Helping Veterans With PTSD CBS 4 News December 15, 2016
“I think it’s the first of its kind the way that we’re training. Because the veteran is actually training his own dog,” Sonka said.
STRASBURG, Colo. (CBS4) – A Gold Star family from Colorado is trying to change the way some veterans treat their post-traumatic stress disorder, and they’re doing it the only way their fallen son would have wanted.
Cpl. David Sonka was killed on May 4, 2013, when he, his military working dog Flex and a fellow Marine were shot and killed by an Afghan soldier they were working with.
Sonka’s father knew he wanted to dedicate his life to honoring his son and Flex. read more here
