US Navy: Off-duty Navy SEAL dies after kayak overturns in Chesapeake Bay by AP December 29th 2016
CAPE CHARLES, Va. (AP) -- The U.S. Navy says an off-duty Navy SEAL has died a day after his kayak overturned in the Chesapeake Bay.
Lt. Trevor Davids said by phone Thursday that Petty Officer First Class Devon Grube died in a hospital in Virginia. Davids said the cause was likely exposure. But a full investigation as to what happened is underway. The U.S. Coast Guard said Grube was one of two kayakers paddling in separate vessels Wednesday morning. His kayak overturned off the coast of Cape Charles about 9:20 a.m. Rescuers brought him ashore about two hours later. He was unconscious. read more here
Do not blame police for trying to change the way an Air Force veteran's life ended. Blame all of us because they tried to taser him and they also used pepper spray.
Tampa Air Force veteran, 34, dies after rampage, struggle with Pasco deputies Tampa Bay Times Dan Sullivan, Times Staff Writer Friday, December 30, 2016
A deputy sprayed Sellinger with pepper spray, but that also had no effect, officials said. As the struggle continued, a deputy used a Taser a second time, knocking Sellinger to the ground.
LAND O'LAKES — An Air Force veteran who had been reported missing from Tampa died Thursday after a rampage a day earlier in Pasco County, where authorities say he assaulted a 70-year-old motorcyclist before a violent struggle with sheriff's deputies.
John Sellinger, 34, endured pepper spray and shocks from a Taser as he fought with deputies. After he was detained, he went into "distress," according to Pasco County sheriff's officials. Despite lifesaving efforts, he later died at a local hospital.
His exact cause of death was not immediately clear. It capped a bizarre chain of events that began Wednesday, when authorities received reports of several hit-and-run accidents in Hillsborough County.
Sellinger's wife, Laura, had reported him missing that day. He lived in a Seminole Heights house recently donated to his wife by the Gramatica Family Foundation. Both Sellingers had served in the Air Force. An improvised explosive device had detonated near Laura Sellinger in Iraq in 2006, causing a severe brain injury.
Standing outside the home Friday night, Laura Sellinger declined to comment publicly. But on Thursday, she posted a message to the social networking website LinkedIn.
"My husband died today, I wish I could make that up," she wrote. "I wish I could sit here today and tell you a different story, a tale that ends in a happier ending but this one is tragic." read more here
WASHINGTON, Dec. 30 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a former chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, issued the following statement Friday in response to reports that President-elect Donald Trump is considering privatizing the Department of Veterans Affairs:
“Privatizing the VA would be an insult to the more than 22 million veterans who risked their lives to defend our country and it would significantly lower the quality of health care they receive. Our goal, shared by The American Legion and other major veterans’ organizations, must be to improve the VA, not destroy it. When men and women put their lives on the line to defend us, the president must listen to them, not to the Koch brothers and their extreme right-wing, anti-government ideology. We will vigorously oppose any and all efforts to privatize the VA.
“The president-elect should listen to American Legion Executive Director Verna Jones, who recently said the nation’s largest veterans’ organization ‘would like the Trump administration to know that we value our Department of Veterans Affairs’ because ‘dollar-for-dollar, there is no better care or value available anywhere in the United States – period.’
“The president-elect should listen to the Veterans of Foreign Wars. ‘Politicians, pundits and politically-motivated organizations are using the national crisis in access to care at the Department of Veterans Affairs as justification to dismantle and privatize the VA health care system, with some even proposing that veterans be charged for their service-connected care. The VFW says no! Veterans must not stand idle as politicians who never served or use the VA health care system dictate when and where veterans can receive care.’
“The president-elect should listen to Paul Rieckhoff of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America who said, ‘The worst case scenario within the vets community is a total dismantling of everything they worked generations to create. There is a growing fear it is all going to get burned down.’
“The veterans’ organizations are right. We must protect the VA, not destroy it.”
Veteran Accused Of Hit And Run Due Back In Court Santa Clarita News Perry Smith December 30, 2016
A veteran accused of a felony hit and run crash that left an LAPD motorcycle officer injured back in August has yet to be charged, per the county’s D.A.
The case against Philip Scot Newlyn, 28, alleges that he drove his white pick-up truck into an on-duty LAPD motorcycle officer’s vehicle on purpose, driving into the back of the officer’s vehicle on the Interstate 5 freeway near Castaic, on the morning of Aug. 17. Newlyn then reportedly fled the scene and was arrested the following afternoon, according to CHP officials. “We have no doubt this was an intentional act,” said CHP Capt. Edward Krusey during a news conference. “The officer was in full uniform on an LAPD motorcycle. It should have been extremely obvious to the person.” At issue, according to an official who spoke on the condition of anonymity, is the suspect’s mental state at the time of the collision. Newlyn is a decorated veteran who investigators suspect might have been suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and off his medication at the time of the collision. As a result, his case has been in Department 95, a court system that determines whether a suspect is mentally competent to assist in his or her own defense. As a result, Newlyn will not be formally charged until this determination is made. He’s due back in court Feb. 8 for a status readiness hearing. read more here
Study shows strain on force, civilian-military disconnect TBO.com By Howard Altman, Times Staff Writer Published: December 30, 2016
With all these issues, suicide and suicidal thoughts remain a huge concern, with 7 percent of military spouses, 12 percent of active-duty members, 14 percent of veterans (18 percent for post-9/11 vets) admitting suicidal thoughts during their time in uniform.
Still, active-duty military personnel are reluctant to seek help. According to the survey, 40 percent of active-duty personnel feel that seeking mental health care will harm their career.
More than 15 years of war in countries like Afghanistan has not only created a strain on the U.S. military, but a perceived disconnect between military and civilian families. HOWARD ALTMAN | Times
In a nation where less than a half-percent of the population wears the uniform, those who do, and their families, are feeling the strain after more than 15 years of war.
That's the findings of a report released in December by Blue Star Families, a Washington-based non-profit supporting men and woman in uniform and their families.
The study, conducted in April and May 2016, contacted more than 8,300 respondents, including military spouses, active-duty service members, veterans and their immediate family members.
Among the key findings:
• 72 percent of active-duty and military spouse respondents said they feel too much stress for a healthy work-life balance and 37 percent said they have experienced relationship challenges because of worry over future deployments.
• 42 percent of military family respondents report experiencing more than six months of family separation in the last 18 months. Thirty-seven percent of military couples reported experiencing relationship challenges in the past year related to worry over future deployments.
• The majority of active military families — 57 percent — are unlikely to recommend service to their own children.
• Military families were 27 percent less likely to have dual incomes than married non-military couples with children under 18. Fewer than half — 48 percent — of military families with a civilian spouse earned two incomes, as compared with two-thirds — 66 percent — of the general U.S. population with children.
• 66 percent of military families said they can't find adequate childcare while 33 percent say school does a good job of complying with the Interstate Compact of Educational Opportunity for Military Children and 9 percent say they homeschool.
The survey also found there is a sharp civilian-military divide, with 88 percent of those responding feeling that the public does not understand their sacrifices. read more here
