A Hero of D-Day Helped Make V-E Day

A Hero of D-Day Helped Make V-E Day Possible
Military.com
By James C. Roberts
8 May 2018

Victory Day in Europe graphic. 

(U.S. Navy graphic by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Cat Campbell)

James C. Roberts is president of the American Veterans Center.

In the course of heading the American Veterans Center for the last 20 years, it has been my privilege to get to know a multitude of our country's military heroes. As we commemorate V-E Day (Victory in Europe Day, May 8, 1945), one of these heroes stands out: Army 2nd Lt. Leonard "Bud" Lomell.

Then-1st Sgt. Lomell is indelibly connected to a second famous date: June 6, 1944 -- D-Day, the day American, British, Canadian and other Allied forces landed at Normandy on the French coast to begin the Liberation of Europe.

Without the success of the Normandy landings, there would likely never have been a V-E Day.

The D-Day landings were a massive undertaking -- possibly the largest the world will ever know -- comprising 7,000 ships and landing craft, 50,000 vehicles, 11,500 airplanes, and 156,000 troops. It was accomplished against great odds, including difficult weather and heavy seas.

Looking back on this near-miracle, historian Stephen Ambrose wrote that if he had to select one man most responsible for the success of D-Day, besides Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, the supreme allied commander of the operation, it would be Leonard Lomell.
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VA Nurse Now...Was Homeless Veteran Before

Once a homeless veteran, this nurse turned his life around to help other veterans
THV11 News
Author: Brejamin Perkins
Published: 5:19 PM CDT May 7, 2018

“Back in 2003, I came to the VA as a homeless veteran,” said Hathcock. He admits he never imagined himself entering the hospital doors as a RN.

Registered Nurse David Hathcock, at the Veteran’s Hospital in Little Rock, was recently ranked one of the best nurses in Arkansas.

He and many others on that list are being recognized this week for the work they do for us all.

Hathcock has an interesting perspective, as he once was in the care of nurses he works with today. The service he received, is now what he provides.

“Back in 2003, I came to the VA as a homeless veteran,” said Hathcock. He admits he never imagined himself entering the hospital doors as a RN.

Now he gets to scan his badge with pride every day.

“The VA is here for you and they will help you get your life back, but you have to put the work in. I didn't just show up here thinking they were going to do everything for me,” he said.

Hathcock was once a veteran in the VA’s Drug Treatment Program. He gives the hospital credit for helping him start his life over because they gave him opportunity and a job, now career.
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As his wife Sheila held Lonnie Kilpatrick's hand, he died

Sad update to WFLA News Got Vietnam Veteran Justice

Finally awarded Agent Orange benefits, veteran succumbs to cancer the VA missed
By: WFLA Staff
Updated: May 07, 2018

TARPON SPRINGS, Fla. (WFLA) - As his wife Sheila held Lonnie Kilpatrick's hand, his daughter Kassie recorded some of his last words.

The Navy veteran said there is a reason for everything - his struggle with the VA, his impending death.

"Make something out of it, make it count," Lonnie said in a weak voice.

We met Lonnie in February, shortly after he learned Stage 4 kidney cancer had spread through his body.

"That hit me like a ton of bricks," he told us from his bed in Holiday in February.

For good reason. For four years, doctors at the VA at Bay Pines said his back pain was arthritis and disc related.

"Just couldn't get nobody to take it serious that, hey I've lost 50 pounds," explained Lonnie at the time.

The VA treated Lonnie for kidney cancer in 2013, pronounced him cancer-free, then missed its recurrence.

"You know you're going to lose him and that could have been prevented if the VA had followed up," said daughter Keri Ackerson.
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Song for First Responders PTSD Winner ECM

Powerful music video earns Kevin Davison first ECMA win

Kings County News
Ashley Thompson
Updated: 5 hours ago

Tribute to First Responders - Official Music Video by Kevin Davison

KENTVILLE - Kevin Davison’s gripping music video offering a glimpse into the harrowing jobs of first responders has earned the local country crooner his first ECMA win.

Davison was nearly in a state of disbelief as he walked up to the stage at the East Coast Music Awards ceremony in Halifax May 6 to collect the hardware reserved for Video of the Year winner. “I was totally shocked,” he said in a brief phone interview May 7.

“I literally didn’t even have anything written down.”

A paramedic and volunteer firefighter hailing from Kentville, Davison was nominated for the video for When Those Sirens Are Gone – an anthem for first responders that has been heard throughout the world.

The video, directed by David Pichette, earned Davison a nomination in a category contested by some of the best in the business: Heather Rankin, Ria Mae, Rose Cousins and Wordburglar.
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Kevin Davison won his first East Coast Music Award May 6 as the successful nominee in the highly contested Video of the Year category.

Davison released a rough video of him performing "When Those Sirens Are Gone" on Facebook. What was meant as a message to his fellow colleagues that they were not alone in their struggles with PTSD, in just 3 months, has not only raised awareness but has caught the attention of hundreds of thousands on social media around the globe. 

Female Soldier gave birth in latrine--in Afghanistan?

Doctor used 'feelings' over test results to clear Indiana soldier for deployment
WTHR 13 News
Sandra Chapman
May 7, 2018

It's a case so rare and so shocking that the United States Army refuses to talk about what happened to Pvt. Ashley Shelton.

The 20-year old private from Indiana gave birth to a near full-term baby boy in 2012.

She was in Afghanistan – in a combat zone.

Why did the military put a pregnant soldier into a war zone?

With her permission, 13 Investigates obtained Pvt. Shelton's medical files, and what they revealed takes the questions in her case to even greater heights.

A series of pre-deployment pregnancy tests were positive or indecisive. But the doctor involved in her case noted that he didn't "feel" like she was pregnant and he signed off on her deployment.

When Ashley was in Afghanistan she was shocked to learn she was giving birth to a baby boy inside of an Army latrine.

She was assigned to an aviation unit and worked around dangerous chemicals and helicopter exhaust fumes. She exercised and wore heavy body armor every day. She took malaria pills and had both anthrax and typhoid vaccines.

Exposures to those vaccines, Pvt. Shelton now believes, impacted her son Benjamin. He has trouble walking and suffers from developmental delays. read more here