Newborn daughter of soldier killed in Afghanistan photographed with fellow soldiers
KENS 5 News
Author: Meilin Tompkins
May 31, 2018
"No matter where the army takes them all, I will be able to show Christian how they all came together for her."
FAYETTEVILLE, NC -- A photo of a newborn baby photographed with soldiers in North Carolina is quickly going viral on Facebook.
Britt Harris was ecstatic when she learned she was pregnant back in October. Her husband, SPC Christopher Harris, was just deployed to Afghanistan.
Unfortunately, Harris would never get to meet his daughter. He was killed in a suicide bombing just a week after he learned of the pregnancy.
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If these pictures do not bring a tear to your eye....
Help veterans stay alive awareness
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
May 30, 2018
I read an article early this morning that stuck with me especially when I saw this adorable face!
Deana Martorella Orellana, joined the Marines.
"Then, in 2010, she deployed to a particularly combat-torn part of Helmand Province in Afghanistan."
She survived the deployment and hardships, risking her life for the sake of those she served with, but part of it came back with her according to Battling Depression And Suicide Among Female Veterans on NPR May 29, 2018
"After she returned to North Carolina in 2013, her rental home burned down, and a man she knew was charged with arson. She wasn't home, but the incident shook her."
A few months after being discharged, came this "transition" after being trained to serve, tested by Afghanistan, and above all, trained to be "resilient" according to the Department of Defense.
"But just hours after the VA appointment, Deana asked a friend to drop her at the house where she had lived with her boyfriend, who wasn't home. She went in the bedroom and retrieved a .45-caliber handgun."
Since 2009, every member of the military had received "resilience" training to make them "mentally tough."
With all the groups out there raising awareness about veterans taking their own lives, why have they not changed the outcome? They use only the number that will get them the most attention from a report they failed to read, or even take seriously enough to want to make a difference.
Actually, it seems as if they have done more harm than good.
"The suicide rate for female veterans has soared 85 percent in recent years, leading the military, VA and advocacy groups to try new ways to improve women's mental health care during and after service."
The military trained them, then refused to change when the result was higher suicides while the number of enlisted went down.
And no one was put out of business for failing to come up with something that would actually help them survive surviving.
No one was put out of business raising awareness for something they do not understand, lying about "making a difference" and not even bothering to address the highest percentage of veterans committing suicide, at least the ones they know about, and that is veterans over the age of 50!
No news source has been put out of business for covering these people, spreading the lie of how many veterans decided to die or even attempt to ask questions. Questions like why these groups need the money, what they are doing with the money or even why they deserve any of it considering they have not proven anything to anyone.
The really puzzling thing is, if they are making their living off talking about veterans killing themselves, then if they lived, these groups would be out of business and their income would vanish.
Isn't it time we actually paid attention to these facts?
If veterans live, heal and help each other, I may actually get to retire after 36 years and have time to watch TV after working for a paycheck on my day job!
You can start by actually reading the reports they didn't bother with.
VA SUICIDE REPORT 2012 Limited data from just 21 states
VA SUICIDE REPORT 2016 Limited data because states like California and Illinois did not track military service on the death certificates until they passed legislation in 2017 to add it.
Also all limited data because, anything less than honorable discharges, did not get counted. Veterans living in other countries were not counted.
In some states, if they were not deployed into combat, they were not counted.
In some states if they were in the National Guards and Reserves, deployed for humanitarian missions, they were not counted.
The factors go on and on, but as long as people are selling suicides, we're never, ever going to make enough of a difference to help veterans survive surviving service.
Now, if all that did not bother you enough, consider one more thing.
How is it that life mattered so much to every one of them, they were willing to die to save others, but their own life was not worth living?
UPDATE
Coroner releases cause of death for Army general who died while on leave
Major General Jeffrey Bannister, 57, who was on transition leave in Lake Murray, died Sunday due to natural causes, coroner Margaret Fisher said.
Retiring Army general dies while on leave in South Carolina
STARS AND STRIPES
By DENISSE RAUDA
Published: May 30, 2018
The Rome, Ga., native served in Iraq and led divisions at Ft. Carson, Colo. He commanded the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, N.Y., from 2015 until May of last year. His time there included an 11-month deployment to Afghanistan.
An Army general died Sunday while on leave in South Carolina and his death is being investigated, according to a statement from Shaw Air Force Base.
Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Bannister, 57, was on the verge of retirement and on transition leave when he died at Lake Murray near Columbia, S.C., base officials told WIS-TV.
Bannister, who served in the Army for 34 years, was assigned to Shaw as a special project officer for the Chief of Staff of the Army, the report said.
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These four military dogs just received the nation’s highest honor
Military Times
By: Charlsy Panzino
9 minutes ago
Four veterans were honored with Medal of Courage awards on Capitol Hill on May 22.
Army veteran Dennis Dow with Jag, from left, Marine veteran Kevin Zuniga with Taker, Air Force veteran Micah Jones with Summer and Taba, who was adopted by a former K-9 police dog handler and his family. (American Humane)
They didn’t give any speeches, but not just because they were humble — the four vets are retired military working dogs.
The American Humane Lois Pope K-9 Medal of Courage is the highest honor for military dogs that displayed extraordinary valor and service to their country.
“These remarkable dogs have given us their best,” veterans advocate Lois Pope said at the ceremony. “They have put their own lives on the line to protect us, to defend us, and to save us.”
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UPDATE
Friendship, torture and murder - military veteran accused of killing another vet ABC 13 News
Those in the American Legion Riders motorcycle group are stunned by the details of Norman's murder and that a fellow veteran and rider may have done it.
The two were seen drinking together at a bar the night the murder took place.
Suspect arrested for murder of missing Vietnam veteran Stan Norman
The Union
Liz Kellar
May 27, 2018
On Sunday night, law enforcement arrested Sean Bryant — the man last seen with missing veteran Stan Norman — for his murder.
Bryant has been in custody in county jail since mid-May, when he was arrested at a residence on Sadie D Drive in Cascade Shores. At the time, Bryant, 51, was charged with manufacturing a controlled substance, threatening a crime with the intent to terrorize and inflicting corporal injury, all felonies.
After human bones were discovered in a burn pile on the property, and after interviews with witnesses, Bryant was re-booked on charges of murder and torture, and likely will be arraigned Tuesday in Nevada County Superior Court.
Norman was last seen after he went with friends to McGee's in Nevada City April 14 and was positively identified at Bonanza Market in Nevada City that night. He then reportedly went to Bryant's home in Grass Valley. No one reported seeing him since the early hours of April 15.
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