Utah soldier dies in Afghanistan
Deseret News Utah
Jasen Lee
Published: July 1, 2019
SALT LAKE CITY — A decorated soldier from Ogden has died while serving in the Middle East.
Sgt. 1st Class Elliott Robbins, 31, died Sunday in a noncombat incident in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, while serving in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel, according to a Pentagon report. The incident is under investigation.
A Green Beret, Robbins was assigned to D Company, 2nd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Airborne Group in Fort Carson, Colorado.
His parents said he was deployed in January — his third tour in the Middle East — and was set to return to Utah any day. Robbins leaves behind a wife and an infant son.
His father, Freeman Robbins, was a career Army man himself and said some of that military dedication may have rubbed off on his son. He said his son was proud of his country and proud to serve it.
"What can a parent say? I mean, they're proud that their child does well in what he does," Freeman Robbins said. "He was an Army medic and saved a lot of lives. How can you not be proud of something like that?"
Freeman Robbins says his son served with valor, earning multiple awards. He admitted that at times it was difficult to read about why he Sgt. Robbins received the awards — knowing he was put into some very dangerous situations.
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update ‘Blue water’ veterans’ claims delayed until next year
“Time is of the essence in this matter. Blue Water Navy Veterans are dying every day,” John Wells, retired Navy commander and the executive director of Military-Veterans Advocacy, wrote in a letter to Wilkie Monday morning. “These veterans have waited long enough.”
President Trump signs Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans bill into law
Connecting Vets
ABBIE BENNETT
JUNE 26, 2019
President Donald Trump has signed into law the "Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act," requiring the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide disability benefits to veterans who served in the waters off the coast of Vietnam.
The bill is just one more provision in a decades-long fight to guarantee the same benefits to nearly 90,000 Navy veterans who served in the waters offshore of Vietnam that their land and brown-water comrades are entitled to after potentially being exposed to toxic Agent Orange.
Two weeks ago, the Senate passed the bill unanimously and the House passed it unanimously before Memorial Day.
Earlier this month, the final legal battle for Blue Water veterans to qualify for VA disability benefits for exposure to the cancer-causing toxin appeared to be over.
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Past struggles emerging about disabled veteran charged in NT bomb scare
WBFO News
By MARIAN HETHERLY
JUN 27, 2019
"After giving up on life he became suicidal and prayed that God would just kill him like Jesus Christ. He miraculously got extremely motivated from peer to peer mentoring without remembering the suicide actions for 6 months, but the same day he retired his brother-in-law fell off a cliff and died. Staff Sergeant Payne felt guilty he endured and survived all these hardships."
We are learning more about a disabled veteran who prompted a bomb scare at North Tonawanda City Hall earlier this week.
North Tonawanda Police say Timothy Payne, 36, remains in custody and is scheduled for a hearing in NT City Court Friday morning for criminal possession of a weapon. He also was evaluated by medical personnel.
Payne was arrested Tuesday afternoon after police found a loaded pistol, two military-style rifles and 400 rounds of ammunition in his van. Bomb Squad agents were also called in after another item found appeared to be explosive. Police now say it was a hitch lock, which "could be construed as a pipe bomb."
In fact, they say further investigation has found that Payne appears to be living out of his van since traveling to New York from North Carolina looking for work. He has ties to NT and met with the mayor to express his distress about not being able to find work, but police say Payne has made no threats to anyone.
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Missing Gypsum man found dead inside his pickup truck, Eagle County Sheriff’s Office says
7 News Denver
By: Ryan Osborne , Óscar Contreras
June 28, 2019
“The love and support this community has shown in the search for Tayler has been beyond words,” Porter said. “This support has been a comfort to his family, friends, co-workers, and the entire community.”
GARFIELD COUNTY, Colo. – A missing sheriff’s deputy who was last seen Tuesday in a rural area of Garfield County was found dead Friday, according to a spokesperson with the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office.
Tayler Esslinger, 26, of Gypsum, who was last seen Tuesday and was believed to be heading into the mountains, was found in his vehicle Friday afternoon. A cause and manner of death was not immediately released.
“We are very heartbroken by today’s turn of events in this discovery,” said Eagle County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Jessie Porter in a news release. “While it was not the outcome we had all been hoping and praying for, these last few days have shown how the circumstances of one individual can pull us together to make us all stronger.”
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Teen arrested for murder of 70-year-old Vietnam veteran
FOX 2 News
Jun 30 2019
(FOX 2) - The teen who was charged with shooting and killing an elderly man after his granddaughter snuck him into her house has been arrested.
David Kentrell Williams was arraigned June 27. He's been charged with one count of 2nd Degree murder and the one count of a felony weapon possession.
According to police, the 17-year-old came over to the victim's house after his girlfriend snuck him inside. That's when Williams got in an argument with Jamie Mintz, a 70-year-old Vietnam veteran. Mintz asked Williams to leave.
Detroit police said the two fought over a gun, and Mintz wound being shot and killed. Police said Williams then left the home with the gun.
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