Vietnam vet remembered as a hero and friend to all that knew him
Deseret News Jasen Lee July 28, 2019
"He could tap into (the sixth sense) of what connected us," Clemmons explained. "He taught me how to pay attention and it's amazing how many times it saved my life."
Scott G Winterton, Deseret News
Marine Gunnery Sgt. Christopher Chambers and Sgt. Mark Maxfield fold the flag during services for Vietnam War veteran Richard Burgess during services at Camp Williams in Bluffdale on Friday, July 26, 2019.
BLUFFDALE – A onetime prisoner of war, Richard Burgess was a man who spent much of his life looking out for others' interests above his own.
To a person, speakers at his memorial service Friday at the Utah Veterans Memorial Cemetery all noted how selfless and caring a man he was to them and just about everyone he came in contact with.
"I knew he was special all our lives and I thought about him every day almost," said fellow Marine Gary Clemmons, who served with Burgess in Vietnam. "When I think I would have it bad, I would think of Richard (in the POW camp)."
So impactful to some was Burgess' connection with them, they came from miles away to pay their respects during a ceremony conducted with full military honors in Bluffdale. Burgess spent over six years as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam conflict, but didn't allow it the extinguish the kind, generous spirit that ingratiated him to so many people during his 72 years, speakers noted.
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Ohio's militias are armed and ready, with good intent they say
The Plain Dealer By Brian Albrecht July 28, 2019
But there are militias that say they support the government and exist to serve as a citizen’s defense force in the historical sense of these groups. Armed, yes, but also prepared and trained to respond to disasters or local community needs.
Members of the Irregulars of Ohio Reserve Militia take a break for a photo with personnel of the Life’s Little Adventures Farm in Wooster, where militia members cleared fallen trees and foliage in May to help the facility that uses rescued animals in therapeutic programs for children, and veterans recovering from PTSD. (Brian Albrecht/The Plain Dealer)
CLEVELAND, Ohio — This is the militia: Men and women clad in camos, carrying semi-automatic rifles, stalking the woodlands, shredding targets, prepping for worst-case scenarios.
And this is the militia: Two militia members arrested and charged in Cincinnati earlier this year for allegedly making bombs; a militia leader arrested and charged with firearms possession by a felon in April after a video showed his group detaining migrants in New Mexico at gunpoint; two members of a Illinois militia pleading guilty in January to bombing a Minnesota mosque; three Kansas militia men convicted last year of plotting to blow up an apartment complex where Somali refugees lived.
And this: Chainsaws, shovels and muscle brought to bear by an Ohio militia to help clean up tornado-ravaged areas of Dayton, and an overgrown farm in Wooster that offers therapeutic programs to treat traumatized families and veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.
The recent history of private militias in Ohio and the United States has been fraught with confrontation and violence. read it here
CBS 19 News Author: Matthew Copeland July 26, 2019
Martin served abroad with the United States Army and suffered from PTSD, according to family.
BEAUMONT, Texas — A East Texas veteran who has been missing for more than two weeks was found dead Thursday afternoon in Beaumont.
Terrell Martin was first reported missing on July 11.
According to the Beaumont Police Department, officers responded Forrest Lawn Cemetery where a vehicle had been crashed in the back of the property.
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Teens attack two homeless men with bats, rocks outside Wooster church
FOX 8 Cleveland BY JEN STEER AND SUZANNE STRATFORD JULY 26, 2019
“They’re both vulnerable, they have some disability, one guys a veteran,” said Pastor Franklin, who’s friends with the victims, “And they didn’t fight back at all."
WOOSTER, Ohio-- The Wooster Police Department is working to identify three teens who attacked two men sleeping on the steps of a church.
Officers were called to Trinity Church on East North Street just before 3 a.m. on Wednesday.
The victims said three teens, between the ages of 14 and 15, threw rocks at them, then took turns hitting them with bats. The men suffered cuts and scrapes. One was taken to the Wooster Community Hospital Emergency Room.
The men were sound asleep on the steps to get out of the elements.
“They’re both vulnerable, they have some disability, one guys a veteran,” said Pastor Franklin, who’s friends with the victims, “And they didn’t fight back at all."
Pastor Kevan Franklin says, every morning the church serves a free hot breakfast, where they also connect those in need with the proper resources and community services. read it here
Wounded Times Kathie Costos July 27, 2019 When everything seems like it is crashing all around you, it is hard to see anything good coming out of it. The thing is, that is exactly how you came out of the worst you have been through before.
It is not easy to feel as if you have to pay for something that other people did to you. It is not easy to end up suffering after doing the right thing either. If you took a job that you knew could kill you, then that was a right thing to do for the good reasons. Because you end up suffering afterwards, it is also easy to think that everything turned to crap, including what you think of yourself. You are no less than you were before you took that job. Everything that was good about you, is still there. It is all there but the wall of pain has it all trapped. Time to break down that wall and let yourself out of the self-imposed prison you have been in for far too long.
You see the world through your cynical eyes
You're a troubled young man I can tell
You've got it all in the palm of your hand
But your hand's wet with sweat and your head needs a rest
And you're fooling yourself if you don't believe it
You're kidding yourself if you don't believe it
Why must you be such an angry young man
When your future looks quite bright to me
How can there be such a sinister plan
That could hide such a lamb, such a caring young man
"Your future looks quite bright to me," if you take your best shot at waking up tomorrow with a new attitude that begins when you #BreakTheSilence and ask for help to achieve all that is possible for you. If the stigma is stopping you because you are afraid of what people will think about you, then they must not really know you, or only pretend to be your friends. You are supposed to be able to trust your friends. When you discover you cannot, then instead of putting the blame on yourself, it is time to realize a friend would not betray you or turn their backs on you. They would stand by you and do whatever they can to help you. After all, isn't that what you would do for them? If you have PTSD it means you survived something terrible. Why give into what is terrible now when you defeated it before? Why let it destroy what you have inside of you? Why give it power it does not deserve?
