Troops ripped off by repo get to reap justice

Cash settlement for troops whose cars were repossessed

Medill News Service
By: Holly Baker
August 6, 2019

WASHINGTON — Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp., the financial services arm for Nissan North America, settled a federal lawsuit Thursdays alleging violations of a law that helps members of the military by suspending certain financial obligations during active duty.

The $3 million settlement was reached the same day the government’s complaint was filed; the investigation, however, had been going on since at least December 2016 when the government first notified Nissan that it was looking into the alleged misconduct.

The lawsuit alleged that Nissan repossessed at least 113 service members’ vehicles without a court order and failed to refund certain upfront payments after many service members terminated their leases, as required by law. Nissan did not admit to any wrongdoing in the settlement.

The purpose of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act is “to enable [service members] to devote their entire energy to the defense needs of the Nation,” according to the government’s complaint.
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Dale Boyd Knox mystery plane crash strange ending

Piecing together a local pilot’s life and sudden death

Altamont New Scotland
August 7, 2019

Albright described it, all these years later, as “like he was saying one last goodbye.”

After waving, Albright said, the pilot “does a circle over the top of me and then boom, into the cliff.”

Dale Knox served in the military from 1952 through 1956, according to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs online records. One of his duties was to serve as a flight mechanic, his brother said, fixing planes that were on the ground or even in the air.

VOORHEESVILLE — Dale Boyd Knox of Delmar was 38, a husband and father, fire-district commissioner, military veteran, and small-business owner. He died 47 years ago when the single-engine plane he was piloting crashed into a cliff on the Helderberg escarpment in New Scotland near Thacher Park.

He was alone in his four-seater Beechcraft BE35 V-tail Bonanza at the time of his crash on April 12, 1972.

The plane’s remains still lie in the deep woods off Picard Road, and his family is still haunted by the mystery surrounding his death.

Dale Knox’s older brother, Alan Knox, remembers him as “one of the most fun-loving and hardest-working people around” and as “an all-around guy.”

“There’s a French phrase, joie de vivre,” Alan Knox said. “If ever there was somebody who enjoyed life, it was Dale.”
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94 year old Oregon Air Force veteran won lottery...and almost tossed it out

94-Year-Old Veteran Almost Threw Away $6.5M Winning Lottery Ticket

New York Daily News
By Blake Alsup
5 Aug 2019

"I have what I need, and I'm 94," Bowker said. "This is a wonderful way to help my family."

An Oregon Megabucks sample lottery ticket. Via Oregon Lottery

A 94-year-old Air Force veteran from Oregon almost threw away his chance to be a millionaire.

"I have what I need, and I'm 94," Bowker said. "This is a wonderful way to help my family."

William Bowker plays the lottery often, but when his granddaughter checked his latest lottery ticket, she thought it was for the Mega Millions jackpot instead of Megabucks.++He decided to double check the ticket, and it paid off -- literally.

"She got done, and later, I thought I should double-check it before throwing it away," Bowker said in a news release from the Oregon Lottery. "I am glad I did. I immediately thought -- BOOM! I won!"
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Airmen who commit suicide are 'chickensh*t' according to uninformed Commander

Air Force commander apologizes for calling airmen who commit suicide 'chickensh*t'

Task and Purpose
Jared Keller
August 05, 2019

Col. Michael A. Miller, commander of the 2nd Bomb Wing at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, speaks to airmen following a 1.2 mile run on Friday, Aug. 2, 2019 (U.S. Air Force photo)

The commander of one of the Air Force's two B-52 Stratofortress wings issued an apology to airmen on Monday after referring to airmen who take their own lives as "chickenshit" during an event stand down event he ordered to focus on suicide prevention within his unit.

Col. Michael A. Miller, commander of the 2nd Bomb Wing at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, reportedly commented that "killing yourself is a chickenshit way to go" during a 1.2 mile "resiliency day" run with personnel on Friday.

"Let me say that my choice of words was poor," Miller said in a statement on Monday. 'I referenced the act of suicide in a manner that was insensitive and inappropriate."

However, that one sentence doesn't capture the context or intent of the message I was trying to relay," he continued. "Battling through pain to ask for help is one of the most courageous things we can do. Asking for help is hard, so we need to build that sense of family where it is acceptable to ask for help from each other." Miller's comments, first described by airmen in social media the popular Air Force amn/nco/snco Facebook page, came days after Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein ordered all units to take a day before Sept. 15 to focus on suicide prevention.
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Funny thing about words. If he did not think it, he would not have said it. Seems more like he made the choice to remain uniformed in uniform.

Another VA parking lot suicide

Veteran dies by suicide at VA Medical Center in Asheville

WSPA NEWS
by: WSPA Staff
Posted: Aug 5, 2019

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WSPA) – U.S. Department of Veterans Afairs officials said a veteran died by suicide while in the parking lot of a Western North Carolina VA medical center on Sunday.

According to the news release, the veteran died by suicide in the visitor parking lot of Charles George VA Medical Center just before 8:50 a.m.

The Asheville Police Department is investigating the incident.

“We are saddened by this loss and extend our deepest condolences to the Veteran’s family, friends and caregivers,” officials said in the release. “Suicide prevention is the VA’s number one clinical priority. Charles George VA Medical Center and its community outpatient clinics at Hickory, Rutherford County, and Franklin have many services for Veterans who are struggling with mental health concerns, such as depression, post-traumatic stress, anxiety, military sexual trauma, and substance use disorders.”
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