FBI Agent thanked by Camp Lejeune Marine for his life

Marine kidnapped as baby reunites with rescuer 22 years later

ABC 13 News
By Brittany Tarwater
Aug 09, 2019

"I think that is the perfect bookend. I think to end seeing him again, it really just puts the final touch to a career.” Troy SowersTroy Sowers

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT/Gray News) - A reunion outside the Knoxville FBI headquarters was the second time Stewart Rembert and Troy Sowers have met.

Rembert doesn’t remember the first time, reports WVLT, but FBI Special Agent in Charge Sowers will never forget that day.

Rembert was two days old in 1997 when he was kidnapped from a Washington state hospital by a woman claiming to be a nurse.

It was one of Sowers’s first cases with the FBI. He found baby Rembert in a box behind a dumpster.

“I pulled a baby out of a box,” he recalled. “That was tough. I had to take a couple deep breaths before I started talking.”

Rembert was then reunited with his family. The kidnapper pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

After graduating high school, Rembert joined the Marines and is now stationed at Camp Lejeune.

"Without him, I wouldn't be where I am today, a United States Marine," he said.

Friday was Sowers’s last day with the FBI. He ended his career with one of the first people he started it with. Cpl. Rembert surprised Sowers at his retirement party.
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Reprehensible takers stole from Vietnam Veterans of America

Thieves take boxed donations slated for veterans; Resident not happy about it

WHIO 7 News
By: J. Frazier Smith
August 09, 2019

HUBER HEIGHTS — A military veteran is not happy about the thief or thieves who took six of the 13 boxes of donated household items his wife put out in front of their Huber Heights home for a veteran's organization.

"I think it's pretty low," the man said Friday afternoon, asking not to be identified by name. "It's the principal. Here I am trying to help veterans and somebody's being a thief."

He didn't call police because they couldn't do anything about the theft of the boxes, which he said contained clothes, silverware, boots, a toy box and more.

The man said his wife put the boxes out Friday morning and went to shower. By the time she got out, 10 minutes later, the six boxes were gone.

"We were just downsizing and didn't need the stuff," the man said. "They wanted it more than the veterans."
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This story infuriates me!

Two weeks ago, we had Vietnam Veterans of America come to pick up a huge donation of furniture, household items and clothes. We are also downsizing, for a move to New Hampshire.

We could have had a yard sale and made a lot of money. We could have donated to any of the other groups out there. We decided to donated to the group who represents my Vietnam veteran husband and fights for all veterans.

Vietnam Veterans of America make it easy for people to donate. You pick the date and where you want to put your items and they come to pick them up. Really easy for generous givers and receivers, but makes it easy for reprehensible takers too.

Will I do it again after reading this story? You bet! Once we see what size house we are moving into, there will be more happily donated from us to the VVA!

OEF OIF veteran lost job as Police Officer because of PTSD Service Dog

Man claims he's being discriminated against because of PTSD and service dog

KMVT 11 News
By Garrett Hottle
Aug 09, 2019

Thompson said his PTSD is the reason he's not a police officer anymore. But that things have recently gotten better, thanks to the addition of his service dog, Ziva. Thompson said he could tell she would make a huge difference in his life, from one of the first times they met.

SHOSHONE, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) A military veteran and former police officer in the Magic Valley, believes he's experiencing discrimination in his search for employment because of his service dog.

Former police offer and veteran Michael Thompson explains how his service dog Ziva helps him cope with PTSD. Michael Thompson is a Shoshone resident who previously worked for the Bellevue and Shoshone police departments. Prior to that, he served in the U.S. Military and saw combat during the invasion of Iraq.

"I did the initial invasion for Iraq," Thompson said. "We were the group that was embedded with special forces that jumped into north Iraq and worked our way south."

Thompson has lived in Buhl most of his life and his time in the military was a big change for him, especially going overseas.

"I went from small town kid to a gunner in a High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV), where we were actually fighting and taking over areas as we worked our way south," Michael said.
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Veterans Choice left them over billed by at least $53.3 million at emergency rooms

Thousands of Vets May Have Wrongly Been Billed for Emergency Care

Military.com
By Richard Sisk
8 Aug 2019

At the start of fiscal 2016, claims backlogged more than 30 days totaled 482,000, or 28% of the total of 1.7 million claims, the report said. However, the backlogged claims had increased to 36% of all claims by November 2018, the report said.

Hospital emergency room sign. Getty Images

Veterans may have wrongly been billed by the Department of Veterans Affairs for emergency room medical treatment at non-VA facilities totaling at least $53.3 million, according to the office of the VA Inspector General.

Following an audit, the IG estimated that "about 17,400 veterans, with bills totaling at least $53.3 million, were negatively affected" by either initial denial or ultimate rejection of their claims for reimbursement.

The IG also estimated that that "if corrective actions are not taken, these errors could result in $533 million in improper underpayments to claimants over five years."

The IG's 70-page report, titled "Non-VA Emergency Care Claims Inappropriately Denied and Rejected," said the reimbursement issue rested with the VA's Claims Adjudication and Reimbursement Directorate (CAR) in the VA's Office of Community Care.
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Van Nuys Veterans not assisted to live according to the VA

VA cuts off Van Nuys assisted living home that reported visit to veteran who had died

Los Angeles Times
By GALE HOLLAND STAFF WRITER
AUG. 9, 2019

“I am shocked that such lax oversight of facilities providing critical care for vulnerable veterans ever occurred,” Special Counsel Henry J. Kerner said in a letter Thursday to the White House. The investigation findings were also relayed to congressional oversight committees. Federal officials pulled veterans from a Van Nuys assisted living

The Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in West Los Angeles in 2011.(Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times

Federal officials pulled veterans from a Van Nuys assisted living home after finding that the facility had reported a social worker visiting a veteran who had been dead for four days, according to a report released Thursday.

The investigation by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs also found serious medication errors at the California Villa home. A 100-year-old veteran with sepsis was denied prescribed antibiotics because they were “not covered by Medicare” and ended up hospitalized a second time, the report said.

Another veteran received a double dose of medication and a third was denied prescription drugs and charged $5 a meal because he preferred eating in his room rather than the cafeteria.

Authorities from Washington, D.C., blamed the VA’s Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System for failing to investigate and address “serious residential care concerns” at the facility, but added that program administrators had not reported the problems to upper management.

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