Memorial cross returned to Marine Veteran's widow
ABC 10 News
Author: Giacomo Luca
August 24, 2019
A memorial cross at-risk of being removed due to construction has been returned to the widow of a U.S. Marine veteran through the help of a community member.
ANTELOPE, Calif. — A patriotically painted red, white, and blue cross with both stars and stripes was placed alongside Don Julio Boulevard in Antelope, California following the 2014 shooting death of Marine veteran Ryan Matthew Shannon.
Gina Schaeffer, who lives nearby, drove past it for the five years that it’s been there. She’d always pay respects as she drove past but says she never stopped.
“I always noticed that cross, and I’ve always wondered who it belonged to and what it was associated with,” Schaeffer said.
Recently, a construction project in that area grew close to where the cross was standing. Afraid it would be removed or bulldozed, she stopped and asked construction crews if she could bring it home, and they allowed her to do so. Afterward, she took to community pages on Facebook to seek out why the cross was there and who she should return it to.
“The minute I picked it up and felt the solidness and the heaviness of it and the well builtness (sic) of it, I just felt a really big emotional feeling that you know this was bigger than just finding the family. It needed to go back home,” Schaeffer said.
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Vietnam vet hurt after $1,300 tickets for Rolling Stones concert in Phoenix vanish
AZ Family
LiAna Enriquez
August 26, 2019
Things quickly changed when Constable tried to retrieve those downloaded tickets, and they were gone. He said he called Vivid Seats, the company he purchased the tickets from. He said he was shocked when they told him his purchase had been disputed and reversed, so they re-sold his tickets.
PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) -- A Marine veteran who went to a Rolling Stones concert in the 1960s says he was thrilled to get the opportunity to go again more than 50 years later. But he says his tickets for Monday's concert vanished after purchasing them.
"This will probably be my last hoorah cause I’m in my 70s and they’re in their 70s," said Vietnam veteran Lenny Constable. "One of us may go before the other one, but this might very well be the last chance I have to see their concert."
Constable says he's been a life-long Rolling Stones fan.
“That was good machine-gun music. It got ya wired up a little bit," he said.
He says their music helped him through the hard times.
“You'd come back after being out in the bush for 30 days or so, and they'd blast them out," said Constable. "'Paint It Black’ and stuff like that."
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2 men falsely claimed military service to get their cases moved to a veterans court
Associated Press
August 25, 2019
Before they can be eligible for parole, Pinski ordered both men to hand write the names of all 6,756 Americans killed in Iraq and Afghanistan; write out the obituaries of the 40 Montanans killed in Iraq and Afghanistan and send hand-written letters of apology to several veterans groups identifying themselves as having lied about military service to receive help and possibly a lesser sentence through a veterans court.
The first Veterans Treatment Court (VTC) was started in 2008 in Buffalo, N.Y. There are 220 operational VTCs in the United States with approximately 11,000 veterans currently participating. (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs)
GREAT FALLS, Mont. — Two Montana men who were sentenced to prison for violating the terms of the probation in separate crimes won’t be eligible for parole until they complete a writing assignment given because they falsely claimed to have served in the military to have their cases moved to a veterans court.
Cascade County District Judge Greg Pinski sentenced Ryan Patrick Morris, 28, and Troy Allan Nelson, 33, on Friday. Morris got 10 years in prison for violating the terms of his probation for felony burglary, while Nelson got five years on a drug possession conviction. Pinski suspended three years of each defendant’s sentence.
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UPDATE: Death of veteran at Clarksburg VA ruled a homicide; Claim alleges there could be up to 10 more cases
WDTV News
August 23, 2019
CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WDTV)
A claim filed by Tiano O'Dell law firm says that retired Army Sergeant Felix McDermott received a fatal dose of insulin while a patient at the Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center.
According to the claim obtained by 5 News, first reported by the Clarksburg Exponent-Telegram, McDermott was admitted to the VAMC on April 6, 2018. He died of hypoglycemia, or severe low blood sugar, on April 9, 2018. He was 82.
The claim states that employees never told McDermott's family how he died. He was buried 4 days later.
On Oct. 23, 2018, McDermott's remains were exhumed and sent to the Dover Air Force Base for an autopsy and investigation.
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Family and friends searching for missing Fort Hood soldier
KWTX News
By Brandon Hamilton
Aug 24, 2019
FORT HOOD, Texas (KWTX) Family and friends of a missing Fort Hood soldier are actively searching, hoping for his safe return.
Gregory Wedel-Morales, according to his family, was last seen Monday night.
His family says they have filed missing persons reports with Fort Hood and the Killeen Police Department.
Fort Hood confirmed to News 10 that Morales has been placed on Absent Without Leave status since Aug. 20.
"His chain of command is in touch with his family seeking his whereabouts," officials said.
His mother, Kim Wedel, posted on Facebook that he just purchased a black 2018 Kia Rio.
"He is scheduled to process out of the military in September so going AWOL just doesn’t make sense," she said.
Anyone with information is asked to contact local authorities.
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