Pentagon flexes its altruism muscle
Having learned the limits of force in Iraq and Afghanistan, US military strategists are rewriting decades-old military doctrine to place humanitarian missions on par with combat, part of a new effort to win over distrustful foreign populations and enlist new global allies, according to top commanders and Pentagon officials. (By Bryan Bender, Boston Globe)
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Monday, July 28, 2008
Florida woman finds angels in time of need
"Every time I turn around, God sends another angel," said Lillian Keilitz, Lovesky's mother. "It's overwhelming that all these people are here to help my daughter and more than half of them don't know her."
A makeover she can't believe
Rae-Ann Lovesky, a 34-year-old single mother, left an abusive marriage a few years ago. Then she lost her job and fell behind on her bills. So friends, family, local businesses and even some complete strangers rallied in her behalf.
Audio slide show: "This is not my house."
Sarasota Widow leaves $225M to start foundation
Widow leaves $225M to start foundation
By Bill Hutchinson
Published: Monday, July 28, 2008 at 1:58 p.m.
Last Modified: Monday, July 28, 2008 at 2:00 p.m.
SARASOTA - A quarter-billion-dollar bequest from a quiet-living local widow was announced Monday by the principals of a new foundation created in Sarasota to administer the funds.
The Patterson Foundation, which expects to pay out $11 million in grants next year, will likely focus at first on organizations, individuals and special areas of need in the greater Sarasota area.
“It would seem to make sense for us to start with what we know,” said foundation chairman John Berteau, an attorney with Williams Parker Harrison Dietz & Getzen, which set up the trust with Dorothy Patterson 10 years before her death in 2007.
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By Bill Hutchinson
Published: Monday, July 28, 2008 at 1:58 p.m.
Last Modified: Monday, July 28, 2008 at 2:00 p.m.
SARASOTA - A quarter-billion-dollar bequest from a quiet-living local widow was announced Monday by the principals of a new foundation created in Sarasota to administer the funds.
The Patterson Foundation, which expects to pay out $11 million in grants next year, will likely focus at first on organizations, individuals and special areas of need in the greater Sarasota area.
“It would seem to make sense for us to start with what we know,” said foundation chairman John Berteau, an attorney with Williams Parker Harrison Dietz & Getzen, which set up the trust with Dorothy Patterson 10 years before her death in 2007.
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Sgt. Jose Navarro recovers from RPG that went through him
Soldier survived ambush while serving in Afghanistan
By Monica Rodriguez, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 07/26/2008 11:23:26 PM PDT
POMONA - Sgt. Jose Navarro was anxiously awaiting winter's arrival in Afghanistan.
Once the cold set in, the enemy would take refuge and so could Navarro and the other members of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division.
It was October when Navarro's convoy of 11 Humvees entered a village to establish relations with the elders and prevent future attacks on U.S. troops.
There was only one way to enter and leave, the 23-year-old Pomona native said, and it was a long, narrow road edged by orchards, mountain sides and steep dropoffs.
"Another platoon had been up there and got wasted," Navarro said. "The terrain favors the enemy."
When the convoy left the village, Navarro was in the second Humvee.
"I was right behind the lead truck coming out of the village and everyone was gone. You know something is going on," he said.
"I saw a dude with a white turban on and I could see his eyes," he said. "He detonated an IED," an improvised explosive device.
Rocket-propelled grenades followed and soon the lead truck was destroyed. The fire shifted to the vehicle Navarro was in.
More RPGs came and Navarro, who was operating a machine gun, fired back.
In the course of the attack, a rocket-propelled grenade hit Navarro. It didn't explode, but left him with massive injuries to his hips and thighs. After passing through Navarro, the grenade kept going. It eventually exploded, injuring five other people in the Humvee, he said.
"I wasn't supposed to be in the gunner hole," he said referring to where he was sitting.
Actually, he wasn't supposed to be on the trip at all. He was 11 months into a 15-month deployment, and had gone out in place of a friend simply because he wanted to be busy that day.
go here for more
http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/news/ci_10010898
Linked from ICasualties.org
By Monica Rodriguez, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 07/26/2008 11:23:26 PM PDT
POMONA - Sgt. Jose Navarro was anxiously awaiting winter's arrival in Afghanistan.
Once the cold set in, the enemy would take refuge and so could Navarro and the other members of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division.
It was October when Navarro's convoy of 11 Humvees entered a village to establish relations with the elders and prevent future attacks on U.S. troops.
There was only one way to enter and leave, the 23-year-old Pomona native said, and it was a long, narrow road edged by orchards, mountain sides and steep dropoffs.
"Another platoon had been up there and got wasted," Navarro said. "The terrain favors the enemy."
When the convoy left the village, Navarro was in the second Humvee.
"I was right behind the lead truck coming out of the village and everyone was gone. You know something is going on," he said.
"I saw a dude with a white turban on and I could see his eyes," he said. "He detonated an IED," an improvised explosive device.
Rocket-propelled grenades followed and soon the lead truck was destroyed. The fire shifted to the vehicle Navarro was in.
More RPGs came and Navarro, who was operating a machine gun, fired back.
In the course of the attack, a rocket-propelled grenade hit Navarro. It didn't explode, but left him with massive injuries to his hips and thighs. After passing through Navarro, the grenade kept going. It eventually exploded, injuring five other people in the Humvee, he said.
"I wasn't supposed to be in the gunner hole," he said referring to where he was sitting.
Actually, he wasn't supposed to be on the trip at all. He was 11 months into a 15-month deployment, and had gone out in place of a friend simply because he wanted to be busy that day.
go here for more
http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/news/ci_10010898
Linked from ICasualties.org
First Recon Marine's Battle to Heal
When you watch movie heroes pretending to have their lives on the line, pretending to feel the heat of bombs blowing up, pretending to feel the muscles in their body tense to the point they feel as if they will break, pretending to feel all the emotions of risking their lives, you need to remember real life heroes live what the movie star heroes get paid for pretending.
My friend Lily over at Healing Combat Trauma knows the difference. Her sense of humor, along with an appreciation for attractive people like Rudy Reyes in Generation Kill, has done a magnificent job linking the imaginary with reality. While Generation Kill is about the invasion of Iraq and some of the men sent to do it, she adds in a piece of life from long ago from a real life hero. He was not glamorized for what he did in Vietnam or what came after in his life. Rob Honzell is like far too many heroes who never knew they were.
From Healing Combat Trauma
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My friend Lily over at Healing Combat Trauma knows the difference. Her sense of humor, along with an appreciation for attractive people like Rudy Reyes in Generation Kill, has done a magnificent job linking the imaginary with reality. While Generation Kill is about the invasion of Iraq and some of the men sent to do it, she adds in a piece of life from long ago from a real life hero. He was not glamorized for what he did in Vietnam or what came after in his life. Rob Honzell is like far too many heroes who never knew they were.
"Make that -- 'Swift, Silent, Deadly' -- and ridiculously hottt!"
That's a modified Paris Hilton-ism, we know, but... of course we're talking about Rudy Reyes, former 1st Recon Marine, playing himself on the HBO series, "Generation Kill," from the book of the same name, by Evan Wright.
From Healing Combat Trauma
July 28, 2008
Swift Silent and Deadly - That's First Recon Marines - But It's Also Combat Trauma and PTSD
Rob Honzell, who, like Rudy Reyes, was also a Marine sergeant in First Recon -- but in Vietnam -- has written a good book about his experiences. He calls it "First Person: Combat PTSD," and it's pretty eye-opening. I had it on my bookshelf for quite a while before I opened it and really gave it a read -- but when I did, I couldn't put it down. Rob in the meantime has become a friend, and frankly I was feeling guilty about not having taken his book more seriously; so I did. It's quite a book.
If you know Rob at all, you know that the reason he's willing to plumb the depths that he has in this book, and draw water from the deep end of the pool, is because of his deep, abiding and heartfelt concern that veterans today not have to go through what he's gone through as a combat veteran with PTSD. Rob spent "one year, seven months, and twenty-one days" as a Recon Marine in Vietnam -- and has fought courageously ever since, to keep a toehold in the land of the living, and the land of the sane. For anyone who thinks that Vietnam vets with PTSD just check out of life and don't contribute to society, Rob isn't in that mold. He had his fun -- years as a traveling musician in Canada (he was a drummer in a bar band) -- but also his serious side -- decades spent in law enforcement as a police officer, police chief, K-9 officer, and criminal justice teacher. He's completed his master's degree, and is struggling to complete a Ph.D. in psychology -- so that he can help other veterans, with PTSD.
First, though, he has to get his own case in check, and that's been an arduous battle since Vietnam, where the nightmares and hallucinations started, while he was still in combat. Killing dozens of people, up close and personal has left its mark -- in his book he gets wistful over snipers having it easier, because at least they kill their targets at a distance, and don't have to get soaked with their victims' blood, or watch them take their last breath, from inches away. By the end of the book, when you realize how many people Rob killed in combat, and then also realize the kind, caring person he is (evidenced by his work in law enforcement, for instance -- his book shares some good stories about that) -- you can see why his experiences in Vietnam got to him.
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Church shooter's letter blames liberals
Church shooting suspect angry over job search, police say
Story Highlights
NEW: Suspect's letter says he couldn't find job, hated liberals, police say
Second person dies after shooting at Unitarian church in Knoxville
Man, 58, arrested and charged after 2 killed, seven others injured
Police: Shooting happened during children's play; people overpowered suspect
KNOXVILLE, Tennessee (CNN) -- The suspect in a fatal shooting at a Knoxville church Sunday was motivated by frustration over being unable to obtain a job and hatred for the liberal movement, police said Monday.
Jim Adkisson, 58, was charged with first-degree murder after Sunday's shooting at the Knoxville church.
Authorities recovered a four-page letter in which the suspect, Jim Adkisson, described his feelings and motives, police said.
Adkisson, 58, of Powell, Tennessee, has been charged with one count of first-degree murder in the shootings at Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church.
The gunman killed two adults and wounded seven others before being overpowered by congregants, authorities said.
The case is being investigated as a hate crime, police said.
Watch police chief describe latest findings »
http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/07/28/church.shooting/index.html
Shelton Police seek help in finding identity of woman they helped
Woman Asks For Help Then Stops Speaking
By HILDA MUÑOZ Courant Staff Writer
10:36 AM EDT, July 28, 2008
SHELTON - Police need help identifying a woman who hasn't spoken since last Thursday morning when she flagged down a police officer and said she was sick.
"From that point on she has not spoken again to us and she hasn't spoken to hospital staff," said Sgt. Kevin Ahern.
The woman, a white female between 25 and 40 years of age, remains at a local hospital, Ahern said. Hospital staff suspects she may be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, he said.
She was walking on Bridgeport Avenue by Nells Rock Road on Thursday morning when she waved down a patrol officer and said she felt ill while holding her stomach, police said.
She has sandy blond hair and blue eyes. She is about 5-feet-5-inches, 175 pounds. She has a heart with a blue vine tattooed on her lower back, police said.
The woman wore a gray T-shirt, white Converse All Star low top sneakers, Lucky Brand olive green cargo shorts, a Christian Dior gold and black watch and expensive undergarments, police said.
She had a Mother's Day card signed "Love Keegan" with pictures of a girl and a boy around 3 or 4 years of age, police said.
Anyone with information regarding the identity of the woman is asked to call Shelton Police at (203)924-1544.
http://www.courant.com/news/local/hcu-shemute-0728,0,710462.story
Leesburg veteran receives honorable discharge hours before death
Leesburg veteran receives honorable discharge hours before death
Sara K. Clarke Sentinel Staff Writer
July 28, 2008
Samuel Snow fought for more than six decades for justice, and an honorable discharge from the Army.
He got it Saturday -- just hours before his death.
The 83-year-old Leesburg veteran died early Sunday after receiving the long-awaited commendation. Snow was one of 28 black soldiers falsely convicted of starting a World War II riot that led to the lynching of an Italian prisoner of war at an Army base in Seattle.
"It meant giving him back his pride and dignity," said his son Ray Snow, 55. "It brought closure to a very sad part of his life."
Snow traveled to Seattle last week to receive his coveted discharge, but he was admitted to the hospital late Friday with heart trouble. He missed Saturday's ceremony, where relatives of the soldiers joined elected and military officials to hear the Army apologize before hundreds of people. But before he died, Snow heard an account of the event and was thrilled, his son said.
"I cannot describe the joy that radiated on his face," Ray Snow said.
Samuel Snow entered the Army as a teenager, dreaming of a military career that would pull him from poverty. Within a year, he was swept up in the largest and longest Army court-martial of the war.
Snow and the other 27 were convicted of starting the riot. Two of the soldiers were convicted of manslaughter in the Italian's death.
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Sara K. Clarke Sentinel Staff Writer
July 28, 2008
Samuel Snow fought for more than six decades for justice, and an honorable discharge from the Army.
He got it Saturday -- just hours before his death.
The 83-year-old Leesburg veteran died early Sunday after receiving the long-awaited commendation. Snow was one of 28 black soldiers falsely convicted of starting a World War II riot that led to the lynching of an Italian prisoner of war at an Army base in Seattle.
"It meant giving him back his pride and dignity," said his son Ray Snow, 55. "It brought closure to a very sad part of his life."
Snow traveled to Seattle last week to receive his coveted discharge, but he was admitted to the hospital late Friday with heart trouble. He missed Saturday's ceremony, where relatives of the soldiers joined elected and military officials to hear the Army apologize before hundreds of people. But before he died, Snow heard an account of the event and was thrilled, his son said.
"I cannot describe the joy that radiated on his face," Ray Snow said.
Samuel Snow entered the Army as a teenager, dreaming of a military career that would pull him from poverty. Within a year, he was swept up in the largest and longest Army court-martial of the war.
Snow and the other 27 were convicted of starting the riot. Two of the soldiers were convicted of manslaughter in the Italian's death.
click above for more
Widow's VA claim of depleted uranium gaining steam
Widow's VA claim gaining steam
Press-Register - al.com - Mobile, AL,USA
Monday, July 28, 2008
By GEORGE WERNETH
Staff Reporter
A Mobile woman says she was encouraged recently when a Department of Veterans Affairs appeals judge agreed to review a claim involving her late husband, who believed that his Army exposure to radiation triggered his deadly cancer.
Theresa Orrell said she has been struggling with the VA over her husband's case for nine years, seeking acknowledgement of the dangers that he faced, as well as compensation for her family.
About six weeks before dying in 1999, Lt. Col. William A. Orrell III, an Army Reserve officer, filed a claim with the VA, certain that his pancreatic cancer was connected with his encounter with depleted uranium in Kuwait. He was 56 when he died.
Last month, an appeals judge, Lisa Barnard, took Orrell's depleted uranium death claim under advisement after a hearing in Montgomery. A ruling is expected in six to nine months.
"I was encouraged because this judge was more down-to-earth than the previous judge and she wanted all the facts," Theresa Orrell said.
Press-Register - al.com - Mobile, AL,USA
Monday, July 28, 2008
By GEORGE WERNETH
Staff Reporter
A Mobile woman says she was encouraged recently when a Department of Veterans Affairs appeals judge agreed to review a claim involving her late husband, who believed that his Army exposure to radiation triggered his deadly cancer.
Theresa Orrell said she has been struggling with the VA over her husband's case for nine years, seeking acknowledgement of the dangers that he faced, as well as compensation for her family.
About six weeks before dying in 1999, Lt. Col. William A. Orrell III, an Army Reserve officer, filed a claim with the VA, certain that his pancreatic cancer was connected with his encounter with depleted uranium in Kuwait. He was 56 when he died.
Last month, an appeals judge, Lisa Barnard, took Orrell's depleted uranium death claim under advisement after a hearing in Montgomery. A ruling is expected in six to nine months.
"I was encouraged because this judge was more down-to-earth than the previous judge and she wanted all the facts," Theresa Orrell said.
There had been a huge explosion and fire involving U.S. military vehicles containing depleted uranium on July 11, 1991, in Doha, Kuwait, and he was sent two days later to inspect them, she said. That's when he believed he was exposed to high levels of radiation, Theresa Orrell said. She said the vehicles were still smoldering while he inspected them.
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Michael Savage infuriates advertisers on autism rant
Savage Loses Advertisers Over Autism Remarks
In Wake of Protests, Advertisers Don't Want to Support 'Savage Nation'
By JACKIE HYLAND, RAINA SEITEL GITTLIN and EMILY YACUS
July 27, 2008
Michael Savage -- one of the most popular talk show hosts in the nation -- is used to controversy. It's been one week since Savage made controversial remarks about autism, referring to those diagnosed with the condition as "brats, idiots, and morons."
Several big advertisers have pulled their commercials from the syndicated "Savage Nation" radio show, and now, thousands of parents and protesters are urging Savage to step down, calling his words "hate speech."
"I'll tell you what autism is," Savage told his audience on July 16. "In 99 percent of the cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out. That's what autism is." The talk show host also said, "Stop acting like a putz. Straighten up. Act like a man. Don't sit there crying and screaming, idiot."
The conservative shock jock's comments sent shock waves through the autism community. Parents and autism activists staged rallies in protest in New York and San Francisco.
"We are here to call for the firing of Michael Savage. For his truly hurtful, outrageous and inaccurate statements," said one protester.
And the backlash didn't stop there. Sponsors of Savage's radio show, such as AFLAC Insurance and Home Depot, have pulled their advertisements. Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus gave $25 million for the creation of Autism Speaks, in 2005, and sits on the group's board of directors.
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http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Parenting/story?id=5457991&page=1
linked from RawStory
In Wake of Protests, Advertisers Don't Want to Support 'Savage Nation'
By JACKIE HYLAND, RAINA SEITEL GITTLIN and EMILY YACUS
July 27, 2008
Michael Savage -- one of the most popular talk show hosts in the nation -- is used to controversy. It's been one week since Savage made controversial remarks about autism, referring to those diagnosed with the condition as "brats, idiots, and morons."
Several big advertisers have pulled their commercials from the syndicated "Savage Nation" radio show, and now, thousands of parents and protesters are urging Savage to step down, calling his words "hate speech."
"I'll tell you what autism is," Savage told his audience on July 16. "In 99 percent of the cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out. That's what autism is." The talk show host also said, "Stop acting like a putz. Straighten up. Act like a man. Don't sit there crying and screaming, idiot."
The conservative shock jock's comments sent shock waves through the autism community. Parents and autism activists staged rallies in protest in New York and San Francisco.
"We are here to call for the firing of Michael Savage. For his truly hurtful, outrageous and inaccurate statements," said one protester.
And the backlash didn't stop there. Sponsors of Savage's radio show, such as AFLAC Insurance and Home Depot, have pulled their advertisements. Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus gave $25 million for the creation of Autism Speaks, in 2005, and sits on the group's board of directors.
go here for more
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Parenting/story?id=5457991&page=1
linked from RawStory
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