Lightning Strike Kills Man on Motorcycle

Lightning Strike Kills Man on Motorcycle
Lawrence Journal-World
Troy Gentzler, 45, was volunteering for Bikers Against Child Abuse when he died.
(April 27) -- A Lawrence, Kan., man died Saturday after he was struck by a bolt of lightning as he and six companions rode their motorcycles through a rainstorm, the Lawrence Journal-World reported.
Troy Gentzler, 45, was killed shortly after visiting an abuse victim for the northeast Kansas chapter of Bikers Against Child Abuse.
The bolt struck as the group was traveling between the towns of Grantville and Perry.
go here for more
Lightning Strike Kills Man on Motorcycle

Command Sgt. Major Benjamin Moore Jr passes away in Iraq

Decorated Scofield soldier dies in Iraq

The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Apr 27, 2009 11:38:11 EDT

ALBANY, Ga. — A decorated Army soldier from south Georgia has died in Iraq.

The Department of Defense said Command Sgt. Major Benjamin Moore Jr. of Waycross died Friday of injuries that were not combat-related.

He was 43.

Moore was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Combat Brigade Team, 25th Infantry Division, based at Scofield Barracks, Hawaii.

Moore earned 55 medals and had served in the Army since June 1983.

Funeral arrangements are pending.
Decorated Scofield soldier dies in Iraq

Del. Guardsman charged with raping soldier

Del. Guardsman charged with raping soldier
The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Apr 27, 2009 12:47:12 EDT

GEORGETOWN, Del. — A member of the Delaware Army National Guard has been charged with raping a fellow soldier at the Georgetown Armory and sexual extortion.

Georgetown police say Staff Sgt. Theodoric Dixon, 36, was arrested Friday and charged with first-degree rape, unlawful imprisonment, sexual extortion, coercion and official misconduct. He has since been released.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/04/ap_del_guard_rape_charge_042709/

Second suicide at Shoot Straight in Casselberry FL

Report: Person shoots, kills self at Casselberry gun range
Apr 27, 2009 06:17 PM
A person has fatally shot him self at Shoot Straight, the same Casselberry gun range where a murder-suicide took place earlier this month, according to WFTV.com.

UPDATE April 28, 2009

Winter Springs man killed himself on second trip to gun range
Gary Taylor Sentinel Staff Writer
1:08 PM EDT, April 28, 2009

CASSELBERRY - Jason Kevin McCarthy, 26, was at Shoot Straight on U.S. Highway 17-92 about 11 a.m. Monday and asked about renting a gun, Casselberry police Officer Joseph Nas said in a report that has just been released. McCarthy was handed paperwork to fill out, "but he stated he had something to do first and left the store," Nas wrote.

He came back about 5:40 p.m. and that time he filled out the paperwork and rented a 9mm handgun.

No one saw McCarthy shoot himself, but the suicide was verified by a surveillance video, police said. Employee Adam Schulman told police he instructed McCarthy on how to safely use the gun and watched him shoot at his target on a monitor for about five minutes before turning to wait on a customer.

He said he realized something was wrong when another customer pounded on the glass and told him McCarthy had shot himself.
go here for more
Winter Springs man killed himself on second trip to gun range

Bill aims to protect vets’ gun rights

They don't want to hear they have nothing to fear when it comes to having to turn in their guns for PTSD treatment. It's as simple as that. They know how screwed up the system can be and they don't want to trust it. This bill needs to be passed so that I don't have to hear more veterans asking more about losing their right to have a gun than they do about PTSD itself.

As I've stated many times before, I do not own a gun and have no plans of getting one but I do not judge others or question their rights as long as they are responsible gun owners. The only thing I care about is that there are many veterans who will not go to the VA out of fear of having to give up their guns.

Bill aims to protect vets’ gun rights

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Apr 27, 2009 14:06:49 EDT

A bill aimed at protecting the gun rights of some veterans is under Senate consideration.

The Veterans 2nd Amendment Protection Act, pending before the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, would limit the circumstances in which a veteran’s name could be added to a federal database used to do instant background checks for gun purchases.

By law, anyone “adjudicated as a mental defective,” such as people found to be a danger to themselves or others or who lack the mental capacity to manage their affairs, must be registered in the database.

The bill, S 669, which has 15 co-sponsors, would prohibit VA from submitting names to the National Instant Criminal Background Check database unless a judicial authority finds the individuals to be a danger to themselves or others.

VA has been turning over the names of veterans who have had someone else appointed to handle their financial affairs. Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., ranking Republican on the veterans committee and sponsor of the bill, said VA has sent names of more than 117,000 veterans to the Justice Department since 1998 under the policy.

“Although there is still no danger a veteran will lose their right to carry a firearm for seeking treatment for [post-traumatic stress disorder], we offer our support for this legislation in the hopes it will quell any fears veterans might have about seeking treatment for mental health injuries,” said Patrick Campbell, IAVA’s chief legislative counsel.

go here for more

Bill aims to protect vets’ gun rights

Media interest in covering return of fallen soldiers drops

Media interest has fallen off sharply since almost 40 reporters, photographers and camera operators turned out to document the arrival of Myers’ body. At a more recent casualty arrivals, the only media representative was a lone photographer from The Associated Press.

This is really sad! All the complaints from the media about being banned from Dover, stopped from taking pictures of the flag covered caskets coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan and now this is the result? How can they possibly lose interest? Isn't it bad enough that they no longer cover what is happening in Iraq and Afghanistan? Good Lord, too many people in this country have no clue what is happening in either country and they don't bother to find out. The media buries the stories in local papers and the national media seems more interested in President Obama's picture on a magazine with different colored swimming shorts!

Most families OK coverage of fallen soldiers

By Randall Chase - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Apr 27, 2009 11:28:13 EDT

DOVER, Del. — In the weeks since the Pentagon ended an 18-year ban on media coverage of fallen soldiers returning to the U.S., most families given the option have allowed reporters and photographers to witness the solemn ceremonies that mark the arrival of flag-draped transfer cases.

Critics had warned that military families needed privacy and peace activists might exploit the images, but so far the coverage has not caused problems.

Air Force Staff Sgt. Phillip A. Myers of Hopewell, Va., who died April 4 in Afghanistan, was the first combat casualty whose return to American soil was witnessed by the media. He was to be buried with full military honors Monday afternoon at Arlington National Cemetery.

go here for more

Most families OK coverage of fallen soldiers

Veterans are backing Jones' bill

U.S. Rep. Walter B. Jones deserves a medal for this! Over 22,000 of our men and women in the military have received dishonorable, or less than honorable discharges that should have been honored when they clearly had PTSD. Too many reports came out on how the DOD and the VA were not being honest with diagnosing and treating PTSD. Too many commanders still have not come to terms with this war born wound and act as if the men and women they command suffering from this wound are not worthy of anything, including treatment and compensation, but above all, the respect of an honorable discharge. It has all been less than honorable treatment for them. Without an honorable discharge and the erroneous outrage diagnosis of a "pre-existing" mental health illness, they receive nothing. No treatment. No compensation. Most of the time, no jobs after they served. This betrayal should not be tolerated and they should be compensated if they are found to have PTSD or TBI but on top of it, compensated with retroactive payments and a public apology from the DOD for the suffering they had to go thru. They were betrayed and so were their families.

Veterans are backing Jones' bill

WILSON - Veterans groups are rallying behind U.S. Rep. Walter B. Jones' bill designed to help service members suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or traumatic brain injuries.

Jones, a Republican from Farmville, was joined this week at a press conference by representatives from the National Association for Uniformed Services, the National Military Family Association, Military Officers Association of America and Air Force Sergeants Association. All are supporting House Resolution 1701: PTSD/TBI Guaranteed Review for Heroes Act

The bill would create a special review board at the Department of Defense for service members who were less than honorably discharged. The board would be allowed to change the characterization of discharge to honorable if PTSD or TBI are found to have been contributing factors.

Also, it would mandate a physical examination board before an administrative separation proceeding for active duty service members if the service member has been diagnosed with PTSD or TBI by a medical authority.

go here for more

Veterans are backing Jones' bill

Answers sought after Guardsman kills police officers

This is not a case of a combat veteran coming back from Iraq or Afghanistan. It's a case of domestic violence turning deadly for police officers responding. Is there anything that could have warned them of what they were facing when trying to arrest Cartwright? Is there anything that could warn them when they face anyone armed, trained and ready to kill?

Investigators said Cartwright was not a war veteran, but Spooner said the Florida National Guard soldier was interested in militia movements and weapons training.

Answers sought after Guardsman kills officers

By Melissa Nelson - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Apr 27, 2009 8:54:57 EDT

NICEVILLE, Fla. — Two deputies from a troubled sheriff’s office in Florida had no warning a confrontation with a National Guard soldier accused of beating his wife would turn deadly, the sheriff said.

Deputies Burt Lopez and Warren “Skip” York used a stun gun to subdue Joshua Cartwright, but he was able to start shooting at them from the ground. Both Lopez and York died.

“Within seconds he sat up and began firing a weapon that came out of nowhere, it was somewhere on his body we assume,” Okaloosa County’s Interim Sheriff Ed Spooner told more than 300 sheriff’s office employees who gathered Sunday night to pray and hear an explanation of the shootings.

Cartwright was killed in a shootout at a roadblock after a car chase into a neighboring county. The deputies had gone to a shooting range to arrest him after his wife sought treatment for domestic abuse injures at an area hospital.

Spooner said the deputies had no information to make them think Cartwright would turn his weapons on them.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/04/ap_fla_guardsman_shooting_042709/

SpecOps soldier dies while running marathon

SpecOps soldier dies while running marathon

The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Apr 27, 2009 7:03:11 EDT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Army officials say a runner who collapsed and died after at the Country Music Marathon was a special operations aviation soldier based at Fort Campbell, Ky.

The army said in news release Sunday the runner was Staff Sgt. Benjamin “Levi” Pigman, a 25-year-old native of Hamilton, Mont.

Pigman collapsed Saturday after he completed the half-marathon at the event. He was treated at the scene and then transported to Nashville General Hospital, where he died, the release said.
go here for more
SpecOps soldier dies while running marathon

Fallujah was not a game. Video game is wrong

To say they want to show the realities of war in a video game is ridiculous! If they want to show the "reality" of war, then why turn it into a video game? They would have turned it into a documentary showing respect for the men and women serving, risking their lives, getting wounded and killed in the line of duty. A game? That is supposed to show the reality of what they went thru? There are too many video games where keyboard warriors do battle with the bad guys making all of it unreal. These real warriors deserve to have their stories told with care, respect and honor.

Support, criticism greet Fallujah video game

By Karen Jowers - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Apr 27, 2009 5:10:22 EDT

A video game based on a real battle in Iraq is drawing volleys of criticism — and it won’t even be released until next year.

But it was Marines from 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, at Camp Pendleton, Calif., who came up with the idea for a historically accurate video game based on their experiences fighting in Fallujah in November 2004.

“They want to tell their story. Video games are their medium,” said Peter Tamte, president of Atomic Games, the developer of “Six Days in Fallujah.”

But before anybody has fired a shot in the game’s battles, “Six Days in Fallujah” is facing controversy.

Gold Star Families Speak Out, an organization of families with loved ones who died in Iraq and Afghanistan, say they are outraged that a video game will graphically recreate the Fallujah battle. They are part of the larger Military Families Speak Out, which opposes the war in Iraq.

Gold Star mother Tracy Miller said she was “stunned” when she heard about the video game. Her son, sniper Cpl. Nicholas L. “Nick” Ziolkowski, was killed by a sniper Nov. 14, 2004, in Fallujah.

“This is not a game. His life wasn’t a game, and the fact that he died wasn’t a game.

“I think [the game] trivializes it. And so many of these games dull sensibilities to violence,” she said.

“For every Gold Star parent, no matter how we feel about the war, what we want is that our kids be remembered. I haven’t seen this game, but I suspect they’re not going to be remembering our kids or even what happened historically.”

go here for the rest

Support, criticism greet Fallujah video game