Soldier from St. Petersburg killed in Afghanistan

DOD Identifies Army Casualties


The Department of Defense announced today the deaths of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

They died June 27 in Konar, Afghanistan of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked their unit with small arms fire. They were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

Killed were:

Staff Sgt. Eric B. Shaw, 31, of Exeter, Maine; and

Spc. David W. Thomas, 40, of St. Petersburg, Fla.

http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=13665

linked from ICasualties.org

Other deaths in the last couple of days

06/28/10 AP: Marine killed in Afghanistan had Michigan ties
Cpl. Daane Adam DeBoer, 24, was killed Friday by an improvised explosive device while on foot patrol, said his father, David DeBoer of Valparaiso, Ind. He said the military notified family in Indiana and Michigan of his son’s death the same day.

06/28/10 DoD: Army Casualty Identified
Staff Sgt. Edwardo Loredo, 34, of Houston, Texas, died June 24 at Jelewar, Afghanistan, when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.

06/28/10 DoD: Marine Casualty Identified
Sgt. Joseph D. Caskey, 24, of Pittsburgh, Pa., died June 26 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.

06/28/10 DoD: Air Force Casualties Identified (1 of 2)
Spc. Blair D. Thompson, 19, of Rome, N.Y...assigned to the 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky...died June 25 at Konar, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked their unit using rocket propelled grenades and small arms fire.

06/28/10 DoD: Air Force Casualties Identified (2 of 2)
Spc. Jared C. Plunk, 27, of Stillwater, Okla...assigned to the 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky...died June 25 at Konar, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked their unit using rocket propelled grenades and small arms fire.

06/28/10 DoD: Marine Casualty Identified
Lance Cpl. William T. Richards, 20, of Trenton, Ga., died June 26 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

06/29/10 DoD: Army Casualty Identified
Pfc. Robert K. L. Repkie, 20, of Knoxville, Tenn., died June 24 at Forward Operating Base Farah, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident. He was assigned to the 782nd Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.

06/29/10 DoD: Army Casualty Identified
Spc. David A. Holmes, 34, of Tennille, Ga., died June 26 at Sayed Abad, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit using an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 810th Engineer Company, Swainsboro, Ga.

06/29/10 DoD: Army Casualty Identified
Sgt. John M. Rogers, 26, of Scottsdale, Ariz., died June 27 at Forward Operating Base Blessing, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.

06/30/10 DoD: Army Casualty Identified
Staff Sgt. Brandon M. Silk, 25, of Orono, Maine, died June 21 of injuries sustained when the helicopter in which he was travelling made a hard landing. He was assigned to the 5th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.

go here for more

http://icasualties.org/OEF/index.aspx

Patriot Hills, a new vets' center, may offer help to hope

Encouraging words for Saranac Lake veterans' center
The Department of Defense is focusing more attention on post traumatic stress disorder, estimating that over 300,000 veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from PTSD. Thousands of them are "civilian soldiers" — members of the Army Reserves and National Guard.

The Department of Veterans Affairs says combat vets are more likely to commit crimes or suffer effects of psychological trauma. Military officials are actively looking for new ways to help them heal and rejoin civilian life.

A group in Saranac Lake hopes Patriot Hills, a new vets' center proposed for the village, will be a good fit. This week, they got some encouraging words from the Army national Guard's medical commander. Martha Foley has more.
read more here
Encouraging words for Saranac Lake veterans center

Pentagon Issues New Policy For Diagnosing And Treating Brain Injuries

Pentagon Issues New Policy For Diagnosing And Treating Brain Injuries

by T. Christian Miller and Daniel Zwerdling


The Pentagon has issued a new directive ordering better tracking and treatment of mild traumatic brain injuries in war zones, including a mandatory 24-hour rest period for any soldier exposed to a nearby blast.

The new policy, which has been in development for months, also requires soldiers who have suffered three mild traumatic brain injuries, also known as concussions, to have a complete neurological assessment done before returning to the battlefield.

Military medical experts praised the new policy as an encouraging change in the Pentagon's approach.

The directive places the focus on evaluating all soldiers exposed to a blast or other head trauma, as opposed to relying upon medical staff or soldiers themselves to report symptoms from an injury.

"This relieves the burden of the soldier having to say, 'I'm hurt,'" said Stephen Xenakis, a retired brigadier general who advises the military on medical issues. "When you do that, it's like routine maintenance on a vehicle. It's understood that it's what you need to do responsibly to maintain optimal performance."
read more here
New Policy For Diagnosing And Treating Brain Injuries
linked from Stars & Stripes

St. Louis VA may have exposed patients to hepatitis and HIV viruses

Hand-washed dental tools put patients at risk

By Mike Owens - KSDK via Gannett News Service
Posted : Wednesday Jun 30, 2010 8:26:21 EDT

ST. LOUIS — A failure to properly clean dental instruments at the John Cochran Veterans Administration Hospital may have put 1,812 dental clinic patients at risk.

The patients started getting certified letters Tuesday, advising them they may have been exposed to hepatitis and HIV viruses.

Dr. Gina Michael, association chief of staff at the hospital, said the failure happened because some dental technicians thought they were doing the right thing by washing the dental tools themselves.

Michael said the techs were using a sink and strong soap to clean the tools, when they should have sent them to the hospital sanitizing and sterilizing department.

The techs were trying to protect the delicate instruments by doing the cleaning by hand, but instead, they were breaking protocol, she said.
read more here
Hand washed dental tools put patients at risk

Checking each Arlington grave must wait

Army: Checking each Arlington grave must wait

By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Jun 30, 2010 12:45:43 EDT

The Army is making “steady progress” toward resolving the myriad problems at Arlington National Cemetery, but it will not examine all of the 330,000-plus gravesites for improper markings and other issues uncovered by a recent investigation until graves records are completely automated, the service’s top civilian said Wednesday.

And talk of progress has not assuaged lawmakers’ anger over the mismanagement issues that led to the removal of the cemetery’s top two officials earlier in June, a separate investigation into millions of dollars spent to procure a yet-to-be-seen system to automate cemetery records and operations, and a flood of concern from upset family members worried about the integrity of their loved ones’ final resting places.
read more here
Checking each Arlington grave must wait

Republicans block help for women veterans

If half of the people in this country heard what some people say about our veterans, they would regret voting for them. Suddenly, now that bills come up to help our veterans, they want to worry about money instead of them. They do it all the time.

When bills came up to fund the action in Iraq and Afghanistan, they had no problem borrowing money to pay for it all, with no checks on where the money was going or even asking for any accountability. Hell, they didn't even ask for results. They said it was to support the troops. Yet these same people find it too hard to take care of the same men and women now they are veterans.

Senator Burr had a Q & A this morning with the DAV for a virtual town hall. He said over and over again the reason he does not support doing something is that it is not paid for. Cost of living raises for disabled veterans didn't happen because inflation was low, but he didn't mention that everything has gone up including the amount of money veterans have to pay to carry private health insurance to pay for non-service connected medical care, including those actually caused by service but not approved as a claim yet. What Senator Burr fails to understand is that when it comes to our disabled veterans, they already paid for it with their lives, their bodies, their minds and their futures. This is a debt we owe them and not the other way around. They need to stop thinking about veterans as some kind of charity case or an issue they can just wait on dealing with.


At the bottom of this section on veterans, it says to stay informed. We all should everyday and not just when it comes time for elections.
Senator Burr on Veterans Issues

The people we elect can say anything they want but what proves how they really feel is by what they do and how they defend what they don't do. Saying they need to "pay" for anything dealing with veterans needs is insulting. They should factor it all in when they decide to send even one of them into combat.

Senate Republicans block measure to provide additional benefits to homeless veterans.
Today, Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) brought her bill — the Homeless Women Veterans and Homeless Veterans With Children Act — to the Senate floor seeking unanimous consent. Murray said the bill would “expand assistance for homeless women veterans and homeless veterans with children and would increase funding and extend federal grant programs to address the unique challenges faced by these veterans.” However, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) objected on behalf of Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) to this seemingly non-controversial issue:

McCONNELL: Madam president, reserving the right to object and I will have to object on behalf of my colleague Sen. Coburn from Oklahoma. He has concerns about this legislation, particularly as he indicates in a letter that I’ll ask the Senate to appear on the record that it be paid for up front so that the promises that makes the Veterans are in fact kept. So madam president I object.

Read the rest here

http://thinkprogress.org/2010/06/29/gop-homeless-veterans/



In other words, if you want to take care of veterans, pay for it, but while we're talking let's talk about tax cuts again for the wealthy.


These women, who served this country, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan, risked their lives just as the men did but what comes with many female homeless veterans are children. When they have PTSD and their marriages fall apart, they have to take care of their kids all the same. They lack support because when it comes to the military and veterans communities, they are still a minority. We also have to face the fact that military sexual abuse is a big reason some of them face the futures in need of more help than others.

How can anyone say they have not already earned the help they need with putting their lives on the line? How can anyone dare say what they need was not worth the price we have to pay today? To tell congress to find the money instead of being willing to do whatever it takes to take care of our veterans is appalling. They said no to extending unemployment benefits to the jobless as well. Did they ever consider the fact that many of the veterans no longer in the service, along with National Guards and Reservists are also unemployed in this economy?

I've asked this question many times and I still don't have a real answer. Do they support the military making the machines, in other words, defense contractors or do they support the men and women they send when they say they support the military?


House ready to move on defense funding bill

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Jun 30, 2010 12:33:41 EDT

Congress won’t make Defense Secretary Robert Gate’s July 4 deadline for passing a war supplemental funding bill, but there is now a glimmer of hope that lawmakers might get the measure passed before August, when the military would begin to face severe cash-flow problems.

The holdup on the bill has been in the House of Representatives, but Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., the House Appropriations Committee chairman, announced Wednesday that a $93.5 billion supplemental appropriations bill would be considered by the House this week that includes $37 billion for troops in Iraq.

The bill also includes $13 billion to cover a planned expansion of Agent Orange disability benefits to more Vietnam veterans.

Gates warned lawmakers that the Navy and Marine Corps would have to start dipping into peacetime budgets to cover war-related expenses as early as next week if Congress did not pass a final supplemental war funding bill before leaving town for its Fourth of July recess.
read more here
House ready to move on defense funding bill

Lawyer, wife accused of stealing from vets they were supposed to take care of

Lawyer, wife accused of stealing from vets
They allegedly took at least $2 million in six-year period
By BRIAN ROGERS
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
June 29, 2010, 8:52PM

A Houston lawyer and his wife appeared in federal court Tuesday, accused of stealing more than $2 million from military veterans.

Joe Phillips, 71, and Dorothy Phillips, 70, who managed her husband's small law office, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Nancy Johnson, charged with conspiracy, misappropriation by a fiduciary, making materially false statements to a federal agency and tax fraud, according to federal officials.

Phillips, a former employee of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in Houston, is accused of stealing from mentally incompetent veterans.
read more here
Lawyer, wife accused of stealing from vets

PTSD and Bible Battles

If you remember singing children's songs about heroes of the Bible, the chances are you sang about Father Abraham and Joshua. What you may not remember is that Abraham lead his men into battle more than once and Joshua had to do a lot more than get the walls of Jericho to tumble down. This was a time when war was hand to hand. Joshua had to order his men to obliterate all the people living in Jericho, men, women and children.

When you read the Bible, over and over again there are accounts of warfare, tactics and yes, the aftermath of how humans had to try to carry on afterward. Each and every time war is mentioned in the Bible, there is a long list of what humans went through recovering.

Moses, known for being God's messenger was a warrior and so was David. Read the Psalms and about his life and you can clearly see another witness to what we call PTSD.

Doonesbury cartoonist Garry Trudeau and military talk about healing PTSD veterans

Garry Trudeau, military leaders highlight Patriot Hills event
By CHRIS KNIGHT, Enterprise Senior Staff Writer

SARANAC LAKE - Nearly 140 years ago, Dr. Edward Livingston Trudeau came to the Adirondacks expecting to die from tuberculosis.

But not only did he cure; he cured countless others with his pioneering research, treatment and the sanitarium he established. This center for healing quickly exploded into a village, with Trudeau as its first mayor.

On Tuesday, Trudeau's great-grandson, Doonesbury cartoonist Garry Trudeau, made a rare public appearance in the community where he was raised to build support for a project that organizers say could once again make the village a center for healing.

Patriot Hills at Saranac Lake, a proposed respite and reintegration center for active-duty soldiers, veterans and their families, held its first major local event, a half-day forum at the Trudeau Institute titled "Soldier Resiliency: A Fresh Approach." The program, which included two U.S. Army generals, experts in the field of post-traumatic stress disorder and other speakers, focused on the stresses faced by soldiers returning home from war, two unique treatment methods that could help them, and the Patriot Hills model.

Trudeau, who has focused on veteran and "wounded warrior" issues in his comic strip and other writings, opened the event with a strong endorsement of Patriot Hills, calling it "a return to the healing ethos for which Saranac Lake was once world-renowned."
read more here
Garry Trudeau military leaders highlight Patriot Hills event

Virtual Town Hall Meeting on Veterans Issues

Dear Supporters,

Last year you stood up for veterans through the first-ever Virtual March on Washington for Veterans. Now, we hope you can join us online this Wednesday, June 30, as the DAV hosts the first-ever Virtual Town Hall Meeting on Veterans Issues. All who care about the plight of veterans are invited to participate in live discussions from noon to 2 p.m. ET. For those unavailable during that time, you can now submit questions and comments in advance. Complete transcripts of the chats will be posted online immediately after.

This will be an opportunity to "chat" with the ranking member of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee and DAV Legislative and Service leadership about the most pressing issues facing veteran and their families today.

This unique event comes at a critical time for veterans. There is unprecedented movement toward a long-needed overhaul of the VA's claims process. The Virtual Town Hall is set for the day before the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee hears from experts, including the DAV, to discuss newly introduced legislation. The DAV is set to testify on behalf of the Independent Budget.

First up will be Senator Richard Burr (R-N.C.), the ranking member of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee. He will answer your questions live from noon to 1 p.m. Immediately after, DAV's National Legislative Director Joseph Violante and National Service Director Garry Augustine will take your questions and comments from 1 to 2 p.m.

To access the Virtual Town Hall, visit us at http://www.facebook.com/The.DAV

You do not need to register with Facebook to participate. If you would like to pose a question or make a comment in advance, you may do so at the link just provided or sending an email to virtualmarch@davmail.org All questions posted or received will be placed in the front of the queue.

Your opinion matters to the DAV, which is why we are hosting this Virtual Town Hall and looking forward to hearing from you Wednesday.

Thank you for your support,

DAV National Commander Bobby Barrera

Major David Cox, hero on PTSD awareness

I wonder if Major Cox understands what a hero he is to veterans? Just the fact he is willing to talk about this will help countless veterans decide to get help to heal.

Maj. David Cox is seen during his deployment on a rare visit home to meet his first granddaughter, Madison, now 5. Today, Cox suffers from PTSD and can no longer work, watch TV medical dramas or handle his own medications. - Photo provided by Maj. David Cox

Some members of military come home with burdens they cannot shed
Campaign aims to raise doctors' awareness of invisible wounds
By Shari Rudavsky
Posted: June 29, 2010

Indiana Air National Guard Maj. David Cox returned from Iraq and Afghanistan unable to cut grass without fear someone was watching him. He now uses a GPS device when he walks his dog for those times when he struggles to find his way back home. And the injured soldiers he helped treat haunt his sleep -- when he can sleep.

Cox suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, but it took months after his return home before he was diagnosed, months during which he could have hurt himself or others as he wrestled with the problem.

Such a delay in diagnosing PTSD is common, making it difficult for hundreds of returning veterans to receive proper treatment.

That's why the Indiana State Medical Association has embarked on a campaign to raise awareness -- and to try to ensure that returning soldiers like Cox receive the help they need.

As part of that effort, the group recently distributed information about the disorder to 1,300 primary-care physicians across Indiana.
read more here
Some members of military come home with burdens they cannot shed

Woman battles PTSD and climbs music charts

Woman battles PTSD and climbs music charts
June 29, 9:26 PM
Des Moines Homelessness Examiner
Shenica Graham

Contemporary Christian recording artist, Shenica Renee Graham was Born October 14, 1977 in Long Beach, CA. She battles P.T.S.D. resulting from childhood abuse and domestic violence. As early as 1985, Shenica began writing poetry and various manuscripts to release her pain in a non-violent manner. Her first national award was won for a poem she wrote about her parents in a fourth-grade competition. In the eighties, she competed in the America's Kids and Teens pageant and was voted, "Most Potential." This was the spark of her would-be music career. Preparing for the talent competition, Shenica chose a song that was "too mature" - according to her mother. Not allowed to sing in the competition, she performed an oration. The pageant director commented, "You should sing. I can hear it in your voice."
read more here
Woman battles PTSD and climbs music charts

You understand more than you think when it comes to PTSD

You understand more than you think when it comes to PTSD
by
Chaplain Kathie

These are just a few recent headlines

2 wounded in 3 Fort Worth shootingsFort Worth Star Telegram

Seven hours, seven victims in north MinneapolisMinneapolis Star Tribune

Gunfire pelts City Hall, enters officeEl Paso Times

Jersey City man is slain and another wounded as assailant opens fire at Duncan ...The Jersey Journal - NJ.com

Alachua County teen found fatally shot inside homeGainesville Sun

We can read these stories and think only of the people directly involved, yet so many others are changed by these events. The families of the people killed or wounded by violent acts. The witnesses having to cope with the fact one minute they were living in a normal day and the next it all went to hell. They feared for their own lives even if they were out of range. We may think it would have been an unrealistic fear but then when we understand bullets flying through the air were far from normal as it was. Trauma is lives changed in a second.

Here in Florida two Tampa police officers stopped a car and ended up shot. Both of them died.

Wounded Times: Two Tampa Police Officers killed after traffic stop
By Namguardianangel@aol.com (Kathie Costos)

The police department is in shock. The widow of Officer Jeffrey Kocab went into labor after this shooting. Witnesses were also affected by this and so were police officers around the country. One of the most dangerous jobs officers have are traffic stops. They know they can be hit by other cars, shot at, run over and they never know what to expect. When something like this happens, they are all wondering if it will happen to them as well.

Trauma removes our sense of safety as we live our lives. Think of when you lost someone you loved. A family member died suddenly. The shock you felt when you heard of their death was felt deeply. We are also affected when we hear tragic news even if we are far away from the event itself.

People across the world can tell you where they were on the morning of September 11th. They can usually even tell you second by second accounts of how they were reacting to the news. While they are talking about it, there is a deep sadness awakened within them. They are remembering trauma.

We can all understand PTSD when we think of our own lives.

When I do presentations on PTSD, my approach is simple. I make it personal to them, get them thinking about how their own lives are changed by events. Then while they are remembering how they felt, I ask them what it would be like for them if they had that shock over and over and over again.

There is the type of PTSD caused by one event in a person's life. One moment in time when they are forever changed. Natural disasters and crimes along with accidents or being in the wrong place at the wrong time, can in fact cause PTSD. If we as simple humans can be so deeply affected by one event, then it should be easy to understand the men and women serving in combat and what our veterans went through. After all, they are just humans like the rest of us.

The next time you hear someone say PTSD is not real or that they can't understand it, remind them of what happened in their own lives and then tell them to multiply it as if they lived it over and over again. Then ask them if they could just "get over it" or "stuff it" into the back of their minds. With help, PTSD veterans can recover and heal. Without help, it gets worse. We can keep making the same mistakes over and over again or we can make it real to the people refusing to understand.

If you can understand this, you can understand them.

A nation under post-traumatic stress

James Carroll of the Boston Globe did a great job on this. He asked the question about where this will all be a decade from now. The answer is, the same as it was ten years after Vietnam veterans began to show what PTSD looks like after it has been allowed to fester into the veterans' lives to the point where, they don't reorganize themselves anymore. By 1978 there were already 500,000.

What no one seems to want to talk about is that most veterans return home with mild PTSD. In other words, symptoms trying to take over their lives but they are able to fight against most of them. If they had been helped when PTSD was mild, then most would have recovered before their lives were destroyed, marriages ended, kids estranged from parents, careers ruined, crimes committed, homelessness and suicides. Mild PTSD is beatable but when life tosses in more stress and traumatic events, you might as well refer to it as "invasion of the body snatchers" because PTSD takes over that much. It's called Secondary Stressor.

Veterans may be very well capable of doing jobs, having marriages, doing everything they need to do, even pass off the nightmares and flashbacks, calm their nerves with a few beers or a joint or two, but sooner or later, life takes over, one more event out of their control and it all turns to crap.

Just like the late 70's and 80's, we're seeing repeats of mistakes made back then. Medications are great. They are given enough to last a few months and they are expected to show back up at the VA for more. What they are not given is answers, therapy, support or hope. All this leads to a repeat of the Vietnam generation and it isn't good. As of today there are still thousand without a clue what's been wrong with them since they got back home.

Unless things are drastically changed, like thinking outside the box for a change, then we are going to repeat all the mistakes we should have learned from. Society will end up paying for the mistakes it keeps making but above that, we will still lose more after combat than we do during it. The only difference is, we aren't aiming guns at them. We're just loading the bullets. Every day that goes by and we are not doing everything humanly possible to help them heal, we are contributing to their diminishing odds of surviving combat.

US Army soldiers carry a critically wounded American soldier to an awaiting MEDEVAC helicopter near Kandahar, Afghanistan. (Getty Images)

A nation under post-traumatic stress
James Carroll
Boston Globe

IT BELONGS to every citizen to have in mind what the nation’s present wars are doing — not only to US troops, Iraqis and Afghans, and the faceless enemy, but to the American character. We have come to understand that the brutalities of combat can shatter participants psychologically as well as physically.

A psycho-medical diagnosis — post-traumatic stress syndrome — has gained legitimacy for individuals, but what about whole societies? Can war’s dire and lingering effects on war-waging nations be measured? Can the stories of war be told, that is, to include aftermath wounds to society that, while undiagnosed, are as related to civic responsibility for state violence as one veteran’s recurring nightmare is to a morally ambiguous firefight? The battle zones of Fallujah and Kandahar are far away, but how do their traumas stamp Philadelphia and Kansas City — this year and a decade from now?
read more here
A nation under post traumatic stress

Illinois Army National Guardsman retires after 6 decades of duty

Guardsman retires after 6 decades of duty

The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Jun 29, 2010 8:06:27 EDT

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — A member of the Illinois Army National Guard has retired after nearly six decades years of duty.

The guard says Chief Warrant Officer Nelson Blakey of Moweaqua retired June 1 after 56 years.

Blakey joined the guard in March 1953 and first worked at a warehouse in Springfield. His last post was in a personnel office helping enlisted guard members with problems. He says that job was his favorite.

Sgt. Maj. Donnie Parker says Blakey is a humble, outgoing man who will be tough to replace.

Now that he's retired, Blakey plans to continue working on his farm. His wife, Bonnie Blakey, is also a retiree of the Illinois National Guard.
Guardsman retires after 6 decades of duty