Debut draws crowds, tears
'... We call them heroes'
BY STACY TEMPLE • STEMPLE@THENEWSSTAR.COM • NOVEMBER 5, 2010
The tragedy and horror local Vietnam veterans experienced in the war were magnified on the big screen Thursday night.
The vivid recollections from the veterans featured in the documentary "Some Call Them Baby Killers "» We Call Them Heroes" by R-Squared Productions were funny at times and emotional at others. Twenty Vietnam veterans from northeastern Louisiana were featured in the film and recalled the horror they saw in combat, the smell of the country and what it felt like to lose fellow soldiers in a split second.
Executive Producer Rodney Ray said it was important that he preserve and tell the stories of our vets before the stories were lost.
"It is so humbling, and it is very honoring to be a part of what we hope is the healing process for these vets," Ray said. "It is very powerful and very moving. The reason I do movies is to change people's lives, and I believe this one will."
read more here
Debut draws crowds tears
I thought they are heroes too!
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Monday, November 8, 2010
What would Rockwell paint today?
What would Rockwell paint about the country right now?
Norman Rockwell
by
Chaplain Kathie
Normal Rockwell wanted to find a way to help other people see the country thru his eyes. Where there was something wrong, he wanted them to see what was possible. Where there was someone in distress, he wanted others to see them so they could do something to help. He thought about the "better angels" living in all of us.
I wonder what he would paint about us now?
A couple of his paintings were about soldiers coming home from war. What would he paint today when they come home from Iraq and Afghanistan while some Americans think the troops have all come home from Iraq on top of forgetting they are in Afghanistan?
What would he paint when they come home with metal replacements of legs and arms? Waiting in line at the VA? Sleeping in the woods, in line at soup kitchens, standing in the streets or begging for spare change? Finding it so hard to be a veteran, they don't want to live one more day of being one and take their own lives?
Would he remind people that after they return from war, the danger to them is far from over?
Rockwell painted the Four Freedoms. Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want and freedom from fear, but would he make it five if he were alive today? It seems that our veterans do not enjoy any of these freedoms today.
We say they have a right to say what they want but when they say they need help to recover, we don't really hear them. When they say they are for or against the wars being fought today, they get shouted down by other veterans and other citizens.
Religion? No they come home after having one branch of Christianity being forced on them according to recent reports.
From want? Well considering there are so many suffering from not being able to work but find their claims denied or tied up, there is no income for them between wound and check, or the fact that while they are deployed, some of their families are on food stamps especially when they are citizen soldiers depending on their civilian jobs to live off of.
Freedom from fear? Well, sorry but not that one either. They have to fear getting wounded because there are so many problems with getting what this nation promised them when they left these cities and towns to fight our battles.
The country needs another Rockwell so we can see it thru his eyes and then maybe, just maybe we'd do something to make sure no veteran comes home neglected or having to fear being home as much as they did in combat.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Caring for the invisible wounds that warriors bring home
Caring for the invisible wounds that warriors bring home
'A SOLDIER'S HEART': DAY ONE OF A PG SPECIAL SERIES
Sunday, November 07, 2010
By Michael A. Fuoco, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
WELLS TANNERY, Pa. -- Derrick Earley steers a four-wheeler up the gravel driveway to his father's hand-built stone home and climbs off. Fit and goateed, the 23-year-old is wearing a cutoff T-shirt, camouflage shorts and cap as he shyly greets visitors, not quite making eye contact, not quite avoiding it, either.
He is surrounded by his father's 300-acre farm amid the grandeur of Fulton County. So breathtaking is this area about 10 miles northeast of Breezewood it is difficult to absorb -- rolling hills, valleys peppered with lush forests, well-groomed hay fields, and, miles away, majestic Sideling Hill, part of the Allegheny Mountains
Read more: Caring for the invisible wounds that warriors bring home
'A SOLDIER'S HEART': DAY ONE OF A PG SPECIAL SERIES
Sunday, November 07, 2010
By Michael A. Fuoco, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
WELLS TANNERY, Pa. -- Derrick Earley steers a four-wheeler up the gravel driveway to his father's hand-built stone home and climbs off. Fit and goateed, the 23-year-old is wearing a cutoff T-shirt, camouflage shorts and cap as he shyly greets visitors, not quite making eye contact, not quite avoiding it, either.
He is surrounded by his father's 300-acre farm amid the grandeur of Fulton County. So breathtaking is this area about 10 miles northeast of Breezewood it is difficult to absorb -- rolling hills, valleys peppered with lush forests, well-groomed hay fields, and, miles away, majestic Sideling Hill, part of the Allegheny Mountains
Read more: Caring for the invisible wounds that warriors bring home
Veterans of Korea and Vietnam get special focus during Veterans Day Parade
Veterans Day Parade in Auburn stirs pride for a soldier mom
Despite the rain, thousands thronged the sidewalks of Auburn's Main Street to watch the 200 military units, more than two dozen high-school marching bands, Army tankers, drill teams and bagpipers pass by. The event is billed by the city as one of the largest in the country honoring veterans.
By Sonia Krishnan
Seattle Times staff reporter
It still feels a little surreal.
Sgt. Lyn Kibler can actually hold her 3-year-old son now. And when he wants to hear her voice, he doesn't have to listen to a recording she sent to him from Iraq. He just says "Mom," and there she is.
Kibler, 25, returned to Joint Base Lewis-McChord in March after a yearlong deployment. On Saturday, she wore fatigues and walked with her son, Azrael, in the 45th annual Veterans Day Parade in Auburn.
Despite the rain, thousands thronged the sidewalks of Main Street to watch the 200 military units, more than two dozen high-school marching bands, Army tankers, drill teams and bagpipers pass by. The event is billed by the city as one of the largest in the country honoring veterans.
Some brought children decked out in red, white and blue, while others brought dogs, such as one golden retriever with an American flag around its neck. Everywhere, people beamed with pride.
read more here
Veterans Day Parade in Auburn
Despite the rain, thousands thronged the sidewalks of Auburn's Main Street to watch the 200 military units, more than two dozen high-school marching bands, Army tankers, drill teams and bagpipers pass by. The event is billed by the city as one of the largest in the country honoring veterans.
By Sonia Krishnan
Seattle Times staff reporter
This year, the parade paid special tribute to the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Dozens who fought in Korea and Vietnam received cheers and praise as they walked the one-mile route.
"Welcome home!" shouted Gary Knutson to a tanker filled with Vietnam vets.
"It's a brotherhood," explained Knutson, who served in Vietnam from 1965 to 1966. "Whether you know (the vets) or not," it's like family when you see one another, he said.
It still feels a little surreal.
Sgt. Lyn Kibler can actually hold her 3-year-old son now. And when he wants to hear her voice, he doesn't have to listen to a recording she sent to him from Iraq. He just says "Mom," and there she is.
Kibler, 25, returned to Joint Base Lewis-McChord in March after a yearlong deployment. On Saturday, she wore fatigues and walked with her son, Azrael, in the 45th annual Veterans Day Parade in Auburn.
Despite the rain, thousands thronged the sidewalks of Main Street to watch the 200 military units, more than two dozen high-school marching bands, Army tankers, drill teams and bagpipers pass by. The event is billed by the city as one of the largest in the country honoring veterans.
Some brought children decked out in red, white and blue, while others brought dogs, such as one golden retriever with an American flag around its neck. Everywhere, people beamed with pride.
read more here
Veterans Day Parade in Auburn
Don't forget the wounded, they are veterans too!
While parades are nice for Veterans Day, we need to remember all the veterans in hospitals trying to recover from the wounds they received. This is about a program to get themn out of the hospital, even if it is just for a little while and let them just be men/women again. They are veterans everday, but for them they are also wounded veterans.
Program lets wounded vets experience W.Va. hunts
By John McCoy - The Charleston Gazette via AP
Posted : Sunday Nov 7, 2010 12:00:18 EST
FRANKLIN, W.Va. — With a quick squeeze of a crossbow's trigger, James Raffetto proved that it would take more than an insurgent's bomb to keep him from enjoying life.
"I never thought I'd be able to do something like this," Raffetto said, as he sat forward in his wheelchair and gestured to the deer lying dead nearby. "When you get hit, you think your life is over. This is proof that it isn't."
For Raffetto and a growing roster of servicemen wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Potomac Highlands Wounded Warrior Outreach has been an avenue back toward an active lifestyle. Founded last January by a retired West Virginia conservation officer and a handful of friends, the outreach brings wounded soldiers, Marines and sailors to West Virginia to hunt, to fish and to enjoy a few days of life outside a hospital's walls.
"We work with the people at Walter Reed (Army Hospital) and Bethesda (Naval Hospital) to bring these fellows here," said group founder Bill Armstrong. "The idea is to get them into the outdoors for a day or two so they can relax. Some of these guys have literally been in the hospital for years, and they need some time away from the hospital routine."
read more here
Program lets wounded vets experience W.Va. hunts
Nam Knights Orlando Ride to Salute Veterans
This is how I spent yesterday. On a ride with the Nam Knights out of Orlando and a lot of other groups to salute veterans. It was really cold! But we all had a great time.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Daughter Shops for Bigger Knife To Kill Her Mother
Report: Daughter Shops for Bigger Knife To Kill Her Mother
Catherine Eisley says she simply had enough. Her mother had to die.
Reporter: Scott Howard
Email Address: scott.howard@kolotv.com
SPARKS - Catherine Eisley says she simply had enough. Her mother had to die.
After decades of suppressing anger that she says her mom caused, the 48-year-old Sparks woman told investigators that she decided to do something. When it was all over, 70-year-old Cherry Clasen lay dead in her daughter's home, beaten with a bat and stabbed Wednesday night.
According to a police report, Eisley told investigators that her mother caused her to have post Traumatic Stress Disorder, explaining she witnessed, as a young girl, her mother and 15-year old brother committing incest. By 1995, Eisley said she was forced to take special medication to help level out her depression.
read more here
Daughter Shops for Bigger Knife To Kill Her Mother
Catherine Eisley says she simply had enough. Her mother had to die.
Reporter: Scott Howard
Email Address: scott.howard@kolotv.com
SPARKS - Catherine Eisley says she simply had enough. Her mother had to die.
After decades of suppressing anger that she says her mom caused, the 48-year-old Sparks woman told investigators that she decided to do something. When it was all over, 70-year-old Cherry Clasen lay dead in her daughter's home, beaten with a bat and stabbed Wednesday night.
According to a police report, Eisley told investigators that her mother caused her to have post Traumatic Stress Disorder, explaining she witnessed, as a young girl, her mother and 15-year old brother committing incest. By 1995, Eisley said she was forced to take special medication to help level out her depression.
read more here
Daughter Shops for Bigger Knife To Kill Her Mother
Building free homes for wounded vets
Building free homes for wounded vets
By Kathleen Toner, CNN
March 11, 2010 4:08 p.m. EST
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Dan Wallrath's organization built four houses for wounded vets in Texas
Retired homebuilder started program after meeting father of wounded Marine
Wallrath's team remodeled house for free to make it handicapped-accessible
Do you know a hero? Nominations are open for 2010 CNN Heroes
Houston, Texas (CNN) -- Alexander Reyes' boyhood dream of a military career ended when he was hit by an improvised explosive device during a patrol two years ago in Baghdad.
"Laying in that hospital bed ... sometimes I felt I'd rather [have] died," Reyes said. "My life came to a complete halt."
Reyes sustained severe blast injuries that led to his medical discharge; he's on 100 percent medical disability. Like many soldiers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, Reyes, now 24, found the transition to civilian life difficult.
But he and a handful of other injured veterans are getting help from what may seem an unlikely source: a custom home builder in Houston, Texas.
Dan Wallrath recently presented Reyes and his wife with an unexpected gift: a home built especially for them, mortgage-free.
Building free homes for wounded vets
By Kathleen Toner, CNN
March 11, 2010 4:08 p.m. EST
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Dan Wallrath's organization built four houses for wounded vets in Texas
Retired homebuilder started program after meeting father of wounded Marine
Wallrath's team remodeled house for free to make it handicapped-accessible
Do you know a hero? Nominations are open for 2010 CNN Heroes
Houston, Texas (CNN) -- Alexander Reyes' boyhood dream of a military career ended when he was hit by an improvised explosive device during a patrol two years ago in Baghdad.
"Laying in that hospital bed ... sometimes I felt I'd rather [have] died," Reyes said. "My life came to a complete halt."
Reyes sustained severe blast injuries that led to his medical discharge; he's on 100 percent medical disability. Like many soldiers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, Reyes, now 24, found the transition to civilian life difficult.
But he and a handful of other injured veterans are getting help from what may seem an unlikely source: a custom home builder in Houston, Texas.
Dan Wallrath recently presented Reyes and his wife with an unexpected gift: a home built especially for them, mortgage-free.
Building free homes for wounded vets
Flag Still Stands for Freedom Campaign
Online telethon to raise funds for veterans
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Nov 5, 2010 19:03:14 EDT
A retired Navy senior chief has organized a 24-hour virtual telethon for veterans, beginning at midnight Friday, as a way to share information about veterans programs and raise a little money for support organizations.
Laura Kennedy, a New York consultant on business startups, has put together an around-the-clock webcast of entertainers, authors and veterans advocates as part of an effort that evolved out of her view that the American flag wasn’t being displayed enough in everyday life.
She first had a radio show, “Red, White and Blue,” that talked about patriotic themes; that morphed into what she now calls the Flag Still Stands for Freedom Campaign.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/11/military-veterans-day-virtual-telethon-110510w/
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Nov 5, 2010 19:03:14 EDT
A retired Navy senior chief has organized a 24-hour virtual telethon for veterans, beginning at midnight Friday, as a way to share information about veterans programs and raise a little money for support organizations.
Laura Kennedy, a New York consultant on business startups, has put together an around-the-clock webcast of entertainers, authors and veterans advocates as part of an effort that evolved out of her view that the American flag wasn’t being displayed enough in everyday life.
She first had a radio show, “Red, White and Blue,” that talked about patriotic themes; that morphed into what she now calls the Flag Still Stands for Freedom Campaign.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/11/military-veterans-day-virtual-telethon-110510w/
Afghan soldier may have killed 2 troops
Afghan soldier may have killed 2 troops
By Katharine Houreld - The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Nov 6, 2010 9:47:58 EDT
KABUL, Afghanistan— NATO said Saturday it is investigating whether an Afghan National Army soldier killed two coalition service members in southern Afghanistan, where joint forces are pushing into insurgent strongholds.
NATO said the coalition and the Afghan government were jointly investigating how the two service members died Friday evening in Sangin, a dangerous district of Helmand province.
An insurgent attack killed another NATO service member Saturday in the south, NATO said, without giving details or providing a nationality.
The Taliban issued a statement on the deaths in Sangin district saying an Afghan soldier shot and killed the service members on their base and then defected to the insurgency. The Taliban said the dead coalition members were Americans and put the number killed at three, but often exaggerates casualty figures in announcing its attacks.
read more here
Afghan soldier may have killed 2 troops
By Katharine Houreld - The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Nov 6, 2010 9:47:58 EDT
KABUL, Afghanistan— NATO said Saturday it is investigating whether an Afghan National Army soldier killed two coalition service members in southern Afghanistan, where joint forces are pushing into insurgent strongholds.
NATO said the coalition and the Afghan government were jointly investigating how the two service members died Friday evening in Sangin, a dangerous district of Helmand province.
An insurgent attack killed another NATO service member Saturday in the south, NATO said, without giving details or providing a nationality.
The Taliban issued a statement on the deaths in Sangin district saying an Afghan soldier shot and killed the service members on their base and then defected to the insurgency. The Taliban said the dead coalition members were Americans and put the number killed at three, but often exaggerates casualty figures in announcing its attacks.
read more here
Afghan soldier may have killed 2 troops
Vietnam vet says "I’m doing pretty good for a dead guy," after the VA told him he was dead
Local veteran mistakenly considered dead by VA's office
by Brad Woodard / 11 News
khou.com
Posted on November 5, 2010 at 5:54 PM
Updated yesterday at 6:55 PM
SAN LEON, Texas—A veteran who depends on his benefits to survive is thought to be dead by the Veterans Administration.
Rogers Mills, Jr., of San Leon, said his steps are more measured these days. His casting arm isn’t what it used to be, but for a man in his condition, he gets around better than you might expect.
"I’m doing pretty good for a dead guy," said Mills.
At least in the eyes of the Veterans Administration.
"They killed me on paper," said Mills, "and that’s pretty dead."
A Vietnam-era veteran, Mills is disabled and receives benefits. But this month, the check wasn’t in the mail.
"Nothing. Bubkiss. Zero," said Mills.
Mills says he decided to pay a visit to the Department of Veterans Affairs regional office in Houston, where he learned his status had been changed to deceased.
read more here
Local veteran mistakenly considered dead
by Brad Woodard / 11 News
khou.com
Posted on November 5, 2010 at 5:54 PM
Updated yesterday at 6:55 PM
SAN LEON, Texas—A veteran who depends on his benefits to survive is thought to be dead by the Veterans Administration.
Rogers Mills, Jr., of San Leon, said his steps are more measured these days. His casting arm isn’t what it used to be, but for a man in his condition, he gets around better than you might expect.
"I’m doing pretty good for a dead guy," said Mills.
At least in the eyes of the Veterans Administration.
"They killed me on paper," said Mills, "and that’s pretty dead."
A Vietnam-era veteran, Mills is disabled and receives benefits. But this month, the check wasn’t in the mail.
"Nothing. Bubkiss. Zero," said Mills.
Mills says he decided to pay a visit to the Department of Veterans Affairs regional office in Houston, where he learned his status had been changed to deceased.
read more here
Local veteran mistakenly considered dead
Fort Hood marks a somber anniversary
Fort Hood marks a somber anniversary
By Ann Gerhart
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, November 5, 2010
Until Friday, there was only one outward symbol at Fort Hood of the chaos and carnage that erupted there on Nov. 5, 2009. The wreaths of ribbons and flowers hung on a fence surrounding Building 42003 at the massive Army post in Texas. They were placed there by a wife who became a widow that day.
Now there is a 6-foot-tall granite memorial, unveiled at a ceremony on the one-year anniversary of the massacre, the worst at a U.S. military installation. Inscribed with the names of the 13 slain when a soldier opened fire as they waited to do paperwork before a deployment, the marker has taken its place near the post's memorials to those killed in war - more than 500 in the past five years.
"Our home was attacked . . . not in a distant battlefield but right here . . . and American heroes sacrificed their lives," Gen. William Grimsley, Fort Hood's commanding general, told about 1,000 people gathered Friday morning for the ceremony, according to the Associated Press.
read more here
Fort Hood marks a somber anniversary
By Ann Gerhart
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, November 5, 2010
Until Friday, there was only one outward symbol at Fort Hood of the chaos and carnage that erupted there on Nov. 5, 2009. The wreaths of ribbons and flowers hung on a fence surrounding Building 42003 at the massive Army post in Texas. They were placed there by a wife who became a widow that day.
Now there is a 6-foot-tall granite memorial, unveiled at a ceremony on the one-year anniversary of the massacre, the worst at a U.S. military installation. Inscribed with the names of the 13 slain when a soldier opened fire as they waited to do paperwork before a deployment, the marker has taken its place near the post's memorials to those killed in war - more than 500 in the past five years.
"Our home was attacked . . . not in a distant battlefield but right here . . . and American heroes sacrificed their lives," Gen. William Grimsley, Fort Hood's commanding general, told about 1,000 people gathered Friday morning for the ceremony, according to the Associated Press.
read more here
Fort Hood marks a somber anniversary
Camp Pendleton, 19 year old Marine loses leg after freeway crash
Marine loses leg after freeway crash
By ALEJANDRA MOLINA
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
A 19-year-old Marine lost his left leg after he crashed into a guardrail Thursday on the southbound I-5 as he was headed to Camp Pendleton for his morning assignment.
It was about 5:07 a.m. on Thursday when Lance Cpl. Jordon Sickinger veered to the right, crashed into a metal guardrail and rolled over near El Toro Road, the California Highway Patrol said.
A passenger, who is also a Marine, pulled Sickinger out of the car and administered first aid to his wounds, said Donya Larson, who is Sickinger's mom.
read more here
Marine loses leg after freeway crash
By ALEJANDRA MOLINA
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
A 19-year-old Marine lost his left leg after he crashed into a guardrail Thursday on the southbound I-5 as he was headed to Camp Pendleton for his morning assignment.
It was about 5:07 a.m. on Thursday when Lance Cpl. Jordon Sickinger veered to the right, crashed into a metal guardrail and rolled over near El Toro Road, the California Highway Patrol said.
A passenger, who is also a Marine, pulled Sickinger out of the car and administered first aid to his wounds, said Donya Larson, who is Sickinger's mom.
read more here
Marine loses leg after freeway crash
Friday, November 5, 2010
AWOL Soldier Refusing Deployment Because of Severe PTSD
AWOL Soldier Refusing Deployment Because of Severe PTSD
Friday 05 November 2010
by: Sarah Lazare, t r u t h o u t | Report
(Photo: RDECOM / Flickr)
"I am just trying to get help," insisted Jeff Hanks, active duty US Army infantryman, who has served in Iraq and Afghanistan. "My goal in this situation is to simply heal. And they wonder why there are so many suicides." Jeff spoke rapidly over the phone from Virginia, where he, his wife and his two young daughters are staying while he is AWOL from the military. Days earlier, Jeff had walked out of an airport, refusing to board a plane headed for Kuwait, which was to be his first stop on his way back to Afghanistan.
During his mid-September leave from his second combat tour with the 101st Airborne Division, Jeff sought help from Fort Bragg and Fort Campbell military doctors for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and physical wounds sustained in battle. Yet, just as his treatment was getting started, his command interfered, insisting that his military health care providers grant him clearance for immediate deployment. His providers acquiesced, even though they had not completed preliminary testing.
Jeff, who has trouble being in large crowds of people and difficulty controlling his anger, says he is in no state to deploy back to the war from which he is still struggling to heal. The 30 year-old soldier decided that his only choice was to go AWOL. Jeff plans to turn himself into his command at Fort Campbell on Veterans Day, November 11.
read more here
AWOL Soldier Refusing Deployment Because of Severe PTSD
Friday 05 November 2010
by: Sarah Lazare, t r u t h o u t | Report
(Photo: RDECOM / Flickr)
"I am just trying to get help," insisted Jeff Hanks, active duty US Army infantryman, who has served in Iraq and Afghanistan. "My goal in this situation is to simply heal. And they wonder why there are so many suicides." Jeff spoke rapidly over the phone from Virginia, where he, his wife and his two young daughters are staying while he is AWOL from the military. Days earlier, Jeff had walked out of an airport, refusing to board a plane headed for Kuwait, which was to be his first stop on his way back to Afghanistan.
During his mid-September leave from his second combat tour with the 101st Airborne Division, Jeff sought help from Fort Bragg and Fort Campbell military doctors for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and physical wounds sustained in battle. Yet, just as his treatment was getting started, his command interfered, insisting that his military health care providers grant him clearance for immediate deployment. His providers acquiesced, even though they had not completed preliminary testing.
Jeff, who has trouble being in large crowds of people and difficulty controlling his anger, says he is in no state to deploy back to the war from which he is still struggling to heal. The 30 year-old soldier decided that his only choice was to go AWOL. Jeff plans to turn himself into his command at Fort Campbell on Veterans Day, November 11.
read more here
AWOL Soldier Refusing Deployment Because of Severe PTSD
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