Ambush survivor up for Medal of Honor
By Dan Lamothe - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Nov 9, 2010 8:40:53 EST
The Marine Corps has recommended that a former corporal receive the Medal of Honor for braving a hail of enemy fire in September 2009 to pull the bodies of four U.S. troops from a kill zone in eastern Afghanistan, Marine Corps Times has learned.
Dakota Meyer, 22, of Greensburg, Ky., was recommended for the nation’s highest award for valor, according to a source with knowledge of the process, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Meyer could become the first living Marine recipient of the Medal of Honor since the Vietnam War. Only one Marine, Cpl. Jason Dunham, has received the award for actions in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and he was honored posthumously after throwing himself on a grenade in Karabilah, Iraq, in 2004 to save the lives of fellow Marines.
read more here
Ambush survivor up for Medal of Honor
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Florida house fire kills five children
Marion house fire kills five children
Three other victims are at a local hospital.
By Walter Pacheco, Orlando Sentinel
6:32 a.m. EST, November 9, 2010
Five children died in a house fire overnight in north Marion County, officials said.
The three boys and two girls, ages 6 to 15, lived with other family members in the 1700 block of N.E. 182nd Place in Citra.
read more here
Marion house fire kills five children
Three other victims are at a local hospital.
By Walter Pacheco, Orlando Sentinel
6:32 a.m. EST, November 9, 2010
Five children died in a house fire overnight in north Marion County, officials said.
The three boys and two girls, ages 6 to 15, lived with other family members in the 1700 block of N.E. 182nd Place in Citra.
read more here
Marion house fire kills five children
VA Celebrates National Family Caregiver Month
VA Celebrates National Family Caregiver Month
WASHINGTON (Nov. 8, 2010)- The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is marking National Family Caregiver Month by honoring the service of family members and friends who have dedicated their lives to caring for chronically ill, injured, or disabled Veterans.
"Caregivers are the family members and loved ones who take care of the severely injured Veterans who need assistance on a daily basis," said VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki. "These mothers, wives, fathers, husbands and other loved ones make tremendous sacrifices to be there every day for the Veterans who served this Nation. They are our partners in Veteran
health care and they deserve our support."
November is National Family Caregivers Month, and VA medical centers nationwide will offer locally sponsored events for caregivers. Because caregivers often experience stress, burnout, or feel overwhelmed by the caregiving experience, planned activities will provide useful
information about VA and community resources that offer support and assistance to caregivers and Veterans.
Caregivers provide a valuable service to Veterans by assisting them beyond the walls of VA medical facilities with support such as accessing the health care system, providing emotional and physical support, and allowing injured Veterans to stay in their homes rather than living
their lives in an institutional setting.
Caregivers help Veterans maintain a better quality of life and gain more independence. As the Veteran population ages and continues to increase, the role of caregivers as partners in supporting Veterans is even more prevalent. The Veteran population aged 65 and older is expected to increase from 37.4 percent to 44.8 percent by the year 2020. VA is also
treating a new era of younger, severely injured Servicemembers. Many Veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan will need lifetime care. VA recognizes the support of their caregivers is vital for these Veterans.
On May 5, 2010, President Obama signed into law the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010. Passed by Congress, this law will allow VA to care for those who provide supplemental help to family caregivers of the most severely wounded veterans returning from
Iraq and Afghanistan. VA has been consulting with Veterans organizations, as well as individual Veterans and their family members, to ensure these new programs are implemented to provide the best possible support for those who have sacrificed so much.
These benefits will add to the wide range of compassionate and practical
programs for Veteran caregivers that are already available from VA:
o In-Home and Community Based Care: This includes skilled home
health care, homemaker home health aide services, community adult day
health care and home based primary care.
o Respite care: Designed to temporarily relieve the family
caregiver from caring for a chronically ill, injured or disabled Veteran
at home, respite services can include in-home care, a short stay in a VA
community living center or other institutional setting or adult day
health care.
o Caregiver education and training programs: VA provides
multiple training opportunities which include pre-discharge care
instruction and specialized caregiver programs such as polytrauma and
traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury/disorders, and blind
rehabilitation. VA has a caregiver assistance healthy living center Web
page on My HealtheVet, www.myhealth.va.gov, as well as caregiver
information on the VA's main Web page health site; both Websites include
information on VA and community resources and caregiver health and
wellness.
o Family support services: These support services can be face to
face or on the telephone. They include family counseling, spiritual and
pastoral care. Polytrauma Centers also offer family leisure and
recreational activities and temporary lodging in Fisher Houses.
o Other benefits: VA provides durable medical equipment and
prosthetic and sensory aides to improve function, financial assistance
with home modification to improve access and mobility, and
transportation assistance for some Veterans to and from medical
appointments.
Caregivers should contact their nearest VA medical center for caregiver
activities in the local area. Facility locators and contact information
can be found at www.va.gov.
WASHINGTON (Nov. 8, 2010)- The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is marking National Family Caregiver Month by honoring the service of family members and friends who have dedicated their lives to caring for chronically ill, injured, or disabled Veterans.
"Caregivers are the family members and loved ones who take care of the severely injured Veterans who need assistance on a daily basis," said VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki. "These mothers, wives, fathers, husbands and other loved ones make tremendous sacrifices to be there every day for the Veterans who served this Nation. They are our partners in Veteran
health care and they deserve our support."
November is National Family Caregivers Month, and VA medical centers nationwide will offer locally sponsored events for caregivers. Because caregivers often experience stress, burnout, or feel overwhelmed by the caregiving experience, planned activities will provide useful
information about VA and community resources that offer support and assistance to caregivers and Veterans.
Caregivers provide a valuable service to Veterans by assisting them beyond the walls of VA medical facilities with support such as accessing the health care system, providing emotional and physical support, and allowing injured Veterans to stay in their homes rather than living
their lives in an institutional setting.
Caregivers help Veterans maintain a better quality of life and gain more independence. As the Veteran population ages and continues to increase, the role of caregivers as partners in supporting Veterans is even more prevalent. The Veteran population aged 65 and older is expected to increase from 37.4 percent to 44.8 percent by the year 2020. VA is also
treating a new era of younger, severely injured Servicemembers. Many Veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan will need lifetime care. VA recognizes the support of their caregivers is vital for these Veterans.
On May 5, 2010, President Obama signed into law the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010. Passed by Congress, this law will allow VA to care for those who provide supplemental help to family caregivers of the most severely wounded veterans returning from
Iraq and Afghanistan. VA has been consulting with Veterans organizations, as well as individual Veterans and their family members, to ensure these new programs are implemented to provide the best possible support for those who have sacrificed so much.
These benefits will add to the wide range of compassionate and practical
programs for Veteran caregivers that are already available from VA:
o In-Home and Community Based Care: This includes skilled home
health care, homemaker home health aide services, community adult day
health care and home based primary care.
o Respite care: Designed to temporarily relieve the family
caregiver from caring for a chronically ill, injured or disabled Veteran
at home, respite services can include in-home care, a short stay in a VA
community living center or other institutional setting or adult day
health care.
o Caregiver education and training programs: VA provides
multiple training opportunities which include pre-discharge care
instruction and specialized caregiver programs such as polytrauma and
traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury/disorders, and blind
rehabilitation. VA has a caregiver assistance healthy living center Web
page on My HealtheVet, www.myhealth.va.gov, as well as caregiver
information on the VA's main Web page health site; both Websites include
information on VA and community resources and caregiver health and
wellness.
o Family support services: These support services can be face to
face or on the telephone. They include family counseling, spiritual and
pastoral care. Polytrauma Centers also offer family leisure and
recreational activities and temporary lodging in Fisher Houses.
o Other benefits: VA provides durable medical equipment and
prosthetic and sensory aides to improve function, financial assistance
with home modification to improve access and mobility, and
transportation assistance for some Veterans to and from medical
appointments.
Caregivers should contact their nearest VA medical center for caregiver
activities in the local area. Facility locators and contact information
can be found at www.va.gov.
We Call Them Heroes, documentary on Vietnam Veterans
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!
'... 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!
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
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