Lt. Dan Band Gary Sinise – who co–founded the legendary Steppenwolf Theatre Company in the late 1970s and has enjoyed a successful career on stage, on television and in film – will be in Chicago tonight to perform with his Lt. Dan Band at Joe's Bar to benefit The Veterans Arts Program.
Gary Sinise heads home to Chicago to rock for veterans group
By Tom Lounges Times Correspondent
The tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, deeply affected Gary Sinise and inspired him to become a champion of veterans groups and events.
Sinise – who co–founded the legendary Steppenwolf Theatre Company in the late 1970s and has enjoyed a successful career on stage, on television and in film – will be in Chicago tonight to perform with his Lt. Dan Band at Joe's Bar to benefit The Veterans Arts Program.
Blue Island–born and raised actor/director/musician Gary Sinise said
The Chicago–based organization was co–founded by Kimo Williams, Sinise's musical partner in the Lt. Dan Band.
Sinise, a Blue Island–born and raised actor/director/musician, said it started out as "sort of a culture exchange program," but has since shifted to providing "artist tools" to injured veterans who want to move on in their lives and learn something in the arts, be it playing guitar, or taking up photography, or painting. The Veteran's Arts Program provides instruments and lessons to help enrich the lives of those who served their nation.
Sinise met Williams – a Vietnam veteran and professor at Columbia College – when both were part of Steppenwolf's 1997 production of "A Streetcar Named Desire." Sinise was acting and Williams was composing music for it.
read more here Gary Sinise heads home to Chicago
Man Steals $22K From Disabled Veteran: Cops
Police are trying to identify a man who allegedly stole a disability check from a disabled veteran
By Scott Slotkin
Philadelphia Police are asking for your help in identifying a man accused of stealing $22,000 from a disabled veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps.
After waiting for and not receiving his $44,000 disability check, the 27-year old veteran reportedly contacted the U.S. Treasury Department to find out what happened.
His check, he was told, had already been deposited at a Bank of America on Street Road in Bensalem, Pa. bank, police said.
read more here Man Steals $22K From Disabled Vetera
UPDATE - A San Diego sailor suffering from post traumatic stress disorder who had been missing for five days was located on Saturday.
Amanda Hamilton told San Diego 6 News her husband turned himself into police and is now receiving treatment at Balboa Naval Hospital.
Navy Wife begs for return of missing husband with PTSD
SAN DIEGO (CBS 8) - A local Navy wife is desperate to find her missing husband, who has post traumatic stress disorder and hasn't been seen in days.
"My whole world is collapsing because this is the guy I was going to spend the rest of my life with," says Amanda Hamilton.
She and Nicholas married four and a half years ago and have two sons together. As a couple they've faced deployments, but the most recent deployment on the USS Ronald Reagan to provide humanitarian relief to Tsunami victims in Japan proved to be a tipping point, according to Amanda.
"He had a really bad flashback episode while on the Reagan," she says. Adding that flashback dealt with a previous humanitarian effort to retrieve bodies from the 2004 Tsunami in Indonesia.
"He took nearly 200 over the counter medications to try and end his life," she says.
That was March 25th of this year and Amanda says Nic was then flown to an Air Force Base in Japan for treatment and then sent back home to San Diego for further treatment on March 31st.
Since then he's regularly checked in twice a day to a Medical Hold unit at the Navy hospital, according to his wife, until May 1st when things unraveled.
read more here Navy Wife begs for return of missing husband with PTSD
Should We Reintroduce the Veteran Employment Assistance Act?
By Marie Owens
Undoubtedly, the economic dynamic of employment in the United States has changed dramatically since the end of military conscription by the United States government. While all males over 18 years of age are still required to register for the draft, the lottery has not been active since the end of the Vietnam War. Similarly, while educational assistance based on past military status has been available in varying degrees since that time, employment assistance has been nominal, relying on veteran status priority in hiring since the end of the war. Thus, as it becomes tougher and tougher for veterans to find jobs and re-enter the work force once they have returned from overseas, many people, particularly those that have a criminal justice degree, have begun to wonder -- should we consider reintroducing the Veteran Employment Assistance Act?
The Employment Problem
Many of those who plan for a full military career often opt for the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) education program, being ushered into the military with an advanced rank as a commissioned officer. Other enlisted servicemen enter the military with a particular assignment in mind and come out of the service with training and education they have received during their tour of the duty. These individuals who complete their tour with an honorable discharge are commonly placed quickly with positions secured before their Estimated Termination of Service (ETS).
However, there are also many soldiers who enter the military as foot soldiers and often experience trouble securing employment when they return from what may have been multiple tours of duty in armed conflict. This due to the fact that these individuals have often been trained for special missions, and while this work is great, there simply is not an abundance of employment opportunities for people with their job titles (paratroopers, artillery specialists and tank operators) and skill sets in the United States.
Thus, for the myriad soldiers who fill active combat military roles there is a specific need for employment assistance, particularly for those who may have entered the military with a weak primary educational background or because of regional employment opportunities. Some of these veterans are good candidates for long-term training if they show a capacity for academics. While on the other hand, some are good candidates for industrial certifications. In any case, the majority of veterans would simply like assistance in securing employment with a salary that is at least comparable to what they were earning while enlisted. It is a general consensus that they have earned that benefit.
In the past, many of these servicemen were covered by the S. 3234 and was designed to build on the existing restrictive legislation, allowing veterans to use educational benefits while drawing a stipend during their training period. It would also broaden the approved training alternatives, enhancing the current 9/11 GI Bill of Rights and the National Guard Employment Enhancement Program.
The Congressional Budget Office studied the financial impact of the legislation and the cost amounted to an average of $1 per person in the United States. Yet, even with one-fifth of the Senate body signing onto the legislation, it did not make it to the floor. This means that the laws that are currently in force are all that veterans have to rely on when it comes to finding a job when they return from overseas.
Disabled Veterans
The fallout of the Middle East military conflicts has created a new generation of veterans who have enlisted, often on salesmanship of the different military branches, and been strapped into an armed conflict that was never anticipated. In addition, many have been commissioned back into active combat or had tours extended because so many of people have decided to avoid military enlistment as a viable means of building a career. As a result, many of those who enlist to fight are coming home as multiple amputees or suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from concussive head injuries. This has created a specific demographic within the veteran community.
This particular group is at severe risk of being ostracized by potential employers regardless of the sacrifice that they have given for their country. Their sacrifice is much more than the time and battle scars. It is a life altering experience that deserves case-by-case attention. Therefore, introducing legislation to assist these veterans and then allowing the bill to "table," or expire, is for many citizens an unacceptable action of the United States representative body.
Conclusion
It is well understood that the U.S. military is the primary peacekeeper in the world. In fact, the American way of life is largely a result of the work that all military veterans have done to secure what many Americans take for granted. However, the employment market is shifting dramatically as the military does its necessary work overseas. As a result, many veterans have come home to find that there aren’t any jobs available, or none that are applicable to the skill set they have acquired while enlisted. Although there are standard educational opportunities for veterans to improve their knowledge base, just as there are for the civilians, this section of the U.S. society has clearly earned serious consideration for employment programs that will provide them with extra help when integrating back into society after being overseas. These programs should be similar to the Veteran Employment Assistance Act, and should ensure that veterans can obtain employment in the field of their choice, given their individual abilities. The on-the-job training that they receive in the military is often not applicable to the world at home and it is time for the same Congress that sent them into battle to help them readjust when they return home.
Marie writes for the blog at criminaljusticedegree.net and as a prospective law student in Washington state, is particularly interested in criminal law and gender issues. She writes to promote criminal justice education, and teaches martial arts in her spare time.
There is a lot of talk about if Osama's death pictures should be shown or not. Today Bill Bennett was on CNN and said that pictures are needed after murders but failed to mention the fact the general public doesn't get to see the pictures unless there is a body covered up by a sheet. Only the jury, judge and lawyers get to see them. They need to see them but the public doesn't. Bennett must be watching too much TV to get that fact mixed up with what he wants released. We don't need to see a dead Osama as much as we want to see them.
Today something wonderful happened and it had nothing to do with politics. Today it was all about the people this nation lost almost 10 years ago. These are some of the pictures we should want to see now that the man behind so much pain is dead.
That's what we really should be talking about now. When we needed the best of us to show up after the planes hit the towers, the firemen and cops showed up. The best of us were there no matter if the people in trouble were Democrats, Republicans, Independents or didn't vote at all. They didn't care about anything other than people needed help. Goodness rose out of the pit of hell Osama tried to create.
Block after block around the country in huge cities and tiny towns flew flags outside their homes and on their cars. Politics faded away and every member of congress stood together in a moment of silence, united in grief just as the rest of the nation did. We held the firemen and police officers in our prayers, but then people played politics and tried to keep them from getting what they needed to take care of their health afterwards. Today it was about them.
We waved flags and sent young men and women off to fight against the people behind the attacks, then we turned our backs on them when it took too long, cost us too much money and the wounded just got too expensive to take care of. While most of the country thinks the troops are home instead of 150,000 still risking their lives far away from their homes and families, they do it everyday anyway.
We took down our flags a long time ago and ended up just putting them up for the 4th of July as if the flags were just one more decoration to put up in celebration of a day off of work forgetting that over 5,000 of their bodies have come home covered in a flag that was paid for with their lives.
When people allow the best of us to be forgotten and ignored, let politics trump all else, then we will be wondering why no one is showing up when the rest of us need the best of us.
A participant in the Wounded Warrior Project’s Soldier Ride heads to the South Lawn of the White House through the Diplomatic Reception Room before the start of their ride, May 4, 2011. The President welcomed the group to the White House in advance of their fifth annual ride on Friday and Saturday. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
This afternoon, the South Lawn of the White House was full of veterans, military families, and their bicycles, as the Wounded Warrior Project's Soldier Ride came to the White House. The Soldier Ride started as a way to help wounded soldiers recover from their injuries through adaptive cycling. Nearly a decade later, the program has expanded to involve civilians as well, raising money for and promoting the cause of America's wounded warriors.
In welcoming the riders, President Obama said a few words about the beginnings of the Soldier Ride effort:
Today is a reminder -- as Michelle and Jill Biden have already said -- that every American, every single person in this country, can do something to support our remarkable troops and their families. Everybody can do something.
So seven years ago, a bartender from Long Island had the same idea. He wasn’t from a military family. He had never served in the military. But he knew that he owed our military something. He was just an ordinary American who was grateful for the service of all those who wear the uniform. And he said, “I just wanted to give something back.”
So he jumped on his bike and rode across the country -- over 5,000 miles -- to raise funds and awareness for our wounded warriors. Today, there are Soldier Rides all across America giving our wounded warriors the confidence and support they need to recover. That’s the difference a single person can make. Today we want to thank Chris Carney and everyone from the Wounded Warrior Project for reminding us of our obligations to each other as Americans.
After taking special note of a few individual soldiers with whom he had met before, President Obama thanked the riders for the inspiration they provide him and so many other Americans:
So to all the riders here today, I want to say, as your Commander-in-Chief and as an American, thank you. We are grateful for you. You represent the very best in America. And in your fight to recover and in the ride that you’re about to begin, we see the values and virtues that make our country great.
We may take a hit. We may endure great loss. But we are a strong and resilient people. We push on. We persevere. We’re confident in our cause. And we know that, like generations of Americans before us, we will emerge stronger than before.
read more here Wounded Warrior Project Soldier's Ride
Toxic waste cleaned up at Army housing project
The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday May 5, 2011 12:07:32 EDT
FAIRBANKS, Alaska — Toxic waste discovered during the construction of housing at Fort Wainwright has been cleaned up.
The discovery of the buried toxic waste in 2005 delayed the completion of the 55-unit development known as Taku Gardens at the Fairbanks base. It also delayed occupation of the housing. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner says the housing now is slated to open October 2012.
Joe Malen, the Army’s cleanup manager, said at a town hall Tuesday that the top level of soil is now considered safe. But tenants will not be able to dig wells or garden without using raised beds because of contamination deep in the soil.
Wilson expects to fund benefits improvements
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday May 4, 2011 13:16:54 EDT
The chairman of the House subcommittee responsible for military benefits said Wednesday he is “very hopeful” of finding money to pay for some major benefits improvements next week when the House Armed Services Committee takes up the 2012 defense budget.
Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., chairman of the committee’s personnel panel, said he is looking for money to pay for improvements in reserve retired pay, to reduce the so-called “widow’s tax” that cuts military survivor benefits for those also receiving such benefits from the Veterans Affairs Department, and to prevent a proposed retail pharmacy co-pay increase for new prescriptions for acute ailments.
Wilson said he is not making promises for large and sweeping changes, but he believes committee aides have identified some sources of funding from within the defense budget that could be tapped to pay for modest changes in those three programs.
Wilson has the support of the panel’s ranking Democrat, Rep. Susan Davis of California, in his effort to find a way around budget rules that limit sources of funding.
“I am an optimist, and I believe we can do things,” Wilson said. “I’m not saying we can do it all, but that we can take some steps in the right direction.”
Wilson made no mention of finding money for another cause he has long supported: complete elimination of the offset in military retired pay for those also receiving veterans disability compensation.
Committee aides, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said they have located possible sources of funding that Wilson and Davis could use, but they did not want to say more, out of fear that someone else might claim the money for another addition to the defense bill.
“Let’s just say that to get something, you have to give something, so we can find money if we are willing to cut, and we are willing to cut,” said one aide.
read more here Wilson expects to fund benefits improvements
Their future should not depend on who their commanders are or what rules they apply. Over the last ten years there have been many reports of soldiers using alcohol and drugs to stop feeling the effects of combat but finding help instead of discharges. Unfortunately there there have also been too many given the "bums rush" out the door cutting them off from everything as a member of the military as well as what they would have received as a veteran.
They lose their military pay and benefits including housing and when they need it the most, their healthcare. Where do you think they can go after serving and suffering for doing it when they have been cut off from everything?
They lose the chance to go to college topped off with the fact that most companies won't hire a dishonorably discharged veteran especially when there are so many honorably discharged veterans with medals looking for work when employers won't hire them. They lose the VA healthcare along with compensation for wounds they received including TBI and PTSD. They lose support from organizations, most with bylaws regarding conditions that the veteran was honorably discharged.
Their future should not depend on who they served under but it does. How do you tell a soldier like Bill Surwillo that his service leading to all of his suffering just killed off his future but others found the help they needed and are still in or going to college or being treated for what combat did to them? Then how to you tell him that had they left him alone for one more day, he would have received everything he should have? How do you tell him that? How do you explain to him that while he served at Lewis-McChord and lost it all, if he served under another commander, he would be in treatment and see his service appreciated? Four years in a unit that went through hell and they couldn't give him one more day to heal his life?
Combat Vet Loses GI Bill Over Pot And Spice
Austin Jenkins
05/03/2011
TRANSCRIPT
NEAR JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. – Here's a soldier's tale. Bill Surwillo deploys to Afghanistan. Nearly a quarter of his platoon is killed. He comes home with PTSD. He turns to marijuana and spice – a synthetic version of the drug – to relax. The Army kicks him out and takes away his GI Bill. Is this fair?
I meet Bill Surwillo at a noisy café just outside the gates of Joint Base Lewis-McChord. His car is packed and he's ready to head home to Wisconsin. He's been kicked out of the Army for drug use one day shy of his official end of service date – and he's bitter.
Bill Surwillo: "I gave my life to that unit for the past four years."
Surwillo is especially upset the Army took away his college benefits. He wanted go to trade school to become a plumber or welder.
Sitting next to him in the café booth is his friend and fellow battle buddy, Nick White. Over the din, they describe the chaos in both their lives since they returned home.
That leads them to war stories from what they call their "gnarly" deployment to Afghanistan.
Honestly there are many things people do not agree on. This is one of them and has nothing to do with being a Chaplain or even a Christian since we can't agree on much else anyway. The death penalty is another thing people cannot agree on. So let's stop trying to. Why can't we just agree that the long nightmare that began in the 90's is over and may the souls killed because of Osama rest in peace?
Chaplains ponder ethics of celebrating bin Laden's death
By PATRICK DICKSON
Stars and Stripes
Published: May 4, 2011
KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — Army Chaplain (Maj.) Mitchel Tulloss was pondering whether it was acceptable, from a theological standpoint, for the soldiers he counsels in Afghanistan to rejoice over the killing of Osama bin Laden when he abruptly excused himself from a telephone interview. He had to check on noises he thought were incoming fire.
Navy Chaplain (Cmdr.) Philip J. Pelikan, an Eastern Orthodox priest who spent a year with Marines in Helmand province, Afghanistan, from 2009-2010, said he understood the instinct to celebrate, but hoped to appeal to servicemembers’ better selves.
“When you’ve been in the morgue and seen our guys, the temptation to rejoice when the bad guys get it is a strong one,” he said. “I think we have to fight those tendencies to celebrate or rejoice in the death of anyone.”
read more here Chaplains ponder ethics of celebrating bin Laden's death
Army Wives Of Deployed Soldiers, Recently Returned Soldiers React To Bin Laden Death
Marshall Zelinger, 7NEWS Content Producer/Presenter
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Military families in Colorado Springs continue to deal with the unknown even though Osama bin Laden has been killed.
Outside of the main gate at Fort Carson is the Global War on Terrorism Fallen Soldier Memorial Wall. The names of 282 Fort Carson soldiers killed in Afghanistan and Iraq since Sept. 11 have been etched into rocks. On May 26, the names of 17 more soldiers killed in the last year will be added to the memorial.
click link for more
Guardsmen rescue 93-year-old from car
The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday May 4, 2011 11:07:09 EDT
POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. — Two members of the Missouri National Guard are getting recognition after their rescue, captured on videotape, of a 93-year-old woman from a flooded roadway along the Black River in Poplar Bluff.
read more here Guardsmen rescue 93-year-old from car
Wife: Missing Iraq Veteran Jerry Beck Showed Signs of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Jennifer Beck said she last saw her husband April 26 at their home in Georgia. His abandoned car was tagged April 27, and linked to him three days later, after being found on Interstate 75, beneath the Leroy Selmon Crosstown Expressway.
By Linda Chion Kenney
Uncertainty, fear and anger overshadow the life of Jennifer Beck as she awaits word — any word — about her missing husband, U.S. Army Specialist Jerry James Beck, whose green Toyota Corolla was found abandoned on Interstate 75, underneath the Leroy Selmon Crosstown Expressway outside of Greater Brandon.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office is treating this disappearance as a missing-person case and is seeking the public’s help. So are police in Hinesville, Ga., near Savannah, where Beck, 35, was stationed at Fort Stewart.
Beck’s car was first spotted by Road Rangers for the Florida Department of Transportation, who tagged the car as abandoned on April 27, one day after Beck’s disappearance and the same day Jennifer Beck reported him missing.
It wasn’t until April 30 that the car was linked to Jerry Beck, who used to live in Florida and has friends in the Tampa Bay area.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office at 813-247-8200. Or, the Hinesville Police Department at 912-368-8215.
Mr. REID (for himself and Mr. MCCONNELL) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on
RESOLUTION
Honoring the members of the military and intelligence com- munity who carried out the mission that killed Osama bin Laden, and for other purposes.
Whereas, on May 1, 2011, United States personnel killed terrorist leader Osama bin Laden during the course of a targeted strike against his secret compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan;
Whereas Osama bin Laden was the leader of the al Qaeda terrorist organization, the most significant terrorism threat to the United States and the international community;
Whereas Osama bin Laden was the architect of terrorist at- tacks which killed nearly 3,000 civilians on September 11, 2001, the most deadly terrorist attack against our Nation, in which al Qaeda terrorists hijacked four airplanes and crashed them into the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and, due to heroic efforts by civilian passengers to disrupt the terrorists, near Shanksville, Pennsylvania;
Whereas Osama bin Laden planned or supported numerous other deadly terrorist attacks against the United States and its allies, including the 1998 bombings of United States embassies in Kenya and Tanzania and the 2000 attack on the U.S.S. Cole in Yemen, and against innocent civilians in countries around the world, including the 2004 attack on commuter trains in Madrid, Spain and the 2005 bombings of the mass transit system in London, England;
Whereas, following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the United States, under President George W. Bush, led an international coalition into Afghanistan to dismantle al Qaeda, deny them a safe haven in Afghanistan and ungoverned areas along the Pakistani border, and bring Osama bin Laden to justice;
Whereas President Barack Obama in 2009 committed additional forces and resources to efforts in Afghanistan and Pakistan as ‘‘the central front in our enduring struggle against terrorism and extremism’’;
Whereas the valiant members of the United States Armed Forces have courageously and vigorously pursued al Qaeda and its affiliates in Afghanistan and around the world;
Whereas the anonymous, unsung heroes of the intelligence community have pursued al Qaeda and affiliates in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and around the world with tremendous dedication, sacrifice, and professionalism;
Whereas the close collaboration between the Armed Forces and the intelligence community prompted the Director of National Intelligence, General James Clapper, to state, ‘‘Never have I seen a more remarkable example of focused integration, seamless collaboration, and sheer pro- fessional magnificence as was demonstrated by the Intelligence Community in the ultimate demise of Osama bin Laden.’’;
Whereas, while the death of Osama bin Laden represents a significant blow to the al Qaeda organization and its af- filiates and to terrorist organizations around the world, terrorism remains a critical threat to United States national security; and
Whereas President Obama said, ‘‘For over two decades, bin Laden has been al Qaeda’s leader and symbol, and has continued to plot attacks against our country and our friends and allies. The death of bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our Nation’s effort to defeat al Qaeda.’’: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Senate declares that the death of Osama bin Laden represents a measure of justice and relief for the families and friends of the nearly 3,000 men and women who lost their lives on September 11, 2001, the men and women in the United States and around the world who have been killed by other al Qaeda sponsored attacks, the men and women of the United States Armed Forces and the intelligence community who have sacrificed their lives pursuing Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda; commends the men and women of the United States Armed Forces and the United States intelligence community for the tremendous commitment, perseverance, professionalism, and sacrifice they displayed in bringing Osama bin Laden to justice; commends the men and women of the United States Armed Forces and the United States intelligence community for committing themselves to defeating, disrupting, and dismantling al Qaeda;commends the President for ordering the successful operations to locate and eliminate Osama bin Laden; and reaffirms its commitment to disrupting, dismantling, and defeating al Qaeda and affiliated organizations around the world that threaten United States national security, eliminating a safe haven for terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and bringing terrorists to justice.
Paul Barrett, right, father of fallen U.S. National Guard Sgt. Robert Barrett, receives a hug as Paul's wife Carlene, left, looks on at the funeral of their son in April 2010. (AP)
Hit Hard By War, Fall River Reflects On Bin Laden's Death
WBUR
FALL RIVER, Mass. — In the past year, five young men in this community have lost their lives fighting in the two wars that started because of Osama bin Laden and the Sept. 11 attacks. For their friends and family, the news of the al-Qaida leader’s death brought a particular sense of pride and justice.
A Family Remembers Its Son
One of those men was U.S. National Guard Sgt. Robert Barrett, who was killed in Afghanistan by a suicide bomber on April 19, 2010. At his family’s modest home, adorned with American flags and tributes to Robert, his grandmother, Sue Galloway, sat on the porch the afternoon after bin Laden’s death. Beside her was her great-granddaughter, Sophie — Robert’s 3-year-old daughter.
The night before, Galloway had watched President Obama’s announcement on television with Robert’s mother. She said they largely kept their feelings to themselves as they listened to the news. “I was just kind of happy that he was gone,” Galloway explained. “Because of all the chaos that he’s created in America itself — and all of the boys that he is at fault of killing. Especially here in Fall River.”
The week before had been the one-year anniversary of Robert’s death. While Galloway says bin Laden’s death doesn’t make the loss of her grandson any easier, she says it marks the time to get the other soldiers out of Afghanistan and Iraq. “Bring all these boys, mothers, fathers, sons, daughters — bring them home to their families. That’s where they belong,” she said, her voice straining.
“My grandson is never coming home. But it don’t mean that he’s not here, because he is,” she said, looking to her great-granddaughter. “Right there. In Sophie. He was a great kid. I miss him, I miss him so much it’s unbelievable. And I have 14 grandchildren.”
