Hundreds Pay Respects to Soldier, Ward Off Protesters
The whole town of Jamestown, Pa., has 600 to 700 residents.
But Friday, there were several times that many people in the small community for the funeral services of Army Capt. Joshua McClimans, 30, who died last month in Afghanistan.
They took their places along Liberty Street, waiting to see if a threatened protest against McClimans by members of the controversial Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church would ever materialize.
"We will not stand back quietly while someone tries to disrupt the memory of a man who lived and breathed and died for our rights and our freedom," said Tammy Hodge, of Jamestown.
McClimans was killed April 22 as he was on his way to work at Forward Operating Base Salerno, in Khost province near Kabul. He was a member of the 848th Forward Surgical Team based in Twinsburg, Ohio. He would have turned 31 next week and had a young son, Max.
The Westboro Church has become known for sending members to military funerals, carrying obscene signs and shouting that the deaths of servicemen and women are God's way of punishing us for accepting homosexuality. After learning the church had listed McClimans' services on its list of demonstration sites, Hodge went online herself using Facebook to encourage others to support the Captain's family and friends. The effort drew hundreds from surrounding communities and even other states.
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Hundreds Pay Respects to Soldier, Ward Off Protesters
Saturday, May 7, 2011
A mother’s love fans son’s will to survive
A mother’s love fans son’s will to survive
By ERIC ADLER
The Kansas City Star
On the fifth floor of the University of Kansas Hospital, in a corner room in the burn unit, a mother leans close to her son’s right ear.
He lies on the bed, eyes closed. Burns cover 90 percent of his body. Tubes snake from veins and his throat into humming machines.
“Josh?” Lisa Ott Battagliola whispers.
Whether her boy, Josh Langton, 27, can hear her, she doesn’t know. Even if he can, the memory of her presence may be lost in the fog of pain medication.
It doesn’t matter.
“Josh?” she says again.
Because if there’s one simple Mother’s Day lesson that Battagliola — a 4-foot-11-inch mom given to form-fitting jeans and high heels, born 50 years ago to a tough Las Vegas construction family — has learned through years of family hardships, through ups and down with her eldest son, it’s this:
“At the end of the day, tell your child, no matter how old they are, that you love them. Because no matter how old they are, they’re your child. Make sure they know you love them. One day you may get that 4 o’clock in the morning phone call.”
Read more: A mother’s love fans son’s will to survive
By ERIC ADLER
The Kansas City Star
On the fifth floor of the University of Kansas Hospital, in a corner room in the burn unit, a mother leans close to her son’s right ear.
He lies on the bed, eyes closed. Burns cover 90 percent of his body. Tubes snake from veins and his throat into humming machines.
“Josh?” Lisa Ott Battagliola whispers.
Whether her boy, Josh Langton, 27, can hear her, she doesn’t know. Even if he can, the memory of her presence may be lost in the fog of pain medication.
It doesn’t matter.
“Josh?” she says again.
Because if there’s one simple Mother’s Day lesson that Battagliola — a 4-foot-11-inch mom given to form-fitting jeans and high heels, born 50 years ago to a tough Las Vegas construction family — has learned through years of family hardships, through ups and down with her eldest son, it’s this:
“At the end of the day, tell your child, no matter how old they are, that you love them. Because no matter how old they are, they’re your child. Make sure they know you love them. One day you may get that 4 o’clock in the morning phone call.”
Josh has a wife, Jamie, and a 3-year-old daughter, Lilly, to live for. He was a soldier who survived Iraq and the PTSD nightmares that later haunted him.
Read more: A mother’s love fans son’s will to survive
US Military Suicidal Thoughts Up 7,000%
Why does it ever have to get so bad suicide seems to be better than living?
Because they don't know how to heal? Or because no one ever told them what they needed to understand?
This is where the healing begins
Suicidal Thoughts Up 7,000% As Reason For U.S. Military Hospitalizations Over Past Five Years
Posted by MARK THOMPSON Friday, May 6, 2011
This surprising chart is contained in a new Pentagon report. "Annual numbers of hospitalizations with primary (first-listed) diagnoses of suicidal ideation at discharge have steadily and sharply increased (from 5 in 2006 to 355 in 2010)," the Pentagon notes. That's a 7,000% increase in patients who reported thinking of killing themselves.
Read more: Suicidal Thoughts up 7,000 percent
Because they don't know how to heal? Or because no one ever told them what they needed to understand?
This is where the healing begins
Benjamin Campione’s decades-long struggle ends with shooting by police
Man details brother's struggle with mental illness before Thursday's fatal shooting by police
Published: Friday, May 06, 2011, 8:42 PM
By Charles McChesney / The Post-Standard
Syracuse, NY -- Victor Campione said he’d been to police three times in the past year, alerting them that his younger brother wasn’t taking his medication and was slipping deeper into paranoid schizophrenia.
On Thursday, two sheriff’s deputies and one Syracuse police officer ended Benjamin Campione’s decades-long struggle with mental illness by shooting him dead when he pointed a pellet gun at them in the parking lot of the Regional Transportation Center.
“This wasn’t suicide by cop,” said Campione, of Jordan, it was a mentally ill person reacting to what he thought was a threat.
Campione said his brother, who he calls “Benny,” was first diagnosed while serving in the Army in the late 1970s. He was discharged from the service after a year and a half of peacetime service as a medic. After that he came home and lived with or near family.
read more here
Benjamin Campione
Published: Friday, May 06, 2011, 8:42 PM
By Charles McChesney / The Post-Standard
Syracuse, NY -- Victor Campione said he’d been to police three times in the past year, alerting them that his younger brother wasn’t taking his medication and was slipping deeper into paranoid schizophrenia.
On Thursday, two sheriff’s deputies and one Syracuse police officer ended Benjamin Campione’s decades-long struggle with mental illness by shooting him dead when he pointed a pellet gun at them in the parking lot of the Regional Transportation Center.
“This wasn’t suicide by cop,” said Campione, of Jordan, it was a mentally ill person reacting to what he thought was a threat.
Campione said his brother, who he calls “Benny,” was first diagnosed while serving in the Army in the late 1970s. He was discharged from the service after a year and a half of peacetime service as a medic. After that he came home and lived with or near family.
read more here
Benjamin Campione
A warrior’s toughest battle: getting some help for the veterans
A warrior’s toughest battle: getting some help for the veterans
A military man and support expert outlines problems in a meeting with area care providers.
MATT HUGHES mhughes@timesleader.com
NANTICOKE – When U.S. Army Col. David W. Sutherland enters a building, part of him can’t help but think how he and a team of armed soldiers might take it over.
Standing telephone poles and working street lights sometimes leave him bewildered.
Sutherland, a veteran of both Iraq wars, has been shot at, bombed and not long ago witnessed a suicide bomber kill 20 people before his eyes, less than 10 feet away. Normal life isn’t quite normal for him any more.
At Luzerne County Community College on Friday, Sutherland commanded the attention of more than 80 representatives of organizations and agencies in Luzerne, Lackawanna and Wyoming counties about how they can better aid returning military and veterans’ transition to civilian life.
The symposium was part of a new collaborative initiative called the Tri-Vets Community Task Force aimed at doing just that.
Sutherland is now the special assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff with the principal focus on Warrior and Family Support. He has served in the military for 28 years and in 2008 and 2009 was regional division chief in the J5 Strategic Plans and Policy Directorate, making him responsible for strategic planning and advising the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on issues relating to the Middle East.
read more here
A warrior’s toughest battle: getting some help for the veterans
A military man and support expert outlines problems in a meeting with area care providers.
MATT HUGHES mhughes@timesleader.com
NANTICOKE – When U.S. Army Col. David W. Sutherland enters a building, part of him can’t help but think how he and a team of armed soldiers might take it over.
Standing telephone poles and working street lights sometimes leave him bewildered.
Sutherland, a veteran of both Iraq wars, has been shot at, bombed and not long ago witnessed a suicide bomber kill 20 people before his eyes, less than 10 feet away. Normal life isn’t quite normal for him any more.
At Luzerne County Community College on Friday, Sutherland commanded the attention of more than 80 representatives of organizations and agencies in Luzerne, Lackawanna and Wyoming counties about how they can better aid returning military and veterans’ transition to civilian life.
The symposium was part of a new collaborative initiative called the Tri-Vets Community Task Force aimed at doing just that.
Sutherland is now the special assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff with the principal focus on Warrior and Family Support. He has served in the military for 28 years and in 2008 and 2009 was regional division chief in the J5 Strategic Plans and Policy Directorate, making him responsible for strategic planning and advising the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on issues relating to the Middle East.
read more here
A warrior’s toughest battle: getting some help for the veterans
Father of captured Idaho National Guard Private asks for son's freedom
Father of captured U.S. soldier asks for son's freedom
By Laura Zuckerman
SALMON, Idaho | Sat May 7, 2011 12:00am EDT
(Reuters) - The father of a U.S. soldier who was captured in Afghanistan two years ago on Friday posted an online appeal asking the government of Pakistan and its armed forces to help free his son.
"Our family is counting on your professional integrity and honor to secure the safe return of our son and we thank you," Robert Bergdahl says about his son, Idaho National Guard Private Bowe Bergdahl, in a video posted on YouTube.
Bowe Bergdahl, of Hailey, Idaho, was a member of the 1st Battalion of the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment in Afghanistan when he went missing June 30, 2009, and was declared captured by the Taliban three days later by the U.S. military. The Army specialist was 23 at the time.
The branch of the Taliban suspected to be holding Bowe Bergdahl operates on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border and may be based in tribal lands in Pakistan, according to 2009 statements by the U.S. Department of Defense.
read more here
Father of captured U.S. soldier asks for son's freedom
By Laura Zuckerman
SALMON, Idaho | Sat May 7, 2011 12:00am EDT
(Reuters) - The father of a U.S. soldier who was captured in Afghanistan two years ago on Friday posted an online appeal asking the government of Pakistan and its armed forces to help free his son.
"Our family is counting on your professional integrity and honor to secure the safe return of our son and we thank you," Robert Bergdahl says about his son, Idaho National Guard Private Bowe Bergdahl, in a video posted on YouTube.
Bowe Bergdahl, of Hailey, Idaho, was a member of the 1st Battalion of the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment in Afghanistan when he went missing June 30, 2009, and was declared captured by the Taliban three days later by the U.S. military. The Army specialist was 23 at the time.
The branch of the Taliban suspected to be holding Bowe Bergdahl operates on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border and may be based in tribal lands in Pakistan, according to 2009 statements by the U.S. Department of Defense.
read more here
Father of captured U.S. soldier asks for son's freedom
Vietnam veteran finally faces the wall at Melbourne Reunion
Vietnam veteran finally faces the wall
Written by
R. NORMAN MOODY
FLORIDA TODAY
MELBOURNE — George Taylor stretched his left hand out, his fingers touching the name of a fellow soldier killed in the Vietnam War more than 40 years ago and engraved on the Vietnam Memorial Traveling Wall.
It was the first time Taylor could emotionally bring himself to face the wall at the Florida Vietnam and All Veterans Reunion at Wickham Park. The wall, which will be on display through Sunday, bears the names of more than 58,000 Americans who died in the war.
Taylor, who turned 61 on Friday, took off his ever-present cowboy hat, bowed his head with his forehead touching the wall, and he paused for a moment of silence as he touched the name of Rafael Colon-Santos.
Turning away from the wall, Taylor faced fellow veterans and supporters who gathered behind him. Some held a banner that said "Happy Birthday, Cowboy George." They shook his hand and hugged him.
"I had to try to lay 41 years of nightmares to rest," Taylor said, lips quivering as he choked back tears.
Taylor, founder and president of the National Veterans Homeless Support, which helps local homeless veterans, some from the Vietnam War, with supplies and helps to get them out of homelessness.
read more here
Vietnam veteran finally faces the wall
Written by
R. NORMAN MOODY
FLORIDA TODAY
MELBOURNE — George Taylor stretched his left hand out, his fingers touching the name of a fellow soldier killed in the Vietnam War more than 40 years ago and engraved on the Vietnam Memorial Traveling Wall.
It was the first time Taylor could emotionally bring himself to face the wall at the Florida Vietnam and All Veterans Reunion at Wickham Park. The wall, which will be on display through Sunday, bears the names of more than 58,000 Americans who died in the war.
Taylor, who turned 61 on Friday, took off his ever-present cowboy hat, bowed his head with his forehead touching the wall, and he paused for a moment of silence as he touched the name of Rafael Colon-Santos.
Turning away from the wall, Taylor faced fellow veterans and supporters who gathered behind him. Some held a banner that said "Happy Birthday, Cowboy George." They shook his hand and hugged him.
"I had to try to lay 41 years of nightmares to rest," Taylor said, lips quivering as he choked back tears.
Taylor, founder and president of the National Veterans Homeless Support, which helps local homeless veterans, some from the Vietnam War, with supplies and helps to get them out of homelessness.
read more here
Vietnam veteran finally faces the wall
PTSD veteran told to leave Hooters because of his service dog!
Veteran says restaurant refused to serve him with his service animal
Posted at: 05/06/2011 10:52 PM
By: Eddie Garcia, KOB Eyewitness News 4
Justin Jordan says a Hooters refused to serve him and tried to kick him out with his licensed service dog Dallas.
A Rio Rancho man says an Albuquerque Hooters violated his rights after trying to kick him and his dog out.
He is a war veteran and is still actively serving; his dog is a licensed service animal and is protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Air Force Master Sergeant Justin Jordan has served his country all over the world for 18 years but post traumatic stress disorder began creeping up on him making every aspect of his life seem like torture.
That was until he met a specially trained English bulldog named Dallas.
"So many of our veterans are stuck in their homes, not being able to go out in public. She gives me the ability to go out in public and participate in things I haven't done in a while - go to the park with my kids," said Jordan.
Last week, Jordan wanted to see a syndicated radio host who was in town and meeting fans at the Hooters on Alameda and Coors.
All was going well until management told Jordan to leave because of his dog, Dallas.
read more here
Veteran says restaurant refused to serve him
Posted at: 05/06/2011 10:52 PM
By: Eddie Garcia, KOB Eyewitness News 4
Justin Jordan says a Hooters refused to serve him and tried to kick him out with his licensed service dog Dallas.
A Rio Rancho man says an Albuquerque Hooters violated his rights after trying to kick him and his dog out.
He is a war veteran and is still actively serving; his dog is a licensed service animal and is protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Air Force Master Sergeant Justin Jordan has served his country all over the world for 18 years but post traumatic stress disorder began creeping up on him making every aspect of his life seem like torture.
That was until he met a specially trained English bulldog named Dallas.
"So many of our veterans are stuck in their homes, not being able to go out in public. She gives me the ability to go out in public and participate in things I haven't done in a while - go to the park with my kids," said Jordan.
Last week, Jordan wanted to see a syndicated radio host who was in town and meeting fans at the Hooters on Alameda and Coors.
All was going well until management told Jordan to leave because of his dog, Dallas.
read more here
Veteran says restaurant refused to serve him
Wounded vet makes progress in recovery
Wounded vet makes progress in recovery
By Anna Krejci, Dells Events | Posted: Friday, May 6, 2011
A little over a year ago, Army Spc. Michael Gawel, serving in Afghanistan, received injuries to his spine from an improvised explosive device that tore apart his vehicle.
In that span of time he recuperated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington D.C. where he was wheelchair bound most of the time, to walking with a cane at his Wisconsin Dells home.
As for what's happening in Afghanistan now, Gawel said he follows the news. Sunday night President Barack Obama announced that Navy SEALs had killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. Bin Laden is blamed for the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
"It was a good job to the soldiers for doing what we were over there for. I'm not going to say I'm glad about anybody getting killed. I guess it brings us one step closer to the win on the war on terrorism in my mind," he said.
Now he is on his feet and walking without a cane while he performs office work for the Army National Guard in Reedsburg.
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Wounded vet makes progress in recovery
By Anna Krejci, Dells Events | Posted: Friday, May 6, 2011
A little over a year ago, Army Spc. Michael Gawel, serving in Afghanistan, received injuries to his spine from an improvised explosive device that tore apart his vehicle.
In that span of time he recuperated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington D.C. where he was wheelchair bound most of the time, to walking with a cane at his Wisconsin Dells home.
As for what's happening in Afghanistan now, Gawel said he follows the news. Sunday night President Barack Obama announced that Navy SEALs had killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. Bin Laden is blamed for the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
"It was a good job to the soldiers for doing what we were over there for. I'm not going to say I'm glad about anybody getting killed. I guess it brings us one step closer to the win on the war on terrorism in my mind," he said.
Now he is on his feet and walking without a cane while he performs office work for the Army National Guard in Reedsburg.
read more here
Wounded vet makes progress in recovery
Army, charity save ailing Afghan boy
Army, charity save ailing Afghan boy
Child recovers from bladder surgery
6:57 AM, May. 7, 2011
Written by
Matt Manochio | Staff Writer
Born in poverty in Afghanistan with his bladder literally hanging over his groin outside of his body, he was unable to properly function, and could only walk bow-legged.
Then one day his mother brought the 6-year-old boy to an Army base in Jalalabad City, where she met Army Maj. Glenn Battschinger of Mays Landing.
Fast-forward one year to the John and Jacqueline McMullen Children’s Center at St. Barnabas Medical Center, where the Army major, the little boy, and his Egyptian-born pediatric urologist met Friday to celebrate the child’s recovery.
Many things had to happen in the 12 months that elapsed from when Muslam met Battschinger, whose mission in Afghanistan was government mentorship, acting as an outreach to the locals.
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Army, charity save ailing Afghan boy
Child recovers from bladder surgery
6:57 AM, May. 7, 2011
Written by
Matt Manochio | Staff Writer
Livingston, May 6, 2011---US Army Major Glenn Battschinger of Mays Landing, NJ meets with six-year-old Muslam Hagigshah , a boy from Afghanistan that Battschinger met while on combat patrol and helped to arrange for medical help for the child who was born with his bladder outside his body.LIVINGSTON — Muslam Hagigshah didn’t stand much of a chance.
BOB KARP/STAFF PHOTO / Staff Photo/staff photo
Born in poverty in Afghanistan with his bladder literally hanging over his groin outside of his body, he was unable to properly function, and could only walk bow-legged.
Then one day his mother brought the 6-year-old boy to an Army base in Jalalabad City, where she met Army Maj. Glenn Battschinger of Mays Landing.
Fast-forward one year to the John and Jacqueline McMullen Children’s Center at St. Barnabas Medical Center, where the Army major, the little boy, and his Egyptian-born pediatric urologist met Friday to celebrate the child’s recovery.
Many things had to happen in the 12 months that elapsed from when Muslam met Battschinger, whose mission in Afghanistan was government mentorship, acting as an outreach to the locals.
read more here
Army, charity save ailing Afghan boy
After severe war injuries, a new battlefield
U.S. Marine Juan Dominguez, 27, takes his first step on his new "stubbies" with the help of prosthetics specialists Kevin Kohler, left, and Peter Harsch at Naval Medical Center San Diego.
(Don Bartletti/Los Angeles Times / May 7, 2011)
After severe war injuries, a new battlefield
Troops with severe war injuries such as multiple amputations face a long and difficult rehabilitation. Naval Medical Center San Diego is where some learn a new way of life.
By Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times
May 7, 2011
Reporting from San Diego—
Marine Lance Cpl. Juan Dominguez has come a long way since October, when a roadside bomb in Afghanistan ripped off his legs above the knees and shredded his right arm above the elbow.
A Navy corpsman, part of the same patrol, kept Dominguez from bleeding to death and wisely refused his pleas for morphine, lest he go into shock. Then there was the Navy doctor at nearby Forward Operating Camp Dwyer who "wouldn't let me die" and the intensive care he received at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany.
After that, Dominguez spent five months at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., and at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., where he underwent 23 surgeries. Today, the 26-year-old from Deming, N.M., is an outpatient at Naval Medical Center San Diego.
"This is home now," he said of the hospital on a hill beside Balboa Park.
Dominguez is among a growing number of Marines and soldiers who have suffered catastrophic wounds that will require years of care in military hospitals. The Pentagon and the Department of Veterans Affairs are scrambling to put together a continuum of long-term care for Dominguez and other severely wounded personnel.
read more here
After severe war injuries, a new battlefield
If there is one thing our disabled veterans have to teach us, not giving up should be at the top of the list.
After the Vietnam War many amputees returned home. Suffering the loss of limbs, there was a time when each of them had to wonder what their future would look like. Then came a time when they decided they were in charge of what their future would be.
In the Orlando Chapter of the Disabled American Veterans there are two living examples of not giving up. As a matter of fact, they went on to become outstanding.
Meet a Hero!
Jim Sursely
Jim recalls fire and noise erupting at his feet. But he doesn’t remember being thrown into the air by the explosion of a Viet Cong land mine. In fact, he didn’t learn the full extent of his sacrifice for America until he landed in an Army hospital in Colorado.
The explosion tore away both of Jim Sursely’s legs and his left arm. It could have been worse. If Jim’s clothing had not caught fire, cauterizing his gaping wounds, the young Army Staff Sergeant might have died. That’s why he says, “It’s an absolute miracle that I’m still around.”
Jim survived some of the most severe battle wounds ever, and the demons of fear, depression and despair came knocking on his door early on. But he remembers the tough love he got from other disabled veterans. As he built a successful real estate career, he always made time to give other disabled veterans the same kind of help that once meant so much to him.
That involvement led to Jim’s election to a one-year term as National Commander of the Disabled American Veterans. He continues to play an active role in the DAV nationally, in the state of Florida, and in his local DAV Chapter.
Jim with Dennis Joyner
Dennis Joyner
Dennis A. Joyner, Director and Secretary
Mr. Joyner served in the U.S. Army, 9th Infantry Division, in Vietnam. While on patrol in June 1969 in Vietnam's Mekong Delta, he became a triple amputee due to a land mine explosion. For the injuries sustained in battle, he received the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart.
Mr. Joyner served as National Commander of the 1.3 million-member-plus Disabled American Veterans (DAV) from 1983-84. During his term as National Commander, President Reagan named him the nation's Handicapped American of the Year, and he was honored as DAV's National Outstanding Disabled Veteran of the Year in 1977.
Mr. Joyner’s DAV leadership includes all elected offices in DAV Chapter 36 in Vandergrift, Pennsylvania; service as an officer in the DAV’s Department of Pennsylvania; and two years as DAV Department of California Adjutant. He served as President of the DAV Vietnam Veterans National Memorial Corporation from 1986 to 1998, when the corporation made a gift of the Memorial to the David Westphall Veterans Foundation. Currently he serves as Secretary-Treasurer of the DAV National Service Foundation Board of Directors, and in various leadership positions at the Department and Chapter level in Florida, where he now lives.
Mr. Joyner earned a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting at Robert Morris College in Pittsburgh in 1975 and an Associate of Arts Degree from the Community College of Allegheny in 1974. His professional experi¬ence includes four years as Westmoreland County Juvenile Service Center Accountant and as Fiscal Manager for the Westmoreland County Courts, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. He was appointed Westmoreland County Court Administrator in 1979, responsible for administration of the eight-judge court system and all court-related offices. While living in Pennsylvania, he was appointed by then-Governor Richard L. Thornburgh to serve on that state's Vietnam Herbicide Commission. He was a budget analyst and manager for the Seminole County, Florida Office of Management and Budget from 1989 to 1998 when he was appointed Assistant Supervisor of Elections. Governor Jeb Bush appointed Mr. Joyner Supervisor of Elections for Seminole County, in January 2004. He retired in January 2005.
Mr. Joyner was appointed to the Disabled Veterans LIFE Memorial Foundation Board of Directors in June of 2008.
Jim Sursley with Gary Sinise
When the newly wounded come home, they have a lot of changes and challenges in their lives. Some of them are lucky to have a spouse like Jean Sursely and Donna Joyner supporting them but some have no one. We need to face the fact that not all families are strong or have an unbreakable bond. For them, it takes the rest of us getting involved in their tomorrows.
Friday, May 6, 2011
101st Airborne makes history again
Obama meets bin Laden raiders, promises victory over al Qaeda
By the CNN Wire Staff
May 6, 2011 5:39 p.m. EDT
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Obama promises victory over al Qaeda while addressing troops at Fort Campbell
Obama and Biden met members of the team that raided bin Laden's compound
Obama awards the Presidential Unit Citation to units involved in the mission
Pressure is growing for a U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan
Fort Campbell, Kentucky (CNN) -- President Barack Obama met Friday afternoon with members of the military team responsible for conducting the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound, and promised a war-weary nation victory over al Qaeda.
"We are ultimately going to defeat al Qaeda," the president told more than 2,300 troops who recently returned from Afghanistan. "We have cut off their head."
"Our strategy is working and there is no greater evidence of that than justice finally being delivered to Osama bin Laden," he declared. "We're still the America that does the hard things, that does the great things."
The president made his remarks at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, home to the Army's 101st Airborne Division and the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, the group that operated the helicopters used in the raid.
While at Fort Campbell, the president, along with Vice President Joe Biden, privately met with members of Navy SEAL Team 6, the unit that conducted the raid.
read more here
Obama meets bin Laden raiders, promises victory over al Qaeda
By the CNN Wire Staff
May 6, 2011 5:39 p.m. EDT
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Obama promises victory over al Qaeda while addressing troops at Fort Campbell
Obama and Biden met members of the team that raided bin Laden's compound
Obama awards the Presidential Unit Citation to units involved in the mission
Pressure is growing for a U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan
Fort Campbell, Kentucky (CNN) -- President Barack Obama met Friday afternoon with members of the military team responsible for conducting the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound, and promised a war-weary nation victory over al Qaeda.
"We are ultimately going to defeat al Qaeda," the president told more than 2,300 troops who recently returned from Afghanistan. "We have cut off their head."
"Our strategy is working and there is no greater evidence of that than justice finally being delivered to Osama bin Laden," he declared. "We're still the America that does the hard things, that does the great things."
The president made his remarks at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, home to the Army's 101st Airborne Division and the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, the group that operated the helicopters used in the raid.
While at Fort Campbell, the president, along with Vice President Joe Biden, privately met with members of Navy SEAL Team 6, the unit that conducted the raid.
read more here
Obama meets bin Laden raiders, promises victory over al Qaeda
Osama's death has healing power
Sgt. Andrew Soto pu ton his uniform and went to 1st Lt. Omar Vazquez's funeral. He reflected on the "brother" now gone and the others before him, but he also noticed how this funeral was a little bit different.
We can talk about how some people want to take over the conversation about Osama by trying to take away from the fact President Obama lined up all resources to find Osama and remove him from this earth, disregard the actions of the SEALS and the CIA but the minority in this country are irrelevant. Give these folks time and they'll be calling into talk shows saying they saw Osama with Santa trying to get off his naughty list. What Obama did was healing to the people directly touched by what evil did to them and their families.
Families mourn troops amid swirl of emotions
By Josh Lederman - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday May 5, 2011 18:27:01 EDT
TRENTON, N.J. — As mourners filed out of the church, two by two, the organist struck up an unusual tune for a funeral: “America the Beautiful.” Outside, military pallbearers in ceremonial dress carried the flag-draped casket of 1st Lt. Omar Vazquez to the waiting hearse, while a dozen retired servicemen saluted, flags in hand.
About 60 miles away, President Obama was laying a wreath at ground zero — another dramatic moment in a week of celebration and somber reflection that began with news of the death of Osama bin Laden.
Families and friends of U.S. troops recently killed in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan face a swirl of emotions as they bury their dead while the nation marks the killing of the terrorist mastermind of Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
“I was angry at first, because he didn’t get to see what he was actually fighting for,” said Vazquez’s cousin Marilyn Rodriguez.
Vazquez was killed by an improvised explosive device on April 22 in Iraq — nine days before Navy SEALs stormed a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Family members said the 25-year-old officer from Trenton had known since he was a little boy that he wanted to serve in the Army and defend his country from people like bin Laden.
“He would be proud, because they were out to make peace and get the people who hurt other people, to make sure it didn’t happen to other families,” Rodriguez said.
Sitting in the back pews of the Catholic church, under a golden inscription reading “The Lord is Here — He is Calling You,” a soldier who served with Vasquez reflected on the many funerals he’s attended for friends killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“It’s the only time I wear this uniform,” said Sgt. Andrew Soto, who served with Vasquez for about three years when Vasquez was a cadet.
Soto said this funeral was different because Vasquez died while the military is preparing to begin withdrawing troops from Afghanistan. But he said the knowledge that bin Laden is no longer a threat was helping him heal.
read more here
Families mourn troops amid swirl of emotions
Someday when history is being reviewed by students trying to understand what happened after 9-11, they will read about the actions of high school kids joining the armed forces. They will read about how many lives were lost and how many wounded along with what price tag the end of these two wars came with. They will read about heroes. What they will also read about is that while Obama had the plans in place to rid this earth of a monster like Osama, he had to make an announcement about the fact he was born is Hawaii and show his birth certificate because some people were given to much notoriety. That while the media ignored all the troops were doing in Afghanistan and Iraq just as much as they were ignoring what they were going thru after combat, they followed people like Donald Trump and Sarah Palin with cameras making sure their voices were heard.
While some wanted to know what fools were thinking, Obama was doing, but the media didn't care. Let them focus on what divides us so they get ratings but the people paying the price with their lives for our tomorrows know what is healing and good.
Soto said this funeral was different because Vasquez died while the military is preparing to begin withdrawing troops from Afghanistan. But he said the knowledge that bin Laden is no longer a threat was helping him heal.
We can talk about how some people want to take over the conversation about Osama by trying to take away from the fact President Obama lined up all resources to find Osama and remove him from this earth, disregard the actions of the SEALS and the CIA but the minority in this country are irrelevant. Give these folks time and they'll be calling into talk shows saying they saw Osama with Santa trying to get off his naughty list. What Obama did was healing to the people directly touched by what evil did to them and their families.
Families mourn troops amid swirl of emotions
By Josh Lederman - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday May 5, 2011 18:27:01 EDT
TRENTON, N.J. — As mourners filed out of the church, two by two, the organist struck up an unusual tune for a funeral: “America the Beautiful.” Outside, military pallbearers in ceremonial dress carried the flag-draped casket of 1st Lt. Omar Vazquez to the waiting hearse, while a dozen retired servicemen saluted, flags in hand.
About 60 miles away, President Obama was laying a wreath at ground zero — another dramatic moment in a week of celebration and somber reflection that began with news of the death of Osama bin Laden.
Families and friends of U.S. troops recently killed in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan face a swirl of emotions as they bury their dead while the nation marks the killing of the terrorist mastermind of Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
“I was angry at first, because he didn’t get to see what he was actually fighting for,” said Vazquez’s cousin Marilyn Rodriguez.
Vazquez was killed by an improvised explosive device on April 22 in Iraq — nine days before Navy SEALs stormed a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Family members said the 25-year-old officer from Trenton had known since he was a little boy that he wanted to serve in the Army and defend his country from people like bin Laden.
“He would be proud, because they were out to make peace and get the people who hurt other people, to make sure it didn’t happen to other families,” Rodriguez said.
Sitting in the back pews of the Catholic church, under a golden inscription reading “The Lord is Here — He is Calling You,” a soldier who served with Vasquez reflected on the many funerals he’s attended for friends killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“It’s the only time I wear this uniform,” said Sgt. Andrew Soto, who served with Vasquez for about three years when Vasquez was a cadet.
Soto said this funeral was different because Vasquez died while the military is preparing to begin withdrawing troops from Afghanistan. But he said the knowledge that bin Laden is no longer a threat was helping him heal.
read more here
Families mourn troops amid swirl of emotions
Someday when history is being reviewed by students trying to understand what happened after 9-11, they will read about the actions of high school kids joining the armed forces. They will read about how many lives were lost and how many wounded along with what price tag the end of these two wars came with. They will read about heroes. What they will also read about is that while Obama had the plans in place to rid this earth of a monster like Osama, he had to make an announcement about the fact he was born is Hawaii and show his birth certificate because some people were given to much notoriety. That while the media ignored all the troops were doing in Afghanistan and Iraq just as much as they were ignoring what they were going thru after combat, they followed people like Donald Trump and Sarah Palin with cameras making sure their voices were heard.
While some wanted to know what fools were thinking, Obama was doing, but the media didn't care. Let them focus on what divides us so they get ratings but the people paying the price with their lives for our tomorrows know what is healing and good.
Fort Carson soldier deployed to Afghanistan told of child's death at home
Mother hysterical after baby's scalding death, witnesses say
May 05, 2011 1:58 PM
LANCE BENZEL
THE GAZETTE
A Colorado Springs woman accused of first-degree murder in the drowning of her infant son in March would get so angry at her husband that she “didn’t want to touch” the boy, a detective testified Thursday.
Estella Toleafoa, 23, is accused of leaving 9-month-old Erich Tyler Jr. unattended in a bathtub on March 8 while she went across the street and bought chicken wings and cigarettes.
When Toleafoa returned, authorities say, the boy was lifeless – the victim of drowning and scalding of 80 percent of his body.
The murder charge alleges that Toleafoa “knowingly” caused her child’s death by leaving him unsupervised in the tub.
During a preliminary hearing that began Thursday, Colorado Springs police detective Fred Walker testified that a friend of Toleafoa said the woman complained bitterly about her husband, a Fort Carson soldier who was serving in Afghanistan at the time of their son’s death.
Toleafoa suspected Erich Tyler Sr. was having an affair, and told her friend the faltering marriage affected her feelings toward their son, Walker testified.
Read more: Mother hysterical after baby's scalding death
May 05, 2011 1:58 PM
LANCE BENZEL
THE GAZETTE
A Colorado Springs woman accused of first-degree murder in the drowning of her infant son in March would get so angry at her husband that she “didn’t want to touch” the boy, a detective testified Thursday.
Estella Toleafoa, 23, is accused of leaving 9-month-old Erich Tyler Jr. unattended in a bathtub on March 8 while she went across the street and bought chicken wings and cigarettes.
When Toleafoa returned, authorities say, the boy was lifeless – the victim of drowning and scalding of 80 percent of his body.
The murder charge alleges that Toleafoa “knowingly” caused her child’s death by leaving him unsupervised in the tub.
During a preliminary hearing that began Thursday, Colorado Springs police detective Fred Walker testified that a friend of Toleafoa said the woman complained bitterly about her husband, a Fort Carson soldier who was serving in Afghanistan at the time of their son’s death.
Toleafoa suspected Erich Tyler Sr. was having an affair, and told her friend the faltering marriage affected her feelings toward their son, Walker testified.
Read more: Mother hysterical after baby's scalding death
Police seek suicidal, AWOL Marine from Camp Lejeune
Thursday, May 5, 2011 - 10:03pm
Police seek suicidal, AWOL Marine
By Frank Gerace
Alexander Doron
County Police are looking for a Newark man they say has threatened to kill himself.
Police say 21-year-old Alexander Doron is AWOL from the Marine base at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, could be armed, and could be staying in the Newark area.
read more here
Police seek suicidal, AWOL Marine
Police seek suicidal, AWOL Marine
By Frank Gerace
Alexander Doron
County Police are looking for a Newark man they say has threatened to kill himself.
Police say 21-year-old Alexander Doron is AWOL from the Marine base at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, could be armed, and could be staying in the Newark area.
read more here
Police seek suicidal, AWOL Marine
Two High School Students Holding Benefit for PTSD
Helping Our Troops With Their Own Fight at Home
Written by Matthew A. Piacentini
Friday, 06 May 2011 00:00
Two Students Holding Benefit for PTSD
Brave American military personnel willingly put themselves in danger in service to their country every day. The effects of this kind of activity causes some veterans to experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.
According to information put out by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, “Most people have some stress-related reactions after a traumatic event… In moments of danger, our bodies prepare to fight our enemy, flee the situation, or freeze in the hope that the danger will move past us. But those feelings of alertness may stay even after the danger has passed.” This can lead to anxiety, depression, anger and more.
To help in awareness and prevention of PTSD, two seniors at North Shore High School are holding a benefit event this month.
Dillon Seudat and Gregory Knox will hold “Shots 4 Soldiers,” a benefit basketball tournament with proceeds going to the National Veterans Association, specifically towards veterans with PTSD.
This is a senior project for the two students, part of the Generation Next curriculum in which seniors do a service project.
read more here
Helping Our Troops With Their Own Fight at Home
Written by Matthew A. Piacentini
Friday, 06 May 2011 00:00
Two Students Holding Benefit for PTSD
Brave American military personnel willingly put themselves in danger in service to their country every day. The effects of this kind of activity causes some veterans to experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.
According to information put out by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, “Most people have some stress-related reactions after a traumatic event… In moments of danger, our bodies prepare to fight our enemy, flee the situation, or freeze in the hope that the danger will move past us. But those feelings of alertness may stay even after the danger has passed.” This can lead to anxiety, depression, anger and more.
To help in awareness and prevention of PTSD, two seniors at North Shore High School are holding a benefit event this month.
Dillon Seudat and Gregory Knox will hold “Shots 4 Soldiers,” a benefit basketball tournament with proceeds going to the National Veterans Association, specifically towards veterans with PTSD.
This is a senior project for the two students, part of the Generation Next curriculum in which seniors do a service project.
read more here
Helping Our Troops With Their Own Fight at Home
SSG Seyward McKinney Returns to Warrior Games
SSG Seyward McKinney Returns to Warrior Games
By Donna Butler, WTC Stratcom
In March 2009, AW2 Veteran SSG Seyward McKinney’s life changed. After returning from Iraq, McKinney was diagnosed with an arteriovenous malformation (AVM) in her brain. McKinney was treated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and underwent numerous surgeries and nine days after the last, one of the vessels in her brain leaked, which caused her to have a stroke. Paralyzed on the right side of her body, McKinney’s injury caused her to lose her right-sided peripheral vision. Although her injuries are not combat-related, she is a living testament that non-combat related injuries can challenge Soldiers just as much as combat-related injuries.
McKinney was stationed at the Walter Reed Warrior Transition Unit (WTU) and worked diligently to learn how to overcome her injuries, eventually empowering herself to reach another milestone in her life—competing in the 2010 Warrior Games. She competed in the women’s sitting shot-put, in addition to 10K recumbent cycling, sitting volleyball, and wheelchair basketball. These events helped her attain the sense of teamwork she enjoyed in the Army and now can continue to enjoy with athletics. At the 2010 Warrior Games, she won a gold medal in cycling and a bronze medal in shot-put. These two achievements demonstrated to McKinney that with determination and passion, she could continue to succeed.
read more here
SSG Seyward McKinney Returns to Warrior Games
By Donna Butler, WTC Stratcom
In March 2009, AW2 Veteran SSG Seyward McKinney’s life changed. After returning from Iraq, McKinney was diagnosed with an arteriovenous malformation (AVM) in her brain. McKinney was treated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and underwent numerous surgeries and nine days after the last, one of the vessels in her brain leaked, which caused her to have a stroke. Paralyzed on the right side of her body, McKinney’s injury caused her to lose her right-sided peripheral vision. Although her injuries are not combat-related, she is a living testament that non-combat related injuries can challenge Soldiers just as much as combat-related injuries.
McKinney was stationed at the Walter Reed Warrior Transition Unit (WTU) and worked diligently to learn how to overcome her injuries, eventually empowering herself to reach another milestone in her life—competing in the 2010 Warrior Games. She competed in the women’s sitting shot-put, in addition to 10K recumbent cycling, sitting volleyball, and wheelchair basketball. These events helped her attain the sense of teamwork she enjoyed in the Army and now can continue to enjoy with athletics. At the 2010 Warrior Games, she won a gold medal in cycling and a bronze medal in shot-put. These two achievements demonstrated to McKinney that with determination and passion, she could continue to succeed.
read more here
SSG Seyward McKinney Returns to Warrior Games
Gary Sinise working hard for veterans
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
Philly thug steals disability check from wounded Marine!
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
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