Sunday, August 28, 2011
Blind veteran to be evicted from Minnesota Veterans Home
Whistleblower: Blind and in need of special care, veteran may be evicted from VA Home
Updated: August 28, 2011 - 12:19 AM
Vietnam vet Gerald Bilderback is in jeopardy of eviction from the Veterans Home because of unpaid bills. He, however, doesn't control his money.
Fifteen years ago, Gerald Bilderback moved into the state-run Minnesota Veterans Home in Minneapolis. It's the kind of facility that offers the skilled nursing care needed by the blind 73-year-old Vietnam veteran who's unable to live independently due to a traumatic brain injury, according to court documents.
Bilderback is now facing eviction over unpaid bills, even though he has no control over his money. An administrative law judge recommended earlier this summer that the state Department of Veterans Affairs discharge Bilderback because of a dispute that started when his brother-in-law -- who oversees Bilderback's pensions and veterans benefits -- refused to pay $1,084 in medical expenses two years ago.
A Wisconsin court has taken steps to remove the brother-in-law, Robert Adams of Eau Claire, as Bilderback's conservator. But that follows two years of wrangling with Adams by county social workers and courts in two states, the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs and other agencies, culminating in threats to send Bilderback packing.
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Fort Hood soldier dies during training
Texas Today: Fort Hood soldier dies during training
Posted On: Friday, Aug. 26 2011
A 37-year-old Fort Hood soldier died Friday morning during physical training.
The soldier was identified as Dennis Lamonte Lee. Justice of the Peace Garland Potvin pronounced Lee dead at Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center at 8:15 a.m. Friday.
Potvin ordered an autopsy, which will be performed by military medical examiners.
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Posted On: Friday, Aug. 26 2011
A 37-year-old Fort Hood soldier died Friday morning during physical training.
The soldier was identified as Dennis Lamonte Lee. Justice of the Peace Garland Potvin pronounced Lee dead at Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center at 8:15 a.m. Friday.
Potvin ordered an autopsy, which will be performed by military medical examiners.
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Parade canceled after soldier arrested-support was not canceled
UPDATE Sept 4th, 2011
Soldier says weekend arrest came during 'a big hurt'
Written by
ERIC WEDDLE
Eric Braman, the local soldier arrested over the weekend on the eve of his homecoming parade, said that he was sorry for firing a gun and hurting another man.
"I want to say a formal apology to the community and to the individual that was hurt," Braman said Monday afternoon. "I don't even know who he is. The police wouldn't tell me. I want to apologize to him and to his family."
Braman, 24, returned to Lafayette this month after 11 months of physical therapy at Walter Reed Medical Hospital in Washington, D.C.
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Soldier says weekend arrest came during 'a big hurt'
Written by
ERIC WEDDLE
Eric Braman, the local soldier arrested over the weekend on the eve of his homecoming parade, said that he was sorry for firing a gun and hurting another man.
"I want to say a formal apology to the community and to the individual that was hurt," Braman said Monday afternoon. "I don't even know who he is. The police wouldn't tell me. I want to apologize to him and to his family."
Braman, 24, returned to Lafayette this month after 11 months of physical therapy at Walter Reed Medical Hospital in Washington, D.C.
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Arrest doesn't impact Braman fish fry
Parade scheduled for Sunday is now canceled
Updated: Saturday, 27 Aug 2011, 11:54 PM EDT
Published : Saturday, 27 Aug 2011, 11:54 PM EDT
Kristin Maiorano
LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - News of the arrest of a Lafayette soldier injured in Afghanistan didn't seem to deter members of the community from taking part in a fish fry fundraiser for Eric Braman and his family. Organizers said hundreds came out Saturday evening to show their support.
"Our focus all along has been, Eric deserves a welcome home for what he sacrificed in Afghanistan," said Navy Club Commander Tim Hilton.
Hilton said that focus wasn't blurred by news that Army Specialist Eric Braman was arrested for a felony charge of criminal recklessness Saturday morning.
"That's not our judgement," he said. "Eric's going through a tough time, and we really think it's the effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and that happens to a lot of soldiers coming back."
Hilton said Braman will be getting help for those issues, but in the meantime, friends, family and other community members were hoping to help him and his family the best they can.
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Soldier arrested after shooting incident on day before his homecoming parade: parade canceled (update)
9:49 PM, Aug. 27, 2011
Written by
ERIC WEDDLE
A parade scheduled for downtown Lafayette Sunday to honor an injured U.S. soldier was canceled today in wake of the soldier's arrest early today.
According to Lafayette police, Eric S. Braman, 24, is accused of shooting a gun and injuring a man on Veterans Memorial Parkway South during an argument.
Police said they were called to the 2400 block of Veterans Memorial Parkway South at 3:28 a.m. today after reports of two shots being fired during a verbal altercation. Police said witnesses said Braman fired both shots.
Andrew Studer, 31, of Lafayette was injured after one of the shots was fired, police said. He had a wound on the left side of his chest, near the shoulder. Police said the wound was minor and that Studer refused medical treatment at the scene.
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also
Parade Will Welcome Home Injured Soldier
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Virginia Vietnam Veteran wins $1 million lottery prize
Christiansburg vet wins $1 million lottery prize
By Lerone Graham
A Christiansburg Vietnam veteran is the first $1 million winner in the Virginia Lottery's Right on the Money game.
"I knew immediately, instantly that it was a $1 million winner," Thomas Wurtz told Virginia lottery officials.
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By Lerone Graham
A Christiansburg Vietnam veteran is the first $1 million winner in the Virginia Lottery's Right on the Money game.
"I knew immediately, instantly that it was a $1 million winner," Thomas Wurtz told Virginia lottery officials.
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Online Love Triangle, Deception End in Murder
Online Love Triangle, Deception End in Murder
By JIM AVILA GEOFF MARTZ and JOANNE NAPOLITANO
Aug. 27, 2011
The Internet is known as a breeding ground for illicit affairs between people often hiding behind fake names and handles. But most such virtual relationships aren't dangerous as this -- when "Talhotblond" and "MarineSniper" struck up a relationship online, it ended in murder.
MarineSniper was 46-year old Thomas Montgomery, a married father of two. In May, 2005, posing as a young, handsome Iraq-bound Marine, he entered a teen chat room the popular game site "Pogo."
When 18-year-old Talhotblond started instant-messaging him, he decided to pretend he was 18 too.
"I kept thinking, well, we're never going to meet. ... I'll just play the game with her," he said.
Before long, the flirtation became a romance.
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By JIM AVILA GEOFF MARTZ and JOANNE NAPOLITANO
Aug. 27, 2011
The Internet is known as a breeding ground for illicit affairs between people often hiding behind fake names and handles. But most such virtual relationships aren't dangerous as this -- when "Talhotblond" and "MarineSniper" struck up a relationship online, it ended in murder.
MarineSniper was 46-year old Thomas Montgomery, a married father of two. In May, 2005, posing as a young, handsome Iraq-bound Marine, he entered a teen chat room the popular game site "Pogo."
When 18-year-old Talhotblond started instant-messaging him, he decided to pretend he was 18 too.
"I kept thinking, well, we're never going to meet. ... I'll just play the game with her," he said.
Before long, the flirtation became a romance.
read more here
VA awards new contract for debunked PTSD drug
VA awards new contract for debunked PTSD drug
BY BOB BREWIN 08/25/2011
This is the fourteenth story in an ongoing series.
The Veterans Affairs Department continues to issue contracts to purchase an anti-psychotic drug to treat post-traumatic stress disorder despite research showing the drug, risperidone, is no more effective than a placebo.
Nextgov reported Aug. 22 that VA spent $717 million over the past decade to purchase risperidone, the generic name for Risperdal, a second-generation anti-psychotic drug originally developed by the Janssen Pharmaceuticals division of Johnson & Johnson to treat severe mental conditions such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
VA doctors prescribe the drug to treat PTSD, but a study by department researchers published Aug. 2 in the Journal of the American Medical Association concluded, "treatment with risperidone compared with placebo did not reduce PTSD symptoms."
Despite these findings, on Aug. 11, VA awarded a contract to Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. for more than 200,000 bottles of risperidone containing more than 20 million pills in multiple dosages. The announcement of the contract to the Morgantown, W.V., generic drug manufacturer did not provide a dollar value for the contract.
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BY BOB BREWIN 08/25/2011
This is the fourteenth story in an ongoing series.
The Veterans Affairs Department continues to issue contracts to purchase an anti-psychotic drug to treat post-traumatic stress disorder despite research showing the drug, risperidone, is no more effective than a placebo.
Nextgov reported Aug. 22 that VA spent $717 million over the past decade to purchase risperidone, the generic name for Risperdal, a second-generation anti-psychotic drug originally developed by the Janssen Pharmaceuticals division of Johnson & Johnson to treat severe mental conditions such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
VA doctors prescribe the drug to treat PTSD, but a study by department researchers published Aug. 2 in the Journal of the American Medical Association concluded, "treatment with risperidone compared with placebo did not reduce PTSD symptoms."
Despite these findings, on Aug. 11, VA awarded a contract to Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. for more than 200,000 bottles of risperidone containing more than 20 million pills in multiple dosages. The announcement of the contract to the Morgantown, W.V., generic drug manufacturer did not provide a dollar value for the contract.
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WWII Montford Pointers occupy a quiet corner of history
Overdue salute for a black Marine
By David Perlmutt
dperlmutt@charlotteobserver.com
Posted: Saturday, Aug. 27, 2011
Raymond Worsley was 18 in 1943, a student at Johnson C. Smith University, when the military came knocking.
The recruiter told Worsley he was bound for the Army. But Worsley had other plans: "No sir, I want to be a Marine."
That's what he became. But he had to overcome more than just the rigors of boot camp. Worsley's black, and until 1942, the Marine Corps had been all white.
He was sent to segregated Camp Montford Point near Camp Lejeune to train with thousands of other blacks who broke the military's last color barrier.
This weekend, the retired Charlotte Presbyterian minister and dozens of surviving Montford Pointers are getting their due, starting with breakfast Friday morning in Washington, D.C., with Marine Commandant Gen. James Amos as part of a weekend of events.
"I always wanted to be a Marine, even as a boy" in Rocky Mount," said Worsley, 86. "I'd seen them in the movies and I loved their music.
"Those were among my proudest days."
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By David Perlmutt
dperlmutt@charlotteobserver.com
Posted: Saturday, Aug. 27, 2011
Seeking recognition
"Nearly 70 years after they integrated the Marines on Aug. 26, 1942, the Montford Pointers occupy a quiet corner of history. Their recognition has never come close to the Tuskegee Airmen, the famed black World War II pilots."
Raymond Worsley was 18 in 1943, a student at Johnson C. Smith University, when the military came knocking.
The recruiter told Worsley he was bound for the Army. But Worsley had other plans: "No sir, I want to be a Marine."
That's what he became. But he had to overcome more than just the rigors of boot camp. Worsley's black, and until 1942, the Marine Corps had been all white.
He was sent to segregated Camp Montford Point near Camp Lejeune to train with thousands of other blacks who broke the military's last color barrier.
This weekend, the retired Charlotte Presbyterian minister and dozens of surviving Montford Pointers are getting their due, starting with breakfast Friday morning in Washington, D.C., with Marine Commandant Gen. James Amos as part of a weekend of events.
"I always wanted to be a Marine, even as a boy" in Rocky Mount," said Worsley, 86. "I'd seen them in the movies and I loved their music.
"Those were among my proudest days."
read more here
Defense attorney suggests possible PTSD defense in killings
Defense attorney suggests possible PTSD defense in killings
By Kirk Mitchell
The Denver Post
A defense attorney for an accused killer who admitted slashing and shooting two people to death in a remote home in Douglas County today raised the possibility that he was suffering from a psychological condition and under great stress.
Public defender Kathleen McGuire indicated through questioning of Sgt. Jason Weaver that she may be planning a defense to establish that her client Josiah Sher, 27, was taking medications for post traumatic stress disorder.
She asked Weaver whether it was true that Sher, one of four suspects in the double homicide of Amara Wells, 39, and Bob Rafferty, 49, had served several tours in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq between 2005 and 2009.
The sergeant confirmed that and also said that Sher told him he had been institutionalized for severe PTSD, was still taking medications for the condition and had called a suicide hotline on Feb. 4, less than three weeks before the Feb. 23 murders.
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By Kirk Mitchell
The Denver Post
A defense attorney for an accused killer who admitted slashing and shooting two people to death in a remote home in Douglas County today raised the possibility that he was suffering from a psychological condition and under great stress.
Public defender Kathleen McGuire indicated through questioning of Sgt. Jason Weaver that she may be planning a defense to establish that her client Josiah Sher, 27, was taking medications for post traumatic stress disorder.
She asked Weaver whether it was true that Sher, one of four suspects in the double homicide of Amara Wells, 39, and Bob Rafferty, 49, had served several tours in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq between 2005 and 2009.
The sergeant confirmed that and also said that Sher told him he had been institutionalized for severe PTSD, was still taking medications for the condition and had called a suicide hotline on Feb. 4, less than three weeks before the Feb. 23 murders.
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Man claims PTSD caused crime spree involving gun
Police: Man claims PTSD caused crime spree involving gun
Posted on26 August 2011.
By Kelci Parks
A Pahrump man was arrested in the early morning hours yesterday after allegedly going on an alcohol and drug-induced crime spree. In less than two hours John David Radell, 43, was reported to have pulled a gun on three people in three separate locations.
Deputies were first dispatched to Paddy’s Pub on Pahrump Valley Boulevard just before midnight on Wednesday evening. Deputies discovered that Radell had allegedly pulled a gun and put it to the first victim’s head during some sort of verbal dispute outside of the bar. No shots were fired and Radell fled the scene before police could respond.
“It was pretty random. He just kept picking different locations,” said Nye County Sheriff Tony DeMeo.
The severity of the incidents increased a little each time. Less than 15 minutes after the first incident, deputies were dispatched to Terrible’s Country Store gas station on Highway 160 across from the entrance to Calvada Blvd. Witnesses there told police that Radell walked into the gas station and engaged in a verbal argument with a patron at the store. Radell then allegedly pulled out a gun and put it to the head of the second victim. Again, no shots were fired, but Radell allegedly pistol-whipped the patron and again fled the scene before deputies showed up.
The sheriff says that the suspect was not on foot, but driving from location to location.
Just before 2 a.m. Thursday, deputies responded to a suicide threat at 2240 S. Winery Rd., the suspect’s residence. The press release states that Radell had pointed the gun at his wife and then fired a shot into the wall.
Posted on26 August 2011.
By Kelci Parks
A Pahrump man was arrested in the early morning hours yesterday after allegedly going on an alcohol and drug-induced crime spree. In less than two hours John David Radell, 43, was reported to have pulled a gun on three people in three separate locations.
Deputies were first dispatched to Paddy’s Pub on Pahrump Valley Boulevard just before midnight on Wednesday evening. Deputies discovered that Radell had allegedly pulled a gun and put it to the first victim’s head during some sort of verbal dispute outside of the bar. No shots were fired and Radell fled the scene before police could respond.
“It was pretty random. He just kept picking different locations,” said Nye County Sheriff Tony DeMeo.
The severity of the incidents increased a little each time. Less than 15 minutes after the first incident, deputies were dispatched to Terrible’s Country Store gas station on Highway 160 across from the entrance to Calvada Blvd. Witnesses there told police that Radell walked into the gas station and engaged in a verbal argument with a patron at the store. Radell then allegedly pulled out a gun and put it to the head of the second victim. Again, no shots were fired, but Radell allegedly pistol-whipped the patron and again fled the scene before deputies showed up.
The sheriff says that the suspect was not on foot, but driving from location to location.
Just before 2 a.m. Thursday, deputies responded to a suicide threat at 2240 S. Winery Rd., the suspect’s residence. The press release states that Radell had pointed the gun at his wife and then fired a shot into the wall.
Radell told police that his actions were an attempt to draw attention to his Post Traumatic Stress Disorder that he claims resulted from his service in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Radell’s claims to have served in the U.S. Army have yet to be confirmed, but the suspect told police that he served tours in both Afghanistan and Iraq. He also told them he was on medication for his PTSD.
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Veteran Says Deputies Shot Him in the Back
Veteran Says Deputies Shot Him in the Back
By MATT REYNOLDS
SAN DIEGO (CN) - A Gulf war veteran and his wife say a sheriff's deputy shot the veteran in the back, leaving him paraplegic, and that the Sheriff's Department then lied about the shooting, claiming the veteran had shot first.
Michael and Kimberly Foster sued San Diego County and its Sheriff William Gore in Federal Court.
Kimberly Foster says she called 911 from her Alpine home on Oct. 19, 2010, "out of concern for her husband's safety." She says she felt that her husband, an Army medic who had served in Bosnia and the Persian Gulf, "was having a PTSD episode."
Alpine is a distant suburb in the hills east of San Diego.
She says San Diego County Sheriff deputies and a SWAT team responded to her call.
"At approximately 1:00 pm, plaintiff Michael Foster walked outside into his back yard in broad daylight. With his back turned to the officers and without provocation, plaintiff Michael Foster was shot multiple times in the back by the SWAT team members," the complaint states.
Kimberly adds that "at the time he was shot," her husband "posed no immediate threat of harm to any of the officers."
She says that when she heard the shots she thought her husband had been killed.
"Immediately after the shooting, San Diego Sheriff's Lieutenant Dennis Brugos made a public statement indicating that the Sheriff SWAT officers shot Mr. Foster because Mr. Foster first shot at them one or two times," the complaint states. "Lieutenant Brugos' statement was entirely false as subsequent investigation has proven that Mr. Foster never discharged his firearm in the presence of the sheriff's officers."
The Fosters say the County of San Diego stuck by the story, even though Brugos' statement was "indisputably false."
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By MATT REYNOLDS
SAN DIEGO (CN) - A Gulf war veteran and his wife say a sheriff's deputy shot the veteran in the back, leaving him paraplegic, and that the Sheriff's Department then lied about the shooting, claiming the veteran had shot first.
Michael and Kimberly Foster sued San Diego County and its Sheriff William Gore in Federal Court.
Kimberly Foster says she called 911 from her Alpine home on Oct. 19, 2010, "out of concern for her husband's safety." She says she felt that her husband, an Army medic who had served in Bosnia and the Persian Gulf, "was having a PTSD episode."
Alpine is a distant suburb in the hills east of San Diego.
She says San Diego County Sheriff deputies and a SWAT team responded to her call.
"At approximately 1:00 pm, plaintiff Michael Foster walked outside into his back yard in broad daylight. With his back turned to the officers and without provocation, plaintiff Michael Foster was shot multiple times in the back by the SWAT team members," the complaint states.
Kimberly adds that "at the time he was shot," her husband "posed no immediate threat of harm to any of the officers."
She says that when she heard the shots she thought her husband had been killed.
"Immediately after the shooting, San Diego Sheriff's Lieutenant Dennis Brugos made a public statement indicating that the Sheriff SWAT officers shot Mr. Foster because Mr. Foster first shot at them one or two times," the complaint states. "Lieutenant Brugos' statement was entirely false as subsequent investigation has proven that Mr. Foster never discharged his firearm in the presence of the sheriff's officers."
The Fosters say the County of San Diego stuck by the story, even though Brugos' statement was "indisputably false."
read more here
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