Soldier from Longwood dies in Iraq

Soldier from Longwood dies in Iraq

Andy Caraballo Morales is pictured in a 2009 photo: "Training in Japan." (Photo courtesy of Facebook / September 25, 2011)

By Arelis R. Hernández, Orlando Sentinel
9:09 p.m. EDT, September 25, 2011

"The family drifted apart as they lived their lives separately in other states, but Sgt. Morales' near-fatal car accident in North Carolina in 2009 helped draw them back together, family said."

On the 2-month-anniversary of the birth of his daughter, Sgt. Andy Caraballo Morales of Longwood died in Iraq.

The 32-year-old soldier, who was killed Thursday in Baghdad, was assigned to the 143rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) of Orlando, the Department of Defense announced today, and was serving in Operation Enduring Freedom.

When Army officials delivered the news to his wife, Mariela Caraballo-Morales, she could hardly believe it, said sister-in-law Mercian Lesser said from her Sarasota home.

Just five months before, the best friends were married in a celebration that brought together a family that had seen its share of hardships. The young soldier spent just nine days with his newborn, Naiara Morales, before he was deployed, his wife said.
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Still in the Fight

Mike Corrado - Still in the Fight (live at Camp Lejeune, NC USO w/Gary Sinise & Lt Dan Band)

Mike Corrado performing "Still in the Fight" a tribute to wounded warriors aboard Camp Lejeune, NC Saturday, September 17. The show was sponsored by the USO and MCCS where Mike opened for Gary Sinise and the Lt Dan Band. The studio version of Still in the Fight is available on iTunes and other major download retailers and proceeds benefit USO Wounded Warrior Family Centers. For more information please visit Mike Corrado.com and Facebook Corradomusic

Almost half of military suicides came after seeking help

The larger number we should be aware of is the simple fact that 46 percent had sought help but still committed suicide. No matter how Richard McKeon wants to avoid that fact, it does show how what they have been proving in terms of "help" has not been working. With all the years they have been trying to prevent suicides and get these men and women to seek help, the numbers would have gone down instead of up. There are things they are doing right but if they make a mistake early on, what they do have right won't help. Resilient training is the biggest mistake of all. Telling them they can train their brains to prevent PTSD is telling them if they end up with PTSD their minds are weak. While this is not the message the military intended to deliver, it is the one the servicemen and women have heard. Once they think of PTSD this way, whatever they hear afterwards, they believe they're suffering because they didn't train their brains right and it is their fault.

The other thing they have wrong is that whatever help they have been providing has not lived up to the need. That is clear when we read that almost half of the men and women committing suicide had sought help before that point. How much more evidence do they need before they understand what they have been doing is just not good enough?

A third of military suicides told of plans to die

By DAN ELLIOTT
Associated Press

"About 46 percent had been seen at a military treatment facility sometime in the 90 days before death. The treatment services include physical and behavioral health, substance abuse, family advocacy and chaplains."

DENVER (AP) - A third of military personnel who committed suicide last year had told at least one person they planned to take their own lives, a newly released Defense Department report says.

Nearly half went to see medical personnel, behavioral health specialists, chaplains or other service providers sometime in the 90 days before they died, according to the 2010 Department of Defense Suicide Event Report.

That doesn't necessarily reflect a failure in the Defense Department suicide prevention program, said Richard McKeon, chief of the Suicide Prevention Branch at the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

"It's not that some person blew it," McKeon said Thursday. But physical and behavior health care personnel, counselors and other providers need to monitor their programs and look for improvements, he said.
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Veteran of World War II and the Korean War, paralyzed, still an athlete

U.S. Veteran Unable to Walk Proves He's Still an Athlete
Published September 25, 2011
FoxNews.com
An 83-year-old veteran who hasn’t walked in 10 years has refused to let that stop him from becoming an award-winning national athlete.

Theron Hallock, a veteran of World War II and the Korean War, recently took the bronze medal in the power chair relay race at the 31st Annual National Veterans Wheelchair Games in Pittsburgh, the Green Valley News reports.

Hallock, who turns 84 soon, and others from a group of paralyzed veterans from Tucson, Ariz., joined nearly 600 athletes from 46 states, Puerto Rico and Great Britain in this year’s games, which included 17 sports. Archery, basketball, bowling, hand cycling, power soccer, softball, table tennis and weight lifting were among the events.
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We must be the healers that returning war veterans need

Thousands of years ago people were dying from infections we just take a pill for now. It wasn't that people didn't know about suffering any more than it was about doctors giving up. It took the media to spread the news with every advance in medicine to learn about what had been going on. People can't learn if no one tells them.

When veterans came home in America from the Revolutionary War, they brought the war back with them. The survivors of amputations reminded everyone around them of the battles fought for freedom from England. With the Civil War there were even more reminders that once the soldiers returned home, they were forever changed. With every war afterwards there were more reports simply because there were more reporters and more people to read the reports. The wound we call PTSD now was carried within them but only the families knew about it. It was a secret part of price paid. It was not until the Vietnam War ended that the general public became aware of what had been happening all along, again, because there were more reports and more people reading them.

Fast forward to the early 90's when more and more people plugged into the Internet and listened to the sound of the phone line connecting to AOL, hearing "You've got mail" giving them the ability to discover within minutes what was happening across the nation. When whatever they wanted to know about was found just by typing in a few words in Google. This link gave us the ability to discover what a small town newspaper was reporting on no matter where we were. Information linked us to everyone else in the country and sooner or later, we managed to find people just like us.

Today we have the ability to spread the word about PTSD so that this wound will be noticed as commonly as we notice a missing limb and remember the price of freedom is still being paid long after the wars have ended.

We must be the healers that returning war veterans need
10:57 PM, Sep. 25, 2011
Written by
Alden Josey
Recent comments in the media have highlighted the epidemic of suicides of military personnel, those in combat situations and those who have returned home.

It is increasingly urgent to understand and respond to the experiences of these persons, particularly the latter group, with empathic understanding of where they have been, what has happened to them and what they need from us.

Typical reactions displayed by some returning combat veterans include depression and anxiety in various forms, a sense of "not fitting in anymore," of not being able to adjust to the norms of civilian life, of intense rage of undetermined focus, and increasingly, suicide.

Clearly, a deep and powerful dynamic is at work among these men and women, and it is usually described under the diagnostic category of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Families and friends are often shocked at the difficulties of the veteran in readjustment to civilian life and are puzzled and dismayed when their friends and loved family members behave erratically, as if they had arrived as strangers from another and sinister planet.

These returning veterans have had a profound but incomplete initiatory experience of warfare in which their psychological landscapes have been deeply affected and their sense of identity, of relationship to their lives before this experience, irrevocably altered.
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Motorcyclists ride in support of wounded marine

Motorcyclists ride in support of wounded marine
By ERIN FRANCE
Published Sunday, September 25, 2011

Motorcyclists head down Main Street in Watkinsville on Saturday during a ride to support Marine Cpl. Michael Boucher, who lost both legs below the knees while serving in Afghanistan.

Michael Boucher hid the first motorcycle he bought, several years ago, from his parents, who said the machine was too dangerous.

This weekend, more than 250 motorcycles rode in support of Boucher, 22, who lost his legs below the knees in Afghanistan while serving in the Marines.

The "Freedom Isn't Free" motorcycle ride started at Cycle World of Athens and traveled through Boucher's Bogart neighborhood and downtown Watkinsville before ending at a fundraiser at the Blind Pig Tavern on Broad Street.

Boucher joined the crowd by webcam and thanked everyone for their support.
"I'll drink one (beer) for everybody," Boucher joked.

Jim and Kim Boucher, Michael's parents, were overwhelmed by the amount of support the motorcycle ride received, they said.

"(The motorcycles) just kept going and going and going," Jim Boucher said.
The money raised from the ride will help make the Bouchers' Bogart house wheelchair-friendly.
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Linked from Marine Corps Times

A Marine tells his story after losing both legs and one arm

A Marine tells his story after losing both legs and one arm
Joshua Benjamin Kerns was serving in Afghanistan when he was hit by an explosive in April

Melissa Gaona
Multimedia Journalist
7:00 p.m. EDT, September 25, 2011

PATRICK COUNTY, Co.—
After losing both of his legs and one of his arms, a young Marine who was serving in Afghanistan, was back in his hometown Sunday afternoon.

For a town of 2700 people, you'd never guess swarms of traffic would come through Ararat.

But when the news is about a hometown soldier who lost both his legs and his right arm while serving his country, people tend to show off their support.

At only 21 years old, Jeremy Benjamin Kerns is still alive to tell his story. "I have no regrets what happened,” said Kerns. “I knew exactly what could happen when I signed up but I love this country."
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Son of Seminole Sheriff seriously injured in Afghanistan

Son of Seminole Sheriff seriously injured in Afghanistan

Don Eslinger Jr. in photo taken about 10 days ago

By Gary Taylor, Orlando Sentinel
4:41 p.m. EDT, September 25, 2011

The son of Seminole County Sheriff Don Eslinger was seriously injured Saturday when he was hit by mortar fire in Afghanistan.

Don Eslinger Jr., 20, underwent surgery Sunday morning [11 p.m. EST Saturday] at the Kandahar Airfield Hospital and is in a medically induced coma, his father said.

"His fellow soldiers and the medical team at both Forward Operating Base Bullard and Kandahar Airfield Hospital saved my son's life," Eslinger said. "They're doing a wonderful job."

He suffered broken ribs and a broken leg and his spleen was removed, Eslinger said.

Former Orange County Sheriff Kevin Beary and former DEA agent John O'Rourke are in Afghanistan and spoke to a medical team from Orlando that treated the soldier,and they relayed information to his father. They are contractors working with the Afghan government's police force.

Eslinger enlisted in the Army in July 2010 and was sent to Afghanistan in April. He was home on leave for two weeks before returning there Sept. 16, his father said.
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Orlando VFW POW-MIA Service on YouTube

On September 18, 2011, the Orlando VFW held a service to honor all POW-MIAs. One of the speakers was an ex-Korean War POW. Ed Izbicky served in WWII, Korea and Vietnam. They also did the empty chair ceremony.

First lady, TV show bring attention to veterans

First lady, TV show bring attention to veterans
By Lynn Elber - The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Sep 24, 2011
LOS ANGELES — Michelle Obama found an unusual ally — reality TV — in her effort to bring attention to the needs of military families.

The first lady, appearing Sunday on the two-part season premiere of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” (7-9 p.m. EDT) says the program was the right platform for the cause.

“We live in a media age, and one of the things we still share is our love of television” and the stories it can tell so effectively, Obama said. “We thought this was an extraordinary venue to highlight the struggles and challenges and triumphs of a special family.”

Barbara Marshall of Fayetteville, N.C., who served in the Navy for 15 years, was dismayed by the number of homeless female veterans and established Steps-N-Stages Jubilee House to provide shelter, counseling and other aid. When the house grew cramped and inadequate, “Extreme Makeover” and the first lady stepped in.

She joined with series host Ty Pennington, a local builder and community volunteers on the Jubilee House project and was on hand at the unveiling to surprise Marshall.
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Fulton soldier identified as victim of suspected murder case

Fulton soldier identified as victim of suspected murder case

Submitted by Anna Virginia Greene, Community Blogger
Friday, September 23rd, 2011, 7:33pm


FAYETTEVILLE, North Carolina -- A Quad City Area soldier has been identified by authorities as the victim of a suspected murder case in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

Private, First Class Chad P. Dellit, of Fulton, Illinois was discovered near a hotel after guests reported what sounded like gunfire.

The incident occurred late Wednesday, September 21st. Police say they arrived at the Inn-Keeper Hotel just after 11 p.m.

“The officer responded to the area at 1706 Skibo Road where they saw the suspect running…behind the complex, I believe the Toys R Us. They canvassed the area. They didn’t locate the suspect described in the 911 call,” says police spokesman, Gavin MacRoberts.
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Investigation shows Custer combat veteran had PTSD

Investigation shows Custer man had PTSD
Posted: Sep 23, 2011
By Courtney Zieller


An investigation shows a South Dakota Highway Patrol officer has been cleared of any wrongdoing after he shot and killed a Custer man on September 6.

And we're learning more about the man who died after Attorney General Marty Jackley sent out a statement Friday.

A criminal check was done on Engen by the Division of Criminal Investigation.

He didn't have a record.

But investigators found Engen was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD.

Engen was discharged from the military in May 2011.

He served four years.
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Army Investigating Death Of Non-Combat Soldier In Afghanistan

Army Investigating Death Of Non-Combat Soldier In Afghanistan
Soldier Worked Desk Job In Afghanistan
September 23, 2011

APPLETON, Wis. -- The sisters of a Wisconsin soldier killed in Afghanistan say U.S. Army military police are investigating his death.

His sisters told the Appleton Post-Crescent that Staff Sgt. Garrick Eppinger Jr. worked a desk job on Bagram Airbase and wasn't in the line of fire.

The U.S. Department of Defense announced earlier this week that the 25-year-old soldier from Fox Valley died Saturday in Parwan province in eastern Afghanistan.
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Bomb "hunter" with PTSD waiting 3 years for benefits

Collateral Damage: Benefit delays frustrating for ex-soldier with PTSD

By Greg Barnes
Staff writer

Ron Smith worked as a bomb hunter in Iraq and Afghanistan, one of the most dangerous jobs in the military.

Smith said the experience, which included three deployments between 2006 and 2008, left him mad at the world. He began drinking a lot, he said, and became detached from everyone around him.

In 2009, after leaving the Army and Fort Hood, Smith came to Fayetteville to see a girlfriend who became pregnant with his child.

He also went to the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, where he said he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and told he was entitled to VA disability benefits.

Three years after applying for those benefits, Smith said, he is still waiting for them. He makes concessions for the delay, acknowledging that the paperwork initially was filed improperly.

Now he is frustrated. He said he has called, emailed and written letters to the VA numerous times, only to be ignored or turned away each time.

He is far from alone.

At the beginning of this year, the Fayetteville VA had a medical exam backlog for nearly 6,000 veterans who had filed for disability benefits, said Ed Drohan, a hospital spokesman.
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Ex-officer shoots ex-wife, self

Ex-officer shoots ex-wife, self

CMPD police say argument in Davidson ended when their former colleague fired.


By Meghan Cooke
macooke@charlotteobserver.com
Posted: Sunday, Sep. 25, 2011
A former Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer and his ex-wife were hospitalized with serious injuries Saturday, police said, after he apparently shot the woman, then turned the gun on himself in Davidson.

Just after 2 a.m. Saturday, Davidson police responded to a report of a shooting at a home on Callaway Hills Lane. When officers arrived, they found a man and woman in the front yard, both with gunshot wounds.

Witnesses told police that Jeremy Allen Hester, 31, drove to the home of his ex-wife, Erin Marie Cobb, 28, and they began arguing inside. Moments after the pair walked outside, multiple gunshots were fired, witnesses told police.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police, who are investigating the shooting, said that evidence gathered at the scene suggests Hester shot his ex-wife in the neck and then shot himself in the head. Police called the incident a "domestic violence-related shooting."

A neighbor who lives across the street told the Observer she heard three gunshots and then saw police cruisers rush to the home.

"I think everybody in the neighborhood called 911," she said.

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Camp Lejeune Marine to receive Silver Star

Marine to receive Silver Star

September 24, 2011 6:38 PM
DAILY NEWS STAFF
Camp Lejeune will present the prestigious Silver Star medal to a base Marine next week.

Capt. Timothy R. Sparks will receive the Silver Star Medal on Wednesday, according to releases from the 2nd Marine Division. The award ceremony will be held at the Officers Club aboard Camp Lejeune at 3:30 p.m.

Sparks will receive the medal for conspicuous gallantry in action while in support of Operation Moshtarak, February 2010, as company commander with Lejeune’s Company B, 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, according to releases.
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Fort Bragg soldier in critical condition, 12 others in hospital after march

1 soldier remains critical, 12 others still hospitalized after grueling Fort Bragg march
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First Posted: September 24, 2011

FORT BRAGG, N.C. — One Fort Bragg soldier is fighting for his life and a dozen others are hospitalized a day after succumbing to the heat and humidity during a grueling march.

Womack Army Medical Center spokeswoman Shannon Lynch said Saturday one soldier remains in the hospital's intensive care unit. Twelve others receiving treatment are expected to be discharged Sunday.

More than three dozen soldiers at the North Carolina Army base suffered heat-related problems Friday after participating in the early morning march they needed to complete for their expert field medical badge.
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CNN had this

43 Fort Bragg soldiers suffer heat illness in 12-mile road march
By Jennifer Rizzo and Michael Martinez
updated 1:50 PM EST, Fri September 23, 2011
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
A total of 60 soldiers were being tested for their expert field medical badge
43 of them suffer heat-related illnesses
One is in intensive care
The difficult-to-obtain badge is considered the "portrait of excellence" in the Army

(CNN) -- Forty-three soldiers suffered heat-related illnesses Friday during a 12-mile road march at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, an Army spokesman said.

The march was the culmination of a week of "expert field medical badge training," during which soldiers are tested on their medic and general soldier skills in order to receive an "expert" badge, Fort Bragg spokesman Benjamin Abel said.

Sixty soldiers were on the march, which started at 6 a.m., and they were carrying backpacks, helmets, weapons and other combat gear, Abel said.

About an hour and a half into the march, the people running the event noticed some personnel "were having difficulties," and medical transports were begun, he said.

Eighteen of the soldiers were transported to Womack Army Medical Center, and one was admitted to the intensive care unit, he said.

Humidity levels Friday morning were higher than expected, but "this is odd, out of the norm, to have this many people treated," Abel added.
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Fort Hood soldier dies after being hit by truck

Fort Hood soldier dies after being hit by truck in Aiken County
By Lynn Davidson
Staff Writer
Saturday, Sept. 24, 2011

Follow Latest News
A 48-year-old Killeen, Texas, soldier died after being hit by a pickup on Edgefield Highway near Eureka, S.C., on Friday night, Aiken County Coroner Tim Carlton said.

Sgt. 1st Class Maurice J. Collier was attending a motorcycle rally with more than 500 motorcycles at Ellen’s Bar and Grill, Carlton said. Collier was standing near the entrance to the property directing traffic when he was struck by a Ford F-350. Collier was taken to Aiken Regional Medical Center where he was pronounced dead of multiple body trauma, Carlton said.
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Homeless vets get help with their problems at Orlando Stand Down

Last year I was in Buffalo when they held the Stand Down. My husband went with the DAV to help out. After he told me about all they had going on, I wondered why there was so little coverage on the news. It sounded wonderful! So many volunteers showing up to help veterans otherwise forgotten and avoided. Anyway, I showed up yesterday with camera in hand to get some of it on tape. The problem was, I was told I couldn't film or even take pictures. This reporter was there doing an interview and she told me the photographer would have plenty of pictures for me see.

As you can see, no pictures. At least the Sentinel reported on it. I checked News 13 site and there was nothing. Channel 2 didn't have anything. None of the others had anything. What's really bothering me right now is that when our veterans commit crimes, they are all swarming around to report on it. When one of them is in need and being helped out by volunteers because they care, no one seems interested.

So, to the Sentinel, thank you for reporting on this and to the volunteers, thank you for caring. To the others, this is why I hardly ever watch the news anymore.

Homeless vets get help with their problems

By Eloísa Ruano González, Orlando Sentinel
6:53 p.m. EDT, September 24, 2011

U.S. Navy veteran Bill Kirwin needs a computer to search for a job and turn his life around, but he needs a library card to access the Internet at the Orlando Public Library. And to receive a free library card, he needed an identification card.

Kirwin finally received a state-issued I.D. at the Veterans Stand Down event held Saturday in Orlando. He was among the hundreds of homeless veterans who showed up for free haircuts, food and bags filled with hygiene products, clothing and a sleeping bag.

"When you're out on the street, transportation is a problem. Here, [the services] are all right here," said 37-year-old Kirwin, who will be entering a six-month residential treatment program to deal with the alcohol problem he developed while in the Navy.

The event, held at the Orlando Downtown Recreation Complex, also gave homeless vets an opportunity to sign up for transitional housing, food assistance, drug treatment programs and other services.

"It's our obligation to take care of them [veterans]," said Tim Liezert, director of the Orlando VA Medical Center. He watched as the veterans made their way through the maze of tables inside the recreation center. The veterans were allowed to use the showers at the facility.
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Murdered veteran faces final insult — no money for local funeral

Murdered Elgin homeless veteran faces final insult — no money for local funeral
By Dave Gathman
September 24, 2011

ELGIN — Vietnam-era soldier. Gifted carpenter. Loving father of three.

Alcoholic. Chronic homeless man. The victim of a senseless murder in which too much drinking likely played a role on both sides.

But after fulfilling all those roles during his 60 years of life, Richard Gibbons of Elgin now faces perhaps the final insult. His children don’t have enough money to give him the kind of funeral he wanted — a local cremation and simple memorial service costing just $1,700 — and are holding a fundraiser to pay for it, with any extra raised to be donated to three causes that benefit the homeless of Elgin.

The only time Gibbons made headlines was when he died, the victim of a crime so cruel and pointless that it made the Chicago newspapers and TV broadcasts. Many who heard the tale may have simply shrugged and said, “So another drunken homeless man is gone from our streets and some overserved, irresponsible jerk will probably spend most of his life in prison.”

But Gibbons’ family remembers a different man — a kind man, someone who even while he was homeless worked with an Elgin charity group to better the lives of others who live on Elgin’s streets.

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