Marines: Gordon was in US during Gulf War; rank changed late
September 26th, 2011 at 1:10 pm by Ted Nesi under Nesi's Notes
The U.S. Marine Corps reaffirmed its record of state Rep. Daniel Gordon’s military service on Monday, saying the embattled lawmaker never left the United States during the first Gulf War and became a private first class weeks before he was discharged.
The Marines first released details about Gordon on Friday that called into question his statements about his service. Gordon told the AP it was “unfortunate” the military did not release his full record and told WPRO’s Matt Allen he was injured by shrapnel outside of Baghdad during the first Gulf War.
“In our view, that’s a false claim,” Maj. Shawn Haney, a public affairs officer for the Marine Corps’ manpower and reserve affairs department, told WPRI.com on Monday. If Gordon thinks his record is inaccurate, Haney said he should contact the Quantico office to get it corrected.
Gordon, who did not return a phone call Monday, uploaded a photograph last week of a certificate he received in 1989 for training in the Philippines and noted that the Marines had not mentioned his time there in its release. The certificate lists him as a lance corporal.
Gordon’s record does show he went to the Philippines as part of his rotation at the Marine Corps Air Station in Iwakuni, Japan, for five months and 28 days from October 1988 to April 1989, according to Haney. She said she did not mention it on Friday because it was part of his service in the Pacific.
“That’s so normal,” she said. “Units do that all the time. When they’re in Japan, they’re always doing different exercises in the Philippines or whatever, all assorted different training. That’s not a deployment. He was part of a unit that was in Iwakuni.”
read more here
Original story
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Vow to care about them so that we can care for them
Vow to care about them so that we can care for them
by Chaplain Kathie
This notice of death announced by the DOD was linked from iCasualties.org and they have been doing a wonderful job of keeping people up to date on what has been going on in Iraq as well as Afghanistan all along. The problem is most people in this country have just about forgotten men and women are dying in both countries. Some are shocked to discover there are still troops in Iraq so when news like the following comes out, they appear to be shocked.
As of today iCasualties.org has 4,476 killed in Iraq and 1,787 killed in Afghanistan.
This blog is here for a reason. Local news will cover the death of one of their own but as a nation we are left with no clue at all about what is going on because the national media stations don't bother to cover any of it unless something huge happens with many deaths all at once. They forget these men and women do not serve just their own community. They serve the entire nation. The least we can do is pay attention as a nation. I made a vow to do whatever I could, whenever I could back in 1982 when I met my husband. Believe me, I could find other things to do but nothing I want to do more.
I've heard many say that "until they all come home" but why stop there? We've seen how many have been forgotten about while they serve. The odds of being paid attention to when they are back home are very low. It is easier to find support when they come home missing limbs but so much harder for them to find support when they have wounds no one else manages to see.
We need to pay attention to everything going on if we really care as a nation. We need to acknowledge they are not just numbers but people with families and we need to make a vow to care about them so that we can care for them.
They come home wanting to get over it but when we read about the deaths by bombs, we ignore the fact their eyes saw it all happen.
They come home expecting to pick up where they left off with their families, but they forget they are not the same after all they lived through.
They come home with family members expecting them to only need time to "get over it" like they did before and when that doesn't happen, they leave.
They come home in need of help but when they ask for it, it is not what they need. This was made perfectly clear yesterday in an article about military suicides.
Until we all pay attention we will see even more paying the price for what was asked of them.
by Chaplain Kathie
This notice of death announced by the DOD was linked from iCasualties.org and they have been doing a wonderful job of keeping people up to date on what has been going on in Iraq as well as Afghanistan all along. The problem is most people in this country have just about forgotten men and women are dying in both countries. Some are shocked to discover there are still troops in Iraq so when news like the following comes out, they appear to be shocked.
DOD Identifies Army CasualtyYet this year Sgt. Morales was one of the 46 killed in Iraq. Another 341 have been killed in Afghanistan. Men with stories to tell, lives lived and families left behind.
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation New Dawn.
Sgt. Andy C. Morales, 32, of Longwood, Fla., died Sept. 22 in Baghdad, Iraq. He was assigned to the 143rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), Orlando, Fla.
Brownsville soldier killed in Afghanistan
September 26, 2011 10:19 PM
By LAURA B. MARTINEZ/The Brownsville Herald
A 26-year-old U.S. Army first lieutenant from Brownsville is the latest soldier from the Rio Grande Valley to die in the Middle East.
Andres "Andy" Zermeño died Sunday in Afghanistan from injuries he sustained in the line of duty said his brother the Rev. Joaquin Zermeño, outside his parents’ home in Cameron Park Monday afternoon. Father Joaquin is a priest with the Catholic Diocese of Brownsville.
"He was on patrol in Afghanistan...an IED (improvised explosive device) struck the vehicle and he died from the injuries he sustained," said Father Joaquin. Several other soldiers in the vehicle were also killed.
Andy, as he liked to be called, was in his first tour of duty and had been Afghanistan for about 11 months, his brother said. He was expected to end his tour in about a month and head home.
"He was 11 months into it, so we were expecting him to come home sometime soon but...." Father Joaquin said, as he voice faded away.
Andy had been active duty in the Army for three years. He also served in the National Guard.
read more here
Dana Point soldier dies in Afghanistan
By CLAUDIA KOERNER / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
An Army Ranger from Dana Point died Saturday in Wardak province, Afghanistan, the Department of Defense has reported.
Sgt. Tyler N. Holtz, 22, died from wounds suffered during heavy fire with insurgents. As he led his men in an assault against an enemy position, he was shot, according to a release from U.S. Army Special Operations Command. Holtz was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment out of Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington.
Holtz enlisted in 2007 after graduating from Mater Dei High School and served as a rifleman and Ranger Team Leader. This was his fourth deployment to Afghanistan.
Already decorated for his service, Holtz was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Purple Heart and Joint Service Achievement Medal.
read more here
Oklahoma City soldier killed in Afghanistan
Spc. Francisco J. Briseno-Alvarez Jr., 27, of Oklahoma City, is the 12th soldier from the Oklahoma National Guard 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team to die in combat since July 29 and the fifth this month.
FROM STAFF REPORTS
Published: September 26, 2011
Another Oklahoma soldier has died while fighting in Afghanistan, the U.S. Department of Defense reported.
Spc. Francisco J. Briseno-Alvarez Jr., 27, of Oklahoma City, is the 12th soldier from the Oklahoma National Guard 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team to die in combat since July 29 and the fifth this month.
Briseno-Alvarez was killed Sunday in Laghman province when his unit was attacked with a roadside bomb, according to a Defense Department news release. He was a member of the 1st Battalion, 179th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, based in Stillwater.
Three other soldiers also were injured in the attack, according to a news release from the Oklahoma National Guard.
read more here
As of today iCasualties.org has 4,476 killed in Iraq and 1,787 killed in Afghanistan.
This blog is here for a reason. Local news will cover the death of one of their own but as a nation we are left with no clue at all about what is going on because the national media stations don't bother to cover any of it unless something huge happens with many deaths all at once. They forget these men and women do not serve just their own community. They serve the entire nation. The least we can do is pay attention as a nation. I made a vow to do whatever I could, whenever I could back in 1982 when I met my husband. Believe me, I could find other things to do but nothing I want to do more.
I've heard many say that "until they all come home" but why stop there? We've seen how many have been forgotten about while they serve. The odds of being paid attention to when they are back home are very low. It is easier to find support when they come home missing limbs but so much harder for them to find support when they have wounds no one else manages to see.
We need to pay attention to everything going on if we really care as a nation. We need to acknowledge they are not just numbers but people with families and we need to make a vow to care about them so that we can care for them.
They come home wanting to get over it but when we read about the deaths by bombs, we ignore the fact their eyes saw it all happen.
They come home expecting to pick up where they left off with their families, but they forget they are not the same after all they lived through.
They come home with family members expecting them to only need time to "get over it" like they did before and when that doesn't happen, they leave.
They come home in need of help but when they ask for it, it is not what they need. This was made perfectly clear yesterday in an article about military suicides.
"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."read more here
Until we all pay attention we will see even more paying the price for what was asked of them.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Rigors of war leave troops battling arthritis at a young age
Rigors of war leave troops battling arthritis at a young age
By SETH ROBBINS
Stars and Stripes
Published: September 25, 2011
BAUMHOLDER, Germany — Staff Sgt. Thomas Wenzke would sit for hours, hunched over the five-ton truck’s window, scanning for hints of bombs along Iraq’s garbage-lined roadways.
The truck — reinforced with heavy armored plates that had ruined its suspension — motored over crater-sized potholes, and Wenzke’s spine would feel every jolt. His body armor, weighing 50 to 60 pounds, added to the strain.
Convoy forays like this lasted from three to 30 hours, he said, depending on the number of breakdowns and firefights.
“By the time we got back,” he said, “I’d be bent over and hobbled like I was an old man of 50 or 60.”
Wenzke said, since his yearlong deployment in 2006, he has suffered from a herniated disk and degenerative arthritis in his spine, for which there is no cure.
He is 29 years old.
read more here
By SETH ROBBINS
Stars and Stripes
Published: September 25, 2011
BAUMHOLDER, Germany — Staff Sgt. Thomas Wenzke would sit for hours, hunched over the five-ton truck’s window, scanning for hints of bombs along Iraq’s garbage-lined roadways.
The truck — reinforced with heavy armored plates that had ruined its suspension — motored over crater-sized potholes, and Wenzke’s spine would feel every jolt. His body armor, weighing 50 to 60 pounds, added to the strain.
Convoy forays like this lasted from three to 30 hours, he said, depending on the number of breakdowns and firefights.
“By the time we got back,” he said, “I’d be bent over and hobbled like I was an old man of 50 or 60.”
Wenzke said, since his yearlong deployment in 2006, he has suffered from a herniated disk and degenerative arthritis in his spine, for which there is no cure.
He is 29 years old.
read more here
Remains of WWII vet being repatriated from Bosnia
Remains of WWII vet being repatriated from Bosnia
By JOHN VANDIVER
Stars and Stripes
Published: September 26, 2011
STUTTGART, Germany — For 67 years, the only people who knew about the presence of the American were the residents of the village in western Bosnia-Herzegovina where he was buried.
In 1944, a resident of the hamlet of Stubica buried Staff Sgt. Meceslaus T. Miaskiewicz, a Massachusetts native who was shot down over the former Yugoslavia, according to U.S. military officials who interviewed local residents.
It had long been assumed that Miaskiewicz’s remains had been collected by the military along with the crash’s other seven victims soon after the war, but U.S. military members learned this summer that was not the case. Somehow, Miaskiewicz was left behind.
On Tuesday, Miaskiewicz’s flag-draped coffin will be loaded onto a U.S. C-130 in Sarajevo, the first leg of a journey home to relatives in Massachusetts. After a stop at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, his coffin will be flown to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, where he will receive the same honor guard reception as troops killed in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq.
read more here
By JOHN VANDIVER
Stars and Stripes
Published: September 26, 2011
STUTTGART, Germany — For 67 years, the only people who knew about the presence of the American were the residents of the village in western Bosnia-Herzegovina where he was buried.
In 1944, a resident of the hamlet of Stubica buried Staff Sgt. Meceslaus T. Miaskiewicz, a Massachusetts native who was shot down over the former Yugoslavia, according to U.S. military officials who interviewed local residents.
It had long been assumed that Miaskiewicz’s remains had been collected by the military along with the crash’s other seven victims soon after the war, but U.S. military members learned this summer that was not the case. Somehow, Miaskiewicz was left behind.
On Tuesday, Miaskiewicz’s flag-draped coffin will be loaded onto a U.S. C-130 in Sarajevo, the first leg of a journey home to relatives in Massachusetts. After a stop at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, his coffin will be flown to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, where he will receive the same honor guard reception as troops killed in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq.
read more here
Medal of Honor recipients convene in Louisville
Medal of Honor recipients convene in Louisville
By Chris Kenning - The (Louisville, Ky.) Courier-Journal
Posted : Monday Sep 26, 2011 7:15:12 EDT
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The moment came for Wilburn Ross in 1944, when he spent five desperate hours in France using a machine gun to single-handedly repel waves of attacks by elite German mountain troops.
And this week, they will be here for the 2011 Congressional Medal of Honor Society Convention, a rare gathering held for the first time in the city for many of the nation’s bravest soldiers. It comes as the nation marks the 150th anniversary of the award.
“It’s good for me and all the guys to get together,” said Ross, a former Kentucky coal miner who lives in Washington state.
Starting Wednesday, more than 50 Medal of Honor recipients and their families will be here for five days of school visits, receptions, a public “walk of heroes” and an awards dinner.
It’s a chance to foster what Littrell said is a strong brotherhood among those who have received an award that carries lasting acclaim but also a heavy burden that often includes haunting memories and survivor’s guilt.
“None of us feel we deserve the medal,” said Littrell, who lives in Florida. “We had a job to do.”
read more here
By Chris Kenning - The (Louisville, Ky.) Courier-Journal
Posted : Monday Sep 26, 2011 7:15:12 EDT
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The moment came for Wilburn Ross in 1944, when he spent five desperate hours in France using a machine gun to single-handedly repel waves of attacks by elite German mountain troops.
And this week, they will be here for the 2011 Congressional Medal of Honor Society Convention, a rare gathering held for the first time in the city for many of the nation’s bravest soldiers. It comes as the nation marks the 150th anniversary of the award.
“It’s good for me and all the guys to get together,” said Ross, a former Kentucky coal miner who lives in Washington state.
Starting Wednesday, more than 50 Medal of Honor recipients and their families will be here for five days of school visits, receptions, a public “walk of heroes” and an awards dinner.
It’s a chance to foster what Littrell said is a strong brotherhood among those who have received an award that carries lasting acclaim but also a heavy burden that often includes haunting memories and survivor’s guilt.
“None of us feel we deserve the medal,” said Littrell, who lives in Florida. “We had a job to do.”
read more here
Air Force veteran who lives alone in shack enjoys simple pleasures
Air Force veteran who lives alone in shack enjoys simple pleasures
Published: Sunday, September 25, 2011
By Tom Rademacher
The Grand Rapids Press
The calendar on his wall is stuck on September 2008.
But it might as well read fall 1908, or even 1808, for Jerry Weeks lives in a world of yesteryears — splitting wood to heat his hovel of a home, hobbling out back to answer nature’s call and subscribing to nobody’s rules when it comes to affairs of everyday living.
In an era of hurry up this and more quickly that, you’re apt to miss him as you speed along Five Mile Road NE, where Jerry has set up house just west of Lincoln Lake Avenue. In good weather, he’ll sit on the side of road and wave to anyone who’ll notice.
“Nobody stops,” he says.
His little place — a shack really, uninsulated and lacking plumbing or potable water — stands off the south side of the road in the shadows of trees. His backyard is a struggling woodpile, an outhouse with no door, a dilapidated trailer, a vehicle that hasn’t run in years, and odds and ends of every sort, most of it worthless.
This has been home for Jerry, now 74, since 1972, when he was a young man of 35. His second of two wives lived for a time with him here, but he says, “She was a city gal, wasn’t good enough for her.” The place formerly belonged to his grandfather, and Jerry says he remembers helping pour the floor as a kid of 16.
read more here
Published: Sunday, September 25, 2011
By Tom Rademacher
The Grand Rapids Press
The calendar on his wall is stuck on September 2008.
But it might as well read fall 1908, or even 1808, for Jerry Weeks lives in a world of yesteryears — splitting wood to heat his hovel of a home, hobbling out back to answer nature’s call and subscribing to nobody’s rules when it comes to affairs of everyday living.
In an era of hurry up this and more quickly that, you’re apt to miss him as you speed along Five Mile Road NE, where Jerry has set up house just west of Lincoln Lake Avenue. In good weather, he’ll sit on the side of road and wave to anyone who’ll notice.
“Nobody stops,” he says.
His little place — a shack really, uninsulated and lacking plumbing or potable water — stands off the south side of the road in the shadows of trees. His backyard is a struggling woodpile, an outhouse with no door, a dilapidated trailer, a vehicle that hasn’t run in years, and odds and ends of every sort, most of it worthless.
This has been home for Jerry, now 74, since 1972, when he was a young man of 35. His second of two wives lived for a time with him here, but he says, “She was a city gal, wasn’t good enough for her.” The place formerly belonged to his grandfather, and Jerry says he remembers helping pour the floor as a kid of 16.
read more here
Vietnam soldier's remains return 45 years later
Vietnam soldier's remains return 45 years later
KRISTIN M. HALL, Associated Press
September 25, 2011
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Forty-five years to the day since Army Spc. 4 Marvin Phillips was killed in a helicopter crash in Vietnam, his family will finally be able to bury his remains in his hometown in Palmer, Tenn., on Monday.
Phillips was a 20-year-old door gunner on a UH-1B Huey helicopter that crashed into 9 feet of water off the coast of South Vietnam on Sept. 26, 1966, after the helicopter was struck by small arms fire.
James Phillips, Marvin's younger brother, remembers the day a military officer came to his family's home to tell them that the helicopter had been shot down and Marvin was considered missing in action. He said his brother had been due to come home from the war but volunteered for the mission.
read more here
KRISTIN M. HALL, Associated Press
September 25, 2011
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Forty-five years to the day since Army Spc. 4 Marvin Phillips was killed in a helicopter crash in Vietnam, his family will finally be able to bury his remains in his hometown in Palmer, Tenn., on Monday.
Phillips was a 20-year-old door gunner on a UH-1B Huey helicopter that crashed into 9 feet of water off the coast of South Vietnam on Sept. 26, 1966, after the helicopter was struck by small arms fire.
James Phillips, Marvin's younger brother, remembers the day a military officer came to his family's home to tell them that the helicopter had been shot down and Marvin was considered missing in action. He said his brother had been due to come home from the war but volunteered for the mission.
read more here
Illinois soldier based at Fort Bragg found dead outside hotel
NC police say Illinois soldier based at Fort Bragg found dead outside hotel
By Associated Press, Published: September 25
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — North Carolina police continue looking for clues in the off-post shooting death of a Fort Bragg soldier from Illinois.
Fayetteville police they found Pfc. Chad Patrick Dellit lying between two cars near a hotel. He had been shot in the head. Fort Bragg said Friday that the 22-year-old Dellit was from Fulton, Ill., and enlisted in September 2008.
By Associated Press, Published: September 25
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — North Carolina police continue looking for clues in the off-post shooting death of a Fort Bragg soldier from Illinois.
Fayetteville police they found Pfc. Chad Patrick Dellit lying between two cars near a hotel. He had been shot in the head. Fort Bragg said Friday that the 22-year-old Dellit was from Fulton, Ill., and enlisted in September 2008.
Soldier from Longwood dies in Iraq
Soldier from Longwood dies in Iraq
9:09 p.m. EDT, September 25, 2011
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.
read more here
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.
read more here
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
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?
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.
read more here
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.
read more here
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.
read more here
We must be the healers that returning war veterans need
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.
read more here
Motorcyclists ride in support of wounded marine
Motorcyclists ride in support of wounded marine
By ERIN FRANCE
Published Sunday, September 25, 2011
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.
read more here
Linked from Marine Corps Times
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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