Navy pilot killed self in San Diego murder-suicide
By JULIE WATSON, Associated Press – 10 hours ago
SAN DIEGO (AP) — A New Year's Day shooting that left four people dead at a condominium near San Diego was a murder-suicide involving a 25-year-old Navy pilot who killed himself, officials said Wednesday.
John Robert Reeves shot himself in the head, and the three others with him were murdered, the San Diego County Sheriff's Department said, citing autopsy results.
Fellow Navy pilot David Reis, also 25, was killed by a gunshot wound to the torso, and his 24-year-old sister, Karen, suffered a gunshot wound to the head and chest, officials said. Matthew Saturley, 31, of Chula Vista was shot multiple times.
Sheriff's Capt. Duncan Fraser said there were no outstanding suspects in the case, and police have found no evidence indicating there was an exchange of gunfire, although he declined to say if Reeves was the shooter, explaining that "we don't have forensic evidence yet to say that definitively."
"We have no eyewitnesses to what happened inside the residence," Fraser told reporters. "We don't know what the motive was."
Reeves' family members could not immediately be reached for comment.
The unusual case rocked the Navy's elite, tight-knit aviation community, many of whom live on Coronado, a picturesque peninsular enclave of 24,000 people on San Diego Bay that recorded only one homicide in 2010 and is home to Naval Air Station North Island.
It takes years of training to get wings as a Navy pilot. Aviation students are selected after standing out among their Navy peers, and fighter jet pilots are considered to be top performers among pilots.
Reeves, of Prince Frederick, Md., and Reis, of Bakersfield, Calif., were both F/A-18 fighter pilots assigned to the Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 101 of the Third Marine Aircraft Wing at nearby Miramar Air Station. Both men joined the Navy in 2008 at separate universities.
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2 Navy Pilots among dead
Navy police called in for murder-suicide investigation
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Researchers now looking at PTSD link in DNA?
Veterans taking part in massive DNA project
Wednesday, January 04, 2012
Carolyn Johnson
PALO ALTO, Calif. (KGO) -- Bay Area veterans are answering the call to help with a massive research project and when it is up and running, it could provide new answers for some difficult-to-treat conditions.
Marine Corps veteran Andrew Peters says he was one of the lucky ones. He returned from Iraq with no major injuries but now, eight years later, he is volunteering for a different kind of mission. He is donating his DNA as a part of a massive project being launched by the VA. Its goal is to assemble one of the largest genetic databases ever created.
"As a veteran, it's really a fairly minor contribution for my part for something that is likely to help me down the road, as well as my fellow veterans," Peters said.
"There's many things that we hope to get out of this database and this access, for future researchers," said Dr. Jennifer Hoblyn at the VA in Palo Alto.
Hoblyn is the director of in-patient mental health and says information gleaned from the genetic database may help unlock the physical mysteries of conditions like PTSD.
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Wednesday, January 04, 2012
Carolyn Johnson
PALO ALTO, Calif. (KGO) -- Bay Area veterans are answering the call to help with a massive research project and when it is up and running, it could provide new answers for some difficult-to-treat conditions.
Marine Corps veteran Andrew Peters says he was one of the lucky ones. He returned from Iraq with no major injuries but now, eight years later, he is volunteering for a different kind of mission. He is donating his DNA as a part of a massive project being launched by the VA. Its goal is to assemble one of the largest genetic databases ever created.
"As a veteran, it's really a fairly minor contribution for my part for something that is likely to help me down the road, as well as my fellow veterans," Peters said.
"There's many things that we hope to get out of this database and this access, for future researchers," said Dr. Jennifer Hoblyn at the VA in Palo Alto.
Hoblyn is the director of in-patient mental health and says information gleaned from the genetic database may help unlock the physical mysteries of conditions like PTSD.
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San Diego naval hospital testing unusual PTSD treatment
San Diego naval hospital testing unusual PTSD treatment
The Pentagon is spending hundreds of millions of dollars searching for a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, the overarching term for the nightmares, flashbacks, anxiety and restlessness suffered by many troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
By Tony Perry
Los Angeles Times
SAN DIEGO — The Pentagon is spending hundreds of millions of dollars searching for a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, the overarching term for the nightmares, flashbacks, anxiety and restlessness suffered by many troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Nearly all of the dozens of research projects involve long-term counseling and prescription drugs.
But researchers at the Naval Medical Center San Diego believe that something as seemingly simple as injections of an anesthetic given to women during childbirth may be effective in alleviating the symptoms associated with PTSD.
Early testing on several dozen veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts has proved promising, with some, although not all, showing signs of relief from stellate ganglion block treatment, researchers said.
"It may be a significant tool in our armory" to fight PTSD, said Dr. Robert McLay, a psychiatrist and director of mental-health research at the medical center.
McLay, whose book "At War With PTSD" will soon be published by Johns Hopkins University Press, says he was skeptical when he first heard about the treatment.
"I thought this was a little wacky when it was mentioned," he said.
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The Pentagon is spending hundreds of millions of dollars searching for a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, the overarching term for the nightmares, flashbacks, anxiety and restlessness suffered by many troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
By Tony Perry
Los Angeles Times
SAN DIEGO — The Pentagon is spending hundreds of millions of dollars searching for a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, the overarching term for the nightmares, flashbacks, anxiety and restlessness suffered by many troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Nearly all of the dozens of research projects involve long-term counseling and prescription drugs.
But researchers at the Naval Medical Center San Diego believe that something as seemingly simple as injections of an anesthetic given to women during childbirth may be effective in alleviating the symptoms associated with PTSD.
Early testing on several dozen veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts has proved promising, with some, although not all, showing signs of relief from stellate ganglion block treatment, researchers said.
"It may be a significant tool in our armory" to fight PTSD, said Dr. Robert McLay, a psychiatrist and director of mental-health research at the medical center.
McLay, whose book "At War With PTSD" will soon be published by Johns Hopkins University Press, says he was skeptical when he first heard about the treatment.
"I thought this was a little wacky when it was mentioned," he said.
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Off-Duty Cop, Iraq War Vet, beaten at Winter Classic
UPDATE
Arrest made in beating of N.J. cop after Rangers-Flyers game
Arrest made in beating of N.J. cop after Rangers-Flyers game
Rangers Fan Beaten in Winter Classic Fight Was Off-Duty Cop, Iraq War Vet
The fight took place in Philadelphia after the Winter Classic Monday night
By Pei-Sze Cheng and Brian Thompson
Thursday, Jan 5, 2012
Thirty-year-old Neal Auricchio has worn many uniforms, previously as a Marine and currently as an officer of the Woodbridge Police Department. But it was his Rangers hockey jersey that may have made him the target of a brutal beating Monday night.
"He got banged up pretty badly," his father Neal Auricchio, Sr., told NBC New York Wednesday.
"Stitches in the one eye, and the other eye is pretty puffed up. He went for a CAT scan today, and we're waiting for the results on that."
Video of the assault was posted to YouTube Monday night, after the Philadelphia Flyers and the New York Rangers faced off in the Winter Classic in Philadelphia. Three men wearing Flyers jerseys were seen in the video assaulting two men wearing New York Rangers jerseys in front of the famed Geno's Steaks eatery.
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Wednesday, January 4, 2012
2,000 attend service for Deputy Matt Miller
Deputy Matt Miller: 'He didn't speak a lot. He smiled a lot'
Gov. Rick Scott and Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi attended the service in Longwood
By Gary Taylor, Orlando Sentinel
2:35 p.m. EST, January 4, 2012
LONGWOOD – A Seminole County deputy sheriff who died in the line of duty last month was remembered today for his service to community.
About 2,000 people — many of them law enforcement officers from around the Southeast U. S. — attended the funeral for Deputy Matt Miller. Also in attendance were Gov. Rick Scott and state Attorney General Pam Bondi.
The service at Northland, A Church Distributed, ran almost an hour longer than expected and was followed by a lengthy procession to Oakland Park Cemetery in Lake Mary.
Miller, 53, was killed Dec. 26 at the intersection of Maitland Boulevard and Gateway Drive when his motorcycle collided with a car while he was trying to catch up to a speeding vehicle.
"The Seminole County Sheriff's Office is a better organization and the community is safer because of the efforts of Matt,'' Seminole County Sheriff Don Eslinger said during the service.
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Gov. Rick Scott and Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi attended the service in Longwood
By Gary Taylor, Orlando Sentinel
2:35 p.m. EST, January 4, 2012
LONGWOOD – A Seminole County deputy sheriff who died in the line of duty last month was remembered today for his service to community.
About 2,000 people — many of them law enforcement officers from around the Southeast U. S. — attended the funeral for Deputy Matt Miller. Also in attendance were Gov. Rick Scott and state Attorney General Pam Bondi.
The service at Northland, A Church Distributed, ran almost an hour longer than expected and was followed by a lengthy procession to Oakland Park Cemetery in Lake Mary.
Miller, 53, was killed Dec. 26 at the intersection of Maitland Boulevard and Gateway Drive when his motorcycle collided with a car while he was trying to catch up to a speeding vehicle.
"The Seminole County Sheriff's Office is a better organization and the community is safer because of the efforts of Matt,'' Seminole County Sheriff Don Eslinger said during the service.
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Divorce Rate Among Afghanistan, Iraq War Vets Increases by 42 Percent
Divorce Rate Among Afghanistan, Iraq War Vets Increases by 42 Percent (VIDEO)
By Luiza Oleszczuk
Christian Post Reporter
The divorce rate among military couples has increased 42 percent throughout the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, a recent study shows, adding to the woes of U.S. military veterans returning from the Middle East who already have to tackle war-related problems like post-traumatic stress disorder and high unemployment rates.
Couples' plans to pursue divorce gain plausibility with each subsequent month a service member is deployed, according to new research by Family Life, a nonprofit that focuses on marriage and parenting issues. The first 90 days after deployment are the most critical for military marriages, the organization says.
"That window is the proven time frame during which people develop habits and set the tone for the future of their marriage. It's critical for military couples to establish healthy habits quickly as they struggle to reconnect and restructure their families," Family Life Founder and President Dennis Rainey said in a statement.
Some of the most common issues touching fresh veterans are a rushed transition to civilian life, renegotiating roles with the partner, realizing both spouses have changed during deployment, and possibly the influence of post-traumatic stress disorder, the organization claims.
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By Luiza Oleszczuk
Christian Post Reporter
The divorce rate among military couples has increased 42 percent throughout the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, a recent study shows, adding to the woes of U.S. military veterans returning from the Middle East who already have to tackle war-related problems like post-traumatic stress disorder and high unemployment rates.
Couples' plans to pursue divorce gain plausibility with each subsequent month a service member is deployed, according to new research by Family Life, a nonprofit that focuses on marriage and parenting issues. The first 90 days after deployment are the most critical for military marriages, the organization says.
"That window is the proven time frame during which people develop habits and set the tone for the future of their marriage. It's critical for military couples to establish healthy habits quickly as they struggle to reconnect and restructure their families," Family Life Founder and President Dennis Rainey said in a statement.
Some of the most common issues touching fresh veterans are a rushed transition to civilian life, renegotiating roles with the partner, realizing both spouses have changed during deployment, and possibly the influence of post-traumatic stress disorder, the organization claims.
read more here
USO Sailor Of Year Killed In Afghanistan Standing In For Wounded Bomb Tech
U-T: USO Sailor Of Year Killed In Afghanistan
Chad Regelin Killed Monday
Jeanette Steele, U-T San Diego
SAN DIEGO -- When Navy bomb disposal technician Chad Regelin was named 2011 USO sailor of the year, he couldn’t make it to the October gala in Washington, D.C.
He was in Afghanistan, standing in for a wounded bomb technician.
That job took his life Monday. Regelin, a 24-year-old sailor assigned to a San Diego unit, was killed during combat operations with a Marine Corps special operations company in Helmand province, Afghanistan, the Pentagon announced.
His brother Ryan said the sailor was on foot patrol when an explosion occurred. Regelin went to check it out and a second bomb, detonated via a wire, went off.
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Chad Regelin Killed Monday
Jeanette Steele, U-T San Diego
SAN DIEGO -- When Navy bomb disposal technician Chad Regelin was named 2011 USO sailor of the year, he couldn’t make it to the October gala in Washington, D.C.
He was in Afghanistan, standing in for a wounded bomb technician.
That job took his life Monday. Regelin, a 24-year-old sailor assigned to a San Diego unit, was killed during combat operations with a Marine Corps special operations company in Helmand province, Afghanistan, the Pentagon announced.
His brother Ryan said the sailor was on foot patrol when an explosion occurred. Regelin went to check it out and a second bomb, detonated via a wire, went off.
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Ranger Margaret Anderson being hailed as a life saver
'We could have all been dead. I believe she saved our lives'
By KOMO Staff
Published: Jan 3, 2012
MOUNT RAINIER, Wash. -- Ranger Margaret Anderson is being hailed as a life saver by those who were trapped inside Paradise Inn near the scene of the deadly shooting on New Years Day.
Jeremy Best was visiting the park when he heard some loud bangs.
"I heard a few bangs over my right shoulder, which I assumed was avalanche control," he said.
Best had no idea it was gunfire until rangers told park visitors to get inside the Paradise Inn.
"They had just said, 'Somebody had been shot,'" said Best.
Two hours later, the SWAT team arrived and ordered everyone to get on the ground with their hands behind their heads. Suspected gunman Benjamin Barnes had fled into the woods in the direction of Paradise.
"They printed off pictures of who they thought the suspect was, and checked faces, one by one, to make sure he wasn't in the building," said Best.
After being safely escorted off the mountain, Best learned of the fate of the friendly ranger he had just spoken to in the lot of Paradise.
"It wasn't until Monday afternoon when I'd awakened and I got online, and saw her face. And I was in shock, having spoken to her just moments before (her death)," he said.
Rangers said Anderson rushed from the parking lot to intercept Barnes' car before he could reach Paradise.
"We could have all been dead," said Best. "I believe she saved our lives."
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Mount Rainier staff meets to grieve loss of ranger
By GENE JOHNSON Associated Press
Published: Jan 3, 2012
SEATTLE (AP) - Employees at Mount Rainier National Park are gathering together Tuesday to grieve the loss of a park ranger who was fatally shot inside the park.
Park spokesman Greg Shine says park employees are in an all-staff meeting to come together as a community and begin the healing process following Sunday's shooting of Margaret Anderson.
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By KOMO Staff
Published: Jan 3, 2012
MOUNT RAINIER, Wash. -- Ranger Margaret Anderson is being hailed as a life saver by those who were trapped inside Paradise Inn near the scene of the deadly shooting on New Years Day.
Jeremy Best was visiting the park when he heard some loud bangs.
"I heard a few bangs over my right shoulder, which I assumed was avalanche control," he said.
Best had no idea it was gunfire until rangers told park visitors to get inside the Paradise Inn.
"They had just said, 'Somebody had been shot,'" said Best.
Two hours later, the SWAT team arrived and ordered everyone to get on the ground with their hands behind their heads. Suspected gunman Benjamin Barnes had fled into the woods in the direction of Paradise.
"They printed off pictures of who they thought the suspect was, and checked faces, one by one, to make sure he wasn't in the building," said Best.
After being safely escorted off the mountain, Best learned of the fate of the friendly ranger he had just spoken to in the lot of Paradise.
"It wasn't until Monday afternoon when I'd awakened and I got online, and saw her face. And I was in shock, having spoken to her just moments before (her death)," he said.
Rangers said Anderson rushed from the parking lot to intercept Barnes' car before he could reach Paradise.
"We could have all been dead," said Best. "I believe she saved our lives."
read more here
Mount Rainier staff meets to grieve loss of ranger
By GENE JOHNSON Associated Press
Published: Jan 3, 2012
SEATTLE (AP) - Employees at Mount Rainier National Park are gathering together Tuesday to grieve the loss of a park ranger who was fatally shot inside the park.
Park spokesman Greg Shine says park employees are in an all-staff meeting to come together as a community and begin the healing process following Sunday's shooting of Margaret Anderson.
read more here
Veterans compensation and pension examinations company laying off employees
Veterans Evaluation Services to lay off 73
Houston Business Journal
Date: Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Veterans Evaluation Services Inc. began to lay off 73 employees on Dec. 29 because of funding cuts from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
The Houston-based company that provides veterans compensation and pension examinations said in notification letter to the Texas Workforce Commission that it has seen significant funding reductions from its two contracts with its sole client, Veterans Affairs.
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Houston Business Journal
Date: Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Veterans Evaluation Services Inc. began to lay off 73 employees on Dec. 29 because of funding cuts from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
The Houston-based company that provides veterans compensation and pension examinations said in notification letter to the Texas Workforce Commission that it has seen significant funding reductions from its two contracts with its sole client, Veterans Affairs.
read more here
Some Gold Star families feel disconnected
Some Gold Star families feel disconnected
By Gregg Zoroya - USA Today
Posted : Wednesday Jan 4, 2012 9:37:22 EST
COLLINSVILLE, Okla. — Jane Horton wears a small Gold Star pin honoring her husband, Army Spc. Christopher D. Horton, who was killed by Taliban gunfire four months ago.
“It’s like an outward expression of a burden carried deep inside,” Jane says about an emblem Congress created after World War II for those who lost loved ones to war.
Except that no one today seems to know what it means.
“I’ve never been asked about it. Ever,” she says.
As the 26-year-old widow of an Oklahoma guardsman killed in combat, it is another reason Jane says she feels a world apart from other Americans.
She sensed it standing on an airport tarmac as her husband’s body was unloaded from the belly of an aircraft. She could see the faces staring down from the jetway windows above, parents holding children and pointing.
“I definitely feel there’s a disconnect,” she says.
National leaders and advocacy groups say they see a widening rift between a military at war and a public at peace, distracted by a sputtering economy and weary of hearing about Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Not every American knows what a ... Gold Star family is,” first lady Michelle Obama said recently when she unveiled a Gold Star Christmas tree at the White House.
“Americans ... often don’t realize that these people are right here among us,” says Ami Neiberger-Miller, a spokeswoman for Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, a non-profit that helps military families who lose loved ones.
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By Gregg Zoroya - USA Today
Posted : Wednesday Jan 4, 2012 9:37:22 EST
COLLINSVILLE, Okla. — Jane Horton wears a small Gold Star pin honoring her husband, Army Spc. Christopher D. Horton, who was killed by Taliban gunfire four months ago.
“It’s like an outward expression of a burden carried deep inside,” Jane says about an emblem Congress created after World War II for those who lost loved ones to war.
Except that no one today seems to know what it means.
“I’ve never been asked about it. Ever,” she says.
As the 26-year-old widow of an Oklahoma guardsman killed in combat, it is another reason Jane says she feels a world apart from other Americans.
She sensed it standing on an airport tarmac as her husband’s body was unloaded from the belly of an aircraft. She could see the faces staring down from the jetway windows above, parents holding children and pointing.
“I definitely feel there’s a disconnect,” she says.
National leaders and advocacy groups say they see a widening rift between a military at war and a public at peace, distracted by a sputtering economy and weary of hearing about Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Not every American knows what a ... Gold Star family is,” first lady Michelle Obama said recently when she unveiled a Gold Star Christmas tree at the White House.
“Americans ... often don’t realize that these people are right here among us,” says Ami Neiberger-Miller, a spokeswoman for Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, a non-profit that helps military families who lose loved ones.
read more here
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