Former commander, 91, sued by disabled vets in Fort Lauderdale
Lawsuit accuses him of secretly selling the Fort Lauderdale chapter's building
By Jon Burstein, Sun Sentinel
7:13 p.m. EST, February 21, 2012
He is a 91-year-old World War II veteran who fought in the Battle of the Bulge and served as commander of the Fort Lauderdale chapter of Disabled American Veterans.
John P. Von Schlicher is now being called something else — a thief. That's what the veterans group he's dedicated the latter years of his life to has alleged in a lawsuit.
The nonprofit Disabled American Veterans is accusing him of secretly selling the chapter's headquarters and pocketing most of the profits.
Von Schlicher said he did nothing wrong in the sale and didn't make a cent from it. He's still in shock from the allegations being leveled against him by a group he treasures, he said.
"It's criminal what they have done to me," Von Schlicher said. "I take care of my veterans. I'm proud to be a veteran. I'm not proud of some of the people who are veterans though. ... [The DAV] is a great organization, but you have some real bastards who are running it."
A Florida official for the DAV said, though, that when it came to the November 2009 sale of the chapter's Fort Lauderdale properties, Von Schlicher took care of only himself.
"Mr. Von Schlicher took it upon himself to run that chapter in a dictatorial manner and when it suited his needs, he forged a corporate resolution and somehow arranged for someone to buy the property," said Carlos Rainwater, the group's state inspector general. "He did this on his own and pocketed the money without the knowledge and authority of anyone else."
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Thursday, February 23, 2012
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Palm Valley Oviedo FL Veterans Walk of Honor
Sometimes I think I have the best job in the world because of the events I get to attend. Filming veterans is usually loaded with a tremendous sense of pride in these men and women. It is very hard to look at them, listen to them tell stories about what they did, where they've been and then take in how humble they really are. Saturday was one of those days.
It started out overcast and dreading the threat of rain as I drove to the Bunker (Cpl. Larry E. Smedley National War Museum) to meet up with some Bunker Guard Riders to follow them to the event in Oviedo Florida. A group at Palm Valley FBO decided to honor veterans in a unique way. They put in a Memorial stone and bricks with their names on it, which has been done before, but it was the way they did it. It was a huge event with over 200 people, bagpipes, a choir made up of seniors and an outstanding speaker.
2nd LT. Albert "Chris" Galvan served in Iraq and Afghanistan, among other places, and is the Platoon Leader 2nd Platoon Charlie Company of the Florida National Guard. He has a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart plus a chest load of other medals but it is the love he has in his heart for two friends he lost in combat that got to everyone there.
Eustace L. Horne Jr. President of the National Vietnam War Museum was there. He's a Vietnam Veteran with a Silver Star, 3 Bronze Stars with Valor, Purple Hearts and a lot more. He was a Major and served three tours.
UPDATE March 27, 2014
Corrupted Valor Broken Trust An investigation into the claims made by Mr. Horne show that he served one tour in Vietnam with the Army Reserves. He was awarded one Bronze Star for Valor and a Purple Heart. The original information came from news reports.
It started out overcast and dreading the threat of rain as I drove to the Bunker (Cpl. Larry E. Smedley National War Museum) to meet up with some Bunker Guard Riders to follow them to the event in Oviedo Florida. A group at Palm Valley FBO decided to honor veterans in a unique way. They put in a Memorial stone and bricks with their names on it, which has been done before, but it was the way they did it. It was a huge event with over 200 people, bagpipes, a choir made up of seniors and an outstanding speaker.
2nd LT. Albert "Chris" Galvan served in Iraq and Afghanistan, among other places, and is the Platoon Leader 2nd Platoon Charlie Company of the Florida National Guard. He has a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart plus a chest load of other medals but it is the love he has in his heart for two friends he lost in combat that got to everyone there.
Eustace L. Horne Jr. President of the National Vietnam War Museum was there. He's a Vietnam Veteran with a Silver Star, 3 Bronze Stars with Valor, Purple Hearts and a lot more. He was a Major and served three tours.
UPDATE March 27, 2014
Corrupted Valor Broken Trust An investigation into the claims made by Mr. Horne show that he served one tour in Vietnam with the Army Reserves. He was awarded one Bronze Star for Valor and a Purple Heart. The original information came from news reports.
Hospitalized Marine faces DWI charges
Hospitalized Marine faces DWI charges
February 20, 2012 11:02 AM
LINDELL KAY - DAILY NEWS STAFF
A Camp Lejeune Marine remains hospitalized after crashing his pickup truck into a tree near Sandridge Road early Sunday morning.
Patrick Martin Williams, 25, is in stable condition at Vidant Medical Center, formerly Pitt County Memorial Hospital, in Greenville. He was airlifted there after firefighters spent 45 minutes extricating him from his truck just after midnight Sunday.
read more here
February 20, 2012 11:02 AM
LINDELL KAY - DAILY NEWS STAFF
A Camp Lejeune Marine remains hospitalized after crashing his pickup truck into a tree near Sandridge Road early Sunday morning.
Patrick Martin Williams, 25, is in stable condition at Vidant Medical Center, formerly Pitt County Memorial Hospital, in Greenville. He was airlifted there after firefighters spent 45 minutes extricating him from his truck just after midnight Sunday.
read more here
Veteran’s ID no good at polls
Mount Pleasant man refuses to vote after finding veteran’s ID no good at polls
CARA SPOTO
JournalTimes.com
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
MOUNT PLEASANT — A local man wasn’t allowed to use his veteran’s card to vote in Tuesday’s primary and he’s pretty steamed about it.
Gil Paar, 69, of Mount Pleasant, said he went to his polling place, Peace Lutheran Church, and when asked by poll workers to provide the ID, he handed over his U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs card. The poll workers said the ID, which includes Paar’s photo, wasn’t considered an acceptable form of identification under the state’s new voter ID law, Paar says. They asked him if he had a driver’s license he could offer. He did, he said. But he refused to show it and didn’t vote.
“Basically I was trying to make a point,” Paar said. “I gave them four years of my life, why shouldn’t I be able to use my vet’s card?”
read more here
UPDATE
Wisconsin Veteran Irate At Voter ID Law: ‘What The F*ck Did I Go In For?’
ERIC KLEEFELD FEBRUARY 22, 2012,
Tuesday was the official launch of Wisconsin’s new Voter-I.D. law, with citizens now required to present a photo-identification card in order to cast a ballot in the primaries for local elections. And as it turns out, one man refused to vote, because he was so angry that his card from the Department of Veterans Affairs was not on the approved list.
As the Racine Journal Times reported, 69-year old veteran Gil Paar was shocked when poll workers told him his photo I.D. from the V.A. wasn’t on the accepted list. They then asked him if he had a driver’s license — which he did — but he instead refused to show it and left the precinct. “Basically I was trying to make a point,” Paar told the paper. “I gave them four years of my life, why shouldn’t I be able to use my vet’s card?”
As the paper reports, the state election officials explain that the way the law was written, a military-related I.D. must be issued by a uniform service — which does not include the Department of Veterans Affairs. The bottom line: For whatever the reason might be, whether intentional or an accident, V.A. cards were not included on the list.
read more here
CARA SPOTO
JournalTimes.com
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
MOUNT PLEASANT — A local man wasn’t allowed to use his veteran’s card to vote in Tuesday’s primary and he’s pretty steamed about it.
Gil Paar, 69, of Mount Pleasant, said he went to his polling place, Peace Lutheran Church, and when asked by poll workers to provide the ID, he handed over his U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs card. The poll workers said the ID, which includes Paar’s photo, wasn’t considered an acceptable form of identification under the state’s new voter ID law, Paar says. They asked him if he had a driver’s license he could offer. He did, he said. But he refused to show it and didn’t vote.
“Basically I was trying to make a point,” Paar said. “I gave them four years of my life, why shouldn’t I be able to use my vet’s card?”
read more here
UPDATE
Wisconsin Veteran Irate At Voter ID Law: ‘What The F*ck Did I Go In For?’
ERIC KLEEFELD FEBRUARY 22, 2012,
Tuesday was the official launch of Wisconsin’s new Voter-I.D. law, with citizens now required to present a photo-identification card in order to cast a ballot in the primaries for local elections. And as it turns out, one man refused to vote, because he was so angry that his card from the Department of Veterans Affairs was not on the approved list.
As the Racine Journal Times reported, 69-year old veteran Gil Paar was shocked when poll workers told him his photo I.D. from the V.A. wasn’t on the accepted list. They then asked him if he had a driver’s license — which he did — but he instead refused to show it and left the precinct. “Basically I was trying to make a point,” Paar told the paper. “I gave them four years of my life, why shouldn’t I be able to use my vet’s card?”
As the paper reports, the state election officials explain that the way the law was written, a military-related I.D. must be issued by a uniform service — which does not include the Department of Veterans Affairs. The bottom line: For whatever the reason might be, whether intentional or an accident, V.A. cards were not included on the list.
read more here
Nicholas Horner, Iraq Veteran with PTSD wants to defend himself
Iraq veteran charged in killings wants to represent self if convicted off first-degree murder
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First Posted: February 22, 2012
HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. — An Iraq war veteran accused of fatally shooting two people in a Pennsylvania sandwich shop shooting wants to represent himself at sentencing if he's convicted of first-degree murder next month.
A Blair County judge scheduled a hearing for Feb. 29 on Nicholas Horner's request to represent himself during sentencing if he's facing the death penalty.
Horner is charged with shooting two employees of a Subway restaurant in Altoona, killing one, then fatally shooting another man as he fled. Horner says he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder at the time of the April 2009 shootings.
read more here
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First Posted: February 22, 2012
HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. — An Iraq war veteran accused of fatally shooting two people in a Pennsylvania sandwich shop shooting wants to represent himself at sentencing if he's convicted of first-degree murder next month.
A Blair County judge scheduled a hearing for Feb. 29 on Nicholas Horner's request to represent himself during sentencing if he's facing the death penalty.
Horner is charged with shooting two employees of a Subway restaurant in Altoona, killing one, then fatally shooting another man as he fled. Horner says he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder at the time of the April 2009 shootings.
read more here
Another Marine Iraq Veteran with PTSD shot by SWAT team
GBI probes Iraq vet killed in Ga. SWAT shootout
By Terry Dickson
Morris News Service
Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2012 7:31 AM
BAXLEY, Ga. -- The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is probing the weekend shooting death of an Iraq war veteran in an armed standoff in south Georgia’s Appling County.
Neighbors of James M. Dixon III, 31, called the Sheriff’s Office about 3:50 a.m. Sunday to say someone had fired a shot through their house, Sheriff Bennie DeLoach said in a news statement.
Deputies went to Dixon’s house but decided for safety reasons to wait until daylight before confronting whoever fired the shot, DeLoach said.
As they waited, Dixon left the house and drove to his parents’ house about a half mile away on Holland Road Extension, Chief Deputy Lee J. Sweat Jr. said.
Deputies were not in position to stop Dixon but tried to stop him as he came back home, Sweat said.
read more here
also
Corporal James M. Dixon III, survived 3 tours in Iraq, passed away at home
By Terry Dickson
Morris News Service
Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2012 7:31 AM
BAXLEY, Ga. -- The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is probing the weekend shooting death of an Iraq war veteran in an armed standoff in south Georgia’s Appling County.
Dixon’s older sister, Serran Aaron, said her brother suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and was 100 percent disabled.
Neighbors of James M. Dixon III, 31, called the Sheriff’s Office about 3:50 a.m. Sunday to say someone had fired a shot through their house, Sheriff Bennie DeLoach said in a news statement.
Deputies went to Dixon’s house but decided for safety reasons to wait until daylight before confronting whoever fired the shot, DeLoach said.
As they waited, Dixon left the house and drove to his parents’ house about a half mile away on Holland Road Extension, Chief Deputy Lee J. Sweat Jr. said.
Deputies were not in position to stop Dixon but tried to stop him as he came back home, Sweat said.
read more here
also
Corporal James M. Dixon III, survived 3 tours in Iraq, passed away at home
Vets speak out on VA Hospital
Vets speak out on VA Hospital
Updated: Tuesday, 21 Feb 2012
Adam Widener
Congressman Marlin Stutzman (IN-03) and the Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs Jeff Miller (FL-01) held a veterans’ affairs forum in Fort Wayne Tuesday. Dozens of area vets showed up with concerns ranging from unemployment to mental health.
More than 100 veterans came to the Classic Cafe in Fort Wayne with questions or just wanting to hear what the congressional leaders had to say. Some shared worries about homeless vets not getting the proper care and others about the challenge of getting veterans jobs when they come back from service.
After a question about the increasing amount of veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, Miller said the VA hospital is not prepared for the vets that are coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan.
read more here
Updated: Tuesday, 21 Feb 2012
Adam Widener
Congressman Marlin Stutzman (IN-03) and the Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs Jeff Miller (FL-01) held a veterans’ affairs forum in Fort Wayne Tuesday. Dozens of area vets showed up with concerns ranging from unemployment to mental health.
More than 100 veterans came to the Classic Cafe in Fort Wayne with questions or just wanting to hear what the congressional leaders had to say. Some shared worries about homeless vets not getting the proper care and others about the challenge of getting veterans jobs when they come back from service.
After a question about the increasing amount of veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, Miller said the VA hospital is not prepared for the vets that are coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan.
read more here
The War Within: Veterans struggle with PTSD
The War Within: Veterans struggle with PTSD
February 21, 2012
Lindsey Kovacevich
JEFFERSON COUNTY - Running from the enemy, trying to stay alive, shooting to kill. It's war.
Veterans and men and women now serving in the military share a special bond. An experience they say you can't understand unless you've lived it.
Many have come back from war and are now living with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Some of the men and women who fight for our country come back broken, hurt. They find it hard to work their way back into society.
The Vietnam War brought tens of thousands of young Americans into a combat zone where the enemy could be hiding anywhere. Guerrilla warfare that took its toll on the body and mind. Some turned to lives of crime, drugs; anything to numb the pain.
Experts say for many all of that is linked to PTSD. The criminal justice system is trying to help veterans fight the war within.
"I've seen guys commit suicide while we in the bush. Stick that rifle in his mouth. I mean to actually witness something like that, that's a trip," says Herman Columbus who's a Vietnam veteran. He adds, "they pop out of the ground like little rats and start firing at you. Never know where you're walking. What to expect. Sometimes the jungle is so thick you can't see from me to you."
read more here
February 21, 2012
Lindsey Kovacevich
JEFFERSON COUNTY - Running from the enemy, trying to stay alive, shooting to kill. It's war.
Veterans and men and women now serving in the military share a special bond. An experience they say you can't understand unless you've lived it.
Many have come back from war and are now living with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Some of the men and women who fight for our country come back broken, hurt. They find it hard to work their way back into society.
The Vietnam War brought tens of thousands of young Americans into a combat zone where the enemy could be hiding anywhere. Guerrilla warfare that took its toll on the body and mind. Some turned to lives of crime, drugs; anything to numb the pain.
Experts say for many all of that is linked to PTSD. The criminal justice system is trying to help veterans fight the war within.
"I've seen guys commit suicide while we in the bush. Stick that rifle in his mouth. I mean to actually witness something like that, that's a trip," says Herman Columbus who's a Vietnam veteran. He adds, "they pop out of the ground like little rats and start firing at you. Never know where you're walking. What to expect. Sometimes the jungle is so thick you can't see from me to you."
read more here
Fort Hood soldier killed while trying to run after street race
Fort Hood soldier killed while trying to run after street race
by Brandon Hartman
KILLEEN - A Fort Hood soldier is now dead after a motorcycle accident that took place after police tried to break up a street race.
An officer was in the area of Trimmier Rd. and Stan Schlueter Loop at 12:56 a.m. on Tuesday when he saw three motorcycles traveling westbound on Stan Schlueter; two of the motorcycles were racing at high speeds.
The officer was able to stop one of the racing motorcycles on Stan Schlueter but the other racing motorcycle continued to travel west at a high rate of speed. The third motorcycle turned off and left the area.
read more here
by Brandon Hartman
KILLEEN - A Fort Hood soldier is now dead after a motorcycle accident that took place after police tried to break up a street race.
An officer was in the area of Trimmier Rd. and Stan Schlueter Loop at 12:56 a.m. on Tuesday when he saw three motorcycles traveling westbound on Stan Schlueter; two of the motorcycles were racing at high speeds.
The officer was able to stop one of the racing motorcycles on Stan Schlueter but the other racing motorcycle continued to travel west at a high rate of speed. The third motorcycle turned off and left the area.
read more here
Mother visits Marine veteran sentenced to death in Iran
Mother visits Marine veteran sentenced to death in Iran
Published February 21, 2012
Associated Press
FLINT, Michigan – The mother of a former U.S. Marine sentenced to death in Iran on a spying conviction has visited her son in an Iranian prison, a spokesman for the family said Tuesday.
Eric Volz said that Benhaz Hekmati was able to see her 28-year-old son Amir several times during a visit to Iran. The visit was first reported by The New York Times.
Volz said the trip went well, and there were no problems with the interactions she had with Iranian authorities. She has since returned home, he said.
read more here
Published February 21, 2012
Associated Press
FLINT, Michigan – The mother of a former U.S. Marine sentenced to death in Iran on a spying conviction has visited her son in an Iranian prison, a spokesman for the family said Tuesday.
Eric Volz said that Benhaz Hekmati was able to see her 28-year-old son Amir several times during a visit to Iran. The visit was first reported by The New York Times.
Volz said the trip went well, and there were no problems with the interactions she had with Iranian authorities. She has since returned home, he said.
read more here
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