Vietnam Veterans Reunion 2012

While the media loves to say that Afghanistan is the longest war, they forget when the US started to lose lives in Vietnam.

Yesterday we went to the Florida Vietnam and All Veterans Reunion. If reporters bothered to look at the Wall whenever they covered it, they'd know that the years on it began in 1959 and kept claiming lives until 1975.

July 8, 1959 - Two U.S. military advisors, Maj. Dale Buis and Sgt. Chester Ovnand, are killed by Viet Minh guerrillas at Bien Hoa, South Vietnam. They are the first American deaths in the Second Indochina War which Americans will come to know simply as The Vietnam War.

The last died in May of 1975 Capture and Release of SS Mayaguez

At Afghanistan hospital, Texas troops treat the wounds of war

Bagram hospital helps keep survival rates at record highs even as it sees horrible injuries from roadside bombs. 
By Jeremy Schwartz
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Sunday, April 29, 2012

BAGRAM AIR BASE, AFGHANISTAN — Just after 9 a.m., the helicopter descends past jagged, snowcapped mountains, and the crew rushes a soldier with a gunshot wound to his leg into the trauma center. Nurses, doctors and medical technicians, clad in camouflage scrubs, flood into the room, unwrapping his bloody bandage, checking vital signs and inserting lines for intravenous fluids.

The injury is minor compared with what these military medical workers see on a regular basis. In addition to a growing number of gunshot victims, the trauma center sees many NATO troops whose legs and arms have been blown off by land mines hidden in the Afghan countryside, victims of what the military has termed dismounted complex blast injury. On busy days, staffers treat dozens of patients, as they did on a recent Saturday when insurgent forces staged a series of attacks around Kabul.

By nighttime, the soldier will have been carefully bundled onto a stretcher, or "packaged," and along with a dozen other wounded service members, put on a C-17 cargo plane and flown to the Army's military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany.
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Orange Park soldier, military dog handler, dies in Afghanistan

Orange Park soldier dies in Afghanistan
2 Army sergeants killed while serving in Ghanzi Province, Afghanistan 
Published On: Apr 27 2012
ORANGE PARK, Fl

Two soldiers supporting Operation Enduring Freedom, one from Orange Park, died Thursday while supporting Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

Sgt Dick A. Lee Jr. and Staff Sgt. Brandon F. Eggleston died Thursday in Ghanzi province from injuries suffered when their vehicle struck an improvised explosive device.

Lee., 31, of Orange Park, was assigned to 95th Military Police Battalion, 18th Military Police Brigade, 21st Theater Sustainment Command, Sembach, Germany.

Lee is survived by a wife and two sons.

His commanding officer called Lee a great soldier and military dog handler and that everyone who knew Lee considered it an honor to serve with him.
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American Hero Fest today in Old Town

American Hero Fest

Biker killed after hitting deer in Ocala National Forest

Biker killed after hitting deer in Ocala National Forest

By Kevin P. Connolly
Orlando Sentinel
April 28, 2012

A South Florida motorcyclist heading north on State Road 19 in the Ocala National Forest was killed Saturday after his bike hit a deer that jumped out of the woods and into his path.

Bruce L. Pelish, 57, of Miramar was killed after the 10:20 a.m. crash at S.R. 19 and Sunset Strip, the Florida Highway Patrol said. The crash happened in a part of the forest located in north Lake County.
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More than 500 Volunteers Join Rebuilding Together Boston

More than 500 Volunteers Join Rebuilding Together Boston to Renovate Homes and Non-Profit Facilities on National Rebuilding Day

April 28, 2012
BOSTON
PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Volunteers, including New England Patriots employees and alumni and an all women skilled tradesperson team, are repairing homes and renovating housing for formerly homeless veterans, women and children at nine sites across the City.

Today, Rebuilding Together Boston (RTB), an affiliate of Rebuilding Together, the nation's leading nonprofit working to preserve affordable housing and revitalize communities, is engaging more than 500 local volunteers and civic leaders to rehabilitate six homes in Mattapan, Dorchester and Roxbury; Pine Street Inn Veterans' housing and a residence for formerly homeless women, and the Nazareth Residence for Mothers and Children on National Rebuilding Day.

This work is made possible by the generosity of sponsors: Bank of America, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Booz Allen Hamilton, Bullhorn, Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation, Gilbane Building Company, Grand Circle Corporation, the Jacobs family, Mirassou Winery, Sears Holdings and Starbucks. Also, the Home Depot Foundation made a generous community impact grant to Rebuilding Together Boston for the donation of supplies to support the renovation work on National Rebuilding Day.

Projects this year include the renovation of an 89-year old widow's home by an all women crew who are providing plumbing, electricity, and carpentry services at her home in Mattapan where she has resided in for more than 40 years and has cared for her grandson who has cerebral palsy.

Also, volunteers will be working on several other projects including providing home modifications and energy-efficiency upgrades for a World War II Veteran and his wife. RTB volunteers will complete needed repairs in the basement; reconstruct the front porch with new windows and paint; repair the railing and lattice work on the back porch and paint; install a new walkway from the driveway to back yard; install drainage for down spouts; and make any needed home modifications for the couple to ensure safety.

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Tacoma VFW Post 91 helps Bales family get through nightmare

Tacoma VFW Post 91 helps Bales family get through nightmare
Kari Bales and her two young children stayed hidden in plain sight at the Daffodil Parade on April 14. They were among about a dozen people waving at the crowd from a float entered by Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 91 in Tacoma.

FACT BOX

HOW TO HELP VFW Post 91 is accepting donations for Kari Bales and her children at its post building, 2000 S. Union Ave. in Tacoma. The money will supplement the family’s living expenses while they pay mounting bills. Donations can be placed in a secured box located just inside the post’s front door. Checks should be made out to VFW Post 91. Call 253-759-6995 to see if the building is open.

CHRISTIAN HILL
STAFF WRITER
Published: 04/28/12

Kari Bales and her two young children stayed hidden in plain sight at the Daffodil Parade on April 14. They were among about a dozen people waving at the crowd from a float entered by Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 91 in Tacoma.

Despite the international coverage of their plight, only two friends in the crowd recognized the wife and two children of the Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier who’s charged with murdering 17 Afghan civilians, said Elmer Clark, the VFW post commander.

Clark made the arrangements for the Bales family to ride the float – one of many ways the post is wrapping its arms around family members during their nightmare that began seven weeks ago today.
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Veteran's mission continues even after his return from combat

Veteran's mission continues even after his return from combat
Saturday, April 28, 2012
BY COLIN GAMBARO
COLUMBIA

James Casey, a U.S. military veteran, had trouble finding an identity in society when he returned home from Iraq.

After suffering a knee injury in 2009, however, Casey was forced to return to St. Louis. It was during this time that he developed post-traumatic stress disorder.

“It was being idle and not doing anything,” Casey said, “I was going through a major loss in my life. I was losing an identification of self because for almost a decade I had identified with being a combat soldier.”

He needed to find the focus and purpose back home that he had during his three tours of duty in Iraq. The Mission Continues helped provide that purpose.

On Saturday, The Mission Continues — a nonprofit organization that challenges post-9/11 military veterans to be leaders in their communities — teamed up with Fox Sports Midwest as part of the Summer Service Slam to spearhead a refurbishment of Rainbow Softball Center at Cosmopolitan Park.

"Many veterans struggle to find the same purpose at home as they found in the mission, camaraderie and structure of the military. The Mission Continues does not offer charity, rather, it challenges returning service members to utilize their tremendous skills and leadership to continue serving our country at home," the organization's website says.

Saturday was an opportunity for veterans such as Casey to give back to their community with the help from civilian volunteers.
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Soldier accused of selling stolen arms on eBay from Iraq

Feds: Soldier sold stolen arms on eBay from Iraq
Fidel Ignacio Cisneros is accused of violating federal arms export laws, according to the Homeland Security investigators.

By Arelis R. Hernández
Orlando Sentinel
April 28, 2012

A U.S. Army soldier with connections to Orlando sold stolen arms to buyers on eBay while he was deployed in Iraq in 2010, according to Homeland Security investigators.

Fidel Ignacio Cisneros is accused of violating federal law regarding the export of sensitive technology such as night-vision equipment, rifle scopes and high-powered infrared lasers that were not intended for the public, according to an affidavit filed in federal court in Orlando.

Using the eBay name of "silentpro2010," Cisneros told buyers he was retired from the military and based in Orlando selling surplus equipment, investigators said.

His listing touted the arms as being extremely rare and "impossible to find on the international market," the affidavit said.
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Camp Lejeune Marines justified in killing home invaders

DA: Deaths were justified
April 28, 2012 6:15 AM
LINDELL KAY
DAILY NEWS STAFF
Prosecutors announced Friday they will not press charges against two Camp Lejeune Marines and a civilian who fought for their lives and killed two local men who were burglarizing their Jacksonville home earlier this month.

Maurice Skinner, 33, of Banks Street, and Diego M. Everette, 33, of Graytown Road, were shot and killed by residents of 107 Country Club Drive around 2 a.m. on April 15.

District Attorney Ernie Lee refused to publicly identify the residents involved in the shooting.

He said it was clear from the evidence that the state’s Castle Doctrine, which allows for deadly force in defending one’s home, and self-defense laws apply in the case.

“After investigation by the Jacksonville Police Department and reading the statements of the witnesses, it is clear that Everette’s and Skinner’s death were justified because of the actions of Everette and Skinner in burglarizing the residence and assaulting, robbing and threatening to kill the occupants of the residence,” Lee said.
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