J.R. Martinez, girlfriend Diana Gonzalez-Jones welcome baby girl Lauryn Anabelle Martinez
The Iraq war vet says his daughter has 'a full head of hair and the cutest little lips'
BY CRISTINA EVERETT
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Thursday, May 3, 2012
J.R. Martinez has a new little lady in his life.
The Iraq war veteran and “Dancing with the Stars” champ became a father Wednesday night when he and girlfriend Diana Gonzalez-Jones welcomed their first child together.
Baby girl Lauryn Anabelle Martinez, born in Los Angeles, weighed in at 7 lbs., 13 oz. and is 21 inches long.
“She’s already got a nickname – Belle,” Martinez, 28, told People of his daughter.
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Thursday, May 3, 2012
Deadly infection claims San Francisco VA lab worker
Deadly infection claims San Francisco VA lab worker
By Matt O'Brien
Bay Area News Group
Posted: 05/03/2012
State and federal health officials are investigating how a rare and virulent bacteria strain appears to have killed a young researcher at a VA hospital's infectious diseases lab in San Francisco, setting off alarms that the man's friends and fellow researchers may have also been exposed.
The 25-year-old laboratory researcher at San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center died Saturday morning shortly after asking friends to take him to the hospital. For the week and months before his death, he had been handling a bacteria linked to deadly bloodstream infections at the VA hospital's Northern California Institute for Research and Education, said Peter Melton, a spokesman for the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
The man, whose name has not been released, was working with fellow researchers to develop a vaccine for a bacterial strain that causes septicemia and meningitis. Hours after he left work, however, the germ that he was studying took his own life.
"He left the lab around 5 p.m." Friday, said Harry Lampiris, chief of the VA hospital's infectious diseases division. "He had no symptoms at all."
read more here
By Matt O'Brien
Bay Area News Group
Posted: 05/03/2012
State and federal health officials are investigating how a rare and virulent bacteria strain appears to have killed a young researcher at a VA hospital's infectious diseases lab in San Francisco, setting off alarms that the man's friends and fellow researchers may have also been exposed.
The 25-year-old laboratory researcher at San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center died Saturday morning shortly after asking friends to take him to the hospital. For the week and months before his death, he had been handling a bacteria linked to deadly bloodstream infections at the VA hospital's Northern California Institute for Research and Education, said Peter Melton, a spokesman for the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
The man, whose name has not been released, was working with fellow researchers to develop a vaccine for a bacterial strain that causes septicemia and meningitis. Hours after he left work, however, the germ that he was studying took his own life.
"He left the lab around 5 p.m." Friday, said Harry Lampiris, chief of the VA hospital's infectious diseases division. "He had no symptoms at all."
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Wounded Warrior opens family ranch: free to all veterans
Wounded Warrior opens family ranch: free to all veterans
5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
Story by Sgt. Mark Cloutier
OLYMPIA, Wash. - Disabled combat veteran Bill Campbell and his wife, Domenica, opened their 14-acre farm in December, free to all military service veterans and their families. Nestled into the thick, green Capitol Forest, just off State Road 8 about 30 miles south of Joint Base Lewis-McChord, is the peaceful respite known to many as Wounded Warrior Ranch.
Bill said the ranch is a place where veterans and their families can simply drop in for a time of peace and solitude and drop out of life’s rat race at the same time - a place where regimentation and schedules are checked at the door.
“Our mission is to honor and serve our nation’s veterans and their families with gratitude and appreciation through personal experience,” Domenica said. “We want people to rest and to relax and to feel as though they are at home when they’re here.”
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5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
Story by Sgt. Mark Cloutier
Courtesy Photo
Bill Campbell, owner of Wounded Warrior Ranch in Olympia, leads a developmentally disabled guest through a paddock on Maisey, one of the ranch's horses. WWR is free to all military service veterans and their families.
OLYMPIA, Wash. - Disabled combat veteran Bill Campbell and his wife, Domenica, opened their 14-acre farm in December, free to all military service veterans and their families. Nestled into the thick, green Capitol Forest, just off State Road 8 about 30 miles south of Joint Base Lewis-McChord, is the peaceful respite known to many as Wounded Warrior Ranch.
Bill said the ranch is a place where veterans and their families can simply drop in for a time of peace and solitude and drop out of life’s rat race at the same time - a place where regimentation and schedules are checked at the door.
“Our mission is to honor and serve our nation’s veterans and their families with gratitude and appreciation through personal experience,” Domenica said. “We want people to rest and to relax and to feel as though they are at home when they’re here.”
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Top aviators are refusing to fly F-22 Raptor
Some pilots refuse to fly F-22 Raptor fighter jet
By W.J. HENNIGAN
Los Angeles Times
Published: May 3, 2012
LOS ANGELES
Some of the nation's top aviators are refusing to fly the radar-evading F-22 Raptor, a fighter jet with ongoing problems with the oxygen systems that have plagued the fleet for four years.
At the risk of significant reprimand - or even discharge from the Air Force - fighter pilots are turning down the opportunity to climb into the cockpit of the F-22, the world's most expensive fighter jet.
The Air Force did not reveal how many of its 200 F-22 pilots, who are stationed at seven military bases across the country, declined their assignment orders. But current and former Air Force officials say it's an extremely rare occurrence.
"It's shocking to me as a fighter pilot and former commander of Air Combat Command that a pilot would decline to get into that airplane," said retired four-star Gen. Richard E. Hawley, a former F-15 fighter pilot and air combat commander at Langley Air Force Base in Hampton, Va.
He said he couldn't remember one specific incident in his 35-year career in which a fighter pilot declined his assignment.
Concern about the safety of the F-22 has grown in recent months as reports about problems with its oxygen systems have offered no clear explanations why pilots are reporting hypoxia-like symptoms in the air. Hypoxia is a condition that can bring on nausea, headaches, fatigue or blackouts when the body is deprived of oxygen.
read more here
By W.J. HENNIGAN
Los Angeles Times
Published: May 3, 2012
LOS ANGELES
Some of the nation's top aviators are refusing to fly the radar-evading F-22 Raptor, a fighter jet with ongoing problems with the oxygen systems that have plagued the fleet for four years.
At the risk of significant reprimand - or even discharge from the Air Force - fighter pilots are turning down the opportunity to climb into the cockpit of the F-22, the world's most expensive fighter jet.
The Air Force did not reveal how many of its 200 F-22 pilots, who are stationed at seven military bases across the country, declined their assignment orders. But current and former Air Force officials say it's an extremely rare occurrence.
"It's shocking to me as a fighter pilot and former commander of Air Combat Command that a pilot would decline to get into that airplane," said retired four-star Gen. Richard E. Hawley, a former F-15 fighter pilot and air combat commander at Langley Air Force Base in Hampton, Va.
He said he couldn't remember one specific incident in his 35-year career in which a fighter pilot declined his assignment.
Concern about the safety of the F-22 has grown in recent months as reports about problems with its oxygen systems have offered no clear explanations why pilots are reporting hypoxia-like symptoms in the air. Hypoxia is a condition that can bring on nausea, headaches, fatigue or blackouts when the body is deprived of oxygen.
read more here
Ex-soldier charged in standoff wants VA help
Ex-soldier charged in standoff wants VA help
The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday May 3, 2012
SAVANNAH, Ga. — A former Army soldier facing charges in a 2010 hostage standoff in southeast Georgia wants a federal judge to grant him bond so that he can get treatment from the Veterans Administration.
Robert Anthony Quinones had a hearing scheduled Thursday morning. He’s accused of taking three hostages at gunpoint at the Army hospital on Fort Stewart and demanding treatment.
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The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday May 3, 2012
SAVANNAH, Ga. — A former Army soldier facing charges in a 2010 hostage standoff in southeast Georgia wants a federal judge to grant him bond so that he can get treatment from the Veterans Administration.
Robert Anthony Quinones had a hearing scheduled Thursday morning. He’s accused of taking three hostages at gunpoint at the Army hospital on Fort Stewart and demanding treatment.
read more here
Police still have named no suspect in disappearance of Kelli Bordeaux
Missing soldier’s mom, husband ‘keeping hope alive’
Police still have named no suspect in disappearance of Kelli Bordeaux, 23
By Scott Stump
TODAY.com contributor
updated 5/2/2012
More than two weeks since the disappearance of 23-year-old Army combat medic Kelli Bordeaux, police have not named any suspects or produced any concrete leads — but her mother is still holding out hope for her safe return.
Johnna Henson, the mother of Pfc. Bordeaux, spoke with TODAY Wednesday along with the missing soldier’s husband, Mike, as the search for Kelli continues. She was last seen April 14 at Froggy Bottoms bar in Fayetteville, N.C., and was reported missing on April 16 when she did not report for duty at nearby Fort Bragg.
“Until I know differently from Detective Locklear or the Fayetteville Police Department, I am definitely keeping hope alive,’’ Henson told Savannah Guthrie, referring to Fayetteville detective Jeff Locklear. “She’s a wonderful young lady, and she needs to be with her family.’’
read more here
Police still have named no suspect in disappearance of Kelli Bordeaux, 23
By Scott Stump
TODAY.com contributor
updated 5/2/2012
More than two weeks since the disappearance of 23-year-old Army combat medic Kelli Bordeaux, police have not named any suspects or produced any concrete leads — but her mother is still holding out hope for her safe return.
Johnna Henson, the mother of Pfc. Bordeaux, spoke with TODAY Wednesday along with the missing soldier’s husband, Mike, as the search for Kelli continues. She was last seen April 14 at Froggy Bottoms bar in Fayetteville, N.C., and was reported missing on April 16 when she did not report for duty at nearby Fort Bragg.
“Until I know differently from Detective Locklear or the Fayetteville Police Department, I am definitely keeping hope alive,’’ Henson told Savannah Guthrie, referring to Fayetteville detective Jeff Locklear. “She’s a wonderful young lady, and she needs to be with her family.’’
read more here
Soldiers’ Bibles American religious history come alive
My Dad's bible is on my desk. My husband's bible and his Dad's bible are in my office as well. The spiritual needs of soldiers during combat has been known since the beginning of time. It has reached the point of importance so much so that atheists now want their own chaplains. This is baffling since the DOD has yet to really understand the power of spiritual healing.
Soldiers’ Bibles exhibit a walk through American history
By Chris Herlinger
Religion News Service
Published: May 2
NEW YORK — The simplicity of the exhibit — copies of the Bible resting in glass cases — can be deceptive.
But the Museum of Biblical Art’s exhibition, “Finding Comfort in Difficult Times: A Selection of Soldiers’ Bibles,” is American religious history come alive.
The exhibit showcases three dozen copies of Scriptures published for members of the U.S. Armed Forces from the Civil War onward, from leather-bound, 19th-century copies to contemporary Bibles clothed in camouflage.
But more than the Bibles themselves — on long-term loan from the American Bible Society — the exhibit tells the stories of the men and women who read them, their struggles with hardship, and the place of religion in their lives.
Given the personal histories they contain, “every scripture in the Rare Bible Collection at MOBIA has its own unique story,” said the New York museum’s executive director, Ena Heller.
Efforts to supply Bibles to American troops began in the waning years of the American Revolution. Decades later, in 1817, the one-year-old American Bible Society began supplying Bibles to the crew of the frigate USS John Adams.
During World War I, General John J. Pershing and President Woodrow Wilson penned messages that accompanied a 1917 copy of the New Testament. In his preface, Wilson, a Presbyterian elder, declared that “the Bible is the word of life” and urged soldiers to read the Scriptures and “find this out for yourselves.”
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Fort Hood recalls all Vietnam vets
Fort Hood recalls all Vietnam vets
Welcome Home Ceremony planned
Wednesday, 02 May 2012
FORT HOOD, Texas (KXAN) - The III Corps commanding general asks all Vietnam veterans to join Fort Hood in a Vietnam Veterans Welcome Home Ceremony May 21 as part of the Corps' Phantom Warrior Week.
During the ceremony, Vietnam veterans will receive the same fanfare present-day soldiers receive when they return from Iraq and Afghanistan. The veterans will parade onto Sadowski Field in front of hundreds, perhaps thousands of supporters who appreciate the sacrifices they made 50 years ago.
read more here
Welcome Home Ceremony planned
Wednesday, 02 May 2012
FORT HOOD, Texas (KXAN) - The III Corps commanding general asks all Vietnam veterans to join Fort Hood in a Vietnam Veterans Welcome Home Ceremony May 21 as part of the Corps' Phantom Warrior Week.
During the ceremony, Vietnam veterans will receive the same fanfare present-day soldiers receive when they return from Iraq and Afghanistan. The veterans will parade onto Sadowski Field in front of hundreds, perhaps thousands of supporters who appreciate the sacrifices they made 50 years ago.
read more here
PTSD and Gambling: New Combat Vets Plagued by Troubling Addiction
Gambling: New Combat Vets Plagued by Troubling Addiction
By John H. Tucker
Thursday, May 3 2012
In 2007, having served with distinction during two deployments to Iraq and one to Afghanistan, U.S. Air Force firefighter John Brownfield Jr. took a job as a correctional officer at the maximum-security federal prison in Florence, Colo., 40 miles south of Colorado Springs. Ten months later, prison officials caught the former senior airman smuggling tobacco to at least seven inmates at the facility and accepting at least $3,500 in payoffs. The U.S. attorney for the District of Colorado charged the 22-year-old combat veteran with bribery by a public official. Brownfield pleaded guilty.
Two years later, Sgt. Dreux Perkins returned home from a combat stint in Baghdad — his second overseas tour of duty with the U.S. Army — received his honorable discharge and went to work as a correctional officer at the medium-security Federal Correctional Institution in Greenville, Ill., 50 miles east of St. Louis on Interstate 70. In May 2011 the Federal Bureau of Investigation confronted Perkins with evidence that he'd accepted at least $2,600 in payoffs for smuggling cigarettes into the prison. The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois indicted the 23-year-old decorated war veteran for bribery by a federal official, two counts of wire fraud and two counts of making a false statement to a federal law officer. Perkins pleaded guilty.
read more here
By John H. Tucker
Thursday, May 3 2012
In 2007, having served with distinction during two deployments to Iraq and one to Afghanistan, U.S. Air Force firefighter John Brownfield Jr. took a job as a correctional officer at the maximum-security federal prison in Florence, Colo., 40 miles south of Colorado Springs. Ten months later, prison officials caught the former senior airman smuggling tobacco to at least seven inmates at the facility and accepting at least $3,500 in payoffs. The U.S. attorney for the District of Colorado charged the 22-year-old combat veteran with bribery by a public official. Brownfield pleaded guilty.
Two years later, Sgt. Dreux Perkins returned home from a combat stint in Baghdad — his second overseas tour of duty with the U.S. Army — received his honorable discharge and went to work as a correctional officer at the medium-security Federal Correctional Institution in Greenville, Ill., 50 miles east of St. Louis on Interstate 70. In May 2011 the Federal Bureau of Investigation confronted Perkins with evidence that he'd accepted at least $2,600 in payoffs for smuggling cigarettes into the prison. The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois indicted the 23-year-old decorated war veteran for bribery by a federal official, two counts of wire fraud and two counts of making a false statement to a federal law officer. Perkins pleaded guilty.
read more here
As of March 590,000 VA claims over 125 days old
Troops returning home to strained veterans-affairs system
By Rebecca Ruiz
President Obama may face challenges to deliver on his promise that the U.S. will look after troops and their families as combat operations in Afghanistan come to an end.
Fulfilling the president's promise will require the cooperation of a system that is already strained by current demand for veterans’ services and benefits.
Of the 91,000 troops currently in Afghanistan, 23,000 will return to the U.S. by the end of the summer; the remaining 68,000 will gradually come home through December 2014. Many of these veterans will immediately require mental health, disability, education, employment and medical services, but these resources are under varying degrees of strain.
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By Rebecca Ruiz
President Obama may face challenges to deliver on his promise that the U.S. will look after troops and their families as combat operations in Afghanistan come to an end.
As of March 31, the VA was considering 897,556 claims for disability benefits; nearly 590,000 of those had been pending for more than 125 days.“When you get home, we are going to be there for you when you’re in uniform and we will stay there for you when you’re out of uniform, because you’ve earned it,” he told troops at Bagram Air Base on Tuesday.
Fulfilling the president's promise will require the cooperation of a system that is already strained by current demand for veterans’ services and benefits.
Of the 91,000 troops currently in Afghanistan, 23,000 will return to the U.S. by the end of the summer; the remaining 68,000 will gradually come home through December 2014. Many of these veterans will immediately require mental health, disability, education, employment and medical services, but these resources are under varying degrees of strain.
read more here
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