On the debate last night, before I get asked, I have only one question.
How do you debate someone with so many changing positions he makes the Kama Sutra look like beginners training? I watched reruns of Frasier.
I hope someone learned something but after tracking all these reports I didn't think I'd hear anything new. Today I'll hear the recap talked about all day long. So far, I didn't miss much.
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
More than 50 Medal of Honor Heroes in Honolulu
Medal of Honor recipients pay tribute to WWII aviators
By WILLIAM COLE
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Published: October 3, 2012
HONOLULU — Eight Marine Corps Medal of Honor recipients, in town for a convention of the war heroes, paid tribute Tuesday to four World War II aviators who were at one time based at Marine Corps Air Station Ewa and singled out for bravery "above and beyond the call of duty."
The four Marines were killed in action during the war, and streets were named after them at Ewa Field, according to the event's organizers.
The weedy and neglected state of Ewa Field, which was attacked on Dec. 7, 1941, came as a surprise to some of the Medal of Honor recipients who traveled to pay respects to their fallen Marine brethren, who also were awarded the nation's highest military honor.
"We were surprised when we heard about this because the Marines, we're deep, deep in the history of our Corps, and we'd never heard of this air station," said Richard Pittman, 67, who in Vietnam in 1966 went to the aid of fellow Marines who were under heavy fire on a jungle trail.
Pittman grabbed a belt-fed M-60 machine gun and took out two enemy positions before continuing further and facing down as many as 40 enemy fighters, first with his M-60 and then with a pistol and an enemy rifle until the enemy withdrew.
For his bravery, Pittman was awarded the Medal of Honor.
read more here
By WILLIAM COLE
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Published: October 3, 2012
More than 50 of 81 living Medal of Honor recipients are in Honolulu for the weeklong 2012 Medal of Honor Convention, an annual get-together of the nation's greatest war heroes.
HONOLULU — Eight Marine Corps Medal of Honor recipients, in town for a convention of the war heroes, paid tribute Tuesday to four World War II aviators who were at one time based at Marine Corps Air Station Ewa and singled out for bravery "above and beyond the call of duty."
The four Marines were killed in action during the war, and streets were named after them at Ewa Field, according to the event's organizers.
The weedy and neglected state of Ewa Field, which was attacked on Dec. 7, 1941, came as a surprise to some of the Medal of Honor recipients who traveled to pay respects to their fallen Marine brethren, who also were awarded the nation's highest military honor.
"We were surprised when we heard about this because the Marines, we're deep, deep in the history of our Corps, and we'd never heard of this air station," said Richard Pittman, 67, who in Vietnam in 1966 went to the aid of fellow Marines who were under heavy fire on a jungle trail.
Pittman grabbed a belt-fed M-60 machine gun and took out two enemy positions before continuing further and facing down as many as 40 enemy fighters, first with his M-60 and then with a pistol and an enemy rifle until the enemy withdrew.
For his bravery, Pittman was awarded the Medal of Honor.
read more here
Army urged to probe Silver Star discrepancy
Army urged to probe Silver Star discrepancy
Army Times
By Joe Gould
Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Oct 3, 2012
A California lawmaker who served in Iraq and Afghanistan as a Marine Corps officer wants the secretary of the Army to take a closer look at nine possible Silver Stars to make sure they were awarded to their recipients.
At least one of the nine, a retired Special Forces master sergeant, said that if he and two others were approved for the Silver Star, they were never told. Ronnie Raikes told Army Times he was badly wounded while on a team that in late 2001 infiltrated southern Afghanistan and protected Hamid Karzai, then a little known statesman hunted by the Taliban and now the country’s president.
Raikes said he and two others from the 11-member Operational Detachment Alpha 574 received the Bronze Star in 2002 for their actions. The team left Afghanistan after a friendly fire bomb attack that killed three soldiers and wounded Raikes and several others, as reported in the book, “The Only Thing Worth Dying For.”
“If we did receive the Silver Star, it would be significant to me because it says the Army is doing right by us,” said Raikes, 50, of Clarksville, Tenn. “We worked our asses off, and we didn’t know then that Hamid Karzai would be president.”
The other two listed as Silver Star recipients on the database from Raikes’ team are Michael McElhiney and Gilbert Magallanes. In congressional testimony advocating for better health care for veterans, Magallanes’ wife said the bomb attack left him with an extensive brain injury and a raft of medical problems.
Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., a member of the House armed services committee, made a request to Army Secretary John McHugh days after a database that contained Social Security numbers for some of the Army’s highest award recipients wound up online.
That database also contained nine more Silver Stars than the Department of Defense’s listings, Hunter said in the Oct. 3 letter to McHugh.
read more here
Army Times
By Joe Gould
Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Oct 3, 2012
A California lawmaker who served in Iraq and Afghanistan as a Marine Corps officer wants the secretary of the Army to take a closer look at nine possible Silver Stars to make sure they were awarded to their recipients.
At least one of the nine, a retired Special Forces master sergeant, said that if he and two others were approved for the Silver Star, they were never told. Ronnie Raikes told Army Times he was badly wounded while on a team that in late 2001 infiltrated southern Afghanistan and protected Hamid Karzai, then a little known statesman hunted by the Taliban and now the country’s president.
Raikes said he and two others from the 11-member Operational Detachment Alpha 574 received the Bronze Star in 2002 for their actions. The team left Afghanistan after a friendly fire bomb attack that killed three soldiers and wounded Raikes and several others, as reported in the book, “The Only Thing Worth Dying For.”
“If we did receive the Silver Star, it would be significant to me because it says the Army is doing right by us,” said Raikes, 50, of Clarksville, Tenn. “We worked our asses off, and we didn’t know then that Hamid Karzai would be president.”
The other two listed as Silver Star recipients on the database from Raikes’ team are Michael McElhiney and Gilbert Magallanes. In congressional testimony advocating for better health care for veterans, Magallanes’ wife said the bomb attack left him with an extensive brain injury and a raft of medical problems.
Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., a member of the House armed services committee, made a request to Army Secretary John McHugh days after a database that contained Social Security numbers for some of the Army’s highest award recipients wound up online.
That database also contained nine more Silver Stars than the Department of Defense’s listings, Hunter said in the Oct. 3 letter to McHugh.
read more here
American Legion says veterans should get interest for waiting
I totally agree! When you think about the fact the VA has rules on when paperwork has to be filed, but doesn't seem to be held accountable for not getting claims processed right on time, this is only fair. When my husband's claim was tied up for six years, it was a burden no family should be expected to endure while bills piled up and the VA charged us for his care. Yes, they charged us because back then private insurance companies could just deny the claim and say it was the VA's responsibility to take care of him. When we couldn't pay, they just took our tax refund. Once his claim was approved, it was bitter sweet because of all the suffering we had to go through.
Maybe having to pay interest would get the Congress to make sure the VA was fully funded enough to have enough trained claims processors to take care of all the influx of disabled veterans when they change rules.
Maybe having to pay interest would get the Congress to make sure the VA was fully funded enough to have enough trained claims processors to take care of all the influx of disabled veterans when they change rules.
Legion: Pay interest on delayed vets’ claims
Army Times
By Rick Maze
Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Oct 3, 2012
Disabled veterans waiting longer than 125 days for their initial disability claims to be processed should receive interest on top of their retroactive benefits, says the new commander of the American Legion, the nation’s largest veterans’ group.
Today, payments on approved claims are backdated to the day they are filed, but interest is not paid.
James Koutz, an Army veteran of the Vietnam War who leads the 2.4-million member Legion, said payments with interest would be a small recognition by the government that veterans had been forced to wait too long for pay they deserved.
His suggestion came Wednesday during a hearing before a joint meeting of the House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs committees to hear from the Legion’s top officials. Similar hearings featuring other military and veterans’ groups are held throughout the year.
read more here
Vietnam veteran denied benefits for "not being there"
Veteran fights to prove he went to war
31-year vet denied disability compensation claim
Updated: Wednesday, 03 Oct 2012
By Walt Buteau
Target 12 Investigator
DARTMOUTH, Mass. (WPRI) - Conrad Dupre tugs at his Vietnam Veteran embroidered cap, proudly remembering the dangers of nightly missions to ‘light up the sky’ over the war. But the Department of Veterans Affairs has no memory of Dupre from 1964 to 1965.
“The bottom line is I don't see how it could happen,” the 73 year old tells us from the Dartmouth motel room where he lives. ”I just don't see how they can lose somebody for a whole year. They don’t believe I was in Vietnam.”
But he tells Target 12, that’s where he was when the herbicide Agent Orange fell from the Da Nang air as he scrambled to fly 3 times a night with the 8th Aerial Port Squadron.
read more here
31-year vet denied disability compensation claim
Updated: Wednesday, 03 Oct 2012
By Walt Buteau
Target 12 Investigator
DARTMOUTH, Mass. (WPRI) - Conrad Dupre tugs at his Vietnam Veteran embroidered cap, proudly remembering the dangers of nightly missions to ‘light up the sky’ over the war. But the Department of Veterans Affairs has no memory of Dupre from 1964 to 1965.
“The bottom line is I don't see how it could happen,” the 73 year old tells us from the Dartmouth motel room where he lives. ”I just don't see how they can lose somebody for a whole year. They don’t believe I was in Vietnam.”
But he tells Target 12, that’s where he was when the herbicide Agent Orange fell from the Da Nang air as he scrambled to fly 3 times a night with the 8th Aerial Port Squadron.
read more here
Paralyzed Vietnam veteran walks again with new brace
Miracle brace lets veteran walk again
Paralyzed patients relish ‘simple things’
By Marie Szaniszlo
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
When Theresa Hannigan was left paralyzed two years ago as a result of an autoimmune disease she had contracted while she was in the Army, doctors told her she would never walk again.
But yesterday at the AdvaMed 2012 conference, the 58-year-old Vietnam veteran pressed a button on a control device she wore on her wrist, and with the aid of a brace-like exoskeleton called the ReWalk and two crutches to help keep her balance, she stood up and set out on a stroll around the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center as onlookers gaped.
read more here
Paralyzed patients relish ‘simple things’
By Marie Szaniszlo
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
When Theresa Hannigan was left paralyzed two years ago as a result of an autoimmune disease she had contracted while she was in the Army, doctors told her she would never walk again.
But yesterday at the AdvaMed 2012 conference, the 58-year-old Vietnam veteran pressed a button on a control device she wore on her wrist, and with the aid of a brace-like exoskeleton called the ReWalk and two crutches to help keep her balance, she stood up and set out on a stroll around the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center as onlookers gaped.
read more here
Man accused of ripping off veterans captured
Accused con man ‘Bobby Thompson,’ who scammed $100 million with fake Navy vets charity, is fugitive Harvard lawyer John Donald Cody, feds say
The prolific con-artist was finally captured after a two-year manhunt. Authorities say he lined his pockets with millions intended for Navy vets and their families.
BY PHILIP CAULFIELD
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2012
A prolific con-man who bilked donors out of $100 million using a fake Navy veteran's charity and routinely rubbed elbows with GOP bigwigs is a Harvard-trained lawyer who has been wanted for 25 years, authorities said.
Since his arrest in May, the accused scam artist has been known as either "Bobby Thompson" or "Mr. X" - the name he gave to investigators and used to sign legal documents.
On Monday, U.S. Marshals identified him as John Donald Cody, 65, a lawyer who has been wanted since 1987 for various frauds -- including stealing $99,000 from two former clients in Arizona - and espionage, The Associated Press reported.
read more here
The prolific con-artist was finally captured after a two-year manhunt. Authorities say he lined his pockets with millions intended for Navy vets and their families.
BY PHILIP CAULFIELD
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2012
OHIO ATTORNEY GENERAL Bobby Thompson, aka John Donald Cody, with John McCain and his family in 2008. Feds said Monday that Thompson, who stole hundreds of millions of dollars from donors using a fake Navy veterans' charity, is actually Cody, a lawyer and fraudster wanted by the FBI since 1987.
A prolific con-man who bilked donors out of $100 million using a fake Navy veteran's charity and routinely rubbed elbows with GOP bigwigs is a Harvard-trained lawyer who has been wanted for 25 years, authorities said.
Since his arrest in May, the accused scam artist has been known as either "Bobby Thompson" or "Mr. X" - the name he gave to investigators and used to sign legal documents.
On Monday, U.S. Marshals identified him as John Donald Cody, 65, a lawyer who has been wanted since 1987 for various frauds -- including stealing $99,000 from two former clients in Arizona - and espionage, The Associated Press reported.
read more here
Active duty soldier in critical condition after suicide attempt
Active duty soldier attempts to take own life
KUAM.com
Posted: Oct 02, 2012
by Mindy Aguon
Guam - An incident at the Guam National Guard's Readiness Center caused panic and concern this morning as authorities responded to a reported shooting. An active duty member of the Guam Army National Guard is in critical condition at Naval Hospital.
Normal operations at the Command Joint Force Headquarters building in Barrigada were suspended after a soldier attempted to take his life this morning.
Guam Police Department spokesperson Officer A.J. Balajadia told KUAM News, "We responded to an injured person at about 11:25 this morning at the National Guard Headquarters and 50+-year-old male individual was reported to NRMC with an injury to the head." Yellow caution tape blocked off the grassy area in front of the headquarters as police combed the area speaking with various members of the National Guard.
The shooting occurred near the Fallen Heroes Memorial.
Guam Fire Department spokesperson Lieutenant Ed Artero says medics transported him to the Agana Heights medical facility for a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He remains in critical condition. Guam National Guard public information officer Captain Ken Ola says the Guard is conducting an internal review of what led to the incident.
read more here
KUAM.com
Posted: Oct 02, 2012
by Mindy Aguon
Guam - An incident at the Guam National Guard's Readiness Center caused panic and concern this morning as authorities responded to a reported shooting. An active duty member of the Guam Army National Guard is in critical condition at Naval Hospital.
Normal operations at the Command Joint Force Headquarters building in Barrigada were suspended after a soldier attempted to take his life this morning.
Guam Police Department spokesperson Officer A.J. Balajadia told KUAM News, "We responded to an injured person at about 11:25 this morning at the National Guard Headquarters and 50+-year-old male individual was reported to NRMC with an injury to the head." Yellow caution tape blocked off the grassy area in front of the headquarters as police combed the area speaking with various members of the National Guard.
The shooting occurred near the Fallen Heroes Memorial.
Guam Fire Department spokesperson Lieutenant Ed Artero says medics transported him to the Agana Heights medical facility for a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He remains in critical condition. Guam National Guard public information officer Captain Ken Ola says the Guard is conducting an internal review of what led to the incident.
read more here
Military suicide prevention class included time of prayer
As a Chaplain, I'm all for including spiritual healing when helping veterans with PTSD. Why? Because when it is done right, it works. After 30 years, I've been pretty successful, including in my own marriage that has lasted 28 years. It helps them heal and it helps their families. I've been able to talk veterans "off the ledge" because of sharing my faith with Christian veterans but have to adapt what I say to "non-believers" along with people of other faiths. If I am talking to an atheist, I ask if I can pray for them and say a silent prayer for their healing and comfort. My job is to help them and I can't do that if what I say shuts off their ears or makes them want to leave the room. If they cannot trust that I do no have another motive other than helping them, then they will not believe anything I say.
This story greatly saddens me. The young soldiers felt they had to stay there and listen to a Chaplain's Christian prayer at a time when they were supposed to be hearing about staying alive. Whatever else was said would have forgotten because they would have felt as violated as this 17 year career veteran.
This story greatly saddens me. The young soldiers felt they had to stay there and listen to a Chaplain's Christian prayer at a time when they were supposed to be hearing about staying alive. Whatever else was said would have forgotten because they would have felt as violated as this 17 year career veteran.
Army Chaplain Holds Christian Prayer During Suicide Prevention Class, Soldiers Say
Huffington Post
Posted: 10/02/2012
Andrea Stone
During an Army-wide stand down for suicide prevention sessions, a Christian chaplain in Texas improperly led rookie soldiers in a candlelight prayer, an Army instructor said in a formal complaint last week.
Staff Sgt. Victoria Gettman, a lab technician instructor at Fort Sam Houston, told The Huffington Post that she was among 800 soldiers from the 264th Medical Battalion undergoing resilience training on Sept. 26. Almost all of the soldiers were fresh out of boot camp and in training for their first job in the Army.
After a 45-minute talk on how to cope with stress, the officer in charge turned the stage over to a chaplain for the sometimes controversial "spiritual fitness" part of the session.
Gettman did not catch the chaplain's name, and he has not been otherwise publicly identified. But as an atheist, she wasn't interested in what he had to say so she stood up and moved to the back of the auditorium.
The 17-year Army veteran knew -- unlike the young soldiers -- that this part of the program was optional. Still, she could hear most of what the clergyman said from just outside the room.
"The chaplain said we have to have something bigger than ourselves. We need, and he stresses need, to have something divine in our life," she recounted, adding that the soldiers were not informed they were allowed to step out.
Gettman said the chaplain ordered the lights turned off and battery-operated candles passed around as the soldiers were told to bow their heads. "The entire theater was forced into a mass Christian prayer," she said. "I heard him refer to his 'Heavenly Father' and 'Lord.'"
read more here
Fort Campbell commander asks public for help with PTSD and TBI
Campbell seeks help in addressing PTSD, TBI
Army Times
By Kristin M. Hall
The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Oct 2, 2012
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. — Fort Campbell is reaching out to the medical community in Kentucky to help address the challenges of post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury among returning service members and veterans.
Experts from the military’s top behavioral health and brain injury research agencies came to the Army installation on the Tennessee-Kentucky state line Tuesday to teach civilian behavioral health professionals about the military’s current research and treatments into the invisible wounds that have become prevalent among troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Col. Paul R. Cordts, the commander of Blanchfield Army Community Hospital at Fort Campbell, Ky., noted that President Obama issued an executive order in August that directed ways to improve mental health care for troops within the military and veterans under the Department of Veterans Affairs.
“We cannot do this alone on Fort Campbell,” Cordts said. “We depend on the community and we need your help in addressing these issues, especially around our mental health services.”
Faced with rising suicide rates, the Army and Fort Campbell held suicide prevention and awareness training for all its units last week. The Army recorded 131 potential suicides through the first eight months of 2012, and locally there have been 12 confirmed or suspected suicides among Fort Campbell soldiers so far this year.
read more here
Army Times
By Kristin M. Hall
The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Oct 2, 2012
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. — Fort Campbell is reaching out to the medical community in Kentucky to help address the challenges of post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury among returning service members and veterans.
Experts from the military’s top behavioral health and brain injury research agencies came to the Army installation on the Tennessee-Kentucky state line Tuesday to teach civilian behavioral health professionals about the military’s current research and treatments into the invisible wounds that have become prevalent among troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Col. Paul R. Cordts, the commander of Blanchfield Army Community Hospital at Fort Campbell, Ky., noted that President Obama issued an executive order in August that directed ways to improve mental health care for troops within the military and veterans under the Department of Veterans Affairs.
“We cannot do this alone on Fort Campbell,” Cordts said. “We depend on the community and we need your help in addressing these issues, especially around our mental health services.”
Faced with rising suicide rates, the Army and Fort Campbell held suicide prevention and awareness training for all its units last week. The Army recorded 131 potential suicides through the first eight months of 2012, and locally there have been 12 confirmed or suspected suicides among Fort Campbell soldiers so far this year.
read more here
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