Troops in Afghanistan need donated items

Father inspires community to donate to son's unit in Afghanistan
Victoria Advocate
J. R. Ortega
July 5, 2014

Albert Vasquez does not believe that a village is ever done raising a child.

And for Vasquez's 22-year-old son, Orion, who is stationed at Camp Leatherneck in Afghanistan, this is certainly the case.

His son's camp will be losing its PX, or Post Exchange, in the coming weeks, and Vasquez - along with many in the Crossroads and even beyond - are shipping items such as toiletries and snacks to ease the battalion's burden until it is pulled out at the end of the year.

The PX is like a convenience store.

Vasquez's son has been stationed at the camp since March 4; it's his first tour.

"Three months with little to nothing to keep you occupied or give you that connection to home - it can be pretty brutal on these guys," he said.

Vasquez first learned of the PX slowly closing during a conversation with his son late in June.
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How to help

Albert Vasquez has set up several drop-off locations throughout Victoria. Items that can be accepted by the battalion include:

• Beef jerky, beef summer sausage
• Canned cheese dips
• Canned sardines, smoked oysters
• Chicken or tuna lunch kits (includes foil pouch of tuna, crackers and condiments in each single-serving kit)
• Cookies
• Fruit: single serving size cans• Gum (blister pack gum is best because of the intense heat)
• Gummi-Bears
• Nuts, sunflower seeds, peanuts, trail mix, dried fruit
• Pop Tarts, cereal bars, granola bars
• Popcorn
• Power bars, protein bars, nutritional bars
• Ramen noodles
• SpaghettiOs and other canned ready-to-eat meals (single serving) with pop-top
• Single-serving bags of snacks, crackers
• Batteries (AA are most requested, then AAA)
• Cigars, cigarettes, dip
• Eye Drops (to relieve dry eye, not redness)
• Eyeglass wipes
• Lip balm (Blistex, Chapstick, Carmex) in stick-tubes rather than tubs, not tinted
• Pain relievers (Aspirin, Ibuprofen, Tylenol, Midol) in small containers
• Sunblock (travel size or stick preferable, no aerosol SPF 30+)
• Travel size packages of Q-tips
• Dental floss
• Disposable multi-blade razors (no single-blade razors)
• Kleenex (travel-size packets)
• Liquid body wash soap, liquid anti-bacterial soap (no bar soap or pump-style dispensers)
• Lotion, unscented, for dry skin (no pump-style dispensers)
• Deodorant
• Oral B Brush-Ups
• Razors and replacement blades
• Shampoo
• Toothbrushes
• Toothpaste (in hard-side tubes rather than traditional tubes)
• Protein supplements, vitamins

Long Island Steps Up For National Guardsman After Fire

LONG ISLAND TOWN RALLIES TO HELP AFGHANISTAN WAR VETERAN AFTER HOME CATCHES ON FIRE
ABC News WABC New York
Kristin Thorne
July 5, 2014

CENTRAL ISLIP (WABC) -- When Army National Guard Staff Sergeant Brian Fox returned from Afghanistan in 2009, he gave himself a mission - to buy a house.

Unfortunately a fire swept through the second floor of his prized Central Islip home, taking all of the furniture and clothes with it.

"You work hard to get a house, and in a blink of an eye, everything is gone," said Sgt. Fox.

Most importantly, Fox's two daughters, wife and granddaughter made it all out.

"I ran down as fast as I could screaming 'fire!' and I went to the phone and dialed 911," said Sgt. Fox's daughter, Victoria.

There is no word yet on what started the fire, but for now, the family is staying at a hotel through the Red Cross. On Monday, Sgt. Fox is going to pick out a new trailer.
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Homeless veteran in Hawaii killed by bus

This is the strangest news report because it basically attacks a homeless veteran. Why on earth would the reporter decide to write about this veteran's adult kids not wanting anything to do with him? How else do veterans end up homeless? Families, for whatever reason, fall apart and they end up on the streets.

Homeless man killed by city bus had wheelchair stolen weeks ago
Hawaii News Now
By Keoki Kerr
Posted: Jul 03, 2014

WAIKIKI (HawaiiNewsNow) - The man who died after being run over by a city bus Saturday in Waikiki was a homeless veteran suffering from terminal cancer whose wheelchair was recently stolen, people who knew him told Hawaii News Now Thursday.

A pair of red shoes and a blue baseball cap worn by Kenneth Martyn, 71, remained at the scene in Waikiki Saturday after he was run over by a city bus along Ala Moana Boulevard and later died.

Homeless people and others who knew him said for most of the last three years he lived at a city bus stop in front of Discovery Bay condominiums, just up the road from where he died.

"He basically lived on the sidewalk, on a towel for many years,” said a man who works in the visitor industry in Waikiki and spoke to him nearly every day. “Yeah, he never bothered nobody, good old Kenny. It's sad what happened to him."

The man told Hawaii News Now says Martyn was despondent because he was suffering from terminal cancer, and someone had stolen his electric wheelchair several weeks ago.
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Veterans Stand Down: Here Comes the Judges

Veterans affairs: Judges volunteer at Stand Down to help vets with legal issues
Monterey Herald
By Dennis Taylor
July 4, 2014

SEASIDE
At least nine judges from six California counties will be among dozens of volunteers on hand Aug. 1-3 at Stand Down, a three-day tent city offering free medical, legal, housing, education, life skills and other services to homeless veterans.

The event, staged every other year by the Veterans Transition Center, will be held at Fort Ord's motor pool location, Eighth Avenue and Lloyd Way, north of Giggling Road.

The judges, including Monterey County Superior Court Judge Sam Lavorato, will hold court sessions to help homeless veterans resolve outstanding cases. In many instances, the judge will assign the veteran community service. Once that obligation is completed, the judge may dismiss the case. Monterey College of Law may then assist the veteran with a motion to clear his or her record.

"Once an individual's record is cleared, then that person has more of an opportunity for obtaining a job," Lavorato said. "Hopefully, my presence will help make a veteran whole again."

Other judges who have confirmed they will be there include John Gallagher of Santa Cruz County, Judge Stephen Manley of Santa Clara County and John Grandsaert of San Mateo County. Fresno, Solano and Alameda counties also have expressed interest in sending judges.
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Born on 4th of July, Veteran Saved by PTSD Service Dog

How a service dog helped this veteran keep his family
NBC Today
Jeffrey Donovan
Today Contributor
July 4, 2014

K9s for Warriors
Jason Haag's life was being destroyed by PTSD until he met Axel.

Captain Jason Haag served three tours of combat duty, leading Marine Corps troops in fighting across Iraq and Afghanistan. But his toughest battle, the one that nearly killed the Purple Heart winner, was simply coming back home.

Haag, who turns 34 on the Fourth of July, credits a specially trained service dog named Axel for helping him recover from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which afflicts an estimated 30 percent of America’s war veterans. The symptoms include severe depression, anxiety, flashbacks and panic attacks related to the horrors of war and the difficulty of readjusting to civilian life.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that if it wasn’t for Axel, I’d be six feet underground now,” said Haag, who lives with his wife, Elizabeth, and three children in Fredericksburg, Virginia. “I’d have become a PTSD statistic.”

After his third tour of duty, Haag spent a year and a half locked up in his basement, the windows blacked out. He’d text his wife when he needed something. Suffering from nightmares and panic attacks, he received a medical discharge from the military for severe PTSD. Drinking heavily and on two dozen types of medication, he often turned violent — screaming at his kids, throwing things and once choking his wife.

“I was slowly killing myself with alcohol, prescription medications, isolation, anger,” Haag said by phone. “My wife finally said, ‘I can’t do this anymore. You have one more chance. You have to find something that works.’”

At wit’s end, Haag finally turned to K9s for Warriors, a nonprofit group based in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. The organization trains dogs rescued from local shelters to serve veterans with PTSD, one of whom commits suicide almost every hour, according to the Department of Defense.
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Disabled Vietnam Veteran Shot by Thug in Fayetteville

Disabled Vietnam vet shot during attempted robbery in Fayetteville
WRAL NEWS
July 3, 2014

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — Cumberland County investigators are looking for a man who they say shot and injured a disabled Vietnam veteran Thursday morning.

Authorities said the man approached Melvin Morgan, 59, after Morgan withdrew money from a convenience store ATM near West Mountain Drive.

Morgan told investigators the man approached him in the 200 block of West Mountain Drive and demanded money. When Morgan refused, the man hit him in the head with a handgun and then shot him in the leg, authorities reported.
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Soldier's dying wife gives birth to son

Pregnant but Dying, Army Wife Gives Birth to Son
DIAGNOSED WITH CANCER 15 WEEKS INTO HER PREGNANCY, HER ONE WISH WAS TO HAVE HIM
Newser
By Elizabeth Armstrong Moore, Newser Staff
Posted Jul 4, 2014

"Just save my baby"

NEWSER) – When 21-year-old Army wife Yesenia Ruiz-Rojo went to the hospital in Fort Hood, Texas—almost 4 months pregnant, seemingly healthy, but experiencing excruciating abdominal pain—doctors discovered a gigantic tumor covering more than two-thirds of her liver. She was diagnosed with aggressive liver cancer and given two to four months to live, reports the US Department of Defense. Just save my baby, she said. But as Raul Palacios, chief of interventional radiology at Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston, explains, "There was nothing out there we found in conventional medicine that would offer her any hope" of that happening. "We weren't aware of anything in the past that had been tried successfully before."

Its size and location made the tumor impossible to remove, while chemo would likely kill the fetus. So experts from more than a dozen specialties decided to try a new treatment, called selective internal radiation therapy with Y-90.
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Honor veterans requires more than holidays

PBS Capitol 4th

Four out of ten Federal Holidays are about the men and women serving this country.

Federal Holiday
1. New Year’s Day
2. Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.
3. Washington’s Birthday

*This holiday is designated as "Washington’s Birthday" in section 6103(a) of title 5 of the United States Code, which is the law that specifies holidays for Federal employees. Though other institutions such as state and local governments and private businesses may use other names, it is our policy to always refer to holidays by the names designated in the law.

4. Memorial Day
5. Independence Day
6. Labor Day
7. Columbus Day
8. Veterans Day
9. Thanksgiving Day
10. Christmas Day

George Washington was the 1st President and a veteran.

The History of America’s Independence Day

On June 11, 1776, the colonies' Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia and formed a committee whose express purpose was drafting a document that would formally sever their ties with Great Britain. The committee included Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman and Robert R. Livingston. Jefferson, who was considered the strongest and most eloquent writer, crafted the original draft document (as seen above). A total of 86 changes were made to his draft and the Continental Congress officially adopted the final version on July 4, 1776.

The truth is, we may honor them with holidays, but we don't honor them with days of caring for them. The problems within the VA are not new. Nothing is new. That is the most disgraceful thing of all. We let it all happen because we forgot about them.

U.S. troops celebrate July 4th in Afghanistan
0:57

July 4, 2014 4:04 PM EDT — American troops mark July 4th at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan with music and games. (Reuters)

Suicidal Iraq Veteran Killed by Police in Kansas

Possibly suicidal Iraq war veteran dead after officer-involved shooting in Wichita, KS
41 Action News Staff , With KSN
July 4, 2014

WICHITA, Kan. - Police in Wichita, Kan., fatally shot a man who, they said, was coming at them with a weapon.

Police said they received a call from family members inside a house in the 7800 block of East Clay around 1 p.m. that a man was suicidal.

When the police arrived, he came outside and approached officers in an aggressive manner with a weapon in hand.

One of the two police officers involved attempted to subdue the man with a stun gun after noticing the weapon. When that didn’t work, the officer used their handgun.

The family said the man was in the military and had done tours in Iraq. He had been dealing with mental issues prior to this incident.
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UPDATE

Family holds vigil after man dies in officer-involved shooting
KWCH 12 News
Jul 05, 2014

WICHITA, Kan.
Family members spoke today at a vigil in honor of a man who died in an officer-involved shooting yesterday.

"We were failed, they failed," Ida Allen, sister of the man killed said. "The city failed us."

Police say Icarus Randolph charged at an officer with a knife after they were called to the scene by family for a report of a suicidal person.

His family says Randolph's mother made a call for law enforcement to check on his mental wellness, saying he suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder after serving in the Iraq war as a Marine.
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Procession 3 miles long escorted fallen Marine Home

New Braunfels welcomes home fallen Marine
Sgt. Thomas Spitzer killed last week in Afghanistan
ABC 12 News
By Stephanie Serna
KSAT Reporter
July 4, 2014

NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas - It was an emotional homecoming for fallen Marine Sgt. Thomas Spitzer, 23, as the New Braunfels community gathered along FM 758 to thank the young sergeant and his family for his service.

"To show support for the family and their extreme loss," said Rhonda Sanders, a New Braunfels resident.

"He gave all so we can have the freedoms we have today."

Spitzer was killed just over a week ago while conducting combat operations in Afghanistan.

On Friday, a nearly 3 mile long procession with patriot guard riders, emergency vehicles, family members and friends made its way through New Braunfels to honor the fallen Marine.
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