Soldier identified apparent suicide at Ogden gun range
By The Mercury
December 22, 2014
Police have identified the man who died at an Ogden shooting range Saturday as a Fort Riley soldier, and they believe his death was a suicide.
Pfc. Milton Barrera, 20, died of gunshot wound to the head Saturday afternoon at Ogden’s Best Gun Range, according to a report from the Riley County Police Department.
Police said they do not believe his death was accidental.
read more here
Veterans Service Officer Kathy Marshik slept with her weapon
Morrison County Record
By Jim Wright, Correspondent
December 29, 2014
In June, the Morrison County Veterans Service (MCVS) Office got new leadership, after the retirement of 27-year director Paul Froncak. And the new leader has been around.
“I slept with my weapon,” Kathy Marshik said while recalling her time in Kuwait and Iraq. She carried that M-16 all the time, she said, during her 15-month deployment with the 142nd Engineer Company, out of Camp Ripley, during the heat of the 2003-2004 occupation of Iraq.
In the meantime, she was 5,000 miles away from her daughters, Sierra and Brianna, ages 6 and 2 then.
“My husband, Glen, was in shock when I told him I was deploying in a few days; and five days later I was gone,” Marshik said, “The worst day of my life was leaving them.”
She was a construction engineer supervisor during her time at bases near Udairi, Kuwait and Balad, Iraq. She was never directly fired upon, but her base was constantly being mortared, she said. Her other military occupation skills were maintenance parts specialist and combat medic. read more here
If you remember all the reports of veterans waiting too long for claims to be approved, most of the focus was on OEF and OIF veterans, but here's yet one more reminder, they are not the first group of veterans to be forced to fight.
After 50 years, injured veteran is still fighting
Tulsa World
BY MICHAEL OVERALL
World Staff Writer
December 29, 2014
After 50 years, the VA admitted that his injury was caused by a training accident. And the VA agreed to provide medical treatment. Bell pulled over on the side of the road, put his hands over his face, and for the next several minutes, sobbed uncontrollably.
David Bell, of Tulsa, talks about his ordeal with Veteran's Affairs while visiting friends at Dan Howard's business at Richard Lloyd Jones Jr. Airport on Dec. 4, 2014. Bell was injured during a training accident at Ft. Sill back in 1964 and spent the next 50 years trying to get treatment from the Department of Veterans affairs.
JOHN CLANTON/Tulsa World
A 105-mm Howitzer weighs 4,980 pounds, supported by two long arms that stretch out in a V-shape behind the canon. Each arm — or "trail," as the Army prefers to call it — is as heavy as a rodeo bull, enough to snap a human spine like a twig.
It takes four men, grunting and grimacing from the exertion, to lift each trail and reposition the weapon.
On a spring day in 1964, three soldiers lost their grip.
"Everybody was cutting up and playing around," as David Bell remembers the incident. "And the other guys just dropped it."
He was a young private fresh out of boot camp and learning his way around a Howitzer at Fort Sill, 80 miles southwest of Oklahoma City.
The trail landed across his legs and lower back, trapping him underneath. His spine began to burn, as if his vertebrae had turned into hot coals under his skin. The other soldiers quickly lifted the weight off of him, and Bell walked away from the accident. But for the past 50 years — literally every waking moment since it happened, he says — he has been in pain.
Some days are better than others. And on the best days, he can almost — almost — forget that his back hurts. But other days — the majority of days — he can hardly think about anything else.
The back pain, however, isn't what bothers him the most.
"No," he says, fists clenched and jaw trembling with anger. "You know what really hurts? What really hurts me deep down?
The first letter is dated Aug. 2, 1965.
"I will certainly be glad to help you in every way I can," it says. Signed: Page Belcher, member of Congress.
It came in reply to a July 22 request from Bell, asking for the Tulsa congressman's help with his first appeal to the Veterans Administration. Since then, Bell has accumulated a stack of similar letters several inches thick.
April 25, 1979. Signed: Congressman James Jones.
April 3, 1980. Signed: Sen. David Boren.
Dec. 19, 2008. Signed: Sen. James Inhofe.
Feb. 20, 2013. Signed: U.S. Rep. Jim Bridenstine.
Bell has correspondence from every U.S. representative and senator elected in Oklahoma over the last five decades, plus eight separate White House administrations. And for him, every letter is just another broken promise.
"They all say, 'We want to help.' But nobody ever does anything."
WEDNESDAY IS DEADLINE FOR IRAQ WAR VETERANS TO CLAIM STATE BONUSES
Review Capital Bureau
By MARC KOVAC
Published: December 29, 2014
COLUMBUS -- The state has paid out more than $68 million to veterans of recent and ongoing military conflicts, thanks to voter-approved bonuses OK'd five years ago.
A total of 84,464 military men and women have received the payments to date, according to the latest tally by the Ohio Department of Veterans Services. The total includes more than 24,000 Ohioans who served during conflicts in Iraq.
In November 2009, voters signed off on a constitutional amendment allowing the state to borrow up to $200 million to pay cash bonuses to Ohio military men and women who served at least 90 days of active duty in the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan and Iraq in current conflicts in those areas, plus those involved in Operation Desert Storm in the early 1990s.
Eligible veterans are being paid $100 for each month, up to $1,000, for time served in those areas or $50 a month, up to $500, for those serving in other locations at the time. Families of veterans who died in action are eligible for a $5,000 death benefit.
Similar cash bonuses were approved by voters and paid to veterans of other wars and conflicts, dating back to the Civil War, though the deadline for those payments has long since passed.
Persian Gulf War-era veterans had to apply for bonuses by the end of last year. Veterans who served during the most recent Iraqi conflict (between March 19, 2003, and Dec. 31, 2011) have until Wednesday to apply, while there has been no deadline set yet for those who have served during conflicts in Afghanistan. read more here
Utahn killed in police shooting ‘loved life,’ father says
The Salt Lake Tribune
By MICHAEL MCFALL
First Published 4 hours ago
"The shooting ended the life of a man who had been a staff sergeant in the U.S. Army and had plans to become a nurse.
"He loved life. He loved his wife," said Russell McGehee. "… He had a lot of plans. It’s so difficult to look at a person who has all these plans [and see that end]."
McGehee had wanted to be a soldier since he was 10 years old, and in 2009, he was deployed on his first of two tours to Iraq.
Though McGehee was in the infantry, his father said that "they actually did some special ops stuff to actually catch the bomb makers [who created improvised explosive devices]."
A Stansbury Park man who aimed a handgun at a Tooele County Sheriff’s deputy was fatally shot by the officer early Sunday.
The deputy had responded to a 4 a.m. call, expecting to help 28-year-old Nicholas McGehee with a lacerated foot at a home near the intersection of Aberdeen Lane and Merion Drive. A Utah Highway Patrol trooper went with the deputy to assist, said Tooele County Sheriff Frank Park.
But through a window of the home, the officers saw a man holding a shotgun, the sheriff said.
"As they approached the house, [they could see] there was evidently more going on than the medical," Park said.
At some point, McGehee’s wife came out of the house. While the trooper helped her to his car for safety, McGehee came out holding a handgun, Park said.
The deputy commanded him two or three times to put the gun down — but when McGehee pointed it at the deputy, the officer fired three times, killing him, Park said.
McGehee’s father, Russell McGehee, said he understands his son had accidentally injured his foot, and his daughter-in-law called 911 because his son would not go to a doctor. What transpired after that is a mystery to the family.
"I had never seen him pull a gun on anyone. I don’t know what the deal was," said Russell McGehee, who lives in Sanford, N.C., where McGehee grew up. "I don’t know why he would have done that."
Russell McGehee had received a call several hours earlier, while still in bed, that his only son had died. read more here
Vets and musicians meet to craft personal songs
Associated Press
By MICHAEL HILL
Sunday, December 28, 2014
Iraq combat veteran Adan Olid, center, works on a song with songwriters Darden Smith, left, and Marshall Crenshaw during the Songwriting With Soldiers retreat at the Carey Institute for Global Good on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2014, in Rensselaerville, N.Y. Olid is one of more than 100 veterans who have turned their stories into sometimes affectingly personal songs at Songwriting With Soldiers retreats.
(AP Photo/Mike Groll)
RENSSELAERVILLE, N.Y. (AP) - Adan Olid’s life took a turn on San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge.
As he stood at a railing, the troubled Iraq War veteran decided not to jump. He felt inspired to work through the “ghost-like feeling” of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Now that pivotal moment for Olid has inspired a song - written, performed and recorded by professionals.
The 29-year-old former Marine is one of more than 100 veterans who have turned their stories into sometimes affectingly personal songs at “Songwriting With Soldiers” retreats.
Vets work with musicians hunched over guitars who turn anecdotes and raw feelings into lyrics and melody. Songs are laced with lyrics about “bullet catchers,” sacrifice, “hillbilly armor,” death and, in the case of Olid, renewal on a bridge.
“I think music does a lot more than a pill can do,” said Olid, who wants to share his song with other veterans.
Olid was deployed to Iraq three times before leaving the Marines as a sergeant in 2011.
Like many veterans, the stress of close calls or memories of dying friends lingered when he returned to Southern California.
Music has been a comfort to Olid, especially the music of Johnny Cash and the old rockabilly stars. He uses recorded songs at his job as a counselor for fellow veterans and even plays guitar a little. It was a natural progression for him to attend the recent songwriting retreat at the Carey Institute for Global Good in rural Rensselaerville, near his Albany-area home. read more hereSongwritingWith:Soldiers
'Blue lives matter' rally held in Denver for police
KUSA.com
Ryan Haarer
December 27, 2014
Moment of silence in Denver for slain NY officers.
(Photo: Ryan Haarer)
DENVER- A crowd gathered at Civic Center Park on Saturday to show their support for law enforcement after months of criticism and attacks on police.
The rally is one of many being held across the country. Many were started through social media using the twitter hashtag #BlueLivesMatter.
"They are mostly good people who actually care about their communities and it is hard to see other people tear them down on a daily basis," said Kim Snetzinger who showed up to participate in the rally.
Those in law enforcement will tell you the job has always been dangerous, but it hasn't always been so thankless. This year's events involving the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner brought on an outpouring of anger towards police for what many see as excessive force.
"You can always find somebody to say something negative about you. But we say thank you. Thank you for running towards the gun shots. Thank you for securing our neighborhoods," said Pastor Larry Stevenson, exciting the crowd. read more here
Organizers hope Sea of Blue is start of national movement
WKYC Staff
December 28, 2014
CLEVELAND -- They called it the Sea of Blue and that's exactly what it was as thousands packed downtown Saturday to rally for police officers.
They covered Public Square as supporters were not only rallying for the officers killed in the line of duty, but every officer and even for people killed at the hands of officers.
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Sea of blue grief: 25,000 cops attend funeral for fallen NYPD officer
FOX.com
December 27, 2014
Thousands of police officers from across the country assembled in winter sunshine in New York City for the funeral of Rafael Ramos, a police officer shot to death with his partner in an ambush last week.
The officers in dress blue uniforms stood outside the Christ Tabernacle Church in Queens for the Saturday morning services. The sea of blue stretched more than six city blocks.
In his eulogy, Mayor Bill de Blasio offered the city's condolences to the Ramos family.
"All of this city is grieving and grieving for so many reasons," he said. "But the most personal is that we lost such a good man."
Vice President Joe Biden expressed his condolences to Ramos' two sons.
“You’ve shown tremendous courage these past days,” he said.
He said Ramos and his partner Wenjian Liu were officers who were committed, passionate and vigilant.
read more here
U.S. Army paratroopers wait to be assigned to chalks before participating in an airborne jump during the 17th Annual Randy Oler Memorial Operation Toy Drop, on Dec. 8, 2014 at Luzon Drop Zone, N.C. Operation Toy Drop is the world’s largest combined airborne operation and allows Soldiers the opportunity to help a less fortunate child in the Sandhill region to receive toys for the holidays.
(U.S. Army photo by Spc Ashley Keasler)
Operation Toy Drop
Military.com
Posted 4 days ago by Member 30091762
Dozens of parachute silhouettes raining down against the North Carolina sky are nothing out of the ordinary around Fort Bragg, but each December since 1998, airborne operations have taken on a different meaning to America's men and women in uniform with the Randy Oler Memorial Operation Toy Drop.
An annual opportunity for Fort Bragg's military community to help families in need over the holidays, Operation Toy Drop combines the efforts of Army, Air Force and civilian service organizations in a truly unique event.
Operation Toy Drop is a week-long, philanthropic project where Fort Bragg's paratroopers (or visiting paratroopers from across the nation) individually contribute new, unwrapped toys to be distributed to local children's homes and social service agencies.
