Marines: Chaos and Bravery During Chattanooga Attack

Marines tell of chaos, bravery during Chattanooga attack 
CBS News
By JERICKA DUNCAN
July 22, 2015

Gunnery Sgt. Camden Meyer, 35, knew three of the victims, including Staff Sgt. David Wyatt, who has been credited with helping several service members escape.

CHATTANOOGA - The FBI revealed Wednesday that at least one Marine fired at the Chattanooga shooter last Thursday to try to stop the rampage that left five service members dead at a training facility. The gunman -- Muhammod Abdulazeez -- had earlier wounded a Marine at a nearby recruiting center.

Lance Cpl. Christopher Gilliam, 25, was working inside the recruitment center when he spotted Abdulazeez out of a window. Gilliam said he alerted others, moments before Abdulazeez opened fire. Gilliam and four Marines -- Staff Sgt. Robert Driver, Sgt. Winfield Thompson, Gunnery Sgt. Camden Meyer, and Sgt. DeMonte Cheeley -- fled out the back of the building. read more here

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Vietnam Veteran Lost Everything, Until Community Cared to Help

Treasure Coast comes together to help veteran who lost his boat in a fire
WPTV 5 News
Meghan McRoberts
Jul 23, 2015

The Treasure Coast community is coming together to help a local Vietnam Veteran who watched his life's savings burn up in the Indian River Lagoon this week.

Tony Veasey says he bought a used 41 foot Hatteras just two months ago so he could spend time with his six grandchildren on the water.

The boat caught on fire , and is being considered a complete loss. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Veasey says he used all of his retirement savings to purchase the boat, but hadn't secured any insurance.

The Argus Companies, based in Stuart, has offered to spearhead fundraising efforts to help Veasey replace his boat. The company is in the process of becoming a 501(c)3 so that it can legally collect donations to give to Veasey.

CEO Jon Snyder says 100% donations will go to Veasey. They will also pay for an inspection for his next boat and help with insurance.
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Iraq Veteran Saved Kids From Burning Home

Casper Veteran Helps Kids Escape Burning House
KCWY
Tony Cedrone
07/23/2015

“There wasn’t really any time to think about what you’re going to do. There was just time to do something, so the most logical thing at that point was to just see if anybody was still inside the house. So, you just do that." -Chris Poe

Casper-- Wednesday, July 22, 2015 “There wasn’t really any time to think about what you’re going to do. There was just time to do something, so the most logical thing at that point was to just see if anybody was still inside the house. So, you just do that,” says Chris Poe, the man who took matters into his own hands when he saw the house in flames Saturday afternoon.

“It was all up the backside of the house. The flames were just loud, and of course hot.”

Poe was driving with his family just four blocks away when he saw smoke coming from the roof of the house; that’s when instincts told him to rush over there and immediately take action.

“I went up the front steps, went inside, checked upstairs to see if anybody was up there. It was pretty smokey, nobody was up there so I came downstairs,” says Poe.
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Vietnam Veterans Still Suffering After All These Years

This study is missing a lot of information including the simple fact is that when more Vietnam veterans were alive back in 1978, they knew they had 500,000 Vietnam veterans with PTSD. They also knew the numbers would go up from there.

When you read the "quarter of million" in your email, understand that there are less Vietnam veterans still alive today to count. They fought for everything done on PTSD but are the last to be remembered. They are the majority of veterans committing suicide. They are the majority of the backlog of VA claims. It is great to finally see this reminder but sad to be reminded of just how far we have not come.

Many Vietnam veterans still suffer from PTSD decades later
CBS News
By ASHLEY WELCH
Jul 22, 2015

Philip Paolini served four years in the Vietnam War as a marine. In the years since then, he's faced a number of hardships, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), substance abuse and homelessness.

And Paolini's story is far from uncommon. New research shows that four decades after the Vietnam War ended, more than 270,000 veterans who served in the war zone suffer from symptoms of PTSD, a mental health condition characterized by painful flashbacks, severe anxiety, and uncontrollable thoughts about the disturbing events they experienced.

The study, published online Wednesday in JAMA Psychiatry, also found that at least one-third of those veterans exhibiting symptoms of PTSD suffer from major depression, as well.

Researchers from NYU Langone Medical Center followed up with Vietnam War veterans who had participated in a study from 1984 to 1988. Of the 1,839 men and women still alive from the original study, over 1,400 participated in at least one phase of the new study, which involved a health questionnaire, health interview and clinical interview.
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Orlando Homeless Veteran Tells What is Like Trying To Get Help

Attempts to get homeless veterans off the streets don't always work 
WFTV News
July 21, 2015

"The Jesus I know wouldn't have turned this guy away for having a beer," McKinney said.

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A bold, first-of-its-kind mission to get homeless veterans off the streets of central Florida's communities has hit a road block.

On Monday, 600 volunteers, including Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, began working to contact every homeless veteran in Orange, Seminole and Osceola counties.

Channel 9's Janine Reyes learned on Tuesday why at least one veteran wasn't able to get the help volunteers are promising. "It's like a vicious cycle, and it gets worse and worse each time," homeless veteran Albert Kearney said. read more here

Group Joins Forces To Help Army Veteran

Group Finds Veteran Living In Dilapidated Home
CBS News
J. D. Miles
July 20, 2015

FLOWER MOUND (CBSDFW.COM) – A group dedicated to keeping Flower Mound beautiful has come across an ugly sight.

They were searching a neighborhood for code enforcement violations when they stumbled onto a home that needs to be torn down but found a veteran actually living inside.

Charles McAnally lives in an unstable, dilapidated home falling apart.

“I don’t like it, it makes me feel uncomfortable,” says McAnally.

It was discovered to outsiders by surprise and now there’s a desperate campaign underway to help him get out. His roof and floors are collapsing. Not to mention the suffocating piles of items and trash that have built up, a result of his late wife’s hoarding addiction.

“It could be better,” says McAnally.

Still, the 71-year-old Army vet wasn’t looking for help when the group Keep Flower Mound Beautiful discovered his living conditions while helping neighbors with code enforcement issues.
read more here

Fort Bragg Soldier Found Dead At Campground

Fort Bragg soldier found dead at beach campground 
WRAL.com
July 21, 2015

CAROLINA BEACH, N.C. — Police say a Fort Bragg soldier has been found dead in a Carolina Beach campground.

Local media outlets report that 40-year-old warrant officer Tania Dunbar was found dead by neighboring campers at Freeman Park on Sunday night. read more here

Troops Limited on Firearms Since 1992

Thank you Politifact for setting the record straight on servicemembers being unarmed

"A law was passed, apparently in the Clinton administration, about whether, in recruiting offices … Marines or other military should be able to have guns. Apparently it is prohibited." — Jeb Bush on Friday, July 17th, 2015 in a town hall in Carson City, Nevada

Wrong!

In 1992, when Bush was president, the Department of Defense issued a directive related to firearms for military personnel. That directive replaced an earlier one from 1986. The directive doesn’t specifically address recruiting offices, but it applies broadly to military sites.

The 1992 directive, signed by then-Deputy Secretary of Defense Donald Atwood, didn’t outright ban military personnel from carrying weapons. Instead, it said that only certain employees could carry weapons, including those who worked in law enforcement, security and prisons. The directive also did not apply in certain situations, such as in war zones.

The policy explains that the intent is "to limit and control the carrying of firearms by DoD military and civilian personnel." So the policy did cover most military personnel.

Right!

Ex-VA Manger Indicted on 50 Counts of Falsifying Veterans Records

VA manager indicted on 50 counts of falsifying records of veterans waiting for medical care
Washington Post
Lisa Rein
July 20, 2015

Henderson appeared in U.S. District Court on Friday and was released on bond. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

A manager at a Veterans Affairs medical center in Georgia is on leave with pay following his indictment on 50 counts of ordering his staff to falsify medical records of veterans waiting for outside medical care.

The case against Cathedral Henderson appears to be the first round of criminal charges stemming from a wait-times scandal that came to light last year and led to the resignation of VA Secretary Eric Shinseki.

Henderson, 50, was in charge of revenue and billing and chief of “purchase care” in Augusta, coordinating medical care for veterans that VA could not offer.

He was responsible for ensuring that more than 2,700 veterans awaiting approval for care outside the system were properly referred to for doctor’s appointments. But under pressure from VA headquarters in 2014 to close out all requests for outside care, Cathedral simply ordered his staff to falsify the waiting patients’ medical records to show that the veterans had either completed or refused services, prosecutors allege.
read more here

Police: Couple "Called for Ride" After Leaving Marine to Die on Road

Police: Couple charged in fatal Raleigh hit-and-run called for a ride home 
News Observer
Thomas McDonald
July 20, 2015

Suspected hit-and-run couple fled their wrecked car after accident.  They used their mobile phones’ GPS to coordinate a meeting place.  The victim was struck by the suspects’ car and a second vehicle

RALEIGH A couple charged with the hit-and-run death of a young Marine on Glenwood Avenue last month drove away and then fled on foot separately, according to a series of search warrants made public Monday.

Investigators think the suspects used their mobile phones to coordinate a meeting place where someone picked them up and drove them away from the crash. The accident happened shortly before 10 p.m. on Friday, June 26, on Glenwood Avenue near Brier Creek.

Nathan Scott Bizzell, 20, of Camp Lejeune had been involved in a crash and had gotten out of his 2012 Ford sedan to check the damage and the other driver. He was struck by a 2006 Honda sedan and another vehicle and later pronounced dead at the scene.
read more here