Taylor Morris Plans for New Home Denied

Iowa veteran Taylor Morris considers options after plans for home denied
Associated Press
December 26, 2015

Vice President Joe Biden watches as President Barack Obama

is photographed with Petty Officer Taylor Morris in the Green

Room of the White House on July 26, 2012.

Pete Souza/The White House

CEDAR FALLS, Ia. — A disabled Iowa veteran says he's considering options after his zoning request to build a new home was denied recently.

Taylor Morris says he's not sure what he will do after the Cedar Falls Planning and Zoning Commission voted Tuesday against the veteran's plans to build a house on undeveloped land that is not served by city sewers or streets.

Morris and his wife want to build on about 1.5 acres near land that is considered agricultural and requires special zoning permission, according to the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier.
read more here

Tampa Bay Lightning Donations Include Veterans Charities

Lightning owner has honored $10 million worth of Community Heroes
Tampa Tribune
Martin Fennelly
December 26, 2015

Lightning owner presents a check to Bruce Fyfe, one of the team’s Community Heroes. Fyfe is chairman of the Homeless Empowerment Program. which assists homeless veterans. With him is HEP president Barbara Green. JAY CONNER/STAFF

When Brooke Pasch was born 22 years ago, doctors told her family she wouldn’t live more than two weeks. There wasn’t hope. She suffered from VACTERL association. Her right arm was deformed — and so was every organ in her body. Her problems included heart and kidney disease, amid many others. Brooke was wired all wrong from the start. There’d never be a day without medicines. She carried them in her school backpack. And she led a hero’s life.

“I never met a person happier than Brooke,” said Kim Pasch, Brooke’s mother. “She loved helping people.”

Monday night marks a milestone at Amalie Arena. During the Tampa Bay Lightning’s game with Montreal, there will be a pause during the first period, about 10 minutes in, as there has been at every home game the past five seasons.

The Lightning Foundation and Lightning Community Heroes program will make another $50,000 donation to honor another hidden star, more local treasure: Sister Claire LeBoeuf, 73, who has dedicated her life to founding organizations that aid foster children, including New Life Village, a community for families who want to adopt harder-to-adopt children in foster care. She’ll choose to send the money in that direction.

Sister Claire will join the club Brooke Pasch has belonged to for three years. Sister Claire will be the 197th Hero in this remarkable program, one that brings 19,000 people to their feet as they watch each Hero pull on or hold up a Lightning jersey. Players on both teams will bang their sticks against the boards, a righteous hockey salute. And somewhere in the building will be Lightning owner Jeff Vinik, who with his wife, Penny, pledged $10 million over five years to create the Heroes program.

Monday’s donation will make $10 million.

They’re Richard Cadogan, 68, a disabled veteran who became a voice for children who’ve been abused, abandoned or neglected.

They’re Bruce Fyfe, who was reaching out to veterans even before he lost his son, Brendan, to the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder after three tours in Iraq. Fyfe oversees a 32-unit housing project for homeless veterans and their families.
read more here

Body of Missing Marine Sgt. Tristan Clinger Found

UPDATE DECEMBER 28, 2015

Death of Marine from joint base under investigation
NJ.com
By Kevin Shea
December 28, 2015

JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST — The death of a Marine assigned to a unit at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst remained under investigation Monday by federal authorities, officials said.

Sgt. Tristan Clinger was found dead Saturday on the base. His wife reported him missing on Dec. 20, said base spokesman Air Force Maj. Omar Villarreal.

Clinger is originally from Jefferson County, Ky. outside Louisville. He was 28 years old.

Villarreal said the Marine's death was under investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and they are being assisted by military authorities on the joint base.

Clinger was a helicopter mechanic with Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 772, part of the Marine Aircraft Group 49 on base.

The unit is in the Marine reserves, but Clinger was on active duty, base officials said.
read more here

Search for Missing Marine, Father Ends in Tragedy
NBC 10 News
By David Chang and Morgan Zalot

The week-long search for a missing local Marine ended in tragedy this weekend when his body was found during a search on Saturday, according to his family and a search team leader. Officials and relatives have not yet said where Sgt. Tristan Clinger was found or how he died.

Clinger, 28, a father of two, went missing on Dec. 20 around 4 p.m. when he left Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst on foot, according to his wife.
read more here

Marine Sgt. Tristan Clinger, 28, who has served in the military for five years, was last seen around 4 p.m. on Dec. 20 at the joint base, NBC10 reported.

UPDATE from FOX

“When you're in the military, like he felt that he couldn't get help because he felt that if he tried to get help, they would kick him out, and he would lose his job," his wife told FOX29. "And he just saw his life crumbling from that point, so he was afraid to get help.”

Any more questions, see "resilience" training feeding the stigma of getting help to heal along with the bad paper discharges.

After 15 Years in National Guard, Dad and Daughters Died

Levi Parker served in the Arizona National Guard for 15 years but his life ended after the lives of his two daughters.

There are stories on military related PTSD from all over the country. Some are wide spread, like all the groups raising money so they can "raise awareness" but not much else. There are reports about the military doing their "resilience training" to make service members "mentally tough" just as there are reports about the multitude of suicides tied to PTSD.

What you don't read often enough is the truth. These men and women survived putting their lives on the line for the sake of someone else yet sacrificed their futures because they had a harder time living after combat.

If you only know what little you've read before, then it will be easy to read this story and then assume PTSD veterans are dangerous murderers. The truth is, the outcome you'll read is a rarity.

Let your heart break for the two young daughters and the family. Let your heart break for the community in shock as well as the first responders. Let your heart break for as long as you need to, then let that heartbreak turn into action. Demand accountability from Congress with jurisdiction over the DOD and the VA because they write the bills and fund them but never explain the deplorable results to anyone. Demand accountability from all the charities out there raising money to "raise awareness" because so far they have yet to make veterans aware of how they can heal or even give them a reason to want to.

Arizona dad who fatally shot two young daughters two days before Christmas has died
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
BY KERI BLAKINGER
Friday, December 25, 2015

“I personally think he’s been through so much in the military, almost 15 years. He could have developed PTSD or some kind of mental condition.” Joan Parker

Parker killed his two daughter, 8-year-old MacKenzie (l) and 5-year-old Haylee (r).

The Arizona dad and National Guard member who killed his two young daughters in cold blood has died, officials said.

Levi Parker, 37, murdered the children, MacKenzie Lee Parker, 8, and Haylee Parker, 5, in the midst of a custody battle with his estranged wife, according to a report.

Deputies were called to the Parker home at Veranda at Ventana Condominiums around 7 p.m. on Wednesday, after the girls’ mother received a threatening phone call.

"He made statements to her that basically led her to believe this was her last chance to talk to the kids alive," Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said, according to KNXV-TV.

When they arrived on scene five minutes later, deputies “attempted to talk to a male inside the residence from outside the front door,” the sheriff’s department said in a statement.

“Soon after, deputies heard one gun shot and they forced entry into the home. Inside, they found the father and two daughters, all with gun shot wounds.”
read more here

Tucson News

Easy to say "Helping Veterans" but harder to prove it

Helping veterans easier said than done
San Antonio Express News
By Martin Kuz, Staff Writer
December 26, 2015

“They all want to talk about veterans, especially if they get in front of a TV camera or a crowd, but then they never follow through.” Bill Collier

Photo: BOB OWEN, Staff / San Antonio Express-News

LAREDO — John Perez thinks back on his experience in war as a time when life made sense.

Deployed to Iraq in 2006 with the Marines, he served as an operations specialist, arranging the logistics for truck convoys delivering fuel and supplies to U.S. troops. He enjoyed the complexity of the work as much as the clarity of purpose.

What bewildered him was returning to civilian life after his honorable discharge in 2008.

He left the military hoping to save a marriage that unspooled over the next two years. In 2012, he lost his job at a retail store when his bosses refused to alter his work schedule so that he could attend community college.

As Perez started taking classes, he ran through a series of low-wage jobs that paid too little for him to keep his apartment. By this summer, he had slipped into homelessness, couch-surfing from one friend’s house to another.

He recovered a measure of stability in August after learning about a veterans transitional center housed inside the Rio Grande Plaza Hotel on the fringe of Laredo’s downtown. Since opening in February, the program has provided shelter for more than 100 homeless veterans, creating a refuge from uncertainty.

“This place has been a godsend,” said Perez, 29, looking out the wall-to-wall windows on one side of his seventh-floor room, with views of the border-town sprawl that spreads across the Rio Grande into Nuevo Laredo. “It gives you a chance to catch your breath.”

A Lubbock oilman whose late father served in World War II, Collier, who knew of Lopez’s advocacy work, offered to provide rent-free rooms to homeless veterans. Lopez agreed to coordinate the transitional program, connecting them to support services through the VA and nonprofit groups that could steer them toward independence.

The two men anticipated that the center would attract perhaps 10 to 15 veterans. By spring, more than 40 had moved into the 15-story hotel, some with spouses and young children.
read more here

Afghanistan Veteran with PTSD Missing in Arizona

UPDATE

Veteran missing for almost 2 weeks found dead at Banner University Medical Center

Veteran vanishes, family hasn't seen him in almost 2 weeks 
ABC News Arizona
Navideh Forghani, Vivian Padilla
Dec 25, 2015

PHOENIX - Guido Feruglio was proud to serve his country.

Now a Phoenix family is searching for the father, husband, and veteran who has been missing for almost two weeks.

"He did two tours in Afghanistan," Veronica Feruglio, his wife, said.

But it was when he returned home from his second tour that his wife noticed a change.

"He didn't come back the same," she said. Veronica says her husband suffered from PTSD.

"He never wanted to say something, he was always fine," she said. "Any nightmares he saw or lived, he kept to himself."

It was on December 14th that the woman's husband, 34, said something strange right before he left the family's house.

"I'm sorry, I hurt you and I'm sorry I did this to you," she said he told her.

He left his family behind, including his 3-year-old son. His state and military identification cards were also left behind. He drove off in his black Dodge Charger, never to be seen again.
read more here

PTSD Doesn't Have to Be Bitter, Make it Better

PTSD Doesn't Have to Be the Lemon in Life
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
December 26, 2015

Every recipe for lemonade tells you to mix in some sugar. Otherwise, you end up with some bitter tasting stuff. It is the same way in life, especially when you're living with PTSD.

If you are thinking of leaving your veteran, it could be because you forgot about the sugar. The sweet within him/her that you fell in love with. It is all still in there. As a matter of fact, it is the biggest reason they suffer such sadness.

There is a song "Lemon Tree" by Peter, Paul and Mary about love ending with bitterness. (Lyrics below)
Loving a veteran with PTSD can be just as bitter at times. If you are post 9-11 generation, I am old enough to be your Mom. I am not so old that I cannot remember over 30 years ago when I was young as well, feeling lost and shattered. I remember feeling as if I couldn't talk to anyone about what was going on.

Sometimes I was embarrassed. Sometimes I was feeling unlovable. Most of the time I was feeling lonely because no one knew what I was going through.

Back then we didn't have the internet or any type of social media. Hell, even reporters were not covering what our generation was dealing with, not that they paid attention to what our own parents went through either, but somehow we managed to find other veteran spouses. We followed our husbands to veterans gatherings because we knew in that community we were not alone. It helped to know that other wives were feeling the same things civilian spouses would have found impossible to deal with.

We learned what worked for them and changed our own lives by their example. After over 30 years, I can honestly say I never stopped loving my husband, even though there were times when I thought I had, the truth is, it never ended. Oh, sure there were times, and still are many, when I don't like him very much, but I'm sure there are times when he doesn't like me either.

The difference is I learned what PTSD was, what it did to him and why it did it.

Read more here on Home Front Heritic

Wife of Marine Gives Part of Herself to Save Life

A stranger donates part of her liver, giving the gift of life to infant
News and Observer
Anne Blythe
December 24, 2015

Baby’s transplant helps bring two strong mothers together

Baby Elijah is now doing well, doctors say

Mothers say this Christmas is one they’ll cherish

Elijah Tsawo, at Duke University Hospital, with liver donor Sarah Ames.

Ames was a stranger who donated part of her liver to save Elijah's life.

She and Elijah's family have become close since the surgery earlier this year.

Photo courtesy of Nicole Fisher

DURHAM Sarah Ames lives by the philosophy that if you have the ability to help someone, you have the responsibility to try.

So this spring, when she was moved by a story about a mother’s plea for a liver donor for an infant son, Ames had no qualms about quickly taking a survey to see if she might be a match.

She received a callback the next day.

Two days later she was at Duke University Medical Center for more testing.

And two weeks later she was on an operating table at Duke Children’s Hospital, undergoing her first major surgery so she could give 25 percent of her liver to a stranger.

It was a gift of life for Elijah Tsawo, a 17-month-old boy who brought together two mothers who say the child’s misfortune led to their good fortune of meeting each other for a friendship they hope will last a lifetime.

“I tell her, she tells me, there are no words any more for what this means,” a grateful Gwendolyn Tsawo said earlier this month at a monthly checkup for Elijah.

‘Truly a hero’
Sarah Ames had worked as an acute care speech pathologist. She was familiar with the risks and rewards that modern medicine offers. She also describes herself as a Christian, driven by a strong faith. Her husband Jordan, a Marine, has similar beliefs and values.

The two have adopted six children – three boys and three girls who range in age from 15 to 6 – after finding out Sarah could not give birth to children.
read more here

8 surprising ways vets are helping vets

8 surprising ways vets are helping vets
Military Times
Jon R. Anderson
Amanda Miller
December 25, 2015

The crew at OFFduty and Best for Vets have gotten to know a lot of veterans in 2015, and one characteristic we've found so common among Post-9/11 veterans is the drive to help out fellow vets, especially those dealing with what staff writer Jon R. Anderson describes as "the fog after war."

Here's a countdown of some of our favorite unexpected new ways veterans are helping one another that we've discovered in our communities and explored in our content this year:

8. Toys from on high
Goodwill took wing from an Englewood, Colorado, airfield earlier this month for a donation drop that’s become a tradition in the state’s aviation community.
read the rest here

Student Veterans of America's acting president and CEO Jared Lyon visits the Military Times newsroom to discuss the association's worldwide mission and "NatCon" annual meeting coming up in January, plus two chapters talk about their local clubs.

Brevard County Homeless Veterans Hotel for Holiday

Group provides help for homeless veterans in Titusville
WESH News
By Matt Grant
Published Dec 25, 2015

National Veterans Homeless Support provides food, shelter for veterans

TITUSVILLE, Fla. —Local homeless veterans are receiving help this Christmas. They're not only receiving meals, but also a stay in a hotel.

The National Veterans Homeless Support group is taking action this holiday season to help veterans and their families have a merry Christmas.

Vietnam veteran William Cruz is fighting a different battle these days.

"I didn't have nothing, not even to go to McDonald's," Cruz said.

The former Marine said his wife's medical bills wiped them out, leaving them homeless. That is, until the National Veterans Homeless Support group rescued him.

The Brevard County charity is putting more than 40 vets and their families up in a hotel for Christmas, giving them warm meals and supplies.
read more here