Medal of Honor recipient charged in misdemeanor hit-and-run

UPDATE
Charges dropped


Medal of Honor recipient charged in misdemeanor hit-and-run 
Assocaited Press
By MARTHA WAGGONER
Published: December 31, 2015

The driver left the scene after the pedestrian stood up and walked to the side of the road. The pedestrian then went inside the fitness center and police were called.

Retired Marine Corps Cpl. Kyle Carpenter smiles after receiving the Medal of Honor at the White House, June 19, 2014. Carpenter appeared in court Thursday, Dec. 31, 2015, on misdemeanor charges of hit-and-run. JOE GROMELSKI/STARS AND STRIPES

A Medal of Honor recipient who lost an eye while taking a grenade blast to save a fellow Marine now faces a hit-and-run charge in South Carolina, police say.

Retired Cpl. Kyle Carpenter, 26, turned himself in and appeared in court Thursday with an attorney on misdemeanor charges of hit-and-run and making an improper left turn, police said in a news release. Police spokesman Capt. George Drafts said he didn't have the attorney's name. Carpenter didn't respond to an email and a text seeking comment.

Carpenter was released on bond, the release said.

Police say a pedestrian who was struck shortly after 8:30 p.m. Dec. 8 was treated at the scene for scrapes and leg injury. The pedestrian, Michael Haddad, declined to be taken to a hospital and is expected to make a full recovery, police said.
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Federal Court May Finally Help OEF OIF Veterans After Burn Pits

Federal court to weigh lawsuit alleging lung diseases from Iraq, Afghanistan burn pits
Stars and Stripes
By Tara Copp
Published: December 31, 2015

KBR, under the military’s logistical support contract, operated the pits.

WASHINGTON — A federal district court on Jan. 21 will consider the scope of a lawsuit alleging soldiers’ exposure to burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan led to serious respiratory illnesses and deaths and whether government contractor KBR, Inc. is responsible for the way the pits were operated.

In Iraq and Afghanistan, the military relied heavily on the large, open-air pits to burn trash and waste daily, exposing the personnel working the pits and others living nearby to toxic smoke.

In 2010, the Government Accountability Office found the Department of Defense was not following its own regulations for safe burn-pit operations, and that pits were regularly used to dispose of prohibited plastics, paints, batteries, aerosols, aluminum and other items that could produce harmful emissions when burned.

Nine locations in Afghanistan are also potentially within the lawsuit’s scope, as are another eight bases supporting Iraq and Afghanistan operations, such as Camp Arijian in Kuwait.
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Canada Workers Compensation Added PTSD!

Manitoba listing PTSD as occupational disease
The Reminder
Flin Flon Reminder
December 31, 2015

Changes to the Workers Compensation Act recognizing post-traumatic stress disorder as a work-related occupational disease in Manitoba come into effect Jan. 1.

Effective that date, the Workers Compensation Board will presume that someone’s job caused PTSD if a worker experiences a traumatic event on the job and is then diagnosed with the disorder.

This will make “it much easier to access supports, treatment and compensation,” Premier Greg Selinger said in a news release.
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God And The Service Go Hand-in-Hand

Benghazi Soldier: 'God And The Service Go Hand-in-Hand'
Town Hall
Cortney O'Brien
Dec 30, 2015

“God and the service kind of go hand-in-hand,” said Paronto. “You’re doing something honorable that’s above yourself.”

“Faith teaches you how to live with courage, how to live with honor, gives you something to strive for,” said. U.S. Army Ranger Kris “Tanto” Paronto. “To me, that’s the American spirit.”

On September 11, 2012, terrorists attacked the U.S. Embassy in Benghazi, Libya. We lost four brave diplomats. While the incident will forever be remembered as a tragedy, we would be remiss to forget the courage displayed by the six American servicemen who ran toward the fire. It is their story that is told in the new Paramount Pictures film 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi.

What was it that compelled these men to run toward danger? In a new featurette from Paramount Pictures ahead of the film's release, a few of the soldiers who defended the Benghazi compound explained that they received their strength from a higher power.
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Marine diagnosed with cancer posts video

Marine diagnosed with cancer posts video sharing his story 
The Washington Post
By Dan Lamothe
Published: December 30, 2015

WASHINGTON — After a weight-lifting session left him struggling to catch his breath, Marine Staff Sgt. Mark Fayloga made a decision: It was time to visit a doctor and find out what was wrong with him. He'd been struggling with fatigue for months, but chalked it up in part to his long commute from Columbia, Md., to the Pentagon.

The diagnosis wasn't good: Fayloga, 30, has cancer. He announced it in a video posted online Monday, saying that while it has been difficult each time he has told someone he cares about, sharing updates about his illness in a video series will provide a distraction for him and keep his friends and family informed.

In a phone interview, Fayloga said that he is still waiting to learn what kind of lymphoma he has. Already, though, doctors have drained 3 1/2 liters of fluid from around his lungs and completed a biopsy. At least one possible diagnosis – Hodgkin's disease – is considered highly curable.

Fayloga's initial six-minute video isn't just somber. It's filled with off-color humor, wisecracks and Fayloga having fun by depicting himself using his diagnosis as leverage to get a variety of things, including an extension on a work project, an unfair advantage while playing Scrabble and the last cupcake at home.
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Thief Caught Taking Wallet From Veteran--Honest Veteran Returned It

Stolen wallet returned to veteran, $700 left inside 
FOX 13 News
By: Haley Hinds
POSTED:DEC 29 2015

"Hey stupid," Lear laughed, "You threw away a wallet that had $700 in it. And now, we have your picture on the front page. I'll see ya!"

WINTER HAVEN (FOX 13) - A Good Samaritan comes to the rescue after a suspect was caught on camera taking the wallet of a retired veteran on a motorized cart in Publix.

Video surfaced Monday of a senior citizen dropping his wallet in the aisle of a Winter Haven Publix store. He was riding on a motorized cart. A few seconds later, you see a man pick up the wallet and walk away with it. And police say charges to the victim's credit cards started racking up within minutes.

The suspect also drained hundreds of dollars from the victim's debit card. read more here

4-year-old son of fallen airman salutes his dad at funeral

The 4-year-old son of fallen airman salutes his dad at funeral as thousands of uniformed officers turn out to honor hero killed in Afghanistan suicide bombing
By ASSOCIATED PRESS and ASHLEY COLLMAN FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
30 December 2015

Joseph Lemm, 45, was killed last week in a suicide bombing near Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan
The 15-year NYPD veteran was serving as a technical sergeant in the Air Force National Guard
His funeral was held Wednesday at St Patrick's Cathedral in New York City
NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton and Mayor Bill de Blasio attended the service
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, gave the eulogy
At the time of his death, Lemm was on his final tour of duty and just two months from returning home
The Taliban has taken responsibility for the attack that killed Lemm and five others

Lemm, 45, was a technical sergeant in the Air Guard's 105th Base Security Squadron and a 15-year member of the NYPD. He was killed last Monday when his patrol was attacked by a suicide bomber outside Bagram Air Base

The young son of a National Guardsman killed in a suicide bombing attack in Afghanistan last week proudly honored his father on Wednesday, trying on a police cap at his father's funeral.

Thousands of uniformed police and U.S. military servicemen lined the streets of Manhattan for the funeral for NYPD police detective and airman Joseph Lemm at St Patrick's Cathedral, which was attended by NYPD Commission William Bratton and Mayor Bill de Blasio, among others.

Lemm's four-year-old son Ryan was a reminder of the gravity of his premature death. Pictures from the emotional event show an officer hoisting Ryan up in his arms and offering the boy his police cap - too big for the youngster's head.
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Anaheim Officer Gave Veteran More to be Thankful For

Anaheim Police Officer Being Praised For Going Beyond Call Of Duty
CBS Los Angeles
December 30, 2015

“I certainly didn’t want them to miss Thanksgiving dinner with their family,” Garcia said he made it his personal mission to help after learning that Dan was a military veteran who battles post-traumatic stress disorder. He does not handle stress well. “I just have the utmost respect for veterans,” the officer said.

ANAHEIM (CBSLA.com) — An Anaheim police officer is being praised for going beyond the call of duty for helping an Oregon family on vacation at Disneyland.

Dan Singer, his wife, their three children and his mother were vacationing at the theme park resort on Thanksgiving week. On Thanksgiving day as the Singers were getting ready to drive north to Torrance to visit relatives, they came to find that their SUV was burglarized.

The black Chevy Suburban was parked in the lot of Disneyland’s Paradise Pier Hotel, where the thief or thieves had broken through the back window and stolen third-row seats.

“We actually paid quite a bit of money from the hotel to park there,” said Deborah Singer. “We felt very stranded. We felt very helpless.”
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Canes By Oscar Customized for Veterans Service

Veteran gets first cane from donated trees
Man makes specialized canes for veterans
Click Orlando.com
December 30, 2015

EUSTIS, Fla. - A Navy veteran who used donated trees to make canes for veterans delivered his first cane from the batch on Tuesday night.

Oscar Morris gave his first cane from the 200 trees donated from Lowe's to Shirley Johnson, a Korean War veteran who has been waiting three months to get his new walking cane.

"I think they're wonderful. You can't beat that," Johnson told News 6.

Each cane is different, filling the need of the specific veteran and branded with a penny of the year the veteran enlisted in the military.

"Normally when I mail them out I don't get the reaction on the face," Morris said. "The reaction is priceless compared to just mailing them out. You don't see, you get a response back through email, but when you hand one personally to somebody what it does inside is very special to me."

Morris said he's been making art out of wood since he was a child. He said back in September he ran across a strong broken tree limb and decided to make a cane.
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Marine Tyler Schlagel Suicide No One Saw Coming

With everyone doing something to prevent suicides in the military and in the veterans community, why are they still killing themselves? Each branch of the military including National Guard and Reservists have been telling all of us that "one suicide is too many" but basically they reach that claim on a daily basis.

Lord only knows how many times they'd have to say it if they had to account for all the veterans they trained to be "resilient" over the years. They sure aren't talking about the simple fact that training isn't even good enough to keep non-deployed from committing suicide but they claimed it would work on those with multiple deployments.

Is it ignorance or incompetence? Your guess is better than their's. I doubt they are even wondering why nothing they do is working? They sure as hell aren't wondering how it is that these men and women, trained to fight wars, managed to stay alive during them but not back home when they were supposed to be out of danger.

It isn't just the fact they succeed at ending their lives, but as with the story of Tyler Schlagel is told, others have tried to kill themselves as well but we can't even get the number of successful suicides right, so no one is trying to add up those battered lives either.

When asked if anyone else in the squad had attempted suicide recently, one man said no. The second said yes. He paused, then said, “Me ... a few months ago.” Without speaking, the two men fell into a deep hug.

Suicide Claims 14th Marine From a Unit Battered by Loss
New York Times
By DAVE PHILIPPS
DEC. 29, 2015

“I didn’t see it coming, not from him. Why our battalion? I’m at a damn loss." James McKendree, posted to other members’ Facebook pages the day after his death. 

Todd Heisler New York Times

LONGMONT, Colo. — Tyler Schlagel slipped out of his parents’ house while they were asleep three weeks ago and drove through the wintry darkness to his favorite fishing lake high in the Rockies.

Mr. Schlagel, a 29-year-old former Marine corporal who was stocking shelves at a sporting goods store, carried with him the eight journals he had filled during tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. He also carried a .40-caliber pistol.

Under the bright mountain stars, he kindled a small campfire. When the flames grew high, he threw the journals into the fire, then shot himself in the head.

Mr. Schlagel’s death Dec. 9 was the 14th suicide in his military unit — the Second Battalion, Seventh Marine Regiment — since the group returned from a bloody tour in Afghanistan in 2008. Many other members have attempted suicide, one just three days after Mr. Schlagel’s death.

The suicide rate for the 1,200 Marines who deployed together — most now out of the military — is nearly four times as high as for young male veterans as a whole and 14 times as high as that for all Americans.

For the dozen Marines who came to pay their respects — roughly a quarter of the platoon — Mr. Schlagel was the last person to suspect was struggling. He had been a squad leader and the platoon’s designated marksman who had taken the most dangerous spot at the front of patrols. He had seemed fearless, joyful, steady. His suicide made some question whether anyone was free of risk.
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I've been doing this for far too long and still reading about more suicides stings as much as it did over 30 years ago. Back then we had plenty of excuses. Frankly because most of us were just learning what war did to all the generations since the Revolutionary War. The press didn't care about Vietnam veterans other than reporting about some of them being arrested unlike now when they report on Veterans Courts.  The DOD didn't care much either because they could just boot their butts out and be done with having to count them at all.

Now with billions spent every year on all the training, the DOD still hasn't seen they caused this train wreck!