317 Florida Veterans Get Medals in Bradenton

Governor presents awards to 317 veterans in Bradenton
Bradenton Herald
James A Jones Jr.
August 25, 2016

William Thompson, 91, and Ned Teves, 82, came through the award line together. Thompson served in the South Pacific during World War II, while Teves served as an Army doctor in a military hospital in Japan during the Vietnam War.

Teves said he had been a recent immigrant from the Philippines and not yet a citizen when he was drafted into the Army.

He called his draft notice a “love letter” from the U.S. government.

Teves, like other vets from the Vietnam War era, welcomed the appreciation expressed for their service in recent years.

BRADENTON
Rick Scott had already presented Governor’s Veterans Service Awards to more than 300 veterans on Thursday when he spotted Jackson Carson, 86, sitting at the back of the room.

The Bradenton National Guard Armory had just about emptied out, and Carson seemed unable to come forward to be recognized.

The governor walked back to Carson with Major Gen. Michael Calhoun, Florida’s adjutant general, at his side. Scott placed the award around Carson’s neck, thanked him for his service and asked him when he served.
read more here

Community Refuses To Give Up On Blind, Homeless Vet

Grace In Action: Community Refuses To Give Up On Blind, Homeless Vet
CBS News
By Robbie Owens
August 25, 2016

DALLAS (CBS11) – With hugs and smiles all around, Willie Curtis King, Jr. is enjoying a homecoming of sorts.

“I had thought there weren’t no more really good people in the world,” said King. “I was so down on my luck. But, every day, I woke up. Every day I woke up, these people helped me.”

His visit to the MLK Community Center Thursday was made even more special when you consider that this time last year, King had no home. He was a card-carrying member of the angry, hard-to-help homeless, existing on the kindness of those at the center.

“I didn’t have to be outside that dumpster,” said King. “I was just belligerent… out of control.”

Those at the MLK Center would be inclined to agree.

“I reached out to his brother,” said Officer Terry Brookins. “He cursed his brother out. Everybody tried to help him; but, he refused.”

But, Officer Brookins was patient… and he was persistent, telling CBS11 that it was “heartbreaking” to see the veteran “digging in the trash cans, trying to find food to eat.”
read more here

WWII Navy Photographer Shares Images From USS Astoria

Navy photographer wanted his work to be shared
USA TODAY NETWORK
Jay Levin, The (Bergen County, N.J.) Record
August 25, 2016

Fewer than 700,000 of the nearly 16 million Americans who served in World War II are alive today, according to the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. More than 400 veterans of that era die every day, almost 160,000 this year.

HACKENSACK, N.J. — Herman Schnipper, a mild-mannered Navy photographer who chronicled the danger and drudgery of war while on board the light cruiser USS Astoria, died Wednesday at his home here, where his vast trove of World War II images is stored.

He was 92.

Herman Schnipper of Hackensack, N.J., was a Navy photographer aboard the USS Astoria during World War II, shown Dec. 9, 2014. He made copies of every picture he took and categorized them.

(Photo: Mitsu Yasukawa, The (Bergen County, N.J.) Record)

“I don’t want them to be put in a box and forgotten. I want to show people the war,” Schnipper told The Record in 2014, referring to the black-and-white prints he has held on to since his military discharge a few months after the war’s end.

At the time of the interview, Schnipper was in declining health and his family felt an urgency to decide what to do with the photographs, which they want to be accessible to the public.
read more here

Canadian Couple Heartbroken, Separated After 62 Years of Marriage

The Heartbreaking Story Behind Photo of Elderly Couple Crying
ABC News
By AVIANNE TAN
Aug 25, 2016

An elderly couple from the town of Surrey in British Columbia, Canada, was recently photographed crying after apparently being moved to separate nursing homes a few months ago.

Anita Gottschalk, 81, and Wolfram Gottschalk, 83, have been heartbroken since they've been forced to live in separate nursing homes, according to their 29-year-old granddaughter Ashley Bartyik.

The emotional photo was taken Monday during a visit between the couple. Ashley Bartyik, the couple's granddaughter, told ABC News today she's worried that their "heartbreak and the stress could literally kill them."

"This is the saddest photo I have ever taken," Bartyik, 29, wrote in the photo's caption. It has been shared nearly 3,000 times on Facebook.

She explained that after 62 years of marriage, her grandparents have been separated for eight months "due to backlogs and delays by our heath care system."
read more here

Stolen Valor: Iraq Veteran Collected Over $700,000 In Benefits

Veteran,48, lied about being injured in combat in Iraq to claim over $700,000 in disability benefits and a Purple Heart
DAILY MAIL
By REGINA F. GRAHAM FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED:25 August 2016

Darryl Lee Wright pleaded guilty to two counts 
of felony wire fraud earlier this year

A veteran in Washington state claimed over $700,000 in federal benefits after lying about being severely disabled.

Darryl Lee Wright pleaded guilty to two counts of felony wire fraud earlier this year for fabricating claims of disability and receiving payment from the Social Security Administration (SSA) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

The 48-year-old claimed that he was severely disabled from being wounded in combat in Iraq, and as a result, collected $751,400 in federal benefits.

Wright was found living well in Snoqualmie, dating two women simultaneously and working a steady job, despite claiming that he was incapacitated by wounds physical and psychological that he suffered in Iraq while serving in the Idaho National Guard in Iraq, Seattlepi.com reported.

He was caught telling a war story that wasn't true about his 2005 tour in Iraq.

In order to prove the lie, he created fake documents and pressured government workers in an effort to force his way into thousands of dollars of benefits that are meant to help Americans who were actually injured while serving.

Wright filed the bogus paperwork with the Army under the names of people he actually served with, Jennings said.
read more here

From ABC News

ABC Breaking News | Latest News Videos

WWII Navy Veteran Gets Anchors Aweigh Tribute Sitting on Porch

Tribute to WWII Veteran Goes Viral When Group Sings 'Anchors Aweigh' at His Doorstep
ABC News
By ELIZA MURPHY
Aug 24, 2016,

When one WWII veteran could no longer visit his local battleship to relish in stories of his days at sea, a special group brought the memories of his Navy days right to his doorstep.

Ernest Thompson, of Gardena, California, got the surprise of a lifetime when the Chief Selects of the Fleet Anti-Submarine Warfare Training Center showed up on his neighborhood street to serenade him with “Anchors Aweigh.”

The unsuspecting Thompson, 98, stood on his front porch in salute.

“Neighbors came out of their houses to witness a once in a lifetime experience. My grandfather told me that it was one of the best days of his life!” Thompson’s grandson, Jonathan Williams, wrote in a Facebook post explaining the story behind the video, which has now gone viral with nearly five million views.
read more here

76 Year Old Veteran Killed Himself At VA After Being Turned Away

Veteran Kills Himself in Parking Lot of V.A. Hospital on Long Island
New York Times
By KRISTINA REBELO
AUG. 24, 2016

“He went to the E.R. and was denied service,” one of the people, who currently works at the hospital, said. “And then he went to his car and shot himself.”

A 76-year-old veteran committed suicide on Sunday in the parking lot of the Northport Veterans Affairs Medical Center on Long Island, where he had been a patient, according to the Suffolk County Police Department.

Peter A. Kaisen, of Islip, was pronounced dead after he shot himself outside Building 92, the nursing home at the medical center.

The hospital is part of the Veterans Affairs medical system, the nation’s largest integrated health care organization, which has been under scrutiny since 2014, when the department confirmed that numerous patients had died awaiting treatment at a V.A. hospital in Phoenix. Officials there had tried to cover up long waiting times for 1,700 veterans seeking medical care. A study released by the Government Accountability Office in April indicated that the system had yet to fix its scheduling problems.

Why Mr. Kaisen decided to end his life was not immediately known, but two people connected to the hospital who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss his death said that he had been frustrated that he was unable to see an emergency-room physician for reasons related to his mental health. “He went to the E.R. and was denied service,” one of the people, who currently works at the hospital, said. “And then he went to his car and shot himself.”
read more here

Vietnam Veteran Shocked to Receive Purple Heart After 50 Year Wait

After nearly 50 years of waiting, T-Bones help surprise metro Vietnam veteran with Purple Heart
FOX4KC
BY MEGAN BRILLEY
AUGUST 20, 2016

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- A metro Vietnam veteran has been waiting nearly 50 years for his Purple Heart.

Milton Shelley served in Vietnam in the 60s and was injured while serving. The veteran gave up hope, but Saturday night he got the surprise of a lifetime while at a T-Bones game.

Milton Shelley waited in a line of military veterans. Then he stepped up to the mound and threw the first pitch of the game.

Shelley thought his job was done and started to walk back to his seat, when he was told to stand on home plate.

The announcer began to tell him he wasn't just there to throw the first pitch.

Milton served in Vietnam in the 60s, he was shot and injured. For nearly 50 years, Milton wondered why he didn't get a Purple Heart.

"I never thought I'd get it," Shelley said. "I tried several times. Mailing stuff in."
read more here

Heroes Among Us, Pensacola Vietnam Veteran

Pensacola Vietnam veteran featured at Heroes Among Us event
Pensacola News Journal
Melissa Nelson Gabriel
August 23, 2016

"At the time, I didn't think about how dangerous it was. In retrospect, I feel fortunate to have come out alive," said McArthur, who credits his wife of 49 years for helping him deal with the trauma of war.

In 1998, members of The Last Patrol are reflected in the stone panels

of The Wall South as they pay tribute to their fallen comrades from the

war in Vietnam during Memorial Day observances organized by The Vietnam

Veterans Motorcycle Club of America.

(Photo: Pensacola Historical Society)

Decorated Vietnam veteran Gary McArthur doesn't come from a military family and never dreamed of joining the military as a child.

But the draft made military service a reality for McArthur, 71, and thousands of other young American men in the late 1960s.

"Back then, you were drafted as soon as your student deferment ended," said McArthur, a University of Florida graduate who joined the Army in 1968, and served as an officer in the 1st Air Cavalry Division.

The Pensacola native will share stories of his time as a "civilian soldier" during Thursday night's Heroes Among Us speaker series in downtown Pensacola.

The monthly outdoor speakers series in Pensacola's Veterans Memorial Park is sponsored by the Marine Corps League and draws on the war stories of the area's many veterans to raise money for projects that help veterans.

McArthur, a Pensacola native who served in the Army from 1968 to 1971, said he has a unique perspective because he was not a career military officer.
read more here

Vietnam Veteran Finds Foster Family

James Island family fosters, falls in love with Vietnam veteran
Charleston Regional Business Journal
By Ashley Heffernan
August 18, 2016

“I didn’t know we were going to fall in love with him so (much) and the kids would. We thought we’d be taking care of somebody, but he’s just one of us now.” Lacresha Cromwell

Harry Vaughan enjoys watching television with the Cromwell family, especially Western films with 10-year-old Ashlyn Cromwell.

(Photo/Ashley Heffernan)

Harry Vaughan joined the military because it was his “brother duty.”

The 76-year-old, who grew up in Virginia, entered the Army in 1959 to be near his older brother. Two years in and “tired of walking,” he left the Army and joined the Navy to take care of his younger brother. They both served on the USS Valley Forge aircraft carrier, and Vaughan went on to spend a year sweeping rivers in Vietnam for mines.

After 22 years in the Navy, Vaughan transitioned to a career as a fence builder in North Charleston. But when his memory started deteriorating and doctors gave him a diagnosis of dementia, Vaughan moved into Agape Senior, an assisted living facility in North Charleston.

As of 2014, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs reported nearly 130,000 Vietnam veterans were living in South Carolina, bringing in a median personal income of $34,436. About 62% of those veterans were between the ages of 65 and 74, while 9% were 75 or older.

Long-term-care costs can quickly eat into a veteran’s income.
read more here