Fort Campbell Solider On Leave Killed By 15 Year Old

Funeral honors Blount Co. soldier killed in Harriman
WBIR
Raishad Hardnett
September 03, 2016

On Saturday, family and friends honored the life of a Ft. Campbell soldier killed while on leave.

Authorities say a Harriman teenager shot and killed Blount County native MarStratton Gordon last Sunday. Police say an argument turned deadly after a 15-year-old fired a single shot at MarStratton.

The Army soldier was visiting his girlfriend in Harriman when the shooting happened.

On Saturday afternoon, relatives held Gordon’s funeral at Heritage High School, where he played football.

Relatives described Gordon as charismatic and outspoken, with a knack for making people laugh.
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Bradenton Missing Veteran Has Been Found

UPDATE
10 News Tampa Bay 

Missing Bradenton veteran located Ian Oswald has been located, according to the Manatee County Sheriff's Office.

MISSING military veteran in Manatee County
By WFLA Web Staff
Published: September 4, 2016

MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) – A military veteran diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder was reported missing in Manatee County Saturday.

Ian Oswald, 36, is a 16-year veteran who was medically retired due to PTSD. He left his residence on 53rd Avenue West in Bradenton Saturday night threatening to harm himself. His wife Lori reported him missing.
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Purpose for Hospital Hostage Situation Not Known Yet

Family member of Waxahachie hostage suspect blames PTSD for incident
FOX 4
September 4, 2016

A family member of Lorenzo Zarate, the man police say walked into a Waxahachie ER waiting room Saturday night and threatened to hurt his two children, is blaming PTSD for his relative’s actions.

Zarate is in the Ellis County jail on $200,000 bond, facing charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, terroristic threats, placing the public in fear of serious injury and attempting to take a weapon from an officer.

Sunday, a man claiming to be his uncle, posted about Zarate and the incident on Facebook, saying, in part, "My boy fought and served America in its time of need. He needs America to understand PTSD. It's real".

Zarate is an Iraq War veteran from Austin, featured in several news publications in 2008 -- the year he came home from serving in Iraq.

Waxahachie Police say Zarate carried both a baby and a gun into the Baylor Scott and White ER waiting room Saturday night before 7:00 P.M. with another child by his side.
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Vietnam Veteran Sent Wrong Medical Records by Congressman?

Reminder, none of this is new. Vietnam veterans have been fighting to have their claims honored since the 80's, stood in lines, fought backlog of claims and all of this, when no one was paying attention. Now that it seems as if everyone is paying attention, no one is doing anything to change what has been happening all along.

My husband's claim was filed in 1993. It took six years to get approved. We heard all the speeches and promises but had to live with the reality of members of Congress breaking all the promises they made to take care of our veterans.

One more reminder is Congress has jurisdiction over the VA budget, rules and laws. They don't like to remind anyone of that so if you member of Congress has been in longer than 2 years, ask them why they didn't fix all this before. It isn't as if they didn't know what was going on.

Vietnam veterans struggle to navigate VA system
Victoria Advocate
By Laura Garcia
September 3, 2016

He was upset that the congressman’s office accidentally mailed him medical documents that belonged to two other individuals.

Vietnam veteran Weldon Holmes came back from the war 46 years ago,

but has long fought with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Photo by Rugile Kaladyte.

Weldon Holmes, 67, clenches and unclenches his fists as he tries to figure out what exactly he wants to say.

He wants to tell his story and for someone to listen.

But he also wants change.

For at least the past 14 years, the Vietnam veteran has struggled to get through the bureaucracy of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Holmes is one of more than 440,000 veterans in the country with pending appeals that need to be resolved by the Veterans Benefits Administration.

The average wait time is three years, according to a press statement by VA Secretary Robert A. McDonald earlier this year. And for the appeals that reach the Board of Veteran Appeals, the wait is at least five years with thousands of cases lasting much longer.

McDonald said the VA needs resources to create a simplified appeals process that would enable the department to resolve appeals in a reasonable time frame. He said the backlog of claims has been reduced to 82,000 from a peak of 611,000 in March 2013.

But to veterans like Holmes, who are still waiting, this offers little consolation.

Some days Holmes is hopeful, and other days he can’t hide his anger from boiling over.
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101st Soldier Rescues Child Forgotten in Hot Car

101st soldier, Woodlawn firefighter saves infant in Texas
Leaf Chronicle
Ayrika L. Whitney
September 2, 2016

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. — Staff Sgt. James Munns is a combat medic for the 3rd Brigade Combat Team (Rakkasans), 101st Airborne Division and a firefighter with the Woodlawn Volunteer Fire Service, providing him with intense and thorough training and experience.

Training and experience that proved to be invaluable in San Antonio on Aug. 11 — and may have even saved a life.

Munns was about to leave the city after training and needed to purchase a new phone before the flight home later that day.

About half an hour into his visit to the Verizon store, two women rushed into the store and Munns noticed they were visibly distraught, one holding a baby.

One of the women forgot the child in the car in the extreme Texan heat. The high for the day was 100 degrees according to the National Weather Service's weather records.

"The baby was bright red, is visibly not doing well," said Munns.

He realized nobody, including the women were trained to handle the situation, and his training kicked in.

"For a lot of medics, it's like a switch goes off, and you just do your job," Munns stated. "You stop what you are doing and you do your job."
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Is Prince Harry Wrong on PTSD Medal?

Prince Harry is wrong to back call for all wounded troops to get new medal
Mirror UK
Rachael Bletchly
September 3, 2016

Rachael Bletchly writes for the Sunday People that, instead of gongs, our wounded deserve the best ­possible support when they leave the forces – medical and social care, housing and jobs

So a “wounded warrior” medal would surely be highlighting victimhood rather than extraordinary heroism.

Prince Harry is a champion of wounded troops

Since leaving the Army after ten years’ service Prince Harry has proved to be an admirable champion of our wounded ­military personnel.

His Invictus Games are inspiring, showing what servicemen and women can achieve despite appalling injuries.

And he’s joined forces with Michelle Obama and ex-President George Bush to highlight the ­hidden scars of post-traumatic stress disorder.

But now Harry is ­backing calls for ALL British troops who are wounded in action to be awarded a special medal, like the US Purple Heart.

Here in Blighty, cases of PTSD ­continue to rise – and the charity Combat Stress is worried.

Its medical director said recently: “It’s the tip of the iceberg. And if it is a big iceberg, we are going to be overwhelmed. We need funds, we need help, from any direction.”

So before we start handing out medals to our wounded warriors, let’s ­concentrate on helping those whose wounds still need tending.

Isn’t that a better way to honour them?
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82nd Airborne Soldiers Climbed Denali Remembering Friends Lost and Hope Found

Soldier climbs Denali for suicide awareness, proposes to girlfriend
DVIDS
DENALI, AK, UNITED STATES
Story by John Budnik
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Alaska District
09.02.2016

While visibly humble, Austria explained his personal encounters with suicide. Both his best friend and a fellow Soldier with the 82nd Airborne Division committed suicide.

JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON – Blistering snowstorms, excruciating work hauling gear and possible death might not sound like an ideal summer vacation for most. If you are a mountaineer, then the experience is a paradise.

Courtesy Photo | Capt. Stephen Austria, project engineer in the USACE-Alaska District’s Foreign Military Sales Program, and fiancé and climbing partner, Rebecca Melesciuc, take a break from descending Denali, the tallest peak in North America, for a photo. Austria and Melesciuc climbed Denali this past summer to help raise Soldier suicide awareness.

For Capt. Stephen Austria, project engineer in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Alaska District’s Foreign Military Sales Program, a mid-June, non-guided expedition climbing Denali, formerly known as Mount McKinley, was a dream come true for him and girlfriend, Rebecca Melesciuc, and one he hopes brings awareness to Soldier suicide.

“Denali is the highest mountain in North America,” Austria said of the 20,310-feet peak. “Not many people want to do things like that. It is cool to say I have climbed it.”

While visibly humble, Austria explained his personal encounters with suicide. Both his best friend and a fellow Soldier with the 82nd Airborne Division committed suicide. He also knew several others in a previous unit who took their own lives. To honor those Soldiers, he carried an American flag on the majestic mountain that was with him on every mission while deployed to Iraq.

“It is a bigger issue than what some people make it out to be,” he said. “I climbed for veterans in general, too. It is a unique family that we are a part of.”
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Wife Fights For Justice As Air Force Veteran Sits in Jail

'I can't be silent any longer' - Wife of veteran fights for husband's release
North West Florida News
Kelly Humphrey
September 3, 2016

A medical board issued him an honor-able discharge after four years and 10 months of service. The loss of his military career devastated him, Angela said, and he would later be diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

“He attempted suicide shortly after that,” she said. “It broke his heart to be out of the Air Force.”

At 9:18 a.m. on April 9, 2015, Aaron Wanless sent an email to his psychiatrist’s office at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs clinic at Eglin Air Force Base.

“This medication is killing me,” he wrote. “My brain is malfunctioning.”

At the moment he sent the message, the 35-year-old Air Force veteran was a fugitive, having spent the previous night eluding sheriff’s deputies following an armed altercation at his father’s house.

Shortly after sending the email, Aaron surrendered and was taken to jail, where he has remained for 17 months without bond as his case winds it way through the judicial system.

Aaron had confided in Angela when they first met that he’d experienced depression. She and Melendez attribute it to a serious motorcycle accident he had while stationed at Patrick Air Force Base near Cocoa Beach in 2001.

“Several bones in his lower leg were shattered,” Melendez wrote. “For a while, doctors thought they may have to amputate his leg. Aaron was in rehab for months.”

Although he would go on to serve with his Air Force unit at ground zero in New York following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, by 2002 the military decided he was no longer fit for service.
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10th Anniversary of Operation Medusa Remembered by PTSD Veteran

Canadian soldier writes song for 10th anniversary of Operation Medusa
CTV News Canada
Taline McPhedran
September 3, 2016

The song, and journal entry, goes on to describe the attack happening in the same place that saw four other Canadian soldiers killed a month before. It then describes a British plane that went down while flying reconnaissance, killing all 12 British soldiers on board.

To acknowledge the 10th anniversary of Operation Medusa that saw 15 Canadian troops killed in Afghanistan, a soldier who fought in the battle has released a song called Panjwai.

Capt. Ryan Carey decided to write the song as a way to deal with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and to deal with what he witnessed in the conflict. The song goes through a retelling of his experiences during the operation to take back the Panjwai district from the Taliban.

The song starts with the crossing of the Arghandab River and the following bombardment that left four Canadian soldiers dead. The Taliban were ready for them, and dug in for a fight.

“We drove into a heavily fortified defensive position… we drove into the kill zone,” Carey told CTV News.
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Fort Benning Pvt. Felix Hall's Murder Remains Unsolved

The story of the only known lynching on a U.S. military base
Washington Post
By Alexa Mills
September 2 2016

The government never solved his murder.

Pvt. Felix Hall’s body hung in this position for about six weeks. His feet rest on the dirt that he dug out of a ravine wall in an effort to release the pressure of the noose around his neck. Photo by Sgt. Robert Templeton, Fort Benning Military Police Detachment, U.S. Army, March 28, 1941. (Department of Veterans Affairs records) (US Army/US Army)

FORT BENNING, Ga. —Pvt. Felix Hall was strung up in a jack-knife position in a shallow ravine. A quarter-inch noose, tethered to a sapling on the earthen bank above him, dug into the flesh of his neck. His feet, bound with baling wire, were attached by a second rope to three other saplings, and his hands were tied behind him.

Hall succeeded in kicking loose his legs and freeing his left hand. Then, while he still had breath, he desperately scraped dirt loose from the ravine wall, trying to scoop out enough of the sienna-colored earth to build up a mound beneath his feet that he could stand on “to take the strain from his neck,” the FBI would later report. He got the dirt up to the arches of his dangling feet. But the earth was soft and loose and ultimately not enough to support his weight.

When investigators eventually arrived on the scene and examined his body, he’d been suspended in this position, in the woods of Fort Benning, for more than six weeks. Maggots were eating his flesh.
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Navy Cross Recipient Staff Sgt. Cliff Wooldridge Leaving Corps

Hero Marine who killed Taliban fighter with his hands leaves the Corps
KCEN
Jeff Schogol
Marine Corps Times
September 01, 2016

After shooting four enemy fighters, then-Cpl. Wooldridge ran out of ammunition and ended up in a life-and-death struggle with a man who tried to pull the pin on a grenade attached to Wooldridge’s vest.

Navy Cross recipient Staff Sgt. Cliff Wooldridge, who killed a Taliban fighter in hand-to-hand combat, has left the Marine Corps after spending nine years in the service.

Sgt. Clifford Wooldridge, receives the Navy Cross on May 18, 2012 for combat actions in Helmand province, Afghanistan, while attached to 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, in 2010. Photo Credit: Photo by Cpl. Sarah Anderson.

“I enjoyed my time in the Marine Corps,” Wooldridge told Marine Corps Times. “It’s had a huge impact on my life. I’m going to miss the men I’ve served with and miss being in the fight with them.”

Wooldridge, 28, said his last day in the Marines was Tuesday. He said his time in the Corps made him appreciate life and not take it for granted.

“It made me a man and I am forever grateful for the men who mentored me and led by example,” he said.
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Pennsylvania National Guardsman Helped Heart Attack Victim Live

Pa. Army Guard Soldier aids heart attack victim
Pennsylvania National Guard
By By Sgt. Shane Smith
Joint Force Headquarters
September 01, 2016

His quick and decisive actions garnered praise from witnesses and fellow Soldiers.

GREENSBURG, Pa. — Pfc. Fred Vandenheuvel was enjoying dinner with fellow Guard members at a Greensburg restaurant when he witnessed a man collapse. With a background in law enforcement and as a first responder, he leapt into action.

Pfc. Fred Vandenheuvel, a member of the Pennsylvania Army

National Guard’s 252nd Engineer Company rendered aid to a

man who suffered a heart attack while dining in a local

restaurant.

(Courtesy Photo) (Photo by Courtesy Photo)

“At first I wasn’t sure what had happened,” recalled Vandenheuvel, a member of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard’s 252nd Engineer Company. “The man wasn’t moving. I thought he may have had a heart attack.”

The man was still conscious and complaining of intense chest pain when Vandenheuvel first reached him. Vandenheuvel was asked to call the man’s wife.

“I told his wife where we were, what had happened, and asked if her husband had any prior medical history or heart issues,” he said. “She told me her husband has a history of heart problems.”

Vandenheuvel called 911 and remained on the line with paramedics until they arrived.
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National Vietnam Veterans Foundation Shuts Down

Reminder" This is not Vietnam Veterans of America 



Veterans charity that gave less than 2% of revenue to veterans closes its doors for good
CNN
By Drew Griffin and David Fitzpatrick
September 1, 2016

"Tom Burch has resigned from the Foundation and NVVF is shutting down completely, " Kaufman wrote in an email to CNN. "All fundraising has ceased and the only thing being done is the distribution of blankets, personal care kits and related items in the warehouse."

New York (CNN)The National Vietnam Veterans Foundation, a zero-rated charity that was the object of a CNN report in mid-May, has closed its doors for good, according to one of the charity's executives.

In an email to CNN, David Kaufman, the charity's vice president, says the Veterans Foundation "has severed all ties" to the organization's president, Thomas Burch, who along with serving as president of the charity also has a full time job as a government lawyer with the Veterans Affairs agency in Washington.
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Charities Sensationalizing PTSD For More Donations?

Gee do you think the same thing is going on here? Exactly how does talking about an issue like PTSD help anyone unless they actually start talking about what will make lives better?

There has been so much BS in the US, UK, Australia and Canada about PTSD Awareness for so long now that if someone is not aware of what it is, then they never will be. What I really want to know is, why do they need so much money to talk about a problem or deserve the money when they are not doing anything to actually address the problem? Any clue? Considering work on PTSD and our veterans started over 40 years ago, none of this is new but they act like they just discovered it. They sure as hell haven't cured it.

Military charities accused of sensationalizing post-combat stress to get more donations
Civil Society UK
Fundraising
Hugh Radojev
2 Sep 2016

A spokeswoman for Walking with the Wounded said that Parker’s comments were supported by the rest of the organisation. She also said that he made the comments because he wanted the whole military charity sector to be more “transparent and open” with the public.

The chief executive of Walking with the Wounded has told The Times that some military charities “sensationalize” the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder on returned veterans in order to raise more money from the public.

Ed Parker, chief executive of Walking with the Wounded, is quoted in an article in The Times today saying that military charities are exaggerating the problem of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in returned veterans in order to continue raising money from the public.

In The Times' piece, Parker said that the way PTSD is being used by military charities to raise funds has gotten “out of hand” and could be disguising the fact that many veterans are suffering from other issues, such as alcoholism and anxiety. The chief executive of the charity, which runs expeditions with Prince Harry and supported over 600 veterans last year, said that military organisations know that the “PTSD label has become one that is very engaging… You are always going to slightly sensationalise how you fundraise.
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Senator Marco Rubio Too Busy With Fundraisers To Take Care of Disabled Sergeant?

ELECTION: Murphy accuses Rubio of neglecting to help wounded warrior
News 13 Orlando
By Greg Pallone, Reporter
August 31, 2016

Riley said he thought that because Rubio was running for president and ran TV ads backing the military, his son's situation would get noticed. But instead, Rubio held at least 18 fundraisers when Sgt. Riney was being brought back to Florida in need of financial help, Murphy's campaign said.

Army veteran Tim Riney Jr. was injured in a Stryker vehicle accident in Colorado in February 2015. (Courtesy of Tim Riney)

Just hours after winning their party nominations for U.S. Senate, Rep. Patrick Murphy and Sen. Marco Rubio are both on the attack.

Murphy introduced father of wounded warrior in Rubio attack
Murphy, vet's dad accused Rubio of not helping son
Son was severely injured and paralyzed in 2015 Stryker vehicle accident

Murphy on Wednesday accused Rubio of putting his presidential bid in front of helping a wounded soldier, and introduced a wounded warrior as the face of his campaign.

Tim Riney of Safety Harbor, near Clearwater, is the father of Army veteran Timothy Riney, who was paralyzed after a military training exercise in February 2015. Riney was hurt and a fellow soldier killed after their 18-ton Stryker vehicle plunged over an embankment at Fort Carson, Colo.

“They are saying it's the worst accident with a Stryker in the history of the country, and you don't have time to help us?” the elder Riney said of Rubio.

Riney said his son needed help with medical costs, and it took five months for Rubio's office to get back to him. Meanwhile, his son was transferred to a Tampa VA hospital, and they struggled to get financial assistance for home wheelchair accessibility.

“Marco Rubio is so set on putting himself first that even when a Florida veteran is lying paralyzed in a hospital bed, he can't find the time to help out," Murphy said Wednesday.
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Suicide Prevention Month Is Back Again

I have a very cynical attitude to all this raising "awareness" because making anyone aware of a problem has managed to produce more suicides. In other words, when it comes to reducing suicides, no one thought about making the veterans aware of why they should live instead of taking their own lives.

A good example of raising awareness is the mega charity Wounded Warrior Project.  Yep, those guys.  Their stated mission was to "raise awareness" but they forgot to mention that they were interested in making folks aware they wanted them to be aware of WWP.  Not much else. It worked.

What followed their success was a growing emergence of groups raising awareness of suffering and collecting money to do it. Would have been terrific had they actually provided awareness of what works, which they had nothing to do with considering it all started decades ago.  Would have been great if anyone was aware of that.

For years they have been putting on commercials, asking for money, holding some type of fundraising event and then taking a large portion of that money and donating it to colleges along with other charities.  If anyone is angry about that, suggest you think about the commercials because they never once said what they were going to do with your money. 

One more suggestion is that you also check their website from time to time considering it is all on it topped off with press releases that no one manages to read.

They are reorganizing and they are cutting staff according to a report from News4Jax.

Sources said Jeremy Chwat, the chief strategy officer, was let go this week. His biography says he was a founding member of the charity; the non-profit claims there were 27 original founders, although John Melia says he and his family founded the organization in 2004.
According to the organization's most recent tax filings, Chwat's compensation was higher than $300,000 annually in salary and benefits. His departure means four out of five chief officers are now gone in the wake of the charity's spending scandal.

But while the report says it is the largest, it isn't. It isn't new either. None of this is new but apparently there has been a resurrection of the snake oil salesman. All they have to do is talk about the problem without ever offering anything that would change the outcome.

So as the number of veterans committing suicide remains higher than the civilian population, one more thing that everyone should be made aware of is that civilians are not prepared to die for the sake of someone else as a career. (Ok, I lied.  Actually two things to be aware of.) They were also trained in "prevention" that only managed to feed the stigma while civilians were told it was to save their lives.  So how is it that their numbers are higher than the civilian rate of suicides?

Too few were made aware of SNAKE OIL salesmen not saying a damn thing that made a difference for veterans.

Suicide Prevention Month: #BeThere

Suicide Prevention Month: #BeThere
VA Highlights Initiatives to Prevent Veteran and Servicemember Suicide

WASHINGTON – Today marks the start of Suicide Prevention Month and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is asking for the entire nation’s help in reducing Veteran suicide. VA is calling on community leaders, supervisors, colleagues, friends, and family members to BeThere for Veterans and Service members starting with a simple act, which can play a pivotal role in preventing suicide.

“You don’t have to be a trained professional to support someone who may be going through a difficult time,” said Dr. Caitlin Thompson, Director of the VA Office of Suicide Prevention. “We want to let people know that things they do every day, like calling an old friend or checking in with a neighbor, are strong preventive factors for suicide because they help people feel less alone. That’s what this campaign is about - encouraging people to be there for each other.”

The campaign also highlights VA resources that are available to support Veterans and Servicemembers who are coping with mental health challenges or are at risk for suicide, and it encourages everyone to share these resources with someone in their life.

“We hope our Suicide Prevention Month efforts help educate people about the VA and community resources available nationwide,” said VA Under Secretary for Health David J. Shulkin, M.D. “We’re committed to working with experts and organizations across the country to identify ways we can help Veterans and Servicemembers get the care they deserve and to expand the network of mental health support.”

Veteran suicide data released by the VA Office of Suicide Prevention in early August 2016 serves as a foundation for informing and evaluating suicide prevention efforts inside the VA health care system and for developing lifesaving collaborations with community-based health care partners.

VA plans to host a series of roundtable discussions with key stakeholder groups in the coming months as part of its plan to develop a public health strategy for preventing Veteran suicide. In August, VA hosted its first roundtable discussion, “Suicide Prevention is Everyone’s Business,” with corporate sector partners. In September, VA will host the Veterans Affairs Suicide Prevention Innovations event, which will bring together a community of experts from business, industry, academia, and government agencies to collaboratively identify solutions for reducing suicide rates among Veterans and Servicemembers. In addition, new programs such as REACH VET are being launched nationwide in September to identify Veterans in VHA care who may be vulnerable, in order to provide the care they need before a crisis occurs.

For more information about VA’s suicide prevention efforts:

Suicide Prevention Month website: VeteransCrisisLine.net/BeThere
Suicide Prevention Month toolkit: VeteransCrisisLine.net/SpreadTheWord
Suicide Prevention Fact Sheet
VA’s Veterans Crisis Line: Call 1-800-273-8255 and Press 1; chat online at VeteransCrisisLine.net/Chat or text to 838255 — even if a Veteran is not registered with VA or enrolled in VA health care.
Make the Connection website: http://maketheconnection.net
VA Mental Health website: http://www.mentalhealth.va.gov

Humans of New York Reminder Troops Are Still Only Human

Humans of New York decided to profile veterans. The response has been overwhelming.
Washington Post
By Dan Lamothe
August 31, 2016 

At the outset of the project, Stanton said on Facebook he expected that the project would show conflicting feelings: “patriotism, disillusionment, pride, regret, gratitude, and grief.” 

Zachary Iscol appears in the picture in a light-blue shirt and tousled hair, a 5 o’clock shadow on his face. In accompanying text, he mourns the loss of his friend “Ronnie Winchester,” a first lieutenant with the Marine Corps who died in Iraq in 2004, just a few years after graduating from the Naval Academy.

“He was the nicest guy you can imagine,” Iscol said. “My 22nd birthday was during our officer training course. None of us had slept. We were all starving. We were only getting one ration per day. But Ronnie wanted to give me a memorable birthday. So he put a candle in his brownie and gave it to me. That’s how nice of a guy he was. Ronnie ended up getting killed in Iraq. And if a guy like Ronnie got killed, you can’t help but wonder why you deserve to be alive.”

It’s one of many sentiments that have been shared recently by veterans on Humans of New York, the popular social-media group that was created to document the lives of New Yorkers and now has nearly 18 million followers on Facebook and 5.8 million more on Instagram. The series has seen numerous veterans and military family members share their observations of the world with photographer Brandon Stanton.

At the outset of the project, Stanton said on Facebook he expected that the project would show conflicting feelings: “patriotism, disillusionment, pride, regret, gratitude, and grief.” Many of the veterans involved have post-traumatic stress, Stanton said, but the hardships they shared in interviews with Humans of New York are too nuanced for that diagnosis to capture everything involved.
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Police Officer Gave Homeless Veteran Clothes, Food and Shelter

Franklin Sergeant helps homeless veteran who was exploited by thief
FOX 17 Nashville
BY KAYLIN SEARLES
TUESDAY, AUGUST 30TH

Richards not only made these accommodations for the homeless veteran, he brought him to the motel, went to Walmart and bought t-shirts, underwear, socks, shorts and non-perishable food and water. Richards also bought the veteran a new bag to carry it all in.

Franklin Officer Of The Month.PNG Chief Deborah Faulkner

Kris Krabill (Toyota, Cool Springs), Sgt. Charlie Richards

Leo Linkov (Franklin Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram) 

Photo: Franklin Police

FRANKLIN, Tenn. (WZTV) — Franklin Police Sergeant Charlie Richards was named officer of the month for going above and beyond his duties to help a homeless veteran "who was exploited by a thief and left with nothing but the clothes on his back."
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Marines Honor Fallen Hero Cpl. Michael Ouellette

Marines honor fallen corporal who kept fighting after IED blast
Marine Corps Times
By: Charlsy Panzino
August 30, 2016

A new headquarters building at the Marine Corps' Advanced Infantry Training Battalion will honor a fallen noncommissioned officer who earned the Navy Cross during the battle that took his life.

Marine officials will dedicate the new facility named for Cpl. Michael Ouellette at Camp Geiger, North Carolina, on Wednesday. The infantry squad leader was posthumously awarded the service's second-highest valor award for actions during a 2009 deployment to Afghanistan with 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines.

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LONDONBERRY, N.H. (Nov. 10, 2010) Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) the Honorable Ray Mabus presents the Navy Cross to the family of Cpl. Michael Ouellette during a ceremony at the Marine Reserve Support Center in Londonderry, N.H. Ouellette, assigned to 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines, died March 22, 2009 during a firefight in the Now Zad district of Helmand Province, Afghanistan. The Navy Cross is the highest medal for valor awarded by the Navy and is second only to the Medal of Honor. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Kevin S. O'Brien/Released)