Squirrels steal Texas veteran's flags to build patriotic nest
UPI
By Ben Hooper
June 4, 2017
June 4 (UPI) -- A Texas veteran's heartbreak at having several U.S. flags stolen from his front yard turned to laughter when he discovered the culprit -- squirrels.
Jennifer Northam said her father, an Air Force veteran, was upset to discover several small U.S. flags had been stolen from the memorial in his San Antonio front yard.
"It wasn't like they had just fallen off," Northam told KABB-TV. "Both of us were kind of heartbroken. We were just confused because we're new to the neighborhood. We didn't know if somebody did it or what happened."
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Monday, June 5, 2017
Sunday, June 4, 2017
Disabled Veterans Still Able to Zoom
Leon's Triathlon honored to serve disabled military veterans
North West Times
Jim Peters
June 4, 2017
Just back from a deployment in April 2008, Navy hospital corpsman Gabriel George went out for a motorcycle ride one night off base in Jacksonville, Florida.
Gabriel George of Jacksonville Florida trains for Sunday's Leon's Triathlon during a camp Friday at Munster High School (John J Watkins/The Times)
The driver of a car making a U-turn pulled in front of George, causing an accident that resulted in horrific injuries.
George suffered two fractured vertebrae, bruised and collapsed lungs, a broken collarbone and scapula, six broken ribs, a traumatic brain injury and paralysis on his right side. He was on a ventilator and in a coma for three weeks.
The fact that he'll be competing in Leon's Triathlon today at Wolf Lake Park is a testament to the strength of the human spirit, a motivating force for race founder and director Leon Wolek.
"A lot of disabled veterans use triathlons as a means to cope with their challenges," Wolek said. "What they've done is an inspiration. There are absolutely no words."
Master Sgt. Joseph Schicker is a forgotten man
Wounded soldier who came back a hero from Afghanistan was then demoted
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
By TONY MESSENGER
Published: June 3, 2017
A member of the Missouri National Guard, he had been injured while deployed in Afghanistan. When he returned to Missouri, none other than Gov. Jay Nixon pinned the Purple Heart on Schicker’s battle fatigues. Then Schicker stood in the House gallery in his dress blues as Nixon gave his annual State of the State address and received a standing ovation from state lawmakers.
“Just hours after his team arrived at their base, Taliban insurgents attacked,” Nixon said of Schicker. “In successfully repelling the attack, several Missouri Guardsmen, including Sgt. Schicker, were wounded. … Sgt. Schicker, you represent every man and every woman who has ever fought to defend our great nation, in every era and on every field of battle.”
Four years later, Master Sgt. Joseph Schicker is a forgotten man.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
By TONY MESSENGER
Published: June 3, 2017
In 2015, he found out the Missouri Guard had lied to him. At least two other soldiers — both higher ranks than Schicker — were granted exceptions to the rule the Guard cited in forcing him to take a demotion.In January 2013, Sgt. Joe Schicker was Missouri’s hero.
A member of the Missouri National Guard, he had been injured while deployed in Afghanistan. When he returned to Missouri, none other than Gov. Jay Nixon pinned the Purple Heart on Schicker’s battle fatigues. Then Schicker stood in the House gallery in his dress blues as Nixon gave his annual State of the State address and received a standing ovation from state lawmakers.
“Just hours after his team arrived at their base, Taliban insurgents attacked,” Nixon said of Schicker. “In successfully repelling the attack, several Missouri Guardsmen, including Sgt. Schicker, were wounded. … Sgt. Schicker, you represent every man and every woman who has ever fought to defend our great nation, in every era and on every field of battle.”
Four years later, Master Sgt. Joseph Schicker is a forgotten man.
“They paraded me around the state when I came back and said, ‘Look, he’s one of our heroes,’” Schicker said. “Now, they don’t care. I’ve been wronged and no one wants to help me.”
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Navy SEAL Team SIX Operator Adam Brown Memorial
Navy SEAL honored with underwater memorial
Sentinel-Record | Associated Press
By DAVID SHOWERS
Published: June 4, 2017
The scuba divers who wanted to celebrate the life of the Lake Hamilton alumnus after reading "Fearless: The Undaunted Courage and Ultimate Sacrifice of Navy SEAL Team SIX Operator Adam Brown" had intended to put the memorial 47 feet below the surface of Lake Ouachita.
"That's where the dam ends, and the lake bed is smooth, it becomes like the surface of the moon," said William Stevens, the founder of the Fearless Rock Underwater Memorial Fund. "In May of 2013 a tornado hit the lake and ruined visibility for the rest of the year. If you dove past 30 feet you'd need a flashlight."
That June, the Fearless Rock divers began scouting shallower depths to put the memorial until they could decide on a final location. On July 23, they tied it on a crate and took it to the lake bed.
read more here
Sentinel-Record | Associated Press
By DAVID SHOWERS
Published: June 4, 2017
MOUNTAIN PINE, Ark. — Adam Brown was said to have lived life with an uncommon resolve, so it's not surprising how the underwater memorial honoring the fallen Navy SEAL found its place at the toe of Blakely Mountain Dam.Fearless Rock - the Adam Brown Underwater MemorialFEARLESSROCKMEMORIAL/FACEBOOK
The scuba divers who wanted to celebrate the life of the Lake Hamilton alumnus after reading "Fearless: The Undaunted Courage and Ultimate Sacrifice of Navy SEAL Team SIX Operator Adam Brown" had intended to put the memorial 47 feet below the surface of Lake Ouachita.
"That's where the dam ends, and the lake bed is smooth, it becomes like the surface of the moon," said William Stevens, the founder of the Fearless Rock Underwater Memorial Fund. "In May of 2013 a tornado hit the lake and ruined visibility for the rest of the year. If you dove past 30 feet you'd need a flashlight."
That June, the Fearless Rock divers began scouting shallower depths to put the memorial until they could decide on a final location. On July 23, they tied it on a crate and took it to the lake bed.
read more here
How Does A Slogan Prove Worth?
Allison Jaslow wrote "The VA needs to fix its woman problem starting with this motto"
Female Vietnam Veterans
"In comparison, the age-adjusted rate of suicide among female veterans has increased 85.2 percent. And among veteran women ages 18 to 29, the risk of suicide is 12 times the rate of nonveteran women."
Yes, she is right but taking care of all of our veterans has to be more than a slogan. It has to be a mission that is being accomplished for all generations!
Is she right?The Department of Veterans Affairs has a woman problem. Need evidence? Look no further than its motto: “To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan.”That motto – engraved on plaques outside VA buildings across the country, featured proudly in VA presentations and on the agency’s website – comes from President Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address. It was an eloquent and well-meaning statement in its time. But the face of U.S. troops, and veterans, has drastically changed since then.Today women are nearly 20 percent of recruits, 15 percent of the active duty and 18 percent of the reserve component. We have been on the battlefields of every U.S. war and conflict over the past decade, with more than 345,000 women deployed since Sept. 11, 2001. And we will be the fastest growing segment of the veteran population over the next five years, with our numbers expected to top 2 million by 2020.
Female Vietnam Veterans
Though relatively little official data exists about female Vietnam War veterans, the Vietnam Women’s Memorial Foundation estimates that approximately 11,000 military women were stationed in Vietnam during the conflict. Nearly all of them were volunteers, and 90 percent served as military nurses, though women also worked as physicians, air traffic controllers, intelligence officers, clerks and other positions in the U.S. Women’s Army Corps, U.S. Navy, Air Force and Marines and the Army Medical Specialist Corps. In addition to women in the armed forces, an unknown number of civilian women served in Vietnam on behalf of the Red Cross, United Service Organizations (USO), Catholic Relief Services and other humanitarian organizations, or as foreign correspondents for various news organizations.
Women Veterans PopulationWomen Veterans Need More Support, So When Do We Do It?
The total Veteran population in the United States, Puerto Rico, and Territories/Foreign, as of Sept. 30, 2016, was 21,368,156. The population of women Veterans numbered 2,051,484. States with the largest number of women Veterans were Texas, California, Florida, Virginia and Georgia. State-by-state totals are as follows:
Alabama 44,190
Alaska 10,283
Arizona 54,953
Arkansas 21,361
California 163,332
Colorado 46,793
Connecticut 16,626
Delaware 8,797
District Of Columbia 3,843
Florida 154,820
Georgia 93,251
Hawaii 12,820
Idaho 10,153
Illinois 55,458
Indiana 36,245
Iowa 15,512
Kansas 18,528
Kentucky 25,351
Louisiana 32,411
Maine 10,081
Maryland 58,413
Massachusetts 25,711
Michigan 45,499
Minnesota 25,891
Mississippi 20,777
Missouri 39,157
Montana 8,613
Nebraska 11,853
Nevada 21,592 Nevada Female Veteran Suicides
New Hampshire 8,706
New Jersey 33,197
New Mexico 17,173
New York 65,756
North Carolina 86,791
North Dakota 4,991
Ohio 67,554
Oklahoma 30,948
Oregon 28,207
Pennsylvania 71,319
Puerto Rico 5,322
Rhode Island 5,213
South Carolina 47,442
South Dakota 6,609
Tennessee 46,358
Texas 183,597
Utah 11,885
Vermont 3,338
Virginia 111,034
Washington 65,405
West Virginia 10,586
Wisconsin 33,916
Wyoming 3,815
Territories/Foreign 10,010
Total Women Veterans 2,051,484
"In comparison, the age-adjusted rate of suicide among female veterans has increased 85.2 percent. And among veteran women ages 18 to 29, the risk of suicide is 12 times the rate of nonveteran women."
Yes, she is right but taking care of all of our veterans has to be more than a slogan. It has to be a mission that is being accomplished for all generations!
You Survived "It" Now Defeat It
Kick PTSD in the Ass Again!
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
June 4, 2017
"A picture is worth a thousand words" Fred R. Barnard attributed this saying to,
When I was young, I loved horror movies. I bought books by Stephen King. As a matter of fact, I was reading Misery when I was in labor, or at least, trying to read it. I knew it was the work of a fabulously strange mind. It wasn't real but I could imagine the house, characters and the pain inflicted on Paul Sheldon.
When the movie came out, it was different than I imagined it to be. It was not the case with Nightmare on Elm Street. That movie came out a few years before Misery. I did not read the book and was not prepared to have it follow me home. My friend and I left the theater, stood outside my car and checked the back seat. The images were part of my brain even though it was all "make-believe" because everyone is supposed to feel safe in their own beds.
We are all supposed to feel relatively safe doing what is "normal" and going about our days. Sure we think about the usual stuff, like having something stolen or getting into an accident, but not enough to stop us from doing what we want to do. That is, unless you have already experienced the bad stuff. Then it is a lot deeper than just a thought. It becomes a concern. After time, the memory is still there but has lost its power.
There is a story on the Guardian about the images captured by cell phones on the Manchester bombing when one person decided to do an evil thing, yet a greater number decided to do good for the sake of strangers. Not only did they help wounded survivors get to safety, they have been gathering in huge numbers to raise funds. Those images can cause PTSD in people who were not even there. Pictures, much like images from a movie, make it real!
That word, survived, is not used often enough. You survived it! That means you were stronger than that thing that happened. You are still stronger! If you are not starting to experience the power eroding from it within 30 days, get professional help to take back your future.
I was lucky when my family made sure stuff was talked about "to death" and I was done talking about it in the safety of "now" even though they gave really lousy advice. I knew I was loved and they cared enough to spend time and listen to what I needed to say.
Understand that events like that are a part of you but that does not give "it" permission to take over the rest of your life. Kick PTSD in the ass and take control of your life back!
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
June 4, 2017
"A picture is worth a thousand words" Fred R. Barnard attributed this saying to,
The actual Chinese expression "Hearing something a hundred times isn't better than seeing it once"Reading about something horrific causes us to use our imaginations. Great thing about that is we can shut it off at will. We stop reading and refocus our minds onto something else. After all, it is just a bunch of words. Seeing something horrific is like our brain clicking the shutter and having it implanted into our memory.
When I was young, I loved horror movies. I bought books by Stephen King. As a matter of fact, I was reading Misery when I was in labor, or at least, trying to read it. I knew it was the work of a fabulously strange mind. It wasn't real but I could imagine the house, characters and the pain inflicted on Paul Sheldon.
When the movie came out, it was different than I imagined it to be. It was not the case with Nightmare on Elm Street. That movie came out a few years before Misery. I did not read the book and was not prepared to have it follow me home. My friend and I left the theater, stood outside my car and checked the back seat. The images were part of my brain even though it was all "make-believe" because everyone is supposed to feel safe in their own beds.
We are all supposed to feel relatively safe doing what is "normal" and going about our days. Sure we think about the usual stuff, like having something stolen or getting into an accident, but not enough to stop us from doing what we want to do. That is, unless you have already experienced the bad stuff. Then it is a lot deeper than just a thought. It becomes a concern. After time, the memory is still there but has lost its power.
There is a story on the Guardian about the images captured by cell phones on the Manchester bombing when one person decided to do an evil thing, yet a greater number decided to do good for the sake of strangers. Not only did they help wounded survivors get to safety, they have been gathering in huge numbers to raise funds. Those images can cause PTSD in people who were not even there. Pictures, much like images from a movie, make it real!
How the brain stores traumatic images and triggers flashbacksImages from the Manchester bombing are likely to cause post-traumatic stress disorder, says Daniel GlaserThat is what a flashback is like. When you see something, it comes back in images trapped within your memory. Yet, if you were there, the images you saw come back with the sounds and smells, as well as your own body reacting to that event you survived.
"The unmediated phone footage that has been shared is unlikely to lead to PTSD itself, but seems to risk the creation of disturbing memory traces. Something about its horrifying nature has an impact on how they are stored. Pleasant memories don’t seem to recur to the same extent, but deeply traumatic ones can; the emotional shock when a memory is laid down is often re-evoked when it is recalled."
That word, survived, is not used often enough. You survived it! That means you were stronger than that thing that happened. You are still stronger! If you are not starting to experience the power eroding from it within 30 days, get professional help to take back your future.
I was lucky when my family made sure stuff was talked about "to death" and I was done talking about it in the safety of "now" even though they gave really lousy advice. I knew I was loved and they cared enough to spend time and listen to what I needed to say.
Understand that events like that are a part of you but that does not give "it" permission to take over the rest of your life. Kick PTSD in the ass and take control of your life back!
Saturday, June 3, 2017
Cutting VA Comp for Seniors is Dishonoring Their Service and Sacrifice
SECRETARY SHULKIN: I have such great admiration and respect for VSOs, and I understand their passion and I share their commitment that it is so important that this country honor its responsibility to our veterans. That doesn't mean that you don't go back and revisit programs that have been around for a long time and figure out different ways to use those resources, as long as they're directed to helping veterans and more veterans. Now, I understand there's not always going to be agreement. This is Washington, and we're always going to get passion over important topics. And I welcome comments from our veteran service organizations about how to do things better. And I know that since we share the same goal of helping veterans, that we'll get to the right answer.Wrong! This is not about passion. This is about keeping a promise this country made our veterans the day they put their lives on the line for this country. We just had Memorial Day when every politician was giving speeches about honoring those who paid the price for our freedom. No one mentioned the fact that they were about to stop paying that debt.
That honor died the day that the President of this nation decided that he no longer needed to pay full compensation to our disabled veterans.
If this does not bring dishonor and shame to the White House in your own mind, then consider this. They are disabled because they served. They had to fight for their claims to be honored and spent years in limbo with the assurance that once they proved their disability, they would receive medical care and compensation to live the rest of their lives without concern this country would default or decide the elderly were no longer worthy of that promise.
Disney CEO Bob Iger Receives Navy SEAL Foundation Honor
Disney CEO Bob Iger Receives Navy SEAL Foundation Honor, Recognizes Soldiers
Variety
Malina Saval
Associated Editor
June 2, 2017
The Los Angeles Evening of Tribute benefiting the Navy SEAL Foundation raised $4 million for the organization’s Naval Special Warfare community, which provides financial, emotional, and therapeutic support for wounded soldiers and families of fallen post-9/11 veterans.
Bob Iger, Walt Disney chair and CEO, was feted with the Navy SEAL Foundation’s patriot award at the Thursday night soiree, held at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. “Pirates of the Caribbean” producer Jerry Bruckheimer, a former recipient of the award, was there to present Iger with the honor, as well as master of ceremonies Jimmy Kimmel.
Additional guests included producer Brian Grazer, Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos, actress Zoe Saldana, New England Patriots CEO Robert Kraft — who donated $100,000 at the event — U.S. Senator Kamala Harris, and keynote speaker Leon E. Panetta, former CIA director and U.S. secretary of defense. David Foster was also on hand to provide musical entertainment.
“We must never fail to recognize the sacrifices made by soldiers on our behalf,” said Iger, whose Work Here campaign has placed nearly 26,000 returning veterans in company-wide jobs. “My father served in the Navy in World War II. Back then war was an appreciated sacrifice. In Vietnam, the soldiers came back to a deeply divided nation. Every generation of veterans deserves a lifetime of gratitude.”
read more here
Variety
Malina Saval
Associated Editor
June 2, 2017
Bob Iger, Walt Disney chair and CEO, was feted with the Navy SEAL Foundation’s patriot award at the Thursday night soiree, held at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. “Pirates of the Caribbean” producer Jerry Bruckheimer, a former recipient of the award, was there to present Iger with the honor, as well as master of ceremonies Jimmy Kimmel.
Additional guests included producer Brian Grazer, Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos, actress Zoe Saldana, New England Patriots CEO Robert Kraft — who donated $100,000 at the event — U.S. Senator Kamala Harris, and keynote speaker Leon E. Panetta, former CIA director and U.S. secretary of defense. David Foster was also on hand to provide musical entertainment.
“We must never fail to recognize the sacrifices made by soldiers on our behalf,” said Iger, whose Work Here campaign has placed nearly 26,000 returning veterans in company-wide jobs. “My father served in the Navy in World War II. Back then war was an appreciated sacrifice. In Vietnam, the soldiers came back to a deeply divided nation. Every generation of veterans deserves a lifetime of gratitude.”
read more here
Texas Veterans Want Answers on Veterans Being Deported
Texas man pleads the gov. to return deported brother, a Vietnam veteran
KENS
Oscar Margain
June 03, 2017
DONNA, Texas – It’s a debate over service and citizenship as several members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus plan to visit deported veterans in Tijuana, Mexico on Saturday.
More military families on the Texas border want to tell their stories like that of one former U.S. soldier who’s spent the last 15 years banned from entering the country he once served.
“The focus of today’s meeting is to talk about our deported veterans,” U.S. Congressman Filemon Vela told a group of veterans gathered at an American Legion post in Donna, Texas.
A dozen or so war veterans attended the town hall to ask their congressman about the veteran benefits and citizenship.
“Veterans who serve our country honorably are being deported," exclaimed Legion Commander Felix Rodriguez. "That’s unacceptable!”
It was an emotional subject for the patriots in the room.
“Why is it that we don’t have a law that states that any veteran that serves and goes to war automatically becomes a citizen,” asked one Vietnam war veteran.
One man in this gathering isn’t a soldier, but came to fight for his half brother.
read more here
KENS
Oscar Margain
June 03, 2017
DONNA, Texas – It’s a debate over service and citizenship as several members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus plan to visit deported veterans in Tijuana, Mexico on Saturday.
“The focus of today’s meeting is to talk about our deported veterans,” U.S. Congressman Filemon Vela told a group of veterans gathered at an American Legion post in Donna, Texas.
A dozen or so war veterans attended the town hall to ask their congressman about the veteran benefits and citizenship.
“Veterans who serve our country honorably are being deported," exclaimed Legion Commander Felix Rodriguez. "That’s unacceptable!”
It was an emotional subject for the patriots in the room.
“Why is it that we don’t have a law that states that any veteran that serves and goes to war automatically becomes a citizen,” asked one Vietnam war veteran.
One man in this gathering isn’t a soldier, but came to fight for his half brother.
read more here
Veteran Going to Jail After Lying Way to Awards
Former soldier who lied his way to Purple Heart sentenced to three years in prison, ordered to repay $650,000 in stolen benefits
Associated Press
June 2, 2017
SEATTLE - A federal judge on Thursday sentenced a former soldier who lied his way to a Purple Heart to three years in prison and ordered him to repay nearly $650,000 in stolen government benefits.
The Army has since revoked the awards, though Wright still has the medals.
He pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud last year. Prosecutors were seeking a prison term of five years, and they wanted the judge to order Wright to return the medals and a Purple Heart license plate.
read more here
Associated Press
June 2, 2017
SEATTLE - A federal judge on Thursday sentenced a former soldier who lied his way to a Purple Heart to three years in prison and ordered him to repay nearly $650,000 in stolen government benefits.
Former National Guard soldier Darryl Lee Wright leaves a courtroom at the U.S. District Court in Tacoma, Wash., last year. (GENE JOHNSON/AP)Darryl Wright, 48, a former Idaho National Guardsman, feigned injuries from an explosion in Iraq in 2005 and doctored statements from fellow soldiers to obtain two awards, a Combat Action Badge and a Purple Heart, which is reserved for those wounded in action.
The Army has since revoked the awards, though Wright still has the medals.
He pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud last year. Prosecutors were seeking a prison term of five years, and they wanted the judge to order Wright to return the medals and a Purple Heart license plate.
read more here
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