Motorcycle crash claimed life of soldier who survived Afghanistan and Iraq

Motorcyclist killed in Saturday crash was JBER soldier
KTVA News
By Chris Klint
October 8th 2018

The man killed last weekend in a Gambell Street motorcycle crash was an Army soldier, military officials confirmed Monday.

JBER soldier Staff Sgt. James Alcorn, 35, died in an Oct. 6, 2018 motorcycle crash on Gambell Street in Anchorage, according to Anchorage police. (Credit: From U.S. Army Alaska)

Staff Sgt. James Alcorn, 35, was a field artilleryman assigned to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson's 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division according to U.S. Army Alaska spokesman John Pennell.

Alcorn, who joined the Army in 2006, served at Fort Benning, Fort Knox and Fort Bragg in the southern U.S. before being assigned to JBER in July 2016. He had served two combat tours in Afghanistan, as well as one in Iraq.
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Veteran asked family to forgive him, before he pulled the trigger

Please find a way to forgive me!

The Greenville News
Kirk Brown,  Published 
Oct. 10, 2018

JARED JOHNS, A 24-YEAR-OLD ARMY VETERAN WHO SERVED IN AFGHANISTAN, KILLED HIMSELF ON SEPT. 11, THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE DAY THAT CALLED HIM TO SERVE. 

Then Jared placed a 9mm handgun under his chin and pulled the trigger.

His suicide on Sept. 11 came 17 years after the terrorist attacks in New York City, Washington and Pennsylvania that convinced a young boy to grow up to be a soldier.

In the last hour of his life, Jared Johns left a note on the dry-erase board in the Greenville apartment he shared with his twin brother. “I’m sorry. I messed up," he wrote. "This isn’t what I wanted." After retreating to his room and locking the door, the 24-year-old Army veteran who served in Afghanistan recorded a video on his cellphone. 

"I can't do it anymore," he said tearfully as he sat on his bed. The video included a message for his 2½-year-old son, Liam, and 18-month-old son, Jaxson. "I hate that I'm not going to get to see you grow up, but it's better this way, I promise," Jared said. He apologized to his parents. "Just please find a way to forgive me," he said.
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The Defenders Lodge keeping veterans from sleeping in cars

Veterans are sleeping in their cars at VA medical centers

Fox News
By Caleb Parke
October 10, 2018

“We didn’t have anything,” Freeman told Fox News. “We tried several things – beds in the hospital, hotel vouchers – but the biggest thing the Defenders Lodge provided was capacity and consistency.” The Defenders Lodge was the result of a public-private partnership between the VA and the PenFed Foundation, which raised $11 million in donations to fund the construction of the lodge. The 52 room facility can house up to 104 veterans and has a dining room, library, and private outdoor spaces. Freeman said it is full every night of the year.

James Schenck, President and CEO of PenFed Credit Union; Honorable Frederick F.Y. Pang, Chairman of the PenFed Foundation, Billy Bryels, Veteran; Lisa Freeman, former Director/CEO, VA Palo Alto Health Care System; Assembly Member Marc Berman (24th District); State Senator Jerry Hill (13th District); William Ball, Chief, Voluntary and Hospital Services, VA Palo Alto Health Care System at the Lee & Penny Anderson Defenders Lodge.

U.S. veterans are forgoing treatment at Veterans’ Affairs clinics due to the high cost of lodging in some areas, but one group has a solution.

Billy Bryels, a retired Vietnam Veteran and double Purple Heart awardee, told Fox News he slept in his car several times because of the high hotel costs, much like several of his fellow veterans.

But today he is one of many who goes to the “Lee & Penny Anderson Defenders Lodge” located in Palo Alto, California, where veterans and their caregiver can stay in the state-of-the-art $17 million facility free of charge. He called it a God-send for veterans getting treatment.

“What are other veterans doing if they don’t have a Defender’s Lodge available to them?” Bryels asked. “I hope this kind of facility continues across the country.”

It was an idea former VA Palo Alto Health Care System Director and CEO Lisa Freeman thought of after hearing stories like Bryels’ of the veteran’s plight. Today, a hotel room runs at about $300-400/night in the area.
read more here

VA Contractor failed disabled veteran--he cannot sue

Veterans Affairs misdiagnoses and delays nearly kill SoCal veteran
ABC 7 News
Robin McMillan and Lisa Bartley
October 9, 2018

NO LEGAL RECOURSE - CALIFORNIA STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS EXPIRES DURING VA DELAYS To make matters even worse - during the eight months it took the VA to tell Brian that his primary care physician was a not a VA employee, the California one-year statute of limitations on medical malpractice had expired - meaning he could not sue in civil court either.

TEMECULA, Calif. -- Brian Tally is a military veteran, a husband, a father of four - and until a few years ago - a successful small business owner. Now, he spends much of his day in a beat-up recliner chair, the only relief he says from unrelenting pain.

"There's not a day that goes by that I'm not in pain," Tally said. "This is the only thing that takes the pressure off my spine."

Brian served four years in United States Marine Corps, but now he's in what he calls the fight of his life.

Brian's downward spiral began in January 2016. Severe back pain, night sweats - he made urgent phone calls to his primary care doctor through the Department of Veterans Affairs. She prescribed painkillers over the phone.

The pain only got worse. He went to the VA's emergency room in Loma Linda twice. Both times - he did not get to see a doctor. And twice - no one ordered a simple blood test.

"I was on the floor, I was in traumatic pain...I was literally in tears," Brian recalled. "They gave me an X-ray and the VA ER in Loma Linda diagnosed me with having a low back sprain and told me to go stretch."

He was seen by a nurse practitioner both times, but again - no doctor.

Brian followed up, as instructed, with his primary care physician at the VA clinic in Murrieta.
read more here

Veterans in other news October 10, 2018

Marine veteran among those killed in New York limo crash

STARS AND STRIPES 
By NIKKI WENTLING 
 Published: October 9, 2018 

WASHINGTON — U.S. Marine Corps veteran Michael Ukaj was a helper.

Marine veteran Michael Ukaj was killed in a limo accident in Schoharie, NY, on Saturday, October 6, 2018, along with nineteen other people. FACEBOOK

He was the person his childhood friend, Bradley Armstrong, could count on to be there for him, even when he didn’t ask for it, and even if they were in different cities or states. When Ukaj’s brother, Jeremy Ashton, needed advice, he was the one to give it. He counseled Ashton about everything from breakups to whether he should argue with his landlord over a utility bill (he didn’t, on Ukaj’s guidance) and if he should join the Air Force or Marine Corps (he went with Marine Corps, also Ukaj’s suggestion). “He was a straight-shooter, an honest man who was always there when you needed him,” Ashton said. “Any time I needed clear advice, I would go to him. He would always cut through the bull---t and help me objectively look at something.” read more here

MIA no longer: Military sees surge in identifications of servicemember remains

Associated Press 
By SCOTT MCFETRIDGE
Published: October 10, 2018

Officials believe remains of nearly half of the 83,000 unidentified service members killed in World War II and more recent wars could be identified and returned to relatives.

In this Sept. 18, 2018 photo, Dr. Carrie Brown, forensic anthropologist and director of the USS Oklahoma Project at the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) Identification laboratory, points to images on posters showing the names and photos of the victims of the USS Oklahoma, sunk by the Japanese in Pearl Harbor. NATI HARNIK/AP

BELLEVUE, Neb. — Nearly 77 years after repeated torpedo strikes tore into the USS Oklahoma, killing hundreds of sailors and Marines, Carrie Brown leaned over the remains of a serviceman laid out on a table in her lab and was surprised the bones still smelled of burning oil from that horrific day at Pearl Harbor. It was a visceral reminder of the catastrophic attack that pulled the United States into World War II, and it added an intimacy to the painstaking work Brown and hundreds of others are now doing to greatly increase the number of lost American servicemen who have been identified. It's a monumental mission that combines science, history and intuition, and it's one Brown and her colleagues have recently been completing at ramped-up speed, with identifications expected to reach 200 annually, more than triple the figures from recent years. read more here

Report: Pentagon weapons systems vulnerable to cyber attacks

Associated Press
By LOLITA C. BALDOR
Published: October 9, 2018

WASHINGTON — Defense Department weapons programs are vulnerable to cyberattacks, and the Pentagon has been slow to protect the systems which are increasingly reliant on computer networks and software, a federal report said Tuesday.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office said the Pentagon has worked to ensure its networks are secure, but only recently began to focus more on its weapons systems security. The audit, conducted between September 2017 and October 2018, found that there are "mounting challenges in protecting its weapons systems from increasingly sophisticated cyber threats." Pentagon officials have acknowledged for years that the department, the military services and defense contractors are under persistent cyber probes and attacks, including from state actors seeking to steal data to gain an economic or technological advantage. read more here

New Netflix series to tell Medal of Honor stories

By STARS AND STRIPES 
Published: October 10, 2018 

The stories of eight recipients of the nation's highest military honor will be told in the docudrama series "Medal of Honor" on Netflix. Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump) and documentarian James Moll (The Last Days) are both part of the project, which will be available on the streaming service starting Nov. 9. The eight-part series will feature interviews with eyewitnesses to battle and the families of Medal of Honor recipients, as well as re-creations. "Medal of Honor is the ideal collaboration for us," Zemeckis said in a Netflix statement. "James’ documentary skills combined with our live action techniques bring to a compelling light the important recognition of these brave individuals. We can not think of a better way to give back to the military community than by telling these incredibly heroic true stories.” read more here

VIETNAM VETERANS

California veteran to be added to Vietnam memorial

The Associated Press

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October 09, 2018

BAKERSFIELD, CALIF. 

A California veteran who died from health complications related to his time in Vietnam will be added to the state's Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The Bakersfield Californian reports James E. Williams' name is one of the three that will be added to the memorial.

The names will be unveiled in an event scheduled Saturday in Sacramento. Spec. Williams grew up in Lamont and joined the Army in June 1966. He died 50 years after his tour of duty in Vietnam from complications believed to be connected to exposure to Agent Orange, a chemical compound.

read more here

Honor Flight: Valley veteran finds brother's name on Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Two siblings on the Central Valley Honor Flight got an opportunity they've waited for for years.
CBS47's Alex Backus has their touching story from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C.

SEE VIDEO HERE

Veterans laid to rest in Boulder City long after their deaths

Las Vegas Review-Journal
By Briana Erickson
October 9, 2018

It took the longest for the burial of Army veteran Lyle Prescott, who died in 1948. “He spent 70 years sitting on a shelf?” said 82-year-old Navy veteran Peggy Randle, wondering out loud how that could be. “A lot of us attend military funerals every week. Before this, these guys didn’t have anybody to claim them.”

A dozen veterans and one military spouse were laid to rest Tuesday long after their deaths, thanks to newfound “family” members who determined their unclaimed remains were entitled to be buried at the Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Boulder City. “We all remember the military recruiters saying, ‘If you sign up, we’ll take care of you the rest of your life.’ In fact, this event is providing that last step,” Fred Wagar, deputy director of the Nevada Department of Veterans Services, said at a Tuesday memorial service. “We say to them, ‘Welcome home. You are no longer missing.’” The remains of the veterans of World Wars I and II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War — all of whom made it home alive — had been in funeral homes for years after not being claimed by relatives. 
read more here

Navy Veteran's home destroyed by fire

Navy Veteran and Family Temporarily Trapped When Fire Erupts in Chula Vista Home
Gardeners working in the area were able to help them jump from the second story to escape unharmed
By Christina Bravo
Oct 8, 2018

A family of four was home when a fire sparked in their Chula Vista house Monday morning, temporarily trapping them upstairs before they could escape.

The Chula Vista Fire Department was called just after 7:20 a.m. to the home on Caliente Loop, near Southwestern College and Chula Vista Hills Elementary School.

The initial call stated the family was trapped upstairs but the family was able to get out of the house before firefighters arrived, CVPD Battalion Chief Rob Nelson said.

Alexander Godat said he, his sister, mother and father, who is a Navy veteran, were in the house when the fire sparked in their home of about 20 years.
read more here

Mar-a-Largo Business Buddies Documents Not Being Released

VA won’t turn over documents related to outside businessmen’s influence on department policy
Military Times
By: Leo Shane III
26 minutes ago

President Donald Trump, left, accompanied by then Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin, center, hands his pen to Isaac "Ike" Perlmutter, CEO of Marvel, right, after signing an executive order on accountability at the Department of Veterans Affairs on April 27, 2017. (Andrew Harnik/AP)

WASHINGTON — Veterans Affairs officials are declining to give members of Congress documents related to accusations that outside businessmen are unduly influencing department policy, citing legal ongoing disputes over the issue.

In response, the ranking member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee blasted the move as “an attempt to stonewall not only a member of Congress but the American public.”

At issue are concerns raised by a ProPublica report earlier this summer that identified three businessmen — Marvel Entertainment CEO Ike Perlmutter, primary care specialist Dr. Bruce Moskowitz, and attorney Marc Sherman — as key architects of a host of veterans policy decisions by Trump’s administration.

None of the men hold official government positions, but all three are confidants of Trump and members of his exclusive Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Documents released by the news organization show frequent contact between the men and top VA officials last year, including discussions on policy matters and personal favors.
read more here

Hurricane Michael Military News

Hurlburt to close as Hurricane Michael bears down on Florida
Air Force Times
By: Stephen Losey
October 9, 2018 UPDATE

A T-38 pilot at Tyndall Air Force Base prepares to evacuate his aircraft to avoid the path of Hurricane Michael Oct. 8, 2018. The evacuating Tyndall aircraft will reposition to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, and other locations around the country, and will return when the storm danger has passed. (Senior Airman Cody Miller/Air Force)

Tuesday update: Hurlburt Field in Florida announced Tuesday that it will close at 6 p.m. as Hurricane Michael — now strengthened to a Category 2 storm — continued to close in on the Gulf Coast.

All civilian employees and military service members at Hurlburt, except those in mission-essential positions needed to provide essential services, are excused from duty until further notice, the base said in a release.

The 1st Special Operations Wing commander, Col. Michael Conley, said in a Facebook post Tuesday that although conditions do not warrant a mandatory evacuation, personnel have the right to evacuate based on what they feel is best for them and the safety of their family.
read more here

Hurricane Michael Packs 110-MPH Winds As It Heads Toward Florida Panhandle
NPR
Bill Chappell and Emily Sullivan
October 9, 2018
Heard on Morning Edition

FEMA is already on the ground in Florida; other federal agencies are also preparing to assist people in the storm's path.

The governor activated 750 National Guardsmen for storm response on Monday, on top of the 500 activated the day before. The Florida National Guard has over 4,000 more Guard members available for deployment, Scott said.

The NHC says some coastal regions can expect 8 to 12 feet of storm surge, as the hurricane's winds drive a wall of water onto the low-lying shore.
read more here

Veterans in other news October 9, 2018

By now you should have heard that Google+ will be shutting down. Now they are saying it will happen next year, but I am not waiting.

From today onward, news reports that used to be shared with followers there, will be on this site, in condensed format.

Since the national news 24-7 stations are no longer interested in anything but political talk, at least here, veterans are the story we cover! (OK, so we cover First Responders too, but they matter to us too :~)

If you subscribe to this site, then you will get a daily email that looks like this

Under the headlines that were posted the day before, you will see what is on the post. Then you can click the link or forward it to other people you know so that they can find out what is going on in other parts of the country, and often, in other parts of the world.

Because there are a lot of people who follow this site, in consideration of them, this is the best way to cover the news without driving them nuts with too many updates.

Followers get an email that looks like this every time a post goes up.

Considering there could be up to 30 updates, that would be way too many emails for most people to get through.

When there is a story that needs to be a single post, that will still be done as well.

I thought long and hard about this but when I thought about how Google+ posts end up going directly to the news source, it ended up cutting this site out. I had no way of knowing what stories mattered, or how many times it was read. Now I will know.

So dear readers, this is how the rest of the days will go. Let me know what you think. 

Leave a comment PLEASE because most of the time I do not hear from readers and IT GETS PRETTY LONELY by myself.

*******

Yokota airman, a recent ‘Airlifter of the Week,’ found dead in off-base home

STARS AND STRIPES
By SETH ROBSON
Published: October 8, 2018

Staff Sgt. Eliction Chan, 27, of the 374th Mission Support Group at Yokota Air Base, Japan, was found dead in her off-base residence, Monday, Oct. 1, 2018.

COURTESY OF THE U.S. AIR FORCE

Staff Sgt. Eliction Chan, 27, assigned to the 374th Mission Support Group at Yokota Air Base, Japan, died Oct. 1, according to an Air Force statement issued last week.

Chan had recently been named “Airlifter of the Week” by the 374th Airlift Wing, which encompasses the support group.
read more here

Florida's largest medical cannabis producer seeing 'huge transition' from opioids to marijuana treatment 
CNBC

CEO Trulieve CEO Kim Rivers describes how Florida's largest fully licensed medical marijuana company is faring amid the cannabis craze.

Rivers tells CNBC's Jim Cramer that Trulieve is "seeing a huge transition" from opioids to medical cannabis. Elizabeth Gurdus October 8, 2018

Florida patients with serious conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder are increasingly opting for medical cannabis over opioids, the CEO of the state's first and largest fully licensed medical marijuana company told CNBC on Monday.

"We're seeing a huge transition," Kim Rivers, the CEO of Trulieve, told "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer in an exclusive interview. "That's actually one of our initiatives in front of the [Florida state] legislature this upcoming session, to introduce policies to say instead of only having opioids as an alternative, why not medical cannabis?"

With over 80,000 patients and 17 retail locations in the state of Florida, Trulieve offers 90 cannabis-based products that help treat a series of conditions including seizure conditions, cancer and AIDS. A bulk of Trulieve's patients also suffer from PTSD given Florida's large veteran population, Rivers said.
read more here

Navy veteran and family still dealing with the mess Hurricane Irma left behind

NBC 8 News
By: Chip Osowski
Posted: Oct 08, 2018

WINTER HAVEN, Fla (WFLA)
When Faye Mays watches Hurricane Michael barrel toward the Florida panhandle, she thinks to herself, I hope those people have insurance. When Hurricane Irma blew through Polk County last year she thought she had insurance. She did not. She learned that the hard way when a huge Oak tree came crashing through the home she shared with her sister and two children.

The home on Sears Avenue Northeast in Winter Haven was willed to her and her sister by her parents. Her mother died unexpectedly and was quickly followed by her father. At some point during the funeral planning, burials and everything else that was going on, the insurance on the home lapsed.

It was September 10th, 2017 when Faye's life changed drastically. She was taking IT classes and had just laid down when the tree came crashing through the living room of the home. Had she been sitting on the couch where she normally sat, she believes she would've been killed. Her first priority: getting everyone out of the house safely. "We were able to get out," said Mays, pointing to one of the many wires that are haning from the exposed rafters. "These were sparking."
read more here

Navy petty officer wins transgender bodybuilding contest

By: David Goldman, The Associated Press 

 Wes Phills, of Brooklyn, N.Y., center, walks offstage after winning the overall award and middleweight class in the International Association of Trans Bodybuilders competition in Atlanta on Saturday. At left are fellow competitors Peter Moore, and Sandy Baird, both of Oakland, Calif., and Kennedy Conners, right, of Conyers, Ga., who took home the heavyweight trophy. (David Goldman/AP)

ATLANTA — It’s been 20 years since Charles Bennett took the stage to compete in bodybuilding. But at the age of 63, he’s now done something he’s never done before — compete as a man for the first time in what’s billed as the world’s only transgender bodybuilding competition.

Bennett and seven fellow competitors went before a crowd Saturday evening in the annual International Association of Trans Bodybuilders competition at a theater in Atlanta. read more here

Killed WWII Marine returning home after being buried for 75 years as an unknown serviceman
Associated Press
October 8, 2018 

Relatives of a Chicago-area Marine killed during World War II are welcoming his body back after 75 years being buried in Hawaii as an unknown serviceman.

Military officials say DNA tests helped confirm the identity of Marine Corps Tech. Sgt. Harry Carlsen of Brookfield, who was 31 when he was killed while storming a Japanese stronghold in the Tarawa Atoll of the Gilbert Islands.

Death by 'friendly fire': Local veteran's name added to Vietnam War Memorial
Bakersfield.com
Steven Mayer
October 9, 2018

It's extraordinary when you think about it, said Larry Bramblett, president of the Sonora chapter of Vietnam Veterans of America, where Williams was a remote member.

Williams didn't die of conventional wounds on the battlefield, Bramblett noted. He died slowly, over a period of decades, from a constellation of health problems that didn't leave bullet wounds, but were just as deadly.

"There should be a new Purple Heart just for the Agent Orange guys," Bramblett said. #AgentOrange

Navy mom's tweet makes #HimToo mockery go viral

Stars and Stripes
October 9, 2018

"This is MY son. He graduated #1 in boot camp. He was awarded the USO award. He was #1 in A school. He is a gentleman who respects women. He won't go on solo dates due to the current climate of false sexual accusations by radical feminists with an axe to grind. I VOTE. #HimToo," the tweet read.

She posted the now-deleted tweet on the day Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court, after a confirmation process that featured accusations of sexual misconduct. Twitter's response was rife with mockery, spawning a variety of "This is MY son" memes. And her sons had plenty to say, too.

Pieter Hanson, the son featured posing in his Navy uniform in the tweet, created an account in the early hours of Tuesday morning called @thatwasmymom. The first post?

"That was my Mom. Sometimes the people we love do things that hurt us without realizing it. Let’s turn this around. I respect and #BelieveWomen. I never have and never will support #HimToo. I’m a proud Navy vet, Cat Dad and Ally. Also, Twitter, your meme game is on point," he tweeted.
read more here

Foundation says 2 firefighters commit suicide every week

Firefighter’s widow shares husband’s battle with PTSD, hopes to help others
KOLD 13 News
By Heather Janssen
October 7, 2018

He took his own life in April of 2017.
“To see him lose hope in himself from all the things he experienced was absolutely paralyzing,” she explained. His struggles with PTSD impacted the entire family, but the Samaniegos' story doesn’t stand alone.

TUCSON, AZ (Tucson News Now) - Helping others was second nature for Jose Samaniego, until he was the one who needed the help.

“(He was) so selfless. He was so laser focused on helping other people,” his wife, Serena Samaniego, explained.

He was a loving husband, a devoted dad, and a dedicated Golder Ranch firefighter.

But Jose struggled with post-traumatic stress and addiction. What he witnessed at work often haunted him when he got home.

Serena saw it firsthand.

“It was the middle of the night nightmares and not being able to sleep. It was being distracted and irritable throughout the day,” she said.

These were all signs of his struggle as he became imprisoned in his own mind, until he couldn't handle the battle anymore.

Mike McKendrick runs the Greater Tucson Fire Foundation. He said it’s likely two firefighters take their lives each week.
read more here