Navy Career Counselor included prostitution ring?

Discharged Navy Sailor Worked as Career Counselor While Running Prostitution Ring

Stars and Stripes
By Rose L. Thayer
2 Jan 2019

As a Navy counselor, Joseph Fetterman was tasked with mentoring young enlisted sailors at Tinker Air Force Base near Oklahoma City. At the same time, Fetterman was enhancing his military pay with cash flow from a prostitution ring that he and his wife operated -- using women flown in from Thailand. (Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office photo)

As a Navy counselor, Joseph Fetterman was tasked with mentoring young enlisted sailors at Tinker Air Force Base near Oklahoma City. For at least four years, the petty officer 1st class spent his days at the base helping sailors map out their career paths, plan for retirement and weigh their options for rate changes.

But during at least his final year in that job, Fetterman, 35, was enhancing his military pay with cash flow from a prostitution ring that he and his wife, Kanyarat, operated using women flown to America from Thailand, according to documents released by the Oklahoma County District Attorney's Office.
read more here

Stolen Valor Marine Dishonored Disabled Marines

Man raised money to send Marine families to Disney. He pocketed most of it, feds say

Charlotte Observer
Charles Duncan
January 11, 2019

Simpson raised about $481,000 for the charity, but spent only about $90,000 of that actually helping Marines, the feds charge.

John Simpson FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF LAW ENFORCEMENT

A charity raised funds to send Marines and their families to Disney theme parks, but its founder John Simpson pocketed most of the money for himself, according to a federal indictment filed this week in South Carolina.

Simpson raised about $481,000 for the charity, but spent only about $90,000 of that actually helping Marines, the feds charge. The other $391,000 went to enriching himself, paying off his mortgage and bills, and for his then-wife’s “adult novelty business, Red Room Toys,” according to court filings.

Sherri Lydon, the U.S. Attorney in Charleston, South Carolina, accuses Simpson of lying about his military career to raise money. The indictment states he “falsely represented himself as a retired career marine with as much as 20 years of service, a retired Master Sergeant, a former Drill Instructor, and a Recon Marine.”

In fact, according to the court filing, Simpson served less than five years in the Marine Corps and was given a bad conduct discharge after going absent without leave in 1998.
read more here

Canada shortchanged up to 272,000 disabled veterans of roughly $165 million

Anatomy of a blunder: How Veterans Affairs quietly buried a $165M accounting error

CBC
Murray Brewster
January 11, 2019

It was an incredibly simple (and incredibly daft) mistake — and it led to a $165 million federal fiscal faux-pas.

Veterans look on during Remembrance Day ceremonies at the National War Memorial in Ottawa on Sunday, Nov. 11, 2018. New documents obtained by the CBC show how Veterans Affairs attempted to gloss over a $165 million accounting error affecting disability pensions. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press )

In 2001, the Liberal government of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien made what appeared to be an innocuous change to federal tax forms.

It separated federal and provincial tax exemptions, shuffling the basic personal tax credit from one part of the document to another.

Staff at Veterans Affairs, who administer disability awards and pensions, did not pick up on the modification to the tax law for several years and ended up short-changing former soldiers — most of them elderly — who received disability pensions and awards benefits.

It was a mistake that cascaded, over time, into a whopping, multi-million dollar fiscal mess that Justin Trudeau's Liberal government began to mop up last fall.

CBC News has obtained hundreds of pages of documents under access to information legislation, and has conducted a series of background interviews with current and former federal officials, to understand the extraordinary blunder that shortchanged up to 272,000 disabled veterans of roughly $165 million.
read more here

How did we go from "yes we can" to "because I said so"

This goes beyond politics as usual

Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
January 12, 2019

Seriously wondering how did we go from "yes we can" to "because I said so" and far too many have no problem with that at all.

Politically I am an Independent Centrist. I agree with some things on both sides. I am tired of hearing all the claims that are simply not true. 

First, we need to open our eyes to the fact that just because someone said something, that does not mean it is true. This is for all my Republican friends because I care about you and if you have only received your information from Facebook, you are being deceived.

"Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind." 1 Peter 2

 Here are some things you may not know.

Retired Army Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling. (Reuters)

“Somebody needs to remind Mr. Trump that the military is not his palace guards. They take an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic. They also abide by the rules — not only of the uniform code of military justice, the UCMJ — but they also abide by the U.N. mandate against torture and the Geneva Convention protocols against torture.” Retired Army Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling March 2016 The Washington Post

This "wall" is not about our National Security but it is about the President's ego and Republican politicians unwilling to hold POTUS accountable for anything, while the other side wants to nail him on everything. 

Had our security actually mattered more than anything else, then these other providers of our security would not be paying the price.

DHS RELEASES SOUTHWEST BORDER ENFORCEMENT STATISTICS 

January 9, 2019

Today, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released the number of enforcement actions at the southwest border for the month of December.  Due to the lapse in funding, U.S. Customs and Border Protection is unable to publish the enforcement actions for December on its website. 

These are the Departments that are under Homeland Security. 

Component Agency Contacts

Below is contact information for different Department of Homeland Security components.

• FEMA
• Federal Law Enforcement Training Center
• Transportation Security Administration
• U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
• U.S. Coast Guard
• U.S. Customs and Border Protection
• U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
• U.S. Secret Service

President Trump also seems willing to take funds from the Army Corp of Engineers.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has approximately 37,000 dedicated Civilians and Soldiers delivering engineering services to customers in more than 130 countries worldwide.

With environmental sustainability as a guiding principle, our disciplined Corps team is working diligently to strengthen our Nation’s security by building and maintaining America’s infrastructure and providing military facilities where our servicemembers train, work and live. We are also researching and developing technology for our war fighters while protecting America’s interests abroad by using our engineering expertise to promote stability and improve quality of life.

We are energizing the economy by dredging America’s waterways to support the movement of critical commodities and providing recreation opportunities at our campgrounds, lakes and marinas.

And by devising hurricane and storm damage reduction infrastructure, we are reducing risks from disasters.

Our men and women are protecting and restoring the Nation’s environment including critical efforts in the Everglades, the Louisiana coast, and along many of our Nation’s major waterways. The Corps is also cleaning sites contaminated with hazardous, toxic or radioactive waste and material in an effort to sustain the environment.

Through deeds, not words, we are BUILDING STRONG.

This is the report from FOX News that should freak out everyone beyond what you just read.

The White House has directed the Army Corps of Engineers to "look at possible ways of funding border security," Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told Fox News on Thursday night, as the ongoing partial federal government shutdown over money for a border wall is less than two days away from becoming the longest in the nation's history. Separately, Fox News is told the White House directed the Corps to examine the February 2018 emergency supplemental, which included disaster relief for California, Florida, Texas, and Puerto Rico, among other states, to see what unspent funds could be diverted to a border wall, according to a congressional aide familiar with the matter.

And this is what the funds were supposed to be for from the same article.

Approximately $13.9 billion is available from the congressionally approved February 2018 supplemental spending bill, intended to cover natural disasters, and much of the available money comes from flood control projects, Fox News is told. The Military Construction appropriations bill could provide additional funding in the event of an emergency declaration.

Here is a list of more things that have been cut during the shutdown.

Keep in mind that these are people who dedicated their lives to providing our National Security and now, they are paying for what we have allowed the President to simply say he wants it done.

The question is, what are you going to do about any of this?

Police Officer saved suicidal man because of Marine training

Quick thinking Columbus police officer saves man from suicide

Four States
By: Jeremiah Cook
Posted: Jan 08, 2019

Officer Gurney says training he received in the Marine Corps, and during his time with the Columbus Police Department is what turned tragedy into a chance to get someone in need help. But Columbus Police Chief Jason Daniels says who officer Gurney is played just as big a role in how things turned out.

The quick thinking of a police officer is being credited with saving the life of a Columbus man, and giving a community the opportunity to discuss a nation-wide problem.

"It was clearly someone who was distressed, someone who needed help, and so my primary goal was to get him that help,” says Officer Christopher Gurney.

Just after midnight Monday morning, Columbus police officer Christopher Gurney says he was on a routine patrol of the city when the first call for help came in. Police chief Jason Daniels says what happened next should send a strong message to the entire community.

When Gurney arrived on scene, he says all he knew was that someone needed help. Around 12:30 Monday morning, dispatch called for an officer to respond to reports of someone preparing to commit suicide. Officer Gurney has only been with the Columbus Police Department for five months, but credits the knowledge passed on to him by his fellow officers for giving him the tools he needed to think fast and save a man's life.
read more here

DOD released 3rd quarter suicide report

Department of Defense Suicide Report 3rd Quarter 2018

Really not much more I can say that is more powerful than the report itself~

For the 3rd Quarter of 2018

74 in the Active Component
18 in the Reserves
34 in the National Guard

Sadly on track to average 500 for the year again~

So, how is that "suicide awareness" benefitting anyone other than the people getting publicity and bigger bank accounts?

UPDATE iCasualties.com

These are the combat deaths from 2012 to 2018
Afghanistan 557
Iraq 73

Wounded Times Broke 4 Million Because of You

On this day in 1983, I arrived at the library, selected a stack of clinical books and a dictionary because of the words "shell shock."

Today, my site reached a stunning 4 million page views and it is all due to word of mouth. In other words, because of all of you in all these countries!

You have read about how a Wounded Combat Medic's love story ended too soon 94,580 times

You have read For Those I Love I Will Sacrifice 36,535 times.

Within the 29,902 posts on this site over the last 11 years, you have shared their stories, supported causes, contacted politicians and said a great deal of prayers!

You have proven over and over again, that the troops and our veterans do matter and you are interested in what happens to them. 

You share their successes as much as you grieve for them when they suffer.

I cannot find the words to express what all of this means to me today because without you!

Kentucky veteran William Lucey laid to rest with honor

Community honors veteran without family

The News-Enterprise
TREY CRUMBIE
Jan 9, 2019

After learning a U.S. Army veteran would be buried without family present, Rick Lee of Elizabethtown said he was going to be there.

(Trey Crumbie The News-Enterprise)

“I’m a veteran,” he said. “I’m going to respect the veterans.”

Dozens of people gathered Tuesday afternoon at Kentucky Veterans Cemetery-Central in Radcliff to honor a veteran who had no family listed.

“No veteran should ever have to be buried without somebody being there to represent them,” said Lee, who also is a member of American Legion Hardin Post 113.

Lee served in the military police and personnel administration for 30 years. He said he first joined the military after being raised around “coal mines and strip jobs” in Pennsylvania.

“I looked up one day and said, ‘Lord, I ain’t gonna live like this,” he said. “(I) raised the hand and went in.”

Many details on the veteran buried were not available as of Tuesday evening. According to an official from Spring Valley Funeral Home in New Albany, Indiana, the veteran was William Lucey, 61. Lucey was born Aug. 27, 1957, in Louisville. He joined the Army in 1974 and was honorably discharged about a year later. He died Dec. 2.
read more here

Vietnam veteran's claim trapped by 3 Presidents

Tri-Cities veteran worries he'll die before getting disability claim compensation

WJHL 11 News
By: Jackie DeFusco
Posted: Jan 08, 2019

ELIZABETHTON, TN (WJHL) - Vietnam Veteran William Ward of Elizabethton, a Purple Heart recipient, knows he's on of the lucky ones.

"When the Tet Offensive started we had 28 helicopters and in 40 days we lost 14 helicopters and 21 men."

The former helicopter crew chief said he flew one thousand missions in six months and was shot down three times.

Now, the 71 year-old is worried he may die before he's compensated for a disability claim he appealed fourteen years ago.

"When I landed in the airport in Chicago, I was spit at, I was called names that I can't repeat. And it seems like Vietnam veterans, we were pushed aside and we're still falling through the cracks," said Ward.

Ward has a number of symptoms of service, including PTSD, type two diabetes, hearing loss and sleep apnea.

He appealed his disability claim in 2005. "Next month is February. That will be 14 years that I have been waiting for this," said Ward.
read more here

That would be during the Bush Administration, followed by Obama and now Trump!

Recruitment campaign cost $2.6 million...and the Guardsman in poster

Scots Guardsman quits army over controversial ‘snow flakes’ recruitment poster

News.com Australia
January 8, 2019

A guardsman says he is planning to quit the army after his picture was used in a controversial $2.6 million ad campaign.

A Scots Guardsman says he is planning to quit the army after his picture was used below the words “snow flake” in a controversial ad campaign.

Stephen McWhirter, 28, slammed the army advertisement posters and told colleagues he was not told his photo would be used in this way.

According to friends, the guardsman, based at Wellington Barracks in Westminster, has been inundated with mocking messages and left open to ridicule, the Daily Mail reported.

The soldier expressed his fury on Facebook while speaking to other troops about the £1.5 million ($A2.68 million) campaign.

One soldier wrote: “Imagine the army taking a photo of you and writing “snow flake” in massive letters above your head. I’d be signed straight off.”

Guardsman McWhirter responded: “Don’t f***ing worry mate, I am.” He added that he would formally submit his resignation as soon as he could.
read more here