Six year old girl wants to know why plastic soldiers are not women too...and so do a lot of other people

update Girl’s message for equality received in a big way: Green Army women figurines are on the way

BMC Toys, one of three companies to receive letters from young Vivian Lord — and the only to respond — has begun producing women figurines to be included in the iconic toy set that dates back to the 1930s.

Missing in action: Classic green Army men still have no women figurines, and this 6-year-old is not having it

Military Times
By: J.D. Simkins
August 14, 2019

Young Vivian Lord of Arkansas recently acquired a set of the instantly recognizable plastic green Army men figurines, iconic toys the 6-year-old had been pining after for weeks.

Imel's concept sketches of plastic army women. (BMC Toys)

Excitedly, the little girl from Little Rock sifted through the combat-ready green men, each figure contorted into one of an array of well-known fighting positions, but she couldn’t find what she was looking for.

None of the figures looked like her.

Unsatisfied, Vivian decided to take it up directly with various toy makers, penning letters to three different companies in an effort to add a little enlightenment to some antiquated business practices.

After opening her letter with a quick statement about her budding soccer career, Vivian gets right to the point, calling to the attention of toy makers the scarcity of women figurines, as well as the poorly received pink — still all men — versions some companies produced.
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Civilian shot at Andersen Air Force Base

Intruder Shot, Security Forces Member Stabbed During Incident at Andersen Air Force Base

Stars and Stripes
By Matthew M. Burke
15 Aug 2019

A Defense Department civilian security forces member was stabbed Thursday morning at Andersen Air Force Base while attempting to apprehend an intruder fleeing from Guam police.

Information on the unnamed security forces member's condition was not immediately available. Air Force officials said the intruder -- who was also not named -- was shot during the incident.

The fugitive was treated at a civilian hospital, Air Force officials said Thursday in a statement. Information on his condition was not available.

The incident began at approximately 7:35 p.m. Wednesday when a civilian attempted to enter the base's main gate while fleeing from Guam Police, Air Force officials wrote on Andersen's Facebook page several hours after the incident began. The intruder crashed his vehicle into emergency defensive barriers deployed by members of the 36th Security Forces Squadron following a high-speed chase. He then fled on foot.
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Ex-Army Ranger killed by police after wife found murdered

Wife’s body found after police kill estranged husband, a former Army Ranger

The Associated Press
By: Margaret Stafford and Heather Hollingsworth
August 14, 2019

In this photo provided by the Johnson County, Kansas Sheriff's Office, Charles Pearson is pictured in a booking photo dated Oct. 8, 2018. (Johnson County, Kansas Sheriff's Office via AP)

The body of 49-year-old Sylvia Ussery-Pearson was found Tuesday night in northwest Arkansas' Benton County, police said during a news conference in Overland Park, Kansas, where she was from. The discovery was made hours after 51-year-old Charles Pearson, a 21-year veteran Army Ranger who had completed two combat tours in Iraq, walked into a Country Inn and Suites and told the general manager that he killed his wife.

Pearson said he was armed and heading to the nearby Legends Outlet shopping district.

Police in Kansas City, Kansas, said that when law enforcement confronted Pearson at a nearby intersection, he fired several shots at officers, who returned fire and killed him.
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Female veterans are 25% more likely to commit suicide

Why women veterans are 25% more likely than civilian women to commit suicide

Military Times
By: Kate Henricks Thomas and Kyleanne Hunter
August 14, 2019

"We missed the sense of unit cohesion and good-natured support we’d so often enjoyed on active duty, and struggled to find that same sense of community in our civilian lives." Kyleanne Hunter

The Women in Military Service to America Memorial, the only national museum honoring military women, celebrated its 15th anniversary on Oct. 20, 2012. (Veterans Affairs)

After four years on active duty, Amy left the Army and moved back to her hometown.

However, she struggled to find her tribe. At work, she was told her handshake was a bit too firm and lectured about how her direct communication style made her coworkers uncomfortable. At her local VFW bar, the men stopped talking to stare at her, and her attempts to connect were met with awkward silences. A few other attempts to connect with the veteran communities she saw advertised at the VA and Facebook left her feeling similarly displaced.

“In both civilian settings and veteran settings, I was ‘weird,’” she recalls.

She explored some of the newer veteran service organizations (VSOs), but most failed to include child care or weren’t kid-friendly. Amy was a single parent, so she mentally crossed those options off her list too. She stayed lonely, and slowly sank into a deep depression.

The very word “veteran” calls to mind the image of a man — particularly a male combat veteran. However, there are more than 2 million women veterans in the United States today, and women veterans are the nation’s fastest-growing veteran population. Unfortunately, this unique population, many of whom have deployed during the past 18 years, rarely benefit from the traditional trappings of the hero returned home.

Kyleanne Hunter was a Cobra pilot and is a decorated combat veteran. I served as military police. We spent our 20s in the Corps, and it quickly became both our family and identity. We each deployed overseas and generally loved our time in service. However, transitioning to civilian life was another matter entirely. We were high performing, but — despite appearing “successful” and “normal” on the outside — we each felt a nagging sense of displacement and not belonging. read it here

corrected must have been a typo in the original report from  Military Times

First female combat veteran running for President reporting for duty...in National Guard

Gabbard takes presidential campaign break for Army National Guard training

By: The Associated Press
  August 13, 2019

Gabbard is the first female combat veteran to run for U.S. president. She was elected to Congress in 2012.

HONOLULU — Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii is taking two weeks off from her 2020 Democratic presidential campaign to participate in Army National Guard training.

Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard speaks at the Presidential Gun Sense Forum, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2019, in Des Moines, Iowa. (Charlie Neibergall/AP)

Gabbard announced the two-week break in a statement Monday. She will return to the campaign trail on Aug. 25.

Gabbard is a major in the Army National Guard who has served in the military for more than 16 years and deployed to Iraq in 2004 and Kuwait in 2008.
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Disabled veteran called Ghost Brothers for Michigan home

Haunted Michigan home investigated by the Ghost Brothers in Travel Channel debut

MLive
By Edward Pevos
August 13, 2019

VASSAR, MI - A Michigan disabled veteran and his family have been living in fear inside their own home. That's where the famous Ghost Brothers come in.

The paranormal investigators came to the haunted home in Vassar after the family's plea for help.

Photo courtesy of the Travel Channel via Brian Eley

You can see what happened in the debut of "Ghost Brothers: Haunted Houseguest" premiering on Friday, Aug. 16 on the Travel Channel.

Maybe you've seen this historic home built in 1879. It's known as the "Wedding Cake" house. Disabled Marine Corps veteran Conrad Dowe lives in the home with his wife and young son.

It's beautiful on the outside, but on the inside, that's a different story.

"On the inside, you're dealing with some heavy energy which may be demonic," said Ghost Brother Juwan Mass.

"The family is very sweet, but they were dealing with a spirit tormenting the wife and little boy. The husband felt helpless from being able to protect his own family. He fought for his country and he doesn't know how to fight the spirits attacking his family."
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