Mini Memorial Wall Draws Strong Emotions At Vietnam Vets Reunion

This year we managed to take a few trips to Melbourne for the reunion. As usual there were plenty of vendors selling things, camp grounds filled with different groups and a brotherhood that is hard to put into words.

The perfect picture seems to be this one. While he stands at the wall looking at the names, I was trying to take pictures quickly because people kept walking by. The names blurred and colors emerged in the photo but it was just a black wall with white lettering. It's perfect because when they think about their time in Vietnam, names may fade from memory, but faces didn't.

Talk to Vietnam veteran as they go thru their scrap book of fading pictures. They will look at each and everyone of them remembering the person in the picture, telling stories about them as if it all happened yesterday but they will struggle to remember their name.



Here are a few more I took yesterday.

Mini Memorial Wall Draws Strong Emotions At Vietnam Vets Reunion
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Reported by Margaret Kavanagh

MELBOURNE -- Strong emotions surrounded the 22nd Annual Vietnam and All Veterans Reunion this week at Wickham Park.

Roughly 80,000 people turned out to honor and remember those that gave their lives to protect the freedoms Americans enjoy here at home.

At the center of the reunion was the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall, a miniature replica of the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington.

As thousands of troops fight overseas, Vietnam veterans said the event was a good way to bring people together and remember the fallen war heroes.
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Mini Memorial Wall Draws Strong Emotions At Vietnam Vets Reunion

Springfield veteran a casualty of recession

Jamie Bowshier came back from Iraq to a warm welcome, but then lost his family, perhaps because of PTSD coming home with him. I don't know because this article does not address what caused his marriage to break up. This Marine did what was asked of him, ended up wounded, lost his marriage, his job and faces losing his house. Is this right? Is any of this right? Well it keeps happening. While no one really talked about what was going on after Vietnam, this was happening to a lot of the veterans. This is part of how they end up homeless. Can we finally see that we really don't take care of our veterans?

Losing everything...
Springfield veteran a casualty of recession
By Emanuel Cavallaro
Staff Writer
Updated 10:26 AM Sunday, April 26, 2009
SPRINGFIELD — Four years ago, when Jamie Bowshier came home from Iraq, he had everything he wanted in life: A wife, three kids, a job, a house. A promising future.

When he returned to his house on Seymour Street, he found that neighbors had lined the street with American Flags and tied red, white and blue balloons to the stop signs.

His active duty period with the Marine Corps was up in three months.

“At that moment in time, everything seemed like it couldn’t possible be any better,” Bowshier said in April, four years later.

“I made it back, and I was in one piece,” he said. “Everything was good. Everybody was happy to see me, and I was happy to be home.”

Bowshier, 34, is now divorced and has lost custody of his three children. His kitchen countertop is lined with a month’s worth of mail, most of it bad news: late notices, Veterans’ Affairs documents, bills he can’t afford to pay.
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Losing Everything

Soldier hit, killed on All American Freeway identified

Please pray for the family, Christine Gail Pearce and the responders.

Soldier hit, killed on All American Freeway identified


Posted: Apr. 24, 2009
Updated: Apr. 25, 2009

Fayetteville, N.C. — Military officials said that Sgt. Jason Lightfoot, 30, died after being hit by a vehicle on the shoulder of the All-American Freeway early Friday.

Fayetteville police said that Lightfoot got out of a 2000 Jeep near the Cliffdale Road exit around 3 a.m. after arguing with the driver, identified as Christine Gail Pearce, 39, of Yorktown, Va.

Initially, police said they believed that Lightfoot next started to walk on the northbound shoulder toward Fort Bragg and was then hit by the Jeep.

However, a preliminary wreck report issued Saturday says that Lightfoot was riding on the hood of the Jeep and that he fell off onto the pavement when Pearce tried to slow down.
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http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/5022635/

Woman shot, killed outside daycare in murder-suicide

Please pray for the family, the child inside the car and the rest of the people involved from the day care to the police officers.

Woman shot, killed outside daycare in murder-suicide


Posted: Apr. 25, 2009

Roanoke Rapids, N.C. — A Roanoke Rapids man shot and killed his girlfriend in front of a daycare, then turned the gun on himself in a murder-suicide Friday afternoon, said Police Chief Jeff Hinton.

Authorities said that Dawn Taylor, 38, of Roanoke Rapids, picked up a young child from a daycare in the 800 block of Franklin Street and put the child in her car around 4 p.m.

Lavern Bradley Jr., 39, approached Taylor outside the car and shot her three times, then shot himself once in the head, Hinton said.
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http://www.wral.com/news/news_briefs/story/5023931/

DoD Identifies Army Casualty

DoD Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.



CSM Benjamin Moore, Jr., 43, of Waycross, Ga., died Apr 24 at Contingency Operating Base Speicher, Iraq, of injuries sustained in a non-combat related incident. He was assigned to the 2d Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 3d Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.

http://icasualties.org/Iraq/index.aspx

The circumstances surrounding the incident are under investigation.

Sgt. Darron Mikeworth's wounds show human spirit and family's love

Injured GI gets new face – and anonymity

By Sharon Cohen - The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Apr 26, 2009 8:40:57 EDT

SAN ANTONIO — His first glimpse in the mirror was largely a blur.

Sgt. Darron Mikeworth had just come out of a drug-induced coma — his mind was still in a fog and he was so weak he could barely stand.

Three weeks before, in Iraq, a suicide bomber had raced up to the right side of his Humvee, igniting a barrel of explosives that tore into the machine gunner’s face. He nearly died.

Mikeworth awoke in a hospital bed, thousands of miles away.

He was relieved he still had his arms and legs. He was thrilled, too, that his ears had survived the blast. But he had wounds he could not see, life-changing wounds. His wife, Dea, helped break the news: His face was in bad shape. His left eye was useless.

And there was more.

At first, Mikeworth was too groggy to absorb it all. He was caught up in hallucinations of basketball players shooting hoops in the hospital, of cars on the highway floating in air. He didn’t know what was fantasy and what wasn’t — until he shuffled into the physical therapy room and stood numbly before a full-length mirror.

“I just had to keep telling myself I’m NOT going to wake up out of this one,” he says. “THIS is not a dream. THIS is real.”
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Injured GI gets new face – and anonymity

Stream of horrific crimes takes toll on town cops

And tougher than the intense work is the lull that follows, when the mask of professional composure comes down and doubts, sadness and anger come through, said Tracy police chaplain Dan Higgins.

"When they're able to focus on their jobs and do their part, they have an outlet," said Higgins. "The hard part comes later."

Stream of horrific crimes takes toll on town cops
Apr 25, 2009
By JULIANA BARBASSA, AP
TRACY, Calif. (Map, News) - Detective Nate Cogburn's last few months have been filled with the stuff of nightmares.

Neighbors charged with shackling and torturing a teenager in a Tracy home. A substitute teacher accused of molesting upward of 15 students. A surgeon arrested for the alleged sexual abuse of dozens of patients. And, most recently, a Sunday school teacher charged with kidnapping, raping and murdering 8-year-old Sandra Cantu, the playmate of her own little girl.

"I was just bombarded," said Cogburn, who grew up nearby and joined the Tracy police force after college.

"They always say don't take your cases home with you - they preach that every day from day one at the academy," said Cogburn, 28. "But I always take them home. They're with me all the time."

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Stream of horrific crimes takes toll on town cops

Police officer, suspect killed in southeast Alabama standoff

Police officer, suspect killed in southeast Alabama standoff
Posted by Associated Press April 25, 2009 1:44 PM
Categories: Crime
HEADLAND, AL -- Officers in southeast Alabama shot a suspect to death after he killed one police officer and badly wounded a sheriff's deputy, authorities said.

Police said they got a call Friday afternoon that 53-year-old Fred Davis was firing a shotgun into the air outside his trailer. Henry County Sheriff's Deputy Ted Yost was first on the scene, and Davis shot and wounded him with the shotgun, State Trooper Kevin Cook said.

Davis then shot and killed Headland Officer Dexter Hammond with a high-powered rifle before other arriving officers shot and killed him, Cook said.
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Police officer, suspect killed in southeast Alabama standoff

Wounded Soldier Keeps Giving Back

"I had some really hard times where at points I didn't have anyone to turn to," he said. "I want to be there for the guys and girls who are returning home now to lend a helping hand when they start hitting the lows that I did."

Double Dare race to benefit wounded warriors
by Mike Lesko
Associate Editor



Joseph Gross was devoted to serving in the U.S. Army. As a staff sergeant, he had seven years of active duty and was deployed twice.



His life changed in 2005 when he was wounded in Baghdad as a result of a suicide car bomb, losing his right leg below the knee, and suffering some burns and other small injuries.



Today, he is part of the Wounded Warrior Project, which oversees road races and other fundraising events including the WWP Double Dare, a 5K/10K/15K cross country race May 9 at Silver Springs Park, 5070 Stow Road, Stow. The start time is 9 a.m.



"People can run the 5K or 10K or they can take the double dare and do both, equaling 15K," Gross said.

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Double Dare race to benefit wounded warriors

Marine's Home Burglarized as She Gives Birth at Hospital

Random act? Somehow I doubt it. Marine Cpl. Claire Murphy's uniforms were trashed on the floor and her pet Iguana was killed. Someone must have known she would be gone for a long time. Imagine going to the hospital to welcome into the world a new child and then returning to your home to find this world also includes people doing something like this and then imagine you were among the few willing to lay down your life for even people like this.

Marine's Home Burglarized as She Gives Birth at Hospital

By: Rowena Lugtu-Shaddox

April 26, 2009

RANCHO CORDOVA - When Claire Murphy gave birth to her daughter on Friday, it was the happiest moment of her life.

But that time also became one of sorrow after she found out someone broke into her home, while she was at the hospital giving birth.

"I've worked so hard to get everything taken care of, you know. And then this happens," said the 27-year-old new mom, who is also a corporal in the Marines.

Whoever broke into her Rancho Cordova apartment ransacked it and stole the baby's new clothes, and even baby formula. The culprit also took her camouflage uniforms out of the closet and dumped them on the floor.
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Marine's Home Burglarized as She Gives Birth at Hospital

Two Fla. deputies killed during arrest

Two Fla. deputies killed during arrest

SHALIMAR, Fla., April 25 (UPI) -- Two Okaloosa County sheriff's deputies were shot and killed Saturday while trying to arrest a man who was killed in a subsequent shootout, police said.

Deputy Burt Lopez and Deputy Warren York were attempting to arrest Joshua Cartwright, 28, of Fort Walton Beach, Fla., in connection with a domestic abuse case early Saturday, when the suspect opened fire on the deputies just before 1 p.m. EDT, the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office said in a news release.
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Two Fla. deputies killed during arrest

Vet who injected 21 polo horses that died says grief is unbearable

When this story came out it was easy to feel sorry for the owners of the horses but if you're like me, you forgot about the man that injected them with what ended up killing them. I never thought about how he would feel after when it really wasn't anything he did except trying to take care of the horses. There are a lot of people hurting after this, but imagine being Felix Crespo. He needs a lot of compassion and prayers.

Vet who injected 21 polo horses that died says grief is unbearable
By Brian Skoloff The Associated Press
4:16 PM EDT, April 25, 2009

WELLINGTON - When Argentine veterinarian Felix Crespo injected 21 elite polo horses with a vitamin supplement shortly before a championship match in Florida, he never imagined they would all be dead the next day.

A week later, with the horses felled by a mysterious poison, the grief in Crespo's eyes speaks volumes. Deep pain lurks beneath the brim of his ball cap.

"I am not living," Crespo told The Associated Press on Saturday in his first interview since the horses died last Sunday. "I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy."

Crespo stroked his mustache, his head slightly hung. His eyes drooped from a lack of sleep. He said he spends more time with the horses than his family.

A Florida pharmacy that prepared the supplement for the team on order from their local veterinarian said Thursday the strength of an ingredient was incorrect. The pharmacy would not say what the ingredient was or if the mix-up was in the prescription that came from the veterinarian.
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Vet who injected 21 polo horses that died says grief is unbearable

I wanted to point this story out for one other reason. The kind of pain he's going thru needs to be understood because we have police officers having to take lives in the line of duty and two of them were just killed today doing that in Shalimar.

Two Florida Deputies Killed During Arrest

There are also men and women serving the nation in Iraq and Afghanistan, coming back after watching friends die and having to kill total strangers. If we have no compassion for any of these people, then we need to never expect any for ourselves.

Military Officers Assoc. honors Sen. Webb

Military Officers Assoc. honors Sen. Webb

By Allison Brophy Champion

Published: April 24, 2009

The Military Officers Association of America honored Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., this week with its highest award for his consistent support of service members and their families.

A Vietnam veteran and Marine, Webb introduced the Post-9/11 GI Bill on Jan. 3, 2007, his first day in office.

The legislation was signed into law last summer, providing educational benefits — similar to those given to World War II vets — to veterans of the post-9/11 era.

It was for his advocacy that the MOAA presented Webb its highest honor at a ceremony in Washington Tuesday — the 2009 Col. Arthur T. Matrix Congressional Leadership Award, named for the group’s founder.
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Military Officers Assoc. honors Sen. Webb

UK problem with PTSD is fraction of what US is seeing

While the US troops go to Iraq or Afghanistan for what was a 15 month tour and now they are shooting for a 12 month tour, notice that the UK has a problem with PTSD and it comes from one 6 month tour. Our troops, some of them are on their 5th tour of duty. Reminder, the Army said redeployments increase the risk of PTSD by 50% for each time back. Do you think we're only seeing the beginning of all of this? My guess is we ain't seen nothing yet and we are no where near being prepared for any of it.

April 26, 2009

Scores of troops traumatised by Afghan war


Michael Smith
THE first evidence of the trauma suffered by troops fighting in Afghanistan has been revealed, with scores needing treatment for mental disorders.

More than 230 troops – 4% of the fighting force – were diagnosed with psychological ailments after a single six-month tour, newly released Ministry of Defence figures show.

The figures back up claims by the forces charity Combat Stress that the numbers of soldiers suffering posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental illnesses are dramatically worse than in other recent conflicts.

“We are seeing the bow wave of a much greater problem,” Toby Elliott, the charity’s chief executive, said. “The numbers are beginning to mount up.” The latest data cover the period from March to October 2007 when there were 5,700 British troops in Afghanistan. They show that 234 soldiers were diagnosed with psychological disorders when they returned home.


This was at the bottom of this article,,,,,the UK is not going to send more troops to Afghanistan.

Brown vetoes reinforcements

GORDON BROWN has vetoed any further British involvement in the US troop surge in Afghanistan, according to senior defence sources.

The move has caused dismay within the British Army, whose commanders have requested an extra brigade of up to 3,500 men for Afghanistan.

It is also an embarrassment for John Hutton, the defence secretary, who has criticised Britain’s Nato partners for depending on the Americans to provide the bulk of Nato troops.

The prime minister has decided that since the US was prepared to dispatch 10,000 troops to Helmand, the most dangerous province in Afghanistan, Britain did not need to send any more.

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Scores of troops traumatised by Afghan war

Emergency Counselor Lost Job, Returns Home To Find House Burning

If you think you're having a bad day, read this and then maybe it won't seem as bad.

Man Fired, Returns Home To Find House Burning
Fire Victim Worked As Emergency Counselor

OREGON CITY, Ore. -- An Oregon City man just couldn't catch a break Friday -- first he lost his job and then he returned home to find his house on fire.

Victor Gonzalez said there was a silver lining to getting fired Friday.

"If I hadn’t gotten fired from work, I wouldn’t have come home, and I don’t know how far the fire would’ve gotten. So I guess that’s a good thing," he said.

The single father lost his job and his house in a matter of two hours Friday morning.


The fire broke out just after 9 a.m. at the house on Canyon Ridge Drive. Luckily, everyone got out safely thanks in part to Gonzalez's 12-year-old daughter.

He said he knew everything would be OK with his daughter there to help out.

Gonzalez said he worked as an emergency department social worker, helping people deal with traumatic situations like fires. His past work with emergency situations is helping him to deal with the situation.

“You can choose to laugh or you can choose to cry and I’m choosing to laugh because I don’t want to know what’s going to happen if I cry,” he said.
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http://www.kptv.com/news/19276320/detail.html

linked from CNN

WWII veteran opens up for first time at the WWII Memorial

Military staff writer Kelly Kennedy went with her grandfather, a WWII veteran, to the Memorial because of the Honor Flight. While there, he shared some of his experiences with his granddaughter for the first time. Many never talked about what they did because it was not "what you do" when you come home and it's a shame because they kept it all inside. While we talk about PTSD openly now, they never did and they suffered inside instead of healing.

Teen tries to quiet the voices in his head

Teen tries to quiet the voices in his head
By Madison Park
CNN
Story Highlights
Schizophrenia disrupts Maryland teenager's life, forces him to leave college

Teen's story echoes experience of Nathaniel Ayers, subject of film, "The Soloist"

Family struggles to learn how to best help teenager deal with mental illness

The intrusive voices popped into William "Bill" Garrett's head. "They're coming for you," the voices told the 18-year-old. "Find somewhere to hide; they're going to get you." Garrett, who once color coordinated his closet, could soon no longer groom himself or shower. As schizophrenia took hold, the Maryland teenager became lost within his own mind and had to leave college after winning a full, four-year scholarship. full story

Army tells Sikh officers to change appearance

Army tells Sikh officers to change appearance

Torn between their Sikh faith and their military duty, two soldiers are fighting Army policy that requires them to shave their beards, cut their hair and remove their turbans.

Kalsi, a doctor trained in emergency medicine, and 2nd Lt. Tejdeep Singh Rattan, a dentist, were first recruited for the Army’s Health Professions Scholarship Program. Kalsi said the recruiters with the Army Medical Corps gave assurances that wearing a beard and turban — mandatory articles of the Sikh faith — would not be a problem. And during several years of graduate school and medical training, Kalsi and Rattan both said their beards and turbans drew no concerns.
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Teens charged with vandalism of Iraqi Freedom Memorial

Teens charged in war memorial vandalism

The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Apr 24, 2009 13:58:52 EDT

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. — Two teenagers are being charged in juvenile court in the vandalism of the Iraqi Freedom Memorial at Island Park in Mount Pleasant.

The Morning Sun in Mount Pleasant reported that the 13- and 14-year-olds are being charged with malicious destruction of a memorial with damage between $1,000 and $20,000. Names weren’t released.

Police received a tip about the boys’ involvement. They face a May 11 hearing.

A brass rifle and helmet were stolen earlier this month from the memorial, about 120 miles northwest of Detroit.

It honors members of the U.S. military killed in Iraq. It was donated in memory of Marine Lance Cpl. Justin M. Ellsworth. The 20-year-old from Mount Pleasant was killed Nov. 13, 2004, by a roadside bomb during a foot patrol in Anbar province.
Teens charged in war memorial vandalism

UK:Father's grief over loss of daughter by suicide and PTSD

If the Army had cared, my daughter would still be alive

Posted by The Independent
Saturday, 25 April 2009 at 07:54 am
Miss Ward was a teenager when she first witnessed the atrocities of the Balkans conflict: the torture victims, the bomb-blast casualties and the injured children. A bright, self-possessed and well-spoken young woman, her exemplary service had included a commendation for saving a soldier who suffered spinal injuries during an exercise, and a recommendation to be considered for an officer's commission.
But two back-to-back tours of duty, first in Kosovo and then in Bosnia, took their toll. Overworked, bullied and shocked by the cruelty she witnessed, she became depressed and made two attempts on her life.
After the first, she was sent back to work. After the second, she spent months in psychiatric care before being told she had been discharged – not on medical grounds but because her "services were no longer required". To a woman who had dreamed of joining the Army from the age of 16, it was no better than a dishonourable discharge: the ultimate humiliation from which she would never recover.
Yesterday, Miss Ward's father Ivor, 57, a former sergeant with the Royal Engineers, said: "I was in the Army for 22 years but I hate the Army now because of the way it treated my daughter. If she had got the help she needed, she would be alive today. She probably would have stayed in the Army, she loved it that much."
Miss Ward's sister Emma, 26, added: "I don't think she could ever get her head around how she was discharged. She gave 110 per cent to the Army and they washed their hands of her and made her out to be a failure."
Before her death, Miss Ward launched a claim for a war pension on the grounds that she was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. She hoped to have her discharge retrospectively changed to a medical one – recognising the mental wounds she developed during her service. Her father intends to continue pursuing that claim, convinced it is the only way of finally restoring his daughter's dignity.
Miss Ward's death comes at a time when a mounting number of current and former service personnel have backed The Independent's campaign for better mental health treatment for veterans.
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'If the Army had cared, my daughter would still be alive'