CNN Pays Tribute to Coalition Casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq

There are times when I am absolutely heartbroken by the lack of news coverage of Iraq and Afghanistan. There always seems to be some other story for all the major media stations to jump onto with too little time to remind the American people there are troops risking their lives everyday in Iraq and Afghanistan. What is more heartbreaking is that even when they return home, out of danger from bombs, they are still in danger from bullets but instead of the weapon held in the hands of enemies, the gun is held in their own hand. 18 suicides a day, most committed with guns. The American people are not reminded of the fallen except when a hometown boy or girl comes home for the last time. They are not reminded of the wounded. Most of the time the American people are left on their own to search for news or just get on with their own lives, their own problems, their own families. Few know of the hardships of the families of the military and harder times for the families of National Guards and Reservists.

CNN has done a good job tracking it all. They could have done a better job on the news station itself, but the online work they've done has been outstanding. I search it often because I know it is accurate and very up to date. It looks like CNN has done it again with this site. Take a look at it and remember, just because we are not reminded everyday of the price they pay, they still pay it.

CNN Pays Tribute to Coalition Casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq Wars with Launch of “Home and Away”
Ten-Year Project Culminates in Immersive Online Interactive Memorial and Month-long On-Air Programming Honoring Troops
Continuing to develop innovative ways to present its audience with news and information, CNN is combining the unparalleled strengths of its on-air and online platforms to honor every Coalition Forces casualty in Afghanistan and Iraq.
CNN.com has launched “Home and Away,” an immersive interactive which allows users to learn about and pay tribute to more than 6,000 fallen troops from more than 20 countries. Simultaneously, CNN chief national correspondent John King begins a month-long tribute on his week-nightly 7 p.m. ET program, JohnKing, USA, airing one of the fallen’s personal stories each night. On Memorial Day, a special edition of JohnKing, USA, entitled “Home and Away,” will be dedicated entirely to this subject. Throughout these tributes, King will utilize the Magic Wall to go behind the statistics and provide human faces to the sacrifice.
“Each of these casualties has an inspiring and moving story, and we wanted to find an exceptional way to honor the sacrifice every single one of them made,” said Susan Grant, executive vice president of CNN News Services. “We hope ‘Home and Away’ serves as an enduring memorial for those that made the ultimate sacrifice while also helping the CNN audience more personally connect with this deeply complex topic.”
“We were so moved by the powerful stories of these service members and those who loved them along the way,” said Michelle Jaconi, Executive Producer, John King, USA. “Our CNN.com colleagues have created a powerful tool that allows us to more deeply engage with our viewers, connecting them to personal tributes from the fallen's family and friends."
Available at www.cnn.com/homeandaway this extensive data visualization project began nearly 10 years ago at the start of the war in Afghanistan. A cross-divisional effort between the CNN Library and CNN.com, a team of researchers, producers, designers, user-experience specialists and developers have gathered information about the casualties of the wars. Evolving from two separate lists of casualties in Afghanistanand Iraq, “Home and Away” tells the story of where and how the lives of these troops began and ended, and is continually enhanced with personal memories from family and friends.
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CNN Pays Tribute to Coalition Casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq

Warren County Marine gets surprise welcome home

Warren County Marine gets surprise welcome home
Monday, May 24, 2010
By SARA K. SATULLO
The Express-Times
HACKETTSTOWN Cpl. Frankie Giaquinto never dreamed he would miss grass.

But when the U.S. Marine returned from the Afghanistan desert, the first thing he did when getting off the bus was lie down in some.

"It feels good to be home," the Mansfield Township native said Sunday following a surprise welcome home parade. "It is nice to see grass; you don't see any grass over there."

The humble 2006 Warren Hills Regional High School grad had no interest in being the center of attention during his 17 days of leave from Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, where he first returned April 30. But his family and friends had other plans for him.
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Warren County Marine gets surprise welcome home

Why people lie about military service

There was a time when Vietnam Veterans wanted to deny they served in Vietnam. It was a time when it seemed no one wanted them around. Established service organizations didn't want them to join. Employers didn't want to hire them. Families, well families just wanted to forget where they had been for the last year. Friends back home told them to get over it. Girlfriends dumped them because they "changed." It wasn't bad enough they had to go through all that and more, but it seemed no one noticed despite our best efforts to ignore them, they still managed to achieve what other generations fail to do. They taught us to finally care.

When WWII veterans came home they were recipients of a promise delivered. They were taken care of. Veterans hospitals opened around the country and then there were housing developments springing up with not only new houses, but surrounded by other veterans, they found a new home. We started to call them Veteran's Villages.

When Vietnam veterans came home too many of them ended up in what we started to call tent cities and shelters. Too many ended up homeless as well as abandoned. PTSD, drinking problems, all the problems we see in Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, they faced but no one was there to catch them when the cracks in the system opened so wide they fell in. No one noticed that as they now wait in line for care, most of what the Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are receiving is due to them fighting for it. This is not to suggest in anyway the newer veterans face no problems. We report on them all the time here on this blog and on blogs around the country. The truth is, Vietnam veterans refused to surrender and refused to lose this battle for the sake of all generations of veterans.

Did you know they never lost a battle in Vietnam? They wouldn't give up then and they won't give up now. They still believe in us even though we stopped caring about them. Amazing that we now see people trying to pretend they are Vietnam veterans when there was a time no one wanted to be called one. Combat Vietnam veterans are a rare breed but we need to acknowledge some combat veterans who were unable to even say they were Vietnam veterans because they deployed into Cambodia and Thailand. They saw combat just the same and death and risked their lives. Still even with so many Vietnam Era veterans around the country, they are still embraced by the combat veterans. They are still called "brother" and this bond includes them as well.

It's really not so amazing when some people want to claim to be Vietnam veterans considering how proud they made the rest of us be just knowing them and all they have done for the sake of all veterans when we did so little for them.

Why people lie about military service

By John Christoffersen - The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday May 23, 2010 13:56:57 EDT

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — U.S. Senate candidate Richard Blumenthal acknowledged he misstated his service in Vietnam, said he made mistakes, regretted them and took responsibility.

What he didn’t explain was why.

Blumenthal, Connecticut’s popular attorney general who insisted he was proud of his domestic military service in the Marine Reserve, became part of a long running phenomenon in which men embellish or outright lie about their military record.

“They all do it for the prestige,” said retired FBI agent Thomas Cottone, who used to investigate military impostors for the agency. “They all want to be recognized. They need that ego boost.”

A longer version of the video of the 2008 event posted by a Republican opponent shows Blumenthal at the beginning of his speech correctly characterizing his service by saying that he “served in the military, during the Vietnam era.”

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Why people lie about military service

Richard Blumenthal started his speech the right way as a Vietnam Era veteran. The problem is he let his need to be included in with the men he worked so hard for. I don't know if he can be forgiven but I really doubt that is the the most important thing to be asking now. I wonder if any of us can be forgiven by the real veterans after all we put them through? A word here, words there, they do matter but what matters most is them and how we treat them as much as it is about what we learned from all of them.

600 museums offer free admission to military

600 museums offer free admission to military

By Brett Zongker - The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday May 23, 2010 17:09:16 EDT

WASHINGTON — More than 600 museums nationwide are offering free admission to military families all summer in a new partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.

The list includes some of the nation’s premier art museums, including New York’s Museum of Modern Art and the Art Institute of Chicago, as well as science centers, children’s museums and other sites in all 50 states.

The program, called Blue Star Museums, is being announced Monday in San Diego, where 14 museums will participate. The offer for active duty military personnel and their families runs from Memorial Day through Labor Day.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/05/ap_museum_052310/

"No Veteran Left Behind" nice thought but untrue

While it is wonderful to think that "no veteran is left behind" in this country, it is far from true. Every day it seems funeral homes report long forgotten remains of veterans long gone and forgotten about by family and friends. Their ashes collect dust in storage. Some people have dedicated their lives to finding these forgotten heroes and make sure they have a proper military funeral.Homeless veteran given proper military funeral
There are more stories like this on this blog and they break your heart at the same time they make you feel thankful there are so many people out there trying to help in whatever way they can.

Then some end up finding their way into the hands of angels on earth trying to take care of them when they become homeless.
Vietnam Vet Andrew Elmer Wright found a home as a homeless vet
Pastor Joel Reif, of First United Church of Christ made sure that when Andrew died, he was not forgotten any more than he was forgotten in the last part of his life spent on church grounds surrounded by love of the members there.

We leave them behind when claims are not honored. We leave them behind when programs to help them do not begin because someone is waiting for someone else to do it. We leave them behind when we decide to not donate to any veteran's charity simply because there are too many of them, never once thinking that one less veteran will be helped because we didn't want to give a buck or two to all of them, even though we could afford it.

We leave them behind all the time but when we try, or should I say when some people try to make a difference, there are less veterans to leave behind. When you think they are less than 10% of the population of this country and less than 1% of Americans serve today, you'd also think we should be able to take care of all of them but first, you'd have to really care for all of them and stop waiting for someone else to do it. I see so much good happening across the country, like this report, but then I wonder, what about the other cities and towns doing nothing but thinking someone should do something.

No veteran left behind as volunteers flag gravesites

By Kendra Leigh Miller
Staff writer
Posted May 22, 2010 @ 09:44 PM
Last update May 23, 2010 @ 01:31 AM
Taunton — No veteran’s grave was left unmarked.

Volunteers came out by the droves to the Mayflower and St. Joseph’s cemeteries Saturday to make sure every veteran’s grave was marked with an American flag.

Marine veteran Don French, who served in World War II, is one of many who organizes the flag marking every year for the more than 60 cemeteries in the city of Taunton.

“Just like when we’re in battle, we don’t want to leave a buddy behind,” French said. “This is the same thing. Even after death, we don’t want to leave anyone behind.”
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Web portal Warrior Gateway helps digital-age vets

Web portal Warrior Gateway helps digital-age vets
By BARBARA ORTUTAY (AP) – 2 hours ago

NEW YORK — For young veterans returning from duty in Iraq or Afghanistan, the process of re-entering society can be daunting, especially if they have been injured or have struggled with mental health problems.

A new, free Web portal wants to help these warriors find the services they need in an environment they are comfortable in: the Internet.

Warrior Gateway is designed with Google Inc. and social media in mind to make its intended audience as comfortable as possible. Veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, generally in their mid-20s, grew up with e-mail, keep in touch using Facebook and are familiar with online communities that stretch across time zones.

"Our generation of vets exists within a social media landscape," said Tom Tarantino, a former Army Captain who now works as the legislative associate for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. "We couldn't navigate a city without Google Maps, without Yelp."

The site lets veterans, their families, friends and caretakers search for services based on an extensive range of categories, including geography, eligibility and even user ratings inspired by Yelp, a restaurant and shopping review site.
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Web portal Warrior Gateway helps digital age vets

60-Foot Wall In Lake County Will Honor Veterans

60-Foot Wall In Lake County Will Honor Veterans
Sunday, May 23, 2010 2:11:09 AM
Reported by Dave D'Marko

LEESBURG-- Following bagpipes, a Color Guard carried the flag of every foreign war involving U.S. soldiers.

In the crowd were veterans from almost every war of the past century, including World War II’s Tom Donahoe, who waited 65 years to see his service recognized.

"Nothing is ever easy and I'm sure it was brought up many times," Donohoe said.

"The governments don't seem to want to give money to build the monuments, so the veterans have to come up with the money,” said Don Van Beck, Executive Director of Veteran’s Memorial Committee. “The only time they want veterans is when there’s a war."
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60 Foot Wall In Lake County Will Honor Veterans

New rules for families of deceased soldiers

New rules for families of deceased soldiers

By Jim Tice - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday May 22, 2010 15:15:05 EDT

A recent change to Defense Department policy authorizes eligible relatives of deceased service members round-trip travel and transportation allowances to a memorial event that occurs at a location other than the burial site.

The policy change, directed by the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, took effect May 11, and will be included in an upcoming revision of Army Regulation 600-20 (Command Policy).

Army policy already requires commanders to conduct a unit memorial event for all deceased soldiers, to include those who commit suicide.

As part of the Army Family Covenant, commanders also are required to inform family members about any memorial event that is conducted by the unit in a combat theater.
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New rules for families of deceased soldiers

41st Fires Bde works on building ‘spiritual muscles’

41st Fires Bde works on building ‘spiritual muscles’
By Staff Sgt. Kyle J. Richardson, 41st Fires Bde. Public Affairs
May 20, 2010 News

As anyone in the military can attest, physical fitness is essential to good health and success in the Army. However, fitness isn’t just acquired; Soldiers must work hard to develop their bodies. The same effort is needed to develop a Soldier’s spiritual fitness.

The 41st Fires Brigade went the extra distance to ensure Soldiers within the brigade received the opportunity to work out their spiritual physique, according to Chap. (Capt.) James Ward, chaplain for 1st Battalion, 21st Field Artillery Regiment, 41st Fires Bde. His unit hosted a spiritual fitness luncheon for the Soldiers and command in the Grande Ball Room at Club Hood May 11.

“As the spirit goes up, we stay motivated, on-point, think more clearly; we’re just a better equipped team-oriented people when our spirits are right,” said Ward.
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http://www.forthoodsentinel.com/story.php?id=3878

Family lives in car to "keep house clean" for 8 years?

Miami parents, daughter lived in car outside house for eight years, police say

By Laura Morales and Jennifer Lebovich, The Miami Herald

9:12 p.m. EDT, May 21, 2010


For years, a Miami couple and their daughter have been sleeping, crammed together, in a small car parked in the front yard of their home, police say.

They used a hose to bathe outside and plastic containers for waste.

On Friday, Miami police charged Philipe Mathieu, 62, and Sherrine Mathieu, 42, with 863 counts of child neglect, and their 16-year-old daughter is in protective custody.

His wife, Philipe Mathieu told police, cleaned compulsively and wouldn't let her husband or family inside their home on the 6300 block of Northwest First Court. But police say the south unit of the duplex was nearly empty and very dirty.
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Miami parents daughter lived in car outside house