Where is Waldo

We can all remember searching for Waldo as he goes from one adventure to another.  He is a face in the crowd but in a way with his striped shirt, he does stand out just enough so eventually you'll find him.  We can spend a long time searching for him, past the point of just giving up before we do and trying to make sure we find him before someone else does.  It's a matter of pride.

We have men and women coming home from adventures most of us do not envy any more than we understand where they've been, what they've seen or what they had to do.  Unlike Waldo, they don't want to stand out in a crowd so they wear the same clothes everyone else does.  They don't want someone searching for them because they are searching for themselves.  They want to find the person they were before they left but so much changed during the deployment, that person is trapped behind a wall of pain.

Families find strangers living with them and they know something is wrong but they don't know what to do about it.  They get frustrated and some give up before the person they love is "found" again.  Others get angry and walk away.  Some will keep trying because they know "he" or "she" is in there somewhere.

For some families, it is too late to find "them" again.  They did all they could with what they knew how to do out of love but sometimes loves is just not good enough.  It would have taken an army to help "find" the person inside the veteran of combat but the army didn't show up.

This is about one of those families and about a veteran of combat no one is looking for now.

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Where is Waldo

Vietnam veteran captured more than history on film

Steve Robinson took pictures in Vietnam and is using them to help other veterans heal.

Newly revealed war photos help veteran open up
By LES COCKRELL Denton Record-Chronicle © 2010 The Associated Press
Dec. 5, 2010, 12:04AM
DENTON, Texas — Photographs of the Vietnam War that were locked away for more than 40 years are now helping other veterans unlock their own feelings about being under fire.

"It helps them to talk about their experiences," said Steve Robinson, who served as a combat photographer with the 7th Cavalry Regiment of the 1st Air Cavalry Division. "A lot of my photographs have brought out situations that they wouldn't talk about otherwise."

Robinson, who recently shared his photos while visiting Denton, understands why veterans are reluctant to talk about their experiences, and that is why about 1,500 personal photos he took during two years in Vietnam were hidden away for so long.

"I never talked about the war," he said. "I was trying to forget the war."

It was a show on History about Medal of Honor winners that helped change his mind, Robinson said. He remembered shooting photographs of a soldier who was later awarded the nation's highest military honor.

It was in June 1968 when Robinson focused his Pentax on Spc. Hector Santiago-Colon and other members of a nearby mortar crew. A short time later, Santiago-Colon threw himself on a grenade to save his fellow soldiers, an action that earned the Puerto Rico native the Medal of Honor.

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Newly revealed war photos help veteran open up

Even more deadly tragedy: Army suicides

Apparent suicide of soldier from Dayton reflects disturbing trend
By Mary McCarty, Staff Writer
Updated 1:11 AM Sunday, December 5, 2010
On Nov. 5, the Fort Hood Army post observed a solemn commemoration of the first anniversary of the shooting rampage that claimed 13 lives.

Exactly three weeks later, on Nov. 26, a 22-year-old Dayton soldier, Pfc. Bryant Evans, became part of a quieter but even more deadly tragedy: Army suicides.

Evans died from a gunshot wound at his home in Killeen, Texas, in the shadow of the sprawling base. The Army’s investigation is still ongoing, but Chris Haug, Fort Hood’s chief of media relations, said there was no sign of foul play. Even before Evans’ death, Fort Hood had suffered 21 suicides this year, a record number — and triple the seven suicides in 2003.

Friends and family members are shocked that this hard-working young man would take his own life only 10 months after marrying his childhood sweetheart, Ariel DelRio.

“You couldn’t have asked for a better child,” said his father, Michael Harrison. “He was very kind-hearted, very soft-spoken, and would do anything for anybody.”

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Apparent suicide of soldier from Dayton

Unknown soldier's grave has plenty of company with 7 more sets of remains

US investigates burial of eight in grave of 'unknown' soldier
The US army said on Friday it had launched a criminal investigation after it found eight sets of cremated remains in the grave of an "unknown" soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.

Three sets of the cremated remains have so far been identified, and cemetery officials are in the process of notifying the families, she said.

Investigators are still looking into four other sets of remains, and the eighth was reinterred because it could not be positively identified.

Ms Horst said the investigation was ongoing, and that the army and the cemetery "take these matters seriously."

Chris Grey, of the army's Criminal Investigation Command, said the burial did not appear to have been an accident.

"When there's eight sets of human remains in one grave, it's most likely not a mistake, so we have to look into whether there is any criminality involved," he told USA Today.

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US investigates burial of eight in grave

Veteran dies after VA said he already was

UPDATE
VA: Wife Gets Back Pay After Veteran's Death Confusion
Chelsi Zash
12/8/2010
Caswell County, NC -- A veteran's wife did receive back pay from her husband's benefits following confusion about his death while he was still alive.

Floyd Holmes died December 2, one day after he convinced Veterans Affairs he was alive.

Marie Holmes, Floyd's wife, contacted WFMY News 2 after she felt like she hit the end of the road in the battle to get her husband's disability payments returned.
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Wife Gets Back Pay



This is one more case of the power for good the media has. What the VA did was wrong, a simple mistake, but they did little to fix it. Then WFMY News got involved, his benefits were restored, but he passed away the day after. Wouldn't it have been great if simple mistakes could be fixed right away and veterans did not have to suffer for it?

Veteran Dies Day After Learning His Benefits Were Reinstated
Chelsi Zash
12/2/2010




Caswell County, NC -- A local veteran died Thursday morning, hours after getting his benefits reinstated by Veterans Affairs due to confusion that he was already dead.

Floyd Holmes' wife, Marie Holmes, called WFMY News 2 earlier this week when she felt like she hit the end of the road in the battle to get her husband's disability payments returned.

Marie said there was a confusion after Floyd Holmes' son died several months ago. The Social Security Administration though Floyd Holmes died. She said the couple straightened that out, but ever since, Floyd had not received his disability check from the VA.

Floyd's health problems started with colon cancer, which lead to the removal of his large intestines and then problems with his kidneys.

WFMY News 2's Justin Quesinberry reached out to the VA Tuesday, and on Wednesday morning, Marie said she received a call from a VA representative saying they were going to reinstate his check in the next five days.

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Veteran Dies Day After

Hardest road trip I've taken

Just to let all of you know for the next few days there will be very little posting done. I am driving my daughter back to Massachusetts from Florida. She is setting off on her new life now that she graduated from college (and I'm back in) and I am sad she is leaving us. I know she could have ended up anywhere in the country so I am glad she's going back to where we have family and she is loved.

I'm flying back home on Sunday but the house won't be the same for me and my husband. We'll have an empty nest after almost 23 years.

If your adult child has left the house and moved away, I'd love to hear from you and find out what helped you when it happened. I would also like to know if it included military deployment because as hard as this is on me, I bet it is harder on parents of the soldiers.

Wounded Afghanistan Veteran Arrested at Westboro Rally

Vet With Guns Arrested at Westboro Rally
December 01, 2010
Wichita Eagle, Kan.
Authorities arrested a wounded, decorated Army veteran after he followed members of a controversial Topeka church and he was found in a vehicle stocked with weapons outside Wichita City Hall on Tuesday, sources said.

In the man's vehicle, which was backed into a spot in the City Hall parking lot, investigators found items including a rifle, a handgun and more than 90 rounds of ammunition, said a source close to the investigation who asked not to be named.

By Tuesday evening, the man, in his 20s, was booked into the Sedgwick County, Kan., Jail on suspicion of stalking, false impersonation and driving with a revoked license, records showed.

Sheriff Bob Hinshaw declined to comment on any items in the man's vehicle but confirmed that sheriff's detectives arrested the man after a detective saw his vehicle following members of Westboro Baptist Church. The church protests at troops' funerals, claiming that war deaths are God's way of punishing the nation for immorality and for tolerance of abortion and homosexuality.

A church spokesman could not be reached Tuesday night.

Sources said the man arrested is a veteran who suffered severe wounds when an improvised bomb exploded in Afghanistan.
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Vet With Guns Arrested at Westboro Rally

Yes this Chaplain wears leather

Yes this Chaplain wears leather.




These pictures were taken with Semper Fidelis at the Orlando VA nursing home when they cooked a Thanksgiving meal for some of our heroes.

Maybe the next time you see a biker with a leather vest, you won't be so tempted to judge them.

I am proud of being a Chaplain and of my leather vest as the wife of a Nam Knight, because I am proud of them and all they do.

Veterans pen poems to cope with trauma

Veterans pen poems to cope with trauma

By Courtney Vaughn
Hi-Desert Star
Published: Wednesday, December 1, 2010 2:09 AM CST
LAUGHLIN, Nev. — When rival motorcycle gangs opened fire in a Laughlin casino in 2002 during an annual River Run event, Landers resident Mike Bower took cover under a black jack table. Suddenly, he was no longer in Nevada. He was at Firebase Spear in Vietnam. Bower is one of nearly 5.2 million Americans living with post-traumatic stress disorder, an anxiety disorder that is brought on by experiencing or witnessing a traumatic or life-threatening event.

According to the National Center for PTSD, experiences such as combat or military action, natural disasters, terrorist attacks, sexual assaults or serious accidents qualify as traumatic events.

The agency estimates that 6.8 percent of Americans will experience post-traumatic stress disorder at some point in their lives, with women being 2 1/2 times more likely than men to develop the disorder.

Those who suffer from chronic PTSD can experience symptoms that cause them to relive their trauma.

During the brawl at Harrah’s Casino, members of the Hell’s Angels and Mongols biker gangs exchanged gunfire in an open casino area, killing several people and injuring many more, including bystanders. Bower nearly suffered a heart attack as he trembled and sat catatonic under a gambling table.

Bower’s condition caused him to relive the terror of fighting in Vietnam when shots broke out in the casino. He remembers frantically searching for his weapon, a terrifying scenario he experienced in combat.
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Veterans pen poems to cope with trauma

Skype closes the gap between Iraq and home

Skype closes the gap between Iraq and home
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
NEIGHBOR NEWS (DENVILLE EDITION)
STAFF WRITER
First grader, Nicolas Miozzi and his mother, Meredith, along with his classmates, "skyped" with his father, Major Joseph Miozzi, who is stationed in Iraq. The Skype session took place at the Dennis O’Brien School in Rockaway Township on Nov. 23. Skype is a free Internet service that allows users to make calls with people all over the world.

The miles between Rockaway Township and Iraq, between a father and son, disappeared for a brief time as Major Joseph Miozzi appeared to his son Nicolas' first-grade class at Dennis B. O'Brien School via Skype.

Miozzi is with the Army Corps of Engineers and was deployed to Iraq on July 11 of this year, four days after the birth of his third child, Olivia. Daughter Ella is 2 years old.

In the nearly five months since leaving, Miozzi has missed a lot — his son's birthday, his first day of school, and first football game. With the Skype visit, Miozzi was able to do what most fathers take for granted, meet his son's teacher and classmates.
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Skype closes the gap between Iraq and homel