Thief Steals Veteran's Motorcycle
10 News Ohio
By Josh Poland
Friday August 1, 2014
COLUMBUS, Ohio - A motorcycle was one Central Ohio combat veteran's method of coping with his post-war stress.
Someone stole the bike and a community is now rallying around him.
Westerville-area resident James Martin served two overseas tours of duty with the U.S. Army. He was deployed to Iraq from 2009-2010 and to Afghanistan from 2011-2012.
He says his counselor suggested trying something new to cope with post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD.
"I figured I'd get a bike and see how that went, and it helped a lot," he said. "Being out on the road with the wind in your face, you can clear your mind. I thought a lot clearer."
Martin says he bought a 2013 Harley-Davidson Street Glide this past April.
"It was denim black, old-school look. I love the old school bikes and this did it," he said.
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Saturday, August 2, 2014
Three Tour Iraq Veteran, Critical Condition After Being Shot
UPDATE
Antioch: Community members raise funds for war vet shot near home
Antioch: Community members raise funds for war vet shot near home
IRAQ VET WHO SERVED THREE TOURS OF DUTY, SHOT IN ANTIOCH
ABC7 San Francisco
By Laura Anthony
Friday, August 01, 2014
ANTIOCH, Calif. (KGO) -- Brandon Del Fiorentino is in critical condition after being shot on Golf Course Road in Antioch early Friday morning. It's the fourth shooting in Antioch in 48 hours.
"It's horrible that that would happen to him here. that he would survive his tours of duty and then come here and get shot," said Dorothy Harden, a neighbor who lives across the street from him.
The Marine veteran and Purple Heart recipient was shot multiple times while walking near his Antioch home.
Del Fiorentino served three tours in Iraq as a scout sniper instructor. He received a purple heart after suffering a severe head injury from an IED explosion.
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Friday, August 1, 2014
Sequestration cuts put 550 Army Majors out of service
Army to Force out 550 Majors; Some in Afghanistan
Associated Press
By LOLITA C. BALDOR
WASHINGTON — Aug 1, 2014
The Army says it will soon notify 550 majors that they must leave the service by next spring as part of a budget-driven downsizing of the service.
Some of those soldiers will get the bad news while they are on the front lines in Afghanistan.
Gen. John Campbell says notifying troops on the warfront that they are out of a job is difficult. But he says some could join the National Guard or the Army Reserve.
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Associated Press
By LOLITA C. BALDOR
WASHINGTON — Aug 1, 2014
The Army says it will soon notify 550 majors that they must leave the service by next spring as part of a budget-driven downsizing of the service.
Some of those soldiers will get the bad news while they are on the front lines in Afghanistan.
Gen. John Campbell says notifying troops on the warfront that they are out of a job is difficult. But he says some could join the National Guard or the Army Reserve.
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Canadian soldiers waiting six months for help with PTSD
Soldiers with PTSD waiting up to 6 months for help
Documents obtained by CBC News show long delays for access to specialized military PTSD program
CBC News
Posted: Aug 01, 2014
The wait times are for access to a special operational stress and trauma treatment program at seven locations across the country.
Figures for 2013 obtained by CBC News show that, for example, Ottawa-based soldiers in need of a psychiatric appointment had to wait up to four months.
Getting into the specialized program took another three weeks.
In Halifax, soldiers waited almost six months in some cases for access to the program.
Reservist Kurt Grant told CBC News that those wait times can be dangerous.
"People have committed suicide during the wait periods. And people as a result of the wait periods have decided to change their minds," he said.
Grant, a longtime professional soldier who served with the Canadian Forces in Croatia, said it took years to realize he suffered from PTSD.
VIDEO | Post traumatic stress disorder: Is the Canadian military dealing with the issue?
ANALYSIS: Why Ottawa ignored the military's PTSD epidemic
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Documents obtained by CBC News show long delays for access to specialized military PTSD program
CBC News
Posted: Aug 01, 2014
For many soldiers, admitting they need help is the first, and hardest step, retired reservist Kurt Grant told CBC News.Canadian soldiers diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder have waited up to six months for assessments and treatment, CBC News has learned.
(Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP)
The wait times are for access to a special operational stress and trauma treatment program at seven locations across the country.
Figures for 2013 obtained by CBC News show that, for example, Ottawa-based soldiers in need of a psychiatric appointment had to wait up to four months.
Getting into the specialized program took another three weeks.
In Halifax, soldiers waited almost six months in some cases for access to the program.
Reservist Kurt Grant told CBC News that those wait times can be dangerous.
"People have committed suicide during the wait periods. And people as a result of the wait periods have decided to change their minds," he said.
Grant, a longtime professional soldier who served with the Canadian Forces in Croatia, said it took years to realize he suffered from PTSD.
VIDEO | Post traumatic stress disorder: Is the Canadian military dealing with the issue?
ANALYSIS: Why Ottawa ignored the military's PTSD epidemic
read more here
Veteran Marine and neighbor shock suspect after robbery
Marine, neighbor draw weapons on Lawrence Co. suspect
WAFF News
By Jack Madison
Posted: Jul 31, 2014
LAWRENCE COUNTY, AL (WAFF)
One of the two men who subdued an armed man wanted for several alleged crimes, is talking about what happened.
Lawrence County Sheriff's investigators said 24-year-old Ryan Denham robbed a woman at gunpoint, stealing her car and money. This came after they say he tied up his own grandparents and stole the gun he used.
Brian Peters, a Marine who is no longer on active duty, said he and neighbor Curtis Bonar heard the suspect was in the area, and that he had just tried to rob another victim at gunpoint. So the two decided they needed to protect their families.
Authorities had warned people in the neighborhood on County Road 556 to go inside their homes as they looked for Ryan Denham.
Peters said he and his neighbor, Curtis Bonar, came to his house and said he saw Denham, with a rifle, coming close to them. Denham was walking in the woods. Peters got his AR-15, Bonar had his pistol, as they hunkered down in Peters' backyard.
read more here
WAFF News
By Jack Madison
Posted: Jul 31, 2014
LAWRENCE COUNTY, AL (WAFF)
One of the two men who subdued an armed man wanted for several alleged crimes, is talking about what happened.
Lawrence County Sheriff's investigators said 24-year-old Ryan Denham robbed a woman at gunpoint, stealing her car and money. This came after they say he tied up his own grandparents and stole the gun he used.
Brian Peters, a Marine who is no longer on active duty, said he and neighbor Curtis Bonar heard the suspect was in the area, and that he had just tried to rob another victim at gunpoint. So the two decided they needed to protect their families.
Authorities had warned people in the neighborhood on County Road 556 to go inside their homes as they looked for Ryan Denham.
Peters said he and his neighbor, Curtis Bonar, came to his house and said he saw Denham, with a rifle, coming close to them. Denham was walking in the woods. Peters got his AR-15, Bonar had his pistol, as they hunkered down in Peters' backyard.
read more here
Gold Star Family Feels Betrayed by Marines After Green on Blue Attack
Marine Corps responds to Gold Star family's allegations of 'misleading, offensive' information
Marine Corps Times
By Hope Hodge Seck
Staff Writer
July 31, 2014
The Marine Corps responded in part to a 10-page letter from a Gold Star family that accused the Corps of misleading the public about events in the aftermath of their son’s death.
The family of Lance Cpl. Greg Buckley Jr. learned last week that the Afghan youth who killed their son and two other Marines in an insider attack in Afghanistan was sentenced by an Afghan court to seven years, six months in prison. The family’s attorney, Michael Bowe, fired off the strongly worded letter to Marine Corps commandant Gen. Jim Amos on Tuesday, demanding that the Marine Corps retract a statement on the sentencing of the killer, Ainuddin Khudairaham, and a timeline of communications allegedly made with families of the fallen.
Bowe called the release of the information a “publicity stunt,” saying the media received confirmation of Ainuddin’s sentencing before the families did. He also said the timeline failed to show how little information the families received about the case as it developed.
Marine officials are standing by the information, saying it was released to press outlets following inquiries about the Buckley case.
read more here
Marine Corps Times
By Hope Hodge Seck
Staff Writer
July 31, 2014
Lance Cpl. Greg Buckley Jr.'s father Greg, left, his mother Marina, third from left, and his two brother watch as his casket is carried into St. Agnes Cathedral for his funeral Mass on Aug. 18, 2012, in Rockville Centre, N.Y.
(Mary Altaffer / AP)
The Marine Corps responded in part to a 10-page letter from a Gold Star family that accused the Corps of misleading the public about events in the aftermath of their son’s death.
The family of Lance Cpl. Greg Buckley Jr. learned last week that the Afghan youth who killed their son and two other Marines in an insider attack in Afghanistan was sentenced by an Afghan court to seven years, six months in prison. The family’s attorney, Michael Bowe, fired off the strongly worded letter to Marine Corps commandant Gen. Jim Amos on Tuesday, demanding that the Marine Corps retract a statement on the sentencing of the killer, Ainuddin Khudairaham, and a timeline of communications allegedly made with families of the fallen.
Bowe called the release of the information a “publicity stunt,” saying the media received confirmation of Ainuddin’s sentencing before the families did. He also said the timeline failed to show how little information the families received about the case as it developed.
Marine officials are standing by the information, saying it was released to press outlets following inquiries about the Buckley case.
read more here
Rep. Bruce Braley missed 79% VA committee meetings
A claim about out raising funds for re-election instead of showing up at Veterans Affairs Committee meetings turned out to not be true, but the fact remains Braley missed 79% of the meetings. It is also true, but hardly ever reported, that most miss these meetings. CSPAN covers them. You can see the empty chairs in session after session. If you want to know why things have hit crisis levels over and over again, that is the biggest reason behind it. Politicians don't show up when veterans need them. Until reporters jump all over a story, they don't even bother to know what they are supposed to be in control of. Every veteran suffering, fighting for care they earned, can thank members of congress for their ambivalence.
Ad says Bruce Braley was raising money during a veterans affairs hearing
Tampa Bay Times
PolitiFact.com
July 25, 2014
A new ad from Concerned Veterans for America says Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, skipped 79 percent of veterans affairs committee hearings.
Attackers say U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, skipped an important Veterans Affairs Committee hearing to raise money for his campaign, but Braley says that’s not true.
Braley "skipped an astonishing 79 percent of veterans affairs committee hearings. He even skipped an important VA reform hearing to attend three fundraisers," says the television ad from Concerned Veterans for America, an advocacy group with funding linked to the Koch brothers.
Braley is running against Republican Joni Ernst for the U.S. Senate seat held by Tom Harkin, and veterans affairs are in the news because of delayed access to health care.
We looked at whether Braley skipped 79 percent of veterans affairs committee hearings. We rated that Mostly True, because Braley did miss close to that amount.
However, Braley said he did not skip a hearing to raise money, so we’re checking that claim here.
Our ruling
An ad said Braley "skipped an important VA reform hearing to attend three fundraisers."
He had three fundraisers the same day, but none overlapped with the veterans affairs committee hearing. He was counted as present at an oversight hearing about Fast and Furious that happened at the same time.
We rate this claim Mostly False.
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Winter Park Commissioners Support Veterans Clinic
Winter Park commissioners voice support for VA Medical Center at Lake Baldwin
Orlando Sentinel
Michael W. Freeman
Winter Park Forum Editor
July 31, 2014
WINTER PARK
The Winter Park City Commission has thrown its support behind efforts to save the Veterans Administration Medical Clinic at Baldwin Park, which initially seemed to be at risk of shutting down once the federal government completes construction of a new Veterans Medical Center in Lake Nona.
On Monday, commissioners approved a non-binding resolution making clear the city’s support for the continued use and management of the VA medical clinic at Lake Baldwin, which as Mayor Kenneth Bradley noted is considerably closer for veterans who live in Winter Park than a new clinic at Lake Nona will be.
“It directly impacts the veterans of Winter Park,” Bradley said. “Some of them have moved here because we are so close to that veterans center.”
A day later, Congressman John Mica, R-Winter Park, announced that he had received a letter from the U.S. Secretary for Veterans Affairs, Sloan Gibson, who announced that the Lake Baldwin VA Medical Clinic would remain open and would continue to serve local veterans.
The possible closing of the Lake Baldwin facility had been directly tied to the opening of the Veterans Administration Hospital at Lake Nona, which is opening in phases, with a likely completion date in 2015. A nursing facility there opened last December, followed by the domiciliary in February.
read more here
Orlando Sentinel
Michael W. Freeman
Winter Park Forum Editor
July 31, 2014
WINTER PARK
The Winter Park City Commission has thrown its support behind efforts to save the Veterans Administration Medical Clinic at Baldwin Park, which initially seemed to be at risk of shutting down once the federal government completes construction of a new Veterans Medical Center in Lake Nona.
On Monday, commissioners approved a non-binding resolution making clear the city’s support for the continued use and management of the VA medical clinic at Lake Baldwin, which as Mayor Kenneth Bradley noted is considerably closer for veterans who live in Winter Park than a new clinic at Lake Nona will be.
“It directly impacts the veterans of Winter Park,” Bradley said. “Some of them have moved here because we are so close to that veterans center.”
A day later, Congressman John Mica, R-Winter Park, announced that he had received a letter from the U.S. Secretary for Veterans Affairs, Sloan Gibson, who announced that the Lake Baldwin VA Medical Clinic would remain open and would continue to serve local veterans.
The possible closing of the Lake Baldwin facility had been directly tied to the opening of the Veterans Administration Hospital at Lake Nona, which is opening in phases, with a likely completion date in 2015. A nursing facility there opened last December, followed by the domiciliary in February.
read more here
Army Major brings Boy Scouts to Afghanistan
Army Major Creates Boy Scouts Troops for Children in Afghanistan
People Magazine
Cathy Free
July 31, 2014
Arriving in Afghanistan in 2010, U.S. Army Maj. Glenn Battschinger, homesick for his two Eagle Scout sons, knew right away how to make a difference.
"There were hundreds of children who swarmed myself and the other soldiers coming and going from the base," he tells PEOPLE. "The kids wanted attention and needed something to do."
Battschinger pictured them in uniforms, tying knots and carving wood, just like his sons, Gregory, 17, and Cedric, 15, did back home in Mays Landing, New Jersey.
One week later, after receiving the go-ahead from leaders of three villages surrounding the Finley-Shields Army Operating Base, Battschinger gathered 40 Afghan boys in an orange orchard outside the base for Qasabah Troop No. 1's first Boy Scout meeting.
After the kids were taught the Boy Scout pledge, Battschinger and several volunteers gave them each a 3-foot strand of parachute cord for knot-tying that doubled as a neckerchief.
"The boys were quick learners," recalls Battschinger, 52, a civil affairs team commander who conducted the meetings every Saturday on his own time.
read more here
People Magazine
Cathy Free
July 31, 2014
"There were hundreds of children who swarmed myself and the other soldiers coming and going from the base," he tells PEOPLE. "The kids wanted attention and needed something to do."
Battschinger pictured them in uniforms, tying knots and carving wood, just like his sons, Gregory, 17, and Cedric, 15, did back home in Mays Landing, New Jersey.
One week later, after receiving the go-ahead from leaders of three villages surrounding the Finley-Shields Army Operating Base, Battschinger gathered 40 Afghan boys in an orange orchard outside the base for Qasabah Troop No. 1's first Boy Scout meeting.
After the kids were taught the Boy Scout pledge, Battschinger and several volunteers gave them each a 3-foot strand of parachute cord for knot-tying that doubled as a neckerchief.
"The boys were quick learners," recalls Battschinger, 52, a civil affairs team commander who conducted the meetings every Saturday on his own time.
read more here
Family needs help, Afghanistan veteran drowned in lake
Ryan Tyndall drowned in Lake Allatoona leaving behind a wife, two children, and a third on the way
WXIA News
Kevin Rowson
July 31, 2014
SNELLVILLE, Ga -- Ryan Tyndall was a lot of things but mostly a good husband and father, according to his sister. But now his family is in need and Lisa Tyndall wants to make sure they get what they need.
Ryan took his wife Tina and two children, Chance, 5, and Alicia, 2, camping on Lake Allatoona last weekend. The Tyndalls were planning to give their family good news: Tina was pregnant with their third child. Their family only found out that news after Ryan drowned Sunday.
The doting father jumped into the lake when a float got away from his children. When he reached the float, about 75-yards from shore, something happened.
"They heard him yell 'help me'," his sister said. "One of the guys that was there looked and he jumped in and by the time he made it out there to him, they couldn't find him."
"I don't know if he just got tired and he got some water in his lungs or what happened, but he didn't make it," Lisa Tyndall said.
Ryan Tyndall, is a US Army veteran, who served in Afghanistan. His sister said he had a hard time finding jobs after he came home. "He was looking for work trying to take care of his family and he was having a hard time finding good jobs," she said. "Right before this happened it seemed like it was starting to fall in place."
She said Ryan was working for a landscaper and was given his own truck and was promoted to supervisor.
WXIA News
Kevin Rowson
July 31, 2014
Ryan took his wife Tina and two children, Chance, 5, and Alicia, 2, camping on Lake Allatoona last weekend. The Tyndalls were planning to give their family good news: Tina was pregnant with their third child. Their family only found out that news after Ryan drowned Sunday.
The doting father jumped into the lake when a float got away from his children. When he reached the float, about 75-yards from shore, something happened.
"They heard him yell 'help me'," his sister said. "One of the guys that was there looked and he jumped in and by the time he made it out there to him, they couldn't find him."
"I don't know if he just got tired and he got some water in his lungs or what happened, but he didn't make it," Lisa Tyndall said.
Ryan Tyndall, is a US Army veteran, who served in Afghanistan. His sister said he had a hard time finding jobs after he came home. "He was looking for work trying to take care of his family and he was having a hard time finding good jobs," she said. "Right before this happened it seemed like it was starting to fall in place."
She said Ryan was working for a landscaper and was given his own truck and was promoted to supervisor.
After living in hotels he and his family were looking for a home.
read more here
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