Thursday, July 21, 2016

Judge Ordered Commanding Officer of Idaho National Guard Out of Court?

Veteran asked to leave courtroom for wearing Army uniform
Idaho State Journal
By Debbie Bryce For the Journal
July 21, 2016

POCATELLO — Lt. Col. Fred Flynn, a disabled veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, was asked to leave a courtroom by a judge at the Bannock County Courthouse earlier this month because he was wearing his Army uniform.

Flynn retired from the Army in 1998 but was recalled after that to serve three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. He served for a total of 24 years, most recently as the commanding officer of the Army National Guard in Pocatello.

Flynn complied with the order to leave the courtroom, but he said he felt humiliated and disappointed that the judge would ask him to leave because he was wearing his Army uniform.

“I had to leave a courtroom that is based on the very Constitution that I served to protect,” Flynn said.

Sixth District Judge David C. Nye said he ordered that Flynn leave the courtroom during the jury trial of another military veteran because Nye felt Flynn’s uniform could influence the jury.
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Lake Nona VA DOM Hospital Fire

No injuries in Lake Nona VA building fire
Orlando Sentinel
Caitlin Doornbos
Staff Writer
July 20, 2016

The facility serves three types of veterans: the chronically homeless, severely mentally ill clients and those suffering from alcohol and drug abuse. Strickler said the facility heat-treats their incoming patients' luggage.
A fire struck the fourth floor of a domiciliary at the Orlando Veterans Affairs Medical Center inLake Nona Wednesday, according to the Orlando Fire Department, and residents are likely to be moved from the center to another yet-to-be opened facility at Lake Baldwin.

A fire struck the fourth floor of a domiciliary at the Orlando Veterans Affairs Medical Center inLake Nona Wednesday, according to the Orlando Fire Department, and residents are likely to be moved from the center to another yet-to-be opened facility at Lake Baldwin.

Just before 11:30 a.m., firefighters responded to a two-alarm fire at the residential facility at 13800 Veterans Way, according to the fire department. It is on the same campus as the newly opened VA hospital center, but is in a separate building.

Fire sprinkler alarms were activated in the fire that struck the patient intake processing area of the facility, VA medical center spokesman Mike Strickler and the OFD said.

Once firefighters arrived on the scene, they extinguished the flames by 11:40 a.m., according to the OFD. There were no injuries reported in the fire, Strickler said.
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Iraq Veteran, National Guardsman and Hawaii Congressman Passed Away

Congressman Mark Takai of Hawaii dies at 49
USA TODAY
Greg Toppo
July 20, 2016

Takai, a lieutenant colonel in the Hawaii National Guard and a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, was first elected to the House in 2014, after serving 20 years in the Hawaii State House.
Mark Takai, right, U.S. Representative elect for Hawaii's 1st Congressional District, addresses and thanks his supporters as his children Kaila, bottom left, Matthew, top left, and his wife Sami, center look on. Takai died Wednesday at 49.
(AP Photo/Eugene Tanner)
U.S. Rep. Mark Takai, a first-term congressman from Hawaii who represented an area near Pearl Harbor for two decades in the Hawaii State House of Representatives, died Wednesday.

He was 49 and had sought treatment for pancreatic cancer last fall.

Takai's death comes less than a year and a half after he rose to his congressional seat — and nine months after he announced that he had been diagnosed with cancer.

His congressional office in Honolulu confirmed that he died at home, “surrounded by family.”

He is survived by his wife, Sami Takai, and two children, Matthew and Kaila.
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Man Held 81 Navy Veteran 4 Years For Checks!

UPDATE
WATCH: Video of Navy Veteran Allegedly Held Captive at Motel for 4 Years that Led Cops to Rescue Him
PEOPLE
BY HARRIET SOKMENSUER
07/22/2016

New details are emerging in the case of an 81-year-old Korean War veteran with dementia allegedly held hostage in a Highland Falls, New York, motel room for four years by a man stealing his pension and Social Security checks.

In video filmed by witness Natasha Blanc, a man police have identified as Perry Coniglio, 43, can be seen berating and forcing Navy veteran David McClellan back into a room at the U.S. Academy Motel, near West Point. Police arrested Coniglio on Tuesday, charging him with grand larceny, unlawful imprisonment and other offenses.

Coniglio is being held at Orange County jail on $15,000 bail and is expected to appear in court on July 25, ABC 7 reports. He automatically had a not guilty plea entered for him, police say. Calls to the Legal Aid Society of Orange County were not returned Thursday or immediately Friday.

"I'm really grateful that [police] took action because otherwise, no one would have," Blanc tells PEOPLE. "He would have died here."
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Navy Vet Held Captive in NY Motel Room for Years: Police
NBC News 4 New York

U.S. Navy veteran David McClellan was taken to the hospital and is in the care of adult protective services
A New York man held an 81-year-old Navy veteran captive for four years, starving and beating him, in order to steal his pension checks for drugs, authorities say.

Perry Coniglio, 43, was arrested in Orange County Wednesday on multiple charges, including unlawful imprisonment, endangerment of an incompetent person, grand larceny and criminal possession of a weapon.

Highland Falls police said Coniglio, a motel handyman, held former U.S. Navy veteran David McClellan captive for four years at the U.S. Academy Motel, near West Point.

Police said they had gotten complaints for years that Coniglio, who was posing as the victim's caretaker, was verbally abusing the elderly man. But when video surfaced that it turned more physical, they raided the motel Tuesday night.
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Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Vietnam Veteran Puts Uniform Back on to Protest in Ohio

The story about the decorated veteran standing outside GOP Convention
RNC Profiles
Posted by Cleveland 19 Digital Team
July 19th 2016

CLEVELAND, OH (WOIO)

Vietnam War veteran Lou Pumphrey can’t shake the death of a fallen comrade nearly 50 years ago. (Source: WOIO)

The pins on his uniform, which he wears in full despite the 80-degree heat, catch the eyes of delegates and media as he stands in the crowd with an American flag mounted on his shoulder -- a white peace sign replaces the stars against the blue.

Pumphrey showed up outside of Quicken Loans Arena hoping to attract attention -- and he has.

The Cleveland native is critical of both major party candidates, but bore the weight of the nation’s flag to highlight what he says is Donald Trump’s contradictory perspective on war. The Republican candidate deferred deployment to Vietnam on four occasions before a medical disqualification, a luxury for veterans like Pumphrey who resent the candidate’s eagerness to lead the country into war despite his personal attempts to avoid it.

“The guy is such a fraud,” Pumphrey said. “I’m afraid of Donald Trump becoming president.”
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UK: Soldier Left For Dead By Hit and Run Driver, Caught on Film

Soldier ‘left for dead’ after being hit by overtaking car 
METRO UK 
Richard Hartley-Parkinson 
20 Jul 2016
‘It’s disgusting that the driver wouldn’t even stop to check on me. For all they know, I could be dead right now." Patrick Casey,
A soldier had a lucky escape when he was hit by a car while trying to overtake two cars. Patrick Casey, 24, pulled out to pass the vehicles but the car in front of him moved out at the same time. He was then hit by the Volkswagen Passat while riding at 60mph sending him flying onto the road in Howden, East Yorkshire.

Incredibly he walked away with just whiplash and bruising but the car driver carried on. Mr Casey, who had just returned from a tour of Kenya, was being followed by his father Shaun who filmed the incident while on their way to a charity ride.
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Kansas National Guardsman--Police Officer Killed in Drive-By

Kansas City Police Officer Killed After Drive-By Shooting
NBC News
Erik Ortiz
July 20, 2016

A police officer in Kansas City, Kansas, was killed Tuesday afternoon after pursuing suspects wanted in a drive-by shooting, authorities said.

Kansas City, Kansas, police captain Robert David Melton has died following a shooting, July 19. KSHB
Kansas City, Kansas, police Capt. Robert Melton was pronounced dead at the hospital. Police said two people are in custody and they are not looking for any other suspects, NBC affiliate KSHB reported.

"There's a lot of pain and brokenness in our community and nation right now," Kansas City Mayor Mark Holland said at a news conference, pleading with residents to "not go down a path" of fear and hatred.

Melton's death is the latest to rock the law enforcement community in the city of 467,000 people after KCK Police Detective Brad Lancaster was killed in May.

Melton, 46, was a 17-year law enforcement veteran, served in the Kansas National Guard and was known for consistently wearing a bullet-proof vest — something he regularly reminded his colleagues to do as well, officials said.

Police Chief Terry Zeigler said details of Melton's shooting would be made public at a news conference Wednesday morning.

The fatal chain of events began when a person called 911 at around 1:30 p.m. CT (2:30 p.m. ET) to say multiple people were firing at them from a car, reported NBC affiliate KSHB.
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Infant Left in Car After Parents Murder-Suicide Deaths

Baby found in car after parents' murder-suicide, Virginia police say
FOX News
July 19, 2016

Virginia police said they found a baby Saturday unhurt in the backseat of a car where the infant's parents died in an apparent murder-suicide.

The Accomack County Sheriff's Office reported in a news release that deputies found 20-year-old Elizabeth Madison Ann Jensen of Sanford and 27-year-old Jonan Fabricio Gonzales-Funes of Bloxom both dead from apparent gunshot wounds inside a vehicle on Saturday morning.

Authorities said Gonzales-Funes was a correctional officer who worked for the sheriff's office since September 2015. He reportedly had served as a Marine.
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Airmen From Florida Died in Southwest Asia

Pentagon identifies airman who died in Southwest Asia
Air Force Times
Oriana Pawlyk
July 19, 2016

The Defense Department on Tuesday identified an airman who died while supporting Operation Inherent Resolve, the U.S.-led operation against the Islamic State group, in the Central Command theater.

1st Lt. Anais A. Tobar, 25, died July 18 of non-combat related injuries in Southwest Asia, the Defense Department said in a release. The cause of death has not been released. The Defense Department did not specify where the incident occurred.

Tobar, a Miami, Florida native, was assigned to the 4th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina.
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PTSD Efforts Being Turned Back By Sterotypes

Police Shootings Touch Nerve Among Military Veterans
ASSOCIATED PRESS
By JULIE WATSON
SAN DIEGO
Jul 20, 2016

Many veterans fear the service records of the gunmen will feed a false perception that combat veterans are volatile and violent, turning back years of efforts to change such stereotypes.
FILE - In this Sunday, July 17, 2016 file photo, Baton Rouge Police investigate the scene in Baton Rouge, La., where several law enforcement officers were killed and wounded. Back-to-back attacks on police in Texas and Louisiana by former military men have touched a nerve among veterans who traditionally share a close bond with law enforcement. Veterans and active-duty troops started posting messages on social media almost immediately after the news broke this weekend that a masked ex-Marine had ambushed law enforcement along a busy highway, killing three officers - including a fellow former Marine. (Scott Clause/The Daily Advertiser via AP, File)
Back-to-back attacks on police in Texas and Louisiana by former military men have touched a nerve among veterans who traditionally share a close bond with law enforcement.

Veterans and active-duty troops started posting messages on social media almost immediately after the news broke last weekend that a masked ex-Marine had ambushed law enforcement along a busy highway, killing three officers — including a fellow former Marine.

Seeing one Marine kill another Marine after both had returned home safely from the battlefield in Iraq has been especially painful for the military's smallest branch, which considers service life-long membership among a force whose official motto is: "Semper Fidelis," or "Always Faithful."

"In the Marine community, we don't believe in 'ex-Marines'. However that is not the case when one decides to break the moral and ethical values we hold dear. The ex-Marine that opened fire on officers is everything we swear to protect our Nation from," Marine Cpl. Eric Trichel wrote on a Facebook page with about 25,000 mostly Marine members.

In an email to The Associated Press, he emphasized he was not speaking on behalf of the Marine Corps.
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Vietnam Veteran Called To Report A Suicide, His Own

Troubled Nogal man calls in his own fatal shooting
Ruidoso News
Dave Tomlin
July 19, 2016

“There is a suicide,” he told the dispatcher who took his last call. The dispatcher reported that “when asked where and who, he advised his address and that it would be him in about five minutes.”
A deeply troubled Nogal man made a chilling call to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office early this month in which he told a dispatcher he was going to shoot himself, then hung up and pulled the trigger before deputies could reach him.

Owen D. Blackman, 63, had been struggling with severe medical problems and overuse of pain medications in the weeks leading up to July 1, when he was found outside his home at the wheel of his parked truck with a single gunshot wound in his chest.

“He was a delightful person until he got sick,” said his grief-stricken wife, Judy Blackman, in a telephone interview Tuesday. “Fine and full of laughter and joy. He loved to fish, he loved to hunt. He was a sweetheart.”

But Blackman told the sheriff’s dispatcher on July 1 that he was in severe pain and wanted to make it stop.

“He then advised me he was going to hang up now so I don’t hear the shot,” the dispatcher wrote in her log report of the call.

Judy Blackman said her husband, a military veteran and retired U.S. Postal Service worker, was suffering from lingering medical issues that arose from injuries he suffered in Vietnam.
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Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Medal of Honor to Ret. Lt. Col. Charles Kettles Vietnam Veteran

Obama presents Vietnam veteran Charles Kettles with Medal of Honor
CBS News
Jul 18, 2016

WASHINGTON -- Nearly five decades after helping rescue dozens of American soldiers pinned down by enemy fire, a Vietnam War veteran is receiving the nation's highest military honor for valor.

President Barack Obama awarded the Medal of Honor to retired Lt. Col. Charles Kettles of Ypsilanti, Michigan during a ceremony Monday at the White House.

Kettles led helicopter flights carrying reinforcements to U.S. soldiers and evacuated the wounded after they were ambushed in combat operations near Duc Pho in May 1967.

Kettles repeatedly returned to a landing zone under heavy fire. He is credited with helping to save 40 soldiers and four members of his unit.
During the final evacuation effort, he was advised that eight soldiers had been unable to reach the helicopters, so he returned without benefit of artillery or tactical aircraft support.
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President Obama Presents the Medal of Honor Published on Jul 18, 2016

In a ceremony at the White House, President Obama presents Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.) Charles Kettles, U.S. Army, the Medal of Honor for conspicuous gallantry.

Fake Service Dogs Now Illegal In Virginia

Falsely Claiming to Have a Service Dog Is Now Illegal in Virginia
NBC News
By Mitchell McCluskey


Anyone who falsely claims their dog is a service dog now can be fined in Virginia.

Marty van Duyne's service dog, Sergeant III, dressed for a baseball game.
A law that went into effect July 1 makes it illegal to fit a dog with a harness or other signage "commonly used by a person with a disability" in order to represent the animal as a service dog.

Anyone found in violation of the law can be fined $250.

The legislation was inspired by Marty van Duyne, a Virginia woman who uses a service dog.

Van Duyne said she attended an event in 2015 at which she was asked to bring the red vest of her previous service dog, who had recently died.

At the event, someone asked if she would lend them the dog's vest. When she asked what the person's disability was, they told her that they had none.

"I was flabbergasted that someone would ask me to do that," van Duyne said. "You don't ask someone to borrow crutches to pretend to be hurt. You don't do that."
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Monday, July 18, 2016

72 Year Old Army Veteran Guarded Sheriff's Deputy

Army veteran’s selfless act stuns Florida sheriff’s deputy
BY TRIBUNE MEDIA WIRE
POSTED 9:06 AM, JULY 18, 2016,

LAKE COUNTY, Fla. — A Florida sheriff’s deputy was shocked by the selfless act of an Army veteran while he pumped gas on July 10th.

Lake County sheriff’s deputy David Causey had stopped to refuel his department SUV when he noticed an elderly man standing nearby, acting suspiciously, Fox 35 reports.

“I noticed this gentleman show up out of nowhere, standing behind my patrol car scanning the area (apparently better than I had been),” he posted on Facebook.

That man was Casey DeLoach, a 73-year-old Army veteran.

DeLoach remained until Causey had finished filling up his vehicle, when he said, “Thank you sir for what you do. I have your back.”

He then walked to his car on the other side of the parking lot and drove away without ever giving Causey his name.
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Sunday, July 17, 2016

When Groups Join Forces, Love Happens

Semper Fidelis America and VFW Post 4287 joined forces once again for a fundraiser. Kevin "Gonzo" Gonzalez is a member of both groups. 

As always, they made my "job" way too much fun as you can see in the pictures and video. 

Thank you to everyone who came out. Over $5,000 was raised!





































And yes, they locked me up too,,,,,Gunny supplied these.
 I tried to pull "But I'm a Chaplain" card but that didn't work.
 Then I tried "but I have to be with the camera" but that didn't work.
 I had to bail myself out or I'd still be there.
These were taken by my buddy Gunny