Vietnam Veteran Remembers "A Few Good Angels"

Death called more than a dozen times, but this soldier didn’t answer
WPRI 12 News
By Walt Buteau
Published: October 21, 2016

“I was 19 years old. I don’t believe a ring or a set of rosary beads are going to save my life. But my life was saved at least 12 times in Vietnam and twice at Camp Lejeune.” Michael Montigny

COVENTRY, R.I. (WPRI) — Even the author of “A Few Good Angels” didn’t initially believe the luck connected to how he survived more than a dozen brushes with death.

As the Vietnam War was erupting in 1966, Michael Montigny was a teenager in West Warwick, into baseball and hot rods.

But he would soon be in a Marine boot camp, face to face with a gunnery sergeant who let him know how dangerous it was to be the trigger behind a machine gun.

“He was right in my face,” Montigny recalled. “He says life expectancy of a machine gunner is 15 minutes, and I couldn’t swallow. I said, Oh my god.”

Before he found out just how accurate the sergeant was, Montigny was picked out of a crowd of Marines heading into Vietnam by a Marine who was going home.

“He fights his way through 200 of us, comes up to me and takes the ring off his finger,” Montigny said. “He puts it right in my face and says here. This brought me luck and protected me. It’s going to protect you.”
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Survivors of Beirut Bombing Remember Marines Lost

33 years after Beirut bombing, a survivor remembers
WNCT News 9
By Elizabeth Tew
Published: October 21, 2016

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (WNCT) – The 33rd anniversary of the 1983 Beirut bomb blast is this weekend and in Camp Lejeune it’s a date that hits close to home. Many of the bombing victims were deployed from Lejeune, including retired Marine Dan Joy, who survived the harrowing experience.

“We were sent to Lebanon as peacekeepers to assist the United Nations forces,” Joy said. “We became enemy combatants because different factions thought we were taking sides.”

Joy was a member of the 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment. Early on October 23, 1983, the battalion’s headquarters building was bombed.

“They built car bombs and drove one into our headquarters,” Joy said. “There was rubble and remains of our Marines and soldiers. Marines were just lifting concrete and using crow bars and trying to get to the voices.”

On Sunday, an observance will be held here at the Beirut Memorial in Jacksonville to those men.
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Neighborhood Parade Welcomes Home Army Surgeon

Md. family welcomes hero dad home from Afghanistan with neighborhood parade
FOX 5 News
Anjali Hemphill
October 21, 2016

BETHESDA, Md. - A Maryland hero was welcomed home from deployment in Afghanistan in style Friday night-- by his entire neighborhood. Army Lieutenant Col. Benjamin Potter, an orthopedic surgeon from Bethesda, has spent the last four months caring for injured service members and Afghan allies.

Lt. Col. Potter had a block party waiting for him to help him celebrate his return—and of course, a very happy family. The neighborhood scooter brigade parade is actually a tradition for the Potter family, one that pumps up the whole neighborhood.
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National Guard Soldiers Forced to Repay Bonus Money?

Thousands of California soldiers forced to repay enlistment bonuses a decade after going to war
Washington Post
David S. Cloud
October 22, 2016

They’ll get their money, but I want those years back.

— Susan Haley, former Army master sergeant

Soldiers from the California Army National Guard have been ordered to return enlistment bonuses they received a decade ago when the Pentagon needed troops for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. (California Army National Guard)

Short of troops to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan a decade ago, the California National Guard enticed thousands of soldiers with bonuses of $15,000 or more to reenlist and go to war.

Now the Pentagon is demanding the money back.

Nearly 10,000 soldiers, many of whom served multiple combat tours, have been ordered to repay large enlistment bonuses — and slapped with interest charges, wage garnishments and tax liens if they refuse — after audits revealed widespread overpayments by the California Guard at the height of the wars last decade.

Investigations have determined that lack of oversight allowed for widespread fraud and mismanagement by California Guard officials under pressure to meet enlistment targets.

The National Guard Bureau, the Pentagon agency that oversees state Guard organizations, has acknowledged that bonus overpayments occurred in every state at the height of the two wars.
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Flesh Eating Bacteria Took Three Limbs But Not Marine's Spirit

Veteran who lost 3 limbs to flesh-eating bacteria trains to become Crossfit warrior
Associated Press
BY LISA MARIE PANE
October 19, 2016

“I’m here for my kids, my husband and I want them to see I can still do things with them.”

DACULA, GA. A year ago, Cindy Martinez was struggling to walk even just a few feet and lift just five pounds.

A flesh-eating bacteria had ravaged the 35-year-old Marine veteran’s body. She had a grim choice: Amputate both legs, an arm below the elbow, and parts of the fingers on her remaining arm – or face almost-certain death.

The amputations saved her life. And after months of hospitalizations and rehabilitation, she finally found herself back home but alone during the day while her young children were in school and her husband was off at work.

“It kind of takes a toll on you mentally, just sitting there after all that I had gone through,” she said.

In the stillness of her home, she fired off an email to a local gym and asked about joining. When they called back later that night, “I told the lady on the phone, ‘well, there’s a twist to my story.’ ”

She soon found herself sitting in a circle surrounded by trainers at Crossfit Goat – with the motto Be Your Greatest of All Time – in Dacula, about 45 miles northeast of Atlanta. She told them her story and began in February to embark on an unusual quest: becoming a Crossfit athlete. Crossfit gyms are known for high-intensity strength and cardio workout, and their members often consider their “box” to be like a family as they bond over workouts-of-the-day that test their strength and resolve.
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Vietnam Veteran Determined to Give His All to Prevent Suicides

'Give my all': A veteran's struggle and his fight against all military suicide
STARS AND STRIPES
By NIKKI WENTLING
Published: October 21, 2016

“I’ve been homeless; I’ve been hungry; I’ve used drugs. I’m surprised I’m even still here,” Towery said. “It’s all part of the makeup of who I am as a person now, and I’m the kind of person who doesn’t cut and run when a responsibility is there.”

Navy veteran Glenn Towery, 64, served in the Vietnam War from 1971 to 1972 on the USS Rupertus before he was medically evacuated. Towery has faced homelessness and drug use, and he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder in 2008. He recently started a nonprofit in an attempt to prevent servicemember and veteran suicide. Courtesy of Glenn Towery

A crumpled-up brown paper bag has a permanent place at the bottom of Glenn Towery’s briefcase.

It’s a reminder of a difficult but “remarkable” odyssey, Towery said, that started after his return from the Vietnam War in 1972.

Towery, feeling dizzy, sought help at a Department of Veterans Affairs emergency room in 1975, and a doctor handed him a paper bag to breathe into.

“He said, ‘Mr. Towery, are you aware that you have been hyperventilating?’” Towery, now 64, told Stars and Stripes in a recent interview. “I started understanding. That was the first indication that something was wrong.”

In the decades since, he became homeless and worked his way off the streets. Developed a crack cocaine addiction and walked away from it. Tried and failed at college, but tried again and earned a degree.

With help, Towery has worked through a series of hardships, including disability and bouts of PTSD. Now, he’s trying to assist veterans who are considering suicide — something he knows firsthand.


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Vietnam Veteran Searching for Owner of Hard Drive from Iraq

A military mystery found on a hard drive in Lynnwood
Q13 FOx
BY JAMIE TOMPKINS
OCTOBER 19, 2016

LYNNWOOD, Wash. — It’s about 400 megabytes of a soldier’s memories captured on a hard drive.

George Williams says a friend found the beat-up hard drive and traded it to him for a few cigarettes.

“There were pictures of them in camp, pictures of the war, pictures of some cities around there and there were also family pictures. I don’t know if it’s fate. Maybe it was because if it was in somebody else’s hands, they would have wiped everything out and forgotten it,” says Williams.
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Fort Campbell Soldier Killed in Tennessee

Sheriff: Disoriented soldier killed in Tennessee after walking into road
WKRN
Published: October 19, 2016

PLEASANT VIEW, Tenn. (WKRN) – A young soldier based out of Fort Campbell was killed after he was hit on a Pleasant View highway early Saturday morning.

Investigators say the accident happened around 4 a.m. when Austin McGrough walked into the middle of Highway 41A and was hit by a BMW driven by an 18-year-old girl.

Cheatham County Detective Jeff Landis said the young driver had no way to avoid the collision.

According to Det. Landis, McGrough had been snorting Percocet and drinking grain alcohol after having his wisdom teeth removed a few days prior.

He and four other soldiers reportedly left Fort Campbell on Friday and were staying at a home on Highway 41A.
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US Navy Jet Turned Pink?

Pretty in pink: Navy fighter jet painted for Breast Cancer Awareness month
CNN
By Doug Criss and Thom Patterson
October 18, 2016

(CNN)The fight against breast cancer picked up a powerful new ally -- a retired US Navy fighter jet. And of course, it's pink.

A Grumman F9F-8 Cougar, painted a vivid shade of pink called "Heliconia," has been unveiled on the flight deck of the World War II aircraft carrier USS Lexington, anchored at Corpus Christi, Texas.

In support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the Cougar will be on the deck through October 31.
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Peterson Air Force Base Released Contaminated Water

U.S. Air Force: Toxic chemicals released into Colorado city's sewer system
CBS News
October 19, 2016

The Air Force said the tainted water was released from a storage tank sometime in the past week, but the cause of the leak was still under investigation. It was discovered during a routine inspection of the tank on Oct. 12.

DENVER -- An Air Force base in Colorado said Tuesday it accidentally released about 150,000 gallons of water containing toxic chemicals into the sewer system of the adjacent city of Colorado Springs, but the potential health hazards weren’t immediately known.

Peterson Air Force Base said the water contained perfluorinated compounds or PFCs, which have been linked to prostate, kidney and testicular cancer, along with other illnesses. The Air Force hasn’t said how high the levels were.

The chemicals didn’t get into the city’s drinking water, said Steve Berry, a spokesman for Colorado Springs Utilities.

CBS Colorado Springs affiliate KKTV reports that releasing the water isn’t an easy task.
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Gulf War Veteran Woke Up From Coma After Final Prayer

Veteran awakens from coma during final prayer; family now faces mountain of red tape to bring him home
WHNT News
BY DAVID KUMBROCH
OCTOBER 17, 2016

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – A Gulf War veteran’s family had to make a difficult choice recently, and only a miracle could change their tragic course.

Gulf War veteran Frank Bedwell was in a coma. With the pressure of a brain bleed pressing against them, his family came to a conclusion.

“My kids and myself, we all knew what he would want for himself. We knew that he didn’t want to live on machines for the rest of his life,” said Amy Bedwell, Frank’s wife.

They decided to turn off the machines at six o’clock.

“Fifteen minutes before it was time to pull the plug, I sent everybody out except for my kids,” Amy recalled.

“We called my dad. We prayed for him. And he woke up.”
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Sheriff and Daughter Share Heartbreak to Help Others With PTSD

Boone County Sheriff shares important personal message about PTSD
WTHR 13 News
October 19, 2016

"Taylor wanted us to share her story to save other lives," Mike Nielsen wrote. "Taylor feels very strongly that this is the beginning of a path that God has laid for her to help others with PTSD. This will be the beginning of our advocacy with her."

BOONE COUNTY, Ind. (WTHR) - The Boone County Sheriff is expressing an important message about Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and its effect on law enforcement.

Sheriff Mike Nielsen wrote in a post on Facebook Tuesday night that his daughter, Lebanon Police Officer Taylor Nielsen, almost lost her life to PTSD, caused by the February murder of a Zionsville mother and her young son.

"I always thought giving my life would be the ultimate sacrifice on my job," Mike Nieslen wrote. "I never imagined my decision that day to send my daughter into the autopsy of a young child to document the evidence would have triggered what was almost truly the ultimate sacrifice of my career – my daughter.

"I am a broken man.

"We will heal from this with God's grace, prayer and the right treatment."

He wrote that PTSD is not talked about in law enforcement.

"We have lost many lives to a disorder that is treatable and more common than we want to believe," Mike Nielsen said. "Police officers don’t want to admit that a call has affected them emotionally. Police officers feel that showing emotion is a sign of weakness."

He said that loved ones "need to do a better job at identifying the signs that our loved ones are displaying from the disorder."

He said Taylor's employer did not provide her with the proper treatment after the incident.
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It Doesn't Matter Unless Veterans Really Matter

Why It Matters written by Matthew Daily of Associated Press had this part that is very important.

THE ISSUE: There are an estimated 21.6 million veterans in the United States. Among them, nearly 9 million are enrolled in health care provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs. About 4.3 million veterans get disability compensation from the VA and nearly 900,000 have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

A 2014 law signed by President Barack Obama aimed to alleviate delays many veterans faced in getting treatment at VA hospitals and clinics and end the widespread practice of fake wait lists that covered up long waits for veterans seeking health care. Two years later, many of the problems remain.

But the problem is, none of this is new and since we live with it every day, every year, we know the struggles do not belong to who sits in the Oval Office. Every issue veterans and families face belong to Congress. The President sets, or is supposed to set, the direction the country needs to go in. The Congress has the obligation to fulfill their end of the deal, but they don't.

Congress has had since 1946 to find a way to take care of veterans. Think about that for a second. Then add in the simple fact that no wound is new. They declared two wars when there was already a line of older veterans waiting to be cared for in return for what their service did to them. Congress did not come close to honoring those they sent.

Want proof? Ok, here is what the House Veterans Affairs Committee had been in charge of since 1946.

House Veterans Affairs Committee
History And Jurisdiction
The Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives was authorized by enactment of Public Law 601, 79th Congress, which was entitled "Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946." Section 121(a) of this Act provides: "there shall be elected by the House at the commencement of each Congress the following standing committees": Nineteen Committees are listed and No. 18 quotes: "Committee on Veterans' Affairs, to consist of 27 Members." This Act has since been amended so that there are now 22 Standing Committees in the House of Representatives. The number of Members (Representatives) authorized to serve on each Committee has been changed from time to time. There are currently 29 members of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

The Committee on Veterans' Affairs is the authorizing Committee for the Department of Veterans Affairs. The Committee recommends legislation expanding, curtailing, or fine-tuning existing laws relating to veterans' benefits. The Committee also has oversight responsibility, which means monitoring and evaluating the operations of the VA. If the Committee finds the that VA is not administering laws as Congress intended, then it is "corrected" through the hearing process and legislation. We are the voice of Congress for veterans in dealings with the VA.

Legislation Within the Jurisdiction of the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
Veterans' measures generally.
Pensions of all the wars of the U.S., general and special.
Life insurance issued by the government on account of service in the Armed Forces.
Compensation, vocational rehabilitation, and education of veterans.
Veterans' hospitals, medical care, and treatment of veterans.
Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief.
Readjustment of servicemen to civilian life.
National Cemeteries
Complete Jurisdiction of the Committee

The Department of Veterans Affairs
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) was established March 15, 1989, with Cabinet rank, succeeding the Veterans Administration and assuming responsibility for providing federal benefits to veterans and their dependents. Led by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, VA is the second largest of the 14 Cabinet departments and operates nationwide programs of health care assistance services and national cemeteries.

Care for veterans and dependents spans centuries. The last dependent of a Revolutionary War veteran died in 1911, the War of 1812's last dependent died 44 years ago, the Spanish American War's, in 1962. There are widows and children of Civil War and Indian War veterans who still draw VA benefits. Some 2,190 children and widows of Spanish-American War veterans are receiving VA compensation or pension benefits. The last American Doughboy, Corporal Frank Buckles, passed away on February 27, 2011. His passing signified the passing of the last of the World War I veterans.

As long as we are avoiding the fact that members of Congress have ditched their duty, it really doesn't matter who ends up in the chair. Veterans will continue to be failed by the same people who created their wounds in the first place. It has been going on for decades. Look up the voting record of the people you sent to do their jobs in Washington and then ask them why they didn't take care of those who went to war to do their jobs.

When you're done with that, ask them how much more money they plan on spending while veterans keep committing suicide after they survived those wars and came home to the mess Congress created. The reported number is the same as it was back in 1999 but there are about 5 million less veterans now.

Marine Veteran Killed As Contractor, GoFundMe Account Used By Selfish "Friend"

After their dad died, a family friend set up a GoFundMe account to help. Then she raided it.
Washington Post
By Cleve R. Wootson Jr.
October 17, 2016

Holder pleaded guilty on Wednesday to felony theft by conversion. She will spend two years in prison and eight on probation.

This cached photo shows Barry Sutton’s daughters as they appeared on a GoFundMe site made by a woman who bilked a town out of nearly $5,000. (Via GoFundMe)

Barry Sutton was working as a civilian contractor when he was killed by a car bomb in Afghanistan last year, but he received a soldier’s homecoming.

Police escorted his casket from the airport to a funeral home in Rome, Ga. People stood on either side of the procession route, waving flags. An honor guard presented colors at his funeral — paying tribute to the former police officer and sheriff’s deputy.

Amid the fanfare, Brandy Holder, a family friend, told people that she wanted to organize something special.

According to his obituary, Barry Dean Sutton had served in the Marines Corps and worked in law enforcement, first with Georgia’s Floyd County Police Department, then with the Floyd County Sheriff’s Office. He was also a school resource officer at Armuchee High School, his alma mater. He was working for DynCorp when he was killed in Kabul at the age of 46, the obituary said.
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Soldier Critical After Possible Road Rage Attack

U.S. soldier critical after possible road rage shooting in SW Houston
KHOU News
Lauren Talarico
October 17, 2016

HOUSTON – A 20-year-old U.S. Army soldier is fighting for his life after being shot during an apparent road rage shooting in southwest Houston overnight.

According to the Houston Police Department, it happened at 11 p.m. Sunday South Post Oak near East Orem.

Police have identified the victim as Luis Diaz, who was in town on leave. He was shot in the head and is in critical condition.

So far there’s just a possible vehicle description – police are looking for a white box-type vehicle like a Sion. Investigators are really hoping someone knows something because multiple gunshots were fired.
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Marine Finds Better Job Where Marine Tattoo Fits In, At The VA

Marine vet quits his job over 'Semper Fi' tattoo, finds his truer calling at a VA hospital
The Republic
Karina Bland
October 16, 2016

Marine Joseph Leal, a nurse at the VA hospital in Prescott, and Henry Alcott, 93, a vet who lives at the hospital. Both served in the Marines.
(Photo: Mark Henle/The Republic)

Joseph Leal was in the hallway of the historic veterans hospital in Prescott, on rounds as a registered nurse, when he saw an old man wheeling toward him.

“Good morning!” Leal called. He recognized the patient in the wheelchair as the one everyone called “Pops,” but it was the first time Leal had met him.

Pops rolled to a stop in front of Leal. “Let me see that,” he said. He took Leal’s wrist and turned it over to look at the tattoo on the inside of his forearm.

Pops studied the fierce-looking eagle atop a globe and anchor, the official emblem of the U.S. Marine Corps, with the words “Semper Fi” across the top and “U.S.M.C.” underneath, the letters inked in with scarlet and gold.
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Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Posted About PTSD Reality Before Taking His Own Life

Veteran IRC firefighter commits suicide shortly after PTSD post on Facebook
TC Palm
Lamaur Stancil
October 16, 2016

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — The Sheriff's Office said a veteran Indian River County Fire Rescue firefighter killed himself Saturday night.

Indian River County Sheriff's deputies went to a wooded area off State Road 60 west of Interstate 95 about 10:30 p.m. Saturday, Sheriff's spokesman Lt. Eric Flowers said.

David Dangerfield 18 hours ago PTSD for Firefighters is real. If your love one is experiencing signs get them help quickly. 27 years of deaths and babies dying in your hands is a memory that you will never get rid off. It haunted me daily until now. My love to my crews. Be safe , take care. I love you all.

Dangerfield had driven his pickup to mile marker 13 on State Road 60, about midway between I-95 and Yeehaw Junction, Flowers said. Dangerfield made a 911 call from there and told dispatchers where he could be found, Flowers said.

Deputies drove to the area and located the pickup and found Dangerfield a short distance away in the woods, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the Sheriff's Office said.

Emergency Services Director John King sent an email late Saturday night to Dangerfield's co-workers about his death, Assistant Chief Brian Burkeen said.

Dangerfield, who worked at the agency for 27 years, made a post on his Facebook page Saturday about post-traumatic stress disorder, pertaining to firefighters.
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"Navy Man" Arrested After 4 Killed, 8 Others Injured

Latest: Navy man arrested after truck fatally crushes 4
Associated Press
October 18, 2016

Witnesses said four people in the booth were crushed by the truck. Eight people on the ground were injured.

SAN DIEGO – The Latest on a car plummeting from the Coronado Bridge onto a park, leaving 4 dead and at least 4 critically injured (all times local):

9:10 p.m.
Police say a member of the U.S. Navy was driving a pickup truck that flew off the San Diego-Coronado Bridge and fatally killed four people who were at a festival at a park below.

Authorities say 25-year-old Richard Anthony Sepolio, who suffered major injuries in Saturday's crash, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence. He was stationed at a naval base in Coronado Island, across a bay from San Diego.

The California Highway Patrol said Sepolio lost control of a GMC pickup truck with Texas license plates while driving onto the bridge, struck a guardrail and plunged about 60 feet onto a vendor booth set up for a motorcycle festival at Chicano Park.
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Orlando Nam Knights Eternal Chapter Biketoberfest

Yesterday at the Orlando Nam Knights Eternal Chapter, more bricks were placed in remembrance of those lost since last year.

There is something about these guys you need to know. They don't notice the rain at all when they have their brothers on their mind.

Video coming later.