Homeless, pregnant veteran finds support from community

Community comes together to support pregnant veteran
Homeless veteran gets assistance
Mark Christian

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - A call for help from a homeless veteran turned into an outpouring of support. Dozens stepped up to help that veteran who's just two weeks away from giving birth.

The pregnant veteran served 12 years in the California National Guard with a tour in Iraq.

"We don't know if it's a boy or girl, we just know it's a baby who needs our help," said Ben Patten of Bakersfield Harley Davidson.

The baby will now come into this world with a roof over her head.

"A nine-month pregnant female veteran came into our office looking for assistance because she is homeless," said Deborah Johnson of the California Veterans Assistance Foundation.

California Veterans Assistance Foundation provided housing for the veteran and put the word out to the Kern County Veterans Collaborative that the woman also needed newborn supplies.
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Murder witness sues Calif. Army National Guard

Murder witness sues Calif. Army National Guard
The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Dec 31, 2012

LOS ANGELES — A sergeant is suing his employer, the California Army National Guard, for alleged retaliation after he testified in the murder trial of a colleague who was later convicted of killing a pregnant recruit.

City News Service reports Sgt. Erik Hein also claims infliction of emotional distress in the lawsuit filed Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court.
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Deployed soldier still thinking about needy back home

Cloverdale soldier's donation warms hearts at Sonoma County charity
By GUY KOVNER
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Saturday, December 15, 2012

Motivated by the terrorist attacks of 2001, Jessamyn Sobecki-Engle of Cloverdale joined the California National Guard at age 17 and went off to war in Iraq a few years later in 2004.

A slender, 5-foot-6 woman, Sobecki-Engle served in a military intelligence unit and earned a combat action badge as a Humvee gunner, manning a .50-caliber roof-mounted machine gun.

Now in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province on her second overseas deployment, Sobecki-Engle, 28, has been promoted to sergeant first class and awarded a Bronze Star for meritorious service.

The 2002 graduate from Cloverdale High School said she has found a niche in the military, serving her country, seeing the world and helping others.

“It is such an honor to wear this uniform every day, I am so grateful,” Sobecki-Engle said in an email from Afghanistan.

But she’s also retained the childhood lessons she learned from her parents, Skip Engle and Marybeth Sobecki, who involved their three daughters in buying Christmas presents for the needy, raising more than 50 puppies for the Canine Companions for Independence assistance dogs program and sponsoring a low-income elderly woman and her special-needs son.
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Mother of Oakdale murder suspect speaks out

Mother of Oakdale murder suspect speaks out
Nov 13, 2012
Written by
Tim Daly

STOCKTON, CA - The mother of a 25-year-old man accused of shooting two people to death outside an Oakdale market claimed her son suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Ryan Mazzariello is suspected of killing a 15-year-old boy and a 20-year-old man Sunday night. Detectives with the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Department still haven't released a motive for the violence. His mother said there are two factors.

"He told me, over the last year, he had problems with gang- bangers, people in the neighborhood threatening him and other military," said the woman, who doesn't want her name disclosed.

She said her son told her shortly after the shootings, "Mom, I did a terrible thing." She also said her son was capable of the violence after developing what she believes is PTSD after years in the National Guard.
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Disturbing Suicide Trend At Fresno National Guard Unit

Disturbing Suicide Trend At Fresno National Guard Unit
KMPH FOX 26
Posted: Oct 16, 2012
By Erik Rosales
By KMPH Web Staff
FRESNO, Calif.

Less than a month after a National Guardsman was shot and killed by Fresno police in an apparent suicide by cop, another member of the same unit has committed suicide.

It's the fifth member of that unit to take his own life in the past two years.

The soldiers belonged to the 1106th TASMG unit in Fresno, a National Guard helicopter maintenance group.

The latest solider suspected of suicide, 29-year-old Sgt. Joseph Kim.

Military officials say Kim's death is still under investigation.

Colonel Myles Williams says, "When I got the notification of the commander of the unit, I thought it was in reference of the previous one, because it's pretty unprecedented that two in one week would occur. I had to mentally adjust and say let's do our process that we have in place."

You may recall, last month 22-year-old Elias Monge walked outside a Fresno home pistol in hand, and Fresno police say wouldn't give up until they shot him, in what became an apparent suicide by cop.
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Suicide-By-Cop Death Linked To National Guard Suicides
KMPH FOX 26
Posted: Sep 25, 2012
By Ashley Ritchie
FRESNO, Calif.

"I heard about it and I don't want to go outside, I'm scared. The neighbors told me go inside. I'm just scared," Veronica Arabia said.

Veronica Arabia lives just two houses down from where 22–year–old Elias Monge walked outside last Wednesday, pistol–grip shotgun in hand, and Fresno police say, wouldn't give up until they shot him, in what became an apparent suicide–by–cop.

"Yeah it worries me," Arabia said.

Monge was a member of the 1106th AVCRAD unit in Fresno.

It's a National Guard helicopter maintenance facility.

And recently it's seen a disturbing trend.

Monge is the fourth member of that unit to allegedly commit suicide since May 2010.

"We're more shocked and concerned that so many soldiers are dying by suicide," 1st Lieutenant William Martin said. "Really one is more than we'd like to see, so three or four is definitely well more than we'd like to see at any particular unit."

464 soldiers make up the 1106th AVCRAD unit. And military officials tell KMPH News their mental health is a top priority.
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Parents believe remains found in Montana are Noah Pippin

UPDATE August 27, 2012

Missing Marine Noah Pippin likely died of exposure

Remains found in Montana wilderness area where Iraq war veteran was last seen in 2010
By Associated Press

About a month before he was last seen, Noah Pippin quit his job with the Los Angeles Police Department. He later went to visit his family in Michigan and told them he was heading back west to serve with the California National Guard.

KALISPELL, Mont. — Human remains have been found in the Bob Marshall Wilderness in northwest Montana, where a team has been searching for an Iraq war veteran who disappeared two years ago, a sheriff said Friday.

The parents of Noah Pippin released a statement Friday saying Lewis and Clark County sheriff’s and coroner’s officials told them remains had been found in the Burnt Creek area.

Authorities haven’t confirmed the identity of the remains yet, but Mike and Rosalie Pippin said there is a strong likelihood they belong to their son.

A search party of border agents, search and rescue officials, a sheriff’s deputy and volunteers found the remains and planned to bring them back to the state crime lab in Missoula. Coroner M.E. “Mickey” Nelson said it could be several days or even weeks before the body can be positively identified.

“There was enough circumstantial evidence that I felt comfortable, and I informed the family, that their loved one has been located, based on preliminary indicators and circumstantial things we found,” Nelson said. He declined to elaborate on what was found.
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Ex-Marine from Michigan missing since last year

Ex-Marine from Michigan missing since last year

By MARTA HEPLER DRAHOS Traverse City Record-Eagle
Posted: 10/18/2011

LAKE ANN, Mich.—Noah Pippin looks out from a photo on his parents' dining room wall, serious in Marine dress uniform. His old dog tags lie atop a guestbook on a nearby table.

Rosalie and Mike Pippin are in mourning of a sort. The Lake Ann couple haven't seen or heard from their oldest son since he went missing in August 2010 after a visit home.

Noah, a 1998 Suttons Bay High School graduate and a former Marine who served three tours in Iraq, had recently quit the Los Angeles police force and was serving with the California National Guard.

He was expected to be deployed to Afghanistan soon.

"He needed to shake his mind off and decide what he wanted to do with his life," said Rosalie.

"His plan was to stay a week with us and then go back to San Diego ... until he picked up his orders."

During their week together the family fished, practiced at a shooting range, and visited their favorite beach and restaurants, Rosalie said. A noticeably depressed Noah, 31, stored his belongings in his parents' basement and closed out some online accounts. Then, on Aug. 25, he said goodbye in the family's driveway and rode off in a taxi for Traverse City, where he planned to rent a car for the trip back.

It wasn't until weeks later, when they got a call from the National Guard telling them that Noah failed to report for duty, that Mike and Rosalie learned their son was missing.
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Woman to lead California National Guard

Gov. Schwarzenegger names first woman, 25-year veteran to lead California National Guard

By Associated Press

February 1, 2010 6:20 p.m.


SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has appointed the first woman to head the California National Guard, the nation's largest guard unit.

The governor's office made the announcement Monday. It said Brigadier General Mary Kight (kite) also will be the first black woman to become adjutant general of a state's National Guard. She takes command Tuesday after a swearing-in ceremony.
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25-year veteran to lead California National Guard

California war vets to get PTSD, TBI testing

California war vets to get PTSD, TBI testing

By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Oct 8, 2008 13:53:53 EDT

Reacting to complaints of delays in care as well as a recent report that found hundreds of thousands of combat veterans are living with undiagnosed traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill providing screening and mental health care for California war veterans.

SB 1401, authored by State Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, Calif., requires that the Defense Department or Veterans Affairs Department reach out and assist all National Guard members and discharged combat veterans returning to California to receive screening for PTSD or TBI.

A second bill requires the Calfornia’s Department of Health Care Services, in conjunction with its Department of Mental Health, to seek federal funding for mental health services for those combat veterans.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/10/military_california_veterans_100808w/

Suicidal veteran calls 911 for help, gets arrested

JOHN BURGESS / The Press Democrat Iraq war veteran Matthew Jensen served three tours of duty and suffers from post traumatic stress disorder. Jensen says he still suffers from PTSD, but is now taking medication and feels stable.

Vet's troubled homecoming 'I called for help and now I'm facing prison time'
Suicidal ex-Marine from SR calls 911, but war trophy brings weapons charge; veterans advocate calls for counseling
By GUY KOVNER
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT


Published: Thursday, August 7, 2008 at 4:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, August 7, 2008 at 3:43 a.m.
A former Marine and Iraq war veteran from Santa Rosa is facing a felony weapons charge stemming from a call for help he made while contemplating suicide.

Matthew Jensen, 24, said he was deeply depressed and suffering from post traumatic stress disorder from his multiple tours in Iraq when he called 911 on May 31.

Jensen, a 6-foot-2-inch former infantryman, surrendered to police unarmed and without incident and was placed on a psychiatric hold that night. Officers confiscated a 1940s-design assault rifle they found on the floor of Jen-sen's parents' home on Princeton Drive.

Three weeks later, the Sonoma County District Attorney's Office issued a warrant for his arrest, charging Jensen with possession of an illegal assault rifle.

Police said the rifle, an SKS, had a "folding stock" and was found with a "high capacity magazine" -- two characteristics of an illegal weapon. A sniper scope and a bayonet were attached to the rifle.

Jensen, now a corporal in the California National Guard's Santa Rosa-based 579th Engineer Battalion, said he brought the rifle back from Iraq as a "war trophy" and gave it to his father.

Jensen said he took the rifle from a dead insurgent sniper, killed by Marines in his unit in 2004. Had he left the weapon in Iraq, Jensen believes it would have fallen back into the hands of enemy forces.

He said he removed the rifle's firing pin and firing mechanism and threw them away.

"You can't load it. You can't fire it," said Paul Carreras, Jensen's attorney.
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Sonoma County District Attorney just pushed back suicide prevention ten years with this stunt!

National Guard Iraq vets switch tools to battle California wildfires

A battle far from Iraq, but just as hot
Story Highlights
National Guard Iraq vets switch tools to battle California wildfires

Robert Rosbia and Mike Valdivia are among 400 deployed to help fight fires

They are working tirelessly to clear fire lines that will help firefighters

From Paul Vercammen
CNN

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Their weapon in Iraq was a rifle.


In California, it's a tool with a line of shark-like teeth.

National Guardsman Robert Rosbia takes a break from the sweaty, grimy job of slicing through thick foliage in the northern California woods.

"Here, we're protecting lives," the Iraq veteran said. "But this time I am doing it with this instead of a .50-caliber machine gun."

Rosbia and another Iraq veteran, Mike Valdivia, are among the first of 400 National Guard troops to be deployed on the ground in California in more than three decades. Their hours are spent hacking away at the brush to create fire lines -- areas cleared of vegetation -- so that firefighters can make a stand with water from the ground and help from the air.

Valdivia, a father of three from Seaside, California, said the two are prepared for working in oppressive heat.

"Your body starts kicking up a lot of heat under the collar," Valdivia said, tugging at his soaked undershirt. "In Iraq, we had temperatures of 117 degrees plus. Here, there's a lot of physical labor like Iraq."

A truck driver and married father of two, Rosbia said his wife is just happy he's deployed near his San Francisco Bay area home and not in Iraq.
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California fires:International help arrives, more asked for

Butte County fire claims a life as Schwarzenegger musters more help
A body is found near a house in Concow, officials say. The governor calls up an additional 2,000 National Guard troops for duty. International firefighters arrive.
By Eric Bailey, Steve Chawkins and Maria L. La Ganga, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
2:13 PM PDT, July 11, 2008
Fire officials confirmed today that one person has died in a wildfire in Butte County as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called up an additional 2,000 National Guard troops for duty on the front lines of wildfires raging throughout Northern California.

In addition, firefighters from Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Greece have begun arriving to bolster the exhausted personnel who have been waging battle against hundreds of blazes for nearly three weeks.
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