Teenager charged with murder of 70 year old Vietnam veteran

Teen arrested for murder of 70-year-old Vietnam veteran

FOX 2 News
Jun 30 2019

(FOX 2) - The teen who was charged with shooting and killing an elderly man after his granddaughter snuck him into her house has been arrested.

David Kentrell Williams was arraigned June 27. He's been charged with one count of 2nd Degree murder and the one count of a felony weapon possession.

According to police, the 17-year-old came over to the victim's house after his girlfriend snuck him inside. That's when Williams got in an argument with Jamie Mintz, a 70-year-old Vietnam veteran. Mintz asked Williams to leave.

Detroit police said the two fought over a gun, and Mintz wound being shot and killed. Police said Williams then left the home with the gun.
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Vietnam Veteran gunned down in his home

Family: Vietnam Vet Shot to Death by 16-Year-Old Boy His Granddaughter Snuck into Detroit Home

FOX 35
April 8, 2019

DETROIT (FOX 2) - A 70-year-old man was killed in an altercation overnight at a home in Detroit.

A family member tells us the man's granddaughter lives with him, and that she snuck a boy into the house. The boy and the grandfather got into an argument and we're told the boy shot and killed the man.

This happened at a home in the 9900 block of Mansfield, which is on the city's west side near Greenfield and W Chicago. We're told the argument happened after the grandfather had asked the boy to leave.

Detroit police tell us the suspect, a 16-year-old, left the home with the gun.
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Vietnam Veteran Murdered in Detroit Home

Vietnam veteran murdered in own home, longtime girlfriend calls for help hours after shooting
WXYZ News
Kim Craig
Dec 8, 2015
DETROIT

(WXYZ) - Samuel Junior, a 68-year-old Vietnam veteran, was found dead in the apartment he shared with his longtime girlfriend, Linda.

Linda, who declined to give her last name when she spoke to 7 Action News Tuesday afternoon, said she heard the gunshots, but didn't call 911 because Junior told her he was "alright."

But when Brassfield and another neighbor rushed to check on him, it was clear Samuel Junior had been dead for some time. Brassfield says that's when Linda told her, Junior had been shot last night.

Linda told Brassfield that she didn't call 911 right after Junior had been shot because there wasn't much blood.
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Firefighter with PTSD Lives Changed After Attempted Suicide

Local firefighter says PTSD a big, unspoken issue
DL Online
By Paula Quam
Today at 5:45 a.m.

That’s when the mechanic and firefighter locked himself into his shop with his gun and in a single misfire moment, got a second chance at life.

Geiselhart believes divine intervention saved his life that day, and he was determined to find out why.

Nearly a year and a half ago, longtime Frazee Firefighter Scott Geiselhart locked himself in his auto body shop, pulled out a gun, put it to his head and pulled the trigger.

“But I heard the click….it didn’t go off,” he said, shaking his head in amazement. “I know that gun. It works fine. It fired every time before that and every time after.”

Geiselhart was left baffled and scared. For years, he had progressively gotten short-tempered, angry and verbally abusive.

“I was yelling at people, yelling at my family…” said Geiselhart, who feared he had a split personality, and it was his family who took the brunt of it, including his two sons.

“I mean, it was bad...not physically, but the yelling and the things I said...it was so, so bad.”

Geiselhart says he was having horrible nightmares every night.

“All the stuff I saw with car accidents and extractions, I’d put way back into my brain and never bring it out, but when I went to sleep the nightmares would come through and flash in front of me,” said Geiselhart. “And I’d just come unglued.”

“They’re not training firefighters about PTSD, and the’re not debriefing enough,” said Geiselhart. “We see a lot and go home after that, and we’re supposed to go to sleep next to our kids and family and put it away and not bring it up. We’ve got to unload, and not on our families. We’re supposed to be tough and absorb all this, but it doesn’t work; the macho stuff’s gotta go - it’s not cool to wreck your family.”
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If you are a Firefighter or Police Officer, this video may help you understand it better.  I did it for National Guardsmen but it ended up helping more than I thought it would. There is no real "cure" for PTSD but there is healing, reversing and tools to help you with what you cannot change.

Kid Rock helps Afghan war vet get house

Kid Rock helps Afghan war vet get house
Posted : Monday Aug 20, 2012
MACOMB TOWNSHIP, Mich.

Kid Rock has helped surprise an injured soldier with a new, custom-built home that the musician helped finance.

Rock and others were on hand Saturday to present the suburban Detroit house to Army Sgt. Davin Dumar and his wife, Dana. Dumar was released Friday from a military hospital.

Dumar lost a leg and injured his arm in Afghanistan in 2011.
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Veterans’ risk of developing ALS may be higher

Veterans’ risk of developing ALS may be higher
By Robin Erb
The (Detroit) Free Press
Posted : Sunday Aug 5, 2012

A small number of studies have suggested military veterans may be at a higher risk for developing ALS.

It’s enough evidence that, in 2008, the Department of Veterans Affairs began setting aside benefits specifically for anyone who had been in the service and developed the disease.

Although benefits vary depending on service time and other factors, ALS was categorized as a “presumptively compensable illness.” In other words, veterans diagnosed with ALS are eligible for monthly disability pay and funds to modify their homes, vehicles to transport them, insurance for dependents and survivors’ benefits.

From January 2003 to September 2011, Veterans Affairs — prompted by anecdotal reports of young veterans returning from the Persian Gulf War and developing ALS — collected information and even blood samples from willing veterans with ALS, said Dr. Eugene Oddone, who ran the registry and is now director of the Center for Health Services Research in Primary Care at the VA Medical Center in Durham, N.C.

The goal was to determine whether ALS really was more prevalent among veterans and, if so, among which veterans and why. The results were mixed.
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More than 24,000 Jobs Will Be Offered to Veterans at Detroit VA for Vets Event

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE       

VA to Host Veteran Hiring Fair at the National Veteran Small Business Conference and Expo in Detroit

More than 24,000 Jobs Will Be Offered to Veterans at Detroit VA for Vets Event

WASHINGTON (June 20, 2012)– The Department of Veterans Affairs Veteran Employment Services Office (VESO) will host its largest hiring fair to date at Detroit’s Cobo Center, June 26-28, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. 

The unique format of this event is one way the VA for Vets program is helping Veterans get career ready.  Veterans can visit www.VAforVets.VA.gov/Detroit now and apply for public and private sector jobs being offered nationwide.  Qualified Veterans will be contacted by employers and scheduled for interviews in advance of the event.

“We are committed to improving the lives of our Veterans and their families, and that means helping them find meaningful employment,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. “VA is taking a lead role in seeking innovative ways to bring more Veterans into the civilian workforce.”

VA is hosting three major events at Detroit’s Cobo Center June 26-29:  The VA for Vets Hiring Fair, the Veteran open house, and the National Veterans Small Business Conference and Expo.   The events are expected to attract thousands of Veterans, business owners and federal employees, with an economic impact estimated at $11 million for the city.

More than 24,000 federal and private-sector job openings across the country will be available at the free Veteran Hiring Fair June 26-28.  VA will bring together partners like the First Lady’s “Joining Forces” initiative and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, along with private sector companies, during the fair.  Not only will the fair provide Veterans an opportunity to showcase their skills to potential employers, it will also assist Veterans with resume preparation, interview techniques and career coaching. 

VA hosted a similar event Jan. 18 in Washington, D.C., which attracted over 4,100 Veterans and resulted in over 2,600 on-the-spot interviews and more than 500 tentative job offers.

The open house gives Veterans and their families the chance to find out about the wide range of financial and health care benefits, services and resources that are available from federal, state and community agencies. Veterans can conveniently enroll in VA care, sign up for MyHealtheVet, and get their questions answered face to face.

The National Veterans Small Business Conference and Expo is the premier government event for Veteran-owned businesses.   Last year’s conference in New Orleans drew almost 5,000 attendees, and more than 6,000 participants are expected this year.  VA will provide Veteran-owned and Service-Disabled Veteran-owned businesses with a wide range of information to help them maximize opportunities in the federal workplace.

Known historically as the world’s capital for the transportation industry, the Detroit metro area is reinventing itself with six booming industries: medical research, defense, entertainment, green tech, urban farming, and aeronautics.  About 330,000 Veterans are served by the city’s VA medical center, and more than 704,000 Veterans live in Michigan.

VA invites all interested persons and businesses to attend.  More information about the small business conference is available at www.nationalveteransconference.com. Information and registration for the hiring fair is available atwww.VAforVets.VA.Gov/Detroit.

Carjackers break leg of WWII veteran and no one stops to help him

World War II veteran, 86, forced to crawl to gas station after carjackers broke his leg - and NO ONE stopped to help
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
26th February 2012


A World War II veteran was forced to drag himself from a gas station pump to the check out after a carjacker broke his leg - while people walked past.

Not one pedestrian or driver helped 86-year-old Aaron Brantley after he was attacked at a BP station in Fairfield, Michigan while filling up his car.

Mr Brantley, who was driving home after bible study, was knocked to the ground by a man who then stole his vehicle, leaving him writhing in pain.

Surveillance footage captures the elderly man's failed attempts to stand. For two minutes, he is seen dragging himself across the forecourt.

As he nears the gas station, cars come and go but drivers fail to get out to assist the struggling man. At least four people are captured walking past.

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86-Year-Old Vet Injured during Carjacking at Detroit Gas Station: MyFoxDETROIT.com

Feds sue to recover cash sent to dead veteran

When a veteran receiving disability checks dies, the family has to notify the VA. This is not a case of a family member deciding to keep the money. It was automatically deposited into the bank account of this veteran. What this does end up doing is cause everyone reading this to wonder, how many others is this happening to? After all, we've all read about homeless, forgotten veterans, long forgotten by families. Some of them could have walked away from everything, including disability checks. Impossible? No not really.

When they give up, they give up all the way. There should be some way of keeping track of our veterans and knowing if they are dead or alive.

Funeral home operators notify social security and in the case of veterans, they notify the VA. So how did it happen that the VA didn't know they were sending checks to a veteran laid to rest? When my Dad died, the funeral home notified the VA and so did we. When my father-in-law died, we didn't have to notify the VA because he never had a claim. We couldn't even get help to bury him even though he was a WWII veteran with a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star. When my Mom died, again, we notified the VA and social security along with her pension.

How many others are slipping through the cracks? Is anyone checking? Aren't there rules to go by all the way around the country? Raises a lot of questions that need to be answered.

Feds sue to recover cash sent to dead veteran

Associated Press

2:07 p.m. CDT, August 26, 2009


DETROIT - The federal government says it mistakenly gave more than $50,000 to a dead Detroit man. Now it wants the money back.

The government recently filed a lawsuit in federal court in Detroit, seeking to have the state of Michigan turn over the money.
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Feds sue to recover cash sent to dead veteran

Spc. Byron J. Fouty's name used in scam

Authorities: Scam used name of slain soldier

The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Jul 21, 2008 6:39:19 EDT

DETROIT — The Michigan attorney general’s office and Better Business Bureau are investigating an online scam using the name of a Waterford soldier whose remains were found last week in Iraq after a 14-month search.
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