Vietnam Veteran died trying to stop bank robbery at 80 in Reno

Marine who tried to stop bank robbery honored posthumously in Reno
(watch video)
RCJ.com
Written by Emerson Marcus
Jan. 15, 2014

A lot has been said about Charles Sperry’s Marine service.

The 80-year-old man killed trying to stop a bank robbery in Reno last October served 26 years as a Marine.

Once he left the Corps, though, he served his community.

That service was honored when Reno police Chief Steve Pitts presented Sperry’s widow and son the Chief’s Medal of Commendation during Wednesday’s Reno City Council meeting.

“He was a Marine, and that was first,” Sperry’s son, Joe Sperry, said. “But I didn’t grow up with him when he was in the Marines, and I saw the father and protector part of him. We always communicated and made sure he knew what was going on around the community. He wanted to take care of it the best he could.”

Years after serving during the Vietnam War and reaching the rank of major, Sperry headed his neighborhood watch program near his home in the Donner Springs area where he lived for more than 30 years.
read more here

Fort Lewis soldier shot and killed by police in Reno

Former Reno resident shot by police an Iraq War veteran
RGJ.com
Written by Emerson Marcus
July 18, 2013

The 27-year-old man killed Thursday in an officer-involved shooting in north Reno was an active-duty enlisted soldier in the U.S. Army who deployed to Iraq in 2011.

Kenneth Jewel Stafford, who was on leave from his duty station in Fort Lewis, Wash., to visit family in Reno, died Thursday after a shooting on the 2100 block of Belcrest Circle in north Reno.

The involved Reno and Sparks police officers were placed on routine administrative leave. No law enforcement officers were harmed in the shooting. The Washoe County Sheriff’s Office, the lead investigating agency, declined comment Wednesday.

Stafford, a helicopter mechanic, enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2009. He was deployed in Iraq from February to December 2011.

He was a specialist assigned to the 1st Battalion, 229th Aviation Regiment at Fort Lewis. Stafford, a 2003 graduate of Washoe High School, was on leave last week, said Lt. Col. Joe Sowers, public affairs officer for 7th Infantry Division.
read more here

Florida golfers with extra clubs needed for troops

If they can do it in Navada don't you think Florida can do better? We have more veterans here and I'm sure we must have more golfers too.

Fore! Nev. tourney collecting clubs for troops

By Scott Sonner - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Jun 4, 2009 14:28:17 EDT

RENO, Nev. — Officials for the Legends Reno-Tahoe Open and a local insurance company who launched an effort last week to collect new and used golf clubs for U.S. soldiers overseas say they’ve already gathered dozens of full sets.

“The response has been unbelievable,” said Michael Stearns, director of the PGA Tour tournament.

“We have 30 bags with full sets and over 50 sets of irons. We’ve even got two pairs of golf shoes,” he said Thursday.

The tournament is sponsoring the Clubs for Armed Forces program along with KKOH radio and Employers Insurance Co., a Reno-based group of companies providing workers’ compensation insurance and services to small businesses.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/06/ap_military_clubs_4_forces_060409/

Veterans rally for Obama at Reno protest

Veterans rally for Obama at Reno protest
By ANJEANETTE DAMON • adamon@rgj.com • September 16, 2008


A cadre of Nevada veterans irritated by Republican U.S. Sen. John McCain's lack of support for their initiatives rallied for U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., in Reno on Monday, launching what they hope is an intensive turnout effort in this battleground state.

Saying the Arizona senator failed to support a bill that would've increased the education incentive for veterans and has consistently opposed increased funding for Veterans Affairs, they urged Nevadans to support Obama.

"That's a lot of baloney," said Reno veteran Doug Smith of McCain's opposition to a recent Democratic-backed bill that would have dramatically increased veterans education benefits. "With the amount of money we are spending on Iraq and Afghanistan."

Chuck Fulkerson, an advocate for increased funding to treat Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, criticized McCain for failing to back more VA funding.

"The VA is underfunded," he said. "They don't have enough money for PTSD. They don't have enough money for traumatic brain injuries."

Fulkerson called PTSD a "silent killer," describing the symptoms as road rage, being unpredictable and shouting at family members.

"Does that sound like John McCain?" he said.

An estimated 340,000 veterans live in Nevada.

McCain has centered much of his campaign on his military service and time as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.

Smith said he's bothered by McCain's constant use of his military service on the campaign trail.

"He did not do that before (he ran for president)," Smith said. "Normally veterans don't ask for any special favors."

Those of us who have served know he doesn't walk the walk."
http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080916/NEWS19/809160346/1232

You know how I hate to post the whole article, but some just can't be cut right. Please, as usual, click the link so the reporter gets the credit for the hit. It's too important that this is not acknowledged. It's what I've been trying to show the veterans who believe McCain deserves their vote when he doesn't vote for them. He wants their support but will not support them. With McCain, the "Straight talk express" will just run the veterans over and the back the bus up if he gets caught to say he just got there.