Blind Veteran Takes Aim in Shooting Competition--Hits Target

St. Petersburg Blind Veteran Competing in Shooting Competition
ABC News
Nicole Grigg
Nov 18, 2016

“No matter how bad it gets, you can always remember a time when it was worse.” Michael Jernigan

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - It only took a split second for Marine Veteran Michael Jernigan to find his target 50 feet down the range.

“I was just shooting a target, with an AR-15,” he uttered.

Jernigan, blind in both eyes, was able to hit his target with the help of a spotter on the very first shot.

The Iraq War Veteran served in 2004, when he was hit by an IED.

Jernigan lost both eyes along with his frontal cranium — he was hospitalized for more than a year, before extensive therapy.

After years of looking for healing, Jernigan met other blind veterans and began hunting with a non-profit organization based out of Tampa, Black Dagger Military Hunt Club .

Black Dagger Hunt Club provides shooting, hunting, fishing and outdoor opportunities for veterans and active duty military veterans.

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Marine Laid To Rest Three Months After Being Left to Die

St. Petersburg Marine given proper burial, 3 months after death
WFLA News 8
By Jamel Lanee'
Published: June 23, 2016

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) – Thunderstorms prevented the proper burial of a Marine who was killed in a hit-and-run crash in Tampa.

On Thursday, Private First Class Lagarian Sharkey was given the burial he deserved.

It comes three months after his death. Family could not lay him to rest at Bay Pines National Cemetery because of heavy rain.

“I was a bit sad, but I wanted it to be done properly. So today, that’s why we’re here now,” said his mother, Chavon Sharkey.

Vincent and Chavon said their son was the victim of a hit and run. His case remain unsolved.

“No word of who hit him or as to exactly what happened,” said Chavon Sharkey. “So I’m looking for answers to find out what happened that night. If anyone saw anything or heard anything, We want them to come forth and help us.”
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Blind Veteran Marine Helps Give Other Veterans A New VIsion

Wounded warrior shares story in new motivational book
Bay News 9
By Cait McVey, Reporter
June 03, 2016

Retired Marine Michael Jernigan shares his story of recovery and re-discovery of purpose in a new book titled "Vision," which was released on Memorial Day at the Armed Forces History Museum in Largo.

ST. PETERSBURG
A marine critically wounded in Iraq is now sharing his story of recovery and rebirth in a book, which was released recently at Largo's Armed Forces History Museum in Largo.

Retired Marine Michael Jernigan was serving in Iraq in 2004 when he was severely injured by a roadside bomb.

“I had shrapnel enter my right eye and exit my left eye,“ Jernigan said. “I had two fingers re-attached. My right hand was fully reconstructed. My left knee was fully reconstructed. I fractured my patellar and cut my femoral artery.”

After 30 surgeries, Jernigan’s physical recovery was nothing short of remarkable. But he said his mind went to a very dark place.

“I was a Marine without a mission," said Jernigan. "Without a mission, I had no purpose or sense of direction. So my goal at that point was to find a mission. And I realized at that point, I needed to go back to college.”

Jernigan went on to earn his bachelor’s degree in history from University of South Florida St. Petersburg in 2012. He now works as a motivational speaker for Southeastern Guide Dogs.
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Jan 8, 2015
Marine Warrior Michael Jernigan shares his story of overcoming adversity.
In 2014, Jernigan completed HCC's Fellowship Program and since has launched into his professional speaking career. He's continued to serve his community by pioneering the Paws for Patriots Program as well as over 500 hours of community service with Honor Courage Commitment, Inc (HCC) in Dallas, TX.

St. Petersburg VA 41,900 mail packages with unprocessed veterans' claims

You've heard the expression "the more things change, the more they stay the same" and this is yet one more of those times. This was reported about Tampa VA Hospital back in 2008

VA hopes new shredding guidelines protect claims seekers
By William R. Levesque, Times staff writer
In print: Saturday, November 1, 2008

And before shredding any document, two VA employees, including a supervisor, would have to sign off, according to a draft of the policy obtained by the St. Petersburg Times on Friday. The policy comes after the discovery last month of nearly 500 veterans' claims documents improperly set aside for shredding in 41 VA benefits offices.

Report: Veterans' claims backlogged by the thousands at St. Petersburg VA office
Tampa Bay Times
Kathleen McGrory
Times Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 6, 2016

More than 41,900 mail packages with unprocessed veterans' claims materials piled up at the Veterans Affairs office in St. Petersburg last year, according to a new report by the department's inspector general.

The inspector general also found that 1,600 boxes of claims materials from the St. Petersburg office swamped a scanning facility in Georgia — and raised doubts about whether the information had been securely stored.

"We observed a large amount of hard copy sensitive veteran information haphazardly commingled with contract company documentation, excess office furniture, and empty computer boxes that appeared to be trash," investigators wrote in the report.

The findings come amid national and regional concerns about a backlog of veterans' claims. Last year, a report from the U.S. Senate listed the St. Petersburg regional office as the 10th worst performing in the nation in terms of wait time.

"We're obviously not happy with what goes on in the regional office," said Michael Bousher, president of the Pinellas chapter of Vietnam Veterans of America. "They can do a much better job."
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Matthew DeRemer Killed New Years was "As Selfless As Possible"

Veteran Matthew DeRemer Killed Hours After Hopeful New Year's Facebook Message
NBC News
by Jon Schuppe
January 4, 2016

They'd been raised in church, but in 2015 he'd grown closer to God, she said. He was an officer in a Christian motorcycle group.

On the morning of New Year's Eve, Iraq war veteran Matthew DeRemer went on Facebook to reflect on a difficult 2015 and outlined his plan to become a better man in the coming year.

The decorated former Marine corporal from St. Petersburg, Florida, had a new job, stronger faith and a renewed drive to help people.

"My goal this year, while battling all obstacles, is to redefine my life by living as selfless as possible," DeRemer, 31, wrote.

Matthew DeRemer
Surgical Technologist at West Bay Surgical Center
December 31, 2015 at 6:06am ·
Last day of 2015!!!! For me I'll be meditating through all I do, on this entire year. I've lost, I've gained, family is closer and tougher than ever before, loved ones lost, and new friends found. There has been many times where I've been found on my knees in prayer for hours (relentless) and other times leading a group of people in prayer, my faith (that I love to share) is an everyday awakening (to me) that people, lives, and circumstances can change for the better OVER TIME. I look back at 2015's huge challenges that I've overcome, shared with others, and have once again found myself... To say thank you and BRING ON 2016, much works to be done!

And I really don't know where I'll end up tonight but I do know where I windup is where I'm meant to be.
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I sincerely doubt God's plan for this veteran was to be hit by someone and left for dead. Seems more like an amazing person left this life because someone didn't care what else he could have done.

St. Pete Medal of Honor Veteran Says Patriotism Lives in Florida

Medal of Honor recipient recalls the ‘battle’ 
Tampa Bay News
By BOB McCLURE
March 25, 2015

“I look at it as honoring the men and women in uniform, present and past. It just shows the patriotism the citizens of Florida have toward our men in uniform.”

Photo by BOB McCLURE
Retired U.S. Army Command Sgt. Major Gary Littrell of St. Pete Beach wears the Congressional Medal of Honor he was awarded in 1973 following his heroic actions during a 1970 battle in Vietnam.

ST. PETE BEACH – Winston Churchill once said success is not final and failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts.

That phrase sums up the actions of retired U.S. Army Command Sgt. Major Gary Littrell of St. Pete Beach who for four days in early April 1970 took command of a South Vietnamese Ranger battalion under siege by more than 5,000 North Vietnamese troops. Out of an original group of 477, Littrell was among 41 walking and wounded to safely leave the hill they gallantly defended.

His actions and decisions led him to receiving the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1973.

He is the only Medal of Honor recipient in the area, one of three in Florida and one of 79 currently alive in the U.S.
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VA Changed Appointment Wait Times in House VA Committee Chairman's Home State

While members Congress wants to blame the head of the VA, no matter who it is or when, they never seem to be able to apologize to veterans for what they failed to do. Veterans contact their elected officials all the time and they do complain. They have been complaining for decades about all of this. No member of congress can claim they didn't know about any of this but what is worse is, they think they can get away with the Sgt. Schultz Excuse of "I know nothing" when it was their jobs to not only know, but fix it! Now there is a report out of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman's home state of Florida.

Some Florida VA health facilities changed appointment requests to improve wait times
Pensacola News Journal
Ledyard King
July 28, 2014

VA executives are so driven in their quest for performance bonuses, promotions and power that they are willing to lie, cheat and put the health of the veterans they were hired to serve at risk,” (Jeff Miller)

Details of an internal VA audit of improper scheduling practices were released Monday were referred last month to the agency’s inspector general for further review.

WASHINGTON – Schedulers at the Department of Veterans Affairs clinic at Eglin Air Force Base were told to improve wait times by changing the date veterans requested a medical appointment so it appeared they got treated within 14 days of their request.

Staff at the VA’s medical center at Bay Pines health center in St. Petersburg were encouraged to align appointment dates requested by veterans with the actual dates they received medical care.

Workers at the Joint Ambulatory Care Center in Pensacola kept a paper list of patients to call back about appointments because they were confused about what to log in the VA’s computerized calendar.

Details of an internal VA audit conducted in May of improper scheduling practices were released Monday, shedding light as to why 112 VA medical facilities — including six in Florida — were referred last month to the agency’s inspector general for further review.
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Fort Stewart soldier killed on Florida beach, daughter in critical condition

Man killed in beach plane crash was veteran, family man
Bay 9 News
July 28, 2014

Sgt. 1st Class Ommy Irizarry, 36, and his daughter, 9-year-old Oceana, were hit while walking on the beach. Ommy was killed, and Oceana was badly injured.

VENICE
The man killed Sunday on a beach near Venice was a seasoned U.S. soldier who survived two tours of duty in Iraq.

Sgt. 1st Class Ommy Irizarry, 36, and his daughter, 9-year-old Oceana, were hit while walking on the beach. Ommy was killed, and Oceana was badly injured. She remains in critical condition at All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg.

Originally from Puerto Rico, Irizarry lived with his family on base at Fort Stewart in southeast Georgia. The family was vacationing in Florida.
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Sad update

Florida Army veteran of 20 years killed by robbers

Veteran dead after confronting car thieves
WTSP
Sarah Hagen
May 12, 2014

St. Petersburg, Florida -- A veteran who served 20 years in the Army was killed not on the battlefield, but in the driveway of his own home as police say he tried to stop two people from stealing his car.

On Thursday, police say somebody broke into 53-year-old Floyd Lassiter's home, stealing numerous things, including his car keys. On Saturday morning, two people then tried to steal his car.

It's hard for Larry Casto to hold back the tears when talking about Lassiter, who was his employee at Crown Eurocars. He learned just hours ago that Lassiter was tragically killed.

"Something like this you read about and wonder why someone so good loses his life," said Casto.

Police say Lassiter, a man who loved his family, friends, and the game of football, died after being shot multiple times after confronting two people trying to steal his car early Saturday morning.
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Tampa Tribune gets VA to honor claim of disabled Green Beret

Veterans wage years-long fight with VA for benefits
By HOWARD ALTMAN
The Tampa Tribune
Published: March 17, 2013
TAMPA

As a Green Beret, Scott Neil was one of the first U.S. troops in Afghanistan after 9/11. For years, he fought insurgents there and in Iraq, suffering injuries to his brain and spine along the way.

In July 2010, his service to the nation was ending, but a new battle began.

This one was with the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Almost 1,000 days ago, he began the process with the VA to receive benefits for his traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, chronic neck and back pain and hearing loss. It was part of a joint review with the Army, which was trying to determine if Neil was still fit to serve.

The St. Petersburg Veterans Affairs Regional Office picked up the case more than a year ago, in January 2012, but it took until last week, after a phone call from the Tribune, to get a disability compensation rating, a formula that determines the amount of benefits a veteran can receive.

Neil is not the only veteran who's had to wait months or even years for a ruling by the St. Petersburg regional office, the nation's busiest compensation processing division. More than 50,000 claims are pending there, with nearly 35,000 outstanding for more than 125 days, which is considered by the VA to be backlogged.

Neil said he was happy after learning from the Tribune that he was awarded service-connected compensation at a combined rate of 90 percent. He's frustrated, though, that it took, by his count, almost 1,000 days.

"That is almost the same amount of time I had in combat," he said.
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More on VA Claims

Rescuing veterans from the abyss

Rescuing veterans from the abyss
Tampa Bay Times
By Waveney Ann Moore
Times Staff Writer
September 29, 2012

Anthony Sperduto, 53, was taken under St. Vincent de Paul’s wing about two years ago at his lowest point. “They’ve saved my life. ... I couldn’t have survived on the streets,” he said. Now the onetime business executive has been hired to mentor fellow veterans.

ST. PETERSBURG — At his desk, steps from an exposed toilet with two rolls of tissue, a sink, bed, small white refrigerator and microwave, Anthony Sperduto displayed computer images of his life as it once was.

There on the screen were pictures with ex-wife, Maritza, at a banquet, business trips to Hawaii and views of a meticulously decorated, four-bedroom, 2,400-square-foot Texas house with 12-foot ceilings and a copy of Michelangelo's Creation of Adam above a fireplace.

As Sperduto, 53, tells it, his world began to collapse in the fall of 2006, starting with a blackout at work, loss of an executive position and back problems that became debilitating. Three years later, Christmas Eve, to be exact, the 6-foot-7 Navy veteran found himself broke and homeless in Florida.

A few miles from Sperduto's room at St. Vincent de Paul's Center of Hope in St. Petersburg, Heather Vazquez welcomed a visitor to her bare, three-bedroom apartment and offered to borrow a couple of chairs from her next-door neighbor.

Vazquez, 38, a military veteran who served two tours in Iraq as a hospital corpsman, has two part-time jobs. Soiled carpet and impoverished state notwithstanding, the apartment into which she moved a few days earlier is the "best home" she and her children — ages 17, 9, 5 and 2 — have had in years, she said. "We were going from hotel to hotel."

A national count recorded 67,495 homeless veterans on a single night in January 2011.

Touting its beefed-up efforts to stem the problem, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs says the figure represents a nearly 12 percent drop from the previous year.
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St. Petersburg Woodworkers give veterans proper burials

Woodworkers give veterans proper burials
By Danny Valentine
Tampa Bay Times via The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Sep 2, 2012
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.

Tom Jones was disturbed.

As he sat in his Land O’Lakes home this spring, he listened to reports of a Florida veteran buried in a shallow grave in a cardboard box.

“It felt so disgraceful,” said Jones, a 64-year-old Army veteran.

He took it upon himself to ensure no veteran would ever again be buried in such a manner.

The amateur woodworker started crafting wooden urns.

The first two were simple, but well-made. He took them to his Tampa woodcrafting club, of which he is vice president, and to a club in St. Petersburg to enlist support.

Club members loved the idea. They have now made 17 boxes.

Jones hopes it is just the beginning.

“It’s our hope that we’ll get woodworking clubs around the country to do this,” he said.

Maintenance workers discovered Lawrence Davis Jr.’s remains this year after readjusting a headstone at the Florida National Cemetery near Bushnell.

News spread across the state and country, sparking outrage, the latest in a string of improper veteran burials.
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Iraq veteran killed by exploding scuba tank

St. Petersburg man killed by exploding scuba tank an Iraq veteran
By RACHEL PLEASANT | The Tampa Tribune
Published: September 11, 2011
Updated: September 11, 2011 - 4:05 PM
TAMPA --
The St. Petersburg man killed by an exploding scuba tank this morning was a veteran recently returned from Iraq.

The St. Petersburg Police Department identified the man as Russell Vanhorn II, 23.

Vanhorn was carrying the scuba tank to his car about 6:50 a.m. when it exploded, St. Petersburg Fire Rescue Lt. Joel Granata said.

The force of the explosion blew out the front door and windows of Vanhorn’s apartment at 5875 37th Ave. N. The explosion also sent debris flying as far away as 75 feet. Some of that debris blew out the windows of cars parked nearby.
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WWII veteran's Tampa panhandling stirs offers of help

WWII veteran's Tampa panhandling stirs offers of help

By Jessica Vander Velde, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Anthony Jacondino, 84, a World War II veteran, turned to panhandling along Tampa streets to help pay the bills after his wife suffered a stroke and couldn’t work.

[STEPHEN J. CODDINGTON | Times]

TAMPA — Monday started with a call from Veterans Affairs for a World War II veteran who had turned to panhandling to pay his bills.

Anthony Jacondino said the VA wants to see if he might qualify for a disability pension. His appointment: 10 a.m. Friday.

For the first time in months, he feels hopeful.

Jacondino, 84, was the subject of a story in Saturday's St. Petersburg Times, after he caught the attention of motorists at Dale Mabry Highway and Columbus Drive.

He served in the Philippines before leaving the Army in 1947 and then worked most of his life as an apartment maintenance man. His first wife died years ago, and in April, his second wife suffered a stroke.

They had been living on his $980 Social Security check and her income cleaning rooms at a local nursing home. With her unable to work at 62, they fell about $400 behind on their bills each month.

So Jacondino bought an orange vest and penned a message on cardboard: World War II vet in need of help.
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WWII veteran's Tampa panhandling stirs offers of help

Oviedo church devastated with loss of father and three sons

From left, Nathan McConnell, Roy McConnell, Kelly McConnell and Roy McConnell III (Facebook)

"He was not a Christian when he started coming to church," said MacLaren. "He sat in the back and he folded his arms. Yet he ended up being one of our most passionate people in the church, about ministry and Jesus." University Carillon United Methodist Church in Oviedo

Police: Orlando man, three sons killed by drunken driver who ran red light
By Susan Jacobson, Sara K. Clarke and Linda Shrieves, Orlando Sentinel

10:11 p.m. EDT, August 1, 2010
Four members of an Orlando family on a beach vacation were killed early Sunday morning when a drunken driver ran a red light and slammed into their car in St. Petersburg, police said.

Elroy "Roy" McConnell, 51, an accountant and triathlete, was at the wheel of a Ford Fusion about 12:45 a.m. when a speeding southbound Chevrolet Impala ran the light on Dr. Martin Luther King Street North at 22nd Avenue North, St. Petersburg police said.

McConnell, 51, and his sons, Elroy "Roy" McConnell III, 28, of Pineville, La.; Nathan McConnell, 24, of Orlando; and Kelly McConnell, 19, of Orlando were pronounced dead at the scene. The collision propelled their car into a large support beam for a sign.

The driver of the Impala, Demetrius D. Jordan, 20, was arrested on four counts of DUI manslaughter, along with DUI causing serious bodily injury and possession of alcohol by a minor. Jordan and a passenger in his car, Mario D. Robinson, 20, were taken to Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg with serious injuries.
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Orlando man three sons killed by drunken driver

Africanized bees hamper St. Pete firefighters

Bees hamper St. Pete firefighters

40,000 Africanized bees, electrified fence hamper St. Pete firefighters
Stephanie Hayes, Times Staff Writer
Posted: Jun 09, 2009 11:23 AM

The fire broke out at Robert Porter's one-story wood frame home at 1661 29th Ave. N around 9:30 a.m. A gas and water heater on Porter's back porch was too close to an empty book case and boxes, said St. Petersburg Fire Rescue Lt. Joel Granata. It erupted in flames, destroying the porch and spreading fire into the house through the back.

The fire burned down a TECO electric line on the back of the house, which fell and electrified a chain link fence in the back yard.

The Africanized bees burst from the hive, 8-feet tall and 30 inches wide nestled in the front of Porter's house. Capt. Bernie Williams told his firefighters with bee allergies to get back. That's when he felt the sting on his right shin.
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VA hopes new shredding guidelines protect claims seekers

VA hopes new shredding guidelines protect claims seekers
By William R. Levesque, Times staff writer
In print: Saturday, November 1, 2008
The Department of Veterans Affairs is finalizing a sweeping new records policy to prevent the destruction of claims documents in benefits offices around the nation.

The policy comes as the VA continues to investigate improper shredding at a St. Petersburg veterans benefits office and 56 other regional offices in nearly every state.

The policy calls for the appointment of a records control team in Washington, D.C., to oversee the handling of documents. It also would lead to the hiring of records officers in each benefits office to do the same on a local level.

And before shredding any document, two VA employees, including a supervisor, would have to sign off, according to a draft of the policy obtained by the St. Petersburg Times on Friday.
The policy comes after the discovery last month of nearly 500 veterans' claims documents improperly set aside for shredding in 41 VA benefits offices.

The documents, which had no duplicates in VA files, could have been crucial in deciding if an individual veteran received a pension or disability payment.

That total includes 13 documents found in shredding bins in the VA's busiest benefits office at Bay Pines in St. Petersburg, where the agency's inspector general is still conducting an audit.

Bay Pines is the home benefits office for Florida's 1.8-million veterans and the 330,000 who live in the Tampa Bay area.

go here for more
http://www.tampabay.com/news/military/veterans/article884990.ece

Nine injured in last night's fatal hit-and-run in St. Petersburg

October 09, 2008
Nine injured in last night's fatal hit-and-run
ST. PETERSBURG -- Police this morning gave a fuller account of last night's fatal hit-and-run accident, saying that the driver did not have a license and that nine people were injured.

Police spokesman Bill Proffitt said the incident began when police spotted a 2008 Dodge pickup driving in an erratic manner on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. S, near 22nd Avenue S. Police tried to stop the truck, but the driver kept going north "at a very high rate of speed and in a reckless manner." The Dodge had two passengers.

When the Dodge got to the 1300 Block of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St., it lost control and slid toward the northwest corner of 13th Avenue S., "went airborne," struck a fire hydrant, and flipped.

The truck struck and killed Steven Mincey, 49, of St. Petersburg, who had been riding his bicycle on the north side of the MLK. The truck also struck several people who were outside near Ike's Liquors and four parked vehicles.

go here for more
http://blogs.tampabay.com/breakingnews/2008/10/nine-injured-in.html

Jamie Dolan survived being shot

Claims and denials
Jamie Dolan survived being shot. And the new house reduced his struggle. He has learned to live in darkness, but he struggles with an enemy as unexpected as the gunman: His insurance company.
ST. PETERSBURG

Jamie Dolan arrives at a Starbucks clutching his wife's arm and the first thing you notice is he seems fragile, weighted, broken. His left eye is covered with a patch; his fingernails are long. Four years ago, a gunman walked into the Gateway Mall RadioShack where Dolan worked and started shooting. Three people died, including the shooter. One bullet traveled into Dolan's temple and took out both his eyes.

The community rallied around the young husband and father of three. The television show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition built him a 3,500-square-foot home. The episode ended with a joyful, overwhelmed Dolan surrounded by family, cheered by his neighbors, optimistic about the future.

But he is no longer the man you saw on the show. Since then, the Dolans have almost lost the house, and the community donations are long spent.

"We had to borrow from everyone we knew to keep food on the table for the kids," Dolan says at Starbucks, surrounded by his four attorneys.
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Pinellas Park murder-suicide victims identified

September 24, 2008
Pinellas Park murder-suicide victims identified
PINELLAS PARK -- The people killed in an apparent murder-suicide were identified today as Owen Jay Lollar, 34, and Paula Dale-Lollar, 35.

Investigators believe Owen Lollar shot Paula Lollar and then himself. Their last known address was on Lynne Lake Drive S in St. Petersburg.

On Monday, a passer-by found the bodies in a pickup truck at a vacant business at 10222 MCI Drive. Police found a handgun at the scene.

Stephanie Garry, Times Staff Writer
http://blogs.tampabay.com/breakingnews/2008/09/pinellas-park-1.html