Army family heading to Fort Hood lost everything to thieves in Tulsa

Army soldier, family say thieves stole nearly everything they own during move to Fort Hood

KTUL ABC 8 Tulsa
by Amy Jenson
April 27th 2019

They are celebrating Sturm’s sister’s wedding, but the celebration is a little muted by what happened overnight.

“I am still kind of in shock,” Sturm said. “Why would somebody do this?”

TULSA, Okla. (KTUL) -- An Army soldier and his family are starting back at zero.

They stopped in Tulsa for a wedding on their way to Fort Hood, and in less than 24 hours, thieves stole nearly everything they own.

Shattered glass, that’s all that is left from the U-Haul and SUV that was parked here Friday night.

“My first thought was oh maybe she parked on the other side of the building,” Jesse Sturm said.

Army Sergeant Jesse Sturm and his wife Wendy and their two kids are on a 1,700 mile trek to Fort Hood in Texas.

They stopped in Tulsa on Friday night to stay at Homewood Suites near 71st and Garnett.
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Homeless veteran froze to death at the age of 39

'Another fallen soldier': Tulsa wonders why a homeless vet died the way he did

Tulsa World
By Michael Overall
January 26, 2019

Holder spent two nights last week in a downtown homeless shelter, Haltom said. But he didn’t return last Saturday as overnight temperatures sank into the teens. Firefighters recovered his body the next morning outside the Daily Grill restaurant at the Hyatt Regency, where the 39-year-old veteran apparently froze to death on the patio.

He hadn’t been around for a while, long enough that people couldn’t remember the last time they had seen him. Several weeks, at least. Maybe months.

Then Zaki Holder showed up again last week, coming off the streets to get warm inside the Day Center for the Homeless in the northwest corner of downtown Tulsa.

The staff wondered where he had been but didn’t pry. Chronic homelessness doesn’t hit people in one long burst. It comes and goes and comes again.

Nobody was surprised to see Holder again.

“He was a familiar face,” said Mack Haltom, the Day Center’s associate director. “He was quiet. Stayed to himself. Never caused a problem.”

It was the second memorial service of the day for the Patriot Guard, Smith said. The first had been for a veteran who “joined the 22-a-Day Club” by committing suicide, he said. And as far as the Patriot Guard members were concerned, Holder was “another fallen soldier,” too, Smith said.
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Tulsa Police Patrol Car Tribute to Marine

Tulsa Police Unveil Patrol Car Dedicated To Veterans
News on 6
September 27th 2018

TULSA, Oklahoma - A newly wrapped patrol car is making its debut at the Tulsa State Fair. It’s dedicated to a former officer who died while serving as a Marine in Iraq.

Jared Shoemaker was killed in action in Iraq in 2006 after his reserve unit was deployed.

Tulsa Police unveiled the car Thursday. It’s decorated in Marine Corp camouflage with red, white and blue. The department said it’s dedicated to Shoemaker and other veterans who serve on the police department.

"To represent the Marines who work for our department, the Marines who lost their lives, the Marines still fighting for our country," Sergeant Richard Meulenberg said.

After the fair, the car will hit the streets as part of normal patrols.

It will also be used in the upcoming Veteran's Day parade.
go here to see the rest of this patrol car

Iraq Veteran shows suicide issue "too big to ignore"

Tulsa veteran creates mural to discuss suicide, an issue 'too big to ignore'
Tulsa World
By Reece Ristau
13 hrs ago

“I want people to know that these real heavy emotions are (OK),” Butts said Friday morning. “You can talk to people about it. You don’t have to be scared of it. When you take off your mask and I take off my mask, it’s, ‘Oh, you’ve got stuff, too.’ We all have stuff.”

As a chaplain’s assistant during the Iraq War, Josh Butts tended to the emotional health of his battalion members, some of whom have since died by suicide.

As a graphic designer in Tulsa, Butts is now using art to bring awareness to the scope of that public health issue.

On Friday, Butts used chalk to create an elaborate mural of an airliner. The mural, called “Too Big to Ignore,” comprises phrases used by those affected by suicide and images representing the pain of such loss. Drawn on the side of the Hardesty Arts Center (AHHA) in the Tulsa Arts District, the airplane represents the 123 people who die in the United States each day by suicide.
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Police Kill Suspect After Woman Found Brutally Beaten

PTSD is no excuse for things like this and as a reminder, it is a rarity.

Friend of Claremore man killed by police in east Tulsa says he could have prevented shooting
KJRH 2 News
Feb 19, 2017

TULSA -- A friend of the kidnapping and rape suspect who was a shot and killed by police officers in east Tulsa on Friday is speaking out.

The man told 2 Works for You reporter Corley Peel that he could have prevented officers from shooting his friend, David English, 34, if police only gave him a chance.

Wayne Youngwolfe says although English was his lifelong friend, he immediately stepped in when he said he saw English had brutally beaten his girlfriend. He said if police would have let him get to English beforehand, he would have never been shot.

"They didn't give me a chance to go get him," Youngwolfe said. "This is what they wanted, so they got it."

Youngwolfe said English was battling Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

"The war messed him up. He has never been the same person since he came back," Youngwolfe said.
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Green Beret Records Challenged After Volunteering Award

Red Cross volunteer's story challenged by Vietnam Veterans groups, individuals
Tulsa World
By Rita Sherrow
World Scene Writer
February 2, 2016

Vietnam War veteran John Smith, leaning next to the Disaster Relief vehicle he staffed during one of the California wildfires, pays it forward as a volunteer with the Tulsa chapter of the American Red Cross. After being lost in a Vietnam jungle for almost three months, it was the Red Cross that helped him let his family know he was alive.
JAMES GIBBARD/Tulsa World

A Tulsa World story that profiled a Red Cross volunteer in October brought numerous questions and protests from Vietnam veteran military groups.

John Smith, a Red Cross volunteer who was nominated for an award with the Tulsa Area United Way, identified himself as a U.S. Army Special Forces veteran who served more than 20 years in military service.

The veterans group Green Beret Posers Exposed and others immediately challenged Smith’s story.

The Tulsa World has tried repeatedly since October to talk to Smith, advising him the story was being challenged and to verify his military record. He claimed health issues and other reasons for not answering repeated requests for another interview.

Green Beret Posers Exposed has supplied the Tulsa World with military documents, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, that indicate Smith was never in Special Forces and only served in the military for a limited time (U.S. Army 1970-1972 and U.S. Navy 1974-1975). Additionally, records show Smith receiving medals for serving in Vietnam, although he was never a Green Beret or member of the Special Forces.
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Vietnam War veteran gives back to Red Cross that helped him in his time of need

Six Year Old Cared About Homeless Veteran Standing in the Rain

Rain-drenched homeless veteran inspires 6-year-old to give back
Tulsa World News
By BILL SHERMAN
Faith and Values Writer
December 1, 2015

Heather Andrew and her son, Cooper Andrew, 6, sit next to boxes full of donated items at the entrance of McAuliffe Elementary School. Cooper was inspired to collect goods for the homeless after seeing a homeless man standing in the rain. JAMES GIBBARD/Tulsa World

He was an older man, soaked to the skin, standing on a street corner in a heavy rain near Memorial Drive and U.S. 169. His sign read: “Veteran. Can’t find work. Anything will help.”

Six-year-old Cooper Andrew studied his face from the dry security of his mom’s car and started to ask her questions she was reluctant to answer.

“How do people become homeless?”

“Why can’t he get his job back?”

“Cooper is 6,” Heather Andrew said. “I didn’t want to take away his innocence. But he was curious.”

And then Cooper asked his mother: “How about we help them, instead of talking about them?” It could have ended with that encounter last month, but it didn’t. Out of it came Cooper’s List, a project to collect and deliver goods to the homeless, inspired by a 6-year-old.

Heather Andrew was so moved by her son’s compassion that she told the story on her Facebook page that night.

Retelling the story to a reporter, she had to pause to compose herself.

“I get teary-eyed just talking about it because he’s just 6, and he has such a big heart,” she said.

Amanda Gruenberg, Cooper’s first-grade teacher at McAuliffe Elementary School, read the Facebook post that night and decided to get involved.
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Coffee Bunker Unites Families After Suicide to Save Others

Family of Marine who committed suicide partners with Coffee Bunker for fundraiser
Tulsa World
By DYLAN GOFORTH
World Staff Writer
March 9, 2015

Tragedy can tear someone apart, Troy Little said, describing how his cousin, a former Marine who returned from war a changed man, committed suicide last year.

It can also bring people together.

Little, his wife, Kati, and Mary Ligon, who founded a veteran’s support coffee house in Tulsa in the wake of her son’s suicide, met months ago inside Ligon’s office as the Littles pursued their fact-finding mission.

Little’s cousin, Daniel Rey Wolfe, committed suicide last year, documenting his death on Facebook as he bled to death inside a vacant Broken Arrow home. Ligon’s son, also named Daniel, committed suicide in 2007 after having returned from war at times unrecognizable to her.
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Tulsa Veteran Gets Help Going From Combat to College

Out of Tulsa there is a great report on veterans going from combat to college.

Upon returning from duty in Iraq, Travis Bramblett needed to change directions.

He enrolled in courses at Tulsa Community College, but post traumatic stress disorder from his time in a war zone caused such anxiety that he came close to giving up.

“It caused a big struggle to return not just to civilian life, but to school,” he said. “School was a daily struggle.”

The center was established in 1976, where it served five students at TCC’s downtown campus.

Another way the program provides Bramblett with peace of mind is by giving him the opportunity for designated seating in classrooms so he doesn’t have anyone sitting behind him, a symptom of his PTSD. “It’s a reassurance knowing it’s there,” Bramblett said of the center. “It’s like a safety net. Otherwise, I’m going to bat by myself. Here, I have someone who’s going to stand up for me.”

Tulsa researchers attempt to end nightmares of PTSD

Local Researchers Take New Approach to Treating PTSD
NPR
Matt Trotter
August 25, 2014

These nightmares tend to stick around a long time. Think of the worst night’s sleep you’ve ever had, then multiply it. By a lot.

"In our clinical trials, the noncombat trials that we’ve done, it’s an average of 16 to 18 years that people have suffered from nightmares multiple times per week," Davis said. "And in our combat study that we did a couple years ago, it was an average of 40 years."

Nearly 8 million Americans suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder. Psychologists at a local institute believe they’ve found a better way to treat it, and they have backing from the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology in the form of a six-figure grant.

The typical course of treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder involves nine to 12 sessions with a therapist.

"And there’s no medications involved. It is an approach that focuses on the way that trauma impacts the way that you think, the way that you behave and the way that you feel," said Joanne Davis, codirector of the Tulsa Institute for Trauma, Abuse and Injustice, and an associate professor of psychology at the University of Tulsa.

She’s launching a study of a two-sided treatment approach for PTSD because traditional therapy helps with functional issues "but nightmares and sleep problems are considered to be the hallmark of posttraumatic stress disorder," Davis said.

"And they’re really looked-at important factors that not only help in the development of post-traumatic stress disorder but also in maintaining it over the long term."
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Tulsa American Legion honors female veterans

Female veterans honored at Tulsa American Legion post event
By CHASE COOK
World Staff Writer
Published: 6/23/2012

World War II veteran Pietje Wall served in the Marine Corps from 1945 to 1950, with 13 months of that time on active duty.

Her job during active duty was to help give the military ships returning from combat new orders, she said. It was a time when women were finding their place in the military and were allowed to serve only in limited roles.

Now, female troops are serving in more positions in the military, and the number of female veterans is expected to rise in the coming years, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The United States has about 1.8 million female veterans, and about 26,000 of them live in Oklahoma, according to the VA.

Wall and other women were recognized for their service during a dinner held by the American Legion Auxiliary Unit 1 on Friday. The dinner is an opportunity to recognize the veterans that may be overlooked, said Maxine Mackie, the auxiliary unit's president.

"It's nice to recognize the ladies and say, 'Hey, we recognize the service you have done for us,' " Mackie said.

Christina Smith, president of the Tulsa Chapter of the Oklahoma Women Veterans Organization, said events such as the dinner are special because they are a reminder that women serve in the military, too.

People often hear male references, such as "bring the boys home," she said, but she asks that people "just remember us all."

"It's a rite of passage to serve this country," Smith said.
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WWII veteran in hospital after being attacked, wife was killed

Family Of Tulsa Couple Beaten In Home Invasion: 'They'd Do Anything For Anyone'


Posted: Mar 16, 2012
Lori Fullbright, News On 6

TULSA, Oklahoma - Family members talked to News On 6 crime reporter Lori Fullbright about Bob and Nancy Strait, the elderly couple beaten in their home Wednesday during a robbery.

The couple had been married more than 65 years, had six children and 18 grandchildren. They were great, great, great grandparents.

They had been sick for the past week from food poisoning and the flu. They had just agreed to move into an assisted living facility the day before they were attacked so viciously. Nancy died from her injuries, Bob is still in the hospital.

Bob Strait was a paratrooper in World War II. He was with the 101st airborne where he was part of the D-day invasion. He was awarded the Bronze Star.

Nancy grew up in a log cabin in Kenwood, Oklahoma with no running water. She moved to Tulsa to work during the war.

The two met after the war ended.
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