The former prisoner of war was heading home to Veterans Village on Wednesday when police say he was hit by a drunk driver who was behind the wheel of an ice cream truck.
Sgt. Maj. Jeremy Bruns demonstrates improvement in this June 2013 photo as he pushes his wife, Jenny, in his wheelchair. (Courtesy Bruns family)Sgt. Maj. Jeremy Bruns survived nine deployments only to lose both legs to a drunken driver who plowed into him outside his home on a Saturday morning in 2012.
The driver, who was not seriously injured, is also a soldierA Fort Bliss soldier was killed in a two-vehicle crash along Interstate 10 West at Paisano Saturday night, a Fort Bliss spokesman said.
Bitner served a tour in the Army as a member of the 101st Airborne Infantry and served a tour in Bosnia. He became a law enforcement officer and was a deputy with the Elbert County Sheriff’s Office before being hired by Englewood in December 2004. In his time as an Englewood police officer, Bitner served as a member of the Special Weapons and Tactics team, was a field training officer for newly hired officers and was an instructor in the Citizen’s Academy.
The vehicle slammed into the disabled car, killing Marcus Johnson, 20, of Milwaukee; Elysia Rapp, 20, of Racine; and Wilfredo Ugarte, 23, of Puerto Rico. Johnson and Ugarte were members of the University of Minnesota's cheerleading squad.read more here
Erickson’s lawyer, John Hyland, said Erickson has performed well on bail monitoring and has been getting treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder for his 2004 combat service with the Marines in Iraq.
In a memorandum to the court, Hyland wrote that one of Erickson’s PTSD symptoms is hyper-vigilance, an inability to cope with different surroundings without feeling a sense of danger.
“Brad experienced this whenever he stayed in unfamiliar spaces such as hotel rooms,” Hyland wrote.
“It was the reason he was driving home the night of the crash. He was compelled to go to a place where he felt safe.”
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Affinity for motorcyclesgo here for more
But there was sorrow.
One by one, Marines and friends stood up to share stories about one of Rosenberg's hometown heroes. He had built a gym out of found wood because he was bored, had coached his fellow soldiers to get up to speed and had shared stories from home of how much he loved his father.
Like his father, David Stidman became a Marine and a motorcyclist. The two also shared an affinity for fishing, so much so that they'd bought a boat. They were still planning their first trip to the open sea when the son was killed. Dwayne Stidman plans to take his son's ashes to the Gulf of Mexico.
The young Marine came home four months ago after a drunken driver hit his father, who was on his motorcycle. He broke his legs, a shoulder blade and his skull was severely cut.
Dwayne Stidman slowly recovered with the help of his son and soon bought another motorcycle so the two could continue riding together.
"I know how it can get and I didn't want him riding alone," Dwayne Stidman said
Anais McConnell, Amy McConnell and Sandie McConnell stand together Tuesday, August 3, in Amy's front yard. (RED HUBER, ORLANDO SENTINEL)
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
