Victim’s family: No anger at soldier from Jacksonville

Victim’s family: No anger at soldier from Jacksonville
The Atlantic Beach mother of a woman shot in Alaska says she wouldn’t press charges.
By Dana Treen
The picture pulled from the refrigerator door in an Atlantic Beach apartment shows a daddy and baby cheek to cheek in the way thousands of those moments are captured.

"Does he look upset?" Christina Kulik asks, passing the photo of her son-in-law and 8-month-old granddaughter. "Does he look like he's, 'Aw, get the kid away from me?' No."

Thursday, baffled family members of Kip Lynch and his wife Raquell were left with memories like the one caught on camera and confusion over why the 21-year-old soldier would kill his wife and daughter in what police are calling murder and an attempted suicide outside an Alaska Army base.

Kulik said her daughter and Lynch met when they were in high school and even split time living with her or with his family while they were in school. He joined the Army and was on deployment in Afghanistan while she stayed home and finished a medical business course.

She joined him at his Anchorage station when he returned in February.

On Monday police there found Raquell and Kyirsta dead and Kip Lynch gravely wounded in their apartment near Fort Richardson. All had been shot, police said.

Kip Lynch remained in critical condition Thursday and may never be able to answer police questions, said Lt. Dave Parker of the Anchorage Police Department.

An account to help defer the expenses has been set up in Kulik's name at BB&T banks in Jacksonville
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Victim's family: No anger at soldier Florida Times-Union

PTSD on Trial:Marine veteran found guilty of capital murder

PTSD was considered and all the facts were tied together for the justice system to work. While he was convicted we need to remember there was a time when military service and PTSD was not even mentioned. The families must take care of their own shock from all of this as well. PTSD does not just come from being involved in wars, crimes or natural disasters. It comes after trauma itself.

Marine veteran found guilty of capital murder in ex-girlfriend's death
Posted Saturday, May. 01, 2010
By ALEX BRANCH

abranch@star-telegram.com

FORT WORTH -- Jurors deliberated for about three hours Friday evening before convicting Eric Acevedo of capital murder for killing his ex-girlfriend, rejecting the defense argument that Acevedo, a combat veteran of Iraq, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and, therefore, did not intend to kill her.

Intent is a crucial factor in a capital murder conviction, and Acevedo's attorneys had hoped to show that he was unable in his mental state to form the intent to break into Mollie Worden's Saginaw town home on March 22, 2008, and stab her repeatedly.

Because the prosecution waived the death penalty, Acevedo, 23, was automatically sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Acevedo, a Marine, served three tours in Iraq.

'You had honor once'

During the final phase of the trial, when relatives of victims are allowed to address the defendant, Fuentes told Acevedo that her family once considered Acevedo their "brave Marine."

She told him that she never believed he didn't realize he was killing Worden.

"In my heart, Eric, I believe you knew what you were doing," she said.

Fuentes urged him to find the goodness that once existed inside him and put it to good use in prison.

After she spoke, Wisch paused, then looked at Acevedo and echoed that sentiment.

"You had honor once," Wisch told him. "You have the rest of your life to try and reclaim it."

Read more: Marine veteran found guilty of capital murder

CNN decides to wait for war reporter to heal

Michael Ware has done some amazing reporting from Iraq and Afghanistan but as the years ticked by, you could see the changes in him. At least CNN had someone there all the time but when they failed to understand the need to heal from being exposed to war for so long, they also failed to show they understood what the troops were going through.

Imagine being a solider with PTSD and hearing CNN didn't want their war reporter to have the time he needed to be treated for PTSD and time to heal. That would have delivered the message that a wound like PTSD was less worthy and Ware should just get back to work.

Ware has been with CNN long enough to understand the way they do things, so it's doubtful he misunderstood them. The question is, what turned CNN around? Was it public pressure? Bloggers were really upset over this. What will they learn from this? Will they finally do some really great reporting on PTSD with one of their own trying to heal? Time will tell.

April 30, 2010, 7:03 pm
CNN Is ‘Standing With’ Stressed-Out War Correspondent
By BRIAN STELTER
Michael Ware has spent so much of the past nine years reporting from war zones for Time magazine and CNN that it’s almost like he’s a citizen of Iraq.

That experience, he says, has left him with post-traumatic stress disorder. In an interview on Thursday, he said that CNN wanted him back in the field before he felt he was ready and, as a result, he was under the impression that he had been released from his contract. “I required further time off than I think CNN was able to give,” he said.

But there may have been a misunderstanding. On Friday CNN said that Mr. Ware is still employed by the network, disputing an unsourced report on a blog that he was no longer working for the network and that the disorder was a reason.

“We will continue to support him during this time,” the cable news network said in a statement. The network said it was “rightly regarded as an industry leader” in dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder, and that it offers support services to past and present employees.

Mr. Ware’s agent, Richard Leibner, said, “They are clearly standing with him now.”
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CNN Is Standing With Stressed-Out War Correspondent

Fourteen members of the Army’s 12th Combat Aviation Brigade Medals of Valor from Germany

Soldiers become first to receive German honor

By Sean O’Sullivan - The (Wilmington, Del.) News Journal
Posted : Friday Apr 30, 2010 18:12:23 EDT

Fourteen members of the Army’s 12th Combat Aviation Brigade on Thursday became the first non-Germans to receive Germany’s Gold Cross, one of that nation’s highest honors for valor.

The soldiers, based at U.S. Army Garrison-Ansbach, Germany, were honored for medevac flights they performed April 2 involving German troops who had been ambushed by some 200 Taliban fighters while on patrol north of the city of Kunduz, Afghanistan.

The firefight was still going on when the Black Hawk evacuation helicopters — two medical transport helicopters and one heavily armed “chase” helicopter — arrived, according to what Army Capt. Robert McDonough, who piloted one of the medical helicopters, told his father, Jack McDonough.

“The two Black Hawks did a combined seven landings into the middle of this battle. My son told me that he could see rounds hitting the blades of his helicopter and there were bullet holes in the Blackhawks,” Jack McDonough wrote in an e-mail message. “He said the incoming fire was so bad that at one point he banked the helicopter real hard to avoid the incoming rounds. He told me he saw the Taliban celebrating, thinking they had downed them.”

According to a letter sent to the McDonough family by Army Maj. Michael S. Hughes, the medevac team “performed heroically in the face of extreme adversity,” and their actions saved at least five German soldiers “and probably countless more.”
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Soldiers become first to receive German honor

11 airmen awarded medals - including 3 silver Stars

When I read stories like this, it's really hard to understand the honor we give to sports players and celebrities. It's hard to understand the glorification of politicians and commentators as if all they say is so important their every word must be covered. It's hard to believe that watching American Idol or reality TV shows are more important, more worthy of spending our time on than paying attention to the men and women risking their lives every day. Real heroes end up putting the lives of others ahead of their own every day but unless they do something really outstanding, we don't seem to pay any real attention to them at all. Even with these eleven receiving such high honors, there will be very few reporters covering any of their stories.

11 airmen awarded medals - including 3 silver Stars
Military: 11 airmen given medals – including 3 Silver Stars – for brave deeds
KRIS SHERMAN; Staff writer
Published: 04/30/1012:05

Machine gun rounds flew all around him from 30 feet away. He sprinted through the fire to a position from which he could attack. He shot a rocket-propelled grenade into a room occupied by Taliban fighters.

And when that didn’t clear them out, Air Force Staff Sgt. Sean Harvell dodged the gunfire again, covering his team as he went.

Then he called in airstrikes that reportedly killed more than 50 insurgents in Central Afghanistan’s Helmand River area.

Those were the local airman’s heroics on just one day, “during a savage eight-hour firefight,” according to his Air Force citation.

It earned Harvell a Silver Star award. He earned another two months earlier.


Read more: You cant call time out in a war zone

First responders and trauma down under

Anguish starts after the sirens stop
May 1, 2010

We call the ambulance in hours of urgent need but the grisly work we pass on takes its toll on the paramedics. Natasha Wallace reports on suicides and official stonewalling.

It is one of the toughest jobs in the country - an adrenalin-charged ride through what is often the worst of human experiences. But the state's ambulance service, after countless suicides and attempted suicides by staff, 11 parliamentary and internal inquiries over a decade and 96 complaints to the corruption watchdog, has yet to acknowledge the impact of years of neglect on its traumatised workforce.

Paul* is haunted by the screams of distressed children. After 32 years in the ambulance service witnessing unspeakable sadness, the sobs of the young ones who lost their siblings in a house fire a few years ago jolt him from his slumber at night. The raw howling still rings in his ears.

''When you hear it, it haunts you forever and you know that everything is futile,'' he says. ''The shriek … that helpless plea, that last expiring of breath.''
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Anguish starts after the sirens stop

82nd Airborne go Gaga in dance video from Afghanistan

Soldiers go Gaga in Afghanistan


A shout out to "MalibuMelcher" and his fellow soldiers in the 82nd Airborne Division for this remake of Lady Gaga's "Telephone," shot from somewhere in Afghanistan. (Portions of the video at :52 and 2:50 are especially funny. You may notice weapons in the background.)

Soldiers go Gaga in Afghanistan

Local Vietnam veterans honored

Posted: 1:00 AM

Belated recognition
Local Vietnam veterans honored
By Jen Marckini jmarckini@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

HANOVER TWP. – Forty-seven local Vietnam War veterans were recognized Thursday for their service by state Rep. John T. Yudichak.


Veterans in the 119th Legislative District received a commemorative medal and special citation at the event, which was held in the auditorium at Hanover Area Senior High School. Twenty-two were in attendance.

Bernard Levandoski of Plymouth was 21 years old when he enlisted in 1968 and went to war. When he returned home in 1971 there were no honors, ceremonies or parades.

After all these years, the 63-year-old has not been recognized for his service until now.

“It’s been a long time coming,” said Levandoski, who signed up for two tours of duty. “It was a different generation then. People just didn’t appreciate what we were doing for them.”

The feeling was the same for many veterans, including Joseph Kasper, a 59-year-old disabled vet who was wounded after a year in combat.

“I’ve never been honored before,” said Kasper, of Dallas.
read more here
http://www.timesleader.com/news/Belated_recognition_04-29-2010.html

New Scholarship for the Children of Fallen Service Members

New Scholarship for the Children of Fallen Service Members
Benefit Honors Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry

WASHINGTON (April 30, 2010) - The children of military personnel who
died in the line of duty since Sept. 11, 2001 can apply for an
educational scholarship similar to the new Post-9/11 GI Bill. Benefits
are retroactive to Aug. 1, 2009.

The scholarship, which is administered by the Department of Veterans
Affairs, are named after Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry, 28, a
Texas native who died in Iraq in 2006 while disarming an explosive. He
was survived by three young children.

"The Fry scholarship represents this nation's solemn commitment to care
for children whose mothers and fathers paid the ultimate price for our
country," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki.

VA begins accepting applications for the Fry scholarship on May 1, 2010.
For more information or assistance applying, call toll-free
1-888-GIBILL-1 (1-888-442-4551), or visit the VA GI Bill Website at
www.gibill.va.gov


VA estimates nearly 1,500 children will receive benefits under the Fry
scholarship program in 2010. Recipients generally have 15 years to use
their benefits, beginning on their 18th birthdays.

Eligible children attending institutions of higher learning may receive
payments to cover their tuition and fees up to the highest amounts
charged to public, in-state students at undergraduate institutions in
each state. A monthly housing allowance and stipend for books and
supplies are also paid under this program.

VA will begin paying benefits under the Fry scholarships on Aug. 1,
2010. Eligible participants may receive benefits retroactively to
August 1, 2009, the same day the Post-9/11 GI Bill took effect.
Eligible children may be married. Recipients are entitled to 36 months
of benefits at the 100 percent level.

When dependents also serve in the military, the reserves or are Veterans
in their own right, eligible for education benefits under the Montgomery
GI Bill for Active Duty, the Montgomery GI Bill for Selected Reserves or
the Reserve Educational Assistance Program (REAP), then they would
relinquish their eligibility under those programs to receive benefits
under a Fry scholarship.

NY Police Mistakenly Tell Parents Their Son Is Dead

NY Police Mistakenly Tell Parents Their Son Is Dead
MASTIC BEACH, N.Y. (April 29) -- It was a 90-minute nightmare.

Alfred and Geri Esposito of Mastic Beach were told Saturday morning that their son Freddy and another passenger had been killed in a collision with a tractor-trailer on a Pennsylvania highway.

It turns out Freddy wasn't dead. He was asleep on a couch in an apartment he rents with his brother. The dead man was one of his former fraternity brothers -- a revelation that both relieved and upset the Espositos.


"Ninety minutes of my life I'll never get back," Geri Esposito said Thursday. "My husband, who is a very strong man, was reduced to a puddle."

The mix-up began when Pennsylvania troopers found Freddy Esposito's driver's license in the hands of one of the men killed in the wreck -- 18-year-old Paul Richards of Santa Cruz, Calif.

Older brother Chris Esposito was just starting his shift in Brooklyn as a New York Police Department officer when he got the call that his brother was dead. He left work and raced to the Bay Shore home he shared with his brother.

"He goes downstairs into his brother's apartment and he saw something on the couch," Geri Esposito recalled. After poking the lump a couple of times, his brother awoke from under the blanket.

"He screamed, 'You're dead, you're dead!'" Geri Esposito said of Chris.

And Freddy counters: "I'm sleeping."

NY Police Mistakenly Tell Parents Their Son Is Dead